In the Laybirth Kingdom, beneath the gleam of the midday sun, the air crackled with tension. The battlefield was set.
Two figures stood apart—Lara, her one arm raised defiantly, and Saye, the gray-blade warrior who served under Jinko's four generals.
Lara narrowed her eyes.
"I'm done blowing bubbles... it takes too much time," she muttered. Her voice was calm, but firm. "It's time I start summoning them instead."
She lifted her remaining hand toward the sky.
"Bubble Pink Sword."
With a flash of pink light, a glossy blade made entirely of crystallized bubblegum formed in her grip—its edge shimmering.
Saye smirked.
"I like it. Let's go blade for blade then. Let's see who's stronger."
But Lara's thoughts were elsewhere:
I need to handle Jinko as fast as I can.
Saye's body tensed. In a second, gray blades materialized in her palms, forearms, thighs, and even her feet—a walking arsenal.
"Bring it on!" she shouted.
And they both charged.
Lara swung first, her pink sword slicing through the air—but Saye leapt, flipped, and twisted over it like a dancer of death. She struck from behind, but Lara spun and parried just in time, then leapt back.
Lara pointed her blade.
"Pink Sticky Shot!"
From the sword's tip, a barrage of glowing pink globs shot forth like bullets. Saye dashed through alleyways, darting across rooftops, weaving through the blasts with precision.
"You can't dodge forever!" Lara called.
"Duh," Saye thought with a smirk.
She closed the distance, slicing the sticky projectiles mid-air.
"She's cutting through them?! She's just—slicing through them!" Lara thought in disbelief.
Suddenly, Saye jumped high into the sky.
"Hey!" she yelled—
— And then it came crashing down—
But Lara leapt out of the way just in time.
Without missing a beat, she fired off a few more shots.
Saye dodged them effortlessly.
Then her two blades in her palms grew ten times their size.
Lara stared in disbelief. "What the hell?"
From a distance, Shun called out, "What the hell is that?"
Rei's eyes widened. "She can make her blades that big?"
Jinko sat on his tall throne, a smile playing on his lips. Looks like Saye is getting started, he thought.
Saye swung the huge blades in her palms, bringing them crashing down.
"Damn it!" Lara cursed.
Saye shouted, "Crushing Slash!"
Lara jumped out of the way just in time, the shockwave obliterating the ground and an entire house.
"That was close," Lara thought.
But Saye wasn't done.
A massive blade came streaking from the side—aiming straight for Lara's ribs. She spun her sword defensively, blocking just in time, but the impact launched her through several buildings.
She slid to a stop, barely landing on her feet.
"Too close..."
Lara looked up—eyes wide.
Saye hovered in the air, her two huge palm-blades.
"You fight good... for a girl who lost her hand."
BOOM!
The twin blades crashed down like divine punishment. Smoke and dust rose high.
But in the haze… a silhouette appeared.
On her knees, Lara held her bubble sword upward, catching the massive blades.
"She blocked it?!" Saye thought in shock.
"Damn... this thing is heavy!" Lara grit her teeth, arms trembling.
Suddenly, the massive blades vanished into thin air.
"Huh? It's gone?" Lara blinked.
Saye dropped into the smoke, ready to finish her. She landed, spotted Lara—and rushed.
"Where the hel—" Lara started, but—
CRACK!
Saye's foot hit Lara's chin, launching her backward.
Before Lara could recover, Saye stood over her again.
"So fast!" Lara gasped.
The gray twin blades in Saye's hands blazing with raw grey spiritual force.
"Devil Slash!" she shouted.
But Lara flipped back, narrowly dodging. She regained distance.
"So she finally uses spiritual force, huh?"
"Wait... her spiritual force is stronger than mine. Hers is 60,000... mine's only 55,000. She's a B-rank like me too?"
"Great. I'll just have to play smart."
Saye lowered her blades.
"Nah. You know what? I won't use my spiritual force on you. I'm stronger than you even without it."
Lara raised her sword and smirked.
"Okay, Mr. Cocky."
Lara ignited her blade with pink spiritual force.
"Now my slashes will hurt.".
"Now my slashes can do some damage!"
She dashed in, their swords clashing at lightning speed.
"Pink Bubblegum Goo!"
A thick, sticky substance flew from her blade. Saye leapt back—but a strand landed on her arm.
"Damn, that's sticky..." Saye tugged, but her hand wouldn't separate.
She glanced at Lara—who now had her sword pointed to the sky.
Saye paid it no mind.
She rushed again, blades swinging—but Lara blocked and kicked her aside, then rushed and slammed her sword down. Saye rolled away.
"Man, wasn't that close, huh?"
"You're mocking me!" Lara snapped.
She swung wildly, but Saye flipped backward and attempted a slash to the back of Lara's head.
Lara ducked—and countered with a spinning roundhouse kick to Saye's face!
Saye flew across the dirt and crashed into a nearby home.
"Not a bad move," she muttered, shaking it off.
SLASH!
A pink wave of energy cut the house clean in half.
"Sorry about the house," Lara called.
"Too close..." Saye hissed.
Both girls soared into the sky.
"Pink Bubblegum Whip!"
A sticky tendril whipped from Lara's blade—she slammed it downward, but Saye dodged and met her mid-air. They clashed. Lara hit the ground.
"C'mon, just die already!" Lara growled.
But before she could rise, Saye crashed down hard—smoke filled the air.
Saye stood over her, calm.
"I had fun. But now it's time to die. Orders are orders."
But Lara smiled.
"What's so funny?"
"You think you've won..."
"Duh."
"Remember when I pointed my sword at the sky?"
Saye blinked. A memory flashed.
"Yeah? So what?"
"What do you think I was doing?"
"I don't know."
"Look up."
Saye looked.
A wave of bubblegum goo was falling from the sky.
"What the hell—!"
Too late.
Lara grabbed Saye's leg and flipped her face-first into the dirt. She jumped clear just as the goo slammed into Saye, pinning her to the ground.
"Damn it! I can't move!" Saye cursed.
"Well, it was fun. But I've got business with your boss."
Lara turned and sprinted toward Jinko's tower.
Meanwhile, with Team One:
"Sensei, do we really have to just sit here?" Goro asked.
"Yep," Kaji replied.
"Can't we help them? They're allies."
"We're on a mission. You die, I get blamed. Lloyd kills me. So nope. Sit tight," Kaji said firmly.
Kenshiro nodded. "He makes perfect sense."
In front of them a couple of feet away, they saw Lara.
"That girl... she's missing a hand," Rei said quietly.
Kaji crossed his arms. "Told you. They're strong. She survived."
Lara stood before Jinko and his golden army.
"Oh? You defeated Saye?" Jinko asked with a smirk.
"Damn right I did. You really thought she could—" Lara's words were cut off.
Saye sneered, "You thought that goo would keep me stuck?"
WHAM!
In an instant, Saye was right beside her. Her foot arced high, the blade attached slicing clean through Lara's cheek—piercing through and out the other side.
Lara dropped to her knees, clutching her bleeding face.
"How did she get up?"
"What the hell?!" Rei gasped.
"Where did she come from?!" Goro shouted.
Kaji's face tightened. "Damn... I was wrong."
"So fast..." Kenshiro muttered.
Saye grabbed Lara by the hair. "Die already."
SWOOSH—CHING!
She sliced off Lara's head, then stabbed it mid-air before it could hit the ground.
"No way that chick was stronger than me," Saye sneered.
"I know," Jinko said calmly.
"She's gone..." Rei whispered.
"Man..." Goro shook his head.
"These guys are merciless..." Ryju said grimly.
A distance away...
A lightning crack lit the field.
"Lightning Flash!" Hiro shouted as his fist surged with blue lightning and charged forward.
But Judo flipped over it effortlessly.
He dropped his brown jacket.
"Sorry... but I have to kill you," Judo said.
"That's my line," Hiro retorted.
TO BE CONTINUED...