**South Side Assault**
The transformed dolphin-car erupted from the ocean depths like a breaching whale, its streamlined form cutting through the water with impossible grace. As it approached Tenki's underwater fortress, Romaji's beast transformation began to shift the vehicle's configuration for terrestrial assault.
"Crash on that side of the base, Romaji!" Mashù commanded, his dual spirits already flaring to life around him—gold and silver energies swirling in anticipation of the confrontation he'd waited three years to have.
"OK then!" Romaji's voice carried the wild enthusiasm of someone whose spirit was already merging with his chosen beast forms.
The impact was devastating. What had been a sleek aquatic vehicle became a battering ram of supernatural force, punching through the laboratory's reinforced hull like it was made of cardboard. Alarms shrieked as water and debris exploded into the facility's corridors.
"Geez, softer crash next time," Kamira muttered, shaking her head as she climbed out of the wreckage. Her crimson-highlighted hair was already beginning to lift as her rage spirit responded to the adrenaline flooding her system.
Their dramatic entrance had the desired effect. Ten grunts appeared within seconds, armed with an assortment of weapons that crackled with artificial spirit energy.
"Hey, prepare to die!" the lead grunt shouted, raising what looked like a sword made of crystallized lightning.
Mashù looked at Kamira with the casual confidence of someone who had trained alongside her for months. "Kamira, you got this?"
She cracked her knuckles, and the sound seemed to echo with supernatural force. "Ten men with knives, swords, and shields? Easy!" Her voice was already deepening as her transformation began. "HULKEN RAGE!"
The change was dramatic and terrifying to witness. Kamira's slight frame expanded, muscles swelling beneath her skin as her rage spirit took partial control. Her eyes blazed fully crimson, and when she smiled, her teeth seemed sharper than they had any right to be.
"Let's go, Romaji!" Mashù called out, leaving Kamira to handle the small army of attackers.
"Hey, get back here!" one of the grunts shouted, but his protest was cut short as Kamira's fist connected with his solar plexus and sent him flying across the corridor.
"Who told you to look away?" she snarled at the remaining nine opponents, her voice carrying harmonics that made the facility's metal walls vibrate.
**The Hunt for Tenki**
Mashù and Romaji raced through the facility's third-floor corridors, their footsteps echoing in the chaos of battle that surrounded them. Every nerve in Mashù's body was on fire with anticipation—after three years of nightmares and rage, he was finally going to face the man who had stolen his innocence.
"Huh, where is he?" Mashù panted, his spirits flickering with agitation.
Romaji paused, tilting his head in a gesture that seemed more animal than human. His beast spirit enhanced his senses far beyond normal human capability. "Mashù, I hear action on the second floor. He might be there."
"OK, let's go down those stairs!"
They turned the corner toward the stairwell, only to find their path blocked by five massive figures in power armor. Each one stood at least seven feet tall, their equipment humming with the kind of energy that suggested they were far more dangerous than ordinary guards.
"And where do you think you're going?" the lead armored grunt asked, his voice electronically amplified to an intimidating rumble.
"Where's Bradoon?" Mashù demanded, both of his spirits flaring brighter in response to hearing his enemy's name spoken aloud.
"He's down these stairs, but you're not getting past us."
Romaji stepped forward, already beginning to change. His spirit energy took on a distinctly primal quality—not just one beast, but the essence of multiple predators fighting for dominance within his human form.
"Go on, Mashù. I can handle these lames."
"Are you sure, Rom—"
"Just go!"
"OK!" Mashù took off down the stairs, his heart hammering with the knowledge that his confrontation with Tenki was now just moments away.
Behind him, he heard Romaji's voice carrying a note of wild joy. "Hey, losers! You five are lucky."
"And why is that?" one of the armored grunts asked.
"Because you get to fight the main character of this story! BEAST SOUL TRANSFORMATION - GORILLA AND CHEETAH!"
The roar that followed shook dust from the ceiling, and Mashù smiled despite his nervousness. Romaji would be fine.
On the bottom floor, Anjero moved through corridors that reeked of artificial spirit energy and human suffering. Every instinct screamed that he was walking into a trap, but the thought of his brother in Tenki's hands drove him forward.
"OK, Jeremi said second floor. I hope he's alright. Shinkei, please be ok."
He found the elevator and jabbed the call button with more force than necessary. As the car descended, he could hear voices above—guards positioning themselves for an ambush.
"OK, guess I'll use this. Come on, go faster."
The elevator's mechanical hum seemed to take forever. Above him, he could hear the guards getting into position.
"Hey, someone's using the elevator! Ready your guns, men!"
*Shit. Think, think. Oh, I got it.*
As the elevator reached the second floor, Anjero pressed himself against the ceiling of the car, using Aalto's water manipulation to create handholds in the metal. When the doors opened, the guards opened fire on an empty elevator.
"Hold your fire! Where are they?"
"Hey, up here! VAPOR BULLETS!"
Anjero dropped from the ceiling like an avenging angel, his water-based projectiles striking with surgical precision. Each bullet was designed to incapacitate rather than kill, but they hit with enough force to drop all five guards instantly.
"OK, I'm glad that worked. Anyways, laboratory, labor—"
"AHHHH!"
The scream came from around the corner, followed by the sound of a body hitting a wall. Anjero rounded the corner just in time to catch Jeremi as he was hurled through the air by an invisible force.
"Jeremi, are you OK?"
"Yeah, but this guy is pissing me off," Jeremi replied, wiping blood from his nose.
"Oh! Look now, there's two of them. How fun."
The voice belonged to Devanga, who looked exactly as he had three years ago when he'd helped torture Mashù—young, arrogant, and radiating the kind of power that came from an elemental spirit bonded to someone with no moral limitations.
Anjero felt Aalto surge within him, responding to both his urgency and his anger. "I don't have time for this! Move or get moved, big boy!"
"What did you just call me?" Devanga's face twisted with rage.
"Great, I think you pissed him off," Jeremi observed dryly.
"RAWWWWRRRR! ROCK ARMOR!"
Stone and earth flowed over Devanga's body like living liquid, forming a shell of protection that looked capable of stopping artillery. But Jeremi was already moving, his shadow spirit allowing him to phase partially out of physical reality.
"That armor won't help you in the slightest. PHANTOM PHASE!"
Jeremi's form became translucent, allowing him to pass through the rock armor as if it were made of mist. His fist, solidifying at the last possible moment, connected with Devanga's ribs with devastating precision. The sound of breaking bone echoed through the corridor.
"You scrawny piss head! Die!"
Anjero saw his opening. "GEYSER BEAM!"
The column of superheated water struck Devanga's armor with tremendous force, but the rock absorbed most of the impact.
"Hahaha, do you really think some little-ass water can hurt me?"
*Shoot, no dice.* "Jeremi!"
"Yeah?"
Anjero leaned close and whispered his plan into his teammate's ear. "Can you hold him off for forty seconds? I need to collect energy."
"I'll try. Don't take too long."
Anjero found a position where he could see the battle but remain relatively protected. Closing his eyes, he began to meditate, reaching out with senses enhanced by Aalto's ancient wisdom.
"Hey, is he dead? I wasn't done playing with him," Devanga taunted.
"Your fight is with me, fat boy," Jeremi replied, already launching another attack.
"Now I'll beat you into a bloody pulp until there's nothing left!"
While they fought, Anjero reached deeper into his connection with his spirit than he'd ever gone before. *I just need to focus on the water around me and channel some of its energy into my body.*
The facility was surrounded by ocean. Countless gallons of water pressed against the hull, and Anjero could feel every drop. He drew on that vast reservoir, pulling power through the walls and pipes and air itself.
*All this energy... it's incredible.*
When he opened his eyes forty seconds later, they glowed with the deep blue of oceanic depths.
"OK, Jeremi, move out of the way! GEYSER BAZOOKA!"
This wasn't the technique he'd used before. This was something new, born from desperation and enhanced by his connection to the ocean itself. A massive column of water erupted from his hands—not a beam, but a concentrated blast with the force of a tsunami behind it.
"Hahaha, more water, huh?" Devanga laughed. "What the hell! It's chipping away at my armor!"
The rock armor that had seemed impenetrable was dissolving under the sustained assault, worn away like a cliff face under centuries of waves compressed into seconds.
"Jeremi, now!"
"OMINOUS STRIKE!"
Jeremi materialized directly in front of the stunned earth user, his fists moving so fast they seemed to multiply. Each strike found gaps in the weakened armor, and within seconds, Devanga was staggering backward, blood streaming from multiple wounds.
"Ahhhh..."
"Good job, man. Now onto Tenki," Anjero said, but even as the words left his mouth, he saw Devanga struggling to remain conscious.
"Did you really think I'd be done with those weak-ass pun—"
Devanga's words slurred as he finally succumbed to his injuries, collapsing to the floor with the finality of a falling tree.
"Anjero, give me the spirit-nullifying handcuffs before he wakes up," Jeremi said, his professional demeanor never wavering despite the intensity of the fight they'd just won.
"Yeah, definitely should do that."
As they secured their prisoner, both of them could hear the sounds of ongoing battles throughout the facility—Kamira's roars of rage echoing from the south wing, the bestial sounds of Romaji's transformation from the upper floors, and somewhere beneath it all, the ominous silence that suggested the most dangerous confrontation was yet to come.
Tenki was waiting for them, and after three years of preparation, he would not go down as easily as his lieutenant.
The real battle was about to begin.