"Are you sure, Major? You..."
But Momiji never finished that sentence; she didn't want to believe what was happening.
Turning her head, she looked around, trying to find Senzo, because she had only seen Yugiri, Andy, and the Major.
"What are you waiting for?" Hyoubu asked.
She had to get Magi here ASAP to get them out of here, but, well, he wasn't really in any condition to enforce it.
"Haah."
"Ah, sorry. But do you know where Senzo is?"
The moment Hyoubu heard that, it all made sense.
A smirk formed on his face as he barely lifted his right arm, pointing toward where Senzo lay unconscious, his head on Sophie's lap.
"!!"
Momiji suddenly appeared next to them as her eyes widened in shock at the sight of Senzo's pale, bloodied face on Sophie's lap.
"What!? What happened?" she barely managed to speak while covering her mouth with her hands.
Thud!
After Momiji suddenly teleported away, Hyoubu couldn't hold himself up anymore, and he fell backward straight onto the deck once again.
"Urgh!" he groaned, but he didn't call Momiji back here; he could at least give her some time over there before they needed to leave.
"After he got rid of everyone, he just fell backward, and since then, he hasn't moved a muscle," Sophie explained as tears were streaming down her face.
She was totally powerless after all; she couldn't be of any help and was captured by the USEI soldiers.
She was the cause of Senzo's outburst and couldn't even help him after everything was over.
Momiji's mouth was wide open; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. He did all that by himself!?
"U-Um, can I do anything to help? Maybe teleport with him to a hospital?" she proposed, fidgeting with her hands.
But on second thought, that probably wasn't the best idea; he was lying there unconsciously, and she had never teleported with someone unconscious. It could have disastrous consequences.
"Ahem, Momiji."
She suddenly heard her name and turned her head toward Hyoubu.
"Yes?"
"Get Magi and Yo here, and reinstall Ihachigo. After that, return to Japan; Babel has their hospitals over there, and then we can get Senzo admitted," Hyoubu explained his plan, with lots of effort to stay conscious.
"Ah! That's why you asked me to get Magi here!"
Hyoubu gave her a nod.
"Understood, hold tight, Sophie; now it's my turn to play my part after he saved us all."
And she was gone the next second, reappearing in front of Magi and Yo.
"No time to explain; grab my hands, you two!"
"Huh?" Yo, he muttered.
"Calm down, Momiji, what's going on?" Magi inquired, trying to understand the situation.
"Tsk."
But Momiji was having none of it as she grasped both of their hands firmly without a moment's hesitation and teleported back to where Hyoubu and the others were.
After Magi and Yo saw the sea and sky, they immediately got ready to fight, but there were no more soldiers in sight.
"???"
The two looked at one another with confused looks in their eyes, and just as they were about to question Momiji, they heard someone cough weakly.
And when they saw who it was, they immediately made their way toward the Major.
"Are you okay?" Yo asked, he said as he looked in horror at Hyoubu.
Magi was even worse; it looked like he was looking at his own dead child. He was almost as white as a sheet of paper.
"Momiji! Explain what the hell is happening right now!" he demanded; he had to know who dared to injure his benefactor.
Even if it kills me, I will make you pay!
"Calm down, Magi. I can see what you're thinking just by the look on your face," Hyoubu casually said, trying to lighten the mood.
Cough, cough.
But his body was rapidly deteriorating, so he had no time to waste right now.
"Listen well, you two; you and Momiji will put Ihachigo back in its place and activate its functions. Once that is done, start the ship and rush toward the Japanese mainland. Do not stop for anything, and once you can see the mainland, contact our comrades who are stationed there and have them prepare a car to rush toward the best hospital Babel has."
"Understood?"
With a single raised eyebrow, Hyoubu looked at three of his most trusted members; they were the only ones who could do this currently.
"Understood!" Magi firmly declared, and before Yo could open his mouth, Magi gave him a nasty glare.
"..."
And Yo just kept his mouth shut, even though he wanted to figure out the current situation, but the Major's orders were final.
"Get going!" Hyoubu stated, as he collapsed onto the deck once more.
"Let's go. And Momiji, please explain a little more while we're doing all this."
"Understood, Magi."
Then the trio quickly made their way toward Ihachigo, which now stood all alone right next to the railing.
The moment the three of them touched the machine, they vanished once more, appearing in the deepest part of the Catastrophe, where Ihachigo had been installed all these years.
"Yo, you fix the cables. Momiji, you place Ihachigo back into its metal cage. I will activate its abilities so we cannot be located anymore."
"Understood!" Yo, Momiji shouted with a salute.
As the three of them were doing their best to get it back up and running, Yo couldn't help but glance at Momiji periodically.
He was trying to not bring it up first, but it was getting harder and harder to focus on his current task while not understanding anything that was going on.
What had happened to the major? And where was Senzo during all this? He had no idea, but he felt like Momiji should know at least a little more.
"Hah."
He suddenly heard from the center of the room, and while he tried to resist it, he did sneak a quick peek, but what he saw left him stunned.
Momiji was already done with her part and was glaring at him now.
"Yo! I know you're curious, but there are lives at stake right now. So put that curiosity to the side for now; when we get the ship started, I'll explain everything I currently know."
"Ah, sorry..."
He could only smack his own face with both his hands simultaneously, What have I been doing? I clearly saw how bad the old man looked, and I'm still slacking! Get your shit together, yo!