"Warp has ended. We have arrived at Faram Orbius Sector."
A large, purple planet appeared before their eys, but behind that was an even larger dark spiral. So large, in fact, that they could barely see any stars from their window.
"That's..."
"The black hole...!"
"It looks like the planet could disappear into it at any moment!"
"It's like the mouth of a giant monster!"
"So that's a black hole, huh?" Out of everyone in the room, only Matatagi seemed as unphased as the coach. He was even smirking.
Kimiko didn't blame him though. If she hadn't been to the planet multiple times already (and if she wasn't single-mindedly focused on finding her best friend), she would probably have a similar reaction. Rather than fear, there was more of a feeling of fascination. After all, how often would you be able to see such a thing up close in your life?
As they began their descent onto the planet, she had an unamused look as most of the others gaped in awe at how futuristic everything seemed. She dismissed any questions they had for her by saying that she barely had the time to look around when she was there, and they left her at that. Her eyes focused solely on the castle in front of them.
When they landed, they found Ishigahi, as always, waiting for them in the station.
"Welcome, everyone." He said with a bow. "Here is where the finals will take place, at Faram Orbius. What do you think?"
"Amazing..." Ibuki couldn't help muttering.
Manabe pushed his glasses up his nose. "All these futuristic looking buildings... It truly does appear to have the galaxy's best intelligence and military power."
Shindou frowned. "We're going to be fighting a planet with such an advanced civilization in the finals?"
"Also," Minaho cast a glance at the surrounding people. There weren't many, but as it was a train station, it made sense that there would be people there. Either that, or they wanted to see an Earthling up close. But still, "Even though the black hole is so close, everyone is so calm..."
"It doesn't look like a planet that's about to be destroyed within a few months." Manabe agreed with a nod.
"Faram Orbius is at least guaranteed second place." Ishigashi explained. "Regardless of the results of the finals, they have the possibility of migrating to another planet. Of course they would not feel as though they are in danger."
Ibuki growled. "So basically, they can afford to lose our match?"
"While our planet is at stake here! That's bullshit!" Tetsukado's tone matched his.
Indifferent as ever, Ishigashi simply gave them a look. "The finals will be held tomorrow, at Farm Orbius' establshment. The Grand Celesta Stadium."
So this whole tournament was named after this planet's stadium as well? It took everything Kimiko had in her not to verbally react. Really, this planet and their huge ass ego!
"If no one has any more questions, I will now show you the way to the stadium."
"Just one more!" Tenma suddenly spoke up, walking closer to him. "Ishigashi-san. Do you have any new information about Tsurugi?"
The alien shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. But we will continue to investigate, so please do not worry."
"... Understood."
Ishigashi brought them to a floating gondola (the same one as what she had seen her friend use previously) that was set on top of the train station. Unlike the ones on Earth, they were not attached to any wires, and so were free to navigate throughout the entire city. Not unlike taxis.
"You can see the stadium just ahead." Their tour guide explained, eyes pointing at the giant building not too far in front of them. It was placed right in the middle of the city, not too far from the plaza they had just passed by.
Its structure was unique to the buildings surrounding it, reminding her a little bit of how the Ragnarok Stadium was.
Tenma's eyes narrowed. "Everyone, let's win! We'll win and save Earth and the galaxy! And then, we'll rescue Tsurugi!"
"Yeah!"
"There's something I must tell you before you fight the finals." The coach spoke up suddenly, earning confused looks. He's never had to talk to them before a match before. "As of today, I resign as Earth Eleven's coach."
?!
The ride back to the train was... awkward, to say the least. No one was able to say a word as the coach left the gondola. None of them could do anything as he walked out of his office with a bag in hand. Tenma and Shindou waited for him outside, perhaps trying to stop him, perhaps asking for answers. But they got nothing.
"That man's mind dwells in the pit of insanity... But it may have been because of his insanity that we were able to make it this far..."
"I can only half agree with you there, Shindou-san." Kimiko said, hopping off the train with a sigh.
"Kimiko?" Tenma blinked at her, as if to ask where she came from.
The older boy let out a sigh. "Eavesdropping?"
"I wasn't the only one." She turned to one of the windows, and the two followed her gaze just as a couple of heads ducked down to hide. She gave them a wry smile. "Shindou-san, don't blame yourself. That man's decision has nothing to do with your previous conversation with him."
"Previous conversation?"
"... Saw my memories, did you?"
She chuckled slightly. "Sorry. But I'm serious, it's not your fault he's leaving. He never intended to stay with us for this match to begin with."
"But how can that be?" Tenma asked. "Why would he... Where would he go?"
"I'm not sure. I tried to read his mind earlier, but he's got so many... thoughts that it became hard to look for a specific one." She scratched the back of her head, unsure if she could even call all the flashing images and incoherent mutterings 'thoughts'. "He's definitely got some kind of plan, though. But whether or not it would be related to saving the galaxy... It's hard to say."
"I... see..."
"However, I will say this." The two gave her a questioning look as she continued. "I wouldn't worry about him. Much like how he said we shouldn't worry about Mizukawa-san, I think, with how... to use Shindou-san's words, 'insane' he is, I think he's got a fair shot at surviving on this planet. And he did come back from the dead, there's also that."
The boys exchanged glances, neither of them looking convinced, but they knew they had no other choice but to accept the matter as it is.
"Okay then." Tenma gave his own cheeks a light slap. "I guess... There's nothing left to do but practice for tomorrow's match."
Shindou nodded. "Let's head back in and round up the others."
Kimiko gave them a small smile. "Tell everyone that they can just do regular training for this match. The gravity here is identical to Earth, so there shouldn't be any issues."
The brunette blinked at her. "Where are you going, Kimiko?"
She pulled out a small tube with a glowing substance inside it, waving it in front of them. Then, she inserted it into her belt, and her entire body glowed a similar color.
"That's..."
"An ampule...?"
"I've been injected with the first version of the cure, remember?" She plucked out the now-empty tube and stored it into a pocket. "Even though it didn't do anything to my lifespan, it did weaken my abilities by quite a bit. The ampules will temporarily boost it back to its original level. Or, depending on the dosis, even more than that."
"And why would you need to do that?" One could hear the small sense of dread in Shindou's question, as if he knew what the answer would be and was hoping he was wrong.
Unfortunately for him, her smile turned into a devious smirk. "I'm going to go find Kyou."
"Kimiko, wait―!"
Right before they could reach out and stop her, she disappeared into thin air.
"..."
"..."
"She'll... She'll be fine... Right?"
"... Tsurugi can scold her for us."
The brunette let out his first smile in a while. "Right."
~~~~~
She teleported to the roof of a building not too far from the castle.
She quickly ducked behind the tower that was in front of the building before anyone would notice her. Staying low, she was able to spot multiple guards around the gate, and quite a few more at the top of the walls.
She leaned her back on the tower and took a deep breath. Then, she closed her eyes and focused her everything to the furthest part of the castle she could reach. She still couldn't read the minds of aliens, but at the very least, with her original abilities back, she was able to sense them. That was enough to give her an estimation of their presence.
One of the castle's gardens was empty, but it was far too open. She could be noticed by anyone walking by any of the higher windows.
Another option was a gondola docking bay. It was much higher up, near the top floors of the castle. While there were no gondolas at the moment, making it just as open as the garden, there weren't so many places from which people could look down on it. It was safer, but also farther.
She took another deep breath, opening her eyes to get a proper view of the balcony-esque area. It was much farther.
It's going to take up most of my boost... She cursed under her breath. "If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have agreed to be a lab rat."
Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she returned her focus to her teleportation ability. In a blink, she arrived at her destination.
It was strange that what is essentially a parking lot is so empty, but upon finding a sign near the door, she understood why. The castle is the tallest building on the planet, making it dangerously close to the danger in the sky most hours of the day. One mistake, and the gondola could be sucked right in. Gravity might be strong, but the pull of a black hole will always be stronger.
She used what little power she had left to sense through the doors. Finding the hall on the other side empty, she teleports herself in.
And that's the last bit of juice from that glass. She could feel herself getting weaker and huffed. Well, it's fine. I've got a few more left.
She snuck around the halls for a bit, only needing to hide once in a while when coming across someone walking past (She cursed a bit more at her lack of foresight to borrow that invisibility cloak Zanark had because it surely would've made this expedition much easier). All seemed relatively calm in the castle, despite there having been a coup not too long before. It was unsettling, really.
What if they got completely taken over? Not that she cared about the planet's politics, but her best friend could be executed if that was the case. She needed to find the jail cell as soon as possible. She could sense the only human mind in the building many stories beneath her feet. Unfortunately, she hasn't been successful with finding a way down.
Everything was quiet until several footsteps came from the other side of the corner she was about to round. Taking a peek, she found multiple soldiers gathering around a familiar green haired alien.
The one that queen ordered to calm the crying child way back then... She wished she had a way of telling who's side he was on. Just as she thought so, a familiar dark purple creature came into view. The ghost king!
Recalling his words when they first met, she was compelled to trust him. But both fortunately and unfortunately, she didn't want to blindly trust someone she couldn't directly predict the intentions of. She had to find another way to confirm their allegiance.
Trying to read their minds wouldn't work... Even with the boost, I could only... sense their minds... She blinked. If her original state could do that much, then what about a heightened state?
A memory of the Chrono Storm versus The Lagoon match came to mind. Saru and the others had only shown what the extra power could do for their physicality. But what of their psyche?
Maybe... Just maybe... It was dangerous to do such a thing without testing it first, or at the very least, asking for a second opinion from the other Feida kids. But she didn't have time, so she took out two tubes of her own energy and inserted them into her belt in turn.
For a second, she felt a surge of power at a level she had never reached before. It felt tingly and a little weird, but after a few deep breaths, she was able to reign herself in.
And then...
Queen Lalaya, please be safe!
Donolzen will pay for what she's done!
That Earthling had better be okay. He's such a nice person!
She could hear them. The thoughts of the Faramians.
She pumped her fist excitedly. Finally. And it seemed luck was on her side as the soldiers in front of her eyes were all on the queen's side. Which means they're on her friend's side.
How annoying. These people don't understand just how much Lady Donolzen has done for our planet!
... Okay, maybe not all of them.
It was only a fleeting thought, so she wasn't able to identify which one of them it came from. If she could just get closer... That would be a crazy thing to do, even by her standards. She might have armor on, but even that could only do so much when faced by a whole platoon. She didn't have any cloaking or camouflaging technology on her either, so how...
Her hand unconsciously went to her pocket as she thought, and she could feel something smooth inside it. Taking the item out, she saw that it was another ampule. The last one that she brought with her for this 'mission'.
What's a third one going to do? She rolled her eyes at herself. It can't change my form. Only MixiMax does that! I'm better off trying to just walk in and brainwash... them... instead...
Her eyes widened when her second, and quite equally awful, idea came.
At her original level, she was able to overwrite people's memories. At a heightened level, she could bypass the brainwaves of aliens to read them. Perhaps, on the stage after that, she could have something akin to those two abilities combined...
There was only one way to find out.
If it works, it works. If it doesn't, then I'll just have my heightened powers for a longer duration, I suppose. But she prayed to every deity in existence that it would work.
Inserting her fourth tube of the day into her belt, more tingles went around her body. Just like before, she got accustomed to it fairly quickly, and so, she decided to test her theory.
Her eyes glowed ever so slightly as she walked towards the group. None of them, not even the Pixie, gave her strange looks. The green haired one― Now she knows his name to be Minel― continued his explanation of their plan to capture the noble.
She took a quick peek into one of their minds. Just as she hoped, they saw her as another soldier. Her ampule gun had also taken the form of one of their own guns. Like a hallucination.
Perfect.
"Alright. That would be all." Minel suddenly said. The Pixie hovering beside him gave him a nod as the soldiers voiced their understanding. "Then, let's go!"
She followed closely behind them, not once letting her guard down. She didn't listen to any part of the plan, so she was disappointed when they began to climb up the staircase they found. But it was fine. They would go to save their queen when everything was safe.
And then, she could have her best friend back too.