Released Power

"Gary, why do you need the Phoenix Driver!?" Tsuruko exclaimed, backing up as Gary approached her.

"It's for your own good!" That was the only answer that he offered.

"I refuse!" Tsuruko stepped forward all of a sudden, clutching the lever on the Phoenix Driver defiantly.

"Tsuruko, listen. If you don't get rid of the belt, then bad things will happen to you." Gary tried to reach for the belt, only for Tsuruko to slap his hand away.

"I thought I had nothing good going for me. I thought I would continue on living until I died, never helping anyone, never being useful. That made me frustrated, and it made me feel alone. But I thought I couldn't do anything about it. This belt let me be useful! I won't just let it go!"

"Tsuruko, stop thinking with your heart, dammit!" Gary protested; continuing, "The power will corrupt you!"

"I don't care! I need the Phoenix Driver to save people!" Tsuruko snapped back.

"...What's your deal...." Gary muttered, continuing, "Just, why do you go so far? It's getting on my nerves at how you don't even care about the consequences..."

Tsuruko closed her eyes as her mind drifted into thought, images that she had buried deep within her conscious slowly began to surface.

The sun being eclipsed by the moon.

Countless beings trapped on the ground with dark energy coursing through the earth and through those very same beings.

Screams echoing through the air as the energy began to crack those beings' bodies.

Those horrible screams as their bodies were shattered to unleash monstrous forms that stalked the area.

The deafening beat of her heart, trying to rip itself out of her very chest.

The pain of her very body tearing itself apart.

Her eyesight failing, she lifted her head up, a sick laughter piercing through the horrid screams.

With her cracked limb lifted up towards the eclipsed sun, purple energy surging from between the cracks.

That was....the Sabbath, the way that the symbiotes were borne into existence.

Tsuruko's eyes opened as she looked down at her hand and clenched it tightly, "A long time ago, back when I was a kid...right before my eyes, I lost my father and mother. I was only two, so the details are hazy...But I wasn't able to do anything. I wasn't able to save them and they vanished before my eyes. That's why..." Tsuruko made a supportive motion with her fist, declaring, "That's why I've decided to save everyone! I'll give them hope, so they don't suffer like I did."

"You do know that in order to make an omelet you'll need to break a few eggs, Tsuruko, right?" Gary tried to pierce her vow.

"Just because you think it's impossible doesn't mean it's a reason to give up. If I don't reach out my hand when I can to help people, the regret will make me wish I were dead. I will bring hope to those in need, and eliminate their despair. With the Phoenix Driver, I've finally got the power to be that paragon of hope I've always promised to be. By seeing all these powerful people at La Pucelle, and learning together with you all, I realized you don't get to set your own limits. Even if I get mocked by everyone or look ridiculous, or even teeter on the edge of despair, I'm not going to let that stop me. I'm going to bring light into the lives of people in need to the very end. I'm not going to give up. Besides, it doesn't hurt to have a hero who's uncool, right?"

Gary sighed, chuckling as he admitted defeat—Tsuruko's desire to save others was greater than his desire to break the Phoenix Driver. "Alright, you got me. I'll believe in your resolve, Tsuruko. You can keep the belt, but if anything goes wrong, I'll destroy it."

Tsuruko dashed over to Gary, taking his hand in thanks. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Her big, bright eyes shone directly like stars.

Gary hid his red face, glancing away. "...Don't mention it."

"So, I was right!" A loud voice resounded through the gloomy graveyard—the trio of Tsuruko, Gary, and Excellen swirled around; what they witnessed was something out of this world.

A crab monster—clad in black and gold, the motif of the Zodiac Knights; armed with a massive pincer claw, the demon was fitted in spiked armour, possessing numerous skulls on its attire. Its single Y-shaped eye shone crimson; right down the middle of its face. "I've been tracking you, like a shark sneaks upon its prey, Ringed Wizard!"

"...Hey, who's this crabby guy?" Tsuruko asked, not even put off by the demon's presence.

The demon suddenly instantly collapsed, his limbs in a twisted mass above him—suddenly regaining his composure, he straightened up. "Oh, I'm not some ordinary crabby guy. Let my name reach your ears, as you tremble on the ground! My name is Cancer, member of the Zodiac Knights!" He whispered in a low tone, "The lowest ranked but still..."

Gary smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Tsuruko, Excellen, you two go run off, now. I think it's lunchtime." Gary's magical energy flared up in the form of a wolf—quickly, Gary Straights withdrew a golden ring which had an armoured face engraved upon it—with emerald compound eyes. Throwing his jacket off, Gary inserted the ring in the right slot of the Chimera Driver and turned it counter-clockwise, opening the front buckle that revealed the lion head inside.

Pure magical energy was released from the Chimera Driver—which quickly wrapped around Gary's body, as an orange glyph manifested before him. So casually, Gary walked through the glyph unflinchingly; the glyph erupted magnificently, cladding Gary Straights in a black jumpsuit with golden armour covering his body, a large lion head-shaped shoulder pad covered his right arm with the lion's mane stylized to flow over his chest. His head was covered with an odd, feline-like mask with large green eyes. "Dinnertime!"

Cancer rubbed his giant pincer claw against his head, "...Great, another Soul Armour Knight. You guys are the worst..."

"Honestly, I don't give a damn about your task." Gary replied as he continued to walk forward. "All I care about is a meal."

"...Oh, so you're the Ancient Magician, host to Chimera!" Cancer threw his right pincer claw forward, and it shot towards Gary. The symbiote's arm was exceptionally sharp—and in a matter of moments, the claw was just about to connect with Gary's head.

But, with just a slight tilt of his neck, the claw barely scratched the side of his helmet. In the next instant, Gary wrapped his white gloved hands around the spring like arm and pulled with all his strength. "Weak."

"GRAHHH!" Cancer screamed loudly as he was lifted off his feet and yanked toward Gary, whom released his grip and dashed towards the oncoming symbiote, his right arm pulled back.

WHAM!

Gary's fist connected with Cancer's face and slammed the symbiote into the ground, creating a small crater into the dirt path. When Gary removed his fist, there was a definite imprint of his three fingers in Cancer's face, and smack dab right between the symbiote's eyes was an imprint of a ring.

Cancer snarled as he quickly pushed himself from the ground and immediately released a burst of water, propelling himself into the air. Gathering and condensing water within his pincer of doom, Cancer launched several spheres of aqua energy towards Gary...

…who didn't even move when the spheres connected with his body, but oddly enough, there was a good reason why Gary didn't move. The water orbs just bounced off his armour and jumpsuit without causing even a single scratch to him. In fact, Gary just sighed in annoyance before he crouched down. "Really? That's the best you can do? You're not making this hunt all that exciting."

Then using his powerful legs, Gary leapt towards Cancer, who in turn laughed loudly, "My water allows me to soar through the air; do you really think you can reach me!? Now, it is time..."

"...To end this fight!" Gary announced as he reached for a chain of rings that were attached to his belt and pulled a ring off it and replaced the ring he had on his right hand. A loud bird screech echoed through the air as several red feathers appeared around Gary's body and he disappeared in a red and gold blur. Cancer's eyes widened when he lost track of his opponent. "Right behind you!"

The symbiote turned around just in time to get a familiar fist planted right between his eyes. The force rocketed Cancer to the ground, and the ground shook upon impact. Dirt and debris flew from the crash site, and as the dust began to settle, Cancer pushed himself off of the ground, his entire body wracked with pain. "...This can't be!"

"Chimera Glanzer!"

Cancer craned his head up just in time to see a titanic phantasmal red falcon appear over Gary's body, his right leg extended in front of him and into the falcon's beak. The phantasmal falcon and Gary crashed into the symbiote's chest, and at first, the only thing that happened was that the phantasmal flacon scattered into several red feathers, and the two fighting magical beings seemed to be frozen in place.

But then, several red and golden sparks flew from Cancer's body as he slowly lifted his hand up. "Damn you! Who the hell are you!?"

"Wanna know the name?" Gary asked before he twisted his foot around on Cancer's chest. "Then take it with you as you get devoured! I am Soul Armour Knight Zero!"

The sparks erupted into a powerful explosion, allowing Gary to land on the ground. The flames that surrounded him immediately turned into a gold runic circle that floated in front of Gary. Gary clapped his hands together before the circle was drawn into his belt buckle, with a loud gulping sound. "Well, Chimera's satisfied! Thank you for the meal!"

Gary quickly stood to his feet as he dusted his hands off... A loud crack resounded throughout the area—as a myriad of blades shot towards the duo at high speeds. These six swords were jet-propelled by science, and the tips of the swords were coated with aura. Gary quickly leapt back, evading the onslaught, if only barely.

Whom descended downwards to meet the eyes of the trio was a young woman in her mid-twenties—she appeared strikingly similar to Giselle Mercury in Tsuruko's eyes. The woman had pale-fair skin and red blushy cheeks. Her eyes looked to be a powerful purple while her hair appeared to be a pale-silver color as it loosely flowed outward and seemed to be about waist length.

This woman was clad in a skintight battle-suit, which was similar to a futuristic armour clad completely in what appeared to be blades. This armour had multiple black marks and lining, and thin breast-plates keeping her breasts raised. It was extremely light-blue in coloration, with numerous metallic attachments to cover the outer side of her legs and arms—both started with jagged plates and pauldrons on her hips and shoulders, respectively. There was a collar around her neck; and on the back of the armour, six varying types of swords fanned out in a wing-like formation, with one enormous sword straight down the middle.

"Kirika!" Tsuruko exclaimed, as she suddenly stepped forward—with or without magic, she'd fight Kirika regardless.

"Let's see," Kirika mused as she tapped her finger against her chin. "There are a number of reasons why I'm here, let's check our options. Option one, I'm not really here – You're all in a group hallucination and you'll wake up in a few moments."

"Option two – I'm here for the Knight Fan Convention and this is my costume. I just happened to get lost. Really lost."

With a slight chuckle, Kirika spun around and lifted up her hand with three fingers, "Or option three – I'm here to fight the Ringed Wizard again. If I had known this plan of mine would take so long, I would've threatened that crabby jackass to bring me a couple magazines. All seem viable, but I'd go with option three personally."

Gary clicked his tongue in exasperation underneath his golden armour—snapping, "It's you! You're that Super Galaxy King bitch who hurt Tsuruko before!" His magical aura flared up; ready to fight her one-on-one. "I'm gonna crush you this time."

As Gary prepared to charge in, he felt a small hand preventing him from jumping straight at Kirika Hotsuin. "...Dammit, you're not in any condition to fight..."

Tsuruko, who had stopped Gary, slowly walked towards Kirika, grabbing her duct-tape-sustained Dragredder. Pointing the blade towards Kirika, she confidently responded, "No, I'm fine. After that little talk I had with dad...I know now, that I can't give up. A hero will never give up, never hide, and never be defeated!"

Gary sighed, disappointedly. "Okay, this is officially beyond stupidity. You plan to fight somebody like her with no magic?"

"Gary, aren't there times where you act without thinking? That's what heroes do! Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there's no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic. My hope is my power!" Tsuruko confidently grinned at Kirika. "Now, it's showtime!"