[White-Jet]

[From Doppler Town Ruins]

Ryuta returns to the base in time to hear a massive roar echo throughout the area, followed by the surrounding temperature rising beyond what little room temperature remained within the crumbled building. He had to hurry and get the IT machine back up before he's spotted by either side and attacked as a threat.

He runs back towards the bay, making sure not to at least be seen by the Lioness reploid, before stopping in front of the machine used to control the pads and inserting the circuit boards he got from the Maverick Hunter Base ruins in what remained of Doppler Town.

[OmegaMan]

Blaze Lioness began panting heavily after that attack. She was in a cooldown phase now, and it would take at least another 5 minutes before she could use her flames again. That meant she was completely trapped. Blaze Lioness was also irritated by the fact that the heat ray didn't do its job. What kind of a monster was this guy? It didn't matter, though. Nobody could be more powerful than the Reploid who rebuilt her. Nobody. He would come for Elzareth, she thought.

The New Gen Reploid's mangled words did not escape her attention, however.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she said irritably.

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

Elzareth released the gravity field and natural gravity took over, dropping the makeshift prison freeing the Animaloid. He quickly created a field around himself and cut off all oxygen, killing the fire on his cloak and clothing. He was left with an almost completely nude body save for his pants and belt. He rubbed his throat, trying to deal with the intense heat his throat just felt. He was sweating like a pig, odd for a typical Reploid model.

"I need forces right now, and your repeated assault convinced me, you'd be perfect to join!" Elzareth exclaimed. "I mean, this is what you can do just with your normal specs, imagine what you can do when evolved!" Elzareth chuckled as his voice slowly faded into it's normal tone.

[OmegaMan]

"Evolved? What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. Her own Master had already promised a greater power for her efforts. She would be 'evolved' enough soon. "Are you actually trying to sway me to join you?" Blaze Lioness had an odd feeling about this exchange. But she didn't know what. Just what was going on in that humanoid head of that crazy New Gen?

[White-Jet]

Ryuta could faintly hear Elzareth propose something to the Lioness reploid. Although he had his own problems to deal with, and having somewhat of an idea of the proposal the mix-eyed reploid was pushing onto his former "annoyance", he couldn't help but abandon his current work and sneak over to the entrance of the IT Bay to get a closer observation of what was going to happen if she did agree to accept it.

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

"I try swaying others because it's nicer than forcing, but I could if you want," Elzareth said before he closed his mouth.

It looked like he was chewing inside of his mouth and if one listened, you could hear sloshing before he finally stopped. He held out a hand, looking at the burnt synthetic flesh. He spit out something into his palm. He closed his fist and twisted it upside down and opened his palm. What he spit out was a blue, gel-like substance that stuck to his hand. It dangled off and close examination reveals that it was moving very slightly, trying to cling to his hand more than it already is.

"This can give you more power than any...thing can fathom. Best part, this evolution requires no sacrifice other than this gel, and it only has positives," Elzareth said. "I could ask you to help, because you would only gain, or I could force you to see the nice sides? If you want, I could provide a demonstration," Elzareth said, looking in the general direction of Ryuta.

[OmegaMan]

Blaze Lioness thought for a moment. This man did have some absurd power. She wanted her Master's power more, but the offer was tempting. She figured that if it gave her the power she needed, perhaps it would make her work for her Master so much less troublesome. And perhaps if she got away with it willingly, she could simply betray this freak and leave with it.

"Fufufufu...! An interesting offer. I was waiting for another certain power to be given to me, but perhaps yours will suffice for the time being?"

[White-Jet]

Ryuta frowns when Elzareth implied demonstrating his "offer" on him. He intends to leave at this point, but knows the lioness reploid would spot him making a run for the IT Bay and witness one of the pads activating, tempting her to want to follow and realize more than what was being pushed in front of her.

For the moment, however, she didn't seem to notice Elzareth's leering hint towards his presence, but he wasn't about to risk assuming she wasn't aware that they weren't alone and merely ducks back behind the threshold to avoid provoking another conflict.

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

"Pumpkin, this isn't your typical temporary solution to your problems. This is the only thing you need," Elzareth replied.

He raised his arm and tossed the blob of gel towards Blaze Lioness, watching it land a few feet away from the cat. It stayed on the ground and very, very slowly, was expanding.

"If you accept, I can ask you to attend the initiation ceremony which only requires your presence at the Amusement Park in 5 hours."

[OmegaMan]

Blaze Lioness stared at the stuff. She couldn't believe what she was seeing! It was expanding by itself? She was so preoccupied, staring intently at the expanding gel, to notice the eavesdropping individual. She slowly approached it.

"I suppose I will accept, then. How does this work, exactly?" she said, curious on how she was supposed to utilize the odd substance.

[White-Jet]

Ryuta peeks around the corner just enough to see what was going on, but not be noticed by Lioness. He contemplates whether he should destroy the vial or leave the aftermath to Maverick Hunter, considering this wasn't his fight to get involved in at the moment. There was still the matter of getting back to Vanallia desert without being spotted, but considering everyone's attentions were drawn to the lively substance, he figured he shouldn't worry too much.

He takes one last look before sneaking back over to the computer controlling the IT and booting up one of the surviving Telepads, setting coordinates to Vanallia Desert before slipping towards it and standing on the pad, waiting as a bright cylinder surrounds him before disappearing, revealing nothing but a slowly fading light on the pad.

[To Vanallia Desert]

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

Elzareth's eyes shifted for the briefest of moments toward Ryuta's location and he quickly looked back at the Ordarium. Took you forever, monk, Elzareth thought. He reached forward and pulled the gel-substance apart, leaving a tiny bit on his other hand.

"It's just like candy, see?" he tossed the gel into his mouth and let it dangle on his tongue in full view for the lioness. He retracted his tongue, closed his mouth and swallowed it. He extended his other arm forward. "You try it. If you like what you get, you just need to agree to help us for a bit, maybe watch some fireworks," Elzareth chuckled.

[OmegaMan]

Lioness cocked a brow toward Elzareth. This was a bizarre substance, indeed. Was it really alright to trust it? No matter. If it would give her the power she needed, she'd do it. She reached forward with her claw, scooping a bit of the substance up. She held her hand up and observed it for a moment.

"Hmph. Not sure if my body was built to handle such things or not," she said as she brought her claw to her mouth and stuck the substance in her maw.

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

"It's universal. One size fits all," Elzareth chortled.

He set his hands on his waists and quickly gave his spine a crack, leaning back. After, he let out a yawn.

"I'm in a slightly better mood. If you feel like evolving, just ask for it and think about what you want evolved and it'll do it. I'll deplete your source, but you're in the city that makes the stuff. I'm sure a cat like you wouldn't have too hard a time, especially now that you're with me," Elzareth spoke. "Listen, I'm going to head to Algonquin Park to check up on another of my comrades. Just stick around and wait for the fireworks, okay?" Elzareth turned and began a much more joy-filled walk out of the ruins.

[OmegaMan]

"Hmph, just five more minutes and you'd be a toasted marshmallow for sure," Blaze Lioness said under her breath as Elzareth walked out of view. If only her cooling system were more effective...! She'd have had enough power to melt this entire ruin down to molten rubble and that New Gen freak with it. At any rate, she decided to look around and see if she could find something to smelt with her ferocity. Lioness darted about the ruins before exiting.

[To - Undecided -]

[『ちびまる子ちゃん』正人]

Elzareth stepped onto the street and thought about his next destination. He shrugged and decided to replenish himself...

Elzareth to [ Energy Plant]

[White-Jet]

[From Giga City]

The telepad flashes as Ryuta appears on top, looking around as he steps off.

The situation between Elzareth and the lioness reploid seemed to have ended some time ago, insinuating she most likely accepted the Ordarium. He puts the repainted Heatnix mask back on before stepping off and heading out into the city, thinking it best not to get involved in whatever shenanigans she might pull while under its influence.

[Leaves Federation Military HQ]