The silence that lingered after the handshake wasn't just still—it was hollow. Vast. The kind of silence that echoed with everything unspoken.
Asol exhaled and let his shoulders sag. His arm still trembled from the clash, the sigils across his prosthetic dimly flickering like exhausted embers. The smell of scorched earth and ozone lingered heavy in the air. Above them, the clouds twisted—half-torn apart from the earlier battle—and in the far distance, the dome of Aegis Prime loomed like an eye watching from across the world.
Blue Volt released his grip and took a step back, his breathing now steady but shallow. The storm around him had finally settled. For the first time since they'd met, he looked human.
And then a ripple cut through the air. It was not lightning. It was not pressure. It was Space itself.
"Asol."
He turned sharply.
Kurogane stood at the edge of the crater, her eyes narrow, glowing faintly crimson in the fading light. Dust floated around her like petals caught in some broken gravitational pull. Her long black hair trailed behind her in the breeze. A faint wound along her cheek bled slowly, but she didn't seem to notice.
She looked from Asol to Blue Volt.
Her voice in his head was cold.
'Why… is he still standing?'
Blue Volt blinked. "…Right. You."
He tensed slightly. Just slightly. Not in fear—but caution. Her presence warped the battlefield around her. Even exhausted, she was dangerous. Everyone who saw her knew it.
"I didn't kill him," Asol said quickly, stepping between them, "because we're working together now."
Kurogane's eyes narrowed. She didn't say anything—but the space around her trembled. Her hands twitched faintly, a thread of warped air curling between her fingers like a leash she hadn't decided to pull yet.
'You're joking.'
"I'm not."
'You were trying to kill each other less than five minutes ago.'
"Ten. Er well, actually across Time." Blue Volt corrected under his breath.
Kurogane ignored him as her gaze sharpened like a blade.
'Asol. He works for Providence. He's the enforcer.'
"I know," Asol interrupted. "Believe me, I know. But things have changed."
Her jaw tightened. Her eyes scanned the battlefield—the cratered ground, the scorched trees, the fractured pieces of what had once been reality during their fight. She studied Asol's prosthetic arm and the way Blue Volt stood slightly off-balance.
Then her gaze softened. Slightly.
'You made him bleed.'
"Not enough," Blue Volt muttered, rubbing his jaw. "He's annoying. Hits like a star imploding."
"You're not wrong," Asol said, sighing. "Listen. I don't expect you to trust him right away. But right now, we need him."
There was a long pause.
'…Explain.'
And he did.
The files they found in the lab, he log entries with the Omega-class clearances, the experiments, the proof that Providence had been working with the Saviours. Everything was true. Kurogane listened in silence but her expression was unreadable.
Blue Volt added to it—reluctantly. He explained the scope of Providence's influence, how every major hero was looped into his inner circle. How their lives are tied to him—not by loyalty, but necessity. Some were blackmailed. Others were threatened. And a few simply believed in his version of stability.
'All of them?' Kurogane asked, voice flat.
"Most," Blue Volt said. "Some don't even know they're working under him. They're just carrying out orders from higher-ups without knowing where those orders come from."
'And Kazuma?' she asked, looking at Asol.
Asol nodded. 'You know that he knows. He didn't say it outright, but I can feel it. He's looking for a way out. We just haven't shown him the door yet.'
Kurogane's lips pressed together.
'And you said the people of Aegis Prime don't know the Saviours exist.'
"They don't," Asol said. "That's what makes the evidence so important. Providence has hidden them behind technicalities—framing their actions as Kaiju attacks or terrorist outbursts. If we can get public proof of collaboration between Providence and the Saviours—real proof, not just scattered files—then we can pull the whole system down."
'And we can get justice for those who came before me.'
"But we'd need to do it in front of the world," Blue Volt added. "Somewhere public and something undeniable."
Asol nodded. "We'll expose him on the las day of the Tournament of Heroes."
Kurogane blinked.
"The Tournament of Heroes?"
Asol's eyes glinted.
"It's the one time all major heroes, media outlets, officials, and citizens are watching the same thing. One broadcast. One stage. If we hit him with proof there, with the right timing—he won't be able to spin it."
Blue Volt crossed his arms.
"That's a nice dream," he said, "but there's one problem."
Kurogane raised an eyebrow.
"Only one?"
He ignored her. "We need that proof first. What you found in the lab isn't enough. Heck, the people don't know of The Saviours. It shows corruption, sure—but Providence is good at burying things under bureaucracy. If we're going to expose him, we need something undeniable. Something people can't unsee."
"Perhaps we expose his atrocities with his experiments and reveal Kurogane. She can tell everyone." Asol said slowly.
Kurogane looked at Asol in disbelief while Blue Volt nodded in agreement.
"I might know where it is," he added. "Providence doesn't store his most sensitive data in public servers. He has an encrypted vault hidden in what used to be Ultima's base. He turned it into a private sanctum after Ultima disappeared."
"You've been there?" Kurogane asked.
"Once," Blue Volt admitted. "Didn't go past the outer chambers though. Providence has layers of countermeasures—most of them designed for those like me. But I think I can get in. And if I can't—"
"You'll be fast enough to leave," Asol finished.
Blue Volt smiled faintly.
"Exactly."
Asol's eyes narrowed.
"If you're going to do this, I need you to fill Kazuma in."
Blue Volt's smile faded.
"…Why?"
"Because we'll need him too."
There was a beat. Blue Volt sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I've barely spoken to the guy. We've crossed paths a few times. Mostly during joint missions. But that's it."
"Doesn't matter," Asol said. "But he's seen what you can do. And if we're going to pull this off, we need him on the same page. And guess what? He'll be more than happy to join in order to save Aoi."
Kurogane frowned.
'What about her?'
Asol hesitated.
That silence was answer enough.
"We leave her out of this." he said. "If what Kazuma said about her is true, then we need to avoid her at all costs. Who knows what was done to her."
Kurogane turned away slightly.
'She deserves better than this.'
"We all do."
Blue Volt looked out toward the horizon—toward the golden shimmer of Aegis Prime in the distance. Its lights gleamed like hope made physical, even though they now knew what lay beneath it.
"I'll get the files," he said at last. "Give me two days since thats also the last day of the Tournament of Heroes."
"And Kazuma?" Asol asked.
"I'll let em know," Blue Volt said. "No promises."
'This isn't just about tactics anymore. We're moving toward war. And if we're going to survive it—we need to trust each other.'
Blue Volt looked at Kurogane. Then nodded.
"Asol," he said. "If you don't hear from me assume the worst."
Asol nodded once.
"I'll wait for you at the Tournament. But..."
"Hm?"
"Because you're a participant on the last day, you're disappearance will make some noise."
Blue Volt knew Asol was right. He was fighting the Adaptive Hero, 628, as the finale of the tournament. If he were to have disappeared, the people would riot. Then he thought of something.
"What if, Asol, you take my place?"
"Hah?"
Asol and Kurogane had a look of disbelief.
"Me? Fight in the tournament? No way!"
"It's the most logical thing i could think of right now. Plus, it's in regard to Providence. I believe he may have foreseen if something like this would happen and prepared something."
"I- sigh... Fine..."
"Good. I will arrange the change. Providence won't know of it of course, it would be at the discretion of the speaker man. I'll get that evidence for you."
With that, Blue Volt turned. A pulse of lightning shimmered through the air, but he didn't vanish immediately. Not this time.
He looked back over his shoulder.
"But for what it's worth," he said, "I still think you're insane."
Asol smirked weakly.
"You're just saying that because I won."
Blue Volt chuckled and vanished in a crackle of light.
Kurogane stepped beside Asol, folding her arms.
'This is madness.'
"Maybe," Asol said, watching the trail of light fade. "But madness is all we've got left."
The wind whispered across the ruined battlefield, quiet now in Blue Volt's absence. Just the distant hum of an energy storm fading over the horizon and the low crackle of disturbed earth settling back into place.
Asol remained silent, his body aching with a pressure that went far deeper than his bones. Kurogane stood beside him, arms crossed, her expression unreadable. The tension in her shoulders had loosened—marginally—but it wasn't trust.
Not yet.
'You're putting a lot of weight on him,' she finally said in his head. 'After nearly getting yourself killed.'
"But didn't lose right?" Asol murmured.
'Doesn't change the fact that he tried killing you.'
"He was running from something," Asol replied, staring up at the roiling sky. "He wasn't chasing me."
Kurogane didn't respond right away. Her eyes scanned the landscape—searching, maybe, for something that could anchor her certainty again. But it wasn't here. Not anymore.
After a long moment, she spoke. 'You really think he'll come back?'
"I do."
She folded her arms tighter.
'Because you believed in him? Or because you need him?'
Asol turned to face her, his expression tired, but resolute.
"Both."
Kurogane stared at him, eyes narrowed, then slowly turned away. Her gaze fell on his damaged prosthetic arm. The sigils were barely glowing now, some cracked, some completely dark.
'You need to repair that.' she said bluntly.
"I need sleep."
'You'll get neither if you pass out on me.'
"I'm not planning to."
'Good,' she said. 'Because I'm not carrying you.'
He gave a weak chuckle, then winced as his ribs flared in protest.
"Let's get out of here."
— Two Hours Later —
The safehouse was nothing more than an old maintenance bunker, long since decommissioned in forgotten speck near the outer rims of Aegis Prime. Dust-coated lights flickered overhead, running on backup batteries scavenged from a factory dump.
Inside, Kurogane stood by the terminal, fingers dancing across a cracked holographic screen. Her Aura flowed in precise pulses through the interface, helping override the ancient encryptions layered into the walls. It was amazing that the bunker was still functional. Asol sat nearby, his shirt discarded, and torso wrapped in clean bandages unintentionally revealing his lean build. To much of Kurogane's embarrassment, she turned the other way. His arm rested in a field diagnostic cradle, lines of faint light running up and down the prosthetic's surface.
Kurogane turned to glance at him. 'How long before it's fully synced again?'
"An hour if I don't move."
'And if you do?'
"Two hours. And probably a fire."