Dimensional Descent

The cloaked figure suddenly charged for Leonel. But, when many thought the battle would begin, he suddenly enveloped him into a massive bear hug.

The rowdiness of the crowd continued for a while, thinking that maybe this hug was some sort of attack. When it came to the strongest individuals, after all, a bear hug might be among the most vicious ways to kill someone.

But, it became very clear, very quickly that this wasn't a vicious bear hug at all, especially when the cloaked figure set Leonel down, removing his cloak to reveal a beaming smile.

"Hey, Milan. How've you been?" Leonel forced a smile.

He should be happy to see his teammate, but this supposedly good thing was most definitely not one, especially if he was correct. Leonel didn't even need to look now to understand that most, if not all of the 'mysterious' nine geniuses that the three organizations had hidden until now were from Earth.

It might sound like Leonel was angry because he couldn't fight for Valiant Heart Mountain, but this wasn't the case at all. This was much deeper than that. It was the sort of problem that was giving Leonel a major headache just thinking about it.

If it was just about winning, what could be simpler than this? His teammates would forfeit long before he even had to ask. It was just the kind of men they were.

And, even if there were others from Earth that weren't his teammates, that hardly mattered. The fact they were from Earth meant that they had been training for the same amount of time Leonel had, and he didn't believe anyone who fit into such a category could defeat him, at least not in this segment of the universe.

What was the problem, then? It was a matter of flexibility and maneuverability.

Things might have been fine if the three organizations didn't know the relationship between Leonel and the others, but now that they did, it would be impossible to just hide them all away.

Using the snowglobes sounded like the logical answer, but he would need the actual chance to do so first. And, beyond that, who was to say that these nine were the only ones he had to worry about? What about the others that were likely still within those three organizations right this very moment? Leonel wasn't naïve enough to believe that only nine total had been sent out.

unlikely that these organizations would choose to forego this

great deterrence. Not in the face of whatever value Valiant Heart

instincts were tingling all over. He could feel that he had already been found out, that a trap was being slowly closed in around him. He could understand that if the person he thought was behind this was, that this

wouldn't want him to die an easy death or be simply captured. They would want something that would help them to vent all the rage and frustration that had been brewing within themselves for over two years

face and scratched the back

quite good at realizing when he had done something wrong. But, usually, it took some detective work. It had

made a big mistake this time. And, it was a big mistake

up about everything from Leonel's hair to who that new beauty next to him was, but he

scratched the back of

But in the end, he sighed a smile and shook his

things will be more interesting this way. How many are

Raj and

quite booming. It almost seemed as though he was speaking

"Drake? The Rookie?"

"He's already almost 18, Cap. I dunno if we can't

right. By this point, he would have already taken

how to respond to this sudden situation. This was especially so for the old man of Misty Woods considering Milan was

the problem, Cap?" Milan asked. "Do you

would help, but that's not the main problem. It also doesn't mean as much as it would have in

one in 'cahoots' with Leonel, the three organizations would still use it as an excuse to void the