"Ah, hello again old friend. It has been a while hasn't it? Though your perspective of time is more 'realistic' than ours, isn't it? For you the wait has been simple…"

"Pardon my peculiar greeting, old friend, but it's not as though you are a stranger to such things."

"So now our delightful duo is on to a harsher world than anything they have been to so far…So the gloves are off at this point for you, aren't they?"

"…Another smile. You're having far too much fun with this, aren't you? Just make sure not to damage the boy too much, I require his powers in the future."

"…What of the girl? …You know, the point of keeping her away from that fool Gravitus wasn't so she could die anyways. Do what you will, but make sure she lives too."

"You make no promises? …Well, I suppose I respect that honesty and loathe it all the same…"

"Just remember, old friend, that there is still a particular fight I wish to see from our Phoenix of Destruction. It's time he come to realize what his hesitation could cost him…"

CLASH OF THE ELEMENTS PART 4 EX STORY 3:

THE XRD IMPACT

Chapter 1: Blue Water, Blue Sky

In the farthest recesses of space, a single sphere of wind whisks its way through the ebony expanse, guided by the young boy standing inside it. His name was Alex Whiter, and his simple appearance consisting of a red shirt and blue jeans hides his incredible power as an Elemental Overlord.

He does not journey alone, as a swerve of his head allows him to gaze at the resting feminine figure behind. This girl, Shina Aurora, laid on her side atop a good amount of her long blonde hair, nestling her hands beside her cheek as she smiled. The boy tiredly raised his brows and let out a sigh, turning around and laying his hands close to his pockets.

"She's been sleeping a lot lately…Can't blame her, there's nothing to do." He closed his eyes and one hand slipped into his right pocket, touching a rough, rounded stone inside. "It has been…five months already? A little over nine months since we started this, and we only have two artifacts to our name."

Lifting his eyes and deeply thinking, he then said quietly "Lets see here, she said there's Ten Sages, and two of their names are on each stone so far. That's five stones, three to go…Ghhh, I should have her check the aura trail, hopefully we're close to another world."

He slowly approaches Shina and bends down, spreading his legs and hunching over slightly with a dull look in his eyes. He takes a hand out and moves it towards her face, murmuring bluntly "Hey you, get up." Before his hand touched, her body quivered in rhythm with her chuckle as she lazily let slip "Sis…lemme sleep a little longer…"

Curling his fingers back a little, Alex puckered his lips and hummed hesitantly. Looking back at her caused his heart to pound a bit against his chest. "She looks so…comfortable…" He muttered as he looked at her innocent pose, which contrasted her curvaceous and mature figure.

With a blush in his cheeks, Alex shook his head and said "F-Forget it, I'll just be gentle." He then glided his hand across her left cheek, going a little farther than necessary and wiggling some hair between his fingers. He only smiled a little before Shina wiggled, causing him to jerk back with so much force that he nearly loses his balance.

"Hehehe…!" A joyous squeal emerged from the awakening girl as Alex looks away and ponders "So she's ticklish there…? E-Err, wait, what does it matter to me?!" After a couple slaps on his cheeks he thought Shina hadn't woken up yet and in a haste went to pinch her nose. Her eyes opened immediately and he reeled back with a blush in his cheeks.

Shina blinked twice then pulled herself upright, patting her yawning mouth in a rhythm before smacking her lips and looking to Alex. Her hair was spread around her body but she didn't care. She blinked a bit more and muttered with a finger rested on her cheek "Oh, it's you. Huh…" Her disappointment rung out, leaving Alex to tell her sarcastically "Who else would it have been, the Tooth Fairy?"

"Not unless I suddenly lost a tooth overnight!" Shina smiled and giggled before standing up, the boy letting out a sigh before telling her "Whatever, I was hoping you could pull up the aura trail again. I'm hoping we didn't get lost."

"Sure! Just give me a second!" Shina reached into her right pocket while brushing her hair back behind her, touching the shrunken artifact as Alex faced the front of the sphere and noticed a blue-ish planet in the distance. Closing his eyes and folding his arms he grumbled "Lemme guess…"

"Hey Alex, the aura trail is going towards that planet!" Once Shina blurted that out Alex snapped his fingers before his chest and said "I could REALLY make a living as a gambler with these type of calls." He then turned to Shina as a trail of blue aura was floating beside him.

Thrusting his hand out to move the air sphere towards the planet, he said in a relieved tone "At least we're finally making progress." Shina clapped her hands together and said "No kidding! We really should pick up a game on this world to alleviate the trip's boredom."

Leaning back with hands in his pockets, Alex said "I just really hope this world's different than the last two. If I see another cutesy talking animal…" As his lips curled into a scowl Shina giggled and said playfully "Oh it wasn't that bad."

He gave a shocked glare and told her "Says the one who was briefly a chicken." Shina shook her head and replied "That's nothing to get my feathers in a bunch over." Her eyes then sparkled in wonder as she clenched her fists and asked "So what world do you we think we're heading to now?"

Looking back as the planet got closer, Alex saw that it was another Earth and said aloofly "Geez I have no idea." Shina stepped forth and peered out, commenting heartily "I dunno, something looks a little off, wouldn't ya say?"

Alex didn't even bother to look as he asked "How do you figure?" Shina replied "Well how many Earths do ya know where Japan is just completely wiped out?"

"A lot of them. Don't know why Japanese game and anime developers have a fascination with destroying their home…" The boy shook his head and took a moment to register what he heard. Turning around he muttered "Wait, huh?" and saw that the old oriental country was nowhere to be seen.

Folding his arms together with a hollow feeling in his chest, Alex said "W-Well…that doesn't tell us what world this is." Shina loftily leaned back and glanced over her shoulder to reply "The rest of the world looks fine. Lets just go take a look-see."

"We've got no choice. Just remember what you promised Shina." Alex firmly glared her way as she motioned a cross before her chest and told him "I'll stay focused this time. We'll find the artifact piece as quickly as possible."

"Good, I'm holding you to that." Alex cricks his neck a little and then holds his arms out, Shina stepping aside as the boy sends the sphere hurtling towards the planet. As they pass through the atmosphere, the strange twinge that they felt before came about rather normally this time. The Pacific Ocean was directly below, but as Alex paused the sphere midway through the descent he thought "Another world, another chance to encounter that strange aura…" and turned to Shina.

"So what direction do we go from here?" Alex flinched as he saw her quickly hiding her arms behind her back and chuckling nervously. That raised quite a few alarms in Alex's mind as he asked her slowly "Shina…don't tell me."

"Sorry Alex, the trail just dropped."

Alex scrunched his forehead as his expression turned sour. And with a frustrated grumble he asked "What's the point of a trail that can't even cross freaking dimensions?!" Then he stamped his foot down and swung his arms out. Shina, swaying on the side of optimism, smiled and suggested "Japan's gone and there's another dimension here. I think that narrows down what world we're on?"

"I'd prefer you sound certain on that. But whatever, maybe if we dropped down and talked to someone we'd get a better idea of what we're up against." Alex calmed down a little and heard out Shina as she asked "Well where do you think we should check?"

"Anywhere outside of Australia will do." Alex's reply was swiftly blunt, and with a sigh Shina quietly asked him "You're not going to let that go?"

"I don't forget." Alex spoke calmly, and with a light sigh continued "Not now, not ever."

"Well I wouldn't worry about talking animals if my guess is correct."

"Good!" Alex almost cracked a smile before turning to face her again. He waved a hand out and asked "Look, we're above the Pacific. Lets just go to America." A shadow started to be cast over the two as he suggested that.

"Clouds? I didn't see any on the way here." Alex looked up and saw the sky was perfectly clear, but the shadow kept getting bigger and bigger. Shina land a hand on his left shoulder and pointed back while saying "Uhhh, Alex, you might want to get moving."

Her relaxed attitude did not belay the importance enough as Alex slowly turned his head while telling her "Relax, if there was a threat then I would've-"

As a lesson on paying attention to your teammate, getting smacked straight on by the gigantic metal hull of an airship is quite effective, as Alex quickly found out when the air sphere was broken and his and Shina's bodies were planted back first against the hull. Sent along at high speeds along with the ship, Alex felt his lips wiggling from the air pressure at first and his words came out jumbled.

"Wh-at the he-ll?!"

"Whee-hee-hee! This is exciting!" Shina embraced the experience with absolute glee, and every strand of her hair was pinned against the metal. Alex grit his teeth and thought "Well, time to brace myself for the usual craziness…" as he peeled an arm away from the wall and lessened the air pressure.

He then zapped his and Shina's shoes and turned so he stands on the hull perfectly fine. Shina slowly turned her head and asked "Alex I don't think gravity works like that." The boy swung his hand out and bemoaned "Just stand on the hull." Shina pulled away and tried to flip fancifully, but flopped face first onto the hull and started to slide back.

Alex ran ahead and grabbed her right arm, pulling her up so she can stand sideways on the hull. She chuckled as he berated her calmly "I didn't get rid of all the air pressure." Shina rubbed the back of her head and said "Wouldn't want to disturb the ship?"

The boy glanced aside and said "Sure, lets go with that." Shina then walked around in circles for a bit, the metal clanging loudly below her feet.

"This is pretty cool, but flying is much more fun and free!"

"Well then why don't we fly onto this ship and see what ingrate rammed into us?" Alex suggested with some irritation in his voice. Shina paused and looked over her shoulder, looking at the annoyed twitch of his eyebrows before commenting "Uh-oh…"

The boy slanted his eyes and muttered "Look, if the owner of this…" he glanced over his shoulder and squinted to make out the name of the ship painted over the long red side before continuing "'Super…Mayship…?'"

He shook his head and looked back, unaware of Shina's gasp and grin as he firmly told her "If they can't equip a freaking radar on their ship, then that's no-" Shina stopped him with a swift poke to the chest and said while reeling back "Ha, I knew it! We're on the Guilty Gear world!"

Alex blinked and with puckered lips said "I-I was getting to that" before thinking "Oh great, so that means we're on HIS ship." He faced Shina and scanned her body a couple times, wiggling his eyes away with a soft "Ahem".

"Geez, he'd be on you the moment we show up." Alex played cool and told her "I'm going to see if I can get inside the ship and say hi the people running it. Then I'll grab whatever intel and meet you back here."

The ship shook a little, the boy wrote it off as turbulence and focused as Shina replied dully "Uh, why?" Alex quickly made up an answer "Because if the aura trail suddenly comes back it'll be easier to notice where we need to go out here."

Assertively she told him while shaking her head "I really, REALLY think I should come with." The ship shook again, and there was a very faint explosion heard in the distance. Alex glanced back this time while responding "What, think I can't handle it?"

"I really really REALLY don't want to be rude…You're nicer than before Alex, but you're still lacking in proper…tact I want to say?" Shina held her hands before her chest as she said that, following with an apologetic bow as Alex widened his eyes and lashed out with sputtering offense "N-Now wait just a second! I can handle a pirate!"

"Weren't you just about to give him a piece of your mind?" Shina said with a gentle smile. Alex paused for a glare and then with a flick of his left hand out pulled some metal from the hull to wrap around Shina's feet.

"I'm doing this for your own good." Alex swiftly said before leaping off and flying towards the top of the ship. Shina looked up and said hastily "Hey, Aleeeex!" He was out of range in a second and with a shrug of her shoulders she pulled out her rapier and said "Note to self, work on his manners."

At the top of the ship, Alex stood close to the tip and looked around as the wind blew roughly against his body. "Right, this ship is different than the original, so if I want to get inside…" He quickly braced himself as the ship shook again, and when it passed he grit his teeth and proclaimed "You got to be kidding me! These guys aren't that bad of pilots!"

As he turned around, Alex finally noticed that the ship's cannons were going off, firing at some THING that was flying around it. It was a strange creature as big as a two-story building and four wings made of split, rusted gears. It's head bore similarities to a gecko, but with dozens of searing red eyes spread across it. It's two fanged tongues lashed out with it's deafening shrieks, and a couple metallic serpents wiggled it's way through the folds of wrinkly dark silver skin on it's beastly frame.

It flinched from the cannon balls exploding upon it, but not enough to stop the lasers erupting from it's many eyes that ripped into the frame of the ship. Alex laid a hand against the side of his hair and commented "What a disgusting Gear…" With a smile of cunning intent, he continued "If I take this thing out, it'll be easier to get information from the people in this ship."

Swinging his right arm out, it became wreathed in flames that extended far past the reach of his palm, calling forth a sword made of glistened amber that had a fanged look to it. Firmly focused on the Gear, he exclaimed "Hey asshole, over here!" The monster turned and immediately flew at Alex with a loud shriek.

With a swing of his blade Alex cast forth a wave of fire at the Gear's eyes. The flames scorched the bloody lens and left them releasing smoke forth. With a deeper screech the beast grabbed it's face and tumbled out of the air, crashing and rolling as Alex leaped to the right. The Gear slid off the ship and Alex spun his sword around with a smile filled with pride.

"As though I'd lose to a monster. Come back when you're a Megadeath class and maybe I'll give you the time of day!" He turned around and casually strolled ahead with sword held behind his back when the Gear suddenly flew back up with hands swung out. It's bubbling eyes were healing slowly but they were fitting for the boiling rage it experienced.

With a single clap the Gear sent out a tunnel of sonar waves at Alex, who was inflicted with a loud ringing in his ears as the ground around his feet ripped apart. "Gck…!" Alex bit his lower lip as the attack came to an end and the Gear lunged right at him, it's vein-y claws threatening to rip through his flesh.

Blue streaks speed by and puncture the Gear's palm, twisting it's flesh as it pierced through the other side. A couple of them lodged into the creature's eyes and made them burst apart. The Gear recoiled back and Alex was able to turn around, noticing Shina had activated her Gunslinger Drive, giving her a pair of pistols, silver hair and some mid-riff revealing armor.

Sticking a wiggling finger into his right ear as he turned, Alex yelled out "I told you to wait for me to get back!" Shina shot a few more aura bullets at the Gear, aiming for it's right shoulder while happily proclaiming back "Not like I was gonna stay back when this ship's under attack! Besides, it was rude of you to hold me there." Ending that off in a forcibly prissy tone, Shina heard the boom of cannon fire and ducked as they sped by above her.

The Gear recoiled back from the explosions but dug it's talons into the ship's bow. Then it swung both it's claws at Alex's sides. The boy flicked some wax away and with a draw of his sword back spun it out in an arc to slice through the monster's wrists. Calling up a barrier of wind to blow away the spurting blood, Alex then swung his other hand out and shot streaks of lightning at the abnormal wings.

The wings clamp down onto the ship and the Gear is unable to move. Alex backs up a bit as a couple cannon balls struck the back of the wings and blew them apart from the rest of the body. The gears clattered off in multiple directions while Alex spun his left hand around above his head, taking the cold air and moisture to condense it into a huge spear of ice.

When the Gear lets out a pained screech, Alex swung his arm out and the spear impaled through the monster's mouth, dragging it right off the ship and sending it hurtling towards the ocean. What remained of it's presence were streaks of blood that blended into the red metal top of the ship. With another spin of his sword, Alex dispelled it and glided his hand behind his head.

"Geez, starting off with a Gear attack of all things…" Alex turned around and walked on over to Shina, who deactivated her Drive and proclaimed "Good work! The Jellyfish Pirates are all safe and sound now!"

"Then we can finally get some information on what time period this is and work on finding the artifact from there." Alex stepped past Shina and shrugged his shoulders. She gestured out and said with a chuckle "Lets just see how it goes. It's not becoming of a gentleman to sully a good deed with demands of a reward."

Her posh accent made Alex look over his shoulder with a crumpled expression and let out a simple "Whaaaa…?" As he turned back he shook his head and murmured "Is this going to be her thing for this world? Whatever…just stick to the plan Alex."

A surge of radio feedback grabbed the two's attention, followed by a suave, southern-accented voice calling out "That was mighty impressive. I don't know where you two came from, but I reckon a couple helpful strangers like you deserve a reward. There's a lift you can take up ahead. Come on in, you're more than welcome here."

Alex leaned forward and exclaimed "All we need is some information!" Only the wind responded with an awkward whisper. Shina patted Alex on the shoulder and told him "He can't hear you from here Alex."

"I know that!" He brushed her off and said "I'll head inside myself. PLEASE stay back, this'll only take a few minutes." Even as he went towards the lift, Shina whistled and walked behind him. He groaned and forced himself to accept this. Folding his arms against his chest as they got on the lift, Alex tapped his foot as the lift descended.

They were taken to a decently sized corridor with bright orange lighting on the walls. The door on the other end opened up and a man walked in. Alex's heart skipped a beat at the man's appearance. His slender but lightly tanned muscular body oozed with confidence, which translated to the way he strutted forth. He had no qualms with decency as he left his long collared trench coat open, and his pair of dark shades gave him an air of mystery and brought a twinge of nostalgia to Alex. With a pair of long fitting slacks, a gunslinger-style belt, and a wide-rimmed Cowboy hat atop his pony-tailed blonde hair, this man appeared to be the pinnacle of humanity.

As he approached, the man tipped his hat up and swung that hand before his face, a smile appearing in that instance as he looked ahead. His lens couldn't hide just who he was focused on, and as Alex froze up the man stood in front of a slightly flustered Shina and commented "I don't hear much about ladies who are willing to fight Gears. If I did, I reckon I would've heard of one as pretty as you by now."

Shina giggled like a lovestruck teenager and with a light brush of her hand out said "O-Oh you don't have to be this welcoming Mr. Johnny!" Alex widened his eyes and with grit teeth frustratingly thought "Damn it! His charisma snared her that easily?!"

Johnny pulled his head back a bit and smirked suavely "Well well, my reputation proceeds me. Be honest, was it your job that brought you here, or perhaps you have some more…playful intentions?" With a blush brighter than a tomato, Shina replied "Oh no no no, it was just a coincidence!"

"Heh…Well coincidence or not, you pulled this ship out of a tight situation. And as I said, such generosity deserves a reward." Johnny gracefully lifted Shina's hand up to his face as though it was light as a feather and gave the back of it a brief but passionate kiss. Alex's eyes flared up and he yelled out in a mad stutter "H-HEY!"

Shina, meanwhile, rubbed the side of her face with a nervous smile and replied "I-I wasn't expecting you to be so forward…" Johnny let her hand slip away and told her with a grin "It'd be a sin not to. Though you can consider that a bonus. For my real reward, I'd like to offer you to join the Jellyfish Pirates."

With a gasp Shina folded her arms before her waist and clenched her fists, briefly looking at Alex's glare before staring Johnny in the eyes and saying "I-I appreciate your kindness Mr. Johnny, but we can't stay very long. We just need to get our bearings here and then move on…N-Not to mention I'm uhhh…not 18 yet." She gave her dismissal as gently as she could.

Johnny's expression drooped a bit, lowering his sunglasses halfway down his nose as he muttered "I-I beg your pardon?" Shina gave a brief nod and hum. Johnny's eyes glided up and down Shina's body before he muttered even quieter than before "T-That can't be right…"

His confidence shaken, he quickly snapped his fingers before his chest and said "Well while it'd be rude to force you to stay, you're welcome to do so. Just know we'll have to set anchor to make some repairs, and unless you're itching for more trouble you might want to depart there." The man spun around and swayed his coat, making his way back to the door while scratching the side of his head and murmuring "Kids these days…"

Shina looked at Alex and saw that he still maintained a flustered look, so she asked innocently "What's got you all hot under the collar?" Alex gleamed at her, shook his head, and with a smirk replied "N-Nothing at all! Look, lets just go inside the ship and see what info we can get from the Jellyfish Pirates."

"…Ok!" Shina lit up and began to make her way for the door, her excitement manifesting in the way she skipped along. Alex rubbed the back of his head and grumbled "…What do I care anyways?" before following Shina along.

Next Time: Simple Life