As Alistor leaves, the hole closes. Auroa alone faces off with the general in the theatre.

“You think you’ll be able to hold me off? You won’t even last a minute.”

“For some reason, this all feels familiar to me. Like I’ve already done this before.”

“You’re just delusional.”

Auroa materializes a whip from his wind.

“Let’s not waste any more time. My wind has been dying to break something all day.”

And so Auroa begins to clash with the general. Back outside Base Face arrives at a park. The sound from the monster’s flute draining the victims. Alistor and the other caught up to monster’s positon.

“Stop right there! We have you surrounded.” Alistor pointed.

“Ah! Just in time for my grand sonata. The sound of the century and you’ll have the honor at the front seat.”

“I don’t think so.”

Alistor charged at the monster with his blade. Base Face effortlessly blasted him back with a wave of sound. He falls back flat on his face. Axe begins to cower behind Maigashi.

“Do you always mindlessly charge at the foe?” Maigashi asked.

“Well, we have to do something.”

“No plan or strategy whatsoever. Just great, at this rate you won’t last long.”

He continued to nag.

“If you know better? Show me! You always worked side by side with Auroa so how would I know any strategy?”

“Have you ever used teamwork?” Maigashi asked.

“Teamwork?”

“Seriously? You never used teamwork? Do I have to explain the basics?”

Maigashi lets of a sigh.

“Uh dude, I think you should totally explain.” Axe suggested. “We could use some tips right about now.”

“Sigh…fine. Just follow my lead.”

“We’re listening.”

The monster begins to give chase as they followed his lead. Maigashi begins to sarcastically explain the basics of teamwork.

“All levels of a good teamwork rests on four foundational elements. Goal, roles, process, and relationship. High performance pays out for those who execute these successfully.”

Base Face sends a wave of sound at them. The other two moved out of harm’s way as Maigashi blocks the blunt of the attack. Smoke was in the air.

“A goal is what we’re trying to accomplish together.”

The smoke clears away. He fires a couple shots from his arrows bringing the monster’s attention towards him.

“The Role! Who does what and how we adapt. Who keeps the offense, plays defense, or even be the fool?”

Base Face continues to fire away as he makes a run for it.

“Process is how we roll and conduct things together.”

Axe got behind, grabbing the monster by surprise. Base Face tries to shake him, but he kept a tight grip in a piggyback position.

“Dude! This better work. I don’t feel comfortable doing this.”

“And last but not least, communication. How we influence our skills… And get the job done!”

Maigashi turns around and throws a lightning dagger, piercing the monster’s front. Axe loses his grasp on the monster as Alistor went in for the finishing blow.

“Now finish him!”

Axe quickly stumbled, crawling away from the monster as Alistor got close. Base Face desperately fires another sound wave.

“Now jump!” Maigashi commanded.

He makes a leap in the air avoiding the attack. Making a quick dash, his blade slashed through Base Face causing sparks to burst out. The monster’s body begins cracking up. Struggling to hold itself together, it grabs a hold of him.

“What? Let go of me.” Alistor struggled.

“My sonata! It is not done yet.”

Base Face attempts to fire at him from close blank range, but Axe suddenly intervenes taking the shot from behind. Base Face loses his hold on Alistor as Maigashi pulled them both back.

“Axe are you okay?”

He is the floor, barely able to budge.

“Dude…remind me to not do that ever again.”

Relief was through both their eyes. They both got up to face the monster once more.

“We have to finish this monster right here and now. So what do we do?”

“A combination attack might just be enough.” Maigashi suggested.

Base Face continues to taunt at them as they both charged right in. The monster fires a wave of sound in the middle, but they both break away to avoid the attack.

“Thunder!”

“Star Breaker!”

Lightning and energy impales Base Face from both sides.

“My sonata!”

Base Face shatters reverting back to the original form it once was. A broken flute left on the ground pavement. They immediately go check back on Axe.

“Dude is it finally over?”

He got right back up.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine? Thanks for saving me by the way.”

“Nah! No problem, I’ll be okay. Just my back will be sore for the next few days.”

The sound of a storm breezed by. Small debris of scraps drops on the park not far from the theatre.

“It’s coming back from the theatre. Let’s go check back up on Auroa.”

From the distance they witness the theatre tearing apart. The ceiling completely ripped open as Auroa damages one of Scrap Rams core with his whip. The general begins to fall back as his pieces are swept away from the vortex.

“It seems Base Face been totaled. You have quite a bit more power than I anticipate. For now I take my leave.”

Scrap Ram sinks beneath the ground, vanishing before his very eyes. Alistor and the party caught up with Auroa.

“He got away this time.”

They took the time to check what was left of the building. Salvaging what they could, they loaded the instruments in Bamboo’s car. Arriving back at the restaurant, Bamboo greets them with a nice meal.

“Is this really for us? Dude thanks.”

“A reward for a day of work.”

They begin helping themselves to the food.

“Oh, and here’s your guitar.”

He hands the guitar back to Axe. All nice and brand new.

“Dude! You actually fixed it up. Awesome!”

“Well, I never knew you could fix things Bamboo.” Alistor commented.

Bamboo was flattered for a moment till Axe begins to play once again. The sound of his guitar still hurts their ears.

“Huh? That’s strange…it still sounds the same. I wonder why.”

They continue to examine the guitar on the table. Nothing was out of the ordinary for them.

“Well, beats me. I did what I can.” Bamboo shrugged. “Tomorrow is a brand new day, so eat up and get a good night’s sleep.”

As they enjoyed their feast, Vilevelious watches from the other end from Axe’s guitar. Scrap Ram is seen reporting back at the lair.

“Today was not as expected. His guitar is not ready and still requires time to collect enough energy to take form. Once at its peak our greatest monster will be ready.”

“In the meantime, you better devise something else to feed the labyrinth. Now go! Don’t come back till you have something new.”

The general takes leave.

“Alistor…you foolish boy. You don’t think I know. It’s just a matter of time before the truth slips out.”

The scene ends with the emperor focusing on Alistor through the viewing globe. He evilly laughs all alone in the room.

¬¬¬