The Start of the Crimson War

{Day: Saturday}

{Time: 10:00 AM}

{Location: West Equinox: Mitsuki Arena}

Mom dodged my bolts of lightning and swiftly dodged a blast of fire that I shot at her. She rushed forward and hopped up. She predicted my dodge then twirled around and hit me with a roundhouse kick. I grunted and groaned as she knocked me upwards. She glid toward me and palmed my stomach, launching me back then a burning phoenix screeched as it hit my body.

I dodged as I crashed into the wall. I fell on one knee and coughed. I softly grunted and panted softly. 'Mom is still incredibly difficult to defeat..'

Papa Gregory watched our sparring match and had his arms crossed. Royal, Nova, Freya, Lexi, Dante, and Ricky all watched the sparring match as well. It was like a monumental moment as it was the first almost everyone got together like this to watch a sparring match.

"Come on Sunshine! Don't tell me this is all you've got!" Mom said excitedly and got into her Mystic Stance.

I stood up and look at Mila, who was disguised as a fairy. Mila smiled and her Erogelic Symbol shined on her stomach. I synced with Mila and a golden mist began to form around the arena. Mom noticed it got pretty excited.

"Hmm? This doesn't seem like any of the Sin Drives.." Papa Gregory said.

Royal watched closely and crossed her arms. She tilted her head and rose an eyebrow. "The energy doesn't feel evil either, what is this?"

I sacrificed my Greed Energy and golden aura surrounded my body. The Charity Symbol shined on my back then my hair turned golden and my eyes shined a light blue.

"Here we go! Rhea!~ Take a look at our Charity Drive!~" Mila said and clapped her hands together.

'If I pull this off...I can inherently create my own version of Luck Zone. Charity Drive deals with luck greatly. Mila! Let's do this!' I thought to myself.

Rhea watched and smiled. "Hm, let's see how great it truly is..~"

I lowered my posture and smirked then dashed toward Mom. She watched me and noticed a field being set up and the Charity Symbol shined on the ground. She dodged my first strike and tried to use Envisage but it gave her the wrong vision. I took this chance to strike her with a high kick then followed it up with three strikes infused with Bio-Fire Energy.

Mom slid backwards and noticed stones being hurled at her. She waved her arms quickly and created a barrier of wind around her. The stones circled around Mom and she hurled the stones back at me. She noticed the stones curve around my body and looked surprised.

'I did it...but this is slightly different than Luck Zone...I can feel Mom's energy is equal to mine..' I thought to myself.

{Charity Zone: Each combatant's energy levels are shared equally and are enhanced. Quality and Quantity Effects, however the castor has an added buff and debuff. You gain a lot of luck in this zone and all of your abilities are essentially buffed, however you are getting taxed every second. For every second this field is active, your Greed Tax goes up and if it maxes out, you can't use Charity Drive until the Greed Tax is gone.}

"So basically she's saying, this Drive only offers Equalization on the battlefield and gives you incredible luck at the cost of Greed Tax." Mila said.

I dodged Mom's strike and parried the orb of darkness she launched at me. 'So basically, Mom and I are equal on the battlefield and I'm just extremely lucky right now? I can definitely see how this is a Forbidden Technique as well.'

"I've figured it out." Papa Gregory said. "The Second Half of the Forbidden Mitsuki Technique. Virtue Mode. Because Kaden has this, he needs to learn how to use an ancient technique called True Equinox."

"Why?" Royal asked and looked at Papa Gregory.

"Because...Both sides of the Forbidden Technique taxes the user. If he reaches Full Tax, Rhea or Mila will not be able to operate. True Equinox will balance both Mila and Rhea equally to where he will never get taxed no matter what." Papa Gregory explained.

I flipped backwards to dodged Mom's shockwave then deactivated my Charity Drive. I could hear Mila panting and grunted softly. It wasn't me that was getting taxed directly...when I get taxed it hurts Rhea and Mila.

{Don't worry. The tax only happens when you're synced with either Rhea or Mila. Syncing inherently hurts you and your companion.}

"Don't worry, the tax pretty much goes away on it's own. There is a benefit to Tax. When you have something like Greed Tax and you use Greed Drive, it won't take your energy to use an ability. The Drive will use the Tax first." Mila explained.

I was a bit surprised then looked at Mila and Rhea. Rhea nodded and smiled, confirming it was true. I looked at Mom who was waiting for me.

"Let's close out this battle, Sunshine!" Mom said and surrounded herself with her Sage Energy.

"Let's do this!" Rhea said and smiled.

Mom noticed a dark gold mist forming on the battlefield. She smirked and looked at me. "Closing out the battle with the Greed Drive...I want to ask you something, sweetheart."

"What's that?" I asked.

"How do you feel being the only one of our bloodline to actually wield such power? Many men wished to be chosen by Rhea and Mila, even Dad here wanted to be chosen." Mom questioned.

"I only wanted to be chosen so I can research them! Their existence has to have some purpose in our Clan's history." Papa Gregory said.

I smiled and closed my eyes. Red lightning crackled around my body and I opened my eyes to look at my left hand. "Rhea taught me...The Seven Sins aren't all bad as people made it seem. She taught me that I don't even need to feel Sin myself to grow stronger. The sins of others help me.."

"I haven't interacted with Mila as much as I did Rhea, but I've learned these Drives can only truly work when it comes from the heart. Both Rhea and Mila allows me to experience something no one else can experience...True Balance. I am the first in history who can experience...Equinox." I continued.

"Ahh I see...You've been reading the History of Equinox huh?~ Rhea and Mila reveals they are Deadly Sins and Heavenly Virtues despite both being Entities of Indomitable Sexuality..." Mom said and smiled at me.

I synced with Rhea and began to dash toward Mom. "I have been reading those books and I'll show you that I've grown over the years!"

I began to generate shadow energy around my body. I disappear into my shadow and my shadow rushed over to Mom. She watched closely and noticed a geyser of dark water energy erupt from my shadow then noticed my shadow was gone.

Mom smirked as she looked up. She activated her Sage Drive and surrounded herself with light energy. "Mitsuki Arts!"

I began to absorb all of the mist on the battlefield as I came down and dark aura surged around my body. I began spinning as I came down and surrounded myself in electricity.

"Iridescent Bang!" Mom chanted then a burst of light energy struck my body.

I grunted and groaned as I was blown away by her Sage Drive boosted Mitsuki Arts. I rolled backwards and reverted to normal. I grunted as I slowly got up.

"You still have a long way to go before you can challenge someone like me, Sunshine!~" Mom giggled and waved.

I smiled at Mom and stood up straight. I stretched and grunted as some of my bones cracked. I rolled my shoulder and felt a bit of pain returning, but it wasn't enough to cause alarm.

"You did better than I expected, my darling~" Rhea giggled and held my shoulders.

I chuckled and looked back at Rhea. "I appreciate it...~"

"Alright, let's get you ready for your date.." Rhea smiled.

{Time: 11:00 PM}

{Location: Summer City Square}

I walked around the plaza and noticed Annette sitting on a bench. She wore a cute white sweater and skirt with pink and white shoes. She had her hair in a ponytail than her usual pigtails.

I walked toward her and placed my hand on the back of the bench. "You ready to go, Ann?"

Annette looked up from her phone at me. She blushed as she noticed me then smiled and nodded. She stood up and grabbed her purse. "I'm glad you actually showed up..."

"Like I said, I am a man of my word." I said and smiled at Annette.

I held my hand out and she grabbed it. We began to walk around the plaza together to find a good place to shop at. It was a bit awkward as we did know each other in the past, but unlike Georgia and I, Annette and I aren't allies.

"Isn't it a bit weird to go on a date with your enemy?" Annette asked.

"Says the woman who's in love with her enemy." I said.

Annette blushed and looked away. "I am not in love with you! I just think this will make peace between us! You saw how quickly I was ready to kill you a few days ago."

"Yeah and you failed miserably. Besides if you didn't like me, you wouldn't even have gone on this date with me." I chuckled and placed my free hand in my pocket.

Annette puffed her cheeks and scoffed. "I'm only on this date to learn more about you and your weaknesses! That's the only reason!" Annette said and flailed her arm around.

I chuckled softly and looked at Annette. "Really huh? Yeah alright I believe you."

"You're not taking me seriously! I know that—" Annette looked at me and had a flashback to when we were in high school. She blushed and looked down then gently squeezed my hand. "When you look at me like that, you aren't taking me seriously.."

I stared at her and stood in front of her. "What was your reason in joining the Crimson Crows? Why do you want to kill me?"

"I don't. I only joined because it guaranteed my friends and family safety..." Annette said and looked at me.

"And there's your reason on why I've never taken you seriously. Your problem is not with me, Ann. Now that you got yourself in this, I have to be the one to break you out like always." I said and smiled at her.

"If it were that simple I would...but I can't break out. It's almost impossible to get out of Crimson Crows. Not while Lance is still alive. Shiro doesn't care if we leave Crimson Crows because he doesn't care about our issues. He only wants to fight you." Annette said.

"Ann—"

Annette smiled and held both my hands then looked down. "I do like you, Kaden. I always have...I want to be with you and the other women you have with you, but I can't. If I leave...Raven, Rika, Griffin, my family...they are all dead."

I stared at Annette then looked at Rhea and Mila. They didn't know what to do.

{New Choices Available}

[Play the Long Game (Annette Route Progression)]

"One day, I'll get you out of this..." I crouched down so Annette could face me. I smiled at her. "Trust in me...I will make sure you and everyone you care about gets out of this..~"

Annette smiled and stared into my eyes then watched me stand up. "Your light has returned...The Kaden I love is back.."

I chuckled softly and closed my eyes. "I only show this side to those I care about. I care about you, Ann. I always have."

{Annette feels closer to you...}

After our words, we continued on our date. The awkward air had disappeared, but there was still a barrier between us. Now that I know it wasn't gonna be easy having her betray Crimson Crows, I had no choice but to follow Ardent's words and play the long game.

We did a bit of shopping together, but Roman was calling Annette which caused our date to end pretty early. I took Annette back to the plaza and it hurt me on the inside to let go of her hand.

"I had a fun time with you, Kaden." Annette said and looked back at me.

She smiled at me and walked closer to me then stood on her toes then gently kissed my lips. I let her and watched her pull away. Annette smiled at me and walked off. I watched her leave and my hair fell over my right eye.

"Crimson Crows...We will take them down and fix everything. Annette doesn't deserve to be stuck with those assholes." I said.

"I agree with you, but it's too risky of a play to storm in there. Let's just focus on getting ready for everything. If you want to focus on Shiro, you've gotta focus on Lance and his crew first." Rhea said.

Mila nodded and held her arms. "I agree with Rhea. The only way we can save Annette is through getting rid of Lance. Let's focus on that first."

"Right.." I said and walked off.

{This is it. All we have to do is set up the Platinum Fist Tournament. We are getting closer and closer to the end of the Crimson Crows. Their reign ends soon.}

I nodded and walked to my car. "Georgia and everyone else will be saved for good...I have already completed my first goal, now onto my main goal."

{Time: 1:35 PM}

{Location: Summer Slammers}

"So you want to start the Platinum Fist Tournament? You do understand fighters from across the world will be attending correct? We would have to reopen all of our arenas and it's a lot of work and money." Papa Gregory said.

"This is the only way to get Lance here and end everything. This is the only way grandpa. This is the only way I can end everything dealing with the Crimson Crows." I said.

Papa Gregory looked at me and crossed his arms. He gave it some thought then nodded to himself. "Alright, but if I do this...You have to win the Tournament. Everything should be ready within a month."

I smiled at Papa Gregory. "Thank you and I promise you I will win this tournament no matter what!"

Papa Gregory chuckled softly and nodded. "Make sure to train hard and don't forget, you have 17 more fights left of the Dojo."

I smiled and crossed my arms. "I'll complete them all."

The tournament was now being prepared which allowed me to really focus on my academics and my training. I had to be the best before Lance got here. No matter what, I had to win...