Protecting West Equinox

{Time: 3:30 PM}

{Location: West Equinox: Awakening Temple}

"This task was supposed to be stupid Freya's job, but noooo she wants to be like 'I wanna fight along side Kaden~ Although we can't fuck, I feel so attached to him~ Neh Neh neh' ugh..." Lexi groaned and crossed her arms.

"Give her a break. Nicholas is out there and they want revenge. Right, Miss Mitsuki?" Elizabeth said.

Mom looked at them and smiled. She nodded and held her arms. "That's right, besides I've awakened you all so and you did a great job of being my assistant, Alexis~"

Lexi blushed and looked at Mom quickly. She stammered over her words then finally found what she wanted to say. "M-Miss Mitsuki—"

"I think it's time you all start calling me Mom or at least call me by my real name Chisaki. You don't have to be formal around me~" Mom chuckled softly.

"R-Right..." Lexi said and cleared her throat. "Mom! I told you to not call me Alexis! It's Lexi now.."

Mom laughed softly and gently rubbed Lexi's hair. "Sorry, Lexi, I just wanted to tease you a bit."

Kofi looked at Mom and looked at Adam. "It's so strange because he looks nothing like his mom or dad.."

"That's because he takes after my biological father, his grandfather on my side, Kenshin. Sadly he isn't with us anymore as he died before he was even able to make it to my birth." Mom explained and walked over to Kofi and Adam.

"You two have treated my beloved son well...He tells me about you two nearly all the time~ I'm glad he has friends that kept him on the right path." Mom smiled and placed her hands on their shoulders.

"I mean we can be bad Influences at times...but we try to keep him out of trouble." Kofi smiled.

Mom smiled and and chuckled softly. "Because of your bond with my son, I hereby claim you as my own. Welcome to the Mitsuki Family, Kofi and Adam...anyone who is a good friend of my children are treated as my own.."

Kofi and Adam felt honored and pleased that Mom accepted them as one of her own. The group left the Awakening Temple and headed back to the main area of West Equinox.

Raven looked at Kofi and held her arms. Rika noticed and smirked. She skipped beside Raven and bumped into her playfully. Raven grunted and looked at Rika.

"They are kinda cute right..?~ I kinda wanna see what they are made of now that they have their potential awakened..~" Rika said.

"I wasn't staring at him because he was cute." Raven denied and crossed her arms.

"So why were you staring?~" Rika asked and gave a smug smirk.

"Will you back off..?" Raven sighed and began to walk faster, blushing.

Griffin watched and chuckled. He looked at Rika. "She's definitely feeling him.."

"For real. She literally just needs to ask him out. I'm sure he'll agree because she's hella attractive to me anyway." Rika said.

Dante was watching the Platinum Fist Tournament Livestream on his phone and smiled. "The tournament is getting pretty good. I've got to show Rachael and Victoria this, they are missing out."

"They are shrine maidens so they can't really be out and about like we want them to, but we can go there to visit them and watch it with them." Ricky said and smiled.

"I'm sure they'll love to see Equinox win. Let's go to them." Dante said.

Ricky nodded. "Mama Mitsuki!"

Mom looked back at Ricky and Dante. "Hm?"

"We're gonna go visit Rachael and Victoria so we can watch the tournament with them. And so they can have human interaction with their favorite humans." Dante said and chuckled.

Mom smiled and nodded. "Alright, be safe getting there~"

Dante and Ricky nodded then hurried off to see their girlfriends. The others continued their way to Mom's house so they could also watch the tournament together.

{Time: 5:25 PM}

{Location: West Equinox: Mom's House}

"So how do these tournaments work? I've always watched like Martial Arts tourneys and I've been wanting to know the process." Isabella said then took a bite from her burger.

"There are three stages. The Knockout Round from Division A to D. Once all battles are fought and settled, the winners and losers brackets are formed. Tournaments last for quite a while too." Mom answered.

"Since it's a team tournament as well, the duration of the tournament is also cut in half. To be taken out the tournament, you have to lose twice." Lexi added.

"It looks like the tournament is coming to a close on day one. I am interested in a certain team though." Chloe said and sipped her juice.

"Which one?" Mom asked.

"The team called Team Destiny. Their synergy is off the chain. Something about them really intrigues me." Chloe said.

Kofi and Adam were placing bets on who would face my team in the finals. Raven and Rika watched them and really got first hand on how close the two were.

Rika gently elbowed Raven. "Go...you can't be scared to ask him.."

Raven groaned softly and stood up then walked over to Kofi and Adam. She softly cleared her throat and brushed her hair behind her ear. "Hey Kofi?"

Kofi looked up at Raven and smiled at her. "What's up?"

Raven blushed a bit and looked away. "Can I talk to you in private?"

Kofi looked at Adam and Adam looked back at Kofi. They dapped each other up then Kofi got off the couch and followed Raven outside.

Rika took her chance to sit beside Adam and giggled. "Hey~"

Adam looked at Rika and smiled at her. "I'm not stupid, Rika..I know you was playing match maker~"

"What can I say?~ I am a sly woman~" Rika giggled.

Annette watched her friends interact with Kofi and Adam then smiled. As a leader, all she wants is the happiness of her allies and she was glad they were finding it. She understood that Griffin wasn't too interested in finding love at the moment as he did still play the role of Annette's bodyguard until he knew she was completely safe.

Mom allowed everyone to stay at her house until I had returned back home with my group. She really did treat everyone like they were her kids. She didn't let Nicholas's and my father's betrayal keep her down for too long.

{Day: Wednesday}

{Time: 11:00 AM}

"Hey, you better win this round too bro! We got everyone cheering for you and all that good shit." Kofi chuckled as he was on FaceTime with me.

"Don't worry bro, we got it in the bag. Remember, I got the Dream Team spirit within me." I chuckled.

"Damn straight. Dream Team forever." Kofi chuckled softly.

"Well alright bro, I'm gonna get ready and get some grub with the girls. I'll call you back when our round is over." I said.

"For sure, stay safe out there." Kofi said.

"You too." I said.

Kofi ended the call and got up to look for Adam, but couldn't find him in the house. He walked outside and noticed Elizabeth and Lexi were outside as well taking hits out of Elizabeth's cart and walked over to them.

"Yooo, ladies." Kofi said and smiled at them.

Elizabeth looked at Kofi and smiled. "Hey what's up?"

"Have you seen Adam anywhere?" Kofi asked.

"Mmm, last time we saw Adam, he was with Rika. They seem pretty close. They went to the park...and that was maybe 20 minutes ago?" Lexi answered.

Kofi nodded and smiled. "Thanks."

They watched him walk off and smiled at him. They noticed Raven walking out the house, looking for Rika the same way Kofi was looking for Adam. All they did was point to the direction Kofi went and Raven knew they had given Kofi the same answer.

Raven hurried over to Kofi and grabbed his arm. "You're looking for Adam like I'm looking for Rika?"

"Yeah, you seem panicked. What's wrong?" Kofi said.

"I just haven't heard from her all day. I need to make sure she's alright." Raven said.

"I understand that. Come with me, Lexi and Elizabeth told me they were at the park." Kofi said.

"Okay." Raven said.

{Time: 11:15 AM}

{Location: Equinox Park}

Rika took down another gang member and grunted. "How the fuck did they get in here?"

Adam dodged a knife attack and punched the gangster's face and knocked him out. He panted and looked around. "I don't know, but Kaden was right...Crimson Crows are not playing fair.."

A few more gang members ran toward the two. Adam and Rika braced themselves for more combat. Rika dodged a strike and struck the gangster's stomach and kicked him away. Adam parried multiple punched and jabbed his target's face twice then hit him with a haymaker.

"There are too many of them!" Rika said and raised her shirt to grab her gun.

Adam stopped her. "No. We're awakened remember? Miss Mitsuki wouldn't want us to resort to weapons after all she did to awaken our potential."

"Our potential only allows us to fight like a Mitsuki Clan Member just without the Bio-Energy Techniques because we can't awaken it just yet. Crimson Crow members can use Alchemy. We are at a clear disadvantage." Rika said.

Kofi ran toward them and sucker punched a gang member and Raven put on her gloves then struck the back of another gangster then grabbed their hair, slamming them down to the ground.

"Raven! Kofi!" Rika said happily.

"Hmph...these lowly goons got past the guards? I'm slamming my hand on the X button to doubt that shit." Kofi said.

"That's what I'm saying. They have to have a leader somewhere." Adam said.

"Oh I'm very much here." A voice said and walked toward the group. "I was just watching to see where you all stood, and I can tell I am against just four normal humans."

Raven looked at the person and noticed who it was. "Jacob..?"

"He didn't come alone." Another voice said.

Kofi looked back and noticed Ashton and Adrian. "If they are here...that means Roman is still with Nicholas and Lance."

"How about you make shit easy and tell us where the Clan Leader is. Don't waste our time and risk the embarrassment." Ashton said.

"Fuck man...We can't fight them like this, but we can't tell them where Miss Mitsuki is either." Adam said.

"Fuck that shit! We ain't telling you a damn thing!" Kofi said and got ready to fight.

"Fool.." Ashton said and got off the tree then walked forward.

He dashed toward the group and Kofi ran toward Ashton and went for a punch, but Ashton dodged it and kneed Kofi's stomach. Kofi groaned and coughed a bit of blood. Ashton pushed him back then went for a straight punch, but Raven pulled Kofi out of the way and swung her jacket back then unsheathed her dagger and slashed at Ashton.

Ashton avoided her attack then went for a right hook, but Raven weaved the attack and hit Ashton with a roundhouse kick. She noticed it did no damage and looked surprised. Adrian ran toward Raven and punched her face, knocking her into Kofi.

"You can't compare to us. You should all—" Adrian started then grunted when he was hit in the head with a brick. He groaned and held the back of his head.

Adam dodged Jacob's attack and tackled him to the ground. He pinned Jacob to the ground and tried to hit him, but Ashton kicked Adam off Jacob. Rika ran toward Ashton and went for a flying kick, but Ashton blocked it and palmed her stomach. A small shockwave was generated and she was launched away into a tree.

"Is that it?" Ashton asked and noticed the four on the ground. "Are you all ready to talk?"

Kofi stood up slowly and grunted. The words of Mom echoed in his head.

'Because of your potential being awakened, you need to awaken that inner power within. I have granted each of you the power of Bio-Mana Manipulation. Each of you will need to dig deep and find that will. Find that desire to awaken..'

Kofi looked up at Ashton and his eyes began to shine. Energy particles began to surround his body. "We...are not telling you...a damn thing!"

Kofi's inner power was awakened and his aura surged powerfully around his body. He grunted and because of his lack of experience his aura was extremely destructive. He groaned and held himself and lightning crackled around his body.

"Kofi! Relax your mind! You need Intelligence! Not emotions!" Raven called out.

Ashton, Adrian, and Jacob watched in awe that Kofi had awakened his inner power from within. They had realized what they were truly against now when they stepped into West Equinox.

Kofi panted and began to calm down, in turn his aura grew more controlled and less destructive. His aura vanished and Kofi fell to his knees. "What the hell...was that..?"

Ashton stepped back and grunted as he noticed Lexi, Elizabeth, and Annette coming to the rescue. "Let's go boys! We'll get this shit another time!"

The three retreated and the rest of their gang retreated as well.

"Hey! Are you all okay?! We felt extremely powerful energy here!" Lexi said.

"That would be my boy right there." Adam said and pointed at Kofi.

Annette looked at Kofi and noticed how exhausted he was. "He must've just awakened his power...He needs to rest. You all look like you need a rest."

"The guards here are fucking pathetic!" Rika yelled, throwing a slight tantrum.

"Right? How did we get broken into again? First Nicholas and the Crimson Crows?" Raven said.

"Huh?" Annette asked. "The guards haven't seen anyone all day."

Rika and Raven looked at each other then at Annette. They all realized that the Crimson Crows knew how to sneak into West Equinox and their main culprit on who gave then the details was Nicholas.

Lexi used her Mana-Manipulation to heal Kofi and the others then the rest helped them get back to Mom's house so they could tell her what happened.

{Notice: To Be Continued!}