Monita starts laughing psychotically,
Ari glances around the prison, looking for a way out of this situation but finding none,
'She's lost it, I'm dead if I stay here.'
Then suddenly, both Ari and Monita start to hear a high-pitched screeching sound, Ari falls to his knees while Monita holds her throat in a panic,
'W-what is this?!' Ari thinks in a panic, he looks around, but his vision is getting blurry from the horrifying sound, he feels blood leaking from his ears.
"Reckless cheap shots won't phase me this time…" Claire steps out, hands in pockets,
'That's… that's Claire…'
Monita also falls to her knees, looking up at her,
"Monita… with no teddy bear… how interesting…"
Claire kicks Monita into a distant wall,
"Without that bear, you aren't scary at all." She says disappointed,
'She just took Monita out like it was nothing!' Ari thinks to himself, shocked, he can't move. Claire's sound style is overwhelming his nervous system.
Then Ayce falls from the roof, he lands beside Claire,
"Good job."
"Are any of these two your targets?" Claire asks,
"Monita is, Ari is the one on his knees over there." He points,
"I see, guess we shot down two birds with one stone." Claire starts walking towards Ari,
'Crap! I can't move or talk… and Monita is out cold… no way I'm letting it end here!'
Claire walks up to him slowly, she reaches in his pocket to claim his card.
'I just need her ability to stop for a second!'
With all his might, Ari headbutts Claire right on the nose, she starts bleeding while clutching her nose.
Ari feels Claire's ability falter for a moment, he takes his chance,
"Scorpio Style: Viper Pulse"
Ari jumps back while his fists erupt with purple Mana
Ayce looks up from Monita's unconscious body,
"How is he moving, Claire?"
"My mistake, It won't happen again." She says in a serious tone,
"You two are so serious…" Ari teases,
With no time to waste, Claire activates her technique,
"Sound Style: Cacophony Dance!"
Ari immediately covers his ears with his own technique, nullifying Claire's,
"Oh, thank god that worked…"
Claire is visibly shocked under her blindfold,
"How did you?-"
Ari lunges past Claire, aiming for Ayce, he's visibly shocked but has no time to react to his fist connecting with his jaw, sending him flying back,
"Ayce!" Claire yells in shock,
Ari turns his attention to Claire,
"You're actually my target too." With a wicked smile,
…
Back in Chuq City, Carmelo and the two instructors just walked out of the church,
Carmelo stops,
"Everything alright, sir?" One of the instructors ask,
"Keep going ahead, I'll catch up." He says, waving his hand,
The two nervous instructors look at each other and disperse quickly,
Carmelo stares out at the forest in front of the church, he does a finger pistol pose,
"Shatter."
In a second, the entire forest blows away, revealing Ana hiding behind a tree, now standing awkwardly,
"Oh… um… Hi…" Ana laughs awkwardly,
"Ana? What is the meaning of this? Why are you here?" Carmelo asks,
"I'm looking for Saint, some clues led me here… why are you here?" Ana replies,
Carmelo tilts his head,
"I'm looking for my son? I don't need another reason, do I?"
"Well, I don't think Saint wants to see you right now. Based on where you sent him."
Carmelo turns around and starts walking,
"That's none of your business. Go home, this doesn't concern you."
"You're gonna hurt him, aren't you? It's no wonder no one back home likes you—you sent the only person who was still with you to that weird school!"
Carmelo stops,
"You sent him there! Where all they do is fight, fight, fight and fight- and he went for your sake!" Ana snaps,
"You're horrible…" Ana whispers, a tear streaming down her cheek.
Carmelo turns around slowly, he menacingly walks up to her,
"Ana, how do you know so much?" He asks firmly,
She looks up at him teary-eyed and confused,
"Saint told me… and I found these weird scriptures in my dad's closet…"
Carmelo's eyes widen in shock, he looks around,
"Do you have these on you?" He asks,
"Y-yeah…" Ana replies hesitantly,
"Show me."
…
Back to the prison, Ari is currently fighting Claire, he's trying to get a hit with his ability, but Claire is proving to be quick on her feet, dodging everything.
'She's quick, I can't land anything…'
Ari continues to throw precise strikes, but Claire manages to dodge everything,
'Just land one… one… fuck it…'
Ari shoots and tackles Claire down, guaranteeing a touch, they both fall together with him on top,
'Finally…'
Ari gets up, while Claire lays there, struggling to move…
"That's all of my three targets… wasn't that hard…" Ari takes a deep breath,
He casually gets Claire's name tag, makes his way to Monita and gets hers too,
'I should check if…'
He checks Monita's pulse, confirming that she's still alive, he decides to carry her into a cell.
'Now where did I send Ayce flying?'
He checks holes in the wall, but he doesn't find Ayce, in fact, he doesn't find anyone…
'The air is heavy… is this another one of his tricks? But I thought I hit him with my Viper Pulse…'
Everything around Ari turns dark, and he finds himself in a deep void of nothing,
"I can read your soul…" Ayce says in Ari's head,
'What?! This technique is different from the one yesterday…'
"You're just a scared little boy who seeks validation from his cruel little daddy…" Ayce's voice starts to get louder,
Ari in a panic starts running around the dark domain, trying to find an exit,
'No… get out of my head!'
He trips, when he looks up he finds himself beside Kevo, it's the memory from the invasion day, just before Prince left them on the brink of death.
'N-no… I can't go through this again…'
Ayce makes Ari replay that scene as if he was there,
Kevo looks at Ari in shock,
"Ari? What's wrong? We have to fight."
"No…"
…