"Oh? You surely didn't think I'd return unprepared? Or perhaps, you never expected me to return at all? Well, too bad for you, mother, because that carelessness shall cost you life!"

Dohta raised his hand towards frightened Ethna and Yuma. The two women shrieked in pain – the black energy emerged out of Dohta's arm and began to suck the colourful energy right out of their bodies. Ethna was getting depleted of her immense reserves of green and yellow powers, while Yuma lost even that very feeble light green energy she barely held. As the yellow and green currents merged with Dohta's black ones, the blackness around the man grew, and his grin turned more and more diabolic as his eyes sparkled with infernal triumph.

Soon, the energy currents vanished. The weakened women collapsed to their knees. Dohta approached them, his boots steadily thudding onto the floor, while his fist contained the black fire he had apparently prepared to finish them off with. Ethna tried to release some yellow energy from her weak hand, but it fell back onto the floor – she had no Daluman energy left within her body. Both she and her daughter had become simple weaklings like some low-level species, with no Herminese divinity left into them whatsoever.

"Now, now, what does this scene remind me of? Hmm, I guess, those sweet scenes of revenge I've dreamed of while rotting in cold depths of the Star-Rover Prison!"

Dohta raised his black energy fist in order to deliver the finishing blow upon the women when a feeble but energetic arm bumped into it and repelled his black fire, notwithstanding the burning pain it left upon the skin. Dohta sneered at the green-energy entity before him, then to widen eyes in a stupor – it was none other than Zehu, his little brother! That cute little bean of those sweet old days... The black fire vanished around him, to be replaced by the simple blue one.

"Move, Zehu!"

The boy furiously shook his head. His green eyes shone with anger and indignation as he had clutched his aching arm Dohta's black fire had burned.

"I said move!"

Yet another shake of the head – Zehu did not plan to give up, as it seemed. He firmly stood his ground, with clenched fists, ready to repel his attacks whatever it took. This impudence enraged Dohta's blackened spirit quite a lot:

"Little brat! I won't permit you to stand in my way. Know your place!" he burst into his blue energy and dashed at Zehu, who activated the green powers on his part. However, Dohta could easily notice there was something up with his fighting methods – he used no incantations at all. "Huh? You're as cocky as to think you can best me without casting spells? Insolent brat!" he attacked even more furiously and began to burn Zehu's skin with blue fire, regardless of the painful shrieks of the boy. Yet, this latter never gave a word. He used the blue crystal device, which he still wore on his ring no matter he had found out it was the very item to have caused all these problems. Dohta grew more and more irritated at Zehu's continuous silence: "Say something, damn it! You won't beat me without spells, and my own creation won't help you against me!"

He grabbed Zehu's injured arm where he wore the ring and shattered the blue crystal in a single instant with his blue fire. Zehu yelled in pain as the fire ate upon his skin, making his arm severely bleed. Once he opened his mouth so wide, Dohta received the answer to his questions, which resulted in his freezing in dread:

"You... have no tongue?!"

Only now did he recall how Violet had told him her Daluma friend was mute. Back then, she had indeed been referring to Zehu. Petrified, he was not able to dodge the boy's quick attack and received quite some damage in the chest. He quickly got a hold of himself and parried another blow of Zehu, throwing him off with a furious blue-fire-infused hit.

Zehu collapsed to the ground, much weakened, as his crystal tool had broken hence he could no more use even those few spells he had so far utilized. At that very moment, Dohta was freely able to look into his eyes and read out all of his memories he wanted to learn about. The gruesome truth he found, astounded him greatly, then to let his raging black fire burst out with even greater force:

"Cut out the tongue of my little Zehu, just because he was a genius?! Yet you, silly brat, are still defending those hags? They deserve to be tortured in my flames! Roll aside, you'll thank me later! Ruining my brother's life... You deserve no life at all, you rotten hag!"

He furiously kicked injured Zehu off his feet and rushed towards terrified Ethna and Yuma again, his whole body consumed in his own black fire he could hardly control now. Tiny black embers fell out of his black currents and ate up the crystal floor pieces upon just a single touch. He was still not able to reach the chiefess and the princess, though – this time, green-energy-infused laser-swords blocked his way. As he sneered at the impudent adversary, he received the same type of a thunderous glare from Jedha:

"Where do you think you're going, after so injuring our captain's third-mate?"

"Move off my way!"

Dohta burst into raging black flames and blasted Jedha. This latter dodged the shot with adroit maneuvers of a crafted swordsman and swung the green laser-swords he had infused with his own feeble light green energy. The blade power increased this way, and Jedha's overall strength doubled due to utilizing sharp weapons together with his mental abilities. Truly, he had vanquished a lot of strong enemies with such ingenious style, but he would soon realise that this current opponent of his was on a whole different level – Dohta's black fire, upon touching his laser-swords, melted them in an instant.

Jedha knew a single type of power that was able to thus destroy his weapons – it was the Crimson Ardour of his captain and Lady Maluma Arruroe. Other than that, no force could ever oppose his green-energy-infused laser-swords! Now, beholding this man to have melted them in a single blast, he couldn't help but freeze in a stupor:

"No way..."

"Oh, no guts to fight without your puny weapons? Then, do me a favour and die!"

Black energy of Dohta blasted him right in the chest and blew him off straight before the feet of terrorized Ethna and Yuma. Jedha coughed blood and tried to stand but could no more – the black energy had damaged his vital organs. While he was thus struggling for life, Dohta's black boots thudded up to them. He raised his black-fire fist in order to finish off all the three in a single blast.

"No!!!"

Hitha, forgetting about all around her, darted towards her collapsed mother, sister, and the injured young man she so deeply loved. She sprang in between them and Dohta, and covered them with her own body, blocking her elder brother's way. As she watched this latter pause in a daze and stare at her with the black-fire fist still ready, she began to tremble in horror. However, she did not move – she was determined to protect her loved ones whatever it took, even if it cost her life.

"Hitha? Just how many of you are going to get in my way?! Move!"

"No! Stop!"

"I said move, or you too shall burn!"

Dohta raised his blackened fist to blast them all together when the tearful girl fell into his knees and sobbed out:

"What has happened to you? You're not the Dohta I know!"

"You are right – I'm not that spineless weakling who was not able to kill that hag when he had a chance. Now I've regained that chance, so you won't stop me! Move, if you don't want to be burnt!"

"I won't move! It is my family! I won't let you hurt them!"

Hitha released dark green energy current and repelled him off. At such a spontaneous burst of hers which he didn't really expect, Dohta sneered and increased the black energy around him since his rage had grown more intense:

"Know your place, brat!"

He was about to strike her when bleeding Jedha sprang in between them and took the blast onto himself. He collapsed to the floor, barely breathing. Hitha screamed and ran up to him, shaking him with trembling hands:

"Jedha! Jedha, answer me!"

"Uhh..."

The boy barely groaned and eyed her with the blurred vision. Hitha brightened for she understood he was still alive, and sighed with relief. However, it proved premature – the gruesome thud of the boots approached them, and the black-fire fist rose before their very noses:

"This is not the last time you've been getting in my way, pest. I guess I cannot help it, after all – I'll have to erase your existence".

Dohta activated his black fire and was ready to blast bloodied Jedha to ashes when the young girl's arms clutched his knees. Once he glared down at Hitha, his hand froze, for he noticed crystal tears cascade from her eyes... not just any, but the way too familiar blue crystal tears, like his own.

"Stop, Please! I... I love this man! I love him... I beg you, Dohta!"

This exclamation stupefied not just Dohta, but even Ethna and Yuma – Hitha loved a weakling commoner?! Dohta's stupefaction had other reasons, however – these blue crystal tears gushing from the little maiden's eyes, and those particular words, 'I beg you'...

His mind brought up the vision of a tiny blue-haired boy, begging his father to stop threatening his younger brother, and sobbing with blue crystal tears, the same as Hitha's right now... So hard he tried to fulfill that hideous man's wish and release purple energy, but to no avail, and that rotten monster was ready to pierce his very brother's chest with those glittering purple claws.

The rotten monster, with purple claws... How was this black-fire fist any different? A burnt beast with a black-fire fist, ready to end the life of this innocent little child's loved ones... Different? – It was rather a déjà-vu with roles reversed!

This is what I've been yearning for? – A black-fire beast, worse than that purple rotten crystal? What am I doing? What... What am I doing?!

His hands trembled like back when he saw Ellie shiver before his fierce gaze. Yes, it was the same, it was all the same – he had become that very rotten beast he so feared in his worst nightmares! He was exactly the same as him! He had grown into his hideous father! He was Hadosh Vaagard's split image!

Agonizing over the vile remembrances that had come to him all at once, he stepped back and clutched his head in his burnt hands. Growing so unstable with his thoughts and emotions, the black energy burst around him even more, now consuming his own sanity within its darkened clutches. Hitha, perturbed over her brother's such bizarre behaviour, quickly grabbed Jedha in her strong womanly arms and darted off that place, nearer to her mother and sister, in order to protect all the three if need be.

There was no need, however – Dohta had gone so crazy with all those atrocious images running through his mind and the blackened power rampaging through his unstable body that he had begun to shrill in pure agony. Even if he were in a stable state, though, he still had already lost the fight, for he had failed to reach his goal and kill Chiefess Ethna and Princess Yuma in time, and now, there was no more time left for him – Admiral Zenon's troops and naval ships had begun retreating, for the pirates proved to be stronger even in smaller numbers. Since Baxus, Maluma, and Roderigo were perfectly handling that frontline, the most ferocious entity accessed the Daluman battlefield instead – the Galaxy Pirate Emperor himself.

It was not long before Dohta was hit with the powerful red energy and dropped to the floor, yelling in infernal pain. He coughed out blood but managed to stand up, for his black energy still boiled inside his body, giving him enough strength. Once he gazed at the adversary, however, he realised the most fearsome battle was yet to unfold: Young Captain's black eyes flickered under his deep frown as he had fired up with a crimson glow, burning with the wrath for his injured comrades.