Later that evening, Seth put his light power armor back in its capsule at his mothership. Before looking away, he traced his forefinger across it as he watched it deteriorate. Although expressing his grief through words was difficult, he found the courage to speak.

"My beautiful armor..." He began with a sigh as he looked down.

"It's so heartbreaking to watch you wither away. You have carried me during the dark ages. I thank you, old friend. Now it's time for you to rest," he continued.

The tone in his voice transitioned from a gloomy one to a light-hearted one. He had accepted that his armor was no more. For him, the armor represented his pride, honor, and strength. It also carried blissful memories of his hard-earned victories and conquests during his battles.

After tracing his right hand across the black and silver armor, he raised his head and walked away. He pressed the red button with a remote controller in his hand, enabling his armor to be sealed away in the opened capsule tube. Once the door sealed the armor inside, he exited the armor room.

Along the way, one of his troopers approached him from afar with great pursuit.

"Master Seth, I bring forth troubling news," the trooper exclaimed urgently.

"What seems to be the problem?" He inquired casually.

"It's...its...Akatsuki. She has summoned you."

After hearing that, his gaze became cold, staring intensely into the eyes of the trooper.

"And how is Akastuki a problem? She's nothing but a pest, not of great importance from what I know of," he said with petulance.

"Master Seth, you know very well that when Akatsuki summons you, it's about him."

Seth sighed and raked his face. He walked past the trooper and advanced to the virtual room. When he arrived there, a live feed-holographic image of Akatsuki emerged.

Now Akatsuki had a more prominent position in the Martain Empire than Seth. For this reason, the two never saw eye to eye with one another. Nevertheless, regardless of her ranking, Seth's pride never allowed him to revere her as his subordinates did.

Akatsuki had long red hair that cascaded past her shoulder regions. Her hair was garnished with black linings, which flowed down her hair in a semi-spiral form. Her skin pigment was goldish-tan.

"Akastuki... what brings you here?" He inquired as he stroked his goatee.              

"How far is your progress, patterning the recruitment of your siblings."

Seth tilted his head to the side and placed his finger under it to balance it.

"There has been no progress thus far. It turns out my siblings are far more rowdy than I anticipated," he chuckled.

She furrowed her eyebrows and said with a firmer tone, "And yet, you find this amusing? He wants to progress, Seth. You know what will happen when you don't deliver..."

Inexplicably, her voice automatically softened, remaining inconsistent with the previous one.

"Once he takes action, you won't see it coming. It'll be like death, for instance. Imagine yourself sharing an intimate moment with your loved ones, only for dawn to occur and have them cast away abruptly to their demise."

As their conversation reached its conclusion, the tone of her voice abruptly transitioned away from a soft one to a firmer one. This was done to highlight the seriousness of this matter,

"Oh, and Seth, time is of the essence. Make use of the time that you have now!"

***********

Later that night, a commotion occurred in Sam's penthouse's dining room.

Sam, curled up in his favorite recliner, crossed his legs while Diana lashed out at him.

"What the hell, Sam?! What is this clown doing here? How do you expect us to pretend like he didn't try to kill us a few days ago? We need an answer now!"

Gordon shot a furious glance at her while he drank tea. If looks could kill, would he have killed her in a flash?

"And didn't you say that there were three of us?!" She continued to shout.

"Yes, there are," he responded.

Though his arms were crossed, he tapped his wrist with his forefinger and glared intensely into her eyes.

 "Then why is there a freaken numbskull claiming that we are somehow related?!" She added. 

"That's enough, Diana!" Sam yelled.

At that moment, he erupted intensely like an explosive rigged to blow. Although he tried to hold himself from snapping at her, his tolerance wore out. She was left dumbfounded when he snapped, especially when he stood up and punched the table with the underside of his fist. 

"Why don't you take a seat so that I can explain my side of the story," he suggested while gesturing at an empty chair nearby.

"As I was saying...I allowed Gordon into my house because we settled our differences..." He continued.

She narrowed her brows and crossed her arms upon hearing that. Even though he noticed this, he continued speaking, hoping his words gave her the understanding she needed.

"You guys saw for yourselves, didn't you? We wouldn't have made it out of Seth's ship alive if it wasn't for Gordon. If there's anybody I could count on regarding matters of space, it would be him. To conclude, you guys are my only family. Whatever Seth said was nonsense."

After chugging down the drink, Gordon set the cup aside. He pulled out his double-edged blade and stroked its jagged edges. 

"Well, people, it so happens that that numbskull is your older brother."

"Wait..wait...wait, how is that possible?" Inquired Harrison.

Gordon centered the sword at him and played with the dreaded weapon.

"His name is Seth Savage Ex, the firstborn of Caldor and Alura-Ex. Seth was there when you were all born. He worked remotely close with your father regarding his abominable experiments."

"If Seth is our oldest brother, why wasn't he sent with us to Earth?" Harrison inquired.

Dan nudged him with his elbow on his upper arm, "Are you dense? Seth did state that he was exiled, remember?"

"Oh, right. Gosh, I even forgot," Harrison chuckled.

Gordon placed the sword back in its sheath and then interlocked his fingers.

"That is correct. Not only was Seth exiled, you four were sent to earth by your father to protect you from the Council's wrath."

"Council's wrath? What do you mean by that?" Diana inquired.

"You were going to be executed because of the discovery of your powers," he said calmly.

For a moment, the room was filled with silence. Funny enough, he didn't consider his statement's emotional weight on them. For this reason, what he said dawned on them. As they pondered, they fearfully realized that had it not been for the mercy of God, they would not have been spared from an impending doom. As they struggled to digest what Gordon said, not even a peptide of words escaped from their mouths.

Therefore, Dan quickly changed this topic by clearing his throat and asking, "What about our mother, Alura?"

"Fortunately for you, she is still alive. As we speak, she is working alongside the Council!"

He stood up immediately but with force. His chair fell as he also punched the table. Had he been given even greater might, would he have commanded the ground to tremble at the power of his anger?

"So you're telling me that the council bribed her with a freaken membership card so that they can exempt her from her punishment?!" He exclaimed.

"So it seems," replied Gordon.

"Then, she never loved our father to begin with! I mean, what is this nonsense?! What kind of family are we? An unstable one?!" He shouted as he flared his nostrils.

"Dan, it's not what you think. She had no choice," replied Sam.

"No choice?!" He answered, raising his voice at him.

"While we are sitting on our asses, she lives like a queen wherever she is. Not giving a damn about us."

Sam stood up and gently grabbed his wrist, "look, man, please calm down," he pleaded, knowing full well that Dan was easily swayed by his anger. What made it worse was that his rage grew more unstable. Who knew what the latter could do in that dreadful state if something weren't done to keep him in check?

"Hey, hey, don't touch me! You don't even know me!" He exclaimed while Sam backed away and sat down.

Dan then pointed at Sam, "Doesn't it bother you that our oldest brother suffered his entire life? Without his family or close relatives. His bloody mother could've done something to help him out, but she did nothing! Yes, Seth may be dick, but he didn't deserve to suffer like that, especially as a kid!"

He walked out of the dining room and planted a seed of doubt in Diana's mind. From where she sat, she reflected, opening her mind to a different side of the story. 

Sam sighed sharply. He looked at Diana and said, "he gave you some sort of devil's bargain, didn't he?"

"Yep," she replied softly.

"What was it about?"

"He wanted us to go back to Codex and help him destroy it," Diana said.

Sam's nostrils flared. His jaws and lips tensed up as his face boiled red. To appease his wrath, he sighed before speaking, "I...I sorta get why the Council did what they did..."

"Are you kidding me?!!!" Diana replied with astonishment.

"Diana, we were just kids when he experimented on us," Sam said.

Diana looked at him dumbfoundedly, failing to understand why Sam would justify the atrocity that the Council committed.

"So let me get this straight? You are  condoning what the Council did?" She inquired.

"No, I'm not, but I figured it was the only logical solution, considering he just broke their most absolute law..." Sam answered.

She imploded with laughter, "Logical? How can you say all of these things about our father?"

"He's not my....father. My one and only father died, " replied Sam.

Diana looked over to Harrison, then back to Sam.

"Then why did you bring us here in the first place?"

Sam looked down and glanced at the table; silence filled the room.

"Your silence speaks volumes, " she said before abruptly leaving. The dining table was not only occupied by Sam, Harrison, and Gordon, but it was also occupied with an intense atmosphere.

"I'll go talk to 'em," Harrison said as he walked out.

"Hmph," commented Gordon with a smirk.

"What?" Sam asked with rage fuming through his skin.

"Just wondering why you didn't tell them about our deal, son of Ex," Gordon replied.

He shot an intense gaze at the Knight of Bloodshed, "How do you expect me to tell them that, especially after what just happened!"

Gordon stood up and approached him, "Well, whenever you're ready, but remember the terms of our deal," he said.

"Sure, why not?" He sarcastically replied.

***********

Later that night, at the helipad, Dan had a front-row view of the prepossessing city that lay ahead. There were vibrant, rainbowish hues, coruscating gleefully from some buildings and street lights. The presence of the pitch-black sky made these hues shine more ebulliently. The sky's black presence stimulated the hue's contentment.

With a beer at hand, he marveled at the beauty of New York City.

"Dan!" A voice from behind shouted.

Dan turned around to face his back, and in front of him stood Harrison.

"What do you want, kid?" He scoffed

"I came to check on you," replied Harrison.

Dan shoved the tip of the bottle in his mouth and drank away. After one big gulp, he spoke to him, holding the bottle in his right hand.

"As you can see, I'm having a brooding session, so scram!!!"

"Why are you pissed at Mr Austin?" Harrison inquired.

Dan crushed the bottle into shards with his hand.

"Because the bastard lied to us! He should've been upfront in the first place."

"I know, I know, but he has his reasons....."

"I don't care!!! Who the heck does he think he is?!!" Dan asked.

Harrison scoffed, "You're unbelievable...."

He was about to walk away til he stopped in his tracks.

"Don't forget who saved us today. Otherwise, we would be in deep space, not knowing when we'll ever see our loved ones again," he said.

***********

Later that night, Dan flew in the direction of the closest local bar while propelled by a blaze that furnaced all over him. His landing was so violent that the force of his impact caused a crater to be carved. 

He walked toward the building as the coat of flames that garbed him dissipated. With each step, he left a footprint on the ground. With force, he opened the doors and entered the building. Once he got to the bartender's table, he sat and was served by the bartender.

"What would you like?"

"Give me a bottle of whiskey."

The bartender ambulated towards the shelf and took a bottle of whiskey.

He handed him the bottle, to which he quickly snatched and removed the bottle cap. He slipped it inside his mouth and chugged the drink down. The bartender watched this unusual scene unfold. In response, his eyes grew enormous with astonishment.

"Eh...sir...you might wanna slow it down," he suggested.

Dan continued chugging the drink, ignoring the bartender in the process. He finished the bottle in a mouthful and slammed it against the desk. 

"So refreshing, another!" He demanded.

Then, an unknown figure suddenly placed their hand on his left shoulder. He sat beside him and responded with a deep, crunchy voice, "My, my, someone's thirsty, aren't they?"

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't rearrange your teeth," said Dan.

Seth chuckled and stroked his goatee. The bartender passed another bottle of whiskey to him. He grabbed it and continued drinking.

"Hmmm, you're a feisty one as well. You remind me a lot about me. I guess we both have high doses of testosterone," Seth chuckled again.

After monstrously chugging down the drink, he placed the bottle aside and looked at him sternly.

"Hey, hey, don't compare me to you. We may have the same blood but nothing in common, Mr. Savage. I am my own man."

Seth admiringly stroked his goatee, "A man not afraid to speak his mind. I like that."

"What do you want, Savage," He enquired with a glare.

"What we both want, and that's to avenge our father and annihilate Codex," he smirked.

Dan furrowed his eyebrows and gnashed his teeth, "what gave you that impression?"

He chuckled once more and said, "I saw the rage in your eyes. It was burning inside of you. It was more evident when I told you I nearly starved to death in the abyss of space."

As their conversation progressed, Dan's wrath simmered little by little. Hunger for justice was evident in his eyes.

"You didn't deserve what you went through. I think that it's time that those bastards paid high time!" He shouted.

Seth then smirked and said, "I agree; not a day passes when I yearn to slaughter them, piece by piece, for murdering our father and sending me to my exile. I suffered terribly for months without a family, food, or shelter. Where ever I went, I was rejected. I realized how cruel this life is. Unfortunately, we all are subjected to walk a lonely path in the end, rejected by those who once loved you."

"I'm sorry for what you went through, man," Dan placed his hand on Seth's shoulder and tapped it.

"No need for you to sympathize with my struggles, brother. Without them, I wouldn't be the person I am today," he assured him as he looked down.

"I wish Sam could stop condoning the Council's misconducts! Speaking about Sam, Gordon played him well. He doesn't see who the problem is. How can you put your trust in someone the Council sent to abduct us?"

Seth's eyes widened with shock. He then commented, "Wait a minute, did you say, Gordon?!"

"Yeah, I guess," he nodded.

"So he is hiding behind Sam's back, interesting," Seth said, rubbing his goatee.

"What, Is there something that I need to know?" Dan asked.

"Since Gordon works under the Council, he leaked the information about our powers. In the process, he betrayed Caldor."

Dan snapped his fingers and commented, "I should've known, now that backstabbing weasel has wormed his way into our lives!"

"I need to warn the others!" He exclaimed with urgency.

He got up from his seat and gushed out of the building.