Meanwhile in Gomorra City, I woke up early so I could prepare to go back to the Umi Tribe, but before I could, the Dragon stopped me and said, “Have some breakfast.”

I walked into his enormous kitchen. Porsha was already in there eating like she’d never had a decent meal in her life. They had an entire breakfast buffet.

“Porsha likes to cook and she’s not half bad.” The dragon said as he leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed. I fixed me a plate, sat down and looked at the dragon just standing there.

“Aren’t you going to eat something?” I asked as if I was offering my own food. 

He said, “I ate already.” 

Porsha pointed at me with a mouth full of food and said, “You think you’re slick don’t you!”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re trying to get Master Dragon to take off his mask! Aren’t you?”

“Not really, I was just…”

Then I thought about it, ‘Why does he wear that mask? What is he hiding? You know what, I’m going to ask.’ But before I could open my mouth, I noticed a box that read; “Frybrids: Home of the Fresh and Fried hybrids.”

I looked at my plate and nearly puked. I immediately began to set all of the meat aside.

When I finished eating, I pushed my plate forward. Porsha shouted, “You’re not going to eat any of that meat?”

I didn’t want to offend them and I didn’t know what to say, so I froze. Porsha got louder, “What’s wrong with you? If you don’t eat meat, why would you put it on your plate?”

The Dragon interjected, “Because he doesn’t eat hybrid! Think about it: he was born in the Umi Tribe. Isn’t that right, Kazai?”

I smiled while scratching my head, “Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize what it was until it was already on my plate.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re not hurting for food. Right, Porsha?” The dragon said.

Porsha rolled her eyes and asked, “So, what you guys usually eat in the Umi Tribe?” 

I responded, “Well, we eat mostly seafood since we’re on the coast.” 

Porsha said, “Like what? Name something!”

I hesitated, “Well, fish of course. Sea urchins, Kelp, Sushi, Algae and stuff like that.” 

Porsha just looked at me, rolled her eyes, and walked out of the room without responding.

The dragon looked towards me, “Are you leaving now?” 

I nodded. 

The dragon raised his voice, “I said are you leaving now?” 

Then I remembered that he was blind and didn’t actually see me nodding my head, so I said, “Yes! Yes! I’m sorry.”

“So, you’re going to leave when you only learned that novice technique?” The dragon said as he glared his lifeless eyes at me.

“Well, I have to be getting back. What if the Umi Tribe is attacked? I want to be there to help.” I demanded.

“With the technique you mastered, you won’t be much help.”

“I think I can hold my own with it?” I said confidently.

“Okay, Genius. But, what if you lose your sword?”

I paused for a second. I thought, ‘Why didn’t I think about that?’

The dragon continued, “Let’s go outside. I want to show you something.”

Meanwhile in the Umi Tribe:

Dr. Kyro was standing outside of the princess’ office as she approached along with Dan and Billy Woo.

Dr. Kyro smiled and said, “Your majesty, now that our guests have gone back to the Shido Tribe, I would like to discuss something of importance with you.”

As they walked into her office, the princess snarled, “Is this about your suspension? Because if it is, you can save your breath.” 

Dr. Kyro smiled, “Quite the contrary, Your Majesty. It’s about someone else’s permanent suspension.”

Dr. Kyro, Dan Siratchi and Billy Woo stood while  the princess sat high in her chair.

The doctor smiled, “Your Excellency, it is my understanding that your prized possession has escaped his trophy room.”

“I assume that you’re talking about Kazai? Why do you ask? Do you have any information about how he escaped?” The princess said while glaring at the doctor.

“Quite the contrary, Your Majesty. I just wanted to be sure that your were okay. I just heard the bad news.”

“So, word has gotten out already?”

“Of course! Word travels fast, especially about someone such as Kazai. He was made a legend before he did anything…one would call… legendary.”

The princess snapped, “Humph! Are you implying that his escape was my fault?”

“Of course no-“

“And what were you talking about when you said that you wanted to discuss someone’s permanent suspension?” The princess interrupted.

“Well, it’s like this…”

Before the doctor could finish his sentence there was a loud bang followed by several more.

“What was that?” the Princess shouted.

Dan and the other protector looked out of the window.

Dan shouted, “It appears to be coming from the Station.”

“Everyone is just getting in! What could be going on over there?” The princess shouted.

Dan dashed toward the exit, “I’ll go find out.”

Dan didn’t get very far before several hybrids began to reveal themselves within the princess’ office. They came from dark corners, from behind pillars and even from the balconies. They all had the dragon foot tattoo somewhere on their bodies. Some had strong facial features of an animal while others looked more human.

The princess’ eyes widened in shock as she muttered, “Crimson Bloods.”

The extremely confident doctor slowly began to walk closer to the princess, “I’m afraid that no one in this room is leaving. At least, not until there is a shifting.”

The Princess stood up, “What do you mean? A Shifting?”

The doctor smiled, “A shifting in power of course. You will be shifting your power to me. Those loud explosions that you just heard were my Crimson Bloods destroying your precious station. Killing all of your unsuspecting protector Shōkans and even non-Shōkans.”

The princess didn’t take her eyes off of the doctor, “So, this whole time you’ve been working for the Crimson Bloods?” She shouted.

The doctor smiled as he gazed in the princess’ eyes, “Quite the contrary… they work for me.”

Next Chapter: THE MODE