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The Lost Ground lies in ruins after the second Seismic Upheaval. Feeling the burden of responsibility, Kazuma withdraws and fights in an underground Alter gladiator arena. Just when Kazuma decides to escape to the mainland, he is attacked by Ayase whose Alter has been enhanced by the Mainland and has been sent back to capture Kazuma. Meanwhile, Ryuho and Kanami are helping to rebuild the Inner Village in the badlands but HOLD shows up. Exploiting Ryuho’s lapse of memory, Unkei with the Tokonatsu sisters weave a deceptive tale of Ryuho’s past to convince him to return to HOLD. In the wake of the destruction, both Kazuma and Ryuho search to find themselves as the people that care for them search to find them.

The second earthquake has leveled pretty much everything in the Lost Ground, and the survivors are left to try and rebuild in the power vacuum. Which heroes will step up to protect the masses?

Episode 15: Rogue

A fight club has started up – except the denizens bet on the outcomes, and the fighters are Alter users. One of the better fighters is a very confused Kazuma, who doesn’t seem to know where he is and is letting his opponent dominate him without activating his own powers. However, once he remembers his friends, his powers come like a torrent and a giant shockwave emanates from his body. Mimori and Tachibana are investigating the site on the recommendation of Cougar and are more than a little surprised to see how much Kazuma has regressed into a feral state. The two break past the security and speak with Kazuma to try and find out if he knows where Ryuho disappeared, but he doesn’t know, and when they ask why he isn’t looking for Kanami, he gets defensive and refuses to answer. As a result of their forced entry, the young boy who’s been put in charge of security and feeding the Alter users is being beaten for failing at his job – this finally awakens the righteousness in Kazuma and he beats his way to the head office, takes the money that was owed to him, gives that money to the boy, and then leaves.

Back in the village, Kanami is looking after the ill Ryuho (much like she usually does for Kazuma) and she presses him for information about the incident that caused the 2^nd earthquake and for information that he might have about the whereabouts of Kazuma. However, Ryuho has no memory of the incident and doesn’t know who Kazuma is, at least not by name. The villagers have come towards Ryuho and asked him to stay with them to help complete their village; they believe that the evils of the concentration camp that existed can be washed away by working to build a community. Ryuho quickly ingratiates himself with the villagers with his hard work ethic, polite speaking, and gentle nature and Kanami continues to work hard and help as much as she can. At HOLD headquarters, their highest priority is to find 

Mimori. They believe that finding her will buy them the credibility to prevent sweeping changes from the mainland. Back at the village, a HOLD team approaches led by Scheris but Ryuho stands in their way and states that if they intend to cause trouble, he will fight them.

Episode 16: Sou Kigetsuki

Scheris is unsure of how to progress, especially considering her attachment to Ryuho, and so she orders the team to 

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stand down and wait while she figures out how to progress. She decides to go speak with Ryuho and tells him parts of his past, his status and job for starters; he has a hard time digesting all of these revelations and asks for some time to think. Members of the HOLY team decide to exploit this moment to remove Scheris from power, and Unkei writes a plot involving the Tokonatsu sisters (Kigetsuki’s Alter power) posing as his servants to return him to HOLY. The deception seems to be working, as Ryuho’s open memories are now filled with the story that he’s being exposed to… that is until Kanami appears and she can immediately see through the deception and pulls him back to the village and away from the HOLY members. The rogue members try a second time, but after they knock out Kanami but once they convince Ryuho to activate his Alter powers, his memory returns. Killing Unkei while Kigetsuki escapes, Ryuho steadfastly stands by his decision to protect the village and Scheris has decided to join him.

Episode 17: Ayase Terada

As Kazuma tries to escape to the mainland with a fake identification, he is approached by Ayase (one of the Alters that was captured on a mission). While talking to her, Kazuma is attacked by another member of that ill fated mission, and the fight begins between Ayase and Kazuma. Ayase’s power is water based, so she drags him out to the nearby ocean and begins drowning him in the water, but he summons his Alter and begins to fight back. As the fight progresses, Kazuma reaches an underwater cave where Ayase joins him then stops fighting. For a while, Ayase explains that she fights only to provide medical care for her younger brother and asks Kazuma to surrender and join her to return to the mainland. When he refuses, the fight resumes in earnest until Kazuma finally overpowers her, but at that moment, her brother dies and her will to fight with it. Kazuma does not deliver the killing blow, but stands over her as she dies and he then attacks the man who has been watching the entire fight – Mujo. The two Alter heavyweights link up for a moment, before Mujo forces Kazuma back and slinks away.

Episode 18: Straight Cougar

All parties are now on the move – Cougar has taken an opportunity to take some vacation time to further his own goals. Kanami now believes that Kazuma is alive and is going to go search for him; Ryuho doesn’t want to leave the village unprotected so Scheris offers to watch it for him while he protects Kanami on her journey. Cougar sends Mimori and Tachibana the last location of Ryuho and those two subsequently make their way towards the village. The pair are intercepted en route by a HOLD transport and the other captured Alter user is airdropped to apprehend them. This powerhouse is going head-to-head with Tachibana, but the former HOLY member cannot stop him and is saved by serious harm by Ryuho. After the man attacks him as well, Ryuho unleashes his full power and the user is forced to escape. Now grouped together, Mimori tells Ryuho everything they know about Kazuma’s location and the group decides to travel back to the fighting ring to try and find him. During all this, Cougar finds Kazuma on his own and tries to bring him up to speed while reminding him that he’s not fighting very effectively nor for the right reasons – so the fight between the two powerhouses ends with Cougar rattling Kazuma’s cage and getting him focused once again.

Scryed has done an excellent job of making a good character bundle with each character having their own motivations and personalities. So far so good.

- Tazman

(September 12, 2005)

"Hey, that French guy is Greg."

        - Tardy the Turtle (Greg the Bunny)

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