83 Naples

Ed called Ash and Ochre to his underground lab. He strapped them onto tables with heavy metal chains. 'There. That should prevent any accidental suicides.'

Ash's eyes glowed with excitement, for he couldn't wait to become an esper. Ochre remained rather calm, seemingly indifferent to whether he was given the surgery or not.

Ed took out the artificial mana-cores and started working on Ash. He melted a small hole in his head and inserted the core. Then he quickly attached all of the surrounding brain tissue simultaneously. The mana-core released shock waves against the brain tissue. 'Interesting.' Ed nodded to himself. 'The chimeras have stronger bodies, but I left their brains untouched. It looks like the brains have naturally changed over time though. He's withstanding the shocks far better than any of the previous experiments. Since that's the case, I'll likely be able to mass produce artificial esper-chimeras in the future.'

Soon, the fusion process completed. Flames appeared all over Ash's body. As if by reflex, his body pushed up against the chains. His body was trembling all over from muscle spasms, causing his powers to go haywire. The flames began melting the chains. Fortunately, the muscle spasms ceased before the chains were fully melted.

Ed jotted down notes in his notebook. 'Artificial espers at high risk of suicide upon awakening due to muscle spasms. This was likely the cause of suicide for esper experiment 50.' He looked up from his notebook. "How do you feel?" He questioned.

By now, the chains had completely melted. Ash sat up on the table and closed his eyes. The flames on his body slowly disappeared as he focused. "Good." He replied. "It's like I've connected with something deep within myself. Something I never knew was there."

"Probably because it wasn't there." Ed half-jokingly replied. "Any feel for what your power is specifically?"

"Just fire." He answered. "Nothing more, and nothing less.

"Makes sense." Ed nodded. "It's likely that each artificial esper will only have simple powers based on their original element. It looks like there's some benefits to that as well though. Your flames were much hotter and purer than I expected."

Ed finished up his notes and moved to work on Ochre. The process repeated itself, except that Ochre's body formed earth instead of fire. The muscle spasms happened once again, but Ochre seemed to handle it a lot better than Ash.

'All done.' Ed smiled. 'I'd like to make some more, but I really don't have time. The main army should be arriving soon. It's probably for the best anyways. The soldiers will be less motivated to risk their lives if I hand out the rewards too easily. Morale is just as important as power when it comes to war.'

...

Several days earlier. Miami.

Dupe, Husky, Ray, and Terra were in the former mayor's building, sitting at a conference table. Each one enjoyed a cup of tea or coffee.

Dupe smiled while leaning back in his chair. "Man, I really did alllll the work in Miami. I don't even think we needed you guys to participate. Maybe I should just transform into all of you and replace you."

Husky squirmed in his chair, discomfort visible on his face.

"That's bullshit!" Ray said with his arms crossed over his chest. "You never would have got that clean shot if it wasn't for Husky and me. Besides, we would've won even if you hadn't helped. It just would've taken a bit longer."

"Sure, sure." Dupe waved his hand dismissively.

"I..." Terra whispered while fiddling with her hands. "I helped with the walls..."

"You did good." Ray nodded in confirmation towards her. Then he glanced at Husky and nodded towards him as well.

Husky calmed down a little, finally managing to sit still in his chair.

"Well, enough about the unimportant crap." Ray continued. "Let's discuss our plans from here on out. Originally, we were supposed to march up the east coast with our main forces. Then meet with Forge at Orlando and head southwest. I think this is a waste of time."

"A waste of time?!" Dupe interrupted. "This is the best method to reserve our forces. What are you suggesting?"

"We'll split our forces in two." He said while pointing to a map on the table. "The eastern border will fall easily now that we hold Miami. You and Husky will take half of our troops and attack the minor eastern cities. You should still be able to meet up with Forge on time without issue. The battles will be a cakewalk compared to the one we just won."

"And what about you?" Husky questioned.

"I'll be taking the other half and Terra with me to go west. We'll begin sieging the western cities earlier than the original plan. This should speed up the completion of the war drastically."

"Are you insane?!" Dupe interrupted again. "The west coast holds Naples, Fort Myers, and Tampa. Three major cities. How can you possibly take them with only 40,000 soldiers?"

Ray ground his teeth, frustrated over the constant interruptions. "I'll manage it! We need to move faster. Our supplies are already being used up rapidly. Especially food, which we had a shortage of to begin with. The longer we wait, the more reinforced their defenses will become. Hell, if they were smart enough to combine forces and attack us instead, the war would be over almost instantly. We can't afford to give them the time to figure that out."

"I understand that." Dupe nodded. "But we can't just take these huge risks that put the entire war in jeopardy. I say we stick with Forge's original plan and move-"

Bam! Ray slammed his fist against the table. "Forge put me in charge of all military operations, with full authority to make changes as I see fit. We have no choice except to take risks. It's the best way for weaker powers to win offensive wars. Our enemy isn't retarded. They will start the offensive on us before long. We need to control as much of the land as we can by then. This will give us stable food supplies and allow us to setup defensive lines. This is no longer up for negotiation. We move out in two hours." He stood up and left the room, clearly still angry at his authority being questioned.

"Jeeze, that guy, huh?" Dupe smirked towards Husky and Terra. Both of them looked uncomfortable being alone with Dupe, so they quickly rushed behind Ray to leave.

...

Two hours later.

A garrison of troops was left in Miami, consisting of roughly 10,000 soldiers.

Dupe and Husky took half of the remaining troops and headed north. The battles ahead would be relatively easy for them, much to the joy of Husky.

Ray and Terra took the other half and traveled west, planning to start the attack on Naples. However, there was an unwelcome guest following behind them. The guest rested his hands on his head while staring into the sky, whistling a small tune as they walked.

Ray frowned. "I thought I told you to go north along the east coast."

"I am, I am." Dupe said casually while waving his hand. "My clone will handle things fine. Besides, this is ideal for communications between our separated armies."

"Whatever." Ray sighed while shaking his head.

It took nearly two days of marching to reach Naples. Unfortunately, the railways simply weren't equipped for moving so many troops. Not to mention other things such as mechs, tanks, and the Hell Bulls.

"So, what's your clone plan on doing in this city?" Ray questioned.

"Nothing." Dupe sighed. "The mayor of this city weeded out all of my clones, and he didn't even use his powers to do it. He's a cunning bastard!"

'Hmm.' Ray rubbed his chin. 'Our troops are about equal to Naples and Fort Myers. Tampa will be the real problem, as we'll be outnumbered. Not to mention we'll likely lose a lot of troops before then. What can I do to take this city with minimal losses?' He thought a bit longer before deciding. 'It'll take longer than what I want, but it seems to be the best method,'

Ray began ordering his men to cut down trees in mass. They bundled them together into large rafts, each one capable of holding at least twenty men and a mech or tank. These operations continued for half a day, giving them thousands of these rafts. Each raft was placed in a nearby river while anchored to shore.

Dupe had held his silence during this entire process, but finally he couldn't hold back his curiosity. "What are the rafts for?!" He asked.

"Naples is built over a river that feeds into the ocean. The city walls won't impede the flow of the water. We're going in through there."

"What?!" Dupe exclaimed in shock, then his eyes radiated excitement. "Let's do it! It's so crazy that I can't wait to see what happens!" He ran towards a raft and happily jumped atop it. He repeatedly glanced towards their forces, impatient for them to board the rafts.

Orders soon spread from the other officers, and they prepared to set sail. The sight of so many rafts floating down a river was bizarre to say the least. The waters propelled the rafts forward, spraying wafts of salty water into the air. Fish fled away from the caravan of rafts, but some mutants did not. Several rafts were completely destroyed by river mutants. Fortunately, the river mutants were much weaker than their ocean counterparts, and the rafts scared the majority of them away. The ones that did attack were quickly defeated by overwhelming firepower. If any stronger mutants appeared, then Ray would handle them with ease.

Large city walls came into sight as they floated down the river. Now would be a convenient time for a water-type esper to cover them in a dense fog, but unfortunately, they had no such espers to help them. The guards atop the walls noticed the strange caravan and immediately sounded the city alarms.

"Terra!" Ray ordered.

"Right!" She nodded as she jumped off the raft and onto the shore. She created a large earthen wall over the river in front of the caravan. Then she stepped forward, slamming her foot into the ground. The wall was pushed forward as well. Each step she took, the wall continued moving forward.

Enemy cannon fire was already wearing down the wall. Occasionally a breach would happen, resulting in a raft being sunk. The congested caravan was like a fish in a barrel, easy for the enemy to shoot. Only the wall stood in the way to protect them.

They got closer and closer to the wall. It would only be another minute or two before they successfully entered the city. At that point, the battle would be as good as won. They would hold the advantage after throwing the city into chaos.

Suddenly, the flow of the river began to reverse, pushing the rafts backwards. The men now had to use large branches to forcefully push the rafts forward. Dupe squinted his eyes and stared into the distance. "There's an esper reversing the flow of the water!" He yelled in surprise.

In the middle of the river was a blue-cloaked woman. The water flowed around her, obeying her every command. A skinny man in a suit stood on the shore near her. It was the Naples Mayor. He seemed to be directing the battle as he pointed and yelled at his men. The men carried large drums of oil and began pouring them into the river. The river flow directed the oil towards Ray and the others.

"Shit!" Dupe yelled as he spotted the black substance floating towards them. "They're going to light it on fire!"

"Hahaha!" Ray grinned whiles standing up, pummeling one fist into another. "That mistake just cost them the entire battle."

"Hmm?" Dupe rose an eyebrow, curiosity evident on his face.

The enemy lit the oil atop the river on fire. Contrary to what most people think, fire moves very quickly. It was already nearing their rafts!

Ray stepped off the raft, his body covered in silver plasma. He opened his arms wide and allowed the flames to freely flow towards him. The flames fed his plasma, causing his silver glow to grow larger. It was like pouring gasoline atop fire, fueling his powers to greater heights. All of the flames headed straight for him, and he happily absorbed them all. Plasma blasted from his feet as he shot forward, tearing through the flames.

By the time he reached the city wall, Ray no longer looked human. Instead, he was a giant flying ball of silver plasma. There was so much plasma that the plasma ball had a diameter of at least 100 meters. He flew over the river and straight into the city. Within the plasma ball, He closed his eyes and concentrated. Then, the ball exploded. Extremely hot streaks of plasma shot in all directions, catching much of the city on fire. The enemy forces scattered to avoid the source of death falling from the skies. Many pushed and shoved, causing their entire army to become disorganized.

Ray shot towards the blue-robed water esper and formed a plasma blade in his hand. He quickly beheaded her. He saw the mayor watching on shore as he did so, and he immediately charged towards him.

"Fuck!" The Mayor cursed in anger. "What kind of idiot sieges a city with rafts on a river?!" His hands lit up with lightning as he prepared to fight back.

Ray ignored the Mayor's attack and swept his plasma-blades forward.

The Mayor barely managed to dodge, landing one of his lightning-fists on Ray's chest. He smirked as he landed the hit. "Let's see how you survive lightning to the heart." He looked up towards his enemy, and his eyes widened in shock.

Ray was completely unharmed. "To use lightning on me." He scoffed. "I have no idea how Dupe struggled so much against you." His plasma-blade chopped down, bisecting the mayor in two. He flew past the dead mayor and continued attacking the other espers.

The caravan of rafts reached shore. The men were more than eager to leave their vulnerable positions. A line of defense was quickly created. With their backs to the ocean, they had an advantageous position for the battle. The steam tanks mainly served as defensive formations, as they didn't wish to damage the city too heavily. The disorganized enemy troops only made things easier as Harmony soldiers pressed the attack. The mechs were the highlight, as they were the best suited for city combat. They easily penetrated the enemy ranks, spreading fire wherever they passed.

The battle lasted for only an hour before the enemy surrendered. Every esper in the city had been killed. Ray grinned while looking down upon Dupe. "Still think it was dumb to split our forces?" He questioned.