"There will come a day when this vessel is filled with something." Howard gestured to himself, armor clinking as he did so. Sand scraped the heavens and grinded the earth down to a featureless plain. All to preserve this world. All to ensure that it continued to endure. "But until that day, I will continue to have faith in what drives me. Even if I'm a gear in a greater machine, that will not change."

He thumped his armored hand against his chest, which produced the hollow thud of a vase being rapped on by a knuckle. Howard's hand then fell limp at his side.

"I choose to believe. Faith fills this vessel like a second heart, although..." He chuckled as she tried to toe her line across a wire that, when overstepped, would end in Yuina Higashi's annihilation. "I have no heart."

Several moments passed, and the sound of a heartbeat did not fill Howard's ears. A reminder of the sensation he had once felt no longer belonged to this clockwork monstrosity of a form.

"...or perhaps I have too many. Anyway..." The admin's mouth opened to order a Max Stonefall to descend from the heavens, crushing them both. Outrunning an attack that had leveled Petalburg seemed impossible, but the admin was willing to prove his point to Yuina.

Before suddenly, Claydol teleported back. Crumble's eight eyes flickered.

"Regice?"

Another pattern flash. Howard's specialization had been ancient languages, and dealing with Regice had given the admin a healthy understanding of mechanical speak.

"I told you to bring it."

Flash.

"Really now? Is that so? It found one?"

Another flash. Howard let out a loud laugh that was marred by static.

"Spectacular!" He turned to Yuina, clearly pleased. Crumble floated behind the admin, and his Sygna Suit flickered to life. "It's your lucky day, Yuina Higashi. I've found something truly incredible!"

---

Yuina Higashi
YAPPAGE
CLAYDOL RETURNS, HOWARD YAPS TO IT