Author's Note: I'm sorry for the very long update. I've been busy with schoolwork as I am now in a rigorous academic program and haven't found the time to work on this fanfic until now.

Chapter 1 has been officially revamped, as you will see. I don't want to spoil anything so you'll have to read along to find out what happens.

Disclaimer: Cyborg 009 is the creation of Shotaro Ishinomori. Lisa Mooncrest and other non-canon characters are mine unless otherwise stated.

- . - . - . - . - . - . - . -

Five years after the massacre at Archibald Psychiatric Center…

With Black Ghost activity gone, the 00-cyborgs decided to part ways, though they remained in contact with each other and Dr. Gilmore and 001 should the organization surface again. Each cyborg had to adjust to the fact that they were no longer living with the rest of the team and had to start their lives from scratch.

Dr. Gilmore and 001 remained with Professor Koizumi in Japan, having no other place to stay and no immediate family members to turn to. Under the supervision of the two men, 001 learned to control his psychokinetic powers and was now able read minds without giving his presence away and read thoughts without having to be physically near people, teleport slightly heavy objects, create a force field, and deform objects.

While Dr. Gilmore and Professor Koizumi played a game of Go on the front porch of the house, 001 decided to scan for Black Ghost activity throughout the world.

Hello?

The unfamiliar voice startled the young infant. Who is this?

Waaaaait… someone can hear me? Wow! This is so… COOL. Cool! Coooooool! Cool cool cool cool cool…

001 was startled. Who am I talking to?

Oh, I'm sorry. I should introduce myself. My name is Lisa Mooncrest. Who am I speaking to?

The cyborg gave his name hesitantly. He wasn't sure if he had done the right thing, but he needed to get this person to talk to find out who she was.

Hello, Ivan. I'm very glad to meet you. You're the very first person I've communicated with through telepathy. Hee! That's so cool! I can finally talk to someone else other than the guards!

Guards? What guards? 001 asked suspiciously.

Oops. I meant guards of the Black Ghost organization. They're not very talkative to me and all they do is just march and bring me to the lab and then bring me back to my room and they just stand there saying nothing.

001's first instinct was to alert Dr. Gilmore and the other cyborgs that Black Ghost had captured a civilian, but he needed to make sure that it wasn't a trap set up by the organization to bring them to one location for capture and possible obliteration.

Lisa? Are you still there?

I'm riiiiiiiiiiiiiight heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere! I won't be going anywhere for a while, so don't worry. It takes a long time before I go to the lab again and those crazy people do these "tests" on me to see that I was okay. I keep telling them that I am but they don't seem to hear me and keep doing all these crazy tests and stuff. I wonder if they're deeeeeeeaaaaaaaf…

Can you tell me where you're being kept prisoner? 001 asked while trying to pinpoint Lisa's location. But he could not sense her presence anywhere in the world, though he can still feel her presence psychically.

Prisoner? What's that? That sounds like a big word that Doc uses. Waaaaaaiiiiit. Do you know Doc? Can I talk to him? There's a bunch of stuff I wanna tell him, especially about those lazy people back at the hospital!

001 was becoming confused with Lisa's manner of speech. Did Black Ghost capture a young civilian?

Lisa, how old are you?

The lab people tell me I'm eighteen. Why? Is it my birthday already? Am I going to finally get caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake?

The infant cyborg decided it was best to contact the other cyborgs and devise a plan when the team had regrouped while maintaining contact with Lisa. He had to find out as much information from her as possible to devise a strategy against Black Ghost, since they were one step ahead of him by hiding her location.

- . - . - . - . - . - . - . -

Tokyo, Japan

RRRRRING! RRRRRING!

"Hello?"

"Hello, 009? It's Dr. Gilmore."

"Oh, hello, doctor. How are you?"

"I'm doing well, my boy, but I'm afraid I didn't call for pleasantries. 001 has picked up the presence of a young captive being held somewhere by Black Ghost. He wants the team to regroup to figure out what to do, since he is unable to locate where the prisoner is," Dr. Gilmore replied gravely.

"You mean Black Ghost figured out a way to block 001's psychic powers?" 009 asked in surprise. 001 was always able to detect Black Ghost's activities or presence if he wasn't recovering from use of his powers.

"Perhaps. They know your capabilities and your weaknesses, so they may have figured out a way to combat your skills. Black Ghost has been quiet for some time," surmised Dr. Gilmore.

"I'll head there as soon as possible, Dr. Gilmore. Who else have you been in contact with?"

"I've just talked to Chang and Great Britain and they're coming over immediately. Why don't you call 003 and let her know what's going on? I'll see if I can arrange for 001 to contact 005 and 008.

Be careful, 009. We don't know what Black Ghost has planned for us all these years," warned Dr. Gilmore. His voice was followed by a click and 009 put the phone back on hook. He let out a sigh before he went to the closet of his one bedroom apartment, grabbed his belongings and began to pack for the journey to Professor Koizumi's house.

He would have used his accelerator to get there immediately but his suitcase would not survive the intense speed, so his only option was to take the bullet train.

Just when we thought we could put Black Ghost behind us, it comes back to haunt us, 009 thought to himself as he pulled out a small notebook from his luggage before zipping it closed and then walked over to the phone. He picked up the phone while flipping through the notebook and then stopped at 003's name.

The cyborg dialed the number listed under the name.

"Hello? 003? It's me, 009…"

- . - . - . - . - . - . - . -

Black Ghost base

Lisa Mooncrest looked at the gray walls of her round room from her metal bed while swinging her legs from side to side in opposite directions. She was still euphoric from her conversation with 001 and fought the urge to give in to the corners of her mouth, tempting her to smile and run around the room with glee.

It was the first time someone had interacted with her the same way Doc did at the hospital and that was something Lisa gravely missed. Ever since she was taken away by those two men in black, she was locked up in a metal room with a metal bed and a spring mattress just like the old room she had, but the door wasn't visible and there was no window for her or anyone to see through or flap for food to be pushed through.

From time to time, two scientists would bring her out of her prison and subject her to numerous tests, often painful ones, and each test always ended up with her being escorted back to the room with an aching head.

Until that one day, when the scientists warned her not to touch her head.

- Flashback –

"You must not touch your head. Do you understand?"

"Why? What's wrong with my head?"

"Because you need to recover. And we can't afford to have anything happen to you after your operation."

"What's that? And Doc was a lot nicer than you people. He always explains big words to me," Lisa replied as she rolled her eyes upward to see her head. "And why won't you people do the same? Aren't you like Doc since you wear the same white cloth he wears?" she added.

The scientists feigned a response, fearing they would incur Skull's wrath if they spoke with the patient. One of them snapped their fingers and two assistants escorted Lisa out of the operating room.

- End flashback -

The pain lasted for a few days and then it never returned, much to Lisa's comfort. I dunno what those mean people did but my head doesn't hurt anymore, and Doc says not feeling pain is sometimes a good thing, so I guess this is one of those times, she thought to herself.

A hissing sound filled the room and Lisa turned to the source, a door sliding open and Skull entered the room with two generals behind him, one on each side.

"Dr. Gamo reported brainwave activity just a few minutes ago, sir. He suspects that she was telepathically communicating with someone from outside," reported the general on the left.

"So she is capable of using telepathy in a room that suppresses psychokinetic abilities… excellent!

Tell Dr. Gamo to prepare for departure."

"Sir? Departure?" asked the general on the right.

"Yes, general. Departure," Skull repeated sternly, turning to face the general on his right. "We need to leave before the cyborgs come to rescue Ms. Mooncrest."

"Departure? What's departure? And who's coming to… uh… what's that word?" Lisa asked, joining the conversation. The three men ignored her questions.

"Make sure that the robot units are the only ones that remain here with the prisoner and that she is guarded well, understand? Now, go carry out your orders."

The two generals bowed and left the room as Skull turned to Lisa, who looked at him quizzically while tilting her head to the side. If he were human, he would be grinning from ear to ear and his eyes would be twinkling with delight while giving off an air of mystery.

"Soon, the downfall of the cyborgs will come to pass," he mumbled to himself as he swiveled his cape and left the room.

- . - . - . - . - . - . - . -

This turned out to be a rather short chapter. I'm used to writing long chapters for my stories, but I felt that I wrote what was needed to be written without giving away too much or leaving little for the other chapters.

I'm happy to be able to finally resume working on this story and I hope to be able to finish writing it before I go back to school.

Please read and review so I can have an idea of where I need to improve or how I'm doing.

the-pen-and-papers-workshop