Alv smirked at the unconscious guard.
"It seems she got here before us," she remarked, looking at the Global Union building.
Narrowing her eyes a bit, she could see Artemis's little green head moving past a window.
"What's she planning?" she asked.
Dvergr looked up from the machine.
"According to my research, Apollo floats right over the Global Union building. If she manages to access him, she could destroy Apollo," she reported.
Alv smirked again.
"Well now. I can't let that happen, can I? After all, Apollo makes my plan possible."
"Actually-"
"I know. So does Artemis. But clones are a dime a dozen," Alv snapped, stepping over the guard and strolling towards the building.
She turned back to Dvergr.
"Are you coming?" she asked.
Eclipse stared at the boats docked in the harbor.
"Auditor. There's no real reason to keep searching," she said.
Armblast ignored her words, looking around the harbor as well.
"Chief, I need to know," he said.
Eclipse sighed, catching his arm before he could go anywhere. Armblast turned to her.
"Auditor, I admit, I don't understand any of what you're going through. You lost Mecredi and, because of your foolishness, you lost Artemis. But Éclair gave you a chance to get her back. A chance that could have led to another termination order. Artemis is dead. Éclair and Kale were there. But I understand that saying goodbye and giving Artemis a proper burial is a way for you to say goodbye to her and Mecredi," Eclipse said.
Armblast smiled a bit.
"Chief, let me tell you this. When Mecredi died, before I even knew, I felt my heart break. But with Artemis, there was none of that. She isn't dead. She's just missing at sea."
Eclipse sighed.
"Fine, I'll humor you. Say she is on one of the boats. Do we just say, "Hey, we're looking for a girl with green hair and green looks like a normal teenage girl but is really a clone of some of the most talented individuals in the worlds as well as the most dangerous criminal in the entire galaxy?'" Eclipse inquired.
Armblast smirked.
"Well, we don't have to say all that but if you really want to, I won't stop you," he said.
Eclipse glared at him.
"Do you want my help or not?" she hissed.
"Um... excuse me."
Armblast and Eclipse turned to see a man dressed in a captain's uniform approaching them.
"Did you say you were looking for a teenage girl with green hair and eyes?"
"Yes, what about it?" Eclipse demanded.
"Would her name happen to be Artemis?"
"Yes. Why? Have you seen her?" Eclipse asked.
"Yeah! Had her on board for about two weeks. We were enterin' the harbor when she jumped off ship and beat us to shore. She mentioned something about the Global Union and how her brother or some other relative was floatin' right above it. Said when triggered, he'd destroy it," the captain reported.
Armblast blinked. A girl headed for Global Union. Damn it. He'd run into Artemis and he hadn't even known.
"Thank you," Eclipse said.
She turned to leave, dragging Armblast behind her. Her cell was out and, after dialing some numbers, she pressed it to her ear.
"Yes, Chief Eclipse here. We have an emergency. I need you to check the space directly above the Global Union. If you find any unidentified crafts up there, inform me immediately. Also, send Éclair, Lumiere, TweedleDee, TweedleDum- Oh screw it. Send me all the ES members ASAP. Do not brief them just have them report directly to the Global Union. Is that clear?" she demanded. She waited for confirmation and then hung up.
"Oh Eclipse, you do have a heart," Armblast teased.
"Auditor, we are not on a first name basis. Now shut up and drive."
"Why does the chief want us at the GU so bad?" Éclair asked.
Lumiere sighed.
"We weren't briefed. It must be an emergency," she said.
Éclair huffed grumpily. Donner beeped, making her smile. She patted him.
"At least Donner is okay even if La Muse is gone," she said.
Éclair looked at Lumiere.
"I'd be glad to see Artemis again but if I ever do, even if it's another clone, with you as my witness, I will make her rebuild La Muse, piece by piece," she declared.
'Yes, that's nice," Lumiere mumbled.
Éclair leaned over and stared at Lumiere.
"What?" Lumiere inquired.
"You seem awfully distracted," Éclair remarked.
She shrugged, sitting up.
"Ah well," she said, reclining.
Donner stopped, meeting up with Chief Eclipse's car. As well as the other ES members.
"Ah man. Last ones here," Éclair complained to herself.
Eclipse cleared her throat.
"Artemis is alive," she announced.
Before anyone could say a word, she went on.
"She's here at the GU. Moments ago, I was informed that Alv has a ship floating above the GU. Should it be accessed, it will destroy the GU. Right now Artemis, Alv and Dvergr are inside. The reasons are unknown but I am certain Artemis is not working with Alv. In fact, I believe she is trying to destroy the ship before it hits. We must find and protect her so she can. And we will assist if needed."
"Why are we standing outside talking? LET'S GO!" Éclair cheered.
"Well, what a surprise," Alv chuckled.
She watched as Artemis spun to face her. The girl didn't look surprised.
"I've been expecting you, Alv," she said.
Alv smiled.
"Let's dance, clone."
Artemis ran forward, leaping at Alv's throat. Alv dodged, grabbing for Artemis's arm. Artemis kicked away from her, leaping into the air. She landed in a squat, lunging at Alv again, morphing into Éclair. Alv caught the attack and kicked Artemis back. Artemis hit the ledge, causing it to crumble a little. Artemis spit out a mouthful of blood as she morphed back. Alv smiled at the glare of pure murder in Artemis's eyes.
"Cute," she mumbled, shooting the building.
The ledge Artemis was on slid away with Artemis still on it. Artemis pushed herself to her feet and ran towards Alv. She leapt, missing by inches, and fell with the ledge.
"Artemis!"
Artemis turned and saw Éclair and Lumiere driving Donner towards her. Standing on Donner's head was Armblast. He held out his arms toward her and caught her.
"You came for me!" Artemis said.
Armblast smirked.
"I lost you once. I won't lose you again," he said.
Artemis hugged him.
"You better not," she said.
"Um, don't mean to intrude but we need to focus on kicking Alv's psychotic butt," Éclair said. Artemis nodded.
"Right. But we need to take out Dvergr first. She has the controls for Apollo."
"And Apollo is?" Éclair asked.
"Well, besides the Greek God of the Sun, he's my brother. The reason I exist. Apollo is a ship. Like, a majorly decked out ship that could possibly take out the entire GOTT. Possibly even the universe," Artemis explained.
"Ah, so basically bad news," Éclair summarized.
"Well, if you want to dumb it down like that, I won't stop you," Artemis teased.
Éclair glared grumpily.
"You two were meant for each other," she declared.
Donner jerked to the side, avoiding an attack from Alv. Artemis and Armblast almost fell right off but managed to catch hold of Donner.
"Nice, Éclair," Artemis snapped.
"It wasn't me!" Éclair objected.
They all looked at Lumiere, who was smiling triumphantly.
"Lumiere!" Éclair cried.
"Ah, ah, ah. Would you rather be plummeting to the ground?" she asked.
"Would be a nice change of pace," Armblast joked.
"Stay back! All of you!" Alv yelled.
"Oh yeah? Give us one good reason!" TweedleDum yelled.
Alv smirked.
"Think. I have every chairman of the GU in here. Now, I'll survive the attack. Will they?" she asked.
"Oh, that's just dirty," Viola remarked.
Artemis sighed.
"We have no choice," she said.
"What?" Éclair cried.
"We have to retreat for now. Just until we figure a way to save the hostages."
Artemis glanced at Eclipse, who was standing by her car. Eclipse sighed reluctantly.
"Fall back!" she ordered.
Éclair looked at her in shock as well as the other ES members.
"Fall back!" Eclipse ordered with more force.
"I don't believe this! How could we just leave them like that?" Éclair ranted.
"Think Éclair. Even without Apollo, Alv is strong," Lumiere said.
"Not that strong," A-oh commented.
"Perhaps, but she has hostages. Very important hostages. And she knows it," Armblast pointed out.
The ES members were lounging in a furnished room similar but bigger to Chief Eclipse's office.
"I hate this," TweedleDee said.
They all looked at her.
"I hate being on lockdown. Especially with Alv's new toy, Apollo. What's to stop her from crashing it into GOTT? I mean, she knows the drill. With something so close to home like this, the building would obviously end up in lockdown. I hated it before and I hate it now."
"When has the building ever been on lockdown?" Éclair asked.
"When you attacked after your termination was ordered," Un-oh reminded her.
"Oh," Éclair said.
Lumiere glanced at Artemis.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
Artemis sighed.
"Nothing. I had meant to take Apollo down but with Dvergr and the clones-"
"THAT'S IT!" Éclair cried, leaping to her feet.
"What's it?" Sinistra asked.
Éclair smiled.
"The clones all look like Artemis. She can sneak in and blend in and take Dvergr out. Then you can pose as her and get close to Alv-"
"And knock her block off and destroy Apollo!" Artemis finished.
"Éclair, you're a genius!" Viola praised.
"I try," Éclair said.
"And fail," TweedleDum remarked.
"TweedleDum!" TweedleDee scolded.
"Sorry."