Chapter 6
Mikado's Mind Controlling Method

A/N: Part 3 of the trifecta starts here. With our heroines trapped in Mikado, would they be saved with the arrival of the Z-Fighters? Or would it be too late as they would suffer under the Yakuza's and Dauragon's domination?

Ayame, Echidna, and Leann eventually made their way out of the opaque chute via the militant's communicator utilizing its bright LSD screen. They came across a large, wrought steel door that was supposedly made by titanium alloy. Together, they were able to move it a notch and went out into the sliver of light.

The narrow hallway's fluorescent lights blinded the group. They followed it, with Echidna leading the way, and came through a tannish door.

There was the room that used to house all the uniforms for Mikado's special forces, but instead, those racks were replaced by numerous, nameless human subjects entangled by thick wires with blood and certain fluids coursing through their veins, including their heads. Very creepy. Ayame began to stutter at the gruesome sight; even Echidna herself wasn't expecting this...

I feel so sorry for them right now... she thought.

Since Echidna knew the ways around the Mikado domain well, she led Ayame and Leann despite them trying to keep themselves from going insane at all those crude experiments they'd passed inside the Bio-Plant. From having the Yakuza clones trapped inactively in stasis tubes, to their bodies dropping into them from the chutes aloft and then have them wrapped in wires by mechanical arms while also making incision sights in their limbs and necks.

As they went through some familiar, though cringy, scenery, a thought came to Echidna on how Mugetsu, and his Mooks, have went through ROBOTOMY; as a way to make subjects more obedient and submissive, and have the subject's fighting instincts to be enhanced while also causing their minds to degrade in the process. She desperately hoped that Volt, Sion, and Kou hadn't gotten through this, though Leann doubted they could have over a short period of time.

"Maybe they had some neurotransmitters implanted into them?" They both shrugged at her theory. Then they pressed on.

Ayame also hoped that their bodies hadn't been reproduced into clones, and her mind started to drift as she remembered the atrocious PD-4s she faced as well as Kaldea in a bizarre panther hybrid; she also wondered if the REAL Kaldea was actually burned alive in the fiery "accident", while her cloned body lived on as a more loyal servant to Dauragon while also restoring her memories little by little. Then again, the pendant was an inclination it couldn't have happened. Yet still, the fact the bouncers could be carbon copies was a possibility.

Unfortunately, the women's reveries were interrupted by some Yakuza ambushes, and they've utilized the same techniques as before, even with those that had more sharper, lethal weapons such as those curved cutlasses.

With their minds still racing, unsure of where to go, Leann's comm suddenly increased its signal strength showing several bars. She signaled them to stop and then she vigorously typed on it. Through the LUKIS officer's impressive hacking skills, as her fingers were flying across the tiny keypad, she managed to receive some intel concerning Mikado's more quicker methods, just after calling for backup to HQ via distress signal.

On the screen were mountains of deciphered, encrypted data, and Leann showed it all to her desperate teammates as soon as they reached a chamber surrounded by massive doors with card key slots. They had reached the Laboratory Prep Room, and Leann gave the weary women the following information summarized as follows:

The A3 Project was described as a brainwashing weapon of some kind. Through a small electronic transmitter implanted on the neck, or any portion on the head, the machine would be able to manipulate the subject by sending a certain kind of electric wave into an area of the brain known as the "Gator's Cortex", from where the most primitive behaviors can be initiated. With that way, Leann came to the conclusion that the A3 Project was capable of destroying the mind and forcing the experiment into acting entirely out of instinct rather than reason, causing his/her fighting attributes to increase while they become demoralized.

"Like the Borg...and Locutus..." Ayame thought out loud.

Upon further evaluation, the Gator Cortex allowed humans to do basic actions, such as to "eat", "sleep", "kill" or "escape". This portion hidden deep within the vast human subconscious was titled as such, based on a gator hiding in a swamp awaiting for its prey to attack and then retaliate aggressively.

The new biological project initiates the body's natural electric current into this section, turning it into a certain kind of radio wave. By directing this into the brain, it was possible to stimulate these actions voluntarily upon the master's requests.

By trading their natural impulses for the radio ignition, this produces hallucinations that are permanent, causing a total loss of sanity in the subjects.

Just like Mugetsu!

Echidna feared the process would be irreversible, turning the subject into a permanent shell of its former self, a zombie-like being no less. However, Leann guessed if the transmitter can actually be damaged or disabled soon enough...

She then fed the intel to her superiors and subordinates as an emergency to save her and Kou, never labelling him as a mindless slave. Both she and Echidna decided it was official that each bouncer had a certain bullet-shaped implant somewhere in their bodies connecting to their brains; once the link has been found and then destroyed in time, chances are they would revert to their normal selves without any extreme damage. However, in order to be perform the body searches, they must be sedated first, which won't be an easy feat. Echidna recalled PD-4 having some sedatives at his disposal; however, they were no longer around.

At the executive floor, they heard a deep hissing noise accompanied by a snarl. Ayame figured it belonged to a monstrous cobra. The beast treaded behind the unsuspecting trio as it snuck silently across the red carpet that was covering the majority of the floor. By the time it let out another hiss, though...

Its slick tongue grabbed and yanked the Power Pole out of Ayame's hands! Their old nemesis swallowed the weapon whole as it went down its gullet, just like a carnivorous snake! Their gaze followed to that dreaded biolizard again!

"Ergh, you're gonna pay for what you did to my Power Pole!" Ayame screeched in rage.

"Well, if it isn't that slithering bastard itself!" Echidna concluded.

"Ready for Round 2, chimera?!" Leann put her black dukes up as she shifted a foot back.

The humanoid reptilian had some new moves up its saggy, fleshy sleeves as its adhesive, lightning-fast tongue enabled it to stick and extend it to make the monster reach higher, more distant grounds, even as a countermove when it rammed into its enemies. They had to either brace themselves or move aside whenever it charged in for the kill.

It was nothing the women couldn't handle when Echidna continued to use her unpredictable Capoeira while Leann made swift blows toward it. Ayame, however, had to improvise using her ki blasts for long-range attacks as well as blocking. Her stamina was wearing thin, so she had to rely on her buddies before she'd pass out from fatigue. Eventually, the mutant's legs started to buckle.

The young Z-Fighter just pounced on its stomach after it was knocked on its back, when it finally vomited the Pole as well as some black and blue blood!

"Ullk!" She couldn't stand the abrupt upchuck. Then the Licker lookalike just laid there like a lifeless slug as more of its insides began to drool out of its mouth. She reluctantly grabbed for her lost weapon and it dripped some more before her fingers slipped.

"It's about time we put an end to him..!" Leann sighed with relief.

"Feral fiend..!" Echidna said under her breath.

Ayame pointed her Pole toward the pile of decaying skin. "I bet that gave you quite a stomach ache, did it!?" she challenged.

The three women regrouped, though something was amiss. Ayame's ki sense kicked in once more, and the signal was weak toward the next room. "This...this can't be the way. I can feel the darkness stronger over there. We need to go back."

"What!? Are you crazy?" Echidna objected.

Leann made an assuring hand on her shoulder. "Relax. We didn't go all this way for nothing, hot stuff. If she could sense Kou as well as the others...?"

They followed her lead, with Echidna tagging along, more fumed than ever. Of course, the commanding officer had to keep an eye on her, comforting Ayame before she'd get a chance to pwn her.

A/N: The process of making the miniature mind control device was inspired by the Strider series, as it was done by the ZAIN project, a mind-controlling experiment that Grandmaster Meio uses to make biological weapons out of humans, aside from cloning, and as a way to discover how the brain in general operates, especially in terms of instinct as well as its basic functions such as eating, sleeping, and escape. Although I never got far into the series, the original SEGA game was ok, when I was a kid anyway...

Also, I couldn't believe I've forgotten this, but whenever Ayame uses the Power Pole's extension, I can picture it on how Link used his Hookshot/Longshot, with the aim, extension, and all that.

I can't really come up with some good Trinity Rushes for Leann and Echidna though, nor any taunts; heck, I don't have a copy of the game so...I'm pretty much stuck. So another chapter done; hopefully I'll do the next one soon.