ShardclawK: Just to let everyone know that I'm still alive and kicking, it's just that I've been REALLY busy as of late with stuff, so I was kind of kicking back to give my head some leeway, but I have been keeping up to date with the revisions during the hiatus just to let you know I have no intention of giving up on these revisions just as they are faring so well.
In any case, I hoped everyone reading this revised chapter had a good and safe holiday as I did and are enjoying the New Year thus far. I just have some important stuff to mention before I begin that I think will please those who are enjoying the progress of the revisions so far.
First off, during these revisions, you may also see some advances story-wise at the same time from now on in order to speed things up a bit at the end of the Mantis arc and afterwards, so please bear with me if you think I'm being delayed more than usual since I've been busy with my job and working on other fiction at the moment, its all in favour to get this monster updated again. But I could assure that you'll be seeing even more process for this story flowing again in 2007 and even in COE very soon as I've also begun working on its revisions, using the manga version of Evangelion as its inspiration, so you guys are in for some major treats later on.
Also, I've recently started the process of getting into several new anime/manga titles and even games over the hiatus to help give me inspirations with the current fiction work, as some of them will actually be crossing over into this story later on. I recently updated the character listing sometime back, so you're free to check for yourselves anytime which of the few other anime/manga and game titles being included in terms of genre and content in this fic. Be expecting some more to be added in the coming months.
Okay, I've talked enough already. It's time to get the main events on the way, I hope everyone, both old and new readers will enjoy this revised chapter, especially with all the references I've thrown in.
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Metal Gear: Soldier X
Chapter 9: Apprehension
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In the busy streets of New York, a yellow taxi cab stopped near a subway entrance. A man hurriedly stepped out with a suitcase in hand. He was wearing a large, oversized, trenchcoat with a light brown tan colour, and only a green beret could be seen at the top. It was turning a dark colour, due to the light rain that had been pouring down ever since the early hours of the morning.
He quickly paid the driver and then whirled around and stepped into the entrance, making his way underground, passing through the crowd of people who were all bustling to get to their routine stops using the trains. After a few minutes, the train he was waiting for arrived and he immediately stepped in and found a seat before it got filled with the other passengers and breathed deeply with relief. After the train made its stop, he exited with the other passengers and after leaving the station, walked a distance to another end of the city where he then made a turn into a dark alleyway. In front of him, were several parked SUV's and another man waiting for him, whom he could recognise in any place.
"I thought you would be here, Reese." A man's voice spoke behind him. Reese knew the tone of the voice and did not bother to turn around as he was surrounded by several taller men wearing black coats and were holding metallic canes. Matthew Reese simply smirked as he was taking puffs from his cigar before finally turning and facing the other man in front of him.
"It couldn't be helped...uncovering the records of that punk Kinezono took longer than I thought." Reese replied. "Besides...I managed to get out of there before that goody two shoes Campbell and his band of freaks caught on, didn't I, General Drake"?
The man named Drake smiled a bit. He had thin grey hair, while his eyes were a brown colour. He was in a dark business suit, making him look like an average person among the civilians in the area.
"You were always capable of surprising me, Reese...no wonder the Patriots chose you to do their bidding...but, then again, I'm sure they are still quite angry with you for failing your task with James Masterson when he went to Cuba." Drake said with a smile as Reese simply replied with a retort with his own.
Reese simply laughed at Drake. "Yes, Masterson did manage to evade the plan the Patriots set for him, but Gregory Kinezono…or should I put it, Matthews, won't be so lucky. The Patriots predicted the growth in his powers, but never expected him to survive his ordeal integrating them into his body. All in all, he is soon to live up to my expectations, not yours."
"What do you intend to do about this, Reese?" Drake asked. "It was rather risky and irregular for you to reveal yourself like this. What is it that you want to gain from this little show that you're putting on for FOXHOUND?"
"Curious to see what I have in store for them, my old friend Drake?" Reese spoke as he smoked some more. "You see, I have a plan for all of them, Kinezono's just the beginning. With him out of the way, the real drama can begin as I've been making several…'friends' outside of FOXHOUND who are willing to join me in my cause."
"Are you planning to challenge the Patriots, Reese?" Drake asked as Reese smirked.
"That's not my intention, my will has always been to serve them to the fullest. I just have some different plans in mind, that's all." Reese said. "You see, my friend, I have already looked over several intriguing candidates from all areas that weren't originally looked into and once they accepted my terms and conditions, I will see to it that the Patriots will sponsor them, strengthened through their science and technology, and they will provide me with my own force of super powered recruits to challenge Campbell's worthless group."
"Was that your intention all along, then?" Drake asked. "You will not get away far with this, Reese."
Reese laughed a bit before disposing his cigar. "Aw, come now. I'm just after the same thing as you, my fellow spy for the Patriots. So, what are a few outside negotiations to you, hmm?"
"As I recall, in the past the Committee never associated themselves with criminals to get their work done, if that's what you're implying." Drake replied.
"You never know, Drake. The Patriots may have gotten their hands dirty in the past just to get things done around here for the sake of their country, you really shouldn't deny it." Reese said. "I just thought I could speed things up a bit, knowing that there are others who want at least a piece of the world for themselves, am I wrong?"
"No, you're not. It is true that there are several other factions whom are all trying to take over where the Patriots left off." Drake said, knowing fully well of the much rumoured NESTS group that had slowly been resurfacing after their downfall fifteen years ago. Then the likes of Mesphistopheles and Kusiel which were sub syndicates working under the mysterious organization known as Addis were also contenders, right behind was Geese Howard who was trying to rebuild his empire. Other various factions that were hidden across the world were also vying to gain the power that the Patriots lost controlling the world. Drake would eventually have to look into those groups soon enough.
"You see, we have to take this initiative for our rulers. That way, things should run even more smoothly for them." Reese said.
"And you had to include an innocent girl into this as well by murdering her relative for that end?" Drake asked in a bitter tone.
"Ah, yes. Yuina Hattori, wasn't it?" Reese asked, playing naive. "I had to do whatever it took to provoke Matthews and those with him into my trap and everything played out well as I expected. Even Mantis got a taste of blood from doing his part, I must say. But when the effects of the brainwashing wears off, it will be then he will realise his own monstrosity that he had abandoned years ago. Besides, his time will come soon. He has served enough of my purposes, and now his uses are no longer required."
"Are you planning something for Mantis as well?" Drake asked.
"What's the point for recycled trash like him any more? He has proven to be useful before after I managed to reconstruct him after his death, but he's started to regain control of himself by the day. As I suspected, the brainwashing effect the Patriots did on him would eventually wear off. He must be properly disposed off, as will Gregory Kinezono and that young girl, Yuina. She too has proven to be useful for our plans, but we won't need someone with that amount of fragility from losing a relative among us."
Drake simply shook his head. "You're a cold man, Reese. There are other ways to sort out troublemakers like Kinezono, but you had to resort to this. Just take note that your 'crude methods' have already caused questionable facts about how you handle things in the past when you were still in charge of FOXHOUND to surface. Whether or not that was the case of why you were chosen to be a spy for the Patriots, I don't know nor do I want to know, but remember one thing…if you carry on as you are now, you'll most likely end up like Colonel Osborne."
Lt. Matthew Reese took his time to remember the details of what happened to the said colonel who was looking forward of joining the ranks among the Patriots. "Nathan Osborne was not careful enough to pay attention to the signs around him, that's what made him fail in staying alive in this business. If he had managed to accomplish his mission of obtaining Metal Gear WOTAN, he'd surely still be alive if blame didn't fall on him so much."
"In any case, I would like to see what is it you have got planned for Kinezono and his allies...as long as it does not get in the way of what I have in store for him in case your plan fails." Drake spoke. "I have been a better candidate worthy for earning the Patriots's trust in these matters and have not failed in their duties."
"I can guarantee you...it won't fail. As long as it gets the Patriots' plans to have Ultimatum Gear moving, I'll stop at nothing to see it happen." Reese smiled. (Today, Mantis...will be your final day of living...and soon after, Greg will be joining you for the ride.)
"Now, if you would excuse me, I have a busy week ahead of me." Reese said, stepping into one of the SUV's which were opened for him. "I must begin searching for my 'own suitable recruits' for Addis to enhance and maybe you've probably heard of a few of them, but then again, maybe you haven't. In any case, I would like to see the look on your face after my results have proven useful with them. Goodbye, General Drake."
With that, the door to the SUV slammed and then drove off with the others as Drake stood there by himself, shaking his head.
(Even if you ally yourself with a group of criminals, Reese, the situation will not change for you.) Drake thought. (I will always see to it that the Patriots get what is needed to them and I will certainly not allow you to get your way with us by deceiving us like this. As you will see soon enough, I have my own friends as well who will certainly aid me in realising the Patriots goals. Just you wait…)
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"So, it has begun now...Kinezono's real battle against one of the strongest forces on the planet." Solidus Snake spoke while he watched the monitor. "This should prove very interesting indeed..."
"At this point, Kinezono will learn his true potential...and it will be the Patriots that will rule it to their needs." Ocelot said. "All is lost for Greg Matthews once he learns the truth about himself. He will just have to accept it one way or the other."
"Are you certain the plan will be realised by the time this battle's over, Ocelot?" Solidus asked. "After all, the data we collected not only from his confrontation against Shade, but all the previous times when his own power was detected being used it has proven Kinezono is closer to meeting our expectations. All we have to do now is wait and see if that one will succeed in the final test that awaits him."
"And we shall finally have control over their scenario. Yes, everything's going our way for once." Solidus smiled to himself.
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Linn Aramaki couldn't stop crying. Some time had passed since her last conversation with Greg over the Codec just after he and his group of the combined forces of Warrior, FOXHOUND, and the female swordswomen trio of the Shinsengumi encountered Shade. She tried to keep it inside her, but she just couldn't take it anymore. She knew it was dangerous to go and try and assist, but she felt that the situation had become helpless now after being told of Shade's capabilities in battle. And knowing Greg well enough to know that he would be insistent in trying to rescue Lilica and Yuina from danger's clutches, this was something he couldn't turn his back to, even if it meant facing a dangerous foe like Shade.
Not knowing whether or not Greg and his group had managed to survive their encounter, she had gone to where there were barely any people around to see her in her broken emotional state. One available place was at the Evangelion cages, where the FOXHOUND supplied Harrier 2 was docked at the moment. Leaning back to shed her tears, she slammed her fist against the wall of the cockpit.
"You've always been a fool, Greg. Why did you have to go without telling me everything?" Linn cried, shaking her head. "Why are you always making me worry like this?"
With her hands over her face, she continued to sob, until she heard a young girl's voice call out her known surname.
"Aramaki-san?" The voice was low and gentle in tone, but the attractive FOXHOUND female already recognized it as she looked up and through her watered sight, she can see a young albino girl wearing a plain white and light grey school dress. It was Rei Ayanami.
"Aramaki-san...is something the matter?" Rei stepped up closer to the Harrier and asked Linn. Linn simply shook her head as she sniffed a bit and spoke to the First Child.
"Oh, it's only you, Rei Ayanami. No, everything's not okay. That idiotic boyfriend of mine went off with some of our friends somewhere very dangerous and he may as well get himself killed." Linn spoke, in an almost angry tone. "And the worst part of this is I've only just learnt about it as did everyone else in my group. There's really not a thing I can do to help him now, but just sit here and wait...and that's what I'm afraid of the most."
"You have a right to worry about your comrades, Aramaki." Rei simply spoke. "And Kinezono happens to be a strong willed individual...it is doubtful he would risk his own comrades in danger without thinking ahead."
"I appreciate you trying to tell me the facts, but you really don't know him as well as I do. Once he sets his mind on something, he never lets it go until it's resolved. He's is so stubborn he can't even see it." Linn replied, still in a bitter mood, before relaxing a bit. "How would you know about him?"
"We have seen his strength in defending this base from the enemy, and my previous conversation with him just yesterday proved my answer about one such as him." Rei explained.
"Wait a minute…did you talk to Greg before today?" Linn asked.
"Yes. I was puzzled by his actions and he told me that he wanted to protect you and your fellow comrades from the enemy, just how Ikari did the same for myself and NERV." Rei said. "He also mentioned how it's meaningless to throw your own life away just to ensure the safety of the people he cares about. I believe that he will not surrender in his battles that easily."
"As much as I want to think Greg would have an easy time through this, it's not entirely easy for him, especially where his powers are concerned." Linn spoke as she inhaled deeply. "In the few years that I've known him, Greg never really appreciated his existence because of his powers. He probably sees himself more of an obstacle than a help to everyone else around him and I'm afraid that that will be the kind of mindset he will still have by the time he faces Mantis. He has trouble enough with just accepting the fact of how much everyone close to him still needs him …even now, when I think of how much I really don't appreciate it when he tries and pulls stunts like this, I can't help but love him even more, because his own family is in danger and he's chosen to settle things, no matter how dangerous it seems. Tell me, Rei…am I doing the right thing in still hoping for him?"
"I am unsure of that. That is something for you to decide on, Aramaki." Rei said calmly. "However, on the chance that Kinezono would allow himself to fail to protect the ones he holds dear, I doubt that will happen. He is doing this for your sake, so that he can see that you are safe. He claimed that if it wasn't for you and those closest to him, he wouldn't have a reason to protect anyone. Have faith in Kinezono...I'm sure he will not allow himself to sadden others if he lets his fears overcome him."
"Rei Ayanami…you can't be…" Linn simply muttered as Rei stepped closer to observe Linn as she was wearing a small silver chain that hung around her neck as a small, pure blue crystal was attached to it and was seen dangling near her dog-tags over the top of her Sneaking Suit chest area.
"Is that a crystal teardrop?" Rei simply asked as Linn smiled a bit seeing her charm.
"Yes, Greg got this for me for our second anniversary as a couple. There were only two at the time, so he has one for himself." Linn said. "But I rarely see him take it with him since he is pretty active in missions most of the time. I wear mine all the time though, maybe just to show how I'm still hanging on to whatever is left of our relationship."
"I see. If so, I'm certain Kinezono still has faith in you as well, Aramaki." Rei spoke. "Faith that you're supporting him from where you are right now is what he would need the most at this time."
Rei then left the room quietly and Linn to herself. The Japanese mixed Indian beauty simply stared on in awe as soon after, Silent Scorpion, Kari Mondeau and Mana Kirishima then stepped in the cages and found her.
"Linn, there you are." Scorpion stopped next to her. "Some of the technicians saw you coming this way when ran off from the Command Centre. Are you alright?"
Linn simply nodded in silence at the young master sniper. "Sure, I'm okay now. Were you guys looking for me?"
"Yeah, Garland and Michael were worried about how you were doing, so we came by to check up on you. Did something happen here, Linn?" Mana asked, tilting her head. "I'm sure I just saw the First Child leave here. Was she talking to you?"
"Yeah, she was, Mana." Linn replied. "She and I had a somewhat good, long talk about Greg and made me reconsider some things about him."
"Hmm, I thought she rarely communicates with people here." Kari said, placing a gloved finger near her lips. "So how come she would open up to you like that?"
"Maybe she wanted to give me some encouragement, I guess." Linn shrugged her shoulders. "But I wonder why she would go through the trouble though?"
"I'm not sure why, but I guess she has good intentions for doing so, Linn." Scorpion spoke. "And besides, she's not the only one willing to help you through this. We're here to help as well. That's why we came here looking for you."
"He's right, Linn. Greg's our friend, no, he's family to us." Mana said. "Certainly you don't intend on not enduring the worst of things without at least helping him and everyone else out, right?"
"You've got a point, Mana. I guess I have to face this whether we want to or not." Linn said. "But whatever happens, I'm sure they will be all okay. I mean, it will be just like Greg not to give up before the mission begins, right? So I'm sure he will do just fine."
"Linn…" Kari said as Linn turned around to face the Harrier.
"He has to pull through somehow. We still have lots of things to argue about once this mess is over before we can get our relationship straightened out once and for all." Linn said. "But for the time being, I have to do my part as well. So, please everyone…will you all help me through this, now matter what will happen?"
"It's a sure thing, Linn." Mana said. "I'm sure Garland and Michael would hurry to do the same too. We are family after all."
"Thanks, you guys." Linn nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. "Let's see if we can still give Greg and our friends the support they will need from here, okay?"
"Alright, we will do our part too." Scorpion spoke. "I can't afford to break Greg's trust now of all times since he has done his part in watching my back in the past too."
"By the way, Linn, that's a lovely crystal you have." Mana said as she noticed the necklace she was wearing.
"Why, thanks, Mana. I hardly get to wear such a thing these days because I was worried about what Reese would say if he had caught me wearing this before." Linn said. "I've never seen Greg wear his and it kind of worried me why he would do that. The last time I saw his anywhere near him was in the cockpit of the Harrier during missions. Hmm, now that I think about it…"
Linn made sure and examined the pilot cockpit of the Harrier once more and found a tiny storage area where certain supplies would be kept. After searching through a few minutes, she gasped loudly as she made a discovery.
"Of all the…that guy really is a fool, I tell you." Linn said as she began to cry.
"What's wrong, Linn?" Mana asked as Linn looked up with a smile on her wet face.
"Oh, nothing's wrong. It's just that I went through the emergency compartment of Greg's cockpit and noticed the empty case where he stores his own charm, that's all." Linn said as she dried her eyes. "And it happens to be that the charm itself isn't there. It can only mean one thing."
"He must have it with him then." Kari said smiling herself. "You see, Linn. I'm pretty sure he is thinking about you even now. You shouldn't worry yourself anymore now that he has you on his side."
"You're probably right." Linn said as she began to think to herself. (Have faith, huh? Well...hoping for you, Greg to accomplish your mission and get this thing resolved with Mantis is one thing to start with. Oh, Greg...if only you could hear my voice...I just wanted to tell you...don't disappoint Lilica now. You have to win...for me and everyone else's sake.)
"Let's go back and join the others." Scorpion said as Linn joined the trio of young FOXHOUND recruits.
"Yes, lets. We need to assist Garland and Venom in helping Greg and Riku through this mission." Linn said confidentially as she looked back to the doorway where Rei Ayanami went through. (And thank you as well for reminding me, Rei, even though your intentions aren't clear yet.)
It was then that the group heard their Codec ring at the same time, as Mana was the first one to answer it.
"This is Crimson Jaguar." Mana responded. "Venom, what is it? Does it have to do with Greg and the others?"
"Yes and it appears they got through for the good of things, Mana. They are all okay for the moment; everyone in the Command Centre just confirmed it." Venom said in a relaxed tone as Mana sighed.
"Really? That's good news, thank God." Mana smiled as she turned to her comrades. "Everyone, let's hurry back. It seems that Greg, Riku, Nagi, Tot, and the others with them managed to survive their encounter with Shade and are proceeding with their mission."
"Everyone is okay?" Linn asked a bit surprised as Mana smiled at her.
"I told you everything would work out just fine." She said to Linn. "Venom, we're heading over to the Command Centre with Linn, we just located her and she wants to help us as much as she can."
"Alright, we'll be waiting for you guys." Venom said as he switched off his Codec.
(Greg, once again, you did pull through against the impossible, didn't you?) Linn thought. (Well, it's not like I ever lost faith in that stubborn, insensitive boyfriend of mines to begin with. I'm so going to give him such a stern talking to once this is over.)
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Meanwhile, back in the sewers beneath old Tokyo…
"Achoo! Achoo!" A recovering Greg Kinezono let out a couple of small sneezes as he used his left hand to hold unto the side of this head. His companions from FOXHOUND, Team Warrior, and the Shinsengumi stopped in front of him to look at him, a bit concerned since he was trying to look his best, despite having nearly losing his life to Shade moments before while rescuing Rio on the verge of losing control of his powers, but managed to stay in control for the time being.
"Are you alright, Greg?" Riku asked first as Greg nodded silently to him first before speaking.
"Yeah, I guess for the moment." Greg replied, shaking his head a little. "For some strange reason, I just started sneezing without any warning. I hope I haven't come down with something."
"Probably somebody was just talking about you, Greg." Rio said in a near cheerful tone, hoping to bring his spirits back up. She knows he was probably still half affected by the effects of his powers that were no longer under his control during his fight with Shade. The appearance on his face showed this as the two red vertical skin abrasions on his left cheek were still there as a permanent mark now from that encounter.
"After all that just happened, everyone back at FOXHOUND must still be talking about our encounter with Shade, Sensei." Greg replied. "I'm sure they're probably very worried about us."
"All of us really got off lucky today with facing that freak." Maya gave a deep sigh as she stretched herself. "Man, who would have thought we would have gotten away like this? Do you think it will be that simple the next time if we run into him again, Rio?"
"I don't want to even talk about it right now, okay, Maya? So let's can the talk about that unnatural freak of nature and focus on getting to the stronghold" Rio said lowering her stare a bit with her back turned to Greg. "Even if we couldn't get to kill that lecherous bastard, I still wish there was a way we could have really given it to him after all what he did."
(She must be still really upset that she came close to being ravaged by that guy if Riku and the Shinsengumi hadn't stopped him in time while I blacked out at the worst of timings. I can't blame her, that Shade guy was inhumanly powerful just to overpower us like he did, it's still impossible to believe that someone like him exists.) Greg thought to himself. (I may not understand what fully happened back there with my powers, but thanks to that now, I'm not even in the best of shape to continue the mission as I hoped to be before meeting Shade.)
"Sensei, you shouldn't kick yourself about such this. It's just as Riku and his partners told us before, it's just not possible to kill that guy, or defeat him for that matter." Greg said, coming close to pat her. "There's really nothing we could have done about Shade anyway, but at least we're out of danger from him at the moment and are still hot on the trail towards Mantis' stronghold. That's what counts, because all of us are still here and in one piece to complete the mission."
Rio turned around and sighed as she gently punched Greg's bandaged chest, causing him to grimace a bit. "You're so dense sometimes, Greg. I was worried about you the whole time too after all that happened. That Shade freak did quite the number on you before your powers went and caused you to black out right there and then."
Greg's body felt about as bad as before when he lost his medicine and the wounds he accumulated from Shade only made this situation worst. After a moment, he realized that he was looking on at Rio who was now close to being half naked because of her exposed Warrior suit which had been practically torn to shreds during her confrontation with Shade and turned to the front, his face slightly red.
"Here, take this, Sensei. You could catch a cold down in here like that." Greg said, offering her his cloak that covered his slightly injured body. "You can wear this until we finish the mission, it should keep you warm. You need it more than I do right now anyway."
"But, Greg…" Rio spoke as Greg simply flung it over her shoulders, revealing his moderately lean psychical build, snug in the customized Sneaking Suit Nanvel made. Even though he was cut at various places before, most of the wounds were barely visible while those around the chest area were covered in bandages. There was a device attached around Greg's heart area which transferred nanomachines to his vitals throughout his body, now it was acting as a supplement in the stead of the painkillers he usually took.
"There, don't you feel any warmer now?" Greg asked with a smile as Rio looked at him stunned, trying to hide her painful expression after seeing him like this.
"Oh, yeah. It feels warmer, thanks, Greg." Rio replied as she saw something like a small chain underneath the collar of the Suit hanging around his neck. "Hey, what is what you're wearing?"
"Oh?" Greg said simply as he pulled on the chain and revealed a dog tag attached to it and a small, brightly shining blue crystal behind it. It looked very similar to the one Linn was wearing. "It's just a little anniversary gift between Linn and myself. I never realized that I was still wearing it though after all that's happened."
(Come to think of it, I've been seeing him wearing it ever since this whole mess started.) Rio thought to herself.
"It looks pretty expensive to wear as a memento, Greg." Tot said while admiring it.
"It sure is, Tot. I went through a lot of trouble just to get something as good as this that I can share with Linn." Greg replied solemnly.
"So, Linn has the same crystal as you do now?" Maya asked while Greg nodded silently.
"I guess it is what's been giving us luck so far up to now." Greg said as he clenched it. "And I hope by some means that it can keep on doing so during the rest of the mission."
"I hope so too, Greg. But it looks to me like you're the one bringing the good luck to this group if we're able to come this far." Riku said as Greg smiled at him.
"Come on, Riku. I understand how you and your partners appreciated Rio-sensei, Maya's, and my help when we went up against Shade before, but things like that can't last forever." Greg replied as he shook his head as he looked at his body. "And as a result of fighting Shade, we've gotten ourselves pretty messed up before Reese called in to stop Shade. I, myself, don't appear to be too well looking now, considering all what happened back there. Lilica is going to freak out when she will see me like this."
"I highly doubt that, Greg." Nagi said, causing Greg to look at him. "She will probably be too happy to care about the details when she sees that you, Maya, and Rio have come to help her, so don't go worrying about appearances at the moment, okay, Greg?"
"Nagi-kun's right. All that matters is that you're going through all this trouble just to save her and that you're helping Seraph, who is a stranger in need and Mantis as well. I'm sure she will appreciate all that you're doing for her." Tot said to him. "From what we've seen after meeting you and your foster family so far, we know that you're really a good person who likes to help out others, just like, Riku, Nagi and others we know, both inside and outside of FOXHOUND."
"Yeah, Greg. Don't let that get to you. Besides, you look much better in just the Sneaking Suit. You actually look like one of the psychics out of the Gantz manga." Maya said as Greg rubbed his head.
"Okay, enough with the cosplay comparisons already. It really is a shame that we couldn't get to use Aunt Nanvel's famed Pink Ele's Deluxe image enhancer for the mission, that could have helped us out a great deal. Anyway, now's not the time to worry about those kinds of details. As Rio said before the mission, I have to reserve these fists to use to save Lilica and Yuina, as well resolving this thing with Mantis once and for all." Greg said.
"Thanks so much for the reminder when just Greg needed it, Nagi." Rio patted the younger psychic.
"It's not really a problem, Rio. I just thought I should pitch in to make things a little lighter after everything that has happened with Shade awhile ago." Nagi said. "Besides, you guys are really helpful yourselves. I'm sure those who were with us on the Mikage base and boat when we had to face Shade would have appreciated having you with us to help them out as well as we would too."
"Yeah, he was kind of a downer for the whole mission." Maya said. "I don't remember seeing that kind of strength from any single terrorist during our old Warrior days."
"Not to mention, he also seemed to be the type to carry some kind of grudge, though he wouldn't show it. He particularly was paying attention to Riku the most as I've observed a bit on how differently he was referring to him, compared to the rest of us and me." Rio intercepted as he stared at Riku while they travelled through the secret passage. "Am I right, Riku?"
"I'm afraid that you're right, Rio." Riku said seriously. "Considering he's a ninja who has lived since my grandmother's time, he probably has known the whole story about the secrets of the Hokage clan and what they did to my uncle, Kurei, and his mother shortly after he was born. Or it could be a totally different matter to begin with…"
"Hold up just a minute, Riku." Rio said out loud. "You told us your grandma's over four hundred years old when we last visited you guys at the mansion, right? Are you saying that Shade guy could have been carrying a grudge against your clan for that long?"
"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" Riku replied. "To tell you guys the whole truth, Shade wasn't always an evil person from what I've heard of the time before my partners and I met him…he was a totally different person compared to who we just faced."
"Then what the hell could have happened to him between then and now to have corrupted him into being how he is now?" Rio asked.
"And more importantly, how did you know that he wasn't evil all along to begin with?" Greg asked as well.
Before Riku could answer, a loud ring through everyone's ears was heard as the Codec rang, interrupting their conversation. Greg sighed as he looked at Riku.
"We'll have to finish this conversation this another time, Riku." Greg said to him. "Just promise us that you won't hold any details back when we're ready to know, okay?"
"I understand, Greg, since now really isn't the best time to tell you what Nagi, Tot, and myself know about that guy. Most of it was pretty hard to believe for me too." Riku said as he heard the Codec continue to ring. "Aren't you going to answer that, Greg?"
"Yeah, I will." Greg said, touching the Codec button. It was Nanvel who had a distressed look on her face.
"Greg! Rio!" Nanvel cried out. "Thank God you guys are alright. I thought something must have happened to you when you ran into Shade."
"Whoa, take it easy, Nanvel. Don't count us out of the game as yet, you know it will take more than an immortal ninja to try and stop us from getting Lilica and Yuina back." Rio said to her as she noticed the look on her friend's face. "You look kind of pale though. Has anything weird happened on your side?"
"Yeah, it's about Seraph." Nanvel said simply, with a hint of worry in her voice.
"What about Seraph-san?" Tot asked. "Did something happen to her?"
Nanvel nodded her head as she replied. "Yeah. Just a while ago when she went into the kitchen, she somehow…disappeared."
"Disappeared? You mean like, no longer in the house?" Maya asked.
"Yeah, she's nowhere to be found right now. Nastasha, Maki, and I looked all over the place and found not trace of her." Nanvel said.
"Could she have just stepped outside while you guys were dealing with the Codec duties from your end?" Rio asked.
"No way, she was with us all along until ten minutes ago. I think something must have happened to her, guys." Nanvel said, causing Greg to think.
(It wouldn't have been a good idea for Seraph to just step out into the open like that since the enemy could still be tracing for her and she knew of the dangers, like Schwartz, for instance, if they haven't given up on her yet.) Greg thought to himself. (So how did she leave the premises without leaving traces then?)
"Damn! And after all the trouble we're going through just to keep her safe until we can rescue Yuina, this happens." Rio spoke in a low tone. "What are we going to do now, Greg?"
"I wish I can answer that, sensei, but I'm new to this whole thing regarding Seraph's existence and how it relates to what Reese has done. I'm afraid I'm just as clueless to what we should do as the rest of us are." Greg replied sadly. "The only thing we can do is hope that she turns up somewhere and safe for that matter while we rescue her friend. It's the most we can do for now."
Rio looked on at Greg in silence before sighing. "Alright, for Seraph's sake, we'd better rescue Yuina and hope to find her along the way. She probably must have gotten worried with how things were and left on her own to find Yuina."
"It could be that, or something else." Riku said as Maya looked at him quizzically.
"So, you may have an idea what could have happened to Seraph, Riku?" Maya asked.
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But like Greg said, I'm just as new to this as you are, so it may not totally be in line of my theory." Riku replied before he began to think to himself. (This is so different from what I know about Ceres, Shiso, and everything else related to the hagoromo, so saying that what happened to Seraph is connected to all that wouldn't properly fit, considering from what I've seen of Seraph up to now. She's basically a combat android from another time and space, surely there's no such record of a computer designed as a human being a tennyo or C-Genome...unless there was something that Nagi, Tot, and I missed.)
"Are you certain about this, Greg?" Maki asked now. "I know that the mission is important, but finding Seraph is just as important as well."
"I know that, Aunt Maki. But without anything to help us understand what really happened to her, we really can't do anything about it, especially at the last minute." Greg replied. "Besides, she has to turn up somewhere…she surely will. Because I know that she herself hasn't given up on Yuina just yet."
"Alright, if you think she will show up somewhere, we might as well hope for that." Maki said. "In any case, you guys are proceeding quite well on the mission, despite having to face that man called Shade."
"Please, Maki. Not another reminder of that guy. I've had enough of those kinds of freaks for one lifetime." Rio lamented. "Just tell us if we're getting close to Mantis' stronghold as of yet."
"You still have a ways to go, though I doubt any more of those Death Squad troops are going to show up, they seemed to have pulled back just as Shade did." Nanvel said. "I don't read them on the sewer system radar anymore."
"Then that's better for us, though we can bet they are going to show up later." Maya said.
"She's right. They may have only retreated for just the time being since their commander left us, so we can't afford to let our guard down yet." Dee spoke.
"Yes, keep your eyes peeled in case Shade comes back as well, just in case." Nastasha said. "Considering that he followed Reese's orders to leave you guys alone reluctantly, there is a possibility that Shade may want to get a chance of revenge behind his back without Reese's knowing."
"Keep us posted on any unusual signs that we should know about in the future, you guys. We will contact you later once we find the stronghold." Rio said to Nanvel before the sexy tech head of Warrior called to Rio before she logged off.
"Hey, Rio…can you do me a favour and turn your monitor off?" Nanvel asked, causing the blonde to raise an eyebrow. Without giving off any signs that this was something to be discussed privately, Rio switched the Codec so that only she and Nanvel can listen in.
"Okay, I turned off the monitor like you asked me to." Rio said. "So, what is it, Nanvel? You sound serious."
"This is about Greg. Did something happen to him approximately thirteen minutes ago?" Nanvel asked, causing Rio to look at Nanvel wide eyed, before she looked at her with a sad face.
"Well, yeah. It was during that encounter with Shade when he was using his psychic energy. He was going to take his medicine and that was when he lost it before he could take it." Rio said, causing Nanvel to stare with open mouth.
"Rio, please tell me that you're kidding about that." Nanvel said, as Rio shook her head.
"I remember it clearly, Nanvel. Greg got weak and Shade started to beat the crap out of him as he blacked out. There was nothing I could have done to stop it but watch, before Shade chased after me." Rio said.
"Do you have any idea what happened at the point when Greg blacked out and he didn't take that medicine?" Nanvel asked. "Rio, his Sneaking Suit's been sending data about his mental wavelengths since then and…I couldn't believe it until I did some research between that time and the time Seraph disappeared."
"Does it look bad?" Rio suddenly asked, fearing the worst.
"No, I think it's the opposite, though it's too early to tell until we can get Greg examined again. But what I discovered so far will shock you." Nanvel said. "I think Greg may be suffering from a multiple personality syndrome effect, caused by the severe childhood trauma he suffered in the past and this is affecting the ability of how his powers progress has been progressing in his life."
Rio gasped as she looked at Greg silently, who was oblivious to what she and Nanvel were talking about.
"But…how? I thought the problem with his powers was…" Rio said before Nanvel cut him off.
"A physical one? You saw it too, didn't you?" Nanvel asked. "This is more of a psychological issue than what's going on in his body. As far as I'm concerned, his mind is what's been causing him to black out and turn him into someone else, or I could be wrong on that too, but it's the obvious explanation as to what's been happening to him up to now."
"It's just as I thought. This really is a problem from within his mind." Rio said before she asked. "What about his physical condition?"
"His body's not in any danger because of it. However, there have been signs of a slight increase in his body temperature, muscle build, and agility factors since he woke up from having blacked out moments ago." Nanvel said. "It's as if this is related to the shift of the mental waves he had from then somehow."
"Would it hurt to ask if I can see what these wavelengths look like at least, Nanvel?" Rio asked as Nanvel nodded and showed him a diagram on the Codec screen. It looked similar to a graph meter what showed coloured, wavy patterns shown on various medical monitors.
"Alright, let's say this blue wavelength you see is his normal, average one. We all have ones like this too." Nanvel explained. "Now, from what I recorded since we were taking care of Greg years ago to now, his wavelength jumps irregularly once he is close to the verge of losing his powers."
"Yeah, like that time when he first learned about them while he was a kid and things really got out of hand." Rio said, shuddering at the memory.
"Now, let's say that the red wavelength just underneath Greg's normal one, is the intruding force that is the cause of his problems of him blacking out and such." Nanvel said, showing another coloured wavelength in the screen. "Normally, this is basically what the mind within Greg looks like."
"Two totally different personalities, fighting for one body, is that it?" Rio asked as Nanvel nodded.
"Right. Now, this is what I discovered after Greg managed to get control of his powers after blacking out moments before." Nanvel said as the two wavelengths suddenly merged with one another, forming another separate wavelength of a green colour that was rather faint to see.
"Huh? What does this mean, Nanvel?" Rio asked.
"It means that another entity within Greg's mind seemed to have awoken, taking control of the violent personality and the one we all know of, somehow actually bringing them together." Nanvel said. "Only that…this one is faint that it doesn't have enough strength to keep them together as one single form of his mind, so…"
"After awhile, they become separate again." Rio said. "But what I really don't get is how come this is happening to him right now of all times?"
"It must be due to the mental stress he had just before he blacked out, or something else. I have to look more into it and I may even resort to asking Naomi secretly about this." Nanvel said. "Which is why I want you to keep quiet about this until the mission is over, Rio. I'm beginning to think this could be a way for Greg to deal with that problem he's been having for so long once and for all."
"Alright, I get you. I'll keep quiet about it for now." Rio replied as logged off.
"Hey, Rio-sensei, how long are you going to let us wait on you?" Greg called out to her as the blonde Warrior point leader smiled as she walked over to the group.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, guys. I was just finishing up some talks with Nanvel." Rio said as she rejoined the group.
(I wonder what was all that about between her and Aunt Nanvel just now?) Greg thought to himself as he shrugged away the thought.
"I know Aunt Nanvel's been the closest to Seraph and supporting her since we got to know her for a short time, so I can pretty much understand how worried she must be about her at a time like this." Greg spoke, causing Rio to stare at him wide eyed to his comment.
(Even as you are now, you're still thinking about others, aren't you, Greg?) She thought to herself with a light smile as the fact about his powers still bothered her a bit.
"We all are too, Greg. I'm certain she'll show up eventually." Riku said. "For now I believe that we should press on in rescuing her friend and Lilica, especially if something like this has happened."
"Yeah, we'd better do that." Greg said simply in agreement as the group walked on in the dimly lit passage. After coming across another tunnel, to the group's surprise, they saw an abandoned tram that looked like it was used to ship cargo and personnel.
"Hmm, so Maki and Nanvel were right. Something was going on down in these sewers years ago." Rio said, loosening her long blonde hair, now smudged and tangled thanks to her encounter with Shade. "Any idea of what could be down here, Greggie?"
"Nope, I don't have a clue, Sensei. But I have to assume this may be related to what was said about the underground development programs that started up after the Impact when we searched for clues about Lilica's whereabouts last night. So this could probably be NERV's work, since their headquarters is underground after all." Greg said, looking at the tram. "Still, what's a tram as advanced as this is doing here in an old Tokyo tunnel?"
"Yeah, along with the fact that it still looks operational, not to mention that it looks like it was used recently, so it would raise some kind of sucisicpion." Nagi said as a thought hit him. "Greg, didn't you say last night that the location where Lilica and Yuina are probably held with Mantis looked something similar to this tram in terms of appearance?"
Greg nodded at his younger psychic accomplice with a stern look. "Only the door and everything else inside including Lilica's cell, but now that you mention it, they do have similar appearances. It's as if they were derived from the same technology…hang on just a minute. Can all of you give me some space? I'm going to try out something with my nanomachines."
Stepping back from the tram, Greg opened the palm of his nano wrist over the flat surface of the silver coloured tram and shut his eyes as he concentrated his thoughts into his right arm, as the colonies within his nanomachines reacted to the tram's surface and suddenly, an electrical surge ran through from the tram into his arm, giving Greg a sudden electrical jolt through it.
BZZZT!
"Gaahh!" Greg fell on one knee, holding his wrist as Rio cried out.
"Hey, Greg! Are you okay there?" Rio asked as Greg panted heavily and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm just fine. Though it was a rather pointless idea to try and activate it with my nanomachines." Greg muttered as he stood up. "At least we know now it's got power in it, we should at least think of how we can…guhh!"
Holding his head in sudden pain, Greg shut his eyes for a moment and saw flashes of the tram being transported with Lilica and Yuina with Mantis and several Tengus in tow in his mind. It lasted for only a few seconds, but it was enough for him to confirm that they were on the right track.
"Greg!" Rio ran over to help him up. "What happened to you now?"
"I…I saw them, Rio-sensei. I don't know how, but it must be related to what I just did." Greg said, shaking his head some. "Yuina and Lilica…Mantis took them using this to get to his base."
"So, we can use this to get to them as well!" Maya exclaimed, almost joyfully.
"That's the best idea, Maya." Riku said. "I doubt that anyone else who has a secret base in the depths of an underground sewer system underneath an almost abandoned city would just carry their goods and captives while walking all the way there, now would they?"
"Point taken." The gun nut returned her comment by nodding at Riku.
"So, any idea on how we're going to get inside this thing, Greg?" Dee asked.
"I'm thinking of it, Dee." Greg said as Rio stepped up to the tram.
"Can't we just bust our way into this thing by using the 'secret technique?" Rio asked.
"What secret technique, Rio-san?" Tot asked as Rio smiled and to everyone's surprise suddenly kicked the tram's surface, causing a small railway to suddenly open before them, with an open door leading to the inside.
"Well, what do you know? That trick actually worked." Rio smiled, placing her hands on her hips as Greg and Maya fell over on their faces.
"Rio-sensei, how can you even think of pulling something like that?" Greg asked, getting up. "You probably weren't responsible for causing it to begin with."
"Hey, I was worrying about you this entire time and this is the gratitude you're showing me, Greg?" Rio asked, causing him to fluster.
"There are more efficient ways of doing things like this, you know. You really can't go around and kick every mechanical thing you think is bad. Or should I remind you that this is far different from that battle tank Yuji and Aunt Nanvel told me about years ago." Greg said, folding his arms, causing Rio to redden.
"Wha…what did Nanvel tell you exactly about it?" Rio asked flustered as Greg shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh, it's not much to be concerned about. Or should I tell Riku, his partners, and the Shinsengumi about your escapades, stranded in the Desanian desert for three days straight with only a computer programmed battle tank that protected your life from a mercenary army." Greg said simply.
"So, you do know everything about it!" Rio shouted.
"About Henry? Well, yeah, I was given the whole skinny about it without you knowing it, but that was when I was still a kid." Greg said. "It was Yuji who told me about it mostly though. He even told me that he managed to hack some of the images from its damaged hard-drive and had them stored in his private computer."
Rio's face reddened even more when she heard that. "By any chance…have you seen these said 'pictures' Yuji told you about of my time with Henry, my dear, darling son, Greggie?"
"Of course not, I knew Yuji well enough then not to get into trouble caused by him. And I did say I was still a kid at the time, so I wouldn't have fully known. I was kind of curious of what it is that made you sad at times and he told me the story, that's all." Greg said, causing Rio to realize what Greg was saying and sigh lightly to him.
"I…see. Well, good for you, Greg, you're a whole lot better off not seeing them. Not even once in your lifetime. Trust me on this one when I tell you this, okay?" Rio said as her right eyebrow twitched. (I can spare Greg since he's doing his best, being so nice to everyone for the sake of the mission, but I'm SO going to bruise that pervert Yuji badly if I ever find out that he has the pictures of me in my undies, not to mention the ones of me in my birthday suit, taking a bath in the oasis that time…)
"What do you mean by that, Sensei?" Greg asked, raising an eyebrow as Riku thought to himself with a viable conclusion.
(Heh, I may not know Yuji as long as Greg and Rio have all this time, but even I can tell that this is going to be something involving the term, 'extremely perverted' along with what Rio must be flustering about.) Riku said telepathically to Nagi, who had initiated the private conversation.
(I know Yuji's really a good person, but is he really like that, Riku?) Nagi replied in thought.
(Well, I know for one thing that the guy's a nut for Tokimeki Memorial's Shiori just like Alec is. I can imagine them being fast friends if they found out a detail like that, but I'm not sure Alec would exactly share Yuji's tastes in his collections.) Riku replied with a light grin.
(I get what you mean.) Nagi replied in a nervous tone.
"Rio-san? Are you okay?" Tot asked, breaking the blonde from her thoughts.
"Hmm? Why, of course I am, Tot dear. What would make you think otherwise?" Rio nervously laughed.
"Because both of your ears seem to be burning up for some strange reason right now." Tot pointed to her as Rio tilted her head and chuckled as she sprang into the tram.
"Oh, you don't need to worry about how my ears feel, right now. At least we got the tram working, right?" Rio nervously said as everyone excepting Greg sweat-dropped.
"She's changing the subject once it's gotten interesting, too." Greg said as Rio stamped her feet.
"You're the one who brought it up to begin with, Greg." Rio said as Greg shrugged his shoulders.
"Alright, I give. We can talk about it after the mission. Come on, everyone…Yuina and Lilica are waiting for us." Greg simply said as he passed a stuttering Rio.
"Uhh…yeah. We'd better be on the way." Rio said following him inside, only to stop upon entering it. Greg and the group with him stood around inside of what appeared to be a cabin large enough for most of the group to fit in. There were long seats attached to the walls, while there were even a few resting beds nearby. On the wall behind them, a first aid/medicine kit was on the wall, while a refrigerator stood at a distance nearby.
Maya whistled loudly as she saw the cabin and examined the surroundings. "Man, talk about impressive. At least we're going to ride in style to Mantis's stronghold using this, huh?"
"Hey, they even got a small weapons cache in here too." Dee said, pointing to a door which held a decent portion of throwing grenades, guns, and ammo. Maya's mouth began to drool at the sight of the weapons she can use.
"Let me through!" She shouted as Riku walked towards the deck area, where the manual controls were located, showing on various monitors, several other locations across Japan from their point of origin.
"Hey, you guys. Come check this out." Riku called out as Greg, Rio, Nagi and Tot came across to where Riku was observing. "It looks like this thing can take us to any certain point underground in the country, but it seems a few of these places are locked off for now."
"Which places are those, Riku?" Nagi asked as Riku looked on more intentionally before speaking once more.
"From what I can tell so far, one of them happens to be Tokyo-3, while others leading to the outer limits of this city where it's underwater are still accessible. There are also tracks leading to some of the islands outside of Japan that haven't gone under yet." Riku answered.
"We need to locate the one that can take us to Mantis. Can you find it?" Rio asked, coming closer to observe as well.
"I can't say for sure, this is a first for me as well, but I'll still give it a try anyway." Riku said as he pressed on one of the keyboards which displayed coordinates to the locations the tram can travel to. After a few seconds, he then sweat dropped and turned to Nagi with a sheepish grin. "So, how do I do this?"
"Just watch, it's fairly simple." Nagi said as he stepped up to where his friend was and pressed a few buttons. "Alright, I think this should do it."
"Thanks, man. Well, everyone, I think we found it." Riku said as he pointed to one of them with a timer to the side by a red dot marker. "According to this monitor, the tram was transporting to and from this point only two to three days ago."
"That was around the same time Lilica was captured, huh?" Rio asked. "Then, it's to that area we're off to then."
"Since this tram has supplies and a resting area, we can take the opportunity and use it to threat the wounds we got from the encounter with Shade and his Death Squad, as well restocking on ammo and supplies." Kanashii said.
"Sounds like a plan." Rio nodded to her before she turned to Greg. "What do you think, Greg?"
"We might as well use it. This could be the last chance to prepare ourselves for what's to come next." Greg said in a serious tone. "Now, the only problem remaining is how do we get this thing moving?"
"It seems to be running on an automatic system, set for one course which is the Mantis stronghold." Pei said, as she sat down to one of the pilot chairs. "It should be simple enough that we can just get there without any further problems."
She began to press several buttons herself along with Riku before they activated a power switch to close the door, then a P.A system from within spoke inside the deck.
"It seems like we did it." Riku said, looking up as he felt the tram around him began to move slowly. It started to pick up speed as in a few seconds, the transport tram was moving at fast speed on the tracks.
"It must be a ways before it can get to the stronghold." Rio said, before sitting down on one of the chairs to relax. "I wonder how long it's is going to take till we get there?"
"We might as well take a break and check out our wounds to treat them properly." Greg said as he sat down near Rio. Maya Jingu felt it was like Christmas Day when she sorted out through all the available weapons in the room, while Nagi and Tot were busy tending to each other's wounds while helping the Shinsengumi tend with theirs.
"Man, I feel like I could use a smoke right now, but I already told myself since this morning that just for today only, I'd not even think about it." Greg said, leaning back.
"Well, that's better for you. You really don't want to have that poisonous smoke in your body when its time to face Mantis." Rio said as Greg smiled at her.
"Yeah, you've got a good point. But I'm really still nervous about it, sensei." Greg said. "This is the first time I'm going up against someone this strong in terms of psychic combat. Not even Athena Asamiya, Sie Kensou, Bao, and Momoko from the KOF have had me shaking this much before because this is different from normal fighting matches. It's actually a fight to the death…and I don't want to kill Mantis either. It's going be hard not to do it, but…"
"I have faith…that you can get him to turn around, Greg." Rio said, lightly gripping on the cloak that he gave her and hugging her knees to her chest while still covered in it. "You said before that you want to help him since he's just a victim from all of this, so dealing with Mantis can't be too difficult for you if you're set on that."
Greg remained silent as he rested his head back as he shut his eyes. "I hope you're right about that…I'll never be able to live with myself if anything else beyond my control happens to those affected by Reese like Yuina and Mantis. This…is the most I can do in hopes to rectify what he has done to them."
Rio stayed quiet as she looked at the blistering marks on both of Greg's arms, caused by the previous uses gauntlets he was using during his encounter with Shade. A sad sigh escaped her lips as she stood up to go the small room where the medical supplies were.
"I'm going to get this bothersome shoulder wound treated properly before we get to the stronghold." Rio said, turning to look at Greg once more. "Are you sure that you're going to be alright?"
Greg nodded silently at her. "Yeah, I just need to rest my eyes a bit and try to concentrate my nanos on healing for now."
"I see…well, rest as much as you can. You're going to need the little extra rejuvenation for later." Rio said as she stepped out of the bridge room, leaving Greg to stare into the ceiling a bit in silence.
(Am I really prepared for this?) Greg thought to himself. (If that encounter just now with Shade taught me anything, it's that I still have ways to go before I can even come close to being a better psychic soldier. No, I may even be wrong about that too…)
"Greg." Riku's voice called out to him as Greg lifted his head to see his ninja friend standing before him. "Mind if I talk with you for a bit?"
"Sure, man." Greg replied simply as he let Riku sit close to him. "So what it is it that you wanted to tell me?"
"It's just that you know that Nagi, Tot, and myself really appreciate you and the rest of Warrior for accepting our help to come with you on this mission to save Lilica and Yuina, as well as getting to the bottom of this mess that Reese has made for everyone." Riku said to him. "But, I know there has to be something else bothering you, despite your strong determination to see this through. I can see it marked clearly on your face."
"Well, I'm no master of deception unlike you, Riku, I'll admit that." Greg replied. "It's really hard to put it into words at the moment, but I can clearly guess that it's related to my powers, isn't it?"
Riku gave a silent nod before speaking. "Yeah, that's about it. That whole thing while we were fighting Shade was something I wasn't expecting from you. Yet, still…it kind of worried me after seeing you passed out during the fighting."
"Well, you've always seen me to be perfectly healthy at times before, Riku. But, the fact is that in reality, my own powers can make me anaemic at times, especially when I overdo it." Greg said. "To tell you the truth, this bothersome symptom of mine came about only recently, I never had this kind of problem before and I'm still trying to find the cause to it."
"You said you always have had a hard time remembering your life before meeting Rio, Team Warrior, and Seishiro-san, right?" Riku asked as Greg nodded. "Maybe it's connected to your memory loss."
"That could very well be the case; there are a lot of things about myself that I'm not so clear about yet." Greg said before looking at Riku quizzically. "Don't mind me asking, but what is it that made you want to find out about the problems that I'm having with my powers?"
"Oh, it's nothing, really. I just thought that your problem was something similar to cases of victims who suffered memory loss because of mental trauma." Riku said, causing Greg to nod silently.
"I see. Then, being the helpful Hokage ninja that you are, you would want to find a way to solve it, am I right?" Greg asked.
"That's right. With that being said, I'll just let you know that if there's anything beyond your ability to understand what's going on with your powers, don't be afraid to ask me or Nagi for help. We just may surprise you even more with what we know and who we know as well that can help you out." Riku said with a smile as he patted Greg's shoulder.
"Okay, I'll consider it for the time being." Greg said as Riku walked to where he could meet Nagi and Tot while thinking to himself.
(Even though I really don't know much of Greg's past, his situation almost falls into the same category to Kohta's.) Riku thought to himself. (Still, there's much about what happened between him and Lucy I wouldn't dare touch on, so I wouldn't know if Greg's problems are like what happened to them. If I knew for sure that it was, I would have offered some advice to him to help him cope with it, but he seems alright for now…)
(Worried about Greg as usual, leader?) Nagi asked mentally as he and Tot, both looking comfortable thanks to the new treatment of their wounds, approached Riku.
(Yeah, he seems okay, especially after just having a major tussle with one of our extremely tough, mercenary ninja enemies.) Riku replied in thought. (It's just that…he looks very tired and weary at the moment.)
(Yeah, he has been trying his best in keeping his wits about him since this whole thing started.) Nagi thought. (It must be tough on his body, considering that he's anaemic from what I've seen about him thus far.)
(So, you two heard us talking about it?) Riku asked as Nagi and Tot replied in silent nods.
(Yeah, we did. And while watching the fight with Shade, we pretty much guessed that something about Greg using his powers comes with some kind of cost.) Tot replied in thought. (Do we have to worry about him, Riku?)
(Not at the moment, he seems to have his head on straight and those concoctions I gave him earlier should help suppress those powers of his for the time being at the very least.) Riku thought. (Though, I wanted to make sure for his and Warrior's sake that nothing negative about his powers could happen, that was why I thought his trauma was similar to Kohta's and Lucy's.)
(It could be a possibility, Riku. But then again, Greg's not like those two.) Nagi replied. (They had much different backgrounds after all.)
(You're right. Though Kohta has lost people important to him like Greg has in past when they were younger, their situations are very much different.) Riku thought sadly, before shaking his head. "In any case, enough about the depressing details. I want Greg to tell you guys some very wonderful news that he told me before we all ran into Shade which will surely cheer you up."
"Oh, I wonder what that could be, Riku?" Tot asked as Riku smirked, looking at Greg's direction.
"Let's just go on over and ask him ourselves to find out." Riku said gesturing towards his friend before the trio walked over to a half sleeping Greg, who noticed them coming his way.
"What is it now, Riku?" Greg asked, rubbing his head groggily.
"Sorry to have woken you from your short sleep, but my partners wanted to know the details of what you told me after we separated and before we all met back to confront Shade." Riku said as Greg looked on at Nagi and Tot.
"You mean about my and Linn's relationship in the King of Fighters?" Greg asked, causing the two of them to watch him wide eyed.
"You and Linn are a part of the famous KOF, Greg-san?" Tot asked as he nodded slowly.
"Well, not as totally dedicated combatants, just by acting as a special agent for it as one of my side jobs outside of FOXHOUND under Howard-sensei's employ. Linn is my partner in the business." Greg replied. "However, we did take part in some of the side matches in the past."
"Even so, you must have met some pretty powerful fighters whenever you're there, right?" Nagi asked.
"Yeah, I have. Not to mention some of the more quirky ones who recently joined in the roster as well, like the Beart sisters as an example, both of whom use magic in combat. Their skills are exceptional, but it's kind of hard to explain their social skills, though. One of them is really cold as ice while the other is…" Greg suddenly stopped as if not wanting to recall something at the moment. "Anyway, you'll know if you get to meet Mignon and Ninon for yourselves. They're both nice to get along with, just don't get on their bad sides, particularly Mignon herself. She can throw quite the tantrum."
"You know Athena Asamiya personally as well, don't you?" Tot asked. "She's my second favourite pop idol ever, second to Shuro, of course."
"Yep, I know the members of the Psycho Solider team well. Linn and I are pretty much on good terms with those guys and it's hardly a surprise to find out that you too are an Athena fan as well, Tot." Greg said, before he thought to himself.
(I remember when I last met Athena, she said she was working on a special collaboration music CD along with some other idols around the J-pop music industry. Should I tell her about that Athena's planning to sing some songs with Shuro as well or should I keep her and Nagi in suspense? Well, I wouldn't be a friend to Athena anymore if I said something right away, so I'll just keep my mouth shut about it until it is announced publicly.) Greg thought with a small grin before shaking his head.
"You mentioned the Psycho Solider team. So there are other psychics who participate in the KOF as well?" Nagi asked.
"Yes, but not very many of them are in the events these days though. I even did some sparring matches with Athena's boyfriend, Sie Kensou the last time the tournament was held, and he has gotten twice as strong since he got back his powers after the NESTS cartel fell. Not to mention his younger brother, Bao is catching up to him as well." Greg said as he looked at Nagi. "Say, why is it that you wanted to know about that, you guys?"
"Riku told us to ask you about it and we were curious to know if it was true." Nagi said while Riku smiled in the background. Greg rubbed his head, knowing what Riku was up to and complied.
"Did he tell you specifically to come to me to ask about what I knew about KOF instead of just saying that I already put in a good word about him and his ninja clan to the people behind it and that he'd tell you guys about joining up with him in it too?" Greg asked calmly as Nagi and Tot looked on in surprise.
"I thought it would be a better surprise this way, you know." Riku spoke, rubbing the back of his head with smile.
"Wait, you already talked about Riku and his clan to the KOF?" Nagi asked, almost shocked. "Not to mention that he'd let us join up with him too?"
"That's what he said." Greg said simply as he nodded his head. "Of course, if that's okay with you two, that is. The King of Fighters has grown more and more dangerous over the years and there's no telling which fighter you'd have to face these days. But after seeing the two of you in combat and helping me, Rio and Maya out today, I don't think I will have to worry about how you will do in it. You three would fit in just fine."
"Greg, we would gratefully accept the invitation." Nagi said, bowing to him. "One thing, it's true that you have already seen us in action, but Tot and I are a whole lot more skilled than you think, so you don't need to worry about us in the KOF."
"Nagi-kun's right. But why would you want to do something like that for us, Greg?" Tot asked as Greg lowered his head a bit.
"Well, it wouldn't hurt if you used this as a chance to expand your scopes within combat a bit, as that could be utilized in future FOXHOUND missions. That's basically how I look at it whenever Linn and I participate. Not to mention it's a good chance to meet new people who can help you out later on in the long run." Greg replied. "Also…I'd like to think of this as an advance for repaying you three for sticking with Warrior and I up to now through this so far, so it's the best offer of thanks to you guys that I can think of for now. I was really waiting to say something about it much later, but once I mentioned to Geese that I had made friends with the son of the famous Recca Hanabishi, he wanted to know as much about anyone else related or connected to him who was just as powerful. You two included, Nagi Naoe and Tot, after seeing how determined you are just as your leader and friend to get through this."
"Wow, Greg. We really don't know what to say but thanks." Nagi said. "You know by now that we were somehow glad that someone like you is part of FOXHOUND and we're really are about that now. My only regret is that Tot and I haven't gotten to meet a good person such as yourself before when we could have used an extra hand or someone to talk to."
"Yeah, you're really are a good person to be with, Greg." Tot said alongside Nagi.
"There will be plenty of time after this mission for you guys to know me more, so don't fret yourselves because we met at such a late and somewhat bad timing." Greg said.
"Well, better late than never, right, Greg?" Riku asked.
"Yeah…I just wished Linn could have been here with us to meet you two guys as well. She would be impressed so much by the two of you." Greg said as he rested his chin on his hand while resting at a window.
"Hey, man, I'm sure she's still worried about you, so you should at least contact her to let her know that you're doing okay instead of making her worry so much." Riku said as he nudged his friend's elbow. "I may not know what's been going on with you guys recently, but I think you need to settle things with Linn. After all, you two have been together ever since you joined up in FOXHOUND, so isn't it about high time you committed to her?"
Greg suddenly fell over at the mention of Riku's words and quickly stood up, looking flustered.
"Wait a minute, Riku. What is it that made you think that I'm ready to take that kind of step in our relationship?" Greg asked his friend who shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, a single guy like me probably has no place saying this, but…Greg, in some of the missions I've done in the past, and most especially the one where I was on the Mikage base and boat, there were people I met who were having some hard times dealing with their own problems, yet they never ignored the most important person in their lives, even if things got tough for them later." Riku said in a stern tone. "Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. I think the fact of the matter is that what most people are afraid of is that the soul-mate is unwilling to accept being with the person who has been with him or her for such a long period of time because of something that was holding them back, is that what you're feeling?"
Greg remained silent, knowing his friend was right about it. Turning his head to the side, Greg simply nodded.
"Yeah, you can say it's something along the lines of that." Greg said simply as Riku patted him.
"I don't think Linn can bear seeing you put your neck on the line like this, even if it means trying to find a way to ease the progress of learning to control your psychic abilities. Sure, it's a duty you have gotten accustomed to doing and it's something that has to be done to assure your survival, but you need to think about how Linn is feeling about all of this." Riku said. "It also wouldn't hurt to talk to her one more time before facing Mantis. She could end up giving you the encouragement that you'll need right now."
Sighing in defeat, Greg nodded at his friend. "Okay, I'll do it. I really wanted to hear her voice one last time anyway before the big battle ahead anyway. But, really, Riku, you have a better way of dealing with people about these kinds of things. As for me, I'm not sure she'll be pleased with what I've gotten myself into, even though it isn't my fault to begin with."
"I'm sure she will understand that. Just let her know how you feel and everything should be okay." Riku said in reply.
"Alright, Riku, if you say so. I guess I can only trust you on this one." Greg simply said, standing up.
(I'm sure if Shuro ever had a talk with Linn about love, this problem would be solved within the space of a night if they ever got together again.) Riku thought to himself with a sly smirk, having some idea of what could happen once Greg patches his relationship up with Linn. (Actually, once this is over…)
Taking a deep breath, Greg reached for the Codec call button and pressed on it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Back in the NERV Command Centre, the recruits of FOXHOUND, the staff members of NERV and the agents of Philanthropy awaited word on the progress of Greg's mission. Things have been rather quiet since then until Linn Aramaki re-entered the room with Silent Scorpion, Kari Mondeau, and Mana Kirishima following her.
"Linn, you're back." Michael said as Linn nodded silently to the people watching her with a solemn look on her face.
"Yeah, Venom. I'm here to see how my boyfriend's doing on his mission." Linn said with a light smile. "I just needed to be by myself and think things over about him, that's all. I'm so sorry that I had to react like that in front of everyone just now though…"
"We all understand how you must have felt, Linn. We're worried about Greg and the others with him just as you are." Garland came across to place an arm over her shoulder. "But just remember that Drakken, Crow, and Usagi are more than capable of helping Greg through this and the Shinsengumi are there with him as well. They will make sure to help him through this, so he can come back to you."
"I know…he has to come back." Linn said, nodding at him. "He has to, not when I still have to ask him why he would push himself for something like this. From what I recalled, this Yuina Hattori person that he's also intending to rescue is a complete stranger unrelated to what's been going on in FOXHOUND. And yet, he's going through all of this…"
"That's just the kind of person he is, Linn." Silent Scorpion said with a grin. "Like most of you guys, he's really pure hearted about most things. Actually, he's probably the most of that kind compared to anyone else I've known in my life."
"Yeah, even though we've just gotten to know you guys for a short time, I've got a pretty good idea of what kind of guys you are, especially your friend, Kinezono. He probably wouldn't need a reason to help anyone, even if it's a stranger." Misato inputted. "I'm sure that is what you admire the most about him, even if you do deny it, am I right?"
"What…what are you guys talking about?" Linn asked, her cheeks reddening. "It's because of that attitude of his that he's gotten himself into trouble a lot more than once before. It's not that he's done anything bad either, he's just acts a bit different towards everything around him, you know. And it's that part about him that bothers me the most sometimes."
"True, the guy has one levelled mindset, that's for sure." Scorpion said. "Maybe that's why you've been with him this long."
(I can't believe what is it I'm hearing…am I really attracted to him because of that?) Linn thought as a loud Codec ring broke her thoughts. Suddenly shaking her head, she reached for the call button and responded, only to widen her eyes to see Greg was on the other line.
"This is Psychic Panther. Can anyone read me?" Greg said calmly to the other screen as Linn gasped to see him.
"Greg! Oh my…are you and the others alright?" Linn called out, noting his new appearance after the encounter with Shade. "I just heard what happened with you guys."
"Oh, hi Linn, it's good to see you." Greg said simply as Linn shook her head. "Yes, everyone who came along with me are all still okay, but are badly bruised and beaten thanks to that Shade. Lucky for us, the wounds we sustained were only minimal and not life threatening ones."
"It's a wonder that you guys can still be alive after what we found out the things that Shade was capable of." Linn said in a sad tone. "I…you made me worry so much…I cried a lot thinking you guys were…and there you are now, acting tough as if nothing had happened."
"I'm…I'm really sorry, Linn. Probably if he hadn't shown up at the time to…" Greg spoke before Linn cut him off.
"That's not what I'm talking about, Greg! What I wanted to know is…why? Why are you going through all these lengths for someone you don't know?" Linn asked. "I can understand your doing this for Lilica's sake; she's your family and a good friend of mine as well. But it will be impossible for you to try and reverse the brainwashing effects that the Patriots had done on Mantis. Do you really want to do it, even though you know that?"
"You're right about Lilica, she is my family and like the rest of Warrior who supported me all these years, I'm not going to abandon her, even if the Patriots do happen to have her in their captivity." Greg replied seriously. "I'm not too sure as for what I'll do when I'll get to Mantis, but I just can't leave things as they are. Rio got hurt and an innocent got killed while her relative was kidnapped by the enemy in the whole process while we didn't know a thing until it was almost too late. This is probably a way for me to atone for trying to stand against Reese this long, even though most of the things he did was wrong. I need to settle this mess that started because of what I probably did."
"Greg…you know all of this can't be your fault." Linn said, shaking her head.
"I know…but, I still need to do this, Linn, I feel like it's my obligation. Please try to understand." Greg said, clenching his fists. "If Mantis has the answers we need for what Reese is planning, it should be worthwhile. Besides, I've got some personal questions of my own for Mantis that he alone is probably able of answering. I know it sounds stupid and stubborn of me to be telling you this, but…"
"It's actually okay, Greg. I understand how much you really want to do this." Linn said. "Even when you had to face Shade, you were acting as if you weren't afraid of anything, not even him. You were really set out on helping Mantis and Yuina and nothing can change your mind about that, not even my words."
Greg remained silent as he turned his back and sighed. "Anyway, I just wanted to say…it's good to hear that you cried for me. It's really assuring to know that you were worried about us this whole time. Even I wasn't sure if we were going to make it out alive or not until Reese called Shade back at the last moment."
"Surely you're not calling me just to tell me that, are you?" Linn asked with a light grin.
"Of course not. What I've got to say is pretty much mission related, so it can ease all of your minds a bit." Greg said as he looked around the inside of the tram he and his group were travelling. "On our way down these sewer systems, we managed to find a transport tram with useful ammo and supplies, leading to Mantis's hideout."
"A transport tram? Located in an almost abandoned sewer system?" Garland asked suddenly.
"Yeah, it seems that this was used to transport goods and various emergency supplies, if you asked us." Riku spoke as his face appeared on the codec screen.
"Hang on a minute, you guys." Misato Katsuragi's voice called out to everyone who was there in the Command Centre. "If memory serves, I think NERV still had some functional transport carriers that were specifically used for uses in the GeoFront and its surrounding areas, not just in Tokyo-3 alone, but in other cities like Neo Tokyo and Old Tokyo for instance. I think it's safe to say that what your friend and his group are riding happens to be one of our sponsored free rides."
"Man, what luck you guys must have." Mana said with a grin. "Guess Greg must be responsible for bringing you guys to such a convenient place."
"Not only have you guys managed to walk away from encountering something like Shade with your lives, but you've also found a supply transport that will take you to the objective." Scorpion said.
"At least good fortune seems to be on your side for the remainder of the mission, Greg." Kari spoke as Greg noticed the three young recruits now. "And to add to that, Riku and his partners are the best of the help that could be provided to you for the time being."
"Oh, I didn't know you three were there, Mana, Kari and Scorpion. Good to see you guys too." Greg said. "As about the subject on the tram for a bit, how come it's still in operation after all this time? Were the people at NERV aware of this?"
"No, we only just found out from you guys that we even had such a thing on the move." Misato spoke and lapsed into her own thought. (If that's the case, then it has to be something the former Commander was in charge of without our knowledge…)
"Well, let's not get into finding out too much about it, not like its important right now anyway. At least we're grateful for the free ride to Mantis' hideout and all the free booty we can use." Rio said, shrugging her shoulders.
"So, where do you plan go from there, Greg?" Venom asked from his screen.
"Since the wounds we all received from our run in with Shade and the Death Squad were minimal, we should be good for the rest of the mission as long we stay sharp." Greg said. "For now, we should probably start focusing on the escape plan once we find Lilica and Yuina."
"Just keep your eye out for any more traps Shade could have left behind. I doubt he would just let all of you get to Mantis so easily now." Venom spoke.
(Oh, enough about that freak already. Sure, we all got our assess handed to us because of him, but I'm sure if Greg was able to tap into that secret ability Nanvel just told me about before, maybe we wouldn't have such a hard time against him.) Rio thought to herself, looking at Greg silently, who was unaware of what she was pondering about.
"Right, we'll be on the lookout for those as well. I'll ask Riku and his partners for anything even remotely dangerous that could come out and surprise us." Greg said seriously as he suddenly saw the transmission started to break up. "What's going on?"
"It looks like you guys are entering an area with powerful electrical feedback that's jamming outside communications." Maya Ibuki, one of NERV's tech bunnies spoke as she watched her monitor. Dee, Riku, and Nagi looked at the monitor at the tram they were in and saw they were closing in by several meters on the stop where the stronghold was.
"It looks like we're almost closing in on the location…" Riku muttered. "I'm willing to bet that that has to be the source of the transmission breaking up."
"So it's not possible to continue asking for Codec support from NERV or Maki from here?" Rio asked as Greg nodded his head silently.
"It seems that it's just going to be us from here on out once we get to the final destination." Maya Jingu said sullenly.
"Greg…" Linn called out as Greg faced her from his monitor.
"It will be okay, Linn. I'll contact you and everyone else once we're able to locate Lilica and Yuina and complete the mission." Greg said to her. "We are coming home after this, I can assure you that. So, just have faith, okay?"
"Well, as long as you're with them, I really do believe that, Greg." Linn said, nearing tears as Greg sighed.
"Michael, Garland, Scorpion…can I trust you three to support Linn through this while I'm finishing this mission? I know it's probably asking for too much, but…" Greg asked solemnly, which got approving nods from the three male FOXHOUND recruits that were in NERV headquarters at the moment.
"It's a sure thing, Greg. We'll do what we can for her." Garland said from his screen.
"We'll do our best in helping her through this, she'll be fine." Michael spoke. "You guys, just do yours to be extremely careful from now on."
"Yeah, I'll do my best to be careful, you two. Since the Shinsengumi you've sent has done a good job of helping us so far, we should be able to handle the rest of this with minimal problems." Greg said. "And Scorpion…I'm going to entrust the Harrier to you guys until I get back, so you can get to use it in case of an emergency."
"You sure you're okay with doing that, Greg?" Scorpion asked.
"Hey, that Harrier is not just exclusively for me to use, but for everyone else in the group capable of flying it to use. I'm just saying that it's the most I can do if I'm not around to help you guys out in case the terrorists strike." Greg said. "So, Linn, let it be known that everyone has my permission to use it."
"Alright, Greg. I'll remember that." Linn nodded. "Say hello to Lilica for me when you rescue her, alright?"
"I most certainly will." Greg said with a nod. "I'll always be thinking of you and everyone else who supported me through this, don't forget that either."
"Of course, I won't." Linn said, clasping the crystal memento around her neck, which caused Greg to stare at her.
"Hey, you're wearing it too?" Greg muttered, clenching his as Linn finally noticed this and smiled.
"Yeah…what a strange coincidence, huh?" Linn said as Greg nodded. "I think this must be a good sign, since you guys were able to get this far without any problems yet, don't you think so?"
"It could probably be that, or maybe Reese is just going easy on us." Greg simply replied.
"Hey, Greg, you know that can't be true. If you weren't here with us when we had to defend ourselves from Shade, none of us would even be here at this tram, feeling comfortable before the final battle." Rio said, suddenly patting him. "Just admit it, you're the one bringing us this luck that we'll definitely need when we find Lilica and Yuina, so just keep your head up from now on, okay?"
Greg simply nodded at his sensei and focused back on Linn, as the static got worse. "Well, it's just as you, Rio, and even Riku and his partners said before. I guess I should do my best of keeping the up the good work on helping everyone involved in this mission if we're to survive."
"Greg, is there something else you wanted to tell me?" Linn muttered as Greg was silent for a moment before he cleared his throat.
"Linn, there was something…I also wanted to tell you. Something very important, but…I want to tell you personally once the mess Reese has made has been cleared up." Greg said sullenly. "Even if I go far away, I'll come back."
"Do you mean that?" Linn asked simply.
Greg gave a silent nod to her. "Yeah, I do."
"See? You don't look too sure." Tilting her head a bit, she couldn't help but smile a little. "Well, okay, I understand. Go…get things settled."
"Huh?" Greg asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No matter how far you are…once you find your light…I'm sure it will lead you back here again, right?" Linn asked cheerfully.
"I suppose." Greg replied.
"So, I'll stay here…and I'll cheer for you, okay, Greg?" Linn said to him. "I'll be waiting patiently for your return, because I want to talk to you too. So, do your best out there for everyone. Lilica, this Yuina Hattori who you're planning on helping out, and Mantis too."
"I will, Linn." Greg simply nodded. "Linn, no matter what will happen, I will always…"
Before he could finish speak to her, the transmission suddenly cut off between his group and NERV's communications as both screens got a wave of static.
"They already entered the territory. As for the frequency…we just lost it. There is no way we can get it back from here unless we start to locate the origin of the signal interruptions, or just wait for them to contact us." Makoto Hyuga said as Linn hung her head.
"You okay, Linn?" Michael asked, as Linn looked up with a smile.
"Yeah, though it's kind of hard trying to act brave in front of him and everyone else…" Linn said in a broken voice as she started to sob. "I just know he will get through this. He has to, with everyone else that matters to him."
Venom simply sighed as he opened his arms for Linn to get close enough to cry on his shoulders, while Garland came to embrace her as well.
"Hey, it's going to be alright, Linn. Everyone is going to be okay." Garland said to her. "I have faith that Riku and his partners and the Shinsengumi will all do their best to look after them and Greg as well."
Linn just kept on sobbing, but nodded between intervals.
(I know…I felt the same thing from those people with him. They will be alright. I just have to have faith in them.) Linn thought. (Greg, please be careful.)
Misato sadly shook her head seeing the FOXHOUND recruits like this and spoke up amongst everyone.
"Listen, you guys. It's nice to see that you're trying your best in this whole thing, but I really wouldn't doubt Greg and all those people who are with him since they're all fighting to get their loved ones back and to settle the score with the current most powerful psychic known in the world." Misato came forward and placed a hand on Linn's shoulder. "Besides, didn't you listen well to the tone in their voices? They're pretty confident in getting the job done and coming home, especially that boyfriend of yours, Aramaki."
"Yeah, it's as if he was the most eager to come back to you." Maya Ibuki said. "So, you really shouldn't be so sad about this. There's a strong chance that he'll come back."
Linn nodded silently to the two women and smiled, wiping her tears. "Geez, what's up with you NERV guys? First it was Rei Ayanami trying to make me feel good from before, now you two as well?"
"You saw Rei before and she tried to cheer you up?" Ritsuko asked, surprise in her voice, as Linn nodded silently.
"Yeah, it was totally weird. But I didn't mind, at least it helped clear my head a little." Linn replied. "She did mention that she spoke to Greg before, so…"
"I think I'm beginning to see why he's so important to you guys. Some of that personality of his and the rest of you FOXHOUND must have rubbed off on even Ayanami, but then again, she has been slowly developing signs of emotions ever since the Commander expired." Ritsuko said, gladly empathizing the word, 'expired.'
"Well, we do have that kind of thing about us, don't we?" Garland said with a smile as Linn made a small chuckle.
"Feeling better already?" Michael asked her as she nodded.
"Yeah, very much, thanks to you guys. I just know everything's going to be fine now." Linn said, clenching her pendant. "Because, that boyfriend of mine will not falter in accomplishing his mission and will defnitely come back."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Back inside the transport tram, Greg stood silently in front of his group, swallowing hard as the silence from the other end meant it was time for facing Mantis and that outside help was impossible for the time being.
(Linn, everyone else…please stay strong for me.) Greg thought, as he had to keep his spirits up if he was going to complete the mission successfully. He then noticed everyone around him was staring at him silently.
"What is it?" Greg asked.
"I'm sure you'll get to see her and everyone else again once this mess is over." Tot said to him. "So, try to keep your chin up, alright, Greg?"
"You're right. We will definitely be going back after this is over, all of us and Mantis included." Greg said.
"Anyway, we're getting close to what may be Mantis' stronghold, so everyone be on guard." Dee said. Everyone else nodded and went over the final phase of the rescue mission plan by checking over their equipment and supplies.
"You okay, Greg?" Rio asked.
"Ever since this mess started, I was always wishing that Linn was here with me for some extra support, even though I was the one who told her to stay in Tokyo-3 to begin with." Greg said shaking his head. "I really must have made a big mistake in telling her she shouldn't come."
"I really don't think so. Even if Tokyo-3's the most dangerous city on the planet right now, I think you made the right choice in letting her stay in the company of all of your other friends from FOXHOUND and NERV." Rio replied. "I'm sure she will be in good hands with them until you get back to her after this. You trust them, don't you?"
"Yeah, I trust Garland, Michael, and the others in FOXHOUND more than enough to know that they would do their best to support her through all of this. The people of NERV are good people too themselves." Greg replied. "In any case, I think a long explanation to her of what has happened is in order after this mission has been completed."
Rio nodded silently as she smiled at Greg, before facing the front of the descending passageway which will take them to Mantis's stronghold as the tram came to a stop.
"We may have a welcoming committee outside." Kanashii said seriously, drawing out a katana. "Without a doubt, Mantis has been expecting us to drop in unannounced."
"True, considering that nothing in the tram was rigged as a trap." Nagi said in agreement.
"What do you mean?" Rio asked.
"Just before we boarded, Pei-san, Kanashii-san, Dee-san, and I made a quick check to make sure there weren't any explosives set on this tram." Riku answered. "I also made a quick check to make sure that the food in that refrigerator wasn't poisoned. All of those aren't uncommon traps to use on an enemy that you know is approaching…"
"Uh…could you at least inform us about that next time?" Rio asked stiffening up in nervousness, especially when Riku mentioned the part about the possibility of poison as she had been the first to grab something from out of the refrigerator.
"Sorry about that, but we would have stopped you if we had found anything." Dee said as she and Pei drew their katanas. "In any case let's be on our guard."
"Then for starters, we should make sure and inspect outside first." Riku said, as he looked around. After a few seconds, he saw a hatch on the tram's ceiling.
"Maybe we can get out from here and advance the attack." He said.
"Okay, here's the plan. Riku, you and Nagi go on top and check if any of Mantis's flunkies are on the outside and take them out before they can alert any back up. We can't afford to waste more resources and time on any other enemy than Mantis with the restraints we're under." Greg said as he faced the Shinsengumi. "Dee, would it hurt if I can assist you to eliminate any threat if they were to surround the exit?"
"Of course it wouldn't, Greg." Dee said as she let Greg approach the door silently while Riku made his way up the hatch and was outside on the rooftop of the tram. Nagi soon followed after. The two of them looked around to see that they have stopped on a brightly lit docking bay in front of two large steel doors, electronically operated.
"See anything, Nagi-kun?" Tot asked through her Codec as Nagi looked at a nearby passageway and spotted five armed Tengus coming from it.
"Yeah, looks like we're going to be welcomed after all." Nagi said, taking out his M9 tranquilizer gun. Managing to aim and fire a clean head shot at the last Tengu from behind, he went down in a few seconds before any of his comrades noticed it. Riku took out a pair of shuriken and threw them at the feet of the second to last Tengu, who stopped in his tracks, only to be knocked out by another shot from Nagi's M9.
"What the…?" One of the Tengu's shouted as he looked back to see his unconscious comrades, but before he advanced to his radio, Dee and Greg had already exited the tram and ambushed the remaining three as she cleanly sliced off one of the Tengu's arms before going for his radio while Greg knocked him over with an axe kick from one of his greave equipped legs, before leaping a few feet above the injured Tengu and executing a drop kick that suddenly cancelled into a grab while he was still airborne. Turning his weight, Greg slammed the Tengu on the ground unconscious, before reaching for his M9 and firing at the remaining one around his chest area, knocking him out.
Glancing back at Dee's direction, he can see she was already finished with the other Tengu as she cleaned her sword of the blood that covered it. Rio, Maya, and the others stepped out cautiously as they looked around them.
"Man, Greg. The least you could have done is save some for the rest of us." Rio lamented, hands on her hips. "You're really something, you know that?"
"Come on, Rio. This really isn't the time to be joking around." Greg replied seriously, checking his gun. "In any case, we got to move on before their friends have found out about us being here."
"Yeah, we should get a move on before they can raise an alert." Dee said to her comrades. "They came from that direction, didn't they?"
Greg nodded silently. "That's supposed to be where our destination lies. Mantis has to be there."
"Then let's get a move on, I don't think Lilica and Yuina have very much time left." Maya said as Rio nodded.
"We hear you, but stay on the guard as usual." Rio said, standing close to Greg. "And if anything wrong were to happen, Greg here would be able to handle it, right?"
"Hey, don't forget that Riku and his partners, not to mention the Shinsengumi are still with us to help out, Sensei." Greg said to her.
"I know, but…you really are becoming a totally dependent person today, Greg. I'm sure the rest of the mission will run smoothly as long as you're with us." Rio said, causing Greg to shake his head.
"I appreciate the compliments, but I'm not really the best candidate for these kinds of situations, I'm just nervous for Lilica's safety, which is probably why I'm acting like this." Greg replied. "I'm certain if someone with twice the experience from combat would have done a lot better in my place if he were here."
(Hey, at least you're making an impression on Riku and his partners. I overheard you guys talking before about your role in KOF. They really are impressed with you and what you've done for them so far, even though you don't see it.) Rio mentally told him as Greg glanced at Riku, Nagi and Tot from the side silently.
(I can't be too sure about that now, Sensei, but at least I'm a bit glad we're making progress in getting them to trust us.) Greg thought as he stopped in his tracks causing everyone else to halt as well when they saw the electronically operated doors. "Okay, we're here."
"So, the big question now is, how are we getting in without causing an alarm?" Maya asked as Greg cautiously stepped closer and looked around, noting some surveillance cameras overlooking the area.
"It seems that this system uses biometrics to get access into the facility." Riku spoke from behind.
"Crap. Now how are going to get inside?" Rio said as she looked at Greg. "Hey, Greg, you think that thing you did with the tram before can work a second time for here?"
"I don't think we can get lucky with this one again, Sensei, even if I wanted to try." Greg said to her.
"It shouldn't be too hard for you, Greg. Besides, you got at least some extra power stored up in those gauntlets you're wearing." Rio said as he shook his head.
"I just don't want to get electrocuted again if I do this, but since it's for Lilica's experiment, I'll do it." Greg replied, opening his palm over the panel near the door as he concentrated his psychic energy through his nanomachines to the energy inside the panel, causing it to go haywire after several seconds. After s short period of time, the door suddenly slid open before the group.
"Greg, you did it again!" Maya exclaimed.
(If someone who hasn't been able to integrate with nanomachines as well enough as Greg has wasn't with us, everyone would have had a harder time getting in.) Rio thought to herself. (It has to be that ability that Greg must have that's allowing him to do these things easily. Should I still be worried about him?)
Shaking her head clear of any bad thoughts, Rio acted cheerfully as she patted her surrogate son's back.
"And once again, Greg's uncanny ability to bring luck to his friends strikes again." Rio lamented, causing him to fluster.
"Enough of that already, we've gotten access now. Let's just move on…cautiously." Greg said to Rio as he was the first to step into the complex, before signalling to the others from behind to come in afterwards. Everyone gasped loudly when they saw what was before them; an entirely different looking location from the area they had just come through was before them, something that looked as if it had come forth from out of a different time.
"This is…this is just like the vision I saw through Seraph's mind last night!" Greg exclaimed, as Rio looked around. "This is not just some stronghold…it's a technological fortress!"
"What kind of place is this?" Nagi asked. "Could the Patriots be the ones responsible for creating all of this underground and in Japan no less?"
"It could be, but then again, there are a lot of enemy groups around the world that has the same power to be responsible for something like this." Riku said in a low tone before thinking to himself. (I guess that obviously leaves former wanker men like Kagami Mikage and Kakuzawa out of the possibility list for who built this place, that's for sure.)
"Forget about what the hell this place is for the moment, where are Lilica and Yuina?" Rio asked. "Greg, can't you sense them?"
"I know this has to be the place they are being held at, but it's too early to tell the purpose of this place as of yet or if they are here to begin with. We have to be careful from here on in as how we're proceeding, Mantis or more of those Tengus could be around here. We can't afford to run into either of them at the moment until our friends are secured." Greg said.
"He's right, finding the captors and getting an escape route ready in case should be our top priority. The less fighting we have to do, the better for everyone else." Kanashii said. "So, Greg, we could really use an idea on where to begin right about now."
Greg sighed as he looked around the passageways, trying to recall the best way to get to the areas he saw Lilica being held in the vision the night before.
"If we can locate something similar to a basement or a prison area of this place, then she has to be there. If not, we just keep looking." Greg said.
"One problem, though, this place is huge. How are we going to find Lilica and Yuina in time?" Maya asked.
"Looks like we'll have to split up again, won't we, Greg?" Rio asked as Greg sighed.
"Although the chances of finding Lilica would grow if we do, things could get dangerous once the fighting starts. And I certainly don't want a repeat of what happened earlier with our run in with Shade." Greg replied. "Okay, this time, everyone has a choice of either staying with me to go on one path, or splitting up after choosing a side and taking the others."
"As much as I want to take the other paths, I'd rather stick with you again this time, Greg, just so you'd stay safe when its time for the reunion." Riku said to him. "And my partners have already decided they aren't leaving me this time either, they want to be part of it as well."
"Yeah, we want to be with Riku when Lilica and Yuina are rescued." Nagi said.
"Not to mention do whatever we can to help them out in case they are hurt or anything like that as well, Greg." Tot said to Greg who nodded his head at the three.
"Alright, that's settled. I'm glad that you're sticking with me for this one, you three." Greg said before facing Rio, Maya Jingu and the Shinsengumi. "How about you guys?"
"Hey, I got to be there for Lilica too, you know, so I'm coming with you guys, wherever you choose." Rio said. "And besides, it would be awfully cool to see you cry like a baby for once when Lilica gets rescued, seeing you get emotional at times seems to make you so handsome, Greg."
"Cut that out already, Sensei." Greg lamented, while Maya snickered. "I'm sure Maya feels the same way too, so I can guess she's coming with me too, huh?"
"That's right, always with you through thick and thin, Greg." Maya said as she nodded at him.
"And surely, Garland would feel disappointed if he heard things didn't go too well for the mission if we weren't with you guys when you need us the most." Dee said. "So, Greg, you're going have to bear with us a little while longer, okay?"
"Sure, I will. Thanks for everything you did so far for us though." Greg said to her. "Okay, since everyone's minds are made up, we'll use the left corridor."
"The worst part is that we don't have nodes for this area, so marking out enemy spots on radar is going to be tough." Riku said to him. "Not to mention the security details in here is different from the usual kind."
"Well, we'll just have to be extra careful and use stealth to get through this place." Maya said as the group followed Greg down to a door that was marked to the 'Holding Cell Area'. Taking out his USP, Greg slowly reached for the door…
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"My, my…they are progressing rather well, aren't they?" Psycho Mantis' voice spoke as he overlooked the monitor watching Greg and his group's progress inside the fortress. He had been tracking their movements the entire time since they arrived in the sewers and have been examining Greg's movements as well. "And he is certainly growing stronger without knowing it as well…ah, I can't wait to relish in the moment when he'll know the truths about himself eventually. The look on his face will be priceless."
From behind him in the same room, a nearly unconscious Seraph, whose hands were bound behind her back by an electric contraption, mumbled as Mantis turned to face her waking up from her short sleep.
"Ah, Seraph. It's been awhile. Coming back to the land of the living already?" Mantis said as Seraph struggled to get out as Mantis held her chin. "It's no use, that contraption is created to specifically seal your abilities as a biodroid, Seraph dear."
"What is it that you want from me and Yuina, Mantis?" Seraph said, trying to look intimidating.
"Ah, so you've been informed about me, courtesy of Kinezono and his friends, no less, haven't you?" Mantis asked. "Well, at least it saves me the trouble of introductions, but I am quite intrigued so far by the fact that you would go to him for aid. How little you know you've sprung a deadly trap for him, my curious combat android."
"I asked you…what do you want from us?" Seraph asked.
"No, actually, your question should be is 'what the do the Patriots want from you', Seraph." Mantis said to her. "You see...they've been quite interested in your race for some time and they wanted to see if it was possible for you to cooperate with us on this endeavour."
"So, you killed Yuina's aunt and kidnapped her just for that? What makes you think I will work with you?" Seraph asked. "In any case, what did you do to Yuina?"
"Oh, she's right here with us." Mantis stepped aside, revealing to Seraph's shock, seeing an unconscious Yuina bound to a chair as wires were attached to her temple area. Seraph stood up as she saw this.
"Yuina!" Seraph cried out, glaring at Mantis. "What did you do to her?"
"Oh, relax. She is still very much alive. She's just undergoing extreme fatigue at the moment. Meanwhile, I've just been analyzing her ability to integrate with biodroids this whole time, that's all." Mantis said. "And from what I gathered, she holds some vital secrets to that even you aren't aware of, my dear Seraph."
"If you only dare hurt her anymore, Mantis…" Seraph said, before Mantis knocked her over with a moderate psychic blast from his right fist.
"I don't think you realize what's at stake here just yet, Seraph. Your whole existence belies on the wishes of this girl, so don't do anything rash now if you want to see her and your newfound companions alive ever again." Mantis said, holding a struggling Seraph by her hair as he thought to himself.
(That man named Reese has finally shown himself when he had sent that mercenary ninja down this path moments before and just when I could have gotten a chance to battle the legendary Shade, it was turned down when Reese called the order to stop the execution for Greg Kinezono and his motley group. But no matter, it would have been very bad for me not to battle another strong psychic like Kinezono, especially after knowing what he's fully capable of during that confrontation, which only spurred my excitement further. I must thank Reese for that little push that he needed.) Mantis thought to himself.
"Don't worry, Seraph. Everything will be revealed soon enough, about your existence and Greg Kinezono's as well. This will turn out to be quite the event indeed." Mantis said as he looked at Yuina. "Now, time to round the Tengus up and get prepared for the main event. I'll let them have their little reunion before the party really kicks off. "
(Greg, Rio, my friends, please, be careful on the way here...) Seraph thought to herself. (Everyone of you is in grave danger if you find us….)
Mantis turned back to the monitor where he grinned as he began to put on his special mask and outfit. "Greg Kinezono. Oh, little fishy, come see my hook…"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Back in the holding area block of the fortress, three Tengus lay unconscious behind Greg and his group's feet as they progressed deeper into the area with very few problems. Using his psychic powers, he was tracking the passageways to see where Lilica was.
"Any sign of her yet?" Rio asked in a low tone.
"Not yet…I don't know if it's because of Mantis being here or my powers which could be giving problems now that's causing us not to detect Lilica." Greg replied as he glided his left hand over the floor until it stopped. "I can still feel her essence strongly though, I'm just having a bit of trouble confirming it."
"How can you tell if it's hers, Greg?" Nagi asked. "If you could give me a hint or two, I should be able to help."
"I appreciate it a lot, Nagi." Greg said, nodding to him. "Although it's kind of hard to explain, you'd probably sense Lilica if you do what I do and call her name mentally and keep thinking about her."
"Is that all there is to it?" Tot asked.
"Well, it worked for me sometimes. I kind of often used it while playing hide and go seek with her back in my younger years." Greg smiled nervously as he said this.
"Ah, no wonder I was never able to find you those times when I wanted to scold you whenever you got into trouble." Rio said, folding her arms.
"Let's just continue looking for her, Sensei. She has to be somewhere in one of these creepy looking cells." Greg said to his surrogate mother as they looked the five cells going down the path. They were protected by clear glass bordered barricades with brightly lit blue fluorescent lights surrounding the edges.
"You think she could be in any one of them?" Pei asked.
"Well, according from the Tengus who were patrolling this area, they did say they were on guard duty, so she has to be in around here." Maya said. "Everyone should look at each cell just in case."
"Good idea. I'll start by checking the last one at the end. Everyone, watch your backs in case their back up arrives." Greg said while the others began to look around in the other individual cells, he walked to the last one at the end slowly. Stopping in his tracks, he let out a gasp as his eyes widened as he saw a sleeping, young girl lying on a small cot. He recognized the hair colour at once and called her name.
"Lilica!" Greg shouted, as he started to pound on the glass barrier. "Lilica! Answer me! It's me, Greg!"
Rio, Maya and Riku heard Lilica's name being called and rushed over to where Greg was standing and to their delight, they saw Lilica moving groggily, rubbing her eyes. Rio placed her hands over her mouth, as tears streamed out of her face.
"Oh, my…she's alright, Greg!" Rio said, as she called out to Lilica too. "Yo, Lilica!"
"I thought I heard Greg and Rio's voices calling me…must be the hunger getting to my senses that I'm starting to get delirious." Lilica yawned as she looked to the side and saw her friends. "Huh? It can't be Rio and Maya? And Riku and Greg's here too?"
"Man, you're slow…so slow." Rio lamented as she wiped her tears. "Snap out of it already, it's really us."
"Tell me…that I'm not dreaming. Is it really you guys?" Lilica stood up wearily and reached for the barrier, though unable to touch her friends.
"It's not a dream or an illusion, Lilica. We're right here in the flesh to rescue you from this nightmare." Greg said with a weak smile.
"Greg, Rio…" Lilica stepped back, almost on the verge of tears. "Somehow…I knew all along…that you'd come. I never lost faith in you guys for one moment. I'd know you'd pull through."
"We know that, Lilica. We never lost faith in you either, since it was you who actually guided us here once we knew that you had found a way to signal us." Maya said, touching the spot where Lilica hands were.
"Then, I guess that makes us even." Lilica said cheerfully.
"Just step back a bit, Lilica. We'll bust you out of there using that trick I did from before." Greg said as he opened his right palm and used his psychic energy to transfer his nanomachines as they able to hack into the panel that locked the door, which suddenly shortened out of power and automatically opened, allowing Lilica to rush out and embrace Rio and Greg on a verge of tears by surprise.
"Oh, thank God for people like you guys." Lilica buried her head into Greg's chest as he patted her head. "I'm so sorry…for all the trouble I caused you…"
"Hey, Lil. This is not your fault to begin with, alright. We're just happy to see that you're okay." Greg said as he patted her head. "I really didn't mind going through all this danger just to save you, it's seeing you again safe and sound that counts."
"Greg…" Lilica cried out as she embraced him tightly. "I'm so sorry…"
"It's okay now, Lilica. Everyone here is going to make sure you'll be safe from now on, you don't have to be scared anymore." Greg said, as some tears rolled down his cheek. "I'm…just so happy right now we can be together like this again…"
Lilica sobbed gently hugging Greg and Rio while Maya, Riku, Nagi, Tot and the Shinsengumi smiled on looking at them.
"Hey, Greg, now would be the good time to make than announcement to Maki, Nanvel, Yuji, and Nastasha to start devising an escape route in case the rest of the mission goes to hell." Maya said, making Greg place a hand over Lilica's dirtied and loose hair and stand firm in front of everyone.
"That's easier said than done, Aunt Maya. Remember before when we got to this base, we started to get interference with outside communications for some reason?" Greg asked. "Even nano-communications are impossible at the moment, so while we're inside of this place…"
"Shoot, so what the hell are we going to do if we want to call for reinforcements from the outside?" Rio asked, clicking her teeth. "Lilica, would you know how we can solve that problem?"
"Yeah, there should be a way to deactivate the jamming device that lies somewhere in this base, but…" Lilica stopped as she sighed a bit. "…it lies in the vicinity where Mantis currently is."
"So we might have to get through him first, huh?" Maya asked while Lilica nodded. "I don't like the sound of where this is going to lead to."
"None of us do, Maya. But if we're to call for assistance in case the worst situation happens, we have to at least fight our way through to get communications going again." Rio said as she looked at Greg. "You think you're ready to face Mantis now, Greg?"
"There's no need to rush things. We still have things to take care of before facing off Mantis." Greg said as he rested his gauntlet equipped right fist over his bandaged chest. "Not to mention that if you take into account the condition that we're all in right now after that run-in with Shade, it really isn't best to say that I'm ready to face Mantis just yet. We have to take this slowly while still getting our bearings together."
"Okay then. We should use this chance to treat ourselves and Lilica some more before the real final battle begins." Rio said, taking out some heated packs of some ramen noodles that he personally cooked before the mission. "I know these are among your favourites, I got them ready for you once we found you."
"Also, I thought you'd like a fresh change of clothes." Maya said, taking out a backpack for Lilica, which she recognized right away after seeing the green colour as part of its designs.
"This is my WARRIOR outfit!" Lilica exclaimed, obviously stunned. "But why would you bring it along?"
"We know this is a rescue mission intended for you, but we're also on the rescue for someone else as well who was missing around the same length of time with you, also since it as a request of a friend we made over the time you were here." Maya said. "I believe you know who we're talking about, right?"
"Wait, don't tell me you guys are here to rescue Yuina Hattori as well?" Lilica asked bewildered as Greg gave a confident nod.
"That's right. We knew who was behind this all along and how it connects with how you and Yuina are being held by Mantis." Rio said. "So, can you help us after you've gotten your bearings together?"
"Sure, just give me a moment to change and eat, okay?" Lilica asked Rio. "Geez, after all that's happened, you're still pushy, aren't you, Rio?"
"Hey, I'm just really glad you're alright. I knew all along Mantis wouldn't dare harm you or else he'd have to answer to Greggie here. He was so bad ass throughout this whole mission; you should have seen him, Lilica." Rio lamented, causing Greg to fluster. "But in the end, he's still just a big softie."
"Will you stop referring to me as a bad ass already? There's no way I'm ever like that, I'm just doing my job of watching over you guys carefully, so there's nothing to make such a big deal out of." Greg said.
"I have good reasons for making such a big deal out of it. Like when we had to face that crazy shikigami that Shade created before, you only got upset out of the fact that he used a homeless guy to do that and he was just being a coward, right? You weren't afraid of him one bit and that was something that made you so different today." Rio asked, causing Greg to step back with his eyes widened.
"Wait a second…did you just say that Shade used a shikigami during your first encounter with him?" Nagi asked when he heard this, causing Greg to nod uncomfortably at him.
"Yeah, it was shortly before we met back up with you guys and the Shinsengumi when we split up." Riku answered bitterly. "This time, one of the few people living in these sewers was used to test us and by the time we realized what was really going on…"
"I…I think we can already guess the rest, Riku. You don't need to go any further." Nagi said to him, remembering their first encounter with Shade back in the Mikage base and how he'd used the same trick on them. Meanwhile Greg's right fist began to shake.
(My only regret is not having enough time to give that poor victim used by Shade's technique a proper burial.) Greg thought to himself as he closed his eyes. (I swear, if I hear anything else about that Shade guy that makes me sick to my stomach…)
"Greg, are you okay? You look like you're in pain." Lilica's voice called him back to reality as she wrapped her arms around his artificial own. Somehow, her presence instantly calmed him as he looked at her.
"Ah, yeah. Sorry about that, Lil." Greg said as he smiled at her. "I'm just fine, really."
"I'm not so sure; I can see that everyone with you is also hurt." Lilica said, noting the bandages on certain parts of the group's bodies. She also looked at Greg's altered appearance in his custom Sneaking Suit.
"We may look it, but we're holding up just fine. We're still on the mission after all." Rio said.
"Anyway, go get yourself changed and fixed up." Greg said to her as he also gave her com unit. "I'll try to formulate a plan on how we should deal with Mantis. Once you're ready, we're going to find Yuina, okay?"
"Okay." Lilica replied with a smile as she turned to see Riku and his partners. "Riku, it's really good that you came as well. I'm very happy to see you again."
"Hey, looking good as always, Lilica." Riku said as he embraced her.
"Oh, Riku. It really is a pleasant surprise to see you here supporting Greg and Rio at a time like this. You really are a wonderful friend." Lilica said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Hey, a friend of the Hokage clan is like my family as well. I was worried about you a lot too when I heard what had happened." Riku said to her with a smile. "Though I had to convince Greg and the others to let my partners and myself come along to assist them anyway they've all appreciated the help so far."
"I knew Greg could count on you through times like these, Riku. Thanks for helping us." Lilica said as she finally noticed Nagi and Tot standing next to Riku. "By the way, Riku, who are your friends?"
"We're his partners from FOXHOUND. I'm Nagi Naoe, codename Mystic Crow, and this is my girlfriend, Tot, codename Usagi Ninja." Nagi shook Lilica's hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you after hearing from Riku and Greg's family about you."
"Yeah, and it's really good to see you safe and reunited with your friends and Greg once more. I sure am glad that we're able to be here to see this." Tot said with a smile.
"Me too, you have no idea of the hell that we all went through just to get here." Riku said, looking across at Greg and Rio's direction. "I have to say you've got some strong and determined friends here, Lilica. I don't think anything could have stopped Rio, Maya, and Greg, no matter what it was, from coming to rescue you. You should appreciate how much valour they got if they care that deeply about you."
"I know, Riku. I'm really grateful for those guys, Greg especially. He's the reason everyone is together like this. No wonder we actually became like 'family' to him." Lilica smiled as she started her second helping of ramen noodles.
From a distance, Greg was standing by himself, trying to contact someone from the other end of his Codec, but was still getting the 'No Response' signal and static.
"Any luck getting through?" Maya asked.
"None, my guesses from before were right. It's as if this place was built specifically to block certain transmissions to the outside, even using the nanos." Greg replied to her. "I can't seem to get through to either the rest of FOXHOUND or to Maki and Nanvel anymore."
"So, the only way we could probably get through is if we find a communications centre in this facility and connect from there." Maya suggested. "And that will mean having to fight through the security or Mantis to get there."
"We would be lucky if it only has one guard stationed near it, but judging by the capacity of this place, it's a sure bet that it's heavily guarded." Kanashii said.
"Let's hope that it's just being guarded by regular Tengus for now. As I have to agree with Greg, we really can't afford to face Mantis right now being as worn out as we are." Rio mentioned as Lilica, all decked out in her Team WARRIOR uniform now appeared in front of the group. She had finished her ramen and had gone over into a corner to change.
"Okay, we should be focusing on where Yuina could be for the time being." Greg said seriously as he looked at Lilica. "You have any idea of where she could be, Lil?"
"If you guys want to know where she is, the last time I saw her, Mantis summoned her for something important." Lilica said to them.
"How long ago was that?" Riku asked.
"About twenty, or a bit more, minutes ago." Lilica replied.
"Then considering that wasn't too long ago while we were getting down here, not to mention Seraph suddenly disappearing on Maki and Nanvel back home, she should be still close by." Rio said, smacking her fists together.
"Who's Seraph?" Lilica asked simply.
"She's a very close friend to Yuina and the one who came to Greg and the rest of us when she asked for help in rescuing Yuina." Nagi told her.
"Yeah, if it wasn't for her, we would have never been able to know where you were, Lilica, much less found out what was really happening behind the scenes with our traitorous boss, Matthew Reese." Riku said causing Lilica to widen her eyes.
"Wait a second, your Liteunant was the one behind this mess the entire time, Greg?" Lilica asked as Greg nodded bitterly.
"Hard to believe, isn't it, Lilica?" Nagi asked as he shook his head. "We all had bad agreements about him for a long time, but we didn't suspect this until Maki told us. We should have expected someone with a personality like his to be a traitor and to be the one to cause all this trouble for everyone."
"He even confessed to being the one who gave the order to have poor Yuina's aunt killed when Mantis captured Yuina on his last communication before we got here." Tot said sadly as Lilica gritted her teeth.
"No freaking way…" Lilica muttered as she looked at Greg's pained expression on his face. "What are we going to do about this, Greg?"
"We should focus on rescuing Yuina for now, Lil. I'm sure that once this part of the mess Reese created is over, we'll have plenty of time to think about what to do with Reese afterwards." Greg said as he looked around the passageways. "Still, I'm having an uneasy feeling about this place. It would be best if we found out the purposes of this fortress first before we make any wild guesses. You think you're up to it on helping us out on this one?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm willing to help you out in any way I can, Greg. It's the most I can do as thanks for coming to the rescue." Lilica said to him.
"Alright, we're counting on you then." Maya Jingu nodded to her. "Don't work yourself too much, though. You're still pretty much under the weather after all that's happened."
"I told you, I'll be okay, you guys." Lilica said as she began to think to herself. (It's actually Greg who I'm more concerned about…those things Mantis said before about him, I just can't seem to get them out of my head for some reason. I'd better hope for the best and think positive so that I can help Greg and Rio get through this after all the trouble they went through.)
The group slowly advanced out of the cell area to where the least amount of guards on patrol were present and with Lilica silently directing them towards a forked passageway, they stopped at a block where they saw circuitry flowing into the doors ahead of them.
"Is that what I think it is?" Rio asked.
"There's only one way to find out, sensei. Keep those fingers crossed." Greg said as he touched the door with his left hand and holding unto his USP with his right. The double electric doors swished ajar and revealed a large console room that was decorated with monitors and surveillance equipment. Seeing the room was vacant of life, Greg signalled the others with him to follow.
"Well, at least we infiltrated the com room with little resistance." Maya said as she surveyed the room. "It's almost too easy and convenient."
(Did Mantis want us to find this place on purpose? It could be a trap, but at least we can solve the communication problem for the time being.) Greg thought to himself as he shook his head. "Lilica, you think you can work your magic inside here?"
"It's a sure thing, Greg. From the looks of the technology in this room, I could easily create a net dive into the mainframe and turn it off manually without being detected, no problem." Lilica said confidentially.
"What's the fastest estimate of when you can get communications online again, Lilica?" Nagi asked.
"Five to seven minutes tops." Lilica answered, taking a seat and putting on a visor that was connected unto the computers in the room.
"Okay, we'll stand guard while you do your thing. We're counting on you, girl." Rio said as Lilica started to type away on the keyboards as several other monitors showed her progress in accessing the mainframe. While this was going on, Riku looked on and stepped closer to Greg.
"What do you think this place's purpose could really be for?" Riku asked.
"I'm not sure about that, but my guess is it has to be related to the Arsenal Gear that's docked in Tokyo-3 at the moment." Greg said. (That or it could be something else. Why is it that while even though I'm standing here with everyone, I'm still feeling something very uncomfortable about this place?)
"Okay, everyone. I think I'm getting through with it…almost there." Lilica said as she typed on with a determined smile on her face. Nagi Naoe was rather impressed with her hacking talents as he saw them firsthand.
"Well, she seems to be enjoying herself a lot, isn't she?" Nagi asked.
"Yeah, all of this comes like child's play to her." Rio said with a smile. "This is more like a hobby to her than just a regular day job. It's one of the reasons why she joined WARRIOR."
"Her family also happens to be pretty rich and Lilica could have spent the rest of her life living off of them, but she prefers to work with us to earn her own living." Maya said.
"I see, that's pretty impressive for her." Nagi said, nodding his head, observing her fingers working over the keyboards with a gleeful smile on her face as he thought to himself. (I bet Omi would enjoy having someone talented like Lilica to help us and Weiss if we all got together for a hacking mission such as this. Not to mention Kaori, Yukie, Reina, and Akane. They'd definitely be impressed at her skills.)
During this, Greg was cleaning his wet eyes with a tissue, despite that he was still shedding some tears after the joyful reunion. Riku was observing this and suddenly patted his back.
"You did it, buddy. You managed to get your family back together." Riku told him, surprising him a bit.
"Yeah, but this is just one phase of the mission completed. We still have to find Yuina and Mantis." Greg said in an almost shaky tone. "Man, I still can't believe that I'm getting choked up so easily over something like this, but I guess it's natural. I hardly ever react this way…"
"Oh, really, Greg. Don't lie to Riku about your emotions. I know when you were just a kid, you'd get emotional over the times you managed to surprise us with your gaming skills and you probably still do." Rio said with a snicker. "Like that time when you finally beat the first God of War on God Mode…"
"Rio-sensei, couldn't you be any more serious about my feelings? Besides, that's a completely different matter compared with now, okay?" Greg replied, feeling fidgety. "I'm sure everyone who played that game managed to do the same too anyway, so it's no big deal."
"Okay, how about that time when you beat Resident Evil: Code Veronica X with an A rank with only that free save and in under four hours no less, which got you the infinite rocket launcher?" Rio said, causing Greg to redden some more. "I remember that you and Maya actually celebrated for three days straight over that."
"Alright, that was an exception, but it didn't come easy, particularly when it came to fighting the final boss forms." Greg said. "Still, I think my S ranking from part 2 in under three hours and using only two saves was something to be proud of, but I don't think I could compare to aunt Maya's speed run in part 4 using the no-upgrade, no merchant, knife and grenade only, two hour speed run on Professional mode, in a lifetime."
Riku, Nagi and Tot stepped back as they heard this and stared at Maya in shock as the gunwoman smirked at them.
"Are you serious?" The three of them all asked in amazement before Riku spoke to Maya.
"Maya, you have to be the one to tell a friend of mine who's about as hardcore a gamer as you and Greg are about how you managed to do such a thing, it would be great to see his reaction." Riku said, smiling while shaking his head.
"Okay, sure thing, Riku. But the only reason I did it was for the challenge of the game, there are other gamers who've done much weirder challenges, believe me." Maya said with a smile.
"Yeah, like clearing all the S-Rank missions of the first Naruto: Narutimate Hero, especially 'Reconstruction of the Hidden Leaf Village' and 'Passionate Battle of Men'." Riku added. "You'd have to have a lot of time on your hands to complete those two. That's for sure…"
Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted as Lilica called out to them.
"Everyone, I did it." Lilica said as she removed the visor with a tired sigh. "I managed to get communications restored from our location to the outside."
"That's great, Lilica. I know you could do it." Rio said, patting her head. "Now we can call for back up just in case something happens."
(It would probably be good for all of us if I could get into contact with my Dad and Uncle Kurei to let them in on the situation and request help from them as well.) Riku thought as he folded his arms. (But knowing them, they may have contacted everyone by now and have formulated a back up plan. Hopefully, whoever they could send should be able to find us if things get rough…)
"We should call Yuji first." Maya said.
"Alright, we'll make a connection with Maki's frequency as well when we contact him. I wonder what it is that Yuji could be doing right about now? I hope he's okay so far and is on the ready in case something happens soon." Greg asked himself as he contacted Yuji's Codec frequency next.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Back on the above ground and on one of the lonely rooftops of old Tokyo, Yuji Naruo was seated in the backseat of the transport helicopter, waiting for a call from his team-mates who were gone for quite a long time now.
(Man, Greg, Rio, Maya, Riku and his partners as well as the Shinsengumi who came with them have been off-line for a while now. I just hope they are all okay and that they managed to find Lilica yet.) Yuji thought as he leaned back to relax. (Well, since that's the case…)
The perverted pilot smiled as he reached for his side and whipped out a DVD cover as he held it up with glee.
"Now, since I'm the only one here, I can use this chance to watch the long anticipated and awaited third episode of the best hentai anime ever made, Akiba Girls, which I finally got on this single disc after so much sacrifice and knocking of a few heads, of course!" Yuji exclaimed as he opened the cover to pop the disc into his portable DVD player which was hooked up onto the monitor inside the deck of the helicopter.
He was almost into pure bliss before he heard the loud ringing of the Codec in his ears, which regrettably made him jump suddenly and accidentally drop the disc which landed on its edge once, before rolling off the edge and off the building.
"NOOOOOO!" Yuji cried out as he tried to reach for the disc as it fell, but to of no avail as he saw it was already far gone from his reach. "No…my lovely Mei…"
"Uncle Yuji? Uncle Yuji? Please respond, it's urgent." Greg's voice called out from the Codec as his face appeared and saw the perverted pilot looking stressed. "Whoa, Yuji, are you alright? Did something happen outside that we should know of?"
"Um…no." Yuji replied miserably, as tears rolled down his cheeks as Greg looked on wide eyed, as Rio's face was shown next.
"Yuji, you'd better not be slacking off and watching those dirty DVDs that are in your personal collection during a mission again. I don't want to think about the last time we caught you enjoying those kinds of things again." Rio said as one of her eyebrows twitched. "Get your mind out of the gutter, okay?"
"Nothing like that is going on, okay?" Yuji said, still in a sour mood. "In any case, what happened to you guys? I was worried something might have happened to you guys."
"A lot of things have happened, Yuji. But we're all okay for now." Rio said. "We managed to find Mantis' stronghold."
"Then, Lilica is…" Yuji stopped before her face appeared onscreen.
"Hey, Yuji. I see you're still acting the way you should be." Lilica said with a bright smile as Yuji's face lit up.
"Lilica! You're alright!" Yuji said with a smile. "Did that Mantis creep do anything to you?"
Lilica gave a quick shake of her head. "No, he did nothing like that, Yuji. Although I was starved a little, but it's really nothing to worry about…"
"Thank goodness for that." Yuji said as he tone got serious. "Well, it's good to know that you're doing fine."
"We're going to contact Maki now and let her in on the good news." Rio said. "In any case, has there been any unusual movement on the outside while we were gone?"
"Nope, everything is still normal for now, we still have a clear sky while the city is hardly having any activity for it to notice us." Yuji reported.
Just then, the Codec tone was heard as Maki's frequency was the one to call in next. Her face appeared onscreen over Yuji's.
"Rio? Greg?" Maki asked. "Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah, we're all okay, Lilica included." Rio said as Lilica waved to the Codec screen at Maki.
"Hey, Maki. It's great to see you guys again." Lilica said as Maki sighed with a smile.
"Thank God that you're safe, Lilica. You had Nanvel and I very worried." Maki said as Nanvel's face appeared next with tears streaming down her eyes.
"'Worried' is an understatement, Maki. Don't you know that I had to pick up after you just for Rio and everyone else to find you, Lilica?" Nanvel spoke now, as if she was almost angry with her. "It's not easy for someone with only moderate computer skills like me to track you, you know that."
"Sorry if I've put so much pressure on you guys, this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't me who was captured." Lilica said as Nanvel shook her head.
"Aw, come on now. This wasn't your fault, Lilica. We were just caught by surprise by the enemy, that's all." Nanvel said. "Besides, we were able to find you thanks to your signal, so you actually lead us on."
"Yeah, we would still have no idea where you would be if you hadn't shown us the way." Yuji said.
"Thanks, you guys." Lilica said with a blushing smile.
"Alright, Rio…what's left for you guys to do now?" Maki asked.
"We still have to find Yuina and then Mantis. Chances are that they could be together by now for something." Rio replied.
"Has Seraph returned to you guys as yet?" Maya Jingu asked.
"Nope, and that is what is still worrying me." Nanvel replied. "Guys, I think what could have happened to her has to be involved with what Mantis is doing with Yuina."
"Yes, it would be best to assume that she could be in more grave danger than before if she just happens to be with Mantis." Maki said. "Greg, you have to focus on rescuing Seraph and Yuina now, it seems like the best thing to do now before facing Mantis."
"Right, they have to be secured from danger first before all hell breaks loose." Greg replied. "I'll make sure to see to that, Maki."
"Oh, and Yuji, because the entrance that we went in from seems to have been sealed off, you've got to pick us up at the ocean where the map indicated where there are several exits connected to the sunken areas of the city." Rio said. "We'll contact you again before the mission's over, got it?"
"Alright, I'll be seeing you guys soon. Good luck on the mission and be careful around Mantis, okay guys?" Yuji said.
"You know we will, Yuji." Greg said nodding at him before the screen logged off. Leaning back on the cockpit, Yuji smiled to himself, feeling better than before now know that Lilica was safe and sound. Thus, he reached for his DVD collection again and took up another case as he thought to himself.
(Well, until they call back, at least I've got 'Anyone You Can Do, I Can Do Better!' and 'Hitozuma Kasumi-san' to fall back on until I can get back that Akiba Girls episode somehow, not to mention buy the game versions for all those once I get the money for them especially since Milk Junky 1 and 2 are now sold in a single pack together. And the story in Akiba at the end of the second episode was really something to look forward too…) Yuji thought with a grin as he was close to taking out the disc out of the case until he heard a male voice called out to him.
"Excuse me, are you Yuji Naruo of Team WARRIOR?" One of them asked as Yuji turned to the direction where he heard the voice and saw about four tall males of about six feet in height, standing near the helicopter, all dressed in ninja gear.
One of them, the speaker, had long black hair tied back in a long ponytail to the back and deep and stern brown-golden eyes with a ferocious look to them to match his face. He was dressed in a dark blue ninja gi, and was holding a katana to the side of his waist. The other man next to him had black hair as well with bangs to the side of his head and had blue eyes. The other two men with them included a man dressed in strange black and white armour and carrying a strange spear like weapon, while the other wore a typical ninja's outfit, and he had long, flowing black hair.
"Hey, you guys are from the Hokage clan, aren't you?" Yuji asked as a smile came on his face after recognizing some of the people in front of him.
"Yes, we are from the Hokage clan and Uruha respectively. Kurei Mori and Recca Hanabishi, as well as Kagero, were told of the situation and have sent us to assist you." The tall man with the black ponytail spoke in a gentle tone. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Gennosuke and the man standing next to me is Kurei's eldest son, Kenshin Mori. The other two with us are two of Kurei's most trusted allies, Joker and Raiha."
"My father has told us of the situation that transpired a couple of days ago from what my cousin, Riku, has told his father and soon after, a number of us have managed to gather the available members of the family and ninja clan to discuss with them about this matter." Kenshin said in a calm tone. "He also mentioned that he also arranged to discuss such a matter with your superior, Maki Kawasaki, by the time we meet you. That way, it would be easier for us to help you out with knowledge of the details of the situation."
"I see, Maki always has thought ahead in these kinds of things." Yuji replied as he rubbed his head. "Well, I assumed from what you just heard that my friend was just recovered safely and they are proceeding with their mission. However, I've got to start looking for another escape route since the one that they used as an entrance is now sealed off."
"We're aware of that, Yuji-san, that's why we're here to make sure you get to that point safely, as well as to aid your comrades when things get hot." Joker said.
"So, how about it? We're just as worried for our family who are doing their best to help out yours." Raiha said as Yuji grinned.
"Sure, why not? You guys are already our allies anyway. But you have to fill me in on the way on what Kurei told you about the situation." Yuji said, opening the door to the helicopter for them so they could enter.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Well, that takes care of the transport and escape problem for now." Maya said as Rio logged off from her Codec call. "What's the next course of action, Rio?"
"It's just like Maki said before, we've got to look for Seraph and Yuina now. But the big question is where to start from without having to run into Mantis before we do." Rio replied. "And it's not like this place is going to make our jobs any easier either."
"Yes, we still have no idea as to what this place is capable of, not to mention the dangers it has inside it. We'd better stay on our toes from now on now that we've interfered with their security a bit." Greg said as he noticed a door to the side of the room that wasn't investigated yet. "Maybe if we start looking for clues, we're bound to come up with something useful. I'm going to check inside that room since it hasn't been checked into yet."
"Okay, Greg. I'm coming with you." Rio said, quickly standing at his side as Lilica, a bit weary to what was happening, rushed to their side. "Hey, Lilica, what's wrong?"
"Is there something in that room we should avoid?" Riku asked as Lilica shook her head.
"Um, no, I don't think so. But really, I don't think it would lead us to where Yuina is." Lilica said quickly as Greg shook his head.
"I know its good to be cautious, but we can't just overlook the possibility. Besides, we'll make sure to protect you if anything happens, so there's no need to worry, Lilica." Greg said as he stepped in front of the door, which automatically opened in front of the group.
As Greg, Rio, Lilica and Riku cautiously stepped inside the other room, Nagi was quietly observing what was going on as Tot stood beside him.
"Nagi-kun, what's the matter?" Tot asked as Nagi's eyes lowered a bit.
"Maybe it's just me, or how Lilica was acting since we managed to rescue her, but something about this place is making me really uncomfortable." Nagi said. "It's like she didn't want Greg to be anywhere around here to begin with."
"You mean…we could be in one big trap and we don't even know it?" Tot asked as suddenly, as if on cue, the electric door closed behind Greg's group, separating them and Nagi, Tot and the Shinsengumi after Maya was the last to step in.
"Greg! Rio!" Kanashii shouted as she rushed to the door and pounded on it, while on the other side, Greg and Rio who realized the trap they were in, stopped at the door themselves. "Are all of you guys alright?"
"Yeah, we're just fine for now." Rio shouted back. "What just happened? "
"We just walked into one big trap, that's for sure. Mantis must be watching us from somewhere." Maya replied calmly.
"Well, we just have to find a way to bust out of here and join up with the others before…" Before Rio could finish, they then heard a voice speak from above the ceiling as Greg listened intently to the words spoken.
"Welcome, Gregory. Consider this area a…'special' playground…I prepared just for you and your friends." Psycho Mantis's voice spoke through the speakers surrounding the corners in the sealed room Greg, Maya, Lilica, Riku, and Rio were trapped in. "Please, try and keep me entertained and do not disappoint me by dying too soon. I so want to enjoy this."
After hearing a loud cackle from Mantis' voice, Greg gritted his teeth and faced his friends. "Damn, I should have realized this before. He's toying with us for some reason and he even managed to separate us from each other as well."
"Or he's just testing our strengths." Riku said. "We can't go back to the others for a while, but I'm certain that Nagi has begun trying to find a way to get around this security by now.
"If that's the case, I guess we shouldn't start to worry then." Lilica said. "I did manage to update everyone's Soliton radar with a map area of this place in case something like this ever happens, so they should be okay as long as they are able to keep track and meet back with us soon. I'll try to find a way to reroute the security locks in this room so it could be redirected to another area of this place so we can get out of here, but it will take me a while."
"Alright, Lilica, you go do what you go to do." Maya said nodding her head while Riku examined around the room for any possible traps. To the captives in the room, it appeared to be another surveillance room with monitors, but it also looked like it double functioned as a storage room for records.
"What is this place anyway?" Rio asked.
"It must be another one of this facility's secret rooms." Riku said as he stopped near one of them as he suddenly turned to call Greg after noticing something.
"Greg, come over here and check this out." Riku said as Greg walked over to the monitor and looked closely. "It appears that Mantis is in charge of something big that the Patriots are running."
"Which could explain the stronghold's existence and its capabilities, I assume." Greg said. "I wonder what kind of project they're running in the underground area of Old Tokyo."
Lilica stopped as she observed the monitor and started to type in on the keyboards once more. It was then on the monitor that appeared a few seconds later that made Lilica stepped back in shock.
"What's wrong, Lil?" Greg asked as he stepped closer.
"You should see this for yourself. It appears to be a list of test subjects for an experiment or something." She replied as Greg took a look at the monitor himself, then his eyes widened, before his arms started to shake.
"Gregory?" Rio called out as he shook his head in disbelief, holding it with this right hand. "What's going on?"
"Why is my name among the list of test subjects?" Greg spoke solemnly as he pointed to the monitor. "Soldier X subject number three, Gregory Matthews…there's no mistaking it, that's surely my name on the database."
"Come on, Greg…certainly there are more people with the same first name like you in the world." Rio said, holding unto the cloak that Greg gave her earlier which was still keeping her warm, as she was feeling uncomfortable. "This has got to be some kind of twisted coincidence that the Patriots are probably scheming."
"Sensei, this is not just some coincidence. Maybe this whole thing doesn't just involve Yuina anymore, but me as well in a big way." Greg said seriously as he folded his arms and shook his head sadly. "Besides, I've never told anyone of you this before, but…my old surname…was actually Matthews. It was one of the few relevant things that I could still remember before I met you and Seishiro-san."
Rio stayed quiet as Lilica and Riku looked at Greg in silence as well after this was stated.
"Wait a second, you guys… You trust me, don't you?" Greg asked. "There's no way I could be something the Patriots manipulated…I'm a normal human being, you all believe that, don't you?"
"Greg, you know I really trust you at times when you can be dependable. But…maybe what Mantis is trying to do is just trying to psych you up with stuff like this so that you'll end up falling into whatever other traps he has planned.." Riku said before pausing and then he shook his head. "Then again, as much I hate to say this, you have told me before that your memories of your childhood past were always hard to remember…"
"What are you saying now, Riku?" Greg asked, looking at him sternly, causing the ninja some surprise at his friend's sudden change in tone. "That all of my memories were probably manipulated by the enemy as well? But if that's the case, then for what reason?"
"I…" Riku's voice seemed hesitant. "I'm sorry, I can't answer that…"
"Greg, there's no reason to get so upset about this. Riku is probably right. This is probably just some kind of twisted mind game that Mantis must be playing." Rio said, walking to him.
"But, Rio…there's no sense trying to deny it further." Greg said miserably. "The reasons for the attack all those years ago, why I'm having trouble keeping my powers in check at certain times…my memories must be the reason behind those. And from what we've seen so far, Mantis is probably the one who knows all about this situation and this is why he's toying with us like this. I can't just run away from all of this anymore without knowing all that there is about what happened to me all those years ago, Sensei!"
Rio's eyes widened as she saw Greg's speech had more resolve than before when he told her this, but she could also feel a great sense of fear rising in his voice. He sounded afraid of learning about the painful truths of himself, knowing that it could fully well destroy him. Sighing a bit, she took his nano wrist and then clenched it tight.
"You're scared, aren't you, Greg?" Rio asked. "About learning of yourself and why your name is in on one of the Patriots' databases…well, you've got every right to be. While I may never be able to fully understand what happened to you or, rather what could happen to you, just remember that no matter what the case, I'm not going to give up on you. I'll be right here to support you even if there's a lifetime of pain ahead of you in your future. So, don't try and wuss out on us at the last minute, okay?"
"Yeah…I got you, Sensei." Greg said, bashfully and calming down a bit. "Thanks again, I'll do what I can to try and stay focused."
"Alright, then." Rio gave Greg a light tap on his shoulder as he looked at Riku and did a quick bow to him.
"And Riku, sorry for when I overreacted like that to you earlier. I just…couldn't think straight after thinking of the possibilities of my past. It seems this is also part of Mantis' plans, whatever they could be." Greg said as Riku patted him on the shoulder with a smile.
"Hey, take it easy, Greg. I know that you must have gone through a lot, but we're here with you all the way. Besides, there's no way a cool guy like you could ever be one of the bad guys. We would never think that way of you or each other." Riku said. "So, whatever happens, I'll do what I can to help you too, okay?"
"Thanks for that, Riku." Greg said as Lilica smiled seeing this as suddenly, the door behind them opened suddenly and Tot, along with the Shinsengumi entered the room.
"Riku, are you and the others okay?" Tot asked.
"Yeah, we're just fine. It seems that door was just meant to scare us for awhile." Riku replied as Kanashii noticed the room they were in, then she saw the look in Greg and Rio's eyes.
"Did something happen in here that we should know about?" Kanashii asked as Rio suddenly spoke before Greg said anything.
"It's nothing, really. It was just a false alarm like Riku said." Rio said as she pulled Greg's arm and lead him out of the room. "Come on, we've got a mission to finish."
Kanashii looked on silently to her partners, Dee and Pei before speaking once more to Rio as they met with Nagi, who was working at the keyboards on the computer systems in the room they were previously in before.
"Well, it seems that while you guys were trapped inside, a couple of new areas were accessed by your other psychic friend, Nagi here." Kanashii said. "We overheard Mantis's message and traced it origins where we were able to locate him."
Nagi pointed to one of the screens where they saw a large dome like hall that looked more like a generator area of the facility, where the group saw a tall and cloaked figure standing over two sleeping female figures on the crystallized floor. Rio instantly recognized the man while Greg recognized the figures on the floor near him.
"That's Mantis, isn't it?" Rio asked sternly.
"Yeah, and that's obviously Yuina Hattori and Seraph with him, just as I feared." Greg said seriously. "Where is that room located, Nagi?"
"Just to the north-northwest from here, it's as if he was waiting for us." Nagi said as Greg sighed and clenched his fists.
"Well, we might as well face him cautiously if we're going to save those two." Greg said. "And from the looks of it, we might have to face him head on first for that to happen."
"I was getting tired of all this trekking anyway, Greg. We have to finish this here and now." Rio said. "So, what's the plan?"
"Since this is Mantis we're going to fight, we'd best be ready for anything he may throw at us, so be prepared to watch each other's backs." Greg said. "However, if any of you sees a chance to get Yuina and Seraph out of harm's way, don't waste any time on doing so."
"Alright, Greg, we'll do what we can." Riku said. "Now, let's say we get to rescuing our friend, Seraph and her friend Yuina and wrap up this mission, shall we?"
Greg gave Riku a silent nod as the others gave their own before they left the room and made their way through the clear passageways of the facility to the generator core room where Mantis was waiting for them. As they did, however, Riku looked back at the room where they had found those files with Greg's name in one of them.
(All this stuff about some sort of project involving test subjects...) Riku thought to himself. (While I hope that this is just some fabricated data to confuse us, if whatever is in those files is all true, then...if my guess is correct, which I hope to God it isn't, then that means Greg could very well be...)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Well, you've all taken your time coming here, Kinezono and friends." Mantis' voice spoke as the group stepped through the large door, cold compressed air being released around their feet as they stopped into the giant hall of the facility. After a few seconds, the air cleared and Mantis was visible. He was wearing a customizable metallic armour with a grey and red mask which protected his face to suit. "I was wondering how much longer I'd have to wait before I got bored."
Greg stopped midway along with the rest of the people with him as they examined him. Swallowing a bit, Greg could sense the immense power Mantis held within him even from where they stood. However, Rio held onto his arm and gave him a confident nod, making him remember that he has everyone's support. Looking back at Mantis, Greg began to speak.
"Okay, Psycho Mantis, if it's me you wanted all this time, then here I am finally." Greg said seriously. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing with us, but I'm certain that you know at least part of the reason why I came all this way to face you today. And that is so you can answer some important questions I have."
"Ah, yes. And you need not to worry about that; I have all the answers to your questions regarding Yuina and Seraph, my dear boy." Mantis said before he pointed at Greg. "However, as for the ones regarding your past…you know fully well where they lie."
"What are you talking about?" Greg asked simply.
"My, my…the Patriots are should definitely consider giving the late Dr. Clark a lot of credit for wiping childhood memories from you, even though it would only last for a limited duration." Mantis spoke. "You really don't recall what happened to you before you encountered your dear surrogate family, do you, Greg?"
"Barely." Greg said seriously. "But, I'm still determined to find out anyway. And even if my past is something that I had gone through and hated all those years ago, it's alright. Because I know that my friends and family will support me in everyway possible since I have faith in them...something that you probably can't ever understand."
"You're an amusing individual, Greg. Not many people with an understanding like yours are even brave enough to say such things with a straight face…even if they know about the things they've done in their past lives." Mantis said.
"Cut the small talk and start to fess up, Mantis." Rio said, stepping forward. "What's the Patriots' deal with Yuina and Seraph?"
"Ah, yes. It's about time you asked about it, Miss Kinezono." Mantis said as he raised an arm. "In case you haven't noticed, Yuina holds a very special ability that's exclusive to Seraph and herself, as rather than going into the trouble of explaining it, I'll have her put up a little demonstration for all of you."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Maya asked as Riku stepped forward, kunai prepared in hand.
"Be careful, Maya. We may not know what trick he's going to pull on us next." Riku said as Mantis used his power to make Yuina stand on her own two feet as her dreary looking eyes stared at Greg and his group.
"Yuina! Snap out of it!" Lilica called out as Yuina stared on at them with a blank look in her eyes.
"It's no use, Ebett. Her mind's in a different place at the time being because she shut away her own consciousness ever since the time she lost her dear aunt, thus allowing me to easily take control of her mind without any resistance." Mantis said, causing Rio and Greg to glare at him.
"Damn you, Mantis!" Rio shouted. "So, that's how you're going to do this, huh? Using your own captive to do the fighting for you, while knowing fully well that we can't harm her. How low and dirty you've gotten."
"Actually, this is not the first time that he's used a tactic like this, Rio." Nagi said to her. "During our VR training, we were instructed that there are always chances of a psychic as strong as Mantis using a weakened person's mind in order to make that person his weapon, or worse yet, his shield in some cases. Don't forget that he used this on our commander's daughter, Meryl Silverburgh, during Snake's famous Shadow Moses mission. That was the basis for that training session."
"He's got a good point. It'd be pointless to just attack him head on without considering what he could do to Yuina in that state." Greg said.
"You've got quite an observant friend with you, Kinezono. He did point out the obvious as you are now able to see that it will prove to be a useless effort to do something when I have this girl's life in my hands." Mantis said. "However…this girl is too valuable to be killed so soon and I've got another use for her, of which I will show to you all now."
Mantis turned to Yuina's side and whispered to her while still controlling her mind.
"Yuina, dear…the one responsible for killing your dear aunt is standing right before you now." Mantis said, causing Greg and the others with him to gasp in shock. "Your chance to avenge her has come…now, say the keyword to integrate with Seraph to kill Greg Kinezono and his associates."
"What did he just say?" Maya said, getting into a pose by drawing a handgun.
"Mantis, you creep!" Rio took out her tonfars and got into a fighting pose. "How dare you go on and say that to her when you know fully well that you're the one who did it!?"
"Now you've gone and done it, Mantis." Greg muttered as he stepped back a bit to prepare himself for battle, however what the group saw next surprised all of them as Yuina began to mutter a sequence of numbers.
"Inputting the keyword: '01110101110110110100001101'." Yuina's voice said sullenly as Greg noticed the term she just used.
"What was that?" Greg asked as he lowered his gaze. "Did she just use a binary code?"
What happened next also managed to surprise them as they saw Seraph standing up right behind Yuina with her eyes watching them for a brief moment before muttering in silence as her body began to fade into Yuina's own body much to the surprise of everyone.
"What the hell's going on?" Maya muttered as they continued to watch in shock at the image of Yuina, who was now engulfed in a bright flash of light and appearing nude before them before her long, purple hair became a silvery colour and a large pair of feathered wings appeared from behind her back. Now her body was covered somewhat in an outfit closely resembling Seraph's, coloured in black and silver that shone like something from the heavens. She had a pair of gauntlets that appeared bigger than her hands, her knuckles and the areas where the wings were joined protected by mirror like shields.
After Yuina had completed her amazing and beautiful transformation, Greg, Riku, Nagi, and Tot stood in awe at what they were facing.
"Whoa…so this is Yuina's power." Greg simply muttered as Rio clobbered him on the head once to get him back to reality.
"This isn't the time to stand there and gawk, Greg. Or have you forgotten that Mantis just forced her to do that in order to kill us?" Rio lamented.
"Shoot!" Greg said simply, as he looked back at Mantis.
"This is her when she has integrated with that biodroid, Seraph or to put it simply, her complete transformation when the two of them have become one being after Yuina recites a password, which happens to be a binary code exclusive to Yuina's use." Mantis explained.
"It sounds like someone's been doing their homework on the existence of biodroids." Maya spoke at Mantis in a disgusted tone. "And just how much about Seraph do your employers know of?"
"Oh, a whole lot more than you simpletons ever would in a lifetime to fully grasp the concept." Mantis retorted. "'One who knows nothing, can understand nothing.'"
"No wonder Mantis has been harping a lot about Yuina's abilities since she and I were captured...this is what happens when a human with a strong mental feedback and a combat biodroid capable of integrating itself with the human mind merge, Greg." Lilica said silently to Greg and Riku, who were still trying to understand what was going on.
"So in other words, Seraph and Yuina are one being, with Yuina being the one in possession of Seraph's powers, is that it?" Riku asked which got a quick, silent nod from Lilica. "Is that the reason Seraph was captured too, to complete this process?"
"Now that it's coming together, I'm beginning to understand a bit of what's going on here, but it appears to be more than just that, Riku." Greg said simply in a low tone. "This was not just some ploy to draw us all here, isn't it?"
"You guessed correctly, Kinezono. But, even though I would love to fill you in on why you were brought here as soon as possible, let's first see if you're worthy enough of learning the truth. If you all succeed in my little test, then I will tell it to you." Mantis said as Yuina prepared herself by getting into a serious fighting pose. "I should inform you all a bit about Yuina's fighting prowess as an emulate. Seraph's just about as lethal as any of you put together, and with Yuina's burning desire for revenge, she will have no qualms of disposing of you. Since I've taken her under my wing, she has been receiving the right training to use her emulate powers that will serve my needs."
"Don't you mean Reese and the Patriots's needs?" Maya asked out loud.
"It makes no difference…you all are going to die by her hands or by mine anyway, so it doesn't matter any more." Mantis said as he raised his arm. "Now, Yuina…do away with them to your hearts content. Remember how Greg Kinezono mercessily killed your aunt before your eyes and ruined your life forever."
"Yes, master." Yuina replied as she stared blankly at Greg's group.
"Mantis, you've crossed the line now!" Rio said as Greg's fist began to shake out of fear.
(So, it has to come to this, hasn't it? Why am I always faced with these tough decisions?) Greg thought as his heart grew heavy over having to fight the person, or rather persons, he'd just met and was assigned to rescue. Could he really make the right choice and keep his promise to Seraph, who is part of Yuina now, fighting within her just after becoming a close friend to her and winning her trust a couple of days ago? That was what he kept wondering to himself.
Biting his lip and cursing himself, Greg made a fateful choice as he reached for his lance weapon as Rio noticed the look on his face.
(Greg's reaching for his Ascension to use against Yuina and Seraph?) Rio thought in shock. (Is he really serious about fighting them, just after everything we've been through?)
"Yuina, please don't make us do this." Greg said with a hurtful tone as he gripped the hilt of his lance as he stared intentionally at the possessed emulate and its host. "I promised Seraph that I'd bring you back safe and sound from Mantis, who was really the one who killed your dear aunt, not me."
"Silence! You're the one who killed my aunt, he showed me everything!" Yuina cried out. "I will not stop until I see your blood split after what you've done to her!"
"I see talking to her won't do anything to change this." Nagi said bitterly. "She must be…feeling so hurt and confused inside…"
"Oh, poor Yuina…this is almost like what Aya-san had to go through when Ceres was still a part of her." Tot said softly. "But after coming this far…we really can't give up on them now, we have to try and help her and Seraph-san, Nagi-kun."
"I agree with you, it can't be too late for them yet." Nagi replied.
(Oh, Greg…you must be really hurting because of this. But…I swear, I will help you find a way to save them both!) Rio thought mentally as she panicked and took up a fighting stance after seeing her surrogate son's reactions.
Battle theme: Desire for All That is Lost from Kingdom Hearts 2.
(Looks like we do have no other choice but to try and bring Yuina to her senses, which I'm betting will not be so easy considering she and Seraph are now integrated, not to mention they're the ones we're supposed to be rescuing.) Greg said in thought.
(You got to be kidding us…isn't there any other way without hurting her?) Riku thought.
(I wish had a better suggestion, Riku, but we've got no other option due to the sudden circumstances.) Greg replied as he thought for a few seconds. (I think I've got a plan we could use, but there's no guarantee that it will prove effective. Riku, you and your partners have to find a way to distract Mantis' concentration so Rio and I can try and reverse the effects done to Yuina's mind. I will act as a decoy since she will probably be after me the most. I should be able defend most of her attacks by using my style of CQC training.)
"You got it." Riku replied as he looked at Nagi and Tot. "Well, you two think that you're up to this?"
"We really don't have much of a choice now, do we?" Nagi said as he faced Mantis' direction. "I just hope Greg and Rio will be able to handle themselves against Yuina…just by looking at her like this, I could tell she's pretty formidable."
"Okay, everyone…Rio and I will start with the initial attack. Riku, I'm leaving Mantis to you and your partners while the Shinsengumi help us." Greg said as Rio rushed at Yuina with tonfars in hand, but stopped midway in order to predict her movements which were actually fast as Yuina dashed at her, her right fist ejecting a blade like weapon from its knuckles and missing Rio as she sidestepped back near her feet. Rio then managed to dodge several swerved punches from Yuina's quick fists by swerving her body sideways between strikes, as she then dashed back with Yuina pressing one behind her with the blade pointed at her face.
(Damn…is this really Seraph's combat ability?) Rio thought as she felt herself being cornered by Yuina's attack, but managed to recover as she then leaped on top of Yuina's arm and jumped off of her, letting Greg rush in from under her cartwheel. Still equipped with his gauntlets, Greg threw a left-right combo at Yuina who ducked away in time before she actually caught his outstretched left arm before it made contact with her face.
(What?) Greg thought in surprise as he felt Yuina's strength clenching on his arm, before she lowered it enough to give him a good look at her clear eyes, before lifting him off his feet, then performing a roundhouse kick at his abdomen that sent him flying.
"Arrgh!" Greg groaned as Rio saw what was happening in time as she caught her surrogate son before he hit a nearby wall in time. At the side, Lilica gulped as she saw what was happening as she looked at Maya next to her.
"We got to do something to help them, Maya." Lilica said. "I know Yuina's in trouble, but we're the ones getting our asses kicked because Mantis is trying to distract us."
"Damn it…looks like we have no other choice. We should take her on at the same time, Lilica." Maya Jingu groaned as she took out a combat knife from her inventory and rushed Yuina along with Lilica and swerved at her, as Yuina simply leaped over the two WARRIOR females with ease as they stopped behind her open back. Stopping midway, the two girls rushed at her once more as she spun her body over them and landing safely behind them again as she turned to look at them with a grim look on her face.
"Yuina, snap out of it now. We don't want to hurt you, but you're starting to leave us with little choice." Maya said as she and Lilica rushed Yuina once more, only to hear a loud 'Clang' that ran as an echo in the hall they were all in as Yuina managed to stop Maya's knife with a right raised leg, while Lilica's fist was blocked effortlessly by Yuina's left fist.
"What…in…the…hell?" Maya muttered slowly as Mantis laughed from the background.
"Now do you all see? With her emulate ability and my perception powers, your attacks are practically useless against her." Mantis spoke. "It's hopeless, I tell you, just accept it."
"We still have a long way to go before anyone of us starts to give up, Mantis." Riku's voice spoke as he threw a set of flaming kunai at him, which was deflected by a psychic barrier he put up in time.
"That was just mere child's play, little ninja. What can you hope to accomplish by trying to distract me by using that?" Mantis said as he suddenly saw the kunai that were deflected suddenly became jolted with an electrical charge as they sent surges of electricity on the floor up to his suit. Suddenly rising off the ground using levitation, he then saw Nagi Naoe at a distance, concentrating his psychic powers to the ground beneath him.
"So, that was just a decoy to lure me into that trap he set, wasn't it?" Mantis said. "I must admit that was almost admirable to an extent, but you and Kinezono have a long way of reaching my level of power."
"Maybe so, but..." Riku then spoke up so Mantis could hear him. "You shouldn't underestimate a ninja team's ingenuity."
Mantis suddenly noticed that there was a third team member missing. He then turned and saw Tot standing behind Nagi just as she pressed her hands together to complete a hand seal.
Suddenly Mantis felt an immense weight on his body, and he was quickly pulled down to the floor, reacting just in time to use his powers to break his fall. He then gave a yell and the weight suddenly seemed to break apart. As that happened, there was the sound of water splashing against the floor. It was then that Mantis realzed that water had gotten onto his suit.
"When you put enough chakra into water, you can manipulate it however you want to." Riku said confidently. "That includes making it as heavy as you want it to be."
Mantis then gave short laugh as he shook his head.
"I see...now it makes sense." He said. "You noticed the mist created by the cold compressed air when you entered, and so you must have signalled that girl to start gathering chakra into the water composing that mist. Interesting that you were able to conceal that from me, but it was all for nothing as your trap failed."
"And who said that part was the trap?" Riku asked with a smirk.
"All we were doing was trying to get your suit wet!" Tot called over to Mantis.
"What?" Mantis exclaimed and looked just in time to see the kunai shuriken on the floor become charged up with electricty and then rise up due to Nagi's telekinesis and then launch themselves at him.
"I hope you took into account that water is a natural conduct for electricity." Nagi said simply as the shuriken plunged towards their target.
Mantis immediately put up a barrier to deflect the blades, but not before sensing Riku's next move.
"Take this!" Riku shouted as he threw another pair of kunai shuriken, these ones with explosive tags attached to them.
Mantis said nothing as the shuriken struck his barrier and exploded. After the smoke cleared Mantis simply looked over at Riku.
"Do you children honestly think this is going to work?" He asked simply, surprising Riku, Nagi, and Tot. "I could tell from the start that you're simply trying to get me to use enough power to stop your pitiful attacks so that my grip on Yuina will falter. A waste of time...now enough of this foolishness."
Riku barely had time to guard as he felt an invisible force slam into him and send him flying back across the room. Nagi quickly put up a barrier to shield himself and Tot just as the force of Mantis' psychokinesis struck at him. The force of it smashed through the barrier, strikking him and sending him flying, but Tot quickly caught Nagi and then leaped out of range of Mantis' attack. Meanwhile, Riku, who had landed on the floor managed to regain his footing. The suit he was wearing had manged to block most of the impact.
(It looks like there's no way we can do anything about Mantis without fighting to kill.) Riku thought to himself as he checked to see that Nagi and Tot were alright and then turned to look in the direction Greg and co. were and ran over to help them. Nagi and Tot did the same.
Mantis then turned his attention back to Yuina who was still holding Maya and Lilica at bay. He then waved his hand at her, making her kick away the two girls with force at a distance while he powered his energy into a sphere from his free hand.
"Is that all you youngsters have to prove your worth?" Mantis said as he raised his arm. "It is not even enough! And yet still, you hope to challenge me?"
Hurling the energy sphere at the group, Yuina dashed out of the way as the ball came closer to the group. However, Greg managed to gather his bearings in time and stepped up to execute his defensive barrier move that he used before.
"Charge Drive Activation Mode…Kai Tsuki!" Greg shouted, raising his right arm to create a dark blue barrier which stopped the incoming sphere's impact for a while before it dispersed in a small explosion, knocking some wind out of Greg as he fell on one knee, panting for air. Mantis smirked at this before thinking to himself.
(He managed to neutralize that attack using just one hand, not to mention without bothering to even concentrate his power into forming it like before when he was fighting Shade…his power must certainly be growing as long as he's standing at a place like this, just as Reese predicted.) Mantis thought.
"Hey, is everyone alright?" Greg shouted to the people behind him as Rio and Lilica nodded.
"Yeah, we're fine. But Greg…what are we going to do about Yuina?" Rio asked, rubbing her head. "Mantis knows our every move and is using Seraph's fighting ability to boot against us…how can we possibly stand a chance?"
It was then that one of the Shinsengumi women spoke now. It was Kanashii who had a very serious look on her face.
"Greg, do you really think that it's possible for you to save her without possibly harming her more than intended?" Kanashii asked him seriously, causing him to stare at her wide eyed as he listened to her.
"What do you mean, Kanashii?" Greg asked in a serious tone, having an idea of where this was going.
"I meant that it is an impossible task for anyone to try and save everyone in a mission such as this one. You may think that you may be able to do so, but that's a naïve and selfish way of thinking, especially at a time like this if you wish that Yuina could be saved without having to harm her." Kanashii said.
After a few moments of silence as Greg stared intently at her, contemplating what she told him, his dark counterpart started to speak to him from within his mind once more. He seemed to be becoming more active than ever now with Greg's release of his inhibited powers since the aftermath of their encounter with Shade.
(Ah, yes. That woman is certainly right for one thing for this just situation, Greg.) Violent Greg spoke. (How would you be able to save Yuina and Seraph without killing her? You and your friends can die by her and Mantis's hands or you can do the honours and spill her precious blood by yourself, ending this battle quickly, yet staining that so called pure conscience of yours. What will it be, you failure of a psychic?)
(Has anyone ever told you that you have a really bad sense of timing? Just keep silent so I can think properly before I have to punch myself once more just to shut you up again.) Greg replied in thought, biting his lower lip hard enough that it almost bled from being agitated from the pressure he was feeling right now.
He knew for sure it was impossible for him or anyone to save everyone when danger strikes, and he knew that he would never have the strength to do so. Yet still, Mantis had placed him and everyone else in a tight compromising situation and he already ensured Seraph that Yuina will be with her again, but not like this. Taking a deep breath to make sure his dark counterpart keeps quiet; Greg collected his thoughts together as he spoke to the Shinsengumi swordswoman.
"Kanashii, I'm serious when I say that I know what you just told me is very true and I stand by every one of those words. It is obvious after everything that has happened so far has shown that even us, combined as we are right now, are not capable of such things. Also I know that I have much bigger issues to be concerned about. But even so, there has to be some way we can do this without having to kill the two of them, now that they are both one individual." Greg replied to her now. "There's still much about those two that we have yet to understand and we really can't afford to end things just as Mantis intends without knowing what the hell's happening."
"I hope you're right about that, Greg." Kanashii said as Rio was glancing over to the pair this entire time in silence, overhearing their conversation as she glanced back to Yuina.
(This really is hard on me too, Greg. I almost feel the same as you do right now, thinking what should be done for Yuina and Seraph.) Rio thought, gritting her teeth. (But it is as you said before, they're the victims in this mess and it wouldn't be right if they had to die in order to settle things. Don't worry, Greg…I'm sure there's a way we can get them free from Mantis' control if we think about the best options to use…)
Just then, Nanvel's voice rang in suddenly on Rio's Codec with an alarmed tone.
"Greg! Rio!" Nanvel cried out. "Are you guys okay? I'm getting very strange energy readings from where you guys are now."
"It's really hard to put it, Nanvel, but right now, we're tangoing with Yuina and Seraph who just happened to be one being now kicking our asses thanks to Mantis." Rio replied. "We could really use some of your advice for how we can help those two."
"Hmm, judging from what data I've managed to gather of Seraph since we met her, she happened to have an ability exclusive to her alone to be able to merge with her host, just as you guys are seeing now." Nanvel said.
"That much we know already, Aunt Nanvel." Greg said now. "Isn't there any way that she can be UN-merged without having to hurt them?"
"I wish I could give an answer so easily, but even I'm new to this emulate thing as well…her CPU and thinking process is something that that I've never seen before, it's as if the origins surrounding her are not of this world." Nanvel said as he shook her head. "I'm afraid to say this…but it's hopeless for those two now…"
"It can't be…oh, poor Yuina." Lilica muttered as Greg pounded his right fist into the ground near him.
"Dammit…I won't accept this. I can't give up on Seraph and Yuina this easily. There's got to be way we haven't thought up of yet." Greg muttered. "If only there was some weakness we could use…"
Riku, Nagi, and Tot walked over to where Greg and the others were. They were all listening to what Navel had to say. The young ninja glanced over at Nagi, but the young psychic shook his head to show he had no idea what to do.
"I'm sorry…" Nagi said with his eyes lowered.
"I see…" Riku was silent as he knew what he had to say. He glanced over at Greg before taking out a kunai shuriken, gripping its handle tightly. "Then I'll be the one to…"
"I'll do it." Nagi said before Riku could.
"Hey, now hold on a second!" Rio objected.
"Do you have any better alternatives? If so please tell us so we won't have to do this!" Riku said, his voice almost to shouting, yet even Rio could hear a pleading sound in his voice. "None of us want to do this, but…"
"Rio, the worst thing you can do right now is just do nothing and hope that the situation will miraculously resolve itself." Nagi said, he then turned to Riku. "Riku, you shouldn't do this. I have more experience in this area. More than enough…"
"You can't be serious!" Rio shouted. "And what do you mean, you have 'experience'?" Rio then turned to Greg. "Greg, isn't there anything you can think of that we can do?"
"I…" Greg was at a loss for words as he realized the weight of what his answer may actually have to be.
Before he almost gave in to despair of the situation, he suddenly heard a voice in his head as it clearly called out to him.
(Gregory! Greg! It's not too late for us…) Seraph's voice called out to his mind as he held his head a bit. (There is a way you can end this without having to shed Yuina's blood.)
(What the…Seraph!) Greg exclaimed in thought. (But how did you…?)
(Greg, I don't have…much will…to be able to talk to you more than I can…handle.) Seraph replied as if she was in pain. (Mantis…he's controlling…my mind as well, making me do things I don't ever want to do to…kind-hearted people such as you and all of your friends.)
(Don't struggle too much, Seraph. Remember you've got Yuina riding with you on this, quite literally.) Greg replied in thought. (Just tell me what we can do to free you guys.)
(Since Mantis is the one controlling Yuina's mind, as well as my own body, Yuina already has part of my personality and abilities, since it's easily possible for him to control both of us without any resistance.) Seraph explained. (Mantis has used his powers to take total control and advantage of both of these. Only Yuina can undo the integration and return to normal, so she can be free of the spell Mantis placed on her.) Seraph spoke. (But chances are that she can be controlled again from Mantis just by remembering the password.)
(Password? Do you mean an access to make the integration happen?) Greg thought. (Was it that set of numbers she just used?)
(That is correct.) Seraph spoke. (Also…when a contract between a bioroid and its host has been initiated, the host is able to recover from most life threatening injuries. So, Greg…it is okay not to hold back when you're fighting Yuina, because I will always be able to make her alright.)
(You make it sound so simple, but this is really hard for me, Seraph. What if…I make a mistake?) Greg thought as Seraph replied.
(It is alright…I've seen how confident you are in your abilities as a soldier and a psychic as well how much you've relied on those closest to you. I don't think that the promise you made to me, which has been on your mind since the start of this whole thing, would let you think that you could afford to fail us now, Gregory Kinezono.) Seraph spoke to him. (Just do your best to help Yuina, I'll handle the rest.)
Swallowing as he heard Seraph's kind words, Greg clenched his fists as he looked up bravely at his group.
"Listen up, everyone. I just talked with Seraph a few moments ago while she was still within Yuina." Greg said. "She said that she will be able to take care of Yuina on her end while she leaves things to us."
That news brought sighs of relief from everyone.
"What are you saying, Greg?" Rio asked. "That it's okay for us to hurt her?"
"No…while Yuina's ability as an emulate will allow her to regenerate some of the inflicted wounds, Seraph won't be able to repair the most serious ones." Greg said. "This is what she just told me."
"What is it that you have in mind, Greg?" Riku asked as Greg looked at him in silence first before switching back to the Codec.
"Aunt Nanvel, isn't there any other way I could use that Charge Drive that's imbued within these gauntlets?" Greg asked.
"Yes, there's another way I should inform you now since you asked." Nanvel spoke. "Your nanomachines for instance, can be concentrated into a mist like form which should temporary infect the functions of certain areas of the human body by latching themselves in a parasite-like form onto the person's body. The person you use this on will be temporarily paralyzed or stunned."
"A nanomist…" Greg muttered as he looked at his right wrist. "All I have to do is just concentrate them into the air?"
"That's it, but there's a catch to it. Once you use the Charge Drive release function, there's no telling what the other nanomachines inside your body will do since they will all function in more different ways than before." Nanvel said. "You have to be careful and hope that the last thing they do is turn your powers against you when you need them the most."
"So, there's basically a fifty/fifty chance that it will end up working positively." Greg said as he clenched his fist. "My mind's made up…let's do what we can for Yuina and Seraph."
"Yeah, let's do it." Rio said, stepping closer to him. "You hear that, Mantis? My son is not going to give up on his new friends and we're not going to give up on them either, even if it means having to hurt them a little along the way."
Mantis simply smirked at the group once more before speaking.
"Ah, always the reliable one, aren't you, Kinezono?" Mantis said to Greg. "That's expected though...a psychic like yourself who's been running around like a goody two shoes all these years in FOXHOUND would have gotten rusty during that time period."
"Well, at least it's better than than running around, terrorizing innocent people's lives like Yuina Hattori's and following orders from the Patriots and Reese." Rio said as she growled at him.
"Oh, yes...thanks for bringing that up. She has done an excellent job of being such a welcoming doormat for you, hasn't she?" Mantis asked. "But I grow tired of your attempts of trying to deny the impossible. It's high time that we ended this. Yuina, the enemy is weakened. You should finish the job."
"Now, Yuina...attack!" Mantis ordered at Yuina who nodded silently at him.
"Everyone, spread out!" Greg shouted as the emulate warrior dashed at lighting fast speed at Greg first of all people. So fast that if he didn't place the Ascension above his head in time, her energy sword would have cleaved straight through him. A spark of white flame and psychic energy so bright that it lit the room exploded from the clash of the weapons. Yuina swung again and Greg countered with another swing. Another clash and another flash of light exploded.
(To think that she's a sixteen year old sophomore, but she's actually just as tough as Mana, Kari, and Scorpion are. It's almost like she was a part of FOXHOUND's younger recruit crowd. She would give even those three quite a hard time like this.) Greg thought to himself. He swung to parry the next attack once more, only to feel his legs getting weak from the force of Yuina's attack that was impacting on him. (But I can't afford to let my guard down...I have to start concentrating my nanomachine release soon by counterattacking some of her attacks.)
Yuina swing a fourth time, but Greg added an extra momentum in his strike and the white flame managed to get in contact with one of her arms. She yelped in pain as she simply retreated from the strike and stopped attacking, giving Greg a chance to breathe.
Yuina held onto her arm for a few moments, while Greg looked on. He began to feel her pain and suffering of what hardships she went through as certain glimpses into her past life as he stopped his movements for a while.
"Greg…what are you doing?" Rio called out as she saw the two of them standing and staring at each other in silence as Greg moved first.
"I see it now…you've had it rough with your family too before all of this happened. Now I've seen it for myself." Greg said as he held his lance up. "But its okay…I've been down the same road too and someone very dear to me and who raised me well also went through the same thing, so it's safe to say we've all been gone through the same thing."
Yuina simply stared at him, but it was apparent that her eyes were starting to water because of the contact just made.
"But Yuina…from what Seraph told me about you from the short time we've known each other, you're a much stronger person than that than to just let your emotions be taken control of like this. I know it's been hard on you since you lost your aunt…and it's okay for you to blame me for what happened, but know this well…I'm not going to give up on the promise I made to your friend and until your eyes have been opened once more to the truth of what's happened, I'll see to it that I'll help you using my power." Greg said as he returned his lance to its hilt as he began to move his arms in a circular motion.
"Fool! Whatever you are going to attempt is futile." Mantis spoke. "Now, Yuina…while he's open, strike him down! Avenge your dear aunt who he had slain!"
Just then, he was distracted by a sound of a rifle firing at him as Maya shot at him from a distance.
"Oh, shut up about it already, Mantis! You're the one who killed her." Maya said. "And besides…Greg knows what he's doing."
"What exactly is he doing?" Nagi asked Nanvel over the codec. He was keeping an eye on Mantis, preparing to counter any move he made to interfere with what Greg was planning to do. Tot and Riku were doing the same.
"Since I'm reading a strong resonance of energy that's unreadable from Yuina right now, mostly because of Mantis's influence residing within her, Greg must have thought up of the best way to safely defeat her. Which is by breaking the spell itself that Mantis placed on her by using his nanomachines." Nanvel explained through the Codec.
"I hope that this will work." Riku said as he began to see Yuina advancing at Greg who was in the midst of chanting his commands. "I don't want to consider the alternative…"
"Cursed Guardian Flame, grant me the power to turn the air around this troubled soul into a purifying wellspring of hope." Greg muttered with his eyes closed as the wind around him began to circle around his body. As Yuina charged at Greg, he pulled back his arms as both of his gauntlets were now infused with energy as he now opened his arms towards Yuina, a small energy barrier surrounding him appearing around his body as she got within range of him.
"Unleashing…Charge Drive Trigger Release!" Greg shouted as he suddenly was able to parry her incoming attack by crossing his arms. Before the barrier surrounding his body shattered like glass, the energy transfused nanomachines began to latch onto certain areas of her body and began to send surges of energy through her body as Greg stepped back to see her yelp in pain.
"Is it working? Did that do it?" Maya asked as Yuina started to hold her head, as from a distance, Mantis began to do the same as well.
"Arrrrgh!" Both of them began to cry out in pain as Greg was starting to hope he didn't do anything wrong. Before he could do anything, he suddenly saw Seraph's arm appear from Yuina's body as the rest of her then emerged from it.
"Nuunnnhhh…" Yuina moaned as she felt her head started to spin and her sight clearing as she then saw Greg standing in front of her with the group following behind him.
"Greg, it looks like you did it!" Rio exclaimed happily before she saw the tired look on his face as he was still staring intently at Yuina Hattori who was still stunned as she was watching the people in front of her.
"Are you alright, Yuina Hattori?" Greg simply asked. "Can you speak?"
"Who…who are you people?" Yuina crawled a bit back as she then noticed Seraph lying next to her. "Seraph! What did you people do to her?"
"Hey, now, kid. Take it easy, we're not your enemies. We're the ones who came to save you because Seraph asked us to." Maya said.
Yuina's watered eyes blinked twice before she looked at Greg once more as she began to sob.
"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." Yuina cried out, tears flowing freely from her innocent looking eyes. "Seraph…she kept calling and calling to me…about not to try and hurt you all…you really are good people if you were concerned for our safety. I was…just so…hurt and confused…I had to listen and follow what Mantis told us, I had no idea what he would have done to me and Seraph if I..."
"I see, so you were trying not to attack us too, huh?" Riku asked silently and solemnly. "But it's going to be okay now. We're here to make sure you and Seraph get out of here safe. Greg here made sure to that, you should be grateful to him."
"You're Gregory, aren't you?" Yuina asked as she looked at Greg who nodded silently at her. "I'm so sorry…all of this had to happen…because of me. Seraph has been saying much about you and your friends during that time."
"Yuina, you know for sure that you're not to blame for all of this. It may come as a surprise to you, but I really didn't mind doing this for a stranger as well as family." Greg said in return. "Besides…I took things lightly and misunderstood the pain of your burdened heart during that fight from before and now I know I did the right thing by coming here today. I have no regrets for what I've done for you and Seraph."
Yuina looked up at Greg before holding her face as she began to sob once more. Lilica came across from where she stood and started to embrace her gently.
"It's okay, Yuina. Everything's going to be fine now." Lilica said as Greg sighed to himself.
He can feel Mantis influence strongly in control within her, but it was dimming rather quickly, as her mind wrestled with her own emotions, Seraph's mind and her own personal hardships.
(Mantis...what in God's name have you done to this girl?) Greg thought. He could then hear Seraph's weak voice calling out to him.
(I knew it…I knew you'd keep the promise.) Seraph thought as Greg kneeled next to her. (I've never lost faith in you and your comrades for once. You truly are remarkable people.)
(Enough of that already. Your kind words are starting to make me choke, Seraph, it's too much.) Greg replied in thought. (Hey, are you going to be okay?)
(I just need some rest, I'll be fine as Yuina is already is.) Seraph thought. (Just promise me…that you will do the same for Mantis as well, if you're still up to it.)
(Well, make sure to rest well, your job is done for now, Seraph.) Greg replied as he stood back up. (And another thing…thanks for helping back there when I thought it was impossible for Yuina. I couldn't have done it without you.)
He didn't get any reply, but a gentle snore from her as Greg simply sighed.
(Guess she must be tuckered out from that fight. I can't really blame her since she possessed half of Yuina just now.) Greg thought. (Now then…)
"Okay, Shinsengumi, Lilica, do you think you can get them to a safe place and meet back here?" Greg asked.
"Yeah, we should be able to do that." Lilica said. "What are you going to do now?"
"Get down to asking Mantis why he is doing all of this." Greg said as he stepped forward to Mantis who was observing what has going on, having long since recovered from the effects of Greg's attack. The stronger psychic then began to clap at the group.
"Well, well...that was quite a show, Greg. You are much a stronger psychic than I originally thought you to be. I must say that you're truly resourceful, Kinezono. You managed to save them both, using your unique psychic powers." Mantis said. "The girl was growing to be useless anyway, but I already have what I wanted. Her importance is no longer of any concern to me. I simply told you beforehand that she was valuable because I wasn't sure if you had what it took to defeat her."
Placing one foot in front of him, Greg looked at Mantis as he pointed at him to speak as Yuina and Seraph were guided out from the room by Lilica, Maya, and the Shinsengumi.
"After all that has happened, are you proud of yourself now, Mantis? First, you killed her aunt in cold blood, before kidnapping Yuina as orders for the enemy, the same enemy we both have!" Greg shouted. "And even now, he's the very one who brought you back to the world of the living, the one responsible for this mess to begin with. You should know by now that Matthew Reese is trying to get you killed! He has no more use for you, Mantis! Can't you see that?"
"Yes, he's right. Reese was using you all along." Nagi had his say.
"How could you, Mantis? How could you have caused Yuina to suffer so much?" Greg growled at him, clenching his metallic prosthetic right fist that it made that disturbing meshing sound once more.
"Now, don't get angry, Greg. This is all according to my will for the Patriots. Yuina was just my little trump card for the plans they have in store for the future, while you on the other hand, are actually the star attraction for this little drama that will soon be unfolded before all of you today." Mantis spoke.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Greg shouted as Mantis cackled.
"Yeah, fess up now. We just might have to cause you some pain." Rio said as she glared at him.
"All of this actually occurred because of the existence of that man who you call your surrogate son, Rio Kinezono." Mantis spoke. "And it all started with your father's research, Gregory Matthews."
Stunned to hear Mantis' mention of his father, Greg tried not to let the surprise show on his pained face, yet pressed on to find out more about the details.
"What do you know about my father?" He asked.
"Greg, let me tell you a very interesting story." Mantis folded his arms. "Ever since the private studying and research for psychic soldiers began around the late 20th century, many of the army's institutions dedicated for that area were in need of great minds capable of producing men such as myself, you, and your young psychic friend who is accompanying you. In other words, the need for psychics, as well as modified or enhanced humans, to be used as weapons of war has grown intensely over time. As a result, the call for the researchers and scientists to help expand into that field were great, but little came to our aid. However, out of that group of brilliant minds, some stood out in successfully creating their own efficient brands of psychics. One of them was none other than your father, Greg."
"Greg, he's still just playing mind games with you! Don't listen to whatever crap he tells you!" Rio shouted to him. "You yourself know for sure that whatever he says about your father can't be true."
"Oh, don't be so quick to judge, Rio Kinezono, I've barely even begun my story which is indeed true. So you may as well listen in on this as well if you're so concerned about your dear student." Mantis said. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes…your father was quite a dedicated genius in his field, but he was always putting his work ahead of everything else, even his own family, am I right?"
Greg remained silent as he lowered his gaze at Mantis. "Just what are you getting at, Mantis? I've barely known most of the bad details about him before now, what is it that you know about him that I don't know already?'
"The fact that your father once worked with Dr. Clark, who at the time was one of the most renowned geneticists throughout the world. He had even selected his research on psychics to be among the next selection of the creation of super soldiers. This was an incentive created by none other than the Patriots themselves to follow along the lines of the infamous Les Enfants Terribles project." Mantis said. "But somehow, your father, who believed that his research would be offered to certain high profile armies which were dedicated to protecting your former homeland and the United States, ended up finding out about the Patriots intention for his work and proceeded to do something about it."
Mantis began to walk about as he stopped midway before a monitor from where he stood, which then lit up and the image of a secret laboratory appeared, illuminated by many monitors and lights. It showed a capsule and a young boy immersed in blue water, while a tall dark male and a Caucasian woman dressed in lab coats were standing close to it. Greg took a closer look and gasped in horror as he recognized the image.
"Greg, what's going on?" Riku asked him as he stumbled back. "Who's that on the monitor?"
"That…was me inside that capsule, wasn't it?" Greg asked as everyone gasped.
"What the hell?" Rio muttered.
"Yes, Greg…your own father was responsible for putting you in that state to begin with. You can see it quite clearly now, can you?" Mantis asked. "In order to protect his greatest legacy from the world's most powerful rulers, he instilled within you the power that he created, a psychic power under the gene called Soldier X, Greg. Your very own father manipulated and modified your own body without your consent at the precious age of ten. You were even listed as one of his test subjects… 'Number 3', to be precise."
"No, it can't be…it can't be true! How can you expect me to believe all of that?" Greg muttered in utter shock. "And you said that I was only one of the test subjects… are you telling me that he used others as well?"
"Yes, he most certainly did. You see, the gene that was used to create your psychic powers was far too powerful for a single human body to contain, so it was separated into different functionalities and abilities before he was able to divide it up amongst yourself and four other subjects." Mantis replied before he smiled. "One of the first was your late dear younger sister, but she died before her powers were realised during that attack that took away your family, what a pity indeed. She had a miraculous healing ability as part of her psychic abilities, but the poor child was unable to utilize them at the time she died along with her parents"
"My…own sister too?" Greg stuttered, started to feel sick all of a sudden. "He did that…to her as well…?"
"But during that time, the Patriots and Dr. Clark suspected your father had other plans for the gene he had created that was branded as Soldier X. It was said to bear certain unique features that haven't been found in other known psychics as of today." Mantis said as Rio took a quick glance at her surrogate son's back as he continued glaring at Mantis.
(Soldier X? Greg was branded an experiment by his own kin?) Rio thought as she looked back at Psycho Mantis once more.
"And for that, the Patriots wouldn't have allowed their newest weapon to be something that could do whatever it pleased, so they had to put to rest the man behind the legacy of what could have ushered in the newest era in the area of genetics." Mantis continued.
"You don't mean..." Greg said before he was stopped.
"That's right." Mantis said, with a smile. "The Patriots organized the death of your family, so Clark could easily get his hands on the data. What they didn't expect was that you would be among the few people to have survived the explosion. They wanted to extract that gene from you even if it meant killing you."
Greg stepped back a bit in shock. "My family and other innocent people died...all because of me?"
"However, Clark was there to see to it that you didn't live without the power that was bestowed upon you." Mantis spoke.
"What do you mean?" Greg asked. "What did Clark do to me after my family was killed? Tell me, Mantis!"
"He already had a team of special researchers that were sent to extract the DNA within your body that stored the genes of this incredible power you hold, even if it meant endangering your life as it already was on the brink of death." Mantis spoke, causing Greg to stare wide eyed at him even more. "Do you remember anything about how you got all tof hose strange scars you have across your body, Greg? The ones that had trouble healing for awhile?"
Greg looked down to the open areas along the right side of his chest where he saw the scars and stitches of the wounds he obtained from his fight with Shade. Most of them were healed up from the nanos, but there were the other wounds that weren't properly healed up.
"Clark had his turn and did his own experiments on your body in its injured state similar to the state it is in now in order to steal the knowledge your father had instilled within you." Mantis said. "You sustained some very serious injuries in the process that should have killed you, but you lived on, Greg. That willpower of yours eventually became attuned to your psychic abilities and had even made them accessible to integrate with nanomachines of certain types. Did you ever wonder how you're able to access the areas of this base up to now or how you're able to wield a totally artificial arm made out of microscopic, living machinery? That's part of the power that the Soldier X gene provides...the complete control of nanomachines under any circumstance."
Greg looked on in stunned silence as Mantis continued.
"Eventually, Clark managed to find what he was looking for and managed to copy the data your father instilled within you. You were then listed to be trained by the Patriots for a time as well, so you were held in a 'training facility' of sorts created by the Committee and were held there for over a year." Mantis said.
"What are you saying, Mantis?" Greg shouted. "That my powers were specifically theirs to begin with?"
"That's right, Greg…you were originally part of their property, and you were assigned to be brainwashed just as I was to become one of their special elite soldiers. But something happened which prevented that, which led you to coming here to Japan." Mantis said. "You escaped."
"How, Mantis?" Greg asked.
"One of the test subjects for the Soldier X gene had your dead sister's DNA integrated into her, and because of her own natural psychic ability, it was believed that it was her own consciousness that awoke within her and gave her the traits to make her act just like your own dear sister would. She helped you leave from the facility. But not without gaining some attention from the security detail." Mantis said as Greg felt a pounding on the side of his head, as he clutched it.
"Arrgh!" Greg groaned as Rio looked on in shock after seeing all that has been revealed.
"It's coming back to you, isn't it? The memories that you had from that time that you, by the conscious use of your own powers, had shut away for so long." Mantis asked. "Come on, its no use trying to deny it. You know what happened at that time more than anyone else, don't you?"
"Nooo! Stop it! I told you, don't make me remember them!" Greg shouted, slamming his fists into the ground. "I didn't ask for this! I'm not the one responsible for what has happened! It was all because of him! This…all of this was his fault! Everything happened because of that man!"
After seeing the drama unfold before her and her comrade's eyes, Rio began to shout at the more powerful psychic in a tone of protest.
"Mantis, stop it, right now!" Rio shouted. "I don't know what is it you're trying to do, but whatever happened in Greg's past was the enemy's fault! Stop trying to pin the blame on him!"
"But it is also true that it was his own father who defied their plans, so it is fitting that it be the son who should carry the burden of his sins, as well as the consequences." Mantis said. "You shouldn't deny the truth that your own surrogate son was to become one of the Patriots many weapons, but denied being ever wanting this power, Miss Kinezono."
"Damn you!" Rio shouted, looking at Greg once more, who had a blank look in his pupils while his hands quaked. He suddenly then saw something fall from the right side of his face, it was fresh blood that ran from an open cut over his right eye.
"What the…?" Greg muttered as he then saw both his hands being covered with blood. With his quaking hands, Greg began to cry out.
"No! No! NOOO!" Greg shouted, clutching his head. "Stay out of my head! I didn't want any part of this! I told you…stay out of my memories!"
"Greg, snap out of it!" Riku called out to him, as he was beginning to feel frightened at what he was seeing. (What kind of hallucinations must he be having, or is it that his memories are truly something that he wants to forget?) He then looked at Mantis. (If everything he's said is true, then that means I was right. Greg's experiences as a child almost mirror Alice's. Could those two projects by the Patriots have been connected somehow?) Riku then shook off his thoughts. (Forget that for now. The most important thing is helping Greg, but how can we do that?)
"I can…I can still sense it…no, I can actually feel it! I can still hear their screams…her screams! The blood, the explosions, the fire…everything!" Greg shouted. "Please…make it stop...MAKE IT STOP!"
"Yes, Greg…you shall pay dearly for trying to deny yourself as being a psychic." Mantis said as he lifted his finger up. "There is something else that you should know, Greg." Mantis said as he turned to him and pointed to his temple.
"Your father's progress on the field of research on psychics was so valuable that it created enough power for two types of psychics, one with a will to control his very consciousness while the other would lose control of it. In other words, he had to separate the stronger essence of the gene into two of his subjects, meaning that you only have half of the original data for the Soldier X gene. The other subject is currently living with the other half of the gene, which contains twice the amount of the data than the number in you."
"So in other words, you're the reject of the project that was only given the faulty powers, Greg. It's all because of the mental instability within your mind that caused that other personality to grow within you." Mantis spoke.
"I told you already…this wasn't my fault!" Greg shouted out as he then suddenly saw a silhouette appearing just before him and everyone else and transformed into Violent Greg once more. The dark counterpart simply nodded his head as he grinned at Greg, and shocking everyone before him.
"Well, it's about time you got that out of your system. You've pretty much been doing such a poor display of skills lately, especially while you were holding up to that Shade freak." Violent Greg spoke as he stepped closer to Greg. "Now thanks to all of that you've come close to remembering who you truly are, and I can finally attain my own psychical form in front of all these people."
"Oh, no…is that…is that Greg's darkness taking form?" Rio asked. "What kind of a psychic Greg is to be able to do that?"
Greg remained silent as he grunted after a few seconds, falling on one knee. "What is it that you want now, you poser? Are you here to tell me more of the past I tried to forget like Mantis just did before you try and possess my body once more?"
"Please, Greg, I won't try anything so base, not just yet that is." Violent Greg stood closer to Greg as he held his Sneaking Suit collar as he brushed back his lowly cut hair. "Besides, taken the situation to heart, I'd say this is quite the time to look at the bad side to this, Greg. Imagine what would happen if Mantis succeeds in his plans, I wonder what kind of sight it will be, hmm."
"Get to the point. What's really your purpose if you're supposed to act as my own powers?" Greg asked, acting still as this was normal.
"You still don't see it yet, do you?" Violent Greg asked with a shake of his head. "Fine, I'll break it down to simple terms for you to try to understand. Since you're the one who didn't want any part in becoming a psychic, you tried to hide yourself from it all by shutting your own memories away because you were afraid to look reality in the face. What did you think happened after that, hmm? They created yours truly right in front of you, an actual being capable of inflicting pain and suffering to you because of your worthlessness."
"I…I sealed away my own memories?" Greg asked himself in shock.
"Didn't you hear Mantis tell you that himself? You truly are slow. But yes, that's right, you have that amount of power, but it's all going to waste now thanks to your selfish acts." Violent Greg said. "Now, we're both are going to be screwed sideways by Mantis because you've failed to change things before today."
A small cackle was then heard from Mantis. "Now you see why you and I share the same qualities from when we were young. We have so much hatred for this world that rejected us; they would go through so much just to eliminate our kind. And you've even created a mirror copy of yourself to prove to that point. Your hands are tainted with blood. Truth or not, your sins are eternal."
"That's not true! I'm different than you! So different…" Greg shouted, gripping unto Violent Greg's arm "You can go about saying that it's alright that you can go ahead and blame everyone but yourself for the pain you endured, but it's not that simple!"
"So you say, but haven't you always felt exactly that way about your own existence, Greg? Not being able to fully remember your true past and allowing yourself until now to be taken over by your own powers because you're choosing to turn away from reality…that's always been your true self, young psychic and it has led you to this outcome." Mantis said.
"You're so wrong, Mantis! You're the one who allowed yourself be taken over even now by the darkness of your powers all those years ago! All I'm doing is just fighting with myself in order to stay as myself." Greg shouted, struggling to stand. "You can't let a thought about being an outcast bother you so much because that's the start of the downfall to begin with."
"Silence, you have no right to say that!" Mantis said.
"But you have no right to go about hurting people with your powers, not after what you went through back in Shadow Moses and what you learned before you died." Greg shook his head sadly. "No one ever does, not with the possibilities of the good things you can do with that power. It's not too late to come back from the depths, Mantis."
"You have little idea of what real pain as a psychic is until I'm done with you!" Mantis said, beckoning Greg. "Enough lecturing...have at me, Greg!"
"Stop this foolishness, Mantis! I don't care how hurt I will get; I will change you back no matter what!" Greg shouted at Mantis as he began to get up to take a step towards Mantis, but just as he did, Violent Greg's right fist rammed itself hard into the shoulder area of Greg's chest.
"What in the….Greg!" Rio shouted as Nagi tried to move.
(What is this feeling? Why can't I move forward to help Greg?) Nagi thought. (Is this…fear that I'm feeling?)
"There's no sense trying to help him, Nagi Naoe. He is far beyond saving as you all will be very soon." Violent Greg said as suddenly his counterpart's right arm suddenly gripped his forehead. "What…?"
"You may be the memories that I'm trying to forget, but you're still a part of me! Don't even dare think of using me to harm my friends and family again, got it?" Greg shouted as he gripped unto the forehead area harder. "So, I'm going to put you in your place for now and borrow your power a bit for the real fight ahead. Get thee gone, darkness!"
"How did you…ahhhhh!" Violent Greg shouted as Greg raised his arm and opened his palm over Violent Greg who cried out in pain as a bright burst of light suddenly filled the room. Rio shielded her eyes from the blast before her.
"Ahhhhh!" Rio cried out as she saw the energy field surrounding Greg subside as she saw him standing with a calm look on his face. Stepping cautiously nearer and closer to Greg, the psychic Marine turned to them.
"It's okay, Sensei, he's gone for now. There's no reason for you guys to be afraid of me." Greg spoke.
"Greg, is that really you, man?" Riku asked he nodded at him silently. "There's something different about you…"
"Yeah…it's because I now remember everything as to what happened with my family in the past. It somehow…awakened something within me, something I must have forgotten about my powers a long time ago." Greg said as he looked at his fists, before rubbing his head. "My entire body…it feels like its on fire, but it's also calming and reassuring at the same time. This is much more different than before…is this how my powers were supposed to be all along?"
"Ah, yes, Greg. You are correct." Mantis said. "Your very soul feels as if it's on fire, isn't it? That's the reason why the Soldier X gene is so special to Reese and its no wonder he wanted you to 'awaken' like this so badly."
"So, this was really something he was behind all this time!" Greg exclaimed. "Mantis, we've got to stop this. He's the one responsible for this mess…"
"I think not. You see, now that you've finally accepted yourself as a psychic and your own past, it is time that I take off the gloves and show you how muchI've progressed over the years." Mantis said as the cloth around him began to glitter with a dark energy.
Greg stopped in his tracks. "What the…"
"It's time for the advent of the gods...the time when humanity shall bow before the ones destined to rule this world...the Patriots!" Mantis raised his arms, as the energy began to form a force-field around his body. It got so strong that it spread outwards at Greg.
(What is this feeling? No! Something's happening to me again!) Greg placed his arms in front of him to block the energy, but it seemed to be surrounding him, tearing some of the remaining jacket Greg was wearing, and then the skin way from his nano arm, that the exposed and grotesque veins began to show. White flames could be seen pouring out from the cuts and wounds, totally covering the arm in a flame. His body also began to receive pain, while Mantis' transformation was injuring Greg, even through his defence.
Nagi placed a barrier to protect himself and his friends, as the floor in front of them began to open. A ray of light could be seen from below, shining on Greg and Mantis.
After Mantis was done, he looked more powerful than before, his outfit had totally changed. He was holding a lance of his own, while the cloak represented a pair of large, black wings, with long scythes at the ends.
"Mantis...don't tell me that you're able to use Seraph's abilities as well?" Greg asked.
"Why, yes. Her genetic structure was easy to manipulate thanks to the nanotechnology in your body. Not to mention, the functions of this facility that we're in serves as a core of sorts to Ultimatum Gear...the weapon that shall lead the Patriots to their goals." Mantis spoke. "I have attained enough power from that emulate and yourself and put them together to become one with a god. You haven't even come near my level, Kinezono...even with your newfound current powers; you are still no match for me. Ten years of practice can really do me good, and I have the Patriots to be thankful for."
"Why, Mantis...?" Nagi asked. "You were never like this from what I heard about from 'In the Darkness of Shadow Moses'. If anything you've become worse since that time."
"That Mantis was weak and pathetic to let himself be overcome by Snake, and to help him like that." Mantis said. "Thanks to Reese and the Patriots, I've been reincarnated into someone more powerful than the Angels and I will rightfully take my place as the most powerful psychic in the Earth's history!"
"I see it now…so this is what it's been all about this time, hasn't it, Mantis?" Greg asked, crossing his arms. "Your ambition to become the most powerful psychic on the planet… is that what you were thinking when you killed Tokiko Hattori? That is was just to make a step in that process, Mantis? You do know Reese was just setting everyone up and still, you murdered an innocent, despite knowing that you could at least spare her and the same goes for what you did to my mother as well."
"Why bother with the needless details, Kinezono. I was hoping you could at least entertain me if you're still seeking the answers." Mantis said, lifting an arm.
"Of course I am, you can bet on that." Greg said, getting into a pose. "First to begin with, what's this Ultimatum Gear you speak of and why did you really kidnap Yuina?"
"If you really are seeking the answers, you should come at me before I change my mind." Mantis said, as the floor in front of them opened up, allowing him to levitate above it. "I'll give you at least five more minutes to catch up whenever you're ready."
"Wait, Mantis!" Rio shouted as he descended into the abyss below him. Rio looked at Greg in shock as she panicked. "Now what the hell are we going to do?"
"Are you sure you think that we can fight him now, Greg?" Nagi asked him.
"I really don't want to do it, even if Mantis forces our hand, but he's leaving us with very little choice now." Greg said as he looked at the abyss below. "This really lies with my fault, you guys. I took things too lightly and misunderstood the situation and now this happens."
"Aww, Greg. Don't talk too seriously about it; you know the fault doesn't lie with you." Rio said, reassuring him. "How could all of us have known that Yuina was capable of that kind of power, huh? Besides, we all did what we could for her, but I don't think that's even enough now that Mantis has plans for her and Seraph from what he told us even after we did managed to save them."
"Damn…what should we do now?" Greg muttered, folding his arms. "I'm more confused about what's going on with me as well…"
The whole group got silent for a couple of seconds before they were interrupted by the Codec tone that ran in Greg's ears. The psychic looked at the comrades with him as he reached for his left ear.
"Who is it that could be calling me?" Greg asked himself as he pressed on the Call button to see Maki Kawasaki's face appear.
"Gregory, is everything alright?" Maki asked with a worried look on her face.
"Yeah, we managed to get Yuina and Seraph out of the danger, but it's still far from done." Greg replied. "Mantis seems to be making us come after him now for the answers we're looking for….and I'm actually scared about it, now that I remember everything about myself."
"You don't mean….?" Maki asked as Greg nodded silently.
"Yeah, I somehow got the memories of my childhood past returned, but…they are not good ones. Almost all of them aren't…I'm shaking, Aunt Maki. I don't know what I should do now because I'm not so sure of myself anymore." Greg said sullenly.
"Greg…" Maki said before a smile appeared on her face. "…you really shouldn't sound so distressed after working so hard today. Besides, there's someone here on the line who wishes to speak to you and I think his words will cheer you up now of all the needed times."
"Who could that be?" Greg asked as the screen changed to his surprise to a familiar face, who was wearing a black eye patch over where his left eye used to be. A smile appeared on his face as he spoke to Greg.
"Hello, Greg. Maki, and Nanvel as well as Riku, Nagi, and Tot. Michael over at NERV has been filling me in on all that has been happening, so I called to check on how you and everyone else were doing." Seishiro Takeda spoke from his screen. "I've also just heard what transpired…you're doing well taking care of everyone, Greg. I'm really proud of you and what you've done for this Seraph and Yuina Hattori."
"Seishiro-san!" Greg exclaimed almost happily, as he then started to shake. "I…I don't deserve such kindness…not after knowing what I did in the past. My father…he made me into something I didn't wanted to be…and I tried to deny everything because I turn my back on reality. I'm not sure if I will be able to stop Mantis from going through with his plans…what I should do, Seishiro-san? Tell me, please? I feel so small in front of him, but I still feel that I should help him..."
"I know that you must be afraid of knowing the truth, Greg. And while it is right that you must help him because Reese was the one who started this, you have no reason to be afraid since you have people to help you." Seishiro said. "As for your past…I know it must be hard knowing of the things you've done and been through, but aren't you able to face them now since Rio and the rest of us are with you?"
"Yeah…you could say that." Greg said solemnly. "But even so…now that it's still coming back to me, there are things that I'm still unsure of…I feel really uncomfortable about being alive now than before."
"Then promise me one thing…make sure to stay alive to the end so when you get back after things have settled down, we will all sit down and have a long talk about it and we'll be there to support you, how do you like that, Greg?" Seishiro asked, causing Greg to cry a bit.
"Yeah, I'd like that very much, Seishiro-san." Greg replied with a smile wiping his eyes a bit. "You can count on that."
"Good, it's settled then. I'm counting on you to come back to us, Greg." Seishiro said as he looked at Rio and Riku's screens.
"Rio, Riku…make sure to help Greg, okay?" Seishiro said as Rio smiled at him.
"Upon my honour as a shinobi of the Hokage clan, and as a friend." Riku promised.
"It's a sure thing, Seishiro. Leave things to us." Rio replied. "We'll be seeing you soon after this thing is over."
"Yes, I look forward to the safe return of all of you." Seishiro said as he then smiled at Greg once more before logging off. Greg, who was done, wiping his tears from hearing Seishiro's words, looked at his group once more.
"Well, you guys…don't you think I've gotten you involved into enough trouble for the day already?" Greg asked with a smile as Rio talked.
"Well, you used to have a knack for getting your nose into minor things just to help people even if it meant getting into trouble back when you were younger, that's for sure." Rio said. "Maybe you're still like that today, Greg. It's hardly any guess as to why you're risking your life to save a complete stranger and now going after Mantis like this."
"Both Seraph and Yuina aren't strangers to us anymore, Rio. Now that I know personally the pains that the poor girl went through, I won't back down from my obligation to help them, despite the odds that are stacked against us." Greg said as he started to look down at the abyss below, he then sighed as he walked over to the platform silently before stopping once more to look at his friends.
"There must be a way we can still help Mantis. I'm not going to give up so easily after getting this far." Greg said, holding unto his right arm. "No matter what, I won't abandon a friend."
"If that's how you really feel, Greg, allow us to come with you." Riku said as he stepped onto the platform with his two partners. "I'm not sure how effective our attacks will be against Mantis, but we hope we can be of some help to you in this battle. Besides, Seraph is our friend as well; we want to keep on helping her and Yuina just as much as you do."
"He's right, Mantis doesn't have to go through this and we're curious as where this will take us next." Nagi said. "Please, allow us to help you out one more time, Greg."
"Okay, you guys. I couldn't say no anyways." Greg said as he let, Rio, Riku, Nagi and Tot step into the elevator with him with their weapons in hand. "Is everyone ready?"
"You bet. Let's go and kick his ass for good time's sake, shall we?" Rio smiled as Greg nodded, pressing on the descent button to chase after Mantis for one, final battle…
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ShardclawK: Phew, this chapter was a bit longer to revise than I previously thought, I must admit now, but at least it's done now for you guys to have enjoyed it.
Again, sorry for the extremely long wait, I've been working a lot more than often, not to mention being hooked on gaming (FF12, Tales of Legendia/Abyss still? Yes, pretty much as well as recent faves like God of War 2 and Shining Force EXA along with some Bishoujo titles which a few of them will be crossed into this fic later), watching new anime titles and releases recently (like Bleach, Naruto: Shippuden, Black Lagoon, Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, and a loong list of others that would make the fanboys jealous) as well as reading several manga titles I've downloaded, one of them being the current Gantz manga storyline, which surpasses the anime in more ways than one in terms of action, story and its exclusive, bad-ass characters. I'd recommend to anyone who liked the anime, read the manga, you'll like it even more than its anime counterpart.
So in short, I was REALLY OCCUPIED for a while and most likely will be for months to come, but it won't stop my revision/updating progress in any way.
In any case, I hoped you liked the number of references I've thrown into the chapter, as I will list the most notable ones below now:
For the Yuina fight scene, I wanted to have a theme which could build a dramatic effect before the events of final chapters of this arc and I had several conflicting choices to choose from the Kingdom Hearts games during the revision, (thanks to GreyWolf4 again for linking me to the sites where I could get the original soundtracks/mp3s for these games and others a while back, their music has helped me a lot during the revision and my fiction work) such as Destiny's Force, (KH1) Tension Rising and Desire for All That is Lost (KH2). The third choice seemed like the best for the scene according to the situation and I got other plans for the other themes in the future as well. Also, that small quote that Mantis used before the fight began was also something Ansem from KH used as well.
Another Kingdom Hearts reference used in this chapter was the one between Greg and Linn which was really based off the sweet Cloud and Aerith conversation scene midway on your second visit to Hollow Bastion, I hope that most of you liked that one as well and I couldn't help but not use it. That small quote that Mantis used before the fight began was also something Ansem from KH used as well.
'Hitozuma Kasumi-san' or 'The Hills Have Size' in Englishand 'Anyone You Can Do, I Can Do Better!' that were mentioned by Yuji in this chapter were two recent hentai anime titles I've managed to come across during the hiatus and really enjoyed that I couldn't help mentioning those as well for those whose into titles like that and never come across those yet. While 'Hitozuma' is more drama based in terms of story, 'Anyone You Can Do,' had one of the funniest and enjoyable storylines I've come across in a hentai for a long while. Also, the latter was based on a bishoujo game series called 'Milk Junky' and both 'Hitozuma' and 'Akiba' are based on bishoujo games too. I'd highly recommend those as well as Akiba Girls up to the hard to find, recently released third episode three to anyone who hasn't seen them yet.
In any case, I've already started the revisions of the next SX chapters following the next chapter, which will be the swan song of this current arc. I hope everyone's prepared for the revised main battle that I'm sure you all will like.