While the group were helping Sachiko get used to things, Leia spots something on the newspaper.
"Hey, guys! Check this out!" Leia said. "It says here that when Kadic Academy was built in 1905, a construction worker by the name of Leon Corbet was buried alive under the foundation of the school's boiler room."
"Huh. What else does it say, Leia?" Aya asked.
"Uh...nothing. That's all about it. But kids have started rumors about his ghost still haunting the old boiler room." Leia said.
"Ghost stories? Please tell me you aren't buying that crud." Jack said.
"We've seen a lot of crazy stuff in the other worlds but Jack-in-the box is right. It's probably just a superstition." Saki said.
"Besides, rumor or not, it's not like we know anyone that would go straight to the occult with this." Jesse said.
"I think I know who would." Simon said as he pointed to Sissi who was reading the article with an excited look on her face.
"Yeah, girls use these sort of ghost rumors all the time either to scare a new kid or to get close to a kid they love." Jack said.
"Like Ulrich for example?" Roy asked.
"Who else would she get? Either way, let's use it against her and give her a good scare." Jack said.
"I made a recording just for the occasion." Mari said as she held out a disk and cd player.
"Leave it to Mari to invent something for the occasion." Aluche said.
"Yeah...and I can handle the scares." Jack said. "Stealth is a specialty of mine."
"Mmhmm. You are a master thief after all." Al said.
"Not master...but I am a thief." Jack smirked.
Later that night, as preparations were being made in the school, just outside of campus, a figure soon approached the grounds.
"A school? Finally, civilization. Maybe I can see about asking someone for help." They said running inside as unknown to them, several scorpion like creature and a large scorpion were not far behind.
"Heh. Did you really think you could get away?" The large one said to himself. "Get in the school, my Skorupi. Make sure she doesn't get away." He said.
Meanwhile in the school…
"Looks like they're in place." Jack said. "Now, to get into character." He said getting into an construction worker uniform. "Add a little gray face powder...perfect."
"This is gonna be epic." Mari whispered with an evil smirk.
"Yeah. Just hope they'll buy it." Jack said before hearing the boiler inside shake and rattle as steam hissed as the kids screamed.
"A little much, huh Jack?" Jesse asked.
"Uh...I didn't do that." Jack said.
Just then a black substance came out of it as formed into a spectral like figure.
"This can't be good." Mari said.
"Uh… Was that supposed to happen?" Jesse asked.
"That's no ghost. It's one of XANA's specters." Jack said.
"It seems to be going after Ulrich, I'll go contact Miu. Can you two try to stall that thing?" Mari asked.
"We'll do what we can." Jesse said.
"Duck down!" Jack said tackling them both as he tossed a rock as it hit something. They looked closer to see it was an unconscious Skorupi.
"A Skorupi? Could one of the ninja masters be here?" Mari asked.
"If so, why are they in the school? They didn't bother going for it before. Unless...one of their prisoners are here." Jack said.
"If that's the case, they might be in danger. I'll go look for them. I'm counting on you two." Mari said before running off.
"Wait...Ugh. Tell you, that girl is impulsive. Jesse, go after Mari and keep her out of trouble." Jack said donning his gloves and touching Skorupi. "I'm going ninja hunting."
"O-okay. Just leave it to me!" Jesse said as he left.
"And to think all we wanted to do today was prank Sissi…." Aluche said.
Jack ran through the building as he saw several Skorupi. "This won't poison them but...Poison Sting!" He said firing needles from his mouth, taking them down. "Come on...where are ya?" he said before he ducked as a large claw swung at him. "Well...seems I found the big boss." He said seeing a large Drapion there.
"So...you...you're not the one we want." Drapion said trying to pierce Jack.
"So I was right. There is a prisoner here." Jack said dodging.
"Yeah, that's right. Too bad you won't see her." Drapion said. "Cross Poison!" he said trying to scratch Jack.
"Not a bad move. But...I think I could make better use." Jack said rushing Drapion as he touched him.
"Hah! You didn't do anything to me!" Drapion boasted.
"Not yet. But watch this!" Jack said. "Cross Poison!" he said charging.
"But that's...why can't I…" Drapion said before he was taken out.
"Simple...I'm a thief." Jack said. "Now...about this prisoner?"
"Fine...she's a player we kidnapped...from Alfheim Online." Drapion said.
"So another gamer like Sinon. Good to know." Jack said.
In another part of the school a girl with long blonde hair in a ponytail and wearing green clothing was running through the courtyard before bumping into Jesse and Mari.
"Ooof, Sorry! I was in a hurry there." She said.
"Wait a second… That coloration… Are you an MMO player like Kirito?" Jesse asked.
"Kirito? You know my cousin?" She asked.
"That's right. He's waiting in the ship nearby." Jesse said. "Asuna and Sinon are there too."
"Come on, we'll take you there." Mari said as she took the girl's hand and they headed to the Sunny.
"Hey, good news. I took out the ninja master and his cronies. I got them locked in the broom closet. Found the prisoner?" Jack asked on the comm.
"Yup, we're bringing her to the Sunny right now, meet us there as soon as you can." Mari said through her tech gauntlet.
"Yeah...I'm coming. But it looks like the problem has been dealt with for the school." Jack said seeing a dome of light spread.
Later….
"And then, Sissi was so freaked out by Jack's prank, that she scrambled outta the boiler room screaming like a baby." Akane snickered.
"Yeah, and the pre recording of the laugh scared the pants off of her two cronies as well." Mari said as she laughed hard.
"Kehehehehe. A fine prank, I must say. I will admit though, Sissi does make a fine Pentagram." Korekiyo said.
"Indeed. That sure was fun. I even got it on tape with a hidden camera." Al said.
"We should use it as blackmail later on. On an unrelated note, Leafa, right? Good to see you're doing alright with all of this." David said.
"Yeah, we were worried about you and the other prisoner when we escaped." Eze said.
"Oh yeah. There's still one more. Do any of you three remember what they looked like?" David asked Sachiko, Eze and Leafa.
"I don't. I was so scared of guards I went into the deep woods to try and find some shelter." Leafa said.
"I can't recall either. I was too worried about helping them escape I couldn't get a good look." Eze added.
"I'm afraid I'm clueless as well. I just didn't want to get caught. But I don't think they were recaptured." Sachiko said.
"That said… Im glad you're safe Leafa." Kirito said.
"You dummy, do you have any idea how worried I was when you and Asuna just vanished from ALO? When I thought you two logged out, I came to check on both of you, but you two were still on your headsets. I went back to ALO to see if it was a glitch in the program, but then this weird NPC shows up, asks me if I wanna see my friends again, and brings me into Viperia for who knows how long!" Leafa rambled.
"What did the NPC look like?" Mari asked.
"Something like...this." Leafa said drawing a picture.
"That's...Pandora!" Sunset said.
"Wait a second… how long were you trapped in here for?" Asuna said.
"I dunno….. A few months, a year maybe? I was in that cell a long time, can't really tell." Leafa said. "It's a long time to be separated from my real body."
"Hmm. This is puzzling. One has to wonder...what is Pandora's gain in all of this?" Kokichi said.
"It's hard to say, we have yet to understand what her true goal is in all this." Spade said.
"Normally, a redux usually consists of the people originally involved. But...Pandora's pulling in people who were never involved like Sinon or Selena. You have to wonder who the last person is." Connor said.
"It could be a member of the coalition that was with us when I was in the Dimensional Heroes." Roy said.
"It's unlikely...but it's possible." Sinon said. "I was only a member of the coalition for a month before I was sent home."
"We'll find out soon enough who it is." Tsuki said.
"Not for awhile though. With all 5 ninja masters beaten...we're moving on to invade Viperia." Jexi said.
"We don't need to beat around the bush here. Leia… Monferno's yours." Hope said.
"Hope, we don't need a break down of who goes for who. We let everyone figure it out for themselves when we invade." Jexi said. "But...yeah, she's gonna tear him a new one."
"Actually, there's no need for deliberation." Mayumi said alongside Salazzle, Bartolomeo, Cavendish and Nina.
"Wait, you two are going as well?" Sectonia asked.
"We were in Viperia before. It's only natural they'll need guides." Cavendish said.
"We're the only ones who have been there. They need us to get through the traps." Bartolomeo said.
"If no one has any objections, I think our assault team is set." Leia said.
"Be...careful in there, Leia." Jude said.
"Please come back safely, Nina." Ryu said as Nina nodded.
"Viperia...we're coming. And you will be the losers in this war." Mayumi said looking up. "Is everyone ready? Let's go!"
"Roger!" Leia, Bartolomeo, Cavendish and Salazzle said with a nod from Nina as they marched to Viperia.