Gentiane was leaning against the doorway outside of the repair center, impatiently tapping her foot. She heard the whole story and how Blade came to be. It was definitely strange.

"Hmm…," the commander pondered to herself, bringing a hand up to her chin. Male dolls were common, but not in the frontlines. They were usually operating as normal civilian bots, but to find one in Griffin was strange.

Walking back to the conference room, she had run into an exhausted Eden.

"You…," he hissed, glaring at Gentiane, pissed off for leaving him alone to report every detail.

"Eh hehe, my bad, just needed to do something," she grinned, walking past him as she patted his shoulder. "I mean, I'm sure it went fine, right?"

"Somewhat... actually, hold up for a second " Eden stopped the female commander, grabbing her hand. "There's something important we've found out that I need to tell you."

"Hm?" Gentiane hummed, now listening.

"From one of the recordings we found on the outskirts of Sangvis territory… we've found the location of M4A1."


Blade didn't know how long he had been walking, limping through the entire forest. He was exhausted and starving, only having one MRE left. His system was constantly telling him to refuel but he needed to make most of what he had.

He started to feel light-headed, feeling as if the end was near.

If hunger and lack of power didn't get to him, it would surely be his wounds. His fights had heavily damaged him which left him bleeding all over. Without proper medical care, he would surely succumb to his injuries.

Reaching an open white field of snow, he could make out a wooden cabin in the distance. Nightfall was approaching and it was the best place he could find to rest in.

Instead of going right through the field, he figured he would take precautions and go around. He couldn't afford to get caught by nonchalantly walking through an open field.

Blade was on his way until his head started pulsating in pain.

"Agh?!" He cried out, clutching at his head. Losing focus of the path in front of him, he faltered in his steps and nearly crashed into a tree.

The fatigue from the blood loss was getting to him. He needed to rest.

Approaching the back of the run-down house, Blade staggered up the patio where the backdoor was. Pushing the broken door aside, he entered the seemingly abandoned home.


M4A1 was staring out the window, watching the sun fall past the horizon. Bored, she inspected her weapon for the hundredth time.

Sitting atop a pile of wooden crates, M4 sighed as she leaned back. Closing her eyes, she took a brief moment to rest.

It was cold and dark in the house she was bunkering in. Any form of light/fire would immediately reveal her position.

Tucking in the small camo sheet around her, M4 let out a chilled breath, visible in the air.

The sounds of crickets started to hum in the air, night time approaching.

But suddenly, she heard the backdoor open, being pushed aside.

M4 was instantly at her feet, gun in her hands. All sense of fatigue and drowsiness gone, instead replaced with a sharp focus.

The backdoor! Are they trying to sneak up on me?

Slowly moving out of the room, she made sure not to make any noise. M4 stealthily moved, sticking close to the wall.

Unlike her, the intruder was loud, negligent of their surroundings. They pushed furniture and staggered around, making noise at every move.

Curious, M4 peeked into the room where it all was happening. It was an injured Sangvis doll wearing notable black and white colors the ringleaders wore, but much to her surprise, it was a doll of the male gender. He carried a strange weapon on his back, a large silver blade with a… revolver-like handle?

There might be more around the area...

She decided to stalk him for the time being.

...

Blade had made his way into the living room of the house, deteriorating furniture decorating the room. Pushing away some of the debris that littered the floor, he collapsed into one of the chairs.

Taking off his gunblade, he set it beside him as he took out his last MRE.

Unwrapping the packaging, he attempted to bite into the tasteless brick, finding it very hard. It was essentially a giant dry biscuit, efficient… but an unpalatable way for energy consumption. The fact that it was pretty old didn't help either.

As he was nibbling at edges of the brick, M4 had snuck up behind the oblivious Blade, combat knife in hand. She needed to get rid of him silently.

Unfortunately for her, with the terrible condition of the home, she had stepped onto a loose board. It noisily creaked, alerting Blade of his stalker.

Wasting no time, she lunged forward, grabbing onto his shoulder and struck down

Huh?!

Blade, finally realizing the danger of the situation, shrugged her off and defensively raised his arms to his face. The knife grazed across his forearms, cutting through his sleeves.

This place wasn't abandoned after all?!

Retreating back, he stumbled to the ground due to his injured leg. His cut wound stung, an apparent red line across his arms.

Giving him no time to recover, M4 pushed her attack further. She slammed her foot down at his groin.

Blade pulled back enough for her heels to come crashing down in through the boards between his legs.

Holy shit. That was too close.

Quickly scampering back up, he went for the gunblade leaning beside his chair.

Not so fast!

M4 thrust her foot out, kicking the chair away. The seat and gunblade slid away from his reach.

Damn it!

Blade swore under his breath, turning to face his attacker.

M4 kept her distance away, ready to pounce if he were to go for his weapon.

Unarmed and injured, Blade was at a serious disadvantage.

"L-Listen… I didn't know anyone was living here," panted Blade, raising his hands in the air. "I just need help."

His wounds were holding him back. If he were to keep fighting, it would be the end of him.

"There's no point in lying, I know what your real intentions are Sangvis scum," M4 growled back.

She lashed out with her knife, aiming for his throat.

"Hngh?!" Blade hissed as he dodged the slice, his injuries screaming at him to stop.

She continued the assault, Blade narrowingly avoiding every attack. His movement was clumsy and slow, earning a few cuts from M4.

"?!"

Blade had reached the end of the room, back against the wall as M4 poised for a finishing blow.

She thrusted her knife at his stomach, Blade unable to avoid the attack.

For what should have gone through him, Blade defended himself using the MRE, which was in his hands the entire scuffle.

The knife punched through the brick-like food.

M4 was shocked to find her knife stuck,

wedged into the MRE.

What the hell is this stuff made of?! Blade was just as surprised as she was.

M4 cursed to herself for being unable to land the blow.

Ditching the blade, she opted for a different approach.

She ripped the MRE-stuck blade out of his grasp and tossed it away as she grappled at him.

Blade was too weak to throw her off, feeling her agile handwork swerve past his defense. An iron grip was placed on his shoulders, holding him in place.

M4 threw out a vicious knee, aimed right at his stomach.

He steeled himself for the blow but the force put behind it caught him off guard.

A nauseous wave of pain rippled throughout his body, leaving Blade coughing for air.

She bolted straight behind him to put him in a choke. Her arms crossed against his neck, squeezing down to neutralize him.

"How did you find me?" demanded M4, wanting an answer out of him.

"W-What… do you… mean!?" Blade gasped in between his ragged breaths. He felt like he could pass out at any moment.

"This is your last chance! How did you find me? And how many more of you are there?" she demanded once more. Blade was confused at the reasoning behind the questions, unable to form an answer, let alone speak.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar patch, sewed onto her sleeve.

It was the Griffin symbol, patched onto the green band wrapped around her arm.

"Y-you're… part of Griffin?!" Blade managed to choke out, the grip tightening at the mention. "I-I'm… o-one of you!"

"Come up with a better lie, Sangvis scum," M4 hissed, finally deciding to choke him out.

SHIT! She's not listening to me!

Blade started to panic, trying to think of something, anything! An idea quickly came up.

Instead of pulling at her locked arms, he fumbled through his clothes, desperately searching for a certain item. Without any resistance, he was losing consciousness faster.

C-Come on! Where is it?! Ah- There!

Finding the item in his pocket, he was about to raise it up until the world went dark in his eyes.

M4 felt the body go limp in her hold, successfully choking him out. She released him, watching the body crumple to the floor.

Picking up her combat knife, she struggled in freeing it, eventually tugging it out.

It was time she put the doll's life to an end.

It seemed he was the only doll to confront her. If there were any Sangvis backup outside, they would've overwhelmed her by now.

She reached at her back for the assault rifle slung behind her.

Aiming at his head, she placed her finger at the trigger until a voice broke her focus.

"Help! I need immediate backup! Huh…? You're close by! Hurry, I don't know when my pursuers are going to get here!"

Lowering her gun, she saw a device being played in the hands of the doll.

Kneeling, she unfurled the fingers gripping the radio and lifted it, inspecting it.

It was on playback, repeating a line as she recognized the voice belonging to the unconscious doll. Turning it around, a look of shock donned on her face.

Engraved on the back of the handheld radio was the Griffin logo.

Looking back at the knocked-out male doll, she started to contemplate her previous actions.

"Just who are you?" whispered M4 as the night fell.


...

Whrrrr tzzz tzzzz

Blade felt his system start back up, consciousness returning. A sudden pain ached throughout his Digimind.

His vision was blurry, the surroundings dark.

What happened…?

Attempting to move, he found that he was stuck, tied to a wooden chair. Blade tugged at the ropes binding him but was too weak to even budge.

"Fuck!? That hurts," he hissed, feeling his wounds reopen after struggling around.

"Oh you're awake," a voice called out to him in the darkness.

A bright light shined at his face, Blade squinting back as the figure walked up to him.

His vision was slowly returning, finally able to make out his surroundings. He was still in the living room of the old house in the middle of the night.

The figure facing him was the green girl he had fought with, who held a flashlight towards him.

"You!" Blade exclaimed as he tugged at the ropes.

"Stop struggling or else you're gonna hurt yourself," the doll said, walking in circles around him.

"As if you haven't done enough to me already," growled Blade. He could feel his sore stomach from her kneeing him.

"This right here," the doll held something up, ignoring his comment. "Tell me, how did you get your hands on this."

She held his radio up, dangling it in front of him.

"Why should I tell you?" He hissed back, unwilling to answer her question.

"Answer. Or else."

She held a pistol up to the side of his head, finger hovering over the trigger.

"I-It's mine," Blade gave in, not wanting to die over some standard handheld radio they gave out to everyone.

"I would suggest for you not to lie," the doll stated, pushing the barrel against his head.

"I'm. Not. Lying," Blade needed to get his point across. "I'm an ally. You can trust me."

"It's quite obvious you're from Sangvis," she sighed. "If you really were an ally, you would have recognized me and the operation. I'm not backing down after my friends are still in danger."

Blade flinched as the gun fired. She had shot into the air as a warning shot.

"The next one won't miss. Now speak up," demanded the doll one last time, placing her pistol back against his head.

Goddamnit… she's still convinced it's not mine! What else is there…

!

Blade remembered something.

"I have something in one of my pockets. It's my ID card," he said. "As you can see, I have no available hands, so…"

"I'm not freeing you," she bluntly stated.

"Then how the hell am I going to prove I'm innocent?" Blade questioned back, growing frustrated with the doll.

"You aren't."

She was getting on his nerves.

"This is bullshit! What do you have against me to prove I'm part of this Sangist Berri- whatever the hell they're called!" He yelled back.

Keeping her composure, she made sure of herself not to kill him out of annoyance.

"Fine," she gave in. "Which pocket is it in?"

"It's in my back pocket, left side," he responded.

Listening to his direction, she still kept her pistol buried into his back as she reached into the pocket.

Much to her surprise, he wasn't lying. She had pulled out a member ID card of G&K, standard for everyone working there.

"Blade… that's your name?" she murmured, flipping the card around.

"Well did you get it or not?" Blade cried out, unable to see her since she was right behind him.

"Hmph," she sighed as she pocketed his ID into her coat. "It could be a fake for all I know."

What. What di- are you fucking kidding me.

Blade couldn't believe what he was hearing.

The female doll went around to face him again but this time she put away her pistol.

"At least you will get to live a bit longer," she said as she went over to the window to watch for any more Sangvis troops.

Blade was in disbelief, still tied to the chair.

"Can you at least untie me now?" He begged, feeling his wrists become sore from all the twisting and struggling.

"I still don't trust you yet, so that's still a no" she replied without looking back at him.

Blade groaned in exhaustion and pain. He had a feeling the night would end up feeling longer than he would hope for.


...

Crash!

A black and white ringleader tore through a tree blocking the pathway her troops were going along. It was raining heavily in the forest they were treading through.

"Tch…," she hissed. An impatience had been building within her. They were reaching the location scarecrow had given her.

All this running! When will we ever get there?!

She could have gone ahead of her troops and reached the area in a matter of minutes but that was far too reckless. Even she herself admitted that.

Suddenly, the dinergate walking alongside her started beeping at her.

"Huh? What is it?" The ringleader asked, looking down at the robotic dog. It beeped and pointed to the ground. The mud had footprints that she had not seen before.

"So she came this way…," the ringleader muttered to herself, becoming cautious of her surroundings.

Following the footprints, she noticed a wire strung across the ground.

"A wire? Did she plant mines here?" The Sangvis doll laughed at the runaway's poor attempt to trap her. "All units halt! Change your direction of approach! Avoid the open area up ahead!"

Her troops listened to her commanding voice and changed directions, heading down the cliff.

"Hmph, who does she take me for?" She laughed once more. "What a crude trap. As if I would fall for anything like tha-"

The sound of gunfire interrupted her, instantly turning to find some of her troops lying dead

"H-How? Isn't she just some outdated assault rifle?!" She gasped in shock. "That "trap" just now… it was meant to lure my troops down the cliffside!"

"TAKE COVER! GET BEHIND COVER NOW!" She ordered at her remaining troops.

To think she'd play such cheap tricks!

Her senses started tingling, danger fast approaching. She quickly raised her blade to block a bullet meant for her head.

Scanning the area, a flash of bright lightning thundered across the sky, illuminating the forest.

So there you are…

She spotted the location where she was firing. It was an abandoned run-down home.

Giving a silent command to the Jaegers behind her, they fired at the location of the target.

You've worked the terrain into your tactics… expected from a doll with a command module.

"Hehe, I am afraid I can' t play with you any longer…," a terrifying smile formed upon her face.

"Allow me to introduce myself!" She announced into the rainy sky. "I am Sangvis Ferri manufacturing product NO. SP524. Elite scout doll "EXECUTIONER!"

The sides of her heels began to spark black volts of energy.

"LET'S SEE IF YOUR SCHEMES CAN STOP ME!"


Blade could hear firing in the other room and the doll cursing.

"Hey! What the hell's going on over there!" He yelled out to the opposite room. There wasn't anything he could make out aside from the noise of exchanging gunfire.

"Eurgh! Just shut it!" She cried back, Blade only hearing her voice. "Huh-? What's this mobility!? Shit!"

He saw the doll rush out of the room into his as she threw away an empty magazine. Shoving a fresh magazine back into her AR, she leapt away in time to avoid a sudden explosion.

The blast sent Blade tumbling across the floor, stuck on his side as he was still tied down to a chair. Debris was sent flying everywhere.

"FOUND. YOU," a terrifying voice called out from the dust and smoke.

M4 stared back at the ringleader, readying herself for a fight for her life.

Lying on his side, he could make out a large black and white doll carrying a massive sword. But… that wasn't what terrified him.

Aside from her face and hair.

She reminded him of himself.


...

I'm backkkk and i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It's been awhile but please forgive me! Drawing has taken a majority of my time once more ~ other than that, I guess Blade found more trouble than he wished for. It's getting tense! As per usual, please point out any mistakes or misconceptions so I can go back and fix them. Thank you for reading and have a great day!

Edit: I fixed alot of mistakes, i apologize