The group assembled in the Strategy room as Kliff viewed the info about a rather visually unusual individual.
"I must say, I didn't expect you all to put the pieces together about the connection between Zuke and Eve."
"While we were facing West down, there were some clues to everything concerning that." Mirror Match said. "The major one being the name 'Nadia'."
"The first time she was mentioned, those red projectiles were in a weird pattern." Seiya said. "Turns out, they were spelling EVE. That's the name of the number one artist in Vinyl City."
"She's known to be the most eccentric artist of NSR. Nobody knows what goes on in her mind. Well, nobody but Zuke, of course." Kliff said.
"Yeah, Seiya figured that out too." Kazuma said.
"With all the mentions of college for Zuke and use of Eve's real name, it sounded like she and Zuke were pretty tight." Seiya said. "And that claim turned out to be more true as Zuke and West continued to diss each other."
"Yup. We used to be in a band too." Zuke said.
"Wha-wha-WHAT?!" Mayday said in shock.
"And Zuke knows her best." Kliff said.
"Though we didn't leave on good terms." Zuke said.
"That was pretty evident when Seiya said she was your ex." Ethox said. "And considering she's the strongest artist out of all the NSR 5, this is going to be a tougher fight than usual."
"Don't worry, I've got a plan. There's to be an exhibition at her gallery. She'll be there, so head over and I'll make sure the security system won't be a bother to you all. And like Ethox said, that's why Tatiana keeps her as the CEO's right-hand woman, so be careful." Kliff said.
"Don't worry, Mr. Kliff, we'll be careful." Lily said.
The group soon made their way to the edge of the Natura District, and used 1010's platinum record to gain access to the Metro Division District. They traveled through it before they jumped down to the Dream Fever District, and it was quite a bizarre sight, art was displayed everywhere but they depicted body parts such as the eyes and arms. With the color palettes being Magenta, White, Purple, Blue, and Black.
"Oooooo-kaaaay…." Kazuma said. "Anyone else getting kinda freaked out by this woman's taste in the arts?"
"I will admit it does seem unusual." Necroapache added. "Though it does seem to have its charms, as well."
"I don't really see the good side of this." Aqua said. "It almost feels like those eye paintings are staring at us…" she shivered a bit.
"I'm glad Eve's celebrated for her self-expression now, but I guess some part of her still wants to repay the stares she received back then. I guess that's probably why she's really into eye motifs." Zuke said. "...Well, let's do this." he said as they entered the Evenfall Gallery.
As with the previous concerts, they made their way through security despite it being a bit more difficult as they soon reached a room with a long hall as at the end of it a gold statue of Tatiana was seen with her arms wrapped around above a pink and white dual-colored chair.
"Well, we're here… but, where's Eve?" Ristarte asked, scanning the room. "I can't seem to see her, even with my analysis skill."
"Why hello, Zuke." A female voice was heard.
"Hello...Eve. Where are you?" Zuke called.
"She's here?!" Aqua said as everyone stood back to back in a circle on their guard. "Where is she?!"
"Take a seat, Zuke." Eve's voice said.
"Take a seat-? Oooh, right." Zuke realized.
"A seat… is she near the chair?" Goblin Slayer said.
"I can't sense a heart anywhere." Ethox said. "Seiya, can you find her?"
"Are you guys blind? She's right there." Seiya said, pointing to the chair.
The chair soon began spinning as appearing on the seat was Eve herself. Her body was monochromatically colored, her left side hot pink, and right side white with her fingernails painted velvet red and her right leg wearing a teal platform boot. She wore turquoise beaded bracelets, in addition to her left wrist having two bracelets unlike her opposite wrist; an earring on her left ear, a head ornament all around her forehead, and three thin green chokers on her neck. For her outfit it was ablack chest-less leotard with a teal breast cover on the right, and a chartreuse breast cover on the left. Her scruffy cloak is teal, decorated with chartreuse leaves, a yellow cube, thick violet-purple strings, and spheres coated in colors of velvet pink, orange, and white. She also has a tooth gap, and dark pink freckles on her face. Her appearance startled everyone with less fortitude than others.
Eve groaned. "As I thought, none of you, except for the dark haired one, share Zuke's artistic perception. Children and girl, do you not see Tatiana holding the back rest to her bosoms? Hello? Do you all not get what it is meant to represent?"
"Uh...no." Mayday said.
"Well excuse us for not getting your weird taste in art." Kazuma said…before DJ's elbow slammed into his gut. "OW! What the hell?!"
"How about not insulting a person's art when their berserk button is insulting their art?" DJ asked deadpan.
"At least one of you is smart about this, but Zuke. Why must you pick such a...pedestrian girl and these kids! You-" Eve stopped before turning to the chair as she put her hands on the statue's hands as synthwave/art-pop music began playing.
(Cue: Vs. Eve (Full Game Mix)- No Straight Roads)
"Zuke… remember college?" Eve asked. "Remember when I was the tectonic plates and you were the sea? The heat we channelled when your waves broke upon my earth was euphoric. We were untouchable! Do you not miss those times? Do you not yearn for that feeling again? Instead, you left me for this...this girl?" she asked pointing at Mayday. "Have you dropped your standards?!"
"Hey!" Mayday said.
"That is sad. So, so sad. But you are here now, you are in front of me. We can save each other, as today, we celebrate your redemption, Zuke. So, open your mind, sink into my gaze, and let yourself be reborn again!" Eve declared as she began dancing.
EVE
Queen of the Psydub Realm
"These pedestrians you two chose are mistakes. They are fire. Fire and Sea do not mix." Eve mentioned.
"Hey! The name's Mayday, okay?!" Mayday said.
"Yeah, and who're you calling pedestrians?!" Ristarte demanded.
"You've got more than a few misconceptions, lady." Seiya stated as they advanced on her. "I'm not with them by choice, for starters. The healing weirdo pulled me into this gig."
"That's healing GODDESS, you muscle-head!" Rista shot back.
"Less smack talk to each other, more smackdown on the diva!" DJ interrupted.
Eve was certainly difficult to track at certain times as she popped in and out of the many portraits displayed while also summoning different colored hands that spun in beat with the music.
"Man, this is a trip…" Kazuma muttered.
"Okay, strategy: looks like she's using the portraits to teleport, so…" Ethox trailed off, before he turned to Mirror Match. "How many crystal walls can you put up at one time?"
"As many as needed." Mirror Match answered. "But with so many, I won't be able to keep them up for long."
"It'll do." Ethox agreed. "Okay, the next time she hops out of one, do it. 203rd, you're crowd control, keep the hands off us. Everyone else, we're doing a swarm maneuver."
"Agreed." Necroapache confirmed.
The group held their ground until Eve exited another portrait. Then, Mirror Match slammed his hands on the ground, bringing up multiple crystal walls that blocked the paintings off.
"Alright, now!" Ethox said as the group charged, the 203rd shooting at the hands while the rest of them surrounded Eve, going on the offensive. After a few moments, Eve lifted herself off the floor and floated into the wall at the end of the hall, the wall extended as a triangle shaped mirror materialized.
"Whoa! Okay… Kazuma was right, this is trippy." Ultra shook his head.
"Stand aside. I've got this." Seiya said dashing forward to the mirror as he shattered it with one single thrust of his sword, making Eve stagger back and kneel.
"I feel an immense energy between you and 'goddess' girl. She does not deserve this. They don't deserve any of this!" Eve protested.
"You make it sound like Seiya doesn't deserve to be with us, considering how strong he is." Ethox said. "But I'll tell you something about this man. Deep down he does care about us, in his own way. And no matter what, he'll always be our friend!"
"Ethox…" Seiya said in slight surprise.
"Is that what the pedestrian girl thinks of my one and only as well?" Eve asked. "Well, if I can't have you, Zuke, then neither can she!" she then yelled as her arms multiplied into six, as a brilliant light flashed.
The group then found themselves with Mayday in a magenta room, while Zuke and Seiya were in a white room.
"Whoa! What did she do?!" Kazuma asked.
"And where's Seiya and Zuke?!" Rista asked.
"Don't panic, she's done this before. We just need to keep playing as we were!" Zuke called as the music sped up a bit.
"Easier said than done!" Gimilor said as the group narrowly avoided being flattened by a magenta foot coming from the ceiling. Eve's attacks were more aggressive in the magenta room as they closed in to attack her. After a few hits, she shifted to the white room.
In the opposite room, the music was much calmer and slower.
"What happened to you, Zuke? We used to birth countless worlds together. Remember Rupturika?" Eve asked.
"How could I forget? You set my hair on fire." Zuke said.
"Are you upset about that?!" Eve asked.
"I know I would." Seiya spoke up before he dashed at Eve, sword drawn. "Phoenix Drive!"
Eve, eyes wide, jumped back into the magenta room to avoid the attack. Back in said room, Eve let out a sigh of relief… only to get hit with a thrust by Ethox, a tiger aura around him.
"Welcome back!" Ethox smiled as Way of the East let off a shockwave that sent Eve crashing through the magenta room's wall, which had turned into a mirror as before. Eve managed to land on her feet, magenta hand clutching her white arm.
"What? No. No! No! No!" Eve said as she backed away and pointed at the group. "How can your links be ever so strong?! Unless...unless the two of you formed your bond through mutual hate?! Your hatred for me?! I-" she stopped as she backed into the statue before knocking it down as it sank into the ground, engulfing the area in a bright light and changing it. "You are one of them, Zuke! You fear me! Hahahahaha! As you should! For no one escapes the Diva's realm!" she said, her tone turning demonic as the area around the group became more broken on both sides. The hot pink side having hands sticking out of the fragments with the white having none as she laughed.
"Oh boy, now she's mad!" Nemo said.
"Fight for your lives!" Le Kraken yelled as the magenta group tried to close the gap between them and Eve.
This phase of the fight was even more chaotic than the last, Eve's attacks being more frantic. The triangle often splitted open as a woman's eyes fired lasers before it closed back up. Soon enough though, they were able to shatter the barrier, opening up to a long, long hallway. At the other end, the group could see Zuke and Seiya.
"Zuke! I think I see you and Seiya at the other end of the tunnel!" Mayday said as she and the group ran in.
"I do too! Let's move!" Zuke said as he and Seiya also ran in. The two sides then ran towards each other as they were viewed parallel to each other as they kept avoiding the hands sent at them.
"Zuke, you were nothing before you met me! I handpicked you, molded you, sculpted you into the man you are today! Do you really think you can reach this level of brilliance all by yourself? Hah! I made you! And the greatest thing you ever accomplished in your life was to get me to notice you!" Eve said.
"Are you telling him that? Or yourself?" Seiya asked.
"What?!" Eve asked.
"I know what's going on. You need him, don't you?" Ethox asked. "All that talk about us not sharing Zuke's artistic vision… that's because you think he's the only one who understands it."
The groups made it to the end of their respective halls, smashing through the glass separating them. They reunited in the middle, in a small room with Eve collapsed on the floor, in disbelief.
"You… all of you… how?!" Eve asked as Mayday stepped up to her.
"Face it, Eve! Zukes better than you!" She declared, shocking Eve with her eyes wide open.
"There's only one way to end this." Zuke said somberly.
"Let's show her, Zuke!" Mayday said. "Red light!" she said, raising her left hand up.
"Green light!" Zuke said, pounding down on it with a frown as Mayday swapped out a canister on her guitar with a different one as it spun to show an angry face on it. Zuke was right behind her as he tapped his drumsticks in a three count.
"Bunka! Junka! Shakalaka-BAM!" The pair called out firing a blast at Eve, engulfing her in light as the album cover depicting two eyes white and pink respectively being held by hands of the opposite color before changing to Mayday, Zuke, and the Fatebreakers with their hands in the middle with Eve's eyes in the background and cracks around them.
"Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrghhh!" Eve screamed as she was sent flying back. "You. You and everyone else are just intimidated by my talent. All of you are cowards! Always...mpppfff… Uggg...GAH!" she cried before the mirror behind her sucked her in. "There is no one. Not even him. None in this world to weave their senses with mine."
"I should go talk to her." Zuke said.
"Go, man." Ethox said as Zuke ran inside.
He chased after Eve as she spoke to herself about her depression.
"Everything is nothing. Why should I continue to entertain this void?" Eve asked.
"Eve?" Zuke called out.
"So much to do yet nowhere to go. I do not belong here." Eve stated.
"Eve, please-" Zuke tried to say.
"The earth. Sea. Fire. All for naught." Eve continued.
"Please listen-" Zuke tried to speak up again.
"It is over. It is over. It is over." Eve repeated over and over.
"Eve, you are not alone-" Zuke said.
"Stay away! Your tongue is poison!" Eve said.
"Eve…" Zuke said as the area was engulfed in light.
"The stars...they are so beautiful. I will close my eyes now. Goodbye." Eve said as the album cover appeared and changed once again to show Zuke and Eve standing back to back as Eve's eyes were closed in the background as tears fell from them.
Eve
She is on her own. Her vision is hers. ALONE.
As soon as Zuke caught up to Eve, the scenery changed back to normal as Zuke Stood in front of Eve.
"Eve, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't be the person you wanted me to be. When we first met, you immediately saw potential in me. I gave you hope that perhaps, I could eventually see the world as you did. But I'm not like you. I wish I was, but I'm not." Zuke said.
"But if we just try again-" Eve said.
"Eve, please- I was...a coward for running away. I know that now. But seeing you today reminded me of how alive you can truly be when you're performing your craft." Zuke said. "I know how terrifying it must be to face the possibility that you might never meet another like-minded person in this world. But you're better than that. You don't need anybody else to complete you. You complete yourself." he continued.
"It is not comfortable to hear this. I do not think I am strong enough to-" Eve said before being cut off.
"You have always been stronger than me. If anyone can do it, it's you, Nadia. Well, I have to go now. Take care." Zuke said as he walked over to Mayday and the group.
"Oh, and one more thing." Seiya said. "These guys? They're not pedestrians. If you get to know 'em as long as I have, they're sorta cool."
"Aw, finally getting soft on us, huh?" Rista smirked.
"Don't push it, Rista, you're still a load." Seiya said. "Let's go."
"Go where, back to the sewer?"
"No." Seiya said. "We're going straight to NSR Tower."
"Right now?" Mayday asked. "But, shouldn't we check in with Kliff about-"
"Hard pass." Seiya said. "I can't believe you guys haven't wondered about it."
"About… what?" Ethox asked in confusion.
"Remember back to the Club Planetarium." Seiya said. "Mayday and Zuke showed up to take on that DJ Subatomic Supernova guy."
"Yeah, so?" Kazuma asked.
"They didn't know we were gonna be there." Seiya said. "So who posted the job that we accepted?"
"I don't recall posting something like that." Mayday said.
"Wait… you mean it wasn't you?" Ethox asked in confusion. "But the job said 'we'. So who…?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Seiya asked. "It was Specs."
"Kliff posted the job? But why?" Legolia asked. "And why make it sound like someone else did it?"
"Because it's possible he's the one masterminding the whole thing." Seiya said.
Everyone couldn't believe what Seiya was saying.
"I've had my suspicions about that ginger faced know it all for a while now." Seiya said. "He showed up and told us exactly how to connect the districts, give us intel on the other artists and ways to infiltrate their concerts. He's probably been planning this whole NSR takedown for a while, and saw a perfect opportunity to use the Bunk Bed duo as his minions."
Ethox gasped. "Of course! We've all been trying to establish a rock revolution, but in reality, we've been pushing EDM out of the public's mind in favor of rock, the same way Tatiana put EDM on the map! So, if Mayday and Zuke defeat Tatiana…!"
"We'll become the new NSR." Mayday spoke, before realizing. "Holy crap, we'll become the new NSR?! Why didn't I see this sooner!"
"Because you were focused on the bad Tatiana was doing." Seiya said. "Yeah, she's been doing some stuff, banning rock and the blackouts, but besides that? Nothing."
"That's… a good point." Ultra said.
"Besides, Tatiana had a good reason to act the way she did." Seiya said. "Or, should I say… Kul Fyra did."
"Wait, WHAT?!" Mayday said.
"Come on, it's obvious." Seiya said. "Tatiana's skin is grey, like rock. And what happens to magma when it cools?"
"It turns to stone…" DJ realized. "Mayday, what happened to make the Goolings disband in the first place?"
"They always argued a lot, it was complete disorder. I don't remember exactly, but…" Mayday said.
"Maybe you don't have all the answers… but I bet Kul Fyra does." Ethox said. "C'mon guys, we've gotta hurry to NSR Tower, and pronto!"