Chapter 5: Puppeteer's Altar

five days earlier...

Hyde groaned as he cracked open his eyes, his vision was blurry and his head was fuzzy.

"...And, get this...A woman named Hilda... He's quite valuable in his own world now as well." The voices echoed and cut in and out as Hyde tried to refocus again.

"Oh? He's awake." Hyde heard Hazama walked up, he ruffled his hair and once Hyde got a clear enough look at Hazama's face before bolting up in alarm. He wriggled and still found himself bound in chains. He looked past him and saw an older man with blonde hair in a magenta colored outfit with a masquerade mask hiding the top half of his face. He felt a draft and looked down, all he was in was a white experimental gown. He wss stripped of everything else except his boxers.

"Glad to see you up Hyde Kido. Hazama has told me many things about you now." Relius said, his smile made Hyde feel very uncomfortable at the moment. He tipped Hyde's head up with a hand under his chin.

"Get your hands off me." Hyde said as he jerked his head away, that's the second time a creep touched his face.

"You are in no position to make demands. Protector of the Indulgence of Insolation. Partner with Linne, the Princess of the Night Blade, her guardian Waldstein, housing an interesting automation named Vatista, and is wanted by the organization named Amnesia lead by a woman named Hilda." Relius recited, Hyde froze, how did he?

"Oh Hyde, I gave you the option to tell me what you wanted to tell me willingly. But your refusal made me have to mine your memories, everything you knew I know as well. Your knowledge of EXS, Voids, the Hollow Night, Night Blade, Amnesia, etc. Which I have departed that information to my partner here. You are by far our most valuable catch, and your powers. Well..." Hazama chuckled as he looked at the tied up teen. Relius walked up again, he pulled the gown down a bit to reveal two fang marks on Hyde's shoulder. Hyde pulled his shoulder away as the man made him increasingly uncomfortable.

"How interesting, so these are the scars from the void that gave you your powers." Relius thought aloud, Hazama has informed him of everything. Hyde was attacked by a void, nearly killed, he was bitten on his shoulder, of which gave him his in-birth powers.

"I have several tests I would like to preform, especially with those powers of yours." Relius said, he nodded to Hazama who smiled and snapped his fingers. The chains loosened and freed Hyde from his bonds. The snake head hissed before vanishing in a green light. Hazama opened a magic circle and Insulator fell out, it quickly vanished in a flash of red light. Hyde stretched his arms a little and looked at the two men with caution.

"Hazama said you are able to summon it at will. I have a theory I would like to test." Relius said, Hyde stood up, albeit wobbly a little from being restrained for over a day. He took a breath and looked around. They were in some kind of metallic walled room, a singular door was behind them and several cords ran all over the room. Insulator could easily slice down the door, what he had to deal with were the two guys before him. Hazama was somehow able to see his memories, then he must've seen him use the blade. If they were not too worried about him handling the blade, then they are either cocky or actually very powerful. Based on how Ragna was back in the phantom field, most likely the latter.

Hyde took a breath as summoned his EXS. A red orb of energy appeared in his left hand and he grabbed it with his right, the handle and then the blade of Insulator emerged from the orb. He swung it down and held it defensively against his two opponents.

"So my theory was correct." Relius said as he examined Hyde and the sword behind his mask. Hyde stiffened a little as his opponents stood eerily still.

"My boy, what you wield is akin to a Nox Nyctores. Some of the most powerful weapons in existence. You summoned your blade similarly to Nox Nyctores: Bolverk, summoned to the wielder by magic circles. If it can slay immortals then it has enough power to do what she wanted." Relius smiled as Hyde backed away a little, his grip tightening more on the sword. He felt like he was being stalked by Voids.

"That blade, the energy radiating off of you. Your EXS, the Void Red, you are what we need." Relius said, his voice becoming more and more unhinged and louder while Hazama remained still, but smiling.

"Ignis!" Hyde barely had time to dodge as a giant metallic claw that could rival Waldstein's crashed into the wall were he once stood. He recovered to see a massive magenta colored robot. He got up and ended with Ignis being between him and the two men.

"Black Orbiter!" Hyde swung down his sword and a disc of red and black energy surged toward his foes. Ignis jumped out of the way as did Relius and Hazama, it also managed to break down the door, revealing another corridor.

"His power, it reminds me of him, of an Azure. Even if he's not from this world, from a different one, his energy is similar enough to do what we need. That blade I need to do further research." Relius said, he snapped his fingers and Hyde found himself grabbed by a pair of arms. Each one holding his wrists.

"Hey! Let go!" Hyde grunted as he tried to break the grip, one twisted his right hand enough to make him drop the sword. Relius walked over and attempted to grab the sword. Only to reel back as he felt a harsh cold feeling slice through his body. Hyde managed to kicked whoever or whatever was behind him to loosen it's grip, he slipped out and beelined for the doorway, he managed to skid and grab Insulator away from Relius. The only thing on his mind was to run, to get out of here.

"OUROBOROS!" Hyde tripped as he saw the black snake chain shoot over his head, thankful that his misstep actually helped him. He saw another doorway, locked, he readied his sword again. Only to come to a screeching halt as his wrists were grabbed again and held above his head. The sword fell out of his hands as he was suspended above the floor. The air was knocked out of his lungs and he felt that if he was going any faster, the force would've made his arms pop out of their sockets.

"Looks like Ignis' speed upgrade suited her well." Relius said as Hyde heard the footsteps echoed on the tile floors. Hyde shifted a bit to try and twist his way to face them.

"Quite the reaction speed and reflects my boy. To think you only had this power less than a few months." Relius said as he walked to face him. Hazama close behind and sealed the weapon again inside a magic barrier.

"If you think I'm going to help you, forget it." Hyde said as he tried to free his wrists from the mechanical bind. Relius simply chuckled.

"Oh, I do not expect you to help me. You remind me vaguely of my son, he ran away quite some time ago. I don't need your cooperation for my next set of, tests." Relius said, the phrase sending a shudder down his spine.

We have some guests with us, I don't want to disturb them. " Hazama said, as he pulled out the cloth Hyde hated so much and gagged him again. Hyde felt himself move as Ignis walked, holding a tight grip on his wrists. All Hyde could do was just look for an opening, and if none were found, just pray that something good might happen.

Elsewhere...

Yosuke opened his eyes with a groan, where was he? Thankfully this time his butt was not in agony. He jumped up, the puppet persona like thing, the masked man. He was abducted, he looked around and found himself in a small metal room. A heavy duty door infront of him and he was without his kunai.

"Mpphm." Yosuke heard grunts and ran to the door, peeking between the bars of the small window. He saw the masked man with, Hazama, the green haired man he tagged with back in the Phantom Field. Ignis was with them, dragging a gagged Hyde by his wrists as he struggled. That can't be good, and if Hyde was here, that means others from the field must be as well. Whatever they had planned cannot be good. Yosuke looked and waited for the footsteps to move out of range. He stepped to the back of his cell.

"Persona!" Yosuke summoned his and the persona moved to try and kick down the door. Only for a loud clang to sound throughout the corrider and the door not have moved an inch. His persona vanished in a flash of light. Turns out they can summon them for a very short period of time before dematerializing due to them not being in the TV world.

He needed to get out of here, Naoto had to be here and now Hyde was here. Yosuke looked around to see if he could use anything, but it was just an empty cell. He walked toward a wall and knocked on it, surprised as the metal vibrated and sounded for a few long seconds. It slowly faded away. Alright, first off, there's nothing he can do at the moment. He tried to summon his persona again but to no avail. Guess there was an unknown cooldown or something. Hazama, he partnered with him once when they ran into the blue haired half-naked man and the crazy guy with red hair. Even before they partnered, he could tell something shady was going on with Hazama. Something just felt, off, about him. Now he knows why, he was partnered up with a mad scientist. At least what he assumed to be a mad scientist.

"LET ME GO!" Yosuke barely heard Hyde's cry as it echoed through the halls. The sound of machinery going and Hyde's voice quickly going silent. Yosuke gulped and feared the worst, was he going to be turned into a cyborg? A chimera? A weird puppet thing?! Yosuke gagged as his imagination went wild. After a few minutes the machinery stopped, and footsteps echoed. He backed up, ready to fight. Hazama opened the door with that sly smile of his.

"Hello, partner. Have a nice rest?" Hazama asked in mocking concern, Yosuke got ready, glaring at the man. Now that the two were alone in a no combat situation, Yosuke got a clearer look at him. He clenched his fists more when Hazama called him 'partner' that was a special term for his friends. Hazama was clearly no friend.

I would like to know where I am." Yosuke said, mustering his energy not to scream and keep his composure.

"Oh? Your within the confines of my partner's laboratory. You are lucky he let me take custody of you. Who knows what he may have done if he saw another user." Hazama chuckled, Yosuke's blood ran cold.

" 'Another'? Where's Naoto?" Yosuke asked, Hazama looked at him briefly surprised.

"Oh? You mean the Detective Lady. I'm afraid I have no idea, Relius is using her in some secret project he won't tell me about. How sad a comrade is keeping me in the dark." Hazama sighed, fake sadness dripping out of his mouth.

"Persona!" Hazama opened an eye to see the ninja like persona launch at him. Hazama quickly moved as the persona crashed out of the door. Yosuke made a run for it, only to be tripped as a black and green chain grappled his ankles.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, a quick hit and run tactic won't fool me partner. I am a captain of the Intelligence Department of the NOL you know." Hazama dragged Yosuke back and stood over him.

"Don't call me partner." Yosuke said as he glared at the man. Hazama bent down to look at him closely. Hazama grabbed his throat with an iron grip as Yosuke started to struggle.

"Oh, you will be calling me partner very soon..." Hazama held up Ouroboros so the snake head stared at Yosuke. It hissed and it launched at Yosuke with wide jaws, his world went black there.

Earlier...

Hyde was dragged past a few metal doors and into a giant room with some kind of large machine with a human sized pod in the center back. Several tubes and wires hanged and connected to the center pod, with a white cover that had a small blue tinted window. Relius walked over to a computer thing hooked up to several wires connecting to the wall and to the pod. He pressed a few buttons and the pod door opened. Revealing metal cuffs inside, along with more tubes and even a oxygen mask.

"Put him in there, I have been waiting a very long time." Relius said, Hyde tried to dig his heels into the smooth tile floor to no avail. Ignis turned him around and made him lie there, Hazama came by and quickly grabbed one of Hyde's arms and shoved it into a metal cuff, it closing quickly and tightly around his wrist. Hazama made quick work restraining his ankles and remaining wrist. Finally, Hazama removed the gag again as Hyde began to struggle against the restraints.

"LET ME GO!" Hyde yelled as he pulled at the cuffs. His energy going down as he looked at his captors.

"Don't worry, soon enough you won't feel a thing." Relius walked over and pulled out a syringe filled with a dark blue liquid. Fear grew more and more within Hyde, and a fear he hasn't felt since that Night. His struggling ceased as he was paralyzed again as the needle grew closer. Relius smiled as he injected Hyde with the liquid. Hyde felt drowsy almost immediately that he nearly passed out. His breathing slowed as Hazama shoved something rubbery into his mouth. Relius moved something near his arm. Hyde heard the pod let out a hiss, the lid came down and his vision was limited to the blue tinted window. He saw Relius and Hazama leave his view as he fell unconscious.

Relius smiled as Hyde calmed down and Hazama placed in the oxygen mask. He moved to set up some IVs for Hyde. Once the pod was closed, Relius walked back to his monitor and saw Hyde's condition as stable.

"Well that was exciting wasn't it?" Hazama asked as he briefly wiped his hands together.

"Yes, his energy was something different alright. Give me his sword, that I need to study further." Relius said, Hazama shrugged, opened a circle and the sword clattered to the ground. Relius pulled his gloves and gently picked up the blade. Itself was radiating some kind of hostile energy.

"It must be upset on what we did to it's master. Well, I'm going to check on my partner." Hazama said as he left the room. Relius examined the blade, the markings pulsing violently across the blade.

"How interesting..." Relius took the blade to a different room. He placed it inside a tube like containment hold and scanned it.

"Unidentified, obviously. However, if I can understand even the basic components, I can maybe make something similar. A tool that can kill immortals, that is something I need to test." Relius looked at the sword more, recalling what Hazama has told him, that Hyde summoned the sword after being bitten by a void. He was nearly killed by another, but the sword materialized and protected him. It reminds him a lot of Noel Vermillion, who obtained Demon Guns: Bolverk in a very similar fashion, her being Mu-12 had nothing to do with the summon, and no doubt would've saved her even if she wasn't a Murakumo Unit. They were summoned when their soon-to-be wielder was in danger, most likely life-threatening danger. The resemblance was too noticeable, since it was from another world, there was a high possibility of it merely being chance. After all, Hazama told him the sword was created centuries ago, long before the Event Weapons were even a concept. Even the Black Beast was not a concept when the sword wss created.

A thought occured to Relius, he looked at the sword, it pulsed brightly as energy ran across the markings on the blade. The burst of energy Hyde had released earlier. The energy itself, it was similar. The Boundry is indeed a place of unknown places and possibilities, what if the Black Beast was indeed a massive Void that originated from the world of a Hollow Night? It only growing stronger as it absorbed magic formula. Relius shook his head, that was a thought for a different day. It was absurb, he needed more information before such an improbable theory could be formed. He has much to do, Relius left the room, leaving the sword alone in it's container.

Elsewhere...

In a dark room, a figure lied in a pod, unconscious. Only a health monitor beeping steadily from further away.

"-Pro-Om-14-completed- systems:-pending-..." The figure's eyes opened to reveal an empty blue.

"All systems green, waiting activation."

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And that wraps up the events that transpired during Linne's visit with Rachel and Kokonoe. I would love to hear your thoughts on this particular chapter, I like writing Hazama's dialogue and these very scary situations. The author's note for this chapter is a bit short (It's almost 2am...) And I wanted to get this out. Just as a warning, the more I look things up, the more I realize my persona idea is rather wacky in rhe sense it could not happen in the world of BlazBlue by it's logic. So, again, I would love to hear your thoughts on the chapter, and how you guys are enjoying the story so far, suggestions are welcome as well :)

Also, special thanks to...

Kinaki747: thanks for all the UNIB info. I hope you enjoy what I have thus far.

fernandamichelleraya: for reminding me why RWBY should play some kind of role (I ship Hyde and Ruby so much, it helps their around the same age too. Hyde is probably 16 and Ruby is 15.) And her interactions with Hyde and Hazama are some of my favorite. Hope you are enjoying the story thus far.

And finally jadasimone16: for a simple comment of the return of our huntresses. I have plans, hope you enjoy.

So thank you guys for leaving a review, I appreciate it and I'll see you all next time.

Bye~