Author's Notes: I'm not going to make excuses for this one.  The only thing I can say in my defense is not only do I loathe writing battle scenes, but I hate writing Agito just as much.  Getting inside that man's head can be a real pain in the ass.  But thanks to Jade Tatsu, I was able to drag myself through this new version of chapter two.  Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Two: Red and Black Waltz

Except for the few instruments powered by the emergency generators, the laboratory was dark.  Except for the sounds of explosions and chaos above, the laboratory was silent.  And amidst the darkness and the silence and the scattered scientists bound and gagged on the ground, only one figure was on the move.

It was a small figure, both short in height and petite in body, but the image was betrayed by the long, black hooded cowl wrapped around its entire being.  It moved easily among the computers and monitors, occasionally stopping at one to check the latest records before moving on. 

Unlike most other raids of a Chronos base, this was not a mission of mass sabotage, but rather a mission of rescue and the piracy of lost information.  Not more than a week ago the rebellion force known as Zeus' Thunderbolt suffered its greatest casualty in a long while.  It had started as a heist of a routine shipment to a local Chronos base, but the United Freeworld Forces had still hired the Thunderbolts to infiltrate the shipment for any leads to any new tricks Chronos might have had up their sleeves.  New and unusual items within the shipment were their best source of information, other than getting into the labs directly, that is… But that was beside the point.  Chronos had been ready for them that time, and the counterattack they provided was enough to kill two Libertus, severely wound three others, and have two taken into Chronos custody.  The latter proved to be the worse result of the botched raid.  For the last eighteen years, the Thunderbolts did a good job to keep Chronos from learning the secrets of the process that went into developing the Libertus, but taking even one alive would give Dr. Hamilcar Balkus enough information to crack their code…

It was not information they could allow to get out.  It has been the only thing that had given them enough edge in the war for the last twenty or so years to actually keep up with the intense battles against Chronos without solely relying on the Guyvers.  They had to get the information back.

And she, Seraphim, the smallest and quickest of the Thunderbolts, was the only one efficient enough to get in and get out of the labs undetected, regardless of the moral issues attached to her involvement in the war.

Let people thing what they thought about her fighting along with the Libertus, at the side of Guyver III, aka Gigantic Dark, and the Zoalord Griselda.  This was her fight just as much as it was theirs.

Of course, up until now she had been off on the side-lines, involved with the battle but never actually in the battle, observing from a safe distance or lurking in the darkest shadows until she was needed at the opportune moment, as Gigantic Dark called it.  She was sure that Balkus knew of her – nothing escaped his mind, which was surprising for how old he was – but she was sure that no one from Chronos had never actually seen her before, only the trail of death and destruction she left in her wake.  Chances were they would have never guessed that someone of her age, size and status could ever be the cause of such disorder and chaos, but that was only half of what she could do; at least within closed walls.  It would never compare with the damage she was known to cause in a wide open space...

The chaos that reined above caused enough confusion and commotion that the hallways and corridors were practically empty except for a few stragglers…but they were easy enough to take care of.  A well-placed distraction from her "partners" was enough to drive most of the scientists from the labs in fear of the opposing force closing in, and when the main power grid shorted out, it made getting around undetected that much more easier.  Still, chances could not be taken.  She had her "guards", of sorts, at all the entrances of the lab to let her know about any unwanted intruders.  All of the cameras had been eliminated, and the bound and gagged scientists were too helpless to raise much of an alarm.

It was of the utmost importance that they got back the information that was stolen from them.  If Balkus found a way to use it against them – and he would, the goat-faced bastard – then the Thunderbolts, much less the UFF, would never be able to come up with a way to counter that potentially dangerous blow before it did some major crippling damage to their side.

Well…there was a way, but it was, in a sense, a very bad idea unless they were left with no other choice.

Somewhere to her right, an intercom crackled.  She was just barely able to make out the broken words amongst the waves of static.  "Come…n Centra…lab…t in."

The figure cast a quick glance at the intercom speaker and receiver, but turned her attention back to the monitor she was currently standing at.

You're not going to answer that? A raspy Voice inside of her head said.

"The intercoms in the labs are always equipped with voice scanners."  The cloaked figure said to open air in a determined female voice.  "They would know that something's wrong and send a squad down.  We can deal with a few of them snooping around, but we can't afford dealing with a whole pack.  Not enough time."  Her fingers flew across the keyboard, rapidly flipping through the digital data files until she found what she was looking for.

Open//file//aquired_file//Libertus_ana.zfd

Bingo.

Pulse pounding, the hooded figure double-clicked the file.  The screen displayed a wire-frame model of the newest Libertus type, rotating 365 degrees with its data displayed next to it.  A lot of figures still had data missing.  The girl sighed in relief.  Good.  It meant that the data had not been send to the Arizona base yet.  A small pop-up box towards the bottom of the screen almost proved her otherwise.

Status: Incomplete

Data Analysis: 96.3% complete

Time Remaining: 5 minutes, 33.7 seconds

In her hear, a tiny microphone crackled as a message came through her radio head-set that kept her connected to the surveillance team above.  "How are we doing, Seraphim?" A male voice asked through the microphone on the other side.

"Almost too close."  The girl responded.  "I just need to get rid of the file."  Before the man on the other side could answer, she already began to play around with the file options until she found what she was searching for.

Delete file?

She moved the cursor over the option, yes.

Sorry, Balkus.  The girl thought with a wicked grin.  No new information for you today.  Still, something seems wrong… It should not have taken two weeks to only get 96% of a sample completed

Her thoughts were reflected by the tone of voice on the other side of her microphone headset.  "You mean it wasn't complete?"

The bottom of her stomach began sinking.  "No.  It was only 96% done."

The answer she received was not reassuring.  "Shit."

"What?"  Seraphim demanded, suddenly catching onto the notion that her little mission was not what it was three minutes ago.  "What is it, Herald?"

"It's a trap Seraphim.  This was all set up to lure you out of the shadows.  Get out of there!"

Seraphim ripped her attention away from the computer screen, all of her senses suddenly a flare and sharp as razor blades, seeking out any possible dangers that might be closing in around her.  Maybe they did not know she was there yet, maybe she could get out and back to the teleportation helicopters before they even knew she was there…

A wailing cry pierced through the silence of the lab, and the dark shadows became infused with red light as the sirens sounded throughout the base laboratories, catching Seraphim off guard and the voices inside her head snarl in rage and surprise, making the hair on the back of her neck rise like that of a spooked cat.

"SECURITY BREECH!" A voice boomed across the intercom speakers hooked up into the ceiling.  "SECURITY BREECH!  UNITS TWO THROUGH FOUR ARE TO REPEAT TO THE MAIN LABS IMMEDIATELY!  STOP THE INTRUDERS AT ALL COSTS!"

I knew it! A deep voice snarled within her mind.  I knew that this was a bad idea from the very beginning… 

Shut up, all of you!  The figure snapped back at them, her eyes darting from door to door to make sure nothing burst in while she needed the time to think of her escape, but by then it was too late.  All of the doors leading to the lab were falling shut with deafening bangs all around her, cutting off all means of escape.  From their positions by the door, her comrades recoiled away, still unseen in the stealth she willed for them, and retreated back into the depths of her mind.  Geyo, fly ahead!  Tell G.D. I'm on my way up, as soon as I…oh, shit.

There was one door still open that connected the lab to the hallways leading to the emergency elevators, but it could barely be seen by the monstrous form that was blocking her means of escape.  A zoanoid, and by the looks of him, it was not of a standard model.  A hyper zoanoid.  Shit.  They were ready for them.

She knew why they were after her.  Balkus had set this up, most likely, and he meant to take her alive.  Chronos only knew her as Seraphim, but she was becoming a growing thorn in Balkus' side for the past year, always just lurking in the shadows of battles, and somehow always playing a part to turn the favors of battle to the Thunderbolt's side.  Most likely they thought she was a new type of zoanoid, possibly a Lost Number of sorts, or some completely new creation altogether, but since she just always stayed just out of sight, Balkus would not be satisfied until he could see so for himself.  Maybe they thought it might was even be multiple subjects they were after, seeing that it was quite unlikely that one person could cause as much damage as she had allegedly done in the past.  But what could be more powerful than the Libertus, than Griselda or even Gigantic Dark himself, that Agito Makishima could keep on his side without the fear of that power turning on him?

"So…" The Zoanoid rasped as its voice warped its speech, stepping into the central lab and having to suck to avoid the doorframe.  "You are the one, are you?  The Seraphim that Balkus is in such a rut over."  It snorted, looking over the petite figure standing just over five feet tall, shrouded by the black cloak and concealed in shadows.  "Not much to look at, that's for sure."

Seraphim refused to move, but only stared back at the looming figure with determined eyes hidden by the hood of her cloak.  It was trying to intimidate her, as expected, but she felt no fear.  Granted, the creature standing before her was something that nightmares were made of.  Four rolling eyes set within a head pulled into a scaly snout and topped with crude curving horns.  Matted hair covered the thick, wide body, pin-cushioned with spines.  Thick hooves clicked menacingly on the ground as it stepped towards her.  Yes, a creation of nightmares. 

But not one of her nightmares.

"Are you not afraid?"  The zoanoid challenged.  "Not under the watchful eyes of your Libertus companions or the protection of Gigantic Dark or Griselda?  What good could it possibly do them to send a child into enemy territory?"

"Don't sound so sure of yourself."  Seraphim replied back.  Cool.  Collected.  Unafraid.  "Sending someone of such little experience would only be a hindrance to Gigantic Dark.  He would have no gain from sending a mere child to do the work of someone who can do the job more efficiently."  Seraphim began to walk away from the computer she was standing at, towards the door, but making a mindful half-circle path around the zoanoid, staying just out of reach.  Despite the wail of the sirens, light, almost playful tone of her voice sent a shiver through the zoanoid; she could see it.  And the way she moved, which a sense of grace and yet with an air that suggested there was something…slightly off-balance to her…was enough to let this monster know this was no ordinary child he was dealing with.

"I know what it is you were expecting to find here."  The cloaked figure continued, speaking as if the emergency sirens and lights were not in the same space as they.  "A Thunderbolt zoanoid, of sorts, perhaps a new model.  It couldn't have been Gigantic Dark or Griselda, seeing as this mission is not so important that it needed their personal attention.  But finding out that Seraphim is merely human…no older than a child, at that…must have come as a surprise.  However, there is one teeny-tiny little detail you should know about me."  She stopped, cocking her head upwards to stare the zoanoid strait in the eyes.  The flashing glare of the emergency lights flashed over her face, penetrating the deep shadows, reflecting off the blood-red irises that seemed to glow with their own internal light.

"Me?  I'm the worst out of all of them."

The zoanoid bellowed, a boisterous sound that echoed off the metal walls and made the whole lab reverberate before charging the small figure.  Seraphim stood her ground, regardless of the fact that this creature was ten times her size and was coming at her with the speed and force of a freight train.  Instead of running, or even making an effort to clear well out of the behemoth's way, Seraphim took one step to her right just as the monster charged past her, and summoned.

Something massive, something incredibly strong and yet incredibly invisible struck out at the hyper zoanoid.  A solid hand conjured of nothingness swung at the creature and caught it in what seemed to be an incredibly powerful left hook, knocking it clean off its feet and sending it hurtling through the air.  Fifty feet off the ground it was lifted and a hundred feet across the lab it was thrown into the far corner of the central lab as if it had been shot out of the canon of a tank, striking the concrete walls and making the entire base shake at the core.  The zoanoid slid down wall and onto the floor making hardly a sound, its heavy body making a very clear impression within the indented and cracked concrete, leaving a slick blood trail in its wake.

Sheiza.  That had to hurt.  One of the Voices cringed in her mind.

"Most likely it did.  It's really too bad that they're always so confident of themselves when the battles first begin.  I almost feel bad when I have to kill them.  And I think we all own a nice round of applause for Aidan who made it all possible."

Way to go big guy! A tiny, child-like Voice cheered, but the "big guy" seemed far from amused.

I hate to a dead weight, Seraphim… Aidan began in his careful, deep Voice.  But it would probably be a good idea to keep moving.  I doubt that was the only one they sent down, and Geyo's already flown ahead to alert Gigantic Dark that you are on the way out.

Before she had a chance to agree, there was a small beep inside her ear.  Speak of the devil.  She clicked her headset back on.  "What is it, Herald?"

"Any problems, Seraphim?  Where are you?"

"Well, I won't lie to you.  They were definitely waiting for me, complete with noose in hand."  She cast a quick glance at the decomposing body of the hyper-zoanoid in the corner, trying very hard to ignore the stench rising from it.  "I'm still in the labs.  What about everyone else?"

"As soon as G.D. found out it was a trap, he ordered a retreat.  Everyone's heading back to the teleports.  Better get back here ASAP; he's about ready to skin some of us if you're not here in five minutes, and Griselda's not doing any better."  Seraphim almost smiled at the anxious tone in Herald's voice.  He was probably right about the Boss, so it was best she got out of there as soon as possible.

"Give me three."  She responded, and turned off the headset.

Better move it, Seraphim. A slightly concerned female Voice said.  Here they come.

Seraphim cast a glance over her shoulder to see a hoard of massive black shadows of mutated humans crowding towards the main entrance of the central lab.  And she grinned, although it was more of a sneer than a smile.

Zoanoids of all shapes and sizes poured into the lab, the emergency lights creating a sort of strobe effect that made the Chronos troops appear to be advancing on her in short bursts.  Their low growls and unintelligible, guttural speech reverberated throughout the lab, making the instruments and computer monitors rumble across their tables.  Seraphim did not listen to what they were saying.  She was concentrating on clearing her mind, and conflicting silently with the Voices within her head.

Let me at them.  I can blow through them with one shot.  The hot, raspy Voice in her mind growled.

Too risky.  Seraphim responded, and the hot Voice growled in reserved frustration.  Not with all the flammable material in the area.  Besides, it would only delay the escape longer.  We can't just plow through, we wouldn't make it five steps without being swarmed.  This is going to take a little bit of… forceful persuasion, as Father so fondly calls it.

And in the words of the others, the 'get-the-hell-out-of-my-way-if-you-want-to-keep-your-nads' approach?  A dark silky Voice crooned.

Exactly.

Sounds like fun.  All of the Voices were suddenly intrigued, and allowed her to open her mind for full concentration.

As the zoanoids closed their circle in tighter around her, Seraphim slowly withdrew her hands from the sleeves of her cloak, revealing slender, pale hands marred with twin dark slashes that curled down around her wrists.  Before the zoanoids had a chance to react, she plunged her hands deep within the folds of her cloak.  There was a sudden hiss of something metallic, and in the flash of the red lights she unsheathed a wicked crescent-moon blade attached to a heavy steel chain.

The closest of the zoanoids took a step back, confused that someone was going to try to take them on with an actual weapon without any seen armor or transformation state or abilities.  "What are you trying to prove, girl?"  A near-by Gregol model growled.  "Are you really that crazy?"

Seraphim did not move from her defensive position, but a fiery-red aura, much more vibrant than the emergency lights, flared momentarily around her entire being.  "Do not…" She said in a very quiet, yet very chilling and oddly, very familiar tone of voice.  "Call me crazy."

The Gregol had no time to respond.  In fact, he did not have much time to do anything before his head was cut off from his body in one clean blow, knocking it clear across to the other side of the lab.  The other zoanoids only gawked in a very stupid, confused manner, trying to figure out what exactly what happened, until the flash of metal caught their eyes.  They followed it back to the crescent blade that was resting in Seraphim's upraised hand.  The metal was not quite so bright as it was now wet, dripping with blood so dark it was nearly black.

"What are you waiting for?"  Seraphim demanded to the mob.  "Who's next?"

They swarmed upon her like a pack of rabid rats, only to be cut down by the blade.  It seemed to hit all the vital spots that would ensure a one-hit kill, usually severing the jugular vein to let the zoanoids drown to death in their own blood, which took them down like flies.  And it was not so much the blade that outdid them as Seraphim's skill, and they quickly understood why Balkus wanted to know how much of a threat she would be to him.  She was dangerous.  Highly-skilled and clearly trained in the martial arts, she was dangerous as any of the Libertus.  Maybe she even rivaled Griselda, or Gigantic Dark himself, but only a true test of power would confirm or deny that…

Seraphim, just go! The raspy Voice snarled, dangerously close to breaking her concentration.  They're not going to stop coming, you just need to get out of here!  The others are waiting!

He was right, and she knew it, but an escape that would be completely without risk would not be easy.  Physical attacks were effective, but could only take out about ten at a time in she was lucky, and for every one zoanoid  that fell, five more would be there to take its place.  Too dangerous for fire, and ice would only hinder her escape…  She needed to take them all down in one blow, so she would be given a clean shot at the exit…

Seraphim caught the blade as it came back to her, but this time she held it, sheathing it back at her side.  Once again the zoanoids paused to look at her curiously, questioning her actions, but it was only for a second before they fell upon her once again.

Lucifel…it is time.

The red alarm lights suddenly dimmed, plunging the lab into near darkness, the din of the sirens reduced to a thin wail far off in the distance.  The zoanoids recoiled, if not only by a few inches, their courage waning as the lab was plunged into sudden darkness.  Then, there was a new movement.  Something rose up from behind the small figure of the girl, an indescribable figure that was black beyond black, rearing up tall and intimidating and towering over the heads of the tallest zoanoids.  Not a zoanoid; it could not have been.  There was no other troops of the Thunderbolts within the lab, and no way for them to have gotten in.  Four red eyes glared like hellfire in the darkness as the creature screamed, and tendrils of dark purple energy gathered around the long, sharp object protruding from above the creature's eyes.  The dark energy condensed into a ball that washed out the lab in black light, showing the zoanoids the silhouette of the creature that had come to Seraphim's aid.

A horse?

No, not a horse.  It could not have been.  Not with that massive, seven-foot horn growing from its head, the four mad, rolling red eyes, the four spindly wings…

It was the clearest image they could get of the beast before it unleashed its attack upon the attackers.  Dark energy washed over the masses of zoanoids, and in a chorus of guttural cries they dropped like flies, all clawing at their skulls in pain and agony.

The red emergency lights flared back to life, and the sirens continued to bellow, but all the zoanoids lay helpless and twitching upon the blood-soaked concrete floor of the central lab.  The apparition that had appeared behind Seraphim was no where to be seen.

Now!

With all the zoanoids down, Seraphim wasted no time in launching herself over the fallen bodies, taking a sharp left outside the lab and making for a clear shot right to the service elevators that would take her topside.  She had to move quickly, that was a given.  The darkness attack that was Lucifel's specialty might have been effective, but it would not last long with such a large numbers, and already the zoanoids were making motions to rise back to their feet.  She would not have time to do something like that again.

Seraphim flew down the hallways, skillfully jumping over the fallen bodies and debris with inhuman ease, the service elevators becoming closer with each passing step.  The doors had been blown clean off their hinges, but the cab was still intact.  If there was no other damage done to the shaft, then it meant the cables would still hold and be stable enough to carry her to the top, but they would be too slow.  She needed a way to climb twenty stories straight up, and fast.

Claws scraped against the hard stone floors, and guttural cries of rage echoed through the corridors.  Time to move.

Because of the shutdown of the main power grid, there was no power to run the elevators, and most likely there would be Chronos troops watching the stairs.  That meant unless she thought of another way out, she was as good as dead.  Seraphim entered the cab that was level to the laboratory floors, jumping up and forcefully kicking the emergency escape hatch open and leaping through the small opening.  The shaft above her was quickly swallowed in darkness, obscuring her vision from the pulley system.  Quickly, she looked down and observed the system by her feet; it looked standard.  Two cables, the cab, and the weight to balance it all out.  Maybe she could… But it would be awfully dangerous.  If she could not stop herself in time by the time she reached the top…

The cab sudden heaved violently beneath her feet.

No time to stop and contemplate, Seraphim.  An almost frantic female Voice said.  It's now or never.

Much agreed.

The elevator cab shook again, much stronger this time, nearly knocking Seraphim's feet right out from under her.  Once again, she unsheathed the scythe blade, took a firm hold of the cable in one hand, and severed it just below her feet.

Wind howled past her ears, whipping her cloak around her as the drop of the weight carried her up, up with frightening speed.  Even with her keen eyesight, it was hard to keep track of the number of floors that flashed before her eyes.  If she continued at this rate, with nothing to stop her, she would never survive the impact when she hit the top…

Seraphim!  The child-like Voice squealed.  Stop!  Now!

Seraphim looked up, pried one hand away from the cable, and thrust it straight up, concentrating her powers hard.  An incredible pressure filled the elevator shaft, turning the air into gel, and the dropping weight below her slowed drastically in the space of only two seconds before stopping completely, halting Seraphim's ascent only a mere foot from splitting her skull open on the pulley system above her.  She took a moment to breathe a silent sigh of relief before turning her attention to the closed doors before her.  She glared at them, and they blew clean off their hinges.

Swinging herself from the cable and out the door, Seraphim was hardly surprised to see that the ground level of the base was full of zoanoids who were, without a doubt, waiting for her. 

"There she is!"  One bellowed.  "Get her!"

Seraphim could not help but smirk.  "Over my dead boy."

Get 'em, boys.

The zoanoids hardly had the chance to take three steps towards her before they were being knocked off their feet by a series of heavy, invisible attacks began to take out zoanoids by the dozen, tossing them clean across the room as if they were rag dolls and giving Seraphim a clean break for the exit.  Sheer pandemonium broke out like wildfire amongst the troops as the zoanoids looked desperately for the source of the attack, but only saw other Chronos zoanoids, falling around them with massive gashes on their bodies that nearly tore them in half.  Claw marks that were far too large to be a regular zoanoid, even if the Thunderbolts zoanoids had some sort of cloaking ability on them.

In the midst of the chaos and carriage, Seraphim ran.

The front entrance of the base was gone with only a smoking black hole in its wake, giving her a clean shot for the helicopters that were still waiting for her somewhere in the forest that surrounded the base.  The recent rainfall in the area made the debris on the floor slick under her feet, and when the chaos began to die down in the base behind her the zoanoids were coming back to her senses and hot on her trail once again.  The notion of phantom bodyguards was not going to dissuade them so easily; Balkus was probably pushing them to their limits to make absolutely certain she would not get away…

Seraphim was fast, but not fast enough to leave the super-soldier far enough behind her.  A swift, weasel-looking zoanoid by the name of Talpoor lunged at her from the ranks that were right on her heels,  using a nearby tree as a rebound to throw itself right at her, closing in on her like a bullet before another invisible bodyguard lashed out and knocked it away from her in mid-air.  The zoanoid hit another tree twenty feet away, its spine cracking wetly across the thick trunk.

Wind began to gush hard about her face, pushing against her as she neared the Thunderbolts escape helicopters.  Several of them were already air born, and the last one was hovering a few feet from the ground, anxiously awaiting her return.  Hooking the blade to the belt wrapped around her cloak, Seraphim made a jump for the helicopter, making it rock upon impact as she grabbed onto one of the handrails and held on for dear life.

"She's in!"  Someone from inside the helicopter cab shouted.  "Go!  Before they get the lasers-types out!"  The helicopter rose sharply into the air, leaving the masses of gathering zoanoids shrinking rapidly under her.  The engines whined and roared in her ears, and the wind whipping down at her from the propellers threatened to rip her iron-tight grip right off the hand bars, but Seraphim could not help but smile as her opponents were left in staggering bewilderment below her.

Hoping that Balkus was watching her through the eyes and minds of his creations, Seraphim pried one hand free from the rail, placed two fingers into her mouth and whistled, loud, shrill and long.  Her battle cry, which was well-known to both fighting sides long before she ever made herself known otherwise.

Adding insult to injury.  Not the most satisfying form of revenge, but it would have to do.

Grinning broadly as the helicopter soared over the trees, Seraphim swung herself into the cab of the flying vehicle, trying to keep her balance as mild air turbulence from the passing storm rocked the helicopter gently.  The man who had been waiting for her return grunted as he slammed the door shut, locking out the roar of the engines above.  He sighed, then turned to Seraphim with his arms crossed.  "Well.  That went well."

"Oh, shut up.  I got out, didn't I?"  Seraphim retorted, pulling off the hood of her cloak.  Long, silky strands of raven-black hair spilt down around her shoulders and down to her mid-back, sharply contracted by a stark white streak that ran along her right temple.  Her sharp eyes, eternally alight with an internal spark of mischievousness and craft, were the color of freshly spilt blood that could send a chill down the spine of even the toughest Zoanoid.  The most striking features about the girl was not her hair or her eyes, or even the fact that her ears were pointed; it was the dramatic dark marks slashed along her jaw line, two slender triangles reaching half-way up to her cheekbones, and the crescent-shaped mark on her forehead. 

It was safe to say that Sara was hardly your average sixteen-year-old-girl.

Most people did not speak to Agito Makishima using her words or tone of voice, but the leader of Zeus' Thunderbolts only smirked and sat down on one of the padded helicopter seats.  "Any problems?"

Sara sighed, unzipping her long black cloak and tossing it on the nearest seat.  "Let's just say they were waiting for my arrival, and the red carpet had teeth.  Where's Griselda?"

"In back." Makishima answered.  "She's less than happy with you…fashionable tardiness."

"Hey, everything was going just fine until about ten minutes ago!  Besides, I kept my part of the deal.  No one saw me until the alarms started going off, they don't know my real identity or name, and they still don't know my connection to you or Griselda."

"And what about the Emotions?" asked a female voice from behind.  "Did you keep them hidden as well?"

Sara jumped a good few feet in the air and swung around, staring straight at Shizu Makishima, her eyes still shadowed with anxiety from Sara's late return.  "Oh….uh, yeah…them…"  Excuses ran through her head at a million miles an hour, but she knew that neither of them would believe any of them.  Sara drew herself up indignantly, setting her jaw.  "Well, I needed to do something to get out of there.  They swarmed into the labs like flies."

"Which one?"

"Lucifel.  Just to clear a path."

"Any others?"

"Uh…well…Hellhoug and Edana did help me get out of there…"

Agito raised an eyebrow, silently pressing her to confess.  He knew as well as anyone else that she hated that look, and gave in quickly.  "Alright!  So Aidan was there too!  But they were all Cloaked, I swear, no one saw them…"

"That's not the point, Sara."  Agito countered, his voice still level but slightly more stern.  "We let you come with us this time because you said that you could get in and out of the base without Chronos ever knowing you were there."

"It wasn't my fault!  We didn't know that they knew I was going to be there!  I was all a trap!  Just one big, fat, bloody trap!" Sarah exclaimed, and threw herself down onto the seat her cloak was wadded up on, looking extremely disappointed and frustrated with the whole situation.

Silence hung heavy between the few of them for a long couple of minutes, only the rhythmic thumping of the helicopter blades above the cab.  It was Shizu that took the first tentative step towards easing the tension between them.  "Sara…it wasn't your fault Linger died.  Please don't feel like you need to take responsibility for his death."

"He used to help me with my algebra homework in seventh grade.  I don't remember ever thanking him for it."

"He knew the risks he was taking when we went into that fight.  They all do.  That does not mean that you have to rush into battle feeling like you need to avenge them.  We know you're a good fighter, and that the Emotions will always be there to back you up, but one wrong slip up…and you could share the same fate."  Agito's voice became softer, almost…comforting, in its own respect.  It was not a tone he used just around anyone.  "We don't want that to happen to you."

"Now you know how I feel every time the two of you just disappear into the battle.  Not knowing if either of you will come back…"

Shizu sat next to the distraught girl, putting an arm around her shoulders and drawing her close.  "We'll always come back, Sara.  Just leave the fighting to us.  All you have to worry about is being a kid right now, okay?"

"Enjoy it while you can, kid."  Agito added.  "Believe me, you're not going to get another chance."

Sara smirked slightly, the weariness of the battle finally beginning to wash over her.  "Thanks, Dad."  Between the gentle rocking of the helicopter, the droning thumping of the blades above, and her mother soothingly stroking her hair, she was soon lulled into a drowsing half-slumber.

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To be Continued…

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Author's Second Note: Thanks a bunch to Jade for her information and advice for this chapter.  It helped a bunch!

Next Chapter: Despite the world-wide war against Chronos, David Barker's doing his best to just be a normal teenager.   Most of the time, it's not a problem; star soccer player, active tae kwon do martial artist, energetic drummer for his garage band… But sometimes, an exploding locker is just what he needs to remind him that he's not completely normal, no matter how hard he tries…