Silently the group of five walk along the walls of the first few halls to the metal structure. The hall dim and gloomy. Some sort of lighting above them lighting the halls poorly. At the moment Jet was to the front, followed by Clive, Virginia, Gallows, and then Emilia. It was all out of strategic placement. Jet was usually the one with the best reflexes so he would be best to dodge any sudden attacks while Clive was in his spot to counter attacks and also be on hand to form new plans. Virginia had her center placement because it was just simply a smart idea to place the leader there. Gallows could trigger his arcana and it would be best to put defensive arcana to use from there. Emilia had good senses so it was smart to put her to the back.

Jet being in the lead came to the next corner, a right turn, and a fist came flying for his head to which he jumps away from and counters with his own. The two men began exchanging soft blows in the dim lighting as the rest of the group went wide-eyed not expecting that attack. Before they could attack back a second person entered from the next hall.

"Stop it you two!" Sakura bellowed as Adven and Jet continued blocking and throwing punches. None of them actually ever hitting the other. "Adven, that's Jet!"

The two stop. Adven looks at her and blinks. "Sakura…I knew that before I jumped at him."

Jet nodded. "Me too."

The rest of them could only just stare at the two weirdoes that be Jet Enduro and Adven Bok. Adven shrugged and the two stood at attention. "Okay, okay." He looks to Jet. "Seeing that I'm here with Sakura on a mission I'll save this for later."

"A mission?" Virginia questions.

Sakura nodded. "I…was attacked the other day. The man who shot at me is supposed to be here somewhere."

Jet's ears twitched. "Attacked?"

"Adven…saved me. There was no problem." She assured. It was silent a moment more. "Why are you guys all here?"

"A mission just the same as you. Though…not after a person." Clive explained. "We are looking for Hawthorne's Gauntlet that-"

Gallows placed his hand on the sniper's shoulder. "Clive…they don't need to know all that." Clive becomes crestfallen.

"Well…if…our foe…is sort of the same…why don't we just…ally up…y'know?" Emilia interjects all along noticing the vehement problem that be Adven and Jet's rivalry and Sakura and Virginia's. Ally them? It may be possible. Still…Emilia was a bit afraid of the possibilities. She could see Jet punching Adven in the face if they team-up with one another against one foe. Just because they could not be a true team. "Maybe?"

Sakura looked at Virginia. It could be considered the two be the leaders of each group. Though…a couple of people is not usually considered a group. "I…have no problem with it as long as I get to fight Dijon Relish."

"Grant Dijon." Adven corrects her…AGAIN.

She nods in embarrassment. "Right, Grant Dijon."

Virginia nods as well. "I agree then. We'll work together to achieve both of our goals."

"Well then…shall we be off?" Clive questions looking around the bend to a long hall that leads to what he could make out as a spiral staircase of broad size. At least three to four men could walk up it shoulder to shoulder. There was only the sound of a faint machine from somewhere and the breathing of a few of the group. Those who were the type who were used to sneaking about did not make noise in their exhales. A few of them that Clive had looked to nodded and they walked down the longer stretch of halls. An odd feeling amongst them. Something was strange that made Virginia's stomach bubble and swirl. Something that would not let Gallows even let out a word. The lights overhead created a shadow on the floor before the group. A silence passed as the man stood there tall.

"Cremate!" A violent voice rang.

"Reflect!" Gallows sent the attack back, but the man dodged the arcana.

It fell quiet again. The tall man with his medium-length raven head of hair and the scar going from his forehead in a diagonal for the area under his right eye. Simple clothing on his body. A navy blue sleeveless shirt and black jeans. On his arms two gauntlets each a brown like that of the desert sands. "My only enemy here is the one from Baskar. I don't give a crap about the rest of you." The man explained in a grim tone that is his voice.

Virginia swallowed bitterly. She looked to Gallows who stood rather determined. She could not just leave him behind on his own…could she? She could not. That was not how a leader would do this. No, not just because she was the leader…because he was her friend. She could not leave him here at the mysterious man's mercy! "Virginia…you guys go on ahead." Gallows declares. A grin comes to his face. "I'm going to be fine. To use a line I think it was Clive said once…this is merely the parting of ways onto two separate paths that will converge later."

Virginia holds her breath. "I believe in you…We all do Gallows."

"Well you shouldn't." He scoffs. "Hurry on now, I want to get this over with quickly and I can't do that with you guys in the way." Jet nods and grabs Virginia—because he knows she wouldn't leave otherwise—and the rest of them followed after leaving the two men staring at one another with a gap between them.

"Do you know who I am?" The man who attacked wonders.

"No, and I don't really care whether I do or don't."

The eyes of the second man squinted. A fist formed. "My name is Kiev-Q!" He declared. "I came to your damn colony years ago to learn how to wield magic…and your grandmother turned me away…but not before you used your own arcana to freeze me as I left."

Gallows scratches his head. "Uh…I did that?"

"I despise you. You are quite possibly the best arcana-user in the world by now, I imagine." The man throws his hands aside. "The man who is the best at arcana must be replaced! Replaced by someone who deserves such a title."

Gallows smirks. "A man…that is you." Kiev nods in turn.

A clattering of feet on metal steps was heard along the circular stairs that the remainder of the group had gone on to. A flight up or so they were about to reach. Jet still to the front and Emilia to the far back of them. It was then that three steps were destroyed all in the ten step gap between Emilia and the rest of the group. Emilia blinked as the dust and debris from the attack on the stairs settled down. The rest of the group already facing Emilia and the mysterious man between them. A man with red hair with the long bangs on his left side covering his eyes of pink that lack pigment. A birth defect. A white gi worn over the dark blue undershirt with the left sleeve missing. His lower part of that same arm covered in bandages.

Emilia remains with a straight face. She eyes the shinobi-zue (ninja-cane) in his right hand was the same as her own. Odd…because she can tell he is a left-handed person, and yet he holds it in his right. The same side that his sheathe is on at his belt. "That attack you used on the stairs…looked a lot like a West Wind Sword Art skill." She comments coolly.

The man puts his blade away. A simple chuckle. "My name is Shingo."

Jet balks. "Hey! You're that 'Duck' guy." He points out. "A huge wuss because you're known for always backing away from all attacks rather than moving forward to block or deflect them."

"Traversing Blade!" Shingo lets out an attack for Jet and the group that is the equal to Emilia's Transcended the Blade.

"Lion's Shield!" Jet blocked the attack by throwing his Lion's Rage Punch at the stairs. There was silence as he stood upward. Jet looked straight into the one eye he could see. "Quack!"

Shingo bit his lip and went to draw his blade again. "Shingo!" Emilia cried out. "You came for me…I'm sure, right?"

Shingo calms and turns his attention back to the woman. "My sword art is the same as yours because I wield the East Wind Sword Art, the rival art of your own." He explains. "I care not for your pathetic friends there and…if you refuse to meet with me I will kill them."

"I will do." She proclaims. "You guys keep going to stop McCoy. I can handle this guy."

Again…Virginia was with a gloved fist. Hesitant to leave her as they had left Gallows before. "I…"

"Go Virginia. I won't die." She assured. "Of course we'll meet up again…you still owe me that money I won off you."

Virginia nods. Jet grabs her wrist again to drag her along again up the remaining stairs for the third floor. It was there that they ran into another long hall that led to more circular stairs at the end. Cold along the halls. It was a more narrow and slender hall. Possibly two empty sections to each of the sides. They run down the hall as fast as possible still at their most awares. Jet stopped and Adven ran into him, but the rest came to their abrupt ends. They looked ahead of them to the man in front. Blue hair covered over with a black fedora with a slip that read 'PRESS' on it. A black suit jacket with a red scarf 'round his neck.

"Grant Dijon!" Sakura declared, but just as she had Adven and Clive were kicked by two other enemies through the weak walls into two empty rooms adjacent of each other. Dijon still standing still in the middle of the hall before Sakura, Virginia, and Jet.

"Sakura Ryokai!" The ex-assassion now reporter declared as he let his ARM fall to his side and unleash rounds upon the group who broke apart and rolled aside. Jet and Virginia on one side behind a dug-in section that jarred out and went back into the wall. Sakura was behind another on the other wall.

"Jet!" Sakura roared over the bullets. "Go on ahead! I have this under control."

Jet nods grabbing Virginia tight and running out into the storm as Sakura took out the ARM she rarely uses, but brought along knowing she would need it. She let out her own multiple rounds while dodging Grant's. Jet continues running past the man who focused on Sakura who was firing on him.

"Jet! I don't need your help to run!" Virginia declared, but Jet did not pay her any mind. The two just kept running and reached the stairs. One look back at Sakura who was exchanging rounds with Dijon, and the two holes in each wall around them where their other friends were most likely headed into their own skirmishes. Jet was more worried about his own that was coming along.