And... I lied. Here's Chapter 4. I forgot that I had it almost ready to go. Chapter 5, now, will be around by next week. Now that I've said that, it won't. Maybe I'll just obsess tonight and have it off, or perhaps all one of my loyal readers will be waiting until next month. It's awhile 'til April...

Unfortunately, I still do not own Silent Mobius. Guess I'm just not pimp enough.

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Chapter 4: Challenge

Klein now stood outside the AMP headquarters, the acidic rain corroding the pavement, but not even wetting a hair on his head. He pursed his lips, shifted his weight from one leg to another, put on a sinister, surreal grin, and headed inside, the doors opening by themselves long before he got near. Upon entering the well-lighted hallway, Leonid noticed that the walls were covered with protective talismans.

"Seems I've been expected. That Nami girl must've put those up. Figures that Yuki Saito saw me coming an hour away."

"You did walk here. Oh well," King Bleeder sighed. "Those things can't stop us."

As the malignant pair passed each magical scroll, it reacted violently with their ill aura. Each fired a large bolt of white lightning into the Chaos Paladin's energy, which returned fire with black electricity, incinerating the amulet, leaving a charred outline on the wall. Klein chuckled.

"Here's an interesting little situation," Leonid jested as he entered the reception room to find the AMP waiting for him. "Well, now. What've we got here? It's Katsumi Liqueur with Grospalina ready to greet us. Kiddy's got herself a nice sidearm. Leybia, too. Nami's packin' a gnarly- looking sword. I'd wager Yuki's been practicing that whole telekinesis thing. There's Lum-Cheng and her elemental staff. Good of you to join us, Mana. Was Chief Cheyenne unable to come?"

Each member of the AMP stared open-mouthed. Kiddy spoke first, shaking a fist.

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

"Well, you're quite direct with your introductions. The name's Leonid Klein. I've got an appointment with Rally Cheyenne. That's all. Can I get a little help here, ladies?"

Suddenly, Yuki hunched over, her head pounding with visions of the future, and looked up a moment later with a startled expression.

"In the Chief's office!" she yelled. "Everyone! It's Gnosa Maximillian!"

"You're sure it's him?" Katsumi asked, trying not to quiver.

"Definitely! There's no mistaking it!"

"Come on!" Kiddy shouted.

"Sorry, but duty calls!" Nami told Klein with a bow. "Nice to meet you!"

"I said 'Come on'!" Kiddy reminded, starting drag her colleague along behind her. She called back to the stranger: "Our apologies! Now is no time for small talk!"

Leonid raised an eyebrow as the female police officers all headed toward the elevator. He raised his foot, and brought it down hard. The AMP members stopped in their tracks as a wall of indigo fire flared up a few feet from the elevator.

"Hey!" Mana yelled in the direction of the surreal walk-in. The director and her comrades ran back to the lobby to find Klein shaking his head, a crazed grin on his face.

"No admittance!" he roared before beginning a round of demonic laughter that resonated across the room. "You musn't think I've lied to you, because I haven't. Mr. Maximillian and the two of us do indeed have an appointment with Chief Cheyenne, and we can't be bothered. Just leave us to our work."

"That's not going to happen!" Lum-Cheng protested. "You're with that creep, and we can't let you hurt the Chief! Who are 'the two of us,' anyway?"

"Shall I introduce you, or would you rather do it yourself?" Leonid asked the massive weapon on his back, which he then drew, spilling "blood" accumulated from the last battle all over the floor.

"I will," it replied. "I am King Bleeder! No dumb sword shall ever best me!"

"King Bleeder!" Grospalina suddenly called out, shocked.

"Well, if it isn't Grospalina! So you've finally found yourself half a master! You couldn't possibly have believed you had finished me!"

"I guess not..."

"You know that thing?!" Katsumi demanded of her serrated companion.

"Yes, we..."

"Anyway," Klein cut in. "I wish to see how many I can subdue by myself. Is that alright?"

"Feeling that twig of a sword's pitiful concern will be enough for now," his blade answered, not seeming to mind a loss of action at all.

"Alright," Leonid said, and sheathed his weapon. "So, who wants to go first?"

"Bring it on!" Kiddy spat, already sprinting towards the intruder. She raised a fist, preparing a serious of bone-breaking punches. "Hyah!"

The cyborg followed through, aiming her blows at Klein's head. But despite the speed of her attack, he dodged each punch with ease, his movements almost a blur. The Chaos Paladin and angry redhead darted about the room.

"Why won't you stay still?!" Kiddy snarled, furious with her lack of accuracy.

"Sure."

He stopped, caught one fist in his palm, and pulled her directly into his knee, knocking the wind out of her. Leonid calmly hurled her against a wall, leaving a deep outline as she slid onto the floor limply. She glared at him, but couldn't get anywhere close to avoiding the kick to the side of her head that, with some strange footwork, sent her to the other side of the room, where she lay still.

"Kiddy!" Yuki screamed in horror.

"Quiet, girl! She'll live," Klein snapped. "Dare I say it? Next!"

"Fine!"

"Figures the one I tell to shut up would get a bit more agitated. Let's see what you've evolved into, Ms. Saito."

Yuki yelled, and sent a massive wave of mental energy roaring across the room. The Chaos Paladin shot his right arm out, spread his fingers wide, and flexed his arm muscles.

"Hah!"

An equally strong blast met with Yuki's and the two powers locked into a telekinetic shoving match. However, the black force quickly began to prevail over the red one. While his attack slowly pushed Yuki towards the wall, Leonid apathetically allowed Leybia to run over to where Kiddy was lying, remove her large gun from its holster and draw her own, and take aim at his back.

"Everyone! Yuki can't hold him off by herself! Coordinate your attacks!" she called to the other members before firing several shots at Klein, who didn't seem to be bothered.

"You do that," he said nonchalantly. "But I prefer to match blow for blow. King Bleeder, this is where you come in."

Leonid drew his gigantic blade, not spilling as much of the crimson substance this time. He aimed it a directly at Leybia, still stoical to her two-gun assault. The top edge panels slid open once more, and the three barrels extended.

"Leybia, move!" Lum-Cheng shouted, and the AMP's resident computer genius heeded her words. She attempted to run for cover, her weapons still blazing. However, she didn't know how fast he could fire.

"Agony Round!" Klein roared as the top turret launched a small, hazy, purple energy bullet. Leybia was caught by surprise by the impossible velocity of the shot, and it struck her square in the chest, but she continued to run. Officer Maverick stopped, wondering why the attack had no effect. The barrels retracted and the edge became sharp once more.

"What the...Ack!"

"Leybia!" Katsumi called as her teammate fell to the ground, screaming and writhing in anguish.

"Why you!" a voice shrieked from outside Leonid's peripheral vision. Nami had drawn her legendary sword, leapt into the air, and was bringing the burning light of the blade toward the Chaos Paladin in a downward slash. But he had seen her just in time, and with inhuman agility brought King Bleeder into a guard position, holding it like an assassin would when about to stab a victim. The weapons clashed, the tension shooting lightning and sparks. Klein grinned.

"You took me by surprise there. That's the spirit!"

"Just being a team player!" the priestess shot back. At that moment, Leonid was reminded that he hadn't quite defeated Yuki's bomb of mental energy, as it suddenly returned with a new enthusiasm and pinned him against the wall.

"Well now, aren't we... grr... clever! Rah!"

Klein's weakening telekinetic barrier roared back to life, throwing itself against the aggressor, burning black.

"I... can't hold him!" Yuki groaned. "He's way... too powerful!"

Just as the psyonic's heel met the wall, a strange light radiated from Mana, who calmly got into a stance that would allow her to focus her energy. She whispered a spell, and a large, blue sphere rose in front of her. The orb flashed, vanished, and reappeared, letting loose a broad beam of magical force in Leonid's direction. It was stopped on his barrier, though it gained ground, slowly but surely.

"Thanks, director!" Officer Saito chirped, and redoubled her own mental defenses, also gradually draining the Chaos Paladin's no-longer- raging psychic offensive.

"This could actually prove problematic!" he growled, as he moved his sword to his other hand in to continue the task fending off strikes from Nami's holy weapon.

"You bet we could! Fire Formation!" Lum-Cheng responded boastfully as she brought her staff forward and an inferno erupted from the tip, also colliding with Klein's failing shield.

"I see why that sorcerer has such a problem with you ladies," he conceited, still holding his own to some extent. "Not...quite good enough, though!"

The sinister aura surged forward, but still could not prevail as those four AMP members continued their barrage. Elsewhere, another two other great powers were entwined in a deathmatch. In this instance, though, fate pitted Lucifer-Hawk against Lucifer-Hawk.

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No prophetic outro for you all this time around. Review if you happened to read this. Much appreciated.