Metal Gear: Soldier X

by ShardclawKusanagi

A COE multicrossover story of accompanying side stories, anime/manga and games. The new story phase begins after a long hiatus with new mysteries, allies and more! It's been a long time, but...revised chapter 14 now uploaded.

6. Origins and Endings, Part 2

ShardclawK: Well, it's been awhile since I posted any new or revised stuff all because I've been busy with lots of work recently, but here's the fifth revised chapter where things should be really interesting from here on in so I hope everyone enjoys this offering I have. Thanks to Undead Apostle for commenting kindly on the revised chapters so far, my mission is to make this and COE among the best crossovers around once the revisions are complete and everyone's satisfied with them.

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ShardclawKusanagi presents:

Metal Gear Solid: Soldier X

Chapter 5: Origins and Endings, Part 2

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Inside FOXHOUND Headquarters, Washington D.C, 7:57am...

Lt. Matthew Reese was not having a good morning. His attempt to keep Scorpion from going to Japan failed, thanks to Col. Roy Campbell's earlier intervention. Not too long ago, he had learned that Greg had ignored the order to return to America in order to look after important details that concerned his surrogate family, Team WARRIOR. And to add to that, FOXHOUNDers Riku Hanabishi, Nagi Naoe and Tot had recently left HQ for Japan on Campbell's orders, which were no doubt part of a plan to keep Reese's distance from them because of Nagi and Riku's abilities, not to mention the possibility of him knowing about Nagi's past with Schwartz.

Reese knew that they were not heading straight to Tokyo-3, but instead to the home of Maki Kawasaki where Greg is currently staying. Knowing what kind of person Riku is, Reese knew that the ninja and his partners would soon end up learning of Greg's problems and help him out along the way. However, Reese was not to allow something like those three or Team WARRIOR get in his way of orchestrating the Patriots' plans.

"Wiseman's Committee...it is me." Reese said, as he communicated through his telephone in his office. "I have called to make a report concerning Kinezono."

"We already have information about him getting involved with Team WARRIOR, but it seems that new problems have arisen." One of the voices of the Patriots replied. "He has already met the biodroid, Seraph."

"You're saying that Schwartz has failed in stopping her?" Reese asked.

"Correct. Kinezono himself confronted one of the members and managed to keep her safe for the time being, but by now he probably knows about her situation concerning the capture of Yuina Hattori." Another of the Patriots answered him.

Reese clenched his fists in frustration at the news, but continued as best he could to remain composed.

"In any case, even if he eventually does know about our plans for the biodroid, the plans will remain unchanged." The voice said. "Once Mantis has fully drawn out that emulate's true potential, we will no longer need him and that girl."

"Will that apply for the WARRIOR girl as well?" Reese asked.

"Yes, she too will be punished for getting too curious into our affairs, no one defies our existence." The voice replied to him in a stern tone. "But this does not mean that Kinezono will give up easily as to finding out what our plans for him will be."

"Yes, our sources have just confirmed him moving once more around the regions of old Tokyo in the country areas." Another of the voices spoke. "It appears he is going for assistance to aid him in finding answers."

"He and whoever is sided with him must be stopped at any cost. The time is ripe for you to take a course of action that will surely put him in his place." Another of the Patriots spoke.

"That is why we're assigning to you an experienced mercenary who can handle the job more than efficiently." The original voice spoke once more. "He has served our purposes quite well for over the years and you should certainly have heard of him and his reputation."

"We will assign to you the one known as…Shade." The third voice bellowed out as one of the screens in front of him showed a tall, muscular built man who appeared to be in his thirties and was 6' feet tall. He had dark hair and piercing black eyes as one of his recognizable features was that he had scars that covered the entire upper right side of his face. He was wearing a black trench-coat and a simple bowler's hat.

"Shade has been notified of the situation and has accepted to take the mission of stopping Gregory Kinezono and his allies. We even went so far as to get the 'Death Squad' ready and awaiting for him and Team Warrior." One of the Patriots said.

"The Death Squad…?" Reese asked, this news having spiked some curiosity at the mention of the name.

"They are best trained and skilled soldiers this side of FOXHOUND, programmed efficiently by the S3 program to follow no other orders but ours."

"You are free to use them to your disposal, Reese. As a safety measure in case Kinezono succeeds."

"But see to it that he doesn't." The first voice said warningly.

"I will see to it immediately, you have my word as a dedicated follower of the Committee that you will see it happen as you have requested." Reese spoke as the screens by which the Patriots communicated were turned off, leaving Shade's monitor on. Shade's face had a piercing and cold look to it, as if it was to intimidate Reese to an extent.

So far, it seemed he was doing quite a good job at it, but Reese knew that he could not afford to show his fear right now to anyone, especially a mercenary of this caliber who he would be commanding. Coughing loudly, he composed himself as he spoke to the mercenary.

"Shade...I have an assignment for you." Reese spoke.

"What is it that you want, Reese?" Shade growled at Reese. Shade had heard a great deal about Reese's reputation as a commander and his piss poor job at it. He still couldn't believe that he would have to work below one such as this. Shade himself would have been pleased to do this assignment for his own twisted pleasure without being bothered by anyone leading the operation, especially one such as Reese. Shade knew had all the experience and more than Reese to be qualified for doing the job solo anyway, but in pretence for displaying his duty to the Patriots, he decided to play it out until the job was completed.

"There is a rebel within FOXHOUND named Gregory Kinezono that seeks to interfere with my plans. He needs to be stopped, permanently." Reese said. "Knowing your skills and abilities, you can surely live up to your name and not disappoint me."

"I have heard of him and his power. He is also a friend of Michael Hansen, am I correct?" Shade asked.

"Actually, he's one of his closest." Reese replied, knowing each FOXHOUNDer's value of friendship and comradeship amongst one another, another reason why he despised them all so much.

"Then, I'll take this on the condition that afterwards I get to trail Michael and finish the job." Shade smiled, as he began to think to himself. (Taking that into account, this will serve as a considerable bonus for accepting this troublesome job from this lousy general Reese...at least I will get some fun out of tormenting Michael when I eventually kill this Kinezono and whoever's with him before I can go ahead and when I'm through with them, I'll have my fun disposing of Mantis as well. And of course having some 'personal time' with those two girls he is holding captive afterwards…)

"Of course, and I assure you this will be worth your time, Shade." Reese said to him. "Your experience and strength will certainly outdo Kinezono and his current abilities at the moment…I'm certain he will not be any trouble for you at all when you get to him."

"Hmph, and here I was thinking he would at least entertain me in a fight. Oh, well…this just only makes my job easier." Shade grinned at the comment.

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"We're closing in the drop site." Nagu Masaki said over his com unit to Riku Hanabishi, who nodded at him. From behind him, Nagi Naoe and his girlfriend, Tot, were seated and were waiting to meet Gregory Kinezono. Nagi especially wanted to meet him soon enough after joining FOXHOUND, because of the many rumors surrounding him.

"Man, the moment is finally here." Nagi could barely sit still. "I'm going to meet the another psychic soldier of FOXHOUND like myself."

"You've been like that since we got into the helicopter, Nagi. You must really want to meet this Greg really bad, huh?" Tot asked.

"I'm just curious to know about him, that's all." Nagi replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Especially after all that Riku has told me about him. Wouldn't you be curious to meet another psychic if you were like me, Nanami?"

"I guess so. Besides, I don't mind meeting someone new and making new friends, especially if it's someone from our group who we haven't met yet." Tot replied, before looking at Riku. "So why not tell us a bit about your friend, Riku?"

Riku sighed with a grin as he sat back down on his seat besides the couple to explain as much as he knew about Greg.

"As far as I can tell, Greg could fool almost anyone by his appearance alone into thinking that he's no psychic, let alone being a recruit for FOXHOUND." Riku explained. "From what I've heard from some people like his girlfriend Linn Aramaki and Naomi, before he joined FOXHOUND, he spent his training years with the Marines under their Martial Arts Program. But most of the time he was in Japan in his earlier years, he eventually was able to learn some things from Seishiro-san."

"Wait a second, you mean Seishiro Takeda who's the current field commander of the Wolf Pack?" Nagi asked, a bit surprised that someone else that he already knew was that familiar with Greg.

"The one and only, it seems he has a past with the people who took Greg in." Riku replied with a smile. "Actually, I think he and Greg have been pretty close for a long time. In fact some might say those two are practically like father and son."

"Wow, it's really a small world, huh?" Tot asked with an amused smile. "To think our good friend from the Wolf Pack is that close to someone else from our unit...it's amazing, really."

"Yeah, I admit that I was a bit surprised about that myself when I found that out." Riku admitted.

"So I take it that thanks to Seishiro-san, Greg must be really experienced in the fields of combat, huh?" Nagi asked.

"You bet. He's one of those people not to be taken lightly, considering the amount of influences he's had." Riku said. "Aside from him being ranked a Grenadier from the Marines, he's also had some pretty extensive Harrier piloting training. Not to mention that he has some considerably dangerous CQC skills too, though they're not as dangerous as to be on Garland's level. After all he's one of the few in FOXHOUND to give Greg pressure in a sparring match."

"You're saying Greg is just as skilled at Garland at his age?" Tot asked in amazement.

"No, I wouldn't go so far as to say that…especially since I can recall the large amount of times Greg has lost to Garland in sparring matches. Garland's strength and experience still far outclasses Greg. Even just before Dead Cell attacked Japan, I was there the last time they sparred; it was a truly unbelievable fight. From what I heard, he has trained under some people whose fighting arts I swore I've seen somewhere before, but I really can't connect the styles at the moment." Riku explained.

"And to think he's the second psychic of FOXHOUND to boot…this Greg must really be something." Nagi spoke as he was impressed from what he had just heard. "His powers sure sound like they'd be something to see."

"Actually, while Greg may be a psychic, you rarely see him use his powers on the battlefield. It's an especially rare case to see him use more advanced techniques. Greg tends to keep his powers in reserve for an emergency situation, but all the while, he can be serious and calculating, it's as if he's trying to make up for mistakes he may have done in the past." Riku said. "All in all, he really is a nice person to be with and depend on, but…he also has this sad and depressing nature about him that most people can't place their finger on…it's as if he thinks of his powers as a curse more than a blessing."

Nagi suddenly looked serious at Riku's last comment, which for a moment had given his friend an almost somber expression, as he pondered what Riku had meant. Finally he spoke.

"You know if you think about it, that really isn't uncommon among psychics." Nagi spoke. "Or any others with paranormal abilities, for that matter…"

"Yeah…too true, I'm sorry to say." Riku replied in agreement, as all three knew quite a few people who could attest to that.

For a moment none of the three said anything until Riku, noticing his friends' troubled expressions decided to speak.

"Here now, don't let what I said get to you two. Nothing's physically wrong with our Greg. He may have some issues, but he never lets them bother him too much." Riku assured him. "Besides, he has control of his powers to an extent and I'm certain that's all thanks to his sensei, Rio Kinezono and all the attention she's given him.

"Rio Kinezono?" Tot asked.

"She's Greg's surrogate mother and teacher of his martial arts skills. She's also the point leader of an anti-terrorist group, named Team WARRIOR. They are like FOXHOUND, but they move more like a strike force." Riku explained.

"Is that the group we are going to meet soon, Riku?" Nagi asked. "From what you told us, they sound like an interesting group."

"That's what I thought the first time I met them." Riku said, as he leaned back so he could get comfortable while he could tell the two about this. "Greg, Linn, and I were doing a mission outside of the sunken areas of Japan where a terrorist faction had seized a touring group of important businessmen. Everyone else, such as Garland, Michael, and James were on their own missions, so we were sent to handle it."

"What was the name of this group?" Tot asked.

"They called themselves, the V.D.S. or the Virtual Drug Syndicate." Riku replied.

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The date was November 22nd, 2012, outside of Japan's waters on a newly launched international cruise liner that had temporarily set dock on Neo Tokyo's waters and was ready to set sail when a group of terrorists have hijacked the liner and have held several important government officials hostage. Greg, Linn, and Riku had split up in order to cover more ground.

Currently, Riku was being pursued by a patrol of heavily armed troopers of the V.D.S. Normally, the young ninja would not have been spotted so easily, but shortly beforehand, he had managed to locate, rescue, and secure a few of the hostages as they were being transported to another part of the ship. Riku had then been able to find a place where the people he rescued could hide and wait things out until this was over. However, just as he was leaving to back up Greg and Linn, Riku noticed a patrol heading in the direction of where he had hid the hostages, so the young ninja had no choice but to act as a decoy to ensure their safety, which led up to his current position. After he was sure that he had led the patrol far enough away, Riku then put in an extra burst of speed into his running and after a few minutes stopped for a moment on the deck so that he could count the number of approaching men that were after him. That way he could contemplate what he should do now against the number.

"Hmm...So there are only seven of you, right?" Riku smirked as the men came towards him and then his face turned serious. "Okay, then that means I have to use...Nadare!"

He placed his hands together, and summoned one of his 'dragons', which emerged from his body and fired multiple fireballs at the group. The fireballs attacked each of the troopers, the effect was that five of them were knocked out by the impact, plus being burned by the flames, while two of them attempted to put the flames out by fanning it from the burning area.

Riku saw his opening and drew out his M9. He was about to fire it at the remaining two troops who were still aflame, when the two suddenly went down from a couple of sniper shots. He placed his gun down in surprise.

(Was that Scorpion?) He thought, as he stepped closer to the troops. He saw for himself that the shooter had a frighteningly good aim, as the exposed area of the armor was hit on the mark by a tranquilizer dart for each troop. Riku immediately knew Scorpion wasn't capable of this, since he knew that the sniper would have killed the troops instead.

Riku then sensed the sniper's presence nearby and looked up to see a really ravishing looking woman with short, green hair and wearing a yellow bandana in it. She had on a black, tight outfit with a green color that was displayed on the edge of her bust-line of the suit and other places, while on her shoulders were armor pads. Riku gulped at the sight of her massive cleavage that jiggled in front of him, and the large sniper gun that she was holding. It seem to be one that she custom made herself, and that it was even bigger than a normal PSG-1.

"Who the hell are you?" Maya Jingu snapped, quickly switching to her handgun. Riku simply took out for one his throwing star shuriken and made ready to throw it if necessary, carefully aiming at her neck.

"That's my line." Riku asked, his expression serious. "Are you one of the terrorists?"

"Do I look like one?" Maya replied, pointing her gun at his head. "Just how the hell were you able to do that thing with the flames?"

"Would you like a first hand experience and see how it's done?" Riku said, getting into a fighting position, making ready to call on his flames using his free hand to wield them. There was a standoff for a few seconds, until Greg's voice called out from behind Maya.

"Maya! What the...?" Greg came running towards Maya as he saw the position she was in and prepared to back her up, when he saw Riku. "Oh, I see that you've met my buddy, Riku."

"You know this woman, Greg?" Riku asked, as he relaxed and then lowered his guard since he could obviously see this woman was not an enemy.

"Yeah, this is one of the women who raised me when I was still a kid." Greg said, looking at Maya with a smile. "Cool it, will you, Maya? He's FOXHOUND too."

"You're Riku? This is the kid you were telling me about?" Maya simply replied with a sigh, she returned the gun back into the holster. "Sorry about that. I kind of got itchy to shoot something else besides the terrorists when I saw you do that flame thing. Greg told me a little about you...I'm Maya Jingu."

"No hard feelings at all, ma'am." Riku with a polite smile, but his face reddened slightly as he got a chance to glance at Maya's breasts. Greg only stared at Riku from the side, before he shook his head and faced forward.

"Eyes front, Riku. You've forgotten that we're on a mission already?" Greg asked, clutching to his grenade gun.

"Uh, right." Riku replied nervously as Greg simply shook his head.

"It's cool, man. Like you in your age, I've been there myself. But right now, we don't have the time for this, especially on a mission." Greg said to him.

"Sorry about that." Riku replied with a sheepish grin.

With that Riku, Greg and Maya went back into the interior of the carrier, where they went downstairs into the mess hall area as several of the troops were being laid to waste under Rio's mad CQC skills. She spun around with her batons, as she knocked down two of the hostiles, then stopping her spin with an aerial diving kick. Rio landed on one of her knees, as she took out a handgun and fired at her front, stunning her next target. She stood up and slightly opened her Team Warrior suit to let some air in.

"Ohhhh..." Rio simply sighed as she fanned herself. "What a bunch of lightweights. I hope Greggie isn't having too much trouble with the others."

Just then, Greg entered with Maya and Riku. He looked around as he saw the rampage of Rio Kinezono had taken place.

"Sensei Rio, are you alright?" Greg asked, suddenly looking around to see the defeated group of V.D.S troops. "Forget I asked."

Rio had now saw Greg, before she suddenly hugged him between her breasts. "Oh, Greggie! I do hope these nasty terrorists haven't managed to harm you!"

"That's my question! And will you please not do that, I'm getting too old for this!" Greg tried to fight his way out of Rio's hold. "Not in front of my friend, please?"

Rio noticed Riku had stepped in. "Oh? Is this handsome young man your friend from FOXHOUND?"

Riku tried his best not to get a nosebleed while his sights were set on the attractive Rio Kinezono, pressing her breasts on Greg's face. Just then, Nanvel and Lilica entered from the other door, also wearing Warrior outfits. Nanvel's was a light purple that covered her only her chest area, while Lilica's was a green. Just behind them, was Linn who was holding unto her crossbow gun. She saw Rio and her face went into a fit.

"Rio!" Linn shouted at Rio, who simply let go of Greg and faced Linn. She and Linn have a sort of 'rivalry' going over Greg. Rio has always had a jealous fit over Linn who has Greg to herself. She still believes that she can take better care of him than Linn ever could. "Take your hands off of Greg now...we're still on a mission."

Rio only glared at Linn. "Yeah, yeah…I know. Fine, I'll leave him alone for now."

"That's more like it." Greg lamented, fixing his Sneaking Suit after Rio released him. "In any case, how were things on your end, Linn and Lilica?"

"There wasn't too much trouble, but it never hurts to be careful." Lilica smiled, as she returned a large Beretta bigger than her hand into her holster.

"All taken care of, it was a cakewalk." Linn replied. "Those guys were really nothing special."

"Be careful how you rate our enemies these days, Linn. You have no idea of how capably dangerous or skilled they are." Greg replied to her sternly. "At least the two of you got through alright."

Linn nodded silent as she then noticed Riku was staring at the women in black outfits.

"Excuse me, but who are you guys? And how did you know about this operation?" Riku asked.

"This is the family that raised me since I was very young. Riku, this is Team WARRIOR and the woman you have just met is my surrogate mother, Rio Kinezono." Greg explained. "She taught me everything I needed to know to fight."

"I see. I was wondering how you ended up with a Japanese surname." Riku asked.

"Well, now you know." Greg replied.

"And I'm Nanvel Candlestick. Think of me as Greg's aunt." Nanvel said cheerily.

"Well, I was almost fooled there. I could have sworn that you were Greg's mother when I first met you, since you've got such nice dark skin." Riku said with a bashful smile.

"Oh, Greg! Riku's so cute!" Nanvel said, pinching Riku's cheek gently. Greg only sighed at this and smiled a bit.

"And I'm Lilica Ebett." Lilica smiled at Riku as she shook his hand. "I'm the famed hacker of WARRIOR, so nothing's too hard for me to get into digitally."

"You said it, Lilica. I don't think there's anyone just as good as you in the hacking field." Greg simply replied.

"Just why are you guys are here anyway?" Riku asked.

"We thought the V.D.S had more manpower than we were informed. Also there was no way the three of us could get the hostages safely out of here without causing trouble. So, I contacted Campbell before the mission and requested Team Warrior to be here to lend a hand." Greg said.

"We also have personal reasons for being here." Rio lamented seriously. "They caused a massacre back at our Police Town station…some of our good friends died because of them."

"I see…" Riku nodded as he had heard about that in the news just before this mission, and he could tell from Rio's expression that she obviously knew one or more of the victims very well. "You have my sincerest condolences."

Greg remained silent as he noted Rio's saddened expression. It was Linn who started to break the silence in the group.

"Anyway Riku, you should be grateful that you're getting a chance like this." Linn said. "You're the only person out of FOXHOUND so far to meet Team WARRIOR."

"So you've got to swear on your word of honor as a ninja that you won't tell anyone else about them…I want to avoid as much questions from people like Reese if he ever bothers me about my private life." Greg said to him. "Its just I'm not prepared just yet to give everyone the facts about me, okay?"

"You got it, Greg. You know your secrets are safe with me, you can count on me." Riku replied to him sincerely. "Ninja's honor."

"Of course I do, especially since you're one member from this group who I know is very good at keeping vital secrets, even from someone like myself." Greg said with a light grin.

"If there's anything you need to ask us when you want intel, you can have my frequency." Nanvel said. "It's 146.90"

"You guys have access to Codec as well?" Riku asked.

"Our version of the Codec could only tune into the frequency of the other person that is communicating. I made Greg's with a few mods in it." Nanvel smiled. "It's an MP3 player with all of his favorite songs varying from video games, some gangster rap, and even some rock. Also, like in that game, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, one of Greg's favorite games, he can use a different Codec screen and see himself in the area at the same time."

(Greg listens to rock?) Riku looked at Greg. He simply stared at his friend who returned a silent, yet puzzled look.

"What is it? I don't look like the type to be into that sort of thing, is that it?" Greg simply asked.

"Well, yeah." Riku replied nervously. "I know many people have their many tastes in music, but I'd never thought you'd be into that sort of thing, Greg."

Greg simply shrugged with a sigh as he talked. "Anyway, let's round up these perps and let the local authorities deal with them. Our job here is done anyway."

"Yeah, there's no way they will get away for the genocide act they were responsible for at Police Town just weeks ago." Rio said, taking out a pair of handcuffs.

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"So, this Team WARRIOR is like a team of FOXHOUND as well?" Nagi asked.

"Yeah, but the difference is that a majority of the members are women. The only male in the group is Yuji Naruo, who serves as their helicopter pilot and can even ride a motorcycle in the tightest of spots." Riku replied. "However, it still escapes me how a guy like him can manage being with those girls when they know what kind of person he is sometimes…"

"What do you mean by that, Riku?" Tot asked.

"You'll see when you meet them." Riku replied with a grin. "Anyway, trust me, you guys are going to get along great."

"We're nearing the drop site." Nagu said to the youngsters behind him. The helicopter landed a few meters away on the street from Maki's home, letting the three FOXHOUNDer's exit the helicopter with the belongings they brought with them. They then waved to Nagu who waved back to them and started to ascend once more in the helicopter as it left. Afterwards, the three began to trek towards the outside yard of the house when suddenly a sniper's scope could be seen from the rooftop from the house. And it was aimed at Nagi.

Riku stopped suddenly as he immediately sensed danger nearby. Nagi and Tot did the same as they noticed this.

"Hey, what's up, Riku?" Tot asked, stopping behind him.

"Someone's aiming at us." He said calmly looked up at the roof and there, Riku could see the glare from a sniper rifle's scope, and Maya wearing a yellow vest holding it. Maya smiled at Riku from on top and came down from the roof using a hoister strapped around her chest which was attached to the edge of the roof. "...Maya, put that thing down. It's me, Riku."

"Heh, you saw right through me as usual, Riku." Maya smiled at Riku. "How's it going with you?"

"Just fine so far, thanks for asking." Riku answered, as Nagi and Tot stared at Maya with wide-eyed looks on their faces, especially Nagi who couldn't keep his eyes of Maya's jiggling chest. Tot only tapped behind his head lightly with a harisen to make him come back to his senses.

"What do you think you're staring at?" Tot asked with an obviously jealous expression on her face.

"Heh, sorry, Tot." Nagi nervously said, rubbing his head.

"Who are your friends?" Maya asked, looking at Nagi and Tot.

"This is Nagi Naoe and his girlfriend, Tot, my two good friends and FOXHOUND partners otherwise known as Mystic Crow and Usagi Ninja." Riku introduced the two. Maya shook their hands and got into a serious look.

"Sorry about that. Lately, things haven't been going well for us." She said in a sad tone. "I was just making sure that no more suspicious looking characters showed up to give our lives hell."

Just then, Maki, Yuji, and Nastasha stepped outside. Maki instantly noticed Riku and walked towards him to greet him and his partners.

"Riku, this is a real surprise. I didn't expect you to show up now, but Greg did mention that you'd be coming anyway. It's been awhile." Maki said to him.

"Sorry to come in unannounced like this, but it sounded pretty urgent since even the Colonel told us to be here ASAP." Riku said, causing Maki to think a bit as he said this.

"Roy sent you?" Maki asked a bit surprised as she started to think to herself. (Now if even his superior has found out what has happened, it must be really serious if he'd send Riku and his partners here. He probably knows what Reese could plan for them as well sooner or later.)

"And by the looks of things, he must have some good reasons." Riku assumed seriously. "Did something happen here that I should know about, Maki?"

Maki sighed a bit before she spoke to the FOXHOUND ninja. "Riku...something has happened to Lilica...she's been kidnapped."

"What?" Riku shouted suddenly, alarming his friends. He had a feeling something had happened, but he wasn't expecting this.

"Lilica's the girl you told us about before we landed just now, right?" Nagi asked as he got a silent nod from Riku.

"She's been gone for a day now." Maya mused sadly. "Along with that, Rio got hurt pretty badly by the people who captured Lilica around the time."

(So, this is why Greg is here. Looks like the Colonel was right about something big happening around here.) Riku thought seriously. "Do you have any idea who did this, Maki?"

"It's a pretty long and creepy story, but I think we all have time to get to why this is happening." Maki said. "Since this mostly involves not just Greg, but your own group as well."

"Involves us as well?" Riku said, and gave a light sigh. "Man oh man, I'm already getting bad feelings as to where this is heading."

"All of us do, man." Yuji said. "This is tough for us to take in by the hour. In any case, we think you guys need to hear everything we found out just recently."

"Maki, is it wise that they should know what happened? They will learn about Reese in the long run too." Nastasha said as she leaned closer to her friend.

"They have to know. Riku's a friend of Greg's and he is also part of FOXHOUND. The most we can do is to tell him and his partners about Reese." Maki replied quietly before she turned to Riku and his friends. "Okay...Riku, you guys can come on in. We have a lot of details that you should know that are important."

Riku nodded and looked at Nagi. "Well, Nagi, it seems that Greg stepped out for awhile. You'll just have to wait it out until he returns."

"Oh, well, I don't mind the waiting." Nagi replied. "But even if this is Greg's family, the atmosphere's so…well, not lively."

"You know, I feel the same too…I have a bad feeling about this visit we're making, Riku." Tot said.

"I know that it's bad enough knowing one of my good friends has been kidnapped, I just hope I can brace myself for the details. But until Greg gets back, we should listen to what Maki and the rest of Team Warrior have to say." Riku beckoned his friends to come in.

As the three went inside the house, Riku noticed another of Team Warrior was missing.

"Hey, where's Nanvel anyway?" Riku asked.

"Oh, she's in with another guest on our temporary base of operations." Maya answered. "It's in one of these rooms, actually."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Somewhere else in the house, Nanvel Candlestick was seated in front of several flat screen monitors that were focused on the criminal records of certain individuals. Even if they had to go into hiding for the time being because of the situation they were in, WARRIOR could still access the Police Town's records from where they were currently staying, all thanks to Nanvel's advanced technology. This would prove useful to connect any crimes that were either unsolved or were left in the open to become a suspicious mystery to, especially since they could provide hints as to what was going on with Lilica's and Yuina's kidnapping by Psycho Mantis, who was being controlled by Matthew Reese and the Patriots. Most of the time, they could do this undetected without alerting any trouble.

Nanvel wasn't alone, though. In the same room, seated in front of her was the biodroid, Seraph. She was listening to Nanvel explain to her just what she knew about Geese Howard. Seraph was very curious as to how a man like him could be connected to Greg at all.

"Geese Howard, he's the ruler of all organized crime for the city of South Town, located in the United States." Nanvel explained to her as a picture of Geese, dressed in a white overcoat, was displayed. "Student of kung fu master, Tung Fu Rue, it was from him he learned most of the basic arts of fighting. But, Tung Fu favored fellow training student, Jeff Bogard over Geese to teach him the secrets of the Hakkyokuseiken fighting style. Let's just say he's really not the type of living as second best."

"So this Geese wanted revenge for this, am I correct?" Seraph asked.

"That's right…he started out as a kingpin of crime, then slowly but surely, he began to rise to the top by making threats to the Sakazaki clan, by trying to make Takuma Sakazaki kill Jeff Bogard." Nanvel said. "When Takuma refused being a henchman for Geese, his daughter, Yuri was kidnapped. Geese then used Takuma for his own gains by blackmailing him for the safety of his daughter."

"That man is surely evil to have done such a thing…" Seraph said.

"Takuma almost killed his own son, Ryo, one of the clan's successors as a result." Nanvel said. "This was because of Mr. Big, one of the nefarious kingpins of Southtown, but he was defeated by Geese and is now working under him. We've had him under Police Town watch for some time now. Mr. Big forced Takuma and Ryo to fight one another. Thankfully, Yuri stopped the fight before anyone of them was killed."

A picture of a tall and dark, bald man, wearing dark shades and a fur coat over his business suit, was seen alongside the picture of Geese.

"Takuma then trained Yuri after leaving Geese's ranks, and the clan managed to defeat him." Nanvel said. "However, as luck would be on his side, he survived the famous deathblow move Ryo had mastered and went into hiding. One of his infamous acts in his entire career is finally exacting revenge on Jeff by killing him in front of his two sons' eyes."

"That man sounds horrible indeed." Seraph shook her head as she spoke.

"That's the half of it…many thought he was killed by Terry Bogard, champion of the first King of Fighters tournament which Geese had constructed to satisfy his boredom." Nanvel said. "But he actually got hold of the Sacred Scrolls of Immortality, or the scrolls of Jin and has been gaining greater strength than before."

"So, he's been alive ever since?" Seraph asked.

"Yup, the old bastard's still ticking and still trying to compete as the king of organized crime of both the old and Second Southtown." Nanvel said. "He's got several rivals to compete with. One of them is Don Duke, the leader of Mephistopheles. He took charge of the few recent KOF tournaments some years back. Most of the history of this man is unknown."

A picture of Duke, a tall, burly man with white and black streaks of hair can be shown. He had a wide scar across his neck area.

"Then we've got international arms dealer, Rugal Bernstein. Most of the stuff about him is crazy, but true." Nanvel said, showing a picture of a tall, German male with long, pale hair, wearing a netted vest and long, red jeans. One of his eyes was glowing red.

"Most of the things he did would make Duke and Geese together look puny, especially if you'd consider his habit of dipping his fallen foes into liquid metal to make a trophy." Nanvel said. "He has arts similar to both Geese and his stepbrother, Wolfgang Krauser, another one of Geese's longtime enemies. Throw in the fact he's one of the possessors of the forbidden Orochi power and you've got one hell of a powerhouse. This guy is so fearful, not even the international constitutions can stand up to his power…he is that powerful, both financially and physically."

"And here I thought the only evils that existed were the ones like Reese." Seraph said.

"That's to show you that the Patriots aren't the only enemies we should be keeping an eye out for." Nanvel said. "These guys are in on each other's terror ties and I won't be surprised if there are more people we don't know about who also want a piece of the action. This is why we have to be cautious from now on if we have to get Yuina back, Seraph."

"Okay, I now know about what kind of man Geese truly is, but what does all this have to do with Greg?" Seraph said.

"You did see the expression on Greg's face when he left the station after he talked to us last, right?" Nanvel said, as Seraph nodded her head.

"I can tell Greg does not enjoy spending time with that man." Seraph said.

"That is so true. I guess I can tell you that Geese have seen some potential in Greg after he heard about him a long time ago in a tournament that Geese himself was overseeing." Nanvel said. "But Greg's not really the type to get himself affiliated with the bad elements…he must have had his reasons to be part of Geese's crew to ease the pain within him."

While Seraph hardly understood why Greg would ally himself with someone like Geese, she knew that she would have to find out herself why he had to do it, even if it was against his will.

"Maybe if I got the answer directly from him, he would surely tell me." Seraph said to herself, as then, Maya, Yuji, and Maki came into the room with their guests.

"Yo, Nanvel, you got a special visitor." Maya said as Riku, Nagi and Tot entered the room. Nanvel jumped out of her seat in a fit of happiness.

"Riku! Long time no see!" Nanvel said as she hugged Riku out of excitement. Tot couldn't believe that this woman's chest size wasn't even weighing her down and was beginning to be a little envious.

(I wonder if those are real. I must learn her secret...) She thought to herself.

"Yeah, it's been awhile, Nanvel." Riku replied nervously. "Good to see you too."

"Who are your friends?" She asked as she looked at Nagi and Tot.

"Oh, they're my two FOXHOUND comrades. They are Nagi Naoe aka'Mystic Crow' and Tot aka 'Usagi Ninja'." Riku introduced the two of them to Nanvel. "Say hello to Nanvel Candlestick, guys."

"Ahh…hi, ma'am." Nagi nervously said as he couldn't help but eye Nanvel's cute and somewhat sexy and near revealing attire. He swallowed heard as he felt Tot's presence looking over him.

"Nagi…" Tot said as she held her harisen.

"Oh, there's no need to be shy, you two. You're quite welcome here." Nanvel said.

"Nanvel, they came to on account of Roy's orders to stay with us." Maki said suddenly, causing the seriousness of the situation to return immediately.

"I can guess why." Nanvel said as she saw Riku and his partners were now looking at Seraph. Then she returned her gaze to Maki. "You think we should tell them everything from now?"

"It's for the best, Nanvel." Maki said. "Riku, the woman you see before you is Seraph. She will be staying with us until this matter is resolved."

"Hello to you all." Seraph bowed as she spoke to Riku and his partners as Riku, Nagi and Tot returned the greeting.

"She's actually more related to this than you think." Maya said. "Someone very important to her is also in the same situation Lilica is."

(This is a strange coincidence…still; I wonder how this can relate to FOXHOUND?) Riku thought to himself. (Guess I'd better listen to the story of what's happening.)

"Okay, now that everyone's here, I'd better start telling you three about what's going on." Nastasha said. "I do hope you can brace yourselves for the truth I have to share with you."

"We're ready for anything, Nastasha." Riku nodded seriously at her. "My partners and I want every detail we should know about."

Nastasha gave a silent nod as she sat back and started to talk to them. The Russian had some shocking tales to share with those three FOXHOUNDers.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Guardian Dogs Temple, outside Neo Tokyo forest, 6:57pm...

"Man, how much longer do we have to wait?" Rio asked as she leaned against one of the pillars outside the temple, while Greg leaned to another pillar to the side, taking in the sunset as he listened to his Codec as it played on its MP3 mode. He was listening to one of his favorite game soundtracks from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The track currently that was playing was titled, 'Final Toccata'. He seemed to be at peace whenever he listened to it.

"If we stay out here any longer, it's just going to keep us back even more. Why did Geese have to choose now for a meeting here for Christ's sake?" Rio complained.

"It will be over soon, Rio, so you shouldn't make too much noise about it." Greg replied with his arms folded. "In any case, remind me again, why do we have to be here of all places?"

"First off, I wanted to see if there was something Geese knew that can help us." Rio replied, which got a puzzled look from her student.

"Hey, since when did you start to trust Geese with information?" Greg asked to her. "Do you think that is even alright?"

"Well, we're stuck with no other options, Greg. We might as well start depending on him for sources in times like these" Rio lamented. "Besides, he's supposed to be one of your bosses and I'm sure he's curious to see how your training's been going recently."

Greg remained silent as Rio commented on that, until he shook his head. "Maybe so, but still…I feel like I owe that man a lot more than just my services to him, both as a student and one of the combatants for the KOF."

"In ways, I feel the same too. But we can't let it bother us, since we did do favors for him before and I'm sure he will help us out now at a time like this." Rio said.

"For a price, I bet." Greg simply replied as he looked at her direction now. "But enough about Geese for the moment, if he can do what he can in his power to aid us, we might as well hope for the best results. In any case, let's change the subject and focus on something lighter…like when you borrowed my Codec earlier to pass some of the time by listening to some music. You never told me that you were a Shuro Tsukasa fan, Rio."

Rio's eyes widened as she heard this. "Hey, how did you know about that?"

Greg shrugged his shoulders with a grin as he spoke. "Hey, anyone who listens to J-pop music these days must know her. Even after GESANG, she's still just as big as Athena Asamiya nowadays. But for as long as I've known you, you've only recently started to listen to Shuro, even up to her latest releases, haven't you?"

"For someone who's into rap, game soundtracks, and other weird types of music, you sure know a lot of the music scene." Rio said, impressed at her surrogate son's level of perception.

"I may not know the full details myself, I only heard a bit about her since the time her singing partner, and cousin Kei died." Greg said. "When this country and the music industry went into mourning for his death, not to mention the revelation that Shuro was a woman masquerading as a man all this time…I guess that must have spiked her popularity a lot."

"You said it. Now she's idolized more than ever by the majority of Japan's female majority, as well as males since she started to sing again." Rio nodded her head.

"But you still haven't answered my question, Rio." Greg asked seriously now. "I'm just really curious, on just how you were able to get a hold of her new releases before the official publication date, hmm?"

"Uh, do you really want to know that badly, Greg?" Rio nervously replied. Because she promised Riku during his mission regarding the infamous C-Project some years back that she wouldn't tell her student everything about being involved in the mission, so she was trying her best to duck the question Greg asked her. Soon enough, he simply raised a hand in front of her.

"Hey, if you don't want to answer it right away, I can understand that, Rio. But eventually, you really should tell me, got it?" Greg asked, causing Rio to sigh heavily in relief. "You can't be hogging all the good music to yourself now, can you?"

"Sure thing, Greg, you can bet I will let you know eventually." Rio nodded with smile, thinking that she will have to tell Greg what she knew about her and WARRIOR's involvement in Riku's mission some years ago. It was a secret that may eventually be uncovered in due time. For now, it was time to focus on the seriousness of the current situation.

Rio's face turned serious as she saw someone stepped outside the temple's doors. She instantly recognized the man that approached them.

"Well, well…it's quite the sight to see the two of you getting along at a time like this." An American male's voice spoke from the side of their direction. He had short, pulled back dirty blond hair, a broad face, and was dressed in a dark blue business suit, but his body size defined his true nature as he was a tall and foreboding man. The look on his face told everything about the type of man he was.

"Good evening…Howard-sensei. It seems like you've been busy." Greg said with a serious tone. "Been busy getting business done for KOF as usual?"

"Well, a businessman such as I does have to keep the activities for the competition running these days. Who knows what kinds of incidents that weren't planned among the organizers could happen and then afterwards who do you think the fault falls on?" Geese spoke in a near aggravated tone.

"Seems like the deal didn't go down too well…" Rio said.

"Not really, I just had a tough day. Being a crime lord isn't an easy task, you know." Geese said as he fixed his tie. "In any case, you'd better come on inside where we shall talk about your situation, Greg, and what we should do about it."

"I have no other choice in this, do I?" Greg lamented to himself.

"Under the circumstances, it seems that way." Geese replied.

With a depressed sigh, Greg placed his hands in his pockets and started to walk alongside Rio into the temple. Passing the main hall area, the trio then entered a back room of sorts where they were greeted by a strange atmosphere for a temple. It had a long conference table, seats and ashtrays were placed conveniently for those in attendance. The room was lit in traditional Japanese lamps, but the lighting was sufficient for the room.

This was a substitute meeting and training place for Geese Howard and those who worked under him, namely Greg or any of the subordinates who have been in service with Geese's organization. It also served as one of the elusive training grounds Greg uses for training his psychic and survival training.

"Any of you want a drink?" Geese asked, offering some Johnny Black whiskey.

"Let's cut to the chase, Geese. We didn't come here to get drunk." Greg said seriously.

"Ah, that's why I missed having you around, Greg. You're always eager to get to the point." Geese said as he took the glass full of ice and whiskey and sipped it.

"Sensei, this is no time to joke around!" Greg shouted suddenly, clenching his fists. "Tell us what we should do about Reese and Mantis? How are we going to get Lilica back?"

"Really, Greg…there's no reason to be fired." Geese replied to him. "After hearing what the rumors in the crime world said about Reese, not to mention your mentioning about the past history you've had with him, I'd say we're up against some major enemies."

"Major is an understatement." Rio said behind Greg's back. "We're dealing with the Patriots here...all we want is to get Lilica back."

"But you also want to avoid getting the Patriots too upset?" Geese said as he shook his head. "Unavoidable…those guys have resources even my empire can't touch. Do you seriously think you can get away clean without causing a commotion?"

"Geese…all that we're asking for some kind of help that you have which can at least even the odds when I face Mantis." Greg said to him. "Just tell us what we should do."

The almost immortal crime lord of South Town simply said nothing as he stood up and faced Greg seriously before asking him a question Greg didn't expect to come from Geese's mouth.

"Tell me, Greg…how much do you know about that curse you have?" Geese asked, causing the psychic to stare at him in shock.

"Why the hell are you bringing that up?" Greg muttered. "You do know why I called it a curse in the first place, don't you!"

"I have my reasons, Greg. Maybe this is the only way you can see yourself facing Mantis at a time like this." Geese replied.

"But this is suicide!" Greg replied. "Are you saying its best to put my own life in danger because of I have to get stronger to face Mantis, is that it?"

Rio stayed silent as Greg brought that up. She knew all to well what Greg was referring to…the fact that his powers can take over his state of mind anytime and bring out a side of him that revealed a somewhat, dark brooding side of himself.

'Why did it happened and is Greg still able to control it after all this time?' These are among the questions that plagued Rio's mind on occasion when she looked at Greg. She could rest more peacefully if she knew her student wasn't in any danger from his own powers. But that wasn't the case as she knew his reasons for not having to bring the subject of that fateful day up in a very long time. Her heart ached every time she thought of that time.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Since she could remember, after signing Greg up to be her surrogate son soon after rescuing him, Rio had hardly any trouble tutoring him in the ways only she knew of. First it was a challenge just to get him to trust her fully, but with Seishiro's dedication and help, Greg grew to trust her and her comrades. Her friends at Team WARRIOR were rather surprised to know that their point leader was going to start being an adoptive mother the next day.

"What? You're kidding, right, Rio?" Nanvel asked suddenly as she was fixing an invention that recently broke. "You've made up your mind to take care of this kid?"

"That's right…I tell you, guys. I see a shining star in that boy's eyes." Rio replied confidentially. "If I train him right, he may end up being a useful part of Team WARRIOR when he grows up."

"Whoa, Rio…don't you think that you're jumping the gun here?" Maya asked, as she cleaned her sniper rifle. "I mean, sure…he's a foreign orphan that can't speak our language and from what I can tell, didn't have much of a good past. You can obviously see that from the right arm that he's missing."

"Yeah, Maya's right, Rio." Lilica spoke as she typed away on a report for Team WARRIOR on a recent mission. "Don't you think that's he's a little…suspicious?"

"Not every day you get a black, half starved kid with little recollection of his past to rescue and then keep as your son." Yuji said as he recorded Rio's long, slender and panty hose covered legs. The police woman kicked him upside his head as she sighed.

"Well, it does sound like it's a one in a million chance that it happened…but I still can't afford to turn him away." Rio said. "He's a total stranger in a strange land…of course he would be confused about everything around him. I couldn't have just abandoned him, you know."

Nanvel simply looked at her friend as she stood closer to pat her. "Well, whatever the reason you have for taking him in, it must be good. I think you made a wise choice in helping that kid, Rio. And I think I will do what I can to help you raise him to be a promising man. You got my word on it."

"You really mean that, Nanvel?" Rio asked happily.

"Sure, you know I've got your back in this one." Nanvel replied with a wink at her.

"Well, if Nanvel is going to help, I should pitch in too." Maya said as she cocked her rifle. "No way are you two going to go soft on that guy when raising him, I should give him some of my trade secrets as well."

"Maya…" Rio muttered as she nodded at her. "You two are the best. Thanks, you guys."

"Hey, now…can I get a shot at this as well?" Lilica asked. "Maybe this Greg you told us about doesn't sound to be bad at all. I'm eager to lend a hand in raising him too, you know. Also, I'm hoping he's cute for a foreigner at his age."

"Ah, you don't need to worry…he's really adorable when you get him to sleep." Rio said. "Not to mention around bath time as well."

"What? How could you, Rio?" Yuji whimpered. "Having another young man bath with you…? Can't you be any more indecent?"

"Hey, what business of yours does my bathing have to do with you?" Rio said, almost throwing a baton strike at Yuji, who dodged it and stroke a pose with a determined look on his face.

"In any case, after hearing all of you getting together to lend Rio a hand in raising her surrogate son, I, Yuji Naruo, will do my utmost best as well to contribute in molding that boy into a true ladies man." The only male WARRIOR member said, but quickly ducked under the cover of his arm as Rio clubbed him one.

"Greg will not benefit learning anything useful from your perverted ways, Yuji." Rio lamented angrily. "Anyway, Greg is with Seishiro until I get off from duty. You all are welcomed to meet him."

"We're all looking forward to it." Maya grinned at her friend as they all hugged together with Rio. Soon after, Rio and her friends have gathered back at her apartment to meet Greg. Since Rio was busy with her police and WARRIOR work, she and Maki let Seishiro take charge of watching over Greg in the times she wasn't home. Today, he was helping Greg with homework, learning to speak in Japanese as he has always been doing sine Rio took him in.

"Greg, I'm home!" Rio called out as she entered the room with the rest of WARRIOR behind her, all dressed in casual and form fitting clothing.

"Rio!" Greg muttered as he suddenly ran off to meet her, her name was one of the easiest for him to understand in Japanese, though he still have plenty to learn about speaking Japanese. He went to the living room, but was in for a surprise as he suddenly saw Nanvel, Maya, Lilica, and Yuji standing beside her.

"Greg, has Rio come in yet?" Seishiro said as he entered now and noticed almost all of WARRIOR in the room. "Oh, Rio, good evening, I see you've brought your friends with you. Have they come to see Greg?"

"That's right, Seishiro. And they also want to help in the upbringing of Greg as well." Rio spoke. "Come on, you guys. He's practically harmless, go on and introduce yourselves to him."

"Well, he does look cute as Rio says…" Nanvel said as she placed her hand under her chin with a smile. "I can imagine him in his adult years how's he going to be like."

"Oh, yeah, I can see a shining star from this guy already, Rio." Maya said, placing her hands on her chin. "Hello there."

Greg only responded by simply hiding himself behind Seishiro from the ladies' view, almost embarrassed being seen by a group of lovely women like Team WARRIOR.

"Aw, quite the shy one, isn't he?" Lilica giggled as she saw this.

"Come on now, Greg. You don't have to be afraid." Seishiro spoke, placing a hand on Greg's head. "These people here will soon be part of your family as well, just as Maki and I are."

"R-really?" Greg muttered, finding it almost hard to believe that Rio is associated with characters like these females.

"Greg, these are my working buddies. Come on, they want to meet you so badly." Rio showed Greg in order the guests she brought with her. "This is Lilica, Nanvel, Maya and Yuji. They all wanted to meet you after I told them about you."

"Um, it's very nice to meet you all…" Greg said with a flushed face as Nanvel suddenly reached for him and started to nudge him in an embrace.

"Now, now…you don't need to be shy, Greg." Nanvel said, ensuring him that he had nothing to be afraid of. "We're all here for you, so you can grow up to be strong."

"Looks like Rio did right this time." Maya said, patting Greg's head. "We'll make sure to take good care of you."

"Rio, you got to let us have a turn every time he's with us." Lilica mused, smiling at Greg now. The young boy only felt flustered and timid as he now found himself being admired by Rio's female friends soon after meeting him. Seishiro placed his hand on Greg's shoulder.

"Greg has been studying all evening and right now, he needs a warm bath and something to eat." Seishiro said. "Rio, if it's no trouble, can you get the water ready for him?"

Rio nodded at Seishiro with a smile and left the room to prepare dinner for Greg, however, the remainder of Warrior followed her afterwards.

"Let us help too, Rio." Nanvel said cheerfully as the remainder of the female group followed after. Greg still had a hard time understanding the personalities of these girls.

"I think you will be in good hands with them as well, Greg." Seishiro said. "You can trust them as much as you have faith in me and Rio."

Greg, still unsure how to react to the situation, only gave a silent nod, approving that Seishiro was right of one thing about them.

"I'm going to finish up my homework before dinner." Greg said as he faced his schoolwork once more as Seishiro looked on at him with a light smile.

(He sure is diligent.) Seishiro thought to himself as he saw Greg get focused back on his studies. Under his guidance and tutelage since Rio took him in, Greg was raised to be dedicated to an extent to his studies, since he was curious about the new world around him.

In a way, this was probably a good way for Greg to try and forget the past he had before coming to Japan. Seishiro and certain other people who have raised Greg never asked about it, but they sometimes wonder what kind of life the youngster must have had during his younger years. By the looks on his face, Seishiro thought Greg obviously didn't want to recall it.

As the time passed, Greg also grew confidence and trust in Rio's comrades, who in turn, were kind enough to pass certain experiences of their battles towards him. Already Rio's and Seishiro's martial arts student, Greg also learned a few basic pointers from the various WARRIOR members. Also, his time with Maki gave him a calm sense of thinking straight in situations that required some tactic, though he claimed to himself often he could never be smart as her or Seishiro.

He learned the various ways about guns from Maya Jingu thanks to her basic instructions which gave Greg an early feel about weapons as he grew into his teenage years.

His mind expanded when he learned of technology and computers from Nanvel Candlestick and Lilica Ebett.

His time with Yuji Naruo showed Greg an interest in vehicles and piloting certain aircrafts.

With his stay with Seishiro and Team WARRIOR, life was good for Greg and those around him. That is until the day of August 12th, 2005. It happened at Maki's home on a training ground. Greg was around 15 at the time.

"Okay, that will be all for now, Greg." A sweating Rio took out a towel to wipe off the sweat of her body, while a young Greg, wearing a white vest and a pair of colored blue shorts, was shadowboxing at a wooden dummy with his left hand. His right arm was covered with a metallic substance that acted as a stump over the amputated right hand he lost years ago. He looked at Rio with a sad look on his face.

"Alright, sensei Rio. There's no sense overworking myself, anyway." Greg said, complying at his surrogate mother's call.

Rio smiled at Greg, and threw the towel at him, which landed on his face. "Very encouraging of you to be going through all this trouble to just impress me, but even in training, we have breaks. Lilica would be disappointed if you're not around the kitchen to help prepare for supper."

"Sure, I haven't forgotten about that, sensei." Greg replied as he wiped the sweat of his head. "Let me get freshened up first."

Just then, Maya, Maki, Yuji, Nanvel and Lilica stepped outside from the house as Greg was about to enter. Seishiro was just with them as well.

"Greg! You're looking tough as usual. You must really enjoy training, don't you?" Nanvel cheerily said, as she was wearing a loose blouse and a blue miniskirt. Greg simply blushed as he still had trouble getting used to being friends with girls and couldn't find the right words to say to her, but gave a silent nod.

"Geez, Greg…it's not like Nanvel's going to bite you." Rio lamented from behind. "You got some kind of girl phobia going on with you?"

"No, it's not like that!" Greg suddenly replied nervously, causing his face to redden a bit. "Why did you have to say that now?"

"But since we've known each other, you act differently to us. You do know we won't hurt you, or have you yet to learn how to talk to girls?" Rio asked.

"You're teasing me again because of that, aren't you, sensei?" Greg asked, flustered.

"Well, you are already at THAT age, Greg." Rio suggested with a grin. "Maybe you will eventually grow out of it."

"Geez, sensei…you're relentless, aren't you?" Greg said, as the girls started to laugh a bit like this.

"In any case, Greg, since Lilica is here, you'd better get freshened up so you can come back to help her prepare." Maki said.

"Yes, ma'am." Greg said as he left the training ground to the bathing area where the bath was ready for him. Wearing only a towel around his lower half, Greg then began to soak in the water as he leaned back to think about his training and the people who took him in.

(They actually think of me as part of a family…this is something I missed for so long.) Greg thought to himself as he closed his eyes. (Yes, this is better than being ignored by 'him' before it happened…)

Greg was tired from all the training he had done and somehow felt himself lofted into a sleep. However, when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a very lonely and desolate area. It was a wide and barren grey field, empty of life.

"What is…this place?" Greg asked himself as he looked around his surroundings.

"You're home, of course. Where you rightly deserved to be." A voice spoke from behind him, but as Greg looked around, he saw no-one.

"Who are you?" Greg shouted around him, confused.

"I'm the side of you that you've been trying for years to forget." The voice said to him as suddenly a figure dressed in a dark cloak appeared behind Greg. "I'm the one thing that links you to your past, Greg. It really is a shock to see how you've treated me for all these years."

"What do you want with me?" Greg asked.

"Nothing big, just to let you know that this so-called peace you think you found with these people will not last forever." The figure said to him. "Did you really think you can hide under them for so long without anything going wrong?"

"I don't understand…why are you telling me this?" Greg asked.

"Because, sooner or later, you will see yourself for whom you truly are, Greg. And the consequences for that will be grave indeed." The figure said approaching the boy closer, as he stepped back in fear that he didn't see his step and fell back. "And I will be right there to make sure that happens to you and to witness everything."

"No! Wait!" Greg pleaded for the figure not to get any closer to him, but suddenly, he felt the joint for his missing right arm being grabbed by the cloaked figure. The figure's right hand was scarred and charred and his touch was cold to the bone. Greg felt his body paralyzed and unable to fight back to this mysterious figure's strength.

"Why are you doing this?" Greg shouted as the figure stepped closer to make sure Greg can see into his eyes. His eyes were darkened as if there was no life in them.

"You deserve this, Greg, that's why." The figure said. "You think you may not have done anything wrong in the past, but the truth of the matter is the only thing wrong here is you existing as you are. Besides, did you really think Rio and her friends actually care about you?"

"That's a lie! They do care about me!" Greg shouted back at the cloaked figure, as he felt his body began to hurt by the figure's touch.

"You're just deluding yourself as usual. But, don't you worry, when I get you to know me better, you won't need to be feeling sorry for yourself as you're so accustomed to." The figure said as the pain in Greg's body increased.

"Leave me alone! Noooo!" He didn't know what was happening to him, his mind and body felt as it was being swallowed by the pain within him. The pain was too much for him that he began to feel weak once more, only to lose consciousness once more.

When he woke up, he was back in the bathroom, looking up into the ceiling. Half of his body was soaked in water and he suddenly felt more tired than before. Silently, he rose out of the bath-tub and dried himself, still dazed over what he just saw. Placing his left hand over his eye, he surely felt different than before.

"Greg! Are you okay?" Rio's voice called out to him from the other side of the door.

"Yes…I'm fine, sensei." Greg simply replied to her call.

"Just wanted to let you know everyone's waiting at the back, so hurry up and join us, unless you want me to come in there for you." Rio said cheerfully.

"There's…no need for it. I'll be out soon." Greg said as he suddenly felt an emotion overwhelming his senses. It was indescribable, but Greg felt it was part of him being stronger. He started to walk outside the room and towards his room, when he felt his insides clamp together with pain, he started to clutch his chest as he felt the emotion getting stronger and stronger.

(What's happening to me?) Greg wondered as he felt dizzy and without knowing where to go, he ended up walking back outside to the training grounds, where Team WARRIOR and Seishiro were waiting to prepare a gathering dinner. Seishiro and Rio noticed the change in Greg's appearance as he still had a towel on.

"Greg? What's the matter?" Seishiro said, sensing something wasn't right with Greg.

"Greggie?" Rio called to him, walking closer to him. "Look at you; you're practically naked out here. Come on, I'll take you inside to clean you up…"

"Traitors…you're just using me, aren't you?" Greg's words shocked Rio and the others as his head hung low.

"What?" Rio asked. "Greg, what did you just say?"

It was then Rio and everyone else found out for themselves that Greg was serious when they saw the half possessed look in his eyes. He used his left had to grab Rio suddenly by the wrist and started to grip on it.

"I won't be needing any of you to pamper me any further." A serious toned Greg said.

"Greg, stop this! You're really hurting me!" Rio protested, grabbing his left arm. But the she can't get away from the sudden grip Greg placed on her and now she was having trouble to get out of it.

"I bet this is something you've never felt, huh, sensei?" Greg's taunting tone said. "Then how about this for size?" Out of nowhere, a force suddenly slammed her backwards towards a tree. The force was powerful enough that she spat out blood, knocking her out instantly.

"Rio!" Maya shouted, facing Greg now, who was looking at his own left hand as if he was amazed by it.

"This truly is…power. Something I've never had during the time of my pitiful father's time." Greg's contoured face was on the sights of the remainder of WARRIOR and Seishiro now. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the rest of you."

"Seishiro…" Maki stood up in fear as Seishiro thought of the worse.

"This isn't good. He seems to be remembering things of his past." Seishiro said, looking at Greg, who slowly started to walk towards them. Everytime he did, small patters of winds can be seen rising from his body. It was then Seishiro noticed it.

(My God, can he be a psychic?) Seishiro thought to himself. (Is this his powers now coming into fruition?)

"Do something, Maki!" Nanvel cried out to her leader.

"But what can we do? He's still our Greg." Maki said, not wanting to take any action which could lead to hurting him.

"I doubt talking to him would stop him…it's as if he's possessed by something." Lilica assumed.

Greg suddenly stopped in front of them as a silence between them was the only thing separating them from each other. Greg's face was etched with pain and confusion, but managed to show hardly any other emotion to prove that he can bear what was happening to him.

"Maki, he's in pain!" Yuji shouted. "I don't think he wants to hurt us…"

"He's just confused about what's happening. But I don't know how long it will last." Maya said.

(Someone has to get through to him before someone else is hurt…) Seishiro thought to himself as he really cared for Greg as a father should for his son. It was then he saw Greg held his head together in agony.

"Guuuuaaaahhhh!" Greg shouted as a gust of wind passed the backyard of Maki's home, and then suddenly, a small circle of fire surrounded his body, which grew wilder by the second. When Greg cried out, his voice shrilled with pain while his eyes were pupil-less from the effect.

"What is it now?" Nanvel cried out.

"My worst fear was right. It seems Greg is indeed a psychic." Seishiro spoke. "I've only heard vague reports about them from all over the world while I was in the French Foreign Legion thirteen years ago. But I'd never suspect after all this time that he was one."

"We should have seen this coming, but there's no real way we could have known, right Seishiro?" Maki asked.

"I'm afraid that is so…" Seishiro replied sadly to her as he looked at Greg, still surrounded by the small bonfire he created.

After a short while, the fire around Greg died out soon after as the he was now standing on his feet and was panting heavily. He had his sights on Maki as he held up his quivering left hand.

"Help me…Maki. The pain…it's too much…please… help me." Greg stretched his hand towards her, as if he was asking for her help, which made Maki stood up and ran towards him.

"Greg!" Maki said as she approached him; however Seishiro saw this may lead to danger and tried to stop her.

"Maki, don't!" Seishiro cried out as he now saw Greg suddenly lunge himself at them like a feral animal. Seishiro turned his body to Greg's position, so Maki would be out of harm's way, but Greg had already knocked Seishiro flat on his back with a clenched fist over his face.

"Greg! Get a hold of yourself!" Seishiro cried out to him. "It's me, for Christ's sake!"

"Seishiro!" Maki cried out to him as she was close by, just inches from the two. But Seishiro called back to her.

"Stay where you are, Maki!" Seishiro said as he struggled against Greg, who was somehow overpowering Seishiro with his newly birthed psychic power. "Greg, I don't know what's gotten into you, but please, we are all family. Why would you think otherwise? Why have you become like this?"

Greg's clenched teeth as he struggled against Seishiro turned into a grin of sorts as he simply pulled back his arm and flung Seishiro back with his power. However, Seishiro maintained his ground and stood firm on his feet.

"Greg, don't make me do this." Seishiro said as he put up his fists. "Please, come to your senses before I do something we both regret…don't you trust me to help you?"

"Rrrraaagggghhh!" Greg's cry somehow echoed in the training ground and he started to charge relentlessly at Seishiro once more, who was been standing in front of a shocked Maki to protect her from Greg himself.

"Seishiro! Greg! No!" Maki cried out as Greg leapt at Seishiro and landed his clenched left hand into Seishiro's left eye, injuring it severely. A spray of blood can be seen from where Seishiro's eye was, covering his face in blood now.

However, Seishiro couldn't afford to scream out in pain, he still has to get Greg back to normal somehow. Taking Greg's bloodied left hand, he then used the momentum of Greg's light body and slammed him down on his back. Even with that knockdown, Greg still had the fight in him.

"Greg! Stop this now!" Seishiro shouted to him, bloodied face and all.

PFFT! PFFT!

They heard two shots fired, as they turned to see Rio, now stumbling from where she got knocked out, put down her tranq gun. It was apparent that Greg was shot with sleeping darts that made him got weak, thus enabling Seishiro to get a firm grip on him. As he was losing consciousness, he started to look around the other members who were staring at him confused, then at Seishiro, who was injured in his left eye.

"Sensei, Seishiro, I'm sorry..." were the only words Greg managed to emit before he passed out into blackness, falling into Rio's arms. Soon after, Seishiro fell back from the loss of blood sustained by Greg.

"Quick! We have to get them to the hospital as soon as possible!" Rio shouted, holding Greg up, while Maki and Yuji held Seishiro up for them to be taken to the nearest hospital.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Ugghh…" Greg groggily woke up and now found himself in a hospital bed, as Rio was seated next to him with a sad and concerned look on her face. His body felt quite weak as he was unable to move his legs for some strange reason. "Where am I? What's going on?"

Rio now saw Greg was conscious and suddenly got close enough to touch his left hand. "Greggie! Thank God, you're okay!"

"Sensei…why am I here?" Greg asked, as he suddenly remembered what happened in sudden flashes. He looked at his left hand and he suddenly remembered what he had done to Rio and then to Seishiro. "No…sensei, don't tell me it actually happened…is that why I'm here?"

"So, you do remember it, huh?" Rio asked sadly and almost angrily.

"I don't know…what came over me." Greg felt his body ran cold and started to cry. "Someone…or something entered my mind…I felt myself consumed with pain and I tried my best to fight it, but it only grew."

"Greg…I'm certain this wasn't your fault. There must be a good reason for this. This power you have must have a real purpose for choosing you to wield it." Rio said, trying her best to console her surrogate son…and probably herself.

"But, sensei, I almost tried to kill you and everyone else with it!" Greg cried out. "I actually saw myself attacking those who cared about me since I was abandoned all those years ago and I couldn't do anything about it. And worst yet, I hurt Seishiro, of all the people who tried to help me the most. I'm just too weak, too unreliable…"

Rio stood up and slapped Greg's left cheek, stunning the young boy as tears welled up in her eyes as well.

"So what if that's the case, huh? You're going to feel guilty because of that for the rest of your existence?" Rio asked, as she shut her eyes and started to stroke Greg's head. "Greg, what happened to you was merely an accident, you didn't know this was going to happen, none of us did. You're not totally responsible for what happened and you shouldn't think we would hate you for that. And you can't go on hating yourself either because that is the case too."

Greg sniffed a bit as Rio lightly touched his cheek. "Besides, Seishiro's a tough case to crack; I've got to give him that. He managed to keep you in place while I knocked you unconscious even with that injury you gave him. He's doing a lot better than we all thought, but…"

"I told you, I saw everything, Rio, even if I wasn't in control that time. It was if my body was moving on its own and all I could do was just watch helplessly while I tried to hurt all of you and at the end, I hurt Seishiro badly." Greg said, looking at his surrogate mother. "I know by now that was no normal blow, it was filled with murderous intent!"

"I guess it was the doing of your powers." Rio lamented as Greg hung his head. "This is not your fault."

"Where is Seishiro?" Greg tugged at her shirt. "I need to see him! I want to say how sorry I am for what I've done! And the same for everyone else as well! Where are they?"

"They are outside waiting for you to wake up." Rio said. "Let me get the doctor and he'll take us to Seishiro's room with everyone else."

As Rio left the room, Greg lay back and silently started to cry to himself, feeling great regret for what happened. He felt the heavy guilt starting to weigh on his conscience as he reflected back to the horrid memory he himself had created. Shutting his eyes, he tried his best not to fall back into slumber, as thankfully for him, Rio and a tall male doctor with long black hair entered the room.

"Greg, it's good to see you're awake at last. I'm Shin Murakami, an experienced doctor in special cases relating to your situation." The doctor said sternly, but his tone was calming and reassuring nothing bad was going to happen to either Greg or Seishiro as he told him his report. "While you were asleep, I was asked to perform an MRI on you on Rio Kinezono's request."

Greg looked in silence at Rio and turned to face the doctor once more as the doctor spoke once more.

"Normally, these cases are rare, but it is confirmed that there's a slight growth in your brain. It's not a tumor, but somehow it's only of an expanded part of your mental senses." Shin said. "While the causes of the growth still need further analyzing, Miss Rio told me about the events before. Now, tell me something, Greg…is it true that you hardly remember anything before meeting her and her friends?"

"I…I really don't recall much." Greg said lowly. (I don't even want to remember that life…)

"Then it must be the cause of why you're prone to the pseudo behavior of a savage animal, which is hardly an uncommon case for psychics who are now learning about their gifts." Shin said. "You must have regressed enough of those past memories in order to cause this to happen."

"Surely, Greg didn't do this intentionally…he must have had good reasons for why he would do this." Rio said, as Shin stopped her from speaking more.

"I know you care for the boy, Rio, but if he is to have better manipulation of his powers in the coming future, you both will have to follow several specific instructions if you want to prevent a situation like this from happening ever again." Shin said sternly.

Rio swallowed hard as she heard the words from the doctor as she nodded to him, heeding the advice.

"I understand fully, doctor. Whatever it will take to see that Greg can live normally amongst us." Rio said.

"Now, Greg, I heard you want to see Seishiro, right?" Shin asked Greg, getting a silent nod. "Well, allow me to take you to him, but I'm afraid the news I have for you isn't too well."

"I don't care…just let me see him, please?" Greg begged.

Shin nodded slowly and let Greg stand on his own two feet with Rio's aid and walked out of his hospital room. The three began to walk a small distance as Shin began to talk to Greg about Seishiro.

"When you two were brought here, Seishiro was brought into emergency surgery immediately for the loss of blood from his injured left eye." Shin said. "We managed to stop the bleeding, but his eye…the damage done to it was so severe by the time we began to operate."

"So…he can't see through his left eye anymore?" Greg asked.

"Most regrettably, we did everything to restore the sight, but the impact of the blow made most of the surgery difficult for us." Shin said, causing Greg to shudder. "Surprisingly enough, most of the time while he was conscious, he only wanted to make sure if you were alright, so far as to say he was still concerned about you even after what happened."

"He was?" Greg asked as he was stunned to hear this.

"He's resting comfortably now, though I don't think he will be able to see as we do from now on." Shin said. "Look, as your surrogate mother said, you're not to blame for this, Greg. This happened because your powers suddenly came to life and you couldn't control them at the time. The most you can do is stay with Seishiro and your family right now, they all need you and each other to get through this."

Stopping in front of Seishiro's hospital room, Greg hesitantly stopped in front of the door as Rio bowed to the doctor.

"We really can't begin to thank you enough, doctor. We are in debt to you." Rio bowed to Shin.

"It's no bother, but please do remember to come see me before you leave. I may be able to help you yet through this." Shin said to Rio. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to tend to some of my other patients."

As the doctor took his leave, Rio placed a hand on Greg's shoulder, helping to keep up with the confidence that everything was going to work out fine.

"You ready, Greg?" Rio asked.

"Yes, I am." Greg said as he nodded his head as the two stepped into the room, holding their breaths. When they did, they saw the remainder of WARRIOR seated around a Seishiro was sitting up at the side of his bed, a large white bandaged wrapped around where his left eye used to be. Greg felt his heart sink as he saw Seishiro like this.

"Greg, thank goodness you're okay." Seishiro managed to smile, even with the wound he had at Greg. "I was beginning to worry that something serious happened to you back there."

Greg was almost shocked to hear and feel the compassion and concern Seishiro had for him, even after this incident. This was too much for Greg to bear as he began to shiver at his feet and wasn't able to stand in front of Seishiro and WARRIOR anymore. Greg fell to his knees and started to wail loudly while Rio reached for him.

"Greg, what's the matter?" Rio asked him.

"How…? How come you can still care for me after what I've done, Seishiro?" Greg looked up with his teary filled eyes. "I tried to hurt everyone who has cared for me for all this time and this is how I repay them?"

"Greg…" Seishiro walked over to Greg and embraced him. "You do know how much I care about you. And everyone else in the room feels the same way too. You're a special boy that we're honored to have brought up and we're not going to turn you away because of this."

"He's right, you know, Greg. Seishiro was determined more than ever to help you out through this. He always has been." Maki said, wiping some tears from her eyes as she was watching this scene. "And we're not going to let this stop us from taking the best of care for you."

"Aunt Maki…" Greg sobbed as he looked at her.

"Come on, Greg. Don't let this get you down. We'll find a way to help you become better at this thing, I can promise you that." Seishiro said. "But please, if anything from your past is bothering you that will make you think otherwise about us, don't be afraid to tell us about it. We're here for you always."

"You know we'll never hurt or betray you, Greg. You've practically brought us together as a family since day one." Nanvel said.

"And we'll continue being like that from now on." Lilica nodded at him.

"So, please have more faith in us from now on, okay?" Maya winked at him.

"You'll be the first and best psychic for WARRIOR ever. That, we can assure you." Yuji said, putting up his thumb.

"Everyone…thank you." Greg managed to smile lightly as Seishiro's grip on him was more firm and tighter than before. The now turned psychic could find temporary solace in that and the support of Team WARRIOR if he was having trouble dealing his new psychic gifts.

It was enough to lull him back to sleep in peace for now, but time and again, the nightmares would continue and the taunting to his confidence and trust by the emotions he tried to deny would come back. This is something that Greg would eventually have to force himself to get used to from then on into the current day, only to have this sensation sated by the antidepressants and pain killers given to him by Shin Murakami. Until he manages to overcome the fears growing within him these will have to do for now….

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back to the present in the room where Geese, Rio and Greg were conversing, the psychic began to shudder at the bad memory he once took part in. The very thought that he must endure risking his sanity to become stronger along with increasing the risk that he might lose control and hurt those closest to him indiscriminately once more made the psychic shudder.

"I know this must be hard for you, Greg…but for now, this is the only way." Geese told him, as Greg started to shake his head.

"I can't do it, Geese! Not after everything that has happened and surely the lengths I went through to make sure the people around me don't get hurt because of my power!" Greg shouted, tears welling up in his eyes. "Are you really telling us that in order for me to face Mantis, I must take this risk? Isn't there any other way?"

Greg clenched his fists and breathed heavily as if trying to ready himself for the hard decision he had to make. He knew that if Rio hears this, this would certainly bring about some of her worst fears as well.

"Well, you could always have someone else with more experienced to get the rescuing job done for you." Geese said. "I know of some professionals who are well adequate enough to face and deal with psychics like Mantis, as well as perform a rescue operation, Greg. If you leave it to me…"

"No, it can't be done that way. I may need Mantis alive to tell me why he is doing this." Greg said sternly. "Not everything he did must have been his fault as he was manipulated by Reese to begin with."

"You really think Mantis will go easy on you because you want questions answered?" Geese asked. "Don't be a fool, Greg. Mantis will not be so kind as to fill your requests. The only way you can get things done your way is to face him as a true psychic."

Greg clenched his fists once more, swallowing hard. It has finally come down to this.

"I'll…I'll do it." Greg said with his head hanging, regretting this moment. "If this is what it will take to save Lilica, then this is the only chance I have to face Mantis and win."

"I know this is hard for you, Greg. But you have no other options at the moment, especially with the time pressing against you." Geese replied. "Are you certain that you want to go through this?"

Greg nodded silently, but the feelings of guilt still hung over him and he was getting the same kind of reaction from Rio as well. Geese sighed silently as he patted Greg's shoulder when he started to leave the room.

"Then it's decided, I'll help you with your training." Geese said. "However, you have to learn that I won't go easy on you because you're voluntarily losing control of your powers."

"I understand…you don't need to hold back because of that, sensei." Greg replied seriously. "How soon we can do this?"

"I'll give you two days to be ready. Enough time for you to prepare yourself as you get to know your powers better." Geese said as he started to walk out of the room.

"Only two days?" Rio asked. "I know we are all behind time here, but at least think how much this is being put on Greg."

"I'm only making it more convient for the two of you, so you can get started preparing for the worst to come." Geese said. "Greg, I'm counting on you to live through this."

"Yes, of course, sensei. I'll do what I can." Greg said as Geese left the room silently. Rio turned around and faced Greg.

"So, you really think that it's time that you did this?" Rio asked.

"If I keep running away from my decisions about my powers, not to mention my responsibilities. If I'm not able to fully face myself, then I'm hardly strongly enough to then face Mantis, and if I have to face the other side of myself to move on with my life, then the time is now." Greg said. "I can't keep avoiding the truth about myself from now on."

Rio looked at Greg as he simply placed his right nano arm on her shoulder. "Everything should turn out fine. I got you here with me now, right?"

"Yeah, I really have no plans on going back soon. I might as well stay here with you and help you through this." Rio said.

"Just like long ago, eh? You're not going to give up hope on me?"

"Never, you're way too precious to lose, Greg." Rio nodded at him. "Though, it kind of pains me to see this is happening to you."

"We'll get through this." Greg said as he stood up. "In any case, there are at least two favors I need to ask of you before we start this thing."

"What are they?" Rio asked.

"First, please contact Naomi for me and tell her what's happening on this end. I know she's not really the person to be telling about what stunt I'm going to pull, but she will surely give you an idea of what to expect in the next couple of days." Greg said to Rio.

"You think that's such a good idea, Greg?" Rio asked. "Considering she isn't going to like this one bit once she hears what's happening."

"I know. I'm willing to take the responsibility and explain to her about it when we get to that point. But for now, we just have to hope for the good results." Greg said as he stood up. "Rio, I know I can count on you to get me through this."

"Hey, you shouldn't act as if this will kill you right away, Greg." Rio shrugged her shoulders. "But I'm fully prepared for any emergency the moment something wrong turns up, so you just go and do your thing, okay?"

Greg can feel Rio was trying not to cry in front of him, knowing the dangers of trying to access his powers in circumstances like this. Sighing a bit, he suddenly approached her and embraced her.

"It's going to turn out fine, Rio. Be strong for me." Greg said to her. "You might as well contact Nanvel and tell her what's happening as well. I bet she may start preparing something to help us get through this, but we can only wait and see."

Greg released his embrace from Rio and turned his back to enter the room behind them, sliding open the door.

"It's night time already." Greg said solemnly, looking up to the moonlight sky. "I hope my powers will be kind to me through this period when I face that side of me…"

"You'll do just fine, Greg." Rio smiled at him. "I'll be here if you need anything, okay?"

Greg returned a silent nod to his surrogate mother and started to slowly walk outside. Rio walked a bit behind him to watch him walk off into the forest area where he will start his training. Eventually, she planned to go and check up on him to make sure things will be okay, but she wondered now if he will be able to maintain his humanity after facing his dark side.

"Greg, please. Be careful." Rio said to herself quietly as she clenched her fists. She knew that she didn't have all evening to just worry about Greg, so she decided to return to him within an hour's time to check on his progress and tend to him. She had other important concerns right now.

(Guess I'd better make that call to Nanvel now and tell her everything.) Rio thought to herself as she stretched out her arms, feeling tired. Thankfully for her, the temple served as a temporary homestead for those staying to train. The blonde Japanese police woman would have to make good use of all the proper faculties in the temple if she was to stay longer than planned. She took out a can of beer from a small refrigerator which was located in the kitchen area and took a long sip.

(It's going to be a long night.) The long haired blonde stared up into the night sky, contemplating how much more twisted things would get from here on in.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile on the other side of Japan, James Masterson, aka Silent Scorpion, had just stepped out of the shower in the Kasturagi apartment. He had a somewhat dull day playing guard duty with NERV's security. It was very boring, considering that he had to work with Section 2 agents from now on as well with his fellow FOXHOUND comrades who have recently come to Japan. While loyal to the commands from his team leaders, he kept his interaction with most of the NERV crew to a minimum. Some of the security had been warned of Scorpion's behavior as of late and tried their best not to provoke him in his duties.

Asuka Langley Sohryu had left to stay a couple of nights with her best friend and fellow classmate, Hikari Horaki, while Misato Katsuragi was still at the headquarters with Solid Snake, trying to make sense with what had happened with Evangelion Unit 01 absorbing Shinji. At least Scorpion could finally get some peace and quiet to himself for now, so he can concentrate on his duties.

All he wanted to do was follow the order for the next 'seek and destroy' mission to keep his sniper skills up to date. After a fresh change of clothes which consisted of a plain white and simple t-shirt and a short black pants, he was about to tend to his rifle cleaning duties, a hobby he had gotten used to for years, especially during times of isolation and between missions. Doing this soon reminded him of his past missions where he worked alongside Greg, who he considered one of the closest allies and friends that he had in the group.

"Things just aren't the same without you around, Greg." Scorpion said to himself as he rubbed his hair with the towel he had. Thankfully, he was the only person in the apartment right now, second to Pen-Pen, so he was free to use the facilities given for his convenient since he was going to be living there from now on.

Just then, he heard the doorbell ring. He went up to it and it opened, revealing a school dress wearing Rei Ayanami. Scorpion tried his best not to be the least bit surprised at this, but he couldn't help but wondered why she was visiting the Katsuragi apartment, even with the current situation.

"You're the First Child, Rei Ayanami." James said, unmoved a bit. "Why are you here?"

"Good evening, Masterson." Rei simply said. "I was wondering if you can assist me with a complication."

"Sure, what is it?" Scorpion asked.

"Do you know Kinezono's Codec frequency?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do." He replied. "But why are you asking for it, Ayanami?"

"I needed to ask him something of great urgency, but knowing that he is not currently around at the moment, I had to ask you, who seems to be one of the closest companions to him and who would be the likeliest to know about his contact." Rei said.

"I see now. Well, it's frequency 199.99." Scorpion said.

"Understood. Thank you for your time, Masterson." Rei bowed to him before she walked over to the other apartment, where Raiden and Charlie were staying. Since Commander Gendou Ikari was killed, Rei was slowly opening up to others around her, but she still emitted that strange yet gentle mystery about her that has made her different from the other Evangelion pilots. James began to scratch his head wondering.

(I wonder what that was about.) He thought as he closed the door, and just as he was about to return to cleaning his rifle, he heard his Codec ring. Sighing a bit, he answered the call, getting a bit of a surprise on the other end.

"This is Scorpion here...Maggie?" James asked in surprised, seeing an attractive young woman in her late twenties, with blond hair streaked with some brown hair that ended at her neck. The woman who was calling also happened to be the main squeeze of Garland Durev, Maggie 'Dark Eden' Thompson.

"Are you surprise to see me, Scorpion?" Maggie asked seriously.

"In a way, but it's still good to see a friend from a far off country. How are things in Saudi Arabia?" Scorpion asked.

"The tension's just as hot as the desert heat during the day, but it's all good once you get used to it." Maggie joked. "And how's life in Japan so far?"

"Quite boring, compared to the day that Angel attacked Tokyo-3 just a couple of days ago." Scorpion replied. "What's the deal, Maggie? Why are you calling me up? Shouldn't it be Garland you should be contacting?"

"Yes. And for good reasons too." Maggie said. "Look...I think it's best that you contact the others first. Garland called me sometime before and told me about Greg...I think I may know something all of you should know."

"Okay, I'll get Michael and Garland. Should I get Linn too?" Scorpion asked.

"No. I think this intel I have may be kind of a shock to her for now." Maggie said sullenly.

"I see. Besides, I wouldn't want to bother her at the moment with your news; she is deep in her sleep from all of that training earlier." James said. "But still, why can't we let her know about this, Maggie?"

"This has to do with our very own Lt. Reese. And what he has done to make Greg's life a living hell." She replied, which received a glare from Scorpion. He now knew for sure that this was going to be a long night just from the sound of things.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dressed in nothing but his jeans, Greg was meditating near a shallow lake, as the clear moonlight and the raging bonfire provided him with some relaxing, somber light. He was certainly going to need it.

The wounds he had accumulated before were starting to catch up to him in forms of pangs throughout his body. Some recent stitches he had during missions or sparring matches were opening up by themselves. His prosthetic right arm showed the worst signs as it appeared to be getting weaker by the second, losing its form. Blood and other substances used to hold it together were leaking through the false pores from Greg's lower arm. Greg had to concentrate entirely to enter his mind space if he was going to face the other side of himself, even if it means voluntarily losing the colony which held his nanoarm together for now.

Feeling closer to unconsciousness, Greg gritted his teeth, preparing for the mental onslaught once more. He kept the painkillers close in case things got too far out of control.

Silently, he felt his body go limp all of a sudden. The moment he had endured for to get to this point has come at last. Stopping to breathe for a moment, Greg exhaled one final time before he shut his eyes. He felt the sense of overwhelming sense of being consumed by his own power once more. He hadn't felt like this in years and he didn't want to experience it once more. But in order to get behind the mystery of Mantis's return and why would he kidnap Lilica and Yuina, he had to become stronger for the time being in order to be prepared for when the time came to face Mantis.

His mind went black, pulling Greg from where he was to something else entirely. It came as a shock to him as he found out he was back inside NERV headquarters and in his Sneaking Suit. He was the only one standing in the middle of the hallways.

"What am I doing back here?" He muttered to himself. Before he got to clear his head, he saw a figure at the passageway that seemed to be summoning him. He took a closer look and saw it was the cloak figured from the first time his powers surfaced.

"Well, this is a first. Normally, I would be the one to come knocking at your door to invite you to my world, or should I say 'our' world, but it seems you came here on your own." The cloaked figure said. "I really should congratulate you on that, Greg; you're much more stubborn than I thought."

"Why am I here of all places?" Greg asked.

"Come on, now. I know why you are here, Greg. You came here to ask some questions, haven't you?" The figure asked. "One of them surely has to be something about those powers that have been sealed within you for so long."

"I came to take them back. I have to rescue Lilica and find out what Mantis is up to." Greg said sternly.

"I don't think an incompetent psychic like you can ever be worthy for the powers that are hidden within you, nor do you understand the consequences for bearing them." The figure said.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Greg asked.

"You'll see soon enough. That is why I'm here to give you a tour of the…possibilities for bearing such burdens." The figure said as he walked off.

"Wait!" Greg shouted, as he sighted a grenade gun close by. He took it up and chased after the figure, only to stop at the sight before him to meet a grisly sight.

The passageway in front of him was littered with corpses of NERV's technicians, including that of Maya Ibuki, Shigeru Aoba and Makoto Hyuga, whom Greg recognized. They all bore gunshot wounds all over their bodies, their blood spilling the walls. Among those corpses were Emma's and Roses, who was still clutching unto a dead Charlie. Greg's eyes widened with shock as his stomach turned from watching this.

"What in the hell is this?" Greg muttered to himself, carefully stepping over the dead bodies of his friends. He had been used to seeing death before, but this was too much for him. His heart raced as he continued to proceed, when he heard a young man's scream shout in agony. Greg almost dropped his gun when he recognized the voice.

"JAMES!" Greg shouted, now running in a quick pace. He turned a corner, and his heart almost gave away, when he sighted Silent Scorpion's dead body, the 'Fate' sword impaling his chest. Beside his body were the corpses of Kari Mondeau and Mana Kirishima. They were burnt badly beyond recognition, as blast marks were seen on various parts on their bodies.

"No…what is this I'm seeing?" Greg as he looked on further and even sighted Raiden's dead body next to Riku Hanabishi's, and Michael Hansen corpses. Raiden was cut up pretty badly and had lost plenty of blood, while Venom and Drakken's corpses were eviscerated as their vital organs were hacked and slashed open as if for the world to see. It truly was a grim sight.

"Oh, God..." Greg couldn't take the pain and suffering anymore.

"You truly are weak, Kinezono!" The figure called out to him from ahead, taunting Greg. "So weak and pathetic, that you can't even protect your friends from something like this...this is why you don't deserve this power in the first place."

"Shut up!" Greg shouted, aiming the gun at the figure once more. But he had started to run again. Greg looked at Scorpion's corpse and with a pang of pain in his heart as he took out Fate from Scorpion's body.

"I'm sorry, James..." Greg said, his tears flowing uncontrollably. He then held onto the blade and went on until he stopped in an open area. Before Greg was even more signs of carnage, suffering and death.

Even the famed Garland Durev's body laid broken and bleeding just before Greg's feet, as was Solid Snake's who was lifeless on the floor, as Misato's hand can be seen holding onto his. Snake and Misato had been shot to death as well. Ritsuko Akagi also lay dead next to Meryl Silverburgh's, Naomi Hunter's and Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich's corpses. They all were killed executioner style with bullet holes on the temples of their skulls.

Greg fell to his knees in defeat after seeing all these people dying in front of him. It was then Matthew Reese approached in front of Greg with a cigar in his mouth and spoke to Greg now.

"I was right about you. Don't try to deny it!" Reese taunted him. "You think you're useful to anyone? You think you're needed in this world? Ha, don't make me laugh. Everything in your life up to now is nothing but an illusion, Kinezono."

"SHUT UP!" Greg turned around to aim his grenade gun at Reese, but he wasn't there. Greg only looked around, before he spotted his shadow leaving the room. Greg gathered his strength once more and chased after him.

Greg then stopped where his Harrier was stored, and the sight of more dead people close to him greeted him. They were in one single group, and Greg recognized them instantly.

He saw Rio Kinezono's dead body, half pinned under a heavy tank. Greg almost threw up at the sight, but failed to keep his contents when he sighted Nanvel Candlestick and Lilica's Ebett's corpses next to each other, both stabbed with katanas through their bodies. Maya Jingu and Yuji Naroue's bodies were among the dead as well as Maya was impaled by several spears, while Greg sighted Yuji's corpse burning from the cockpit of a nearby tank.

"What the hell going on here?" Greg stepped back in shock. "Why am I seeing all this?"

"That is because this is your greatest fear, Kinezono." Reese's voice shouted from somewhere.

Greg looked up and then saw Reese on top of the Harrier, with Linn Aramaki in his arms, struggling to get away.

"Greg!" Linn shouted, but Reese pulled out a handgun and held it at her chest. Greg stepped forward.

"My greatest…fear?" Greg asked, stunned. "I'm afraid of seeing those I care about die, is that it?"

"Maybe you should be asking yourself that, Greg. It has been the truth for years now, hasn't it?" Reese asked. "Of course, this is but a sweet little prelude to the end of humanity."

"End of humanity?" Greg asked. "Is this what Mantis is planning?"

"I doubt that, but then again, destruction has always been your forte, isn't it, Greg?" Reese said. "There is a good reason as to why you're witnessing all of this. You see, if you allow this power of yours to get the best of you, then the blame for all this may as well fall into your hands."

"I'm…I'll be the cause of all of their deaths?" Greg asked. "That can't be true! Stop saying such nonsense!"

"Ah, but this is anything but nonsense, my dear Greg. These are the facts, the truth about you, Greg. Why should you think otherwise? You have the makings and signs of a warrior bred solely for death and destruction!" With that, Reese pulled the trigger, sending the bullet through Linn's chest and her back. But what shocked Greg the most that it wasn't blood that came out from her back, an orange liquid was instead seen protruding from her lethal wound. By the time Greg saw Linn's corpse fall, he saw it explode into a puddle of the same liquid that came out of her body, leaving only her empty Skull Suit. It was the same for everyone else, who was already dead or in the middle of suffering, they all disintegrated into a large puddle of LCL.

"Admit it, Kinezono! You're weak!" Reese shouted.

Greg can only hold his head, as voices from all over NERV and around him cried out in pain, and agony, only to feel loss afterwards. Greg's body also began to give away. He can feel himself coming apart, but for what and why?

"No! No! NO!" Greg shouted, going insane. "Please stop this! I...I can't take this anymore!"

"Your spirit is weak; you hardly have the might to even keep yourself together. You can't protect everyone, not even yourself! This is why you're not worthy of having this power!" The cloaked figure said.

Before Greg can move, he felt his right leg being restrained by something heavy. Looking down, he saw a rusted and bloodied chain wrapped around his both his ankles. The chains were decorated in barbed wire. He looked at his body and saw he was bound by straps of chain that clamped onto his body, both of his arms were encased in shackles as well, as barbed wire pierced all over into his body. His neck area was restricted too by the same contraption. It was as if a simultaneous set of needles were being forced into his skin at the same time. He then started to feel the burning sensation through his skin as he was suddenly weakening from this.

"Grrragghhh!" Greg exclaimed, his body going through traumatic changes. The mental image of him being imprisoned by his own powers was becoming a reality. He can feel everyone's emotions, and now their own wrathful anger against him.

"How could you?" Mana's voice shouted in Greg's head.

"You can't protect even me!" Linn's voice followed after.

"Who would want a weakling like you in our group?" Garland's followed.

"You let all of us down!" James angrily shouted.

"You're too weak; you can't even fend for yourself!" Otacon's voice shouted.

Greg tried to shut the voices and emotions out, but he can't keep it together. His bonded arms weren't going to do any good as they are now.

"Please…I need…another chance…I must have this power…" Greg winced as he struggled on.

"Not good enough!" Snake said.

"You can never be what you claim to be!" Raiden answered.

"Even you need to be protected, and now look at you..." Riku said

Greg then felt his body was close to losing its border. Clenching his bonded fists, he made a desperate cry as he braced himself for the worst, as he could feel the loss of mankind around him and spreading over not just NERV, but all around him. He can see various people he knew losing their ego-borders in front of his eyes, and then he saw Reese laughing at him.

"What a weak, scrawny and pathetic psychic!" Reese said. "This is the reality of Third Impact, Greg. And you will be a grand part of this lovely event."

(Third…Impact?) Greg thought while in pain with his eyes closed. He looked up and then he saw an apparition of Linn coming closer to him. Greg's eyes widened at the sight of this as he knew he saw Linn die earlier.

"Greg...come to me…you will feel at peace with me." she beckoned.

He began to shake his head, despite his state. "No...! I can't be weak now! I can't give up so easily."

His fists suddenly started to quiver out of pain and determination, as he suddenly rose on his feet and his right arm exploded into a white flame. He was now free because of this and soon after, the chains melted. Greg felt that his body, now bleeding and bruised, was being filled with a determined flame from within his right nano arm. Opening his eyes, the flames expanded around him, burning everything in sight. Soon after, the blazes cleared to reveal that they had brought him back to the mindscape he knew he always had, a barren grey field, surrounded by distant mountains.

He was exhausted by the experience and landed on his hands and knees to catch a breath. He then heard clapping.

"Well done indeed, Greg. You've exceeded my expectations and faced your fear. Well, at least one of them." The cloaked figure said to him. "This is but one of many you have to endure if you want to be the best psychic there is and from what I can tell you, they aren't as simple as what you just saw."

"I was…being tested?" Greg asked, panting.

"That's right, seems to me you're a bit more than capable of handling what Mantis would dish out, but who knows, the case could be otherwise." The figure said as he turned around to leave. "Well, I don't want to leave you behind in your training, so go ahead and have fun with your new talents. Just remember they DO come at a price."

"Wait! Who are you…?" Before Greg can finish, he felt his body pulled back to the present, back to the chilly night air near the lake. He suddenly woke up and felt his entire body covered in the scars from probably the vision he saw.

"Can this be…the price for my powers that I have to pay?" Greg asked, trying to move. For the moment, he can only crawl, as his legs felt drained of energy. Trying to get some air into his body, he reached out for the painkillers and took a desperate handful of water with his left hand. He swallowed both of the pills and water into his mouth before falling back on the ground, feeling a bit relieved for now. He started to look upwards into the night sky as lifted his half decomposed nano arm in front of him and started to sob deliriously.

"This night…will surely be the longest for me if I must endure the consequences for this power." Greg said to himself as he slowly drifted to a short sleep. He will need the rest before continuing his training for tomorrow.

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ShardclawK: I thought I would have gotten this chapter revised sooner, but I'd forgotten how much I've put into it the first time I wrote it and as most of the changes kept me back from advancing quickly unto the other chapters, I was kept back a bit. But it's done finally, so here it is. I hope everyone liked it as well with the others so far.

Also, to DarkFusion whose editing this, I do hope you liked the little reference to Ceres and KOF I've included in this early part of the story, I plan to do the same in the upcoming revised chapters on either Ceres or any of the other series for this story. I won't reveal exactly which ones; I'll just surprise you with whatever comes into mind since they are many possibilities. Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.