"Is she O.K.?" Cerveau glanced over his shoulder as Zero re-entered the room. The researcher was slightly concerned that Zero had taken it upon himself to comfort Allouette after Merge's dis-heartening revelation. After all, it was well-known that Zero had a bed-side manner that could accurately be compared to that of a rock.

"She'll live." The Hunter settled his back against the doorjamb and glanced over the Reploids in the room, Cerveau, Leviathan, Harpuia and Fefnir. "Any luck tracing Ciel or Alia?"

"We just might have some of that… and heaven knows we need some good luck at the moment." Cerveau pointed at the large screen resting in front of the room. "It took me a while to realize why Merge failed to accurately trace Ciel- he can't distinguish between the real and digital realms."

Zero's left eyebrow rose slightly. "You're saying that Ciel isn't in our world, but in the cyber-realm."

"Exactly." Cerveau's finger's danced over the keyboard while the Guardians watched in slight amazement. "That would explain why Merge could detect Ciel, but we couldn't. You know as well as I that he's never completely wrong- in a big ballpark, maybe; but never wrong."

"How can you be sure?"

"It's simple, really. Something about the way Delta was jamming our signals didn't feel right," Cerveau continued his explanation. "So I triple-checked the readings. The fact of the matter is that they weren't scrambling the signal, it was cyber-space interference that was wrecking the tracker. Once I was able to compensate for the interference, we tracked Ciel's signal down within minutes- and it is coming from the digital world."

Leviathan shook her head in complete bewilderment.

"Are you getting any of this, Harpy?"

"Yeah, you might want to put that in English for those of us who aren't walking encyclopedias…" Fefnir agreed as he rubbed his forehead in confusion.

"There's an alternate dimension to ours," Harpuia broke the researcher's discussion down for his comrades. "It's simply known as the 'Cyber World' because it appears to be composed completely of digital data. How it came to be or how it continues to exist, we don't know- but it is possible for physical beings to enter this world through portals that occur naturally. What Cerveau's saying is that Delta is hiding out in the Cyber World and that's why Merge supposedly failed to track her."

"I still don't get it." Leviathan tossed her head once, "But if they know where those Mavericks are, then we need to go clean them out."

"Right." Fefnir agreed. "Let's gather some forces and-"

"Now hold on a moment." Harpuia thrust out his arm to silence the other two. "Given the state of our political situation, we must be certain that this is where Delta's hiding. If they're wrong, then it could ruin any chance that we have of upsetting Weil's grip over Neo Arcadia."

The Fire and Ice Guardians exchanged a quick look.

"And, as much as we may not want to admit it, we do owe Zero and his comrades in more ways than one." The Thunder Guardian shot a quick, meaningful glance at the Crimson Warrior. "It would be best for all parties concerned if we go scout out the location of Delta and then report back to the Senate… We might also need stumble across a certain captive human who needed our help…"

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"Ughnnnnnnn…."

"Easy, Ciel… Don't push yourself…"

Ciel slowly opened her eyes to find a blurred mess swirling through the air before her. Bewildered, she tried to shake her head- and promptly went limp as her head exploded into pain.

The blond woman laid there for a moment, waiting on the nausea and pain to pass. Several moments passed before she felt safe enough to try and open her eyes again.

The second attempt was much more successful than the first, and a painful blink brought the world around her into focus. Not that there was much world to see- a brown thatched roof was about the only thing she could see at the moment, and she didn't dare turn her head to look around.

"Don't move any more than you have to, Ciel." A strangely familiar voice reached her ear, as a matching face slid into her line of sight. "You're still extremely weak."

"Al.. lia.." Ciel forced the word out from between her stiff lips. "Wha…"

"You got shot… they hit your injured shoulder." The blond reploid explained the situation. "And they must have put some kind of drug into that bullet, your system didn't react to it very well. I've been doing my best to keep you alive ever since."

"Where… where are we?"

"Delta caught us… we're currently locked in one of their makeshift prisons until they decide what to do with us. But that's not important right now- you need to rest and gather your strength."

Too exhausted to reply, Ciel dropped back into a merciful slumber.

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"… and now the guardians are preparing to launch a Resistance shuttle to investigate." Zan'an finished dictating his report to Weil.

"Interesting… extremely interesting…" Weil's voice came back over the intercom. "Alright, Zan'an, I want you to continue, but I want to stress that it would be in our best interests if none of the guardians were to return from this expedition…"

"I understand, and you have my word that they won't return."

"Your word doesn't interest me, I want results."

"I'll make sure that you have that too." Zen'an closed the communication and prepared to sneak aboard the shuttle.

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"Zero…"

The Hunter took his eyes off of the Trans Server and looked over his shoulder to find Allouette standing behind him. The young Reploid was clutching her usual toy even tighter than usual.

"Zero, please… find Ciel…" Allouette looked up at the crimson warrior, tears staining her cheeks. "I don't… care if… I just… have to know."

"Allouette," The warrior dropped to one knee and rested his hand on the Reploid's right shoulder. "I promise you that I'll find her, for better or worse."

"Thank you…"

That done, Zero stood and turned his attention back to the communication room. It looked like the preparation was finished, for the Guardians were standing there waiting on him.

The Hunter strode over to the Trans Server, stepped aboard, and took up his customary position in the center.

"Said your good-byes?" Fefnir shot a look at the Hunter.

"At least I had good-byes to say."

"Before you two get into that…" Fairy Leviathan cut into the conversation. "We need to get this show on the road."

"Indeed." Harpuia nodded once, "Let's proceed."

Cerveau shook his head in agreement, muttered something about house guests overstaying their welcome, and then flicked the switches that would activate the Trans Serv. Within seconds, the three Guardians and the Hunter had dissolved into streams of light energy, and vanished.

1010101010101010101010101010

Zero straightened quickly, and took a quick look around to get his bearings. He was familiar with this place, it was the spot where the Mother Elf had healed Allouette after their last adventure… which strangely enough seemed to be mirroring this one…

Reminding himself to stay on focused on the matter at hand, the warrior turned to find the portal to the Cyber Word exactly where he remembered it being.

"So that's it, huh?" Fefnir's voice drifted over the Hunter's shoulder.

"It is."

"And nobody knows how these things work or what causes them to appear?" Fairy inquired.

"That would be correct." Harpuia replied. "Nor do we know what triggers their appearance. But that does not really matter at the moment. What we need to focus on is getting in there, finding Delta, and getting out."

"And finding Ciel somewhere along the way." Zero reminded them.

"That would be ideal, yes."

Without waiting to hear more, the Hunter strode forward and stepped into the portal. Reality seemed to stretch and waver for a moment, as was often the case during the transition between worlds… if Zero had the stomach for it, he could have looked at his hands and seen his fingers bending- where joints didn't exist.

What seemed like hours passed, everything further stretched out, it was as if the world itself was becoming paper-thin. But things continued to thin and stretch… until they were at their utmost limit…

And then the world collapsed…

Everything restructured itself…

And they arrived.

Zero shook his head slightly to regain his sense of feeling. That had actually been one of the easier trips through to this realm…

"Whoa…" Fefnir gasped weakly. "That… was some trip…"

"You O.K., Fighting?" Leviathan steadied the Reploid with her free hand, "You look a little green…"

"I'm fine." The fire Guardian straightened up, "Just fine… and we all know that Harpuia's the green one."

"Are they always like this?" The crimson warrior shot a look at the aforementioned Thunder Guardian.

"Not usually… it seems to be something of a trend lately."

The Hunter shook his head once, and then tapped his com unit to check in with the Resistance.

"Are you there, Cerveau?"

"We're here, and your signal is coming through loud and clear." The reply came back. "Alright, Ciel's location shows up to the immediate west of your present position, you're roughly fifty miles away. "

"Roger that, stand by." Zero closed the connection and turned to his companions. "Did you guys get that?"

"We heard." Harpuia nodded once, "lead on."

As soon as those words reached his ears, Zero turned to his right and began what was going to be a long walk…

None of them noticed the shifting sand behind them… the shifting sand caused by a spying Reploid… one equipped with the latest in stealth technology.

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i"Please!"/i

The Hunter blinked once. That slightly familiar voice was echoing through his head again…

"Please! I beg you, don't fight with my brother!"

"Someone… someone must stop them…" That voice… the one that felt fitting replied. "I don't want to fight your brother… but if I must then I will…"

"Zero! PLEASE!"

IRIS!

There she was… brown hair… soft eyes… that beret, the one that she never took off… She was Iris… she was his friend… No… more than a friend… she was his… love…

Colonel… her brother… the owner of that yellow sword… they had fought… Colonel lost… and paid the price with his life…

Iris…

"I can't forgive you!"

There she was… lying on the floor… slain by his own hand… He could see it once again… that final blow… Her cry… the anguish… The pain in her voice… the pain that was swiftly filling his being…

"I wanted to believe it… I wanted a place… just for… us… Zero"

She was dead… at his hand…

"No… No..." Zero stopped short, completely unaware of the fact that the other guardians were staring at him in bewilderment. "It can't be..."

But it was…

He could feel it… a familiar pain ripping into his heart… the void he had been living with since his reactivation was suddenly filled. Anguish and pain cementing that hole, taking up their former place in his life.

Iris… his love… he had killed her…

"No..." The Hunter found his palms pressed flat against his ears in an effort to stop the thoughts and memories from filling his mind… Once he had fought to regain them… now he would do almost anything to be able to forget them. "IRIS!"

"Iris?" Leviathan shot a look at Harpuia.

The Thunder Guardian didn't respond, he just watched the crimson warrior, his face devoid of emotion.

"Iris…" Zero blinked once, the back of his mind registering the fact that he was on his knees.

"Move it, you idiot!"

The breath leapt out of the Hunter 's lungs as Fefnir slammed into him. The force and weight of the blow sent both Zero and Fefnir tumbling over each other…

The spot that Zero had just vacated exploded into chaos. Dust, sand and ash filled the air, while the putrid smell of discharged energy filled the crimson warrior's nostrils.

Something had just tried to fry him with a highly focused beam of energy.

And that did not make him happy.

Faced with this new, currently unknown threat, the Hunter's mind automatically shelved his grief to deal with later and clicked into his attack mode. On pure instinct, the warrior drew his Saber, pushed off of the tumbling Fefnir, back-flipped into the air, and hit the ground feet-first and weapon at the ready.

He wasn't sure what to make of this… thing before him. It was extremely long, and vaguely resembled a green sea snake. The being turned around and shot skyward, vanishing into the suddenly cloudy atmosphere.

"What is that thing?" Fairy held her staff at the ready.

"Whatever it is, it's not friendly." Fefnir growled as he rolled to his feet. "You owe me one, Zero. So don't go getting yourself killed."

"I'll keep it in mind." The Hunter kept his gaze trained upward.

In seconds the serpent appeared again. It barreled out of the clouds and came rushing down on them at intense speed.

Zero turned around as the serpent swept overhead- and then his mind registered that being. He remembered where he had seen it before, it was the guardian that he had defeated while rescuing Alia- Night Strike Serpent.

And apparently, this serpent had learned a few new tricks during it's time in the digital world.

Harpuia, Leviathan, and Fefnir scrambled to dodge the attack, each one just barely managing to avoid the onslaught.

Enraged by his failure, Night Strike turned skyward and shot back into the clouds. A moment later he reappeared and repeated his previous maneuver.

"Traitors!" The serpent snarled as he tried to ram his opponents. "You sacrificed me for some… filthy Reploid?"

"You're kidding me!" Fefnir leapt away from the attack and clicked off four quick shot from his cannon. "This guy's… dead! How's he still exist!"

"Fefnir, shoot first, ask later!" Fairy called back, unleashing ice crystal after ice from her staff.

Neither of the attacks so much as scratched the armor covering the lethal serpent. And again it vanished into the clouds.

"I'm going up there." Harpuia propelled himself into the air and rocketed upward. The Guardian drew his two daggers and held them at the ready, who knew what he was getting himself into?

"That idiot…" Zero hissed as he sheathed his Saber and drew his Buster in it's stead. There wasn't much he could do, he couldn't risk firing wildly with no idea of what he'd hit; and as long as Night Strike stayed up there in the clouds, that was exactly what trying to attack him would be.

"I'll destroy you for betraying me!" Night Strike's voice shot out of the clouds, promptly followed by multiple blasts of flame.

Harpuia didn't bother to reply, instead he focused on avoiding the fireballs currently heading straight for him. A few quick twists carried him around the blasts, and within seconds he was face to face with Night Strike Serpent.

That was the good news, the bad news was that the fireballs had a secondary target- the Guardians on the ground.

Fefnir and Leviathan scrambled back and forth, narrowly avoiding being roasted.

"Fefnir!" Leviathan's eyes filled with terror as she took in the scene before her. "Watch out!"

The Fire Guardian looked up, and his face went white as he spotted a stray fireball bearing straight down on him.

Then Zero intervened.

The warrior appeared overhead, his Ice Saber at home in his palm. A quick slice later, and the Hunter had split that attack in two, effectively sparing it's target.

"I believe that we're even." Zero remarked as he sheathed his weapon.

"Yeah…"

Overhead, the Thunder Guardian was stunned to find himself evenly matched with the former weakling, Night Strike Serpent.

"Surprised?" The snake hissed. "I've learned much during my captivity in this realm!"

"Your capabilities have improved drastically." The Guardian was forced to admit.

"Improved!" Night Strike cackled. "They have increased ten-fold! Increased enough to destroy traitors such as yourself!"

Even as he spoke those words, the serpent unleashed his next move.

A dirty move.

The snake flicked about, snapping it's tail around to blindside Harpuia. The move was successful and the connection was solid.

Harpuia recoiled as his mind lost itself to the shock of the blow. Dazed and bordering on unconsciousness, the Guardian dropped for a second, and then lost his flight altogether. The Thunder Guardian began the long drop to the unforgiving ground below.

"Harpuia!" Zero, Leviathan and Fefnir shouted in unison. As one, The Hunter and the Fire Guardian broke into a mad dash in a feeble attempt to intercept the Thunder Guardian's fall.

They knew that it was no use, Harpuia was too far out for them to have any hope of performing a rescue.

However, fate decided to intervene in Harpuia's certain death. Fate can take several forms, some so small that they're negligible, others larger, and some downright terrifying.

As terrifying as a certain Reploid that had been dead for years…

This Reploid appeared out of nowhere, as was often his custom. He deftly sailed through the air and effortlessly plucked the Thunder Guardian from his certain doom. After depositing the unconscious Harpuia on the ground, the Reploid turned and shot upwards, riding on a familiar spiked instrument.

"It can't be!" Fefnir looked like he was seeing a ghost. "That- that's PHANTOM!"

Indeed it was.

Phantom shot skyward, his attention focused solely on the serpent above.

Night Strike glared at the newcomer and sent four new fireballs rocketing downward.

The Ninja deftly slipped between the attacks. His arm lashed out. A dozen Shuriken went flying.

It was over.

Ninja Phantom dropped back to the ground, and landed at the same instant that Night Strike Serpent's lifeless body slammed into the sandy surface.

"There's no way…" Fairy Leviathan stared at her partner and friend in disbelief. "You… you're alive! Phantom!"

The silent assassin crossed his arms over his chest, and studied the rag-tag group before him.

"It would seem so."

End Chapter!