A/N: I don't own World Trigger

Mimics

Chapter 27: Mogami Soichi, The Mimic

It was time to reclaim what belonged to him.

The Black Trigger that was keeping his son alive was calling out to him. It was currently inside the Border HQ. While the agents were on the move tonight, his son was staying inside the base. It was strange when he stopped to consider it. His son was never one to stay out of a fight. His reckless nature urged him to step into every battle.

The strangeness didn't concern him though. If his son wanted to hang around HQ, it made Yugo's job easier. He wouldn't have to fight through all the agents to get to his son. He would keep them distracted with his Trion Soldiers in the Restricted Zone in a faraway sector. Mogami had agreed to help him keep the agents distracted while he headed to the base. It was a shame. He would have liked to have fought alongside Mogami again.

Perhaps another time.

For now, Yugo would be going for his son. He stepped up to Border's HQ, looking down at Yuma's Trigger in his hand.

His son should really be more responsible with his stuff.

Planting the Trigger on the panel, the doors to the base slid open to allow Yugo entrance.

Border really needed to improve their security measures. It was disappointing how easy that was.

*Mimics*

Jin stood atop the Bamster he just killed, head tilted back to look up at the stars in the sky. He knew Kuga Yugo wanted his son, but he didn't think he would go the base. Even if he took out the fact that Kuga Yugo had no way of getting into the base, he shouldn't even know that Yuma was unconscious in a lab in the base.

Jin tightened his grip on his Scorpion. This was the future that he couldn't make sense of. He thought it would be Mimics going for his unconscious kouhai, but it was really his father. He made the right call in making it Shinoda and Rindo being the ones to watch over Yuma then. They would be able to protect Yuma. For now, Jin had to focus on getting to Kazama squad. If Yugo was in the base, they were about to face off against Mogami.

In the distance, he could see the Ilgar circling the Restricted Zone as it dropped its bombs which lit up the night sky. There was no doubt in his mind that the civilians were able to see that and would be asking questions, but as long as they kept everything contained to the Restricted Zone, it would be fine.

Chika could handle the Ilgar. The agents could handle the Trion Soldiers and the Mimics that were filling the Restricted Zone. Jin would assist Kazama squad with Mogami. Shinoda and Rindo had Yugo. Every enemy would be covered and none would get into the city to attack civilians. They could handle this.

This would end tonight.

*Mimics*

"So, he's in the base."

Izumi sent a side glare at his distracted captain as he used his Viper to kill the Marmods blocking their path. "Shinoda-san and Rindo-san will take care of things at the base. You are not running off there to get your revenge on Kuga. We have Trion Soldiers to deal with."

"Tsk," Tachikawa shot a look at the Marmods that Izumi already killed. He couldn't even take his annoyance out on the Trion Soldiers about missing his chance to get revenge against Kuga Yugo again. They were too easy to kill and did nothing to help ease any of his frustration.

"Jin-san asked for our help earlier today and now he's heading to Mogami. Perhaps we should move over there." Izumi suggested after seeing his captain's annoyed expression.

"Hmph, us elites shouldn't be running around at the whim of others." Yuiga scoffed.

"Good thing no one asked for your help." Izumi retorted. "You can stay here and take care of the Trion Soldiers. Tachikawa-san and I will be moving to help Jin-san."

Yuiga blinked for a moment before his mouth was dropping open in shock. "By myself? You want me to take on the Trion Soldiers all by myself? What if the Mimics come?"

"Then you have nothing to fear. The Mimics will only get stupid if they touch you." Tachikawa replied, eager to get a move on now that Izumi had suggested a good idea. Mogami was strong if he was able to create a Black Trigger upon his death. It may not be the Mimic he wanted, but he was sure to get a good fight out of this. "Be sure to not let them escape the Restricted Zone."

"Wait!" Yuiga yelled helplessly as Izumi and Tachikawa abandoned him in the middle of the street as they scaled the buildings and disappeared into the distance.

"That was mean." Yu scolded Tachikawa and Izumi.

"It's not our job to baby him. He's an agent." Izumi replied. "He needs to make up for his laziness this week."

"Lead us to Kazama squad. I need something to take my frustration out on." Tachikawa said, not caring about silence that came from Yu for a moment. He knew she was just taking a moment to silently scold them before she was directing them to Kazama squad's location.

Izumi gave his captain a disproving look. He knew he was looking to have a fun fight while getting revenge against Kuga Yugo, but this was the time for a more serious attitude. Izumi usually didn't care about his captain looking to enjoy his fights when in the field. He was still extremely efficient with his job. The only reason Izumi didn't think it was appropriate this time was because Jin was not his easy-going self currently. Jin took all the invasions seriously, but there was still usually a lighthearted air to him. That mood was just gone though. There was more going on here than Jin was telling them, and Izumi didn't need to be a psychic to know that it was related to Yuma.

Jin had already told them Yuma wasn't feeling well. With Osamu mentioning it had to do with the Mimics and the urgently that all of Tamakoma was acting on, it was obvious there was more to the story. It was something he could hound Shun about later since it looked like he knew a bit more than the rest of the agents, but that was something for later. Taking care of the Mimics was the mission right now and that was what he would focus on.

*Mimics*

Osamu stretched his arm forward as he released his Hound. In this narrow street, the Marmod couldn't move as freely as it would have liked, but even if it could, his bullets would have followed it anyway. His bullets were able to pierce the armor which caused the Marmod to stagger. Osamu stole this chance to move forward, ducking under the blades before stabbing his Raygust into the Marmod's eye.

Yanking his Raygust free of the Marmod, Osamu turned to find Hyuse sitting atop one of the two Marmods he had killed, looking up towards the roofs where Chika had positioned herself with her Ibis. It would be too dangerous and hard for Chika to get a good shot if they got any closer to where the Ilgar was bombing so they had decided to stop here.

"Azuma-san," Osamu said, putting a hand to his ear. "Chika is getting ready to take the Ilgar down."

"About time you got here." Koarai replied, ducking behind a building to avoid the explosion of one of the bombs. It would be easier to leave the area, but unfortunately, there were other Trion Soldiers here. They couldn't leave them unchecked which is why they had been sticking around, despite the Ilgar's bombs making it hard to get around.

"Ilgars enter self-destruct mode when they take damage." Azuma said. "But, then again, I don't suppose you will let it get there."

"No," Osamu agreed, staring at the Ilgar in the distance. "Chika will blow it to smithereens with one attack so I'd advise any agents in the area to take cover."

Chika adjusted her Ibis on the ledge she planted it on before looking through her scope to watch the Illgar circling the Restricted Zone. The last time she had to shoot one of these it had been easier since the A-Ranks had already killed it so it was just freefalling to bomb the branch with its self-destructing mode. This time she had to kill it on her own.

It wouldn't be the first time she had to hit a moving target. Reiji had trained her for this. She just had to remain calm and keep her breathing steady. She couldn't overthink the shot as there wasn't time with its bombing. She could only take one shot to end this.

"Amatori, you're good to fire when you're ready." Azuma said.

"Roger," Chika rested her finger lightly over the trigger as she watched the Ilgar through her scope. The Ilgar only circled in the area as it dropped its bombs. The course never changed and its speed never changed. She just had to wait for the right moment when the Ilgar moved into her line of sight.

A sniper was always patient and calm. If she let herself get worked up, she could end up flinching and pulling the trigger when it wasn't the right time for the shot. Snipers couldn't just shoot without planning their shots. Her job was to keep patient and wait for the perfect moment to take a shot that would kill the Ilgar.

And...there!

Chika pulled the trigger the moment the Ilgar was a second from moving back into the sight of her scope. Her Trion ripped through the sky at a great speed and engulfed the Ilgar before it could move out of her line of fire.

Hyuse smirked as he watched the cannon blast of Trion ripped through the night sky. As usual, the power of it was impressive. It was strong enough to whip up a powerful wind that left Osamu lifting his arm to cover his face from the wind. Hyuse let himself be unconcerned with the strong wind biting at his skin as he watched the blast engulf the Illgar.

As Chika's cannon fire of Trion died down, there was nothing left of the Ilgar so there would be no self-destructing Ilgar trying to fall onto the city. Their sniper was truly someone to be filled. Ilgars were never meant to be dealt with so easily.

"Still so terrifying." Okudera's voice came over their coms.

"Nicely done, Amatori." Azuma said.

Chika dropped from her crouch to rest on the roof, leaning forward slightly on the ledge, one hand on top of her Ibis as the tension eased from her shoulders. "Thank you, Azuma-san." She replied softly. She couldn't let himself relax too much here. She got rid of the Ilgar, but that didn't mean the battle was over. There were still plenty of enemies around that needed to be dealt with.

"It's not over yet." Azuma replied. "Where will you be heading? Did you hear Kuga Yugo has broken into HQ?"

Osamu glanced back in the direction of HQ, hands clenched into fists at his side. It wasn't in him to abandon his comrades ever. He was determined to always protect his team, but this situation was different from when Aftokrator attacked and he ran after Chika. She had been alone with no official agents coming to help her. It wasn't the same this time. Yuma had Shinoda and Rindo protecting him. The two students of Kuga Yugo. If anyone could keep Yuma safe, it would be them.

Turning his back on HQ, Osamu stepped forward. "We're going after the Trion Soldiers. Jin-san was right. Making sure they don't escape the Restricted Zone is important."

Besides, Chika and Osamu didn't have the experience to take on the Black Trigger that Yugo would be using. They would only get in the way of Shinoda and Rindo's fight. His squad would be more helpful by staying out here and assisting with the Trion Soldiers.

*Mimics*

Jin could hear the sword strikes before he could see Kazama squad fighting Mogami on the street nearby. As skilled as Kazama squad was, they weren't able to beat Jin when he was using Fujin. Granted, Jin had his side effect on his side. His Foresight and Fujin were a powerful combination, but for anyone else, Fujin would be a difficult Black Trigger to use effectively because of its rigid nature.

Crouching on the corner of a roof and watching the fight from a distance, Jin would have to make a reassessment. While Miwa called Fujin rigid and agreed that it wasn't easy for anyone but Jin to use, it seemed that Mogami was having no trouble matching Kazama squad. He had his wind blades active, but was making no effort to use them. He seemed to be content with backing up and just blocking their strikes.

It didn't match how Kuga Yugo had been attacking them the past few days. He went full force against the squads with the intention of killing all the agents in front of him. Being that Mogami was a Mimic from the same nation, he had to have the same goal–to kill the agents that got in his way.

The fact that he was holding back had to mean something.

No.

Jin shook his head. There was no need to overthink it all of this. It was a tactic that Jin used. Mogami was just trying to keep the agents busy here. The mimics, Trion Soldiers, and Mogami. It was a retaliation plan against the agents' dummy beacon plan. If Yugo and Mogami were working together then was their plan to have Yugo go for his son while Mogami kept them busy?

In any case, their plan would not succeed. Mogami and Yugo were not going to succeed tonight.

Instead of dropping down to join the fight, Jin ran across the rooftops as he followed the battle that was moving down the street. He was aiming for a surprise attack on Mogami. Kazama squad seemed to be doing a good job of keeping him plenty distracted. He just had to wait for the right moment.

Mogami twisted his body to the side, grabbing Utagawa's wrist as he did. Using his momentum in the turn, he swung Utagawa towards Kazama to stall those two before he was blocking Kikuchihara's Scorpion as he came down from the sky. He ducked under the falling agent, slamming his elbow up into his stomach as he did to flip the agent behind him. Kikuchihara threw a hand onto the ground to flip himself back over to land on his feet.

"Being Jin-san's mentor, I was expecting him to move similar to him." Utagawa said.

Kazama deactivated his bagworm so he could use two Scorpions now. "There are some similar moves in there, but the best fighters aren't just mirror copies of their mentors. They learn from them and improve from there as they find their own style of fighting. However, unlike Jin, he can't predict our moves."

"But he can react faster to our attacks." Utagawa pointed out.

"When he fought us, Jin had a second delay because he was predicting the future as he fought us. It's hard to see because he has so much practice integrating predicting the future into every move he makes in a fight." Kazama replied as he rose from his crouch, staring at Mogami who was turned sideways in the street so he could watch Utagawa and Kazama while keeping an eye on Kikuchihara who was at the other end of the street. "Mogami doesn't predict the future so that lack of delay is giving him a faster reaction time to us."

"We've faced faster than this before." Kikuchihara said over their telepathy.

"Tachikawa squad is on their way to provide backup." Mikami added.

"Eh?" Kikuchihara muttered.

"It's appreciated." Kazama cut in before Kikuchihara could say anything rude. While he valued his team's strength, there was still a lot for their team to improve on. If Mogami didn't have a Black Trigger, he would have wanted his team to attempt to fight Mogami on their own. The danger of the situation plus the power of the Black Trigger meant this was not something Kazama was going to take lightly though.

Kazama shifted his foot behind him, watching Mogami warily. He wasn't moving. There wasn't a single attack coming from him. He was waiting for them to make a move. This was strange for a Mimic if he considered how Kuga Yugo's Mimic was acting the past few days. He was a very aggressive fighter, much like how his son fought. If he thought about it, the way Mogami was waiting and holding back it was like how Jin started their fight back in December. Was this just how Mogami fought or was it for another reason that he was holding back?

Kazama launched himself forward, striking quickly which was blocked. Pushing forward with his Scorpion to keep their blades locked, Kazama swung his second sword forward, but Mogami stepped back and twisted a bit to escape the blade. As he twisted, he broke their blades apart and blocked the attack from Kikuchihara. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Utagawa disappear.

Mogami broke away from the two agents and put some distance between them, eyes scanning the street trying to figure out where the third agent had gone. That was an impressive technique, to be able to go invisible. What kind of new Triggers had Border managed to come up with in the years he's been gone? Well, no matter how impressive it was, nothing was perfect. There was a balance to everything so there would be a downside to that type of Trigger.

The downside to the Trigger would be something he would think about later.

There was a Trion body coming at him from the side.

Mogami stepped back, swinging his Kogetsu blinding to the side. While he could locate the body there, he couldn't see where the attack was coming from. With his sword swinging, Utagawa was forced to deactivate his Chameleon so he could block the attack with his Scorpion.

There was another Trion body behind him.

Kicking Utagawa away from him, Mogami threw his arm up and over his shoulder so his Kogetsu was above his head, blocking the sword coming for his head. He twisted around, scraping his sword along Jin's Scorpion. He knocked the Scorpion to the side to free his sword so he could swing it at Jin, but Jin activated a second Scorpion to block the attack as he landed lightly on his feet from his jump from the roof.

Jin had been certain that Mogami hadn't seen his approach. He should have been completely focused on Kazama squad, but it wasn't too much of a surprise. Mogami was never the type of person that would let his guard down. It was just extremely difficult to watch his surroundings for more enemies while focusing on the squad right in front of him that was trying to kill him.

Mogami stepped back, holding his sword to the side as he stared at his former pupil. "That's a different blade from last time."

To Jin, he would say that Mogami almost sounded disappointed that Fujin was not on Jin currently. It stung a bit that Fujin was Mogami's focus right now and not the fact that his student was standing in front of him.

No, there was no sting of pain at that. This was a fake Mogami. Jin couldn't let himself be sucked into believing he was anything but a Trion Soldier.

Though, that wouldn't be easy to do if he followed Mizukami's plan of turning back the manipulation of emotions onto the Mimics. It could probably work, but there would be a backlash of pain from bringing up those emotions and the hurt of twisting that back at someone he once loved.

If he could, Jin would rather go the route of just beating Mogami with a fight. He didn't want to bring the past into this.

*Mimics*

It had been a long time.

Joining in on the battle was something that Rindo had stopped doing a long time ago. When Border began to grow, it was time for the older members of Border to step back from the field. They could no longer be agents as they had to lead the new agents instead. It was a role that had been so foreign to Rindo years ago, but despite that, he was able to step back easily. He was glad to see his young agents grow in front of his eyes.

Rindo didn't need to be in the field in as an agent. While he had enjoyed his time in the past as an agent and there was a deep longing for those old days where all his friends were still alive, that past couldn't be brought back. His time as an agent was something to be left in that past. He had absolute trust in his agents to be able to handle whatever was thrown at them. There was no need for him to join the battle.

When Border began to grow into a bigger organization, it became time for him to lead.

Being in the field was a distraction when his agents needed him to lead.

It was the same for Shinoda. They didn't belong in the field anymore. Shinoda only entered the field when it was an absolute emergency because he too had to act as the commander.

They weren't meant to fight anymore.

Despite that, they both kept up with their training. There was no telling if they would ever have to defend themselves from an attack or if the agents would need help one day.

And that day was here.

It was strange to be back in his Trion body with the intention of going into battle. He was dressed in dark grey combat pants with black combat boots. A zipped up black jacket with a fur lined hood with dark blue lining on the edges covered his torso with black gloves on his hands. Resting at his side was his Kogetsu blade.

Agjusting his gloves, Rindo stepped out of the lab.

"Not rusty, are you?" Shinoda asked, stepping up next to Rindo's side, hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Rindo snorted. "Like you can talk. You've been in one real battle in years."

"Still more than you." Shinoda replied.

"The real question is, can we still work together?" Rindo asked.

"Right. Try not to shoot me in the back." Shinoda said, walking ahead of Rindo to lead the way down the hall. It would be best to intercept Yugo before he got close to the lab where Yuma was sleeping.

"One time when we were still both rookies and you can just never let it go, can you?" Rindo retorted, though he was grinning at his friend's back. The banter that was so familiar from their youth as new rookies to Border eased some of the tension from Rindo's shoulders. There would always be some tension when going into battle. It was the natural response as the fight-or-flight instinct kicked in.

But Border didn't run from fights.

And the banter with a comrade was just what he needed to ease the tension. Normally it wouldn't be something that got to Rindo as he had enough experience and skill to stand on the battlefield without fear.

This wasn't a normal situation though.

The one invading their base was their old mentor who was now turned into an enemy.

The mentor who was here for his dying son.

A fight against their dear mentor to protect the son he loved so much that he gave up his life.

It was a fight that didn't need to take place near the room that Yuma was sleeping in. There was no reason for them to allow Yugo to be anywhere near his son. He had done enough damage.

Stepping into the adjacent hall, Shinoda and Rindo came to a halt as they watched the figure at the end of the hall approach them. Rindo's hand dropped down to his Kogetsu to grip the handle tightly, but it was more in warning as he didn't draw the blade yet.

Yugo stopped a good distance from them, planting a hand on his sword handle in preparation to draw it as he stared right on back at them. It had been a long time since he last saw them, but he would recognize these two anywhere. There was a part of him that was glad to see them. It was nice to know that not all of his old friends from Border were gone. "Are you really going to stand in the way of me seeing my son, Masafumi-kun, Takumi-kun?"

It had been a couple of decades since he last saw Kuga Yugo, but that was definitely his voice he was hearing. There were also those striking red eyes that were burning into his very being, as well as the confidence radiating from him. This was the old friend, old mentor, from so long ago. The one to help create Border and the first one to leave the organization. It had hurt all those years ago when the one who recruited them into Border chose to leave them behind, but it had been Yugo's choice and that was something that they had to accept.

Perhaps there was a time in the past when they had wished for their friend to return.

But over the years, many friends came and went from Border. It was something that they had been forced to accept since there was no return for their friends who had died. The loss of friends was painful and the hurt caused be it would always be there, but they weren't so naïve as to be fooled by the Mimics of their friends.

"Yuma isn't in good enough condition for visitors, especially a fake calling himself his father." Rindo said.

Yugo stared down the hall at his two students standing side by side to block his path forward. The way their held themselves with their commanding presence showed to him just how much the two have grown from the young rookies he knew so long ago. "I knew I could trust my friends in Border to protect my son if something would happen to me. It was right to tell him to come here if I died," The smile Yugo was wearing dropped away to a fierce look, daring his students to continue standing in his path. "But I'm back now. You will not keep my son from me."

"You really do put up a good act. It almost seems like you want to get to your son to make sure he is safe." Shinoda replied. "It makes it hard to tell you're a Mimic."

"Maybe I am real."

Rindo scoffed. "Our Kuga-san wouldn't be running around causing this chaos and controlling Trion Soldiers to attack our agents while his son is dying."

That statement got no reaction out of Yugo, so he either already knew about Yuma's condition or he simply didn't care about his son's life. Neither painted this Mimic in any good light. Even if he already knew about Yuma's dire state, Yugo would still show concern for his son's well-being.

Releasing his grip on his Kogetsu's handle, Rindo opened his hands down at his side, cubes of Trion forming under each of his hands. "As much as I wish you were back, Kuga-san, and that we could talk like the old days, I have to live in the present and Yuma is more important right now."

Yugo eyed the Trion cubes with a raised brow. "Are you really going to attempt to fight me, Masafumi-kun, Takumi-kun?"

"I would have thought you realized this in your confrontations with Yuma-kun." Shinoda said as he pulled his Kogetsu out and pointed it at Yugo. "Nothing is as you remembered it, Yugo-san."

A reply came in the form of a smirk and Yugo drawing one of his swords.

*Mimics*

"Where the hell is Yoneyan?" Shun complained as he used a Grasshopper to dodge a Rabit's bullets. "I said he could have these things the next time they showed up."

"It's not like we're the only ones with Trion Soldiers to deal with." Hayato replied as he looked at the two Rabits through his scope. He never fought Rabits himself, but from what Shun had told him about them, their armor was very hard to break through. He wouldn't be able to take a shot on the Rabit with Egret and have it do anything besides reveal his position to them.

"I swear if he got Marmods again while I'm stuck with Rabits," Shun muttered as he propelled himself backwards with a Grasshopper to get farther from the Rabits.

"You fought this type of Rabit before so you should know how to beat them." Kusakabe replied.

"They have shields so it makes it hard to break through their already tough defense." Shun said.

"Tonight would have been a good time for you to have equipped Ibis, Hayato." Ryuji said.

Hayato leaned back from his scope, frowning. "You know I don't like Ibis."

"You aren't going to break through a Rabit's armor with Egret though." Shun replied to which Hayato grumble to himself about already knowing that.

Ryuji jumped backwards and the moment his foot landed on the ground, Escudos were popping up from the ground in front of him and Shun and another in front of Kazuma. Kazuma leaned his back against his and raised his assault rifle towards the sky as he unleashed his Hound. The guided bullets twisted in the air to come down towards the Rabits, distracting them.

With the Rabits sufficiently distracted with Shielding themselves from Hound, Ryuji leaned out from behind his Escudo with his assault rifle ready to go to let loose his Asteroid. The Rabit in front opened its mouth, revealing a Bolt seal that unleashed bullets that slammed into Ryuji's Asteroid, stopping the attack.

Ryuji twisted back around to get behind Escudo again, glancing at Shun. "Anything else you want to tell us?"

"Rabits made from Yuma-senpai's Black Trigger are completely unfair, but they can be beaten." Shun replied. "Their weakest point is the eye. We just have to break through its defenses. Once we do that, it will attack when we get too close to its eye. All of its attack are similar to Yuma-senpai's Black Trigger. As long as you read up on the memo that was sent out earlier today about that, there shouldn't be any surprises."

"We already faced Kuga Yugo once. We've seen what that Black Trigger can do." Ryuji said. "And some Trion Soldiers have nothing on that man. No defense is unbeatable. We just have to coordinate our attacks."

*Mimics*

"Is this really what you want to be doing?" Hyuse asked, staring at the Bamster that had his sword stuck in its eye.

"And what is it that you're referring to?" Osamu retorted. "I know you joined Border as your attempt to get to Aftokrator, but I'm not the same as you. I joined because I hated sitting back and doing nothing. And tonight, our job as Border agents is to protect the city."

Hyuse yanked his sword free of the Bamster, turning his full attention to his captain. "And right now, Yuma is in danger. You choose the strangers in the city over your partner?"

Osamu turned around, meeting Hyuse stare straight on.

Chika dropped down from the nearby roof, silently watching her teammates have their stare down.

"There is no choice to be made here." Osamu replied, glancing at Chika with a smile.

"I guess I was just worried the friends we made would betray Kuga if they found out about his status."

"Perhaps some of the agents would hate him for his status, but not the ones he is close to. They all like and respect him too much." Chika replied. "I wouldn't dismiss that worry about Kido-san sending agents after him one day, for whatever reason that could possibly be, but I like to think we have more allies than we realize. Yuma-kun said it himself the other day. We don't have to fight alone on the battlefield."

"We have plenty of allies on our side. We're not alone." Osamu looked in the direction of HQ. "Kuga couldn't have better protectors right now. What we can do to help is keep the Trion Soldiers out of the city and away from HQ. It's a job just as important as anything else that the others are doing. Along as we can take care of this, the directors only have to put their focus and worry on Kuga-san."

Chika nodded in agreement, stepping up to join her team. "Osamu-kun is right. Our friends will not let us fight this battle alone. We can't think that this is only about us. If we do that, it would be no different than abandoning our allies."

"Why are you even asking about this?" Osamu asked.

Hyuse shrugged. "You're the type to run after your team when they are in danger."

Osamu would assume he was referring to the Rank Wars, but it was also possible he was talking about what he saw when he was their enemy as Aftokrator invaded them. "Those Rank Wars were different. Those are training so we act as enemies in them, but at the end of the day, we are all allies."

Osamu wanted to point out that Hyuse should know what it means to work with allies since he came here with a team and they all worked together to attack them, but considering it was those same allies who betrayed him, it was perhaps something that shouldn't be mentioned. There had to be a sting of betrayal there that made it hard for Hyuse to trust, especially since Border was technically his enemy. It would be hard to trust them after his own country betrayed him.

This was not the time to be bringing up Hyuse's feelings of betrayal and about how to trust. Hyuse wasn't one to talk about anything easily and bringing up his problems with Aftokrator would only result in anger. It seemed unnecessary when it was obvious how much it would hurt Hyuse to be in this position. Osamu wasn't going to rub it in his face.

"One person can't do everything. I'm putting my trust in everyone else." Osamu said. "I told you before, Shinoda-san and Rindo-san were trained by Kuga-san. I think they'll have the best chance at fighting him."

"I wonder if your so-called allies would still feel that way if they knew the truth about him being a Neighbor." Hyuse replied.

Osamu didn't have a reply for that. That was a concern that he did have, but Chika had a point the other day that not everyone in Border hated Neighbors. They had plenty of friends who wouldn't care about having Neighbors as allies if they were friends. There were those who would hate Yuma and Hyuse for it, but that wasn't something they needed to be thinking about right now. The secret of the Neighbors was not something that was going to be coming out. Actually, having it revealed that Yuma's father was a former member of Border helped solidify the fact that Yuma was from this world, or at least the lie that he was from here.

Chika's head jerked to the side, catching the attention of Hyuse and Osamu, who both turned to follow her eyes. She threw her hand up, creating a Shield when she saw movement in the shadows of the building. Since her Shield was already up, it came as a surprise when Hyuse was suddenly sliding in front of her Shield and slicing through multiple shadowy arms that were coming out of the shadows.

Hyuse swung his sword down to his side when he chopped the last of the limbs that were coming at them off. He stared into the shadow of the buildings, waiting for something else to make its move.

Osamu looked down at the black limbs lying on the ground before looking towards the nearby alley. "Mimics, I take it?"

"That would be my guess." Hyuse agreed. While none of them had encountered Mimics this week, there wasn't another known Trion Soldier that was this color or that could stretch its limbs like that. "Shields are ineffective against them, Chika."

"I see." Chika murmured as she dropped her Shield and instead raised her hand above her head as she activated her Hound, surprising the two boys with her. Hyuse jumped off to the side, joining Osamu as Chika wasted no time in separating her cube into smaller cubes and unleashing it into the alleyway. Osamu raised an arm to shield his eyes from the blinding light of Chika's attack blowing up the buildings along with the Mimics hiding in the shadows.

"She uses Hound like a Meteor. It's utterly terrifying." Yoneya said.

Osamu whipped around, shocked to find Miwa and Yoneya there. "What are you doing here?"

"Watching the light show." Yoneya replied amused.

"That was overkill." Miwa stared at the crumbling buildings. It seemed, unlike Arashiyama, Chika had no qualms about destroying buildings to get to her target. An obvious conclusion if they took in her nature of changing the terrain of the battlegrounds in the Rank Wars. Though there was a different between a virtual city versus the real city.

"They're all dead though. Right, Shiori-san?" Chika asked.

"Yep," The grin in Shiori's voice was easily heard by the agents. "All the Mimics in your area are dead."

"Your team is full of such scary people." Yoneya told Osamu.

Osamu opened his mouth to defend his team, but found himself snapping it back shut. There was no way to defend them. From the moment the Rank Wars started, he had his team showing off their skills and power. While Chika lacked experience, she was able to strike fear and shock into people with her powerful cannon. Then there were the two powerful Aces he had recruited who were blowing all the other Aces out of the water. By all reason and logic, his brand-new squad shouldn't currently be B-Rank #2, but they were also an impatient squad when it came to wanting to reach their goals.

"So, why did you really come over here?" Osamu asked instead.

Yoneya pointed at Chika's destroyed alley. "Those Mimics were our target, but for some reason they moved away from us to come over here so we were following them and then hightailing it out of the way when Amatori decided she wanted to blow up the area."

Osamu raised a brow. "They changed target? Shouldn't they be happy targeting anyone out here since we're all in Trion bodies?"

"Actually, we were talking about this earlier, Osamu-kun." Shiori chimed in. "A theory was proposed that those with higher Trion reserves might be more likely to be targeted by the Mimics since they would be a bigger shining beacon for them since they used echolocation to locate Troin bodies. Chika-chan and Hyuse-kun have so much Trion that they would be more easily tracked by the Mimics."

"I can see that making sense." Hyuse said.

"Wouldn't Ninomiya-san be an easy target too then?" Osamu asked.

"Well, easy isn't a word I would be using in the same sentence as Ninomiya-san." Shiori replied. "His squad is decimating any Mimic that comes near them."

"Sounds about right." Osamu looked up towards the sky. The more Trion one had, the easier it was for the Mimics to locate them. Black Triggers amplified one's Trion. Being in a Trion body made from a Black Trigger, did that make it easier for the Mimics to find Yuma as well?

"Shiori-san," Chika piped up. "How are things going with Mogami-san and Kuga-san?"

"Eh, well..."

*Mimics*

"I thought Tachikawa squad was coming here. Where are they?" Utagawa asked as he landed on the nearby roof and watched Mogami and Jin going at it. The speed of their swords was pretty amazing. Kazama squad used Scorpion since they were speedy fighters, but Mogami was using a Kogetsu and yet his speed was still incredible. That heavy sword didn't seem to be slowing him down at all as he and Jin moved down the street, never once stopping in swinging their swords. It was a sharp contrast to how Mogami was fighting them earlier, in that he was actually attacking Jin back.

"They were pretty far from you guys so it is taking them time to get there. They are closing in though." Mikami replied.

"Then let's take the fight to them." Kazama suggested before he was launching into the fray to join Jin. He flipped over Mogami and planted a foot on the wall which he kicked off of to launch back at Mogami, swinging his Scorpion at his neck. Mogami blocked the strike before taking a step back and leaning his head back to avoid the Scorpion that came from Kazama's forearm.

Knocking Kazama away, Mogami swung his blade, sending a senku slash forward which cut into the nearby lamppost. The falling lamppost forced Jin to jump backwards to avoid having it fall on him.

Kazama flipped himself over to land back on his feet and brought up his Scorpion just in time to stop the Kogetsu from cutting his head in half. The strike from Mogami was strong though as he saw the cracks begin to form on his Scorpion from taking the blow. Mogami took a step back, swinging his sword to the side as he did.

"Move left!" Kikuchihara warned.

Utagawa didn't take any time to process the order ringing through his mind. He just acted and jumped to the next building just in time to avoid the two slashes that were suddenly protruding from the roof of the building he was previously crouching on.

The wind blades.

If Mogami was starting to use those then that meant he was done playing around with them and was actually preparing to kill them now.

Jin eyed the wind blades above them as they vanished after missing their target. Kikuchihara's side effect was really a nuisance to anyone trying to make surprise attacks with those wind blades. It was the reason he was the first one he chose to kill when he got serious in their fight all those months ago. Mogami, however, had no idea about that side effect so they wouldn't lose that trump card. Kikuchihara's side effect plus Jin's, which couldn't see Mogami's future but he could see the attacks landing on his allies with his, meant that they would have the edge here.

"Jin-kun, incoming." Yuri warned.

"What?" Jin twisted around just in time to slice the arm off of a Mimic that was reaching him before he was hopping back a few steps to get some space from the Mimics that were bleeding out of the shadows around them. "A little more warning would have been nice."

"You can ask me to control the whole field of the Restricted Zone or ask me to be your operator. If you want both, you'll have to accept that I might miss some things." Yuri replied.

Jin gave a small grin. "Right, of course, Boss-lady. My apologies." He said teasingly as he called a Scorpion to his free hand and went to town blocking the Mimics' limbs. Having experienced their memory theft once before, it was something he had no desire of going through again.

With each limb he managed to lob off or block, Jin was taking a step back. The Mimics were able to extend their limbs to get close to their target, but they had to be a limit to how far they could extend their limbs. Of course, even if he did manage to get out of their range, he had no other plan of action. He didn't have any ranged attacks that he use to destroy the Mimics from a distance.

Utagawa came flying down from the roofs to stab a Mimic that was clinging to the wall through the eye before it could get to Jin. Leaving the dead Mimic dangling there, Utagawa joined Jin on the ground, ducking under the limbs of one of the Mimics as he did.

From the corner of his eyes, Jin watched as Kazama and Kikuchihara charged at Mogami and resumed exchanging blows with him. It was a bad idea to be separating right now. The idea had been to take on Mogami together. His plan had been to overwhelm Mogami with numbers. No matter how strong someone was, if they could overwhelm him with numbers, it would make it harder for Mogami to survive the onslaught from multiple attacks coming from all directions.

Mogami's eyes sifted to the side. Seeing this, Kazama went to attack, but missed when Mogami jumped away, landing on the side of the nearby wall. He pushed off the wall just in time to miss the bullets that blasted through the wall. The momentum from the explosion helped carry his jump to the nearby roof where he was swinging his sword and sending three slashes traveling across the roof.

"Coming from behind, the left, and right." Kikuchihara thought.

Tachikawa twisted around to use his first sword to block the slash from behind and held his second sword to the side to block the one coming from the right. He went to lean away from the one coming from his left when a Shield appeared there to defend him from it.

Instead of looking annoyed, Mogami just looked on in amusement as he looked at the roofs on the other side of the road to see Izumi standing there. Wind blades were invisible when moving through surfaces, but it seemed these agents had a way of knowing where they were before he could hit them. Was it Jin warning them of the attacks coming? Looking towards his formal pupil, he saw him busy with the hoard of Mimics that had appeared. He might have been able to warn the first agent, but he was too busy to warn these two.

"I would much rather get my revenge on Kuga." Tachikawa said.

"He's never going to stop complaining about that." Izumi muttered.

Mogami smiled. "Yugo is a bit too busy to entertain you right now."

"Yeah, trying to kill his own son." Izumi retorted. "How sick is that?"

Izumi's response caused Mogami's face to twitch. Being on a roof on the other side of the street with it being nighttime, Izumi couldn't see it, but being on the same roof as the Mimic, Tachikawa could. "Oh? Is that displeasure I see? Guess there is more humanity in you than meets the eye. What do you say, Jin?"

Kazama launched himself off the building to approach the hoard of Mimics with Kikuchihara following him. The two agents crossed over each as they sliced through the closest Mimics before landing in front of Jin. "Time to switch." Kazama said over his shoulder.

Jin eyed the Mimics pass Kazama squad. In the first place, Mogami and Yugo were the targets that Tamakoma had been going after. Anyone could attempt to fight Mogami and Yugo, but this was a personal matter for Tamakoma. It was something Jin felt the need to take care of himself. He didn't want to pass it off onto someone else if it could be helped. He had to preserve the memory of his mentor and Yuma's father by getting rid of these Mimics as quickly as possible before any more moves come from the Mimics that would disrespect the real Kuga Yugo and Mogami Soichi.

Leaving the Mimics to Kazama squad, Jin jumped up to the nearby roof, joining Izumi.

"Should I go help them?" Izumi asked. "It's better to fight Mimics with long ranged attacks, isn't it?"

Jin stared across the roofs to lock eyes with Mogami over there. He smiled. "No, I need you over here." He looked at Izumi out of the corner of his eye. "Don't forget. You're not the only one here with bullets."

Explosions drew Izumi's attention to the battle with the Mimics below to see the bullets streaking through the air, though the Mimics were able to shield themselves from the attack. "I always forget he's an all-rounder. He never brings out his bullets."

"They can handle the Mimics, but we're lacking a sniper. Think you can fill the role?"

"Heh," Izumi smirked. "My range isn't as great as a sniper's, but I'll see what I can do." He dropped down behind the building and reactivated his bagworm to move sneakily through the shadows.

The whole time they were planning, the confident smirk never left Mogami as he waited for them to finish.

With Mogami looking at Jin, Tachikawa decided to use this moment to act. His second sword came out and he was sending two senku slashes at Mogami. In return, Mogami jumped backwards and unleashed two of his own Senku to stop the slashes in their tracks.

"You do know Mogami-san designed Senku, right?" Jin asked. "You're not going to hit him with his own creation easily."

Tachikawa's eyes narrowed, shifting from Jin then back to Mogami. "Why didn't you say that sooner?"

"Because-"

"I'm going to beat him at his own game." Tachikawa began to unleash Senku after Senku after Mogami who sent back his own to deflect every single one.

Jin just gave a tired sigh as he watched the flashing slashes clash in the air. "That's why."

"Maybe he'll shut up about revenge against Kuga now." Izumi's voice sounded in Jin's ears. "Gimlet!"

The bullets came flying up through the air from behind the building Mogami was on.

The moment Jin saw them flying in his eyes, he was reading the future, the movement of the bullets fading away from his vision as he chose to focus on the future. "Move!" Jin shouted telepathic when he saw the future that would only make things harder for them if it came to pass.

Mogami moved to the left while throwing up a Shield to defend from the bullets. Even as they were raining down on his Shield, Mogami swung his sword, unleashing three wind blades traversing down the side of the building before he was turning his full attention back to Tachikawa.

"I think Jin-san is trying to kill us." Izumi said a moment later.

"Huh?" Jin asked.

"You had me move into the slashes!" Izumi snapped.

"What?" Jin said, feeling even more confused. His vision had told him Izumi would suffer some injuries. He shouldn't have been hurt if he moved. In fact, Mogami reacted too fast and accurately to that attack. He defended against it instantly and didn't even look to see where it had come from. Up into the moment he attacked, Izumi was wearing his bagworm and Mogami never accessed his radar. In fact, Mogami was defending too well against the agents that he shouldn't know were there.

"You okay, Izumi?" Jin asked.

"Lost a foot, but other than that, yes. I managed to shield myself from the other blades." Izumi replied. "So, if you're not trying to kill us, does your mentor have Foresight, too?"

"No," Jin tightened his grip on his Scorpion. "He doesn't." He wasn't using radar and he had no operators to back him up. How was he able to defend so well against their attacks that he shouldn't see coming?

*Mimics*

Shinoda's Kogetsu came bearing down on Yugo's with all his strength behind the attack. Even with all his strength in it, Shinoda couldn't push Yugo back as he stood firmly in place. Shinoda scraped his sword along Yugo's as he ducked, revealing Rindo behind him as he unleashed his Viper. The bullets twisted around Shinoda as they headed to their target. Yugo jumped backwards, revealing a Bolt seal that had been under his foot. The bullets came flying out of the seal to slam into Rindo's bullets as they neared his side of the hallway. With that taking out half of the bullets, it made it easier for Yugo to defend from the bullets that did get through by cutting them down.

"Heh," Shinoda stood up straight, smirking at the sight. "I expect no less from you."

"Your teamwork has improved immensely over the years." Yugo said, an amused twinkle in his eyes as he took another step back and lowered his sword.

"Is he thinking about that time you shot me in the back?" Shinoda asked.

"Neither one of you could ever let that go." Rindo griped.

"But you haven't shot an ally in the back since." Shinoda pointed out.

Rindo shook his head in disbelief, getting a smile from Shinoda before he got serious once more as he locked eyes with Yugo. Just like Shinoda, the amusement had dropped from his face as he adopted a more serious expression as he eyed his two former students.

"I didn't come here to fight you."

"Didn't you?" Rindo retorted. He stayed behind Shinoda to let him take the lead in this fight, but his hand was resting on the hilt of his Kogetsu in preparation to draw it if it was needed. He could never reach Shinoda's or Yugo's level of mastery with a sword, but he was no slouch with it either. "You're attacking the city. A city you grew up in and love while your son's life is hanging by a thread, and then you broke into our base to take your son who is in no condition to go anywhere. This isn't the Kuga-san I know."

"My Trion Soldiers haven't left your Restricted Zone, but," Yugo replied, eyes darkening in warning. "That can change in an instant."

Shinoda tightened his grip on his Kogetsu, glancing at Rindo out of the corner of his eyes. Yugo didn't even try to hide the threat. Could he really control them from this far away? If the Trion Soldiers got out of the Restricted Zone now, it would cause even more chaos than what they needed right now. The past few days already had Netsuki stressing out with Border's publicity in the face of the fear from the civilians about the constant attacks in the city with Border not giving any explanation.

It shouldn't have even been a concern. The Kuga Yugo and Mogami Soichi from the past would have never thought of putting the city in danger.

The fact that the threat was there in the first place was making the Mimics show their true colors.

It was showing just how fake they were.

"So, how about a deal?" Yugo asked. "I'll end this attack if you give me my son."