Author's Note: Here it is, the second chapter of ID. To be perfectly honest, I think this story is the second Arcana Ascend.. In other words, be prepared to go on a journey... Of mental maddness and exhilaration.

I own nothing.

PRAGUE, LOCAL TIME 10.50pm

A black McLaren MP4-12C drove into the curved entrance of the Grand Four Seasons hotel. When it came to a halt, a man got out of the car –he wore a tight black suit that flattered his body, his hands moving to adjust his diamond cufflinks after tossing the keys aside to the valet boy. He ran a hand through his aged hair that contrasted against his handsome youthful features. "Be careful," said the man, a string of fluent Czech words slipped from his tongue, his blue eyes staring coolly at the youth. "She's my baby." He told him before patting his back lightly. Pulling at his the helm of his blazer, he entered the party.

It was bustling, yet that was no surprise for anyone who dared to grace this grand banquet as socialites and business tycoons had travelled from all corners of the globe to attend this very event, a feat normal for those that indulged in life's pleasures, and the man present was certainly not an exception to that.

"Would you care for a drink, sir?" A waiter politely asked, offering him a single cup of white wine, bubbles bursting from bottom of the champagne glass to tip of the gold embodied rim.

"Thank you," he took the drink as the waiter bowed, his face mostly covered by his mop of black hair, his features rather hidden. 'They must be hiring the peasantry now,' he couldn't help but snide. It was his nature to. Once the waiter left, he took the opportunity to take a sip before wincing as he pulled away and stared into the pits of the glass. It was strong, really strong. 'Stronger than it should be for a party like this.' He suspected, aged eyes narrowing. He looked around for any similar reactions but there were no, dismissing the suspicion he let out a huff. He placed the glass on a table, he didn't want anymore; one sip was enough for him. He felt a burning sensation pass through his throat as he cringed slightly before adjusting his necktie; one drink was enough for him tonight as his gaze shifted about the room once more, but with softened eyes this time. Familiar faces stared back at him as he put on a million dollar smile and walked to get himself reacquainted.

With the party in full swing, the man started to associate.

It was an hour later when a startling sensation began to wither and stir from within him; he felt his stomach coil and clench as a hand moved to his abdomen. His eyes searched frantically before he made his way to the bathroom in a hurried manner, excusing himself from the circle of women that had kindly gathered around him but the moment he stepped through, the feeling pass. He shrugged to himself, hands flying to his hair upon seeing his handsome reflection in the mirror. As a smirk slipped onto his face, his fingers ran through his hair as he leaned in to further inspect his reflection, his eyes narrowing slightly at the strands of grey that streaked his hair. A thin line formed on his lips before he pulled away frowning. There was 'click'.

He turned and raised a brow as the valet boy stood beside the door, "Your keys, Sir." He said, his fingers dangling the fine keys to his precious McLaren before him.

"Don't be absurd, I'm not leaving yet." Replied the man. His hands moved to pull at his tie, his eyes glancing back at his reflection briefly to make any further improvements to his already dapper appearance.

"Trust me," said the valet boy. "You will be, but not to home." What happened next happened too fast for the man to see, the boy vanished completely, before he felt his entire body soar into the air before coming into contact with the cold hard ground. Breathing wasn't allowed as the boy's foot slammed into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. The torture wasn't over just yet as a pale thin arm grabbed his neck and forced him on his feet, he dangled with his back against the wall. It was impossible for a boy of his statue to hold a man of his build like this, especially if he was being treated like a ragged doll unless…

Realisation hit him like a ton of bricks before a rasped laughter escaped his lips, "You're one of them." He mused, a light tone to his lips as he stared down into cool teal eyes. Inside the inner rings of the boy's orbs, a fine thin gold line ringed along the edges, a feature of a mutation –an experiment. Correction, the experiment. He knew about them, of course he knew yet he was confused, he had been informed that they were all extinct. Every last one of them, annihilated by either their own self destruction or by the militant arms of the government, but he guessed he was wrong, or how else was it possible for this kid to be alive. "What do you want from me?" he asked. He had to be cautious, the mere identity of this boy had already caught him of guard, and if this boy was so far from home and had managed to go this long undetected, there was a reason he was alive, and that very reason was something to watch out for. It was the very thing that would determine whether he would live or not. "Money? Information? I can give you whatever you need, just name it." Right now, his power and wealth was his only bargaining chip.

"Nothing if it's from you." His grip tightened as he felt his grasp get smaller. 'No,' he paused himself from completely crushing the man's throat. 'It would be messy.' Sighing, he released his grip slightly as his eyes stared around the bathroom. He had already spent three minutes at most in the bathroom, the average man would take about ten minutes in the bathroom yet he locked the door, increasing suspicion by at least seventy-five percent. His time was running out, his eyes narrowed as he stared at the Czech before him before whispering, "Your death shall be enough." He tossed the man across the room once more, grabbing a towel swiftly off the rack by the side before smuggling it to the man's face. Using a hand, he made sure he covered the man's mouth and nose; with the other he pulled the entire towel down to his neck, twisting it into a tight rope, wrapping it around before twisting it again, but tighter. He struggled but it doesn't take long for his body to still. Knotting the towel, he executed the perfect scene of a suicide.

He took out the McLaren's keys and placed them by the sink, satisfied with his work, he took off his valet jacket before turning it inside out to reveal a black silk blazer, slipping them onto his shoulders before pocketing the keys and leaving. He never looked back.

As he left the building, he could hear the commotion beginning to buzz behind him as the body of the CEO of the Penize Empire had been discovered. "Excuse me, can I help you?" The valet boy that had taken his place asked him.

"No, it's alright," he held up the keys of the McLaren to further emphasise his point before heading off to where he had parked the highly maintained sports car. Slipping behind the wheel, he started the engine quick and made a fast getaway before anybody close to the guest of the recently deceased realised that it was missing.

He soon arrived at the Port of Prague, large shipping containers abandoned to a side leaving very little space to hide the car but the driver knew exactly what he was doing, reaching into his trousers' pockets as he flashed a key card, sticking his hand out of the open window. The sounds of a metallic door creaking was heard as the doors of a shipping container opened, the driver drove into the dark blue container as darkness engulfed the McLaren. Once the vehicle was inside, the container doors shut once more, sealing themselves nice and tight. The assailant got out of the car; lights flickered on above him as he finally tore off his wig. Teal blue hair spilled from beneath the black rug he had sported, to be entirely honest, he hated wigs –this one being the most resented one.

But what was Kuroko Tetsuya to do? A hunted man was a dead man after all.

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He placed the folded clothes from his latest adventure into a black airtight bag, sealing the keys with them before he pushed the McLaren out into the Port's open junkyard. This was standard procedure for him as he grabbed the bottles of gasoline, emptying its contents. It was pity too; he had begun to become rather fond of this car. But like the many before it, it had to go. He a lit a match, dropping it casually onto a trail of fresh gasoline as his eyes flickered to the watch strapped to his arm. He was on a tight schedule. Retreating back to his shipping container, he slide off his gloves, dropping them to a side before he took a seat by his open laptop, files on the latest transport documents open as Kuroko's pale slender fingers got to work.

Like always, he added his shipping container to a list of cargo due to his next location. His fingers typed fast, decoding encrypted files as data and codes flashed across the screen, his eyes absorbed every single letter and number that appeared before he checked global networking cameras for any updates and leads that he needed. None wait… He froze and backtracked to a news article, it was a small newspaper article that just barely made the internet, but it was there. A toy shop was opening soon in Bern, Switzerland by a man named Viktor Spielzeug.

Spielzeug.

Kuroko jotted the information down before ripping the sticky note off its pad as he walked over to the longer wall of the container, a world map splayed out openly before him. Lines of strings and article clippings along with drawings adorned the wall, connecting everything he has learnt over the past three years about Phantom. He took a red marker from the wall, crossing out Lionel Penize's face. 'The financier that backed up the experiment,' he mentally noted as his eyes once more scanned bank transactions to the Phantom's unnamed accounts, yet each lead back to Penize. Beside Penize's photograph, there were several more photographs of prominent people associated with the support and creation of Phantom that had encountered rather 'strange' but tragic deaths over the years, but that was rather trivial to him.

He had set himself a goal when he began his journey, cheating death, the world and even his own 'family'. He had savaged what he could, excavating what was left of Phantom labs, glancing at the place of his creation as it lay in ruins. All files erased, all data gone. He had nearer lost hope, but he found satisfaction in a journal, a diary belonging to lab assistant. The author had been kind and gracious enough to provide him all the leads he needed, and a photograph of the Phantom team.

It was this very journal that Kuroko glanced down upon reading as he flipped through several pages before stopping, his finger running along a sentence, 'Professor Spielzeug had once again proposed another alteration to the test subjects. Jokingly as he had, he proposed to name it after himself: Viktor he declared, like he does when he often plays with those toys he creates for his pleasure.' He pulled away before pinning the sticky note onto the world map, his next location was confirmed for him.

Now all he needed to do was plot, with that on mind, a smirk made its way onto the teen's face. It was a rather long journey to Switzerland by sea, but it would give him plenty of time to plan an elaborate surprise. After all, who wouldn't want to be greeted by their first born creation?

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BERN, SWITZERLAND. LOCAL TIME 11.46PM

Viktor loved toys.

To him, they were creations of innovation and tradition. Some toys he had crafted by hand from wood, others were more modernised with mechanics within the body itself, due to his engineering background. But if there was one thing he could guarantee, it would be the satisfaction of his customers that his toys shall never fail to bring a smile to their face. It was good way for an old man like him to pass he supposed, smiling as he looked down at his latest project. He was in the workshop down below the first floor of the store, it was going to be a big day for him tomorrow. The shops opening would mark the day he starts over fresh and move away from his past in science, and other past projects, some wonderful... Others... Regrettable. A mistake.

He was pulled from his thoughts as he heard a soft knock from above.

His attention taken away from his thoughts and Zurich, the toy he was working on. Victor was careful, cautiously putting down his apparatus, but not removing the protective face mask he wore. He knew he was in danger, somebody was obviously hunting him down. He was a scientist for goodness sakes, it wasn't hard for him to see the pattern of his missing and dead former colleagues.

The first one turned up dead a three year ago, in Shanghai, thrown out of the eighteenth floor of his apartment building onto a highway. Police deduced the death an accident, stating that the man had slipped. It impossible though, the projectile of the fall would never have thrown him onto a highway, or even off the building. At the very least, the most harmful thing that could have happened would be that he fell back, landing straight onto his skull and cracking it, and rupturing the blood flow. Something like how the second death had occurred, a woman who ended up bleeding out after accidentally consuming her vitamin pills right after she ate seafood, the chemicals creating a poison within her body. An accident he would have believed if the woman had not been a nutritionist. He was no fool to the link: Phantom. There were many other bizarre cases as such that seemed to flood headlines over the years, or were told and passed to him from friends of friends. In the scientist community, word got around fast, especially Penize's. The man's tragic suicide crippled projects that were worth millions, and without the Czech's money funds, they were bankrupt, their equipment was running out. Their projects were being shut down forcefully. It was a complete loss for the scientific world.

Viktor clambered back up the stairs to the main shop, taking his time to survey the shop. With his careful eyes, he easily deduced that there was nothing out of place as far as he could see. Everything seemed to be in order, where he left everything as he had before he went down to the workshop. Curious as he was, he decided to open the front door, peeking through mail slot to see a small brown package outside, waiting for him. Viktor picked up the box and brought it back inside the shop, carrying it down to the workshop as he was estimating the weight and possible item that was inside. It was lighter than what he expected from the size of the box as he placed it on his work desk, moving his other projects aside.

Taking a pen knife, he sliced of the tape that covered the two lids before slowly peeling the cardboard away. To his surprise, the statue of a toy solider laid resting within. He took the toy out for a further analysis. It was crafted from wood, similar to the style of what he did, except for the fashion of the toy. It was dressed in a sort of battle gear, the traditional type like those worn in civil wars. It was an odd choice he'd admit, but a work of art was art. He pulled out a drawer and pulled out his scanner, checking it for any sort of surprises that could appear from within the doll but nothing came. It was safe. He placed the toy aside before deciding that he was just being paranoid. It was impossible.

Sighing to himself, he continued his previous work. He placed the doll on a shelf behind his table, it's legs off to a side, it's head looking up at the ceiling as the arms fell to its sides. He sighed, pulling Zurich back into his spotlight. The toy was of a life sized boy, similar to the tale of Pinocchio. He smiled to himself as he continued to perfect shaping the boy's limbs.

If he looked behind, he would notice cold wooden eyes looking directly at him from the shelf.

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Viktor smiled, statisfied with himself, he had come a long way in his life, nearly reaching the age of sixty-four, yet still determined to introduce children to the wonderful world of toys. More speciafically, his toys. He glanced at the grandfather clock, it was close to 1am, that wasn't good. Especially with the opening at 7am. He sighed, putting his tools away before looking back at the table to find it empty. His eyes widened as he heard some noise from above, grabbing a hammer, he clambered up the staircase. When he entered, he felt the cold breeze of the winter air blast through the room. His front door wide open, the wooden toy he received from the parcel laid by the hinges.

Creeak...

"Whose there?" He spluttered, his hardened eyes turned as they focused on the counter where his new cashier was already waiting. He stared as Zurich sat, he was fully clothed from head to toe with a small green bowler hat on the top of his head, a smile upon his wooden little face. "Zurich?" He whispered, stunned.

Zurich blinked back. "Father?" The toy whispered, it's voice raspy and soft, but undoubtedly a little's boy's voice.

Viktor dropped the hammer and approached Zurich, his eyes fascinated as he felt joy bubble inside of him, his creation. It was alive. "But how?" He asked, a grin finding his way to his lips. He couldn't believe it.

"It was a blue fairy!" Zurich seemed to explain. Viktor laughed to himself, of course. The blue fairy from Pinocchio! "It came and granted my wish."

Viktor laughed in glee, "Yes, of course she did!" He cried out happily. The joy was just overwhelming, it was alive. This boy, his creation. It was alive! A miracle. This was the happiest moment of his life.

But within seconds, it was gone.

The sound of an axe striking a tree was heard, Viktor stared in horror as Zurich's frail body shattered and split into two. The hat he wore rolled to Viktor's feet, there was traces of red paint. A lot of red paint. It was everywhere, from the counter to the floor. It was all he could see. And mutated eyes gold rimmed eyes.

"Hello father, your first born has returned."