Chapter 5:

"This is getting ridiculous." Jeremy complained as he opened his door, which he was sure had been locked before he left that morning and walked to his computer to find it seemingly oblivious to the fact that it had just been hacked, leaving him to grumble again as he sat down to figure out what the stranger was planning.

"I don't get it, who is this guy, what does he want?" Ulrich stated sternly as he walked back out into the hall in the hopes of spotting their mystery ghost.

"I'm beginning to wonder if he's even real." Odd admitted dryly.

"Oh, he's real, I just don't know what he wants, or why." Jeremy countered seriously as he continued to type, but found nothing to indicate that there was a problem.

"Okay, Jeremy," Ulrich added as he stormed back into the room. "This has gone on long enough; we need to find this guy before he does something we're going to regret."

"I agree." Yumi put in, leaving Jeremy to nod before connecting to his computer at the factory and pulled up the program he'd left running there, in order to locate the stranger once again.

"I don't believe it." He complained loudly.

"What, where is he now?" Ulrich demanded as his friend started typing in a fit of irritation.

"He's on his way back to the factory." He proclaimed causing them all to panic slightly.

"You gotta be kidding." Yumi stated seriously. "He's leading us around in circles. It's like he knows everything we're going to do."

"Yeah, well, he's gonna have to think fast to avoid us this time." Jeremy threatened as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket to check something before smiling as the tracking program was transferred, allowing them to follow him on the go.

"Got him!"

…

Jonas hummed slightly to himself as he walked around the corner and looked down the street to where he could see the factory and smiled.

"I could have sworn it was bigger." He muttered before casually lounging out on an abandoned bus bench and continued to hum his little tune as he waited for his shadows.

Thankfully, he didn't have to die of boredom before his watch beeped again and he looked back down the road to find someone pulling themselves out of the hole in the bridge, followed closely by four more, who all immediately rushed into the factory, leaving Jonas to get up and follow a minute later when he was sure they couldn't see him.

…

"Now where is he?" Ulrich asked around his heavy breathing as they dropped down from the ropes, intending to enter the elevator, until Jeremy suddenly called for them to stop.

"Hold on," He proclaimed as he studied his phone again before turning to look back up at the main entrance where they had just come in, only to find their target smiling down at them with his hands in his pockets, like he was simply there to deliver their mail.

"Zup?" He asked casually, causing them all to drop into fighting stances which he only laughed about. "Okay, you guys seriously need to take a chill pill." He informed them as he crouched down to look at them more clearly. "I'm not gonna hurt you." He added kindly.

"Yeah, right," Ulrich countered. "Who are you?"

"It's probably better if I don't answer that question." He admitted simply. "So, why don't you just call me Jonas?"

"Fine," Ulrich growled under his breath. "What do you want – Jonas?"

This left the man to smile at him again and laugh lightly. "You're not still mad about me kicking your ass, are you?"

"No!" The younger one answered quickly, perhaps too quickly, for it seemed that the target of his argument didn't believe him.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, I've had military training." Jonas proclaimed with a smile.

"What exactly is it that you want?" Aelita put in then, before Ulrich could continue with the useless bantering, causing the man to look at her with a truly genuine smile.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Princess, but I'm not here because of your father." He admitted kindly causing her to back up a step in shock. There were only four people in the world that called her Princess and knew about her father to boot, and they were all standing with her.

"Who are you?" She tried again, leaving the man to sigh before reaching out to grab one of the ropes and quietly slid down to talk with them face to face.

"Like I said, I can't really answer that." He repeated as he stood back at his full height and stuck his hands into his pockets once again. "But I can tell you that I'm a friend."

"Yeah, right," Ulrich complained again. "And why should we believe that?" He added causing the man to turn to him with an almost serious air about him before saying a simple word; that proved he was telling the truth, beyond the shadow of a doubt.

"Scipio"

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