Chapter 7: Of Greeks and rumors

09:48 AM (Moscow Time), Monday October the 10th…

"… Hello."

"Serenade! What's up?"

"It would seem things are getting troublesome in Japan."

"Really? Those Phoenix guys again?"

"Oh no. Those are the least of our worries."

"So it's complicated?"

"Pretty much."

"Isn't there something I can do to help?"

"You surely can but we lack info."

"So we don't know what they'll do next?"

"No, Forte."

Serenade stepped into a Cyber World somewhere and met up with Forte, so chat ensued.

"Serenade. I was looking for you."

"Slur."

"… Come with me outside."

"Alright."

Slur came in and asked of Serenade to come with them outside of the system.

Slur, hovering some inches over the ground, dashed away followed by Serenade.

They crossed a firewall and Slur looked around to check.

"We found a way to tell the Navi mimics apart…"

"Is that so?"

"Scan them and their core signature will give off that of a Normal Navi. That is the tell-away. I tested it myself on a fool named Alpha the 13th a while ago. They were impersonating Napalm Man." She described.

"I see. So… What is their goal?"

"We do not know yet. Terror and fear seems to be it."

"I see."

"Blackmail seems to be one of their methods, too."

"Someone you know is being blackmailed?"

"Not yet. Could be, however. An inconvenient report was stolen…"

"And if the contents were made public someone's reputation and prestige would be in danger?" Serenade guessed.

"Correct. The problem is that it is a written report. On paper. We cannot know where it is. Anyone could scan it to make countless copies of it too. We can hunt down and destroy the digital copies but if we do not find the physical report then we get nowhere." Slur explained with some annoyance.

"Found you! Fake Messiah! Now I shall eliminate you!"

"Search Man?"

"Search Man, you say?"

Someone called out and spotted Search Man there, who looked smug, for once, and was already aiming his Scope Gun at Serenade.

"Scope Gun! Max power! Satellite Cannon! Max power!"

"Allow me, Slur."

"What?"

Serenade took a step forward and the "lances" hovering behind him quickly shifted to the front and bounced back both attacks at Search Man.

"Shit!"

There was an explosion and a groan; frizzling noise rang out and a normal Navi (man-model) was revealed.

"Shit!"

"Another of you lot. How persistent." Slur fumed.

"Shit! I, Beta the 13th, am invincible! What happened?"

"You took me lightly." Serenade replied.

"Hmpf. And here you thought I would then proceed to destroy the Sharo Army to "avenge" Serenade?" Slur had already realized the point of the disguise.

"Shit! I got read already!"

"You fools are but disposable pawns. To keep us busy while the real strength amasses or prepares. I have no use for small fry, just like you lot… Vanish!"

Slur aimed her right hand at the Navi.

Yellow spots formed across his body and some wires with a metallic cylinder at the end popped out and spread across his body, shortly tying him and electrocuting him.

"What the heck?"

"My abilities are beyond what you lot."

"Shit! And here I thought it was a show-off!"

"They must have told you that in purpose so that you would not doubt on attack him, I would counter, and they would have the battle data."

"No wonder."

She extended two thin wires with a miniature cylinder at their end from the right arm, which formed a dagger form followed by a tetragon and by a rectangular shaft with a triangular lower edge.

The two ends converged into another triangular end and then the frame filled with energy, becoming a graceful sword.

"Vanish."

"Shit! Super Vulcan!"

Slur ran forward and had no trouble side-stepping every a few instants to dodge all of the bullets shot by the Super Vulcan.

She reached the Navi and swung her blade upwards, easily slicing through most of the chest armor and making the core's glow visible.

The Navi flung upwards from the attack, and landed face-up on the ground.

"What the fuck!"

"I told you." Slur dully replied.

"Not yet! I can still take you down!"

"Hell's Buster!"

The Navi stood up, was about to attack again when several energy rounds hit his body with forced, and stunned him while forcing him to recoil.

Forte landed in front of the Navi and drew his Dark Arm Blades to slice the Super Vulcan into pieces and destroy it.

"Shit! You! You were supposed to be buried!"

"Hmpf! You got your info from a 1999 newspaper from the looks of it, you jerk! The end! Earth Breaker!"

Forte jumped into the air and loaded up energy on his right hand, which grew into the form of an sphere.

He hit the ground in front of the Navi with it and the resulting shockwave sent the Navi flying several meters away, who warped away to escape.

"I heard a ruckus outside and came to help." He told them.

"Be careful. Do not let their words awaken anger in you, Forte."

"It didn't. I was just making irony through M & F." He shrugged and didn't seem to care.

"I see." Slur dully muttered.

"When will you stop acting so hostile in front of him?" Serenade asked with some annoyance.

"When I feel like it." She tried to evade the topic.

"You are STUBBORN."

"I knew it." She shrugged.

"Guess I'm on the way so I'm going back inside! I'm going to tune into M & F… Later."

"I will join you later. I need to have some talk with Slur."

"Hmpf."

Forte rolled his eyes and headed back in; Dr. Cossack had opened his holographic screen.

"So… What happened?"

"A mimic showed up and tried to make up a scenario in which Serenade was deleted by the Sharo Army and Slur would avenge him by taking out the Sharo Army." He summed up.

"Sounds like they greatly underestimated Serenade."

"Sure did. They're but mice, Dr. Cossack. Slur says they can be told apart with ease so… The problem will be the real deal. Because that's when these types turn deadly!"

"Truly… The real deal…"

"I'm going to tune into some M & F."

"Guess I'll stick around. I need something else to keep my mind clear and since I don't need to go to the college until 4 PM…"

"… V! B! N! On Air! Part 2 of "The Nightmare"! Start!"

"… "Alright! Tell them about your latest piece of junk, you lil…!"… Mr. S slaps B's nape out of annoyance! "I wanna do that too!"… M is about to join with a boxing glove!"

"Boxing?"

"M has a grudge with B 'cause he worked for him and B tried an "anti-baldness lotion" on him… And he lost all of his hair! "It's a machine, which uses waves and stuff to achieve happy dreams… However, it turns out it makes up horrific NIGHTMARES! As long as there are residual waves floating around! Those waves have mixed up with the residual grudges of Frederick Krugidoff… That steel claw killer that died when he tried to kill me with a match on the gas plant… Its grudge and hatred materialize inside of those nightmares and will haunt us!"…"

"What bad timing!"

"…"Point is! If you don't wanna meet the guy then DON'T FALL ASLEEP AT WORK!"… "Fall asleep? Hah! I'm hyper-active!"… "I am, too!"…"

"Sure. In the previous chapter you were constantly falling asleep! That's also called a "flag", guys!"

"…"Morta! Wait a min! I'll tell ya a joke!"…"Devil! That Meléndez rascal!"…"A guy takes the dog out for a stroll! Was it a monkey…? No, it was a pig! Wait! Wasn't strolling… Tramcar? Hi-speed train? Which was it? The guy… Was it the wife of a tobacco store owner? No, I think that…!"… * snores *…"Looks like you didn't like it. PSCHE! People sans humor!"… This guy takes so long to remember what the joke is about that people fall asleep from the boredom!" Video Man chuckled.

"Marchando! It's begun… The nightmare~! Is this what they call "flag retrieval"? When something foreshadowed happens, you know?"

"Really… What bad memory for the jokes… Why don't write them down in a paper and read it before saying them? Then again this is a crazy humor comic book…" Dr. Cossack wondered.

"M walks into a creepy and dirty forest imaging himself as the Little Red Riding Hood! "The little riding hood goes to see granny!"… * scream *…"

"What's happened?"

"Freddy comes out from the garbage! "Dear! What do you use as after-shave lotion? Sulfuric acid?"…"I'm so gonna shave your back!"…Swipes and tears out the clothes so M runs off! "Oigh! How dare ya attack an innocent riding hood? Bully!"…F is in the same place! "This weed is so tall! Can't see where I'm stepping!"…Steps into something! "I know what I stepped into!"…Guess it's something ugly! "Boss! You there? Stop rubbing the soil and run!"… M flies past with a bee disguise! "Run? I only run when I want, moron!"… * scream *…"

"There you have a reason to run!"

"…"I just feel like it!"…"Devil! A cliff! What do we do?"… "Jump with this vine, like Tarzan! "…"No way! It'll slide off my hands!"… Not at all! I tie on your waist and that's it! Ran out of vine! Now you can jump without fear! Jump!"… "B-b-but! Wait… A MI~N!"… CRASH! M is so dumb! Tied it around the waist and lower torso and left both ends loose! No wonder it didn't do anything! He should've just tied one end and that was it…"

"He really IS dumb." Dr. Cossack muttered.

"…"I'll have you regret this one! I swear!"… "But, Boss! Since you were down there…Why not climb up the opposite cliff?"…F hits his head against a tree as he realizes it! "Look! Like Tarzan!"… CRACK! Mets a tree head on and hits his body! "And how do I jump? There are no more vines!"… "Easy! Move the elbow backwards!"…"What? Why?"…Turns out the guy was behind him and the fear gives him the energy to run through the air and across the gap! "No need for vines, see?"…"Devil!"…"The guy crossed! What do we do?"…"

"Good question."

"…"I know, Boss! Did you see the guy's burnt face? He got burnt once so he fears flames as much as the Pantoja's films! Let's pick some dry wood and set fire to them to scare the guy! Pick 'em up! Enough! Let's set fire to them and…!"…Something jumps out! "These are man-eater ants! They ache! My arm! I'm so gonna burn you out next!"…"Calm down, man! You still got another arm! Not enough? What a black boulder!"…"

"…"Must be mourning his wife!"…Turns out it was F, lying down on the ground! "Dear me!"…"Help! M! Do something!"…"

"This guy never gives up?" Forte rolled his eyes.

"…"I'm on it, Boss! About to achieve a record of 3000 meters in an obstacle course! Wait a minute! I lent Boss 200 pesetas the other day! If they do him in then I won't get them back! Hold on, Boss! I'm so gonna bite the guy!"…Disguises as bat and bits the nape! "CRUNCH!"…Back to the real world and it turns out he's bitten O's nape! "You BEAST! Moron! I'm so gonna bite ya!"… She chases him with a giant bear-trap! "Man! Bite your navel and say you're trying out the camel's hump!"… "Ms. Ofelia! Bad mood there? Wait a min! I've got a joke for you!"…"

"Oh heck. Not that guy again." Forte laughed.

"…" A tobacco store owner's wife was going there with a sperm whale and… No, I think it was a polar bear… And the wife… Or was it the wife of a laundry store owner? Wrong! It was a guy from Murcia that…!"…"Nobody has sense of humor!"…"

"This guy's trouble. The guy alone will ruin it all. I can see it coming from miles away." Forte rolled his eyes.

"Indeed." Dr. Cossack sighed.

"… "Good hairstyle. But I'd liked to have flocks over the forehead."… "Help! Save me! It's the Phantom of the Opera!"…"Calm down, fair lady! Both of us have come to help thou!"…"The Arrogant Don Quijote and the jaco "Rocinante"! Man! Boss! Next time you go solve messes with your second great-great-granny!"…"Hide in this cabin! We take care of it!"…"

"Already showed up?"

"Obviously!"

"…"Calm down! This guy won't scratch even 1 millimeter of your epidermis!"…"I dunno 'bout the epidermis but my Melanesian silk dress is ruined!"…"Hide behind us! The guy will have to step over our dead bodies!"…"What if he does!"…The guy shows up from nowhere!"

"…"Only one solution left, Boss! The club blow and hit! Hold the guy in place!"… "Gotcha!"… "Beat 'im!"…"Eat vitamin – filled head massage! EAT THIS!"… They all wake up! "Devil!"… "Mr. Super!"…"Stupid and vandal act! Acting on the excuse that they didn't realize they hit over and over again their CO and run off. It's believed they're on the poles and…"…"

"They happened to beat up Mr. Super. Can't blame them, really. They though the nightmare was real. And it felt like it on the first place."

"That's the problem."

"…"I'll FIND YOU! Even if it's the last thing I do on life!"…"Ma'am! Take your buttocks off my face! I'm choking!"…"Rude! Pervert! Rascal!"…"You two be quiet and stop acting the camel! He's coming close!"…Mr. Super searches them in the desert while they hide inside of a camel disguise's hump!"…This is the end of the first chapter, which we've split into 2 parts… So!"

"Shah, shah, shah!"

"V! B! N! Off Air!"

"Looks like it'll be fun." Forte shrugged.

"Sorry I took so long. I had to go shoot down some rumors that those fools had begun to spread… Do not worry, Forte, because they do not involve you at all." Serenade walked back in.

"Did you manage to convince Slur?"

"Not at all. As stubborn as usual."

"Stubborn folk…" Dr. Cossack sighed.

"So… What can we do?"

"For the time being… Wait for them to make a move. Slur believes they will soon run out of these mimics and then they will move into the real deal! They are able to hide from all kind of searches and investigations and it would seem that no intelligence agency has heard their name before as well."

"They gotta be the type that has patience and is ready to wait all the years it takes…" Dr. Cossack mumbled.

"Surely…"

"The phone! Wait a minute! It's me. Dimitri! What? Someone broke into my college office! Nothing's missing? Did you check if the college PC was accessed? No? Hmmm…"

"A good hacker can erase access traces…" Serenade muttered.

"Could it be related?" Forte asked.

"Could be. They broke into some archive and stole some report that is very inconvenient, according to Slur."

"What about security, Dimitri? Cameras, alarms and all? What? The security manager was drugged! All records erased! Damn it. This looks ugly. Don't say a word to anyone else! Least I want is the press making a fuss over it." He ordered.

"What could they hope to find?"

"Maybe they think there are notes about programs or projects… Or about you, Forte…"

"So that they can counter my power?" He grumbled.

"Could be."

"Damned rascals. I feel annoyed already. I'd had a fun time with the comic and now this."

"Sorry."

"Don't mind, Serenade. You're not to blame." Forte sighed.

"Luckily, I only kept college-related data in that computer. There shouldn't be anything important. It's not connected to my home PC either. So they can't access from there!" Dr. Cossack told them after he finished the call.

"Maybe they ended up going back with the tail between legs because they failed on their goal."

"Let's hope this is the case."

"I'll go watch some Yu-Gi-Oh! MAD videos at Nico Nico and vent off my bad mood there."

Serenade nodded at Dr. Cossack as if transmitting an unspoken message, and Forte didn't notice.

"Careful now. We do not know what they will do next."

"…I think I'll go watch a Wario Land 3 gameplay… It's a fun game, after all… The concept is fun! A world contained inside of a music box…"

"Interesting."

"And, of course… Wario's only searching for those 5 music boxes because he'll be able to keep all treasures he finds along the way. Wario is anti-hero, after all! Is only interested in treasures… And in power… Seeing how he stole Mario's castle on his debut game… Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins… Cousin brawl!" Forte was getting amused.

"He seems to be able to easily switch to a better mood."

"That's the good part. There's so much humor out there nowadays that it's easy to get distracted. That's what he needs." Dr. Cossack told Serenade with a smile.

"Indeed…"

"Go, Wario! Tackle and rattle!"

"You could patent it." Dr. Cossack laughed.

"Sure, why not?"

"Maybe add jump and slump?"

"That rhymes, too!"

"Excellent, then!"

Shadow Nova… We shall not let you do as you like. I will stop you! You shall not stain this child's purity!

16:56 PM (Philippines Time)…

"… Prince? How unusual for you to be at the pier, sir."

"Ernst. True. I felt like it."

"Are you concerned?"

"Of course I am. Those guys are dangerous."

"Speaking of which… Eisei just told me he stumbled upon another of them named Delta the 13th who was impersonating Punk and robbing a store! He beat the guy."

"Fine. Let's get rid of the rubbish and force them to show what they really can do."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Of course it is. However, sometimes danger is inevitable. And maybe it takes just one step to destroy them."

Ernst walked down a short concrete pier set in the coast of a small island that had a rocky mountain about 20 to 30 meters tall standing on the midst of it.

There was a man sitting on the edge of the pier and looking out at the sea as if to vent off their bad mood.

He wore armor and helmet over his body.

He seemed to be on his 20s given what could be seen of his face.

The helmet design was compact and thick included silver plating around the neck and its base, main purple and black coloring, black shades and a pale green "Unicursal Hexagram" drawing painted on the very center of his forehead.

He wore black armor with purple edges over his body.

The same forehead emblem was set on the middle of his chest.

His shoulders were black ellipsoids with purple outer edges and green fluorescent runic symbols drawn over them.

His arms "skin" was black and the armor over the forearms had an external golden rim from which three parallel golden lines extended until the fingertips.

The feet armor started at the knees and used a shade of purple for the outer edges, but the main armor kept on using the black motif.

Silver lines extended parallel to each other until the feet fingertips.

The unarmored body "skin" was also black and had intricate green fluorescent patterns running down its sides, front and rear.

"So some have come out already. Greek Alphabet has 24 characters. We're pending… Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Rho, Sigma, Upsilon, Chi, Psi and Omega… 16 of them! Only 8 have come out insofar. This could take a while." The "Prince" muttered.

"It gave off the impression more had come out because they came out in a row but it wasn't the case. Only one third have come out as of today…" Ernst muttered.

"… Hi! Danna. Nice day, isn't it?"

"Umisama?"

A member of Shunoros walked towards them at a quick pace.

This guy, Umisama, had dyed his hair blue although some small patches of the original brown could be spotted there and there.

His eyes' irises were blue.

He wore a t-shirt with the words "Hokkaido" and a drawing of Sapporo City's main avenue.

He sported jeans and blue-stripped and white sneakers.

He looked smug for some reason or another.

"I thought it was a nice day… to die!"

He drew a Beretta automatic gun and began to shoot at Ernst and the "Prince", but the "Prince" suddenly jumped into the air and landed in front of Ernst.

A white shield with the "Unicursal Hexagram" drawn on the center of its body formed out of nowhere and bounced off all bullets without any trouble.

"The Aristeros Shield will block any feeble attacks. Ernst! IR!"

"Roger, sir! It's an imposter, sir!" Ernst drew his PET and scanned "Umisama" with it.

"Hmpf. Thought as much. The speaking manner didn't resemble Umisama's at all. Come! Dexia Sword!"

A blade colored white, having a golden hilt, and having the same emblem on the hilt's center formed out of nowhere, and he gripped it with the right hand while the left hand held the shield on place.

He ran forward and the imposter drew a Stringer missile launcher but didn't have enough time to press the trigger because the Prince was already in front of him and he swung the sword to cut the muzzle in half and make the missile inside explode.

He swung the sword horizontally and slit the waist in half, sp the upper body fell into the ground along with the lower body and they reverted to its standard form of a man-model Normal Navi.

"Rubbish."

"D-damn it…!"

"Underestimating me, Kuroban Howsad, was a vital mistake, pawn."

"Shit! I, Iota the 13th, am supposed to be invincible!"

"That's the fantasy they feed you lot with so that you charge at us in a suicide manner and they get the data they want while getting rid of you at the same time. 9 beaten. 15 left."

"But my brethren will wipe you lot out…! Then we will laugh! He who laughs last laughs better!"

"Hmpf. Even if the 15 of them were to come at once… They won't be able to stand up to the strength of us… The 9 of us…" Kuroban scoffed.

The Navi self-destructed and only the legs were left behind.

Ernst sighed in relief and they heard a group of chuckles and giggles coming from higher up.

They looked up and saw a black helicopter hovering over the island, from where several silhouettes jumped down.

"Men! Gather at the beach in DH form! We're being invaded!"

"Denpa – Henkan! Ernst Stroger, On Air!"

Ernst drew his PET and inputted some commands.

Light began to emit from it and split into eight beams as a sphere expanded and grew bigger than him.

When the light died down, he'd become End Angel and he drew his blade.

"Here we are!"

The rest of the members (6 of them) appeared them thus making a total of 8 of them.

"Where's Gray?" Kuroban asked.

"He said he had something to take care of." Evil Corvus explained.

"How odd. What matters is… These guys."

"I'm Sigma the 13th!"

"Upsilon the 13th!

"Psi the 13th!"

"Theta the 13th!"

"Zeta the 13th!"

"Delta the 13th!"

"Lambda the 13th!"

"Mu the 13th!"

"Nu the 13th!"

"8 of them and the one from before make up 9 of them! As expected of cowards." Kuroban was unimpressed.

5 of the attackers were men-model Normal Navis and the other 4 were women-model Normal Navis.

They all had a Long Blade and a Mega Cannon equipped along with a helmet-mounted Super Vulcan, and the ground underneath them was Holy Panels as well.

"We've been specially powered up by Lord Spiral to annihilate you interlopers! Get ready!" They all announced.

"Go!" Kuroban ordered.

"Sea God's Pressure!"

"Wind Twister!"

"Arcane Blade!"

"Evil Claws!"

"Dash Tackle!"

"Magma Bazooka!"

"Earth Power!"

"Dexia Sword!"

Blue Wave jumped into the sea and filled his deposits.

One of the Navis jumped into the sea too and began to shoot both the Super Vulcan and the Mega Cannon, so Blue Wave dived to duck and then emerged again to shoot but the renewed attacks bounced off by an invisible barrier.

Fighting Cyclone formed a twisting stream of wind on his arms that bounced off too.

End Angel tried to strike the Super Vulcan of another Navi and failed.

Evil Corvus swept his claws but nothing happened either.

Venomous Wolf tackled and was repelled thus falling into the sea.

"Wha!"

Raging Flame shot a powerful blast from a gun and it rocked the barrier but didn't manage to lay a wound on it.

Ruthless Vine made the ground shake and some roots assaulted the enemy from the ground but something repelled them.

Only Kuroban's Dexia Sword managed to plunge through and shatter the aura of one of them and cut off the right wrist where the Long Blade was equipped.

"I see. Dream Aura plus Sanctuary combo. But my sword has a breaking ability that allows it to shatter any barrier."

Kuroban wasn't surprised by what was going on.

"Devil!" His opponent (a man-model) cursed.

"What do we do?" End Angel asked.

"Easy. I just transferred a couple of Battle Cards that will be helpful to you guys… Use them!" He ordered.

"Only 2 of them will turn the tide around? Laughable!"

"Super North Wind! Panel Format!"

"NO WAY~!"

The Super North Wind deleted the Dream Auras and the Panel Format got rid of the Sanctuary as well.

"Devil!" They all cursed.

"Let's go! Once again!" Kuroban ordered.

"Sea God's Pressure!"

"Wind Twister!"

"Arcane Blade!"

"Evil Claws!"

"Dash Tackle!"

"Magma Bazooka!"

"Earth Power!"

"Dexia Sword!"

Blue Wave's jets did hit his opponent and easily pierced through her, so the body collapsed into the water and then exploded.

His opponent dodged fighting Cyclone's attack but he jumped in front of the opponent and delivered a punch to the nose, breaking it and pushing the enemy back.

He formed a cyclone and sent them flying to then fall into the pier's right edge, so the blow broke the waist in 2 and the lower half fell into the sea while the upper half blew up.

End Angel pressed two of the runes on the blade and formed a Sonic Boom that vertically split his foe making them blow up on that instant.

Evil Corvus dodged the long-range attacks by flying and then plunged his claws into the chest to close them and pull out the armor exposing the insides, so the Navi howled and self-destructed.

The close-quarters blast did push Evil Corvus back and inflicted some damage but he remained on his feet nevertheless.

Venomous Wolf tackled another and sent them crashing against the mountain, so he jumped and landed atop the chest with the feet thus using the claws there to tear through the armor and blow up the core.

Raging Flame shot and the recoil pushed him back while the blast immediately melted the armor, overheated the Navi and blew it up.

Kuroban ran towards the last survivor and cut off the right leg below the hip.

The roots then pulled the opponent into the ground and began to dive and emerge from the ground while forming a pattern and thus immobilizing the opponent into the ground.

Kuroban cut off the head and nothing happened.

"How odd." Rutheless Vine muttered.

"Mine got split in half and blew up nevertheless." End Angel frowned.

"But that's because you hit the core, Ernst. I didn't. Because it hasn't received any damage then it isn't blowing up. This is a chance! Let's leave it running for a while and the automatic shut-down will trigger."

"What about the…? It's gone!"

End Angel looked up but the chopper was gone.

"There were 15 left, we took out 9… 6 left!" Evil Corvus sighed in relief.

"Cheats and power don't ensure victory." Kuroban muttered.

"That's…" End Angel began to argue.

"… Fine. I'm not fitting to say that." He admitted with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Don't mind it, Ernst. Ggood point. Cancel battle formation and rest."

"Alright."

Everyone save End Angel and Kuroban headed back inside of the mountain (through two open armored doors built on the front of it.

End Angel released the "Denpa – Henkan" and resumed his normal appearance as Ernst.

"Let's bring the head to my room and download all of its data onto my PC to analyze it. It might bring upon some clue."

"Excellent!"

"Roger. What about the body?"

"It's got nothing worth. Let's trigger its self-destruct so that they think they've gotten away with it!"

Kuroban simply plunged the sword into the chest and triggered the self-destruct.

He then looked at the head, which remained unchanging, and headed inside of the base, followed by Ernst.

He climbed up some stone stairs to come out into a curved corridor, where he opened a couple of black armored doors.

The room had a stone-made platform with a bare throne built on it.

A nearby desk had a laptop placed there.

"Let's begin. I'll make a list of the opponents left… Rho, Epsilon, Kappa, Pi, Chi and Xi… We know there's a rascal named "Spiral" that seems to be the guy giving orders to this lot." Kuroban muttered

He'd opened the Copy Roid's head and extracted a component labelled "FLASH MEMORY 250GB" which he connected to the PC taking profit that it was in the shape of a Flash Memory Card.

"There's no password or anything to begin with. They surely thought it would be impossible to retrieve in the first place."

"There's a capsule having acid sulfuric here too. That was close! Hadn't it shut down immediately, it might've triggered an emergency order to release this acid and corrode the systems to impede any data retrieval!"

"Sulfuric acid in the brain… Talk about sadistic and cruel."

"Any luck, sir?"

"Insofar… The list with the Greek names! Some of it is corrupt because it updated as we destroyed each unit! Other files include list of targets… This one has our battle names and civilian names. It'd seem they managed to do some research because not even the Cyber CID knows all of them. Proof is that Blues didn't know who Kisei was when you talked to him the previous day."

"I see."

"Let Devil bite me. "Shadow Nova Oaths"…"

"Sounds like a sect, even."

"Sure does! "1: Lord Void is supreme, grand and perfect. Only the Grand Master that lies beyond the Void is above His Excellence. Lord Void is the gatekeeper of the Void, where the Grand Master rests in eternal slumber. 2: Lord Spiral, being the right arm of Lord Void, is the Operational Commander. All orders by Lord Spiral are absolute. 3: Your body will never fall into the enemy's hands. "Death will save us, but not this one". Be loyal to these words. 4: You are one of the Unlucky Greeks, who shall bring misfortune and disgrace to our foes. You are invincible and you will destroy your enemy. 5: You are a Mimic. You will assume anyone's shape and destroy their reputation, lead them to disgrace! Your targets will dealt with by the Special Unit assigned to each of you. 6: Your enemies are weak. Destroy them in one blow."… That's all."

"Special Unit? Sounds like a lie."

"Hmpf. It surely is. It must be to make them feel confident no – one will see through them and thus motivate them to put up some perfect acting… Given how they were being feed with this load of crap it's no wonder they charged at us like that."

"But the first part bothers me… If "Void" is the leader… Does it mean there's someone above the rascal, someone smarter?"

"However…"eternal slumber" seems to suggest that that someone's dead: guess it was the mentor or the founder and they've decided to make an icon out of the man! Reminds me of MGS and how the Patriots aimed to turn Big Boss into an icon after his death, an icon that wasn't alive and wasn't dead either."

"Good point!"

"Point is… "Void" is the leader and "Spiral" the enforcer. If we take those 2 out then the org will crumble apart. Problem will be figuring out where they are."

"Obviously!"

"The memory insofar doesn't include any coordinates because they were brought here with a chopper! Maybe that very same "Spiral" was piloting it! I'm trying to access the memory files and playback them! Here! Recorded 9 minutes ago… Playback!"

A window opened and showed FPS (First Person View) of the insides of a chopper, where a tall man (about a meter and ninety) was giving out orders to the group.

This man, from what it could be seen, wore camouflage uniform, a utility belt and boots.

A purple handkerchief, which reached until the nose, as well as a little black mask over his eyes similar to those used in classical plays, hid their face; they also wore a camouflage cap.

"I see. He took precautions. From the shape of the face and the body… 30s. At the least. Maybe 40s, even." Kuroban calmly muttered.

"One of your comrades has gone on ahead. I'll try it out a different strategy through them. If it fails then you get down and annihilate them."

"Lord Spiral? The signature is gone, sir." One of the pilots called out.

"I see. Go! Crush them!"

"There were 2 pilots and this guy. Let's send this imagery to the Net Police Cyber CID and they'll spread it across the world! Let's put up an attractive bounty! It should lure some informers or sources!"

"Who's there!?"

Ernst ran off into the corridor but saw no – one and nothing.

"I'm sorry, sir. Paranoia."

"Don't mind it. Let's see if there's anything else to retrieve."

It turned out that Ernst was right and the white figure was standing in the corridor behind the open right door and remaining silent…

20:31 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Man! I'm beaten."

"Me too… Hunting for clues and in the end the only thing we found was a drunkard who claimed that he'd seen a ghost…"

"I had the hunch from the start that things wouldn't go so easily but to think they would be SO hard…"

"I know, Oscar – kun…"

"Any news, Alex?"

"Nothing… of public knowledge, that is."

An Operator and his Navi were chatting as they walked across the deck.

"I just wanna have a warm shower and go sleep! I don't feel hungry to begin with. All this waste of time and energies stole away my hunger!"

"Welcome back, Atarasei."

"Hiya, Cosmo Man… I'm beaten."

Atarasei Oscar, the Operator, had jet black hair which was a wild flock which knew no order or pattern and extended until the base of his neck.

His eyes hid behind a pair of sunglasses.

He could be around Kage's age and had the same approximate height too.

He sported a navy blue overcoat over a greenish t-shirt, a pair of navy blue jeans tightened with a black leather belt.

He used black sneakers for footing.

"What about you, Alex?"

"Same thing… We spent 4 hours hunting around and found that no – one had ever heard of these guys before. There was a drunkard who claimed that he knew and demanded insurance and money but some pressure was enough to have him confess he'd seen a ghost. Then again, it was a drunkard so… The guy was seeing things. Surely wanted more money."

Alex could be about a meter and seventy tall.

His azure helmet had a golden "Alpha" drawing set on its forehead.

Golden bands circled the ear-pads and the edges of the helmet.

Azure hair popped out from behind the helmet and stretched until the base of the neck.

His eyes irises were azure as well.

His chest armor had a silver vest built over its surface, a layer of extra armor, which ended at the height of the chest emblem.

The emblem had a bronze edge and its inner color was platinum; the emblem contained the "alpha" symbol on its very center.

His shoulders were covered in sturdy black armor, and had a golden prism drawn on the center.

His forearm armor had four red circling bands spiraled around its length, which ended at the knuckles of his fingers.

Both arms were navy blue yet the forearms and fingers were sky blue.

His legs' knee guards had cyan circles set on them; three circles spread outwards from the centermost point of the knee guards.

The navy blue boots had three emerald bands circling their surface.

"I see. Good job, nevertheless."

"We're gonna go report to the Boss! Man! It all aches!" Atarasei stretched and groaned.

"Don't bother, Oscar – kun. I'll do it."

"Owe ya one…"

"Don't mind it. Go on ahead to the room."

"See ya, Cosmo Man."

"Don't push yourself, either. We need to be on top shape for whatever's to come in the next days."

"Good evening."

Both of them went down with the elevator and stepped into the cafeteria.

Zarashe and Ikada were playing domino while Tozukana was looking at a live tennis match displayed on the TV (mounted on the left wall).

Ms. Secretary was also sitting on one table and watching the match.

Dark Man was whistling a tune and it looked like the kitchen was working.

Atarasei and Alex walked past and stopped in front of their room next to Leon's room.

"Password… OK…"

The door opened and both stepped in, with Alex locking the door.

Atarasei took out the sunglasses to reveal that he had brown eye irises.

He left the sunglasses atop a small desk and took off the coat.

"I'm going to report. You go have the shower and relax." Alex insisted.

Alex came out and Atarasei grabbed black pajamas from underneath the pillow before undressing and heading for the bathroom.

He stopped in front of the mirror and took out a couple of contact lenses he had, and it turned out his irises' real color was red instead.

He stepped into the shower and whistled a tune as the water heated up.

Now's October, 2012! I've been on GS for 1 year and 8 months already! In another 4 months it'll become 2 years! Feels like a long time ago, even! Man! I feel like I lack motivation as of late! Beating Laser Man to a pulp isn't enough! Sheesh! Those "Shadow Nova" rascals who must think they'll rule the world and all that crap! Let's bust them! If only they were as weak as the Crimson Lobby! Let's see if I can convince Noir to set up a party! I need something exciting that makes my soul burn! Napalm Man will yell that I stole his motto! I still wonder why they won't tell us who "XY" is… All of a sudden, they told us he's just a solo Navi who wants to experiment on how former "evil" Navis use their brains and if they can overcome their "ego" and all… Guess the answer is "never" and he'll eventually throw them away, Laser Man included!

He finished cleansing and showering so he stepped out and dried with a towel before putting on the pajamas and going back into his room, where he sat on the bed and stretched.

Great! I feel so relaxed now. Nothing beats a good shower after a laborious afternoon!

"I'm back. The Boss says we did a good job."

"OK… By the way…"

"What?"

"Did you visit your ane – ue – sama~?" He teased.

"Sheesh. Stop making Golden Sun jokes."

"I'm gonna do Silver Moon jokes!" He laughed.

"How original of you."

"Imagine, man! Imagine~!"

"What am I supposed to imagine, anyway?"

"Your wife! Sandra – sama~!"

"Sandra already sticks around with Beta X." He shrugged.

"What about Akemi?"

"Akemi? No way." He gasped.

"Beware! The attack of the guys who weren't guys and the guys who are guys and who were guys and who will be guys!"

He made up some lame tongue-twister on the spot.

"Alfred again…?" He groaned.

"Yessir! Ready to offer some burritos to his Cuban buddies! To get tons of coconuts in exchange! Like how Fidel Castro wanted to the war on Choina's side confident that they'd win and buy him tons of coconuts to become a millionaire!" He laughed.

"You mean the M & F story titled "Bye-Bye, Hong – Kong!"…" Alex sighed.

"Indeed! "Let's get down to business! What do you know about Hong – Kong?"…"A lot! I was the village champion! And we used a raw potato!"… "HONG – KONG! NOT PING – PONG!"…"Anyone can make a mistake!"…"

"I know. M and his deafness."

"I drive ya mad?" He chuckled.

"You sure do. Satisfied?"

"Maybe yea maybe nay, Watson."

"And now you're Holmes?"

"More like Sam Merton!"

"Sam Merton was but Count Sylvius' henchman! A mere thug!"

"It had to be special! Else, Superintendent Oda wouldn't have created Uncle Merton! Can't be helped! He wanted someone apart from Moran or Moriarty so he chose Merton because it stars with "M" too! As is… Mega Mexican of Mexican Mega Guys!" He laughed.

"I'm going to chat with Beta and the others to see what's happened in the meanwhile so... Good night." He tried to cut the topic right there.

Alex left, so Atarasei he climbed into the bed and pulled the covers over his body while he looked at the ceiling.

"Alex! Got a new one! The Bronze World!"

Wait, Alex left! Whom do I tell now? I know! Let's tell Noir.

"Hi there, Oscar – kun. What's up?"

"I've patented the Bronze World!"

"Congratulations… I think?" He wasn't sure how to reply to that.

"Beware of Alfred's Mexican Quartet!"

"Oh come on! That's enough trolling!"