A/N: Another chapter, hooray! Just don't kill me if I don't update regularly...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story. Though if I did, I'd be selling this not typing this.

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"How…why are you here?" Jr. asks slowly, making sure to not hint that he was happy that Albedo was still alive. (Maybe this time he'll understand. Maybe this time I can save him…)

"And ruin the fun, Rubedo?" Albedo looks at himself. He is wearing strange clothing; all of it was white. Jr. had seen it before, at the Omega System. The Patriarch had referred to the people wearing them as Testament. Three people were wearing it when they destroyed the Patriarch and made Proto Omega disappear. They had also helped revive Albedo and one of them even managed to use Ziggy's attacks to harm him. It was the first time Jr. had seen Ziggy get so angry and damaged at the same time. He knew that one day he would probably have to confront them sooner or later. But he didn't expect that Albedo would be one of them, a Testament, whoever they were. "If you simply must know, I'm here to tell you a little secret."

"From who?"

"From your mother," Albedo says sarcastically. "You've seen the Gnosis outside before, right? Of course you have. It is known as Abel's Ark. It was released when you killed me."

Jr. looks confused for a second but then realizes the truth. "You set me up? You had me kill you for this?"

"You're catching on!" Albedo says mockingly, ignoring Jr's remark. "Since it's already absorbed the Zohar as you already know, all it needs is Abel to complete it."

"Abel? Who the hell is he?"

"I don't know. That's what I've been sent here for. You need to go find Abel before anyone else does."

"Why the hell are you telling me all of this?"

Albedo starts laughing. "You're full of questions, Rubedo. Maybe I just want to help out, hm? What am I going to be sent to hell for that? But…" Albedo looks at Jr. "Maybe you're after something? Trying to make me repent? Stop me?"

Jr. yells and fires endless bullets at Albedo but to his surprise, they disappear before even touching him.

"I guess that's a yes." Albedo then looks distracted for a second, as if someone else was talking to him as well. "Looks like I've got to go. You might want to hurry and go to Fifth Jerusalem to find Abel. The more important reason you should go is because Nigredo might die before you do. Remember my words well, Rubedo." He laughs as he disappears, leaving Jr. to slump down and yell at the top of his lungs.

He slams his fist into the ground. (Damnit! I still can't get through…but…what did he mean by Gaignun…?)

"Jr.!" A familiar voice calls out to him from behind.

"MOMO?" He slowly gets up and joins up with everyone.

"Are you okay?" Her eyes are filled with worry.

Jr. scratches his head and averts his eyes from hers. "Yeah, I'm fine. What about you guys?" (I can't let them know about what happened. I'll wait to tell them about Abel after I've gotten Gaignun. Then maybe I can find out what's going on.)

"We're all fine. But we need to get out of here before the Gnosis outside destroy the atmospheric protection." Shion says.

"Yeah." Jr. says. He looks a little distracted. "We've got to get back on the Durandal and handle things from there." He leaves as everyone looks at him.

"What's with Jr.? He's acting kind of strange." Shion says. "J…"

Ziggy puts his hand on her shoulder. "Let him be. It's better if we don't push it."

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The party walks onto the bridge. Jr. starts taking command again. "Alright. I want a full report on the current situation."

"Well, the Gnosis have stopped attacking for the time being. We've managed to wipe out the ones outside with the help from the Second Miltian fleet. The large Gnosis had disappeared before they arrived. The ones inside are the only ones causing problems, but our weapon based Realians, AMWSs, and security droids have already been sent to deal with this problem." Mary says as she looks onto a screen with all the data.

"We've determined the cause of the Gnosis' attack. It seems that all the Emulators woke up from hibernation all of a sudden." Shelley says, as she types. "We have no idea how this happened. We've run through a variety of scenarios on how it was possible. The most logical one is that the original Zohar and that large Gnosis sent out a massive shockwave to upset the Zohar's hibernation stasis. Why we don't know."

"We've already managed to put them back into hibernation for the time being though if that makes you feel any better." Mary adds in. "However, they might wake up again if that Gnosis comes back."

"Alright. That's good. Can you tell Matthews that I'm going to need a ride on the Elsa?"

"What for, Little Master?" Mary asks.

"Business." Jr. leaves on the elevator, leaving everyone to wonder what Jr. was up to.

"He's been acting weird ever since we saw him." MOMO says. "I'm a little worried."

"I know. But we shouldn't worry about it," Mary says cheerfully. "The Lil' Masta always pulls off stuff like this. We'll just beat him up like a yak when he comes back."

"But he always comes through." chaos says. "We should just let him do what he needs to do."

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A scream pierces the dark room as the lights slowly come on. A blonde headed man is plowing around the room, holding his head in pain.

He slowly starts to compose himself and then fixes his suit and tie. "How long do you think you can resist me, my son? You can't win."

(Damn you, Yuriev! Get the hell out of my body before I make you get out!)

(You should be happy that I chose you, Nigredo. It is a real honor to have your body used as your father's vessel.)

(There's nothing to be happy about! Once Rubedo finds out about this, he'll…)

(Do what? Kill me? He'll be killing you in the process. He won't do it. He's too soft.)

He walks up to the computer console and starts inputting a call.

A middle-aged man with shades appears onscreen.

"Report."

"We've finished with the preparations of Phase One. Your forces are ready to go at any time."

"Good. Tell them to go into Phase Two."

The man salutes. "Yes, Dr. Yuriev." The holoscreen blinks out.

"It's only a matter of time until the key is mine and I can open the realm to U-DO." He laughs.

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Jr. is sitting on the train that's heading to the Durandal docks, where the Elsa was presently located. (What the heck was Albedo talking about? Abel and Abel's Ark…ah, I'll worry about those later. First things first, I have to find Gaignun and find out what's going on with him. The link has been down ever since he left. I should've realized this sooner, damnit!)

The train stops and asks all passengers to disembark if needed. Jr. gets out and then walks on over to the Elsa.

He notices the Elsa pilot, Tony, who is flirting with a girl about his age. As Jr. approached him, he noticed how Tony was going to make a move. The girl notices this and slaps Tony and walks away, leaving him to sulk.

"Some luck with the ladies, huh Tony?" Jr. asks.

Tony wipes his cheek. "Easy for you to say. Girls fondle over you because you're the head of the Foundation. And also having Gaignun around."

Jr. pushes him as he walks into the Elsa. "That's what you think."

A nearby bush rustles a bit and the shadow of a person is seen for a split second.

"Hey, Captain Matthews!" Jr. says as he walks in and notices him drinking. "I need a ride to Fifth Jerusalem."

"Sure, why?" Matthews wipes his mouth of any excess beer and then activates his chair to rise up.

"Business."

"Well, as long as we don't get charged for taking you there. We just finished getting the repairs we needed after that last battle. So we'll be leaving in five."

Jr. turns away to go. "No problem. I won't charge you this time if your ship gets damaged. Alright?"

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A droid is moving a very large box on a lift pad to the Elsa. The box starts to jump around as it goes up an escalator, as if the contents inside were…alive.

"Hey! That's my foot!" A voice says from within the box.

"Watch where you put that blade, Ziggy!"

"Stop grabbing my hair! You're going to pull it off!"

"Don't you dare go CPR on me!"

"But, Chief..."

"Hey, whose chest is..."

"Continue on your present course of action and I will be forced to cut off your hand."

Noises of struggle are heard through the continuous movement from the box. It almost tips over but luckily; the droid slides it back in place.

"You sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course! Jr. is going somewhere and we're going to find out where!"

"This doesn't feel right. We could just ask him when he gets back…and besides...this feels weird..."

"But don't you want to know what he's up to, MOMO?"

"A little…"

"That's why we have to...watch where you put that hand, pervert!" Shion says.

A huge thwack is heard. "Ow! I'm sorry, Chief. I didn't mean to.." (That felt so goooooooooooood...)

"At our current state, I will be forced to blow this rectangular cardboard prism apart to save us unnecessary time in our uncomfortable position."

"How in the world did I end up in a situation like this?" chaos asks.

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Jr. is eating and drinking at the Elsa's bar. (I wonder what the others are doing? I feel bad for not telling them and leaving them in the dark. But this is something I have to take care of. I messed up before but I won't mess up again. I will save both of my brothers.)

"Would you like another one, sir?" The barkeep droid asks.

Jr. gets up and says, "Nah. I've drunken enough."

He leaves and then wonders what he can do to pass the time. He smiles evilly as an idea popped into his head. (Maybe I can do a little…target practice down in the basement to get my mind off things…I'm sure Matthews won't mind...heheheh.)

He heads to the elevator and goes down to Basement 1. He walks around and notices some cargo with the words 'Fragile and Don't Open' on it.

(Hm…dare I? I dare!) He whips out his guns and fires two shots.

The bullets hit something metallic and wild screams begin to erupt from the box. It breaks open, revealing Shion, KOS-MOS, chaos, Allen, MOMO, and Ziggy inside.

Jr. is surprised at what he sees. He quickly puts away his guns and shouts, "What the hell! What are you guys doing here!"

"What the hell are we doing! What the hell were you doing! You almost killed us! It's a good thing that Ziggy took the blows otherwise you would've killed someone!" Allen explodes. "You could've hurt the Chief!"

Shion pats him on the shoulder to calm him down. "It's alright, Allen. As long as no one got hurt. Besides, it feels better now that we're out." (Even though the cuddling was kind of...nice...but unneccesary...)

"Anyways, what are you doing here?" Jr. asks. "You're not here following me, are you?"

"We just so happened to be on our way to Fifth Jerusalem as well." Shion lies. "We were sent by Dr. Mizrahi to get some packages for her that she forgot to get."

Jr. looks a little skeptical. "Heh. I thought you were the packages."

MOMO goes up to him and leans forward. "But, is it alright if we go with you?"

Jr. starts to blush and backs away. "Yeah, I don't mind. Just don't go pulling something like that again. I wouldn't want to…"

"Yes, you would be best not pulling a stunt like that again." Ziggy says sternly. "Else you're getting a height reduction."

Jr. scratches his head. "Well, I guess we should go tell Matthews that we have 'extra luggage.'"

Everyone laughs a little and then heads to the Elsa's bridge.

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A slender, pale-skinned man is sitting at his desk, staring at a globe-like figurine. He looks over to Albedo and folds his hands together to put his chin on it. "I trust that you conveyed my message to your brother?"

"Yes, I did." Albedo says. "Though I don't get why I had to. I wanted to have a little more fun with Rubedo."

"All in due time. The play has not reached its climax just yet. This is just the rising action leading to the dramatical conflict that will blow people away." The man looks towards the stars. "And not all of the actors have entered the stage yet." (What will you do, Yeshua? I'm looking forward to your role, white knight.)

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A/N: Perfectly stated by Wilhelm. The plot thickens! You must read more to find out! And no, I will notsay anything more for if I did I would reveal the entire storyline so I'm gonna shut up now. Laughs evilly while lightning strikes behind. AH! Mommy!