hackGU: Return Chapter 9: Secrets, a .hack/sign fanfic

Yippee, chapter nine! What a feat?! As for the disclaimer;

.hack, .hack characters, and anything to do with .hack do not belong to me. I just wrote the story. XP

Woody Wood Pecker does not belong to me either. I just used his laugh… 'cause it sounds funny…

Axel, Hikaru, Ginny, Aurum, Kuroha, Rei, Hunter, and 'The Guild Master' all belong to Miffin. Don't take them, or else she'll hurt me…

Eon, Shiruba, Aqua, Sora, Sijez, Koji, and Denki all belong to me, as well as the plot for this story. Yay.

Whoo, now you get to learn Eon's secret! Lucky you! For all of you who may be wondering, this 'secret' comes from Eon's original storyline (My characters' story) to a certain extent. If anyone wonders why, feel free to ask. I'm not going to write it all in here.

Later on in this Chapter, Shino appears too…For everyone who's wondering, I do NOT use her much, thus, Haseo never saw her that much either. XP (My normal party switches between Atoli, Endrance, and Zelkova)

Also, later, you get to all see the 'Avenger's' true form…and no, I don't mean Tarvos…that is all that I will say now…

Now, for the next wonderful chapter of this fic; Chapter 9: Secrets. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Secrets

Kuroha stepped though the snow lightly; his eyes scanning everywhere around him. Even with all of the searching and scanning systems that he had installed into his character, he could never be too sure if somebody was really following him or not. There were times, when it felt like there was a ghostly presence around him; even if it was just a game…

He breathed out silently, watching the white condensation from his breath slowly float away, and vanish into nothingness. He shut his eyes for a moment, before opening his inventory, and selecting the 'Hades' Home key, and used it to unlock the door before him. There was a light 'click', and the door swung open for him noiselessly, before he finally entered the black abyss of the Guild.

Kuroha had to let his eyes adjust, before he could finally see though some of the pitch black; just enough to make out the long, circular table, and the nearest doorways. He quickly crossed the sunken floor, and to the largest doorway; 'home' of his Guild Master. He took a deep breath, and paused. His feet seemed to stick to the ground, as if glued; this happened every time... He looked into the deep, black abyss, beyond the doorway, and couldn't help but gulp in a small sense of fear. He knew that he was just called. He knew that he had to enter…but still…why did it feel so cold for him in there…? He himself created this entire area! So why…?

Kuroha grit his teeth together, before blinking hard, and shaking his head.

This is no time to be fantasizing about creepy ghost stories or zombies! He told himself, shaking his head hard one more time. I have a job to do…so get in there!

Kuroha took one final, deep breath, before forcing himself to step though the large opening; faking a serious expression on his face.

Kuroha had to shield his eyes with his fist, as soon as he entered his Guild Master's domain. The lighting difference was extreme, considering how dark the main section of the Guild was. It took him a matter of seconds, before he could finally see well enough to move, and he stepped towards the taller man.

He was facing the opposite direction of Kuroha; starring into the extreme light source of the room. He did not turn to face him, only crossing his arms behind his back leisurely.

"Welcome." He stated calmly.

Kuroha nodded silently, instead of responding.

The tall, navy-blue haired man allowed a small grin to emerge onto his face, before looking over his shoulder at the hacker-child.

"I must say, you have outdone yourself this time, Kuroha." He said coolly, before gesturing the light source.

Again, Kuroha only nodded silently. He did not wish to say anything, or risk angering him; he still did not even know why he was called here today…

The man allowed himself to make a light, cheerful grunt, before closing his eyes, as if thinking.

"I believe that you remember giving those three some…technology…?" He questioned, slowly opening his eyes as he spoke. "The…ability to stop hackers from stealing their data…?"

"Yes." Kuroha finally typed. "But, it does not stop this device from doing so." He attempted to soothe him.

"Ah, yes, I am already aware of that." He said, brushing a bang away from his right eye. "That is not what I am worried about today."

Kuroha cocked an eyebrow, bewildered.

He didn't call me here to complain, or for tuning…? Then…why else could I be here…? He wondered.

"No, what I am worried about today, is not so…frivolous, Kuroha." He stated, before turning a serious gaze towards the small Steam Gunner.

Kuroha's blood turned to ice from the gaze. It was similar to that, of the feeling of the 'ghost' before…but at the same time, more…deadly…

"Then what is it?" Kuroha typed, almost thankful that he did not speak, or risk showing his fear.

The Guild Master took a deep breath, and let out a long sigh, before turning to face Kuroha completely; his hard gaze scanning every inch of him.

"Today, I believe that one of the players is in danger of losing some valuable information." He said strictly, his eyes narrowing. "That is why, I wish for you to dispose of the threat."

Kuroha starred at him, baffled.

"What?!" He demanded. "Isn't that job left to someone like Aqua, or preparations left up to Denki?!" The Steam Gunner asked.

"I do not wish for Aqua, or any other part of 'Crystal Seraphim' to get involved into this today; that is why I am asking you to do it. I believe that I can trust you more, than some of my less competent Guild Members; nonetheless, I give you Hunter to use to your disposal. Koji and Denki are busy on a different mission." He explained, his eyes seeming to glow in the artificial light. "Can I trust you to do this…?"

Kuroha did not move for a moment, thinking of what all of this meant. For one of them to be in 'danger' of losing their information, it must have meant that G.U. had managed to hack their character too far; if only a glimpse of some important stuff. He had to admit, he already knew everything that there was to know about all three of the Guardian Masters…but even so, if G.U. interfered now, that could cause their Guild more trouble than he would like…

"All right. Where do I need to go?" He asked, determination in his eyes. There was no way that he'd let a foolish Guild like G.U. get the better of him…especially not today…

The blue-haired Guild Master grinned at the boy, eyes glinting.

"That is good to hear, Kuroha. As for the area…"

---------------------------------------The Frozen Paradise: Saal Haku---------------------------------

Kuroha stepped out of the Home, before finally allowing himself to shiver all over. He'd been holding it in the whole time…

He quickly blinked to get use to the white of the snow around him, before opening up his menu, and selecting the 'Short Mail' command, as a normal Player would choose.

'Come to Saal Haku. I have a mission for you.' He typed bluntly, before selecting the 'send' command.

Kuroha had to wait a total of three minutes and forty three seconds before Hunter showed up to the server, a few inches away from the Chaos Gate.

"You rang…?" The cowboy asked.

Kuroha rolled his eyes.

"As stated in the E-mail, I have a mission for you." Kuroha explained.

Hunter rubbed his hands together eagerly.

"What kind of mission is it…?" He asked. "Can I hunt?!"

Kuroha had to use all of his willpower to force himself not to rub the bridge of his nose. This man was too simple minded for his own good...

"In a sense, yes." Kuroha started, but was interrupted with the sudden cheer, which Hunter did quite loudly. Kuroha glared at the man, before continuing. "Your mission is to secure the target, Eon, and make sure that no valuable information is lost to the enemy. You are to destroy the target, the G.U. member, whichever one is with her." He explained.

"Oh, so I take out the kid." Hunter muttered, rubbing his chin. "But I thought that you didn't want me to do that…"

Kuroha slapped his forehead. Hard.

"No! I said, that you are to secure the target, and destroy the G.U. member!" Kuroha typed angrily.

"So…you wish to employ me to take out a kid…?" Hunter asked, as Kuroha explained his job again.

Kuroha sighed exasperatedly.

"For the third time, you are to destroy the G.U. member with the target, known as Eon! You are to leave EON alone, and KILL the target!" Kuroha explained furiously.

"So I kill the kid?" Hunter asked again.

"For the love of AURA! You. Are. An. Idiot!" Kuroha typed angrily.

Hunter furrowed his eyebrows, hurt.

"I'm not an idiot!" He said. "I'm just dense!"

Kuroha did not even bother to attempt to correct what Hunter had just said, and instead, turned towards the Chaos Gate. Maybe, it would be better just to leave the idiot behind…

Suddenly Hunter threw himself onto Kuroha, and wheeled him around to face him.

"Oh, I get it now! You want me to take out the person with the kid!" He exclaimed, as if he had just figured out something difficult.

Kuroha slapped his forehead, and shook his head exasperatedly.

"Whatever you say, Hunter…now, let's get a move on!" He ordered, before typing in his coordinates, and quickly transporting into the area.

---------------------------------------The Dual City: Breg Epona----------------------------------

Eon shut her eyes tiredly, before looking up to the bright, blue sky of Breg Epona. She let out a small, impatient sigh, before flipping herself around to face herself towards the large gondola, slowly manoeuvring around all of the tall buildings.

There was a bright flash of cyan light, before Pi stepped away from the Chaos Gate, and scanned the area, before noticing the girl crossing her arms impatiently.

"You're late." Eon complained as Pi approached her.

"I apologize. Something came up offline..." The Tribal Grappler explained, crossing her arms as well.

"Whatever." Eon muttered, before turning to face the Chaos Gate behind Pi. "So, where are we going today…?" She asked, watching the golden rings of the Gate slowly circle themselves around the shining, blue core.

"Today, we will be going to Epsilon, Fighting Horror's Domain." Pi explained monotonously. "When there, I will be teaching you how to call your Guardian; Shiruba, I believe."

Eon nodded her head slowly.

"All…right…" She muttered. "But, why to the Epsilon server…?" She asked. "I thought that it was just for people that completed a special quest, or gained a specific status within The World."

"That is correct," Pi answered, "but, you must understand that everyone in operation G.U. is considered to be in 'special status'; nonetheless, Haseo was the previous Emperor of the Sage Palace, and his 'title' moved along to all those that have his Member's Address." She explained.

Eon made a small 'oh' in understanding, before racing towards the Chaos Gate to test Pi's theory.

In less than one minute, she had transported to the snowy server in a blinding flash of blue light.

-----------------------------------------Epsilon Fighting Horror's Domain------------------------------------

Kuroha opened his inventory, and began to throw out specific hacking-related items quickly.

"We don't have much time for the initial set up," He explained curtly. "Therefore, we will need to do this quickly, and precisely. We can not come back to fix it later."

"Oooookay then… So what do you want me to do?" Hunter asked.

Kuroha was silent for a moment, before shaking his head.

"It's alright; I can set it up myself. You know nothing about hacking anyway." He explained.

Hunter put on a 'pouty' face.

"I do so know something about hacking!" He protested.

"And that would be…?" Kuroha asked, not bothering to look up from his work.

"It's a lot of typing, and too hard for me to figure out."

Kuroha paused, before looking up to Hunter incredulously.

"You said that you knew something about hacking, yet you then finish your statement, saying that you know nothing of it. Is that not an oxymoron?!" He asked.

"Hey! I'm not a moron! I just told you, that I'm just dense!" Hunter explained.

Kuroha sighed irritably.

"Whatever you say..." He typed, before there was a shrill screech from the equipment that he was connecting.

"Aaaaahhh! My ears!" Hunter howled in agony.

"Quit your whining." Kuroha typed strictly, as the screech suddenly stopped as he pushed a few keys onto the transparent blue keyboard next to him.

Hunter stopped wailing after a few more seconds of silence, before glaring at the strange pipe-like contraption that Kuroha was working on.

"What is that?!" He demanded.

"A multi-directional stopper barrier." Kuroha explained.

Hunter's silence told him that what he just explained was not entirely...clear…

Kuroha sighed, as he typed in a few more keys onto the keyboard, and moved onto the next bar.

"In other words, it's a barrier that should disable the link between a Guardian, and its Master; making the Master more vulnerable, and less of a threat for this sort of work."

Hunter slowly nodded his head, before another shrill screech filled the air, making him fall over, clutching his ears in pain.

"No more mommy! I don't wanna be deaf!" He cried.

Kuroha rolled his eyes, as he twisted the bar five degrees, and typed in a few more keys, making the screeching stop once more.

"Baby…" He typed before connecting the two bars together.

Hunter stuck out his lip like a child, before Kuroha motioned for him to stand back with his hand.

"I'd advise that you close your eyes for this, or risk blindness, as well as deafness." He warned.

Hunter did not argue.

Kuroha typed in the final series of code for the procedure, before checking his work twice, and finally pressing the 'enter' key.

The area around them suddenly glowed a bright, royal blue colour, as multiple data anomalies suddenly appeared around them; spiralling, open portals, just waiting to be used…

Kuroha expertly picked up a number of black, diamond-shaped crystals, and threw one into each of the anomalies, before they were swallowed up into them.

The blue suddenly turned to a violent, crimson colour, as Kuroha quickly typed in another code, to stabilize the barrier.

"Is it done yet…?" Hunter asked, holding his hands over his eyes like a child.

Kuroha rolled his eyes once more, before typing in a few more letters.

The room became a light lime green colour, before suddenly switching to a darker forest green, and then to teal.

Perfect… Kuroha thought, as he picked up a few more black diamonds, and threw them into the newly appearing portals. Like before, they were swallowed up, but not nearly as fast. Good, it's reaching its limit…

"Now can I look…?" Hunter begged, nearly throwing Kuroha off of his game.

"For the love of Aura, shut up!" The Steam Gunner commanded, before the barrier finally turned to an ocean-blue.

Kuroha looked over his shoulder at the annoying Hunter, before shaking his head.

"All right, you can look." He said, as the blue began to vanish, as if there was nothing there to begin with.

Hunter opened his eyes, surprised to see nothing out of the ordinary.

"I thought that you were supposed to be hacking, or something…" He muttered.

"I did." Kuroha typed, with a small grin. "And judging by your reaction, it was a success."

Hunter slowly nodded, though did not understand in the least what Kuroha had just meant.

"All right." Kuroha typed, before reaching down and collecting the excess materials that he used, as well as the poles. "Now, all that we have left to do, is head to the Beast Statue, and wait for them to come…" He explained.

"All right! Adventure time, it's adventure time--!" Hunter sang, as he skipped into the mouth of the Aztec dungeon.

Kuroha watched him bounce off, a small sweat drop appearing on the back of his head.

How did this guy ever become a part of Hades…?

------------------------------------------The Frozen Paradise: Saal Haku----------------------------------

By the time that Pi had transferred into CC Corp.'s newest creation, Eon was bouncing around wildly; throwing snowflakes into the air, and making snow angles in the frozen grass.

Pi slowly approached her, as the dog girl finally calmed down after the third snow angel was made.

"This place is amazing!" Eon exclaimed, before jumping to her feet.

"I am glad that you approve of it." Pi said, a small, amused grin on her face. "But by the looks of it, you have never seen snow before..."

Eon shook her head hard, before looking up at the blue-grey sky, and watching the small, white crystals slowly float down onto the ground.

"I haven't ever been outside for snow." She explained.

"And why is that…?" Pi asked expertly, "I'd have thought that children loved the snow."

Eon's head flew towards Pi, before she stuck out her tongue at her.

"I don't like the cold, is why!" She complained, before quickly adding Pi into her party, and typing in the newest coordinates.

'Fighting, Horror's, Domain'.

-------------------------------------Epsilon Fighting Horror's Domain----------------------------------

"Okay, so how are we going to do this…?" Eon asked as soon as the Admin transferred in after her.

Pi held her chin in thought for a moment, before looking back at Eon.

"I am unsure of how to call a Guardian, but maybe, you can ask for a little bit of assistance…" She explained.

Eon slowly nodded her head, after understanding that what she meant was 'Ask Shiruba'.

Hey, Shiruba, you awake…? Eon asked mentally.

There was no reply, which shocked Eon for the most part. Shiruba almost always responded instantly!

Helloooooo, you awake, doggy…?

Again, there was no reply.

Eon looked to Pi with shock in her expression.

"What's wrong?" Pi asked, narrowing her eyes.

"S-she's not responding to me!" Eon explained. "She always responds! Even to rhetorical questions!"

Pi blinked, confused, before crossing her arms.

"I…understand… In that case, we have no choice but to continue on, and attempt to summon her our own way." She explained.

Eon nodded understandingly, before turning after Pi, towards the mouth of the Aztec-like dungeon.

Hopefully, this wasn't a bad sign…

---------------------------------------The Frozen Paradise: Saal Haku-------------------------------------

Haseo stretched his arms high above his head, before pulling up hard. He made a small grunt in pain, as he did this in the real world as well, before looking around the masses of snow-covered hills before him.

"C'mon I dare you to take that dinky lil' sled of yours down it…" Axel muttered with a gin.

Haseo glared at him, but had to admit…he was right…

He looked down at Axel's hands, which held a long, aerodynamic sled; steam engine ready, and glowing with Chim Spheres…whereas in his hands, was a small, round, piece of crap, to put it lightly…

He was challenged to a race down the hill, but he never really ever saw how large the hills were…until today. Nonetheless, no one ever told him that the 20 GP sled would suck this bad…not that it mattered…he could beat this imbecile with is eyes closed…

Axel's grin grew as Hikaru slowly stepped up to the 'starting point', and raised his hand.

"Ready…?" He asked, as normal, monotonously.

"Yeah yeah…" Haseo muttered, as he got into a ready-to-dash position.

"On. Your. Mark." He stated, Axel's grin growing huge and maniacal as he got ready as well.

"Get. Set."

There was a pause, as Hikaru apparently forgot the last word to this clichéd sentence, before Axel suddenly yelled out the word 'go'.

Shocked, Haseo was a few seconds slow to jump down the hill, as Axel was already speeding before him.

"Damn it…" He breathed through his teeth, as he began to lean to the left to avoid a tree, then quickly to the right, once around, to trail him as closely as he could.

Axel remained a good ten meters in front of Haseo, but for some reason, would continue to check over his shoulder, to see the Adept Rogue every few seconds…

Haseo narrowed his eyes after the third glance, before he felt a sudden lurch on his sled.

"Wha…?!" He demanded, slowly realizing why Axel continued to turn…

There was a giggle from the ten meters, as Axel span his sled in a complete 180, and stopped before Haseo; watching him as the sled suddenly burst into a million large, wooden pieces.

"What in the name of—" Haseo howled, as he was thrown into a large snow bank from the force, and then into a tree shortly afterwards.

Total wipe out…

Axel drove his sled down to Haseo expertly, and stopped in front of him, before pulling his lower eye lid down and sticking out his tongue.

Oh, how he wished that he could cut it off right now, as Axel raced down the hill, and stopped right in front of the finish line, then went over, backed up, and over again, for a total number of eight times, before getting off of the toboggan.

Haseo swore, as he and Axel were teleported off of the hill, and in front of the starting line again.

"Heh, I told you that you'd lose with that, Whitey-chan." Axel mused.

Haseo, on the other hand, stomped down the southern path and into the bazaar, before purchasing the most expensive toboggan that he could possibly buy.

He raced back up to Axel, slightly panting, before glaring at him.

"Rematch." He said bluntly, his eyes burning.

Axel put his index finger to the side of his mouth in thought, before a small grin crept up onto it.

"Okay, but on one condition, Whitey-chan…" Axel muttered.

Haseo listened to him intently. It was obvious that he wanted another go…

"We don't take the bunny hill this time…we take on the real thing!" He announced, pointing up to a larger hill, about two and a half times bigger, with snow banks for jumping, and more trees to slam into.

Haseo starred at it in horror for a moment, before nodding his head. He would not lose this time!

It took the server some time to allow them to transport up there, as there we so many daredevils that wished to take the course, that they needed to take turns, or risk messing up the graphics with overuse…

That would call for some unnecessary Piros interrogations…

Axel was bouncing wildly when they appeared in front of the long drop off.

"You ready…?" He asked, as he eyed the AI program that was to start the race.

"No freakin' duh…" Haseo muttered coldly, as he put down the toboggan, and got ready.

"On your marks." The AI said robotically.

Axel and Haseo turned their heads instantly towards the drop off.

"Get set."

They both narrowed their eyes, ready to begin.

"Go!"

The two of them took of quickly, but unfortunately for Haseo, Axel's sudden burst into 'Woody Woodpecker Laughter' made him turn his head for a moment…only a moment, and Axel had already sped two meters in front of him.

Haseo swore silently, as he leaned down into the front of his sled, as would do so on his bike, and turned to the left hard, bringing him right behind the black-haired idiot.

Again, there was another stupid sounding laughter, as Axel attempted to raise his speed in a short burst, but Haseo wouldn't have that! He quickly turned one of the gears on the handles, and allowed it to eat up three Chim Chims, before both him and Axel went over one of the snow mound jumps.

The extra speed added to his jump, and he expertly leaned his weight to the left, landing half a meter in front of the cheater.

He heard Axel make a small snicker cheerfully from behind him, as he used on Chim Chim to try to get another meter in front.

"Give it up, Snow White! I'm winnin' this one!" Axel announced, as he appeared to Haseo's right.

Haseo grunted, as he quickly forced his sled to the right, and slammed into Axel's toboggan, shocking him for a moment, but he recovered quickly; an even bigger grin on his face.

"So that's how ya wanna play…huh…?" Axel asked, as he rammed him back.

Haseo was ready to pull out his Twin Blades, before Axel suddenly looked to his right, and moved away from Haseo's sled.

Haseo furrowed his eyes in confusion, as Axel quickly eased off of the gas, and slowed down gradually, letting Haseo speed another six meters in front of him.

"What in the name of Hell are you doing?!" Haseo yelled over his shoulder, as Axel stuck out his tongue at him.

"Watch out for the Abominable Snowmen…" He warned, before making a sudden ninety degree turn to the right, and flying though a large, black hole.

"What…?" Haseo muttered, as he looked at the course's map. The route that Axel was currently taking was longer, and weaved around the entire main course; way thinner as well, leading to a higher chance of falling off of the side…

Haseo shook his head agitated. Did he really think that he needed such a big handicap?! That bastard…

Haseo allowed his toboggan to increase its speed, eating up a Chim Sphere every ten seconds. He kept his eyes in front of himself calmly, narrowly dodging trees, to keep his speed up, and watching for any snow mounds that may cause him a bit of trouble.

That was when he heard the angry growl from behind him.

"What…?" Haseo muttered, wondering if the AI had allowed more players onto the hill after them.

He turned his head slowly, to face the source of the sound, before instantly turning pale.

"For the love of Aura…" He muttered, before stepping hard on the gas once more, eating up more Chim Spheres at a faster rate.

Behind him, on a large, blue snowboard, was a Yeti!

"C'mon, C'mon!" Haseo muttered, as he tried to get the sled to go even faster, but it apparently reached its max…no wonder Axel warned him about the snowman…

The Yeti behind him was catching up at an alarming rate, as Haseo attempted to weave through some of the trees, and make jumps to get away. It wasn't working… The Yeti roared angrily, like normal monsters on the field, as it punched a tree out of its way, and raced after him.

Haseo grit his teeth hard, as he glanced over the dashboard of his toboggan quickly, for anything that he could possibly do.

Steering wheel…gas…gears…already at max…big red button…haven't tried that…Haseo thought, before gingerly reaching towards the large, rectangular button.

Bad idea…

The sled suddenly lurched, as the steam engine made a loud 'kink' noise. There was a moment of silence afterwards, before the exhaust pipe of the suddenly shot out blue flames, and Haseo, as well as the sled, went flying at a speed of over 200 MPH. (The Sled had a max speed of only 100MPH…)

Haseo couldn't help but let out a surprised yelp, as he held onto the handle bars for dear life. The sled suddenly lurched once more, before going out of control, and weaving though trees and snow mounds randomly, sending him and the sled flying up, into the air.

Haseo took this chance to pull his PC body's legs to the seat of the toboggan, and seating himself; clutching his knees around the seat to be extra careful.

The speed of the Toboggan made the jump go four times farther than it would normally go, as Haseo flew over a quarter of the course; the Yeti still, unfortunately, behind him…

It let out a loud howl, as Haseo looked over his shoulder at it. He could just barely see the finish line right now; just in front of him, and Axel quickly speeding down the right path…but he was closer…

Haseo grinned as he noticed the toboggan slowly beginning to feel the effects of gravity, and begin to plummet towards the ground.

Yes…! He thought cheerfully. I'm going to win!

Suddenly, there was a one final lurch, as the exhaust pipe shot out one more burst of blue flames, propelling Haseo a little farther than he would like…

"NO!" He howled, as the sled began to fly in a direct course towards a large, snow covered pine tree…

There was a loud smack, as Haseo collided face first with the tree, losing a good chunk of his health from all of the momentum.

"Ahck…" He muttered, before slowly sliding down.

The Yeti behind him slid to a stop right in front of the tree, before banging its chest triumphantly, and howling cheerfully.

"Damn beast…" Haseo muttered, as he groggily watched Axel cross the finish line with a huge grin on his face.

Two feet…he was two feet from winning this race…if only the tree wasn't here…

Haseo mentally cursed all of the swears that he had ever heard in life, as Axel hopped off of the sled cheerfully, and danced around it, as if it were a gift from the Gods.

The two of them were suddenly transported to the outside of the 'Hills' area, Axel with his beloved sled, and Haseo was his broken down garbage pile.

"I told you to watch out for Abominable Snowmen!" Axel said, a large grin on his face.

Haseo glared at him.

"And how the Hell was I supposed to know that you were serious about that?!" He demanded angrily.

"Simple, read the Forums. You should really begin to do that…" Axel muttered. "If you did read them every once in a while you wouldn't have condemned us to death with the 'Devil's Servant' and you would have known about the Snowmen…"

Haseo grunted in displeasure, before slightly lifting his M2D off of his eyes, to peek at the clock on the corner of his desk.

4:27 P.M.

Haseo's nose twitched angrily, before looking back to Axel, who had finally finished his long ramble on looking on the BBS.

"By the way, Whitey-chan…" Axel said, looking at Haseo curiously. "Why are you here, instead of at Lumina Cloth, winning those WP Points…?"

Haseo sighed irritably.

"Because I was abandoned by the rest of my team…" He muttered angrily. "Yata has some work to do in the Serpent of Lore right now… Kuhn is busy with his job, as well as trying to plan another date with a girl…and Atoli is God knows where…" He said, enraged. "As for Endrance, he's off looking at all of the 'pretty' things in The World, and Saku is off leading some cult of fan girls towards Sirius today…"

Axel stared at Haseo, obviously interested in the 'cult' part…

"If you want to know what Saku is planning, you'd better go and find her, instead of me. I don't even want to think about it…" He muttered.

Axel puffed out his cheeks in a pout, before turning towards Hikaru.

"All right Hikki, off to Lumina Cloth to infiltrate Icolo!" He announced, pointing his finger in the general direction towards the Chaos Gate.

"Ya-tta!" Hikaru 'cheered', before slowly trotting off after the idiot.

Haseo sighed tiredly, before looking down at the piece of junk at his feet.

"A fat lot of good you did for me…" He muttered, before kicking the wreckage.

The exhaust pipe let out a small cough, before vanishing in a blue flash.

Like he cared…

Haseo stretched his arms above his head again, and held them behind his head. He shut his eyes tiredly, before turning to the western path, leading towards the Home.

He slowly followed it; eyes closed, before feeling a light tap on his shoulder.

Haseo jumped in shock, before turning to a thin Harvest Cleric. He looked down at her light grey hair, and to her black attire; quickly realising that she wasn't Atoli.

"Sh-Shino?!" He asked, surprised to see her.

After the Third Network Crisis incident, he couldn't say that he'd seen her much… Other than when he finally finished the Forest of Pain, (with Zelkova and Atoli) and after she requested for him to meet her in Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground after finally awakening from her coma…they've both kept their distance…though not intentionally, of course…

Shino smiled at him brightly.

"It is good to see you again, Haseo." She said politely.

"I-It's good to see you too!" Haseo stuttered. He really didn't know what to say to the Cleric…

"So…what have you been up to, lately…?" She asked, holding her hands behind her back, as Atoli normally did…

Haseo looked to the side, away from her in thought. What could he possibly tell her…? That AIDA had returned…? That Ovan's sacrifice was in vain…?! No…that wouldn't…he couldn't…

"Haseo…?" Shino asked, concerned.

"O-oh, just helping out in Canard, and entering the Warrior Palace Tournament!" Haseo answered quickly.

Shino smiled understandingly at Haseo, making his stomach lurch from guilt.

"Oh, Haseo! That's so wonderful!" She congratulated. "We'll be cheering you on from the side lines as well then! Tell me, when's your next match?!" Shino asked, holding her hands together in front of her chest, and leaning towards him.

Haseo leaned back a tiny bit, before looking up in thought.

"Well…my party isn't here yet…so…wait…we?!" Haseo demanded. "Who's this 'we'?!"

Shino's grin grew a tiny bit more.

"This is something that I've wanted to tell you to, face to face for a while now, Haseo…" Shino explained. "But, whenever you and I were both on, you were busy…"

Haseo nodded his head slowly.

"Then…what did you want to tell me…?" He asked, his heart beating in his ears. Did Shino get a…boyfriend…?

"Well…I'd think that it'd be better if you saw, rather than if we were to speak…" Shino explained, before pulling out a small, thin, card-like Home Key.

"What's this…?" Haseo asked, taking it.

Shino only shut her eyes in a large grin, before quickly taking his hand, and racing towards the Home.

------------------------------------------Epsilon Fighting Horror's Domain------------------------------------------

Eon narrowly dodged the large knight-like monster's charging attack, before quickly slipping in behind it, and attempting to penetrate its thick armour with an uppercut from her claws. They made a loud 'tong' noise, before she quickly pulled her right foot in front of her left, and kicked off of the knight's foot; narrowly dodging the over-sized lance.

She panted heavily, as she took a quick glance at Pi, who was holding her own against a similar knight monster, though red instead of blue, as well as a giant raptor-like bird.

She grit her teeth hard, as her golden eyes flew back to the beast, before charging towards it recklessly with a loud howl.

The monster easily swept its large lance at her, sending her flying into the barrier with a loud 'omf'.

Eon wearily looked up at the monster, as it slowly approached her at a leisure pace; holding its lance up high over its head.

"Stupid…beast…" She breathed, standing up as fast as her injured PC body would let her. Her right eye was shut tight in pain, as her left scanned the area for anything that she could do.

There…just below its left foot…a rock…lever…

Eon narrowed her eyes, as she quickly schemed, before suddenly dashing towards the monster once more.

Like before, it held up its lance high, before quickly slicing down with its full force; Eon was ready though… She quickly leaned to her right, and held her arm out in front of herself, before rolling just beyond its reach. She waited little more than a second to get back up, before dashing towards its foot again. The monster howled furiously, as it began to stomp on the ground, readying to dash towards her again; but Eon wouldn't have that…

"Take this!" She yelled, before quickly lowering herself towards the ground, and forcing herself up at its lower stomach-armour, and forcing the beast to quickly lose its balance.

Eon then span on the spot, before kicking up at its armoured face, making it fall over, onto its back. She couldn't help but grin triumphantly, as the armour shattered into a million pieces, before jumping up, and releasing a series of swipes at its now uncovered face.

It roared in agony, as she finished the last of her five-hit combo, and bounced off of its stomach, landing ten feet away from it. It slowly pushed itself up, before glaring at her with its mutated eye; now slit into a long, thin line. The beast lifted its lance angrily, before slamming the ground hard, sending a series of large stalagmites flying her way.

Eon's eyes widened in shock, before she began to jump backwards, left, and right, to try to dodge the large triangles of earth.

She winced, as one piece cut into the side of her character, and another into her leg, slowing her speed down significantly.

"Dang…it…" Eon breathed once more, as the beast marched towards her; its red eye almost glowing in anticipation.

She shut her eyes, ready for her fate, before an almost silent voice called 'Ol Repth' from behind her.

A small, light-green circle surrounded her, as Eon quickly gained 350 Hit Points of Health, just before the creature was in striking distance. She quickly opened the Skill Trigger, and selected 'Flare'. Her claws lit aflame, as she continuously hit the 'X' button; sending multiple fireballs into the poor creature.

It howled again furiously, as it was forced back, just enough for Eon to make her escape around its right, and to the other side of the barrier; though not before turning and giving Pi a nod of thanks.

The beast turned around quickly, glaring at her with its giant eye. It roared loudly, and again, slammed its lance into the ground, attempting to skewer her with more stalagmites.

Eon grinned smugly.

"Not this again…run out of tricks…?" She asked, before flexing her claws, and holding them ready, before her. She quickly slashed at the stalagmites, shattering them into hundreds of little specks, and raced towards it one final time. "It's over." She hissed, before extending her wings on her back, and jumping high into the air.

The wings caught the air easily, and allowed her to glide over top of the beast, before quickly whipping them shut, and dive-bombing the monster.

It howled in agony, as Eon's claws pieced straight through its gigantic eye, and straight down to its stomach, before vanishing into nothingness with a large red flash.

It took Eon a few seconds to catch her breath, and stand up straight after the attack. This was a little more action than she wanted for today…

"Good job." Pi commented, stepping up behind her. "Though, I never knew that those wings were more than just decoration…"

"Whatever…" Eon pouted.

Throughout this entire dungeon, not once had she taken out two monsters of the three, in the groups. Pi had done so… Two floors down, and she was already turning out to be the deadweight again…hardly able to fight one monster at a time!

Pi turned to face the nearest split of exits.

"We can take the western wall, or the southern wall." She explained, motioning them.

"Do we have any idea where either of them lead?" Eon asked grumpily.

Pi allowed a small grin to twitch onto her lips.

"No, but considering that you are not even able to call your Guardian, it is probably better if we don't, and get in as much fighting as possible." She explained, before turning to her. "Nonetheless, if you wish to take out your anger on someone, may I suggest the monsters…?"

Eon glared at Pi, before racing towards the southern wall quickly. At times, she seemed to be just as annoying as Axel, with her sarcastic remarks…

"Home, home on the Range!" Hunter began singing, only to be suddenly tripped by Kuroha.

He fell hard onto his face, before quickly standing up, and looking to the shorter boy with teary eyes.

"Wh-what was that for?!" He asked.

Kuroha rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

"We are here on a mission! A mission that is top SECRET! If you continue to sing, do you not think that it may draw some unnecessary attention?" He questioned.

Hunter looked up in thought for a moment, before slowly nodding in understanding.

"Ohhh…." He muttered, before rubbing his chin. "That makes perfect sense!"

Kuroha sighed irritably.

Why of anyone, was he stuck with Hunter?!

--------------------------------------------The Frozen Paradise: Saal Haku: Solstice---------------------------------------

Shock was the first thing that Haseo felt when he entered the Home. He'd forgotten how long it'd been since he and Shino had both been in the Twilight Brigade. How he had met her and Ovan for the first time…how one fateful meeting had started all of this… AIDA, Epitaphs, mistakes…and Lost Ones…

"Well, what do you think, Haseo…?" Shino asked, as she approached a small Grunty, wearing a large beret-like hat, similar to her own.

Haseo looked around himself in awe.

It was just like the Twilight Brigade…from over a year ago…

He looked at the white walls of the Guild. The light orange carpet…and the little berry-tree in the corner, next to the Grunty.

He couldn't help but feel a small tinge of nostalgia as he gazed around the Guild…

"What is this…?" He asked, now noting a few more improvements that this Guild had had over the Twilight Brigade. It was bigger, for one thing…and also had more plants, decorating some of the free space. There was a pool of water, meaning this Guild was obviously over level six…and quite good lighting; most likely because they were set up in Saal Haku…

"This is Solstice, Haseo." Shino answered. "A Guild dedicated to looking for Ovan…our key of the Twilight…"

Haseo's heart beat hard in his ears.

"L-looking for…Ovan…?" He asked, almost in a whisper.

"That's correct!" A cheerful voice called from behind him.

Haseo jumped in shock, and turned around, just in time to avoid a familiar Beast-Woman's glomp.

She landed on her nose, inches away from the Grunty, before turning to him with large, watery eyes.

"Hey, that wasn't very nice, Haseo!" Tabby complained.

"T-Tabby?!" He demanded.

Tabby faked looking around for herself, before nodding.

"Yup, looks like I'm Tabby." She said, a large cat-grin plastered all over her face. "Why do you look so surprised…?"

Haseo blinked a couple of times, attempting to take this all in.

"I…I thought that you said that you were on for only one day, when I met you in the Forest of Pain last month!" He explained.

Tabby's smile grew a tiny bit more.

"Yes, I was on, that month, for only a day…but now, I can be on almost whenever I want! I figured out a system!" She explained cheerfully.

"A 'system'…?" Haseo asked sceptically.

"Yep! Work my tail off in class, and do homework later!" She explained, before putting her hands on her waist, and letting out a loud laugh.

"…Wha…?" Haseo muttered, before turning to see a newer arrival walk through the door.

She was just as surprised to see him, as he was to see her, as she walked in.

"Haseo…?" She asked, blinking in confusion.

"A-Aina…?" He asked, though he had to admit…it made sense…

She nodded her head lightly, before turning to Tabby, who was ogling the cute little Grunty.

"Tabby…weren't you going to show me a good area for Chim Chim's today…?" She asked, as the Beast-Girl's head suddenly shot up, and she stood.

"Of course! Let's go, Aina!" Tabby announced, before saluting her, Shino, and Haseo, and dashing out through the large wooden doors.

Aina turned to Haseo before leaving, and gave a small bow of appreciation.

"Thank you for all of your help, last month…Haseo…" She said quietly. "If not for you, and Skeith…there would be no 'World'…and I know that my brother would have never wanted that..."

Haseo nodded in understanding, as the small, blue-haired girl quickly turned, and left after Tabby.

"She's been searching harder than all of us combined." Shino explained, as the doors closed behind Aina. "Of anybody…she wishes to see Ovan again the most."

Haseo nodded sadly.

"Haseo…" Shino said quietly, before lightly gripping onto his hand.

Haseo turned to face her instantly, though unsure if he should take back his hand or not.

"Please…tell me the truth…" Shino begged. "Is it true…? Is AIDA really…back…?"

Haseo could hear his heart beat in his ears, and silently begged that Shino couldn't. His blood turned to ice, with the question, as he looked into her worried eyes. Somehow, he felt, that even if he did lie right now…she'd be able to tell…

"I…I'm sorry…" He said, as he took back his hand quickly, and turned his back to her.

Shino continued to watch him calmly.

"So…it is true…?" She asked.

Haseo bit his lip in real life.

"Yes…it is…" He muttered, looking down at the carpet.

If only…if only AIDA had never returned…if only Ovan hadn't sacrificed himself for nothing, would he have been able to speak about this matter more freely. But, Ovan was gone…there was no denying it. If 'Solstice' had been searching for him all of this time, and still never come across him, or anything that could help to reach him; to bring him back here…then he could really be of no help. Even Yata hadn't found any traces of him, within The World…

"I see." Shino said, also turning to face the opposite direction of Haseo. She shut her eyes for a moment, as if in deep thought, before speaking again. "If that's the case then, Haseo…then please…be careful…" She said, holding her arm to her chest tightly. "We…I don't want to lose any more people close to me…"

Haseo nodded, even though he knew that Shino was not looking at him, before quickly stepping towards the exit of the Home, and leaving Solstice.

------------------------------------Epsilon Fighting Horror's Domain---------------------------------

Come ON Shiruba! Where are you?! Eon demanded mentally to the beast, but there was still no reply.

She sighed tiredly, before leaning against one of the light brick walls. She shut her eyes, before trying again, just once more…but again, there was no response.

Eon reached up, and put her hand over her face, before slowly brushing her silver bangs back. Why wasn't Shiruba answering her?! Did she do something to tick her off…? If so, then what?

Eon held her right palm across her forehead and right eye, before looking up at the ceiling with her uncovered left eye. She let out a light agitated sigh, before slowly shutting it.

"Stupid mutt…" Eon murmured, as Pi leaned on the wall next to her.

"Still can't contact her…?" She asked, adjusting the glasses on her nose.

"No…" Eon answered angrily, not bothering to open her eyes, or even look at her.

"I see…" Pi murmured.

"No you don't." Eon suddenly said, opening her eyes and glaring at the Admin. "No one can 'see', unless they have a disobedient Guardian like me!" She howled, before turning around, and leaning her forehead against the wall.

Why Shiruba?! Where are you?!

Pi lifted her glasses from her nose, and inspected them in the dim light of the dungeon, before placing them back onto her face.

"I see that your anger still hasn't left, even after coming one more floor down…" She stated monotonously, before looking at Eon with the corner of her eye.

Eon was still learning against the wall angrily; trying to block out every one of Pi's words. Her perfect chance…

Pi quickly opened up her hacking window beside her character, before typing in a series of numbers and letters, and pressing enter. There was a brief pause, before information suddenly started to appear on her pale blue screen…though invisible to all other players…

Eon had to literally hold herself into place in the real world, to not jump up in shock from the sudden appearance of the 'Hacker Detection' windows around her character.

Not now…anytime but NOW! Eon thought desperately, before turning around to face towards the dungeon once more, as casually as she could at such a bad time.

She eyed Pi, who seemed to be concentrated on the wall in front of them, and ceased this opportunity to swing her arm, as if stretching it, at the monitor to her right, shutting down that system instantly, and ceasing the Hacking attempt. Eon allowed herself a smug, two second grin, before leaning back against the wall; hands behind her head.

Pi furrowed her eyebrows angrily, as the information was cut off.

Damn… She thought, before eyeing Eon once more.

Eon was leaning against the wall, and starring ahead, as if concentrating on an invisible puppet show…time for round two…

Pi quickly whipped her left hand out, careful not to disturb Eon from her daydream, and hit the monitor next to her head, turning the cyan screen to a violent crimson. The screen started to beep lightly, before a series of numbers, letters, and strange, garbled words appeared, before information began to fly across Pi's M2D.

Eon bit her lip hard, as she tried not to yell in frustration. Who did this hacker think that they were?! She quickly pulled her hands from behind her head, and let out a long yawn, before stretching them to her sides with a loud 'crack'; hitting the left and right screens in sync.

All of the information running across her screens was instantly reset, and the screens turned to grey, as they quickly vanished into nothingness once more.

There…that should do it… Eon thought, as she stretched her arms in front of herself, and put them down at her sides lazily. They'd be an idiot to try once more…

Pi bit her lip hard, as she glared at where the most recent information had just vanished from. For an eight-year-old CHILD, Eon was proving to be quite a nuisance…not to mention, the fact that she could not detect any suspicious behaviour from her as well…

Pi reached up, and rubbed the bridge of her nose, with her index finger and thumb.

How was she doing it…?

Pi looked at Eon for a long moment. She was just…leaning there…bored…

She took a sharp breath, before opening up the hacking window one final time. If this failed…then there was no point on attempting to continue…

Eon's eye twitched in the real world. She attempted to keep herself from moving, but this was the final straw…

Eon sat up straight, and stood up, before quickly typing in front of herself on the invisible keyboard.

"…What are you doing…?" Pi asked suspiciously.

"I'm E-mailing Axel back." She lied. "He said that he finally filled his quota…and decided to waste my time telling me this in an E-Mail..." She explained, as she typed in a Short Mail message to the unfortunate hacker.

She allowed herself a small grin, as she finally finished the reasonably long message, and pressed 'enter', before stretching her arms one last time, and expertly hitting the monitor before her; shutting it off, before any important information was lost to this idiot hacker…

'Tong' sounded, as Pi's looked up.

"A Short Mail…?" She questioned, before clicking 'accept'

"Didn't I say that spying wasn't nice...?" Read the Short Mail.

Pi gaped.

"Because I thought that I did…and if not, here's another warning…though not as kind as before…"

Pi starred at the Short Mail in confusion, before reading the sender.

'Eon'.

"If you really have nothing better to do, then may I suggest looking elsewhere for your kicks, or risk angering your…target(s)…?"

Pi bit her lip in the real world. How in the name of Hell was she doing this?!

"Because, as the Hulk said, "You won't like me when I'm angry…"."

"Are you okay…?" Eon asked, interrupting Pi from her reading.

Pi shot her head up instantly, and looked at the little girl.

Was her data correct…? Was she really just eight?!

"I-I'm fine!" She stuttered. "Just an annoying Short Mail from Kuhn…that's all…"

"When I'm angry, bad things tend to happen…and who knows if I'll even begin to bother hacking YOU instead…"

Was she really serious?! Or…was this a bluff…? Pi really couldn't tell at the moment… She knew that Zelkova was a hacker…but not this little girl… There were no reports of her ever visiting Tartarga! But then, how would she know?! She wasn't even sure if she knew anything right now!

"A stupid friend once told me, "Save pain for the game"…but this is ridiculous…come on, Three attempts within five minutes?! Are you crazy, or just stupid?"

Pi's face turned pale. She knew that the last attempt was a little overboard…but the fact that she was told this by a little girl, was not all that…amusing…

"Pi…you're frowning…" Eon observed, earning an instant glare from the Admin.

"I am not!" She hissed, as she looked back to the Short Mail.

Eon backed up away from the Tribal Grappler; shocked from the sudden angry outburst. Was it not her that was supposed to be angry right now…? What the heck did Kuhn send her?!

"Nonetheless, wouldn't it have been easier just to ask us…? And yes, us. All three of us know that it's you, oh infamous hacker-friend. We could have told you a lot of things, rather then go through this headache everyday, with your pitiful attempts…"

"P-pitiful?!" Pi whispered angrily, as she shot a death-glare at Eon, making her back up a little bit more.

"A-all right…m-maybe we should just go to the Beast Statue…" Eon murmured, turning towards a path to her left; avoiding all eye contact with Pi.

Wonder what her problem is…I'll get Kuhn for making me go through this…

"Maybe I'll start calling you giggles, for getting your kicks out of the most annoying things…or possibly R2D2…whichever one suits you the most… I guess that you could even be called Hacky McHackington… but that's a little long. Tell me, what would you like to be called, Hacky…?"

Pi glared at the Short Mail even harder.

HACKY?! She thought, enraged. What stupid nicknames…and yet, Eon was acting so…INNOCENT! Who'd of thought that she could be as annoying as Axel…must be the after effect of hanging around him so much…

"Now, continuing this long annoyed rant on topic, I am quite upset. It is quite rude to pry, I've heard… So why not just give it up while you're still ahead…? Who knows? Maybe you'll end up being a half decent person after all."

Pi was fuming.

Half DECENT?! She demanded mentally, shooting another glare at the dog-girl, making her shrink away towards the walls of the passageway. Who the Hell did she think that she was?!

Eon walked closer and closer to the walls consciously, as she watched Pi's pace quicken, and her eyebrows narrow viciously.

Geez…Kuhn's really done a number on her… She thought, before looking at the map, to make sure that they were heading in the right direction.

She didn't want to spend any more time with Pi than she had too…

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to attempt to summon the Guardian that you seem to be quite interested in. Tootles, oh Hacky Mchackington!"

Pi exited the Short Mail quickly, before sending one final Death Glare Eon's way.

She was going to regret this…one day…

Eon blinked in confusion, as Pi suddenly shot her head the other direction, and glared at the wall, instead of herself.

Could it be that Pi had finally cooled down? Or was she just waiting for revenge? Most likely the latter…

Eon shut her eyes, and let out a small sigh. At least she was over it…for now… Now they could both finally concentrate on getting to the Beast Statue, and out of here…

-----------------------------------Unknown: Realm of the Gods-----------------------------------

Every time she tried to move, it hurt. Every time she drew a breath to howl, it burned.

Shiruba shut her eyes tightly, as she attempted to shake the large, golden muzzle of light off of her snout, but it wouldn't budge.

Her clawed feet were all bound to the water-covered floor of her domain, with golden chains of light; and her wings were fastened to her back tightly. She could hardly move, or breathe, without extreme pain; yet, she could hear all of the cries of help from her master clearly.

Shiruba bared her teeth as much as the harness around her mouth would allow, before attempting to melt it off, allowing giant embers of fire to spew from her mouth; but the mussel remained.

"Rrg!" She howled, as she thrashed around, splashing her claws into the water, making steam raise around her. She pulled to the left, then to the right, but the light would not let go. Shiruba then pulled her neck back hard, as she tried to loosen the harness from her mouth, but the light suddenly tightened around her body and wings, making her lean over, like a tamed beast.

Damn you all… She swore, as her golden eyes shot up at the now mirrored sky, and down to the mirrors, surrounding herself, as well as the entire area.

Howl all you want. A sly voice said from behind her, as Sora pulled her long body around the beast. No one is going to rescue you. You are stuck, and stuck, you will remain. Now that you have met your vessel, there is no way for her to return here, unless having an invitation…which, like that, you are unable to create. The long, white dragon explained, licking her fur-covered lips with her long, pink tongue. Nonetheless, it's interesting seeing YOU, of all of us stuck like this…finally receiving the punishment that you deserve.

What punishment?! Shiruba demanded, her red mane igniting in furry. I have done nothing wrong! It is YOU, who deserves punishment, of any of us!

Such accusations…but can you prove that we are not doing the right thing…? Sora asked, lowering her body into the cool, crystal-clear water leisurely. It was me, after all, who helped to protect the Guardian Masters of Water, Light and Darkness, whereas you, the Guardian of Fire, could hardly wake up in time to stop Cubia, as you, and those other two ingrates were created to do.

Shiruba bared her teeth at the dragon angrily, as she attempted to bite her fur-covered ear, only to be shocked by a harsh amount of electricity, from within the tendrils of light.

Damn you… Shiruba spat, as she slowly narrowed her eyes tiredly, and leaned to her side, before quickly falling over. Damn you…and your foolish ideals… She murmured, as her body began to slowly submerge itself within the cool water of the domain. Shiruba tried to gasp for breath, but she was too tired. Her body had been fighting the light for hours…and without Eon as a sacrifice…she had to use her own energy to get herself out of this mess.

She shut her eyes tightly, as she attempted to lift her head, but it was too heavy from exhaustion. Her eyes began to blur, as she watched Sora allow a maniacal grin onto her long face, and quickly dive under the water; disappearing from her sight, as well as the domain.

---------------------------------------Epsilon fighting Horror's Domain-------------------------------------

Eon slowed herself as she approached the hallway leading to Beast Statue; waiting for Pi to catch up to her.

Pi strutted up calmly, having finally calmed down about the whole 'Short Mail' fiasco.

"Just beyond this door, and we'll call it a day." She said curtly, before walking down the hallway, next to Eon.

Eon's left ear twitched, catching her attention, as she stopped to look at a pattern on the wall, only to have a long arrow miss her head by inches.

"Elp…!" Eon murmured, before falling down onto her butt in utter shock.

"Oops…" Hunter muttered, before being hit hard by Kuroha.

"Damn it, you idiot! You almost shot her!" He typed angrily, hitting him again harder.

"I'm sorry! Y¬Y" Hunter typed, using an emoticon.

"What are you doing?!" Pi demanded, helping Eon up, onto her feet.

"Erm…room service!" Hunter called suddenly, attempting to turn around and run, but Kuroha tripped him, and pointed his Steam Gun to his ear.

"Don't you dare run away…" He warned, pulling off the 'safety', as he added.

"Eep…" Hunter whimpered, as he slowly stood up, and aimed his bow at Pi.

Pi's eyes widened in shock, as she narrowly avoided the first arrow, and deflected the second off of her Gauntlet, losing fifty health.

"W-what are you doing?!" She demanded angrily, standing in a fighting pose.

"Sorry, but I've been ordered t' kill you." Hunter explained, tipping his cowboy hat to her. "No hard feelings, of course…"

Pi's eyes narrowed dangerously, as she gave Hunter the most powerful death glare that Eon had ever seen.

"'Ordered to kill me'…?" She questioned, stepping towards the unfortunate player.

"I…erm…eep!" Hunter cried, as he raced behind Kuroha for protection.

"Baby…" Kuroha typed angrily, as aimed his Steam Gun at the Tribal Grappler's forehead. He pulled back the trigger, but Pi was, unfortunately for them, in angry-super-mood-swing-mode…

She deflected the shot like it was nothing, losing only three hit points, before racing towards them at top speed.

"I'll show you to mess with Pi!" She yelled, enraged, before attempting to punch Kuroha.

Shocked, Kuroha narrowly dodged the attack, by ducking, thus, making it hit Hunter instead.

"Oggg!" He howled, falling over instantly; losing over half of his health.

"Holy Sh$!" Kuroha typed frantically, as he jumped away from the Treasure Box, and towards the wall to his right. "Damn it, lady! What the hell are you?!" He demanded, attempting to shoot her once more.

Pi turned towards him, her eyes ablaze, before punching the ground hard, shooting powerful stalagmites at Kuroha.

He swore silently, as his character was hit, and lost a good chunk of his health as well, before quickly forcing himself up to his feet, by leaning onto his arms, and flipping up, before jumping towards Hunter.

"She's a monster! A monster!" Hunter cried, before Kuroha slapped him hard.

Minus twelve hit points.

"Get a hold of yourself! A mission is a mission, so stick to it!" He explained, before pointing at the enraged Pi. "Now, we have no other choice but to use those."

Hunter nodded his head slowly, before turning to Pi sorrowfully.

"Sorry 'bout this, lady…but he's right…a mission is a mission…" He muttered, before holding his arm in front of himself; palm facing down, and muscles tense.

He shut his eyes, in deep concentration, (Something unseemly of Hunter…) before large black symbols appeared around his character; ones similar to that of an Avatar…

Pi and Eon's eyes widened in shock, and fear.

"W-what are they doing?!" Eon asked, stepping back from Hunter, as well as Kuroha, who was also showing similar symbols, only his arms were crossed in front of his face.

"I-It can't be!" Pi exclaimed, before reaching towards Eon's arm, and throwing her back instinctively.

"Oof!" Eon coughed, before falling onto the ground, a few feet behind Pi. "W-what was that for?!" She demanded, before the ground around them began to shake violently, and the walls around them began to spew little black bubbles of AIDA.

Eon drew her hand back, away from the wall instantly, as she began to attempt to stand up, before noticing that they were no longer in The Real World. She spread out her arms, to try to support herself, as she managed to get to her knees, and slowly to her feet, before jumping up, and backing away from the walls.

Kuroha and Hunter were now completely glowing black, and a slight tint of red and blue, as cyan lightning shot out from their characters.

"Pi!" Eon called, before the tiles around her began to fly up, and towards the ceiling; forcing her back, away from the Admin.

Pi grit her teeth together hard, as she glared at the two of them, from the rims of her glasses.

"Damn…" She murmured, as Hunter began sprouting a short tail, and the silhouette of a large black monster, with circular horns began to appear around his body. Around Kuroha, a large, crab-like monster was appearing, glaring at Pi with it's large, yellow eyes.

"Pi!" Eon called again, but the rumbling nearly drowned her out, as she narrowly avoided stepping on a tile, that suddenly raised into the air as well.

Pi turned her head to the dog-girl, and motioned the Warp Panel, next to the now dissolving wall.

"GO!" She yelled, as more tiles flew up around her.

She glared at the two AIDA beasts in front of her, before crossing her arms in front of herself, in a similar manner to that of Kuroha, before calling out 'Tarvos'' name.

Pink symbols surrounded her body, as the Avenger was called to Pi's aid.

Eon starred at Pi in shock. She wasn't really thinking of taking on two AIDA Explicants at once…was she?!

Eon turned her head towards the Warp Panel, before back to Pi. She shut her eyes tight, before looking back to the Panel one last time, and turning back to Pi. She couldn't do this alone!

"Hey, Shiruba!" Eon called desperately. "Where are you?! I thought that you told me to call you in a time of need?!" She cried. "I thought that you wanted to be summoned!"

Small wet tears rolled down Eon's eyes as she watched Hunter's AIDA Explicant finish reforming itself around him.

It stood on four legs, with two large, curved horns on its head. He had two small, yellow eyes, with a red slit in the middle, and a large, AIDA 'bubble collar' around his neck. He roared angrily, before rearing up, onto his hind legs, and charging towards the Pink Avatar.

Pi just barely managed to grab the ram's two horns, making sure to avoid all contact with the swaying neck AIDA. She grunted as Tarvos was slowly pushed back by the sheer strength of it, before quickly pushing it to the right, and towards Kuroha.

Kuroha's eyes narrowed; as he knew that the Admin was planning. He quickly raised his arm, before drawing it into himself, and making a fist with his hand; thumb within the fingers.

The crab-like Explicant obeyed him instantly, as it pulled its large claws, and mutated legs within the shell, surrounding itself, and Kuroha in the middle.

Aries' horns bounced off of the shell hard, before shaking its head, and turning towards Pi angrily. He quickly drew his leg back, and pulled it back twice, like a bull, ready to charge, before racing at her once more.

Pi was ready this time, and instead of defending, simply allowed Tarvos to use her wings to float above the foolish beast, who charged right past her. She allowed herself a smug grin, before narrowly avoiding Cancer's claws.

Pi bit her lip.

How'd he move so fast?! She wondered, before quickly noticing Eon jumping from white tile, to white tile, in an attempt to get closer.

"You idiot!" Pi shouted, as she looked up, and watched the last of the blue Warp Panel vanish into nothingness.

She narrowed her eyes, before quickly turning to face Aries, who was charging once more. Tarvos held her hands out once more, as she held the large AIDA beast back from Pi.

Eon would have to take care of herself…her hands were full right now…

Eon landed on another hexagonal tile, before looking around for a new one to hop on, only to realize, that the next nearest one was little over twenty feet away. Her face turned pale, as she looked down into the Cyberspace abyss of the AIDA server, before gulping hard.

Eon shut her eyes tight, as she raced off of the tile, and extended her wings, hoping that the laws of 'The World's' physics still applied in Cyberspace…

There was a slight tug on her back, as she peeked up with her left eye, and saw that she was gliding. Eon smiled, relieved, before noticing one small thing.

She was losing altitude.

Panic was the first thing that hit her, as she attempted to use her own breath to raise herself a little bit more.

It didn't work.

"Oh no-oh no-oh no!" Eon cried, before the second thing hit her, in the form of the side of the large, hexagonal tile.

Eon held onto it for dear life, before making a fist with her right arm, and using it as a small lever to pull herself up slowly. She breathed hard, before looking up, and watching Aries continue to race towards Pi; now running in endless circles, and instantly turning to face her again, whenever he missed.

She grit her teeth hard together, before noticing one small thing.

Cancer was missing.

Eon's heartbeat was hard and loud in her ears, as they twitched in every which direction, to try to find the crab…but it was silent.

She stood up slowly; looking around herself cautiously. Where could a crab that big hide?!

"Looking for us…?" Kuroha typed, before a large, black claw grabbed Eon from her right.

"AH!" She yelled, struggling to get out of the Explicant's grasp, but to no avail.

Dang it… Eon thought, gritting her teeth hard, and struggling harder. I should have been more careful…

"It's useless. Just give it up while you're still ahead." Kuroha typed leisurely; a small, maniacal grin on his face. "I've thought of all of the possibilities…and unless you can summon that beast, which you can't, it is pointless to struggle."

"What…?" Eon asked, as she temporarily stopped her desperate attempt to get out of the crab's claw.

"I said…or typed: You. Can. Not. Call. Her."

Eon's eyes widened in shock and fear.

"W-why?!" She demanded.

"Simple. I sealed her away. She's probably just a hunk of computer data now. Gone, after meeting Sora…" He explained.

It took Eon a moment to digest this, and notice the small tears begin rolling down her face again… It'd been two years since she'd cried…who'd have thought that it would have been in a video game…?

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Her…?" Eon asked slowly, as she looked down at the black claw of the crab, instead of Kuroha's face.

"Simple. I made a Multi-Directional Stopper Barrier, which stopped you from calling her." He explained with a small grin. "I'm surprised though…you seemed to notice one of the glitches of it, just before you entered this room…"

Eon grit her teeth hard, as she bent her neck down, and bit onto the black claw hard.

Cancer let out an angry cry, before shaking her hard, but Eon didn't let go.

"Meut huwa bwaca!" Eon demanded through her teeth, as she bit down a little bit harder.

Kuroha's eyes widened instantly.

"L-let go of him! If you don't, you'll get infected!" He explained quickly.

"NWOA!" Eon howled through a full mouth, as she bit even harder.

Cancer let out another roar of pain, before beginning to squeeze her harder.

"MWAAAH!" Eon howled in pain, but she didn't let go. The squeezing increase. Harder, and harder, until it was almost unbearable.

"I said let go, damn it!" Kuroha commanded, as he pulled at the opposite claw of Cancer; it did not help.

Tiny black bubbles slowly began appearing around the little dog girl, as her vision blurred slightly.

It hurts… She thought, but still did not let go. It…hurts…dang it…Shiruba…

Eon was beginning to have trouble keeping her eyes open, as she slowly began to notice all of the bubbles around her, though in slow motion. Her head was beginning to become heavy, so she allowed her neck to droop, but she still did not let go of the Explicant.

Cancer let out a roar of furry, before throwing Eon hard into the air.

"No, you idiot!" Kuroha howled at the AIDA, but it did nothing to retrieve her.

Eon slowly looked down at her AIDA covered body; noticing her silver wings now completely covered in bubbles, and her leg almost dissolved.

She breathed deeply, before looking up at Pi above her, and twitching her hand.

"Dang…it…" She murmured, before falling down, past the white tiling of the Cyber Space, and into the twilit abyss.

She blinked her eyes shut for a moment, allowing a small tear to roll up her cheek, and into the air above her.

I lost… She thought, as her body slowly rolled over. I lost…not again…why now…?

She opened her eyes slowly, as she watched the blue, black, and purple abyss slowly fly closer to herself. Closer, and closer…and a bit more…before the colours suddenly began to merge together, straight underneath her.

Her eyes widened instantly, as she attempted to move her body to avoid the crash course into the unknown, but nothing would move, or even slightly respond.

Are my nerves dead…? She wondered, before suddenly feeling a whooshing feeling, and spinning into an entirely different place.

Pi looked down as Cancer threw the girl up, and past the tiling.

"No!" She howled, noticing the little back dots surrounding her.

Aries let out a howl, as he charged at Pi once more, only to be thrown off, and at Cancer by the pink beast.

"Eon!" Pi yelled, as she dived for the girl, only to watch her suddenly vanish, once past the tiling.

She turned to look at Cancer and Aries, who had just collided with each other. Cancer's claws jammed into the Ram's neck, and Aries' right clawed hoof through Cancer's left eye.

They both howled in agony for a moment, before turning to Pi angrily.

"Where did she go…?" Pi asked dangerously.

It was her fault that Eon was gone. That she was infected with Aida…that they even came here…

"Where is she?!"

------------------------------------------Unknown: Realm of the Gods----------------------------------------

The first thing that Eon noticed, was that the pain was gone.

"What…?" She murmured, before squeezing her eyes shut tighter, and slowly opening them.

Her retina burned for a moment, before she could finally see around herself.

She was lying in a large field of multicoloured flowers, and long, aromatic grass.

Eon blinked in confusion, before looking up at the bright, light blue sky. There was a small gust of wind, which blew her silver hair, and loose vest past her face and chest, as she stood up.

"Where…am I…?" Eon asked herself, as she looked around the endless field.

There were billowy white clouds in the sky above her, and a small lake near the bottom of the hill that she was standing on. A large Sakura tree was behind her; with small pink petals floating down from its tall branches.

Eon blinked her eyes shut, as one of the petals landed on her nose, before shaking it off. She grunted lightly, before stepping down the hill cautiously; unsure if a monster, or AIDA would pop out at her at any second…but nothing came.

She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, as she continued to stare into the horizon of the flowers.

Was she still even in The World…?

"Hello…?" Eon called, cupping her hands to her mouth, but there was no reply. Not even an echo.

She shivered. This place was beginning to scare her. Not only was it too perfect to be in The World…but she'd never seen any place like this in her entire life…

What was going on…?

The dog girl slowly sat down cross-legged, and looked at a large red rose. It lightly swayed with the wind, but not enough to damage it, or its petals.

Eon blinked at the rose, before turning to face a shorter blue-coloured flower. It lightly swayed, just like rose, but not as far, before one of the petals flew off, and past Eon's right shoulder.

She didn't bother to turn to watch it, and instead, stood up and stretched.

"There's got to be a way out…" Eon murmured to herself, before turning to face the light lake. "Maybe there…" She muttered, looking at it with dislike.

She didn't like water…

----------------------------------------The Warring Capital: Lumina Cloth--------------------------------------

Haseo teleported into Lumina Cloth quickly, his party, minus Sakubo, behind him.

"So…where's Saku today…?" Kuhn asked, as he put his hands onto his waist, and looked around the dark city.

"Right there." Yata said calmly, as he turned towards the Icolo entrance, where a horde of fan girls were now ogling Sirius; Sakubo not too far away.

"Saku!" Haseo called, making the short Shadow Warlock turn towards him.

"Oh, it's you Haseo…" Saku muttered, before noticing Endrance behind him. "Ah! Master En! You came looking for me?! How thoughtful!" Saku cheered; hearts appearing in her PC body's eyes.

"Erm…whatever you say, Saku…" Haseo muttered, before looking beyond the girl, to the swamped Sirius.

"Are you all right…?" Haseo asked, as he attempted to push his way through the fan girls, only to be flung back out instantaneously.

They were stronger than they looked!

"I told you! I want nothing to do with these…these…Autographs!" Sirius howled, as Alkaid snickered behind him.

"Look at you, Sirius! If I didn't know you better…I'd say that you have a problem." She said, before folding her arms behind her head.

"Stop standing there, and give me a hand, Alkaid!" Sirius yelled, before reaching down with his long arms, and attempting to push his way through the sea of Fan Girls.

There were 'oo's' and 'ah's', as Sirius finally reached Haseo, Alkaid behind him.

"It has been a while, Haseo." He greeted, with a polite crane of his overly long neck; most likely an attempt to bow.

"I guess that it has…" Haseo muttered, before glaring at the Fan's, who were now howling something about 'yaoi'…

Sirius also shot a glare at the girls, before turning back to Haseo, and noting his party.

"You are entering the Tournament…" He observed, as Kuhn nodded his head rapidly.

"Yup! And we're going all the way!" The Steam Gunner explained.

"I see…" Sirius murmured, before looking down at Alkaid, as she looked back up to him. He shot his head back towards Haseo's group, after a moment of silence. "If that is the case, then good luck to you, Haseo." He said. "We, of Icolo, have also joined the Tournament…may the best man win."

Haseo nodded his head lightly, before receiving a hard punch to the shoulder, courtesy of Alkaid.

"We'll see you in the Ranking then, Haseo! Make sure that you're in it, or I'll never forgive you!" Alkaid vowed, before racing towards the doors of Icolo, pushing past the mass of Fan Girls on her way.

After watching Alkaid leave, Haseo looked back up to Sirius, seriously.

"Sirius…before you go, I need to warn you about something." He said, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes…?" Sirius said, ignoring the ogling fan girls behind him.

"AIDA has returned…and there's a high chance that teams 'Crystal Seraphim', and 'The Bad Boyz', have been infected…or at the very least, are willing to use a power, similar to our own." He explained, motioning himself and his party.

Sirius nodded quickly.

"I see…so that is why you joined…" He murmured, before shooting another glare at the girls, with his yellow, slit eyes.

He turned his head back to the Adept Rogue quickly.

"I understand, Haseo." He said, with a nod. "But, I cannot go easy on you, in the ranking; or risk angering Alkaid." He explained. "I apologize."

"Hey, don't sweat it!" Kuhn said with a large smile on his face. "We'll go the whole way, even if it means beating Icolo!"

Sirius nodded once more, before craning his long neck, to look at the sky.

"I will see you, then." He said, before logging out of The World.

Haseo turned back to his Party, before nodding to them.

"All right, let's go and gain some more WP!" He encouraged, before racing towards the registration Counter; his party hot on his trail.

-------------------------------------------Unknown: Realm of the Gods-----------------------------------------

Eon starred into the mesmerizing water for a few minutes, before actually stepping into it. It felt cold on her skin, and…wet!

She took a small gasp of air, before completely submerging herself into it, only to surface a moment later; freezing.

"C-C-Cold!" She muttered, before paddling over to the side, and leaning her body against. It. She floated in the water for a long time, just looking up at the sky, tiredly. The clouds moved by with the wind, but the sun never seemed to move an inch. It always stayed in the same place. She couldn't tell if it had been a minute, and hour, or even a day! Eon didn't even know if Pi was okay!

She was scared, that was the simplest way to put it.

Eon blinked her eyes shut for another long moment, before leaning her head back, and petting the aromatic grass next to her.

"It's soft…" She muttered, picking a piece, and holding it before her face.

She slowly opened one eye, and then the other, looking at the little stock curiously.

If this was really 'The World', then how was it, that she could feel things? She spun the small piece of grass between her index finger and thumb, before pocketing it carefully, and looking back into the deep, clear pool of water.

Her body was slowly becoming used to the temperature, thus she decided it was time to take a dip…

Eon took a deep breath, before submerging her head and body completely under the water once more. The water stung her eyes as she tried to open them, to see where she was going, but ignored the slight uncomfortable feeling. She'd felt worse…

She blinked a few times, everything hazy under the water, and out of focus; as if she had lost half of her vision within ten seconds. Bubbles rose to the top of the pool, as she paddled around for a while, attempting to get the hang of swimming. No one had ever taught her how.

After figuring out how to perform the doggy paddle, both in and under the water, eon took and even deep breath, before finally diving down, into the seemingly endless abyss of water.

The water became cooler, every meter that she swam, as her air supply began to run out.

Shoot… Eon thought, as she blinked hard. I need air!

Her body began to panic for a moment, as she attempted to flip herself around, only to end up tangled and confused; unsure which way was up, or down.

No! Eon thought desperately, before blinking hard again. Air! Give me AIR!

Then, that was when she saw a small, shiny thing from deep within the pool; about twenty feet from her current panicked point. It was shiny, like glass, but also reflective…a mirror…?

No time for mirrors! Eon thought, but her body, for some reason, was drawn to it. She paddled towards it quickly, now noticed that instead of reflecting the exact light from the surface of the water, it was reflecting pinkish-orange light from an unknown source…just shining…like the surface of some water.

What is it…? Eon wondered, as she forced herself to forget about her need of air. She swam even closer, before finally reaching it, and floating beside it.

Pretty…what…? Eon wondered, as she saw a blurry white and orange image from within it.

Shi...Shiru…Shiruba…? En wondered, but the image was too blurred from the water to tell.

That was when her heart started pounding hard; desperate from oxygen…any oxygen. Eon clutched her throat, as she coughed up a bunch of bubbles.

AIR! She demanded, before reaching forward with her right arm, and attempting to touch the strange mirror, in a desperate attempt to force herself up.

Just…a little…more…! Eon begged, as her arm finally touched the glossy surface of the mirror.

The pinkish mirror suddenly began to glow a bright light blue, shocking Eon… Was it just her lack of Oxygen….? Eon quickly attempted to push her arm away from the mirror, upwards, but it was stuck to the glass.

Her eyes widened in even more shock.

NO! She thought, as she waved her other arm around frantically, and tried to swim away…but it only stuck harder, before there was suddenly a sucking motion.

No! No…no… Eon thought, as her vision began to fade into darkness, as the strange mirror sucked her in even more.

No… She thought one last time, before her vision turned to complete darkness.

The coldness from the water vanished, as Eon slowly opened her golden eyes.

It took a moment to realize what had just happened, before noticing that she was no long in the pool of water.

"Air!" She breathed, before quickly scanning her surroundings.

There were orangey-pink mirrors everywhere. On the walls, around the room…on the ceiling…and even floating around the black room.

"Where…am I…?" Eon asked, before suddenly recognising her surroundings a little bit more.

She was sitting above a black pool of water…she'd been her twice before!

"A-Aura?!" Eon called, suddenly feeling a creepy presence around her. She blinked twice, suddenly turning around, but nothing was there. "Shiruba?!" Eon yelled, now seeing the strange light-like beams, reflecting off of the mirrors.

Eon furrowed her eyebrows, as her eyes followed the beams, which all seemed to lead up to one particular spot…under the water… She looked down, deep down, before finally seeing a familiar face.

"SHIRUBA!" Eon yelled, falling down onto her knees, and hitting the surface of the water, as if a barrier between her and her drowning Guardian. "Shiruba! Get up!" She yelled again, but there was no response, as she dog seemed to be in some sort of trance under the pool of black water.

Eon grit her teeth hard, as she looked around for any way to get to the beast, but there was nothing, as she could see…only the mirrors, and the lights…

She narrowed her eyes seriously, before dashing up to the nearest set of light beam, and mirror, and attempting to pull the light away…put her hand only went through it.

"NO!" She howled, as she attempted once more…and then again…

Eon spat hard, before looking up to where the light reflected, onto another mirror, before reflecting down, into the depths of the water; binding Shiruba's leg fore claw.

"The mirrors…" Eon murmured, before quickly taking ten paces back, and raced at the mirror.

There was a loud 'tong' sound, similar to that of a tuning fork, as the mirror temporarily stopped reflecting, and the light vanished.

"Shiruba!" Eon called, but it was already too late. The light once again reformed around the beasts fore claw, completely binding her once more.

Eon growled, as she quickly concentrated on calling the 'Skill Trigger', before setting her hands aflame.

"FLARE!" She shouted, as she continuously shot at every mirror within shooting range from her.

There was a series of loud 'tongs', as Eon continued to shoot, ignoring the massive headache that they were giving her.

"Come on Shiruba!" Eon yelled, as she noticed her energy slowly fading away. "Wake UP!"

Shiruba's eyes flashed open; red as flames, as she extended her long, dark silver wings, and used her powerful legs to jump up, and out of the water. She roared loudly, as her head emerged from the frozen death trap, and bared her large, white fangs towards Eon. The mirrors around the room suddenly shattered with one final, combined 'Tong', before falling into the black abyss of the water; never to be used again.

"I will kill that dragon!" Shiruba vowed, as Eon quickly collapsed onto her knees, panting hard.

"You…are…awake…?" Eon asked, as she rubbed her forehead.

"Yes…thanks to you." Shiruba noted, before glaring down, into the water. "They attempted to trap, and destroy me down there." She explained, baring her fangs once more. "But I will not fall so easily…especially not to those fools…"

Eon nodded her head slowly, as she forced herself up, onto her feet.

"Before I came here…I was in a strange meadow-like place…" She explained, looking up into the beast's eyes. "Where was I…?"

Shiruba closed her eyes for a long moment before nodding her head down, into the spring.

"You were more likely within Sora's domain…" She explained, her golden eyes flashing with anger. "You must have been sent there, after obtain a substantial amount of damage, to both your mind, and body."

Eon slowly nodded her head.

"O…kay…then why am I all right…?" She asked, confused.

Shiruba sighed tiredly.

"They must have been desperate to keep you out of a coma." She explained. "It seems that 'Hades' has a use for you…"

Eon's face turned pale, before she grit her teeth hard.

"All right…but…but I need your help right now!" She demanded.

"Hmmm…?" Shiruba asked, raising her head in a proud position. "All ready begging for help…? I'd of thought you to be more…self-sufficient…" Shiruba mused.

Eon glared at Shiruba sharply, showing her determination.

"I will not beg, and I will not ask you any more…Will you help me save Pi, or not?!" Eon demanded, turning herself to face the spiralling portal that she used to exit Shiruba's domain the last time.

Shiruba pulled back her lips into a toothy grin.

"Do you really think that a Guardian can disobey a direct order from their Master….?" She questioned. "Nonetheless, from one as determined as yourself…?"

Eon allowed herself to grin as well.

"So, are we going or what…?" She asked, as the large dog stood from her sitting position, and join Eon by her side.

"Last one there is a Grunty…"

-----------------------------------------Epsilon Fighting Horror's Domain----------------------------------------

Hunter was thrown back again by Pi, spitting up some blood.

"Holy Pancakes!" He shouted. "I knew that nothing good could come from something pink!"

"Shut it!" Kuroha ordered, as Cancer quickly entered its shell again, and teleported behind the Avenger, but Pi was ready, once again, and threw him into Hunter, who had just barely turned to face the crab.

"Agh!" Hunter cried, as Kuroha grit his teeth hard, and rubbed his bleeding forehead.

"Damn…she's stronger than I thought!" He typed angrily, as he forced Cancer to pry itself from Aries.

"Where did Eon go?!" Pi demanded once more, as Tarvos flapped her wings once, raising herself even higher.

"I don't know!" Hunter cried, as Aries howled again, before beginning to race in a circle around Pi. A new tactic…how nice…

Kuroha narrowed his eyes angrily at Pi.

"What good is she to you anyways?!" He demanded. "You of anyone, should know how defective she is! G.U. doesn't need anymore dead-weights!"

Pi grit her teeth hard.

"And just who are you to say this?!" She demanded, as Tarvos slowly followed Aries' movements. "How can you say that she's 'defective'?!"

"Simple." Kuroha typed, with a small amused grin on his face. "Because I am the one that gave those three the technology to keep hackers like you out. Who said that I never looked at their data before I gave it to them…?" He asked. "Nonetheless, all of them are defective in one way or another! How can your little 'operation' possibly hope to eliminate these with a few defective children?!"

Pi glared at the boy, before Aries suddenly charged at her, continuously feinting from left to right ever few steps. She bit her lip, as she watched him carefully, before narrowly dodging one of his feints, only to be hit hard with his thick horn.

"Got her…" Hunter breathed, as Tarvos floated lifelessly towards the abyss of the Cyberspace.

"It's all over…" Kuroha typed, as Cancer teleported underneath Tarvos' falling path.

Pi shut her eyes tight, but the attack never came.

What…? The Admin thought, as Tarvos slowly gained the ability to float again, and opening her eyes, only to see a large, silver beast biting one of Cancer's claws into place.

"DAMN!" Kuroha typed angrily, as Cancer attempted to rip its claw out of Shiruba's mouth, but he was already worn down from the fight.

Shiruba's eyes flashed a darker shade of gold, as Eon held her hand out, and squeezed her fist tight; the beast's mouth tearing the claw to pieces.

Cancer cried out in agony, as it backed away from the two of them, and quickly crawled into its shell, before teleporting behind Hunter and Aries.

"D-damn it! It's impossible!" Kuroha typed, as Hunter starred at the two of them in utter shock.

Their movements were just as coordinated and combined as his and Aries'…something that took them weeks to perfect!

"You're next!" Eon howled, as her eyes slit angrily, and she bared her shiny canines.

Hunter backed up slowly, before turning to Kuroha.

"We're not going to get anywhere like this today…" He explained, as the shorter boy grudgingly agreed.

"Damn you…" Kuroha typed, as the area around them quickly began to flash brown, with large ripples. "We'll get you next time…"

Hunter and Kuroha shot their hands up, into the air, as the AIDA Explicants suddenly vanished into nothingness, before Kuroha quickly summoned his spiralling black and purple portal.

"Later!" Hunter called, and with a tip of his hat, he and Kuroha vanished into the portal, as the area suddenly regained its original appearance.

Eon breathed heavily, as she and Shiruba landed next to the Beast Statue, Pi and Tarvos next to her.

"A-are you all right?! What happened?!" Pi demanded, as Shiruba growled defensively, but Pi ignored her.

"I'm peachy…" Eon muttered, as she leaned down, and held her knees tiredly. "Just a little…tired…"

Pi slowly nodded, as Tarvos vanished into a number of shining pink particles, before lifting Eon's arm, and putting it over her shoulder, before helping her across the floor, to the Warp Panel.

The Treasure Chest could wait another day…

-------------------------------------------The Eternal City: Mac Anu------------------------------------------

Eon leaned against the railing in Alchemy District tiredly; the streets being almost completely empty from the Warrior Palace's latest match against Crystal Seraphim.

"What happened in there…?" Pi asked, as she leaned next to Eon. "Why didn't you run when I told you to?!"

Eon half-glared at Pi with her left eye, before she leaned a little bit further back.

"Because if I did that, they'd have killed you. You remember what Shiruba said! Only 'Guardian's' can 'Data Crack'! You'd be gone if I showed up a moment later!" The dog girl explained.

Pi let out a small, agitated grunt, but she had to admit; for once Eon was right.

"Then what happened to you? How did you get infected by that AIDA…?" Pi asked.

Eon paused, choking on possible words…lies to say.

"I…it…" She murmured, as Pi turned around to face the sun of Mac Anu, obviously waiting for the answer.

Eon furrowed her eyebrows in thought for a long moment. Should she really tell her, and risk losing anything and everything…? Or just play dumb…?

"I'm waiting." Pi said calmly, though she did not move from her spot.

Eon grit her teeth hard, before finally sighing, and looking at the ground sheepishly.

Don't you DARE tell her, squirt… Shiruba warned. If you tell 'er, I'll kill you!

And how do you plan on doing that…? Eon asked sarcastically, before ignoring the rest of the threats that Shiruba began to spew continuously.

"He caught me in my blind spot." Eon explained, as Pi looked at her with the corner of her eye.

"'Blind spot'…?" Pi asked.

"Yep." Eon answered.

DAMN BRAT! I SAID SHUT IT! Shiruba howled, but Eon continued to ignore her.

"Shiruba doesn't want me to tell you this…and for good reason too." Eon explained, brushing back her silver bangs out of impulse to do something. "But, I decided to tell you anyways..."

"Tell me what?" Pi asked, narrowing her eyes.

Eon shut her eyes tight. Her stomach was doing back flips right now; and it didn't help that Shiruba was yelling at her to stop. Wasn't it obvious that she didn't want to say this the way that it was?!

Pi turned around towards Eon, a serious expression on her face.

"Tell me what, Eon?" She asked, making the butterflies double.

"I…Pi, I'm sorry…" Eon muttered, looking down again, gritting her teeth together.

"Sorry about what?" Pi asked. "If you've done nothing wrong, then there is no reason to apologize." She explained.

Nothing wrong huh…? Eon wondered, before looking up at the orange sky of Mac Anu. She took her right hand, and covered her right eye, but it made no difference to the beautiful view.

"Pi…" Eon murmured, before turning to the Admin; removing the hand from her face. "My right eye can't see!"

Y¬Y Dude…this is the last time that I write a chapter this long! …or at least a chapter this long, with such a time restraint!

I had to finish this chapter before Friday, the 30th, since I lose my 'Word'…and I can't believe that I made the deadline! (Looks surprised)

This chapter was FORTY FIVE PAGES LONG! 16300 words! CRAZY DUDE! XD;;;

Well, what did you think…? Hah! Forced you to read the end to find out the secret! Aren't I nice? (Not! XP) Now looking back at the chapter, I wonder if you can see the 'secret'...? I think that I emphisized it three or four times...

This chapter was actually quite hard to write; mostly during the 'Shino' and 'toboggan' parts, since I had to finally introduce 'Solstice', and add in some humour on the hills! XD

I hope that you enjoyed it…and if you did, please send in a review! I want to reach 30 after this chapter! (That means just three! You can do it!)

I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I hope moderately soon… So, until then;

Jya ne! Au Revior! Sayonara! See you Puko's!