Next Phase

"So, you saw the Nightmare?" Val said projected on Luna's Hunter VG. Luna was sitting at her dresser while Xerox helped her wit her hair.

"Yes, it infected Ry- um, Centarus Flame," Luna said catching herself. Val looked down and sighed.

"Luna, that man was Ryan, and he was really your friend," Val said trying to comfort Luna. Luna shook her head.

"But why would he join Neo Arcadia? What are they trying to do?"

"What indeed? Personally I think you would know more about Neo Arcadia than me," Val said with a smirk, "After all, you've had the most contact with them."

This whole thing was making Luna feel really uncomfortable, but she promised that she would help Val.

"I wanted to stop by anyway. I can give you a full report on what happened when I see you," Luna said.

"Excellent, I'll see you then," Val cut the connection, leaving Luna to her thoughts.

"Hey kid, you okay?" Xerox asked reaching for a red ribbon to tie Luna's hair into it's usual style.

"Neo Arcadia's goals, it just doesn't make any sense. They said that they want to defend the Earth against Planet FM, but FM hasn't made any moves. And what do they need the Nightmare Virus for?" Luna sat there with her arms crossed for a second, thinking about the whole situation. Lynx said that they weren't the bad guys, and it was true that they never attacked anyone at the school. Why were they creating so much havoc then?

As Luna got up Xerox used his index and middle finger claws like sissors and cut a small strand of Luna's hair. It was small and quick, so she didn't notice. After putting the hair in a small bag he was hiding under Luna's bed he floated to the door.

"Hey, I'm gonna let your parent's know that we're heading out, okay?" Xerox stated. Luna nodded and stood at the window with the Visualizer on.

Xerox flew down to the kitchen, where he saw Mrs. Platz alone cleaning the dishes.

"Morning Xerox," Mrs. Platz said.

"Good morning, Mrs. Platz," Xerox said in his usual enthusiastic tone that suggested he was trying to impress Luna's mom. So far it worked.

"You know, you're a very active Wizard," Mrs. Platz said looking at a now slightly scared Xerox, "Most Wizards I've seen stay extremely close to their operators unless they're programmed otherwise. You're almost as active as Luna's friend's Wizard, I think he was named Omega-Xis."

Xerox laughed trying to cover it up, "Really? I guess it was just in my programming," Xerox sighed in relief when Mrs. Platz nodded in acceptance. Sure he wanted to tell them that Luna was Zero and that he was really an alien from Planet FM, but he wouldn't dare tell them without Luna's permission. "Hey, Luna and I are going out, so we'll be back later, okay?" he continued.

"Sure thing Xerox, take care of Luna for me," Mrs. Platz said with a smile.

"I will," Xerox said with a nod. He then looked at Mrs. Platz funny, "You've got something on your neck."

"Oh, really?" she said putting her hands behind her neck to find what he "saw".

"Here, let me get it," Xerox said floating over to her. He then took a small strand of hair from her in the same fashion, "Got it. It was just a piece of lent."

"Oh, thanks Xerox," Mrs. Platz said with a smile. Xerox smiled in response and flew off. Once alone he put the strand in another bag.

"I'm getting to the bottom of this, one way or another," he said looking at the two bags. He then flew off to retrieve Luna.

A few minutes later Luna materialized in front of the Satella Police base from the Wave Road. She was beginning to enjoy being Zero, because it made getting around a lot easier. She now understood why Geo spent so much time as Mega Man.

When they got inside Xerox started in another direction. "Where are you going?" Luna asked her partner.

"I just gotta see Dr. Goodall about something," Xerox started.

"Okay, let's go together," Luna said walking towards Xerox, but he held his hands forward stopping Luna.

"You gotta go see Val, remember? If we go take care of our business separately then we can catch up with everyone quicker. I'll be fine, just go see Val."

"Okay... Don't take too long."

Xerox took that as his chance to fly off. Luna shook her head and walked to Val's office.

When Xerox made it to Dr. Goodall's office he saw her on her computer. It looked like she had a sample of the virus and was analyzing it.

"How in the world did you get a hold of that?" Xerox asked the doctor, who turned around at the sound of Xerox's voice.

"It may be dangerous to EM Waves, but to a human it's perfectly harmless," Dr. Goodall explained, "I'm trying to learn a bit about where it came from so we can get a better understanding of how it connects to Neo Arcadia."

"It did seem like their only reason for being there was to get that virus," Xerox stated crossing his arms.

"But I'm curious, why are you here, and without Luna?" Dr. Goodall asked.

"Oh, right. I needed you to do me a favor," Xerox floated to the doctor and handed her the two bags, "Can you do a DNA scan on these two strands of hair for me?" Dr. Goodall looked a little shocked at Xerox's request. "I know it's a strange request, but I need to figure something out here. When Luna and I fought Aries he said a few things that confused me, and I'm beginning to notice a few things in Luna's family that don't add up. Before I can confront anyone though I need proof, so if you can find anything unusual between these two strands then that would be great."

"I see," Dr. Goodall looked down seriously as she thought, and then looked at Xerox, "It may take a while to get anything worth while, so give me at least a day."

"That's fine. Thanks Dr. Goodall."

"Anytime Ziggy."

Xerox floated to the door, shuddered at the sound of his nickname, and then flew off to find Luna.

In Val's office, Bud, Sonia, and Pat were also there. Luna just finished filling them all in on what happened yesterday, and how strange Lynx was acting.

"So whatever they're doing with the virus, they really do want to use it to help the planet," Val stated, getting a shocked look from Bud.

"How do you figure that? No offence, but it seems kind of silly to create mass panic in order to save the planet, don't you think?" Bud asked.

"But if the virus responds to fear then it makes sense," Pat stated, "After all, they didn't actually harm anyone directly."

"That's true," Bud groaned in frustration, "That doesn't mean that these guys are off the hook though. Whether or not they mean any harm to the planet their actions are still too dangerous."

"Not to mention them wanting to go to war with Planet FM," Sonia added, "If they really attack the planet head on, then how are we going to stand a chance against them?"

"We won't," Lyra said from Sonia's guitarr/Hunter VG, "Everything Xerox said was true. Remember, Taurus and I used to fight for Planet FM."

"If you guys thought Cepheus was tough," Taurus added, "Then you don't want to know how ruthless his son is."

"If sending the Four Guardians after us was just to retrieve Xerox, then imagine how far they'd go if their main goal was war," Luna said seriously.

"To get back to our main point though," Val said getting everyone's attention, "Luna, you said that Lynx was trying to stall you. Any idea as to why?"

"Well, she seemed to be trying to keep me busy until the virus took affect," Luna stated.

"That makes it sound like they were trying to get their friend infected," Pat said, or so they thought. It seemed like Pat and Rey switched places so Rey could get his say in, since he was a member of the team.

"That is weird..." Val said, more so to herself, "I want all of you to continue investigating Neo Arcadia. If you find out anything else about what they're planning then please let me know."

All four of them saluted and walked out of Val's office.

"Neo Arcadia, just what are you planning?" Bud asked.

"This whole thing is getting way out of hand, and we don't even know who Lynx is," Luna said.

"I bet if we figured that much out then we'd be a little better off. She is second in command after all," Pat added, Rey nodding in agreement in the reflective wall next to him (even though Pat was the only one who noticed).

"Then that's our next move? To figure out Lynx's human identity?" Sonia asked to confirm, getting nods from Bud, Pat, and Luna.

"So, you guys done?" Xerox said floating up to them.

"And where were you?" Bud asked crossing his arms.

"I had some other business to attend to," Xerox explained. Bud shook his head sighing.

"Sheesh, Mode was way more reliable than this nut," Bud stated, making Xerox angry.

"What was that, pork chop?" Xerox said holding his fist at Bud, who held his fist up in response.

"You heard me loud and clear!"

Luna, Pat, and Sonia shook their heads looking at these two argue. It was no secret that they didn't get along, even if they considered each other friends to a degree. It was sort of how Luna felt about Mega four years ago.

Hearing the name of her former Wizard made Luna smile. She gave Mode to a relative for two reasons. One, her cousin absolutely loved Mode and wanted a Wizard of her own, and two, it was too hard for her to be around Mode with what happened to Geo. Luna wondered how her old friend was doing, and how she'd react to knowing that Luna was Zero now.

At that moment Luna's Hunter VG went off. She looked at it and saw that she had an E-mail. It was anonymous, but it read:

Meet me on the Wave Road above Vista Point. We need to talk.

Anonymous

"Hm..." Luna thought about who this could be. The last time she got an anonymous message it was Harpuia of the Storm, and that didn't end very well. Was it him again?

"Luna, what's wrong?" Pat asked.

"Oh, nothing. Hey, Xerox and I will meet you guys in Spica Mall," Luna said catching everyone's attention.

"Excuse me?" Xerox asked, since he had no idea what was going on.

"I'll explain on the way," Luna said. Xerox shrugged and floated over to his operator.

"Are you sure everything's okay?" Sonia asked.

"Yes, I'll tell you guys later," Luna stated as she and Xerox ran off. All three of them shook their heads watching her.

"More and more like Geo everyday," Sonia said, everyone silently agreeing with her.

On the Wave Road, Zero teleported over Vista Point and looked around.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" she asked.

"You've really grown as a fighter Prez," a familiar voice said, making Zero's heart race. A second later a blue ord floated down in front of Zero, and turned into a holographic image of Geo, whearing the same attire he was wearing when she saw him on Aries' fortress.

"Geo..." Zero said. She knew that Geo wasn't physical, and it appeared that his EM Wave appearance wasn't strong enough to completely form in the Wave World, but it was definitely him.

"This whole thing with Neo Arcadia is getting a little too out of control. I wanted to leave this to you guys, but I can't stay quiet any longer." Geo said, shocking Zero and Xerox.

"Wait, does that mean you're going to help?" Zero asked.

"The amout of things I can do are limited, but I'll do what I can," Geo stated.

"In that case, do you know anything about Neo Arcadia?" Xerox asked.

"Sadly not much more than you guys do," Geo said looking down, "As of right now all I can do is give you a warning," Geo continued.

"A warning?" Zero asked.

"The people around you aren't always what they seem. Prez, be careful who you trust. An ally today could be an enemy tomorrow," Geo said right before turning into his orb form, "I'll see what I can find about Neo Arcadia. Let everyone know, okay?" Geo said before flying off. Zero just looked down thinking about Geo's words.

"Kid, you okay?" Zerox asked.

"What did he mean by that? 'Be careful who you trust'?" Zero asked herself. There was no telling what Geo may have known that she didn't, and if that was true then she had to be careful who she trusted...

Even if her thoughts of who Geo meant were scaring her...

For those wondering, yes I used the japanese name for Luna's old Wizard. Even though I'm using the english names for the other characters, Vogue, just... no. I can't.