Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mega Man Zero.
Video Diary of the Amazing Elpizo, Ultimate Supreme Leader of the Resistance and the Greatest Reploid of All-time
"My birth name is…
…no…as one of the members of Neo Arcadia's city administration bureau, I had no name…
If a "name" is just a simple means of recognition, it used to my serial number, TK-31. This series of numbers was what served as my "name." In order to constantly maintain the humans' utopia, a strict administrative organization, consisting of a large number of mass-produced Reploids like us, and a group of high-class Reploids with real names, was necessary. The humans, satisfied by the calm-hearted peace, were more than willing to hand over government operations to smarter and more capable Reploids with advanced functionality.
It was a system of efficiency…
I had loved the system of the city Neo Arcadia…
It was so supremely well-managed…
Yes…up until the moment I took that word as my TRUE name! Heheheheheh! Hohohoho! Huahahahahahahaha!"
~Flashback~
TK-31 was standing around with several of his coworkers as he operated the machines in front of him. To him, it was just another day in the paradise that was Neo Arcadia. No changes, no surprises…simply only perfection.
"Look. It's Harpuia!"
"So it's true. So he really has been traveling with this group of inspectors."
"It's not just him. Look, those are all elite combat Reploids. If this situation involves so many Maverick Hunters, there must be something huge going on."
"Hey, all of you. Would you stop the chatter over there?" TK-31 was annoyed. These…defects…were diminishing Neo Arcadia's perfection by not working and carelessly speculating on pointless issues. No wonder why a Guardian had to come visit. These coworkers of his might as well be Mavericks.
The famous Guardian walked over to them. "You! You seem reliable. Let's see. Your serial number is TK-31. Yes. First, get the supply team going. Then, I want you to do me a personal favor. Go down to the Submerged Library and get something for me. You are only the collect the data that is here. Avoid independent action and report any situation to the elites here."
TK-31's heart soared. He was being rewarded for his perfect work. Not only was he being directly supervised by Harpuia-sama, he was being trusted to go down into an information facility—a relic of the previous age—that contained information on the prototypes of the current Reploids.
It was an honor…
"Strange…the electricity is working down here? The systems down here must be really advanced despite being built so long ago!" One of the inspectors he came down with gaped at the sight.
TK-31 was awed himself. "This is…this is really a huge library…Submerged Library indeed!"
"And look at all these doors!" Another investigator gasped. TK-31 had noticed that himself. Despite his discipline, he couldn't help but to satisfy his curiosity when he saw a light blue light—almost resembling a Cyber-Elf—hovering over one of the doors. "What could so many rooms possibly be—hey what are you doing!"
~End Flashback~
At the time, I had no idea what I was doing. I wandered through the areas as though guided by something greater. I walked into the deepest data room and partook in the forbidden fruit that was the fragments of history sealed away in the darkness.
The TRUE reality would spread out before my eyes, and lift the veil that Neo Arcadia had placed over me.
~Flashback~
TK-31 drew closer to one of the computers present. It was already on and functioning perfectly, beckoning him to look.
"What is this data room?" He tapped some of the keys on the computer and almost jumped back as words started scrolling onto the screen. His eyes, modified to read much faster than the average human, missed none of it. "This…this is the huge power that led the world to destruction?"
The Dark Elf.
The war criminal, Dr. Weil.
The Baby Elves.
The Elf Wars.
The words disappeared to show him a recording.
"What is that thing?!" He kept watching, unable to tear his eyes away. "That's…that's…Omega? What is he? I've never seen or heard anything like this!"
The recordings went at a faster pace and started to burn data into his mind itself.
Project Elpis…The Maverick Wars…Mother Elf…Dr. Light…Project Elpis…
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
TK-31 jumped when he heard the alarm go off.
"You! What are you doing over there?"
"Huh?"
"What are you trembling at?" Harpuia-sama disabled the alarm and looked at the computer screen. "I see. Maybe you aren't as reliable as I thought. You were supposed to just gather data." The green Reploid sighed. "Someone like you…even if you were just looking to satisfy your disgraceful curiosity…shouldn't know of these things. Well…it doesn't matter. Just forget everything you have just seen, Serial Number TK-31."
~End Flashback~
(adapted from Clockwork Apple – Mega Man Zero Telos Audio Drama)
The atmosphere at the Resistance Base was somber after the Team Colbor fiasco. It had been the first time there was a mission fatality in a long time. After a long string of nearly flawless successes, to have a mission with a casualty was a big blow to morale.
"I'm surprised," Ciel heard Cerveau as he came into her laboratory. "It's been a while since you monitored power signatures."
"Six months? Or has it been seven, already?" Ciel replied without turning around from her portable computer.
"Six months, two weeks, and four days to be exact."
"Do you want to add hours, minutes, and seconds to that?" Ciel shot back in mild irritation.
Cerveau chuckled. "Well, the seconds and minutes are increasing as we speak so I'll pass on listing out exactly how many minutes and seconds."
"But not hours," Ciel rolled her eyes. Rolling her eyes was something she had picked up from Naruto. The gesture wasn't something completely foreign to her before she met Naruto, but she never really had the opportunity to engage in light-hearted banter in the past that would lead to her rolling her eyes. It was a testament to how much her situation (and the Resistance's) had improved in the last six to seven…no…six months, two weeks, and four days and however many hours, minutes, and seconds.
For a few seconds, the only sound in the room was that of Ciel typing on her computer.
"So you restarted the search for Zero again?" Cerveau finally asked. Ciel stopped typing, but didn't say anything.
"Yes," she sighed after mentally debating whether or not to tell the truth. She turned around to look at her Reploid friend. "Don't tell Naruto what I'm doing."
Cerveau seemed taken aback by that. "Are you worried that he might be offended?"
"I…" she began. "I don't want him to think that I'm losing faith in him."
Naruto wasn't visibly affected by Colbor's death; after all, the two never got along. But Naruto was definitely being more attentive to details to make sure nothing like that happened again. The rate at which he was acclimating himself to a new era and a new environment was already frightening to begin with. The questions about things Ciel and everyone else took for granted—such as basic information about Reploids—had all but disappeared after the first few months.
And now, after Colbor's death, Naruto was actively contributing and helping the Resistance increase their knowledge about Reploid science.
Ciel was afraid that she was relying far too much on him. She shook her head. This wasn't Naruto's war to fight; this was hers. It wasn't right for her to lean on him so much.
"I don't think he'd mind," Cerveau replied.
"Of course he wouldn't," she said with a touch of exasperation. "He's too kind and too noble to feel that way. But that doesn't make it right."
"So you've restarted this insane goose chase again."
"I don't recall you calling it that before we found Naruto," Ciel pointed out.
"You're right," Cerveau admitted. "But those were different times. We had no other options but to chase after legends and fairy tales. But right now, we have more options to work with."
"Such as?"
"Your research for an alternate energy source," Cerveau reminded her.
She shook her head. "I could argue that that's even more impossible of a solution."
The Reploid frowned. "What's the matter? It's not like you to give up so easily."
Ciel sighed. "I've created a way to improve the efficiency rate of our current energy sources. But I think I'm coming close to the theoretical maximum of how much energy we can draw out from the methods that we have. And finding a new one altogether has been difficult to say that least."
"What about Naruto's idea of using Cyber-Elves as a source of energy?"
"It was a novel idea, but based on an incorrect assumption." Ciel turned around to pull up some data on her computer. "We had all thought Cyber-Elves were able to last forever in the real world because they were in a state of infinite energy." She gestured at the charts on the screen. "But that's not correct at all. It's quite the opposite. Cyber-Elves seem to be in a state of 'negative energy,' if that makes sense."
"I thought negative energy was a mathematical concept in physics, especially when discussing anti-gravitational forces and quantum field effects."
Ciel nodded. "That's true, but there's no other description for what I'm seeing here. It's as if the Cyber-Elves don't exist in the real world until they come into contact with a Reploid."
"That makes no sense at all. Reploids can feel the power given off by the Cyber-Elves and from what Naruto said about your encounter with that blue Cyber-Elf, so can he. That would be impossible if Cyber-Elves were simply free-floating concepts!"
"In spite of the anecdotal evidence, empirically, that's what the readings claim," Ciel murmured in a disappointed tone. "As a result, using Cyber-Elves as an energy source is completely unviable."
"But how do they grant upgrades and powers to Reploids if they're just simple concepts that aren't truly existing in the real world?"
"I have no idea. It defies our understanding of science on so many different accounts."
"So that's why you're looking for another military asset. You've completely resigned yourself to a long drawn out war against Neo Arcadia."
She grimaced at thinking of Naruto as a "military asset" but nodded.
Cerveau let out a long sigh from behind her. "Well, I can't really blame you for doing whatever it takes to help us. So, any progress?"
"Nothing. Granted, Zero's power signature may be muted by a barrier of some sort, but there's absolutely nothing."
"Did you check the whole planet?" Cerveau asked in shock.
"Of course not," she replied. "The Earth is way too big for us to properly scan in a matter of a few days or even weeks. It would take years."
Cerveau let out a breath. "Given your obsession with work lately, even by your ridiculous standards, it wouldn't have been surprising if you managed something as ridiculous as upgrading our sensors to that level."
Ciel just gave her friend a sad smile. "I may be one of the top scientists in the world, but even I can't pull off the impossible." Her inability to find a new energy source was a glaring example. "You know as well as I do that the capacity of something like energy sensors is limited by the quality of our electronic hardware. Not only are we lacking in resources, but improving hardware also isn't even my field of expertise. That's yours. In any case, I only checked the known areas around Neo Arcadia."
"Don't you think it may be worth looking at areas that are uncharted?"
Ciel furrowed her brow. "Maybe, but Zero was sealed after the preliminary government of Neo Arcadia was established. There's no reason to suspect that scientists would go out of their way to hide Zero in an uninhabited and uncharted area. It goes completely against their modus operandi of hoarding power."
"Well, about that…" Cerveau trailed off. "I wouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly."
Ciel blinked and turned around. "Why? Did something new come up?"
"Well…" Cerveau said in a hesitant voice. "It might be best to see for yourself. HE-22 sent us a message."
"HE-22?" she gasped. "Is he in trouble?"
HE-22 was one of their deep cover spies/sympathizers within the Neo Arcadian government. He had been instructed to contact the Resistance only in an emergency.
Cerveau shook his head quickly. "No, no. Thankfully not. But he did summarize a bit of the classified information he came across. I think it might change your mind on just how much we know about Neo Arcadia."
Despite being on the run from Neo Arcadia, Dande had a lot to be thankful for. In Neo Arcadia, he didn't even have a name and was simply called by his serial number, 0N-B6. He was given orders and had been expected to carry them out. Dande was a young Reploid and had worked as a secretary in a military base. He found it odd that all he had to do was stamp hundreds of papers each day and eventually started reading what he was stamping.
To his surprise, he was passing along requests for hundreds of Reploids, often innocent Reploids, to be retired simply because it was inconvenient for the military to have them around.
When he brought this up to his supervisor he ended up being the next one in line to be retired.
Dande was lucky that the Resistance had somehow managed to save him while his case was being processed. Usually, after Neo Arcadian Reploids are accused of being Mavericks, they are given a month under house arrest to show "good behavior" to try and convince the authorities that they weren't Mavericks. Of course, no one ever succeeded in coming off the suspected list, but Neo Arcadian Reploids were taught to be submissive and obey orders all the time. And so, no one every even tried to escape during the time and merely ended up waiting to be killed.
Since no one ever struggled, there was no need for guards either. The Resistance usually struck to save those Reploids during that interval.
That had happened for Dande as well.
And now, he had a name, purpose, and best of all, friends he could count on.
One of those friends, however, was currently trying to take his head off with a blade. "Hey, Naruto-shishou! Easy with the damn knife!"
Naruto merely growled. "You're the annoying idiot who kept complaining that I didn't take you along. Maybe if you worked harder instead of whining all the time, I might not have to tell you to retreat the next time we face one of the Guardians."
That shut Dande up really quickly.
He was very aware of just how strong the Guardians were. When he had been in Fefnir's presence, his scanners had gone haywire. Every circuit in his body was telling him to flee lest he suffer a violent retirement.
Yet, those were the enemies he would face in the future. Between the Four Guardians, the Eight Gentle Judges, and X, there were at least thirteen Reploids of A-rank or higher they had to go through.
Dande's thoughts turned toward his first friend.
While Naruto teased him nonstop and tried to mischaracterize his relationship with Paon into something it was not—it wasn't like Reploids had hormones or anything like that as humans did to make them desire a romantic relationship—the fact of the matter was that he still cared very much for his friend. And that's what made his situation really bad. Dande felt guilty around Paon. After Dande had defected to the Resistance, Paon was set to be retired simply by virtue of being associated with him. He still sorely regretted putting Paon's life at risk even though it had been unintentional. Paon repeatedly said that she forgave him and that she found meaning in fighting for what was right, but Dande wasn't sure if he could forgive himself.
At least until this war ended. And that wouldn't happen until all thirteen of those incredibly powerful Reploids were defeated.
Naruto was right. Dande really didn't have time to complain. He sighed as he prepared for another long and painful day of training.
Nature energy.
Energy that can be collected from the atmosphere and the terrain and then combined with the spiritual and physical energy in the body.
And successful manipulation of that energy allowed a person to enter into a state called Sage Mode.
The power boost in that state was what allowed Naruto to complete his Rasenshuriken in the final moments of his battle with Fefnir.
He had meditated for hours in the couple weeks after that battle, but he was still nowhere close to consciously activate Sage Mode. He knew he had to stay gather energy, but none of his attempts had worked. He simply was unable to recall how nature energy felt like. Moreover, it was as if his connection to the environment was muffled.
It was for that reason that Naruto found himself sneaking around the Forest of Dysis, one of the artificial forests being developed by Neo Arcadia. Apparently the security wasn't supposed to be that high in the area, but those reports had been woefully incorrect.
Naruto mindlessly slashed at the dozens of annoying but thankfully weak Bee-like Reploids—Saranet if Naruto recalled correctly—that chased him around as he collected his thoughts.
The nature energy would be stronger with life—even if it was modified life—around and his connection to nature would be greater. Ciel would probably be upset if she found out, but what she didn't know couldn't hurt her. And there was little chance that she would find out. That was why Naruto was in the Forest of Dysis instead of near Ciel's little hideout in Area Zero. Because Ciel had been so absent, Naruto suspected that she might have been taking secret trips to the area. He didn't want to risk running into her.
Naruto knew there was something wrong there, but he wasn't going to pry. Not when he had his own issues to resolve first. He had to be able to access Sage Mode regularly if he was going to tussle with any of the Guardians again. The skills he developed over his lifetime, while impressive, were simply not enough to deal with machines made for war. Moreover, Naruto innate abilities were never all that impressive to begin with. Oh, Naruto would be the first one to admit that he worked harder than just about anyone else, but the inconvenient truth remained. Naruto always had needed the power of others to help him fight: chakra from Kurama, sage chakra from nature itself, and incredible yang chakra temporarily granted to him for being the reincarnation of the second son of the Sage of Six Paths, and of course, Sasuke's final gift of the Sharingan. Even now, many years in the future, Naruto relied on Ciel and Cerveau to provide him with equipment that amplified some of his techniques.
Yes…for all his strength, Naruto was highly dependent on others.
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, Naruto supposed. After all, it was irrevocable proof that bonds with others made a person stronger. But unfortunately, Naruto was in an inconvenient situation where he was missing many and the strongest of those bonds. And naturally, that made him weak.
Naruto sighed as he tossed an energy shuriken at a Molegule, the mole-like Reploid that burrowed in the ground and popped up at the most annoying of times. Naruto's connection to nature was stronger here, but he was finding it difficult to find a place where he could sit down and think, no matter how many times he cleared the area of the pesky Reploids. It was as if more popped up out of nowhere whenever he turned his eyes away from an area.
Getting annoyed at the unending distractions, he headed towards a nearby cave.
Naruto's fortunes didn't improve once he entered the cave. Not only was the cave itself made of artificial rock, if such as thing was possible, but the cave was also sprawling with Securipiders and Pantheon Hammers.
At a fork in the cave, he turned a corner to find himself staring a machine with a glowing orb about ten meters ahead of him.
"Great…" Naruto muttered as the orb began to glow and shoot beams of light at him. Naruto maneuvered around the artificial and incredibly sharp stalactites and stalagmites in the area to get closer to the damn machine. "Rasengan!" Naruto slammed his signature technique into the orb.
He was surprised when the sphere of energy rebound and then blasted him back towards a spike on the wall.
He quickly pulled his hands into a seal to replace himself with one of the rocks in the area and instantly kicked off once he regained his footing. Leaping towards the org again, he cried out, "Fuuton: Reppuu (Wind Release: Gale)!"
The sharp wind blades whistled through the air and shattered the orb.
"Whew," Naruto grunted. "This damn trip is becoming more trouble than it's worth." His eyes widened when he sensed a very familiar energy. Looking towards where the orb originally was, he saw a glowing ball of light.
As he slowly walked towards the glowing ball, he realized that the energy felt similar to what he felt from the blue Cyber-Elf. Strangely enough, this Cyber-Elf was both visible and tangible. And the energy that the Cyber-Elf was emitting was different as well. It almost felt like chakra.
He reached out and grabbed it.
"This is a restricted area," said a hiss from behind him. Naruto quickly turned and entered a defensive stance to see a purple snake-humanoid hybrid Reploid. "But if you give that Baby-Elf back, your life may still be spared!"
"Why am I not surprised…" Cerveau mumbled out with a shake of his head. "I thought it was a bit quiet these last few days…" To his pleasant surprise, Naruto had been fairly well-behaved for the last two weeks or so. When he wasn't helping out around the base or teaching Faucon and Dande, he was meditating. But apparently, Naruto had simply been biding his time.
"Cerveau-san, it was Jaune's fault!" Rouge stammered while glaring at Jaune. "I tried to stop Naruto-san from leaving, but Jaune distracted me and—"
"Oh shut up," Jaune muttered, although she had decency to look sheepish.
Cerveau sighed. "Never mind whose fault it was. Where is he and what is he doing?"
Jaune shrugged. "He didn't specifically say where, but my guess would be the Forest of Dysis. He was looking at different rehabilitated forests in the area."
"Forests?"
Jaune nodded and blushed as she pulled out a pink flower. "He told me that he wanted to directly research just why plants had such a hard time growing. He went out to get some samples of dirt and the natural flora."
Ignoring the urge to hit the blond ninja for essentially bribing one of the key administrators of the Resistance base, Cerveau noted with some interest that the flower was entirely organic, unlike most natural plant-life found in the wilderness.
"And why the Forest of Dysis?"
"He didn't specifically want to go there," Jaune replied. "He was just looking for a place with the least amount of security."
Cerveau decided to look at the silver lining in all this. "At least he wasn't being completely suicidal this time. As for you two…" he glanced towards Ciel's room, "make sure Ciel doesn't find out."
It was probably a good thing that Ciel was so distracted with the information sent by HE-22. Hopefully, Naruto would return and in good health before Ciel found out and overreacted as she was wont on doing lately.
"Yep," Naruto growled out as he dodged a kick from Hyleg Ourobockle. "The first thing I'm going to do when I get back to the base is to flag every intelligence report as incorrect or outdated. No security, my ass!"
Naruto filled his legs with chakra and jumped before the Reploid's leg—which had burrowed into the ground—popped up and grabbed him.
Since the area was a dark cavern in a cave, his Sharingan wasn't as useful as it could have been. Furthermore, as luck would have it, Hyleg Ourobockle was on the upper end of B-rank or even the lower end of A-rank. He wasn't a random chump Naruto could bulldoze through, especially not with one arm in an enclosed area where he couldn't use his strongest techniques.
Naruto's eyes flickered to the baby elf in his left hand. He didn't know exactly what it was, but it definitely wasn't something that Naruto was comfortable with Neo Arcadia having. If Naruto didn't know any better, Naruto would have thought that Neo Arcadia was trying to create Cyber-Elves and Reploids that had the ability to use chakra. But even Ciel hadn't been able to do that, so there was no way that Neo Arcadia could.
No…Naruto shook his head. It was more likely that this strange Cyber-Elf was created through a natural phenomenon.
Creating a one-handed hand seal, Naruto stomped on the ground. "Douton: Tenchuu (Earth Release: Divine Earth Pillars)."
Pillars of solid dirt rose and slammed onto the snake-like Reploid from all directions, preventing him from slithering out. Given that Naruto used only one hand and one seal, the force wasn't as hard as it could have been, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
"Miii!" Naruto almost jumped and gaped at the Cyber-Elf in his hand. Apparently, it had "woken up" and was now thrashing in his fist. No doubt it was upset at being man…err…cyber-elf-handled. "Miiii!"
Naruto only grabbed on tighter and was a bit amused when sniffling noises came from his fist. I guess that's why they call it a Baby-Elf.
"Quit it," Naruto ordered, not caring whether the Baby-Elf understood him or not. "If I lose this fight, you'll end up back in that small round tank I found you in."
The Cyber-Elf must have understood because it completely stopped moving. It was just in time because Hyleg Ourobockle burst out from his earthen cage.
The snake-like Reploid looked furious. "I'm going to tear you limb from limb," he hissed, "and take that Baby-Elf back from your corpse."
The Baby-Elf didn't appear to like that statement as it began to glow. To Naruto's surprise, it was channeling some form of energy into his hand.
Naruto gaped at the Baby-Elf as his body forcibly powered up into the very same state that he had been hoping to achieve by coming here.
Sage Mode…
Hidden Phantom, the leader of the Cutting Shadow Squadron, couldn't understand why he was being summoned to all these stupid meetings lately. All this deliberation was pointless and it was taking time away from real work like fleshing out spies and traitorous Mavericks from within their midst. A mass production Reploid with the serial number TK-31 had apparently accessed top-secret files on the Elf Wars just last week. That in and of itself wasn't such a problem; it would be simple to just retire the curious fool. But while TK-31 was a fool, he was still blindly loyal to Neo Arcadia. TK-31 had only been able to access those files because someone had guided him there. And Phantom was determined to find out just who that person was. There was no such thing as blind luck or random coincidence.
But now, Neo Arcadia was in an uproar over some upstart fighter from the Resistance.
Apparently, not only had this fighter survived encounters with two of the Four Guardians but he had also managed to enter a restricted area—seeming by accident, which made the story even more ridiculous—and steal an incredibly rare and valuable weapon. Had the resistance fighter not killed insufferable Hyleg Ourobockle, Phantom would have killed Hyleg Ourobockle himself for that colossal failure.
The Eight Gentle Judges and the human elders had demanded answers, causing his master to lose face and credibility. Phantom was furious even if his master had brushed aside the criticisms with a smile.
Phantom let out a low growl. To think that his counterparts among the Four Guardians were this incompetent…
Didn't they know that death was acceptable, but defeat was never an option?
That's why…in his opinion…Fefnir and to a certain extent, Leviathan, were trash, just like the Resistance Mavericks that they could not get rid of.
Still, a true ninja always followed orders. As long as his master felt that Fefnir and Leviathan were worth keeping around, Phantom would have to acknowledge and respect them.
"Here's a detailed list of what Naruto can do as well as what we know he is capable of doing." Phantom took the electronic device with this Uzumaki Naruto's supposed specifications from Harpuia.
Phantom quickly skimmed through the information.
What was in there shocked him. Uzumaki was known to use lightning, wind, fire, water, and earth techniques along with several exotic energy attacks. It was almost unheard of for even a Reploid to use advanced techniques in multiple elements. Yet here was a human who was able to control such fantastic powers.
Phantom read on. Uzumaki apparently used kunai and shuriken as his weapons of choice and often fought with clones.
"This human is a ninja?" Phantom asked, his interest now piqued. If Uzumaki were truly a ninja, it would make sense why Leviathan and Fefnir could not win. Ninjas did not play by the rules. Ninjas always used deception. "Leviathan did not mention this when she gave her report on his months ago."
Harpuia nodded. "It was difficult to tell. I could only tell because I was on standby and watching the battle carefully from a distance. His tools all seem to be transparent and made of some sort of energy that we don't use. I don't blame Leviathan for missing that little fact. Naruto appears to be highly adept at disguising his hand seals and those hand seals appear to be the valves of his powers."
"I see."
"Meh, Phantom," Leviathan drawled out in that annoyingly casual tone of hers. "You would have known all this if you showed up to any of the other briefings. We kept calling for you, but you never showed up."
"There was other work to be done," Phantom returned smoothly. "And please excuse me if I had for assuming that the three of you would have been enough to handle one small Resistance bug." Phantom included another shot at Harpuia. For the self-proclaimed leader of the Guardians, he sure didn't take satisfactory action on many issues that needed to be solved. Had Phantom been there when Fefnir got humiliated, he would have quickly stepped in and rectified the problem by shoving his energy blade into Uzumaki's chest. Harpuia had just scouted for information.
"Hey, you bastard! Are you trying to pick a fight?" Phantom almost rolled his eyes when Fefnir interjected. The hotheaded fool was far too easily riled up.
"Fefnir, you came back in defeat," Phantom replied mercilessly. "You have no right to talk. Fefnir, you should be dead by all means. If I recall correctly, it took two weeks to completely repair you; 97% of your body had to be replaced. A waste of time and money, if you ask me."
The mad fool snarled, but Harpuia decided to interrupt.
"Enough. This is neither the time nor place for this."
"No," Phantom retorted, firmly shaking his head. "This actually is the time and place for this. None of you, yes, including you Harpuia, have made any progress with Uzumaki."
In fact, that the three of them had let the Resistance survive for this long was a failure in and of itself. Phantom's own duties revolved around finding spies and potential Mavericks within Neo Arcadia, something he was carrying out with great success. Maybe it was time for him to step into the open and directly crush the entire Resistance himself.
"Fail?" Leviathan glared. "I didn't fail, you thickheaded ass. If you had been here in our previous debriefings, you would know that I overpowered him in battle. I made a mistake in not confirming he was dead, but I didn't come back like a defeated dog."
Once again, Fefnir snarled, but sat sullenly in his chair. Phantom mentally smirked. He supposed that Uzumaki did do one good thing at least by putting that imbecile in his place. He would thank the human by slitting his throat swiftly and painlessly.
He didn't let any of his true feeling show on his face, however. It would be unprofessional. "You haven't done much better," Phantom countered. "If I recall correctly, a base under your command got crushed. Still I do concede, however, that you came back with some measure of dignity. After all, even a whore's dignity is higher than a defeated dog's, if barely."
Leviathan actually lunged at him with a shriek only to be held back by Harpuia. "I'll kill you, you misogynistic asshole! Let me go, Harpuia or I'll gut you, too!"
Phantom didn't even flinch. After all, he had nothing to fear or to feel ashamed of. "What?" Phantom said in a silky tone. "Did I say something wrong? Leviathan, did you really think you could fool me, the one who controls all intelligence operations in Neo Arcadia? You were consorting with the enemy, weren't you?"
Phantom had taken a shot in the dark based on Leviathan's attitude in recent weeks and her current response. Given the colorful history of female Reploids and what they were used for, Leviathan was always a bit sensitive that she was designed as a female Reploid. But something about her changed after her encounter with Uzumaki. She was far too comfortable with herself.
And when Leviathan instantly fell silent and paled at the implication of his insult, Phantom knew he struck gold. Harpuia released Leviathan in shock.
"Disgusting." Phantom didn't understand how anything got done with these Guardians of X. No wonder the Resistance was still alive and kicking with all this incompetency within the Neo Arcadia leadership. "I can't say I'm surprised though. After all, female Reploids were initially designed for one purpose: to service human men. Considering that Uzumaki is a human male, it's not surprising why you acted in the way you did especially considering that your programming still includes some of those initial designs. Still, you'd be better off finding employment within Neo Arcadia. That way, at the very least, you wouldn't be illegally servicing the enemy."
The temperature in the room actually dropped a few degrees Celsius.
Phantom didn't even move as Leviathan ran him through with her lance. He didn't need to because "he" was merely an illusion. Holding his hand in a hand seal, Phantom chuckled mirthlessly from the other side of the room as the illusion he had set up faded away.
"Die," Leviathan hissed in a cold voice. "Go die a very slow and painful death. I'll be praying for Naruto to use your body as spare parts for his trash bin. Eeerk!" Leviathan immediately fell to her knees as dozens of deep cuts appeared on her legs. "You…"
"It was self-defense," Phantom said nonchalantly as Leviathan struggled to stand up. He flicked the digital interface fluid off his blade.
"Those damn illusions of yours are annoying as hell," Fefnir grumbled.
"And that is precisely the reason why I will take care of this nuisance," Phantom drawled. "If this Uzuamki is truly a ninja, a straightforward thugs like you have no chance. Ninjas are subtle, precise, and intelligent…important qualities you seem to lack."
"Tch. Cocky bastard," Fefnir snarled, this time actually standing up. Phantom stared straight into the barrel of Fefnir's arm canon. "That's just a fancy way of saying that you fight like a coward."
Phantom allowed himself a small smirk. As if that was an insult. "There is no honor in battle. There is only success or failure on missions. Your attitudes on how battles should be fought is why you got humiliated. So far, this whole Resistance issue has been nothing but failure. And as for you, Harpuia," Phantom turned towards the green Reploid. "If you had the fortitude to observe the battle firsthand, you should have kept to the initial mission instead of just coming back in disgrace."
While Phantom approved of the fact that Harpuia managed to get valuable intel on the enemy, he was still annoyed at the green Reploid's inability to finish off the opponent.
Naturally, Harpuia frowned at the insinuation. "He's still hiding some of his power," Harpuia argued, finally breaking his silence. "At the very end, his power skyrocketed for an instance as he launched his attack. As ludicrous as it might sound, he may very well be strong enough to hold his ground against two of us at once."
Phantom let out a loud snort. Only his master, X-sama, has the power to pull off that kind of feat. "Impossible. Perhaps, Uzumaki is strong to deal with incompetent fools like you lot—"
"I know what I saw and sensed," Harpuia interrupted. "Don't underestimate him."
"Even if he had access to such power, there are other means of attacking him. And every warrior has a weakness. That's something the three of you should be intimately familiar with." Phantom gave each of them pointed looks. Because they each had an elemental core, their weaknesses were painfully obvious. "In spite of that, you chose to attack this Uzumaki on a battlefield where he is the most strongest," Phantom went on, referring to the fact that Fefnir chose to meet him on flat ground. And even as useless as Leviathan was, even she had the sheer dumb luck of fighting Uzumaki in an area where he wasn't as dangerous.
Phantom looked down at the report and quickly skimmed portion that discussed Uzumaki's favored fighting style. Apparently, Uzumaki was unwilling or unable to fight as well in an enclosed setting. Probably to limit collateral damage. That's where Phantom would attack.
"One month," Phantom finally said. "I will clean up your mess in a single month."
"That's hardly something to brag about, Phantom," Harpuia said in an irritated tone. "We've only had about less than half a year ourselves and we were working without any information on Naruto. Considering that you have all the information we painstakingly gathered, it'll obviously be much easier for you."
Phantom shook his head. "You misunderstand, Harpuia. I wasn't simply talking about Uzumaki."
"Then?"
"I will destroy the entire Resistance in one month," Phantom promised as he raised a fist. "The three of you have been dawdling on this problem for too long, leaving it to your pathetic subordinates who are more suited for the junkyard. I will personally show you how trash is supposed to be cleaned up."
Author's Note: Ugh. It's been a while. Yes, I'm alive. I don't know why, but this chapter was difficult to write. I tried to make it longer, but I got fed up trying to come up with new content and just cut it off there. That's why it's a bit shorter than the last few chapters. It's strange…in my outline, I was looking forward to writing this chapter, but when I actually got to the writing portion…motivation just died. The next chapter will come soon, but no promises after that.