The onset of night was filled with cheers. The city's lights made everything seem sunny and bright, roars of celebration and approval rising from the crowds on the street. Decorations were scattered everywhere one looked, gaudy designs and colours littering the buildings and roads. Music echoed throughout the city while assorted sizes and shapes of balloons floated in the air, some unsecured ones occasionally getting the slip on whatever, or whomever, had held them to the ground.

Despite this, Pandora was in the depths of despair. If anything, it just made things worse, her misery compounded by the fact that the world simply didn't seem to care.

Legion had hushed up the attack as best as they could. No one had been seriously hurt in the incident, which had helped things along greatly. As far as the world in general was concerned, the attack had been botched, the Mega Men having seen them off easily. Even the guests were convinced of this, no doubt preaching to anyone in their vicinity how they'd survived the event relatively unscathed. But of course, none of them knew the truth; that someone had, in fact, disappeared during the attack. The Masters had made sure of that, not even the unending trickery of the eager media revealing this fact to the world.

But then, even the Masters didn't know exactly who they had just let slip from their grasp.

Perhaps that was why, miraculously, they had accepted her request to be let into his former room. Or maybe because they'd felt pity for her, having just had someone she cared for deeply turn on her so violently. Pandora unconsciously touched her bruised face at the memory, sobs threatening to break through her passive demeanor once again. But no, she couldn't do that. She'd already done that. Instead she steeled herself, breathed in sharply, and opened the former chambers of the God of Destruction.

There was nothing immediately noticeable about it. Not even a speck of dust was out of place in the bland room. The sheets were a little wrinkled, but that was to be expected. Overall, however, there was nothing in the place that so much as hinted about the character of the man who had previously resided in it. Nothing, except the glimmer of a small, inconsequential item tucked underneath the bed as if forgotten in its owner's rush to leave the place for good.

She walked forward, picking it up, and barely muffled a shriek of despair when she realized what it was.

The small, violet coloured stone, its translucent surface carved into a smooth symbol of ill fortune, hung innocently from the carelessly knotted red string she had given him shortly after the virus incident. Pandora stared at it, her face blank, until suddenly her hand was balled into a fist and determination raged across her features.

She had no idea why he'd kept the string. Out of convenience? Something else? Nor did she have any idea where the symbol had been obtained. She simply took it and hung it around her own neck, hiding it beneath her clothes where it dropped down to dangle in front of her heart. She placed her hand over it for a moment, breathing silently, then turned and left the room.

That was it. This was a turning point. She may be a shy, timid, and quiet person, but never again would anyone see her as delicate. Never again would someone look her in the eyes and dare to think that she was weak. It was time to correct her mistake.

Finding her brother was easy. He was in their room, quiet as a grave in the dead of the night. He looked up when she entered, surprise and concern on his face. "Sis, you okay? What..."

"I have a confession to make," she stated.

Prometheus, whether taken aback by her stern tone or the lack of sorrow on her face, simply sat with all of his attention focused on her.

"Brother, I can't let my feelings cloud my judgment any more. I have to wake up and face the facts. Remember when we went on that mission with Seraph?"

He nodded slowly, unsure of how to respond. However, Pandora prevented him from needing to. "Good. That makes things a bit easier," she replied, sitting down beside him. "Well, that's where I have to start. Remember how we were fighting the Omega guy? How it was just a program, how Seraph said it was probably just a defense protocol? And yet, how he seemed to act like the real Omega had been no better than it, like he was a mindless monster bent on utter destruction? It... it reminded me of what people used to think of us. so... when I found out who he was, who he really was, I couldn't help but... I mean, I don't know what I was thinking, but...!"

"Who who was? Who are you talking about?" Prometheus asked, unsettled.

Pandora moved her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to come up with just the right words. For a minute she did nothing but gaze into space. Then, she took out the necklace, showing it to her brother.

"I found this in his room."

Prometheus stared at the object in his palm, cold realization creeping up his spine.

"Sis-!"

"I recognized him later that day. I recognized him from the fight... I just... He, I mean, he was just... I don't know what I was thinking, keeping this a secret! Brother, I'm so sorry! I-!"

"Stop it." Prometheus said, his calm, strong voice cutting through her speech. "I get it sis, don't worry. I understand."

"Brother..."

"What you thought, what you realized, was that he wasn't a mindless monstrosity like what Seraph had told us he was. That he had his own thoughts, and motivations, and desires and fears, that he could remember what he did and what was done and that he was scared to death of doctors. Doctors, for crying out loud! That he... that he was a lot like us. Only, I guess, maybe not. Because he wasn't ready to let go of the evil in his heart."

"Yes. That's it. That's exactly it. I'm... I'm sorry I kept it from you, though."

Prometheus looked down at the floor, contemplative, "No worries. I don't think you did anything wrong, sis. In fact, you did the right thing. It just it didn't work out. You just wanted to help him. Sis, you have such a big heart."

"And that big heart landed us in this situation," she finished firmly. The pair looked at each other.

"Do you think we should tell someone? Tell Seraph?"

"No. Not if we can't help it. This is my mistake, and I want to fix it. We shouldn't have to rely on the dead, those from cyberspace, to fix the problems of those who are still living. They can deal with the Netherworld, but I want to deal with Omega."

Prometheus smiled, very faintly, but it was there all the same. "Well said, sis."

The two lapsed into silence, comfortable enough, but still heavy with foreboding. The pair, always faced with insurmountable odds, would always be together. It was up to them to plan and scheme the demise of a god... but how were they to know how things would end up?

x-x-x-x-x

Omega sat in his new room after a long evening of introduction, back-patting and celebrations. Raiders liked to party it seemed, and very enthusiastically at that. New recruits and old veterans alike had all crowded around him, welcoming him with friendly gestures, alcoholic toasts and copious cheers. He'd found himself rather astounded at their enthusiasm. The kitsuroids themselves hadn't stopped dancing around for the whole event! Was this how every new raider was welcomed onto the ship? He had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't. But all of that had eventually passed. Now it was late night, or very early morning if you were picky. He didn't have a window any more, but he could tell by the extremely dim hall lighting that it was completely black outside. Perhaps a few stars were visible for all he knew. Only the sounds of the ship's engine humming softly, or the occasional clank of a skeleton crew's boots on the metal floor, resounded through the body of the ship. All was quiet.

Omega was awake, not because he was nervous or worried about his new position in life, but because he was still simply getting used to it all. Everything looked different, sounded different, even smelled different. The raider group, called Dark Prophecy from what he'd heard earlier, had none of the laid-back, overconfident and peaceful demeanor that had characterized Legion. No, it was a militaristic group of people, tightly disciplined. Something that metaphorically stroked his fur just the right way. Even so, it would bring about a new pace to his life, and after being lazy as all hell in Legion, it would take a bit of getting used to. Scratching his head idly, he clambered off of his plain yet comfortable bed, looking around his accommodations. It was a bit smaller, yet no less useful than his Legion one had been. The door to his personal, stainless steel bathroom was next to a dresser filled with multiple copies of the Dark Prophecy uniform, which would be his staple attire for the next little while. Then the bed, of course. Wool, perhaps, judginf by its thin, coarse, but warm texture. Not that he was any expert. Overall a gray theme pervaded the room, bland but functional. He might spruce things up a bit eventually, but for now he was happy enough with things as they were. If necessary he could always request anything he needed; Scimitar had made absolutely sure that he knew that!

Still, Omega was mildly restless after his earlier excitement. He sat on his bed again, pondering various things. In a small fit of random musing, he decided to do a quick system check of himself, running a mental scan out of curiosity. Or rather, having Viral do it for him.

He was mildly surprised to have something of importance come up. Nothing life threatening, or even mildly dangerous, but intriguing nonetheless. However, he was interrupted from his thoughts by the sounds of someone softly walking outside of his door. The Devil Reploid listened curiously, thinking nothing of the action at first. Probably someone just going to their quarters for the night while trying to not disturb anyone already asleep. For some reason, however, the noises died down in front of his door. A few seconds later, a gentle tapping came from his door.

Curious, and slightly wary, Omega got up and opened it.

Iggy, the iguana pseudoroid, was waiting for him on the other side. Her striped body was tense but still, twitching ever so slightly as if wanting nothing more to run, but too afraid to move. She was constantly looking side to side suspiciously, her voice low and hurried, "Hey. Can I come in?"

"Sure," replied the Red Demon, concern over the situation immediately arising in his mind.

Far more quietly than should have been possibly, Iggy entered the room, her claws barely even clicking against the floor. As Omega closed the door she finally let out a sigh of relief, hushed as it was. She turned to him, "If anyone asks, I was here to congratulate you personally on joining the crew, okay?"

"All right..." Omega growled, not liking the conspiratorial tone she was using, He made this displeasure clear with his body language, his arms crossed and his muscles tense.

This didn't go unnoticed by the iguana, "Look, I know I'm probably coming off really suspicious here, but I'm gonna just say what I have to say. You saved my life, and I doubt I'll ever be able to fully repay you. But I'm at least going to try. Several times if I can help it. So I'm gonna tell you something. They've got things planned, these raiders. They've made me help them a few times, too. I can't tell you everything because I'm not sure about it myself, but... I've seen enough to know that there's something else going on around here, something I don't like."

Omega frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

Iggy stared at him. He stared right back, and realized with a start that the look in her eye was of the utmost severity and honesty, "I wish I knew. I really do. But there's one thing I do know, and I'm going to tell you it right now. Trust no one. Not even me."

And with that she took her bow, leaving as stealthily as she'd come. Omega, thoroughly disquieted, softly closed the door after she left, locked the door after a second thought, and sat on his bed.

"This is not very good news to have arrive in the middle of the night, is it master?" Viral chimed up solemnly.

"No. It is not," Omega returned, his voice low in volume.

"Well, that news aside, I do have to congratulate you for something else. Not for what you've accomplished today, mind," chimed the program, "I can't really call it a birthday since you technically were never born, but... well, it's the anniversary of when you were made. So, happy anniversary to you, master! Hee hee!"

"Yeah," Omega spoke aloud, his mind in turmoil and his speech carrying a disturbed undertone.

"Happy anniversary to me."