"Oh no! It looks like Stratos broke out of his holding! Naomi, can you and GV handle this one? I'll fill you in on what I can from here." Moniqa spoke.
"No prob, but he'll have ta tell Joule he'll be late." Naomi confirmed.
"Lumen can do it." Gunvolt assured.
When they entered the facility, the 2 heard a peculiar buzzing sound.
"Please tell me that's your Azure Striker or Zeno talking. Because we can't afford something to be wrong with our coms and I'm not using my Azure Striker for anything." Naomi begged.
"I'm not using my Azure Striker either." Gunvolt stated.
Just then, the two noticed the eerie buzzing sound getting closer. When the duo turned around, they saw a battalion of black flies speeding towards them.
"What kind of flies are those? I haven't seen those." Gunvolt supposed.
"I don't know an I don't wanna find out. Here they come! Run like heck!" Naomi screeched as her and Gunvolt dashed through the Pharma Lab.
Suddenly, Naomi got an incoming call from Copen so she put her headset over her com and answered it.
"What are you doing? It's a little early for you to be up." Copen questioned.
"Um, Naomi, I just found out those flies behind you and GV. Well, they're flesh eating." Moniqa elucidated.
Naomi and Gunvolt both shared that same 'couldn't she have told us this earlier?' look.
"I'm doing my daily three AM jog with flesh eating flies behind me and Gunvolt next to me for extra encouragement. What about you?" Naomi retorted.
"What are you doing with flesh eating flies? let alone both you AND Gunvolt getting chased by them?" Copen interrogated.
"Doing a run through the Pharma La- sweet botany bloodshed! What the heck is that!?" Naomi shouted.
Gunvolt and Naomi locked their eyes onto a closed pink flower bud with spikes on the petals and wires for roots.
Suddenly, pink bugs exploded from the flower as it burst open.
"Looks like they seriously need ta call pest control." Naomi remarked as her and Gunvolt squished the bugs under their boots.
"They'd most likely call the exterminator on us." Gunvolt commented.
"Good point, let's not do that." Naomi remembered.
"There's a plant further in you have destroy. The main ingredient in the SEED drug comes from the Eidolon plant." Moniqa informed.
"How will we know what it looks like? GV an I just came across a l'il pink piranha lookin' one." Naomi queried.
"Trust me, you'll know it when you see it." Moniqa muttered.
"Let's keep going, we'll let you know when we see it." Gunvolt notified.
"Ugh, this is gonna drive me crazy! Ain't there some other way we can go 'bout doin' this? An easier way perhaps? I'm in the mood for some easy know, this would be the perfect time ta try out ma Obliterator Septima." Naomi smirked as she thought of every Sumeragi soldier being eliminated and the rest of the plants along with the mechs.
"Since I don't know what that Eidolong flower or Stratos looks like I can't take them out." Naomi informed.
Gunvolt was shocked as he and Naomi covered more of the facility, that the only enemies they had to destroy were the flying drones since they were new. Otherwise, the Sumeragi soldiers, other mechs and plants were cleaved clean in half with a vertical line.
"Moniqa, did Zeno do recon and take out any enemies?" Gunvolt questioined.
"No, but you're answer to why the enemies were taken out is to the left of you." Moniqa responded.
Gunvolt looked to his left and all he saw was Naomi.
"Be careful you two! I'm seeing a new enemy around the corner. It appears they have a flamethrower." Moniqa warned.
"Aight, it ain't a prob for me though. Or a match for my Hydro Pressure!" Naomi smirked.
She looked around the corner, threw a ball of water from said Septima, managed to make the water squirm under the soldiers helmet and drown him.
"Thta's definitely not how I was expecting you to use that." Gunvolt commented.
"Come on, aw fudge it's the flies again!" Naomi added.
The two began running until they reached an air lock door. Gunvolt opened it with his Azure Striker.
"Yeesh! Talk 'bout ug-ly!" Naomi spoke.
"You have to make it explode." Moniqa informed.
"Hol' up, make it explode!? What is iths!? I heard a plants that spontaneously combust, seed pods that burst open at the slightest provication, venus fly traps, but that, THAT is where I draw the line." Naomi ranted as she pointed to the botanical beast.
The two were thrown off by the sound of the air lock door shutting.
"An I hate those things too." Naomi muttered.
So, Naomi and Gunvolt did what they could to destroy the plant. Gunvolt tagged and flashed the bugs that came from the plant so Naomi could work undisturbed. She froze the water the plant was recieving after burning the plant so it could no longer photosynthesize.
"It's done Moniqa, the pestilent plant is no more." Naomi confirmed.
Everything was going smooth until they were near the exit to the Pharma Lab. Naomi and Gunvolt heard maniacal laughter.
"Ya can't say that was me 'cause I haven't transformed. Nor am I havin' an attack or thought somethin' sketchy." Naomi informed.
'Oh no, not him again." Gunvolt sighed.
"Huh? Not him again? How do ya know who it is?" Naomi interrogated.
"It's Stratos, he must've escaped his holding cell when we took out all the soldiers and mechs." Gunvolt answered.
The two turned around when they heard laughing behind them. They were startled to see a teenager with shoulder length, messy green hair, red eyes, and extremely pale skin. He was wearing a tattered white shirt, a black Sumeragi executive jacket tied around his waist, black trousers, and brown boots. His forearms and palms were also heavily wrapped in bandages.
"I haven't eatin in so long." Stratos mumbled.
"No kiddin', looks like you'd be diaggnosed with a sever case of malnutrition." Naomi remarked.
"Maybe, maybe this can sate my hunger." Stratos muttered before transforming.
His body suddenly appeared to be made of bright yellow flames, possibly plasma. He was wearing black and white armour on his hands, chest, feet, thighs and groin. His hands were overly large with three digits and a thumb on both. Above him floated a black and grey shell comprised of three parts that vaguely resembled an insect head, with the two parts on the side each having one massive yellow "eye".