Act 2, Chapter 15 - Showdown Against a Traitor
"Perhaps..." Misaki slyly smirks. "Yoshio Baba can enlighten us on where Silas is."
"Never heard of him." Shutaura admits.
"He's a former operative of MEMBER that once answered directly to Aleister." She explains. "Like Mitori and Xochitl, except they were sleeper agents from two different parties. Following Aleister's death, the organization has disbanded ever since. We find Baba, we find Silas."
"Yoshio Baba?" Articho questions. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah." Mental Out confirms. "From what Mitori told me about him, he's a coward. Why?"
Articho didn't say a word, and walked towards his room upstairs.
"What the-?" Shutaura questions in confusion. "Articho!"
It wasn't long before Articho had already suited up in his N7 Pathfinder armor and has retrieved his Capsule kit before walking out of his room. He walked back downstairs, passing by a confused Shutaura and Misaki as he makes his way to the front door.
"Articho, wait!" His younger half-sister calls out, but he has exited the penthouse and is about to take the elevator.
The Pathfinder presses the button on the wall, summoning the elevator to the penthouse floor. As he waits, Shutaura and Misaki have managed to catch up before losing him.
"What the hell was that about?" Misaki questions him, getting the boy to turn his head towards both girls.
"Misaki, Yoshio Baba was a former Time Patroller." Articho reveals.
"What?" She gasps in shock and disbelief.
"Is this true?" Shutaura asks. "Then why didn't you say anything about this until now?"
"He was presumed dead, Shutaura." He explains before the elevator arrives and opens up. "After having the nerve to betray my squad and leave me for dead on what was supposed to be a recon mission that ended up as a trap set by the Demon Realm's minions. What I want you to know is that he's the school bully. He hit me - a ten-year-old boy - in the mess hall, causing a blood-force contusion to the soft tissues surrounding my orbital bone. HUMILIATED ME IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE DAMN ACADEMY IN CONTON CITY, and you know what I did in response?"
"I'm assuming you took this up with the school's director because that kind of behavior is intolerable." Misaki guesses.
"No, I examined the inefficiency of a world where brawn trumped brain and I used technology to resolve that inefficiency." He continues with anger in his tone and a somewhat crazed look in his eyes. "The arrogant prick ate his meals through a straw for five straight years inside a hyperbolic time chamber! And I never lost a fight within the Time Patrol again. Until his eventual betrayal."
"Didn't know you had a squad before you did it with Kinuho, Maaya, Ame, and Hayley." Shutaura says. "And I'm guessing Arisa is the only one aware of this since she's your former boss."
"Shouldn't we do this together, though?" Misaki suggests.
"Not a chance." The Pathfinder says, hatred in his voice as he enters the elevator and presses a button before his helmet clamps shut over his entire head and face. "He's mine."
The elevator doors closed right in front of both girls' faces after what the boy just said to them.
"Ass." Misaki grumbles.
"Is it true?" Chika asks, making herself known to the two girls. "Was he really bullied?"
"Chika?" Shutaura questions. "Were you eavesdropping on us?"
"Sorry." The coral orange-haired girl sheepishly grins. "Bad habit of mine."
"As for your question, Articho had been a victim of bullying since childhood." Misaki grimly answers. "He once spoke of a particular bully back when my friendship with him was still new, but I didn't think it would be that fat slob responsible for hurting one of my friends on the second day of the last Daihasei Festival."
"That's horrible."
"It was my own damn fault." Mental Out frowns at herself. "Because of my carelessness, fear, and paranoia."
"What happened?" The former leader of Aqours further asks. "If it's too personal, then I won't bring it up again."
"Thanks for understanding." She nods.
"No problem, but..." Chika pauses for a moment. "What about Articho?"
"Following him's pointless." Shutaura shakes her head. "Last time one of us did that, it didn't go well. He'll do anything to get even with anyone who hurt him or us. Surprisingly, his emotions didn't get the better of him then I thought it would. Unlike myself, of course."
"Why didn't you tell me Yoshio was the one that almost killed Mitsuko?!" Articho demands via his Omni-tool's holographic vid comms as both Hydro Hand and Float Dial users appeared on-screen.
A downpour of rain has come to Academy City as the night sky is blanketed by dark clouds and thunder rumbling in the background. Articho is angrily lashing out on vid comms while remaining crouched on a train that's moving at its usual speed for its passengers inside. Although Kinuho and Maaya couldn't see their husband's angry face underneath the tinted visor of his helmet, they can still tell that the tone in his voice is infuriated.
"Articho, we-" The light chestnut haired girl began to say.
"Zip it!" The Pathfinder cuts her off. "If you had just told me he was still alive, I could've ended him right then and there! Or better yet, you should've killed him when you brought him to his knees!"
"You couldn't have known that!" Maaya argues.
"Oh really?" He shot back in an arrogant tone. "Have you ever considered that your actions may have destroyed what little trust the world has left with Academy City? Because the tactics Yoshio uses are the same ones from when the Parameter List got leaked. And guess what? The city would've collapsed if I didn't step in."
"H-He leaked the Parameter List?" Kinuho stutters in disbelief and horror.
"More than that." He continues. "I just learned that he's now one of Silas' inside sources. He might've been selling 'sensitive information' that already put our families in danger, given my history with the son of a bitch. And the best part? The best part is that MECH has been in league with the Neo-Sith Empire for some time. If you had just killed Yoshio at the Daihasei Festival, we wouldn't be in this mess. A mess - you both made in the last three years - that I have to clean up. AGAIN."
Both of his wives looked away in shame.
"L-Let us make it up to you." The French American heiress suggested.
"Begging? Really, Kinuho?" He scoffs. "I expected more from the second strongest being in the universe."
"Pathetic, I know." She continues. "But just let me and Maaya set things right."
"Maybe you should stay the fuck out of my way." Articho warns. "I've got unfinished business with this bastard. They were my last orders before coming to this world, and I intend to follow them through to the letter."
"Arisa KNEW about this?" Maaya questions him.
"Ask her yourself." He rolls his eyes. "I've said enough."
He ends the video call before his two wives could question him further, arriving in Academy City's declining northwestern district.
School District 19, Academy City
7:07 P.M.
Articho stands on a rooftop overlooking the district's declining skyline before using his helmet comms to contact an old friend from his childhood - and a surviving member of his Time Patrol squad - on an encrypted channel.
"Puck, it's Articho." He calls. "I'm in town and could use a little help."
"If you're asking for help, then we better do this face to face." The voice of Puck answers. "Where are you?"
"No time, so just listen." The Pathfinder says. "I'm tracking down Silas involving a case I just reopened. The only lead I have is someone who works as an inside source for him."
"Name?" His childhood friend asks.
"Our 'old pal' Yoshio Baba." He reveals.
"That traitorous coward's still alive?" Puck questions in surprise.
"I know." Articho says. "That's why I called you about it. I've tracked Yoshio's last known location here in School District 19 after cross-referencing every record of the buildings he's used so far when he used to work as one of Aleister's lapdogs."
"Any idea where exactly Yoshio is on my turf?" Puck wonders.
"I was hoping you'd know." Articho quips.
"Give me a sec to bring my machines up and running." Puck says as his childhood friend hears him using his computer hacking skills on a keyboard. "Ya know, it would help if Kazari did the hacking for us. My skills are nothing compared to hers."
"She's on Skull Island from what I heard." He briefly explains.
"How lovely." Puck sarcastically remarks. "I'm still a better hacker than Yoshio, of course. He doesn't even know that both of us are still kicking around."
"Sloppy." Articho deadpans. "He should've known leaving a Saiyan for dead would only make them stronger."
"Ditto." Puck agrees. "Okay, I think I know where he is in School District 19. Looks like he's on his way to meet someone. Sending you his location now."
"Thanks, Puck." Articho smirks. "I'll check it out."
"Anytime, brother." His childhood friend chuckles. "Give Yoshio my regards when you do see him."
"Will do." The Pathfinder says. "Pathfinder out."
Articho arrives at an abandoned warehouse, finding it to be patrolled by MECH field operatives that resemble 3E (Third Echelon) Eclipse field suits, as well as the multi-vision goggles worn over their left eye while leaving their right eye to be used to aim down their sights with their military-graded firearms. Thanks to the Omni-tool's nano machines inside his body, Articho can see the red lights coming off of the MECH Operatives' goggle lenses that makes it easier to spot them in the dark as the Pathfinder's helmet doesn't require the capability to spot and differentiate his targets wearing spy gear based on the colored lights that are invisible to the normal human eye.
'I see that they are well armed.' He pointed outs in his head. 'Good thing the nano machines can keep me hidden from their top of the line gear.'
Articho then finds a good hiding spot on the rooftop that's opposite from the abandoned warehouse's own, and crouches down to use his Omni-tool to hack into their surveillance cameras they've set up around and inside the building. Through one of the cameras, the Pathfinder notices a Lambda-class T-4a Shuttle, painted in the Neo-Sith Empire's black and red colors, parked near the warehouse. This made the boy more suspicious, so he continued searching for Yoshio through the cameras.
And then, he found him.
Yoshio Baba is approached by a 6' 0" dark-skinned man wearing an officer uniform inside the warehouse's fifth floor.
"Commodore Bericia. I'm glad you could make it." Yoshio greets. "We've got some last-minute logistic issues to discuss."
"We're 24 hours out and you want to talk paper clip requisitions?" The commodore named Avellius Bericia questions. "Here? Now?"
"The site's clean." The rogue Time Patroller says. "And I knew you'd be here, since your Inquisitor just went on a hunting season."
"One of my master's Inquisitors, yes." Bericia crosses his arms. "Which includes Fifth Sister, which I assume is what you want to talk about."
"We can talk about Fifth Sister's shortcomings later." He frowns. "I wanna talk about what I need to make this go off smoothly."
"Oh, do you now?" The commodore smirks before signalling his Stormtrooper escort to leave him and the young man alone, wanting to have a private conversation with him.
"I was impressed that he said that." Yoshio brings up, strolling around the wide room next to the older man. "What'd you think of the U.S. President's speech?"
"It was a nice piece of grandstanding." Bericia admits. "He should give his writers a raise."
"He swears he writes all his speeches himself."
"I'm sure that plays well with the folks back home. I don't like the chances."
"You don't like Dirrel."
"I don't trust Dirrel, but... if we had a better tool, I'd be using it. Which is incidentally something you should keep in mind."
"My, my. Are you actually threatening me?" Yoshio scoffs. "I thought we were both more civilized than that. This is what your people want."
"The people I represent want you to deal with the Saiyan." Bericia clarifies. "Stop wasting time. Stop wasting their money."
"If the Sith are getting cold feet-"
"Let me make this clear, Baba: the Sith planned this operation, the Sith paid for this operation, and the Sith would be very displeased if anyone were allowed to interfere with it. Especially these living robots that disguise themselves as any form of technology."
"He's not going to INTERFERE because my men and I will deal with him since 'Fifth Sister' wasn't able to."
"Like I was saying, it's interesting that you chose this city as a meeting place, of all places."
"And why would you say that?" Yoshio asks.
"The eyes of history are upon us." The commodore explains. "And we will be making history, make no mistake about that."
"I'd rather keep my part of things out of the history books, thank you." The rogue Time Patroller deadpans.
"Really?" He rhetorically questions. "Given your previous line of work before joining MECH, I thought you enjoyed the spotlight more than that."
"I do the song and dance when I have to, but the man on stage is the one with the least cover." Yoshio rolls his eyes.
"And cover's important, especially at a time like this." Bericia sarcastically remarks.
"Which would explain why you're still here." Yoshio snorts.
"Executive oversight." He shrugs. "I hate leaving things to chance - or third parties."
"You're supposed to be back on Mars." The rogue Time Patroller points out. "All hell's about to break loose. MECH will be very busy, so we can't guarantee your safety."
"I'm not asking you to."
"Are you sure? This is to protect you and the operation."
"Some things require a personal touch. Now if that's everything, we're done here. I'll see you and Silas when this is over."
"Commodore." Yoshio nodded farewell as the older man in uniform exits the room with his two Stormtroopers.
The Pathfinder had listened in and recorded the whole conversation.
"U.S. President Dirrel's playing ball with the Sith." Articho mutters. "I know that SOB's power hungry and an opportunist rather than a leader, but to this extent? And what's the planet Mars got to do with anything?"
Articho then instantly spun around and aimed his Carnifex pistol at the person who tried to sneak up on him.
"Your hearing and sensing are failing, my love." A certain lavender-haired girl with ringlets remarked.
"I recognized your footsteps, Jun." Articho points out, lowering and holstering his sidearm. "You do realize it's raining, right? Wouldn't want you to catch a cold or anything in this weather."
"Good to see you, too." Junko smirks.
"What are you even doing here?" Her husband questions. "I don't need your help."
"The Queen and Shutaura are worried about you." She explains with concern in her own voice.
"Of course." He scoffs in annoyance. "And you came dressed like that?"
"I was currently on business." She says. "But seriously, what exactly are you up to? Misaki already told me some of what's going on, but I don't exactly understand it all."
"How about you get down before you give away our position?" The Pathfinder suggests in a rude tone. "Shuttle's taking off."
"Oh, shit!" Junko quietly curses, taking cover next to her husband as the Lambda shuttle takes off into the clouds with the Neo-Sith commodore onboard.
"I'm going after Yoshio." Articho says before his lavender-haired ringlet wife grabs him by the arm.
"Articho, let me help you." Junko offers. "You can't do this on your own."
"It's too dangerous." He refuses. "I'm the only one who knows how he thinks, and I'm gonna finish what I've been ordered to do all those years ago."
"You don't think I can handle myself?" She frowns at his stubbornness.
"You weren't there, Jun." Articho says. "You weren't even born yet!"
"What are you talking about?" Junko asks, confused.
"I don't feel like discussing it." The Pathfinder answers until he sighs, knowing she'll find out sooner or later. "It was during the war against the Demon Realm. Chronoa personally sent me and a squad of rookies to infiltrate enemy lines and gather intelligence on one of Mechikabura's inner circle. We got to our rendezvous point... and some asshole ratted us out. It happened so fast, and one by one, everyone was slaughtered. Twice that Puck and I were left for dead. I keep fighting... and fighting... and fighting. And instead of seeing an end to this same old shit, it keeps getting worse. Is this what my life's supposed to be? Trap in an endless cycle of pain and suffering until there's nothing left for me to live for anymore? What's the point of it all?"
Junko had no words on what to describe.
"Look." He began, placing a hand on her cheek. "This is something I need to do alone. Please."
"I understand." She sighs in defeat. "Be careful."
"Hey, what can I say?" He shrugs with a cheeky grin underneath his visored helmet.
"You know, if it was any other night… I would totally have sex with you right now." Junko snorts.
"Too busy for that." He shakes his head. "Maybe next time."
"Then go get 'em, Tiger."
"I'm not Spider-Man, Jun." He deadpans.
"I know." She rolls her eyes while seeing her husband jump off of the rooftop they're on. "Always a killjoy."
"Sir, Silas has contacted us." A MECH field operative walks up to his superior. "He's ordering us to meet up with him and his raid team ASAP. They need your expertise in getting past a high-level security protocol we're not familiar with."
"Then let's make our way back to the private hangar in School District 23." Yoshio orders as they walk outside the warehouse and into the rainstorm. "And contact our pilot. Tell him to get our bird prepped and ready by the time we arrive."
"Understood." The operative nods before contacting their MECH pilot on his comm. "Pilot, this is Ghost-3. How do you copy, over?"
No answer, confusing the operative. Maybe he's asleep or taking a shit in the can.
"Pilot, this is Ghost-3. Do you copy?" He repeats, getting the lean boy's attention.
"Something wrong?" The rogue Time Patroller asks in a suspicious tone.
"Pilot's not answering his comm." He reports. "Either he's fallen asleep again or that his cover's blown."
"Or maybe our comms are being jammed." Yoshio theorizes.
Deciding to test this theory, the field operative uses his multi-vision goggles to check around the perimeter and through the warehouse walls. All of the other men are accounted for, but it's too quiet. If one of them hasn't been taken out already, then why are their comms still jammed? Something's off.
Suddenly, Yoshio and his MECH operatives hear an unnatural shrieking sound. Almost like the cry of a mythical banshee. Yoshio turns his head in the direction towards the source that's coming from a dark corner. A fiery color lights up the darkness, revealing that the sound came from what appears to be a jet turbine engine running a cross between a muscle and a sports car as Yoshio (and MECH) hears the sound of a muscle car engine revving with the banshee sound overlapping it.
This is Metaloid, an old Silencerz car from Earth-35 that Articho had retrofitted to his own liking. Its exterior paint job is navy blue with red accents, much like the boy's N7 Pathfinder armor but in a different color pattern. The cockpit glass windshield and side windows are one-way. Tinted a dark red color on the exterior, but kept normal on the interior. The color of the 20-inch front tires and 22-inch rear tires are traditionally black instead of being its usual Silencerz purple. Meanwhile, the car only has two seats in the cockpit: driver on the left side and a passenger on the right side. Its underbelly purple neon lights have also been removed, making Metaloid stick out less and blend with its darker colors.
From the rooftops, Junko could see the updated appearance of her husband's car - or one of them at least - and the modified sound of its jet engine that replaced the old electric one. Seems obvious that this must've been one of his secret projects he's been working on alone in his free time, but she couldn't help herself that it's a badass car. More so than ever before.
"Sweet." Junko jaw drops. "I can definitely imagine our future date."
As for Yoshio, the rogue Time Patroller himself started to get nervous as Metaloid continues to rev its engine as the banshee sound from two small jet exhausts from the bottom rear continues to get louder. Then the car moves a few inches forward before stalling on purpose, as it was a signal to tell the traitor to start running.
(Highway to the Anger Zone - The Batman (2022) OST plays)
[Starts at 1:04]
And now, it is a game of cat and mouse. Because Yoshio flinched and started to sprint towards his car, confusing the MECH operatives who had their assault rifles trained on the Pathfinder's car. In the driver's seat, the rogue Time Patroller starts up his engine before shifting the gear stick and stepping on the gas pedal, speeding away from the warehouse. Metaloid's twin small jet exhausts then spewed out flames and accelerated out of the corner it was hiding in, chasing after the runaway car of the Pathfinder's target.
"Get to your vehicles!" Ghost-3 orders. "Blow that bastard off the streets!"
Before the MECH field operatives could do anything, they heard constant beeping coming from everywhere. They finally noticed many explosives planted on the underbelly of their vehicles and some fuel tanks. It was already too late for them to react and the bombs detonated into a large explosion that brought down the entire warehouse and its perimeter simultaneously, killing all of Yoshio's men as a result while leaving a large trail of smoke and flames in the rainstorm.
'Smart of him in arming and detonating those plastic explosives.' Junko admittedly thought. 'Without any men to back his target up, he won't be able to slip away from my husband. And make no mistake, very few have fought and survived an encounter with Articho. He always gets his prey in the end.'
The rouge Time Patroller continues to drive away from his pursuer. However, the Pathfinder is still on his tail. Yoshio makes a sharp turn through before looking at his rearview mirror on the left side of his car and sees his pursuer driving down the road he was on. He then focused his eyes on the current road and snorted, confident that he lost him.
Meanwhile, Metaloid was taking a shortcut in order to get close to the rogue Time Patroller's runway car since the former car's driver gave Yoshio a headstart. Articho makes a sharp left turn and shifts into fourth gear before accelerating down the one-way road that's blocked off. Metaloid, however, has superior durability thanks to its new exterior hull as it crashes through the obstacle in its way and the Pathfinder's prey was back in his sights.
"Whoa!" Yoshio exclaims, seeing Metaloid's reappearance on his rearview mirror again before daring his pursuer to make a move on him already. "Come on! Come on!"
Metaloid starts ramming into the runaway car's rear, shaking Yoshio in his driver seat.
"This guy's crazy!" He laughs, earning another bump from the Pathfinder's car. "Come on! Hey!"
The Saiyan smirks beneath his helmet. He was enjoying watching his former school bully - and still is one in his eyes - squirm in fear. Both cars then drove through underneath an overpass and down a straight road, where the Pathfinder moves to the right side beside the traitor's car - as opposed to the left since Japanese drive on the road differently from those in the US. Yoshio thought it was a good idea to shoot at his pursuer with an Uzi submachine gun he had stashed away in his car, raining bullets at him. However, Metaloid's side windows and windshield are bullet and shatterproof as the bullets didn't leave behind any cracks upon impact.
Suddenly, both drivers turned their eyes back on the street as a semi-truck was coming down towards them. More specifically, towards Articho since he's on the wrong side of the pavement. Articho then steered his car out of the way, while Yoshio took this opportunity to drift up a curved road onto the freeway - where other vehicles are getting off from and that it's still the wrong side for anyone to drive on. The Pathfinder brakes and drifts left, following his prey onto the freeway as the other vehicles coming off of it either crashed into each other or had to move out of the way.
On the freeway, Yoshio weaved and dodged more cars and trucks coming at him and steers left - knocking down a few traffic cones along the way - in order to get back on the correct side of the road. However, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't shake off the Pathfinder as the latter gets back on the correct side of the road - still hot on his tail. Could this be the Saiyan that Silas and the Sith were talking about? He had some experience in working with them back in the day as a Time Patroller, but this one's different. His pursuer is obviously powerful, but unlike the two female Espers that turned out to be Saiyans - one with hydro-kinesis and one with buoyancy manipulation - he encountered at the Daihasei Festival three years ago, the Saiyan chasing him on the freeway is unpredictable.
And for some reason, almost familiar.
Just as he was about to get very far, Yoshio runs into an SUV that's blocking his way.
"Get outta the way!" He yells, honking his horn.
Not wanting to be stuck in between, he bumps the car blocking his way that sends it spinning out of control before moving up front on the freeway in which the traffic gets more and more busy. Unfortunately, there were too many as the vehicles in front of him were crowded. Yoshio turns his head from behind to see Metaloid getting even closer.
Desperate to get away, he yells and hits the brakes for another semi-truck from the rear to brake before losing control on the wet road, and topples over. This caused the other semis to spun out and crash into each other, which caught Articho by surprise and became angered at the fact that his target is still the same 'cowardly bastard' that has no regard towards anyone. Mostly innocents that are sometimes caught in the crossfire.
The Pathfinder brakes to avoid crashing into the incoming collisions, but was bumped in the rear of his car from behind, forcing him to step on the gas and get the hell outta there before Yoshio gets away.
"Rrrrgh!" The Pathfinder grits his teeth, pissed and done playing these games with the traitor.
He shifts into eighth gear, activating the afterburner through the twin jet exhausts from the rear that gives Metaloid a speed boost and blitzes toward a makeshift ramp that just so happens to be conveniently there.
A semi-truck carrying a fuel tank toppled on its side, causing the tank to rupture and explode.
"Hahaha! I got you!" Yoshio gloats and laughs as more trucks explode from behind. "I got you! Take that, you fucking psycho! I got you!~"
He spoke too soon as Metaloid emerges from the flames after jumping off a ramp, causing the rogue Time Patroller to stop laughing and turn his head in utter shock. The Pathfinder's car lands on the wet pavement and then slams into Yoshio's car, sending it flying and spinning in the air. Articho brakes and steered left to come to a full stop in style, and sees Yoshio's car come crashing down hard that ended up as a huge wreck. Unlucky for Yoshio, he didn't have his seatbelt on and sustained heavy injury as a result of the crash.
(Track Ends)
As the rogue Time Patroller was trying to stay conscious, the car door on his side is ripped off by the Pathfinder due to his Saiyan strength he's holding back. The Pathfinder then grabs the traitor before violently pulling him out of the wreckage and simultaneously throws him on the wet surface of the freeway.
"Nobody's coming to save you this time, Yoshio." Articho spoke in a cold tone. "Now tell me: What THE HELL is Silas up to?"
"Fuck you." Yoshio spat.
"Wrong answer." Articho says, towering over the injured young man lying on the wet road before proceeding to violently kick him multiple times, causing Yoshio to cry out in more pain than he already has from the injuries he earned from the car crash.
As the Pathfinder continues to interrogate the injured traitor, a cab arrives on the other side of the freeway that's going in the opposite direction. Chika, Dia, Kanan, and Yō all got out of the vehicle after telling the driver to wait for them, and notice Articho in the distance.
"Articho?" Chika calls out in the rain, but fails to reach him as the boy is busy in the middle of interrogation.
"By my count, there are still nine more ribs I can break." Articho says before kicking him again and then crouches over to punch him in the side, breaking another of the rogue Time Patroller's ribs in the process.
"AHHHHHH!!!!" Yoshio screamed in pain, coughing out some blood within his mouth. "Shit! If you think that's gonna make me talk, too bad."
"Give me a little credit, Yoshio." Articho deadpans. "Don't tell me you don't recognize me after all these years."
"I don't even know who the hell you are, asshole." The rogue Time Patroller snorts.
"Do you remember when we first met?" The Pathfinder asks, clenching his right hand into a fist. "Let me see. You always talked a big game about how superior you are compared to everyone in the Time Patrol. And then you sold my squad out to the Demon Realm, leaving me and Puck for dead. Ironic that our positions are now reversed."
"Puck?" The rogue Time Patroller raised his eyebrow.
"Puck?" The rogue Time Patroller raised his eyebrow. "How do you know so much about my former allegiance? But if that chubby's still alive, then..."
Articho's helmet completely opens apart, revealing his face to Yoshio with lightning flashing and thunder booming loud.
"I told you that you'll regret fucking me, dipshit." Articho said in a spiteful tone.
"No, that's not possible!" Yoshio shakes his head in shock and disbelief. "I killed you!"
"Too bad for you." The Pathfinder shot back, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "Though, I can't say the same for the rest of our team that you killed. What'd you think would happen when you decided to betray the Supreme Kai of Time? Betray me? We could've been friends, but you're damn ego wouldn't allow it. Now I'm asking you again: What is Silas up to?"
"As if I'd tell you." The rogue Time Patroller says before attempting to spit at him.
Articho easily dodges the spit by casually tilting his head to the side, and then sucker punches the traitor in the face before dropping him on the ground. He then pulls up his Omni-tool and an orange hologram of Yoshio's heart appears.
"I can control your pacemaker remotely." The Pathfinder begins to threaten, his patience being tested. "You wanna see what 250 beats per minute feels like?"
Meanwhile, Chika, Kanan, and Dia perked up when Articho said that to the boy being interrogated. When Articho said that he keeps his promises, they didn't expect him to be this extreme with it.
'This monkey's accessed my medical records?!' Yoshio thought as his eyes widened in fear. 'It's supposed to be heavily encrypted!'
"You'll be suffering more heart complications if you don't tell me what Silas is planning!" Articho adds. "NOW!"
"OK, OK!" Yoshio raised his hands up. "Silas is employed with the Sith!"
"Why?" Articho further questions. "How do they fit in all of this?"
"You think I know?"
"Do you have any idea how many of your MECH buddies I offed in Bermuda?"
"T-That was you?!"
"Answer the damn question!"
"The Sith usually hire Silas to pull off numerous jobs for them on Earth!" He confesses. "They've been operating from behind the scenes since the 90s. It's how they've slowly infiltrated the U.S. under everyone's noses. But Aleister was the only one standing in their way, and he had them stuck in a stalemate for some time until he was assassinated under mysterious circumstances."
"What of Dirrel?"
"He's their puppet they can use to gain control of America's government and its military forces." He continues. "And with everything that's happened in Ginza, the President and his administration are going to propose a joint-op between the U.S. Army and the JSDF a few weeks from now. When that happens, they'll cross through the Gate's other side. The Sith are gonna use the joint-op as cover to reach the planet they've been searching for in the Kvi Cluster for centuries."
"And where's Silas?" The Pathfinder asks further. "Does he know what the Sith are looking for on the other side?"
"Ask him yourself." The rogue Time Patroller says. "The boys and I were supposed to meet up with him on Skull Island."
"You can meet up in hell instead." Articho savagely remarks before pulling out his modified Carnifex heavy pistol and shoots him in the head with a loud bang echoing in the air, ending the traitor's pathetic and cowardly life as his corpse has a large hole going through his head - now bleeding in a pool of his own blood.
Then the young Saiyan heard a loud gasped coming from the other side of the street. He turns his head with his lowered sidearm and sees Chika, Kanan, and Dia witnessing the whole interrogation.
"Damn." Dia utters.
"Have you been following me this whole time?" Articho questions.
"Misaki and Shutaura were worried about you." She said.
"Seriously, this is the second time I've been told that today." He rolls his eyes in annoyance, as he then crouches beside Yoshio's corpse and searches through his pockets for his smartphone.
Then, he tosses the phone to Dia who catches it with both hands before proceeding to fire a ki wave with his left hand that engulfs the dead body, vaporizing it into atoms.
"What was that for?" Kanan asks.
"To dispose of a loose end." The boy answers. "Just following the Time Patrol's asset denial protocol Arisa implemented when she was originally Chronoa. Can't put my family at risk."
"You didn't need to kill him." Chika frowns.
"Yoshio got what he deserved." Articho scoffs. "And he was a pain in the ass to deal with anyway. With luck, the Spirit World will judge him before cleansing his soul, having his memory erased, and then reincarnated as a new lifeform. Hopefully as someone good this time."
"You've been to the afterlife?!" The three girls exclaimed in shock for the umpteenth time.
"When I was alive and dead, yes." He admits. "Was killed twice, but yes."
Chika, Kanan, and Dia had no words to say anything about their friend. However, this wasn't the time to ask him about it.
"Take that phone back home, and have Doppelganger decrypt and analyze its data." Articho orders before walking away, having already turned Metaloid back into a Capsule earlier.
"Where are you going?" Chika asks.
Articho didn't answer as he tapped a few buttons on his Omni-tool without looking back and stopping himself to explain himself.
Just then, the sound of a jet engine got louder as a stealth fighter - in matching colors of the Pathfinder's armor similar to his car Metaloid - approached and hovered in the air. It resembled an aircraft used by a certain Dark Knight from his early years in a prequel of one of the most popular video game franchises ever to exist. Articho aims his pistol upward and fires a grapple claw that was implemented in his sidearm before the line pulls him upward as the bottom of the cockpit upfront of the stealth fighter opens up and lowers a motorcycle-shaped seat for him to get on. The seat then hoists itself back inside the cockpit and the underbelly closes. Now inside, three orange holographic screens appear in front of him and he grabs ahold of the motorcycle-esque control handles before his visored helmet clamps shut over his whole head.
The stealth fighter's wings and tail fins folded back into flight mode and then flew away at high speeds, leaving Chika, Kanan, and Dia at the freeway.
"Ya know, I'm getting really tired of him up and leaving us." Chika grumbles in annoyance. "And he didn't tell us where he's going."
"Didn't that Yoshio guy say that something big was happening on Skull Island?" Kanan recalls.
"Yeah, before Articho offed him." Dia sighs, looking at the smartphone in her hand. "If he was this extreme in keeping his promises, maybe his sister could give us better insight on why he's always being an ass. But let's get out of here before Anti-Skill shows up."
"Wait, isn't Skull Island in a different time zone?" The coral orange haired leader of Aqours questions in confusion. "How's he gonna get there? Aircrafts aren't fast enough to get to their destinations in record time."
"Academy City is widely known for building its hypersonic jets, Miss Takami." Doppelganger explains, surprising the trio at her sudden vocal presence. "Most notably, Kongou Airlines."
"Doppelganger, have you been eavesdropping on us?" Kanan questions.
"Nothing as etiquette as that." The AI answers. "However, Miss Kurosawa is correct. It is wise to return to Miss Meigo's residence without getting the authorities involved. I've delayed their arrival, but not for long."
"You're really good." Chika compliments with an awed expression.
"It is part of my programming." Doppelganger admits. "I am technically a clone of Doctor Kuriba after all."
"Almost forgot about that." Chika sheepishly grins.
(Batwing Storm Damage - Batman: Arkham Origins OST plays)
"You're almost to Skull Island." Ryouko says over on the comms. "I hope Silas can tell you what he knows about the Sith's return and what exactly they're looking for on Tellus that they're trying to reach."
It has been approximately half an hour since Articho left Academy City and Japan as a whole in his stealth fighter flying across the vast salt waters of the Pacific Ocean. During those thirty minutes, he got Ryouko up to speed on the situation and that whatever MECH is stealing for the Neo-Sith Empire can't be good.
"Comms are still jammed over there." Articho says. "I won't be able to contact you again once I'm onshore."
"Do what you have to do." His black and white short-haired wife agrees. "Until then, I'll continue my investigation regarding the Elder Scrolls."
"I'm getting interference on the comms." Articho informs as the signal starts breaking up. "Over and out."
Articho engaged auto-pilot, and ejects from his stealth fighter before dive-bombing through the storm clouds.
(Track Ends)