Like a light switch being turned on, the sky had changed to a miserable dark purple. Any clouds, stars, or planes, heck, anything that wasn't within the borders of the bus's next stop had utterly disappeared from the skyline. As far as the residents of Kodama were concerned, this no man's land, and the most logical thing for anyone to do should they step foot on these grounds was to get the hell out of here.

Hyōki however, was not logical; she was a Shinobi.

{We have arrived at Subaru Street.} The automated voice on the intercom announced. {This is the end of the line, and this bus will soon be turning back. Anyone who hasn't departed from the vehicle in the next 30 seconds will be barred from leaving for the safety of the non residents. Nebula does not condone the acts perpetrated by those in the Mystery District, and will guide all non residents-} Hyōki got off and took a second to glance at the shaking, sweating driver. She had to hand it to the man, he was certainly handling himself better than the last guy. She quickly got off the bus and stepped onto the grassy sidewalk, and the second she did, the driver took it as his cue to leave.

The bus screeched and hightailed it out of here, leaving her alone in her home for the past 2 years: Subaru Street, AKA no man's land. To the normal person, or someone who didn't grow up in Kodama and watch the city fall into disrepair over the decades, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary; it was just your typical poor part of town. Thick weeds grew out of the sidewalk, many of the buildings were uninhabited, and there was this air of unease that surrounded you as you walked around, as if something was horribly, undeniably wrong.

And once the average person realized that, it was game over for them.

Weak as she was however, Hyōki wasn't blessed with the ignorance that the average person possessed. For those who trained themselves to be beyond that of a normal human, their eyes were always open to the inhuman and supernatural, no matter how injured or weak they were, thus she bore the full front of the reality this facade hid from human eyes. For example, this street looked run down and overgrown. Hyoki 's eyes told her that she was standing to the right of an emptied out barbershop, a remnant of this town's old Americanized theming. What her enhanced senses were showing her however, was the population, the actual citizens of this forbidden section of Kodama, that a normal person would never see until they became one of them.

Like the little boy next to her feet. She remembered seeing this kid down at the docks during one of her food runs one Friday afternoon. His friends dared him to try some Dark Chakra, and luckily for everyone involved, his parents were there to stop it before things got worse. Guess this explains why they were putting up missing posters for him last week. She winced and shook her head before continuing on her way. Complete and utter ruination, that was the best way to describe the corpse of that 12 year old kid. She was amazed she even recognized the body with how much was growing out of it.

Bums, druggies, and Nebula Agents hiding in their midst lined the roads and streets haphazardly, and in their grips or dripping from their mouths was the new sensation sweeping the nation. A malignant, purple energy emanated from every wastoid like smoke from a fire, filling the already malevolent skies with even more inhumanly evil energy. Funny thing is that originally, this place was supposed to be a neutral zone for Zennin and Akunin, and in a way, it was doing it's job. After all, you can't fight if you're too blitzed on Dark Chakra. She could see six Shinobi out in public right across the street, right in their combat forms eating at a dilapidated restaurant overgrowing with leaves, getting their food straight from the tap, literally. As in they were swallowing it up from a rusty pipe glowing with a purple light that was dangling from the roof, all the while thinking they were eating at a high class restaurant.

She knew from experience that Nebula's strange fluid was 100% oxygenated, and that's how those three Zennin and three Akunin were talking despite the fact that they were almost drowning in the purple sludge. Their bodies were just exploding with that same malevolent, alien energy that permeated Kodama, and as she got closer to them, hoping to see if they had enough money for her to swipe, she could hear them in their own little world. Despite the fact their hands were on the grassy ground, they thought they were eating with chopsticks and sitting in chairs. Despite the fact that four of the girl's legs were obviously struggling to stay in the position they were in, they thought they were sitting down. And despite their bragging about how powerful they were as Shinobi and how perceptive they were, they didn't notice her swiping all six of their wallets and walking away.

Well, they didn't notice, but a certain robot did. And he remembered what she did to him all those years ago.

Unaware that she was being followed, Hyōki sifted through her stolen goods with a gloved hand, tossing away their IDs and keeping the cash and other cards they had. Nebula Town assignments for grunts like them were pretty much indefinite, a banishment and exile without any of those words being used. And given that their food and housing were being paid for, their minds had no chance of counteracting the poison that Nebula gave them. She had to give the residents here some credit; at least a few of them were aware of the hell they were in. but then again once a civilian entered here, there was no going back. It'd be a lot more merciful for them to keep themselves in the illusion.

The young girl stepped over a sleeping bum as she saw her home in the distance, the smell of gunpowder and drugs filling the air. 'Disgusting.' This place was certainly crawling with life, she couldn't deny that.

To her left was a parked car currently being stripped by a bunch of teenagers. A Zennin was helping the older kids pack up the stolen parts, while another was manning the truck, waiting for them to leave. Dumb bitches probably thought they were at a car repair shop or something.

To the right were a bunch of kids younger than her spray tagging the walls and drawing incredibly well detailed tits on the brick surface. The entire ground was also painted with vulgar, disgusting images of women in bondage or sapphic lust, which was far too elaborate and detailed for the intelligence she knew these runts should have. The Dark Chakra crystals growing out of their bodies was probably giving their brains a boost.

Above her she heard someone pleading for their life, followed by a gunshot. Seconds later she heard the victim fall to the ground behind her, but she paid it no mind.

A few minutes later, Hyōki came up to the entrance of her 'home'.This used to be a grand hotel, one of her former family's. Now it was an overgrown mess of grass and crystal like the rest of the buildings. The long, 100 stair trip up to the hotel's now wooden doors showed the violence and death this part of town thrived in. Bullet holes and plasma burns riddled the walls and stairs and burned them respectively. The hologram projectors at the sides of the stairs, gifted to the hotel by Nebula, had long since been ripped out for parts, and in its place were nothing but freshly grown weeds that reached up to her neck. She let out a grimace as she heard the sounds of gunfire and screaming just a few feet away from her. And the Shinobi in disguise? They didn't react; as usual. Heck, some were sitting outside the hotel eating the air with nonexistent utensils, plates, and chairs.

Entering the main lobby, she ignored the homeless woman at the receptionist counter that was currently embedded in the right side of the entrance. She wasn't the receptionist, that man and the staff had long since abandoned this hellhole like every other sane and rich person once Nebula moved in. And like everyone else here that wasn't a Shinobi, she was utterly blitzed, her Dark Chakra corruption so overwhelming that her very skin was cracked and purple. There were also a lot of other mutations, but Hyōki didn't want to think about that, for her own sanity. Those that were sane in this part of Kodama learned not to pity those that fell under Nebula's corruption.

The truck-sized chandelier in the center of the lobby, which was supposed to be five floors up, had long since crashed into the ground, and many of the stairs and above floors had collapsed, leaving the lobby as nothing but rubble and weeds. Thankfully her home hadn't been discovered, seeing as how she made it inside the wreckage.

'Now where are you going?' He thought as he watched the girl head to the rubble.

At first glance, it looked like she was just going to one of the many piles of rubble, but then she just passed right through it. 'Good, the talisman's doing it's job.' And that meant no one competent her hideout. Heading down the bombed out tunnel, she came to what used to be the employee's living quarters, fixed up by her Senpai and her during their stay here, back when some measure of sanity ran this town. It was kept spic and span thanks to the talismans in place, powered by Senpai's fuel source, the very lifeblood of those accursed Robots under Nebula's control. Said lifeblood was out of her reach, and given her current status in the Shinobi world, there was no way in hell she was going to have the numbers or power to take down a Darkloid.

Sucks, because his talismans weren't even close to running out of energy after all these years, and the water purification talismans lining the walls of the makeshift bathtub, and the seals etched into it's stone floor, were doing their jobs perfectly. The water here wasn't good enough to be called water, and it wasn't nutritious or safe enough to be Nebula's slop, but thanks to these seals and talismans, she had the cleanest water in the country. It was pure blue, free of any chemicals, and so crystal clear she could make out the stone surface her and Senpai smoothed out to utter perfection.

'So this is where you've been living.' He knew that the kid and Mega Man were using this city as their hideout along with the other brats, but to think the Blue Bomber managed to gouge out a living down here, and one so safe and sterile that a normal human could live down here!

"Ohhhh.." Hyōki hugged her body as she lost herself in the memories. It was just the two of them, only the two of them, no one else, especially no other Shinobi that took his attention away from her! She let out a shudder of delight and walke to her makeshift cupboard/scorched lockers, and pulled out some bubble bath that she stole. She'd been waiting a month for the purification to be complete, and now she was going to enjoy it!

"How interesting.," Gate Man remarked as he watched the human bathe for a full five minutes, ready for her to reveal her trap. Seeing as how nothing indicated that she was aware of her presence, he decided to give himself a tour of her lodgings "The human population is completely pacified, and yet she retains her will and sanity." The people have been giving in to every hedonistic urge they have, and the Shinobi on both sides have been rendered a non factor. The little wrinkle, soon to be a corpse, aside, things were going very well for Nebula, and soon they'll be able to test the effects of Dark Chakra on the stronger variants of these so-called 'Shinobi'. Perhaps his target's sister and her team would be susceptible to Dark Chakra? The Zodiac Star Alliance and their parent company were getting a bit too big for their britches.

Heading out of the bathroom, he floated his way down through the cave network, checking each and every tunnel, until he finally ended up at what he assumed to be the entrance to her room, judging by the amount of talismans plastered on the car that functioned as a door. They even put on hinges so it can swing open, how creative! 'Well then, I think my part is done for now.' She can't detect him, and none of the wards hidden in the rocks alerted her to his presence. He could just go into Sleep Mode and wait for her to go to her room. She'll have to analyze that data in her private quarters, and once she does, a good solar bullet to the back of the head would end her.

Oh how he wished this older, stronger Mega Man was around to see it, his little fangirl's head fried to a crisp as her boy fell over! But he did remember, from his observations of other Shinobi, that the females took a long time to bathe, and he was feeling a bit peckish…luckily for him there was some nourishment on the upper level.

"Aaahh.." So nice…so warm…

The bath was meant to hold seven people, and it unfortunately did at one point. Her, fox bitch, crow skank, cow, racoon nuts, and the stupid fish. Senpai would have been the 7th, when he should have been the only other ones, but he was always so moral, treating them all like children instead of the trained killers that they were. Sure it felt nice, but he would just not take the damn hints!

Or rather he probably ignored her hints on purpose, but she didn't want to think that

According to his database, this was one Sayuki Yamashiro, a former elementary school teacher that was very well loved by her students. Just doing a facial and name search showed plenty of obscure forums talking about how much their teacher inspired them to be the people they were today, along with fond wishes for her happiness and the hope they would see her again.

She was quite attractive…once. Gate Man's Nebula programming allowed him to appreciate and emphasize the human concepts of beauty just so his AI could figure out the most horrific ways to taint it, though he didn't need to do anything in this case; the Dark Chakra did all the work for him! Soft delicate features befitting that of a mousey librarian than the killers she taught. Flawless fair skin like every other Nebula damned ninja, as if the wear and tear of their lifestyle had no effect on them. And most importantly, gigantic mammaries, so filled with Chakra that Nebula's taint had quite a lot to corrupt.

He let out a beep, and immediately the addict crawled up to him on all fours. Well, all two actually, it was amazing she was able to even walk with those growths that replaced her legs. Or see with the things jutting from her eyes. The fact she even had a functioning head, detached from her neck as a result of the Dark Chakra Crystals growing out from the stump, showed that she was an excellent Shinobi. Was an excellent Shinobi. She couldn't even qualify as human now, with the way her mouth failed to form a single word or sound. In a world without his master, she might have been an excellent Akunin, one that would have led her own school or her own team of Elites. But now she was nothing more than Darkloid fuel. That beep was a special call to those whose corruption was past the point of no return, and sadly there were no other food sources here save for the child relaxing down below. And as he said before, he was hungry. Though she couldn't see him thanks to his Stealth Field, she was able to recognize him on an instinctual level, her very soul attuned to the evil that ran through the 1s and 0s of a Darkloid's code. If she was even able to emote, she would have a look of utter bliss on her face as he opened the door on his chest, waiting to ascend to the pit all of her ilk ended up, Darkloid or no Darkloid.

Dark purple sludge shot out from the hole from the happy, walking corpse as her flesh, bones, and Dark Chakra growths were sucked into his internal battery, leaving nothing but her clothes remaining as any evidence of the former Sayuki Yamashiro's existence on this earth. "Dark Chakra truly does terrifying things to the organic body." How much of that sludge used to be her organs before she started eating Nebula brand food? Was every human in this city nothing but bags of walking sludge?

How long had it been since Hyōki felt nice, warm, clean water without breaking into someone's house? She wasted five months stalking Nebula's remnants in western Kodama as they smuggled those damn computers into the city, and all of it was for nothing. So their robots were being rebuilt? Big deal! Senpai complained that this was going to happen, with the same tone one would have talking about an annoying friend that just wouldn't go away. And unlike him, she only had one transformation against 8 pissed off Darkloids, and the other bitches were too far away from her in the sticks to help, with their taller bodies, their sexy bodies, their big boobs that Senpai didn't care about but god just thinking about them pissed her off!

'Calm down Hyōki!' She told herself. This was supposed to be a break from her months of failure! With a thought, calming, serene, romantic music began playing from everywhere around her, one of the many benefits of her Jinzotenshin. Even though it's combat functions were deactivated, it was still a part of her, he was still a part of her, inside of her. "Aaahhh.." Oh the memories…

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I want to stress that you're 10. I'm doing this because I can't remove the Suppressors. I'm giving you this because you are a human .old with the physical strength of a 10 year old. Do you understand?'

"Yep! Master will give me me my replacement Tenshin because Master doesn't want his favorite to die a horrible death, because he's such a good Master!" She remembered she had the smuggest grin on her face as Senpai's exasperated expression morphed into a cold, dead frown. "You're not going to get me to stop calling you master, Master, so don't even try!"

"...Rush, can you come here and prime the teleporter?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

You'd think all those years in the lab would have made it really hard for a single person to scare her into not doing something, but Senpai proved her wrong. And that was the reason she called him Senpai. Her disappointment and anger at him was mitigated however, whenever that dumb blonde bitch opened her mouth and talked like a semi-normal human being. She knew from experience that anyone as young as Ryona was at the time that grilled her about her life in the labs like she was trying to get the hot scoop on how good her friend's date was last night was not someone that was well in the head. The fact that Senpai even tolerated it for as long as he did, 2 weeks according to the sane, flat one and Senpai's dog, showed that he had a level of patience far beyond hers.

Hyōki closed her eyes, ready to just float in the giant tub and forget all her troubles. There were so many things the Jinzotenshin gave her.

[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!]

And that was one of them. Her eyes snapped open as she quickly formed the Jinzotenshin around her body. 'God damn it!' Sloppy sloppy she was too damn sloppy! That was the Emergency Alert that only activated when she was in the presence of someone that wanted to kill her or worse. And given that the Shinobi here were too blitzed out to come after little old her, that left only one other potential threat: Nebula.

[Emergency Alert on Target's systems activated. Target is aware of presence] Oh dear, he absorbed too much, and the energy spike alerted the little girl. Oh well; he didn't want to wait for her anyway.

His sensors picked up a large energy spike akin to a Shinobi Tenshin as Hyōki jumped out of her hideout, fully armored and angry. "You've got to be kidding me!" She yelled, looking right at him. Guess his Stealth Field was useless against her pirated transformation, so he disabled it, which caused her to let out a curse. "What are you doing here?!"

"Looking for you, obviously." Gate Man answered, opening his cage-shaped gauntlets remotely. "I guess the years without your powers has left you quite sloppy."If he had a mouth, it would be face-splitting. She was afraid; good. "If you don't mind, hand over the data you retrieved from our servers. now."