"Hn?"

"Heard something?" Wicher asked as he and Cleaner lean the afloat chimera of Siren ships into the prime pre-storm weather, wind blasting into their faces but somehow not buzzing the waves up and away.

"I did." Cleaner responded with a nod. "And I believe we are short of the time we should have been there."

"Welp, may as well try to contain the damn thing." Wicher said, sounding a bit pissed off behind voice modulation. "After all. You aren't gonna just give up on your shady goals?"

"Negative." Cleaner responded with professional reserve. "However, while I agree our actions are not clear, I assure you we will not stop them."

"All right then, keep your secrets." Wicher said, looking ahead into the darker shade of translucent air ahead as he spotted something in the distance. "That said, I think I see what we are after here…"


"Brrrr…" Warspite muttered as she drifted across the waters, deep into dark clouds covering air above and making waters below seem murky. "The North Sea is as cold as name would imply. But I won't let it stop me from checking on rest of old friends." She thought in reassurance, before momentarily slowing down at a sight of distant shadows.

"Hold on. What is this flotilla? Hmm…" She narrowed her eyes, over time adapting to partial darkness and mild waves as she noticed actual contours from afar. "Sirens and New Wicher I was reported about earlier… Concerning." She thought, quickly turning left and slowly drifting ahead, keeping relatively distance and course aligned to mass gathering. "But what do they seek here? Even more, what do they seek here together?"

What could be seeked in the cold depths of this sea? Known answer was one and only.

"They are here to take them for their own uses!" Warspite realized, slowly aligning her guns to fire at the front of the group. "I may not receive help here. But I sure can prevent their plan!"

"WAAAAARRrrrssspppiiIITTTEEE!"

"Heh?!" Sudden war cry made her turn sharply to the left, breaking the line of thought in favor of a more apparent threat. "What is that?" She asked out loud, slowly turning her guns straight forward to where the sound came from. Which, unfortunately, was an empty, somewhat rough sea with human-like purple wrecking ball…

Wait. Human-like?

"Blimey!" Warspite shouted in shock, jumping backwards to gain some space before firing one full salvo into the weird thing.

Bang*

"Ryhyhahahahaha-haaa!" Envious laugh came from purple being, as both direct shots casually got stuck in the mess and then slided down into the waters without detonation. "What are those AP-s supposed to do?" It asked, sliding forward faster than she could backwards while extending left arm to the side with 'Are you serious?' gesture.

"Alright, next one will be HE."/"Um, they are supposed to stop you?" Warspite asked, finding herself in a bad spot.

"Right idea…" Purple thing said, slowly pulling left arm back as if to charge up a nasty hook punch. "WRONG CALIBER!" It suddenly louden up, sending the punch ahead as the whole arm stretched in an unnatural way.

"Whoa!" Warspite barely reacted, grabbing by the sword and turning backwards to the left as the arm narrowly missed. "What kind of Siren is this?" She asked, swiftly moving the sword from below up, cutting the arm at one-thirds before leaping back again. "Few are usually that open to taunt us."

"Hyah!" Purple monster pressed on, now dashing at light right turn straight into Warspite with no care in the world.

"Oh no you don't." Warspite said, turning left to face incoming being while simultaneously aiming all her guns and preparing sword for a straight plunge into heart.

"Yes, we, WILL!" Purple entiny taunted in return, suddenly stopping to shape itself into a 'C', dodging sword plunge while taking at least half a dozen of shells into upper torso and face. "AAARGH… Spicy!"

"Huh?!" Warspite gasped, dumbfounded by the reveal of masochistic pleasure put of the smoke as purple thing moved its mildly smoldered body back to default, making the sword stuck in the process while also reaching out with endless testicles into gun barrels.

"Not so much fun making circles inside secondary range, huh?" It asked.

"What do you- Urk!" Warspite tried to ask, but was quickly grabbed by the neck and raised up by the left arm of the purple thing into a bully collar grab pose.

"Oh-ho, ho! Putting spite in Warspite, classic." Purple being laughed sarcastically. "But we will have you killed quickly if you won't resist too hard! So…" It said with sadistic joy, turning its right hand into a sword blade and aiming it for a clean decapitation. "Any last wooords?"

"Krh-hnn…" Warspite struggled moving her guns and limbs lightly but without success.

"Ohhh? Resisting hard?" Purple thing asked, before shoving Warspite down into the water. "Then let's put you through our pain! First, sinking alive! Next-"

Shling*

"AAAAAA!" Monster roared, letting go of Warspite and backing away. "Who is this?!" It asked in anger, turning around and seeing obsidian-like armor with two lengthy wrist blades put before the chest in an 'X'.

"Wicher." It said, slowly changing his pose to an 'A'. "Okay now, shoot it!"

"What?" Purple thing asked, before being made into a fireworks show by massive firepower. "AHAHHAYAHAHAAAA!"

"Hyyyyhhh…" Warspite gasp for air, moving out of the water and quickly seeing its opressor being set ablaze from all sides. "... What is even happ-"

"No time to explain, KAN-SEN!" Cleaner cut her speech short, sliding in with additional salvo up close at the screaming monstrosity. "Now get out! Before we change our mind." It added grabbing Warspite by the shoulders in a rescued grab and pulling her away.

"Ugh! Aaauaghg! ENOUGH!" Purple monstrosity shouted, dashing away out of the shells way and making a getaway.

"Oh no you don't!" Wicher dashed sideways to the right, preparing his arms and blades to make a sushi out of purple thing.

"Second time we hear this…" Purple thing said with annoyance, before making a sharp right turn and grabbing the piloted armor with both arms, slowly covering it further with spreading goo. "But we don't think they know that the same actions bring the same results!" It continued with a raspy, more enthusiastic voice.

Boom*

Crrrr*

"Wragh!" Purple thing groaned, crushing the armor on muscle memory before dropping it down into the water. "We will have my vengeance on you, WARSPITE!" It shouted before dashing away across rough waves, cutting its way through them with a near cartoonish outline.

"... Are you alright?" Cleaner asked, swimming up and grabbing mostly submerged armor by the head, pulling it out to the surface.

"Hrrrr… not sure…" Wicher responded slowly, holding himself by the sides with crossed arms. "My ribs felt that."

"So did your mechanical KAN-SEN." Cleaner responded with professional coldness in voice, seeing curved crush damage on the torso sides. "Hey… Normal KAN-SEN!" She looked behind to call in the other party involved.

"Yes?" She responded, swimming up to them with an unsure look and tone.

"Take this mechanical KAN-SEN to the safe shore. We have a mess to clean." Cleaner ordered, moving the armor away and into Warspite hands. "Can you hold it all the way back?"

"I'm not damaged, so I manage." Warspite confirmed.

"Great. Now go." Cleaner nodded before leaving them as the whole Siren fleet following suit around the pair.

"... So." Warspite said, taking an armor suit onto her back into a basic carry position. "What happened?"

"Hrrrh… Short or long version?"

"Long."

"Aight, I am at your mercy here... Questions, please."

"First of… You are the New Wicher. Correct?" Warspite asked, slowly moving ahead with Sirens ignoring the two thanks to having their own orders.

"I took up the name, so… Technically yes."

"Well then… What did the Sirens seek there and why did you join them?"

"Sirens… They didn't put a clause of silence on me, so I'll speak." Wicher started to explain after a while of loud thinking. "They wanted to clean something down here. But by their reactions, I think that something just escaped them."

"Hmm… And why did you help them?" Warspite continued to question him.

"A deal. I volunteer to join them on a mission in exchange for them leaving a transport convoy alone in Med."

"Oh, so their movements across the Gibraltar strait had a reason." Warspite concluded.

"Seems they aren't as straightforward evil as all thought. The Sakura Empire affair before your four-way merger proved that." Wicher added in a follow-up. "They do have goals other than to attack humanity."

"Hnn…"

"Something wrong?"

"That thing… I can't help but to feel like it had something personal to me." Warspite said, keeping her face straight ahead as they went past the last of the Siren ships and back into clear, calm waters with mostly cloudy weather.

"Hmm… Sparks any memories?" Wicher asked.

"... No, I don't think…" She hesitated for a moment. "Mind if we change a topic?"

"Meh, since you want..."

"Right. Then…" Warspite slow down to near halt. "What happened to you? Why are you in this… Suit?"

"Hfff…" Wicher exhaled, as if he was troubled by the question. "I just couldn't watch nothing and everything happen at the same time."

"So you decided to pretend to be one of us?"

"That was the best answer for myself I came up with." Wicher continued. "I guess, doing what they did was the obvious choice. And I kinda knew what I was getting into."

"Still, the place for those like you isn't on the frontline. Even with me knowing who you really are under that helmet." Warspite continued. "You are not a KAN-SEN."

"So I strive to become like one." Wicher countered. "I am not proud of myself. But you must understand I just don't want to be trapped in uselessness. Is it too much to ask for?"

"... Like this? In an armor suit, going into a storm, working with those you used to fight against for years?"

"I guess it is too much to ask for."

"And also edgy." Warspite remarked with frustration, going off character.

"... You get some, you lose some." Wicher responded unfazed. "But the more I think about it…"

"Yes?"

"We both need to calm down."

"... Can't argue with that."

"Yeah, that there was a mouthful and we need to consider a new rogue with that thing going after your neck…"


"Hmph. Already lost them." Black Prince said, walking away from the beach and up the cliff face with no problem. Regardless of sharp angle thanks to purple goo just sticking to it like flex tape and glued combined. "What do we do next?"

"Simple. We prepare for the next round." Purple goo responded, opening her face while keeping a small streak of itself above her left shoulder to communicate clearly. "If there is anything I know about Warspite, is that she always goes the opposite way than she should in terms of trying. And, given our combined power, that means she will come back after us eventually. She can't help herself, nor ever even consider anything else as an option."

"Still…" Black Prince looked up at the distant end of the cliff and the sky gray from clouds combined with high-hanging fog. "She won't be alone. Sirens and the rest of the Royal Navy will definitely consider it too."

"Sirens will be swayed eventually. I am technically one of their kind in their eyes." Purple goo responded to her worries. "And Royal Navy? We just have to change our approach for our first phase."

"First?" Black Prince gave the slug thing a confused look.

"Remember, our ultimate goal is revenge on Warspite." Goo started to explain. "But just killing it just like we died won't suffice. We must target all that maker Warspite a… Warspite. Her beliefs, values… Friends, whoever she may care about."

"Making her life and death an ultimately miserable experience." Black Prince concluded. "Great plan."

"I can already feel like we are uniting in our minds." Purple goo nodded happily. "We thinkin' alike."

"Hmm… Since we are at it." Black Prince pressed on just as they reached the top of the cliff and casually moved onto a triangular plateau of barebone grass and rocks. "Mind showing me why do you hate Warspite?"

"Of course…" Purple goo shaped its side appendix into a smile before attaching back to her left cheek with a gentle splat. "I may not have much to show you. But I promise it's more than enough."


"Warspite."

"Yes, Commander?"

"Given that our project for your refit is ready to enter the execution phase, I have a question."

"Whatever you need to ask."

"What should we do with the… older project?"

"The one that bangs glass whenever I put my hand on it to match the shape?"

"Yup, that sentient weird thing."

"Dispose of it beyond return. We can't have Siren technology lying around without use for others to find and start asking uncomfortable questions."

"Sure thing. Now let me get the waste dump switch…"


"Huh."

"See? She disposed of me without a SECOND of a thought." Purple goo said with hectic passion fueled by personal feud. "She put me in a dumpster. And that selfish haste to hide me will be her downfall."

"Still…" Black Prince asked, back to casually side by side conversation as they resumed the travel across rocky seaside. "How did you escape laboratory trash disposal?"

"They weren't ecological and released it all to the sea." Purple goo said with a casual tone as if it had some satisfaction from it. "Long story short: Thanks to the sheer abundance of water I managed to eat up trash and gain mass, then swim away in search of someone like me…"

"You can swim by yourself?" Black Prince asked, somewhat baffled.

"Please, I am a Siren too. What kind of Siren feels bad in the water?"

"Fair point."

"Still, it shows us that we need to bond further if we are to have our revenge." Purple goo continued. "Shall we depart on our own training arc?"

"You bet. Polaris."