The group started to come to, the effects of the Sleeping Gas and EMP wearing off.
"Ugh… is everyone alright?" Gohan asked.
"Systems have been fully rebooted. We're back online." 9S said.
"I'm okay too." Hermit said. "I'm really not used to being hit with an EMP."
"Where are we?" Tsubaki asked.
"Shh. What was that?" A2 asked before the group saw a silhouette outside moving around before it stopped and turned towards the window with glowing red eyes.
"That…was definitely not human." Connie said.
"Hmm….yeah, this meat bun I'm munching on is good." Vector mumbled as he was half asleep and chewing on something.
"That's not a bun, that's my leg!" David said pulling it away from the croc and banging him on the head.
"Okay, I'm up!" Vector said.
"Uh…so….like Tsubaki said….where are we?" Perfuma asked as they found themselves in a run-down old building.
"Well…given it's still raining outside, I think we're still somewhere in Kanai Ward." Marcy said.
"Huh….that's a pretty good guess…but where? I don't remember there being any village on the map." Shuichi said.
"Unless…." Vector said. "I think this….is the restricted zone."
"Well, considering we just saw something with red eyes, I think we can guess why it's restricted." Penny said.
"We should probably get going." Kaede said as they moved out into the village.
"Huh…it's pretty run down. Something must have happened to cause this much damage." Yaoyorozu said.
"But…where is everyone else from the detective agency?" Kurumi asked.
"You're right. Halara, Desuhiko, Fubuki, Vivia…none of them are here." Silver said. "Makoto…he had to have planned all this."
"Question is…he had the chance to finish us all off in our sleep…so why drag us out here?" Jesse said.
"Oh hey!" Leonora said as she spotted someone in a yellow raincoat. "Uh…excuse me. We're new and….uh….sir?"
The figure turned around as its hood fell down to show a man with blood coming from his eyes as he tried to bite her.
*Shunk!*
The figure was cut across the middle as it collapsed with 2B holding her sword.
"Are you okay?" 2B asked.
"Yes…I'm fine." Leonora said.
"That guy just tried to take a bite out of you. Oh my gosh…a real live zombie!" Marcy said.
"Zombie? But how could that be possible?" Leonora said.
"This place has a corpse disposal facility. I'm guessing whatever Amaterasu was up to…was a lot more crazier than we thought." Vector said as they saw the downed figure trying to fix itself. "We should go." he said as they quickly took off.
They quickly took refuge in a small building for the moment.
"Okay….what the hell was that?" David said.
"It wasn't just one or two zombies, they had enough for an army." Vector said. "All of you normals, grab something you can use as a weapon!"
"Okay….uh….huh?" Yaoyorozu said as she found a small letter. "A letter. Evacuation Order! Yesterday, toxic gas was found leaking from the mines. This area has been purchased by Amaterasu Corporation and is now off limits. All residents are hereby requested to evacuate immediately." she said.
"Then…this really is the restricted area." Kurumi said.
"Then…those zombies are a side effect of Amaterasu's experimentation!" Marcy said.
"Aren't zombies supposed to be dead though cause…they don't feel like corpses but at the same time, they don't really feel alive either." Shinigami said.
Then suddenly, the doors opened as three more raincoat wearing zombies wandered in.
"Get back!" Himiko said as she knocked them back with a fire spell, causing their hoods to fall, revealing three familiar girls. "What? Yoshiko? Waruna? Kurane?" she said in shock.
"Shinigami, I thought you reaped their souls." Tenko said.
"I did." Shinigami said.
"Then what are they doing here? It's like the bodies are still here while the souls are…gone…" Double D trailed off. "Wait…no, it couldn't be…could it?"
"Hey, don't just stand there! We need to run or else we're zombie chow." Kaito said.
The group watched as the girls were suddenly taken out by three kunai strikes to the backs of their necks. Appearing from the dust was Espio.
"Hurry, it's not safe here." Espio said as they ran out of the building.
"Espio, you're still kickin'! Where the heck've you been?!" Peacock asked.
"Thankfully, I'm not part of the Homunculi's diet." Espio said.
"Homunculi? You mean…those things are…" Vector said.
"Immortal beings. I've been gathering bits of info. One of them being that they need to eat human flesh in order to maintain themselves. They'll get sick if they don't. They'll attack any human on site." Espio said.
"Wait, then that means that those three were…?" Steven realized.
"Homunculi. Same as everyone else in this village." Espio said.
"Wait, so the deal is that they take dead bodies and use them to make Homunculi?" Eddy guessed. "Then that means they're gonna use Yakou too?! That mask-faced jerk!"
"Yakou? Wait, why would…has something happened to the chief?" Espio asked.
"Oh, that's right. You don't know yet." Marcy said.
They took a moment to explain things to Espio.
"I see…so he's gone then. May his valiant soul find eternal peace." Espio said.
"You've been here for awhile. There's gotta be somewhere we can escape and…" Mermista said.
"Won't do any good. There's an electric fence around the whole perimeter of the area. Trying to risk that means death." Espio said.
"I mean, some of us could fly over it…but Makoto probably has something to stop that too." Eddy agreed. "We're just gonna have to do it the Master Detective way."
"In that case…during my own investigation, I did find something. There's an ominous building not too far from here. I could hear noises coming from it." Espio said. "We should be able to get answers as well as some safety inside it."
Espio directed the group to the building he found as the group headed inside.
"What is this place?" Perfuma asked.
"Looks like some kinda factory." Vector said. "But what could they be making all the way out here?"
"I'll show you. But you might not like what you see." Espio said. "A fair warning…this won't be for those with weak stomachs."
"Do you smell that?" Jin asked.
"It smells like blood." Shinigami said. "Gah!" she said noticing a few of the Homunculi roaming inside.
"It's fine. They won't attack us. They're here for the products." Espio said.
"Product? Why? What…." Mermista said as they saw meat buns on a conveyor belt. "Wait…is this…"
"Where Kanai Ward's meat buns are prepped and delivered." Espio said.
"Huh…I thought they seemed way too perfect." Marcy said. "Where's the staff?"
"There aren't any. The factory is completely automatic so there's no reason to keep any staff on hand." Espio said.
"Is this the horrible part?" Charmy asked.
"No. It's still a bit further ahead." Espio said as he threw a kunai to lure away some Homunculi to a meat bun dispenser.
"Huh…wonder what they were….uh….guys?" Chopper said as they saw bones on the ground along with yellow clothing. "Wasn't this what Desuhiko wore?"
"Oh no…did they…?" Marcy asked.
"He was a total pervert, but he didn't deserve this!" Tenko said.
"These bones are definitely real. It's no trick." Chopper said.
"Yet the blood is pink like the Homunculi's." Jin said.
"That could just be from the Homunculi though. Don't forget they carry the same color blood." Espio said.
"L-Let's not jump to conclusions." Double D said shakily, as if he were trying to convince himself as well as the others. "Without DNA testing, those could be anyone's bones. The clothes…they could be fake…"
"But they're the same as….huh?" Chopper said as he pulled out some paper. "Kanai Ward's history. Kanai Ward was just another remote city in the middle of nowhere with no development until Amaterasu Corp headquartered there. 10 years ago, Amaterasu started their research on homunculi. Top secret research they kept quiet about. Their client was the UG who spent a ton of money to keep their research secure."
"So Amaterasu's homunculus research was funded by the Unified Government." Shuichi said. "That explains why no one interfered with the ward's isolation. Read the rest."
"The only thing known about the homunculus research is that human beings are made from human cells. Dr. Vegapunk was brought in due to his expert knowledge in the area. DNA, also known as the Lineage Factor, was extracted from human beings to serve as a base to cultivate human cells. Unlike clones, they don't need to grow from fetuses, so they are already fully grown with all memories and physical attributes from the time are completely replicated. An artificial human whose gender, appearance and all else are perfectly copied." Chopper said. "And…that's all."
"Makes sense. That's why a lot of the zombies looked exactly like the victims and culprits of past cases." Connie said.
"Even so, I don't believe Desuhiko is dead. I'm sure he's with everyone else. We should go." Yuma said.
They continued on, luring away another group of Homunculi before finding another set of remains.
"These clothes….it's….Halara…" Yaoyorozu said.
"Well on the one hand, no more debt to them. On the other…WHY?!" Vector said as he cried a bit.
"I'll….search their remains." Shuichi said doing so and finding another paper. "Regarding the two research facilities. The UG has heavily invested in Amaterasu's Homunculus research. However, there was another research facility of the same scale directly controlled by the UG. They had two facilities compete in order to get results, becoming rivals in the process. It was fierce, leading them to resort to any means necessary. Amaterasu began conducting human experiments but this did not lead to results. The UG gathered DNA through extra-legal methods. They extracted DNA from superior specimens and used those samples at the core to create cells. Halara…always helpful to the end."
"So that's how they were able to create the Homunculi." 9S said.
"So 2 facilities were made. Interesting." Mayumi said as they continued onward.
They traveled through the factory before they spotted another figure.
"Hey! It's real….ah!" Charmy said as they saw the figure was Zilch Alexander.
"Zilch!" David said. "I mean, Zilch's Homunculus!"
"What's going on here?" Eddy said.
"Huh…." Zilch said. "I….was hired by….Director Yomi. To kill…anyone….approaching…Kanai Ward."
"He…he spoke!" Maki said.
"He hasn't completely lost his senses yet." Espio said.
"Hey…uh…how goes it?" Eddy asked.
"Huh…..oh. It's…you. Director…Yomi." Zilch said.
"Huh?" Eddy said.
"He's so out of it, he thinks you're Yomi." Vector said.
"Crud, really?" Eddy said, not sounding happy at all. "Great, now I feel dirty just being mistaken for that guy…"
"I was…looking for you. Where…were you? At the lab…again? You must love that place." Zilch said.
"Uh…yeah. The good ol' lab." Eddy said. "Say, since we're talking, tell me all you know about me."
"You became director of the Peacekeepers about….5 years ago, I believe. Things were…good back then. That masked freak wasn't in Kanai Ward yet. It was ideal for my work…That was when I worked as one of your closest advisors. It…certainly…takes me back." he said.
"Masked freak? He must mean Makoto." Rachel said.
"Can you tell me about back then?" Eddy asked.
"Back then…you used Dr. Huesca to trade with outside military organizations. Amaterasu's growing success was all thanks to your endeavors…you were on top of the world back then. If anyone dared raise accusations about you…they were shot on sight. Many hypocrites acting like upstanding citizens were shot on sight. In fact…most of them died by my hands. Ha…hahaha….funny…don't you think?" Zilch said.
"Okay…now what about this place?" Eddy asked. "The restricted area?"
"Restricted Area? Oh…you mean the location of Dr. Huesca's lab." Zilch said. "The new one made within the restricted area. I heard he tried to rush the homunculus research…to beat the other lab. They built it here about….3 years ago and started an experiment. I think it was called…Project: Homunculus. Was the experiment a success or a failure? Guess…it doesn't matter."
"So his lab was here." Yaoyorozu said.
"That masked freak….everything changed cause of him! When did he appear? Right…it was after we started Project: Homunculus…an event happened. Called…the Blank Week Mystery. Around that time…he just appeared out of nowhere. And he became CEO in the blink of an eye. Its so irritating…right, Director Yomi? He ordered the research to be shut down! Who does he think he is?" Zilch said.
"Makoto….shut it down?" Petra said.
"Okay…I think that's all the info we'll get outta this guy." Vector said. "But we learned a lot."
"Okay, Zilch, just…uh…carry on, and keep your head on straight." Eddy stated as the group departed. "Ugh…remind me to wash my mouth out with soap later…"
"Still…Yomi's rise, Makoto, the Blank Week Mystery, Project: Homunculus…wow, we learned a lot." Marcy said.
"Hey guys!" Perfuma called out as the others came over to her as they found another body.
"These clothes…they belonged to Vivia…" Yuma said.
"No…" Princess Twilight said as she looked over the body and found the paper. "Regarding Homunculus characteristics. They do not die. Even if they die, they come back to life. They were originally sought out for use in military applications. To create an immortal army. They look identical to humans and cannot be told apart. They can be injured and ill. Some were handicapped, some were blind. But once they die, everything is repaired on revival. Death acts as a restart switch for their cells. Revival only takes one day. They are immortal and have eternal youth. Their cells may grow but they never deteriorate. They stop aging once their bodies stop growing. Those who have already stopped growing maintain that state. It appears they inherit the memories of their originals. Memories from the time of extraction are used to plan out on the Homunculus's brainmap. There is only one way to tell a homunculus from a human. Blood. Homunculi have special characteristics involved with their blood." she read.
"So just their blood can tell them apart." David said.
"That explains things then." 9S said.
"Wait, didn't all the murder victims have pink blood?" Steven remembered. "Why would they have pink blood before becoming Homunculi?"
"I think we're getting…huh?" Shuichi said as he spotted someone watching them from down below. "Hey!"
The group chased after the figure, leaving Kurumi and the factory behind for a bit before approaching a large shutter with a huge hole in it. They went through and found a set of stairs leading downward.
"This is getting weirder and weirder. It's almost like someone is…" Marcy said as they stumbled across a familiar scientist. "Ah! It's Huesca!"
"But…he's dead…this must be his Homunculus. Kind of figured the doctor would include himself with the experiment." Shuichi said.
"Hey…it's….y-you. Hey…it's….you…" Huesca said.
"Hey, tell us about everything you know about the Homunculi!" Eddy said.
"Homunculi? How…do you know…about the biggest…stain on my life?" Huesca asked.
"Biggest stain? What do you mean?" David asked.
"Such…a terrible memory. I'm ashamed to say my homunculus research with Amaterasu fell behind…Rumor has it that UG's research facility was on the doorstep of a successful experiment. In order to catch up, the homunculus test site up ahead was constructed. I was growing impatient. I used every method to try and get ahead of them. Do you…dare criticize my methods?" Huesca said.
"What? No." Yuma said.
"I thought so. Science cannot proceed without sacrifice. I needed our experiment to complete a homunculus first to shut up the UG. To do it in secrecy, I bought the entire village and made it a restricted area. And so, 3 years ago, the faithful Project: Homunculus began." Huesca said.
"Well what happened?" Steven asked.
"You….what…what happened to my experiment? It's been a week since we began. Tell me! What happened during the blank? Tell me! Tell…t-tell…tell…tell…" Huesca stammered.
"Looks like that's all we'll be able to get out of him." Silver said. "He mentioned the Blank Week."
"Something must have happened when he began the experiment." Marcy said. "He said the homunculus test site was just ahead. We should check it out."
They proceeded further to find another broken open shutter. Walking through the hole, they looked around in awe as they saw multiple structures with egg shaped pods attached to each one.
"Oh my… What is this?" Kaito asked. "It looks like one of those chambers you see in one of those sci-fi movies."
"Hey, check it out!" Perfuma said as they saw a hole in the ceiling to show sun shining skies.
"We must be outside of Kanai Ward right now," Blaze said.
They continued down the catwalk and entered an old command center where a man in white stood.
"Who…who are you?" he asked.
"Uh…we should be asking you that." Vector said.
"What? You don't know who I am? Hahaha! You must live in the boonies. I'm the CEO of Amaterasu Corporation. Although, I conceded the post to someone else a little while ago." he said.
"So you know Makoto?" Yuuto asked.
"Oh? So you all are acquaintances of Makoto? You'll have to excuse me then. A friend of his is a friend of mine. How about a glass of wine to…" he said.
"As tempting as that sounds, we actually have some questions for you. Like…do you know anything about the Blank Week Mystery?" Kirumi asked.
"The Blank Week Mystery? I do not know. But from bits and pieces, I can tell that a plot was uncovered by the UG to try and occupy Kanai Ward. The Blank Week Mystery is a conspiracy the UG set up to take over the city. I suppose they wanted Amaterasu's secrets. As a matter of fact, Kanai Ward was wiped off the map for some time." he said. "But we were saved by my friend, Makoto Kagutsuchi. He appeared from nowhere and negotiated with the UG. Rumor is he has a special connection within their ranks. I didn't expect much from him but didn't have much choice. Before we knew it, negotiations were complete. He announced that Kanai Ward would be isolated. They agreed. Both sides entered a non-intervention agreement. I suspect some sort of secret arrangement was made regarding homunculus information. There was one other condition aside from not mentioning the arrangement to me. If he was successful, I was to concede my position as CEO over to him."
"I can't believe you would give up your post to a complete stranger." Blake said.
"I agree it's a ridiculous story. But without him, the UG would have occupied Kanai Ward and Amaterasu would be consumed. I wanted to protect this company and he wanted to protect Kanai Ward. Our interests aligned and I was already up there in age. Makoto loved Kanai Ward and its residents. I knew I could entrust this land to him." he said. "You see, all of Kanai Ward is Amaterasu Corporation and he wanted to stop the homunculus research immediately. In retrospect, there is no denying how inhumane and immoral that research was. I made the right decision. Under his leadership, Amaterasu expanded its businesses and its assets rival that of the UG. Long live Amaterasu, right? Hahahaha."
The group looked uneasy as they continued onward before encountering the figure that had been watching them earlier.
"It's…you. I'm happy to see you…even if it's like this….chief." Yuma said.
The figure just continued to look at them in silence.
"Do you…remember any of us?" David asked.
"...Yuma…Eddy…Marcy…David…Vector…" Yakou uttered.
"Yes, that's us! You really do remember…" Marcy said before Yakou offered them a small disc. "Is this…for us?"
9S took it before Yakou turned away and stumbled off.
"Poor guy…" David said. "Even though we now know he's a homunculus, he's been through so much…"
"The least we can do is look at this disc he gave us." 9S said. "Pretty sure the computer in the command center is still operational. Least for viewing this."
They returned to the command center and put the disc in as Huesca appeared on it.
"Is this thing on? I really hope it's recording. Let's begin. Leaving this video is the greatest stain on my career as a researcher. But given the tragedy about to occur, this record will be of great assistance. It is 2am. 14 hours have passed since Project: Homunculus began. Let's get to the point. The project is a failure. Something unexpected occurred during our efforts to find suitable DNA. Although we successfully created homunculi, they are defective. They have a fatal flaw to them. In the revival process, their intelligence is lost. Reduced to nothing but senseless, flesh-seeking monsters. Another flaw. In a previous experiment. An unaffected homunculus was exposed to ****. Trying to adjust for it worked against us. **** made them go berserk and more violent. We are in hell itself. They are nothing more than monsters. It's here! Defective Homunculi will devour humans down to their bones. Drink every last drop of your blood. At this rate ******!" he finished before a group of homunculi overwhelmed him.
The video cut out after that.
"Dear…lord." David said, stumbling back a bit from the revelations.
"This was from three years ago. If Dr. Huesca died, then the one we saw at Amaterasu was…" Hermit said.
"His homunculus, it looks like." David said.
"I see what happened. After the real one was killed, his homunculus must have joined society and took his place." Marcy said.
"We need to talk to Kurumi right away." Shuichi said as they hurried back to the factory as they started looking for her. Upon entering, they lured away another bunch of homunculi who were at a fourth corpse.
"Oh….Fubuki…" Perfuma said as she searched the remains and found the paper. "Homunculus Experiment Report. Apologies. I do not understand what is on the computer screen, so I will copy it down, word for word. 3 years ago, the Unified Government was successful in creating its first homunculus. The secret to their success was the DNA used to create the artificial cells. Their focus was on individual differences in DNA, so they experimented with various people. They found success with one, supposedly someone believed to have the world's greatest mind. But because of that mind, the completed homunculus was able to reflect on its condition. As a result, it knew what it was and escaped. The specimen is still at large." she read.
"That's why Amaterasu got impatient." Connie said.
"Both events happened in a 3 year span. What are the odds?" Himiko said.
"Guys!" a voice said as Kurumi ran over to them.
"There you are. Where have you been?" A2 asked.
"Sorry. I thought I saw someone who looked like Aiko. She talked a bit differently than how I remember but I was finally able to say goodbye. I think she understood." Kurumi said.
"I see. That's good to hear." Himiko said.
"Yeah. She was a good friend. But she hated syringes. She'd raise hell during school vaccinations and then there was that bizarre blood test thing…" Kurumi said.
"I'm sorry…blood test?" Chopper asked.
"Everyone in Kanai Ward had to take a blood test. Peacekeepers order and no one could refuse. My grandpa and a few others were able to get out of it cause they didn't trust it." Kurumi said. "And he disappeared right after the blood test, same with anyone who didn't take it."
"Did this happen during…the Blank Week?" Blaze asked.
"Uh…yeah. It did." Kurumi said.
"So spill. What is the blank week mystery?" Mermista asked.
"I'm sorry but I can't say." Kurumi said.
"Can't or won't? Cause I'm not afraid to…" Peacock said.
"No. I can't tell you cause I don't know what happened. No one does. No one remembers it. I woke up one day and the whole city was ruined. It was like a tornado struck through. Outdoors and indoors were all destroyed. Something terrible happened while we slept. My home was ripped apart too. We realized the date had moved ahead by a full week. We never understood what happened. After, we became isolated. All was forgotten while we were uncertain. More like we chose to forget. It was all so bizarre and scary." Kurumi said.
"So that's why it's taboo." Mermista said.
"All I know is that afterward, grandpa and a few others disappeared…and Kanai Ward's unending rain began." Kurumi said.
"We're getting more and more mysteries here." Vector said as he saw a door marked processing. "Espio…was this the door?"
'Yes. On that subject, Kurumi…would you mind staying out here?" Espio asked.
'Oh. Sure." Kurumi said as she did so.
"Why did you do that?" Mayumi asked.
"I wanted to spare her from seeing what was inside." Espio said as he turned the knob.
"What? It's normal for places to chop up pigs and cows for meat. It's nothing….oh sweet mother of god!" Vector said as they saw an assembly taking human corpses and processing them into meat. "You mean…this whole time…we've been eating…." Vector said before he and those who ate the meat buns ran to a row of trash cans and started throwing up in them.
"I did say it was not for the weak of heart…or weak of stomach." Espio said.
"Oh…Oh lord…" Double D heaved as he finished puking. "We…We can't tell anyone about this. We take this to our graves."
"Uh…yeah. I don't think I'll be sharing this with anyone." Vector said as he finished.
"This…this must be what Number One was talking about." 9S said. "But how did this go unnoticed?"
"Because all of these corpses…they're prisoners from prisons across the globe." Espio said. "All of them are Death Row inmates. Even if they went missing, they would have just been marked as executed."
"At least they won't be missed." Jin said.
"Jin… Not making things any better." David said.
"Guys? What's going on in there?" Kurumi asked outside.
"Oh…just found out the secret ingredient in the meat buns. It's…" Charmy said as Vector stopped him.
"Uh…not normal meat. It's actually smoked….alpaca?" Vector said.
"...Oh. Cool." Kurumi said as they all took a breath.
"Okay…I think we can agree we cannot tell Kurumi about what the secret is. Don't think she'd handle it well if she knew what she and everyone else in Kanai Ward were eating." Vector said.
"So we know how Makoto was able to keep the Homunculi under control, but that can't be the only piece of the puzzle, can it? Are meat buns the only thing that keeps them calm?" Perfuma asked.
"No…there has to be something else." Marcy said. "Espio…did you happen to find any other structures?"
"Uh…yes. There is one more odd structure nearby. Just beyond the factory." Espio said.
"What is it?"
"Kurumi mentioned the rain started around the same time. I have a theory." Marcy said as they headed out.
After a bit of trekking, the group reached a building and entered to find an enormous machine.
"Ha! I knew it!" Marcy said.
"What….what is it?" Charmy asked.
"This…is a rain machine! It creates artificial rain clouds." Marcy said.
"So, Kanai Ward rain isn't natural? It's produced? No wonder it was rainin' cats and dogs 24/7!" Peacock said.
"But why would Makoto want to shroud the city in rain?"
"I don't know. But it does look like the shut off switch is operational so…let's give it a whirl." Marcy said as she pressed it as the machine stopped as the clouds started to part.
An alarm started ringing. "A state of emergency has been declared. All residents, please seek shelter inside. I repeat. A state of emergency has been declared. All residents, please seek shelter inside."
"Uh… I think I just did something bad." Marcy said.
"Why would this be an emergency? If it's like this, it's like Homunculi must be vulnerable to…" Kaede said before it hit them.
"Sunlight!" everyone realized.
"That's what Huesca was trying to warn about." Tenko said, looking outside to see the Homunculi outside writhing around in agony.
"They are like vampires!" Ed said.
"No. They're not weak. They're going berserk." a voice said as they saw Makoto standing before them. "Oh uh…mind helping me for a bit, Yuma?" he asked, offering a hand as Yuma took it. "Now, Miss Wu, I would appreciate it if you could turn the machine back on."
"Uh huh. Yeah." Marcy said doing just that as the machine reactivated as the rain clouds quickly returned.
"Makoto…you've been hiding…all this?!" Shuichi asked.
"So, you've seen the truth…" Makoto said.
"Yeah. All of it." David said.
"Why are you doing this? What's your goal?" Yuma asked.
"Just making Kanai Ward a perfect place. You know of the defective homunculi. They turn into zombies when they die. And they, as you have guessed, are weak to sunlight. They go berserk when exposed to it. They lose all their memories and intelligence. They return to normal if you block out the sun. It's an allergic reaction to ultraviolet rays. If it continued, they would die. But that's when things spiral out of control cause once they die, they become zombies." Makoto said.
"That's why you made the machine." Marcy said.
"When you make clouds thick enough to block the sun, rain starts to fall. It's a natural phenomenon." Makoto said.
"But why try to save these defects?" Yuma asked.
"Defects, huh? Who are any of you to say something like that?" Makoto said. "You've lost so much, but now…what do any of you have left?"
"Enough! We got you cornered." Mermista said as she tried to find her trident. "Uh…"
"Sorry, I should mention I negated your abilities and stripped all of your weapons from each of you. Save for the androids and the chameleon." Makoto said.
"Huh…I was wondering what your plan was if we tried flying out." Eddy remarked.
"I'd probably shoot you down…like this." Makoto said as he drew out a gun.
Tsubaki was working to activate her Izayoi but found herself unable to.
"I can't summon my sword and shield." Tsubaki said.
"I took my time to study each of you, even those who barely stand out. A wearable weapon…not bad but you can't hide anything from me." Makoto said.
Tsubaki turned red a bit at that comment.
"Shinigami…do it." Yuma said.
"All right!" Shinigami said freezing time. "Here we go! The Final Mystery Labyrinth!"
Time had soon stopped as Shinigami opened the portal and transformed.
"This is it…we need to figure out the whole truth…about everything in Kanai Ward." Shuichi said.
"Yeah… Once we go in, we won't be able to come out until everything is solved. Is everyone ready?" David asked.
"Heh…kid, we knew what we were signing up for when we took this assignment." Vector said.
"Vector's right. If the nine of us weren't ready for the dangers, we wouldn't have wanted to be your assistants in the first place." Mayumi said.
"Not to mention, we're used to this kind of thing before. Don't worry about us. We'll be okay." Shuichi said.
"Double D, 9S, any thoughts or concerns?" David asked.
"Even thinking about it logically, it's either do this, or get shot." Double D said. "I choose to go for the safer option. Into the mystery."
"No concerns. I'm ready to see this through to the end." 9S said.
"Alright. Looks like everyone is ready." David nodded as everyone faced the portal. "Everyone, let's go. Time to bust some Mystery Phantom heads!"
"Let's do it!" Marcy declared as they did not need a push from Shinigamii this time. This time, they jumped in of their own free will.