Nexus: Heroes Will Rise

by tmb1112

Universal borders have been erased and beings from thousands of universes now live on the same world: Nexus. In the first Saga of Nexus, Awul was saved, but the mysteries of Nexus remain. Now our heroes sail across the sea to Aebrith to search for lost loved ones and save the world. MCs from DBZ, KH, Soul Eater, FT, Blue Exorcist, Bleach, 7DS, OP, Ben 10, SAO, HxH, and many more!

116. Nexus HWR 16-8 Test

Disclaimer: I don't own Magi, Gundam, DBZ, Star Wars, Fairy Tail, One Piece, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Avatar TLA, Hunter x Hunter, Marvel Comics, Soul Eater, The Flash, DC Comics, Archer, Carmen Sandiego, Heroes, Teen Titans, Ben 10, My Hero Academia, Star Trek, or any other works of fiction that you may recognize characters and other proper nouns in this story from. They're not mine. Nor is the song Renegade, by Styx. Now then, enjoy the chapter!

Nexus HWR 16.8 Test:

Cloud City

In a city in the deep south of the Ren Empire, only thirty miles from the border with Arachne, a luxurious floating city rested comfortably eight miles off the ground. The sky was full of white clouds, blocking the sight of the Black Witch's Deadlands which would have normally been visible off the southern edges of the city. Even the lowest of the dozens of platforms connected to the main city was still higher than the top of the cloud layer below.

All over the exterior, smaller platforms, there were airships, jets, and even a few large zeppelins parked and being guarded by the Ren army. Not all the platforms attached to the central city were meant solely for ships, but the majority of them were. Those platforms were also covered in turrets though, surrounding the outsides of each round landing pad in order to prevent unwanted ships or attacks from reaching the city.

At Cloud City on this day where the outer platforms were crowded with more ships than usual, there was a Gala going on. It was being held by the Lord of the city, Kycilia Zabi, in honor of her eldest brother's visit to her city. Lord Gihren was in the city and the guest of honor at his sister's Gala, his final task after inspecting Kycilia's domain as requested of him by their High Lord. Gihren had a seat on Kouen Ren's war council, thus his place was no longer at the Zabi regional capital of Zeon City but at the capital of the entire Ren Empire, Rakushou. Before he returned there, his sister was expected to honor him. She knew it, he knew it, and most importantly their soldiers and people knew it, so Kycilia had her people throw something together worthy of one of their High Lord's highest advisor's, and her own brother.

The Gala was made known to the public at the same time that they learned Gihren would be visiting Cloud City. Some tickets to it were sold to people for huge sums of money, while other tickets were offered out to neighboring Lords, their military leaders, or other VIP's who would make the Gala a fancier event by their presence. Most of the tickets given to other political leaders, business executives, and other VIP's were offered over the phone or video calls. This way, the ones planning the event were able to figure out a good estimate of how many people they already had coming before offering to sell tickets to the richest of the public. After all, they had to know how many tickets to sell in order to keep the event seeming exclusive, while also with enough people there that it would not be considered a failure. They had a set number for how many people they desired at the party, and they sold or gave away that exact number of tickets.

With so few tickets being sold and such a specific method of how they picked guests for the Gala, it had been very difficult for the Resistance to secure even the two that they did. An eighteen year old on the line extending out of Kycilia's castle kept a calm expression on his face, but he reached up and fixed his tie as he needed to use his hands for something. He reached up another for his blond hair to slick it back again even with the gel in it, but he felt a soft touch on his left wrist. He paused for a moment, then he patted his hand through his hair once before lowering his arm back down. "Relax," a soft voice whispered into his left ear, so quiet he barely heard it, but he definitely felt the warm breath tickle his skin. He took a deep breath then leaned to the right a bit to look past the five groups still in front of him between him and the door.

The two groups just in front of him looked similar to his own, one man and one woman standing side by side. Past them he saw a larger group, then a group of three red alien creatures who he could not help but think all looked the same, as much as he knew that was racist. He did not want to come off like that at all, especially considering the different kind of red alien woman on his left side who turned towards him as he watched the man farthest forward in line get his bag back and then walk through security on his own, allowing the three red creatures behind him to move up.

There was a gap of space between each group, but as the space ahead of them started widening, the woman on his left said, "Let's move up, honey." She smiled at him as he looked her way, then they stepped forward together to the spot the couple in front of them had just been in. The red-skinned Mikkian stepped forward with her human partner, and she leaned in to his side and locked her right arm with his left while letting out a sigh. "It sounds like the party has started without us," she said, as they could hear music coming from beyond the doors just ahead of them. Tiplee leaned closer to her partner's head and whispered, "Lighten up, it is a party."

Ojiro Mashirao glanced at her to see if she was serious, but the stern look in her eyes did not match the phrase she just used. He nodded and smiled at her, locking his arm in hers and then looking back forward with more excited interest in the Gala. The group of three red women made it through without much issue, being allowed in quickly through the security check. When the security stopped the next two who approached though, they started up a more thorough search of the man in his late forties and his wife.

Without everyone in their way, only one other couple between Ojiro and Tiplee and the entrance, the two were able to watch the security checks for the first time. One of the guards wearing the Ren Empire's red uniform with a tight black armor-suit on underneath took the I.D.'s he was given and walked over to a computer to scan them to see if they were real. He had grabbed the woman's first and checked it as he walked over with the man's beneath. Then as he slid hers away to check the man's, he froze for a second and turned his head hesitantly. The guard looked back towards the older man who had his arms out to the sides and was letting himself get scanned by a female guard holding up an x-ray device. That older man looked weak, frail, but he just kept up his conversation with his wife while the guards started their check.

The guard glanced back down at the I.D. he had stared at in such surprise. Clifford DeVoe. He's rank Gold? Is this real, or... he scanned the I.D.'s, but both Clifford and his wife Marlize's identifications scanned without issue. The guard gulped then walked back while the head guard at the station was about to start asking the couple questions. "They're good," the guard who scanned the I.D.'s said while handing them off to the more muscular head guard who had a furry black beard on his face.

The head guard grabbed the I.D.'s, "Alright Mr. DeVoe," he began after looking at the man's odd I.D. ranking which he rarely ever saw. "So you've met the King?"

Marlize looked in at her husband who stopped his discussion with her on inter-dimensional particle physics to look the lead guard in the eyes. "I have," Charles replied. "In fact, we meet often. To discuss the intricacies of Nexus, space, multi-dimensional theory, and the true nature of light and time. Just yesterday we had a rather interesting conversation on genetics and DNA splicing. Would you like to hear about it?" Clifford DeVoe, once known as the Thinker on his own world, gave the guard a condescending look as the burlier man eased back with an uneasier expression of doubt.

The two Resistance members planning on secretly entering the Gala stared ahead with wide eyes, but they did not stand out at all. The two in front of them between them and the DeVoe's had also dropped their jaws, while most of the guards were nervous at what the man just said. "Oh," the head guard said. The tall, muscular man, formerly a Pro Hunter on his own world, Tsezguerra stepped to the side and held out his arm. "Welcome to the Gala in the Clouds."

The two who were dressed the least fancy of the three couples about to head inside began their walk in, and Charles continued his discussion with his wife as if he had not been interrupted. Tsezguerra tried following what they were saying, but it was impossible to do so as ninety percent of the intellectual conversation out of his mouth sounded like gibberish to the muscle-head. Tsezguerra turned back as two others started walking forward, and he smiled and bowed his head in respect at the two who were dressed in the fanciest and most expensive clothes of anyone on line, perhaps anyone at the Gala.

"Lord Yonji, Lady Azula, welcome," Tsezguerra greeted. The other guards all bowed their heads too, as the two in front of them looked like royalty. Azula had on a long black dress that was slim-fitting to her body, with her hair done up by what looked like a professional hair-dresser, who had shoved diamond-studded pins in her hair to keep it in the shape coming off the top of her head then falling back and to her sides in braids. It was impossible to tell that the hair was implanted it looked so real, though she had yet to grow back her real hair after her defeat and subsequent punishment she faced back in the Fire Nation. Her braids of black hair had shimmers of gold in them, just as her black dress of "mourning" seemed to shine the color as well. She had rings on a few of her fingers, a pearl necklace on and one studded with emeralds on above that. "Your I.D.'s please," Tsezguerra said, lifting his bowed head to look at the couple.

Azula frowned at the man, but Yonji just fished his I.D. and Azula's out of a pocket beneath his cape. His cape wrapped more around the left side of his body. It was made of a gold-colored fabric that shone in the same way as his wife's clothes. He did not have his Raid Suit on but a black suit beneath the cape that had been tailor-made for the event. He handed off the I.D.'s, not going to argue as there was of course the chance of people trying to impersonate them. "Here you go," Yonji handed the I.D.'s off and looked up and down the figure in front of him.

Heh, look at how much they're respecting us. Idiots all think we're going to hire them just because they can do their jobs. This guy though, he might be worth snagging, Yonji felt the lead man's presence was stronger than the other guards, even the ones who were burlier than him. No one there was wearing a Power Blocker, as there was no need to bring such unnecessary accessories into the Gala when all of Cloud City was protected by Power Blocking technology. To wear one would imply the desire to hide from the guards inside the city, so it was more than just discouraged.

Yonji and Azula got their identifications back, but Tsezguerra coughed while still standing in their way. In a strongly hinting tone, he mentioned, "I must ask, because some other guests did not know the rule, but do you have any capsules on your persons?"

He asked it without accusing them of anything, but Yonji still frowned at the man who had not asked that to the previous guests. Which means he knows, and it's to save us the embarrassment. Smart bastard. Azula had her teeth bared, but Yonji said before she could snap at the guard, "We can't? Well, my wife needs what's in her capsule. If we show you in a separate room, I'm sure you'll understand and make an exception."

Tsezguerra looked confused, but he nodded and turned to another guard to come towards him. "Don't worry, I'll hand mine off too," Yonji said in a quieter voice, as Tsezguerra just whispered something that made the other guard look Yonji's way hesitantly. Raid Suit was just a precaution. No way they're stupid enough to invite foreign Lords just to kill them. Even if we didn't have a lot of backing or allies, they'd look bad and no one would come to these things anymore. Yonji and Azula started following the guard in and then to the left instead of straight up the grand stairwell into the main party hall.

The guard who led them away was told to be friendly but also ask some other questions that could potentially raise suspicion, and he began as he headed towards the side door into an interrogation room, "How are things at the Dread Fort? Is it really alright for both of you to come here after such a short time in command?"

Azula smirked and scoffed at the guard, even though she knew he was just doing his job. "Of course. That is our city now. My soldiers are loyal to me."

"And," Yonji mentioned as they walked through the door past the guard who was holding it open. He looked towards the man and said while smirking menacingly at him, "We just accepted the Organization's control." The guard's eyes widened. All of them had studied up on the guests that they knew a lot about, but he had no idea that this happened. It must have been recent! "High Lord Xemnas sent us a Nobody to help us out in our fight against that idiot Kong and his lightning boy. She'll hold down the fort for us while we're celebrating this new turn of events."

The guard closed the door behind them, then he asked while refacing the couple, "But, if the Organization took control, and they sent in a Nobody, then aren't you worried that Nobody will just take full control?"

"And that's why, my wife needed to keep a capsule on her," Yonji said. Azula smirked at the guard's confused look, then the former Princess of the Fire Nation tossed a capsule she pulled out from a pocket on the inside of her dress right over her chest. She tossed it across the small room, and the guard stepped backwards with his jaw dropped as the room started shimmering with gold and the bright colors of the various jewels mixed in.

"We took our most elite mercenaries with us to this event. They're out watching the ship right now," Yonji said while stepping towards the guard and putting an arm around his shoulders. He squeezed the man's opposite shoulder tightly, and the man winced as Yonji finished, "If the Nobodies try anything while we're gone, we'll simply return and crush them. Land means nothing, titles mean nothing, what matters most, is money."

"I-I understand," the guard said. "Why you could not leave that somewhere else," he finished.

"We also need it for while we're here," Yonji said, patting a strong hand down on the guard's shoulder again before spinning the man to face him. He tossed the man his own capsule and the guard reached up between them to catch it quick. "Lose that and I'll kill ya'," Yonji promised, while Azula walked over to the sheet that her fortune was resting on and pressed a button on the edge of it. The sheet folded up and surrounded everything inside it to turn it back into a capsule that she put back close to her chest.

The guard saw the smile on Yonji's face as he said it, but the threat felt real to him and he held the capsule close. "U-Understood sir. Welcome, both of you, to the Gala in the Clouds." He reopened the door for them and they headed out, then started up the stairs of the palace.

Back at the doors of the event, right after Azula and Yonji made it through, the next two walked up. They reached the entrance, and the weight Ojiro felt on his back disappeared. A man walked forward with a scanner after he and Tiplee handed off their I.D.'s, while Tsezguerra looked the two of them up and down.

"So," he began, his voice interrogatory. He grabbed the identifications his fellow guard brought back to him after they had been scanned. The guard leaned up and whispered something into the boss's head, and Tsezguerra nodded before lowering his hand and continuing, with a tight grip on their I.D.'s. "Mashirao and Tiplee. How did the two of you afford these tickets?"

Guess giving me rank orange wasn't enough. Ojiro began aloud, "I'm a mercenary. I do jobs, for money." Keeping it vague was the best way to avoid raising suspicion. He did not want to corner himself with any answers that someone would be able to disprove.

"And you, Tiplee?" Tsezguerra questioned. Ojiro did not relax as he could feel he was not out of the woods yet, even if the man did let that go without looking at him any differently. "Tell me, how did you afford this ticket? You are only rank green."

Ojiro opened his mouth with a defensive look on his face, but Tiplee answered first, "I hired Mashirao for a job once. We grew, close, over the course of it," she turned and gave him a smirk, and the boy scratched the back of his head while losing his defensive attitude. As he scratched the back of his head he remembered something, and he pulled his arm back to his side quickly, too quickly for Tsezguerra who caught the quick movement and glared at Ojiro. The main guard turned to a woman next to him who was scanning the two with a strange device, but she looked to him and nodded after a few more seconds.

Another wave of relief washed over Ojiro, but he thought without letting the relief show on his face, Good job, Hagakure. Just a little longer.

"The two of you are, close?" Tsezguerra asked the woman. She had red skin, blue lips, and she had fin-like structures sticking off the sides of her head that were red but ended in blue tips. Tiplee and Ojiro were not dressed as nicely as the two who went in before them, but they still looked fancy enough for a Gala like this.

Tsezguerra examined the two closer, and Tiplee sighed but turned to the young man next to her. Ojiro turned and then his eyes widened as Tiplee leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Don't lose focus! He shouted mentally, mostly at himself, and he kissed back before leaning back from the woman and coughing in a mildly embarrassed way into his arm.

"That enough questions yet?" Ojiro asked. Hold on just a little longer, he thought.

Tsezguerra hummed and then chuckled to himself. Kid's got himself an older alien woman, and he doesn't know how to handle it. Bet she convinced him to take her here, using all the money she gave him for that job and the dozen that followed. "Go on in," Tsezguerra told the two whose names had been on the list. They started walking forward, then he began right before they passed him. "But first, something was strange with your I.D.," he had them held out for the two to take as they moved by, but both of them turned to him in surprise with widened eyes.

"Huh?" Ojiro asked. Oh man this is taking too long!

"There shouldn't be," Tiplee said in a confused and rushed voice. Not good, she thought. What is he-

"A facial recognition scan we used came up with a match for someone wanted in the Ren Empire," Tsezguerra began. "But the picture and name were slightly different. It wasn't a full match, but you wouldn't happen to be disguising yourself, Tiplar?"

Tiplee rolled her eyes while Ojiro let out an exasperated sigh. "You would be speaking of my twin sister," Tiplee said.

"'Twin?'" Tsezguerra said skeptically.

"In my species, it's not that rare," Tiplee said. Then she turned fully towards Tsezguerra and said firmly in a lower voice, "She's my twin. I'm fine to go in." The Jedi narrowed her eyes at the man who narrowed them back for a few seconds, before nodding his head.

"Sorry about the mix up. If she's really your twin, you're fine to go in," Tsezguerra said, handing back the I.D.'s and then motioning inside. A couple of the nearby guards looked towards their boss wondering if he was being too quick to accept it, but he turned to the next person who was entering alone and called the man forward in a harsh voice. "I.D."

Ojiro spotted the female guard with the scanner pointing it out at the man who just arrived, and Ojiro moved quicker into the building before whispering under his breath, "You're good-" he felt the weight appear on his shoulders again but did not mention anything about it. Really thought she was going to let out a breath when Tiplee kissed me.

They started up the stairs, and they saw Azula and Yonji up ahead of them as the two had only just left the side interrogation room. Tiplee kept her left arm locked with Ojiro's, and she said in a low voice, "I apologize for my boldness, Ojiro. Do not become flustered again though, even for a second."

"I wasn't flustered," he said. "Just surprised, as any man would be even if his lo- his lover decided to kiss him in public."

As soon as 'lover' left Ojiro's lips, he felt the hands gripping him by the shoulders tighten, and then the feeling vanished altogether. "Hagakure," he began in a quiet voice.

"Do it," Tiplee said, stopping Ojiro from distracting the girl whose feet landing on the stairs Tiplee caught with her enhanced hearing. They were almost at the top of the stairs where the third member of their team was supposed to split off anyway.

Toru Hagakure scampered up the remaining steps and sprinted towards the closest wall. She kept a wide berth between her and the guests near her, while trying hard to keep her breathing calm and quiet. She had taken a few deep breaths right after they made it through security, but she needed to stay silent again. Meleoran-sensei. It worked! Hagakure could not help a small smile from forming on her face.

Hagakure's Quirk, Invisibility, worked better on Nexus than it did on her own world. On Nexus, there were scientists who were able to create costumes for those with invisible powers that could turn invisible when their users did. She was grateful she did not have to be carried in on Ojiro's back while naked, which would have been too embarrassing for her to hold her breath for the amount of time necessary. When Hagakure held her breath, the Nen ability she had developed over her time on Nexus kicked in. Already she could hide her body from the eye without using Nen, but while holding her breath, her presence, scent, sounds she made, and even her physical form disappeared. She called her Hatsu ability: Perfect Stealth.

A couple walking towards Hagakure did not notice the girl leaning on a wall in front of them, and Hagakure held her breath instead of trying to move out of the way and risk her footsteps being heard. The couple walked right through her and out the other side, and Hagakure waited a few seconds before breathing out slowly again. She glanced towards the couple nervously, then back towards the top of the stairs where Ojiro and Tiplee were talking to a different couple who looked around Ojiro and Hagakure's age.

Hagakure frowned as she stared at Ojiro. He kissed her back... Gah! What am I thinking about? We're on a mission. An important mission... she frowned more at Ojiro and thought about how he scratched the back of his head, as if he had forgotten she was there. He put his arm straight through me to do that. As if kissing her wasn't enough- she shook her head around fast then spun and thought, Time to start the mission.

As Hagakure started running off, Ojiro and Tiplee turned from the couple who had just greeted them. They were going to head over to grab some drinks, the best way to blend in with a crowd after all. They saw a waiter in a black vest and white button-down walking around while holding a tray of champagne, and they were about to head towards him. Before they could though, someone spoke behind them, "That was some pretty good work back there."

The teenager and Jedi Master whose arms were locked turned their heads and saw the blond-haired man who had been right behind them on line outside walking their way. "And who are you?" Ojiro asked.

"Barry, Barry Dylan." He smiled at them and then knocked on his chest a few times making a metallic sound clank each time. "Eighty-percent cyborg, twenty percent international arms dealer. It's nice to meet you."

Ojiro stared at the guy with widening eyes. The man was not dressed well, only wearing a red full-body track suit. The man who just called himself a cyborg stepped closer to them and said, "I can't believe you two managed to sneak someone in here." He tapped the side of his head as they stared at him in shock, then added, "Don't you worry. My eyes have been scanning this place on every level since I got here. I was surprised though when your friend vanished like that. How'd she do it?" He asked it with a smirk and an interested look on his face, leaning in towards them and looking mildly insane.

"I don't know what you're talking-"

"What do you want?" Tiplee asked, cutting off Ojiro. She did not think the cyborg was just saying this for no reason, and she figured he did not say anything back outside since he wanted something from them.

"Hey hey, a guy can't just compliment people on their smooth infiltration?" He asked, his voice quieter as a different group of three people were walking behind the fake couple's back. "Anyway," he said, reaching to his side and grabbing a glass of champagne from a waiter walking by without turning to him. "I work for Blood Mask, but the Rens only buy from 'legitimate,' weapons' manufacturers." He put up his free hand to make air quotes, then continued, "So getting into a place like this to pitch to high-establishment folk is a little more difficult. Just saying, people like us should count on each other," he laughed and then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. "Here's my card," Barry said, handing the business-card out.

Ojiro's long, thick tail swung side to side behind him and he really wanted to smack that card out of the man's hand. I've heard that name before, he thought. Ojiro recognized the man's notorious boss and a deep frown crossed his face. Tiplee reached forward though and grabbed the card from Barry. "Thank you," she told him.

"No problemo!" He replied, then he gave them a wink before heading off into the crowd. "Did that go well, Robo-Barry? I think it did Robo-Barry," he said to himself while walking off, a couple of people glancing at him with odd looks as it happened.

"This isn't good," Tiplee said. "There's a screw loose in that cyborg's head. What would you do in this situation?"

What would I do? Is she asking me it as part of the test, or are we going to go with whatever I say? Either way, I need to treat it like it's the real thing. "Leaving now would draw suspicion. If he does start to make a scene though, we should leave early."

"Then we shall stay. There is also no way to contact Hagakure," Tiplee mentioned, though a glance at the boy told her that it had already been on his mind even if he did not give it as a reason. "Now, let us enjoy the Gala," she said, leaning closer to him when she saw some people look over as if interested in who the two of them were. They started towards the people, and Ojiro took in a deep breath without parting his lips far apart, preparing his cover story once again with all the tiny details he had memorized.

The Gala took place in the most fortified building in Cloud City. Although guards were not spread around the main floor of the grand hall, they could be seen by those looking out for them. Other than the security check at the door, there were guards near the glass wall on the east side of the hall. The center of that wall had opened up, all the glass panels sliding to the side to open up the exterior balcony which the extravagant party had extended out onto. The hall had large beautiful chandeliers sticking off the ceiling. The dark red and yellow colors of the Ren Empire adorned banners decorating the tops of the walls. There was even a string quartet in a corner of the room on an elevated round platform playing elegant classical music.

Ojiro looked around the grand hall, and it was the first time he had seen anything so fancy in his entire life. So this is what the rich- Two guards just on the inside of the kitchen door. He saw a waiter with an empty metal platter open the door when he was looking past the kitchen, and he spotted the guards stationed just on the other side to make sure only the staff entered that room. None at the bottom of the stairs to the next floor, so the party should extend to the upstairs. Don't see anyone going up though, so it would draw attention… of course, he watched as Azula and Yonji started making their ways up the steps side by side, not concerned at all with people noticing them. As long as there are people who want the attention, we'll be able to keep a low profile. Hagakure, be careful.

Up those same stairs, and at the edge of a hall not far from the top where a few of the highest echelon guests were greeting and speaking to each other, Toru Hagakuru came to a stop before a set of doors. They were wooden on the outside, with ornate designs on them that almost distracted from the fact that there were guards standing on either side of the hall's end right before those doors. The guards were standing still and looking down the hall towards the invisible girl who was once again holding her breath. Unlike the others in the building, she was wearing a Power Blocker, and she was using Zetsu whenever she needed to take breaths- another Nen ability she had learned from her teacher. Despite these things though, she was still nervous about being heard, or sensed by technology that her invisibility and Zetsu could not stop. Even if I don't see it, they could be wearing contacts. Hagakure reached her right hand up and she tapped on a pocket on her left wrist.

Inside the thin pocket, a man felt the tap, then he felt a second one three seconds later. They could not use earpieces, as their communications could be intercepted by the Rens' technology. Even his suit had been altered to make it less reliant on electricity, and its steel parts had been replaced by a different hard fabric that would not alert a metal detector. Only when Scott Lang, codename: Ant-Man, needed to shrink or grow in size did his suit need to draw on power. He was already at a small size though for the infiltration, so at that tap he climbed out of the pocket of Hagakure's sleeve. The eighteen year old girl, who was using her codename: Invisible Girl, for the first time in the field, got low to the ground after she had tapped on the secret pocket on her uniform. She put her sleeve against the ground, and the tiny man who snuck out of her sleeve and became visible immediately started running forward through the fibers of the carpet that lined the hallway.

Scott kept his gaze up over the top of the freshly vacuumed carpet fibers he was running through, watching the expressions of the guards who still had yet to show any sign that they noticed him. He was getting close, and he tapped a button on his chest that turned him invisible along with already being small. Fifteen seconds, he thought, while sprinting up to and past the men. They didn't notice the electrical input- hold on, Scott glanced up to his right at one of the men who put a hand to his ear over a white earpiece he had in. Both of the guards started looking around the hall, then one of them started reporting back in. "There's nothing in here."

Ten seconds. Scott ran up to the doors and he had to stop before getting on the steel ground just outside them. He looked between two carpet fibers, and the display on the inside of his helmet's red visor showed him the width of the crack. I can do that, he thought, then he took in a deep breath. Only five seconds, have to do it. He shrank down to the necessary parameters, smaller even. Then he had to sprint much faster as he was smaller than ever, but he was almost at the crack in the doors anyway.

"Again?"

"I'm telling you, there's nothing here."

One of the guards looked behind him to the small space between him and the doors. He looked around and down at the floor, right as Scott's invisibility wore off. Scott sprinted into the crack a second later, while Hagakure leaned on the wall farther back down the hall, listening in to the guards with wide eyes as one of them looked backwards. Scott froze on the inside of the crack and turned around, only to see that guard who looked towards the doors lift a hand to his ear and say, "Maybe it's the lights? You said it wasn't much, right?"

The other guard looked up as if checking if the lights were fluctuating in electrical output, and he frowned as they seemed steady to him. "Got it," he replied as the voice in his headset told them to keep on the lookout for anything something strange.

Fwew, guess I was too small for the human eye, Scott thought, then he turned and started walking through the thick steel doors. Walking from one side of them to the other was going to be a long walk, but he knew that even when he got to the other side he would not be able to grow again right away. Besides the notion that he suspected there were several more guards on the other side of the doors, he also did not want whatever blip the control room talking to those guards saw on one side of the doors to suddenly appear again on the other side. How'd they detect me though? Such small electrical outputs should be near undetectable. He thought while pushing some dust to the side to keep walking. He grimaced at the sight of a huge canyon in the ground in front of him, a few centimeters wide for the steel doors behind the ornate wooden ones to slide apart using.

Alright, here we go, wings sprouted out of Scott's back and he spread his arms out to the sides. He clenched his gloved fingers on his right hand and watched as his right wing moved, then he curled his left fist and saw the left wings lift up as well. He nodded his head then started running for the gap, before jumping up and flapping his ant wings down. Manual controls really do stink, he thought while wobbling around in the thin gap he had made himself a bit thinner than. He knew he had to be careful and not bump into the walls though, or the insides of the door as the walls really were, just in case they had weight sensors that would notice the slightest touch.

Hagakure watched the guards from her position for a few moments, then she turned and walked back out onto the second floor of the party, holding her breath as often and for as long as she could. Never know when someone who could see me looks over. Whenever she started using her Hatsu ability, Perfect Stealth, Hagakure dropped her Zetsu so as not to waste energy using several abilities at once. Already she was starting to feel the effects though of using her abilities so many times since arriving at Cloud City, but she kept herself calm by imagining some deep breathing in her head while holding it outwardly. She stayed close to the hallway where she would extract Scott from later, but she took a look around at the VIP's ahead of her near the top of the stairs.

There's Kycilia, Hagakure thought, watching as a woman dressed in military garb walked from one group of people to another few Lords who all turned and greeted her appropriately. Azula, Yonji, then a few more of the Ren Lords, Lord Shinra, Lord Black, and that's, oh that's not good. Hagakure stared closer at a man she had done research on like with all of the Lords and possible opponents she could run into in the Ren Empire. She knew all of them by heart, and the man she was looking at was one she had hoped would not show up at the party. He had not been there talking to the others in the group Kycilia walked over to when Hagakure first came up the stairs, so she figured he and his companion must have just arrived.

The man Hagakure was so cautious of had long orange hair that was longest in the two lifted spikes sticking out of the middle of his scalp before splitting a foot above him and curving down to the sides of his head. He had a circle of ornamental blades attached to his back over the white and black cloak he was wearing, but the tan-skinned man's most defining feature was a scar cutting horizontally across the center of his face, right over the bridge of his nose. He had a straight expression but the corner of his lip did curve up at something Yonji just said to the Lord of Cloud City. He chuckled darkly and added something on himself that made Yonji laugh in return, while only Rufus Shinra joined in with some light laughter.

God Serena, Hagakure thought as she stared at the man who she felt very nervous about. The intel said he was the one of the strongest people from Commander Jura's world. The Commander claimed he himself was weak in comparison. And who is that with him? I don't… Hagakure's invisible eyes opened even wider and she had to hold her breath to avoid her speeding heart rate from being heard, as well as to stop herself from gasping. Oh no. I, I've seen that face. Hagakure saw it when the woman turned a little to the side as Azula said something, and now her green hair and the accessories sticking out of her head finished the image Hagakure had half-created in her mind. It's another of the Spriggan 12! Why is she here? The Country-Demolisher!

Brandish sighed and tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling as the Lords and Ladies spoke around her. Why am I here? She thought. God Serena's an arrogant man. I should have just rejected him. Emperor Spriggan suggested I go though… Brandish lowered her head back down as the others motioned across the second floor.

Hagakure froze with her eyes wide as they turned her way, and she kept holding her breath even though she was about to release it for a second. She turned her head and then she scrambled away quickly, almost tripping over herself at the sight of the tall man walking past her. Kycilia stepped out of the circle towards the silver-haired man, a look of mild surprise on her face. Her orange hair was done up into a bun, not as fancy as Azula's but it looked to have taken some time unlike Brandish's, which she just left in its usual bob style with long bangs almost falling over her eyes. "Brother," Kycilia said as Gihren approached her. "I had an introduction ready for you-"

"No need," Lord Gihren Zabi said. His face was stern and his pose intimidating as he walked forward, a red cane in his right hand with an ornamental hawk design at the top. He wore a black military uniform like his younger sister that had golden ornamentation on the top at his shoulders and collar, and he had on red boots and a red belt over his waist. His hands were inside of white gloves, his silver-gray hair was short, and he had a protruding widow's peak cutting down on his forehead. Gihren walked towards the group who looked to be the most important of all those at the Gala. He opened his mouth to say something to them, when people down the stairs started exclaiming in voices much too loud for a Gala as exquisite and upper class as this.

Kycilia turned her head and glared down the stairs, but the shouts were not of panic or of someone making a disturbance. Gihren frowned deeper instead of maintaining a straight expression as he had walked towards the group with, but when he stepped to the stairs to look down to the first floor, he saw a large number of guests staring in the same direction in shock and awe. Most of them were smiling, and Gihren started down the stairs at something he heard someone call out down there. Kycilia got a bead of sweat on her face and started following along with everyone else on the second floor who wanted to see what the commotion was about.

Hagakure gulped before finally releasing her breath. She took a few deep ones, then she started following after everyone nervously. Don't be Ojiro. We can't make a scene here, there're too many strong- Hagakure cut her own thoughts off and her eyes opened huge at something she heard down the stairs, and it was her turn to run to them. She held her breath as she ran over to the edge of the steps and looked off, crouching down so she did not have to go too far from the second floor and could just look between the narrow posts of the railing. Oh my God, she thought.

"Prince Kouha!"

"Princess Kougyoku!"

Excited guests forgot what type of setting they were in for a moment at the sight of two of the Royal Family of the Ren Empire reaching the top of the entry's steps onto the main floor of the Gala. They stood there adorned in royal robes and covered in as much jewelry, more even, than Azula who was also staring in shock at the two of them, and then around the room at how everyone was treating them. Her eyes widened even more at the sight of the enamored looks, the smiles and calls from fans, and then she bit down and ground her teeth across each other at the treatment of the Ren Princess compared to how she was treated back when she was a Princess herself. It was that bastard Sozin's fault. The people would have loved me, if he would have just treated me more like… Just, damn it!

Yonji spotted his wife's furious expression, and he tried to keep himself from smirking. He looked over towards Kougyoku though and had to try harder not to get a nosebleed at the sight of the gorgeous Princess.

Tiplee stared towards the top of the first flight of stairs with a look of surprise on her face, which went away after a second as she started figuring out what to do about this turn of events. She spotted the boy next to her still staring over in shock though. Either he is not focusing, or he is doing a good job of making it look like he is just another shocked party-goer.

Now that's a, Princess, he thought, before finally closing his mouth and shaking his head of the thought. Calm down. Even though, this is like a fantasy world you're living in, you're in the middle of a mission! He shouted the reminder at himself. Princesses are real, even on my world. I've known that already… but, knowing it, and seeing a real Princess up close- alright that's enough. Ojiro smiled a little and thought, Kougyoku will easily take all attention away from us for the rest of the night. And Lord Kycilia looked surprised for a second there too, he thought, having caught a glimpse of her back on the stairs where she had frozen at first sight of the Royal Family members.

Lord Gihren silenced all the loud guests at once as he began in a loud but reverent voice, "My Prince, Princess." He looked to each of them then back to Kouha as he continued, "I did not know you would be coming."

Kycilia walked up to her brother's side, as it was her city and she could not just let him be the one to greet the young Rens. "I had invitations sent out to the Royal Family, but I had not received notice of a reply."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Kouha said. The short Prince wore a green hat on his head and had long hot pink hair like his half-sister, though his was even longer going down to the backs of his knees. He chuckled and added, "Didn't know if we would be coming ourselves. Kind of a last minute decision sort of thing."

"But we are happy you invited us," Kougyoku said with a bright smile, then she bowed her head a little to the orange-haired woman who bowed much farther in response.

"The honor is all mine, Princess. I am pleased you were able to grace us with your presences," Kycilia unbent and then motioned welcomingly with her left arm towards the main hall and the outer balcony where the guests were gathered, even if they had all stopped the party to stare at the Royal Family. The two Royals turned and started off that way, and then Kycilia snapped her fingers towards the kitchen where some of the staff were confused at what was going on. The head chef, head waiter, and a few of the Gala's organizers who saw Kycilia's snapping started rushing around. Tables were ran out, the quartet skipped to their final song as there was no need to wait for more guests to arrive, as the others who showed up would all be less important now. Trays of food came out right after buffet tables had been set up on the walls, then more tables started getting brought out and put on a section of the floor where less people were standing to set up for dinner.

A procession of servants, advisors, and soldiers who were at the bottom of the stairs closer to the security checkpoint had to move to the sides as there were still some guests making their ways inside, even though the Gala had technically started over fifteen minutes ago, and this was not the type of function to arrive late to. Tsezguerra sent many of the outside security and other guards who had escorted the Royal Family to the palace to take the group away, including Koubun Ka. The Princess's advisor made an argument to go upstairs after the Princess, but Tsezguerra had to put his foot down somewhere. Even if he had allowed the Royal Family's entire procession through the doors, the head guard could not just let all these people go wandering through the palace, especially considering the number of servants that were with them.

Koubun Ka muttered angrily as he was led away, then Tsezguerra spun to the guard who had led the group there in the first place and grabbed the soldier by the front of his uniform. "Where was the warning?" He snapped at the soldier.

"They didn't land at one of the parking platforms," the guard said in a rushed, nervous voice. "They landed right at the other side of the bridge, came out of nowhere. Their ship was invisible and just plopped down, and when we freaked out and ran towards it, the Prince just jumped out and told us to calm down." The guard looked frantic as he was being blamed for this, and he really hoped Kycilia did not feel the same way as Tsezguerra did. "Then they just started heading this way, and I chased after to try and make sure it was really them-"

"Well it was," Tsezguerra said, as he had been forced to check it out for himself too, as much as he wanted to just move out of the way and let them pass. He figured that would have looked even worse to his own Lord, but he grimaced that he had not been given the time to properly prepare the Zabi for the Royal Family's sudden arrival. Hopefully Kycilia understands.

Someone is going to die for this, Kycilia thought as she watched the Royal Family head over to the appetizer bar and start looking at all the fine treats made for the Gala.

Gihren stepped next to Kycilia as he saw where she was glaring, and he began without turning to his sister, both of them staring towards the Prince and Princess, "If you were not warned of their coming, it must be the new advancements we have made in the past week." Kycilia looked in at her brother in confusion, and he continued, "The newest ships out of the capital have much better stealth technology than the now-outdated defenses of your city can detect. We have made these newest ships undetectable, so, next we will have to upgrade our defenses to be able to detect, the undetectable."

"Hmph, I thought that's what you said the last ones could do," Kycilia remarked.

"There is always room for improvement," Gihren said.

She frowned for a few seconds, then she questioned, "How long until that stealth technology reaches Cloud City?"

"Your city, so close to the border?" Gihren asked, and Kycilia's gaze narrowed as she stared out into the crowd again. "As long as the Ren Empire keeps technological superiority, we can stand against the likes of Alvarez, the Black Witch, and the Resistance. You know it is too dangerous to keep such military secrets here."

"Of course, brother," Kycilia responded, choosing not to argue with him over the point. Hagakure sweatdropped from where she was crouched and invisible behind the Zabi leader who had no idea how right he was.

Tiplee turned to Ojiro as they walked towards the area covered in long tables, "Did you try the tomato and cheese plate? It was exquisite."

"I'll, have to try some of it," Ojiro said, though his gaze was focused on the tables they were heading towards. He saw servants setting up long beautiful tablecloths, placing fine silverware around plates, and smaller bowls and plates next to those. They were heading over because some other people started doing the same, and because the more people who sat down, the more tables were brought out anyway. The string quartet had finished, and instead there was a stage area being set up in the middle of the side wall. Ojiro noticed a thin crack in that wall as he stared at it, and he steadied his expression for a moment before relaxing himself again. Here we go. The mission's top priority. Our primary objective is right in front of us.

Tiplee's fin-like ears twitched again as Ojiro pointed at a table he thought they should go to. She heard a few of the nearby guards speaking in hushed voices about the sudden surprise arrivals and thought, Better stealth technology? Is it as good as the Resistance's? Unfortunately Scott won't be able to find anything on it here for us to take back. Gihren's too smart a man. He knows infiltrations happen more often close to the border. I don't like the current situation though. Too many high-profile people showed up. More than expected. This should have been handled by a different team. As far as non-combat missions go, this is just about as intense as it can get. At this point however, there is no time to think about how a Squad should have taken this mission. Hagakure, Ojiro, show me what you can do. Ant-Man, get those blueprints.

Upstairs two floors, Scott Lang leaned his back up against a wall he had finally sprinted to. He was panting heavily behind the mask of his costume, and he slouched and put his hands down on his knees. He glanced behind him at the plug socket he was standing beneath, glancing at the half-inserted plug in it that looked so huge that if it fell while he was this size he felt like he would be squashed. Scott stopped panting as hard and he stepped closer up to the outlet. I can't stay this small forever. Here we go, he brought himself back up to a size about that of an ant, just a little bigger. If anyone checks behind here, they'll see the plug and suspect- oh crap, Scott dove to his left and rolled under the shelf turned diagonally against the corner of the room with a television on top of it. He lay flat beneath the shelf and looked to his side as a light flashed down where he was just standing.

"Did the plug come loose?"

That was so quick! Scott was panting again but this time in fear from how quickly someone came to check on him. At least the plug idea worked. The light moved away and Scott saw an arm reach around the shelf, then he shimmied around on his stomach to stay beneath it as the guy reaching around started sliding the shelf to give himself some more room. His arms were too muscular and would not fit otherwise, and Scott did not like the look of the man's rough red bumpy skin.

Scott walked under the shelf to the front of it right as the guard was standing back straight up. Whoa, Scott thought at the sight of the guy. Where'd he come from? I didn't see him downstairs, or in here when I first showed up. Guess the guards around the palace are stronger than normal ones. Or maybe they just don't want scary guys like this too close to the Gala.

The red-skinned, four-armed, Tetramand had an intimidating build. He was over ten feet tall, had spikes coming out of his red arms, and his body was wrapped in a tight black armor that cut off at the shoulders but covered up his whole torso and legs. He had a black stripe going up the center of his red face, and he had four yellow eyes, two on either side of the black stripe. The Tetramand reached a hand up to his right ear and said, "It was nothing."

Scott waited a few seconds and he watched the reaction of the alien to something just said to him over their comms. Alright, whoever's telling the guards I'm showing up as blips on their sensors, is definitely catching on, he thought nervously, as the guard darted his eyes to the side while pretending to keep staring straight ahead. Although he did not turn his head different directions so as to keep whatever invisible enemy was moving around their fortress from knowing they were catching on, the Tetramand was facing the enemy he was looking for who spotted those eye movements. This is going to affect Invisible Girl too. They're looking out for us now. Wish I could tell her to be careful.

The Tetramand started walking away, and Scott hurried out from hiding and moved fast towards his destination. His legs were a little longer now, but he knew he was more noticeable too and he had to use the furniture and shadows to move around. Only cloak if necessary. A few more times of making blips show up, and they'll figure out where I'm headed for sure. I need to get there and get the plans, and get out before the Gala is finished. Come on, almost there.

On the staircase between the first and second main floors of the palace, the only two floors being used for the Gala, Toru Hagakure stared towards the dining area through a gap between two posts of the staircase's railing. You sure look to be enjoying this, she thought, a pout forming on her face as she stared at the thick-tailed boy reaching out to grab another pre-cracked lobster claw from the platter in front of him. The tables were lined in delicious-looking dishes, and Hagakure wished she had had something more than the energy bar she ate before starting the mission. It gave her all the calories and nutrients she needed, but watching the kind of meal Ojiro and Tiplee were eating, she could not help but feel jealous.

She took in a deep breath and let one out, then she breathed in again before shifting her gaze to the top of the stairs and the bottom. Every time she let out her breath, she prepared for guards to start coming for her. The last thing she wanted was to be focused out over the main hall, only to feel the barrel of a gun up against the back of her head. I'm on my own if that happens. I can't risk compromising anyone, and we don't have comms. It's up to me, to protect me here.

"So I told High Lord Aizen: 'If you want me to perform the spell, I'll need something in return.' And it just so happens, the 10th Espada had been killed the day before. Now, I'm not saying I knew this before I made my offer, heh, but I wouldn't deny it either."

"Then it really is, Lord Malchior now? I'm surprised, you evil dragon you. I never thought you would leave the Magic Kingdom to join the rest of us in the real world."

Tiplee and Ojiro could not stop themselves from turning left to stare at these two as they continued. It was not a strange thing to do though, as everyone else at the table had started staring at the men who looked like wizards, considering the black robes and the pointy hat that one was wearing. Lord Malchior's entire body on the other hand was wrapped in bandages, giving him the appearance of a mummy, but what his acquaintance in the pointy hat just said had everyone looking at him hesitantly.

This guy's a dragon?! Ojiro thought, while staring with wide eyes. An, evil dragon, he reminded himself of the other wizard's phrasing.

A woman with long blonde hair walked through the middle of the hall towards the stage. She held in her right hand a large black case in the shape of an instrument that got many people turning and looking towards her with interest. Emma Coolidge needed to keep her expression calm despite the powerful people she was walking past. She could not hear the murmuring of those people around her though. Emma walked slowly through the room and to the stage but stopped instead of getting up on it. A chair was brought out in front of the stage and placed down for her. No music stand was needed. No sheet music.

She removed her cello from the case and turned around to sit on the chair and face the room. She did not focus on the people around her though. Emma's eyes only glanced nervously for a second towards the Royals who had also looked her way in interest when she walked across the floor. Emma lifted up the bow, and she rested her cello back against her in a ready position.

Emma was deaf. She had been given her signal by Lord Kycilia and took her seat. She put the bow string to the strings of the cello, and she could see the colors radiating off from them touching. Emma Coolidge could see the world differently with her Enhanced Synesthesia power. And so as she started to play the instrument, her hands moved not to play any music that she had read before, but just to create the beautiful colors that flowed from her cello and that only she could see. She was the only one who could see them, but she knew that everyone around her could sense something amazing as well but with their ears as they listened to her melody.

More plates were brought out as Emma began to play the background music of their dinner. They were not brought to the buffet or as shared dishes this time. These plates were brought straight to each individual guest and placed before them. One of the waiters moving around the tables placed his last dish then glanced anxiously at the blond-haired teenager sitting at the next seat down who looked up at him wondering what the issue was. Ojiro kept his expression calm despite this waiter leaning towards him. "Apologies, sir. The main course takes quite a while to prepare, and the sudden arrival of the Prince and Princess caught the kitchen off guard. I am so sorry for this inconvenience."

Ojiro sweatdropped. Do I appear like the most un-intimidating guy in this room that they picked me to get my food late? Guess I'll prove them right for that decision. He nodded slowly back at the waiter, looking a bit annoyed but also like he did not want to say anything which could draw attention to him. He smiled and waved it off, assuring the man, "I'll be good with the shared plates for now." There's no way they could make Kouha and Kougyoku wait. They should have made extra plates though. Maybe they did, and they're just saving those just in case someone more important needs another plate- Why is this annoying me?

Ojiro questioned his own insecurity over being treated as a less important guest at this function. That's a good thing! Come on, it just means our disguises were good enough to get us in here but not too much that we'd come off as important. That was the intended function. Efficient- "Oi," Ojiro said while looking at his date sitting across from him who gave him a playful smirk at how she had gotten her dinner placed right before her.

"Tough luck there, kiddo. Don't worry about it. Think of it like this: the Princess might be eating your meal right now. Pretty crazy, huh?" Ojiro got nudged a few times in the side by this older man's elbow, and he grimaced as apparently not getting his plate had really made him appear un-intimidating to everyone else around them too. A few others chuckled at the joke at Ojiro's expense, but they all quickly got back to their own conversations and meals.

Emma's song started drawing people in to stop what they were doing and watch her instead. Her music sounded amazing. Ojiro and Tiplee even found themselves mesmerized by her beautiful voice. Hagakure struggled to ignore it and focus on her mission, as she did not want to release a breath right now while so close to two of Kycilia's subordinates up on the second floor. They were at the edge of the hall that overlooked the main ball room just on the inside of the railing. The two of them were looking over it while Invisible Girl stayed crouched and looking between the bars at the show down below.

A podium emerged from the stage behind Emma that Kycilia prepared herself to get up behind. She waited though for Emma to reach the climax of her piece and then end it before walking up there. "Thank you, Emma. That was a beautiful performance," Kycilia told the musician who had glanced backwards as Kycilia stood on the stage. Everyone around the ballroom clapped for her, and Kougyoku even stood up from her seat while clapping in a way that made others do the same for the standing ovation. When Emma looked back though, Kycilia gave her thanks vocally while also signing the words to her deaf musician. Others around the room stared in even more awe at the realization if they had not noticed already that she was deaf.

Like Beethoven, Ojiro thought in wonder at the talented cellist.

"Now everyone, I hope you are enjoying your dinner. While you eat, please feel free to just sit back and enjoy, or take part in the auction. Carmen will start it off for me. I will return for the main event when dessert is brought out to personally reveal the three main pieces of tonight's auction. Those pieces are a surprise, so you may wish to wait and see…"

Kycilia held out her right arm to welcome her subordinate adorned in a sultry red dress and stylish red hat up to the stage. As she welcomed Carmen onto the stage to begin the auction, her gaze shifted back towards her elder brother who had continued a conversation with the young Prince next to him. Kouha's expression had shifted and became more serious around Gihren than the youngest Ren Prince was known to act. That table with the Spriggans, Ren family, and her older brother, was clearly the most important table in the room.

Gihren's close relationship with Kouen makes him even more untouchable than he was on our world. I believed I had a chance to one day rule if he got out of control, but on this world it is unthinkable to turn on him. Gihren made his alliances wisely… Kycilia moved out of the way for Carmen Sandiego, the auctioneer who definitely was not planning on stealing the auction's items from the Ren Empire. The Lord of the city allowed the younger woman with very believable fake credentials to take charge of the auction for now, and Kycilia made back for that most important table herself where she belonged as the hostess of this event. A nagging doubt forced its way into her head though, Would I be sitting with them at any other venue?

The auction's begun. We've made it through so far. That Barry cyborg is still a danger, Tiplee kept their threat in view while watching Carmen introduce the first items up for auction. The next most dangerous part is up soon. The guards at the front didn't think we have much money. It may be suspicious when we reveal our apparent wealth. The money is legitimate though. Funding our enemies isn't great, but the price will be worth it. We aren't actually stealing from them. The only real danger here is our secondary objective getting discovered. Ant-Man, get in and out as quick as possible. We'll be leaving very soon now.

The auction began with various art pieces, jewelry of deceased foreign royalty, and detailed schematics/blueprints to various powerful weapons and tools from renowned architects and weapons' masters up for sale. Each piece seemed more impressive than they last. This was a high-scale event that was not going to have any worthless items for sale, after all.

While the auction's early items were being bet on, Scott Lang reached his destination and carefully moved into the vault-like room that the master thief knew was a dangerous place to be in. Their intel gave him the room's location and what they knew to be in there. Now it was up to him to find it. Ant-Man swung his arms down at his sides and used the manual controls on his suit's wings to raise up and get a better angle over the room.

That's a lot of file cabinets to search through, Scott stared at the wall in front of him that was lined in cabinets all looking pretty normal. If this room did not have glowing blue walls with a white grid pattern across them that looked super high-tech, it would probably look more like an administrative filing room of a boring office building. There was a desk in the middle of the room with no one sitting on the chair behind it. There was a computer on that desk and a printer next to it, but the computer looked oddly low-tech for such a state-of-the-art vault. Luckily they have labels. He flew across the room and read the penned-on label stickers on each of the file drawers.

Scott appreciated the kind of low-tech security he was seeing that allowed him to do more without making any electrical signals that would alert his hosts that he was in here. Whatever sensors were in the room too did not pick up on the man smaller than an insect who had slipped through their defenses. He knew that if the scanners could pick up on him, then they would always be constantly going off with false alarms since he got in just as easily as any microscopic bed bug could. It's a good thing the Rens are as suspicious of their northern Terminus neighbors as they are of us. All their security measures half-rely on physical copies rather than risk all their most vital information being stored digitally.

Can't open any of these drawers. That's sure to set off the alarms. This one looks promising. The label read "Bau-Cre." From 'Bau' to 'Cre.' Real good chance it's in here. The cracks are air-tight. I'd have to shrink more. Can't do it. That key hole though…

Hagakure Toru gazed carefully down towards the main table where the most important VIP's were seated. She listened closely to the two men on her left side as they looked down at that table as well instead of watching the auction with the rest of the guests. The men were adorned in full military garb. They were soldiers of Cloud City and the Zabi regime in charge. The two had the same kinds of uniforms as Gihren and Kycilia which were different from the regular guards and soldiers of the city. They were clearly officers, but Hagakure leaned closer when she heard the two speaking as if they had come from Kycilia's world too.

M'Quve humphed and lifted his head back more while shifting his gaze over to a strange guest in a red tracksuit who just bid another large sum of money on another of the weapons up for sale. He responded to the man on his side without looking at him, "Your loyalty to our Lord is as unwavering as ever. Your infatuation with her followed you to this world as well."

"She is a brilliant commander," Johnny Ridden responded. He did not react to M'Quve's words in a damning way but instead countered candidly, "Lord Kycilia is a brilliant commander. She has my respect to the end of time, and space." The handsome blond-haired fighter pilot added, "But our relationship is solely professional."

"Hmm," M'Quve hummed, wondering to himself if he believed that. Hagakure felt a bit anxious listening to the two of them who her eyes darted back up at for a moment. She looked closely at the pins and medals on their military uniforms. The man closer to her who appeared a bit older and had longer blue hair had the higher ranking based on what she could see. The younger blond who was on M'Quve's other side was decorated in more medals of honor than his comrade despite that though. She recognized the two of them anyway from information reports, but she was still nervous to be around Kycilia's ace pilot and her top general.

"Up for auction tonight, can I expect any Kryptonite in those final three pieces?" Johnny wondered in a lower tone to his comrade on his right side. He kept his smile on his face but looked on with interest towards the stage that even he did not know all of what might appear up there tonight.

"The deposit my men found in the Orichalcum mines was the only one we have located thus far. Such a rare and priceless material is not for sale. It makes Cloud City strong against one of our greatest threats." M'Quve paused and did a short clap of his hands as a bidding war ended with a very pricey result that had even the table of Royalty looking impressed by how far some of the guests had been willing to go. M'Quve continued to his comrade who he lifted his right palm up in front of, "Besides, we are still learning a lot about it. Those who faced long-term exposure have suffered serious mutations. For a few however, the results have been, different." M'Quve smirked at the mysterious way in which he described it that had Hagakure mentally groaning but Johnny just glancing in with even more intrigue now. M'Quve was not elaborating on it though, instead refocusing on what was going on below which made Invisible Girl refocus herself rather than try to keep eavesdropping.

She stared down through the beams and towards Kycilia whose men sounded like loyalists to her rather than to the greater Zabi who controlled the region or the Ren whose Empire they floated within. Hagakure noted that information but put it aside while staring down towards the Ren themselves who had shown up here despite not being on the guest list they had seen a rough draft of before the mission took place. Her invisible eyes shifted from Kougyoku over to Kouha and then back to the beautiful princess who did not appear much older than her.

They're so powerful, Hagakure thought anxiously. The Spriggans are treating them with respect. Those monsters- Hagakure cut her thoughts short. Don't. Don't let it get personal now. Focus. Zeref and his Spriggans may have been the ones who changed the tide of the battle that day, but they were not alone. The Ren Empire were there en-masse. They burned Marzipan. With the Fire Nation too… If the Fire Nation can fall, so can any of them. This alliance is one of the strongest. Alvarez and the Ren. The alliance that broke the front lines in the Second War of the Gods. And the Ren are so powerful, because of their Djinn equip weapons.

We know a lot about the Ren. More than we do about most of our enemies. The Ren Empire existed on the same world as Leam though. The reason those nations can exist on this world too is because of the amount of strength the Djinn equip weapons give their users. Their 'King' and 'Queen' vessels. Hagakure stared closely down at the Princess on the floor below her. From the information King Titus produced for the Resistance, the Ren Empire was considered by many as the strongest empire back on his world too. Djinn equips. Weapons of massive amounts of power. Enough to rule a country. Enough, to keep a country in check. And without those weapons… Calm down. Calm down! That's not your mission. That isn't… Hagakure's eyes shifted up Kougyoku's pretty face to her hair, and specifically to a golden hairpin holding up the stylized cut she had gotten for the event.

A lump went up and down in Hagakure's throat at what she was considering. Djinn equip weapons. Captured from dungeons… Could I steal one? I- I could cripple our enemy's fighting strength! Oh my God. I wasn't even thinking about it. I could do it though. It's small enough that I could slip away with it. Hide it under a sleeve and make it disappear if possible! Would it glow if she wanted it to? Could she call it back to herself? Track it?! I'd be risking the rest of the mission by adding another objective. But, if we knew they would be here, would a different team have been sent with this objective instead? Oh, I don't know. I don't know!

Hagakure wished she had more time to deliberate her options here. But Kycilia stood up and started for the stage where the Latina woman in a red dress moved aside and held her arm out to welcome the hostess back up there. As Carmen Sandiego walked off the stage, Ojiro and Tiplee prepared themselves.

Barry Dylan sat back down himself and leaned back while facing the wrong way on his chair though towards the stage with his legs straddling the back of his seat. Those around him had been stunned by the amount of money he already put into this auction. The way he was looking so excitedly towards the stage suggested he was not done with his bidding yet though.

Desserts were brought out as Carmen finished the first part of the auction. Some people became more interested in the delicious foods brought out for them again. Most were too intrigued though at what the three main attractions of the auction could be considering how amazing some of the "regular" ones were leading up to this. Kycilia stepped up and described the gourmet dessert that had just been brought out to them. Each plate had been precisely garnished for enhanced presentation. She described it in great detail, almost as if intentionally holding the guests more focused on the auction in suspense as she detailed the dessert then thanked the master chefs for preparing it and for all the food thus far in the night.

Finally, she moved onto the main event. "Now, esteemed guests, I would like to begin with the first of the three most valuable items on our docket for this evening's auction. Each are worth over a thousand times their weight in gold." Kycilia turned sideways from the podium and then turned her head so the back of it was to her guests. She looked back through the wall that had opened up to a wider stage. A panel in the middle of that stage opened up as well and a sharp blade started to protrude from the floor.

The weapon's tip was sharpened on both sides. The steel was silver on the point and the edges of the blade, but as the weapon continued to rise everyone could see the blue color of the middle of the weapon where the blade got wider. In the exact center of the weapon the blue traded with gold that shone as the light hit it in just the right way when the blade rose high enough over the stage. "…Research on the weapon has led them to call this the Caladbolg. But it is known by many names, in many realms where people have heard of it…" Kycilia continued to the more amazed guests who heard that knowledge of this weapon transcended universal boundaries.

The blade's edge curved out then cut back in with a barbed edge on one side. It continued to rise and revealed a much longer barb on the other side, just before the golden guard of the long blade taller than Kycilia herself even. The diamond-blue shading of the lower part of the blade switched with gold for the guard but then became blue again for the hilt itself, at least to the golden knob at the bottom of the hilt to prevent hands from sliding off the grip while in use. Once that knob lifted over the surface of the stage, the whole weapon was visible at once and turned slowly in the air to present itself to the guests staring at the strange blade. Kycilia kept talking while everyone examined the weapon, "…In some worlds it is known as the Atma Weapon, but in others… most others, in fact, it is known as the Ultima Weapon."

"Oooh," Kouha leaned in and cocked his head to the side while examining the blade closely. He turned his head to the side though and glanced at the long hilt sticking out over his shoulder. His blade was still strapped to his back even as he was seated and eating. No one was going to tell the Prince of the Empire to remove his weapon before entering. "Don't be jealous, Leraje. I'm not even thinking about it. Just admiring a cool weapon."

The Djinn he was talking to humphed in his head but then looked towards the blade herself. The powerful creature inside of Kouha Ren's weapon wondered to her King Vessel, "Do you feel its power?"

"Huh?" Kouha wondered. He stared back towards the blade closely and tried to feel whatever it was that Leraje could feel. He shrugged his shoulders after a couple of seconds though. "Nope, not a thing."

God Serena rose an eyebrow while looking back across the table at the young Prince talking to his sword. He darted a look to his side at Brandish with a smirk on his face but she did not even care for a look back at what God Serena was referring to. She still looked bored as she stared at the weapon that she doubted was as powerful as Kycilia was making it out to be.

Not everyone in the room were as unimpressed as the Country Demolisher though. Many had already started darting suspicious and competitive glares around at the people near them. Azula put a hand up to her chest and twiddled her fingers around her capsule that concealed her wealth within it. She glanced to her side at Yonji where they sat at the table just next to the Ren siblings who Azula had been able to speak to by being so close, even if that head table itself had seemed a bit full when they were all finding seats. "You have been working on your swordsmanship, haven't you, dear husband?" Azula wondered while her eyes magnetized back onto the blade she licked her lips at the sight of.

"I bet I could chop a lightning bolt into a hundred pieces with it," Yonji replied to her. The two of them smirked in joint imagination of Komei's face split in half on the floor in front of them while they laughed maniacally over it.

"…Ooh hoo, Robo-Barry. Now that's the kind of thing you-know-who has been looking for." Barry leaned forward into his seat and smirked while his eyes scanned the room and notified him of several different people who all looked interested in the weapon. Projections for how much he might need to spend popped up in his HUD, and he chuckled to himself though shifted a look for a second to the old Princess of the Fire Nation whose wealth was more of an unknown to his systems than the people who had numbers popping up next to their faces in his red-tinted vision.

Carmen Sandiego watched out the corner of her eyes while she stepped around the edge of the room where no one was looking now as Lord Kycilia continued talking about the crazy powerful weapon on the docket. Just a little further to the service stairwell. Kycilia's facing this direction. Next time she looks back at- no, that man up on the balcony. Johnny Ridden. I just saw him dart his gaze this way. Stay still for now and watch the auction. Let him believe that he just imagined whatever suspicious movement he noticed. Relax.

Let's see. "Cloud City power station records." Could be useful, but no. "Blueprints for Clown's Anti-Air Defense System 7.3-" Way out of date. Could it be under "Schematics" as the first word- Wait! Scott Lang lifted up a file he looked at with his eyes opening wide behind his mask. This is it. "Cloud City Blueprints." Quick look inside… A smirk covered Ant-Man's face. Jackpot!

Electricity-free camera don't fail me now. Ant-Man pulled out the disposable camera he still felt anxious about using even knowing that it should not set off any alarms when he snapped photos with it. So much in here I could take pictures of. So much I should snap- if I had the time. I don't know how far along they are down there. This is the secondary objective. Don't forget that! Scott took in a deep breath and just stashed his camera once he finished getting what he came for. I need to get back down there fast. If I miss the initial extraction time, Invisible Girl can't wait for me. I'll have to move for the Secondary Rendezvous.

Scott spun and jumped up in the air, using his manual-controlled wings to get him back to the inside of the locking mechanism for the drawer he was in. I need to get down there fast! They might have finished the primary objective already.

Please move this along quicker, Ojiro thought frustratedly towards Kycilia who had not yet started the bidding for the first of the three most prized items on the docket.

"…discovered in one of the dungeons on this world rumored to house only the most powerful and magical items that the Gods brought here as challenges to their creations." Though the sword responds to the power of its holder, Kycilia thought to herself. In a weakling's hands it will still be weak, but in someone powerful's hands it really will be a force not to be trifled with. "This particular weapon was exhumed from a collapsed dungeon where several dungeon-capturers' bodies were unearthed with it. It was the one who discovered their bodies who obtained the item they had surely been searching for. The treasure I now put up for auction…"

Everyone readied themselves as Kycilia finished the weapon's introduction. "The bidding will start at 3 million dollars."

"Ten million."

"Twelve-"

"Do I hear thirteen?"

"Fifteen."

"Sixteen."

"Twenty million!"

Ojiro's jaw dropped then he shut it fast and held his tongue while leaning back in his seat in a more casual manner. Shit. I reacted before I could stop myself. I'm going to be betting this much at least if they consider our target as even more expensive. I just hope that she's the second one up on the docket of these three. If they save her for last? Ojiro gulped imagining just how high the bidding was going to get. We'll be able to outbid anyone though. So I need to keep a cool head and look like my reaction was for something else.

"Imagine betting so much on a weapon like that?" Ojiro remarked across the table to his "girlfriend" who glanced back at him and rose her eyebrows. Ojiro sounded like he was bragging about how he considered this weapon as weak and not worth the payment. Tiplee thought hesitantly to herself though at the boy's attempt, Calling it "so much" is still a problem. I know you are doing your best though. A few of those around us will now be less surprised when you come out talking about her worth in comparison to everything else. How much she is worth to us. But, it's still bad that you said 'so much' right there. It removes some paths of conversation later on if you consider that to be a large amount. "I don't even know what kind of powers it would give…" Ojiro trailed off and rose his eyebrows in surprise, even managing an interested but condescending scoff at the shout of '40 million' that made everyone else around him look over towards the Princess of the Fire Nation themselves.

"Forty five million," a calmer voice called out while the man looked towards Azula for a second.

Azula darted her glare back at the man in the red tracksuit who had already bought up several powerful weapons and secret blueprints before this. "Fifty million," she snapped back his way with a cocky look. He can't have that much more than-

"Sixty million," Barry Dylan called out while tilting his head back and cracking a huge smile over his face.

The bidding war had dwindled down to just the two of them now. Most people who looked amazed towards Azula when she called out 40, raising it quickly from the 31 million it had just been at and pushing out a lot of the competitors, gawked in way more shock that this random guy in a tracksuit could bet 60 million dollars. Most were baffled that he even would bet that much without a demonstration of the sword's power or any proof that its background was legitimate.

"70 million dollars," Azula announced. "And let that be the end of-"

"100 million," Barry called out before Azula could finish.

Yonji grabbed his wife by the arm. He snapped his eyes onto her infuriated ones. Azula looked like she might burst into flames as her anger overpowered her shock in an instant. The sword is not worth that much, babe! If we cannot pay our mercenaries we will lose all our power. Fuck the sword! Listen to my thoughts, Azula. Read my lips! 'No,' he mouthed at her with a worried look in his eyes that she would ignore him and bet a ridiculous amount of money that they really did not need to spend on such a weapon.

Azula ground her teeth in frustration that she was outbid on the weapon she had been waiting for throughout the auction. A powerful weapon that could put them back on top in the running for successor to the Fire Nation in south-central Aebrith. I want that sword. I can hunt down this Barry Dylan person afterwards. Azula had heard his name announced several times when he won bidding on different items and Carmen called his name out for his victories. Azula calmed herself down but continued to glare darkly towards the casually-dressed man whose bidding just annoyed several of the most powerful people in the room.

"Who is that man?" Kougyoku wondered to her side and at Lord Gihren who she figured would know.

Gihren Zabi hummed to himself but shook his head in response to the Princess. His eyes narrowed on his sister though while he responded aloud in a respectful tone to Kouen's younger sister that he was unsure. Kycilia. This is a high class venue. Profits aside, that man is a part of this continent's underworld. This was the danger you invited into your venue by allowing in the lower masses.

"100 million. Do I hear 110? Anyone?" Kycilia only lingered her gaze on Azula for a moment before looking around the rest of the room for a potential buyer. "Going once. Going twice. Sold. The Ultima Weapon has been won by Barry Dylan, for a price of $100,000,000."

Everyone clapped for the high price and purchase. Barry stood up and did an over-exaggerated bow before looking back up and smirking at the weapon that lowered back into the stage and below the floor where the rest of his purchased weapons were waiting for him. He took his seat and cracked his neck to either side. Now I'm over-budget. Hope Blood Mask doesn't get too mad about it! Barry relaxed as he decided to stop purchasing anything else now that he had gone over what he was supposed to.

"I heard Kycilia mention him when he was buying all those weapons during the earlier bidding," Yonji leaned forward and whispered into his wife's ear. They had been sitting right next to Kycilia's seat facing the other way as theirs at the table behind them. Yonji had heard the Lord give an explanation to the Spriggans who had wondered if Barry would be able to pay for all of this. "His bank account doesn't just seem limitless. Whoever that Barry works for, who he really works for, has more money in their account in the Central Aebrith Bank than in our treasure capsule. That's just in their legitimate account too."

In the CAB? Azula wondered in a more frustrated way. I suspected illegitimate methods of obtaining their wealth. They must have front-men though and real businesses- maybe the Peacock Queen? Using her casinos could explain away billions in wealth. Her casinos always annoyed Octavius. He claimed to my great-grandfather that they were avoiding taxes and assisting the underworlds. I doubt this is her, but if she herself was only a front woman for someone more sinister… Hunting down that Barry without a stronger alliance may not be the smartest idea. I need more information first! Damn it…

Yonji leaned away from Azula when he saw his wife thinking more deeply on her infuriated decision to hunt down and steal from that Barry figure. He thought too after giving her the info, Don't want to lose our special forces mercenaries from lack of wealth or from throwing their lives away sending them after Tharmen or Umbrella bastards. Who knows who that guy's really working for? The CAB is directly run out of the Capital though. The whole continent trusts their money's safe in there, and they aren't wrong to. Backed by all Co-op leadership. The wealth of that man, likely an arms' dealer based on what he's buying up, is secure.

Ruining the auction, Kycilia thought darkly as she moved on from the first item. If he rudely purchases up the last two items just because he can, I'll have him executed. Do not make me look bad in front of the Royals.

"A-hem," Kycilia cleared her throat then continued to get on with the auction. "For the second item on our 'priceless' docket for this evening's auction, we have for sale one Dilithium crystal."

Clifford DeVoe stopped talking to his wife over the delicious desserts they were enjoying. He had ignored most of the earlier auction and only gained interest near the end of the Ultima's bidding when he and his wife shared a laugh over Barry's overpayment for the weapon that only had rumored greatness. DeVoe looked over in much more interest though as something rose up over the stage that he knew about and even opened his eyes wider when he saw that Kycilia was correct in what she had announced.

DAMN IT! Azula was still bubbling with rage but only grit her teeth in more anger as she did not see another weapon to bid on but some strange crystal, leaving her only one more chance to use her wealth to get something amazing out of this auction. If the guards protecting the treasury weren't such weaklings, the greatest riches of the Fire Nation would have still been there. Those damn cat burglars on the surveillance feeds will pay one day. Azula did not know exactly who had robbed the treasury during the battle in Pyraxas, but she had witnessed both Cat Burglar Nami and Catwoman stealing some of the riches that she had intended to steal herself but was too late to the heist that both of those other women had already stolen their fills.

I could have outbid anyone with all of- Azula's jaw dropped and she turned her head as did Yonji to look at an older man and his wife sitting at the same table.

Kycilia had been talking about the piece that just rose up over the stage for auction. She froze though as the man just called out his incredible first bid before she could even finish speaking. Kycilia frowned deeply at the interruption but kept her composure as she looked towards DeVoe. "Two hundred million right off the bat? I imagine that is because Mr. DeVoe already knows what the Dilithium crystals were used for in the universe that they were initially from. These crystals were used for faster-than-light travel in starships."

"What need would we have for faster-than-light travel while stuck on this world?" DeVoe wondered towards Kycilia who frowned at his interruption again though she did look a bit confused as the man apparently knew what they were for but was still scoffing at the idea of using them for such things. "Even close to light speed travel would give one the ability to travel anywhere in this world in under a second." The Thinker lifted up his right palm and continued, "No, the Dilithium crystal would be pivotal to my experiments in stabilizing energy reactions well beyond the purposes of moving faster than light which has no practical use while we are stuck on Nexus. In my possession however, perhaps we would not be stuck on this world any longer."

DeVoe's final sentence there made everyone in the room looking towards him feel their heart rates speed up. The kind of thing he was suggesting was unheard of, and yet they felt even more unnerved at the way he looked up towards the ceiling and smirked as if looking at the Gods whose barrier he was threatening to escape from. The Thinker glanced down at his wife who smiled brightly at him for such a wonderful and ambitious goal.

"Haha- Hahaha! That sounds amazing!" God Serena burst out laughing after his initial astonishment at what the Thinker said wore off. Clifford DeVoe looked his way, and God Serena told the man whose gaze he met, "Go for it, DeVoe. And I promise that if the Gods smite you, I'll tell High Lord Spriggan."

"Aha," Clifford chuckled himself and nodded in gratitude. "Thank you, friend. That is much appreciated." He sounded to truly be grateful for the offer that God Serena made him, surprising even more people who wondered what telling High Lord Spriggan could do about the Gods smiting a man. The Thinker lifted his gaze in an even more threatening way back up towards the ceiling, and God Serena did the same in a cockier and more smug way himself. DeVoe thought to himself while glaring up and imagining the Gods looking down on him at that moment, It was worth it stating my purpose for purchasing the crystal aloud. With God Serena's offer, you cannot do a thing to me. After all, I know how much you Gods fear Zeref…

A few people eased back away from those men. Even Mashirao Ojiro sitting across the room from them pulled back a bit in his seat as those two men mocked the Gods. What the hell are they talking about?! Breaking out of the barrier of Nexus- is that even possible? Why would the Gods put such a super powerful material down on the planet anyway if someone could use that to break out of the cage they put us in? I… I kind of want that guy to figure it out- no wait! He knows the King! Oh, oh shit. He and the Ant King are on good terms. If he uses that power to let the Ant King go out into space, Meruem could take over the whole universe or-

Ojiro noticed Tiplee looking back at him and he remembered what he was here for. He was too caught up in the crazy moment that just happened which had even the Zabis and Rens looking astonished by the Thinker's plans. The Shields of Spriggan were less amazed and Brandish somehow still just looked bored by everything going on around her. That this conversation could bore her was as amazing to the spectators as anything else. Ojiro refocused on Tiplee though rather than that insane moment, and he grimaced internally while shifting his gaze back to the stage right as Kycilia wondered if anyone else would bet against DeVoe, who no one wanted to after hearing this man confidently threaten the Gods.

She's the third item. We were worried that this would happen. It gives Ant-Man more time since our timeline depends on her sale. Better chance that he'll be there when Hagakure checks for him. But, it also means that they're valuing Mansherry as the most valuable piece of this auction. Making us bet more than we'd like to. Not that we wouldn't put any bid down to get her back. Ojiro steadied his expression and prepared his acting expressions as he knew there was about to be a lot of attention on him.

"The third and final piece up for auction has a different kind of value than our other items. Because this one is not an 'item' at all. Nor is she human though," Kycilia added as she knew some people would jump to the assumption of a human slave. They were in the Ren Empire after all, known throughout all of Aebrith as the hub of slavery.

The use of 'she' interested people more though as they focused up on the stage that Kycilia walked around and onto herself while the panel in the floor opened up even wider. A birdcage started to lift up over the surface of the stage. The cage had very thin bars on it with little space between them, but the bars were strong enough that despite being that thin they were not going to be broken through or bent by the girl inside them.

"Ohh?" Azula hummed while lifting her eyebrows up at the sight of the little person sitting on a small swing in the middle of the cage.

Her hair was long, curly, and blonde. It fell below her feet that dangled off the swing she was slowly swinging back and forth on with her head partially bowed and a sad look on her face. "The Princess of the Tontatta Kingdom on her own world. Princess Mansherry, is not 'priceless' due to her royal lineage or her aesthetic." The Princess who snapped her head up in the cage fell backwards off her swing when she looked up upon hearing Kycilia's voice talking about her. She saw a room full of people looking at her and she pulled away nervously after getting back up on her feet and looking around fearfully at them all.

"But it is Mansherry's healing ability that makes her the most valuable piece on our docket tonight. For those of you who do not know, on this world there are fruits known as Devil Fruits that give those who eat them fantastical powers. Princess Mansherry is from the world that those Devil Fruits originated. And her power has the ability to instantly heal any wound."

"Whoa, that's…"

"And Lord Kycilia is giving up such a powerful healer?"

"What's the catch?!"

"No catch," Kycilia responded while Mansherry darted a scared look towards Kycilia. The small Princess opened her mouth but saw Kycilia look back towards her in a way that made Mansherry's face pale in fear. Kycilia did look back out around her auction, "However, there are different levels to Mansherry's ability. If she were to use the power normally without any assistance, her Devil Fruit power would only temporarily heal the injuries and wounds of those who received them. Allowing them to continue fighting for a short time, however it will wear off after around five minutes."

"We know more about her power now though. And with the right combination of blood donors and a special kind of storage containers, she can produce dandelixers with her tears that will last until they are absorbed by another party. These special dandelixers produced using donors' blood will permanently heal the wounds that they are used on."

"With her tears?" Princess Kougyoku wondered towards Kycilia in a hesitant way.

Kycilia looked over towards the Princess of the Ren Empire in surprise. "Yes, Princess. Mansherry has the ability to use her healing power on her own, but if she refuses, her tears also contain the healing properties. Her consent is unnecessary to the production of the healing dandelions that her Devil Fruit power can create."

Kougyoku glanced to her side at Kouha who gave her a look telling her to just nod back at Kycilia in thanks for the information, which Kougyoku did albeit hesitantly. That poor little person, Kougyoku thought, then she started looking around the room anxiously at how many interested faces she could see.

Mansherry stepped closer to the cage bars and looked around with huge eyes as she suddenly realized what was going on. She spun to Kycilia in fear as the Lord of the city announced, "We will start the bidding for Mansherry, at twenty million dollars."

A hand raised instantly, but so did several others. Kycilia pointed at the hand she saw shoot up first. Then she called out, "Do we have twenty five million- over here to Lord Shinra. Thirty million- and Lord Black."

"Forty million."

"Forty-five-"

"Sixty million," Ojiro called out.

Kycilia turned her head and looked over towards the young man with blond hair who surprised her with his bid. The others around Ojiro looked to him in surprise as well. Even Tiplee glanced in shock towards the boy she had come with who flashed her a smirk himself. "She's worth more like ten thousand times her weight in gold. Can't miss out on this."

"And you can afford-"

Malchior was cut off before the dragon in man form could finish that question. "Sixty five million!"

"Do I hear seventy?" Kycilia wondered, moving right on with the bidding. I don't recognize him. Sixty million is a lot, but for someone who could afford a ticket to this venue I should not be surprised- again? Kycilia looked back to the boy who started raising his hand for 70 million. She spun the other way first though as a different hand shot up quicker.

"Eighty million."

"Eighty three-"

"100 million dollars," Azula called out.

Yonji did not feel like telling his wife that this was too much money this time. That Devil Fruit is broken. We could harvest thousands of health pots for our soldiers. Stockpiles of instant health potions in stretched-out battles would change the tides of the war for us. Yonji smirked while looking past Azula with his eyes narrowed at the small person too. Then his head turned and his eyes remained in their narrowed position but more annoyed as he glared towards a boy with a thick tail who announced: "110 million."

"And one hundred and ten million bid by…" Kycilia looked towards the young man and awaited a response.

"Uh, Ojiro, Ojiro Mashirao," he replied to the Lord questioning who he was.

"120 million," another voice called out.

"120 million. Do I hear 130?" Kycilia looked around, her eyes shifting back towards that young man who looked anxious under her glare.

"150 million dollars," Azula announced.

"One hundred seventy-five," Ojiro called out.

"There's no way he can-"

"200 million!"

"220!"

Amazing! They all want her enough to bet so much. Kycilia was distracted from her own surprise at how much this unknown person to her was able to bet. People just kept betting while the price now surpassed any of the former items on the docket.

This is bad. They really don't think I can afford it. We have a cover story, but with everyone in this room looking at me… Ojiro held back from showing his anxiety while raising his hand back up. "250 million!"

The room fell quiet for a second as everyone looked back towards that blond-haired teenager again. He was betting such a ridiculous amount of money that many of them gawked at the confident look on his face like he would just keep raising his wager until he won this auction.

Yonji glared darkly at the unknown figure. This time he was not as cautious as he was when Azula was darting murderous looks Barry's way. Everyone in the room stared towards the boy who looked back towards Azula this time when the former Princess of the Fire Nation got up out of her seat and made all eyes shift onto her. "275 million dollars."

Azula said it in a cold voice while glaring at the boy who her eyes dared to make a wager above her own. "With Mansherry's healing ability, I will retake the lands the Sun Marines have stolen from me. Kong's forces will suffer as my indestructible soldiers reconquer lost Fire Nation territory." Azula was careful not to mention the seat of the former Fire Nation itself, as bringing Pyraxas into this while two Shields of Spriggans sat behind her would be a bad move. In her head though she was not only thinking of defeating Kong in her upcoming war. Even High Lord Spriggan will have to retreat when my soldiers do not wound, do not tire-

"300 mill-" Ojiro started to call out.

"1 billion dollars!"

Ojiro's jaw dropped. Azula's nostrils were flaring as she glared towards this second random person outbidding her, but she spun around with her own jaw dropping too. Everyone in the room spun to the head table where Kouha sweatdropped and looked to his side and up at his sister who had jumped out of her seat. She had been looking back and forth between Azula and that boy, but her eyes locked on the small dwarf princess in her cage who had tears in the corners of her eyes already.

Princess Kougyoku's shout silenced the room and made the Lord of the city itself stare back towards her in a sudden panic. Kycilia's eyes bulged and she darted a look to her older brother who was also stunned but snapped his gaze to his younger sister intensely. Kycilia stepped forward while everyone started murmuring to each other and making the room much louder. "I can't possibly charge you, Princess, for something you could just take…"

Oh shit, Ojiro came crashing back down to reality. There's no way I can keep going now. Even if I could bet any higher, Ojiro darted a look towards Tiplee but snapped it back to Mansherry as he knew he could not be looking at Tiplee for help when she had pretended to be surprised in the first place by his bidding.

"No no, it's okay-" Kougyoku began while waving her hands up.

"My Princess," Gihren started to the young woman he stood up next to. "We insist. If you wish to have Mansherry for yourself, that is your right-"

"I am sorry. I just, I do not wish for harm to come to the little Princess," Kougyoku started while looking back towards a fellow Princess who still looked scared though also a bit hesitant while staring out into Kougyoku's worried eyes.

"Princess, I would not harm the-" Ojiro started while stepping away from his table.

In an instant, Ojiro felt a dozen sets of harsh glares all directed onto him. Kycilia and Gihren Zabi were among those who suddenly angered and glared towards the boy who Kougyoku turned to herself only for Ojiro to already be darting looks around at the people pissed at him for speaking directly to the Ren Princess as if he mattered enough to do so.

"I promise," Ojiro continued after gulping and looking back towards the Princess. "I actually, mean to help the Princess-"

"Enough out of you."

"To speak so freely to the Princess of the Ren Empire. Who do you think you are?"

"Mashirao," Tiplee began to the boy to her side. We have lost. We have to get out of here now. Kycilia's looking to her security forces.

"Hey! Don't let him escape!"

Many in the main Gala floor lifted their heads up towards the balcony above. M'Quve and Johnny Ridden spun around and looked towards a hallway behind them where several guards wearing special helmets were sprinting after a flying figure.

Kycilia put a hand up to her right ear. "What is happening-"

"Lord Kycilia. There is a tiny intruder upstairs. Flying towards the main hall now under pursuit!"

Ant-Man sped through the air and glanced over his shoulder back at the eight guards sprinting after him including the four-armed Tetramand from earlier. All of them were hot on his tail from the second he had transformed slightly larger to reach the main hall in time as he suspected, correctly, that the auction was nearing an end and he was going to miss his extraction. The guards had been awaiting another blip though and all sped into the same hall as him the second he grew in size, and he heard them shout his position which caused him to speed up as fast as he could.

Not good! Scott thought in panic while flying past the end of the hall and seeing guards running up the steps while top officers of Kycilia's regime turned towards him and were reaching for weapons too.

Uh oh, Hagakure held her breath and sprinted away from where she was supposed to pick up Scott, as there was no way she was going to be able to extract him under this much heat. What now?! Everyone's looking at Ojiro and Tiplee sensei! How do we get Mansherry like this?!

"Hey there, Barry was it?"

Barry Dylan turned his head and looked behind him at a red-haired young man wearing a monocle with a fake prescription lens in it that was actually much more than a normal piece of glass. He had on a plaid vest over his white button down shirt. Renzou Shima leaned over the table and whispered into the cyborg's ear, "With how chaotic things are starting to get up here, aren't you worried at all that it might be a distraction?" Shima leaned back away from the cyborg who lifted his eyebrows at that teen then looked down at the floor on his other side in the center of the hall.

Barry stared at the floor then looked through it and scanned the basement below using his sensors that he had used to spot Invisible Girl earlier. "Hey there! Those are not yours!" He shouted. Barry jumped out of his seat, and his steel chest opened up and out to the sides. His Transformium-made arms morphed out over his track suit sleeves and revealed barrels and glowing missiles that Barry had emerging from inside his body. He fired thin red beams out of the barrels at the floor in front of him and straight down into the basement full of the auctioned goods, making Carmen Sandiego leap away just in time before she could get cut in half by the angry weapons' dealer.

Tiplee was just glaring at her own "boyfriend" while thinking about how they had to abandon the mission. The second Robo-Barry jumped out of his seat and revealed that he had snuck weapons into the event though, her mind started racing with other options in the emerging chaos. Guards are filling the room. We've made too much of a scene. It's obvious after Ojiro was willing to speak up to Kougyoku that he might try to steal Mansherry in this confusion. Some think we're even connected to what's going on up there- we're not looking shocked enough! Because we know it's Scott!

"He has weapons on him!"

"Guards!"

"Protect the Prince and Princess," Tsezguerra called out while running in. "And- damn it. You can't be in-"

"Princess Kougyoku!" Koubun Ka called out while running in with some of the Princess' royal guards who heard the commotion that they were ready to charge in at any time upon hearing. These guards were not part of Kycilia's defenses though or in coordination with her own men, adding another element to the chaos rather than helping to shut it down.

"Barry Dylan! Stand down-"

"Your auctioneer is stealing my weapons!" Barry called out still with a smile on his face though sounding annoyed too. "I knew I recognized you, Carmen Sandiego! The Black Sheep. Master thief!"

Kycilia spun her head and looked down into the basement that had just been opened up by Barry attacking the floor. "Carmen," Kycilia growled angrily as she spotted the woman below doing gymnastics to dodge Barry's shots.

"Stop him!"

"Princess, wait!" Koubun Ka called to his charge who was jogging across the floor around the outside of the room to reach the stage.

"It's okay, little Princess," Kougyoku called to Mansherry who leaned away anxiously from the girl running towards her.

"There!" Johnny Ridden drew and fired towards a flying figure almost too small for the human eye to see.

Ant-Man spun himself around and watched as the bullet passed just below him. The aim of the pilot to be able to get that close to practically shooting the wings off an ant shocked Scott Lang, but he continued flapping his wings and did so automatically now as there was no point in remaining on manual controls when letting blips of electricity pop up on the enemy's systems was the least of his concerns.

"Wait, Princess Kougyoku. Please," Ojiro started from the end of the table where he sat closer to the stage himself. There was a hole in the middle of the floor between them and Ojiro stopped moving as he instantly saw a dozen guards glare towards him. Most were still focused on Barry though as he continued firing recklessly through the floor with no care for the damage he was causing as long as he could hit Carmen. "I don't mean to hurt Mansherry. I, planned on releasing her," Ojiro continued towards the Ren Princess who looked back at him confusedly and with caution.

Kougyoku continued jogging to the Princess and called towards Kycilia after ignoring the person she had outbid, "Could you open the cage?" Kougyoku looked back and narrowed her eyes at the boy who was suggesting he would have freed the tiny princess which Kougyoku seriously doubted. "If that's all you want, then you don't need to worry. I don't plan on forcing Mansherry to do anything she would not want to-"

"Take him down!"

"Stop it, Barry Dylan! You are under arrest."

"Hold him down," Tsezguerra ordered his men who had Barry pinned to the floor. Tsezguerra's fists burst with white auras that looked like raging flames power. "If you move, Barry, I will not hold back in destroying you."

"You hired a thief to steal the goods that you just auctioned off? And I'm the criminal here? Huh? Huhhh?!" Barry looked around towards the other guests all staring into the middle of the room at him or up front where the door to the cage that Mansherry was in had been opened up.

Ojiro leaned back as Kycilia glared towards him after opening the cage for Princess Kougyoku. "As for you. Say another word about it and I will have you arrested as well."

"Player, exit music," Carmen spoke into her own hidden earpiece. It was the same kind of earpiece meant for the staff of the event and guards to receive orders from Lord Kycilia. She could still hear their communications, but she only spoke to her own friend and teammate who sat in their cloaked ship on the other side of Cloud City.

Player laughed to himself and shook his head while typing rapidly into his computer. The hacker and friend of Carmen's from before they even got to Nexus pressed his index finger down on the 'Enter' key. "You got it, Red. Be careful getting out of there. You lucked out- two guys coming up the stairs at your back. The rest are coming down the stairs across the room from you. And don't forget the ones who can drop in from that hole on the ceiling!"

The speakers around the hall all turned on. Throughout the Gala in the Clouds, everyone in the building looked around and up towards the P.A. systems that all scratched with feedback and then started playing music out of them. "Ohh Mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the lawwww… Lawman has put an end to my running and I'm so far from my home…" Carmen pulled out a capsule of her own from her red coat and tossed it up in the air after pressing a button to open it. A visor dropped first that she swiped and put over her eyes, then she caught the two guns that dropped as well, one of which had an open barrel while the other had the hook of her grappling gun sticking out of it.

"Oh! Clifford, I love this song," Marlize told her husband who rested a hand over his wife's on top of the table.

Ojiro and Tiplee had also spun and looked up at the speakers in surprise. Ojiro was holding his tongue as he believed that Kycilia was going to have her guards also tackle him in a second if he tried to get Kougyoku to relinquish Mansherry to him. This was their mission though, and they had been so close…

Nothing they can do from here. Guess it's up to me! Ant-Man had shrunk back smaller to try and avoid the targeting systems in his enemies' helmets. The guards behind him were turning their heads back and forth on the stairs or up on the second floor balcony where they were looking off and searching for the tiny escape artist. Scott was already across the room though, and he pulled a small disk off the side of his suit. Don't worry, Princess Mansherry! I've got- "Ah!" Scott exclaimed as he was releasing the disc he was throwing towards the tiny princess. That's a blue one.

THAT'S A BLUE ONE! Scott stopped short and pulled away in panic as he realized what he just stupidly did. There were two different kind of discs on his suit that he could throw that had the same kind of shrinking-technology as was in his suit. Red shrinks. And blue…

Mansherry was hit by the minuscule disc that only she spotted at the last second flying towards her. Her eyes widened and she leaned back even more than just because Kougyoku was reaching into her cage. The disc flew over Kougyoku's arm, and it hit the tinier princess who wobbled around and then hunched forward and groaned as something was happening to her. Princess Kougyoku stumbled backwards herself and dropped her jaw while falling onto her butt.

"Whoa," God Serena looked to his side at the green-haired woman who finally seemed interested and took her right hand off of her cheek that she had been leaning on in a bored way. "You?" God Serena wondered at Brandish.

Brandish shook her head but smiled in amusement while tilting her head back and watching as Mansherry grew so large that the roof of the Gala could not contain her. Chandeliers broke and fell as Mansherry turned into a giant in seconds. Brandish just picked up her glass of red wine and took a sip while finally getting interested in the events of the evening.

Mansherry rose up her arms in front of her body as she grew to a massive size with her white dress growing proportionally to her as it was also hit by the Pym Particles in the disc Ant-Man threw at her. I'm big? I'm big! "I'm a giant…" Mansherry's hands curled into fists, and the formerly tiny princess shifted her eyes down no longer with any tears in them. "And I'm bigger than you! Now I am the one with power!" Mansherry's shout while raising her giant fists made most people watching drop their jaws in shock at the twisted look on the formerly little-person's face. She screamed down at them all, "HAHAHAHA! FACE MY WRATH!"

"Are you doing this?!" Tsezguerra shouted to his side at Ojiro and Tiplee who leaned back away from the man whose En he just pulsed out to track all of his enemies and locate the small one he was hearing about in his ear and needed to pinpoint the location of. His En warned him of the two who spun his way but then looked back up at Mansherry in as much shock as everyone else. Are they faking that?! Those two are not who they pretended to be! Tsezguerra had not been using En back at the door because of how much using it wears the user out, but in that one pulse of his aura off his body he felt the intentions of those two were similar to the thief downstairs who was stealing from them.

"I have no idea what's going on," Ojiro said. We need to get out of here though, he darted a look to Tiplee who bit down in frustration herself.

Did Scott do that?! Tiplee thought. Why would he? Is he trying to create chaos?!

As the chaos ensured, the music started playing even louder, "The jig is up- The news is out! They've finally found meee… The Renegade- Who had it made! Retrieved for a boun-tyyy…"

"Get out of there, Carmen! Use the confusion!" Player yelled into his headset at his comrade.

"You two, stay right where you are."

Oh no! Hagakure stared across the room with her eyes shaking in panic at the sight of several guests standing in Ojiro and Tiplee's way as the two had been slowly backing up. They had made it out like they were just backing away from Mansherry's giant legs, but those behind them had seen through the act and could tell they were trying to use the chaos as a distraction to get out of there.

Boom! "She's destroying my weapons. I paid for those, you know?" Barry dragged himself to his feet after an explosion out his back blew away the guards on top of him.

"I warned you, Barry!"

"Kill him!"

"Look, Carmen's got one of the… Oh shit!"

Carmen had one of the same weapons Barry was yelling about in her hands. She stepped between Mansherry's legs that broke through the damaged floor and stomped down into the basement below. She aimed up towards Barry who swung his arms together in front of him so they merged into one giant cannon that glowed orange at the end.

"Hahaha! Now this is a party!" God Serena slammed down the glass of the drink he just downed. The Shield of Spriggan jumped up onto his table and bent his legs. Brandish lifted up her wine glass so it would not fall over while the excited man she had come with blew steam out of his nose and then kicked off the table and immediately across the room into Robo-Barry's back. "Let's take this outside, bub!" God Serena grabbed Barry by the side of his head and then threw the cyborg towards the balcony so hard that Barry shattered the closed glass walls and flew outside.

"You two will stay right here. I have a feeling you're not who you pretend to be," Malchior began to the two he stood behind with some of the others who had been at their table. The other wizard he had been speaking with lifted up a small brown stick that covered in a low green veil and grew to the size of his normal staff, while Malchior swung his right hand to the side and summoned a glowing book into his hand-

Ojiro jumped up in the air and did a spin with his tail swinging behind him. He knocked the book out of Malchior's hand before slamming his tail into the arm of the wizard whose staff flew out of it as Ojiro's tail broke bone and made the wizard scream out.

Across the room, Azula spotted the boy who pissed her off before make his move, and she smirked maliciously as she saw her excuse. She started getting up, then she got hit by a force that knocked the wind out of her and threw her backwards. Everyone else at her table either dove for cover or got thrown backwards too as the table they were seated at lifted off the ground and flipped backwards towards the broken wall that God Serena just dove through towards the cyborg whose body was morphing to have five times as many weapons on it as he saw one of Spriggan's Shields flying towards him in a huge aura that shook the building.

They're fighting! I need to move faster. I can't help Ant-Man. I need to help Ojiro though. A flash would distract everyone. Give them time. What about Kougyoku's hairpin?! Do I have time to grab it? I could cripple the Ren Empire's strength in a single blow! Ah! I don't know what to do! Hagakure sprinted while taking only rare short cut-off breaths as she feared the helmets too many of the guards were wearing would show her popping up on their HUDs. I have to save them!

"Kycilia! Get this under control!" Gihren shouted towards his sister.

"HAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Mansherry swung her left arm out to the side and smashed apart a wall of the building. "Now it is YOUR time to be small! To be TINY!" Her voice bellowed out over the hall below. People gawked up at the sight of her huge smile and insane laughter. Mansherry's innocent and scared look had been replaced with the murderous confidence of a giant about to step on them all in glee.

Tiplee had swung a hand towards Azula and her table, using a Force Push to launch their enemies away before Azula could attack Ojiro in the confusion. She jumped over towards Ojiro and did a flip in the air while Force-pulling a gun out of one of the guard's hands as the man was turning towards them from the hole in the floor he was aiming down into.

Carmen felt grateful for whoever just ripped the gun out of that guard's hands, because she was busy aiming across the basement towards the roof at the other end just over a doorway that swung inwards towards her. Carmen fired her super-powerful weapon that Barry had outbid everyone on before which she had complimented him about due to how strong she had described the weapon to be. Carmen knew exactly what all these weapons on the docket could do, and she carved through the ceiling on the other end of the basement to make that roof start collapsing in front of the door and blocking the guards Player warned her were incoming. Then she spun to the wall on her side and blasted a hole through it.

All the while, Renegade continued blasting over the speakers. Malchior had stumbled backwards from the force of Ojiro's tail smacking into his hand. He turned back and his eyes glowed red while he glared towards the teen who spun back around and then backpedaled fast as Malchior started growing and ripped through the bandages wrapped around him. Oh yeah, evil dragon. Ojiro spun around and sprinted away from the Lord under Aizen who started growing massive and transforming.

"Lords! Guests! Please stay back and do not interfere with the guards. If you start to fight in here you will be arrested-"

"Does that include me?!" God Serena was backflipping over five missiles flying towards him. He kicked down into one and redirected it away from the Gala hall and out into the air away from the building. "Because I could stop!"

"No, God Serena! Please, carry on and destroy Barry at your leisure," Lord Kycilia announced. "Lord Malchior, please shrink back to human form. And Lady Brandish, if you would so please," Kycilia called to the Country Demolisher who sighed and the lowered her glass of wine back to the table behind her.

Brandish looked up at Mansherry as the giant girl was lifting up her left foot and stomping it back towards the hall. Most people inside did not panic, though a few had been freaking out at the thought of the tiny person stomping on all of them. Malchior blew steam out of his own snout but shrank down with an anxious look towards the woman who Kycilia called for help to while he was mid-growth. He shrank back down, but of his own accord unlike a confused Mansherry who was also shrinking at the same time.

"No! NOoooooo…" Mansherry's voice got quieter and quieter as she shrank down from a giant to the size of a human and then even smaller.

"You two," Tzesguerra snapped towards Tiplee and Ojiro. "Stop where you are and put your hands up. Drop that weapon," he ordered Tiplee too as she had a pistol in one hand that she had fired off over the heads of a few people in her way who dove for cover while she and Ojiro ran towards the broken glass wall. They were stuck now though and Tiplee lowered the gun that she dropped while Ojiro put his hands up too.

"Hey hey, we're the ones who got attacked back there. We were defending ourselves," Tiplee argued towards the guards in front of her.

"Yeah, Malchior suddenly attacked…" Ojiro agreed.

"We will determine all of that after we take you into questioning."

Mansherry was shrinking, God Serena had taken the fight with Barry outside and just shouted out a powerful attack that had many of the spectating guests cheering and clapping as he blew Barry apart into tiny pieces. "And just in case that strange body of yours could pull back together even after that," God Serena announced while landing down on the balcony and cupping one hand up to his mouth. "ROAR OF THE PURGATORY DRAGON!" A bright orange flame flared around his mouth and then shot out as a massive cone-shaped beam that grew wider and engulfed and incinerated all of Barry's broken cyborg body while God Serena cackled behind his attack.

"Don't let her escape!"

"Quickly, Carmen! Get out of there! They've taken the speakers back under control-" Chhh

"Don't think you'll escape me, Carmen. You will pay for your treachery," Kycilia threatened her auctioneer whose communications she just cut off. Kycilia's men gained back control of their systems from Player who started desperately trying to get back in contact with Carmen.

"Hey, hey!" Kougyoku had gotten back up and was stepping towards the shrinking Tontatta Princess who she was going to try and calm down once Brandish had finished shrinking her. Kougyoku spun towards Brandish and called towards her, "What did you do to her?"

Brandish got up out of her seat after the Princess' shout. "Uh," Brandish muttered. She stared towards where she had shrunk Mansherry, but the little person who had stumbled backwards on the main floor's stage where she had stepped up onto while mid-shrink, had continued shrinking beyond the 20 centimeters that she had been at before she suddenly grew too large for the building. "I'm not doing that. Sorry, Princess Kougyoku," Brandish shook her head back and forth and honestly looked confused at what was going on as Princess Mansherry was nowhere to be seen. Most everyone in the room looked towards the same spot but could not observe the girl far too small for their eyes to see.

"Noo! It can't be happening. Nooooo!" Mansherry shrieked in panic. Her expression was distraught as her one moment as a giant had been cut off so quickly to be replaced with the nightmare of being smaller than she had ever been before. Her old cage she could see discarded and broken off to one side of the stage was a hundred times more massive in her eyes now.

"Shh, it's okay Princess!" Mansherry spun around and then screamed and fell backwards. No one could hear her voice due to how small her lungs had shrank that her voice could not reach them. She was microscopic-sized, as was the creepy-looking figure in a red suit and mask who had wings sticking off his back. Scott had used the red disc this time that shrank Mansherry, and he only used it after Brandish had already shrunk down the girl almost back to her original size so it looked to everyone else like Brandish had done that herself. Ant-Man had actually figured he might have accidentally helped his comrades by making Mansherry into a giant to create some chaos, but since the Princess was shrinking already he figured her time as a point of chaos was over and it was time to rescue her, as was their primary objective.

"I'm here to rescue you." Scott tapped on the side of his helmet to make the mask come off of his face. "I'm with the Resistance. Come on, I'm getting you out of here before anyone sees us!" Scott activated his wings and flew to the girl who looked at him with wider eyes when he said where he was from. She still looked nervous though and let out a scream of panic as Scott swung his arms down and picked up the girl even smaller than him though proportionally she was only about half his height rather than about a tenth as tall as she would be normally.

"Find Mansherry! Something's happening, and she's going to escape." Kycilia ordered her guards.

"Or someone's taken her," Kougyoku added while suspiciously glaring over towards the two cornered by guards in the hall.

"Well this got out of hand fast," Kouha said with a look towards Gihren who did not seem to be in a joking mood and made Kouha cough and try to gain as serious a look as the Zabi's leader.

"This is unacceptable," Gihren declared. "All guilty parties must be held accountable for this mayhem. And we must thank High Lord Spriggan for God Serena's quick takedown of that insolent cyborg."

Kouha nodded his head and gained a more serious look of his own. En-nii doesn't need to be bothered with this. All the troublemakers here have caused problems, but I should thank Spriggan myself so En-nii doesn't have to distract himself with this. Kouha frowned thinking about what Gihren was clearly already thinking about: how this disturbance was going to bother Kouen and make their Empire look weaker to allow it to go on. That's why we need to make sure those who caused the disturbance are punished accordingly, Kouha shifted his glare over towards two people who he had seen cause some disturbances themselves even though they tried defending themselves now that the chaos was dying down.

This is bad. Really bad, Tiplee darted her glare around for a moment and route escape from here. That thief is escaping and drawing some attention. Mansherry's disappearance is Scott's doing. We're practically on our own up here though! Invisible Girl, any time now!

Ojiro was ready to slam his eyes shut at any second. He was expecting the flash to go off from Hagakure using her light-refraction powers to create a kind of flash grenade. They were close to the broken wall out onto the balcony that they were going to have to escape off of. There must be an escape route downstairs too, Ojiro thought while questioning if maybe dropping through the hole in the floor was the better option as Carmen Sandiego had managed to at least slip the guards down there who were now chasing after her. Two routes. Kougyoku's guards are watching us though because she looked over.

"We didn't have anything to do with Mansherry, Princess," Tiplee started towards Kougyoku.

"That is enough out of you. That will be the last time you refer to the Princess directly-"

CRASH!

The wall around the broken glass section broke apart and collapsed. To some, the collapse seemed like a consequence of Mansherry and God Serena's combined attacks that destabilized the wall. It made several guests at the tables closest to that wall jump out of their seats if they were still in them and run away. It also gave Tiplee a moment when most people got distracted by the loud noise and falling wall. "You will let us run away," she said to the male and female guards who spun back towards her.

"Don't listen- you idiots!" Tsezguerra shouted at his guards. "She used the Force. That's a Jedi," Tsezguerra snapped. The guards directly around him had lowered their weapons while Tiplee Force-pulled the gun at her feet back into her hand.

Kougyoku started reaching up for her hairpin but froze while spinning and staring through the wider opening in the wall in more shock. Kouha jumped to his feet in surprise too and reached for his sword while Gihren stared in disbelief at the sight that just shimmered in the air in the hole in the wall. "What the-" Johnny Ridden lowered his own gun and stared towards the shuttle-like jet that just shimmered into existence inside the wall. "How the hell did that get here?"

"That's our ship!" Kouha exclaimed.

Kycilia already knew that to be the truth because no other ship would have been able to get so close to the venue. Cloud City did not have the kind of scanners or anti-air defenses that could detect the ship the Ren siblings had arrived in. That was something Tiplee had already overheard while eavesdropping, and something that made the Jedi smirk as she realized why Hagakure had not set off a flash yet to distract everyone and give her and Ojiro time to start escaping from there.

The side door to the shuttle opened up, and Ojiro and Tiplee did not hesitate for a second. Neither did Scott who changed his flight path and spun while tapping a button on his suit that started growing him in size so that he would reach the shuttle in time.

"Stop them!" Kycilia shouted. "If they get on the ship we'll never catch them!"

"Scramble fighters!" Johnny shouted into his communicator to his team while running for the exit already. I need to get my jet! "This is about to be a chase!"

He won't be able to track them once they get going, Gihren thought in anger while darting a look after Johnny who was sprinting to get to his jet in time to chase after the one that just busted through the wall. "We can't let that technology get into enemy hands. Prince Kouha!" Gihren yelled towards the young Prince.

"Fine!" Kouha grabbed his sword and ran forward, then he stumbled to his left and spun with his eyes bulging in surprise as a chunk of debris on the floor suddenly grew twenty times in size. "Out of the way!" Kouha slashed his sword that started glowing as he drew it from his back. "Kougyoku!" Kouha called out at his sister who reached up for her hairpin and pulled it off her hair so it began glowing too.

Hagakure looked out from the doors on the side of the shuttle and down to the Ren Princess who was summoning her own Djinn. She pursed her lips but had to move past the decision she had already made as it was too late to regret now. She didn't want to buy Mansherry to enslave her like Azula. She wanted to help- Think about that later! Hagakure had made the decision not to steal Kougyoku's hairpin partly based on how Kougyoku had been acting like she was trying to save Mansherry just like they were. "Come on, let's go!" Hagakure shouted to her comrades who leapt up towards the open door of the shuttle while everyone else had to leap away from the chunk of wall that Scott had thrown another of his size-enlarging discs at to force everyone else back from their escape route.

Those who were about to fire at them had to dive for cover. Kouha slashed apart the debris before it could hurt the guests at the venue, then he and Kougyoku transformed in flashes of light that drew even more attention to them and away from the cloaked shuttle that Ojiro and Tiplee landed inside the door of. Tiplee spun around and held up both of her arms, and a Force Shield appeared visibly in front of her that caught five bullets and then dropped them out of the air.

A man flew through the open door of the shuttle and made Tiplee and Ojiro dart their eyes inwards at the sight of the insect-sized man flying between them. Then he enlarged in an instant up to his normal human-sized height, holding a tiny person in his hands who struggled and thrashed about in his grasp.

"There! It's Mansherry!"

"Shut the doors!"

"Get us out of here, Hagakure!"

When the door of the shuttle closed, the ship instantly became more invisible again as its sleek design was meant to cloak it entirely only when all doors were closed. Once the inside of the ship was impossible to see because of the closed door, the outer camouflaged coating of the ship smoothed over and made it disappear.

"God Serena!" Kycilia called out.

"If you insist!" God Serena smirked and his hands erupted with different colors of magic.

"Don't! Mansherry is on that ship!" Kougyoku exclaimed at God Serena who spun to her in surprise that the Ren Princess stopped him.

"Princess," Gihren started in a stern voice. Kouha glanced anxiously towards his sister then back to one of his eldest brother's closest advisors and the leader of the Zabi who were their strongest and closest allies. The merger of the Zabi and Ren underneath Kouen's leadership had been what made the Ren Empire what it was today, and so even the Royals of the Ren Empire could not expect him to just sit down and do whatever they said.

Kougyoku spun in surprise towards Gihren and even her advisor Koubun Ka held his tongue despite how Gihren sounded to be scolding her. "We cannot allow our enemies to get away with this. They are stealing Ren technology and Mansherry's healing abilities. We must neutralize this threat. However! Kycilia, order your men to try and take down the shuttle without destroying it."

Gihren's order to his sister frustrated the red-haired woman who replied affirmatively and relayed the order to her men despite her aggravation at her brother for demanding such an unreasonable thing. He's shown Kougyoku that he made the order and so the blame falls on me if Mansherry is killed. I understand that. I am sure that even Prince Kouha understands based on that look he just gave Gihren, though the Princess herself seems appeased by this act we've carried out. She believes we're going to rescue Mansherry, but that is not how this is going to happen.

"I'd rather not upset the Princess," God Serena mentioned towards Gihren who held back from glaring at the Shield of Spriggan who decided against going and destroying the ship that might be invisible but would not be able to dodge the kinds of attacks he was about to fire at it. He glanced towards Brandish who looked at him in mild surprise that God Serena held back from another potential fight that he seemed to enjoy so much.

"I would prefer that as well," Brandish mentioned to the man she had arrived with. She sat back down at her seat and tilted her head to the side to rest her right cheek on her hand again. She thought back on that blond-haired boy with the thick tail who was arguing with Kougyoku before. I think, they were both trying to do the same thing. It's why I didn't explode his heart when I could still see him. I think that was a rescue mission. We'll see if the Ren's stealth technology is too much for their detection technology to compare.

"Hagakure! Do you know where the weapons' systems are?!" Ojiro yelled while wobbling on his feet and throwing both arms out to the sides to balance himself.

"Don't worry about it!" Hagakure called back while pulling the sticks to the side and dodging away from beams of yellow light that just missed them off their starboard side. "They're just firing around randomly! There's no way they can see us."

Ojiro spun towards the front of the ship while Ant-Man stumbled back towards the back of the shuttle and then grabbed onto a seat on the port side wall. "Hold on, Princess Mansherry. It's going to be okay- whoa!"

"AHHH!" Mansherry screamed as the ship nearly turned sideways and Scott fell off his feet while still holding her.

"Come on…" Scott climbed up onto the chair and strapped himself in while still holding Mansherry carefully the whole time.

"What are you talking about?" Ojiro called up to the front, before spinning his head and looking out of the ship's window in panic as a jet flew so close to them that Hagakure had to turn their ship almost sideways to dodge it.

"This ship has better stealth tech in it than Cloud City can detect! That's why Kouha and Kougyoku were able to surprise everyone when they landed just outside! I heard Gihren telling Kycilia about it earlier!" Hagakure called back.

"I'll take the controls," Tiplee told the girl she staggered up to through the ship's narrower hallway near the cockpit. "Here, go go," Tiplee grabbed the sticks then motioned with her head behind her for Hagakure to get out of the seat. "I was also a star pilot back on my universe. All Jedi of my time were," Tiplee said while taking the captain's seat and then pushing the throttle up. She flipped a few switches that stabilized the ship a lot better and made everyone wobbling around in it with upset stomachs start to relax as the ship's movements got under control. "And Invisible Girl's correct. I overheard guards talking about the same thing inside. You made a great call going for this ship. We may not have escaped otherwise."

"We aren't out of the woods yet," Ant-Man called out while holding Mansherry closer to his chest as the girl was struggling out of his hands. "Stay still, Princess. I don't want you to get hurt."

"We're the Resistance, Mansherry!" Tiplee called out from the pilot's chair. "I promise we're saving you. You're free now."

"'Free?!' You call this 'free?!'" Mansherry did not trust the words of these people. People had acted kind to her before only to throw her in a cage against her will. "If I'm free, then let me go!"

"We don't want you to hurt yourself. And these seatbelts are made for people a bit larger than you," Scott apologized to the small woman he was holding onto no matter how much she complained at him. He felt his heart ache at the sight of the tears in Mansherry's eyes that told him she really did not believe they were here to help her at all.

"Dressrosa fell, Princess," Ant-Man added.

Mansherry stopped struggling instantly and turned her head in surprise. She looked back at Ant-Man's face which was still revealed as his helmet had pulled aside to show his head inside it. He smiled down to her while Hagakure wobbled back into the hold of the ship from the cockpit. She sat down next to Ojiro who reached a hand up for her to take and helped her sit down on a seat at his side before they both strapped in as well.

The two teenagers looked back towards Ant-Man who continued to the small Princess, "Son Goku appeared and defeated Doflamingo. He and his friends stopped the Donquixote family, with the help of a rebellion inside the city. One of those who helped with the rebellion came to us afterwards. Leo-"

"Leo did?!" Mansherry exclaimed. Tears filled her eyes for a different reason this time, and Scott leaned his head back as those tears were glowing as they fell from Mansherry's eyes.

"That's right," Scott replied after taking a second to get used to the strange tears of this Princess that he had heard about before their mission started. It's so sad that people would actually make her cry just for that healing power. Scott loosened his grasp on the Princess he felt would not try jumping out of his hands now. "He convinced Resistance command that we needed to help save you. He would have come himself, but our leaders were worried that he might break his cover and start a scene at the first chance to rescue you."

Mansherry smiled more and more as she listened to what Ant-Man was telling her. "He's back at the base we left from right now," Hagakure assured towards the little person who looked back and forth confusedly as she did not see anyone speaking to her. Hagakure put on a pair of gloves though that she grabbed from a shelf behind her, then she waved her right hand in one of those white gloves to show where she was sitting. "I'm, Invisible Girl," Hagakure introduced herself. "And this is Tailman."

Ojiro sweatdropped as Hagakure gave their hero names, but those technically were their designations for the mission anyway so he just nodded back at the Princess who anxiously glanced his way again before slowly nodding. She had not believed him back in the Gala hall when he said he was trying to help her, but she smiled after a second as she realized that she had jumped to the conclusion that they were trying to hurt her too quickly. "If… If Leo's there. Then I want to- I… please, I want to see him!"

"We're taking you to him right now, Princess Mansherry. I promise," Tiplee told the girl over the intercom. "And as for the rest of you, we're far enough from Cloud City now that I think I can say with confidence that none of those scrambled jets are going to come close to hitting us. Still a few flying around out here, but our scanners are picking up on them and theirs can't see us. The stealth technology in this ship is an amazing bonus that we were not planning for at all."

"I succeeded in our secondary objective too, by the way," Ant-Man mentioned while lifting up a camera in his free hand now that he only needed one hand to hold onto Mansherry. He shook the camera while the kids just past him closer to the front of the ship looked back with amazed and excited looks that his objective went well too. "I doubt they know what I was after too. Left no trace of where I went; they just noticed my presence due to how great their detection tech really is." Scott smiled wider while looking around the ship they were in that could not be tracked, "Once we reverse-engineer this shuttle though, my suit will be better than ever."

"Mine too! I hope," Hagakure added as she had no idea if they would actually be able to incorporate the more-advanced tech into her costume.

"Wow," Ojiro muttered while leaning back in his seat. We saved Mansherry. Got the blueprints of Cloud City for future attack plans. And we even stole the newest stealth technology made by Ren scientists. I can't believe it.

I don't know, if I made a wrong choice, Hagakure thought more hesitantly about their victory than the boy sitting at her side. This ship's technology is better than the one we were originally going to escape using, and that's good… but stealing that hairpin, Hagakure looked down while imagining the transformation that Kougyoku had been undergoing when they shut their doors and started flying away. The Rens rule because they are strong enough to rule. I could have- Don't think about that! Ugh, Toru, you did great! Stop thinking about this.

You were considering going wayyy out of your skill level, she scolded herself. This was a non-combat operation. Trying to steal from Ren Royalty right next to two Shields of Spriggan?! If Kougyoku could track her Djinn equip weapon then we wouldn't have been able to escape even if we did get away. And, and… it would have been amazing though.

Hagakure sighed in a disappointed way that had Ojiro looking sideways at her in surprise and confusion at why she would sound like that. Hagakure shook her head then waved her palms in front of her to tell Ojiro it was nothing. She leaned back and finally started panting exhaustedly, and as her adrenaline died down so did it for the other three Resistance members in the ship who could finally relax the smallest amount even if they were still deep in enemy territory.

Back at the Gala in the Clouds, guards were organizing the end of the event and leading the guests out of the building. Many of them had been amused by the eventful finish, but some were complaining and arguing with the guards about how they had been put in danger and how they would like refunds for their tickets. Back in the main hall most people had been evacuated unless they were requested to stay for further questioning like the people who had been at Ojiro and Tiplee's table who were awaiting the Lord to come talk to them. None of them felt like calling out to her though as Kycilia stood among a group of very powerful people whose conversation no one thought to interrupt.

"Those people," Kycilia started frustratedly while turning to her brother and moving her hand from her ear where she was hearing negative responses from all her pilots. "They've gotten away."

Kougyoku nodded slowly, keeping from smiling or letting out any sigh of relief even though she was relieved to hear that they had not been shot down during their escape. "I believe they were likely members of the Resistance," Kycilia continued to Gihren though she looked to the Prince and Princess as well after reporting her suspicion. Lords Shinra and Black also stood among the group but stayed two steps back from Gihren who outranked them both.

Kouha hummed while scratching his chin thoughtfully. "I suspect that means they knew that Mansherry was here and that she would be auctioned tonight. I think, they were probably going to just try bidding on her legitimately."

"Really?" Kougyoku wondered in surprise. Kouha nodded at her, and she sweatdropped while thinking, I guess, I was probably wrong about that boy then. I hope they take good care of Mansherry.

"I am not so sure," Gihren countered Kouha. He looked to Gihren who hummed to himself before turning back to the hole in the wall. Gihren glanced over towards God Serena and Brandish who were standing and talking to one another near their table in a more cordial way than Gihren had seen the two talking just by themselves since he had arrived. Then he looked at the hole in the floor and hummed again before looking back at the others in front of him. "I suspect they knew far more about how the events of tonight were going to play out. The Resistance members who took part in this were brilliant masterminds, suspecting other guests' actions from the very beginning and using them to their advantage. They most likely knew that you were going to show up here with our best stealth technology, perhaps before even you knew yourselves."

Kouha and Kougyoku stared at Gihren in surprise before turning their heads and looking back out the hole in the wall together. A cool breeze flew in from the giant hole and blew through their hair as they looked out into the night. "They are formidable enemies indeed," Gihren said with a narrowed glare at how crushing this defeat was. "We must inform Kouen right away about the unfortunate loss of that technology."

Everyone there grimaced thinking of the conversation that needed to happen but none of them wanted to take part in. Those bastards, Kycilia thought furiously while imagining the group she saw behind the closing doors of the now-stolen vessel. They were a step ahead of us the whole time. Damn Resistance.

The panting Resistance members continued gasping for breath long after escaping the airspace around Cloud City. Ojiro bowed his head and just shook it back and forth in shock thinking about how screwed they were for a second back there before Hagakure busted in. We were surrounded. Another few seconds and we would have been arrested and, and there's no way anyone would have freed us. Probably would have become slaves in the Ren Empire. He shivered at the thought of how bad the consequences could have been.

Ant-Man gulped himself while thinking of how close some of the guards' shots had come to him. I did not think we were going to make it. Let alone all of us getting out of there. He shook his head back and forth in his own disbelief. Had to wing-it from the second they spotted me.

"I'm impressed with all of your improvisational skills," Tiplee remarked over the intercom to the passengers in the back of the ship. She was just thinking herself on how close that had gotten. "We got lucky, but luck alone wouldn't have been enough back there. The mission was a complete success thanks to your efforts. Feel proud of what we've accomplished here today. Ojiro, Hagakure, that goes doubly for you. This mission was much more difficult than I thought it would be for an assessment, and I'll be sure to include that in my report to your other teachers when we get back. Really, great job out there."

The teenagers looked to one another and smiled. Ojiro could not see Hagakure's face but imagined she had the same look on hers as she faced him too. He could read her body language pretty well and could see from the movement of her gloves that she was panting just like he was. She curled her hands down onto her thighs, then she lifted one hand up to her head and tapped on a button on the side of the tight hood that went up over her head. The suit she was wearing remained invisible, but the cool down did start finally and after a few seconds her costume turned very transparent still but a light shade of blue that got a bit more full as the seconds passed.

Don't think we're going to get in any more fights today, Ojiro thought while watching her clothes start to fill back in with color. He turned his head and glanced out the window behind him but the skies were clear on all sides. He realized he was still tense and half-expecting to be shot down where he might have to keep fighting on the ground, and he tried to relax as much as Hagakure must have to have turned her suit visible again.

The teenagers continued to pant there while thinking of all the excitement and the insane mission they had just gone on. Ojiro put his hands down on top of his knees while imagining all of those powerful people glaring towards him during his bidding with Azula. He shivered imagining the worse glares when he had argued with Kougyoku. Hagakure also gulped while thinking of the way everyone had looked at Ojiro in those moments that made her the most scared for her partner.

Then Ojiro started thinking of something else though that made him less tense but did make a bead of sweat form on the side of his face and slide down it. He frowned and looked to his side at the girl who was still panting lightly under her breath.

"Hagakure," Ojiro began. His voice was quiet so only she could hear him.

The girl sitting next to him on the small jet shooting away turned to her left to the boy who could not see her face but knew she had just turned to him. "Sorry, about putting my arm through you earlier. I know you don't like it," he said.

Hagakure pursed her lips as she stared at him, wondering what to say. She could make her expression as hesitant and nervous as she wanted without worrying about him seeing everything she was thinking on her face, which left him in the dark at the moment for how she felt. Hagakure's biggest fear and greatest downside of her Nen ability was what would happen if something was through her body when she ran out of breath. It had happened once before, and she had a large scar on her right arm as a reminder whenever she ran her finger over the rough skin there. Ojiro also knew about the scar, and he had an apologetic look on his face as he thought about it. Hagakure finally let out a small sigh and said, "It's okay. I'm glad, you were still thinking about it," she said in a softer voice, and Ojiro glanced away again.

He coughed, clearing his throat, then he continued while looking away, "And, sorry-" he cut himself off while Hagakure tilted her head to the side confusedly. "I mean, well, for the other thing-"

Hagakure was glad he could not see her face as she knew it would have flushed a deep red color as she imagined what he and Tiplee did that he was apologizing for. "Um um um, you don't- have to a-apologize to me for that- since, we're not…"

"I feel like apologizing anyway," Ojiro said. Hagakure pursed her lips and looked down at her feet that tapped together at the toes anxiously. The corners of her pursed lips lifted up as Ojiro finished next to her, "So, sorry."

---

A/N Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the exciting mission in the Ren Empire. The rescue of Princess Mansherry is successful. We meet some new Resistance members and see more of the Cooperative too. Blood Mask. Carmen Sandiego. The Zabi. The Ren Empire. Rufus Shinra! The Thinker! So many characters appear in this chapter for the first time. Barry Dylan is a KGB agent from the show Archer who gets turned into a cyborg after a few seasons and goes a bit insane. He's coaxed on by Renzou Shima who appears again as a guest at the Gala where he adds to the chaos by hinting to Barry about what Carmen was doing downstairs. XD So much happened in the chapter. And if you didn't recognize the song that played during the chapter it was Renegade, by Styx, which I mentioned in the disclaimer. I was listening to it the other day on the radio and thought the lyrics sounded like something Carmen Sandiego would play during that scene, you know: "The jig is up..." just worked out too well for me not to use! Haha, anyway, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Loved introducing more players on both sides and fleshing out both our main group's allies and enemies more. Nexus is a massive world and this fanfic is all about the world-building. We'll get back to our main characters shortly... though one more chapter to finish off 16 with more My Hero characters is coming at you guys tomorrow! Look forward to it, and, 'til next time!