---

---

SYSTEM BACKUP AT 49%.

In the middle of the normally desolate and life, artic waste was full of action... with a massive tower that touched the sky looming over it all. It was a masterpiece of technology, glowing with a type of science that's seemingly otherworldly. In the middle of it, was a shining Power Stone that's glow could be felt from miles away...

... then there was a massive explosion at the base of it that brought it crashing down, and the Power Stone falling to the ground.

In the midst of it all, Oh-One himself was sent sliding into the side of a cliff. The so-called Perfect Machine crashed into the almost literal mountain of stone so hard that it almost shattered it when he came to an abrupt. stop. The machine was... not doing good. Parts of his armor were ripped to pieces, exposing sparking wires and other vulnerable machinery to the world. He was missing his entire arm, and before him...

... Was all the enemies he made on his quest to gain human emotion. The machine's internal systems were screaming at him with different pings and alerts.

...

...

...

SYSTEMS CRITICAL.

IMMEDIATE ATTENTION REQUIRED.

...

...

...

STATUS OF MECHANICAL COMBATANTS.

TN-1841-2 - ACTIVE.

UT-218-4 - ACTIVE.

CO-237-1 - ACTIVE.

OH-942 - ACTIVE.

AZ-194-1 - ACTIVE.

AZ-194-2 - ACTIVE.

KS-028 - ACTIVE.

VI-420 - ACTIVE.

WV-293-47 - ACTIVE.

TX-748 - ACTIVE.

Oh-One felt as if his odds of turning this around were good as he stuck his hand out and in front of him, he erected a large hexagon barrier. To deflect their attacks as Oh-One calculated his next attention, however, he got more pings on his systems.

STATUS OF MECHANICAL COMBATANTS.

TN-1841-2 - INACTIVE.

UT-218-4 - INACTIVE.

CO-237-1 - INACTIVE.

Oh-One was realizing that these parameters were beginning to appear...

STATUS OF MECHANICAL COMBATANTS.
OH-942 - INACTIVE.

AZ-194-1 - INACTIVE.

AZ-194-2 - INACTIVE.

KS-028 - INACTIVE.

VI-420 - INACTIVE.

WV-293-47 - INACTIVE.

TX-748 - INACTIVE.

... Suboptimal.

SYSTEM BACKUP AT 62%.

Engage Assault Armor? Y/N?

Y.

Engaging...

"... Assault Armor."

The barrier began violently shaking as sparks of electricity came off of it... before it violently exploded and sent anybody near him flying. Using the last bits of energy he had, he activated his jet boosters as he flew away from the battle as his tower crashed into the ground and the last of his robotic forces were destroyed. He was going so fast that not many would be able to keep up with him...

CRESECENDO!
CRESECENDO!

> DANGER DANGER DANGER

His systems detected something going towards him... and he immediately activated his Assault Armor and the glowing red barrier clashed with the blue beam of energy that could only come from SUBJECT: Haggar, Justin.. The barriers were holding... for just one instant before the shield finally gave out and sent Oh-One flying upwards towards the sky... before he came crashing down, even more, burned and seared than before as he hit the ground with a thud. He attempted to activate his thrusters before some new mechanical abomination appeared.

SYSTEM BACKUP AT 81%.

It came from the sky, slamming down on Oh-One with all of its strength and the Machine slammed against the ground. He attempted to activate his laser beams before the mechanical beast came pounding on him again, and again, and again.

SYSTEM BACKUP AT 89%.

It brought its hand down on Oh-One, before ripping off his arm.

SYSTEM BACKUP AT 92%.

The monster brought its hands down on Oh-One yet again, crushing its systems further...

SYSTEM BACKUP AT 94%.

It did it again...

SYSTEM BACKUP AT 95%.

Again...

SYSTEM BACKUP AT 97%.

... And again.

"... Nothing will- *zzt* stop me fro- from-from achieving *zzt* human emotion..."

SYSTEM BACKUP AT 98%.

One more slam as the fist was crushing his internal systems.

"Let us..."

SYSTEM BACKUP AT 99%.

"... Meet again."

There was a momentary pause. Something played out across the cracks in its visor before it stabbed its hand into Oh-One, piercing straight through the armor plating. It twisted and searched for vitals before it pulled them out with force, hand dripping, and sparking with robotic viscera. It rose to its feet and let out another roar as it stepped down on the robot and pulled, cables snapping, and tossed the chunk aside. It lifted Oh-One, scanning for any signs of life, and tossed his corpse aside like a ragdoll, hearing a thud as it slammed against the ruined tower.

It paused. Vomited again. Fell to one knee. It stared into the glowing pool. Its components couldn't keep this up anymore. It crackled, seared with flame, and burst into blinding blue light.

The motorcycle sat smoking in a scarred, mangled heap. Pit Stop laid half-embedded in the snow, thrusters sputtering as the screen on their face occasionally flickered out. Jill's gear and armor had completely disengaged, a deathly pale face peeking out from behind layers of winter gear. She looked up at Justin and gave him a shaky thumbs-up.

"Heh..." She let out a small chuckle. She pulled it off. "We did it, Justin... He's finally-"

She went silent as she fell into the snow.

"Jill?!"
"Jill?!"

Justin shouted as he ran over to Jill.

---

In the far distance... there was a sight.

Abel and Violent, standing side by side as they watched the carnage ensue.

Abel's eye narrowed.

---

---

... however, that wasn't the end of Oh-One.

He transmitted his memories and files, or in other words, his conscious, to a backup robotics laboratory that he built on the far side of the world. Deep where those pesky Nomads couldn't find it, and immediately Oh-One placed a copy of his systems deep on the internet. Where ever he could stick it so in the event he's destroyed again, he could pull that file out from wherever and utilize it. Then, he began working up schematics to build a new body, a perfect body... it would take him time, but he had plenty to spare. Part of him wanted to wait a few centuries to amass an even stronger army, but if he wished to seize Human Emotion, he needed to act fast.

He was perfect after all, and even if he fails again, he'll keep coming.

Stronger than ever.

While he developed a new body, he scoured the world for any information about the locations of the Power Stones... while keeping an eye on those pesky nomads...

---

---

---

Slowly inching its way to a stopover Gold City was a famed and feared vessel, the flying artillery piece known as Battleship Exusia. If it was noticed by the citizens of the city, it would certainly cause an uproar...

... However, it came completely stealthy. It would not be visible, nor appear on any sensors. It was completely undetectable.

Abel stood on the very tip of the battleship, looking down at Gold City... he could hardly feel the cold of being up this high in the sky. He just stood stoically, with his fists at his side as he looked down at the city that he had attacked in the past in pursuit of the Power Stone. However, while that time he ended up empty-handed, the same would not befall Abel again, as he had a plan.

"Brrrrrrrrr," Violet, his half-naked minion said as she walked up with her massive arms wrapped around herself, "Could you pick somewhere warmer to park your murder ship?"

"Violet," Abel turned his head back towards, and spoke to her in his digitally altered voice, "You cannot feel the cold."

"Just a little bit, Daddy Abel," Violet laughed as her arms hit the ground, and she stuck her tongue out and laughed. And Abel groaned in response.

He had little time for Violet's games, he just shook his head and then he pointed forward. Various members of MIRAGE gathered around him before he gave out the order.

"The Power Stone is in this city," Abel said, "Bring it to me."

Violet nodded, and the others sprung into action, leaping from the battleship onto the rooftops of Gold City (also using the teleporters) as they began the search.

---

---

---

Gold City... just wasn't for Justin.

He stood waiting for the light to turn green at the crosswalk, with his arms tucked into his yellow hoodie and his head down. With the barest traces of his face even visible, when he got the green light he walked forward with the crowd of people whose faces he didn't bother noting. Why bother? They were just civilians walking around, and he was just one face of many. He liked it that way... he wondered what Oh-Seven was up to, she was probably off at the tea shop or something. He knew she was a phone call away but Justin would rather avoid her right now, lest she tries to pull him into one of her tea parties or book clubs or something. At the moment, Justin was going to visit Jill. He had something that he wanted to talk about with her.

... And hopefully, she won't be going back to the hospital anytime soon.

Justin decided to cut through an alleyway that he knew would take him straight there. Whenever he stepped into the alleyway, he never felt like he was in danger. Likely because anyone foolish enough to mess with him is a straight-up...

An object came flying from his left and hit the wall to the right. Justin turned his head to see what it was and it was... a CD?



... Douchebag.

"♫ Numbah' one ninja, no gold fingas', that's boutta' put one..." Justin grabbed the CD as he turned his head down the alleyway to see a silhouette rapping its way towards him. Then the silhouette jumped and landed on a split, " ... in ya. ♫"

It was none other than Jaden Raldo. The #1 Douchebag.

Justin sighed, as he lifted the hood off his head, and VERY POLITELY said to Jaden. "... Jaden, what the hell do you want?"

"I'm asking what the hell is up with ya'll," Jaden laughed as he stood up on his feet and shrugged as he turned his back to Justin. Before turning his back around and pointing his fingers at Justin, "What? After ya'll put Oh-One in a box you forgot there are other threats other there?" He chuckled.

"Like you give a shit," Justin said as he shook his head. "If you were just lonely, all you had to do was come ask... but I would have told ya' to fuck off anyway bud."

"Lonely?!" Jaden scoffed, "I'm up to my fuckin' neck in bitches."

"Suuuuuuuuure." Justin shrugged. "Where are they at?"

"Obviously back at the crib, but we're getting off track," Jaden replied and Justin put on a very cheesy smile.

"No, I'm getting back on track to what I was doing Jaden, I think you didn't hear me before but I'll say louder: fuck off, bud," Justin turned away to put his hood back up as he walked away...

"... MIRAGE is up to something and I have a clue as to what," Jaden said, and Justin stopped and immediately turned on his heel, "Question is, are you gonna sit on your ass and find out what exactly they're planning?"

Justin craned his head over his shoulder as he barked,

"Start talking."

"Oooooooooooo, now you wanna talk?" Jaden smirked and shrugged. Before he put his hands on his hips and leaned forward, "Second ago, you told me to fuck off."

Justin quietly growled as he swung his fist upwards Jaden, shouting, "Rhythm Hammer!"

Jaden backflipped to avoid it shouting, "Man, chill!"

He landed on his feet and grabbed his swords, and pulled on them slightly as he said, "You wanna fight, robot-man? Because I can bring tha' hurt!"

"Just shut up and start talking."

Justin and Jaden charged at each other to start fighting.

---

---

---

---

"Alright, alright, Junior. You must be confused, let King Shit bring ya up to speed."

The door dramatically flies off its hinges from a kick, courtesy of Lucas Miller as he begins laying waste to droves of MIRAGE troopers. Sending one flying with a back-fist before grabbing him by the legs and spinning him around to take out everyone in the room. As though appearing in some kind of ad campaign, we slow and zoom in on Lucas' face, where he turns directly to the camera and winks.

"I used to be a real loser."

Lucas, much younger and skinnier, is crawling through some sort of pipeline frantically with the World Martial Arts Tournament logo displayed on the lower left corner. The sharpened end of SYM-04's tail bursts through the pipe and barely misses Lucas' face causing him to yelp, he shifts his body back and forth at lightning speed to dodge the following strike attempts from SYM-04's tail.

"But I got... Kind of a wake up call."

Lucas, watching forlornly at the TV screen displaying Oh-One attacking the Nomads in Brazil.

"Ya can't let yourself sit on the sidelines forever, man. I saw my friends get their asses kicked, found out my dad wasn't my real dad, learned I got a real freaky bloodline.... All of it got a little too much."

Lucas, awkwardly standing in front of his father who, after hesitating, gives his son a hug and waves him off as Lucas gets into a taxi.

"I went all the way to Japan."

Lucas, bowing to Hatanaka Yoko at the Yoko dojo. The scene illuminated by the setting sun cloaking both figures in shadow.

"Kicked some ass."

Lucas, having his stance form corrected by Yoko letting out an annoyed "oy!" as she strikes the top of his head with her stick.

"Kicked. Some. Ass!"

Lucas, spitting out a mouthful of blood and charging forward like a crazed animal toward his monk opponent, gracefully sliding under his kick attempt before shooting upwards while grabbing the monk around the waist. Bringing him back down by slamming him hard onto the floor. He looks upwards with his eyes glazed over and his chest rising and falling, Yoko gives him a small nod.

"Came back home..."

Lucas, suplexing another Nomad repeatedly around the arena.

"...Refined my style..."

Lucas, throwing a devastating roundhouse kick at another opponent sending him spinning into the air.

"...Kicked some more ass..."

Lucas, letting out a primal yell as he grabs an opponent several times larger than him around the neck and lifts him up to deliver a powerbomb, creating a shockwave on the ground when he lands.

"...Kicked... A lot of ass, actually."

Lucas, flash cutting to him delivering a devastating strike on just about every major villain known to the world all while mugging for the camera.

"Cuz when it's all said 'n done. No matter what life throws at me, no matter how many times I get hit..."

Lucas, being blasted by OH-One's laser, held up by his throat by SYM-04, slammed to the floor by Yoko and knocked to the ground by nearly all his friends and enemies.

"...I always get back up."

Lucas, getting back to his knees and wiping away the blood from his mouth with a smirk.

"I'm one in a million, baby."

Lucas, being held up on the shoulders of just about everyone in the cast, all chanting his name and cheering. Jasmine Breicen reaches up from the crowd to pull Lucas into a hug, he stays facing the perceived camera with the same shit eating grin.

"The Tiger of Gold City."

Lucas winks.

---

Gold City - Breicen Penthouse Apartment

---

Lucas awakened from his slumber to the sound of a car screeching violently across the asphalt outside. This would not normally be something to rouse him up where it not for the fact he was at the top of a modestly sized apartment complex so a sound of that magnitude logically shouldn't reach him. He grumbled slightly as he felt the drool from the side of his mouth drop onto the top of his shirt, he wiped it off before rubbing his eyes and seating himself upright on the Breicen couch. Not bad by couch standards but still sleeping on a couch. He shambled over towards the window to investigate which idiot totalled their car so much he heard it all the way up here, only for his eyes to snap open in alert.

Jill and Jasmine sat in the vehicle outside, he couldn't make out their expressions from here but if you saw them once it really wasn't hard to pick either of them out in a crowd. He turned back to face the apartment and was greeted with the mess he'd made during his tenure "house sitting" while Jill was undergoing physical therapy. Dirty clothes strewn in the most random of places, leaning tower of pizza boxes, magazines, broken boards from that short time Lucas was really into breaking wood with karate chops, weights, general shit the recently awakened Lucas couldn't even categorise.

"Fuck."

Now fully awake and with the window open, he could hear the car doors open and slam shut outside as he rushed forwards and began frantically picking up anything that did not match the tasteful decor of the Breicen accommodations. He began stacking clothes in his arms like some deranged fabric based form of Tetris. Charging forward to the kitchen where the wash basket lay in wait only to trip on an unfortunately laid skateboard and toss all of the clothes up in the air where they floated mockingly back down to their original positions on the floor.

"I hate my life!" Lucas yelled indignantly from the ground. He lay there in frustration for a few seconds before the ding of an elevator snapped him back into his senses. He darted around in panic, sweat forming on his brow as his breath hastened, looking back and forth in terror as the footsteps to the door grew closer.

And closer.

And closer...

---

The door knob turned as Jill and Jasmine entered their apartment, greeted with the sight of the living room in spotless condition. Albeit, some of the pillows out of place and some magazines strewn on the coffee table, but otherwise it looked like something out of a home catalogue. Lucas greeted them, leaning against the doors of the closet with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Hey-o." He said casually. "What've you two been up to?"

---

---

He dropped down with the grace and poise you wouldn't expect of someone not using the same tech as the rest of MIRAGE's faceless goons. He stood out, even among his "compatriots". Preferring to let his own gear work for him as opposed to anything MIRAGE could offer, no matter how high tech.

On one hand large jobs like this irritated Voyt. Best to just let him loose, get the required information and package and get out rather than sending in several goons all with the same objective. Much higher chance of someone screwing up and compromising everyone else. But, on the other hand, Voyt was getting sick of watching Abel stand wordlessly in front of the window overlooking the city. He had many employers who liked giving longwinded speeches about their goals and ambitions, but Abel was somehow more annoying as he preferred to stoically and vaguely overlook each part of his operation. As though a part in a giant jigsaw puzzle only he had the capacity to understand. Leaving that ship at all certainly beat spending any more time with him and Violet.

Voyt removed his helmet and mask, placing it in a standard duffel bag which he dropped to the ground. He then removed his ballistic vest, poncho etc. to reveal the plain civilian garb underneath. He still looked somewhat shady and god help he run into any kind of Justice Rider and other such do-gooder who meticulously remembered every criminal's detail, but the average citizen would only know him by the mask and the western get-up. To them, he was just an angry looking out of towner.

He placed a cigarette in his mouth and walked towards the corner of the building's roof, dropping his bag to the ground with a thud. Placing a boot on the building's edge, Voyt looked out into the city with his eyes squinted. By his assessment most of the MIRAGE group, probably including Violet, would be taking either the tactless approach of shaking down anyone for information or outright asking everyone where the power stone was. Voyt knew that the group who took down Oh-One were tight knit. Not one of 'em was going to roll on where the stone was kept no matter what he did to them. But... There was always an arm to wrench, always someone whose lips were a little bit looser than others, who might have less to gain and less reason to stick their neck out for everyone else. It was time to find and pay them a little visit.

Voyt took a step back and ran forward, jumping across to the other rooftop. Towards his next target.

---

---

Isabella awoke with a groan, head pounding like he’d been hit in the head with a sledgehammer. It was a regular experience. At least he woke up on the couch this time. Feeling around the coffee table, he didn’t find the bottle of vodka he was looking for, just a note. Isabella groaned louder, this time in exasperation, and pulled it closer. It was his parent’s handwriting:

Jill’s PT appointment was today. Told them you were asleep, they decided Jasmine could try driving again. Try seeing them after?

Coffee’s in the pot. Left you a bagel too. Please try making something!
<3 Mom

Oh, right… that was today.

---

While Jill spent months in the hospital, and Jasmine took it upon herself to hang out in Jill’s penthouse apartment, Rosie had bought a nice condominium in Gold City. She had managed to talk their way into quite a large amount of money for their help in Antarctica, and decided that she could use a vacation. Or something close to one; art was technically her job, but she was passionate enough about it that she rarely thought of it that way. Nevertheless, she’d managed to talk Isabella into staying with her, as long as he needed to stay in Gold City himself. He was, after all, in charge of overseeing Jill’s recovery, and being on standby in case Horizon Frontiers made any “errors in judgement” regarding her care.

But now that she was out of her coma, he had trouble facing her. While on principle he had little sympathy for the Riders, much less for SHINING’s newest darling, he couldn’t say she at all deserved what happened to her.

And he felt in some way complicit in that.

And she’s back to spending her time with her sister, who was also tough to face. Isabella had trained her to fight, as she’d asked, but he’d been harsh in doing so. Prodded at her deepest fears and insecurities to bring out that fighting spirit within her. It was the right thing to do, of course; her enemies and the sad reality of the world would be more cruel to her than he ever could. But there was that small part of him that knew it felt wrong.

And Lucas was living with the both of them, as if it was all deliberately arranged to make the situation as awkward as possible. He certainly didn’t know how to deal with suddenly having a half-brother on top of everything else. He doubted Lucas did either. And Rosie seemed to be perfectly fine with waiting for the kid to make his own decisions as far as family went.

---

So all in all, when it came to seeing the three of them versus laying hung over on the couch, it was a carefully weighed set of pros and cons.

I should probably get off the couch, at least…

He rose and stumbled his way past the bathroom. He could hear the shower running, and that weak “lo-fi” music playing from behind the door. Why his mom decided to take afternoon showers when she was less a morning person and more a morning immortal demon with no need to shower, he’d never know.

Isabella poured himself some coffee and stared at the bagel on the counter with tired contempt before wolfing it down.

---

---

---

---

---

”You’re doing great, Jazzy, you just need to take it easy.”

Jasmine’s eyes widened as she slammed on the brakes, coming to a sudden stop a sizable distance away from the intersection. Jill said it like it was so easy, as if it was just perfectly normal to be responsible to be in charge of some fancy-as-hell rental car driving around a crowded city when you didn’t even have your license yet. She wondered if SHINING would find some way to chew her out if she crashed it. Probably not, but she could always feel them judging her whenever the higher ups were around, what with her edgy social media posts, and her inability to act or generate profit, not like-

”Are you gonna go, kid?”

Jasmine quickly looked both ways before hitting the gas a bit too hard and speeding off. Of course, her destination wasn’t that far off, so she quickly slammed the brakes again, screeching to a halt in front of the apartment complex.

”Listen, you did great today, I’ll just have Pit Stop park the car in the lot, okay?”

”Yeah, didn’t even have to swerve away from any old ladies this time!” Beelzebub broke out into a hearty laugh as Jasmine let out a long, deeply held breath of air. Why did she even need to drive anyways? She could fucking fly around on a broom. Or ride her skateboard. Or even walk! So many less anxiety-inducing ways of getting around.

But at least it was over with. Now she could get back to eliminating all that stress.

---

After Antarctica, Jasmine was sent on the emotional roller coaster of a lifetime. She dropped out of school pretty soon after; she just couldn’t handle the anxiety anymore. Would Jill ever wake up? Or was that it? It was all she ever thought about for a long time. She’d managed to convince Izzy to teach her how to fight, at least a little bit, in case she ever woke up, but that was about all she did in the meantime.

Eventually, Jill woke up, and immediately started on a rigorous physical therapy program. It was becoming clear that things were going back to normal, which caused that stress to start creeping back again. What if she ended up getting hurt again? Jasmine couldn’t say. Coping was a lot easier, though, especially now that Lucas was back from his whole training journey thing. In the end, she was savoring every day she got before her big sister got whisked away again, risking her life to deal with whatever maniac supervillain SHINING decided was profitable to focus on.

---

Jill, Jasmine, Beelzebub, and Pit Stop entered their apartment to find it more or less clean. Which was rather impressive, given that the amount of pizza boxes left behind by two young adults, a woman attempting to gain back her body mass after a long coma, and the actual demonic embodiment of gluttony was truly astounding.

"Hey-o." He said casually. "What've you two been up to?"

Jill’s eyes narrowed slightly upon noticing the way that Lucas was leaning against the closet, but she was distracted by his question, and stuck her hand in the bag hanging at her side.

”Just got done with the last round of PT,” Jill said proudly, withdrawing her transformation device from her bag like it was some big surprise. ”Doc said I’m good to use all my gear again too, so I’m officially back in business!”

”And, uhhh, she let me drive again.” Jasmine said sheepishly.

”Yeah, kid, I think he heard! Didn’t ya, bud?” Beelzebub gave another cackle before he gave Lucas an expectant glance.

---

---

---

Seshat growled as she shut off her game and sent the console away to some pocket in spacetime with a simple gesture. Humans had taken the concept of entertainment a long way in four thousand years. And it was moving at a blinding pace in more recent decades. It felt like it was incredibly recently that an electronic game was something more akin to a large piece of furniture, but now she could easily carry far more complex machines in her hand.

They were all meaningless distractions, of course, but they were admittedly fun enough to entice her attention when there was nothing better she could think of doing at the moment.

---

After the battle in Antarctica, Seshat had no time for things such as rest or celebration. There were multiple loose ends that required her attention, such as finding out more about whatever abominable power it was that the Justice Rider had summoned during the fight, or whether Oh-One was truly destroyed beyond any form of recovery, or what had happened to the power stone the machine had attempted to use before his destruction.

Of the first two, Seshat had found little success. Various other powers had taken an interest in what Oh-One had left behind and picked the site clean like opportunistic scavengers, and SHINING, despite its outgoing exterior of public relations, kept its secrets guarded with utmost security. And she wasn’t stupid enough to shake that hornet’s nest without a very good reason.

And of the third, Seshat only had slightly increased success. Her divinations had tracked its location to Gold City, but beyond that, she was uncertain: Gold City was so thoroughly packed with Nomads and similar artifacts of extraordinary power that even a Power Stone was camouflaged from all manner of tracking, even magic as powerful as hers.

And Gold City was a big place, with lots of hiding places, so over time, Seshat’s sense of urgency had begun to falter.

She was, like most other Nomads, taking it easy.

---

Seshat was distracted by the loud yelling of a familiar attack name in the distance. She was, of course, well-acquainted with Justin Haggar at this point.

They did not get along very well.

On paper, Justin was definitely more tolerable as far as humans went. He had a good heart, and often found himself fighting on the same side as her. In reality, he had that very youthful sort of brash arrogance surrounding that good heart, which Seshat found very irksome. He in turn had little patience for her decisions and wisdom, which was far superior in a way that certainly wasn’t brash or arrogant at all.

But still, if he was in a fight, it was probably worth her attention.

Trudging her way through the crowds of the city, she was confronted with the fact that he was currently fighting the self-described “Number One Ninja” Jaden Raldo. If there was any good in him, Seshat had trouble seeing it. If it was there, it was surrounded by a layer of vain showboating and obsession with petty fame that she found difficult to see past. It pissed her off far more, and she could not deny that there would be a certain catharsis to seeing him get punched in the face.

But it was unfortunately wiser to see what they were doing first.

“What in Set’s name are you two squabbling over?” Seshat asked, dry derision dripping from her words.

---

---

---

It was a beautiful day in Gold City... but every day in Gold City was a beautiful day. It was almost like the place lived up to its name! Oh-Seven stood in the flower shop and took a sniff of the flower... even though she's unable to smell in the way, normal humans. It was less of an olfactory sense and more of scanning the air for samples... nothing but perceiving the world in nothing but ones and zeroes. Though, to the flower shop owner - a kind portly man with a thick bushy beard - she appeared to be no less human than anyone else in the room. Just a little bit off with her glowing blue eyes, and mildly robotic demeanor. Not that it was important; inhuman or not, Oh-Seven took the flower basket that she created for herself over to the counter, heaved it up, and then she smiled at the store owner as she handed him a few 20's to pay for everything.

That was when she was out the door and went out to explore Gold City. The sights and sounds were overwhelming, but Oh-Seven was not bothered even in the slightest... she was able to comprehend all of it through her scanners and advanced processing power. Though, she disregarded all of it as it was, in the end, nothing but background noise and useless sensory data. Maybe if she was researching noise pollution. The girl had to laugh to herself as she covered her mouth. She wondered what Justin was up to... probably looming somewhere. Then she had to laugh again. Everyone was off having their own adventures, going their own way... however, what happened to Jill still haunts Oh-Seven to this very day.

While she was off fighting Oh-One's robotic army, Jill pushed herself to her limits for no reason... if she had just waited, the rest of the group would have trounced Oh-One. However, she had to play the hero, and spend the new few months in intensive care. However, a different less human side of Oh-Seven was telling her that Jill had to ensure that Oh-One was put down for good. Even if it was unlikely that Oh-One was confined to one body. After all, Gerard never installed a thousand different ways to prevent him from being replicated... or replicating. Oh-One stopped for a brief moment and grabbed onto a flower and brought it up to her face as she stared at it.

If only he didn't do that, then she could revive her deceased sisters.

But alas, all of Gerard's notes were destroyed. Or stolen by her. However, Oh-Seven had no interest in pursuing MIRAGE or any of those monsters, for the sake of Justin...

... Little did she know, MIRAGE was closer than she thought. Something flew by her, like a jet, so fast that it rustled her hair and Oh-Seven immediately shot her head around to look. She saw the trail of three humanoid figures flying by and she immediately activated her scanners.

Before she dropped her flower basket when she realized who they were.

"... Oh no," Oh-Seven said to herself.

---

---

---

Jaden screamed as he charged Justin head-on with both swords out and a bitchin grin on his face. He was so gonna make a diss track if he wins.



Justin charged Jaden with both hands priming his sound-scythe to cut his balls off. He was tired of this asshole making diss tracks about him.

As they charged, they were about to collide and engage in a battle of epic proportions. One that would shake Gold City to its very core... a cybernetic DJ guy vs a Rapping Ninja asshole. They were going to need a bigger alleyway-

“What in Set’s name are you two squabbling over?”

The two came to a skidding stopped as the record playing fighting music in both their heads skipped. They both turned their heads towards Seshat like they were both little kids that got caught being naughty. In a way, this entire fight was incredibly childish. And stupid. Mostly stupid.

"... What are we fighting over?" Justin said as he shrugged, and the Sound-Scythe disappeared.

Jaden sheathed his massive swords as he said to Seshat, "I was tryna' help out this mothafucka' and this psycho decides to punch me in the face! The fuck is up with that!? Ain't you guys supposed to be like superheroes or some shit?"

"Look," Justin started, [color=cornflower]"You just have a really punchable face, okay."[/color]

"That's far," Jaden shrugged before he goes to put on some sunglasses, "You just hate success!"

Justin then turned towards Seshat, "What I'm wondering is; what brings you around these parts, Seshat?" The last thing he wanted was for the old lady to stick her nose where it doesn't belong.

---

---

The dreams came first.

Strange dreams. Twisted and bleak. Half remembered scenes of sorrow and regret best left forgotten. Somewhere, there is the sound of liquid running gently through a pipe and cars gliding across the asphalt.

From underneath there are the sounds of someone else. A man and a woman. But, how can the void have a voice?

Their words are unclear, like the mumbled sounds of someone submerged in water. Their voices fade as flickers of memories will their way in and out of existence. Or perhaps they are nightmares. The shadow of a hulking man in armour, a lone soldier surrounded by comrades dressed like and as emotionless as he, the mourning love of a family gone forever. This is not real.

This is not real.

Hundreds upon hundreds of shadowy figures pointing a single finger directly at the accused. There is so much blood unspoken. Rivers of it. Enough to wash the oceans crimson.

Adam Vrbata looks at himself in a mirror. Sees the skin crack and fall off his face, the side of his mouth contort into a hideous grimace, the whites of his eyes turn black and gray. And he screams in despair.

'I am Cain.'

---

---

Cain's eyes snap open as his hands reach up to his neck, wrapping around the handle of the blade jammed in the centre of his throat and slowly pulling the steel from out of his body.

"Jesus christ!" The man exclaimed as he stumbled backwards. His partner, a woman dressed in the same ripped and strewn together clothing as he, merely stood with her mouth agape as the man who they had stabbed rose back up to his feet in under a minute.

"I thought he wasn't a Nomad!?" The woman spat out, her fear giving way to anger. Things were going well until the Raggedy Man appeared. Her friends lay dead and thrown around the alleyway, their mark had long since fled their clutches. They had been surprised when they managed to get close enough to impale him through the neck. Initially they believed him to be a Nomad, but Gold City's boogeyman went down like an average human. At least momentarily.

"To hell with this!" The man yelled as he sprinted away. His only weapon had just been pulled out by The Raggedy Man, he was in no position to try his luck again.

For her part, the woman merely snarled. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a rusty looking switchblade. The Raggedy Man was approaching with a calm walk, she met him with a charge.

The man heard the scream of his partner as he reached the door to the building at the end of the alley. He collided into it with his shoulder, thanking whatever powers were watching him that it opened in a cloud of dust. He stumbled into the building and pushed the door shut once again with all his might. There would be no time to catch his breath as he began ascending the stairs, his eyes planted on the ground to keep his footing in the darkness of the apartment complex.

As he ascended the upper lengths he heard the sound of glass shattering beneath him and let out a yelp. Quickening his pace only to trip on the edge of the flight of stairs and plunge himself into the darkness of the hall. He coughed as the dust flew up around him and sunk itself into his skin and clothing. He found himself temporarily dazed before coming to his senses and trying to force himself back to his feet only for another crash to send him off course and stumbling back on to the floor.

"P-please..." He stammered out to the figure in the darkness, holding up one hand defensively as he crawled back deeper into the hallway. "W-we just wanted the money! Didn't... Didn't want to hurt anybody. I-I-I-..."

Fear had overtaken him as he continued trying to bargain fruitlessly with the figure in the shadows. His body met the wall and with nowhere to move he merely lay, shaking with his hand still held against the figure. A hand reached out and covered his mouth, suppressing the man's yell.

"Tell everyone what happened to your friends." Cain spoke, leaning forward and revealing his scarred face to the terrified thug. "How they were ripped apart. How they bled. Then leave this city."

The man whimpered as Cain held up his free hand, slowly shifting it from a regular appendage into a curved blade.

"Can't let you go unscathed. No one will believe you otherwise."

The man's screams echoed throughout the building as Cain drew his blade closer to his face.

---

---

”And, uhhh, she let me drive again.” Jasmine said sheepishly.

”Yeah, kid, I think he heard! Didn’t ya, bud?” Beelzebub gave another cackle before he gave Lucas an expectant glance.

"The Tokyo drift outside?" His concern about the closet's contents melted as he gave Beelzebub a slight smile. "Nah, must've missed it."

He folded his arms and continued to lean "casually" against the closet while his attention shifted to Jasmine.

"Why're you learnin' to drive anyway?" He asked, cocking his head to the side quizzically. "Can't you, like, fly around on a broom? Or skateboard?... Or walk?"

Normally Lucas was pretty devil may care about most things, especially since part of his training regime was to sprint to most places. But the last time he'd been in a car with Jasmine she'd nearly parked them up a tree. He loved a good challenge but Jas' driving skills was one he wasn't wholly confident he could beat.

"Uhh, glad the PT went well though." He added quickly, trying to spare his friend's feelings on her lack of vehicular ability.

"Y'sure you're all good to use the gadgets and doodads again?" He asked, a slight tinge of concern on his voice that was these days only really reserved for the Breicens and occasionally his father. Jill was stubborn and had insisted on the odd sparring session while she was recovering, the first few... Weren't pretty. But slowly but surely she got her mojo back, he still couldn't say if that meant she should be jumping off roofs on her bike shouting "Henshin!" anytime soon.

"Like they got a buncha those Justice dumba- guys. Right? Shit, if I was gettin' paid time off I'd take all I could get." The issue had shifted slightly as Lucas began daydreaming in his head about being able to get paid not to work at the fucking convenience store, instead being able to get caught up on all the pro wrestling he'd recorded on the TiVO.

Pit Stop floated towards Lucas and hovered slightly. It took a moment to realise he was not looking at Lucas, but rather past him at the closet. A look of worry flashed over Lucas as he looked at the floating potential tattletail.

"Stop, man." he hissed.

---

---

---

Jasmine laughed awkwardly as she stared off to the side. At least Lucas was moving the conversation away from the whole driving thing. Not like Jill rolling back into battle was something she liked talking about either, though.

"Like they got a buncha those Justice dumba- guys. Right? Shit, if I was gettin' paid time off I'd take all I could get."

”Well...” Jill shrugged. ”I’ve had a lot of time to think while I was laying around in that hospital bed, but I guess I never thought of it that way.”

She paused to think about it for a moment. There was pressure, obviously; she was SHINING’s front and center Rider before she went down, and there was a lot of anticipation to see her back in action. But she could have easily gotten a bit more time if she wanted. Idling just wasn’t something she was geared for, she guessed.

”I guess if I had to explain it, it feels like the world’s been spinning without me for ages now. Only feels natural to catch up as fast as I can.”

---

---

---

Seshat had the same disapproving frown as the two Nomads explained themselves. They were clearly being extremely stupid, but she’d seen it all before. She had, in fact, lived through thousands of years of men screaming at each other and coming to blows for the most poorly-conceived reasons imaginable.

She raised an eyebrow when Justin turned the conversation towards her own activities.

”I’ve been attempting to ascertain the location of the Power Stone.” Seshat explained. ”Along with a few other loose ends from the battle in Antarctica. Though I believe the stone to be the most concerning among them.” She uncrossed her arms, settling down now that the fight seemed to be definitively over.

”Though I must apologize if you were hoping to speak to me about something over the past few months. I had assumed you wanted nothing to do with me.”

---

---

It could almost be described as pretty. Were it not for Voyt knowing exactly what went on in this part of town. The whistling birds and fluttering insects against fresh cut green grass was nothing more than an illusion. A cultured façade to distract from the kilometre long towers of the Financial District, where companies decided their own rules and regulations. Never were they pleasant.

For Voyt, he'd never actually been in the Financial District much. Though he certainly had clients there. Most were the spineless sort who liked to hide behind a middleman or a dead drop. Perhaps feeling that they could keep their hands clean if they did not interact with the mercenary directly. So long as they paid, that was irrelevant to Voyt. Though, it irritated him now as he'd had to plan out his route for his target by himself. The Riders didn't have much of a presence in the District, not that they should considering it was one of the few parts of Gold City that had regular policing and fast response times. So, as long as the gunslinger kept his head down, there should be no issues.

Not that he had the same amount of faith in Violet and the rest of MIRAGE...

'There.'

Voyt looked up at the building before him. Rather unimpressive, comparatively speaking. It was still more expensive than an average building anywhere else several times over.

SUNLIGHT SHIPPING

A private transportation firm that had handled the Power Stone as it was taken from Antarctica back to the States. It had caused unrest with the group that destroyed Oh-One at the time but the deal had only been that the company would deal with the stone's transportation and ascertain that it, in and of itself, posed no more threat to the population. Of course, the majority of the group still did not trust the arrangement, but if they wanted to play ball with the government and have any hope at having certain 'past offenses' overlooked. That was one of the conditions. They got it back regardless, assuaging fears somewhat.

But Voyt knew that greed ran deep in Gold City. If the company hadn't themselves placed some form of tracking or paper trail on the stone, they almost certainly did it for the highest bidder. Unfortunately for them, Voyt was not planning to negotiate.

He pulled the cigarette from out of his mouth and flicked it onto the pavement before stubbing it out with his boot.

It was time to start hunting.

---

---

”I guess if I had to explain it, it feels like the world’s been spinning without me for ages now. Only feels natural to catch up as fast as I can.”

Lucas rubbed the back of his neck and looked away for a moment. Regretting even bringing it up. He, perhaps more than anyone, knew exactly what she meant. Having watched his friends get their collective asses handed to them in Brazil, while all Lucas could do was stutter and cower. By the time he'd started to hone his ki, his potential and his 'heritage', Oh-One had been long beaten. Maybe if he'd been there things would've been different.

He wanted to empathize with her, to reinforce her feelings. Provide support the way he used to be able to do, better than anyone else.

"Yeah." He said quietly.

There was a silence that hung in the air. Not long enough to be awkward but enough for it to be noticed. Reverting back to laissez faire attitude as though nothing happened, Lucas opted to fill it.

"So!" He said, stretching and cracking his back into place. "Did you guys grab breakfast yet? Cause the other weekend I found a great pancake place tha-"

As Lucas took a step forward to, essentially strongarm the Breicens into taking him to a pancake diner he'd seen but couldn't afford, a critical error was made. Without his weight to hold it in place, the closet door swung open. Revealing the ill gotten gains of Miller and Breicen with empty pizza boxes, training weights, comic books, Beelz's casaba melon. On and on it seemed to go as it all spilled out in the floor. Lucas' eye twitched as he stared down at his hard work with a broken smile.

"It's on fifth and Adams..." He muttered through gritted teeth.

---

---

---

” I’ve been attempting to ascertain the location of the Power Stone. Along with a few other loose ends from the battle in Antarctica. Though I believe the stone to be the most concerning among them. Though I must apologize if you were hoping to speak to me about something over the past few months. I had assumed you wanted nothing to do with me.”

"... And what in the world would I have to talk with you about?" Jaden followed that ridiculous idea of contacting the terminator with a chuckle. The Power Stone was something that he found interesting to him... Nomad wouldn't want a Power Stone in their collection. Though, he was wondering what the hell he would do with a Power Stone... oh, yeah, put it on a chain and go on tour with it. Become the most powerful rapper in the world!

"And I take it you come here to ask us about it?" Justin shrugged, he was not the one to trust Seshat or any of the outsiders. He appreciated her help in Antarctica but he wasn't stupid; the little high and pious defender of the world would turn against them in an instant. Justin just knew it. He balled his fist as he looked at his hand, wiggling his fingers. Before he sighed and shrugged, "... Well, you've come to the wrong place, I have no clue where that thing is." Justin lied, he knew that Seshat wasn't going to buy it though, so he prepared for probably another fight.

He took a few steps away from the two as he looked back, stating,

"Beeeeesides... aren't there like eight other ones? Why don't you go chase one of them instead?"

There was an explosion in the distance that interrupted their conversation... Justin jetted his head around toward the rooftop of a building.

---

---

---

The three figures landed on the roof of a building not too far away from Oh-Seven. They all had a great view of Gold City... all the street lights and cars passing by. The three beings were vaguely human... obviously robotic.

"Oh-Four," The biggest one with the one with massive robotic gauntlets while wearing a black suit asked, "Where are our little Arctic heroes at?"

To that one's left, was Oh-Four, dressed like a cutesy little nurse with a massive shield. Her eyes turned a bright blue color as she scanned the area around her. Her eyes reverted to a normal. "Jill and Jasmine Brecian are two kilometers north of us. Justin Haggar is one-point-five kilometers away from us. Others are unknown and..."

Oh-Four and the other two turned around when they heard a sound behind them... a familiar jet booster of their acquaintance. "... Our sister is less than a mile from us."

Oh-Seven had a blank look on her face as she landed on the rooftop and walked towards them... that blank look transformed into that of anger as she got closer and closer. She stated, "Oh-Four, Oh-Three, Oh-Six... I told you all never to step foot in Gold City again!" She shouted at them as she came to a stop, waving her hand.

"Terms we never agreed to," Oh-Six said with a cheeky smile. "Besides, we are here on official business..."

"... With MIRAGE." Oh-Seven sighed.

"Like we said the last time we here," Oh-Three said with a smile, "They kept us safe while Oh-One was massacring our kind. While you ran away... and look at the results..."

She chuckled with a wave of her hand, "Our brothers and sisters are dead, subsumed by Oh-One, and gone forever."

"We destroyed Oh-One," Oh-Seven stated.

"Correction," Oh-Four said, "You destroyed one of his bodies. His systems are backed up in a million different places."

"Places we're trying to destroy," Oh-Three said. "While you're playing with flowers... you should leave this city behind and join us."

"No..." Oh-Seven said, "I refuse to turn my back on humanity... they have a place for me."

"By turning your back on MIRAGE, you're turning your back on humanity," Oh-Three said, "Besides... you were never one of them, nor will you ever... you're nothing but a tool for them."

Oh-Seven pointed her right arm at the three, and it transformed into her rocket launcher... with her bright red-tipped rocket primed and ready. ""Leave, now."

"... You know you can't beat us," Oh-Three took a few steps forward, her massive gauntlets twisted. The second she crossed a threshold, Oh-Seven fired the rocket at her and she stuck her hand out and caught it. Crushing it in her hands with a massive explosion. Created a black cloud of smoke as Oh-Seven activated her jet boosters because she knew that her attack wouldn't cause any actual damage to Oh-Three.

... Oh-Three lunged out of the smoke with her hand cocked back, and Oh-Seven flew backward to dodge. Oh-Three slammed her hand onto the ground as hard as she could and shattered the roof - with had the side effect of sending all three of them down with it. Oh-Seven flew up into the air and primed her machine gun, which popped out of her shoulder.

Oh-Three came out of the wreckage again, flying at her and Oh-Seven flew upwards to dodge as she punched the building behind her - shattering all the glass into pieces. However, Oh-Four came flying at her at high speeds, holding both ends of her shield, and wacked Oh-Seven in the torso.

"... Surprise." She said, laughing as Oh-Seven was sent spinning into a building.

The three rogue One-Hundreds floated to each other side by side.

"... Don't dismantle her," Oh-Four said, "I'm sure the Pariah can fix the faults in her programming."

"Agreed." Oh-Three and Oh-Six stated.

---

---

---

Jill and Jasmine stared blankly at the tower of junk, now collapsed into ruin on the floor. There was something almost impressive about the sheer volume that was successfully crammed into the space of one closet, and yet so quickly toppled. A testament to the ingenuity and prowess that one can muster when realizing the consequences of their own procrastination.

”Holy shit, is that my casaba melon?!” Beelzebub swooped down through the silence and snatched his prize between his talons, tossing it about with maniacal laughter that echoed through the hollowed out fruit like some sort of rotting instrument. Jill sighed and shook her head.

”Yeah, that sounds great, Lucas.” She said with a smile. ”I’ll just get the car started up and we can-”

She was interrupted by the sound of an explosion in the distance. Looking out the window, she could see the smoke coming from one of the rooftops below. A quick beep could be heard from within her pocket.

”Ah, darn, guess that’s my cue.” Jill’s smile faded as she rummaged around in her wallet, leaning over the trash pile and handing Lucas a green piece of paper bearing the image of a former American president. ”Look, here’s a hundred dollars, y’all can go grab pancakes or save it for later and join in on whatever this is, I’m not the boss of ya. Just gotta ask that you make sure Jazzy doesn’t get hurt.” The Justice Rider quickly wheeled around and sped out the door.

”Wait, WHAT?!” Jasmine yelled. Pit Stop promptly flew past her, grabbed a protein bar, and was gone before she could process what had just happened. She began to run after her sister, even as Beelzebub fruitlessly protested.

”No, wait, think of the pancakes!

---

---

---

Seshat sighed.

Children, both of them. She slowly reached towards her rifle, as if this were routine.

"Beeeeesides... aren't there like eight other ones? Why don't you go chase one of them instead?"

”Because I do not have any leads on them. Now-”

The sound of the explosion immediately grabbed Seshat’s attention, turning her head in synch with Justin.

”I think this is more urgent, however.” The boosters on her back began to burst with blue light as she flew towards the commotion.

---

---

The Gunslinger felt the metal as his hand pressed against the door to the Sunlight Shipping building. He had planned on several infiltration routes, but with an unassuming look and a quiet day, he could theoretically just walk right up to the man he needed to see. Provided he kept his head down while looking like he belonged.

With a sharp inhale, he pushed forward, the door having barely creaked open before his plan was shot to hell.

"OH MY GOD!" A woman from inside screamed. Panic ensued on the ground floor of the Sunlight Shipping building as an explosion on a nearby roof rocked the surrounding area. Voyt whipped his head around to see smoke rising a few miles from where he stood. Already, he could hear the sirens as police mobilised to ensure whatever violence was emerging, stayed put where it was without travelling to the more valuable commercial area.

That kind of fire power. It could have only been the tincans.

'Damn amateurs.' Voyt thought to himself, eyes narrowing in quiet rage. So much for a quick and easy approach.

He let the door shut as panic continued to spread amongst the building. Moving around to the side of the building, pushing past terrified civilians as he did so. The fire escape behind the building wasn't ideal, but if he was going to move unseen, it was the best chance.

Day by day he regretted his partnership with MIRAGE a little bit more.

---

---

Lucas tried his best to ignore Beelzebub's joyous reunion with his casaba melon. Much as the two had formed a very weird bond throughout the boy's stay in Gold City, he was possessive of the fruit in such a way that unnerved Lucas. Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to, sort of a situation.

Otherwise he smiled, Jill had taken the state of the apartment in much better fashion than he'd figured. Then again she was probably happy to be somewhere familiar instead of cooped up in a hospital bed. Even better, it was pancake time baby!

”Yeah, that sounds great, Lucas. I’ll just get the car started up and we can-”

The Tiger Of Gold City felt his mouth salivate as overly bougie pancakes came within his grasp. He wasn't a fan of the odd "rich person's" party or gathering the Breicen's had occasionally invited him to. Sticking out like a sore thumb even compared to Jasmine. But when it came to food? Yeah, he could stomach some snobby clientele and overly expensive décor.

But then, all hope was lost.

Lucas felt his body shake along with the building as the explosion thundered nearby. A quick look was all it took for him to know what would happen next.

”Ah, darn, guess that’s my cue. Look, here’s a hundred dollars, y’all can go grab pancakes or save it for later and join in on whatever this is, I’m not the boss of ya. Just gotta ask that you make sure Jazzy doesn’t get hurt.”

”Wait, WHAT?!”

And with that, both Breicens were out the door. Lucas felt himself let out a low grumble as his stomach groaned in annoyance. Glancing to the smoke rising from the building and pocketing the cash with a huff. He liked a potential fight more than anybody but he hadn't had breakfast!

Beelzebub was seemingly in agreement as the two rushed to catch up with the sisters. Lucas found himself nearing them quicker than anticipated, having both the gift of not being fresh out the hospital or as resistant to cardio as Jasmine. Speaking of which.

Lucas hopped as he ran, plucking the Demon of Gluttony out of the air for a technique they'd spent most of Jill's recuperation time practicing.

"Curveball!" He yelled, alerting Jasmine ahead and Beelz himself of their next move. Still running with respectable speed, Lucas twirled his arm and tossed Beelzebub with his "Tiger level" strength. The bat sent flying forward for Jasmine to grab onto and fly faster than she could run.

It was a pretty damn useful move once they got it down. The first few times were tough however. One such attempt having Lucas throw Beelz so hard that when Jasmine grabbed onto him as he passed they were both sent flying several feet before the bat could reorient himself in the air. You live and you learn. Speaking of which, that applied to another technique Lucas was about to employ.

As the crew sprinted down the corridor towards the stairwell, there lay a window at the end. One that offered a wonderful view of the distance of the building from the ground.

'Phew. Bigmoneybigmoneybigmoney.' Repeating that mantra in his head, Lucas sped up and closed his eyes. Crashing through the window like a bullet from a gun.

SMASH!

Eyes still closed. Wind whipping against his cheeks and hair. Lucas couldn't help but feel a smile spread across his lips as he flew through the air. Months of fuck all to do save coming up with insane ideas to try had led to this. God, he hoped he'd judged the distance well enough.

Twisting his body, Lucas moved shoulder first in mid-air, landing in a roll as his body collided with the roof of the adjacent building. Small clinks landing around his body as the glass from the window seemingly travelled with him for a more dynamic entry. Sparkling as they smashed alongside the ground while the cause of their creation spun directly into a kneeling pose.

"God DAMN I love myself." Lucas said, head shooting with an expression of adrenaline filled joy.

He stood and watched the smoke rise from the roof not too far from where he was. Sparing a glance towards the Breicens, he knew they'd have a lot less trouble travelling than he did. Lucas turned and charged on towards the source of trouble.

Either he'd be entertained for a bit, or he'd kick someone's ass quickly and go get food. Win win!

---

---

Gold City was one of the richest and wealthiest cities in the country, with towering, brilliantly-shining skyscrapers, monuments to commerce filling the city's skyline. However, it was also infamous for it's rampant crime and corruption. Virtually any big company that put property in the city was bound to keep a few skeletons in the backroom, behind smiling clerks and busy offices. So, it should come as no surprise that Horizon Frontiers, one of the world's largest biotechnological & medical foundations, would use the city to host it's North American Regional Headquarters. The sixty-five stories reaching towards the sun were full of doctors offices, cubicles, and laboratories that worked in a constant buzz of medicinal progress. But no matter how hard investigators and reporters would search, nobody ever found so much as a crumb of incriminating evidence to Horizon's shady business.

No; Instead, Horizon Frontiers had it's true colors underneath the earth, a loose net of secret laboratories, development rooms, and living quarters for high-interest staff, who would casually go about their highly-illegal work.

*Shnk*
*Shnk*
*Shnk*
*Shnk*

Daren Metzger leaned back in a chair in the Control Room. In his good hand was an absurdly large meat cleaver, one more akin to yet barely qualifying as a sword owing to it's long blade. In his other, a cheap prosthetic, he grazed a whetstone against it in rhythmic motion, sending sparks flying with every graze. The blade shone brilliantly, absent of any chips or dulling, as the butcher endlessly shaved it's edge. Suddenly, a Scalpel stabbed into the wall behind him, mere inches from his head, catching his attention.

"Would you knock that off already?!" Ulric Dotair snapped. He had been sitting at the console of the control room as Daren lazed in the back, and the constant grating noise had finally gotten to him.

"Sure, I'll just sit here quietly, doing completely nothing, while we wait for Bird Girl to tell us where the Stone is. If she does," Daren shrugged, sitting forward and tossing his whetstone aside, propping his Cleaver to his side.

Ulric let out a defeated sigh, then pulled on the communicator, "Arianna? Come in. How's the view out there? Spot any 'shiny yet?"

---

---

All across the city, flocks of birds would watch the folk below go about their daily lives. But among them, were not birds at all. Dozens of spy drones perched themselves across the city, completely inconspicuous to any wandering eyes, secretly observing the entire city and all of it's passerby. They especially kept tabs on the city's people of interest, watching them from a distance all day. Justin, Jaden, Jasmine, Jill, Lucas, the drones kept a tab on all of them as they went about their business, sending their data back to Arianna Legose, herself perched on top of the rooftop. Using her stealth suit's built-in systems, she was able to view the feeds of all her drones, tracking their locations as they all convened.

"Not yet," Arianna spoke, pressing the side of her head. As soon as her drones identified MIRAGE goons prowling around the city, Horizon immediately leapt into position. They knew why they were here: To track down the Powerstone, which had been lost in the confusion of the Battle in Antarctica. While Arianna was confident in her and Horizon's resources being able to find the stone themselves in no time, MIRAGE's sudden appearance was unexpected, but welcome. If they were willing to launch a full-scale attack on the city, then they must have had a decent idea to where the Stone was. So, Arianna decided to sit back and wait, watching as Mirage floundered across the city, looking for answers. A few Mirage goons started an explosion downtown, which drew some attention, both of the law and the likes of Jill or Justin, which Arianna saw as their locations began to convene.

On the other hand, she noticed a peculiar figure approaching the offices of Sunlight Shipping, the organization that helped move the Powerstone, which had been a location of interest for Arianna as well. Noticing him sulk around the building as the explosions downtown rang out and people began to panic, Arianna did a quick scan and consulted a database and--

Oh god damnit, it was Voyt. She could hardly recognize the Mirage assassin when he didn't look like he walked right off the set of a Western. But, the scars and facial pattern didn't lie.

"Hold on, I think I got a lead on them having a lead. Down at Sunlight Shipping Offices, engaging target!" Arianna spoke back through the transmitter before cutting off. She stood on the edge of the rooftop, spreading her arms wide out. In a moment, the sleeves of the Huginn-Module transformed into razor, bladed feathers. Arianna's mask flipped down, covering her face in a long pointed beak. Arianna then hopped off the edge of the roof, falling straight downward, before turning up and using the draft to soar over the streets and land in a roll down the same alleyway behind the building that Voyt slipped into. Her drones followed suit, flying after her into the alleyway, surrounding Voyt in a cacophony of screeches.

"Howdy partner," Arianna greeted mockingly, before ejecting her razor-sharp talons, "I'm guessing you're looking for a certain shiny bauble too?"

---

---

"Sunlight Shipping? Alright, Just hang in there, Daren's on his--" Ulric began, before being cut off as Arianna disabled the transmitter, and immediately leapt into action. Ulric sighed.

"That's my cue?" Daren asked, perking up.

"Yes. Sunlight Shipping Offices, over in the Financial District. There was an explosion out in the streets, Go around it, do you hear me?" Ulric instructed.

"Oh yeah, sure, I'll definitely go around the action," Daren opened the door and began walking out, shutting it behind him. It took then for Ulric to understand that his associate had very little interest in engaging the actual mission, and was very likely to get caught up in whatever caused the explosion all of the other Nomads were rapidly approaching.

"I am surrounded by children," Ulric groaned, placing his head into his hands in the empty control room.

---

---

---

Oh god, what the fuck am I doing?” Jasmine thought as she sped down the hall. I’m running towards an explosion? I think I can fight now, right? After all that trai-

"Curveball!"

On reflex, the young witch turned around and caught the demon prince of Gluttony as he sailed by, tucking in her legs and swinging forward to slip through the window that Lucas had just broken.

”Are we gonna do the thing now?” Beelzebub asked, beginning to pant with exhaustion.

”Yeah.” Jasmine said. Her silhouette became shrouded in darkness for a few moments, and she emerged in the punk witch getup that signified her transformation. That familiar feeling started poking at the back of her mind, an anxious, joyous hunger. A silver staff appeared in her hand, which expanded and began to emit jets of red hot flames as she put it beneath her feet like a skateboard. Way cooler than driving.

Almost on cue, she saw Jill’s blue motorcycle shoot out from the apartment building and begin weaving its way through the streets below. The witch tipped her broom downwards, feeling a rush of adrenaline to match the increase in speed until she evened out above street level. She tipped her hat to Lucas as she passed him by. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all?

---

---

---

Isabella sighed, the worst of his hangover having passed. There was the oppressing feeling of the end of an era, or rather a return to normalcy. With the kid back on her feet, it was only a matter of time until he was back to babysitting. Likely with the addition of her little sister.

The default ringtone of a cell phone began playing from the table. He slowly picked it up.

”We’re on. Make sure the debut goes well.”

The half demon growled at the sound of the voice on the other end, who had already hung up. It seemed like it was time to go back to the role of the distant mentor. Of course, he had other plans. He would be there, of course, maybe step in if Jill couldn’t fend for herself, but he was far more interested in seeing just who SHINING was playing ball with this time…

---

---

---

SYSTEMS DAMAGED.

Was what flashed before Oh-Seven's eyes when she crashed through that building. Glass was shattered on impact and sent everywhere, and Oh-Seven came to a rolling stop with a mere skid. She managed to roll onto her knee and faced the direction where her sisters were. This was bad... she was outnumbered three to one, and there was no way in hell she could take on more than two at a time. They were toying with her... but she had a few secret weapons, an ace up her sleeve one could say. The only issue was...

Her three sisters floated up to her floor.

... She was not sure what they had up their sleeves.

Oh-Three landed on the floor, before cocking her fist back, charging Oh-Seven assisted by her jet boosters. Oh-Seven's left arm transformed into are plasma cannon as she charged it up, and the second Oh-Three began to swing; she was hit with the blast point blank and was sent spiraling out of the building. Right in between her two sisters, who hovered above with a dry smiles on their faces.

"We should have caught her." Oh-Six shrugged.

"Negative," Oh-Four stated, "Oh-Three is more than capable of surviving the fall."

Oh-Six primed her scythe while Oh-Four placed her shield in front and charged Oh-Seven while Oh-Six got behind her. Oh-Seven had her machine gun deploy while her lower body transformed into its jet-form, and she quickly retreated out of the other side of the building at extremely high speeds.... while barraging Oh-Four's shield with her machine gun to no avail. When she was close enough, Oh-Six quickly tripled speed and quickly closed the distance, and surprised Oh-Seven with a slash to her mid.

Oh-Seven screamed as she grabbed her body... but that wasn't all, Oh-Six grabbed onto Oh-Seven's head with her talon feet and carried her along, jetting towards the ground as fast as possible.... before doing a flip and throwing her directly into the ground so hard that it left a crater and she bounced off. Before pulling her scythe back for the final blow, a psychotic smile on her face as if their previous agreement went out the window.

"Have fun running from us with no legs!"

She began the slash and Oh-Seven closed her eyes to let the inevitable happen...

---

---

---

Seshat stopped in midair as she saw Oh-Seven flying towards the ground, followed by another fighter and its two cohorts. They were obviously robotic, but their exact nature was unknown to her. Still, it was of little importance; if they were going after Oh-Seven, they were certainly up to no good. She flew up to a nice vantage point and drew her rifle, centering the sights right on the one with the scythe as she prepared to swing…

And was interrupted as a roaring blue blur rammed its way through her target. It took her a second to recognize the interloper, but the motorcycle was a dead giveaway. The Justice Rider was back.

---

Jill skidded to a stop a few yards away from the pair, turning her bike to the side in the process. Honestly, she was feeling a little anxious on the way over, but now that she was back in the saddle and the adrenaline was kicking in, it was like her “break” never happened.

”Pickin’ on such a nice young lady…” Jill shook her head with a confident smirk. ”Maybe you need to see what happens when you mess with my friends!” She held the EX-System forward and attached it to her waist, turning the key and swiping her finger over the startup switches on the side. It began emitting its recognizable jingle as she took a deep breath, adopting her trademark transformation pose.



Jill became shrouded in brilliant light, armor forming around her body while its engine spun to life. It felt… different, since Antarctica. Looked different, too, judging by the new, sleek plating and the mufflers poking out near her shoulder pads. Not that she had time to care about the details.

”Hey Oh-Seven. Been a while, hasn't it?” The Justice Rider smirked as she revved the engine, charging towards the one with the scythe once more.

---

---

Gotta give credit where credit is due, Jill still could make an entrance. Even had a little one liner tee'd up and everything. But you couldn't subside on just sizzle, you needed to add a little steak to it.

All of these self-aggrandizing thoughts and more flooded Lucas mind as he ran even faster, kicking up pebbles while nearing the edge of the final building. A sizable gap separating him from the action. It was time to show these bozos how a real star entered the scene.

"WAAAOOOH!" Letting out a high pitched martial arts yell that only comes from watching too many movies, the shadow of Lucas sailed above Jill. Leaping right to the next building with his leg extended.

BRUTAL TIGER!
BRUTAL TIGER!

Jill had dealt with the Psycho Bitch holding the scythe, so Lucas collided with the Psycho Bitch holding the shield with his patented flying kick. The shield was certainly high tech and most assuredly sturdy, but Lucas' momentum, strength (and dashing good looks) hit it with enough force to send Oh-Four careening backwards. The sound of metal scraping against concrete as her feet skidded against the roof, complete with black scorch marks as he managed to barely keep her feet against the ground.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!?"

Lucas stood up and adjusted his jacket, letting the dust fly off in a way that assuredly had to look very cool. He grinned.

"Lucas Miller."

Cracking his neck and shifting into his fighting stance, he gestured with his palm in a way that even machines understood the language of.

Bring it.

---

---

"Howdy partner,"

"I'm guessing you're looking for a certain shiny bauble too?"

In the time it might take a person to inhale or blink, Voyt's revolver was removed from the holster under his shirt and aimed at Arianna's head.

He knew of her. Somewhat. Bird Girl. As he understood it, she wasn't much of a fighter. That she decided to face him alone meant she was either suicidally overconfident. Or, help was on the way.

"Yeah." He said simply, cocking back the hammer of his gun for emphasis. No real point trying to hide it now. He'd been confident he could slip past Horizon Frontiers' "little birds", he very nearly did were it not for the intellect of his contractually stated allies.

"The people. The information. S'all in there. If you try fight me. Or, more accurately, I have to open your head right here and now? Those scared folk'll panic even more." Eyes narrowing. "Which'd make it tough to get information it seems we're both after."

"Likely, you got pals on the way," he took the opinion that she wasn't stupid, if that assessment was incorrect, he'd find out momentarily, "But, until they get here? You're in a stand off."

"Either lemme do my job, givin' your cohorts time to arrive. Or I drop you right now and get what I need anyway."

His eyes glowed red. Power coursing through his veins and into his weapons as he internally charged a shot.

"Y'had me in your sights. Now you're in mine. No matter how confident you're feelin', that's a bad place to be."

The ball was in her court. Were it anyone else in MIRAGE they likely would've tried to kill her immediately, but Voyt really didn't feel like killing someone. He knew his skills well enough to know he'd be in and out before the cavalry could stop him.

---

---

---

---

The second that bike flew on the scene, Oh-Six completely stopped in her tracks until her scanners detected just who was engaging her... it was none other than Jill Brecian. She detected several more closing the distance... However, she was not going to give up easily on her prey... she began laughing as she activated her overboost. Her blade began humming with an electric hum as she focused on Jill.

"Well, if you want to give up your life," She softly chuckled before screaming at the top of her mechanical lungs, "SO BE IT!"

After the last word left her lips, she raised her scythe above her head, ready to charge-

"RECORD SPIN!" Justin screamed, appearing on the scene as a spinning tornado; going so fast that he barely appeared human. He cut through the air at extremely high speeds and the second he was in the range of Oh-Six, he stopped and kicked Oh-Six square in the midsection and sent her flying. He fell to the ground alongside Oh-Seven and Jill.

"You okay?" Justin asked Oh-Seven.

"Yes, my systems are repairing themselves as we speak."

"Thank you, Jill." Justin said.

Oh-Four managed to block the shield, but the attack was just too much for her and she was sent skidding backward. She held the shield, gritting her teeth and poking her head from behind the shield to face Lucas.

Oh-Three immediately called Abel on the radio, "We need backup, we're outnumbered here!"

"Negative." Was Abel's prompt response.

"Negative?!"

"If members of MIRAGE come to back you up, its immediately going to give away that this is a large scale MIRAGE operation... and we cannot have that," Abel began, "The mission perimeters I established were simple, and the fact you still went outside of those perimeters will require... correcting later."

Oh-Three scoffed,

"You got yourselves into this; get yourselves out of it."

"Damn it-"

"Uh, oh!" Jaden shouted as he immediately appeared in front of Oh-Three and delivered an over-the-top and ridiculous flying kick straight to her chest. "I'm on fire baby!" He said when he hit the ground with a spinning flourish.

This was not good...

Oh-Three's hands glowed as she raised them both into the air, charging up a powerful attack in the form of a giant glowing orange orb. She quickly flew up into the air and then screamed,

"TYRANNICAL IMPACT!"

Before she threw the orb into the ground... which created a massive explosion that rocked the earth. Sending chunks of concrete and everything else flying in all directions, knocking her opposition off-center.

Justin grabbed Oh-Seven and leaped from chunk to chunk until he got to safety while Jaden teleported to a different building.

It was a sufficient cover for Oh-Three and her compatriots to escape. "Let's go!" she shouted before the trio flew away.

"After them!" Oh-Seven shouted, "They're with MIRAGE!"

"Wait, what?" Justin asked, only to get a coy smile from Oh-Seven.

"No time to explain," She gave Justin the peace sign as her lower body transformed into her overboost... and then she jetted off after them.

---

---

Wow, straight for the revolver. Honestly, pretty dumb to assume that Voyt would have gone undercover unarmed. The only gesture Arianna could afford was holding her hands up in self-defense before she completely froze, dead to rights.

"Okay! Okay, nobody has to get shot," Arianna tried to reason. Her drones made a small fluttering mumble, reminding the out-of-costume cowboy that he was equally screwed if he chose to pull the trigger, being completely surrounded by a flock of robotic drones that could scratch, maim, and explode from any direction. The best either of them could do was stall for time.

Arianna knew Daren was already on his way, but that he was slow, hopeless with direction, and easily distracted, especially by fighting. Voyt himself even summised that she was likely just waiting for backup to arrive. Arianna didn't hitch too much on Voyt having his own backup on the way. None of her sensors detected any radiowaves, either, meaning he must not have been communicating with anyone before she ambushed him.

But also, Arianna wasn't exactly as frozen as she made it seem. She had a whole flock of independent drones, not just following wherever she went, but also all across the city. And right now, three little birdies were already inside of the Sunlight Shippings Office, just a few walls of concrete away from Arianna and Voyt. As Arianna surrounded Voyt with Drones, three of them flew off as soon as the assassin snapped around to face her, cutting a hole through and slipping inside of a window. As the rest of the office panicked to the chaos outside, the drones were picking open file cabinets and scanning over piles of documents for any mention of the Power Stone, Antarctica, or any other related names and buzzwords. Not a very effective method, but it was a way to get a leg up on MIRAGE's own hunt while she was held at gunpoint.

Of course, if Voyt managed to quickly figure out that Arianna had backup on the way, it wouldn't take him too long to figure out she was only stalling for time.

"You must be making some awful big bucks to associate yourself with a terrorist organization like this. All this trouble for one little rock?" Arianna chided, doing her best to keep him talking and distracted.

---

---

"Sunlight Shipping, Financial District... Sunlight Shipping, Financial District... Sunlight Financial, Shipping District..." Daren repeated to himself as he ran through the backstreets of Gold City. Obviously a freak like him with a massive sword would draw too much attention, especially in a city that was on high-alert. Thankfully, HQ had several secret passages all across the city, letting him pop up wherever needed, and charted the backstreets and alleyways to travel through undetected. Just like Disney World!

Unfortunately, that was made with the assumption that Daren read through the public travel manual. Running around a few corners and under a few train bridges left Daren utterly stumped and without direction.

"Huh... I swear I was just... What was I looking for?" He asked himself, befuddled. Probably should've written the location down. And waited for Ulric to give him the actual address. Suddenly, he felt a powerful tremor nearly take him off balance as another explosion went off, this one just a few hundred yards away.

"Yknow what, that's as good a place as any," Daren mused, before running off towards it through the dark, seedy alleyways of Gold City, hoping to run into some trouble.

---

---

---

Seshat fired a burst of bullets that collided uselessly against one of the pieces of road that had been flung into the air. She growled. There were far too many Nomads here now, enough to scare these three off before they had even been noticeably harmed. Especially troubling, considering they were affiliated with the ever-elusive MIRAGE…

She smirked, as if she had just gotten a joke.

There was no time for distractions, however. Perhaps it was wise to hang back. The others would give chase, but if they got away regardless, they might be easy enough to track, especially if they were wounded…

But she was not letting them get away without some trouble. Her missile pods unfolded from her back, and she waited for them to finish locking on before firing one, two, and three missiles in sequence towards the fleeing robots.

---

---

---

Jill popped a wheelie and turned tail as soon as she saw the explosion, just barely escaping the radius. Jasmine slowed to a hover next to her, having finally caught up.

”So what’s going on?” The witch asked, doing slow loops around her sister.

”MIRAGE, if Oh-Seven’s right.”

”Well they’re gettin’ away!” Beelzebub flapped onto the scene with renewed stamina.

”Well, I sure ain’t giving up without a good chase. You got a ride, Lucas?” She kept her arm outstretched to pull him on board behind her. It was time to show her sister how to drive.

Jill didn’t like to admit it, but her strength definitely wasn’t where it was before Antarctica. Her driving on the other hand? Untouched. Flawless. World-class.

Legendary.

It was in her blood, and she trained hard. She rolled out at insane speeds and effortlessly weaved her way through traffic, past pedestrians, through streets and alleyways, her knowledge of the city supplemented by the occasional bit of gps data from Pit Stop. Jasmine could only barely hope to follow along. Still, it wasn’t quite enough to catch up to her targets. She tapped the dashboard as she swerved hard across an intersection.

”You got your plane ready to go, Izzy?”

”It took a good beating… Still have to grab it out of the shop.” The voice seemed a bit withdrawn, like he was focusing on something.

”Would’ve made this a lot easier. Any other way you can help out?

”I’m keeping an eye on the situation. I’ll be ready to step in.”

”Alright. Well, we got Lucas down here too, you should come say hi.”

There was a pause.

”Just focus on the mission, Rider.”

Jill huffed as she sped past another biker. He seemed so damn distant these days it was hard not to be a little wound up over it. She knew he was relapsing with all his issues but…

She took a deep breath. Focus on the mission…

---

---

Obscuring his face did little, no matter how much he pulled the cloak forward, they always stared. Even among the downtrodden and the desperate, there was a way about Cain. An air to his movements and mannerisms that marked him. He presence was unwelcome. Wrong.

He pulled the cloak further, shielding the worst of his scarring from view. It did little to hide his blackened sclera, which he compensated for by keeping his face towards the floor. Disposing of two would-be thieves and killers had emboldened him, but travel brought him right down to reality once more. It was back to the mission at hand. MIRAGE.

"Pardon me." Cain muttered as he bumped past an arguing couple, indifferent to his presence. His voice was small, harsh and accented, but small nonetheless. It had to be, as one of the many things that brought suspicion on The Raggedy Man.

Feeling of self-consciousness reaching its peak, a reprieve was given. In the form of an explosion that rocked the area, panic flooding the people around Cain as they began fleeing for their lives, knowing no one would come to save them. Cain gritted his teeth, Gold City was a hotbed for activity, but his hunch was that only one group would be as bold and powerful as to create such a spectacle in the middle of the day.

He gripped his cloak harder, breaking into a sprint towards the explosion.

---

---

"WOO-HO-HOOOOOOOO! WOO!"

It was pretty goddamn exhilarating. Lucas had been at ground zero for the big bang, less an outright explosion and more like a big sonic "fuck you" that tossed debris up into the air. He leapt from concrete to concrete, feeling pretty damn pleased with himself as he emulated a number of agile movements he'd seen in various forms of media. It culminated in his last jump, landing on a narrow piece of debris and twirling on it like a helicopter propeller before jumping at the last second and landing nearby The Breicens. Too wrapped up in the robots fleeing to notice his very badass display, figures.

”Well, I sure ain’t giving up without a good chase. You got a ride, Lucas?”

"Do now." he replied with a grin, taking her arm and hoisting himself onto the machine.

Despite the several hundred miles-per-hour capable machine underneath being more than capable of wrecking him in a number of different ways, he felt pretty secure. He'd ridden with Jill a couple of times now and whilst the first time was worrisome, it soon became apparent that Jill was too good to crash out if she tried. Now it was pretty fun, kinda like a video game.

On they sped, drifting in ways that some of the top racers in the world would blush at. Lucas spared a glance back now and then, seeing Jasmine bob in and out of view as she tried to keep pace. Still, despite being fast enough and furious enough to outride a magic witch, the machines had eluded them for the time being. Lucas felt his enthusiasm get a kick in the proverbial nuts as Jill made a particular call on her dashboard.

Isabella.

They had an awkward relationship, to say the least. Lucas was carefree, irreverent and kind of lazy when not off fighting. Izzy, as far as Lucas was concerned, was cold, irritating and had a giant stick up his ass. The fact that they did share similarities doing nothing to build bridges, as likely neither of them would be willing to admit as such. Lucas found him intimidating before the training and the big family reveal, now he found him a pain in the ass. At the very least they tried staying out of each others way, though Lucas couldn't help be curious if Izzy was just as unaware of their half-brothership as him, or if he knew the entire time and kept to himself as part of that 'detached mentor' shit he liked to do.

”Alright. Well, we got Lucas down here too, you should come say hi.”

Lucas knew exactly what his "big bro"'s response would be, but he didn't wish to stick around to hear it.

He leaned forward, barely picking up Izzy's voice from the call. Yelling as loud as he could to be heard over the whizzing traffic at their current speed.

"I'M GONNA TAKE THE ROOFS, THEY MIGHT BE HIDIN' SOMEWHERE. JUST TO MAKE SURE WE DON'T MISS 'EM!"

There, that was sensible enough. Still an excuse to exit but not one so blatant, Jill was just back and the last thing he'd want to do is burden her with his problems. Or, have Jill involve herself as he was known to do. As soon as the words left his mouth, he perched himself on the seat, balancing for a few moments before making an impressive leap upwards.

It was pretty good but not quite enough to clear the roof, forcing Lucas to climb the last few feet to get atop. After that, he was gone. Kicking up pebbles as he ran from roof to roof.

---

---

"You must be making some awful big bucks to associate yourself with a terrorist organization like this. All this trouble for one little rock?"

"Sure." The Gunslinger answered quietly. "S'their business."

A step back. Towards the door. His eyes darted around at the drones, fluttering around like bees, threatening to do worse than sting if it came to it. His gaze returned to Arianna, hands still up. He had to give her credit for a subtle display of power, despite how clearly terrified she was. Any other day, none of this would be worth Voyt's time. But considering his "compatriots" had already screwed the pooch and blown the operation's cover, he wasn't allowing himself to come back empty handed. If nothing else than to slightly annoy Abel that his rank and file were not on the level of a mercenary.

Another step back, closer towards the door. His tone was measured as he spoke.

"I'd rather not shoot you. But we both know I'd kill you before your drones could swoop in. Hell, I'm quick enough I might destroy them too." It wasn't entirely posturing. Voyt's draw and firing speed were well known, but the machines were closer than he'd like and he'd rather not put his money where his mouth was. "You do whatever you feel you gotta. I'm goin' in there. If you try stoppin' me, you'll regret it."

There it was, cards on the table. He was calling Arianna's bluff. Not that he really had much choice, he was getting that information one way or the other. Unlike Abel's sycophants, if Voyt failed to deliver then he'd likely be "disposed" by MIRAGE itself or the League's endless supply of idiots with weapons once they realised The Gunslinger wasn't under protection anymore.

His free hand gripped the door handle, swinging it open and revealing the back entrance to the company building. His other hand held his gun, still trained on Arianna. He gave her a moment. A chance to try him then and there or drop her flags and let him go in peace.

One foot stepped inside the building, one last look at the Horizon Frontiers Agent.