"Do you have any information on their location, Mr. 'Bodyguard'?"
Cerebrum asked in an impatient tone. She was staring at the city below
out of a massive window. Behind her, the cloaked figure materialized out
of nowhere.
"Nothing definitive, but I've been hearing from my network of spies that there are some people from out of town who are looking for former residents of Gensokyo. I believe that might be them." His voice still held its monotonous edge.
The sue frowned as she thought aloud, "Why look for residents of that unnatural place? Shouldn't they be looking for me? I am their true target, aren't I?"
"I can't begin to hazard a guess, ma'am," said the cloaked man stoically.
"Of course you can't. You weren't assigned to me because of your brains," Cerebrum snapped back. She moved away from the window and swept towards the nearest refidgerator she had. Before opening it, she reached into a pocket and pulled out a deck of intricate cards. "Maybe I'll have to demonstrate to them just who they're dealing with."
-
Hong Meiling was practically on cloud nine as she made her way over to a group of hobos in an alley she knew. When they heard her approach, they all looked at her and were surprised by the happy expression on her face. She greeted them merrily, performing some flips to close the distance between them. The hobos applauded after she stopped.
"Well, someone's full of energy today," the apparently "leader" of the group spoke up. "What's the reason for it?"
Meiling responded with a smile, "I've found some employment! Two people I met are looking for former residents of Gensokyo and I told them that I could help."
"That's wonderful, but I'm assuming that there's more to this visit than you just informing us of your situation."
"That's why you're the leader...Yeah, you're right about that. I was hoping that you guys could help out."
The leader looked at the other vagrants, who all nodded. When he turned back to Hong Meiling and nodded, she immediately hugged him.
-
Kyle and Aster were at a fast food place, waiting on Meiling. Aster had more interest in her manga as her food was barely touched, while Kyle was eating enough for a small army because of his abundant use of Accelerator. As he was finishing up, however, the Mood Music Maker started playing and it wasn't a song he wanted to hear. He knew the song and he knew the character that the song went with, however it wasn't truly the theme song of the character. Even as he listened, images from when he first learned of the song played through his head; images of a middle age woman with ice blue hair in a mostly blue and white dress whose time had stopped years ago.
Aster looked up from her manga when the song started playing and saw the sad and shocked look on Kyle's face. That got her attention; she never saw him with a sad expression before.
"What's this song?" she asked, almost hesitantly.
Kyle closed his eyes for a moment as he wrestled with his emotions. When he opened them again, he spoke, "It translates to Cirno's Advanced Math Class... Excuse me."
He got up and headed outside, leaving his Mood Music Maker with Aster. Since it was an item connected to him, he could track it if he got lost. As for why he didn't take it with him to look for the character the song was for, he figured that he wouldn't need it. She easily stood out in a crowd with how she looked. Exiting the fast food place, he looked around the street for his target. He spotted her some ways down on the other side of the street. Considering her bright blue colors and the shards of ice that floated along behind her, you'd have to be blind to miss her.
Of course he chased after her, pushing his way through the uncaring throng of people as they scurried about their daily lives. Because he would seriously hurt anyone he touched as a result of the incredible speed he moved at, he couldn't use his Accelerator to close the distance so in his hurry, he ignored stop signs and traffic to get to her. After following her for several minutes, he managed to get close enough to say.
"Cirno!"
She stopped walking and turned to see who had called her name. It took her by surprise when she saw that it wasn't someone she knew.
"Who are you?" She asked as Kyle caught up. Kyle held up a finger to indicate a need for a moment as he tried to catch his breath.
"My name's Kyle," he said when he had recovered a bit. "I'm tracking down former Gensokyo residents."
"Gensokyo?" Cirno reacted by turning the rest of her to face Kyle with a shocked look on her face. They had stopped walking in front of an alleyway, the rest of the world could have disappeared for all the attention the two of them gave it. Cirno's face took on a look of utter sadness. "Oh, what I'd give to be able to go back there... I haven't felt right since I left."
Kyle stood there silently, not knowing what to say to the grown up ice fairy. After a few moments, Cirno sighed before saying, "Anyway, why are you looking for former Gensokyo residents?"
Giving himself a moment to answer, Kyle replied, "Well, to some degree, it's Yukari's plan. The rest, I wanted to meet you. You and Hong Meiling are my favorite Gensokyo girls...but to see you in states like this..."
Cirno puzzled on that a bit, "Yukari...Yakumo? What kind of plan does the Mistress of Boundaries have that requires Gensokyo residents?"
Kyle shrugged in response, "I don't know, she didn't tell me...If I remember correctly, her exact words were, 'With what I have in mind, They'll all want in on it'. All I can assume is that the plan will involve vengeance on the person responsible for removing the Gensokyo barrier."
"So that's why your looking to round up all the unnatural beings that made their nest in an isolated daydream. I might as well not have shown up to give this demonstration," came a disembodied voice came out. Out of nowhere appeared Cerebrum. All passing pedestrians avoided walking into her, but she might as well have not been there at all for all they noticed a woman suddenly materializing out of thin air. Kyle could immediately tell that she was dangerous, his body reacting by placing himself in front of Cirno.
Cerebrum saw this display and scoffed, "I have no interest in unnatural bugs. The only reason I'm here is to give you a warning." She pulled an intricate card out of a pocket. Kyle could figure out what she was going to do, so he turned on his heel to pick up Cirno before heading down the alley. However, he hadn't even been running for a minute when he hit a deadend. Before he could turn around to look for another path, he heard Cirno gasp as Cerebrum stepped in the way. Gently setting her down, he turned to face the Sue while pulling the Omni-weapon out from where he put it on his suit.
The Sue's expression was unreadable as Kyle held up his hand to point the sphere at her. A few seconds passed. With the speed of a bullet, a spike-like tendril shot out of the sphere towards the Sue. A clang of metal on metal rang out in the empty alleyway as the cloaked figure placed himself between the tendril and the Sue. The figure's hand was also raised...and it too held a metal sphere as that was what blocked the attack. Unlike Kyle's Omni-weapon, this one was about 6 inches in diameter and was a gunmetal grey color. The bodyguard stepped aside as the spike retracted.
"Well, you aren't making this warning easy. Looks like you want to get hurt." The Sue casually spoke. She held up the card, which started glowing. "Perfection Sign: Blades of the Divine!"
Kyle had only a nanosecond to react as swarms of spinning, ethereal scimitars burst from the card. The Omni-weapon's metal spread out in a half-dome in an attempt to block the oncoming cutters. Unfortunately for Kyle, the blades were truly ethereal, bypassing the Omni-weapon to slash across his body.
-
Everyone watching the monitor gasped as the blades plowed into Kyle continuously. Though no damage appeared outside of his body, though his body was tensed and his teeth were grit, so it was obvious to anyone looking at him that he was in pain. They could see Cirno cowering behind him, his body preventing the blades from harming her.
"Why haven't we gone to help yet!" Adrian yelled at the people on monitor duty.
One of them spoke up, "I don't know what's going on. Every time we connect a plothole to that world, it directs to Gensokyo. It's not even registering the city."
"What the heck is going on!" Adrian muttered as he focused on the screen. All the people there could do was watch until the stream of ethereal cutters stopped. They watched as the Onmi-weapon's shield retracted and Kyle collapsed.
-
"Painful, isn't it." Cerebrum taunted at the fallen Agent. "It's good for you that my warning card can't kill a person. After all, it doesn't really cut them, it just makes their body feel as if they were getting sliced apart. So it basically fills them with pain until they wish they were dead!"
She started laughing as she and her bodyguard walked away. Cirno looked on in fright as Kyle just lay there. Slowly, she crawled over to him. In a hushed whisper, she asked.
"Are you alright! Please, say something!" Her pleading seemed to work as he started moving.
"Note to self; ethereal blades hurt." Kyle muttered as he pushed himself to a sitting position. He took a few deep breaths and then he turned his head to look at Cirno. "None of them got you?"
She shook her head. He sighed in relief as she looked at him curiously.
"You felt the entire time of that Spell Card. How were you able to withstand it? You didn't even scream!"
He remained silent for several moments. Then he turned to face her fully, "It was painful, but I've had some experience with levels of pain like that before. For instance, I have a transformation that restructures my whole body to degrees that human bodies aren't supposed to go. That barrage probably felt worse, but I can't really compare them as they both hurt like heck."
It took some effort, but Kyle managed to stand up...barely. He almost fell down again, but Cirno caught him. Kyle gave her a weak smile.
"I'm both glad and annoyed that you don't have your powers now." Cirno gave him a strange look before he continued, "Glad because if you did have them, I'd be freezing right now. Annoyed because your ice powers would ease the aches left by that Spell Card."
Cirno sighed at the reminder that she was currently as helpless as the next human compared to the power she just witnessed. She carried him down the alley back to the main street, where Kyle told Cirno to take him to the nearby fast food place.
-
"Adrian...Is what Kyle said true? About his, what was it, Soul Form transformation?" asked Marcus, who had entered around the time of Cerebrum's Spell Card. Adrian answered with a flashback.
FLASHBACK
After Kyle had recovered from his trip into the Samurai Pizza Cats fandom, Phoenixia and the Leaders met with him in the medical ward. When he asked why, they told him that they wanted to test how the Soul Form affected him compared to the Heaven and Earth, Worldly Secret Art. Kyle shrugged, saying his energy levels were lower than usual due to just recovering so his Soul Form wouldn't be that much bigger than he was and thus it wouldn't be the even near the same level as the mission. They told him that it didn't matter, tests at smaller power could be used to estimate things at a higher power. Kyle took off all his clothes, which earned a quip from Phoenixia about him never doing that for her, and braced himself like he did during the mission.
Valerie was present, as it was the MEDICAL WARD, to make sure that he wouldn't be in any danger. When the process started, she screamed for all of three seconds before passing out. That was the first sign of all the changes that happen when he shifts. The next one was Kyle himself screaming. Apparently, in his still weakened state, he couldn't keep himself from screaming either. It was a dreadful, partially human scream as his vocal cords were also changing. It was shortly cut off as his body was changing from a humanoid one to that of his Soul Image. Sounds of bones shifting and cracking could be heard throughout this. After about a minute of this, the transformation was complete and then Kyle promptly collapsed into unconsciousness, his form not changing back.
END FLASHBACK
Everyone in the room was shivering from the flashback imagery and sounds. Marcus finally managed to say, "Well, that explains why I didn't see him the day he was supposed to be released."
Adrian merely nodded before saying, "He has a whole list of Dangerous Forbidden Techniques and they all take their toll on him. Sooner or later."
-
Aster was starting to worry. Between the unexpected sadness in Kyle's eyes and his sudden rushing off, Aster wasn't sure he was alright. That worrying was added to by Hong Meiling, though most likely not for the same reasons. When Cirno appeared while doing her best to keep Kyle standing, the Fae and former gate guardian rushed over to help. They quickly got him over to a chair before asking him what happened. Cirno explained about the Sue appearing and hitting him with a minute long Spell Card. As her explanation was winding down, Kyle suddenly shot out both hands and accessed his Astral Vault. He pulled out a pill bottle for aches and pains and something to wash it down with. He popped a couple of pills before chugging most of the drink in one breath.
Setting the drink down and returning the bottle of pills, Kyle finally spoke up, if a bit tiredly, "There's something confusing me."
He looked at the others, who were giving him their attention, and said, "Instead of trying to actually take me out, the Sue just used the attack as a warning."
"A warning of what?" was Aster's question.
Kyle, Hong Meiling and Cirno could only shake their heads as they couldn't see the answer to that question.
-
"Here, this is my apartment. It's not much, but it's home," were Cirno's words as she brought Hong Meiling and the Agents in. It was rather non-descript and empty, the living room where they first come in only having a plain blue couch in front of a relatively small TV. Behind the couch is a counter that leads straight into the one person kitchen. On the inside wall close to the kitchen is two doors; one leading to the bathroom while the other leads to the bedroom with a small stand between them. A picture was hung above it on the wall, with enough glare from nearby light to hide the image it contains. Opposite the inside wall, on the other side of the kitchen, was a sliding glass door to a balcony.
Hong Meiling was in awe, as she hadn't had a place to live since the Scarlet Devil Mansion was abandoned. Aster immediately grabbed the TV remote and started looking for some anime to watch. Kyle facepalmed at the Fae before walking over to the kitchen. That's when the picture caught his eye, the glare from the light hiding its content from the audience's eyes. As he looked at this picture, he got this smile on his face as he started chuckling. The former ice fairy glanced over, from listening to Aster grump about the lack of anime on the TV, at the male Agent to see what he found funny. She was surprised to see him staring at her picture. Almost in a daze, she practically floated over to him.
Kyle heard her approach, so he looked over at her. He was still chuckling a bit as he pointed to the picture and said, "You has a bucket!"
The glare hiding it from the audience was gone and in its place was a picture of four children with variable degrees of happiness on their faces. Two were immediately identifiable as a young Cirno and Wriggle. The other two were a blonde girl in a black dress with a ribbon in her hair while the other one had pinkish hair with small wings on her back in a brown dress. Just as Kyle had said, the Cirno in the picture had a metal bucket on her head. The combination of seeing the picture, Kyle's comment and chuckling caused Cirno herself joined in.
Their chuckling lasted for a little while, Aster ignored them after an initial glance in their direction while Meiling joined the Fae on the couch. When they finally got their chuckles under control again, Cirno gave the male Agent a smile and said, "Thanks, it had been a long time since I was able to do that. The world I seem to live in doesn't allow for it."
"I know what that's like." Came Kyle's reply. Just then, Kyle's Music Maker turned on. An otherworldly rock song started playing. Kind of surprisingly, as soon as the song started playing, Hong Meiling hopped off the couch with an angry look on her face.
"Lunar Clock - Luna Dial... That flat-chested maid!" She immediately rushed to and opened up the balcony door. Meiling paused for a moment, seemingly searching for something, before just jumping right off. Everyone rushed over to see if she was alright, only to see her rapidly making her way down the street towards a vague blue-dressed person. The visor Kyle used earlier dropped out of another hole for him to use. In augmented reality, he could see the person clearly; dressed in a blue maids outfit with her silver hair in braids.
"Sakuya Izayoi! Head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion! A regular knife nut that can manipulate time." The visor disappeared into its hole. Without looking at her, he said, "Aster, please stay here while I go after them. I'll need you here in case I get lost."
Before she could ask for what he meant, he leapt over the rail himself. As he chased after Meiling, Aster stood there in a typical anime sulk.
"Mou, I can understand why he left me at that burger place, but why's he running off after that China girl? He'll have to give me a dozen boxes of Pocky to make it up to me!"
Cirno looked at the Society Fae curiously, "You're a fairy, aren't you?"
Aster's expression didn't change as she turned her head away from the former Ice Fairy and stated, "I'm not a 'fairy', I'm a Fae!"
-
Marcus had settled in to watch the mission proceed with Adrian and the others on monitor duty. They were watching the scene above when Marcus asked, "Wait, why did Kyle say that he needed Aster there if he got lost?"
Ben, having been forced to sit down and watch some monitors without listening to his music, thought for a moment before continuing that line of thinking. "Yeah, according to the monitor I was watching, he could track down the Mood Music Maker because of its ties to his emotional state. While he took it with him there, couldn't he have left something else that he could track?"
As the Librarian was the only one present that knew the most about Kyle's abilities, Adrian answered, "While it is possible for Kyle to track energy, there are certain limits to it. First, he has to be aware that the energy is there in the first place and it has to be non-living. For example, drawing energy out of a streetlight is much easier than trying to determine where power cables are underneath the street. Also, even if he is aware of where energy is, if he is out of sight of this energy and then loses track of it somehow, he won't be able to find it again."
Marcus took that as his cue to continue the questioning, "But that doesn't explain why he would be able to track Aster's energy. How does he do that?"
Adrian's expression darkened as the answer to that came from the time that Pseudo-Tash had temporarily turned the Society against him, "How many of you were here when Pseudo-Tash had switched places with Real Tash?" He waited for the hands to show before continuing. "When Pseudo-Tash had convinced everyone that I had attacked the 'real' Tash, Kyle had activated the first stage of his Heaven and Earth, Worldly Secret Art out of rage. While he later came up to me and apologized, he also admitted, in his own words, that triggering the Art like that was an absolutely moronic thing to do as control is required to keep from burning out too quickly. Since it was stage one, the loss was minute. Anyway, as he had explained it to me, even though it was just stage one, the Art allowed him to sense the unique energy tags of everyone within a certain distance of his epicenter. Once he acquires those tags, he can focus on them if they're within the same fandom."
Ben was a bit overwhelmed by the implications of this, but another question popped into his mind, "Does that mean he also acquired Pseudo-Tash's energy tag?"
The Librarian nodded, "I had asked him that as well. He confirmed it and then said the Sue's tag made him feel like he was mildly, but constantly, sick. It'll probably only stop once she's dead or prohibited."
Marcus spoke up once more, "So, he constantly knows where all of these tags are?"
"Only when he consciously focuses on them. From what he told me, it's like being in the same room as a person who is rooms away. I had asked him how that works for the Sue tag and his reply was, 'Like being in the same room as someone who constantly has to be the center of attention'...Don't worry, his sanity is closely monitored now."
All the people on monitor duty sat there in silence before Ben said, "The more you know."
-
Well, this is a pain! Kyle thought as he finally caught up with Hong Meiling and Sakuya Izayoi. They were currently standing in the hallway of a somewhat rundown apartment complex. Well, Hong Meiling and Kyle were standing. When the former gate tender had reached Sakuya, she straight out punched her. That's the scene Kyle came across, Sakuya on the ground, rubbing a fresh bruise on her face with wide eyes while Hong Meiling panted from both the run and her anger as she stood in a "I just punched you" pose.
"Ho-Hong Meiling?" The maid sputtered in utter surprise and shock. Her tone definitely didn't sit well with the former guard.
"What? Surprised that I'm still alive? You human pencilboard!" Hong Meiling seethed as she towered over the maid. "My life has practically been Hell since that spoiled brat vampire fired me just before leaving! I considered you my only friend in that thankless job, but even you left me to rot!"
Sakuya finally snapped out of her shock and stood up, indignity apparent as she verbally retaliated, "It's not my fault you were left behind! I would have taken you, but I wasn't told what would happen to the rest of the staff! Lady Remilia only told me to take Lady Flandre and run! So don't take what you've been through out on me, I've had my own hell to deal with!"
They broke into an argument that looked like they were about to come to blows. Kyle got tired of it after a minute or two, so he placed himself between them with his hands up in a stopping gesture.
"That's enough, ladies. This argument is pointless." At that moment, the apartment they were standing in front of opened and out came a young woman. She wore a short red dress, with a pink shirt underneath a red vest and had a pink mop hat on her head. Out of her back was a pair of metal rods with various colors of prism shards hanging from them, making them look like small wings.
"You're all being too noisy!" She snapped in a voice that sounded half tired and half ticked off. Kyle recognized her immediately, as did Hong Meiling. Flandre Scarlet, younger sister to Remilia Scarlet. Her eyes focused entirely on the blue-dressed maid. "Sakuya, is it time to eat yet?"
"Flandre!" Hong Meiling gasped in surprise. She was looking over the vampire's older self as if she hadn't expected such a change. For her part, Flandre gave Meiling a once over too before recognition showed in her eyes.
"You're that gatekeeper Sis had hired to guard the front gate. Hong Meiling, wasn't it?" When the Chinese Youkai nodded, the vampire looked over at the male Agent. She tilted her head a bit before straightening out and saying, "And who's this?"
Hong Meiling cleared her throat before introducing him, "This is my current employer, Kyle. He works for this group that comes to worlds like ours and takes care of problems that changes them from what they had been."
"That sounds about right." Kyle remarked with a thinking expression on his face.
-
Back at Cirno's apartment, Aster and Cirno were having a conversation. They were sitting on the couch, Cirno at the right end and Aster on the left.
"So, before Gensokyo lost it's magic, you had power over ice?" Aster asked with a bit of awe in her voice.
"That's correct," Cirno answered with a giggle. "Back then, I used to say 'I am the strongest.' In many ways, it was true. I was the strongest fairy in Gensokyo. Heck, if I was actually fighting at my best and not acting like the child I looked like, I could even give some of the stronger Youkai a run for their money."
"'Acting like the child you looked like'? You mean, you were so powerful while just a kid?" Aster looked at the older woman with surprise and respect.
Cirno just laughed at both the look and question. After getting herself under control, she responded, "No, nothing like that. While I don't recall my age as a Fairy, I do remember being well over sixty years old. It was just, because I was a Fairy, I had the appearance, personality, and temperament of a child. Because of all that, I was usually treated as an idiot by any of the more mature residents that passed by my house."
Aster adopted an understanding look as she sat there. When the images of certain people popped into her head for reasons she couldn't think of, she asked, "Did you have anyone you looked up to?"
Cirno sighed as a smiling face came to the forefront of her memories. Tears welled up as she spoke "Yes. Her name was Letty Whiterock. As the Spirit of Winter, I looked up to her as she had control over the cold that only came with maturity and experience. To Fairies like me, she was as close to a mother figure as we could get. I miss her."
-
At Cerebrum's penthouse, the Sue was having a drink of wine while her bodyguard stood back a bit. After taking a sip, she questioned the cloaked man over her shoulder, "Have you found out if my warning stuck to that Society guy?"
"Not yet," came the monotone reply. "My network of spies has lost track of them. It seems like I'll have to expand it again."
The Sue stared into her wineglass in thought before saying, "As long as he was protecting that unnatural creature, I could have killed him easily. However, that man is responsible for the deaths of two dear friends of mine. If he hasn't gone back to that Library in shame, then I'm going to give him a death so brutal that anyone else from that Society won't even think to look in the direction of this fandom!"
Almost like it was for emphasis, she threw her wineglass into the fireplace and caused the flames to flare up from the alcohol.
-
Once again with Kyle's group, the explanations had finished. Hong Meiling wasn't furious at Sakuya anymore, plus the maid and vampire understood Kyle's mission and Yukari's request. When it started getting late, Kyle remembered that Aster and Cirno were waiting for him and Hong Meiling to get back. Sakuya then asked if there was a way for them to keep in contact. Kyle thought about it and then said that the best he could do at the moment was giving them each one of the cards he gave Wriggle. After an explanation about being able to track the cards that would just bog the plot down, Kyle and Meiling headed back to Cirno's apartment.
As soon as Aster saw him again, however, she stormed up to him and demanded a dozen boxes of Pocky to make up for him leaving her behind. With a sigh, Kyle responded, "How about I give you one box for every day that we're here and then give you the rest when we return to the Library...Deal?"
"Why should I accept such an agreement?" Aster countered with her hands on her hips. By this time, Hong Meiling had gone into the bedroom to lie down.
"Because giving you a dozen boxes right now would hinder your arms as well as put you at risk for a major sugar high which would interfere with the mission and get us both yelled at." Kyle got out in one breath.
Aster seemed to consider this for a moment before saying, somewhat reluctantly, "Fine, but only so I won't get in trouble."
With that acknowledgement, Kyle nodded and pulled a box of strawberry Pocky out of his Astral Vault. Aster immediately snatched it and walked away. Kyle sighed before sitting down on the couch. Cirno had watched the exchange from the kitchen as she was making dinner. From over the counter, she spoke, "She's a good girl, but quite the handful."
"Don't get me started on the kinds of trouble she makes at HQ," Kyle replied warily. He let his body relax into the padding before continuing, "Eh, this has been quite a day for me. I'll be very sore in the morning."
Cirno was silent as she was putting the finishing touches on dinner before it goes into the oven. After she set a timer, she went over and sat down by the tired Agent. It took a minute or so, but she finally spoke up.
"I have to thank you for protecting me from that spell card," the former Fairy's tone turned reflective as she continued. "It's been the first act of kindness I've had in a long time. Just the fact that my presence has been acknowledged as more than an employee or coworker has given me hope for what may come."
A faint, tired smile crossed Kyle's face as he replied, "As long as they are not forgotten by the minds of others, the living and dead have worth."
Cirno looked at Kyle with a bit of confusion, "I don't quite get what you said. Were you trying to cheer me up?"
Kyle weakly chuckled, "Yeah. It's not often that I show that kind of side."
Cirno gave him a small smile in response and said, "Thank you, then. You have no idea how much having someone to talk to helps me."
He probably would have made a comment about that, but he was letting his tiredness carry him away. The former fairy just let him rest. After all, he did shield her from the ethereal blades when she wasn't the target.
-
Meanwhile, the monotone bodyguard was doing his best to hold back rage. Now that Hong Meiling had agreed to serve Kyle and got her homeless friends to assist her, he was having trouble getting the homeless to serve as his eyes and ears in the city. Apparently helping her out was a bigger reward to them than the money the cloaked figure offered them. Though he scowled underneath the hood of his cloak, he did nothing except walk away.
As he walked back towards his employer's penthouse, he pulled out his sphere and gazed at it. An unseen smile crossed his mouth before he started talking to himself.
"I cannot wait for the word to strike. Killing him will prove the superiority of the Sues. After all, that is my new purpose in life."
A humorless chuckle could be heard from him as he deftly maneuvered through the crowded street and into his mistress's building.
"Nothing definitive, but I've been hearing from my network of spies that there are some people from out of town who are looking for former residents of Gensokyo. I believe that might be them." His voice still held its monotonous edge.
The sue frowned as she thought aloud, "Why look for residents of that unnatural place? Shouldn't they be looking for me? I am their true target, aren't I?"
"I can't begin to hazard a guess, ma'am," said the cloaked man stoically.
"Of course you can't. You weren't assigned to me because of your brains," Cerebrum snapped back. She moved away from the window and swept towards the nearest refidgerator she had. Before opening it, she reached into a pocket and pulled out a deck of intricate cards. "Maybe I'll have to demonstrate to them just who they're dealing with."
-
Hong Meiling was practically on cloud nine as she made her way over to a group of hobos in an alley she knew. When they heard her approach, they all looked at her and were surprised by the happy expression on her face. She greeted them merrily, performing some flips to close the distance between them. The hobos applauded after she stopped.
"Well, someone's full of energy today," the apparently "leader" of the group spoke up. "What's the reason for it?"
Meiling responded with a smile, "I've found some employment! Two people I met are looking for former residents of Gensokyo and I told them that I could help."
"That's wonderful, but I'm assuming that there's more to this visit than you just informing us of your situation."
"That's why you're the leader...Yeah, you're right about that. I was hoping that you guys could help out."
The leader looked at the other vagrants, who all nodded. When he turned back to Hong Meiling and nodded, she immediately hugged him.
-
Kyle and Aster were at a fast food place, waiting on Meiling. Aster had more interest in her manga as her food was barely touched, while Kyle was eating enough for a small army because of his abundant use of Accelerator. As he was finishing up, however, the Mood Music Maker started playing and it wasn't a song he wanted to hear. He knew the song and he knew the character that the song went with, however it wasn't truly the theme song of the character. Even as he listened, images from when he first learned of the song played through his head; images of a middle age woman with ice blue hair in a mostly blue and white dress whose time had stopped years ago.
Aster looked up from her manga when the song started playing and saw the sad and shocked look on Kyle's face. That got her attention; she never saw him with a sad expression before.
"What's this song?" she asked, almost hesitantly.
Kyle closed his eyes for a moment as he wrestled with his emotions. When he opened them again, he spoke, "It translates to Cirno's Advanced Math Class... Excuse me."
He got up and headed outside, leaving his Mood Music Maker with Aster. Since it was an item connected to him, he could track it if he got lost. As for why he didn't take it with him to look for the character the song was for, he figured that he wouldn't need it. She easily stood out in a crowd with how she looked. Exiting the fast food place, he looked around the street for his target. He spotted her some ways down on the other side of the street. Considering her bright blue colors and the shards of ice that floated along behind her, you'd have to be blind to miss her.
Of course he chased after her, pushing his way through the uncaring throng of people as they scurried about their daily lives. Because he would seriously hurt anyone he touched as a result of the incredible speed he moved at, he couldn't use his Accelerator to close the distance so in his hurry, he ignored stop signs and traffic to get to her. After following her for several minutes, he managed to get close enough to say.
"Cirno!"
She stopped walking and turned to see who had called her name. It took her by surprise when she saw that it wasn't someone she knew.
"Who are you?" She asked as Kyle caught up. Kyle held up a finger to indicate a need for a moment as he tried to catch his breath.
"My name's Kyle," he said when he had recovered a bit. "I'm tracking down former Gensokyo residents."
"Gensokyo?" Cirno reacted by turning the rest of her to face Kyle with a shocked look on her face. They had stopped walking in front of an alleyway, the rest of the world could have disappeared for all the attention the two of them gave it. Cirno's face took on a look of utter sadness. "Oh, what I'd give to be able to go back there... I haven't felt right since I left."
Kyle stood there silently, not knowing what to say to the grown up ice fairy. After a few moments, Cirno sighed before saying, "Anyway, why are you looking for former Gensokyo residents?"
Giving himself a moment to answer, Kyle replied, "Well, to some degree, it's Yukari's plan. The rest, I wanted to meet you. You and Hong Meiling are my favorite Gensokyo girls...but to see you in states like this..."
Cirno puzzled on that a bit, "Yukari...Yakumo? What kind of plan does the Mistress of Boundaries have that requires Gensokyo residents?"
Kyle shrugged in response, "I don't know, she didn't tell me...If I remember correctly, her exact words were, 'With what I have in mind, They'll all want in on it'. All I can assume is that the plan will involve vengeance on the person responsible for removing the Gensokyo barrier."
"So that's why your looking to round up all the unnatural beings that made their nest in an isolated daydream. I might as well not have shown up to give this demonstration," came a disembodied voice came out. Out of nowhere appeared Cerebrum. All passing pedestrians avoided walking into her, but she might as well have not been there at all for all they noticed a woman suddenly materializing out of thin air. Kyle could immediately tell that she was dangerous, his body reacting by placing himself in front of Cirno.
Cerebrum saw this display and scoffed, "I have no interest in unnatural bugs. The only reason I'm here is to give you a warning." She pulled an intricate card out of a pocket. Kyle could figure out what she was going to do, so he turned on his heel to pick up Cirno before heading down the alley. However, he hadn't even been running for a minute when he hit a deadend. Before he could turn around to look for another path, he heard Cirno gasp as Cerebrum stepped in the way. Gently setting her down, he turned to face the Sue while pulling the Omni-weapon out from where he put it on his suit.
The Sue's expression was unreadable as Kyle held up his hand to point the sphere at her. A few seconds passed. With the speed of a bullet, a spike-like tendril shot out of the sphere towards the Sue. A clang of metal on metal rang out in the empty alleyway as the cloaked figure placed himself between the tendril and the Sue. The figure's hand was also raised...and it too held a metal sphere as that was what blocked the attack. Unlike Kyle's Omni-weapon, this one was about 6 inches in diameter and was a gunmetal grey color. The bodyguard stepped aside as the spike retracted.
"Well, you aren't making this warning easy. Looks like you want to get hurt." The Sue casually spoke. She held up the card, which started glowing. "Perfection Sign: Blades of the Divine!"
Kyle had only a nanosecond to react as swarms of spinning, ethereal scimitars burst from the card. The Omni-weapon's metal spread out in a half-dome in an attempt to block the oncoming cutters. Unfortunately for Kyle, the blades were truly ethereal, bypassing the Omni-weapon to slash across his body.
-
Everyone watching the monitor gasped as the blades plowed into Kyle continuously. Though no damage appeared outside of his body, though his body was tensed and his teeth were grit, so it was obvious to anyone looking at him that he was in pain. They could see Cirno cowering behind him, his body preventing the blades from harming her.
"Why haven't we gone to help yet!" Adrian yelled at the people on monitor duty.
One of them spoke up, "I don't know what's going on. Every time we connect a plothole to that world, it directs to Gensokyo. It's not even registering the city."
"What the heck is going on!" Adrian muttered as he focused on the screen. All the people there could do was watch until the stream of ethereal cutters stopped. They watched as the Onmi-weapon's shield retracted and Kyle collapsed.
-
"Painful, isn't it." Cerebrum taunted at the fallen Agent. "It's good for you that my warning card can't kill a person. After all, it doesn't really cut them, it just makes their body feel as if they were getting sliced apart. So it basically fills them with pain until they wish they were dead!"
She started laughing as she and her bodyguard walked away. Cirno looked on in fright as Kyle just lay there. Slowly, she crawled over to him. In a hushed whisper, she asked.
"Are you alright! Please, say something!" Her pleading seemed to work as he started moving.
"Note to self; ethereal blades hurt." Kyle muttered as he pushed himself to a sitting position. He took a few deep breaths and then he turned his head to look at Cirno. "None of them got you?"
She shook her head. He sighed in relief as she looked at him curiously.
"You felt the entire time of that Spell Card. How were you able to withstand it? You didn't even scream!"
He remained silent for several moments. Then he turned to face her fully, "It was painful, but I've had some experience with levels of pain like that before. For instance, I have a transformation that restructures my whole body to degrees that human bodies aren't supposed to go. That barrage probably felt worse, but I can't really compare them as they both hurt like heck."
It took some effort, but Kyle managed to stand up...barely. He almost fell down again, but Cirno caught him. Kyle gave her a weak smile.
"I'm both glad and annoyed that you don't have your powers now." Cirno gave him a strange look before he continued, "Glad because if you did have them, I'd be freezing right now. Annoyed because your ice powers would ease the aches left by that Spell Card."
Cirno sighed at the reminder that she was currently as helpless as the next human compared to the power she just witnessed. She carried him down the alley back to the main street, where Kyle told Cirno to take him to the nearby fast food place.
-
"Adrian...Is what Kyle said true? About his, what was it, Soul Form transformation?" asked Marcus, who had entered around the time of Cerebrum's Spell Card. Adrian answered with a flashback.
FLASHBACK
After Kyle had recovered from his trip into the Samurai Pizza Cats fandom, Phoenixia and the Leaders met with him in the medical ward. When he asked why, they told him that they wanted to test how the Soul Form affected him compared to the Heaven and Earth, Worldly Secret Art. Kyle shrugged, saying his energy levels were lower than usual due to just recovering so his Soul Form wouldn't be that much bigger than he was and thus it wouldn't be the even near the same level as the mission. They told him that it didn't matter, tests at smaller power could be used to estimate things at a higher power. Kyle took off all his clothes, which earned a quip from Phoenixia about him never doing that for her, and braced himself like he did during the mission.
Valerie was present, as it was the MEDICAL WARD, to make sure that he wouldn't be in any danger. When the process started, she screamed for all of three seconds before passing out. That was the first sign of all the changes that happen when he shifts. The next one was Kyle himself screaming. Apparently, in his still weakened state, he couldn't keep himself from screaming either. It was a dreadful, partially human scream as his vocal cords were also changing. It was shortly cut off as his body was changing from a humanoid one to that of his Soul Image. Sounds of bones shifting and cracking could be heard throughout this. After about a minute of this, the transformation was complete and then Kyle promptly collapsed into unconsciousness, his form not changing back.
END FLASHBACK
Everyone in the room was shivering from the flashback imagery and sounds. Marcus finally managed to say, "Well, that explains why I didn't see him the day he was supposed to be released."
Adrian merely nodded before saying, "He has a whole list of Dangerous Forbidden Techniques and they all take their toll on him. Sooner or later."
-
Aster was starting to worry. Between the unexpected sadness in Kyle's eyes and his sudden rushing off, Aster wasn't sure he was alright. That worrying was added to by Hong Meiling, though most likely not for the same reasons. When Cirno appeared while doing her best to keep Kyle standing, the Fae and former gate guardian rushed over to help. They quickly got him over to a chair before asking him what happened. Cirno explained about the Sue appearing and hitting him with a minute long Spell Card. As her explanation was winding down, Kyle suddenly shot out both hands and accessed his Astral Vault. He pulled out a pill bottle for aches and pains and something to wash it down with. He popped a couple of pills before chugging most of the drink in one breath.
Setting the drink down and returning the bottle of pills, Kyle finally spoke up, if a bit tiredly, "There's something confusing me."
He looked at the others, who were giving him their attention, and said, "Instead of trying to actually take me out, the Sue just used the attack as a warning."
"A warning of what?" was Aster's question.
Kyle, Hong Meiling and Cirno could only shake their heads as they couldn't see the answer to that question.
-
"Here, this is my apartment. It's not much, but it's home," were Cirno's words as she brought Hong Meiling and the Agents in. It was rather non-descript and empty, the living room where they first come in only having a plain blue couch in front of a relatively small TV. Behind the couch is a counter that leads straight into the one person kitchen. On the inside wall close to the kitchen is two doors; one leading to the bathroom while the other leads to the bedroom with a small stand between them. A picture was hung above it on the wall, with enough glare from nearby light to hide the image it contains. Opposite the inside wall, on the other side of the kitchen, was a sliding glass door to a balcony.
Hong Meiling was in awe, as she hadn't had a place to live since the Scarlet Devil Mansion was abandoned. Aster immediately grabbed the TV remote and started looking for some anime to watch. Kyle facepalmed at the Fae before walking over to the kitchen. That's when the picture caught his eye, the glare from the light hiding its content from the audience's eyes. As he looked at this picture, he got this smile on his face as he started chuckling. The former ice fairy glanced over, from listening to Aster grump about the lack of anime on the TV, at the male Agent to see what he found funny. She was surprised to see him staring at her picture. Almost in a daze, she practically floated over to him.
Kyle heard her approach, so he looked over at her. He was still chuckling a bit as he pointed to the picture and said, "You has a bucket!"
The glare hiding it from the audience was gone and in its place was a picture of four children with variable degrees of happiness on their faces. Two were immediately identifiable as a young Cirno and Wriggle. The other two were a blonde girl in a black dress with a ribbon in her hair while the other one had pinkish hair with small wings on her back in a brown dress. Just as Kyle had said, the Cirno in the picture had a metal bucket on her head. The combination of seeing the picture, Kyle's comment and chuckling caused Cirno herself joined in.
Their chuckling lasted for a little while, Aster ignored them after an initial glance in their direction while Meiling joined the Fae on the couch. When they finally got their chuckles under control again, Cirno gave the male Agent a smile and said, "Thanks, it had been a long time since I was able to do that. The world I seem to live in doesn't allow for it."
"I know what that's like." Came Kyle's reply. Just then, Kyle's Music Maker turned on. An otherworldly rock song started playing. Kind of surprisingly, as soon as the song started playing, Hong Meiling hopped off the couch with an angry look on her face.
"Lunar Clock - Luna Dial... That flat-chested maid!" She immediately rushed to and opened up the balcony door. Meiling paused for a moment, seemingly searching for something, before just jumping right off. Everyone rushed over to see if she was alright, only to see her rapidly making her way down the street towards a vague blue-dressed person. The visor Kyle used earlier dropped out of another hole for him to use. In augmented reality, he could see the person clearly; dressed in a blue maids outfit with her silver hair in braids.
"Sakuya Izayoi! Head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion! A regular knife nut that can manipulate time." The visor disappeared into its hole. Without looking at her, he said, "Aster, please stay here while I go after them. I'll need you here in case I get lost."
Before she could ask for what he meant, he leapt over the rail himself. As he chased after Meiling, Aster stood there in a typical anime sulk.
"Mou, I can understand why he left me at that burger place, but why's he running off after that China girl? He'll have to give me a dozen boxes of Pocky to make it up to me!"
Cirno looked at the Society Fae curiously, "You're a fairy, aren't you?"
Aster's expression didn't change as she turned her head away from the former Ice Fairy and stated, "I'm not a 'fairy', I'm a Fae!"
-
Marcus had settled in to watch the mission proceed with Adrian and the others on monitor duty. They were watching the scene above when Marcus asked, "Wait, why did Kyle say that he needed Aster there if he got lost?"
Ben, having been forced to sit down and watch some monitors without listening to his music, thought for a moment before continuing that line of thinking. "Yeah, according to the monitor I was watching, he could track down the Mood Music Maker because of its ties to his emotional state. While he took it with him there, couldn't he have left something else that he could track?"
As the Librarian was the only one present that knew the most about Kyle's abilities, Adrian answered, "While it is possible for Kyle to track energy, there are certain limits to it. First, he has to be aware that the energy is there in the first place and it has to be non-living. For example, drawing energy out of a streetlight is much easier than trying to determine where power cables are underneath the street. Also, even if he is aware of where energy is, if he is out of sight of this energy and then loses track of it somehow, he won't be able to find it again."
Marcus took that as his cue to continue the questioning, "But that doesn't explain why he would be able to track Aster's energy. How does he do that?"
Adrian's expression darkened as the answer to that came from the time that Pseudo-Tash had temporarily turned the Society against him, "How many of you were here when Pseudo-Tash had switched places with Real Tash?" He waited for the hands to show before continuing. "When Pseudo-Tash had convinced everyone that I had attacked the 'real' Tash, Kyle had activated the first stage of his Heaven and Earth, Worldly Secret Art out of rage. While he later came up to me and apologized, he also admitted, in his own words, that triggering the Art like that was an absolutely moronic thing to do as control is required to keep from burning out too quickly. Since it was stage one, the loss was minute. Anyway, as he had explained it to me, even though it was just stage one, the Art allowed him to sense the unique energy tags of everyone within a certain distance of his epicenter. Once he acquires those tags, he can focus on them if they're within the same fandom."
Ben was a bit overwhelmed by the implications of this, but another question popped into his mind, "Does that mean he also acquired Pseudo-Tash's energy tag?"
The Librarian nodded, "I had asked him that as well. He confirmed it and then said the Sue's tag made him feel like he was mildly, but constantly, sick. It'll probably only stop once she's dead or prohibited."
Marcus spoke up once more, "So, he constantly knows where all of these tags are?"
"Only when he consciously focuses on them. From what he told me, it's like being in the same room as a person who is rooms away. I had asked him how that works for the Sue tag and his reply was, 'Like being in the same room as someone who constantly has to be the center of attention'...Don't worry, his sanity is closely monitored now."
All the people on monitor duty sat there in silence before Ben said, "The more you know."
-
Well, this is a pain! Kyle thought as he finally caught up with Hong Meiling and Sakuya Izayoi. They were currently standing in the hallway of a somewhat rundown apartment complex. Well, Hong Meiling and Kyle were standing. When the former gate tender had reached Sakuya, she straight out punched her. That's the scene Kyle came across, Sakuya on the ground, rubbing a fresh bruise on her face with wide eyes while Hong Meiling panted from both the run and her anger as she stood in a "I just punched you" pose.
"Ho-Hong Meiling?" The maid sputtered in utter surprise and shock. Her tone definitely didn't sit well with the former guard.
"What? Surprised that I'm still alive? You human pencilboard!" Hong Meiling seethed as she towered over the maid. "My life has practically been Hell since that spoiled brat vampire fired me just before leaving! I considered you my only friend in that thankless job, but even you left me to rot!"
Sakuya finally snapped out of her shock and stood up, indignity apparent as she verbally retaliated, "It's not my fault you were left behind! I would have taken you, but I wasn't told what would happen to the rest of the staff! Lady Remilia only told me to take Lady Flandre and run! So don't take what you've been through out on me, I've had my own hell to deal with!"
They broke into an argument that looked like they were about to come to blows. Kyle got tired of it after a minute or two, so he placed himself between them with his hands up in a stopping gesture.
"That's enough, ladies. This argument is pointless." At that moment, the apartment they were standing in front of opened and out came a young woman. She wore a short red dress, with a pink shirt underneath a red vest and had a pink mop hat on her head. Out of her back was a pair of metal rods with various colors of prism shards hanging from them, making them look like small wings.
"You're all being too noisy!" She snapped in a voice that sounded half tired and half ticked off. Kyle recognized her immediately, as did Hong Meiling. Flandre Scarlet, younger sister to Remilia Scarlet. Her eyes focused entirely on the blue-dressed maid. "Sakuya, is it time to eat yet?"
"Flandre!" Hong Meiling gasped in surprise. She was looking over the vampire's older self as if she hadn't expected such a change. For her part, Flandre gave Meiling a once over too before recognition showed in her eyes.
"You're that gatekeeper Sis had hired to guard the front gate. Hong Meiling, wasn't it?" When the Chinese Youkai nodded, the vampire looked over at the male Agent. She tilted her head a bit before straightening out and saying, "And who's this?"
Hong Meiling cleared her throat before introducing him, "This is my current employer, Kyle. He works for this group that comes to worlds like ours and takes care of problems that changes them from what they had been."
"That sounds about right." Kyle remarked with a thinking expression on his face.
-
Back at Cirno's apartment, Aster and Cirno were having a conversation. They were sitting on the couch, Cirno at the right end and Aster on the left.
"So, before Gensokyo lost it's magic, you had power over ice?" Aster asked with a bit of awe in her voice.
"That's correct," Cirno answered with a giggle. "Back then, I used to say 'I am the strongest.' In many ways, it was true. I was the strongest fairy in Gensokyo. Heck, if I was actually fighting at my best and not acting like the child I looked like, I could even give some of the stronger Youkai a run for their money."
"'Acting like the child you looked like'? You mean, you were so powerful while just a kid?" Aster looked at the older woman with surprise and respect.
Cirno just laughed at both the look and question. After getting herself under control, she responded, "No, nothing like that. While I don't recall my age as a Fairy, I do remember being well over sixty years old. It was just, because I was a Fairy, I had the appearance, personality, and temperament of a child. Because of all that, I was usually treated as an idiot by any of the more mature residents that passed by my house."
Aster adopted an understanding look as she sat there. When the images of certain people popped into her head for reasons she couldn't think of, she asked, "Did you have anyone you looked up to?"
Cirno sighed as a smiling face came to the forefront of her memories. Tears welled up as she spoke "Yes. Her name was Letty Whiterock. As the Spirit of Winter, I looked up to her as she had control over the cold that only came with maturity and experience. To Fairies like me, she was as close to a mother figure as we could get. I miss her."
-
At Cerebrum's penthouse, the Sue was having a drink of wine while her bodyguard stood back a bit. After taking a sip, she questioned the cloaked man over her shoulder, "Have you found out if my warning stuck to that Society guy?"
"Not yet," came the monotone reply. "My network of spies has lost track of them. It seems like I'll have to expand it again."
The Sue stared into her wineglass in thought before saying, "As long as he was protecting that unnatural creature, I could have killed him easily. However, that man is responsible for the deaths of two dear friends of mine. If he hasn't gone back to that Library in shame, then I'm going to give him a death so brutal that anyone else from that Society won't even think to look in the direction of this fandom!"
Almost like it was for emphasis, she threw her wineglass into the fireplace and caused the flames to flare up from the alcohol.
-
Once again with Kyle's group, the explanations had finished. Hong Meiling wasn't furious at Sakuya anymore, plus the maid and vampire understood Kyle's mission and Yukari's request. When it started getting late, Kyle remembered that Aster and Cirno were waiting for him and Hong Meiling to get back. Sakuya then asked if there was a way for them to keep in contact. Kyle thought about it and then said that the best he could do at the moment was giving them each one of the cards he gave Wriggle. After an explanation about being able to track the cards that would just bog the plot down, Kyle and Meiling headed back to Cirno's apartment.
As soon as Aster saw him again, however, she stormed up to him and demanded a dozen boxes of Pocky to make up for him leaving her behind. With a sigh, Kyle responded, "How about I give you one box for every day that we're here and then give you the rest when we return to the Library...Deal?"
"Why should I accept such an agreement?" Aster countered with her hands on her hips. By this time, Hong Meiling had gone into the bedroom to lie down.
"Because giving you a dozen boxes right now would hinder your arms as well as put you at risk for a major sugar high which would interfere with the mission and get us both yelled at." Kyle got out in one breath.
Aster seemed to consider this for a moment before saying, somewhat reluctantly, "Fine, but only so I won't get in trouble."
With that acknowledgement, Kyle nodded and pulled a box of strawberry Pocky out of his Astral Vault. Aster immediately snatched it and walked away. Kyle sighed before sitting down on the couch. Cirno had watched the exchange from the kitchen as she was making dinner. From over the counter, she spoke, "She's a good girl, but quite the handful."
"Don't get me started on the kinds of trouble she makes at HQ," Kyle replied warily. He let his body relax into the padding before continuing, "Eh, this has been quite a day for me. I'll be very sore in the morning."
Cirno was silent as she was putting the finishing touches on dinner before it goes into the oven. After she set a timer, she went over and sat down by the tired Agent. It took a minute or so, but she finally spoke up.
"I have to thank you for protecting me from that spell card," the former Fairy's tone turned reflective as she continued. "It's been the first act of kindness I've had in a long time. Just the fact that my presence has been acknowledged as more than an employee or coworker has given me hope for what may come."
A faint, tired smile crossed Kyle's face as he replied, "As long as they are not forgotten by the minds of others, the living and dead have worth."
Cirno looked at Kyle with a bit of confusion, "I don't quite get what you said. Were you trying to cheer me up?"
Kyle weakly chuckled, "Yeah. It's not often that I show that kind of side."
Cirno gave him a small smile in response and said, "Thank you, then. You have no idea how much having someone to talk to helps me."
He probably would have made a comment about that, but he was letting his tiredness carry him away. The former fairy just let him rest. After all, he did shield her from the ethereal blades when she wasn't the target.
-
Meanwhile, the monotone bodyguard was doing his best to hold back rage. Now that Hong Meiling had agreed to serve Kyle and got her homeless friends to assist her, he was having trouble getting the homeless to serve as his eyes and ears in the city. Apparently helping her out was a bigger reward to them than the money the cloaked figure offered them. Though he scowled underneath the hood of his cloak, he did nothing except walk away.
As he walked back towards his employer's penthouse, he pulled out his sphere and gazed at it. An unseen smile crossed his mouth before he started talking to himself.
"I cannot wait for the word to strike. Killing him will prove the superiority of the Sues. After all, that is my new purpose in life."
A humorless chuckle could be heard from him as he deftly maneuvered through the crowded street and into his mistress's building.
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