Clockwork Knights 2: Next Try Revolution.

[Ebony Debony]

Grim Planet; Grim City, District 24; Roy Doll's Room, August 24, 11:15 p.m., 3036 A.S.

As Roy Doll slept he seemingly failed to notice a figure obscured by the shadows move toward his side swiftly and without a sound. Then, without a word, the figure reached into it's elaborately decorated gold, black, and crimson coat extracting a very bizarre item.  While initially shaped like a tye-dye, palm sized sphere, the item abruptly expanded into the figure's arm taking on the shape of a mysteriously beautiful young woman.  Her azure mane extended slightly past her shoulders in curly rings, her skin shifted from as pale as snow to as dark as the night sky almost every second, and her slight frame shivered in the chill of Boss's room.

"Merry Christmas, Boss. I'm going to loan this to you, so you'd better kill Xergo Proxy for me," the figure whispered in a low, gruff voice as it gently set the bizarre creature onto Boss's bed right beside him. Then, without another word, the figure slid back and faded into the shadows once more, disappearing instantly.

Grim Planet; Grim City, District 24; Rooftop Above Al's Eatery, August 24, 11:18 p.m., 3036 A.S.

Stretching out his legs and languorously laying back onto the smooth, though slightly cracked, surface of the roof, Fox gazed up at the smoggy night sky of Grim City with a slight frown on his face as he removed the hood from over his head.

"Now what could I be forgetting. I know I'm forgetting something…let’s see, deposited bio-weapon hidden within a sphere within a phony rifle proto-type on Boss’s bed. Then I was supposed to…" the slim man muttered to himself, a pensive expression on his face as he stroked the stubble lining his chin. Then it hit him.

"DAMN! I forgot to dispel that Clone Bomb!" Fox exclaimed as he shot up, his eyes wide, before simply shrugging and lying back against the surface of the roof once more. "Meh, he's about to explode in a second in anyway. I guess it sucks for that butch chick and her crew. The whole train probably already blew up..."

-Flashback-

Planet Yardang-Ventrifact Sector; Current location: City Omega III Black-market; August 24, 8:30 p.m., 3036 A.S.

The Omega III Black-market was notorious throughout the galaxy for offering rare, powerful, and sometimes wacky weapons and items at cut throat prices...literally. And this was precisely the reason why Cookies had decided to teleport Fox there first because, contrary to popular belief, Cookies wasn't as cruel as to sacrifice all of his clones like so much garbage.

In a brilliant flash of light Fox appeared, yo-yo in hand and mouth agape, in the center of the market.  "I'm so going to die," he muttered to himself dryly as he immediately took in his surroundings.

All around there were shady and, in some cases, psychopathic looking types, gritty, dirty, and, in Fox's opinion, just inching to blow someone away or cut them into little tiny pieces and sell them as premium beef (which was, ironically, one of the reasons he decided not to look into the butcher shop down the street).  It was also apparent that the false fronts ranging from Chinese restaurants, to Italian restaurants, to Android restaurants, to Wee-Boo Kinkos, and the tiny, wooden, rickety drug store hidden between two other large buildings, were intentionally designed to be just obvious enough.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Fox simply shrugged and pocketed his yo-yo before heading toward the rickety, wooden shop along the slimy, slick street. Ignoring the stares he received as best he could, the raven haired man entered into the shop only to be greeted in mere nanoseconds by a hyper-attentive old man.  He was clearly Chinese,  a stereotypical wise man at that if his long white beard, bushy eyebrows, and black Chinese shirt and kung fu pants were any indication, and seemed to smile knowingly at Fox.

"Good evening sir. Can I interest you in some of my wares?" the diminutive old man  greeted as he waved his arms around to indicate the various medicines, contemporary and ancient alike, staked up on shoddy shelves throughout the decrypt looking room.

Fox simply smirked and shook his head, "Nah, pops, I want your good stuff...if you know what I mean."

The old man's smiling face shifted to a slight frown as he gave Fox a once over.  "You want to see my good stuff you say?" the old man questioned with a cock of his eyebrow, "Now why would you say that? I assure you that-"

The wise man was instantly cut off when Fox extracted a business card from his jean pocket and handed it to the old man, who took it dubiously before looking it over.

"Well I'll be!" the old man exclaimed breathlessly as his eyes scanned the card and widened considerably. "So you're one of Cookies Beta models?" the old man questioned in disbelief as Fox simply shrugged and nodded.  Nodding to himself the old man handed the card back to Fox, who pocketed it once more, and motioned for him to follow.

"You know, Cookies was one of my best customers when she first started out. She used to buy all of my mystical wares, infused theme within herself and all that, until she became so powerful she didn't need them anymore. A pity that, but I suppose once you become an Overlord mystical wares can't do much for you," the old man said, some what somberly, as he walked over to a nearby wall an tipped a glass bottle containing wolfs bane.  As soon as he had done so a false wall dropped out of existence revealing an elegant Chinese tea room.  All around on the walls, on elaborately carved bookshelves, and on tables laid mystical items, various illegal weapons, and ancient tomes.

"Alright, so what will you be bartering with?" the old man questioned as the pair entered into the room and Fox extracted the yo-yo he had received from his shirt pocket.

"Will this do?" he inquired skeptically, blanching slightly in expectation that the old man would almost immediately kick him out or laugh in his face.  However, neither of those things happened as the old man yanked the yo-yo out of his hand like a greedy child grabbing for candy.

"Young man, I don't think you know what you just gave up, but at the very least I'll offer you a fair deal," the old man said with a giddy laugh and a broad grin as he fanned his arm over the room. "Any four items of your choice. Ignore the price tag for you've paid for everything in full with this little trinket."

Fox wasn't sure why, but suddenly he regretted giving up the yo-yo. 'Oh well,' he thought to himself with a shrug of his shoulders as he walked around the room looking over the old man's wares. 'After all it's just a stupid yo-yo,' he rationalized to himself as he looked over a strange, blue bladed sword with a hilt made of silver.

“Ah, Durendal, now that is a magnificent sword.  You could cut through a mountain with that if used properly,” the old man said as Fox hefted the blade into his hands and did a few test swings.

Nodding to himself, Fox sheathed the sword in his belt and continued to walk about the room.  After heading over to the bookshelf a certain item caught his eye.  ““The Complete Idiot’s Guide to All Things Alchemy,” huh?” Fox muttered to himself as he picked up the book and skimmed through it.  Nodding once again, Fox tucked the text under his arm and continued to stroll about until noticing a elegantly crafted red coat with black and gold trim lining the inner most section, the sleeves, and the hood.

“Now what would that be?” Fox inquired as he turned to face the old man, who almost immediately frowned.

“Well I’ll tell you one thing, if you pick that one I’ll actually have to limit your item selection to two things,” the old man stated as Fox considered his words for a moment before unsheathing Durendal and setting it back on the table where he had found it.

“So what exactly does it do gramps?” the slim man inquired as he slipped the coat and moved around in it to make sure it fit well enough.

“That, young one, was a coat I had initially designed for Cookies using some of her power. However, I also added various inscriptions and symbols from the Sworn Book of Honorius and The Greater Key of Solomon to the lining…though after I had done so both books went mysteriously missing. I don’t recall having sold them, so I can only assume someone stole them,” the old man muttered to himself getting lost in thought.

“Ah…so it’s magic is it? Well that works for me,” Fox said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Well thanks gramps, I’ll be seein’ ya’.  I’ve got a train to catch,” the slim young man stated as he prepared to walk out the room.

“Wait!”

“Huh?” Fox questioned, turning around to face the now grinning old man.

“You youngsters are so clueless. Why not use the magic of the cloak to teleport yourself to wherever you need to be!” the old man exclaimed as the raven haired man cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, and how would I do that?  I don’t even know where the train is for that matter,” Fox said, somewhat irritated by the old man’s presumptuousness, as he placed his hands on his hips.

“Bah, just think of your objective or someone you wish to see and the coat will take it from there,” the old man said dismissively as he waved off the slim man’s growing ire.

Fox simply shrugged as he did just that and, within seconds, he disappeared in slight plume of smoke.

-Present-

Planet Yardang-Ventrifact Sector; Current location: S.T.A.R. Corps. Weapon's Development Train located just above City Omega III; August 24, 11:17 p.m., 3036 A.S.

Gertrude Von Bratwurst was as giddy as a fat child in a candy shop as she modeled her rather feminine, pink lingerie in front of the full length mirror in her bathroom.  It wasn’t often that the horribly disfigured Sergeant had time to handle her “needs”, and lord knew she had developed a feminine case of “blue balls”, but all of that was about to change tonight.

“Heh, I guess things are finally starting to look up for me.  He’s not exactly my Jesus, but he’ll do,” the burly woman said to herself as she put on a slight bit of make up and prepared to step out of her dimly lit bathroom into the bedroom.

However, no sooner had she done so then she noticed that the prisoner had started to spasm uncontrollably in his chair.

Gertrude knew, almost instantly, that a man having a spasm for absolutely no reason was not a good sign.  Making a b-line for her military gear and laser rifle, the woman immediately punched a hole into the floor of her car, revealing the twinkling lights of the city bellow.

Knowing she didn’t have much time, the sergeant peeled back the metal with all her strength, turning red in the face during the process, and immediately scooped up her belongings before jumping through.

Now in free fall, Gertrude watched in astonishment as her car exploded in brilliant white light that, within seconds, consumed the whole of the train.

Gritting her teeth as she plummeted, the sergeant cried, “DAMN YOU COOKIES!!!!!”

Grim Planet; Grim City, District 24; Rooftop Above Al's Eatery, August 24, 11:20 p.m., 3036 A.S.

“Achoo!” Fox sneezed violently before wiping his nose and frowning. “Jeez, I hope I’m not getting a cold,” the man muttered to himself as he continued to flip through “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy” while simultaneously thinking to himself, with an evil smirk, ‘I wonder what Boss is going to do when he wakes up with a naked bio-weapon in his bed.’

Hotaru’s/Cookie’s Dimension; Training Room; August 24, 11:20 p.m., 3036 A.S.

“Achoo!” Hotaru sneezed cutely into her gi sleeve before frowning slightly and muttering darkly, “Gertrude.”  After that she went back to practicing her Wu Shu.

[Author Roy]

Grim Planet; Grim City, District 24; Roy Doll's Room, August 24, 11:15 p.m., 3036 A.S.

Boss Roy's sleeping body tensed in response to the presence of an intruder, but he did not show any signs of being awake. When the bio-weapon clone or whatever was put onto his bed, he rolled over, placing an arm around the figure by chance, and then opened his mouth in a snort, before continuing to snore again, much louder than before, directly into the face of the blue haired bio-weapon clone.

Grim Planet; Grim City, District 24; Control Room, August 24, 11:16 p.m., 3036 A.S.

The pink haired girl who was sitting in the central command chair frowned and tilted her head. It felt as if something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. 'Hmm... perhaps I should go see if Boss is okay? He seemed pretty beat.' With a shake of her head, she instead turned to look up at the giant display screen at the far side of the room, where it showed a picture of a cloaked figure, a figure wearing a fedora and long coat, and one with a purple tuxedo and vampire cloak and mask. She'd downloaded the data on the encounter with the latter from Boss's PDA.

'Hmmm... Jack MeHoff, Xergo's original form, and this new 'Zero'... what could the connection between all of them be?'

[Lathis]

Deep Space: En Route to the Grim System, Volaris Starcruiser; August 24, 11:57 p.m., 3036 A.S.

The cloaked figure stared vacantly out the window, absently tapping their armrest in a steady rhythm.  They weren't familiar with the form of propulsion being used on this ship, as the unusually coruscating waves of light which flowed past them (looking suspiciously like the pattern of plaid) were like nothing they had seen the last time they had been in this Prime dimension.  Obviously technology had advanced differently since the divergence into the sub dimension.  It did make sense, in a way, as no subdimension could ever hold as many resources or individuals as a Prime dimension, so being out of the loop for several thousand years was bound to lead to unfamiliar new experiences.

It was just that property of the Prime dimension, the inherent reality of it, with all of its varied peoples, technologies and approaches to life, which was exactly what they needed. 

Unfortunately, unlike subdimensions, which were usually run by Overlords and thus easily controlled and united, no single being, or even any group of beings, had ever been able to unite, or even control this prime dimension in any meaningful way.  They were going to need power . . . all of the power in the universe, quite literally . . . but all of that power would be useless if it could not be harnessed, channeled . . . directed.

"Damnit," they muttered under their breath.  If only they had a plan on how to proceed.  Even locating the Clockwork Knights was a shot in the dark, since they usually did more damage than good anyway. 

They did know who they did need to find, unfortunately they knew that that person would not be easy to find . . . or if finding them would even be possible at all.  Still, it was the best chance that they had, so might as well run with it.

Deep Space: En Route to the Grim System, Volaris Starcruiser (Cargo Bay); August 24, 11:59 p.m., 3036 A.S.

Deep within the darkness of the unlit cargo bay, lost in the winding labyrinth of personal belongings, there was no one there to see what was occurring.  It was not like the first time, no wild light show, no rending of reality or howling of the abyss.

Rather, even blacker than the darkest heart of the cargo bay, was a tiny point of abyssal darkness hanging in the air.  From this small hole, this pinprick in the very fabric of reality, something dark and foul seeped out.  One drip at a time, each drip building upon the last and slowly rising up from the puddle of its birth, an abomination was being birthed from the darkness . . .

Reality weeped tears of agony as its hours of labour were only just beginning. 

[Author Roy]

Grim Planet; Grim City, District 24; Roy Doll's Room, August 25, 11:15 a.m., 3036 A.S.

Boss Roy woke up with a yawn and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. His other arm was wrapped around something soft and warm, telling him that his lieutenant had probably crawled into his bed again for some reason. It was with a bit of annoyance that the man opened his eyes, expecting to see the pink haired girl, but what he saw as completely different.

Instead, it was a blue haired girl... with some kind of weird skin problem.

'Dang,' He thought. 'Did I wake up and get drunk or something?' He shook his head. 'No hangover, so probably not...' He sighed and sat up, then looked down and noticed he was still dressed for work. With a sigh, the man adjusted his long coat and grabbed some sunglasses on the nearby stand, then put them on, grabbed a small rubber horn from inside the stand.

"Here goes," He muttered, pointing the thing away from himself at the blue haired girl.

When Boss squeezed the horn, almost immediately, an incredibly powerful wind began to blow from it, accompanied by the sound of three million foghorns. The bed itself was lifted up into the air by the wind and sound, and the blue haired girl and his blankets were easily blown off, hitting the wall with a small amount of force before falling down to the ground.

"Hopefully she wakes up with that," He said, holding the horn down.

[Lathis]

Upper Atmosphere of Planet Grim; August 25 11:15 a.m., 3036 A.S.

Though it was nearly a weekly occurrence, the arrival of the Starcruiser Volaris was always a majestic sight.  The massive, gleaming white hull of the craft began to tilt upwards as it engaged its automated landing sequence.  Hundreds of miles below, on the surface, there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about the approach to the Space Controllers in the spaceport.  The ship was right on time, and its descent was just as graceful as always . . .

It was all perfectly mundane . . . except that they couldn't raise the ship's captain, who always had a habit of calling in with a new joke he'd heard.

And with each passing second this predicament grew more worrisome, as they couldn't engage the surface to ship landing beams without authorization from the captain of the Volaris.   Warning signals began to light up around the control tower as the ship failed to engage its breaking engines, leaving it descending into the upper atmosphere at a recklessly dangerous speed.  Moments later, emergency crafts began to take off from the surface, trying to catch the massive ship with energy nets to try to stop its fall.  However, not only had the ship not begun to break, something had gone wrong with its automated systems, and its engines were still firing, driving it down to the surface.

Panic began to spread through the entire spaceport as the massive bulk of the Volaris broke through the energy web of the emergency vehicles as if it weren't even there.  It wasn't until one of the controllers calculated the trajectory of the runaway vehicle that a semblance of calm was able to be restored to the throng of people.  Even as the hull of the ship began to burst into flame as it plunged through the atmosphere, the controller explained that, due to the firing of the engines, the Volaris would overshoot not only the spaceport, but the entire city as well.  The destruction would still be catastrophic, but the loss of life would only be limited to those poor bastards riding the doomed ship . . .

And so, it was with a resigned sense of helplessness that everyone in first the starport, then the entire city, watched the massive fireball roll through the sky, before arcing gracefully to the distant ground outside the city.  When it landed, the shockwave could be felt for thousands of yards, the explosion could be seen for miles, and windows exploded throughout half of the city.

No one present could even begin to imagine the cause of this calamitous disaster . . . all they could do was wonder as emergency vehicles sped out to secure the crash site.

[Author Roy]

Grim Planet; Grim City, District 24; Boss Roy's Room, August 25, 11:17 a.m., 3036 A.S.

Boss Roy watched as the girl started to move beneath his covers, but just as she did so, he blinked, looking up.

'Did I just hear --'

And then the room started shaking, at first, a little, and then, a lot, and Boss struggled to stay standing.

"Wh-aat the hell's goin on?!" He demanded of no one, before grabbing a small cube on the bedstand and floating up into the air. The rumbling finished almost as soon as it had started, though, and Boss dropped the cube back to where it was, then looked around. He shook his head and started running towards the door from his room, before glancing over at the pile of blankets by his wall. "I'll deal with her later," He muttered, plowing through the quickly opened door and into the hall, then starting towards the command center. When he reached it, he saw the pink haired girl and a few others scrambling to the computers, all wearing pajamas or some such. "Hey, I thought you said we were safe from Grimquakes!" He shouted at the pink haired girl.

"We are!" She yelled back, just as irritably. "I don't know what the hell that was, but it hit worse than a quake!" She said.

He looked up at the large display panel as imagery rapidly flew by on it. Finally, a picture of a very smokey and dusty crater showed up on it, and Boss blinked.

"Was it a meteor?" He muttered.

"Seems like it was a starcruiser," a young pajama'd worker said. "We're not quite sure why though."

"Huh," Boss shook his head and turned around. "Well, damn. I thought we were under attack or something..."

"You thought it was a grimquake," the pink haired girl spat out irritably.

"S, shut up," He said. "I'm going to go to the surface, see what's going on."

"I'm going with--"

"No, you stay here, hold down the fort," He said, walking away.

Grim Planet; Grim City, District 24; Dirty Alleyway, August 25, 11:18 a.m., 3036 A.S.

Boss Roy rose up out of the trash can slowly, rising to stand on the top of it's walls. He hopped down from the trash can and replaced the top, then started walking out of the alleyway and into the street. People were all recovering from the powerful shock wave in various ways, and a glance around told Boss that the every window in the city must have shattered from the impressive force.

'Huh. How the hell did this happen?' He thought, turning to face the plume of smoke and dust that was rising in the distance. It wasn't very far actually, just outside the city from where he was. With a frown, he started walking towards it.

[Ebony Debony]

Grim Planet; Grim City, District 24; Boss Roy's Room, August 25, 11:19 a.m., 3036 A.S.

Stirring from underneath Boss's Roy's covers, the young woman, who now had a splitting headache, slowly and with trepidation removed the fabric obscuring her vision. Greeted by the sight of any empty room she relaxed slightly and raised a hand to her aching head and winced and the pounding pain and ringing in her ears.

"Uh, it feels like my head was run over by a semi-truck," the young woman moaned slightly as she tried to still her blurred vision and nauseous stomach. However, her attempts to quell her stomach's gurgling met with defeat as she suddenly retched and gagged up what appeared to be a small earplug headphone.

Coughing and bewildered the young woman looked over the device dubiously for a moment before hesitantly placing it  near her ear and waiting to see if she could her anything. This, however, proved to be a mistake as the device shot out of her fingers and jammed itself in her ear causing her to howl in agony for the briefest of moments before her jaw locked up and her eyes bulged out of her head.

The effect was instantaneous as memories and emotions flooded the young woman's head, and then one name.

"Cookies!" the young woman gasped aloud as the face of the infamous Clockwork Knight filled her vision.  Meanwhile her skin had started to take on a normal hue, a slight tanned colour, and her headache calmed to an unnoticeable level.

"Ugh, what are you doing in my head Cookies!" the young woman snapped angrily as the vision of the male Cookies dissipated into black before a vision reformed, like particles of sand swirling together, into the visage of Hotaru Tomoe, who was smiling wickedly.

"Ah! Good morning Mahaloli! How did you enjoy your sleep?" Hotaru intoned as she continued to smile maliciously despite the obvious ire she was earning from the blue haired young woman.

"What the hell do you want Cookies! And get the hell out of my head!" Mahaloli snapped irately as the cackling of Hotaru's maniacal laughter filled her head causing a resurgence of her headache.

"That's not likely to happen any time soon, my dear ex-general.  After all, you still need to repay me for sealing in that sub-space bubble and saving your life. S.T.A.R. Corps isn't a charity you know," the violet haired girl said with a malicious smile forming on her lips as Mahaloli's mouth dropped in astonishment.

"YOU'RE THE PRESIDENT OF S.T.A.R. CORPS?!"

"The one and only!" Hotaru declared with a wink as azure haired woman shook her head in disbelief.

"So I hired YOU to protect me from Suzumiya?! You're the reason she wanted to terminate my existence!!!!"

"Pity that, 'eh? But there's no use crying over split milk, now is there?" Hotaru said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Anyway, enough of this idle chit-chat, I have a proposition for you," Hotaru continued before she was abruptly cut off.

"No...in fact, hell no! I don't care if this ear piece in my head is a mind detonating bomb! YOU CAN BLOW ME TO HELL FOR ALL I CARE, YOU VINDICTIVE BITCH!" Mahaloli snapped irately as Hotaru recoiled slightly in surprise.

"Well there goes one way of coercion," Hotaru grumbled to herself as she tossed the remote detonator over her shoulder and shrugged in indifference. "Well how about this," the violet haired girl continued, "I'll name you Vice-President of S.T.A.R. Corps if you help me with this task."

"...."

"..."

"...seriously?"

Hotaru grinned widely as she nodded in affirmation. "That's right, you scratch my back, and I scratch yours. You get the better part of a multi-gagilion dollar weapons development company with it's own corporate military, and in return all I ask is that you insert a certain device into my clone and help him complete his objectives. Of course your appointment to Vice-President will be immediate, so you'll have those resources to aid you as well."

Mahaloli nodded in understanding before her brow furrowed slightly and a pensive expression found it's way onto her face. "Hey, wait, why don't you just do all of this yourself?" the slight young woman inquired as Hotaru frowned a bit and growled.

"I have to lay low for awhile. The Transdeminsional Counsel of Overlords is totally on my ass about siding with Xergo Proxy Ultimate the last time. Something about disrupting the universal balance of the prime dimension," Hotaru said, waving it off dismissively. "Anyway, I'm trying to clear my name, so I think taking out this new "Zero" guy should do it. However, since I can't do it myself I made a clone to do it for me. He's a failed prototype in that he's only human, but he more or less proved himself when he retrieved you from one of my trains...though the fact that he blew up a 3,000,000,000 train is a bit upsetting. Anyway, with your assistance and the resources at S.T.A.R. Corps. at your disposal I don't think this should be too big a problem." Hotaru said as Mahaloli simply nodded.

"Alright then, I'll let you get to work. Yuki should arrive at the old warehouse within the hour so make sure to get there in order to retrieve the necessary device," Hotaru said with a slight salute before disappearing from the azure haired girl's field of vision.

Taking a moment to acclimate herself to normal sight, Mahaloli looked around the room she found herself in before a violent tremor shook the whole of the room.  "What the heck was that?!" she gasped as she shot to her feet and, for the first time, noticed she was completely naked. Controlling her natural urge to shriek, Mahaloli quickly ran over to a nearby wardrobe and grabbed at a random a few articles of clothing.

It wasn't until she put them on that she noticed something fairly familiar about the selections she had made.  "Holy shit...is this Roy Doll's robe? Are these his boxers?! AND ARE THESE HIS PINK BUNNY SOCKS WITH THE PUFFY COTTON BALL TAILS ON THE ANKLES?!" she exclaimed in horror and retched slightly at the thought of wearing anything that had been on Roy Doll prior to it touching her skin. "I guess beggars can't be choosers," the azure haired girl muttered to herself as she calmed herself and made her way toward the door before stealthy making her way out of the room.  Making sure to duck and dodge so as to avoid being found out by the numerous people located in what appeared to be a central control center, Mahaloli quickly made her way over to what appeared to be a nearby elevator which she subsequently slid into and hit the up button on.

"Hopefully no one saw me," she said to herself as she tried to keep her arms from connecting with the wall of the impossibly small elevator.

Grim Planet; Grim City, District 24; Subterranean Lair, August 25, 11:15 a.m., 3036 A.S.

"Okay, so if I finish connecting this to this then that should activate this," Fox muttered to himself, he brow pouring with sweat and his brows furrowed in deep concentration. "Alright, that should do it!" he announced triumphantly as the sound of high-tech machinery roaring to life echoed throughout the small room and Fox raised a cybernetic arm to his field of vision before squeezing it with a sense of smug satisfaction.

"HA! EAT YOUR HEART OUT GALLY!" Fox bellowed as he looked over his new cybernetic body proudly. "Heh, and to think that it only took one sleepless night and a magic coat to make this!" the slim man said as he tried to fight the nigh irresistible urge to let his eyes finally close.  However, despite the fact that he was dead tired, he couldn't be prouder of his cybernetic body composed of some of universes most resistant alloys and steels as well as fragments of the magic coat he had briefly worn. It also didn't hurt that his new burly body was probably a lot more suitable for battling interdeminsional badasses than was his old, regular human body.

Taking a moment to ensure that all of his systems were operational, Fox then slipped on one of Cookies' old costumes, which consisted of his old black trench coat, a black, gold, and white Venetian mask and pair of red silk boxers, before heading out the blast doors and toward the elevator once more.  However, before he even had a chance to hit the up button and violent earthquake shook the elevator violently causing Fox to brace himself against the rusted railing.

"What the hell was that?!" the cyborg exclaimed, clearly bewildered, as he righted himself and hit the up button. "Whatever it was, it can't be good. I'd better check it out. Zero might be behind it, and if that's the case Cookies is going to want me to handle it...or at least attempt to."

With that, Fox waited for the elevator to reach the surface before looking around and trying to locate the cause of the disturbance. He then located a plume of smoke not too far off in the distance.

"Well that doesn't look suspicious," Fox said to himself sarcastically, rolling his eyes, as he started to sprint toward the smoke at an inhuman speed.

[Lathis]

Grim Planet; 21 km North East of Grim City, Crash Site of the S.S. Volaris August 25, 11:39 a.m., 3036 A.S.

Jim and his partner Terry worked quickly.  Even as the massive Extinguisher Units floating above them worked frantically to put out the raging inferno tearing through the shattered wreckage of the mammoth ship, they moved forward in their powered armor suits moving the heavy slabs of metal aside in search of survivors.  The odds of actually finding survivors from such a crash were minuscule at best, but they had to try.  They also had to do their best to clear a passage for the demolitions expert, as there was still a threat of the the anti matter core going critical, which would make the orbital crash of the ship itself look like a firecracker in comparison.

With all this in mind, they were caught completely off guard when they tossed aside another piece of shattered bulkhead, only to find a cloaked figure laying on the ground.  Despite the worrying pool of blood surrounding them, the figure wasn't a burnt cinder or a bloody splotch . . . which meant they could actually be alive!

Jim rushed forward and carefully checked the figure's vital signs - only to gasp in shock when he realized that not only was the figure alive, they were actually clinging to consciousness!

"Are you alright?"  he asked as he deployed a hover stretcher to move them.

The hooded stranger coughed, spitting up a small amount of blood, then shook their head weakly.  

Moving gently, Jim moved the figure onto the stretcher and initiated the life support systems.  It was a miracle that this person was still alive . . . or was it?

"Do you know what happened on the Volaris?" Jim asked the stranger.  Whoever this person was, they might know what caused this tragedy, or perhaps if there were any other survivors-

"D-dead . . . everyone - dead . . ." the stranger sputtered.

Obviously they were going into shock, unable to cope with what had happened.  "Don't worry, we're still looking for survivors.  There may yet be others-"

"No . . ." gasped the figure ". . . all dead . . . dead before the crash . . ."

"What!?" Jim shouted in shock.  What the hell was this person saying?  Had there been some kind of plague, or-

". . . wouldn't . . . it wouldn't die.  Couldn't kill it . . . nothing worked . . . it - it killed everyone . . . one by one."

Jim's eyes widened as he listened.  It sounded like the plot of a bad horror movie.  Was this person just insane, or could they actually be telling the truth.  "What was it?  What killed everyone?"

"N-no word for it . . . Abomination . . . tricked it into the antimatter core . . . de-destabilized systems - almost couldn't deactivate the core before the cra. . ."

The rest of the figure's explanation was lost as they finally slipped into unconsciousness.

Jim could only stare at the stranger, incomprehension plain on his face.  Was there any truth in that, or was it the raving of a depraved soul?  Either way, they would need to get them to a hospital and stabilize them before they could get any further answers.  Still, there was one easy fact to check.  If the antimatter core was inactive, then the threat of an explosion would be nullified and they could proceed with their efforts more safely . . .

Turning around, he waved to Terry, who was just on his way back, an ambulance following him.  "Terry, get this person to Mercy Hospital.  Tell the cops to place a heavy guard on them and make certain that they keep an eye on this person until they wake up.  If even one thing they just said is true, then there is something very wrong going on."

Not sure what to make of his partner's rambling, Terry nodded.

Within minutes, the ambulance was floating rapidly towards the city.

[Author Roy]

Grim Planet; 21 km North East of Grim City, Crash Site of the S.S. Volaris August 25, 11:40 a.m., 3036 A.S.

When Boss had first showed up, the crash site was cordoned off as worker bots and paramedics attempted to dig through the rubble in what was likely to be a fruitless search for survivors. There was a small crowd gathered around at the edge of the crash site, who were standing around, taking pictures and recording it like it were some kind of circus spectacle.

Boss frowned and shook his head. 'They don't even have a clue about the possible AM-Core failure?' he thought with a shake of his head. He, being who he was, would be able to escape just fine, but for the rest of the people there, it would be over in a blink if that went off.

He reached up to a large earphone that he was wearing and pushed a button on it. Seconds later, he heard the voice of his lieutenant.

"Sup, 'Boss?" the girl asked.

"Did you find out who it was?"

"Oh, yeah. Uh, the S.S. Volaris August, under Captain-"

"No, I mean, was there anyone suspicious on board?" He asked. "Did it come from somewhere suspect?"

"Hmm... no, sir, not anything out of the ordinary. Just the usual high class bunch... wait a second." There was a brief pause before she continued. "It seems that it came in from planet Sphinctus, Septus city in particular."

Boss blinked.

"You mean the rotting asshole of the universe?" He muttered.

"Yep."

"Hm. Well, if you find out anything else," He started, reaching up to his earphone.

"Actually, Boss. I couldn't help but notice a blue haired girl sneaking out of your room in your clothes," She said in a scathing tone.

"What? Oh yeah, her. Yeah, no clue who she is. She just appeared in my room, like you sometimes do when I'm asleep. I meant to have you guys interrogate her or something, but..."

"What? You mean you didn't..." The girl was silent for a moment, before speaking up. "Well, then it's a good thing I sent that probe after her..."

"Good thinking," He said. "Anyway, I'll-" He stopped speaking as the paramedics quickly started carrying a cloaked man from the remains on a hover-stretcher, and into an ambulance that had been waiting. Boss simply stared at the ambulance for a moment until it started floating away.

"Boss? Boss!"

He jerked in surprise, then focused.

"Suzu," He started, "I need you to find out who it is that's being admitted to the hospital from the crash. Something tells me that he's the key in all of this."

"Right..." she said. "Oh, and boss. What are you going to do about Zero?" She asked.

"Not sure," He said simply. "If he truly is the Xergy Proxo Ultimatis from before-"

"Xergo Proxy Ultimate, sir," She corrected.

"Right, right. Whatever," He said, shoving a hand into a pocket on his long coat and looking around. "Anyway, if he's that guy, then... something very bad is happening." He said.

"Something very bad?" She asked.

"Yes. Now, get on that hospital thing, stat." He reached up and hung up his phone and started walking back towards the city in the direction the ambulance had gone.

[Lathis]

Grim Planet; Mercy Hospital, High Security Ward; August 25, 4:58 p.m., 3036 A.S.

Lieutenant Davis looked up sharply when Doctor Laverne exited the patient's room.  The attractive doctor closed the door behind her, still staring at the chart in her hand with a puzzled expression on her face.  Feeling like chatting her up a bit, as well as doing his job, he quickly sidled up next to her and made an interrogative grunt.

"Is there anything you can tell us about the patient yet, Doctor?"

The doctor looked up suddenly, her brunette hair bouncing alluringly, as if she hadn't even noticed his presence.  Taking a moment to compose herself, she quickly shook her head.  "Um, no, I'm afraid not, Lieutenant.  The patient still hasn't woken up, so we haven't been able to ask any questions.  Aside from that, they didn't have any I.D., and we weren't able to find any matches with finger prints, or DNA.  The last is especially concerning since the advent of galactic wide DNA scanning for just this kind of situation going several centuries back."

Davis scratched his head at that.  "No DNA matches?  Only pre-warp and protected planets are exempt from DNA scans, and since no one can land on, or leave those planets, at all, it's pretty damn unlikely that the patient falls into either of those categories.  Hell, we even have DNA samples for all the Clock Work Knights going back a thousand years, what with all the insane fights they're always getting into."

Doctor Laverne nodded, still studying her chart.  "It is troubling.  But that's not even the half of it.  First off, their injuries are healing at a phenomenal rate.  Most people with their injuries would be in traction for months, but our patient could be up and about in weeks . . .  More disturbing, though, is the nature of their injuries."

"The nature of their injuries?  Umm . . . they were in a spaceship as it crashed into the planet, what kind of injuries were you expecting?"

The Doctor finally looked at him, unfortunately only to shoot him a sharp glance.  "That's just it.  In the 0.0000000001% of cases where someone has actually survived an orbital crash of this nature, the injuries were . . . extensive.  With our patient here . . . their injuries are more consistent with combat - prolonged combat.  It looks more like our patient was fighting for their lives for the past several hours, as opposed to crashing to the planet in a flaming death trap."

Davis tapped his chin in interest.  "Hmmm . . . that . . . that actually corresponds to what the paramedic that found the survivor said.  Man, I can't wait until they wake up, this is gonna be one helluva story!"

Doctor Laverne glared at him before turning away.  "There will be no interrogations until I am satisfied that the patient is completely stabilized, Lieutenant, so I would appreciate it if you would keep your enthusiasm in check."  And with that said, she walked tersely down the hall.

Davis let out a quiet curse as he moved back to his seat beside the heavily sealed room which contained the patient.

That didn't go well at all.

[Author Roy]

Grim Planet; Grim City; Outside Mercy Hospital; August 25, 5:15 p.m., 3036 A.S.

Boss Roy sighed and sipped from his Latte again.

A moment later the earphone on his head buzzed and he reached up to push a button.

"What've you got?" He asked.

"Nothing," The voice of a young girl said. "Nothing at all."

Boss blinked.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. No records, no DNA matches, no prints, no anything. They're not exactly sure what's going on either. According to the reports, he seems to have been fighting something as the ship went down. Indeed, his injuries are apparently more from that than the actual crash itself."

Boss narrowed his eyes. Someone who was fighting aboard the ship? What exactly would he have been fighting?

Was it still around?

"There's nothing to do until he wakes up, boss," the voice said. Boss simply nodded. "Do you have any idea of what's going on?"

"This and Zero at the same time..." Boss simply shook his head. "It has a familiar feeling to it, this stuff happening all at once. But we'll have to gather more information on this guy before we can decide if there's a threat about." He pushed the button again and slurped more from his latte, then sighed.

Grim Planet; Greater Solem Metropolis; Auster District, Warlord Tower; August 25, 5:10 p.m., 3036 A.S.

At the top of a rather ridiculously tall tower, a woman awoke, and found herself looking straight up into the dark green clouds. Rain poured freely from them, leaving her in cold, wet, clothing.

She sat up and blinked, looking around, before frowning.

'Where... where am I?' She looked around, but was unable to make any sense of where she was. 'Why am I here?' She thought, before frowning as she realized something else...

'Who am I?' The woman shook her head, frowning. It was a strange sounding question, after all... but the truth was, she did not know the answer to it.

There was a flash of light, and thunder sounded behind her. She turned to look at it and blinked when she saw a note on the ground, along with a picture. The note was scrawled in some thick, red liquid that seemed to resist the rain pouring down into it by staying legible. Blinking several times, she picked up the picture, as well as the note, and frowned...

[Lathis]

Grim Planet; Mercy Hospital, High Security Ward; August 25, 6:31 p.m., 3036 A.S.

With a weak groan, the figure's eyes flickered open - only to squeeze shut a moment later as even the dim light of the room stabbed into their eyes like daggers.  The pounding in their head was nearly unbearable and every inch of their body seemed to be screaming at them all at once.

It took several long minutes before they were able to quell the pain of their body enough to open their eyes once again. 

"Another unfamiliar ceiling . . ." 

It seemed like forever since they had seen anything familiar.  Everything in this dimension was so foreign now, nothing felt right, nothing reacted right.  Even their own body felt like little more than a dead weight since the moment they had returned to this damn dimension. 

Still, the sterile smell and steady beeping surrounding them gave them a good clue as to where they were.  Though the machines were unfamiliar, all things considered, it seemed a certainty that they were in a hospital . . .  And considering the nature of their appearance on this planet, it was also almost certain that there were going to be people that wanted to ask them some very pointed questions.

"Bloody hell . . . how did I get myself into this crap?"

They didn't have time to answer questions, be it to police, military or government lackeys.  They had things that needed to be done . . . and no idea how long they actually had to accomplish their tasks.  If only they had an idea where to start . . .

Though it was agonizing, the figure slowly crawled out of the bed.  The black, tattered remains of the halloween costume they had found on Sphinctus was casually draped over the back of a nearby chair, and they quickly moved and donned it once more.  They actually gave a quiet sigh of relief as they pulled up the hood to cover their face, as if the shadows themselves were soothing them.

"Now . . . how the hell do i get outta here?" they muttered to themself.  Fighting their way out was out of the question.  Stealth was possible, but getting out of the room in the first place would be the big problem.

"Hmmm . . . maybe, just maybe . . ."

Closing their eyes tightly, they concentrated all of their will inward and-

Grim Planet; Mercy Hospital, Rooftop; August 25, 6:52 p.m., 3036 A.S.

- felt the blessed sensation of a gentle breeze caressing their face.

Startled, the figure opened their eyes, actually surprised it had worked. 

A second later, they collapsed to their knees and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Shit, and after such a short distance too?"

In even more pain now than before, the figure staggered to their feet and began to walk towards the ledge of the building . . . suddenly wondering how the hell they were gonna get down now.

[Ebony Debony]

Grim Planet; 21 km North East of Grim City, Crash Site of the S.S. Volaris August 25, 11:55 a.m., 3036 A.S.

"Damn...what happened here?" Fox muttered to himself with a thoughtful expression on his face as he strolled through the massive mounds of flaming debris of what once used to be a ship. "If my memory database serves me correctly, there's no way in hell this thing should have crashed. After that one time Cookies hijacked a commercial ship in order to crash it into Roy Doll's room for eating her, ironically enough, cookies they installed so many safety protocols that this ship should have at least landed in relatively one piece," the trench coat wearing cyborg continued to mutter to himself as he scooped up a piece of smoldering debris and looked it over.

"I doubt that I'll find any clues here," the man said in resignation as he threw the piece of debris over his shoulder and shrugged.  "Bah, whatever happened here is none of my concern anyway...unless Zero was somehow involved," the young man said with a frown before hearing the sound of emergency crews drawing near.  "Well, looks like I over stayed my welcome," Fox said before leaping high into the air and activating his internal teleport system.

Grim Planet; 21 km North East of Grim City, Old Warehouse August 25, 12:30 a.m., 3036 A.S.

"Damn, when was the last time someone cleaned this place?" Mahaloli muttered to herself as she stepped into the pitch black warehouse and wrinkled up her nose at the smell of rotted wood and rancid sewer water. Quickly raising a over sized sleeve to her nose, the young woman proceeded to stroll across the dirt floor toward the center of the room which was poorly lit by the sunlight streaming through the doorway

"Alright, Yuki, I'm here! Give me this damn device so that I can get going!" the azure haired woman bellowed, her voice echoing throughout the seemingly empty space.  Then, without even the slightest hint of a warning, Mahaloli felt something barely miss grazing her cheek as it whistled past her ear in the blink of an eye. Seconds later she heard a loud sputtering sound and spun around to see a sputtering reconnaissance droid plummeting out of the sky and slamming into the ground, exploding into dozens of pieces.

"You were followed...not good," Yuki's disembodied voice declared in her usual monotone as Mahaloli glared at the broken piece of equipment with extreme disdain.

"Damn, if someone sent one of those I'm sure someone of something with guns is not far behind," the azure haired girl muttered to herself through gritted teeth before feeling a slight tap on her shoulder.  Jumping slightly, Mahaloli turned around once more only to come face to face with Yuki Nagato, the alien's face just as blank as usual.

"Here," Yuki stated unceremoniously as she gripped Mahaloli's arm, opened up her palm, dropped a small spherical device into device into, and close her palm.  "You are to have W-Fox ingest this, assuming he has converted his organic body into a cybernetic one, thereby allowing Mistress Hotaru to gain remote access," the lavender haired girl stated as Mahaloli cocked an eyebrow and looked first at her then down at her fist with a dubious expression on her face.

"You know...this is getting really confusing. Why didn't Hotaru simply have you convert his body into a cybernetic one and insert this before all of this began? And didn't she turn me into a cyborg and do the same?" Mahaloli questioned as Yuki nodded in understanding.

"Though there is not much time, I shall endeavor to answer your questions as satisfactorily as I can. First, Mistress Hotaru was not able to transform W-Fox's organic body into a cybernetic one due to, simply enough, her absent mindedness.  Though this is also what could be considered a blessing in disguise.  Considering the fact that after Xergo Proxy Ultimate was initially defeated, or thought to be defeated, and Hotaru and myself forced to abandon this dimension all known Cookies clones were thought to have been destroyed by an outraged populous, finding even one remaining clone intact was 0.00000000001% likely. Thus Hotaru was forced to manipulate what she had through what she has dubbed "Suggestive Injection", or, simply enough, the manipulation of segments and chemicals within brain in order to motivate an organic being into acting a certain way. This occurred simultaneously when W-Fox was injected with the memory core and database.  The yo-yo, which you have not been informed about but likely will be, was simply an old inside joke between the Mistress and the shop keeper," Yuki said as Mahaloli nodded in understanding.

"Okay, that explains why Fox has been behaving the way he has, but what about me? Why did she store me on a train and why didn't she turn me into a cyborg that she could manipulate too?" the azure haired young woman inquired as Yuki nodded and continued.

"Placing you on the S.T.A.R. Corps Train, as the mistress indicated prior to our conversation, was to serve as a test to see if Fox would have even been a suitable clone for the task at hand. As for why she did not modify your body I can only say that the mistress must hold some respect, feelings of friendship, or love for you. I am not certain," the alien stated with a slight bow of her head.  "Now if you will excuse me, I must teleport you to Fox's current location," Yuki stated as Mahaloli cocked an eyebrow at her once more.

"Teleport me? You can do that?"

However, instead of receiving an answer to her question, the azure hair girl disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Now then, Boss Roy, as by my Mistress's humble request, please do not interfere," Yuki said to no one and nothing in particular as she bowed slightly before disappearing herself.

[Lathis]

Grim Planet, Grim City; District 36; August 25, 10:30 p.m., 3036 A.S. (After Suzumiya)

The figure leaned against a rusted old lamp post, thankful for the rest.  They weren't sure why they had come to this abandoned, weed filled lot, it was almost as if they'd been drawn here by . . . something.  The cloaked stranger wasn't sure what it could be, but it felt like something they needed was nearby.

And that feeling seemed to be leading them towards the large, ragged looking circus tent which was standing in the heart of the abandoned lot.

Pushing off from the lamp post, the figure continued their weary trek forward.  They were still injured, but recovering even more quickly now that they were conscious and able to channel their body's efforts more efficiently.  And the better they felt, the stronger this odd feeling they were feeling got.

A few moments later, they pushed aside the flap and entered the tent.  It was . . . certainly more spacious then they were expecting.  The sensation of dimensional warping was quite evident in here, which was quite interesting.  Whoever did this must have had considerable power.

'Well, here goes nothing . . .' they thought nervously.

The figure then drew in a painful breath before calling out - "Hello?  Anyone?"

[Ebony Debony]

Grim Planet; Grim City, District 24; Subterranean Lair, August 25, 1:00 a.m., 3036 A.S

Fox sighed wistfully as he continued to leaf through a ragged, hard back edition of "War and Peace" and occasionally took a sip of tea from a dainty tea cup at his side or a small wooden table.  Though the liquid no longer offered him any real sustenance, the taste was refreshing for his taste buds and the aroma of Earl Grey was quite charming as well. Besides, it wasn't as if any press matters were at hand and Cookies had yet to contact him for anything important, so what would a little relaxation hurt? It also didn't help matters that the velvet, violet arm chair he just purchased from the Hazy-Boy Bong shop was almost supernaturally comfortable.

"Now this is the life," Fox sighed to himself once more as he set his book down on his lap again and looked up toward the giant monitor before him wondering if, perhaps, he should bother contacting his superior. After a moment of deep thought, however, he immediately decided that his arm chair was much to comfortable to leave in order to gallivanting off on some mission that might very well end in his demise.

"Besides, it's not like Zero has made any major moves yet," the cyborg rationalized as he reopened his book and continued to read, almost completely oblivious to the fact that the blast doors were sliding open. However, considering that no one other than Cookies herself, or perhaps Yuki, knew of the entry code it was of little consequence to him, aside from the annoyance of receiving another mission, if one of them entered unannounced.  It was Cookies' bunker after all...

"So you're Fox I take it?" came a voice which Fox only vaguely recognized.

Looking up out the corner of his eye, the cyborg noticed a curvatious young woman wearing a ratty bathrobe and bunny socks standing in front of the blast doors.  "Uh...yeah? Can I help you?" the man questioned, somewhat irritated, as he slammed his book shut and looked up face the young woman who had intruded on his sacred space.

"Yeah, you can. Cookies sent me to find you. I'm Mahaloli," the azure haired young woman greeted with a devious smile on her face as she strode further into the bunker, giving the place a look around.  "I love what you've done with the place, by the way. Drab gray steel is definitely a good look for a cyborg," Mahaloli stated in jest as Fox cocked an eyebrow and frowned slightly both at her comment and how casually she approached him.

"Yes, I vaguely recall that Cookies knew a Mahaloli, but what do you want with me? As far as I knew Cookies wanted me to do this mission alone," Fox said with a dubious expression forming on his face. For some reason he was getting the vibe that he shouldn't trust this Mahaloli character, but there was also something within him that wouldn't allow him to refuse her presence. It was very odd to say the least.

"Well, Fox, there's been a change in plans. Cookies contracted me with the expressed intent of my assisting you with your mission, so you'd better get over any reservations you have concerning working with me," the curvy young woman stated bluntly as she stopped right beside Fox's table and looked down at his cup of tea with a curious expression on her face. "Cyborgs drink tea?"

"I do," Fox replied just as bluntly, his eyes slightly slanted in suspicion.  Something was screaming within him not to trust Mahaloli, but something just as strong was subduing his urge to jettison the blue haired woman from the bunker. 'Damn, what's wrong with me?! Is it possible for cyborgs to be bi-polar?' the raven haired man thought to himself with a slight frown as Mahaloli simply shrugged at his words.  "Anyway, well if that's the case there isn't much I can tell you about the mission's current objectives. Cookies has yet to contact me about it."

"I know," Mahaloli said, her face now mask of indecision as her brow furrowed slightly as if she was concentrating on a serious moral dilemma.

Now Fox was becoming really worried and he voiced his concerns.  "Hey, uh, are you going to be okay? Fox inquired as he started to rise from his chair.  However, before he got very far, Mahaloli cried, with a wild panicked look in her eyes, "OH! WHAT'S THAT?!"  Spinning around, despite the fact that his sensors had picked up nothing, Cookies frowned slightly and, just as he was about to ask the azure haired woman what exactly was wrong with her, turned to find the Mahaloli had somehow disappeared.

Furrowing his brow slightly, both in confusion and suspicion, Fox visually scanned the room for a moment and, upon coming up with nothing, simply shrugged, sighed and took a seat again. "Whatever...what a random chick," he muttered to himself as he cracked open "War and Peace" once more and started to read before picking up his tea cup and taking a sip...

"GAH! BLEH?! WAH!!!!!" Fox gagged, choked, and screamed as he tossed his tea cup into the air and clutched his aching chest. It was as if someone was ripping him open from the inside and he was powerless to stop them. His eyes bugged out of his skull and his mouth grew numb and dry as though it had been filled with sand. It only took a second, however, before his spasms came to an abrupt end and he slumped over in his chair.

Meanwhile, underneath the arm chair, Mahaloli was shaking in both dread and anticipation.  She dreaded what would happen to her if Cookies' little device didn't work, and she anticipated it would probably just as bad as if the device did end up working. She didn't have to wait long to receive her answer however-

"HEY! GOOD JOB!"

"AYIEEEEE!" cried the azure haired young woman in both fright and surprise as Fox's masked face suddenly appeared in front of her, staring at her upside down.

"Jeez, what are you screaming for? It's me, Cookies," the cyborg grumbled as he put his fingers in his ears in an effort to end the ringing.

Mahaloli simply glared at the man for a moment before sighing and frowning. "Whatever, Cookies, let's just get this show on the road. I don't have all day you know," the pinked eye woman stated as she rolled out from under the chair and onto her feet.

"Right, right," Cookies nodded in agreement as he too stood and looked around the room. "Well we can do just that as soon as I find my fedora and find you some new clothes," the burly cyborg stated as he grabbed Mahaloli's hand and led her to a nearby wooden cabinet in which he extracted his signature black fedora and a more adult version of one of Mahaloli's older outfits, which consisted of blue, black, and gray fatigues, a tight black t-shirt, black combat boots, and a blue and black beret.

"Alright, General, throw these on and we'll be ready to go," Cookies said as he handed the clothes to Mahaloli who only too gladly accepted them.

"Thank God for you sometimes Cookies, these clothes are definitely better than wearing Roy Doll's old clothes."