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Lane is currently fighting one of the Jaden Dons, Morta Bellaire, and is on the verge of also luring out Jigger Barlin. However, to further understand the works of the Baron and the Crimson Gavel, we must divert attention for a short time from the events at hand and show what really has been planned between the Gavel and the Guard. Let us backtrack to just a few days after Lane joins the Crimson Gavel.

Within Tonoko City's walls, the Baron sat in his throne room in Korderon Palace contemplating the situation with the Crimson Gavel and Lane Silverbane. Baron Runo looked through a few piles of paperwork as he heard the door to the room open up.

"Come in," he said in a loud, alpha male-quality tone. "Please see to the door is closed when you make your way inside. I do not want the meetings in my throne room to carry outside of these soundproof walls."

"There's no need to remind me, sir," a very familiar gritty voice echoed from behind Runo. It was Commander Vaxis. He lead the 13th unit of the Cryptic Guard, which specialized in closed quarter combat, commonly referred to as CQC.

Vaxis looked a bit worn out from training his men in a rather hardcore manner. He had increased his training to his cadets by at elast 50% as ordered to do so by Runo himself. As a large muscular Festo, he found it hard to conceal his presence. He lifted his helmet off of his head, looking around as he placed it down on a nearby table. He put his hands behind his back as he watched Runo continue to work on a few pieces of paperwork. His green eyes shifting as he looked around the throne room, waiting to be acknowledged. He resisted the urge to try and make sure his hair wasn't sticking up due to the helmet, as he would look a bit silly with blond hair sticking up like a pinecone. His gray fur rustled a bit as the air conditioning within the room silently breezed over him. There were no windows in Runo's throne room. Whatever went on in it was to be kept in the room, as that was why the walls were also soundproof and the door itself was a very thick layer of Krazite.

"Are you just going to stand there and wait for me to address you, Amar?" Runo chuckled, looking up at Vaxis now. "This is the third request I've received from you as you wish to talk to me. I did think the first two denials for this request would have made you give up, but with a third attempt, I'm impressed with your persistence. However, it implies that you may not agree with what I have set up for my own intentions with my military. Am I correct?"

"Of course not, sir," Vaxis said, shaking his head. "I'm just curious as to why I must train my men harder. I already work them to the bone to try and get them to love the urge to fight. Pushing them even more might turn them into useless hollow shells."

"Oh?" he asked, chuckling as he sat forward and placed both elbows on his desk, resting his chins now on his folded hands. "Is this all? You are curious to why I ask you to train your men harder, risking destroying their resolve?" He chuckled again, though this time a bit darker as he stood up. He looked at Vaxis with a cold stare, his red eyes seeming to stare right through him. "Do you not understand yet, Vaxis? Whose squad had the AWOL soldier that decided to aid a criminal in letting them free, then fleeing the scene of the crime?"

"Well, yes, Lane Silverbane was part of my squad, sir," Vaxis nodded. "While I did try my best to work him to his limits, I hadn't counted on him defying the law and aiding suspected criminals."

"The biggest reasoning for that, Amar, is because you didn't keep a close eye on him," Runo interrupted, walking around his desk and crossing his arms. "You've been in my military as the Commander for the CQC unit for about 15 years now, only a few years before the Academy brought Lane in. I told you to keep an eye on the boy, but apparently you grew lax."

"I didn't grow lax, sir," Vaxis said, stifling the urge to sigh with disappointment in letting down his leader. "It was a mere mistake that I did let slip past my radar. I've made sure to keep a watchful eye on the others in my squad."

"Well, it is the reasoning I've ordered you to increase your drills and runs," Runo stated. "Unfortunately, Lane seems to be very skilled at evading capture. It's only been a few days now since he deserted the Guard and after all that my military has done for the bastard was wasted."

"Why haven't you appointed one of your Stealth Force assassins on it yet then?" Vaxis then asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He hasn't been gone long enough to warrant that kind of search party," Runo said. "If we don't find him and bring him back soon, I may call upon the Cryptic Stealth Force to handle this for me. However, I suspect their efforts to be futile regardless."

"Why is that, sir?" Vaxis blinked. "They are your most prized combatants. No one can outrun or hide from them."

"You ask a lot of questions, Vaxis," Runo said, angrily staring at him now. "It feels like you are questioning my authority here. You of all people should know that Lane is different. He never saw combat, yet he could manage to spar and almost defeat combat veterans. His skills were and still are profound. I have a feeling that I haven't seen the last of him and I plan on playing on the fact he's on the run. It gives me time to be creative, heh. Do you know his past, Vaxis?"

"The very little I do know is just that he's an orphan we took in," Vaxis replied, scratching his head gently. "Other than that, no."

"Well, his parents were Jason Silverbane and Gloria Stow," Runo said, leaning against his desk now. "You recognize the names, don't you? The two were infamous for causing trouble between my military and even having debt with the Crimson Gavel."

"Yes, I know of them," Vaxis nodded. "They were often known as the Corruption Couple, being bandits themselves as they refused to draft into the military and had piled up debts to the Crimson Gavel. However, they occasionally appeared in Tonoko and Jaden, aiding someone if they needed the help. A strange twist of deadbeats but good Samaritans." "Well, they weren't deadbeats," Runo chuckled. "They were former members of my military, yes. But they found something they didn't like and people saw them as a threat. They were forced to flee the city into hiding, all while Gloria was pregnant with Lane. You see, one of his parents wasn't a typical person like you are, Vaxis. One of them was... unique. And that same uniqueness has passed down to their offspring, which happens to be that coward Lane."

"Unique?" Vaxis asked. "In what way?"

"Well, there's two ways to explain it," Runo said, now walking toward Vaxis. "The first way is to simply explain to you what Nether Energy is and how I've found that it takes several forms. It can be used as a gas, liquid, a solid object and even be injected into food to secretly poison someone with it. It's considered a hallucinogen but I know better than that. It's not a drug. It's a natural substance that once gave Magazor power before she was overthrown. It was essentially a life force. The remaining Nether Energy since that day is basically breathing life for us in this dire time of war." He chuckled and pat Vaxis on the back as he walked past him.

Almost immediately, Vaxis felt a prick on his right arm, causing him to immediately try to grab at it as it felt like it was going to bleed. "Wait, what was that?" he asked. "What are you talking about, sir? I haven't heard of this Nether Energy." He looked around, the room beginning to turn fuzzy for him.

"I've injected you with it," Runo said, a deranged grin spreading across his face.

"The Nether Energy heightens your fighting abilities and senses. It does have some side effects, giving the recipient of the injection a different special ability based on their composition. I've noticed this in the subjects I've already injected with it."

"Subjects?" Vaxis asked, letting out a pained groan as he held his arm and fell onto one knee. His body tingled all over as the liquid Nether coursed through his veins.

Almost immediately, his injected arm began to bulge more as the muscles grew larger and tougher. Vaxis watched, a surprised look stuck on his face as he couldn't move. He was soon forced to let go of his left arm as his right arm began to bulge and grow bigger as well. He let out a loud grunt as the rest of his muscles followed suit and his eyes turned a darker shade of green with a red tint in them. His uniform became rather tight, almost tearing apart as he roared out, now standing up. His fangs had grown longer and sharper, while his hair was a bit more ruffled and still sticking up, though now looking like spikes.

"This feels... amazing, sir!" he chuckled, turning toward Runo.

"I know," Runo chuckled. "Though it's one of the secret weapons I have for our assault on Czech and the other opposing provinces. Unfortunately, injecting Lane with this would have no effect. His little secret that even he is unaware of is the reasoning for that. You were the last Commander I had to inject. My wife, Virgil, Azinoth... and many more soldiers have already been injected with this serum. We will be unstoppable. Understood?"

"Understood, sir!" Vaxis chuckled, grinning. "I feel like I could just kill something right now with my bare hands. We should have some sort of search party for Lane, give him a big ass whooping and maybe kill him in the process!"

"Being reckless is not something I will condone," Runo said. "Until Dr. DeVille has some solid evidence that the serum is completely stable, no one is to use their newfound power or reveal how they've received it. Understood?"

"Understood, sir!" Vaxis immediately replied, saluting him.

Runo let out a chuckle again as he walked back to his desk as Vaxis left. He sat down and leaned back in his chair.

"I wonder how the Gavel is handling him," he muttered to himself. "They better accept my offer of a partnership... In the meantime..." He leaned forward and pressed a button on an office speaker in his room. "Update on the whereabouts of my last subject Soldier Protocol Omega, Harrow."

"She is currently on assignment in the city, sir," a female voice - one that was gritty and low, but calm and also sweet. It was easy to tell when it was his assistant on the other line, Ginger Harrow. "She will be returning in a few hours."

"Good," he said, leaning back in his chair. "As expected then." He let out a dark chuckle now.

In the evening, there were several Cryptic Guard patrols around the city in search for Lane and to take him back alive. One of the search squads was just Yuno searching for Lane, wanting to know an explanation for why he deserted the military after a simple framing.

"Was it because I tried to do my duty and arrest him?" she asked in herself in her own thoughts as she headed down the sidewalk of Briar Street, next to a big shopping complex.

She wasn't in her official uniform as she was only in a red t-shirt, a pair of short blue jean shorts and black boots. She decided to keep her gun, Maki, on her right side as usual in the holster just in case, but she was trying to appear like a civilian so she could at least get Lane to talk if she found him. She shrugged off the feeling of being stared at by a few bystanders, as her short shorts did expose quite a bit of her legs, which were perhaps one of her best features according to Lane and some other male soldiers. Unfortunately, it did make her think of and also worry about him again.

Yuno did notice a commotion within the shopping center after noticing a few trucks and even a Cryptic Guard vehicle had been parked on the side of the road, near a line of clothing stores - including Impersonal.

"That's odd," she muttered to herself. "I don't recall hearing any orders to report to this shopping mall. Perhaps I should pay a special visit." She then looked around before heading toward the shopping complex.

The complex wasn't that busy, as Yuno noticed the crowd was small. However, it was still large enough to let herself be somewhat concealed as a normal citizen. She narrowed her eyes, finding the Cryptic Guard as they approached a shady looking man. He was a large Festo man, wearing a full purple suit. Yuno immediately recognized him.

"Don Bortelli?" she asked herself, crouching behind a pillar as she peeked around the side of it. "What are soldiers doing talking to that scumbag?" She then noticed another man next to Bortelli, now analyzing him. The second large Festo was shorter than Bortelli, but had a bit more muscle. It then dawned on her that he had to be the other Don within the city. "Don Vinchi, too? What is going on..."

Yuno clenched her fists and growled lowly as she stood up. She looked around carefully before running toward and alley where she could quietly assess her thoughts.

"I'll just visit again later to see what they've planted," she said to herself, though jumped when she heard familiar voices behind her.

"Well, well, well," a deep male voice chuckled. "We have Silverbane's bestie out here, spying on us?"

"Lucky..." she said, looking back at the tall, slender Promus Alpha. She noticed Sean was also with him, as they were the two guards that were talking with Bortelli and Vinchi. "What were you two doing talking to two Dons of the Crimson Gavel?"

"Easy there, cowgirl," Lucky chuckled. "You're off duty, it seems, so we ain't gotta answer you. We do, however, need to charge you for espionage!"

"Espionage?" Yuno blinked. "How could you prove this?"

"We'll find a way," Sean shrugged. He stretched his four arms out before grabbing his pistol and aiming it at Yuno. "Gotta come with us, girl." He grinned, his large belly jiggling as he chuckled. The fur on his body seemed to stand up a bit, as if becoming somewhat excited for this confrontation.

"So Lane was right, you two are pretty dirty," Yuno said, narrowing her eyes. "That doesn't matter though. Maki, pierce their armor!" She then quickly drew her weapon from its holster into her right hand, firing at the ground around them.

This sudden firing caused both Sean and Lucky to temporarily panic and flail about like little children learning how to swim. Yuno twirled her gun in a timely fashion, firing a second round of laser piercing shots. Her pistol's custom made barrels revved as the power increased, firing larger and faster shots. It was the only laser pistol in the Guard that had that kind of power. She looked back as Sean had disappeared and shook the handle, a blade as sharp as brand new army knife unsheathing.

"You two are fools," she said, swiping at the air and caused Sean to stop his attack and jump back. "I don't know what you think you can accomplish by trying to frame me, but apparently I shouldn't have taken Lane's words so lightly."

"That kid was a weirdo," Sean chuckled, firing his grenade launcher at Yuno, causing her to immediately side step and jump toward a ladder. She then took this ladder up to the rooftop, climbing rather quickly."Couldn't lie to him or hide from 'em. Those two we were settin' up, dear Yuno, were going to be joining that Seekers army thing Jaden has to combat the Baron. You of all people should know that there's nothin' but spies when it comes to abnormally law-abiding citizens."

"I don't see the abnormality for following the law," she said, blinking and letting out a grunt as Lucky managed to catch her right arm as he appeared out of nowhere. She immediately moved her left leg, attempting to kick him in the stomach.

Lucky seemed to anticipate it as he easily blocked and caught her leg, causing her to fall forward onto the rooftop, resulting in tearing her right sleeve and causing her to scrape her right elbow. Yuno grunted, gasping as Lucky stepped on her with his right foot onto her back rather harshly, forcing her to face the ground and almost eat it as well. He held his standard issue laser pistol to the back of her head as well.

"Looks like we've got ya cornered," Sean chuckled as he had climbed up to the rooftop. "So either you get capped right here and we ride it off as some weird accident or you can be willing to be, ya know, escorted back to the palace for personal execution. Your choice, lady."

"Do you really... think... I'd give up so easily?" Yuno asked, groaning through her words as she still felt a large amount of pain from being stepped on. "You two better... think again." She then reached up and pulled Lucky's left leg with a good amount of force, causing him to lose balance and fall backward.

Sean quickly reacted to this by firing at her with his grenade launcher again. Yuno blinked in surprise, rolling out of the wall of several small explosions. She then hopped up to her feet, firing her weapon at Sean again before switching to Lucky as she felt his presence head toward her. Firing at his position, Lucky jumped out of the way, but managed to use his elbow to plow into her stomach, causing her to fly back into a raised wall.

"Let's just end this already," Sean said, crossing his arms. "Lucky, you first. Ya gotta use that new stuff the Baron said would make us perfect soldiers. Then see if ya have more trouble takin' her out. If so, then I'll take her out. Got it?"

Lucky shrugged and nodded, pulling a vial out of his vest. He popped the top, letting the lid fall to the ground before opening his mouth wide, chugging all of the liquid inside down.

"What... What are you doing?" Yuno asked, grunting again as she held onto her now bleeding right arm. She slowly stood up, stumbling slightly as the scratches on her face, legs, and arms were very noticeable along with the cuts that were now bleeding.

"Just havin' him take some Super Juice," Sean chuckled.

Lucky smirked himself, acting smug now as his eyes turned purple and his muscles began to rapidly grow within his uniform. He nearly doubled in height as he let out a roar, equivalent to that of a feral animal. His fur was slowly dyed a lighter shade of purple as a black glow now surrounded his two huge fists.

"What the hell!" Yuno gasped, taking a step back. "Call him off, Sean! This is insane!"

"Sorry," Sean chuckled. "He ain't listening to me anymore. He's only got one thing on his mind now. Kill the enemy. If he fails to do so, then I'll be the one to do it."

Yuno bit her lower lip and looked up at Lucky before letting out a surprised gasp and quickly moving out of the way of a considerably empowered punch from the new Lucky. Yuno looked back when she landed, her eyes widening at the fact he easily created a crater within the rooftop in the area she had once stood.

"I can't just keep evading..." she said to herself. "I need to stop him... even if it means lethal force..." She gulped, her entire body trembling as she began to realize Lucky now had the means to perhaps kill her in one blow. "He's not even... mortal anymore." She managed to hide behind a thick chimney, trying to buy some time.

"Hidin' won't do ya good," Sean chuckled. "Oh well, instead of waitin' I'll just speed this up." He then took out a vial of his own and popped the top, chugging it down like Lucky had.

Yuno noticed this before gasping as the chimney was shattered to pieces by Lucky, causing her to use a Cryptic Guard movement increase ability known as Prance. She adjusted her weight onto her feet and dashed forward, running past the transformed Lucky. She held her right arm back and fired at him with her gun, sliding behind another nearby chimney. She then watched as her bullets hit Lucky, but then passed through him to crash into the side of a building.

"Bullets... went through..." she said, looking around for some way to defend herself. "Maki... We're in trouble here..."

There was then another roar as she watched a now transformed Sean run after her. This caused Yuno to bolt toward the West, where there was no obstruction in her past. She heard both Sean and Lucky rapidly gaining up on her, even as she managed to rooftop hop several times. Sean was causing the most destruction from what she could see momentarily whenever she looked back. His transformation gave him the same fur color and eyes, but his arms and fists were as big as a canyon boulder attached to factory grade pistons. His strikes to the rooftops were amazingly fast, while the crushing blows from the boulder-like hands caused the roofs to nearly cave in. Yuno had come to the conclusion that she had to lead them out into the desert in order to keep from having any casualties, but that was tricky as she was in the middle of Tonoko. However, a sudden swipe from Lucky and she was knocked off of a rooftop, slamming into a nearby wall above a basketball court. She let out a pained scream that was loud enough to wake even the dead. A pole fell on her, causing an injury to her left arm now and caused bleeding on her forehead.

This turn of events didn't deter her though. She slowly stood up, barely managing to stand as she let out heavy breaths. Her fists were clenched as rage filled her heart and soul within her. She had heard Sean's words - the Baron had turned these soldiers into pure monsters.

"I must kill them..." she said once again to herself. "Then I'll confront the Baron... after I see why that shopping complex had Gavel and Guard goons there..."

Lucky and Sean jumped down, creating quite the crater in the basketball court. Yuno looked around, now surrounded by the two massive monsters. Lucky only roared out, ready for the attack. Sean let out a feral growl, seeming to be unable to taunt her anymore.

"Bullets don't work..." Yuno mumbled, grabbing the pole that had fallen onto her. She noticed it had a jagged edge on each side of it. "Perhaps... another weapon works." She then grabbed it with her other hand, narrowing her eyes as she held it almost like a sword.

As soon as she put herself in a fighting stance, both monsters charged at her. She only narrowed her eyes further before jumping into the air rather high and landing behind Lucky. Lucky himself seemed to sense this and he swiped back, attempting to send her into another wall. Yuno let out a yell as she managed to block the punch with the pole and then stabbed it through his arm. She then pulled it out, grinning a bit as she heard Lucky scream out in pain as he held onto his arm now.

"Aha, so melee works on you idiots," she said, though her left eyebrow raised in curiosity as the wound was having purple liquid seep out of Lucky's body. "No time to pay attention to that now."

Sean growled and Yuno felt his presence above her. She barely moved out of the way of his landing, stumbling and then letting out a pained gasp as Sean grabbed her waist only with one hand and lifted her into the air. She let out a pained scream before her arms moved upward.

"You... idiot...." She said through her pained grunts. "You... didn't even... grab my arms..." She let out another pained scream before jabbing the pole into the arm holding her captive, causing Sean to immediately let go of her. She managed to pull the pole back out and landed on the ground, coughing up a bit of blood as the squeezing was quite taxing on her body. "I'll send you both to Hell!"

Yuno stood up straight before chagrining at Sean, using the sharp edge of the pole to slice at him, cutting up both of his arms as she moved around him, almost seeming like a speeding tornado around him. Sean let out loud screams of pain himself, his oddly purple blood spilling from his arms. Yuno then delivered a strike to the back of his head, causing him to fall forward and onto his stomach. She then jumped onto his back and let another grin crawl across her face.

"I guess this is my own personal form of back stabbing, just like you did to me, the Guard and Lane!" she shouted before shoving the pole deep into Sean's back. She blinked as Sean let out a cry that made her cover her ears before his body lit up and she was blinded by the sudden burst of light. She hopped down from him and hid behind a wall created by the crater as there was then a loud explosion.

Once the light dissipated, she peeked from behind the wall and looked around, not seeing Sean's body in sight. Instead, all she saw was the pole with purple blood on the very edge of it. She ran toward the pole, though her run was stopped when a still injured Lucky stood in her way and swung at her. She yelped as she was hit and slammed back into the wall that she had just come out of hiding from. Fortunately for her, she was hit with the injured arm and that seemed to significantly reduce the impact of his attack. This time, she had trouble making herself stand back up.

"Damn..." she grumbled, holding onto the pole that was now in the ground for support. "Just... enough energy... for a fatal blow..."

Lucky roared out again, charging at her. The closer he became, the more You began to push on the pole before tilting it in the opposite direction of her body. She then shoved it toward Lucky as she jumped to the left, the pole piercing through Lucky's chest as she tumbled onto the ground and then rolled a few feet away from him. She grunted and tried to use her arms to lift herself up as Lucky fell to the ground, casting a bright light like Sean had. She closed her eyes tightly as it slowly went away, leaving nothing but the pole again where his body used to be.

"That's... it for them..." she coughed, managing to stand up by holding onto the leveled wall. "For good..."

She bit her lower lip, shivering as she gasped for air now, though she blinked, sensing something behind her before feeling a force strike the back of her head, knocking her out cold.

Yuno came to in an alleyway, rubbing her head gently. She looked over her arms as she sat up, noticing the injuries were healed. She then looked around as she slowly stood up; grunting as her neck felt stiff and she tried to crack it gently. She did notice the time of day had change and it seemed to be considerably late.

"Keepin' you busy wasn't that hard, just a swift knock to your head did the trick," a voice chuckled from behind her.

Yuno's ears twitched as she quickly turned around, narrowing her eyes.

"Who's there?" she asked, grabbing her gun from its holster as she was once again in a battle stance.

"Well, that's a fightin' stance," the man chuckled as he came out of the shadows. He grinned at her with crossed arms. The man was a Festo like Yuno but he had his own fluffy orange fur. A scar on his cheek and a short haircut, close to a buzzcut. "The name's Sprock, kiddo. I was told by my old man and Bortelli to keep ya busy."

"What do you mean keep me busy?" Yuno asked, narrowing her eyes. "What did you do? I don't remember anything but being struck by someone and I assume that someone was you."

"Of course it was," he chuckled. "I had to keep ya out cold so I could give ya your medicine, kiddo."

"Medicine?" Yuno blinked, her mind immediately flashing back to the vials Lucky and Sean had held. "What did you do?" She aimed her gun at him now.

"Relax, kiddo," Sprock smirked. "You won't be able to control yourself soon enough. They say it's the first part of the plan." He shrugged now. "Someone reported seein' a questionable guy that your Guard's after enter a clothin' store and befriended a little someone. It luckily happens to be a place we plan to whack a guy. What luck, eh?"

"W-What?" she asked, blinking as her arm suddenly moved on its own, forcing her to sheath her gun back into its holster. "What's going on? Why can't I move?"

"Do you listen or not?" Sprock sighed. "The medicine I gave ya is special. You're gonna do our dirty work for us, kiddo. Don't worry, you won't be aware of it soon enough. Once it's done, then ya go back to the Palace for a chit chat. Big deal."

"I... won't... let you... control me..." Yuno grunted and gasped as she felt her body stiffen up as she couldn't move a single muscle. She gasped as slowly the only thing she could move were her eyes and nothing else. "I... am ready... to serve. Who is the target?" Her eyes widened as she asked this, as if she was a robotic hit man on the scene of a job.

"Good job," Sprock grinned. "Well, our target's George Gandy, owner of the shop Impersonal."

"Impersonal, known location," she nodded as her eyes soon turned almost if they were completely made out of glass. "My duty is to kill this owner and form a bond between the Gavel and the Guard."

"Yep, couldn't have said it better myself," he chuckled. "After ya kill 'em, set fire to the place. We gotta make it look like it was an accident to make sure the people here aren't suspicious of our actions. Understand?"

"Understood," she responded, still sounding like a robot. She then suddenly vanished, heading toward Impersonal.

It was around six in the morning and George Gandy was walking down the sidewalk from his car toward Impersonal. He let out a soft sigh, brushing his hair back. It was white, showing his age, and the wrinkles on his face showed that as well. He was a Festo, a tall one at that. He was rather skinny, though that was perhaps from being unable to buy food due to his attempts at paying off a rising debt to the Crimson Gavel. He coughed gently, unlocking the door and headed inside. His yellow eyes looked back as he admired the quiet shopping mall as it brought him peace and let him escape his problems. However, his daughter, Marci Gandy, peeked out from the corner that made a small walkway between Impersonal's building and the one next to it. She let out a disappointed grunt as she quietly headed toward the entrance of Impersonal and slipped inside. She was determined to try and help her father stand up to the debt collectors as she personally thought this was not their legal right to collect money from her father. She managed to slip into the back room unnoticed, sighing gently as she sat on a stool, and waiting for the collectors to come.

Yuno walked down the sidewalk within the shopping center with a bit of an inviting sway. Her eyes were still glossy and the smile on her face might as well have been painted on as it didn't look genuine on her at all. Her arms moved stiffly at her side as her sway was noticeably different to those that would have known her. It was a big jagged in movement, seeming awkward as her hips went back and forth. Luckily, no one she knew spotted her this early in the morning. She reached out for the door handle to Impersonal, using it to open the door slowly before walking inside. She looked around, appearing to be a curious customer as she walked over to the desk.

"Oh, hello," George smiled, looking up from a book. "I don't normally get customers this early, Miss. How can I help you?"

"I am looking for a George Gandy," Yuno replied with her fake smile across her lips.

"Oh, yes, I am George Gandy, owner of this shop," George smiled.

"Excellent," Yuno replied before pulling her gun out and shook it. "Maki, slice and dice!" The blade from the butt of the gun slid out to be long enough to be considered a half-sized Katana. She ran toward George now, grinning wildly.

George blinked and tried to move out of the way of her sudden quick and powerful swing of the half sized Katana, but he was too slow. The power and effectiveness was great, the blade cutting through his neck, immediately causing him to lose all circulation as the nerves were severed, along with the bones and muscles. The body fell forward while the head fell back and onto the ground. Blood spewed from the neck was it fell, easily spreading all over the floor and the desk. Yuno looked around before using her gun to fire at a nearby fire extinguisher, which resulted in the sparks from it causing it to explode and soon catch fire to the ceiling. It spread rapidly, as it was made of wood.

Marci in the back room blinked when she heard the commotion and then some gunshots. She ran to the doorway and stood in it, going wide-eyed when she noticed her father's body and head now separated and on the ground.

"F-Father!" she screamed, seeming to startle Yuno.

Yuno turned toward her, no emotion whatsoever in her eyes as she stared down Marci.

"A witness," she said, sounding incredibly cold to Marci. "You must not be allowed to live."

Marci let out a startled gasp, tears swelling up in her eyes. Her fists clenched as she backed up and then managed to grab something from behind the doorway.

"You monster!" she shouted. "You're from that horrible Crimson Gavel, aren't you!? Well, I found my father's hiding place for his self-defense... And you'll pay for what you did!" She then pulled out a shotgun, which looked rather old and a bit rusty, but it had bullets in it from how heavy it felt to her.

"You will not kill me," Yuno said, the grin returning to her face. She suddenly vanished, using a Cryptic Guard technique for enhanced movement speed to gain the advantage on Marci.

Marci was lucky though as she managed to time an educated guess by jumping out of the way of Yuno's half sized Katana. She opened fire on Yuno, though the bullets missed and went through the wall toward the main room, where the fire was spreading rapidly.

"Foolish girl," Yuno said as she kicked Marci hard in the back, causing her to stumble into the back room. "You will die with this man. You should not have been here." She then grabbed Marci's collar, landing a direct punch into her gut and then another into her cheek.

These blows caused her to drop the shotgun, which did go off as Yunoshoved her back, causing her to become impaled onto the nearby coat rack as Yuno jabbed the blade of her gun into her chest as well. She then picked up the shot gun and seemingly bent it backward with her own bare hands, causing Marci to scream in terror as well as cough up blood. However, as soon as she screamed, Yuno's facial expression changed as she stared at the now dying Marci.

"W-What... What's going on...?" she asked, knowing Marci couldn't answer. She began to look around and her breathing became more rapid and heavier, her eyes widening at the shock. She looked at the shot gun, noticing how it was bent completely in half. She then looked at her hands, noting the blood from Marci and her father on them, as well as on her clothes.

Yuno then began to back away slowly, repeatedly muttering to herself.

"No, no..." she said, gulping. "I'm... so sorry... Something happened... The Baron might have done something... You don't want me to explain, so... I'll go... Please forgive me. I'll stop the bastard that made me do this, I swear." She then turned and ran out of Impersonal, though she looked back to see a Hooverbike's headlights coming up fast on Impersonal. She shielded her eyes once she was far enough from being noticed and had thrown the shot gun into a trash can. Her heart raced even faster now as she recognized who was running into the store, looking incredibly worried.

"Lane... I.... I.... can't... explain..." she said to herself. She gulped and took a deep breath, looking up at the sky before the image of Marci and the beheaded shop owner flashed before her eyes. She let out a growl before heading out of the shopping complex and running toward Korderon Palace, wanting to find and confront the person who did this to her.

Baron Runo was walking along a hallway in the Research and Invention wing of his palace, sighing as his lead scientist Dr. Luther DeVille explained a new way of putting Nether Energy into the population of Tonoko City. Luther was a rarely seen Jibodi. He had long rabbit-like ears, a tan fur color and it was quite fluffy. A black beared surrounded his automatically adorable chin, mouth and neck in order to appear more 'sinister'. He was a bit skinny, seeming to only eat every other days and injected himself with the necessary nutrients and vitamins as he worked on projects day in and day out. As usual, Runo didn't care to know how to give everyone powers or have everyone under his control. He only wanted the best and he wanted the strongest. It was one reason he attempted to influence Lane to think like he does since the Nether Energy would have no effect on him. Learning of that abnormality Lane had, DeVille kept pushing for DNA samples and trying to study a way to make a variation of Nether Energy work on Lane, which he was somewhat successful but the batch was costly to make and Runo didn't want to fund it.

"You're pushing this new strand of Nether Energy again?" Runo asked as he walked with Luther. "I've denied you a hundred times by now, Luther. I find any attempts on the boy pointless. I gave you enough extra money for your research to fund a small batch of your new strand already. Until I see results, I will not be adding the strand to a legalized list of testing. Even as my lead scientist, you must know the law remains the law and my decision."

"Alright, fine, but you must tell me your plans for my son," Luther said, crossing his arms. "Why in the world would he join the Crimson Gavel? I mean, I am leaving him as an heir to my position in your Guard, my lord."

"That's perhaps the problem, Luther," Runo chuckled. "He might want to try starting on his own and The Crimson Gavel needs an intelligent man."

"Well, of course they do, but I don't see why Jigger must be put at such risk while this ex-soldier of yours - Lane, I suppose - is trying to confront them and take them out," Luther said.

"A man of your intelligence should figure it out by now," Runo said, looking over at Luther. "He is the reason the Gavel even have the serum for the Nether Energy. Our agreement is settled now, with gaining their assistance into the Shadow Vault within Jaden. My military as it is even with injections isn't enough to take down the Seekers. That's why the Waiting Game, as I call it, even exists. It has been three months now since I began injections and very few fatalities have resulted this time. There's one last piece to the puzzle that needs to be set in place before our combined attack on Jaden commences."

"You don't mean her, do you?" Luther asked, now having an eyebrow raised from curiosity.

"I do mean her," Runo replied with a small laugh. "It's especially vital I get her injected and use her against Lane. I know how close he had gotten in the academy. Since he's being a major pain in the Gavel's ass by showing up right as we agree to these terms, I told Vinchi and Bortelli that I knew how to handle it and I do. She should be arriving any minute now."

"That must be why you had me walk with you to a combat training facility," Luther said, stroking his chin.

"Mmhm," Runo nodded as he stepped into the middle of the room as Luther stayed at the doorway.

There was then sudden a sound of guards being knocked over, punched and possibly gagged by something nearby.

"Well, right on schedule," Runo said, a grin forming on the right side of his face. "Luther, you better get out of here and just observe from a monitor. You will see how advanced my super soldiers will become once enough time has passed by. Speaking of which, keep Project Hive Mind going. If I do lose this weapon, I want her knowledge and skills put into it."

Luther nodded before quickly disappearing back to the Research and Invention wing. Runo still grinned as Yuno appeared in the opposite doorway of where Luther had been.

"You!" she shouted, dashing toward him. She nearly landed a hard punch to his stomach before blinking and landing on her feet. She looked around, noticing he had already moved from his spot.

"Now, now, Yuno," Runo chuckled. "Is that any way to treat your father? I'm just happy to see you showing a destructive war-like attitude now."

"Cut your bullshit, father," Yuno snapped, once again taking a defensive stance. "I know you are up to something that involves the vials both Sean and Lucky had. Now you're working with the criminals you told me that were supposed to be locked away in this world, only to poison me and force me to do their dirty work!"

"I see you're still just a naïve child when it comes to war tactics," Runo chuckled. "Yuno, Yuno, Yuno. Come on. You honestly can't believe everything's fair and just. Sometimes things won't be fair or just to others. Sometimes you work with the enemy to combat a greater enemy."

"Lane is not our enemy, these criminals are!" she shouted, a vein in her neck becoming somewhat visible as her entire body was surging with rage from how she acted at Impersonal and how she couldn't try to ask Lane for forgiveness now, as she would reveal how she slaughtered Marci to him - an innocent civilian along with her father that he wanted to protect.

"But Lane is a criminal, my dear girl," Runo said, another dark chuckle echoing from him. "Let me explain it to you, Yuno. I only took him into my academy to attempt to mold him into a soldier capable of surpassing my expectations like you have and leading my attack on Jaden to get the relics within the Shadow Vault for more power and most importantly, to combat a greater entity that even you or Lane wouldn't be able to understand. It didn't work out that way, so now I'll use my perfectly trained weapon on him, but there's still one thing missing." He then pulled out a vial similar to Lucky and Sean's, causing Yuno's eye to twitch.

"You come near me with that and I will slice your arm off, father!" she threatened, growling as she grabbed her pistol's handle tightly.

"Did you forget, girl?" Runo asked, rolling his eyes. "You were drugged. All I have to do is say one word and you will obey me. Speaking of that... Maki."

Yuno blinked and then gasped as her arms suddenly went stiff as they had in front of Sprock. She couldn't move a muscle like before, as it seemed like her own gun's name was the trigger for the serum within her bloodstream.

"You're nothing but a puppet, like I intended my weapon to be," Runo said. "Your mother was an excellent subject as well, but she's not as combat savvy as you are."

"Mother?" Yuno asked, a bit surprised that she could still talk. "What did you do to her!?"

"Oh, nothing too unusual besides pump perhaps a gallon of this stuff into her and made her a back-up secret weapon," Runo said, shrugging.

"You... did.... WHAT!?" she yelled, beginning to growl again. She began to struggle to make her body move, which seemed to make Runo laugh out loud now.

"That's honestly pathetic, Yuno," Runo said. "You've lost any chance at being your on individual self. Hell, you lost that when you didn't follow Lane's footsteps in running from my military. It was so easy to manipulate you and the younger soldiers into thinking you're serving me to make the city a better place. I'm not sure if that's irony or not. Wait...." He blinked, noticing Yuno somehow beginning to regain control of her hands and soon enough her arms began to slowly move. "What's this? You're beginning to break through the serum? Interesting. You may be stronger than I thought. Tell you what, kid. How about a wager?" "A wager?" Yuno growled, grunting as she now tried to move her legs as she regained control of her arms and upper body. "Why would I wager with you?" She blinked and looked around, noticing he had disappeared again.

Runo reappeared behind her, pricking her with a needle in the arm as he had placed the liquid Nether into a smaller container and pumped it into her.

"You don't have a choice," he said, jumping back to where he once was. "Since you're strong enough to push through the other serum when provoked enough, I've injected you with liquid Nether. In about ten minutes, your very being will become so corrupt that you will not have a problem with what I'm doing at all. I'll give you a chance to try and kill me, though I won't hold back by not fighting myself. If by some miracle you kill me, you get to have the key to the antidote to the liquid Nether and can go and warn Lane like the little goody two shoes you are. Sound fair?"

"Not at all," Yuno said, narrowing her eyes as she grabbed her gun again. "But fine. I'll take you on this wager and I will win, I promise you! That control serum won't work anymore, you hear me! Maki, slice our enemies to Hell!" Runo raised an eyebrow when he felt a sudden burst of energy emit from Yuno herself along with her weapon. He knew that the soldiers built bonds with the weapon of their choosing but only to a combat level by becoming skilled with the said weapon and using other means as advantages or last resort methods. However, what he felt and saw as Yuno's gun became a bit larger, seeming to morph itself into a variation of a laser SMG pistol, along with the half-sized Katana blade was different that he expected. He was even more surprised to see Maki duplicate itself, showing that Yuno was capable of dual wielding it. An aura formed around her, consisting of a dark red hue. Though only Runo could see this, as it was invisible to anyone else.

"Just like your mother, always with the dual wielders," he said, smirking as he pulled out his modified metallic crossbow that fired bullet-like arrows. "I wouldn't be surprised if Lane had a similar style. Then again he never attempted to get this close to a weapon, I bet. Now, it's my turn."

He held up his crossbow with one hand and grinned wider than he had been.

"Karrie, pour down the silver rain!" he shouted.

Yuno watched as a black aura surrounded her father. His crossbow, Karrie, began to grow and transform as he held onto the handle of it with one hand, but it formed around that hand. The bow itself became more canon-like as he aimed it at her. She blinked when he fired immediately, the new canon ball sized arrows flying at her rapidly. They were big enough to be hard to avoid, let alone being fast enough. She grunted and tumbled on the ground already from the impact the first few had as she dodged them.

"Do you like that, Yuno?" Runo asked, aiming at her again. "This is only a part of my power. I can do what you just did with Maki and then some!"

Yuno grumbled as she tried to flank his left side by running toward him and firing an array of bullets in his direction. Runo moved his canon arm to block the bullets. They made apparent pinging noises as they were deflected directly back at Yuno. She managed to avoid them as she didn't stop running, though she swiped downward, trying to get to Runo's legs. This resulted in missing as he disappeared and then landed a hard melee strike with his non-cannonfied arm to her back. She let out a pained scream as she tumbled forward and toward the South wall of the room. Once the tumbling ended, she coughed and immediately tried to use her arms and knees to help herself get back up. She looked back before moving her arms quickly, throwing one of her SMG's toward Runo. It seemed to surprise him as he attempted to move out of the way but it still grazed his right arm, cutting through his sleeve and leaving a bleeding wound on it with its Katana blade. Runo growled as it flew back toward Yuno like a boomerang. She had stood up, panting a bit heavily as she had already been forced to run a lot during the first minute of the fight.

"Ha, cut you," Yuno smirked as she grabbed the SMG. "Don't underestimate me, father."

Runo only responded with a slight laugh as he readied his cannon again but he also extended his other arm.

"You got lucky, girl," he said, annoyance apparent in his voice. "I wonder if you have enough speed to dodge my Bombnado attack." He let out another one of his dark chuckles, which quickly turned into a sinister cackle as he began to spin around. It started off slowly before picking up speed in a short amount of time.

Yuno went wide-eyed, hearing a cannonball crash into the wall next to her without her even seeing it once Runo was going fast enough. She tried to guess the location of the next hurled cannonball, trying to sidestep it by jumping to the east side of the room. It seemed like Runo expected this, as the cannon fired as soon as she jumped. The cannonball itself struck Yuno in the right leg, causing her to groan and scream in pain as she tumbled down from her attempted jump and onto the ground, landing hard onto her back. Runo let out another cackle as he stopped his spinning, his grin returning to his face.

"Weak," he scoffed. "The nether I injected into you will do you some good, Yuno. You would never survive against anyone skilled in combat."

"Is that so?" Yuno asked, letting out a pained gasp as she tried to pull herself back up. She was on her good knee by the time Runo walked over to her. She was then thrown off balance as Runo kicked her hard in the gut, causing her to lose balance again and lift slightly off of the ground as she flew toward a wooden pillar, smashing into it.

"Yes, it is," Runo said, his normal hand in his pocket now. "I can kick you for the rest of the time limit before your corruption takes hold of you completely and you still could not find a way to try and kill me, child. Your purpose is to serve me, not befriend and become weak like a normal person. Your purpose as soon as you were born was to fight and obey my every whim. Obviously free will wasn't a possible factor to an experiment. Your many siblings before you died early on because they did not possess great power. Barely made it past six months before finally you were born."

"Other siblings?" Yuno asked, breathing heavily as she occasionally coughed, managing to gather enough strength to get back onto her good knee and then force herself to stand up while holding onto the pillar. She was even more bruised and bleeding on her arms and legs more than she had been with the fight with Lucky and Sean. "You're a monster, father. You don't even deserve that title. I will kill you!":

Runo rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, his cannonfied one seeming to easily fit underneath his normal muscular arm. Yuno let out a growl as she shakily lifted her SMGs with the tips beginning to slowly light up. She then fired in rapid succession, causing Runo to blink and quickly come to the defensive as he used his cannon arm to block the sudden barrage of empowered bullets.

"Yes, yes, let the rage build," Runo chuckled. "That's more proof that the energy within you when you were born is awakening and becoming more powerful with a higher dose. You were born infected with liquid Nether Energy, child. This is brilliant! Your corruption is happening as we speak the angrier you become! It's useless, you're only speeding up the inevitable!"

Yuno blinked and then gasped as the fur on her neck began to already show that it was being dyed purple. She coughed again and gasped for air as she noticed her fingers and hands were also gaining the purple tint.

"I won't let you win!" she shouted, suddenly pushing away from the pillar. She roared out, firing even more rounds at Runo, determined to just break the arm shielding him with pure force. She couldn't help herself, she was only becoming angrier. She let out another gasp as she looked at her arms, which were now a full tint of light purple. She began to breathe heavily as she began to stumble, her mind beginning to slip away as even memories within it seemed to be effected by the liquid nether. A few flashed before her as she heard Runo cackle again.

Memories of the past were being altered, removing the idea of opposing resorting to killing someone to uphold the law. Runo was emphasized more as she grabbed her head, yelling as the information fluctuating within it caused it to cause a bit of pain. Then came an incredibly important memory. Her first day at the Cryptic Academy. She had approached Lane, both of them around the age of eight. However, his image suddenly disappeared from the memory and all Yuno could remember was being alone, reading about combat simulations and needing to train. She let out another pained yell as her muscles began to expand and contract rapidly, showing Runo that she was having her 'true power' unlocked due to the overwhelming influence of the liquid Nether. More and more memories were altered, especially ones with Lane in them. She began to only remember an objective regarding him. Kill Lane Silverbane. She let out one final scream before her four arms began to somewhat bulge with muscles, her body itself seeming to take on a strange amount of muscle tone as well. She had grown a longer tail, along with her eyes becoming completely black. Her short fangs had grown much longer, becoming razor sharp as well. She grew in height, now towering over Runo as she had been forced into her Primal Nether Form. The same objective rang through her mind now. Kill Lane Silverbane.

"Excellent," Runo chuckled, his crossbow returning to its normal state. "I didn't even have to go full power before she was in over her head. Alright, now that we know the Primal Nether Form exists, Yuno, return to humanoid form."

Yuno roared out, though her body immediately began to morph around as her body was significantly toned down with her muscles, returning them to somewhat normal levels. Her purple fur was now back to its old color, though it was light purple on the tips of it all over her body. Her eyes were once again green, but instead of a yellow tint to them, the tint was now pure black. She stood there, in her amazingly non-destroyed outfit as she bowed to Runo.

"I am myself again, sir," she said, saluting once she stood back up. "What is it that you wish me to do?"

"I want you to find Lane Silverbane," Runo demanded. "Tell him about the Shadow Vault and appear to be on his side. You will lure him out to his death soon after, but not just yet." He grinned widely now once Yuno nodded and ran off. He let out a loud cackle, seeming to really enjoy himself. He had just ripped Lane's best friend from his life forever.