✿ Six months later ✿

"Gah, Kitty!" Kyle said with his head bent down due to the weight of his cat on his head, "You're no longer a cute little kitten, you know?!"

In response, Kitty simply kneaded his head, her well-trimmed claws coming out once in a while as she made herself comfortable.

The upper half of her body was on his head while her legs were on his shoulder. While perched there, she surveyed her surroundings like some Queen.

Nialla came and took Kitty off his head and Kitty looked at her in disdain.

"If you were more strict with her, Sir, she wouldn't climb all over you," Nialla remarked.

Kyle grimaced, hearing the nagging for quite some time already then pointedly ignored her as he continued to type on the computer.

The plans were finally coming to fruition and Kyle was ecstatic.

It had taken six months of pure, hard work and lots of infiltration to be able to come up with the comprehensive report that they compiled. He had pushed himself to the limit because he wanted to be able to return to Sari as soon as possible, and he could only do that once this whole 'taking over Smith Industries' threat was over.

It wasn't over yet, but it was close.

So close.

Nialla watched her boss go full 'work-mode', and sighed inwardly. He had been like a demon, hardly sleeping and doing so many things at once. If he hadn't had his Team, he would have probably been admitted to the hospital for exhaustion already.

As it was, even the Teams were near exhaustion themselves. The fact that Kyle pushed them to the limits had never been a grouse, for Kyle pushed himself even more than he pushed them.

All of them worked hard to match his pace (futilely, of course) and didn't want to be the cause of him not achieving his goals. They were proud that they were the ones who he called upon and they weren't going to let him down.

Kyle had only activated the team that he trusted the most, for he wasn't that egotistical to think that his MIB was completely impenetrable. Luckily, all of his investigations came out clean but it didn't mean his vigilance was lessened.

Never take things for granted.

The Core really ran MIB like it was their own personal family.

Kyle remembered the day he revealed who they were to them.

✿ Flashback ✿

Oreo, Cornetto, and Twisties were in the VIP Meeting Room, curious about the sudden summons that day.

It was rare that their bosses would actually initiate the meeting, for they normally were in contact via emails or calls. Everything encrypted. Face-to-face was really rare, for it only denoted one thing: something extremely important and secretive.

Well, though one said 'face-to-face', they've never seen their bosses faces. It was always that shadowy silhouette with that voice changer. Though they had been insanely curious about the identity of their bosses, none felt any anger or frustration for not knowing.

If they weren't told, it must be for a very good reason.

They trusted their bosses that much.

That was why, they were The Core. Any other individual would have started having doubts and MIB would be threatened.

Exactly on the time of the meeting, the room became dark.

The bullet-proof windows, which was a one-way mirror that reflected sound, turned grey and the bullet-proof curtains closed. The lighting in the room dimmed and the hidden panel on the wall slid open before the screen behind it flickered to life.

Their two bosses were there, their shadowy silhouette behind a desk as they sat side-by-side.

"Boss," the three chorused, seeing them.

"You must be wondering about this sudden call, right?" came J's voice, his amusement apparent.

"Yes, Sir," said Oreo, "Is there an impending crisis looming for MIB?"

Oreo had tried to think of various reasons for the call and could only come up with that thought.

"In a way," J replied, "It depends on your perspective."

"Sir?" Cornetto queried, puzzled.

"The one that is in danger right now is the Smith Heir. As you know from the preliminary investigations, there seemed to be an undercurrent of a hostile takeover."

"Yes, Sir," Oreo replied, "We've been digging, but nothing so far. The perpetrators are really in deep."

"Yes, which is why I've decided I need to step in personally," J said.

"Sir, with all due respect, that's too dangerous," Twisties chimed in, "We can handle this. Just give us more time."

"How is it dangerous?" J questioned.

"Erm," Twisties began, stammering. Yes, just how is it dangerous? Nobody knew what J looked like, and his connection to MIB.

"I believe Twisties mean that this is a normal operation for us," Oreo stepped in, "To have you take charge personally would be increasing the risk of your exposure and we can't have that."

J laughed a bit at that, and said, "Well said, Oreo but in this case, the matter is extremely personal to me and I have to step in."

Suddenly, the shadowy silhouettes started getting fainter, and soon, the people behind them were revealed.

Instead of two middle-aged people that they were expecting, it was the Smith Twins.

"Sorry for the deception all this while," Kyle said in his normal voice with a smile, "But I believe it's time for The Core to know who we are now."

Twisties couldn't help it but stand up, pointing at the screen, "You .. you .. no, it can't be?! Has it been the two of you all this time?!"

"Yes," Kay confirmed, leaning on Kyle, "Unbelievable, right? That's why we couldn't reveal this sooner."

Oreo's mind was reeling over this revelation.

The person who had saved his life, and his daughter, is Kyle Smith?

The person he had been tasked to protect when younger? Is his boss?!

Wait.

How old were they when they started MIB?! When his daughter was saved?!

Oreo gulped.

What sort of monsters were they?