Sinon peered quietly through her scope at the caves littering the mountains before them. "Feels like we were just here yesterday.. looking for Alice's sister."

"Yeah." said Eugeo. "So.. see anything?"

"Nothing definite." said Sinon. "Maybe a few goblins, but they're no threat.. they probably won't travel far, Integrity Knights patrol this part of the mountains quite often. Probably don't want to cross them. Technically we haven't broken the Taboo Index, because we were 'kidnapped'. But if they spot Yuniko.."

"They don't know it's Yuniko." said Eugeo. "They think it's La Roboto Bandito.. or something, I forget."

Eugeo and Sinon had split off to the east while Kirito and Yuniko covered a few hundred meters ahead, hiding in brush.

They had made good time, getting to the mountains in only 2 days instead of 3.. perhaps it was because of their determination to save Mikoto... perhaps it was because Sinon was furious at whoever would dare try it.. in any case, they were a day ahead, and that meant they were allowed to take more caution.

Sinon sighed. "Well.. nothing for it.. better just take out the squealers that might give us away.."

Sinon fired the Silent Assassin several times. "One...two... three.."

Three goblins fell on Sinon's count.

As soon as the goblins fell.. Kirito dashed into the woods towards the mountain passage entrance, with Yuniko clinging to his back.

Shouldered her gun and nodded at Eugeo. "Come on bud, let's go right in..."

They followed Kirito and Yuniko deep into the caves.. for a while, the echoing dark round tunnels yielded nothing.. then.. they came across a split in the tunnel, splitting into at least 15 tunnels

"How are we going to search all of these!?" Sinon said.

"Well.." Tempo mused. "I would ask Nox for an opinion.. before she became a rogue, she was an excellent tracker.. sadly, Nox's mind is connected to Mikoto.. so if she is unconscious... then so is Nox.."

"Well, there's one thing we could try." said Kirito. "These caves seem to have a very good echo. We could listen into each tunnel and see if there's certain sounds that will suggest somebody is down in that direction.. like voices."

"Sounds good to me.." said Eugeo. "Alright.. let's start listening in.."

And so they all split off and began cupping their hands to their ears.. listening into the tunnels. Finally Sinon heard whispered voices coming from the center tunnel. "Hey guys! I've got something... voices."

"The army... invasion..." The voices were so soft that the group was barely able to hear those three words.

"Alright.." Kirito drew his sword. "Keep sharp.. hey Sinon. The Silent Assassin's scope has night vision right?"

"Yeah, I'll switch to it quick." said Sinon.

For 15 minutes.. they seemed to sneak around through absolute darkness. And Sinon was the only one whose vision was able to see through the darkness, using the night vision on her scope to direct her friends with a hushed voice... finally.. they came to a light..

They peeked over the edge of the cave exit.. and saw a massive chamber of stone.. covered in sparkling rock..

"That sparkling stuff.." whispered Kirito. "We'll collect that, that's the antidote.."

"Shhh.." Eugeo put a finger to his lips. "Look down there."

A tall black figure, with a slender body seemingly made of a shadow with long arms.. swirling around on it's shoulders was a simple white featureless mask with two slits for eyeholes..

"Is... that a Viros?" Kirito muttered as he watched the tall figure walk around in it's eerie manner.

"Yes and no.." Tempo whispered. "This is an abomination created using the DNA of our people. Normal Viros possess clothing that is born of their auras, unless it is a Thief Master like Thevos or Seyat who would be able to take other's armor and clothing and integrate it into their bodies. That thing is wearing nothing.. it is made of shadow... they do not fight with any weapons, but with the strange abilities born of their bodies, even though they possess skill. They are Artificial Viros.. and they can be VERY deadly. I know that one... he is known as Dusk.."

"Dusk.." said Yuniko. "Damn.. I've tangled with him in the future. He's not just deadly, he's like Slenderman on steroids. It's better that we NEVER have to fight that guy.. or girl.. to be honest he's genderless."

"A genderless Slenderman on steroids.." said Sinon. "Sounds like some sort of freaky horror film.."

"Might as well be." said Yuniko. "His attitude is like you're in one too. He doesn't talk.. he just stares at you.. and stares at you.. then he kills you.. and then he continues to stare at you.. for a long.. long time.. really this guy is just the creepiest S.O.B.."

"Hey... everyone.." Eugeo said. "You might want to look like this.."

Everyone looked where Eugeo was looking, and were all stunned to see hundreds of people, hitting swords with hammers.. forging new weapons..

Along with them, were various dark creatures from the Dark Realm assisting with the construction of weapons.. chiseling rock to create new cave chambers, and building armor as well.

Wheels turned.. sculpting blades in massive burning sparks.. massive brute-like western dragons with bristling spikes lumbered around flapping their wings restlessly..

"It's.. an entire army!!" Kirito stammered.

"Not just that.." said Eugeo. "Look.. are... those Viros? I mean, they wear masks.. and they don't seem quite human!"

There were various strange beings walking around the area alright, all of them looking much more powerful then your typical human..

There was a tall female Viros in a red floral patterned Kimono with a kabuki mask and an unnaturally long neck covered in interlocking red metal plates.. gliding among the teams of ordinary Fluctlights.. she had unnaturally long sleeves flowing behind her..

There was a large viros that resembled a massive armored golem, around 12 feet tall, covered in metal armor.. like some sort of ancient medieval robot, lumbering around, glowing eyes gleaming from beneath it's helm.. a giant axe of stone strapped to it's back..

There were other varieties of Viros as well.. around 15.. and Sinon thought she could even make out Congono with his drums, sitting on a rock further down and talking with blue robed Viros that had a large shield for a mask.

Then she saw somebody that made her feel absolutely cold. Somebody that sent chills running down her spine in such a way, it was as if somebody were pointing a Type 54 Black Star right in her face again..

Thevos glided along down below, his burning red eye roving around as he inspected the progress of his men..

He was real.. it was him.. the one who would kill her precious Imouto-chan.. Sinon felt her breathing quicken. She couldn't let that happen.. she wouldn't.. yes.. she would kill Thevos before he killed Mikoto. She had the power right here didn't she? The super gun that could fire from a mile away.. with a heavy silencer which wouldn't give away their position..

Unbeknownst to Kirito, Eugeo, and Yuniko, whom were all too focused on the scenery, Sinon aimed her gun, her scope's vision set straight on Thevos's head.

One shot... one kill... one life saved... that's all it mattered..

Sinon's finger began to press against the trigger.. but then, she felt a terrible rattling breath behind her.

Quickly she turned her head to see Dusk's white frightening mask only inches from her own face.

"MMMMFFFF!!!" Sinon's mouth was covered by shadowy tendrils, as she was completely wrapped up by shadows erupting from Dusk's body.

"SINON!" Kirito and Eugeo both drew their blades and attacked, only to find two swords made of shadows erupting from Dusk's arms to block their blades and parry them easily.

The shadow swords suddenly morphed into tendrils and wrapped around Kirito and Eugeo.

Yuniko, meanwhile, had turned into Scarlet Rain in a flash of red light, and was preparing to attack, but Dusk created three shadow blades from his body and put them against Sinon, Kirito, and Eugeo's throats.. which sent a pretty clear message: Make one move, and they die.

Dusk stared silently at Scarlet Rain, waiting for her decision.

"Damn freaking shadow man.." Scarlet Rain growled, as she reverted to her human form.

a few minutes later, Dusk was throwing the foursome down to the ground at Thevos's feet.

Thevos chuckled. "I was wondering when you'd get here! For a minute I thought you four might have gotten lost or something! Let me guess, you should've taken that turn at Albuquerque."

"Let us go you creep!!" Sinon growled. "You're going to pay.. you.. you poisoned Mikoto!!"

"Poisoned?" said Thevos. "Did I poison her? Hey Rone! Did I poison Mikoto Misaka!?"

The giant golem viros, Rone, lumbered over, the earth shaking with each step. In his low slow voice he spoke. "Yes sir.. I believe you have.. it's right here on your schedule.."

Rone pulled out a long piece of paper. "Hehem.. Tuesday, 6:00 am, wake up, yell at the help for no reason.. 8:00 am, assemble army for pep talk.. and check on weapon production.... 9:00 PM.. check and see if dunderheads you sent out successfully poisoned Mikoto Misaka.. Thursday, 6:00 am, yell at the help while sleep walking.. 12:00 pm, reveal to idiots Sinon and Kirito that this was all a trap."

"Wrote that schedule me-self!" said Thevos with a chuckle. "Good job Rone!"

"Some trap.." Kirito said sarcastically. "So you pretty much just lured here, to see an army we already know nothing about.. yeah, very great plan.."

"Better then you know!" said Thevos. "Observe Eugeo!"

Eugeo was rolling around in pain.. the word "ERROR" had appeared on one of his eyes.. and he grabbed the eye, yelling in pain.

"You know what that means.. don't ya?" said Thevos. "He broke the Taboo Index, as did all of you.. alright kids, can anybody raise their hands and tell me why he broke it.."

Rone raised his hand.

"Not you!" said Thevos. "Them! Anyways, the question's rhetorical. Well buddy bees, you are currently standing on the Dark Territory... disguised to look like.. well.. not the Dark Territory.. and since you broke the Taboo Index, that means the Integrity Knights have all the jurisdiction in the world to arrest you!"

"You can't be serious!" Yuniko roared. "No way the Axiom Church would ally with you!!"

"Not unless the leader of the Axiom Church Quinella had a reason to!" said Thevos. "How about I tell you a little tale! A tale waaaaay better then Tron Legacy.. cause let's face it.. Tron Legacy was a disappointment to Trons everywhere except for in Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, where you get to fight Rinzler.. ahhh.. now that was fun.. Sora whoop him like a b*tch!! ANYWHO!! once, there was a priestess in the Axiom Church was well respected by everybody.."

Thevos began to pace back and forth. "One day, she learned that she was diagnosed with a rather terrible disease.. so she began chanting random words in the Sacred Language.. looking for a Sacred Art that would keep her from dying... night after night, she stayed up in her bed.. chanting, to no avail.. until she discovered a system command that granted her the greatest power of all..."

Thevos chuckled. "Administrator Access. Available only to the administrators who created this world. It granted her the power to not only turn her object timed durability, namely her age, to be limitless... and not only that.. she became powerful.. very powerful...

After a while.. this woman, known as Quinella, created the Taboo Index as a means to subjugate all other Fluctlights to her rule. But she couldn't find that program, and as a result, she awakened the sleeping Cardinal System that had been dwelling within the Underworld after the destruction of Sword Art Online.. Cardinal took a human form and attempted to kill Quinella, but Quinella was able to drive Cardinal off, and she hid somewhere in Zattaria.

So Quinella knew she would need some way to protect herself from Cardinal.. so she created the Zattaria Great Sword Tournament, the sword tournament swordsmen could take after graduating from the Sword Academy and becoming a certified Swordsman.. those graduates would battle each other until only one was left standing.. and that one person would be invited to Quinella's chambers.."

Thevos snapped clapped his sleeve arms together. "And so the first Integrity Knights were born!! SHAZAM!! By putting a Piety Program in them, while they didn't lose their free will to some degree, they underwent Synthesis, where their old memories of their past life were wiped out.. and they became her beautiful loyal little soldiers.."

Sinon and Kirito, jaws dropped in horror, even Eugeo looked stunned in his pain.

"Th-that.." Eugeo stammered. "That has to be a lie."

"No.. it's all true!! As true as the fact that all you need to make Americans boo somebody on a live show is to get a British Judge who is absolutely honest. We salute you Simon Cowell." said Thevos. "Anyways, Quinella had a problem.. living for hundreds and hundreds of years really put a toll on her mind.. she could only store so much memories in that brain of her's.. heh! that nun of yours, Index would probably have it worse with that photographic memory of her's if she lived forever.. anyways, as you might have gathered.. on a data manipulation and guiding level.. we Viros have the ability to manipulate the system beyond the capabilities of the Sacred Arts... Quinella has been having to go to sleep in that cathedral of hers ever year or so to wipe out excess memories.. but.."

"You found a way she could keep an unlimited amount of data in her mind." Kirito finished. "That's the deal you made with her... and in return.. she would help you get us out of the way!! But.. then why not just kill us!? You're killing Mikoto!"

"HER!?" said Thevos. "Let me tell you a little secret.. that poison stops after 16 hours.. You see, at first we wanted her dead.. but then once she disappeared.. we completely regretted doing it!"

"What!?"

"You see, sometime after this.." Thevos said. "Mikoto Misaka and her friends.. the ones holding the key to the Ultimate Viros Symbiosis, will disappear from the world forever.. and 40 years from now... the Viros council will decide that the best way to punish the human race.. is to use the ultimate monster.. the Ultimate Symbiont Assault Form!"

"Impossible!" said Yuniko. "The Viros council thinks that Viros Symbiosis is an abomination of nature, and banned it!"

"AND YET YOU PRIDEFUL HUMANS DECIDED TO GO DO IT ANYWAYS!!!" exclaimed Thevos. "40 years from now.. there are many of you.. so many, though you may not know it.. little Rain Girl.. Eventually we knew.. we needed to punish the humans for misusing our power.. and the cleanest way to do so.. was to gather up an Esper who had managed this Symbiosis, and use her for our ultimate ancient weapon.. to ultimately wipe your planet out!! Let your evolution repeat! Start fresh!! But the only Viros Symbiosis of that kind had disappeared around this year.. the girl Mikoto Misaka.. HOLY SMOLY GALS!!! That's what I'm talking about!!"

"Y-you're a Viros from the Future!?" Sinon breathed. "But.. that can't be.. h-how many more?"

"Just me and Krux." said Thevos. "The others are from the present and agreed to help us once we explained things to the Viros Council of this time period.. basic mission.. retrieve Mikoto Misaka from the past.. and bring her to the future, while capturing her interfering friends for a bit of leverage in case she escaped. . but something went a bit wrong see.. the program we developed was made for Viros specifically.. and as a result.. only her Fluctlight was transported.. leaving her half in this time and half in the other, with a time portal left gaping wide open!! What a stupid freakin' bunch of hocus pocus eh!? HAHAHA! Well.. anyways.."

Thevos bowed at Kirito. "Oh Black Swordsman.. as they so call you.. I believe this is where we say, adoo, goodbye.. stuff.. other stuff. and perhaps other heartfelt ways of saying goodbye that don't involve hugs.. I hate hugs.. especially when they're with greasy fat people.. toodle-loo!! "

Dusk grabbed the 4 friends and threw them down another cave, another part of the Dark Territory.. where several Integrity Knights were already waiting to take them..

The center Integrity Knight.. was a golden armored girl, with a golden blade and blonde hair. Her eyes looked regally at her charges...

"N-no way.." Eugeo stammered. "ALICE!?"

Kirito's eyes widened and Sinon looked shocked as Eugeo said this name.

"Yes, I am Integrity Knight, Alice Synthesis 30." said Alice, appearing not to recognize her childhood friend. "And I am here to arrest you for transgressions on the Taboo Index.."

"Alice! It's me! Eugeo!" Eugeo cried out, reaching out a hand. "W-we came to Zattaria, became swordsmen, so we could find you!!! Alice!!"

Eugeo grabbed Alice's shoulder in desperation, but Alice swatted it away, looking furious, she drew her sword and pointed it's tip at Eugeo's throat. "If you touch me again, I'll cut your arms off.. criminal.."

Alice turned to look at the other Integrity Knights. "Arrest them.. and take special care around the redhead.. Lord Thevos has restrained her powers with a Sacred Art.. but I'd rather not become blown to pieces.."