**Another section of Tartarus. 55th Floor**
Three maids ran across a frozen wasteland.
After fending off hordes of criminals that still occupied these parts, they found safety behind a large, decimated machinery section that was once part of a fortified base for W.M.A.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! Where the hell are we!?" Ulrich complained.
"I think we're in Tartarus? Maybe?" Milo replied.
"No time for delay. We must regroup with the Black Wolves immediately. Our formation has just been broken." Kiki said, wary of her surroundings as she looked over a damaged wall. "But its sooo cold!"
She curled herself into a ball, doing anything for even a sliver of heat.
"H-Here!" Ulrich said as he slid on his stomach between them, morphing a shell from his back.
Right then, his shell began to warm, becoming something of a heater to them.
"Still freezing… but this is better than nothing," Kiki whined.
Milo stood with a hand on her hip, looking out in the distance. They were obviously inside, but the place was designed to be some kind of Arctic real-time simulation. Perhaps the workings of magic. "Never thought we'd end up right at the heart of Tartarus… I knew it was compromised, but I didn't expect things to be this bad."
"What else did you expect? The place was overtaken by Riot Gang. You really thought there would be order?" Ulrich replied.
"Syemore had order despite being a villain."
"Syemore also lost his mind while fighting Master Greed," Kiki inserted. "And caused chaos in the end."
Milo looked at her sidelong, silently agreeing as the blizzard around them continued to howl.
"Crazy to think that this was the place we were supposed to end up."
They were all silent for a moment.
"Do you think," Kiki went on. "That we could ever atone for our sins?"
There wasn't a reply for a while. Only the howling storm whipping past.
And then Ulrich spoke up. "No. But we can spend the rest of our lives making up for it."
"Aye," Milo added.
Kiki raised her head and nodded as if finding the determination to stay true to that agreement. "Let's face it. We are not as strong as they are… But if we can make it out of here and regroup with at least one Black Wolf, then that'll be a start."
Milo and Ulrich nodded as well.
But Milo's eyes widened as she looked behind the two of them, and through the raging storm, a six-armed silhouette appeared just feet away from them.
"Think fast!"
Each of their eyes flashed toward it, and they dodged as it swung two metallic arms at them, compromising their post.
They each broke away, but before they could reposition, they were met with more mechs of all kinds, charging at them from the shrouds of the storm.
Their backs met as they each faced outwardly, witnessing more endless silhouettes from the blizzard. They were surrounded.
"Hey! Am I dreaming?" a familiar voice echoed to them from amidst the horde of mechs.
Their eyes shuddered as they heard him. Like the air itself ripped when he spoke…
"Is it really you? Ulrich. Milo. Kiki…" the male went on, emerging from behind a group.
When he stepped forward, the mechs made way for him. He had on a tattered gray cloak as it and his black hair whipped wildly from the winds. His dark eyes piercing through the snow, wild like he was lunatic.
"It is! How goes my fellow Executives?"
They ground their teeth and tightened as they all thought of the same name.
Terek…
"Have you come to save me? Oh! What luck it is to run into my fellow subordinates here! You must have been so lost with Captain Syemore gone… condolences to our leader and condolences to the dead Blue Phoenixes Guild."
The manner in which he spoke was almost deranged, as if he was speaking and replying to himself without waiting for an answer.
"Hmm?" He observed their outfits. "My… You lot look ridiculous. Is this some new Guild you've joined?"
They hesitated to answer. Even back when they were devout Blue Phoenix Knights, they always felt they had to walk around eggshells with Terek. For he wasn't exactly right in the head. What more now since being sent off to a place like this?
"No… Something's not right about it… You look like you serve a new master now," he said as his next set of words startled them by the tone he took on. "It must be nice to have been pardoned for your appalling crimes!"
They each felt a looming shame as they recalled their actions in the Valley back in the Blue Phoenix incident. The rules they had broken. The people they tried to hurt.
"What… You thought you could just walk away and change just because you put on new clothes and act differently?"
It was like he was seeing right through them.
"You look like a bunch of fucking clowns."
Kiki clenched her fists, wondering to herself why she was biting her tongue. Terek was no longer her superior. So why?
"People don't change. They only get worse."
His deranged smile whipped from ear to ear. And his words were like poison in the form of water.
Deep down they truly believed they could change. Deep down they chose to be more than they were. But here was Terek, reminding them of their former selves. Reminding them of who they truly were.
"Don't listen to him," Kiki spoke at last.
Ulrich and Milo looked to her sidelong as if being woken from hypnotization.
"What did we just talk about? What did we just agree upon!?" she yelled. "Are you really going to let this asshole tell you who you are? Are you really going to let him tell you who you can and can't be?"
Terek watched with sadistic amusement, dancing his fingers along the mana puppet strings that emanated from them.
"Yes. We did bad things. And we were all willing to suffer the consequences of our actions. But unless you don't choose…" she recalled the first time she met Greed, and she had a gun pointed to his head. "Then you truly are the same. But we all made a conscious decision that day in the hospital, did we not? Did we not make a choice?"
They reflected on her words, knowing full well the answer.
And then Terek asked, "Adorable. What ever happened to Demi, Kiki?"
Like a pulse had struck her, she halted. Eyes still as ice.
"You know? The Demon you willingly gave your body to? The one that you allowed to defile you, while you fucking enjoyed it?"
Her lips trembled, and Milo and Ulrich didn't say a word.
"That's what I thought. You're all so weak minded. So easy to influence. So easy to mold. It's no wonder you were spared. Because you could just be anything anyone wants you to be." He threw his arms out. "All these puppets, and you three are the most authentic of them all! And what's more… Your puppet strings aren't on your limbs… They're wrapped around your hearts."
The three were excruciatingly silent. Their only saving grace now was the cold, nipping winds that hit their faces.
"Yes. That's how Captain Syemore influenced you. By taking you by the heart, and forcing you to your knees." He flexed his hand ahead of himself, and his last words were the cherry on top. For when he uttered them, the Arabella Maids—the ex-Blue Phoenix Execs crumbled. "Now. Change your role and aid me, you worthless puppets. Maybe then, you'll truly live out your purposes."
Kiki stepped forward, crunching the snow beneath her heel.
Her pink eyes blazed in a bitter rage as she darted toward Terek.
"Fool."
Terek flicked his fingers, and two mechs rushed her on opposite sides.
She paid them no mind as they slashed her, spraying blood over the white ground.
"Kiki!" Ulrich and Milo both shouted.
She pressed on, ignoring the pain as another set of mechs rushed her from behind, slashing her back. Her legs.
But still she pressed forward.
When she finally made it to Terek, she took a weak fist and smacked him across the cheek. His head whipped to the side as his black hair covered his eyes, not even moving from his spot.
"Never…" Kiki muttered weakly. "Talk about Ulrich and Milo that way!"
Their eyes broadened, narrowing to her.
Rather than be mad for her sake, she…
"You have no idea of the choices they made for themselves. You have no idea the internal battle they face every day. And you have no idea how badly they want to be better!"
Terek remained. A solemn expression overtaking him as her blood spilled onto the white.
"Milo wants to be a confident, attractive woman. Ulrich wants to be skinny, and to be a true man!"
Ulrich and Milo had begun to form tears in their eyes. And to Ulrich, even though the way Kiki said it seemed demeaning, she meant every word.
"You're right. People don't change. And maybe they get worse… But they can also choose to be better!" she shouted.
It was then that Ulrich and Milo finally engaged. Milo swung a beam she found nearby, and Ulrich transformed into his full Primal state.
"So just because you got worse as a human, doesn't mean the same for them!"
Kiki's blood hardened as it became alive. Toon faces formed all over it, giggling maniacally as she shrouded herself in a red armor.
A blood blade morphed, replacing her hand as she swung down onto Terek, but his eyes darted to it, and he pulled himself back with a mana string.
When he was far enough away, he spoke, "Is that what you think? If so, then you are too far gone." He shook his head in disappointment. "Just who is this master you serve that got you thinking so delusionally?"
"The fucking Black Wolves."
Like the name had struck a nerve, Terek's pupils dilated, and his eye twitched.
Rage boiled within him at the thought of the Black Wolves Captain—Greed. He recalled their last encounter—how he had humiliated him with that final punch, flipping him multiple times in the air just to land on his knees upright, facing the ceiling. "Of fucking course!" he uttered with a disgusted tone.
"And I—" Kiki went on defiantly. "—am Master Greed's personal plaything!"
Milo and Ulrich wore mild, incredulous looks in her direction. She could have done without that statement…
Terek then threw his arms up, and a feral smile grew wickedly upon his face as a wave of mechs surged onto the Arabella Maids.
"Hold your ground," Kiki said to Milo and Ulrich.
"Aye!"
***
**Tartarus. 40th Floor**
Nash sat on a stone platform somewhere in a heat stricken place, legs widely crossed with a strong arm resting on his thigh and the other propping up his head with a fist.
Lava streamed all around, only the sounds of boiling filled the thick air.
He tapped his thumb against his comm repeatedly as he complained, "Great. My comm broke just as I was live streaming. That's gonna cost me some followers… Welp." He tossed the comm in the lava, watching it burn and shatter. "Need a new comm anyway."
He rose from his perched position, cracking his neck as he stood, finally paying attention to two dangerous prisoners who were observing him from a distance.
And behind him was a large Berserker, half melted on the same platform he occupied.
When he studied his other opponents, the first had gray medium-length hair, green eyes, and was tall and lanky. And the other had blue, buzzed hair; he was tone, and average height.
"Did he seriously take out Pyronis first? Who the hell is this guy?" the blue haired one asked.
"A Black Wolf. There's a reason we were all stationed to fight this one. So long as we stick to the plan, there's no way he will win," the gray haired one replied.
"We should have booked it like Scar… I hate fighting."
"And then what? At least if we stayed and took out a few pests, we'd get Head Officer titles in Riot Gang. I prefer to have a secure job when I get bailed. That was his choice, this was ours."
"That's an odd way to put it… But I suppose you're right."
"Besides," the gray haired one pointed to the 'dead' Berserker. "Pyronis isn't dead yet."
The large Berserker, Pyronis, staggered to a rise as it towered over Nash, roaring and mending its decimated limbs back to what it once was.
"What a pain in the ass," Nash said as he stood front and center against three unknown opponents.
***
**An unknown section of Tartarus**
A man with white hair and amber eyes watched through the multiple screens that floated all around him.
He itched uncomfortably, sitting on a mere lawn chair.
"Why do I have to be the one to do this?" He rose from his seat, and made his way to the edge of the platform.
"Guess I've got no choice…" He let loose a horrible sigh. "As you can see… A group called the Black Wolves has arrived to Tartarus… There's only six of them here minus their maids, but anyway… You are all Riot Gang now. And if you kill them, we'll offer you a Head Officer title among us."
From the darkness, wicked smiles and ominous eyes filled the space, followed by roars that might as well have come from a pack of beasts.
He looked to all the main screens. One with Greed and Arthur. Another with Gorran and Code. The Arabella Maids and Terek. Nash and three mysterious opponents. Star and another mysterious woman. Ophelia and Lilith. And Havoc and Brand against a horde of prisoners.
"Let the hunt begin," said Flinch.