A dark forest. The sky was cloudy. The breeze felt nice. The trees were looking scary and the forest was awfully calm. At a distance there was a small area that was burning. The trees were on fire. A crash site. The aircraft was shattered into pieces. The cockpit was on fire. Inside, the pilots' dead bodies were buried and their flesh melted. The wings were completely destroyed. A void being was laying inside the aircraft. Its mouth wide opened and a huge metal bar was inside its guts. A soldier's arm was on fire. A picture of a soldier with his family was burning.
Kento opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and he couldn't move his legs. They were not broken fully but they were not in a good condition either. He tried to get up but failed. His face was wounded. His nose and head were bleeding. He tilted his head and sees V sitting right next to him and he was badly injured as well. He looked at him and stretched his hands.
"Hey...V." His voice was almost silent. V looked at him and Kento noticed one of V's eyes has changed its colour. His right eye had become pitch black. "Good morning." V whispered. Kento slightly gets up and sees the aircraft is burning in front of him. Some soldiers were burying the dead. They were badly injured. Some were assembling what was left. It was an aftermath event.
"We need to move. The mission must be carried out." V tells Kento but it was too much for him as well. Kento looks at him with an odd look. With whatever strength left in Kento's body he grabbed V's collar. He pulled him closer. His eyes were filled with rage. "Open your goddamn eyes. Don't you see all these people are dead. Damn your mission. Don't you have any humanity." His tone was furious. He was looking as if he will kill V. V on the other hand doesn't say anything; he looks at him but says nothing. A single tear drop fell from his pitch black eye.
Footsteps grew louder and louder. The soldiers in the hallway stepped aside as Rez charged inside the command room. Monica came closer and tries to talk to him but Rez simply ignored her. The look on his face was furious. He gets inside the command room and sees Ema sitting in front of the big screen monitor. The operators stopped. The sound of the keyboard clicks stopped within a second. Monica entered the room as soon as she could. "Everyone leave us for a while." Ema commanded the operators. They got up and quickly rushed out. Monica was standing behind Rez and she positioned herself. She was ready to open a mirror dimension within a second because Rez was looking furious. He stepped forward. His eyes were filled with anger.
"You gambling addict bitch. My men died because of you." He yelled as he was stepping forward. "They were not just your men; they were also my responsibility." Ema didn't flinch. Rez slammed his fist on the table and stomped his right foot. The impact shook the whole room. The table got crushed by his raw strength. Monica accidentally triggered a dimension. It covered the whole room. The people outside felt a sudden burst of shockwave and a release of void energy. Rez looks at Monica and she closed the dimension. "What the hell is happening inside." The soldiers whispered. Rez looks at Ema. "You knew that deploying that drone would've turned south and still you did it to satisfy your own ego." Ema slightly looks away. "It wasn't ego; it was my miscalculation and I take full responsibility." Rez yelled and a burst of shockwave released. "What damn responsibilities; they are dead." Ema doesn't say anything; she simply looks down. Rez turns around and walked away. "I am going there and if you try to play any tricks this time I swear I will forget that you're my mentor's granddaughter." He left the room while Monica and Ema stood there without any word.
Kento along with the remaining soldiers started moving towards the warehouse. They are moving northeast. V was in front of them leading the whole crew. Kento was in the middle. He's holding a gun he was given before. The soldiers looked exhausted but they were still giving their best. V turned and looked behind and saw Kento was walking behind them. He slowed down and came closer towards Kento. Two soldiers rushed and took the lead. The forest was dark and cold. They could see a light coming from a distance. It was the warehouse. An abandoned place in the middle of nowhere. Kento noticed the light. "It's kilometres away." V muttered. Kento looked at him. His face was looking annoyed. He was feeling frustrated. "So what. It's the mission, right." V looked at him but says nothing. V's eye was still black. Kento wanted to ask but didn't. They kept walking. The silence between them grew with every step.
"I do have humanity." V muttered and Kento looked at him. Kento's eyes looked sharp. "Really? I thought you only care about your tasks given to you by your precious commander." He mentioned Ema. V looked a bit pissed off but doesn't react. "You're just a dog who bites and barks whenever you're told." As soon as these words came out of Kento's mouth V grabbed his collar. The other soldiers got shocked and reacted. V grabbed him and slammed him. He pinned him down and pointed the gun at his head.
"Say another word and I will open your skull.What do you think; I don't care about those who died? They were under my command and I couldn't save them." V yelled those words. His frustration and his outcome were natural. "Then stop caring about your goddamn mission and let's go back or else the surviving soldiers will die in front of you." Kento yelled. He didn't care about the gun, the bullet which will kill him. His rage was genuine. He didn't want anyone to die. V grabbed his collar and gets him up. He throws the gun away and slammed him into a tree. With both hands he grabbed his neck. "If we abort the mission now the death count will be beyond your goddamn imagination. We have tracked XS after three years. If he gets away this time, you, me, along with everyone, will die." Kento's eyes wide opened. A single tear drop fell from V's eye. The soldiers came closer and tried to separate the two.
A helicopter was getting ready. It was getting ready to leave the bunker. The upper layers were getting opened one by one. The soldiers stood there quietly. The four rotor blades cutting the air. A handful of soldiers, all covered in highly tactical equipment. They are strike team zero. Their equipment was far more advanced than the last team. Black mask, heavy armour. Highly destructive war gear. Even the pilot was wearing a highly advanced helmet. Rez came out. Behind him, Sho was following him. Rez was wearing a black T-shirt but on both his fists he had knuckles. They were very thick and made out of titanium. Sho was heavily armoured. His big hammer has spikes and a bunch of kunai resting on his hip. They both came closer. The soldiers stood there. "Alright, listen everyone. This is a special class situation we are dealing with. We have already lost contact with both our strike squads. Our main objective is to get there and get them back at any cost. If anything stops you, kill it." Rez was looking serious and he sounded it too. The soldiers stomped and said yes, commander. They all got in the chopper one after another. Sho looked at Rez. "What about the high command?" As soon as he says it they noticed Monica was standing behind them. Rez looks at Sho. Sho slightly turns around and holds a kunai. Rez turns around. Eye to eye, face to face. "Are you trying to stop us?" Rez asked Monica. Sho pulled out a kunai slightly and gripped it in a throwing position. "The high command tasked you all with a mission." Rez tilted his head and asked, "What is it? I won't be doing any babysitting here now." Monica smiles a bit and says, "Bring them back, that's your mission." Rez smiles. Sho lets go of the kunai. Rez smiles and says, "Smooth." Strike team zero is now deployed.
The forest was already dark but now a light covered an area. V was looking at the abandoned warehouse from a distance. A soldier was pointing a sniper rifle. Two others were on look out. Kento was sitting under a tree holding his gun. He watched V as he was looking out of an entrance. The whole one-story building was abandoned. There were fences around the warehouse. V stood up and the soldiers looked at him. "We will get in from the front. If there is an underground facility then the entrance must be in the front." V looked at Kento while saying it. Kento got up and came closer. He looks at the warehouse. "What makes you think going from the front will be safe? There can be traps." Kento told V. "If XS is really here then I bet he wants us to get inside and if he does he will make arrangements. Besides, I don't sense any void energy so it's ok." V looked at his eyes while saying. "How about we split?" Kento looks at the sniper. "No, we stick together. We are already short-staffed." Kento muttered, "And whose fault is that?" V looked at him with annoyance but says nothing. Kento holds his gun and points at the entrance. "Fine then, let's go, Mr. Genius." V looked at the soldiers and says, "Make a formation. If anything moves, we kill it." He gave Kento a look and walked away.
It was past midnight. The air felt heavy. The wind grew heavy with every footstep. The soldiers made a cross formation. Kento was in the middle. V pointed his gun and they kept moving. A soldier takes the lead and opened the gate. The warehouse was completely empty. Only pillars. They took small steps and got inside. Kento pointed his gun upward and moved slowly. V looked in front and moved. The soldiers covered every angle and they made their way to the middle. All of them stopped. "Any visuals." The soldiers said negative. They all relaxed. Kento takes a deep breath. They break the formation. V stepped forward and tried to find a way to get inside the underground facility. Two soldiers stayed close to Kento. V stepped towards a pillar. He placed his hand but couldn't sense anything. "Well, there's nothing here, I guess." Kento whispered. "Yeah, this place is a total ghost house. Empty as hell." The soldier muttered. Suddenly V steps back. "Everyone, formation." The soldiers got shocked and got back in position. Kento panicked and pointed his gun. "What is it?" Kento breathes heavily. "We are inside a mirror dimension." A soldier whispers. "Damn it. It's him; it's XS. This whole forest is a mirror dimension." Kento breathes heavily and says, "What do you mean?"
V looked terrified. He never witnessed a mirror dimension this massive. It covered a large chunk of the forest. Eventually V tried to open his mirror dimension but failed. That's when he understood that another user whose energy and authority over this dimension didn't allow him to open it. "I-I never imagined. I thought only the commander had unlimited distance release abilities." They all froze up. No one moved. They all pointed their guns but no one dares to make a move. V breathes heavily and is sweating. Kento looked shocked and the soldiers were panicking. The devil's playground is now a haunted house for them.