Seven large Basilisks raced across the moonlit Mediterranean Sea. On each of their heads sat a team of Veridahn. Each of the Numbers of Veridahn was responsible for their own team during this mission, but ultimately they were following the cues of Number 1. On the seventh head leading the group were The Anomaly, Trigger, Sage, The Twins, and…Puppy.

"How long until we arrive at our destination?" Zac, The Anomaly asked,

"We'll be there in a few minutes; everyone should get ready," Roisin said, looking down at the device in her hand that looked more like a data pad. As she fiddled around with the device, Zidane looked over at Sage, poking her in the side.

"See? You see how you use this? It's easy, right? Right?" Zidane gave her a playful smirk before she pushed him away from her.

"Screw off." Sage was annoyed because even looking at Roisin working the device firsthand, she still didn't quite understand how they could get such accurate readings.

"You heard her, right? Everyone get ready." The Anomaly spoke. His voice carried to the others over comms. The other six groups began to prepare. Particularly, group four, which was led by Number 4. It was composed mostly of other Kitsune. They six of them sat in a circle and began to collectively weave systems together. After a moment had passed, they activated their combined system, and the entire group, including the seven massive Basilisks, disappeared like ghosts.

They were masters of illusions and could make anyone see and feel what they wanted. Combining their knowledge together could create truly terrifying effects. Not even the sounds of the massive Basilisks moving through the waves could be heard as they neared their destination.

In the Heka base, things were a lot calmer than one would expect for a place on the verge of a massive attack. This thought was shared by many of those present. Aron, Seren, and several elders were in the control room, surveying the footage outside of the base.

"Are you sure they are coming today? It's almost midnight." Aron asked Seren.

"I am not. It was a deduction I made after having a thorough conversation with them. It doesn't hurt to be careful." Seren answered, and Aron nodded his head in agreement. Even if they were not attacking today, it would not hurt to be on high alert for the foreseeable future. Aron looked over his shoulder at Roratha resting against the wall with her arms folded in the back of the room.

"I still can't believe you got her to help." Aron's eyes narrowed as he stared at her.

"I'm not helping you. I'm acting as a Theronite should. Protecting and assisting Auranthos' Threnos. I'm just making sure no harm comes to him." Roratha answered.

"What if his intentions would lead to the destruction of Heka?" An elder asked.

"That's the point Seren discussed with me. That is quite the dilemma. Which is why I ultimately agreed to help, or at least observe. If that happens, I will subdue him, and reason with him. Unless…" Roratha responded.

"Unless what?" An elder asked.

"Unless he deems the destruction of Heka as it currently stands to be in the best interest of mankind," Roratha responded. The elders reluctantly nodded their heads in understanding.

Many Elders did not like or agree with Roratha, but they could rely on her to be logical towards her duties. They could only hope that Seren had some influence on her and that Kenji wasn't so far gone as to wish for their complete destruction.

"She also agreed to release my husband once this is all done," Roratha added, much to the chagrin of several of the Elders. Seren's smile faded away as she focused on the screen.

"I don't like this… Things are too quiet." Seren sighed and then contacted her son.

"Selistar, do you hear me?"

"Yes, what's the issue?" Selistar responded.

"Send a group to check outside; I have an odd feeling," Seren commanded.

"Wouldn't the cameras pick up on anything happening? We even went out of our way to cover all blind spots with patrols. It will be—"

"The patrols aren't checking in…" Seren cut off Selistar, who sighed.

"Alright…" Selistar ended the call and motioned for a group of Persequion to go outside and check.

"Mother, I sent squad 8756."

"Got it." Seren quickly pulled up the squad's number, and multiple screens appeared in front of them, showing their point of view.

Squad 8756 quickly spread out over the island, covering all the blind spots that were being patrolled. It didn't take long for everyone in the control center to be on edge. Even Roratha walked over to get a good look at what was going on. In all her years she had never seen something like this. In front of them on one of the cliffs was a stone statue that was wearing a Persequion cloak. The Persequion walked around to the statue and saw it had a familiar face.

"What the fuck?" The Persequion mumbled as he touched the statue; at his touch, it crumbled away into dust that was carried away by the wind. A deep rumbling hiss shook the Persequion's body as he turned around to see a pair of floating yellow serpentine eyes staring at him. Its large body completely melded into the darkness of night. Before the Persequion could respond, its large maw clamped down on him, cutting off the feed.

"Oh, shit… they have a basilisk." Seren whimpered. She had never seen a basilisk; no one in the room had. They were only stories told about them from back near the beginning of Heka's creation.

"It's not just one." Roratha pointed out that similar scenes happened where the patrollers were. All the feeds from squad 8756 were cut off, and Seren instantly turned the feeds towards the inside of the base.

"What are you doing?" Aron asked.

"There's no way they aren't inside already," Seren answered.

"How could they possibly… oh my god." Aron was surprised when he saw a squad of Titan Orcs walking their halls. One of them was carrying a comically large battle axe. Even more shocking to him was the Veridahn uniform they were all wearing. They were far more organized than he could have imagined.

There were no signs of anyone else, but he was sure there were more. If they could guide those giant Basilisks unseen, then there was no way they couldn't hide the presence of smaller creatures. However, no matter how many screens Seren flipped through, she could find no signs of anyone else. Aron cursed under his breath and immediately pushed Seren out of the way as he took control, announcing,

"Enemy breach!!! I repeat, Enemy breach!"

"Alright… I'll be taking control from here. Proceed as planned." Selistar said, over comms.

He was sure that Zac would be with the monsters attacking them, and if that was the case, then he knew getting into their base would be easy for him. All of his plans would revolve around after they entered the base.

At Selistar's word, a few Elders and Roratha began to leave, leaving Seren and Aron in the control room with a few Elders. Aron grabbed Seren's hand and promised,

"I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know you won't." Seren smiled at her husband; she then focused her attention back on the screen in front of her. Even if the assistance she could give was limited, she would do all she could. Just as she flipped through screens, she froze in fear as the image of a lone cloaked figure wielding a scythe stood in front of the power supply to their base.

The figure twirled the scythe in his hand and slashed. The humming of La Vie En Rose ushered in an explosion that shook the entire base and then quickly brought darkness. The darkness only lasted for a moment before the emergency lights came on, filling the halls. Aron cursed as the backup power came on and the cameras came back online.

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"Jesus…" Seren gasped as she looked at the scene playing out in front of her. It was chaos. Those Orc Titans didn't seem to be affected by the darkness; in fact, it was more like they were waiting for it. Their pace had quickened, and they were leaving a trail of bodies behind them. They were going out of their way to make sure that anyone they attacked was dead. It was needlessly vicious.

Was this a declaration that they were here to completely annihilate them? Seren tried to make sense of the situation. Was this Zac's wish, or was this just the inclination of the Titan Orcs? The only thing they knew for certain about the Orcs was that they craved battle and strong foes. Aron was the first to pick up on something.

"What are they doing? They seem to be taking care not to remove limbs." Aron asked.

"They are… preserving the bodies. Keeping them in the best condition possible while killing them." Seren's eyes widened.

"Selistar!" Seren called out over comms.

"Yes, Mother, what is it?"

"Don't go towards the disturbance. It's a distraction." She reasoned.

"A distraction for what? Where are they going?"

"Bone Collector," Seren said as she shifted the camera to where the Bone Collector was being held. But when she switched over, there was nothing but darkness on her scene. Their collective hearts sank. This was the worst-case scenario. They couldn't leave the Titan Orcs alone to wreak havoc, but they couldn't allow The Bone Collector to be freed.

All the fallen Chasers and Persequion would be turned against them, and their number advantage would fade away instantly. Selistar could issue the kill code for The Bone Collector, but that would mean turning Roratha against them after just barely being able to get her help.

"We have to evacuate all non-combatants …" Seren said.

Aron grinds his teeth. That was the best course of action; if they remained in these tight, dark spaces, it would be easy for them to be overwhelmed.

"Shit, shit, shit!!, you need to evacuate as well!" Aron cursed.

"Absolutely not, this will end today one way or they other. Me escaping will just lead to more unneeded deaths.

"I understand..." Selistar groaned.

"Stefan, Léonie, come with me. Duendes, take your team and lead a joint squad to stop those Orcs. Hachiman, Helen, and Franky take a contingent of Persequions and go check on the Tiny Tots. Assume Zac may be there." Selistar was sure there was no way that Zac would leave those kids behind if he could help it.

"Pocket, go with Duendes' team. Don't engage; just gather all the dead bodies you can. We'll need to reduce the Bone Collector's supply." Léonie added on.

"Selistar, send Pike outside. Pike go hunting." Stefen gave a simple order to Pike. They didn't know what else was with this group of monsters. Pike was skilled in both stealth and recon. This would be their best bet to gather information.

Selistar wanted to have to leave the base, but hose Basilisk were waiting for them outside, and there was no telling what else could be waiting for them. Everyone got their assignments and quickly moved out. Selistar disappeared with Stefan and Léonie in tow, while Pike was teleported near the entrance to the base.

Selistar's group arrived where The Bone Collector was being held, and three of them looked on in panic as they saw a figure leaning against a wall hugging a scythe, humming. The guards in the room were laid out across the ground, either unconscious or dead. What was even more shocking was there was a team of Dwarves running around the room.

They looked like they were creating a makeshift control center. Looking into the corner, a Dwarf was sitting in front of a screen. They already had eyes on most of their base. Did they hack their systems? Was that how they were able to instantly find the power supply and where their criminals were housed? No, if that was the case, why didn't they go straight for where his mother was? Selistar frowned as he looked at two individuals who he recognized as the Twins standing in front of The Bone Collector. The scythe-wielding individual looked over to see Selistar appear and stopped his humming.

"Took you long enough. Zidane, how long?"

"About 5 minutes." Zidane chuckled.

Selistar didn't ask any questions; he teleported to Zidane and Roisin and reached out his hands to grab the two of them. However, he quickly pulled back as the scythe's blade appeared out of nowhere, attempting to cut his arms off. Selistar looked at the masked man wielding a scythe and asked,

"Zac?"

"Lord Cefketa… human. Let's take this somewhere else." Zac scoffed.

"Bye, Devin!!!' Roisin giggled as Zac teleported himself and Selistar's group away.

As the four of them disappeared, Number 3 of the Veridahn and the leader of this troupe of Dwarves walked up to the twins and said,

"What's taking you two so long? It shouldn't be hard to get him out of there."

"The restraints aren't what we're working on; we're disabling his kill code, along with adding some other goodies." Roisin started to chuckle.

"I thought only Zeroes didn't have kill codes?" Number 3 asked.

"Yeah, and only Zeroes have Boot Up. But you know what the difference is between a Zero and a regular-ass Chaser?" Roisin asked Number 3, who just stood there with a confused expression on their face.

"Zeroes think they're sooooo special, like they're some chosen warriors. In reality, it's just a rare occurrence that is basically caused by the nanites bugging out a bit, because the induvial's genetic code is a little wonky. Can't replicate the process, but the result is easily replicated once you understand it." Zidane added.

"So what's the difference?" Number 3 asked.

"About 500 lines of code…" Roisin started to laugh.

"How long have you known that?" Number 3 asked.

"We always have." Zidane started to laugh.

Number 3 didn't bother to ask anything else, because, in the past few days, he had come to understand the temperament of the Twins. If they didn't want to share, they simply wouldn't. Instead, he focused his attention on finishing the construction of this command center behind enemy lines. Number 3 shook his head in disbelief that things were going as smoothly as they were.

The plan was solid, and they had the element of surprise, but for some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that things were going a little too well. He looked over his shoulder at the Twin, who looked like they were playing a game rather than in an active war zone. When would the other shoe drop?

"What exactly are you doing to my husband?" Roratha's voice echoed through the room.

"Making him better," Roisin responded without looking at Roratha.

"You don't seem surprised to see me?"

"Ms. Sage said if we came here and you were free to move, you would come here as soon as possible." Number 3 said as he got back to his work, shaking his head in disbelief. Roratha narrowed her eyes as well.

"Are Sage and Seren in contact with each other?" Roratha asked.

"Who is Seren?" Zidane asked, and Roratha instantly got her answer and sighed.

Sage and Seren seemed to be cut from the same cloth. The two of them move the board in tandem without having to share two words. One of the Dwarves hard at work looked at Roratha.

"Are you here to help or hinder us?"

"I haven't decided yet. For now, I'm just observing." Roratha answered honestly. There was only one thing she was sure of, and that was she would do what was best for her son. Hopefully, by the end of tonight, she would have all the answers she needed.

"And we're done," Roisin said she sent the information over to Zidane. His eyes scanned over the information, and then he placed his hand on The Bone Collector's shoulder. An aquamarine light radiated from his body as it twitched uncontrollably for a moment. The light faded, and countless devices that acted as restraints became undone.

Bone Collector stood up, removing the helmet and gag that covered his head, and the deprivation of his senses was finally removed. He opened his eyes to see an absolute sea of unfamiliar faces and Dwarves running about.

"We're The Twins," Roisin said.

"I find that unlikely…" The Bone Collector responded as he looked at the two of them who looked nothing alike.

"Screw this guy. Should I put him back on his ass?"

"Yeah, do it, Zizi… Kick his ass!!" Roisin egged her brother on.

"Never mind." The Bone Collector instantly recognized their speech patterns and personalities.

"What did you do to me?"

"We made you a Zero…" Roisin smiled.

"That's a thing?"

"It is for us." Zidane gloated.

The Bone Collector began to chuckle as he saw his wife smiling at him.

"A lot has happened in the past month." Roratha smiled.

"I can see that."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're both so horny for each other. Flirt later. We'll also fill you in on everything. But right now you need to do something for us." Roisin interrupted the two.

"What is that?" The Bone Collector chuckled. If he wasn't sure that these two were the Twins before now, he was certain.

"Do what you do best. Cause chaos." Zidane smiled.

The Bone Collector began to laugh hysterically as he began to fully analyze the changes that the Twins had facilitated for him.

"What to call this… ah, that's a good name. Boot Up Obituary." The Bone Collector's eyes glowed as the nanites scanned every dead body and creature on this island. All of their abilities and skills in life were downloaded into his mind. When The Bone Collector used the Death March Program, the dead could use the abilities they had in life, but unless he personally killed them himself, he had no clue what they could do.

Now with this boot-up, he was made aware of everything those dead bodies were capable of doing, making him much more effective with his use. He looked over at his wife,

"Maybe I can finally keep up with you."

"I would hope so. Selistar was my equal while Overclocked." She smiled.

"Well I certainly can't be out done by a child…" He took in a deep breath as a sickly green glow radiated off his body. The intense smell of death overwhelmed him. There was a long, gory history here. Originally, Death March could only bring back the recently deceased. That was no longer the case.

"Zeroes truly are different. Overclock! AWAKEN!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" At his call, the entire base rumbled. The Bone Collector would cause more than chaos; he would unleash hell.

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