Upon entering the main HQ, progress had been steadily made as the group of four climbed up each floor while doing their best not to get caught and alert the security within the building.

It was when they reached midway that the usual guards got tougher as they walked around the floor looking for the next flight of stairs to go up.

Large and heavy thumping sounds were heard as the four immediately went and hid behind a couple of crates as they peeked out and saw that now one of AE's large and purple mechs was approaching.

A light shined from its head, as it used its vision to find any anomalies or anything weird within the vicinity.

It eventually stopped and walked away to a different area of the floor.

"Well then, I was wondering when these guys would start showing up." Said Alex.

"Seems like the higher we get, the more beefed up security gets. Instead of normal guards, now we gotta deal with AE's mechs." Said Himeko.

"These are just base level mechs. I'm willing to bet that the higher we go, we'll run into their higher powered and stronger mechs." Said Theresa.

"So what? They'll still get the same treatment and get turned into a pile of scrap heap!" Claimed Kiana.

"It's possible but that would require us four to take down even one. I'd rather not get into a fight with a group of them. Let's just keep our current pace going and only fight when absolutely neccessary. We've already caused enough of a commotion on the lower levels." Said Alex.

With all of them in agreement, they continued to sneak around doing their best to avoid the mech's vision.

More floors continued to be cleared one by one as they gradually drew closer to the top floor.

As they got closer and closer, the mechs started to get bulkier and appear in more numbers, making opportunities to sneak around more and more difficult.

"Crap. At this rate we're gonna be left with no other choice but to fight them." Said Alex.

The others also agreed so they all stepped out and began to engage the mechs on a grueling fight.

After a lengthy battle, they finally managed to come out on top but were pretty exhausted in the end.

"Okay. When we reach the next floor, can we please take a break?" Said Himeko between pants, Theresa nodding in agreement while Kiana was so exhausted that she could barely even stand.

"A-Alright. We'll take a breather then." Said Alex as he himself was also panting.

The four began to head their way up to the next floor until they heard a sound from benind.

They all turned around to see a single, new mech had approached them all on its own, this one being colored black with massive purple colored gauntlets instead of hands.

"You girls go on ahead. I'll catch up in a bit." Said Alex.

"Hey hold on are you sure?" Asked Himeko.

"It's better to have one of us take this robot on so the rest can focus on the main task as to not waste anytime." Said Alex.

"Please don't overexert yourself. We'll be waiting for you." Said Theresa as the three girls went up to the next floor as Alex walked back down the stairs to confront the mech.

"Alright let's dance." Said Alex as he stood in front of the large mech.

Right as he said that, the mech suddenly turned off and shut down which immediately caught Alex off guard.

"Wait what the hel-?" As he was talking, Alex suddenly had both his mouth and nose, essentially his entire face, was covered by a white cloth that felt damp.

It didn't take long for Alex to realize what was happening.

'S-Shit! Chloroform!?' Panickingly thought Alex as he immediately tried to break free and tried to get some sort of airflow but whoever was keeping him held had an iron grip as Alex could barely move.

He felt his consciousness slowly fade away.

It seemed that whoever was holding him still clearly knew how long this needed to last as once Alex felt that he was only seconds away from being unconscious, he felt the rag move away from his face as he was gently laid on the ground.

His vision was blurry, as just before he passed out, he saw a faint outline of a person before he was out.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Alex felt himself slowly regaining consciousness, as he opened his eyes and was greeted initially by blurry vision as it took a bit to get adjusted to wherever he was.

As he tried to move, he noticed that he couldn't. He looked all over himself to see that his arms and legs were tied together and bound to a chair as his arms were also behind the chair making him really stuck.

He then looked around to see that he was in a dimly lit lab with a table that had numerous medical instruments in front of the room as it was the only thing there that was properly lit up.

Alex continued to struggle as he rocked the chair side to side.

"H-Hey. Hello! Anyone there!?" Shouted Alex hoping someone would answer.

"A-Alex? Is that, you?"

Alex's eyes widened as he heard and recognized that faint voice.

"M-Mei! You're here!?" Asked Alex as he looked to left and was in shock as right next to him was the girl, Raiden Mei herself, being held captive as he looked in front to see who was standing as the guard.

It was Bronya, in the same dark form that she was in back at the Selene mission.

"B-Bronya! Bronya! Hey!" Shouted the boy at her.

"I-It's, no use Alex. She, won't listen to us, anymore." Weakly said Mei.

"H-Hey don't talk. You sound awful. Just what the hell have they been doing to you?" Asked the boy.

"T-These bounds, have been draining...my energy, to make their operation, e-easier." She replied back.

"Draining your energy? What the hell would they wanna do that for? What even is this operation?" Asked Alex yet again.

This time, he wasn't answered by Mei.

Instead, an intercom turned on, as replying to Alex's question was a voice, a voice Alex didn't want to, nor did he think he'd ever hear it again.

"My my my. You wanna know so badly now, my precious little Alex?" Said the voice over the intercom.

Alex's eyes widened again as he gasped a bit.

'N-No way. No way in hell. It can't be. Her of all people?' Thought Alex to himself.

"Oh where are my manners? Talking to you over this intercom just isn't enough. After all I've been waiting for this reunion for a while now. Just wait one second." Said the voice as the intercom turned off.

After a bit, Alex saw the controlled Dark Bronya hover in front him, as she held out a holographic screen in front of him as it began to float on it's own, staying still and leveling itself in front of Alex's face as Bronya went back to guarding Mei.

After a bit, the hologram turned on as a video call as the image of an adult woman appeared.

She had blonde hair and purple eyes as she wore a green uniform with a white cape attached to it and long, brown heeled boots.

"Well well well. Did you miss me, my dear Alex?" Asked the girl with a smile as she chuckled to herself.

As Alex saw the girl, only one word left his mouth, as it was in a tone of not disbelief and shock, but rather anger and hate.

"Cocolia."

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Chapter 19: Complete