"A special mode?" The boy with red eyes asked.

"Yeah, it sure surprised me." The brunette replied to him.

After listening to their story, the long haired boy's eyes widened. "Really?"

The blue haired one nodded. "Yes."

"Well, we had to do some backbreaking training just to draw that power out of our LBXs-" The red head was cut off.

"Including a special mode like that in your LBXs... Professor Yamano really is an amazing person, isn't he?"

"Hey! Didn't I just say that it came after we almost trained to death? Geez, you..."

The black and white haired boy nearly smiled at the sight. It had been a few days since 2051's Artemis, since they stopped Detector from assassinating Country A's president, and as there were no immediate threats, they were all given some time off. At the moment, they were at NICS HQ, listening to Ban, Oozora Hiro and Hanasaki Ran talking about the fruits of their recent training. Haibara Yuuya and Jessica Kaios were with them too.

Ban had told him that he met Hiro on the day Tokio City had their brainjack incident. Brainjack was the term they decided to call the ability to hack LBXs to make them rampage. Hiro was a rookie in the LBX world, but he was progressing fairly quickly with his Perseus. Hanasaki Ran got her Minerva from a martial arts tournament. Her fighting style along with her LBX's were very similar. Them, along with Ban's new Elysion, were the three LBXs that Professor Yamano created by hand, meaning they could not be brainjacked.

Yuuya had finally recovered from the previous year's Artemis and joined them with his Liu Bei. His personality now contrasted greatly with how silent he was that year. Jessica is the daughter of the head of NICS, Owen Kaios. She was perhaps the oldest in the group, fighting with her Jeanne D.

Ban let out a small chuckle before answering his ringing CCM. "Yes? Director Kaios."

"Is everyone else with you?" The elder male asked.

"Yes."

"I need you to come to Brinton in England as soon as possible."

Hiro leaned closer to the screen. "Brinton?"

Ban's eyes narrowed. "Another LBX rebellion?"

But the blonde man gave them a smile instead. "No, Professor Yamano wants to meet you."

"Eh? Dad?"

~~~~~

A blonde boy sat in a dark room, lights only coming from the large computer screen. His mind trailed to the events that happened not too long ago.

His Joker, one that he worked hard to customize, had cracks all over after only a few hits. The creature he had to face aimed some kind of energy canons towards it, causing a large explosion. Once it was sure the LBX was destroyed, it let out a piercing roar.

His eyes narrowed. "That thing..." He drank from a coke bottle and was about to turn back to the screen, before his door opened.

"Hey, Kazama. Kirito. Blonde person with a Japanese name." A black haired girl came in, wearing an attire that did not suit the weather. Well, the only reason he thought that was because of the thick jacket and scarf, but his opinions never reaches her. Ever.

If he wasn't bothered before, he was definitely annoyed now. "What do you want, Niara Van Levanov?"

"I told you to never use that stupid middle name!" From the name itself, it was apparent that she was Russian. However, her fluent English and Japanese indicate signs of being nurtured in Country A. She propped herself on the table and clicked her tongue at the screen. "So... That robot, huh?"

His eyes narrowed. "You know about it?"

"Not any more than you do." She shrugged. "I just saw the battle you had. Your Joker got trashed, eh?"

"I'd like to see your Lucifer do better."

"This cute thing," She took out her LBX and shoved it into his face. "Is Zeema Drezion."

"...Did you just call that thing 'cute'?"

"Well it's better than naming everything I customize 'Niara Custom'."

"It's called titling, and that has nothing to do with saying that a snow themed devil is cute!" Before she was able to retort, his attention was caught by one of the screens. An aircraft from NICS HQ, he knew it was called the Duck Shuttle, was taking off. "Where are they going?"

She raised an eyebrow at this. "You've been stalking them?" He ignored her, walking over to another monitor and starting his search.

~~~~~

"Hey Ban!" Ran went over to the brunette. "I wonder how the professor will upgrade our LBXs."

"I don't know, but I'm excited!" He replied.

"Mom is going to be surprised, isn't she?" Hiro spoke up. "Since I'm coming to the UK without any notice."

Ran smiled at him before realizing something else. "By the way, where's Otacross?"

"Otacross isn't coming with us. Since terrorism from Detector isn't a threat this time, he said 'You won't be needing me~'." Jessica replied, mimicking his voice while at it.

"But in reality, he just stayed behind to buy a first come, first serve limited edition figure." Yuuya added.

"Limited edition figure?" Ran was not impressed. "Is that so..."

"Oh, right." Ban turned to the black and white haired boy sitting at the back. "Jin, didn't Eva go along with Dad after you went to Country A?"

He got a nod in reply. "Yeah. She wanted to know more about what her brother was doing when he was under the professor's care."

"Eva?" Ran pondered on that name before her eyes widened in realization. "As in Evangeline Mech?! Your partner in last year's Artemis?!"

Seeing him nod, Jessica went to thought. "Another Artemis level player would be a huge power up for the entire team. Do you think you can convince her to join us?"

"If I remember correctly, she's more interested in maintenance and customization..." Ban muttered.

"True, but she will join us if we asked." Jin stated.

"Well, since you say so." The brunette chuckled. "You do know her best after all."

"Metamo has arrived in Brinton-mo!" A cute, robotic voice came from the speakers. The pilot of the Duck Shuttle was a small autonomous droid that calls itself Metamo.

They landed at the airport and met up with Mongoose, one of Professor Yamano's agents. They don't get to see him that often, seeing as how he's always busy. The other was Cobra, who had been assigned to watch over them since Ban and Hiro started this fight. For whatever reason, they never get along.

Mongoose drove them to the observatory, Cobra explaining how the professor was a guest researcher and that it was a great place to hide from Detector. The Billnege Observatory. They were dropped off and Cobra led them through the series of corridors, Mongoose leaving for another job.

Entering an office, with Cobra's permission, they found a man smiling at them. Ban immediately lightened up at the sight of him. "Dad!"

"It's been a while, Ban." The man greeted him, earning a nod. He turned to face the others behind him. "I'm glad you all arrived here safely."

"He looks like a normal old guy." Ran muttered to Hiro, who smiled sheepishly. "I guess he does."

"It's reassuring that you're doing well, Jin."

"It's been quite a while." He bowed.

He gave a small smile. "Although, I have to apologize as Eva is currently out at the moment. You had just missed her actually."

He nodded. "We're not in a rush, so it should be fine." Despite saying so, he didn't know how he felt about her wandering around on her own. Then again, they had been separated for the past year. She should've matured on her own in that time. There shouldn't be anything to worry about.

"Ran, Hiro, Yuuya, and Jessica, if I'm not mistaken." The elder male continued. "I give my thanks to all of you. It is because of you that we've been able to contain Detector. Thank you."

"Professor," Hiro said, pumping his fist. "We'll make sure to protect the peace of the world with our own hands!"

He seemed proud of them all. "I have high hopes for you."

At Ban's call, the professor began to explain the issue at hand. The facilities of the lab were used to form new technologies for the sake of space observation. With those technologies, the most prominent being electromagnets, he was able to create a new kind of LBXs. The only downside to it was that it could only be used by the LBXs that he developed himself, meaning only Elysion, Perseus and Minerva could have it installed. He reassured the others that their LBXs would be upgraded as well.

However, before they could get started, Mongoose's face appeared on a screen. "Professor Yamano, we've got a problem! LBXs have begun to act violently on the streets!" He showed them some footage of the damage being done.

Then, a masked person appeared on screen. "People of Brinton, the United Kingdom. We are the rulers of the world, Detector. We have brainjacked the LBXs of this city. The fate of Brinton rests in our hands. We have a demand for the government of the United Kingdom. Halt all monetary transactions within the city at once."

Jessica's eyes widened in realization. "If they do that, then there'll be huge disturbances in the world's economy!"

"So that really was his motive." Jin muttered.

"You have until noon today." Detector continued. "If you fail to comply with our demand, then all of Brinton will be destroyed. I hope for a wise decision from the government." As soon as his image disappeared, all the LBXs stopped functioning.

The black and white haired boy checked the time on his CCM. "We have three hours..."

Ban turned to the rest. "Let's contact Otacross and get details on the commanding computer's location."

"We have to make sure the government doesn't make their decision until the very last moment." Jessica opened her CCM, most likely to contact her father about the predicament.

Hiro opened his own to contact a certain hacker. "Otacross-san! Otacross-san! ... He's not answering. Is he sleeping?"

As the blue haired boy continued to call for him, Mongoose's face appeared on screen once again. "Professor, we also have one more issue..." The look Professor Yamano encouraged him to continue. "I can't find the kid in any of her usual routes."

At this, the man immediately took out his phone and dialed a number. Jin felt worry beginning to sink in. "Professor, by any chance, the 'kid' he means is-"

"She's not picking up..." The elder male bit his lip as he turned to them. "Eva's missing."

~~~~~

After hearing the situation, Otacross got to work. It seemed that the blonde being missing fueled his fire even more. Still, it was taking him quite a while.

Jin stared anxiously at his CCM. "One hour left..."

Only a moment later, the old man's face appeared on screen. "I've found the location of the commanding computer. It's on the topmost level of the Britannia Clock Tower!"

The professor pulled up a schematic on the screen. "From here, it's quicker to get to the tower using the third and fifth subway lines."

"We don't know which one will get there first." Ban stated. "Let's split into two groups!"

The six of them ran off, leaving Cobra and the professor behind. Ban, Ran and Jin took one together, while Hiro, Jessica and Yuuya took the other. Only 45 minutes were left.

"Are we there yet...?" Right as Ran was about to lose her patience, the lights began to flicker. Eventually, the train slowed to a stop. "What?"

"Did it break down?" Ban took out his CCM on check on the other group.

"What is it, Ban?" Jessica's voice rang through.

"Our train has stopped. I think it's related to the LBX attack. Are you guys alright?"

"Yes, we're almost there." That reassured them.

"I see. Take care until we get there!"

"Okay." She ended the call.

Ban turned to his friend, who still seemed anxious. "We'll find her, Jin."

His body seemed to have relaxed, but his eyes remained distant. Several thoughts came to his mind, none of them were assuring to him. In the end, he gave a nod and they continued to wait for whatever would come next.

~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter dedicated to CrossMayhem because Niara has made her debut! :D