Part Fourteen: The Phantom Thief

"Hehe…" a small pink-haired girl wearing a tiny top hat crawled through the air ducts of a mysterious lab, softly giggling to herself. She looked over at an opening, noticing a boy in blue armor with glasses sitting down and talking to a nearly identical boy with glasses, except the second was opting to wear a lab coat rather than blue armor. She put her head to the vent, curious as to what their conversation was about.

"She still hasn't cracked?" the boy in armor asked, sounding quite surprised, "She's more resilient than we let on."

"It could be because she accepted Cthulhu so quickly," the man in the lab coat speculated, "Her testimony states that she found the book that Cthulhu was sealed in one day in the forest, so she took it and Cthulhu took refuge within her. She was so quick to accept her fate, though, that Cthulhu became a part of her, to the point where she even began to grow tentacles."

"What an odd girl…" the boy in blue thought for a moment, "Although, I'm sure she'll burst when she sees dozens of copies of her little 'art friend' being mass slaughtered right before her eyes."

"Quite," the man in the lab coat nodded, hardly phased by the wild claim made by the other boy, "Speaking of which, the duplication is going well. Soon, we'll have an entire army of Iofifteens."

The girl gasped, quickly covering her mouth as she feared being found out. She recognized the name. Airani Iofifteen, a member of Hololive ID. They were… duplicating her?

"That's good," the blue-armored boy smirked, looking off into the distance, "Ninomae Ina'nis… I feel quite bad for her. It wasn't her choice for Cthulhu to take residence in her body, but I guess fate is often a cruel thing."

"Indeed it is," the boy looked towards the same place that his doppelganger looked towards, "Indeed it is…"

The girl recognized the name as well. Ninomae Ina'nis, a member of Hololive EN. Apparently, she was home to something called "Cthulhu". She decided to continue crawling through the ducts, hoping to find more information. Eventually reaching a small computer room with a lone worker inside, she decided to take a chance and enter. Sneaking through the shadows, she snuck up towards the man, pulling out a small switchblade knife and stabbing him in the back, covering his mouth. Muffled screams went on for a little while, as the girl ripped the knife out of his back. Once the man's breathing stopped, she took a look at the computer. Much to her dismay, however, she realized the computer was blocked with a security system, denying those without access. She scoffed, then began to hear a beeping sound coming from the man's pocket. She grabbed the device, which turned out to be a tracker of some sort. She noticed a small group of four dots coming close to the area. Intrigued, she jumped up to the air ducts again to make her escape and investigate.

...

Nozomi woke up tiredly, rubbing his eyes.

'Damn, it's been a while since I slept so well,' Nozomi thought.

"You're telling me," Tamashi said, "I haven't slept like that since everything wrong started happening."

'You mean with Malice and stuff, right?' Nozomi asked, 'What was it like back then?'

"It was quite peaceful, actually, and the world looked fairly similar to your own," Tamashi reminisced fondly, "It was just me, sis, and dad."

'Really? Did something happen to mom in your world?' Nozomi asked.

"Yeah, she went missing one day," Tamashi replied. Nozomi couldn't tell whether or not he was lying, so he went with it.

Sorry to hear that, man, Nozomi said, You've got a family here though, you know.

"Huh?" Tamashi questioned, somewhat startled, "Wh-what do you mean, a family?"

'Well, you've got me,' Nozomi started, 'You've got Ayame-chan as well, and, even though they've never seen you, the rest of the people you've saved are probably really appreciative of what you've done for them. I can't speak on behalf of everyone, but I consider you to be my best friend.'

Tamashi paused for a long moment. Nozomi never knew you could hear silence, but he definitely did at this moment.

"H-hah! I'm your Echo, and you consider me your best friend?" Nozomi teased, trying to play off the compliment, "Isn't that kind of considering yourself to be your best friend? How vain."

'Ha, can't you just take a compliment in stride?' Nozomi laughed, 'I'm gonna feel really bad for Ayame when she gets with you.'

"You sound so assured it'll happen," Tamashi said, "If she figures out what I've done in the past, maybe she won't want to be with me anymore."

'Quit the self-deprecating,' Nozomi said sternly, 'The past is the past. You can't undo what's been done, but you can choose to steer your future, and you've done nothing but support us on this journey. And if Ayame is incapable of seeing that, which I'm sure she isn't, then she's not right for you.'

Again, Tamashi paused. Nozomi grinned at this.

"...What're you grinning for?" Tamashi chuckled sheepishly, "I can't believe I'm getting therapy from myself right now…"

Nozomi smirked, donning his sheath and kimono and walking out of his front door.

...

Arriving at the Cover Corporation meeting room, he saw the three people that briefly turned into Dark Echoes in front of him. He went over to introduce himself.

"Hi, I'm Ito Nozomi, it's good to meet you all," he bowed.

"Oh, hey friend, sorry for being a bother yesterday," the red-haired boy cheerfully waved, a wide smile across his face, "I'm Yokoku Roberu. I own a bar a few streets down the road called ROBEL. Are you old enough?"

"Sorry, I'm 18," Nozomi put his hand on his neck, "Still though, I promise I'll drop by sometime."

"I'm glad to hear it," Roberu smiled, looking over at the white-haired boy, "This here is Yakushiji Suzaku. He's a master-class with the katana. He used to be in Holostars, like I am."

"I can introduce myself, thanks," Suzaku interrupted coldly, "And I wouldn't call myself a 'master-class' either."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Nozomi piped in, "In fact, I'm actually pretty grateful for the reality check. I'm gonna have to start practicing the sword outside of battle."

"Sorry for almost killing you out there," he softly chuckled, "Although it makes me happy that I was able to help you out."

The boy smiled, turning towards the red-haired girl. She still had the same baseball bat resting on her shoulder.

"It's Yogiri," she introduced, extending her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Yogiri," Nozomi shook her hand, "It seemed like you knew Artia."

"Artia was a member of Hololive CN with me," Yogiri explained, "It's been disbanded since, but the six of us have remained pretty close."

"I see," Nozomi nodded, "I look forward to working with you all, then."

The three nodded as well, as Nozomi unsheathed his sword, focusing his energy to its tip and unleashing a large slash, creating a wormhole to the Mirror. Roberu eagerly ran in, with Suzaku and Yogiri following. Nozomi dashed in as well, with the rift closing behind him.

...

The four found themselves atop the large building they fought upon the day before. Nozomi grabbed the tracker he got from his deceased doppelganger from his pocket. No signals nearby. He sighed.

'Any ideas?' Nozomi asked.

"There's something I wanna check out a few miles north," Tamashi said.

'Alright, let's go,' Nozomi nodded, running down the stairs of the building and out the door. His team followed him, as he checked the scanner once again, finding there was a compass built into it.

'So, this world has magnetic poles, too?' Nozomi thought.

"Of course. Your world and my world really aren't too different, you know," Tamashi said.

'That's true,' Nozomi agreed, 'They are Mirrors, after all.'

Nozomi began making his trek northwards, fighting against the bitter cold. It was times like these that he wished Tamashi was a master flame magic user instead of a master swordsman, but he brushed these ideas out of his head and kept plowing through. Before long, though, a large group of polar bear-like Malice surrounded the team. Gritting his teeth against gelid winds, he drew out his greatsword and pointed it at his enemies. Suzaku also unsheathed his katana, while Yogiri readied her baseball bat and Roberu got into a fighting stance with his brass knuckles. Nozomi swung his sword at one, slicing it in half, but this left him wide open for attack. Suzaku ran over and took care of one that, if he hadn't swooped in, would've gone for Nozomi's neck. Roberu began punching a few creatures, while Yogiri kept them at bay with her bat. This strategy was effective for quite a while, but the effects of the snow on the four's lungs soon became apparent, and they began to become weak. Their battle began to slow, and, over time, they were knocked to the ground. Struggling to get up, Nozomi grabbed his sword and cursed under his breath.

"I'd hate to be that guy, god," Nozomi muttered, "But if you could give us another miracle like yesterday, it'd be awesome."

Right as he said this, his scanner began to beep. He took a look, and noticed a red dot running towards his group at breakneck speeds. He looked up to see the person, but no one was there. Instead, he noticed all of the Malice with knives stuck in their backs. Panicking, he looked around for his mysterious savior.

"Rule number one of phantom thievery: stealth is key," a voice from behind Nozomi said cheekily, "It is where the "phantom" part comes from, after all."

Nozomi gasped, turning back. He saw a small girl with pink hair and aqua eyes wearing a tiny top hat with rabbit ears on it.

"Spade Echo!" Yogiri exclaimed.

"Yogiri!" the girl smiled, going up to hug the girl. Nozomi watched as the two shared a tight embrace. He helped Suzaku and Roberu up as they hugged, smiling at the two of them.

"I take it you're a former member of Hololive CN too, then?" Nozomi asked.

"That's right," she nodded, "You can call me by my codename, Spade Echo."

"Alright, Spade Echo," Nozomi grinned, "You can call me by my real name, Ito Nozomi."

"I actually have some important intel I'd like to share," Spade Echo informed, "You mind if we go elsewhere?"

"Yeah, that's no issue," Nozomi said, grasping his sword and directing his energy to its tip. Once enough energy was gathered, he slashed with all his might, creating a rift in space. Spade Echo looked on in awe, as she walked towards the portal. The other four grinned at this, following her into the wormhole.

...

YAGOO looked up to see a wormhole opening up within the headquarters. He saw the four who entered, as well as a new guest. He recognized who they were giving a wide smile.

"Spade Echo, it's good to see you again," YAGOO said.

"YAGOO, I think you're just the man I wanted to see," Spade Echo said, pulling up a chair up towards the meeting table, "I have some pretty important information regarding that place."

"I see," YAGOO nodded, "Enlighten me. Nozomi, please, have a seat. Everyone else may stay if they wish, but it isn't mandatory."

Nozomi went up to the meeting table and took a seat next to Spade Echo. Much to his surprise, though, not Suzaku, Roberu, nor Yogiri. He looked at his group, grinning, then glancing at Spade Echo.

"So, I woke up in the snow," Spade Echo explained, "And right next to me was a weird looking stronghold of some sort. I was able to hack into the entrance gate and enter, so I began crawling through the vents to see what I could find.

"That's when I came across two young boys with black hair and glasses, one with blue armor and one with a lab coat, talking together" Spade Echo described, looking intently at Nozomi, "You know, they kind of looked like you…"

"Must be more of those doppelgangers…" Nozomi speculated, "What happened next?"

"I eavesdropped on them through a grate in the vent, and they said some pretty weird stuff," Spade Echo said, "They said they were going to 'duplicate' Airani Iofifteen and kill the duplicates in front of Ninomae Ina'nis to draw out something called 'Cthulhu'."

YAGOO gasped, then returned to a neutral expression. "That makes sense," he said to himself.

"After hearing this, I continued crawling through the vents, and I came across a small computer room with a large computer," Spade Echo told, "There was a guy there, so I… silenced him… and I took this."

She threw a small device at Nozomi. Catching it, he took a look, and it seemed to be a very similar device to the tracker he had found on his doppelganger.

"That tracker's a bit more souped up than your previous one," Tamashi explained, "Mostly a bigger map, but you can see the locations of Malice now as well."

'That'll come in handy,' Nozomi put the device in his pocket.

"Alright, so I took a look at the computer, and I wasn't able to crack it," Spade Echo admitted, "There's a really strong security system in there, and I'd imagine there's a password or two in there as well."

"Wait, computer?" Suzaku interrupted, "Didn't that Melody girl say there wasn't any internet in that world?"

"That's not the case," Tamashi informed, "It might seem that way from the outside, but in actuality it's just that the only access point is in that stronghold and other similar ones. I'd imagine the people that run them are in control of Wi-Fi. I'd also imagine it's the reason Melody was able to appear at all, since she's just a computer program given some physical attributes. Those people must have summoned her, as well as probably everyone else, to the Mirror, and given Melody the ability to connect to 'their' internet. Those guys have a lot more power over the Mirror than you'd expect."

'How the hell did you know that…?' Nozomi asked, completely taken aback by Tamashi's deductive skills.

"Hey, you learn a lot when you're the sole survivor of your world, spare for some armored scum that kinda looks like you," Tamashi quipped.

'Why would they give Melody internet access?' Nozomi asked.

"That is beyond me," Tamashi admitted, "But then again, we aren't completely sure why everyone was transported there in the first place."

'That's true,' Nozomi agreed, turning to YAGOO.

"Tamashi told me that, although it seems like there isn't internet, there actually is, it's just limited to those who possess it," Nozomi explained.

"How odd," YAGOO said, "Is that how Melody was able to project?"

"Yeah, that's what Tamashi was thinking," Nozomi said, before having an epiphany, "Wait… Melody… you don't suppose Melody would be able to crack that code? She is a computer software, after all."

"You actually have a point there," YAGOO agreed, "I'll get in contact with her."

"Alright, so suppose we do crack the computer," Roberu reasoned, "How are we gonna store the data?"

"Well, with a USB, right?" Yogiri said. Spade Echo shook her head

"Nope. No USB ports," she said.

"Wh- no USB ports in a computer?!" Roberu said, taken aback.

"YAGOO, what if we used Roboco or Rikka to carry the information?" Nozomi wondered.

"Well, Rikka's storage might be a little too low-capacity for this job," YAGOO explained, "But I think Roboco might work."

"Alright, then how about this," Nozomi nodded, "I'll go into the Mirror with Spade Echo, Roboco, and Melody. While I stand outside keeping watch, the three of them will infiltrate the stronghold. Once they reach the computer room, Melody will breach the firewall, allowing Roboco to download all of its data. Once they do this, the three of them will escape, and I'll open a wormhole to get out of there."

The group nodded in agreement with this plan.

"Looks like we're settled, then," YAGOO said, "Tomorrow, we'll infiltrate the stronghold."