Case #4-The Twelve Zodiacs, Part 4

"So here we are," I say to Evelyn, after leading her deep into the East Woods. I take a moment to slowly spin in a circle, observing the area. Noticing the cracked, jagged earth, as well as the scorch marks littering the area. "Judging by the crushed ground and burnt up trees, this must have been where Crimson and I had our quick bout with Cancer. And also where his last known location lies."

"Okay, but just because we know that Cancer was here, how do we know that he'll show up again?" Evelyn asks. "You had mentioned that he sort of…teleported away, right? How are we supposed to find him?"

"By using this," I smirk as I tap my forehead.

"Your…head?" Evelyn asks. "Do you have some super-intelligent plan, or something?"

"Nah," I answer. "I have my supernatural inhuman Reaper memory."

"Do…Reaper's have superhuman memory?" Evelyn asks.

"No," I answer. "But I do remember what Cancer told me earlier."

"It doesn't take superhuman abilities to remember something from a few hours ago" Evelyn comments.

"Shut up," I reply. "Cancer is a bigfoot, and he told me that every forest in the world is home to a sasquatch that protects it. Cancer also mentioned that this forest is his home, sooo…assuming he's home, he's gotta be around here somewhere!"

"How do we know that Cancer isn't out on some mission with the other Twelve Zodiacs?" Evelyn asks.

"We don't!" I chipperly answer, causing Evelyn to sigh.

"How do you plan to lure Cancer out?" Evelyn asks.

"LIKE THIS!" I roar as I swiftly draw my sickle-sword and swing it outwards, slicing clean through a tree which falls to the ground with a mighty crash, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process.

"EEP!" Evelyn shrieks as she flinches and leaps backwards. "TELL ME next time!" She then snaps as she slaps me on the arm, causing me to laugh.

"That was such a cute yelp!" I laugh.

"Was that really necessary?" Evelyn pouts as her face flushes red. "Wasn't Cancer ordered to capture you anyway?"

"Not really," I answer. "But you never know, Cancer's orders may have changed since then. I still want to knock a tree down or two to lure 'em out and make sure he shows up."

"Now then-" I begin to say as I raise my sickle-sword again and turn to face another innocent tree. "Who shall be my next victim…?" I ask as I stroll over to the three in front of me. I raise my sickle-sword up like an ax to chop my second tree down, but before I can swing it outwards, I hear some rustling come from behind me. "I thought so," I smirk as I turn around to see some vines flying towards me, but I don't move to dodge, or anything.

"Um…Zach?" Evelyn asks, worried by my staying-still. "Aren't you…going to dodge, or anything."

"This is supposed to be your badass moment to step in," I sigh.

"Oh, okay!" Evelyn pipes up as she fumbles around while trying to draw her whip. Eventually, Evelyn gets ahold of her whip and swings it outwards, but it's too late. The vines are too close for me to not worry about them any more, prompting me to swiftly slice through them with my sickle-sword.

"Sorry!" Evelyn squeaks as she retracts her whip.

I then hear another rustling noise from behind, this one on the other side of me, causing me to spin around and bring my sickle-sword up to block, just as Cancer leaps out of the push in front of me, aiming a powerful, hairy fists towards me. Cancer's meaty fist and my sickle-sword clash, sending shockwaves flying through the air, nearly blowing all of the trees around us off of their roots.

"The trees call to me…" Cancer eerily monologues. "They're crying."

"Yeah? Well the trees speak to me, too," I smirk. "They're telling me to kick your ass."

After our brief clash, Cancer and I hop back away from one another, staring each other down. Swiftly, Cancer lifts his right knee high into the air before stomping his foot back into the ground At first, nothing happens, but then, shortly after, the earth begins to tremble. The trembling earth around me begins to intensify, and then, swiftly, large columns of rock begin jutting out of the ground around me, one by one, and soon enough, I find myself surrounded by pillars of stone.

"What's this for?" I ask as I slowly turn in a circle, staring at the rocky prison around me. "You realize that I can just break out of this, you know?"

"My orders are the same as before," Cancer answers. "I am to still take you in alive…"

I hear some rumbling come from behind me, and I spin around, only to see a fist constructed out of rock fly towards me out of the stone pillar behind me. Swiftly, I swing my sickle-sword towards the stone fist, slashing it and changing the trajectory of Cancer's attack, and the stone fist blasts into another stone column, denting it, but not breaking through. "So his offense is stronger than his defense…huh?" I ask myself."

"But you, however…" Cancer continues as he then turns towards Evelyn, causing the girl to flinch. "-I wasn't told to leave you alive."

"Dammit, Evelyn!" I cry as I swing my sickle-sword towards Cancer's rock pillars, but my sickle-sword uselessly clangs off, not even making a dent in Cancer's defense. "I…can't break free…?" I softly ask myself as my eyes widen. Next, a fist of rock flies out of the stone column in front of me, socking me in the jaw before I have a chance to defend, and causing my head to violently snap upwards as I'm sent flying backwards, blood rushing from my nose. But then, a second fist flies out of the stone columns, this one coming from behind me, and the stone fist then slams into my back, sending me crashing to the ground. Cancer then aims a hand towards Evelyn, and subsequently, razor-sharp tree roots fly out of the ground all around Cancer, aimed towards Evelyn like arrows.

"Reaper Whip Dance!" Evelyn shouts as she swings her whip towards the tree roots, but the roots are too thick, and not even the Reaper-worthy blade at the end of Evelyn's black whip can slice through. Evelyn merely knicks the roots instead.

"Huh? I didn't even cut them?!" Evelyn cries. "I thought this is a whip that Reapers use!" Meanwhile I'm pummeled to a bloody pulp by Cancer's stone fists.

"You're not channeling enough strength into the whip!" I answer as I swing my sickle-sword into Cancer's stone prison, but my blade uselessly clangs off the rock, just as before, my attempts to break free not accomplishing anything.

"Well excuse me for being human!" Evelyn snaps.

"Crap, Evelyn!" I cry as I slowly begin pushing myself off of the ground, but another flurry of stone fists fly out of the columns again, pummeling me back to the ground. Meanwhile, Cancer's roots continue flying towards Evelyn. Evelyn cries out in pain as Cancer's needle-ended tree roots sliced her body as they fly past her.

"Alright, that's it!" I shout as I ready my sickle-blade and begin charging towards Cancer's stance columns.

"No one has ever been able to break through my stone walls, it's futile," Cancer says as more rocky fists fly towards me. As I charge towards the stone columns, I stare down the rock fists flying towards me, and then, when the time is right, I stomp a foot into the ground and leap into the air, landing on top of a rock fist before jumping over to another one, slowly climbing towards the top of the rock prison.

"How's that for futile?" I laugh as I jump from rock to rock. But just as I'm about to breach the top of Cancer's rock wall, the stone columns begin to grow taller and curve inwards, trying to form a roof to prevent me from escaping. But just before the roof closes up for good, I leap through the small opening between the stone pillars, before jumping off to the ground towards Evelyn, as the stone pillars sink back into the earth behind me. As I land on the ground in front of Evelyn, I slice through the tree roots with my sickle-sword as I do so, before standing up again to face Cancer, putting myself between him and Evelyn.

"Hmm…so you managed to escape?" Cancer hums.

"So I did," I answer.

"Ugh!" Evelyn grunts as she stumbles backwards and clutches her head.

"What's the matter?" I ask.

"His telepathy…it hurts…" Evelyn answers. Using my distraction as a chance to attack, Cancer charges. "Ahh, sorry, Zach!" Evelyn cries as Cancer charges towards the two of us.

I spin around to face Cancer, watching as he launches a rock-covered fist towards me. I bring my sickle-sword up sideways to block, but the force of Cancer's attack alone is enough to send me stumbling backwards, even while blocking. Swiftly, I reach into my messenger bag, but before I can pull out a soul, Cancer sends another sharp tree root flying towards me, causing me to jump backwards and dodge. I attempt to reach into my messenger bag again, but before I can pull out a soul, just as before, Cancer sends another tree root flying towards me. "Alright, now this is just getting annoying!" I snap.

But before I can jump back to dodge Cancer's attack, Evelyn leaps in front of Cancer's tree root, and so…it pierces her stomach. "Ugh," Evelyn grunts as she doubles over and spits out a glob of blood.

"EH-EH-EV-" Stammer as I begin trembling and my eyes widen. "EVELYN!"

"Don't worry," Evelyn smirks as her eyes weakly flutter over to me, while blood begins bubbling out of her mouth. "Now you can eat a soul…right?"

 "That's not what's important now!" I cry as I rip the tree root out of Evelyn's stomach, causing her to limply begin falling to the ground, but before she does so, I catch her.

 "I'm not worried," Evelyn smirks. "You'll just heal me after, right? I trust you."

My eyes widen. I wipe my eyes, before looking back at Evelyn and giving her a confident nod. "Right!" I reply. "You gave me this chance, and I won't waste it!" Finally, I reach into a messenger bag and pull out a soul, before stuffing it into my mouth and swallowing, and as I do so, a burst of soul-blue energy rushes from my body.

"Ogre Soul!" I roar as I charge Cancer. Cancer brings a fist up and covers it in a rock shell, increasing its offensive powers, and as for me, I bring my fist up as well, which begins glowing with light-blue energy, using the power boost that the Ogre Soul granted me in order to get in close to Cancer. "SOUL FLASH!" I shout as I launch my fist towards Cancer, while Cancer launches his fist towards me as well. Our two attacks collide, but my Soul FLash manages to shatter the rock shell surrounding Cancers fist.

"N-no way!" Cancer flies as he's sent flying backwards.

Next, I leap into the air above Cancer, as I raise my sickle-sword high above my head with one hand. The blade of my sickle-sword begins to glow blue, the color of souls, and expands, forming an extra-large blade.

"Stand down, Reaper!" Cancer roars as he claps his hands together, causing a giant wall of rock to rise out of the ground, forming a shield in front of Cancer.

In order to counter, I reach into my messenger bag and pull out a soul. "Soul Grenade!" I shout as I throw the soul like a baseball at Cancer's rock wall, causing the soul to explode, and clearing a path towards Cancer. But then, tree roots begin flying through the opening that I had created, but before they can pierce me, Evelyn's whip flies out of nowhere, slashing through the roots.

"Now there's my big moment," Evelyn smirks at me. I flash Evelyn a thumbs-up as I turn to her and smirk, before turning back to Cancer.

"And now…" I begin to say.

"SUPER SOUL HUNTER!"

With a roar, I slash Cancer with my sickle-sword, causing the sasquatch to howl in pain as he's sent flying backwards, before landing on the forest ground in a pool of his own blood, defeated at last.

"Finally," I wince as I flop to the ground on my butt, allowing for the blue energy coursing around my sickle-sword to dissipate.

"I can't believe I actually he-" Evelyn begins to say as I turn and peer over my shoulder at her, but before she can finish, Evelyn's eyelids slowly flutter close as she limply falls to the ground.

"Shit, that's right, Evelyn!" I cry as I scramble to my feet and rush over to the girl. I drop to the ground beside Evelyn as I reach a hand out to inspect her wound, but when I touch her wound, I find that Evelyn's body is so hot that I yelp and retract my hand. "Her body…is so hot!" I stammer as I lift Evelyn's shirt, but when I gaze upon her wound, my eyes widen. For the bloody hole in Evelyn's stomach…is slowly closing up, as steam erupts from it. "What…is happening…?" I ask in amazement.

"Why is my shirt off…you p-pervert…?" Evelyn weakly coughs as she slowly opens her eyes and sits up.

"Evelyn, you're okay!" I cry as I throw my arms around her.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I b-" Evelyn begins to say, but when she remembers her wound, Evelyn's eyes widen. Evelyn swiftly sits up and reaches for the bloody hole in her stomach, but she finds that it's gone.

"Did you…heal me…?" Evelyn asks as she looks up at me.

"No," I answer, my eyes wide in shock as I let go of the girl and sit back.

"The reason that I couldn't defeat you-" Cancer coughs, drawing our attention over to him. "-Is because there is someone here who the nature loves even more than a sasquatch."

"Ugh, he's still alive?" Evelyn grumbles.

"What do you mean, the nature loves her?" I ask.

"There's only one creature in this world who's wounds are restored once subjected to nature. One incredibly rare creature," Cancer continues, causing our eyes to widen. "A…Fairy."

"I'm…not human…?" Evelyn softly asks herself.

 "A…Fairy…?" I ask. "But no one's seen them in hundreds of years, are they even real?!" I then cry. "Mush less Evelyn?!"

"Did you just call me G-?!" Evelyn angrily snaps, but Cancer cuts her off.

"If you want answers, then there is one man who would have them," Cancer replies. "My superior, Sagittarius…Ezra."

My eyes widen. "There it is, that name again!" I exclaim. "Is Ezra, a-"

"I can't say for sure what Sagittarius is," Cancer replies. "However, Reaper, you may find that he is quite similar to yourself…"

"Zach…?" Evelyn softly asks as she peers up at my tense face. "Is he…?"

"And where can we find this Sagittarius?" I ask.

"He would be over near the East Woods now," Cancer answers. "Seek him out… if you dare. But beware: if Sagittarius wants you dead, then you roll over and die. If he wants you alive, then you must rise from the ashes to do as he commands. He is that kind of man. The ultimate killing machine with no regard for any life. Only his own desires."

"Saggitarous told you to bring me to him, and you're still here," I smirk as I look down at Cancer. "So he can't be all that bad."

"You'd sell out your own ally?" Evelyn asks. "Your superior won't like that."

"Sagittarius is hardly my ally," Cancer spots. "To all of us…he's the means to the end, and vice versa. We happen to share a similar goal, is all. And besides, if you truly are what I think you are, girl, then you are my true superior."

Evelyn frowns.

"And I don't suppose that you'd tell me what it is, right?" I ask.

Cancer is silent.

"Is he…?" Evelyn asks.

"Dead? Probably not," I answer.

"Should we go after Saggitarous?" Evelyn asks.

"Yeah," I answered. "At least…I will. You should go home and rest up."

"Rest up?!" Evelyn cries. "My wounds are healed, I'm more ready to fight than you are!"

"Ready to fight?!" I cry as well. "You can't fight on your best day!"

"But Cancer called me a Fairy, I deserve to know what th-" Evelyn begins to say, but I cut her off.

"I THOUGHT I LOST YOU BACK THERE, AND I'M NOT GOING THROUGH THAT AGAIN!"

Evelyn's eyes widened.

I turn away from Evelyn and blush. "Do what you want!" I grumble. "But I'd advise that you sit this one out. If this Sagittarius guy is as strong as Cancer says, then you could die. For real. I'll beat it outta you, what he thinks you might be."

"Right…" Evelyn answers as a sad smile forms on her lips. "See ya' later, Zach."

"See ya' later," I reply, and Evelyn and I turn away from one another, myself walking to the East towards the East Woods, and Evelyn walking to the West, towards home.

"Oh, and Zach?" Evelyn asks, causing me to stop in my tracks.

"Yeah?" I ask, my eyes remaining dead set towards Sagittarius' location.

"Don't die, okay?" Evelyn sadly asks, and this time, a small smile forms on my lips.

"If I do, then I know I'd have you to beat me back awake," I reply. Evelyn smiles again, and then, the two of us walk away from one another for good.

***

"The East Woods, they're up ahead!" Agent Kardos cries as she points to the East Woods before them.

"Good, we're almost there…" Agent Sniper replies.

But before the four Supernatural Investigators can reach the East Woods, four glowing orange dragon heads fly towards the group, one for each Supernatural Investigator. Each Supernatural Investigator swiftly draws their plasma weapons then leaps backwards, using their respective plasma weapons to defend against the dragon heads. And then, two figures stroll up to the four Supernatural Investigators.

"I don't think I've ever been up against Supernatural Investigators before, this might be interesting," smirks a man wearing an orange scarf.

The skinny, deformed, human-ish figure wrapped in bandages next to him is silent.

The man with the scarf peers down at the bandage-wrapped figure and sighs. "You know, Virgo, people who don't talk are so annoying," he says. "You remind me of my brother."

"Those two are…Yamata Rogue and Virgo, of the Twelve Zodiacs," Agent Gaumond explains.

"You can call me "Scorpio" now," Yamata smirks. "Not that I really dig this Sagittarius guy, or anything. I'm only with him 'cause he promised us greatness."

"You guys take Virgo, Gaumond and I will take Yamata," Agent Smith orders as she draws a plasma grenade in each hand.

"I don't like you telling me what to do, but I also don't care who I face," Sniper replies as he swiftly aims his dual revolvers at Virgo and fires a volley of plasma bullets at her, all in the blink of an eye.

In response, Virgo holds a hand out to Sniper, forming a dome-like plasma shield around herself, causing Sniper's bullets to uselessly fizzle out.

"Is that…plasma power?!" Kardos asks.

"Impossible," Sniper replies as he swiftly reloads his dual revolvers then snaps their cylinders shut. "Only we have access to such technology."

 Kardos draws her plasma sword and charges Virgo, who, in response, lifts a hand up again and forms yet another plasma barrier around her. Kardos then swings her plasma sword towards Virgo, but it has no effect against Virgo's shield, and it uselessly clangs off of it.

"What the-?!" Kardos cries as she retracts her plasma sword.

Virgo then holds her palm up again, and the plasma energy shield around her begins to flow towards Virgo's hand, as it's being absorbed by it. Virgo's plasma shield continues flowing towards Virgo's palm, until it's condensed into a blue sphere of plasma energy. The blue sphere then begins to grow outwards and expand, then molds into shape, taking the form of a large plasma broadsword.

"Don't copy my weapon!" Kardos snaps as she swings her plasma sword towards Virgo, who swings it back towards Kardos in response. The two plasma swords clash in a burst of blue plasma energy.

"Kardos, duck!" Sniper orders as he aims his dual revolvers at Virgo.

"R-right!" Kardos cries as she tucks her chin in, and Sniper fires a volley of plasma bullets out of his dual revolvers towards Virgo. The plasma bullets wizz over Kardos' head, following the straight path towards Virgo, but before the plasma bullets can blast into Virgo, the blade of Virgo's sword expands outwards, taking the form of a flat shield, which she uses to block Sniper's plasma bullets.

"A shield too?" Kardos asks as she kicks off of Virgo's plasma shield, using it to leap high into the air as she raises her plasma sword above her head, before swinging it down towards Virgo. In response, Virgo lifts her plasma shield up to block Kardos' attack. "Dammit, now this is getting annoying," Kardos grunts through grit teeth.

"Six Shooter!" Sniper shouts as he fires another round of bullets at Virgo, But before they can blast into the Zodiac, Kardos' plasma shield begins to flow downwards, extending the length of the shield and blocking Sniper's bullets, and causing the shield to thin out in the process.

"Hmm?" Kardos asks as her plasma sword slowly begins to push past Virgo's shield, as small cracks begin forming in the shield. But before Kardos can shatter Virgo's shield for good, Virgo retracts her shield back to its original form, which thickens up the shield, causing Kardos to be pushed back again.

Kardos then jumps backwards to regroup with Sniper, who takes a step over to his partner. As for Virgo, she holds her palm out again, as her plasma shield begins to flow into it, condensing into another sphere of plasma energy.

"I've never seen a plasma weapon flow such as that one, like water," Sniper comments. "It's as if Virgo can change the shape of the plasma making up her weapon on a whim."

"Yeah, but did you notice?" Kardos asks. "Virgo only has a finite amount of plasma, and the larger she makes the weapon, the weaker it gets! When Virgo extended the plasma shield to block your bullets, my sword was able to form a dent in the shield!"

"I see…" Sniper replies. "Good work, Kardos. Our counter-attack will be formatted based on your information."

"Thank you!" Kardos replies with a giddy smile as sparkles light up in her eyes. "Now we just need to figure out how her weapon works."

"Maybe…it's telepathy?" Sniper asks, mostly talking to himself. "Virgo's weapon is similar to the chief's, but the chief needs a trigger to store the plasma in the first place, like an average plasma weapon, and it also needs buttons to be activated to change the weapon's form. But how does Virgo have a plasma weapon in the first place…?"

"Kardos, follow my lead!" Sniper orders as he aims his dual revolvers at Virgo and fires off another volley of bullets.

"Right!" Kardos replies as she readies her plasma sword and charges. Once she's close enough to Virgo, Kardos swings her plasma sword towards the Zodiac. As for Virgo, her plasma sphere expands outwards, taking the form of a large double-headed ax. Virgo then swings her ax outwards, and as Kardos' plasma sword slashes Virgo, drawing blood, Virgo's plasma ax slashing Kardos as well, caving through her body, and causing Kardos to spit out a glob of blood as she's sent flying backwards.

"Kardos!" Sniper cries as his bullets continue flying towards Virgo, but before they can pierce her, the ax head of Virgo's plasma weapon begins to change shape again, taking the form of a large barrel. Virgo aims her staff-barrel weapon at Sniper and fires off a blast of plasma energy, which blasts into him, sending Sniper flying backwards.

Sniper and Kardos then land on the ground side by side a couple dozen feet away from Virgo, in a cloud of dust.

"Damn…she's strong…" Sniper grunts as he slowly begins pushing himself up to his feet.

"What do we do…Sniper…?" Kardos as she struggles to push herself up as well.

"We do this!" Sniper answers he stands back up and reaches for his eyepatch.

"No!" Kardos orders as she takes a step forwards and holds a hand out, shielding Sniper from Virgo.

"We both saw what happened the last time you used your awakened plasma sword, Kardos!" Sniper snaps. "I won't let you do that again!"

"I'll be fine," Kardos says as she turns to face Sniper and smirks. "My plasma sword has been repaired, and now…I feel invincible! Besides, I can't get better at wielding my awakened weapon if I never use it."

"That's true…" Sniper replies as he slowly lowers his hand from his eyepatch.

"Now…you follow my lead, Colt!" Kardos exclaims as she grabs the guard on the hilt of her plasma sword and pulls it down, forming a longer handle. Kardos' plasma sword then grows longer and wider, forming a giant plasma blade. "Awakened Plasma Sword!" Kardos roars as she charges Virgo, who, in response, holds her plasma weapon up, which then expands, taking the form of a shield. As she charges Virgo, Kardos raises her awakened plasma sword high in the air above her head. "Plasma Sword Decapitation!" Kardos roars as she swings her plasma sword downwards into Virgo's shield in a burst of plasma energy. The burst of energy is so great that the filthy, aged bandages wrapped around Virgo's body fly off of her, as Virgo's eyes widen. And once the explosion subsides, Kardos is able to get a good look at Virgo's body. "What the…?" Kardos asks as her eyes widen upon seeing Virgo's body, which is stitched together and covered in scars. Her mouth is stitched shut as well. On Virgo's right breast is a serial code, Ogvir.

"No…way…" Sniper gasps as his eyes widen as well.

Kardos slashes Virgo's stitched-together arm with her awakened plasma sword, carving it clean off, before leaping backwards to meet Sniper. "What's up with her?" Kardos asks as she raises an eyebrow at Sniper.

"Virgo…Project Ogvir…" Sniper softly says to himself.

"Hm?" Kardos asks. "What's that?"

"A stain on the Supernatural Investigatir's orginzation, Project Ogvir, a project to enable a human to wield plasma energy without it taking the form of a weapon, and being able to manipulate the shape of the plasma at will," Sniper explains. "Virgo…must be the only survivor of the project, who was the only test subject that succeeded. But I was told that she was deemed mentally unstable, and was disposed of…"

"How…horrible…" Kardos gasps as she drops her plasma sword.

"We must dispose of Virgo before the atrocities of the Supernatural Investigators are brought to light!" Sniper shouts as he fires off another vollet of plasma bullets at Virgo.

"I…can't do it…" Kardos sadly replies. "I can't kill a human…not one that I helped to torture like this…"

 "Kardos!" Sniper snaps.

Agent Kardos is silent.

Sniper's bullets continue flying towards Virgo, but before they can blast into her, Virgo lets out a muffled roar through her stitched-up lips, and an explosion of plasma energy bursts from her body. Sniper and Kardos howl in pain as they're caught up in the explosion. Eventually, the explosion subsides, and Sniper and Kardos crash to the ground.

"Kardos, I need your help for this one!" Sniper barks as he hops back up to his feet, but Kardos remains lying on the ground, soaked in blood.

"I know you're stronger than this," Sniper grunts as he aims his dual revolvers at Virgo. "Don't play dead on me! I'll just have to do this myself!"

"Plasma bullets…awaken!"

Sniper then fires off a plasma bullet towards Virgo, and as it flies towards Virgo, it begins to grow and expand, taking the form of a giant drill-shaped bullet flying towards the Zodiac.

"Plasma Drill Shell!"

Virgo lets out a roar as she holds a hand out to Sniper, forming a shield of plasma energy around her. But Sniper's awakened bullet blasts into the shield, drilling straight through it, before piercing Virgo in an explosion of blue plasma energy. Virgo howls in pain until the explosion subsides, where Virgo is found to be lying on the ground in a pool of blood, defeated.

Sniper lets out a sigh. "You can wake up, now," Sniper says as he turns around to face Kardos, who slowly begins to stir, then sits up at last.

"How could the organization…do such a thing…?" Kardos softly asks.

Sniper sighs again. "I don't know," he answers. "Can you forgive them?"

"I…I'm not sure…" Kardos answers as she looks away in shame. "This atrocity…is abhorrent…"

"Well I can," Sniper replies. "If it's for the sake of peace…then anything goes." Slowly, Sniper begins to strut over to Virgo, before kneeling down next to her, and placing a revolver to her forehead.

"What…are you doing…?" Kardos asks, tears in her eyes.

"She's not dead," Sniper coldly answers. "I'm finishing her off."

Sniper cocks back the hammer.

"Don't…" Kardos whimpers.

Sniper moves his finger to the trigger.

"Don't…

 And then…Sniper squeezes the trigger.

"DON'T!" Kardos cries as she jumps up to her feet and charges Sniper. But it's too late, Sniper has already pulled the trigger. Just then, Kardos tackles Sniper, knocking the revolver out of his hand and sending the two tumbling across the ground. Once they stop rolling, Kardos looks down, finding herself lying on top of Sniper, and blushes. Sniper looks up at Kardos as well, panting heavily.

"What are you doing, Agent?" Sniper asks.

"You can't kill her…" Kardos whimpers. "She's not…evil. It's our fault she's like this…"

"The Twelve Zodiacs are a threat to the world," Sniper apathetically replies.

"And we were a threat to Virgo…" Kardos replies.

Slowly, Sniper lifts his second revolver up and places it to Kardos' forehead, causing her eyes to widen. "What…are you doing…?" She asks.

"What I need to do," Sniper answers. "You've betrayed Chief Faustus, Agent Kardos, and for that…you must die."

Kardos begins trembling as Sniper pulls the hammer back again. Tears begin streaming down Kardos' cheeks as she closes her eyes.

And then…Sniper pulls the trigger.

But nothing happens.

Kardos hears a small click noise and opens her eyes again, to watch as Sniper lowers his revolver.

"It's empty," Sniper explains as he tosses the revolver to the side, causing Kardos' eyes to widen. "I wasn't going to kill her, anyway."

"But…why…?" Kardos asks, her voice in a hushed whisper.

"Because after we learned what Virgo is, I knew that you wouldn't have forgiven me if I did," Sniper answers. "So…I didn't."

"Does my opinion of you matter that much?" Kardos asks as she closes her eyes and lets out a sobbing laugh,

"Of course it does," Sniper answers, causing Kardos to open her eyes and blush. "It would be a pain to work together if we didn't get along."

"Is that all…?" Kardos smirks.

"That is all," Sniper answers. "Do as you wish with Virgo," Sniper continues as he begins standing up, forcing Kardos to scramble off of him. "I'm going on ahead."

"What…do you mean…?" Kardos asks.

"I'm going to head onwards to the East Woods," Sniper answers as he turns East. "To defeat our foes. Now that you know the truth about Project Orvig, do as you wish. Kill Virgo to protect our secret, or bring her to Chief Faustus to expose our sins to everyone."

"The choice is up to you, my heartfelt Junior."

And with that, Sniper begins heading towards the East Woods again.

As for Kardos, she gulps, then peers down at Virgo's body.

"Just what do I do now…?"