A/N: Thanks to 8491 for the review! I am so sorry that I haven't been updating at all! Beta has been super busy with real life stuff, and I've been real busy with real life stuff. Now that school's out, I should be back on track of updates! (That and I wrote myself into a corner and couldn't figure how to get out).

Enjoy!

The five of them were sitting back in their cloud hopper, far off towards the warehouses that held the illegal monsuno fighting rings. None of them had words for what they had just witnessed, and not just the tactical division confiscating Team Core Tech's cloud hopper.

No, what bothered them all was the security footage. It was clear evidence that something was going on with Team Core Tech. But to what, none of them were sure.

It did spell out trouble for Team Core Tech, wherever they were.

Alpha was staring down at the small screen in his hand, watching the footage on loop. The others could tell he was trying to find a clue or sign, but by the way his face was set in a hardened expression, there was nothing else to be found.

"... Give it a rest Alpha," Kilo sighed, "It's obvious that Red there turned on S.T.O.R.M."

"You can't be sure of that," Alpha said, not bothering to look up as he replayed the last part of the monsuno fight on the screen.

"Well... It's not like that's fake," X-Ray said, shifting in his seat. As soon as they had gotten back, he had analyzed the authenticity of the footage. All that revealed was the location of where the camera was from (somewhere in the eastern part of the city). And as much as they all hated to admit it, that was really Jinja.

"... What if someone is just looking like her, and they stole Charger?" Alpha suggested, biting his thumb.

"No way. Even if Charger was stolen, it wouldn't be that quick to change orders," Tango said, then looked off to the side, "... Monsuno can tell who's controlling them, no matter what they look like."

She gripped onto Ironjaw's core. That was something that they all knew was true. One of the training exercises they went through as a team was fighting with each other's monsuno. The first time they tried it was a disaster, with half the training bay going up in flames because of it.

It could've just been their inexperience with monsuno, but they all knew that it had deeper then that. And if Team Core Tech understood monsuno bonds more then anyone, then their monsuno would be the least likely to be fooled by some imposter who just looked like them.

Lingering on that last thought, the image of the red-haired girl they were chasing earlier flashed in Tango's memory. She turned to their leader, who was still staring down the video.

"... What's wrong Tango?" Bravo asked, noticing the look she was giving, "You've been really quiet every since the two of you came back. Did you ever find that guy from the fight earlier?"

Alpha tensed, an action barely caught by the rest. When he didn't say anything, Tango let out a sigh.

"We did," she started, "But, then we were ambushed. S-They probably knew about the tracker. There's no other explanation really."

"Well... Did you get any information from them at least?" Kilo asked, "Do you have a clue as to who they are?"

Tango bit her lip, "I remember... They were around X-Ray's height, maybe even shorter... When I was fighting with them I caught sight of their clothes. They were red and black, just like their core."

X-Ray started typing away at their cloud hopper's computer. They could all see on the large screen that he was bringing up the records for Eklipse. He started to browse through the different snapshots of those currently wanted. After typing in Tango's descriptions, he narrowed down their search quite a lot.

"... Is there something else you remember that's specific?" X-Ray asked, brows furrowing as he saw the long list of suspects. The raven haired girl had to think for a moment, trying to remember anything that could give them a clue besides the obvious. Especially with Alpha now staring at her.

"Oh! There was," Tango said, "They wore a mask with a strange symbol on it. I don't know what it could mean though..."

X-Ray glanced around the desk, and grabbed a pen and pad of paper. He handed it to her, and Tango clumsily drew what she saw.

"It kinda looks like a curly letter V," Kilo said, peeking over her shoulder.

"No. It looks like a face. The curves at the end could be eyes and the V part could be a mouth," Bravo added, pointing to the ends and tracing along the bottom.

"Nah. It looks more like the little antenna that my sister drew with her butterflies," X-Ray said on, then snatched the pen from Tango's hand and added onto it, "See? Like this."

Tango raised a brow, and snatched the pen away, furiously tracing the part she drew.

"Well. Anyway," she sighed," this is what it looked like. Is it enough to work with?"

"Not really... But I can try," X-Ray mumbled, taking the paper and swiveling around in his chair. He started typing away again, now going through the multiple files of Eklipse related insignia's. The rest of them sat back in their chairs, waiting in anticipation. Tango looked to Alpha again, who had put the small device away and was now staring intensely at the ground. She really wanted to say something to him, but with the rest of their teammates around, she wasn't sure if he would want that.

At least that was what she remembered about him when it came to secrets.

A sharp blare of music made her jump, and they all turned to Bravo, who was tapping away at the Core Tablet. The music to Zombie Attack Force filled the room. X-Ray banged is forehead on the desk.

"Can you at least turn that down," he snapped, Bravo ignoring him as he got caught up in the game, "Seriously. I can work through the sound of monsuno fighting but those lazy sound effects are annoying-"

"That's it!" Alpha exclaimed, standing up and startling the rest of them. The game over music sounded off.

"Uh... What's it?" Kilo asked. Alpha walked over to the exit.

"The monsuno fighting ring! Of all the people who would know about new enemies, it would be the people running the illegal fights!" he said, then started pacing around the room. He stopped briefly before going over to the controls of the cloud hopper. The engine hummed alive.

"Uh. Alpha? Where are we going?" Bravo asked.

"Nowhere. Just need to check something on the radar," the red-haired teen responded, then pressed a few buttons on Tango's control panel. A few lights flashed before the screen displayed a single blinking dot in the center.

The other three cast a look to X-Ray, who went back to concentrating on his own work, before going to their leader.

"Are you looking for more monsuno activity?" Kilo asked, "Cause I'm pretty sure we scared everyone off in the arena earlier."

"Not quite. That fight was a little too organized for some run of the mill fight," Alpha said, "And whoever organized it probably has a different meeting spot in the city, or at least a place where all the fighters go to. We just need to find a concentration of monsuno energy. All those cores in one place are bound to have a large signal."

"But would that work? We can't really track monsuno unless they're out of their cores," Bravo said, scratching his head. Alpha stopped briefly. The radar in front of them continued to beep every so often, only their ship visible on it. Alpha turned to Tango.

"... This is your field of expertise," he said, then stood out of the chair, "So... Here."

He gripped on the back of the chair, foot tapping a bit nervously. Tango watched him, expression unreadable. She glanced around to the others for a second before walking towards the exit.

"I want to ask you something first. Alone," she said, walking out without another word.

She knew that he would follow. Especially if her hunch was correct. As she stepped out into the open, Tango couldn't help but let out a sigh. The air was cooler out here, and felt even more refreshing after sitting tensely in the ship. It was short lived, as she heard footsteps behind her.

"... So uh. What did you wanna talk about?" Alpha asked. She turned around and saw him shuffling on his feet. She glanced over his shoulder quickly to make sure no one else had followed.

"I saw who it was," she said, "The one who attacked tonight. The cloak ripped off when we fell down the construction shaft."

Alpha visibly eyes flicked up at her, "Wh-what do you mean? So you know who it is?"

She shook her head, "No. There really was a mask. And I have a feeling that symbol on it must mean something... I doubt that one person can do that much damage alone. But there were certain qualities that were somewhat... Familiar."

"Y-yeah? You think so?" Alpha nodded, pausing briefly as he shuffled on his feet, "Well then... You ought to tell X-Ray so he can narrow his search."

"Do you want me to? Then we have to hunt them down, or turn the information over to the Tactical Force considering how we ought to find Team Core Tech first."

Alpha bit his lip. She was purposely baiting him, trying to get a reaction. It wouldn't take long, he tended to get antsy when he was bothered by something, and impatient. But she was also hoping her hunch was wrong.

"I mean. We ought to find Chase and his gang first right? It makes sense that we complete our mission here," she shrugged.

"Uh... Sure," Alpha said hesitantly, then quickly shook his head, "You're right. We're wasting time. There's really no point in going after her... The strange monsuno can wait."

He was quick to turn around and try to flee back to the ship, but Tango was faster, and seized his arm.

"Don't you want to though? It seems important to you that we find out about these people," she said, "Alpha... Please. I know there's something bothering you about this, and its not just the monsuno we saw."

He continued to stare back at the cloud hopper, not facing her.

"... No," he mumbled, "No. Why would it?"

"Because I never said it was a girl that I saw."

Alpha's head whip around so fast that Tango almost flinched. The panic in his eyes was quick to disappear, replaced by anger. But the raven-haired girl wasn't about to back down.

"... You know who it is don't you?" she asked, more of a statement, as she loosened her grip and let his hand fall back to his side. The sounds from the city seemed far away as they stood there, and made the distance between the two even larger.

"If I tell X-Ray everything... I have to tell him what she looks like," Tango said, growing quiet. Nothing about that girl's appearance was a giveaway for who she was, except for the one quality that she had kept hidden within the cloak.

"... Tango," he finally said, voice calm and steady, "This is an order. Let me take care of this my way. I want you and X-Ray to stay here and track down Jinja and the rest of Team Core Tech. Find out what's going on with them."

She bit her lip, gaze falling. She saw him coming close, and he grabbed her shoulder. Tango looked up, and Alpha gave her a grin.

"I'm trusting you with this," he said, pulling his hand back. Tango looked off to the side, then let out a sigh. Shaking her head, she walked back to the cloud hopper, stopping for a brief second.

"... Alright. But..."

She shook her head again, marching back up the ramp into the ship.

HLP

As he watched Tango trail back into the cloud hopper, the horrible feeling in his gut still churned away. He hated the fact that, even after all these years, he couldn't hold his emotions in check. Way too often had it become a problem in his training, and then again whenever he was facing Chase...

He inhaled deeply, then marched back into the ship. He walked back into the main room, and saw Tango already busying herself with X-Ray by the main computer. Kilo and Bravo were both snickering to each other, the Core Tablet in their hands as they continued to play on it. Alpha cleared his throat.

"Alright. Because of these weird monsuno, we're still gonna track down some of the monsuno controllers from the fight," he said, "X-Ray and Tango will continue to try and track down any activity regards Team Core Tech. While the rest of us go search the city for information-"

"Wow. Didn't think you'd take after Suno so fast," Bravo snorted. Alpha felt his cheeks grow red.

"T-That's not why!" he stammered, "Anyway! We still ought to try and find out who these people are. Unless you two want to wait here and play games for the rest of the night."

X-Ray whipped around in his chair so fast he nearly lost his glasses.

"No! Take them with you!" he pleaded, "The last thing I need is to hear that forsaken battle music again!"

Kilo and Bravo exchanged looks. Bravo set the Core Tablet back down on the nearby counter.

"Sure. I suppose it beats sitting around," Kilo shrugged, then thought for a moment, "So... Where are we supposed to start? We can't search the whole city. That'll take days."

"I already found monsuno activity on the radar," Tango answered, not looking away from the screen she and X-Ray were at, "It's in a unpopular side of the city, so it might be a little rough."

"I'm sure we can handle it," Bravo boasted, then frowned, "But we can't exactly go walking into a place filled with people from Eklipse dressed in our S.T.O.R.M. uniforms."

"... That's true," Alpha said, putting a thumb to his chin in thought. If Chase and his group had an entrance similar to the one during the Spin Go! tournament, then everyone knew that S.T.O.R.M. was in the city. Not to mention how they couldn't exactly start openly dismissing orders and investigate this lead without reporting it..

Just then the teen got an idea, and pulled the other two into one of the large storage rooms. Looking around, he searched for a certain trunk under the many crates and containers.

"We just need a little incognito," he said, then found what he was looking for under one of the counters. After tugging unsuccessfully on the handle, Bravo had to come over and yank it out.

The lid popped open, revealing an assortment of clothes that were both folded and tossed lazily inside. The three immediately started to dig around for something less conspicuous.

"I forgot we had these in here," Kilo said, holding up his old letterman's jacket, "I guess it was a good thing we kept them."

"Never know. We might've needed them a few months ago," Bravo said, pulling a few shirts out trying to find something that would fit.

After a few minutes of throwing off their uniforms into a neat pile on one of the metal trunks, Alpha looked in the mirror at his new appearance. He had forgotten what it felt like to wear casual clothes that weren't heavy with metal. Even in his early days he was required to wear weighted vets under his training gear. He felt lighter, but that hardly did much to the uneasiness in his stomach.

He glanced behind him and saw Bravo and Kilo finishing up on changing. Bravo threw on a grey hoodie with some black shorts that on anyone else would be considered for basketball, but actually were his extra pair of swim trunks. The blonde threw the hood up, tugging at the bottom.

"I must've grown again. This thing is too short," he sighed, raising his arms and watching as he stomach peeked out from under the jacket.

A hand ruffled up Alpha's hair. He let out a surprised grunt, and saw Kilo with a baseball cap on. He tugged the rim down further.

"You might wanna loosen up your hair," he said, "We were both at the fight tonight, you know?"

Alpha frowned, but had to agree. Even though no one had seen them, there was no point in risking it. Looking back in the mirror, he ran his hands through his hair a few times to get the gel out. He hardly had much of a natural part, which meant his hair stuck up oddly at some places. By the way his hair curtained around his face, maybe he needed a haircut...

Blowing a strand out of his face, he turned to the other two, "Alright. Ready to go?"

They were quick to write down the coordinates that Tango had found, and were surprised to see that it was relatively close to the warehouses (but given how seedy the whole area was, that shouldn't have been surprising at all). Despite that, they did their best to try and seem as casual as possible while walking down the streets.

Before they knew it, they were standing in front of a what seemed to be a bar. Shouting could be heard coming from inside.

"... Hey look. They're doing a special on barbecue for monsuno fighters," Kilo said, pointing at one of the banners.

"We don't have time for that," Alpha groaned, hearing all their stomachs growl. Shaking his head, the red-haired teen walked inside.

The place didn't look too shady on the inside. On the contrary, it looked just like any other restaurant besides the many groups exchanging cores and speaking openly about monsuno. Alpha took a deep breath.

"Remember," he whispered, "Try to find a black core."

Being as inconspicuous as they could, the three teens walked further inside. They settled at a table somewhat in the front with clear view of anyone who walked through.

"What's the plan if we do find it?" Bravo asked as they huddled together, "We can't just spin out in front of everyone."

'We'll wing it," Alpha said. A hand tapped his shoulder and he jerked up. A woman stood there with a pad of paper, raising a brow at him.

"Agh. Uh. Sorry!" he said, sitting down. She popped a wad of gum, clicking her pen.

"What'll it be?"

"What? Oh! Uhh..." Alpha stammered, "The-uh. Water!"

She stared at him with a nonplussed look, then to the other two. She clicked her pen and turned on her heel with a exaggerated sigh.

Alpha sank back into his seat sheepishly. He turned to the other two.

"Anyway," he sighed, "Have you guys seen anything yet? Maybe someone who looks a little shady?"

Kilo shook his head, "Nope. Everyone here is suspicious. And I doubt anyone would be showing off a core like the one we saw anyway."

They gave a quick look around, seeing many of the patrons still laughing and exchanging words.

"Hm... Then I suppose we can just get some information and move on," he said, arms folded, "Maybe we can find out where Chase and the others are."

"Who are we supposed to even ask for information?" Bravo asked, "None of these people seem like they're exactly friendly-"

Just then, a crowd in the back started to cheer and whoop. The three exchanged looks before going over. As they came closer, they could see at least two people sitting at the small table in the center. Both Alpha and Kilo tried to peek, but could hardly see anything behind the many fighters as they threw their hands up in cheers.

"... Agh! Can't see anything!" Alpha said, "Bravo, can you see anything?"

Even on his toes, Bravo was barely able to look over everyone's shoulders.

" ... I see a guy, looks like he pumps too much iron. Might be a boxer or something. He's arm wrestling with a girl with blue hair-"

Suddenly, the crowd parted away as the shouting rose. A large body came tumbling by, falling flat on the floor. Everyone turned back to the table to see the tanned girl with light blue hair grinning widely as she cracked her shoulder.

"Nice try there, Sato. But you'll have to do better then that!" she said, picking up a few notes from the table and stuffing them into her pocket. She leaned back in her chair, "Any other takers? Step right up! The first one's free!"

A/N: Again, I'll try to catch up on writing this week and hopefully get another update out. Review Review Review!