Prologue

* Digital Devil Saga 2 ost - Madness plays*

" This is Xeno 1 to HQ, I am currently en-route to the intruder's location!"

" Copy that Xeno 1, do not let them escape."

"Roger, Xeno 1 out"

All around me, the entire scene was alit with flashing red lights, and loud sirens echoing throughout the hallways. A scene most common, whenever full lock-down is engaged. Who would have thought that after returning just yesterday back to HQ, that an intruder would be detected infiltrating the next day. Whoever they were, the intruder picked one hell of a day to break-in.

I sped throughout the entire floor, looking in each direction, eyeing for anything that didn't belong. So far, however, there was nothing but an empty labyrinth of hallways and locked doors, flashing the same red light over, and over. Everyone, saved the intruder, evacuated immediately once the alarms went off, and all exits have been cut off by security. As for me, I was sent in to hunt down the trespasser, yet, from how things appeared, it seemed like they already escaped. Until finally, I saw someone who was clearly out of place.

Within my line of sight, I noticed a short figure running down the halls, wearing a mouse shaped hood, and carrying a metal canister in hand. Last I checked, this wasn't Disneyland, and if I had to guess, that canister was a classified object from the labs.

"You there, stop where you are," I yelled, as I pointed my sidearm at the intruder, but they didn't care. The intruder still continued to run on.

Seeing that our little rat was not willing to listen, I fired off a few rounds at the target, attempting to immobilize them. But before the bullets could even reach them, they managed to turn a corner quickly, causing my rounds to hit the wall instead. With all the damn interchanging hallways, and the speed they were displaying, getting a clean shot on them wasn't possible.

With no other choice I chased after them, and man, was it a chase. Never had I ever had difficulty catching someone on foot, but the intruder was jetting away like nothing. Still, it wasn't enough to stop me from staying on their tail, and while trailing behind them, I couldn't help but notice something peculiar.

Emitting off of them was some dark, shadow-like aura, radiating menacingly . In my experience, I have never came across such a bizarre phenomenon, but something in me told me it was dangerous, and damn was it right. For as the intruder appeared to be blocked off by a small blast door, in a hall with no more detours, an unexpected twist happened. A twist in which the intruder charged up with that same dark aura, and rammed right through the blast door.

"What the Hell!"

For someone so small, their strength was immense. It was unbelievable.

" Xeno 1 to HQ, the intruder has made it through one of the blast doors, and is heading up the emergency stairs. Possibly attempting evac by air."

" Copy that, Xeno 1. Continue your pursuit."

"Roger."

I didn't know what the intruder was hoping for heading up. Any airborne transportation would be shot down immediately, and it's no use descending down from the rooftops, for all ground forces would be on them within seconds.

After running up many flights of stairs, the chase eventually brought us to the roof of the building. As soon as I rammed through the exit, I had my eyes run across the area for the target with iron-sights at the ready. Within sight was nothing but a large helipad atop HQ tower, with the night sky alit by its lights, and standing in the middle, the intruder themselves.

" Alright, this spot should do." sounded a voice from the intruder.

" You got nowhere else to run now," I yelled with my weapon aimed. "So how about you drop the souvenir, and put your hands where I can see them."

With my target now in a wide open area, it didn't matter how fast they were. I was cleared for a shot.

" Ah shit, we still didn't lose him," said the mysterious voice again. "Hey meat shield, be useful and keep him busy!"

Finally, the intruder turned around, allowing their face to be seen. To my surprise, it was just an ordinary girl. Well... kinda... if you excuse the green hair, and pale grey skin. And as I was returning her gaze with my own, something about her struck me as odd. Her eyes, as I was staring at them, appeared completely blank. Lifeless, you could say. As if they were stuck in a trance. Exactly what am I up against, I thought.

Suddenly, the hooded girl let the canister drop to the ground, and brought out what looked to be an iron pipe.

" You gotta be kidding me," I said, shaking my head. " A highly secure facility armed with advance security systems, anti-air defenses, specially trained soldiers, and every other stealth game cliche you can think of, and yet, your weapon of choice... is damn plumbing?

"Ha, don't get too cocky asshole. With this power up, even Ms. Underling here can put up a fight against a scrub like you."

Again with that same female voice out of nowhere. I was staring at the hooded girl's face the whole entire time, but not once did I see her mouth move at all. Surely we were the only ones out here, or so I assumed. For as I looked closely behind the girl, that was when I noticed something, or someone, next to her. And as crazy as it sounded, that someone was a tiny fairy-looking girl sitting on a floating book.

" Huh? A tiny fairy, what the Fuuuuuh..."

While I took a few seconds to process what I was seeing, the hooded girl started dashing towards me with great speed and weapon firmly gripped. Noticing the incoming threat, I forced myself to snap out of it, and immediately pull the trigger on the oncoming assailant.

One by one, each bullet exploded from the chamber of my gun, flying towards their intended mark with sharp accuracy and velocity. However, each projectile failed to reach, as the hooded girl swung and deflected each hit with ease, while continuing her charge forward. It was obvious at that point that this wasn't gonna be an easy fight. For within seconds, I soon found myself within range of my attacker, as I saw the iron pipe flying overhead towards me with great force.

Quickly, I blocked the incoming attack with my gun, stopping the pipe just a few inches from my head. With my foe now wide open, I kneed them in the stomach, pushing them back, allowing me to get some distance and a chance to fire. Yet, before I could pull the trigger again, the hooded girl recovered fast, swooped in, and disrupted my aim, causing me to miss. After which, she then continued to assault me with a barrage of swings.

"Damn it all, we could have been out of here by now, if it wasn't for this freak'n barrier."

I didn't know what was up with this girl, but she was swifter, and more resilient than she looked. Each swing she threw was just as fast as the previous one, forcing me to go on the defensive, keeping my distance as best as I could. Not to mention, every attempt on me was met with a parry or dodge, followed by a counterattack, yet, despite my efforts, I couldn't land a single bullet. She would either deflect my shot or disrupt my aim again like before, and every kick or punch I threw didn't seem to faze or slow her down a bit. At this point, I thought, I may as well hold a rose in my mouth, and call it tango night.

"Come on damn it, just a few more seconds."

While our little dance kept going, I still couldn't help but notice how strange her eyes looked. Normally, when you're fighting someone, it's possible to read their thoughts and emotions through their eyes, giving you a hint to their next move. With that said, I couldn't read anything. Her eyes were completely vacant, devoid of any emotions, or thoughts. It was like fighting an automated dummy, with one hell of a motor function.

" Yes! Finally we're out of here! Quick, enough playing! Let's get the hell out of here now!"

Responding to the tiny runt's demands, the hooded girl jumped back from me for a few seconds, allowing that black aura surrounding her to fluctuate and engulf her weapon, which was a definitely a bad sign. The last time that black aura grew bigger, a solid metal door became scrap metal upon impact. Meaning that getting hit by that iron pipe now, blocked or not, would be a grave mistake.

Without a second to breath, the girl darted towards me faster than ever, swinging at me with much deadlier intent, and all I could do in the moment was evade. Horizontal swing, duck down,vertical swing, shift sideways, diagonal swing, jump back. I was not about to let myself get hit by such a dangerously buffed up weapon.

If she was able to power up the whole entire time, then she would have activated it from the start, which meant she had to give it time to rest after each use. In other words, I just had to keep dodging until her little buff ability ran out. Easier said than done, as I found my reaction time becoming a second delayed, and the pipe, a few centimeters closer with each evasion. The hooded girl was intent on ending this quick, and my reflexes were really being put on the edge. Eventually, my movements became too slow, and as a result, found my head getting intimate with a solid piece of metal, infused with the power of a damn freight train.

With so much force being sent straight through my body, the impact blew me back a good distance away from my foe, and afterwards, fall down hard on the ground. Luckily, the helm I was wearing reduced the blow a bit, but not enough as I laid there dazed from it, along with my vision extremely blurred as well.

With myself now temporarily out of the way, the hooded girl grabbed the canister from the ground, and followed the tiny fairy girl towards, what I was somewhat able make out as, a glowing pentagram.

" Hahaha, what did I tell you. Must hurt a hella lot, huh," the fairy girl said mockingly.

"Grrr... Smug...little..."

As I tried to recuperate from the impact, my vision slowly began to refocus, but not enough to see clearly. In addition, my body was still feeling wobbly. Regardless, I still tried to stop the intruders, as I tried firing upon them with whatever focus I could muster. Unfortunately, all I was doing was wasting bullets, as my aim was way off with each round.

" Man, now this is just pathetic. How about you just stay there like the whipped dog you are."

I couldn't let these two escape, not with whatever they stole, but I knew very well that my vision wasn't gonna recover quick enough. So without any hesitation I darted towards the pentagram that the two were in, not knowing what was going to happen.

"Oh crap, he's coming this way, better exit now!"

" You're not getting away that easily " I yelled as I reached for the tiny fairy girl. However, before my hand could even reach, the glowing pentagram started to flash a bright radiance.

Within the powerful flash, my vision started to blur again, as the light enveloping the pentagram engulfed all three of us. All I could feel in that instance was the feeling of drifting as my body levitated, and in the next, darkness, and silence. Whatever I got myself into, it was already too late to back out now.

To be continued...