CORE

"This place feels familiar, but at the same time, It feels rather new, perhaps a feeling nostalgic for memories I never had," Hero commented as he stood next to Justice, admiring the foundations of the city from afar, it was for sure larger than Area 1 by a landslide.

But then they noticed all of it was on a large, dark red platform, with a large bridge connected to the Rift Platform Justice and Hero stood on, though it seemed like it was not a Magic Bridge, thankfully.

"You go first," Justice said, as he stared at the bridge as if he was thinking of something.

"Okay, If anything happens, do cover for me-" Hero said, but as he took his first step it suddenly passed through the bridge, it turned out it was indeed a Magic Bridge in the disguise of a normal one, it had caught Hero off-guard for his magic was completely off.

Luckily Justice reacted and moved quickly, grabbing Hero by the collar and pulling him up before he fell to god knows where within that endless, bottomless void.

"You have to be joking," Hero remarked in a clear frustrated tone as he sighed, realizing that this place, in one way or another was trapping its residents, though, at least they looked happy, unlike those within Area 1, Hero thought as he then activated his magical aura.

"I think we know what this calls for," Justice said, grinning as he raised up a finger gun, as he pulled back his sleeve, and as he did so, ignited a spark of light on his fingertip, giving the illusion of a gun cocking back as he looked at Hero, who seemed unamused.

Though what Justice was implying was right, it seemed like there was gonna have to be a massive cleanup in this Area, Hero thought.

"Well, then we should not waste any more time, let us go," Hero said, scratching the back of his head as he took a step on the bridge once more, this time, with his magical aura activated.

"I'll be right behind you, pal," Justice said as he waited for a bit, before activating his magical aura as well and following Hero on the bridge.

"What did you mean when you said that this was not the Area 2 you were expecting?" Hero asked out of curiosity.

"Ah, well, you see, this entire place used to be a kingdom of sorts, my best guess is he finally made reservations," Justice responded back as he chuckled, while Hero was skeptical of who this 'he' was, most likely the Guardian of Area 2, they better stay on guard then.

The two soon passed the gate or entrance, upon strolling into the city both of them were quite surprised to see it looked a bit larger on the inside, it was very intriguing, and not only that, they saw hundreds of shops and street vendors.

But what was most outstanding was the large castle from afar that seemingly watched over the city, it yielded 5 large floors, Hero guessed that this could possibly be where the Guardian of Area 2 lives, but so far it seemed everything is okay.

"I suppose he still kept his castle," Justice said as he grinned.

"Is there anything I should know about going into this?" Hero questioned as he turned to Justice.

"Well, my memory is a bit foggy since the last time I actually met him was a few years before I was trapped in Area 0, so I can't help you that much unfortunately," Justice said, crossing his arms as he sighed.

"Speaking of, how long were you trapped in that place for?" Hero questioned as the two began to walk along the streets, passing by multiple of the residents who just seemed to be enjoying their time, allowing Hero to be relaxed until then, although they were given some weird stares but other than that everything was fine.

"How long, you ask?" Justice said as he smirked once more Hero felt an uneasy sense of anticipation...

"I totally forgot!" Justice said, looking at Hero with a goofy face, while he looked totally and utterly disappointed as they sighed out of annoyance, facepalming.

"Though, can you really blame me? Like I said at the beginning, I wouldn't be surprised if I had gone insane by then,"

"I guess you are right," Hero said as they continued taking a walk around LONDON, getting used to its environment and locations, which would probably prove useful later on.

"I almost forgot to ask, once we are done should we go for an attack directly?" Hero asked as he looked over to the many buildings ahead and then to the castle.

"I reckon we shouldn't, It is too risky, what if he is actually doing a good job? So far I haven't seen a single bit of dread in this city," Justice said, shrugging his arms, however, clearly not dismissing the possible danger.

But as he said that, they both noticed two people arguing nearby along with a few other residents, in they then stopped in their tracks, it seemed to be between a man and a woman, who supposedly owned the building which was an apartment complex.

"I'm telling you, if you can not pay rent then you can not live here!" The woman yelled out.

"Ah, I'm sure we can negotiate something," The man responded in a half-aggressive tone as they lighted a cigarette before putting it in their mouth as the smoke flew into the sky.

"That's what you have been saying for the past 3 months!" The woman responded furiously as they then shut the door on the man.

"Seriously how troublesome..." The man said as he turned around, sighing as they scratched the back of their head before walking away.

"Well, what was that about dread?" Hero said as he peered over to Justice.

"It was definitely not a planned or manipulated event at the very least," Justice replied, however, Hero was strangely silent, and as Justice turned to look at Hero, he noticed he was focusing on something like he had seen a ghost.

"Hey, Hero, what's wrong?" Justice spoke as he then turned his head over to where Hero was looking, and his eyes slightly widened in response.

The two of them saw that, amongst the entire crowd of people, not a single one of them had a magical aura, except that very same man a few moments ago, and despite it being relatively low, it was indeed there...

"Where am I to go now? I've practically been banned across every apartment complex," The man thought, his hands in his pockets as he lonely walked along the streets of 'London'.

Though, rather ironically, they were not saddened or even perplexed by this, they viewed this as nothing more than a small hassle.

"Not to mention I haven't even finished cracking the code on-" The man thought as they suddenly stopped in place, sensing magical energy from behind, and one of the larger proportions, it was not too near, but it was close enough to he could feel it.

And as he turned around, there he saw Hero and Justice, slightly from afar as they all locked eyes.

"Who might you be? I have not seen a magic user much less two in quite a while," The man questioned as he turned his body around and walked up to the two.

"Greetings, my name is Justice, and this fellow companion of mine is named Hero, we were simply curious as to who you were since out of everyone here... Only you wield magic," Justice spoke out as Hero's arms were crossed and only continued to listen to the conversation.

"I suppose that makes me special but at the same time it doesn't," The man said as he chuckled.

"So, now that you know who you are, might you be able to tell your name, stranger?" Hero asked in a straightforward tone.

"I guess that is fair," The man spoke as they carefully took their cigarette before throwing it away into a nearby alleyway.

"The name's Holmes, Sherlock Holmes, a fairly new detective around these parts, only started about exactly 7 weeks ago," Sherlock answered.

"If you are indeed a detective then that could prove some great help," Hero spoke up, in a more calmer and friendlier tone.

"Help with what exactly?" Sherlock asked as he raised his hand.

"To start off, do you think this place is in one way or another... Being controlled?" Hero questioned, Sherlock's eyes slightly widened as he sighed, smiling.

"Well you have caught my attention, it'll be a fairly long talk, come, I'll take you somewhere we could peacefully discuss without much trouble," Sherlock then turned around as he walked away.

Hero and Justice then turned to look at each other, with Justice in particular having a sense of sarcastic skepticism.

"Do you want to follow him? Or rather, do you think it's a good idea?" Justice asked as he smirked, tilting his head as he did.

"I see no consequence," Hero responded as the two then took a step forward, following Sherlock to wherever he may take them...

Meanwhile, elsewhere within the dark Castle that overlooked the entirety of London's light...

The halls were as dark as the knight, only being lit up by torches that would slowly die out.

Endless halls of endless statues.

Neverending rooms of tubes and experiments.

But one room in particular, in the center of it all, The Main Laboratory which he utilizes.

Within the Main Laboratory, The Scientist stood there, taking notes in front of a large test tube that contained a large humanoid skeleton floating within, which strangely enough, still yielded a Red Core, forcefully kept alive by twisted means.

"The Core seems to still be alive, it has been weeks since I have killed its host, yes... This indeed proves it," The Scientist said, a dominant Russian accent filling the room as they snickered, walking over to a nearby table and putting down their notes as they strolled right back to the test tube.

"The Core and the Body are not connected... For Cores are the culmination of your existence, as long as it is kept alive so is your life," The Scientist said as they moved closer to the test tube, their eyes widening as they got another, sinister idea.

"Brilliant... Truly brilliant," The Scientist said as they moved back, a large grin forming on their face.

"If Cores truly are separated from the Body, then just what if..."

"Two Cores inhabit one body?"

"Yes... This is perfect!"

"What a grand experiment..."

"But who shall I test it on?"

"What shall I test it on?"

"I simply can not wait..."

Back in London City, somewhere within a fairly small restaurant...

"So, ask away," Sherlock said, resting his head on his arm as Hero took a deep breath before speaking.

"It is the same question I asked earlier, Is this place under any sort of control?" Hero asked while Justice stayed silent, solely interested in the conversation as he yawned.

"First off, your friend over there is a Guardian, yes? How come he doesn't know?" Sherlock spoke in a semi-polite tone.

"I was trapped and kept hidden for a while," Justice said as he pointed at himself.

"...How did you know he was a Guardian?" Hero questioned.

"Simple deduction, and to answer your actual question..." Sherlock said as he put his arm down before taking a few coughs.

"Yes, this place is indeed under control, the thing is, no one actually knows it is beside me," Sherlock said.

"But what is your proof exactly?" Hero asked in a curious tone, clearly interested.

"That large castle that overlooks us, I guess that is enough proof, yes?" Sherlock replied with a smug look.

"Well, it has been giving a strange vibe, Hero, more often than not, Guardians like for their base to stand out and look fancy, especially since we're dealing with him, though it does look drastically different from when I last came, so that may just be a wild guess I'm taking," Justice spoke out.

"No, you have a point, I apologize for doubting you for even a moment, Holmes," Hero said sincerely as he turned to Justice and then to Sherlock.

"It's not a problem at all, same for you, Justice, was it?" Sherlock said, smirking as he then stood up, putting his hands in his pocket.

"When you have eliminated all which is impossible then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,"