Upon returning to headquarters, Tora, Scyte, Rare, and Arrow stood in a row with their heads lowered gloomily in front of No Name's desk.
No Name simply stared at them from behind it, his expression so cold it could outmatch ice itself.
"The main target escaped, you triggered alarms across the entire facility, and you nearly died because of a kinetic reflection shield," No Name said quietly, yet every word pierced like a blade.
Scyte opened his mouth to make an excuse, but Tora quickly stepped on his foot from the side to shut him up.
"Enough. At least you managed to bring back the Hyper-Core."
No Name let out a short sigh and placed the glowing tube on top of his desk.
"From now on, stop fooling around. Go to your rooms. Sleep and recover completely. Tomorrow's training will be far harsher."
Hearing that they were not going to receive some bizarre punishment, the four Pions immediately nodded rapidly and bolted toward their dorm rooms on the lower floor.
That night, headquarters felt unusually silent.
Tora, Scyte, Rare, and Arrow fell asleep quickly, their battered bodies exhausted beyond measure.
But...
Within their subconscious minds, without realizing it, all four of them were suddenly pulled into the same space of time.
A vision of a terribly dark future.
Inside the dream, the sky above them was blood red.
The proud headquarters of No Name Corporation had been completely destroyed.
And standing in the middle of that sea of rubble... was someone they knew all too well.
No Name.
But something was wrong.
The dark aura that was usually calm and controlled had become violently feral, devouring everything around him like a starving monster.
No Name's eyes glowed crimson, not a trace of human emotion left within them.
He had truly lost his sanity completely.
The No Name in the dream turned his head and stared directly at Tora, Scyte, Rare, and Arrow.
Then, with impossible speed, their boss shot forward, one hand outstretched with absolute killing intent, ready to erase them on the spot.
"Sir! WAI–!!"
HAAAH!
Tora, Scyte, Rare, and Arrow all woke at the exact same moment in their separate rooms.
Their breathing was ragged, chests rising and falling rapidly. Cold sweat soaked their bodies.
Without needing to be told, the four of them reflexively rushed out of their rooms and met each other in the dormitory hallway. Their faces were equally pale.
"You all... saw that dream too?" Arrow asked hoarsely, still in shock.
Rare nodded slowly while clutching his pillow tightly, his small body still trembling a little.
Scyte wiped the sweat from his face.
"Boss... he looked terrifying. Totally different. Like he wasn't even himself."
Tora clicked his tongue irritably, trying to drive away his fear by ruffling his own hair.
"Ah, forget it! It was probably just because we're still thinking about Boss scolding us earlier. Plus our bodies still hurt from getting wrecked by that crazy doctor's shield."
"Yeah, true... Besides, Boss always looks scary anyway. Same blank face and all, hehe," Scyte laughed awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood even though the hairs on his neck still stood up.
"Enough. Let's go back to sleep. If we wake up late tomorrow, Boss will really get mad, not just in a dream," Tora said as he turned around and walked back into his room.
The others looked at each other for a moment, then nodded in agreement before returning to their own beds.
They chose to ignore that horrifying warning from the future, closed their eyes, and drifted back to sleep.