Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long to put this up, I had a few plots that needed ironing out before they either made sense or didn't seem too rushed.

Anyway, Cronicles of Ouendan is a semi-alternate prequal to Life of an Agent. I say semi-alternate because there will be some plots that may not properly answer the questions that might be raised from reading Life of an Agent. Also, please note that Cronicles of Ouendan is an exaggeration on my point of view of how the Ouendan came to be who they are today (Even though I know I'm not the only one who comes up with a backstory to their formation). And finally, as I have always said in Three is Company, I hardly know much about Japanese culture and language, and get most of my resources from My Japanese Coach, the Internet, GameFAQs, and AnimeLab.

Episode 1: Working Around Hindrance

Woops and cheers fill a nightclub deep in New York as lights and disco balls flashed a variety of different colors. The music blares loudly in the club as everyone dances and boogies to its rhythmic beat and singing. A DJ stands in the booth hanging against the wall of the club, scratching the record to let them know he's about to change songs.

Among the crowd of young men and women stood a couple, wearing black, government like suits, with a feisty, wily attitude and moves that could make even the most flexible dancer look stiff. One of them is a male, most likely in his late thirties, with short, bushy hair under a gray fedora, wearing green wayfarers. The second is female; five years younger; her dreadlocks, tied high behind her head, are estimated to reach her back. She wears a pair of dove-shaped specks over her eyes, a large pair of clamshell headphones with an iPod strapped to her belt, and, unlike her male partner, she wore black chaps over very short cutoff jeans and a small shirt that exposed her slim belly.

"Whoa! Look at them move!" one of the spectators gasps when the male grabs his opposite and pulls her into a dip, "It's like they're cats or somethin'!"

"What kind of exercise do they do every morning?" another asked, "Cause I wanna try it myself!"

"You couldn't stand their training if you was the toughest person on the planet," chuckles a third bystander. He appears shorter and chubbier than the spectacle on the dance floor; his hair sleek and shoulder long, tied back in a tight ponytail. He wore square-rimmed, large shades with dark blue lenses, "What they do is dangerous, but it helps them flex out their muscles and prepare them for the day ahead."

"Oh? What kind of dangerous things do they do during the day?" The first bystander asked.

"Seven years ago, you wouldn't consider it a job. But when we came onboard, many people knew and called for us every day. That's what keeps us flexed and healthy."

"What!? You mean they're...!?"

"Yep, you're looking at the top ranking members of the Elite Beat Agents, the No.1 support group in America. If ever you're in trouble and you have no way of staring it down, give these guys a scream and they'll come runnin' down to help ya."

"Wow, Twist! That was fun!" the woman exclaims as she and the two men walked through the door into a brightly lit hallway, "I wish we could do this all day!"

"You forget, Twirl," Twist, the tall man chuckles, "We can do this everyday. It's our job, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that's right, isn't it?" Twirl giggles, "I get so wrapped up in this sorta thing that I keep forgettin' why we became Agents to begin with!"

"I see you three have been hitting the clubs again," said a voice. The three turn to see an elderly man wearing a commander's outfit walk towards them. He wore dark green shades and sports a short, rough mustache. He stops a few feet from them and takes a moment to survey their appearances, "Agents Twist, Twirl, and Techno."

"Aw, we can't help it, Commander Kahn," Twist chuckles, "We're so hyped up that we wanna spend the rest of the day dancin' our rears off."

"And thus, I am reminded of why I made the decision to bring you into our agency," Kahn says with a smile, "You three are always energetic and eager to help anyone who calls on you."

"Yep! That's us, alright!" Twirl says as she places her index and middle finger on her lips and blew a kiss.

"You always have a keen eye for finding people worthy of using their talents to lift the pressure off people's shoulders," Twist says.

"And to this, we thank you for choosing us from a roster of other dancers who could be just as helpful," Techno began, "With some heavy practicing."

Twirl groans as she rubs the back of her head, "Yeah, that's what gets me, y'all. There ain't a whole lot of people who'd wanna risk a harsh training regimen just to get the pleasure of encouraging others to fight their problems. So far, the only people we've got who can tolerate the training is the new Diva unit I arranged last year."

"I know it's rough, given we don't have much to simulate on," Kahn sighs, "But when we raise enough funds and experience, we will invest in something that could help us get used to anything that might distract us from our main goal."

"Oooh! You mean like the holodeck in those Star Trek shows!?" Twirl squeals.

"If we can find the technology to build one," Kahn says.

Twist and Twirl threw their arm around one another while throwing their fists into the air, Twirl bending her left knee upwards, "Righteous! We get to play in our very own holodeck!"

"It does sound like fun, doesn't it?" asks a voice from behind Kahn. Everyone turns to see a young girl with wavy, blonde hair and a beauty mark on her lower left lip; wearing orange, transparent shades, red, western-themed halter top and wristbands; red chaps over her white short-shorts; and black, high-heel boots.

"Hey, Anna-chan!" Twirl pipes up, letting go of Twist and walking over to her, "Glade to see you're eagerness in expanding our equipment! This' gonna be fun!"

"Oh, that reminds me," Twist began, walking over to Anna, "How's your throat? I overheard Vixen and Liza mention you've been having trouble breathing in the past few weeks."

Anna sighs a bit as she rubs her throat, "After that last mission, I'm not so sure. I'm heading down to the doctor right now to make sure it's nothing serious."

She walks past the group before hearing anything else. It was obvious she was fretting the worst and didn't want anyone to encourage her to think of something else. Twirl sighs a bit as she crosses her arms.

"Poor girl," she said, "She's the most enthusiastic Diva on the team. I'd hate to see her go."

"Well, if anything else," Twist began, "She still has those cheerleading competitions to keep her fame up."

"Fame ain't nothin' if you don't add a little spice to it," Techno snorts, "Bein' third from the top in cheerleader competitions only nets you an icon to be inspired or hated. It don't make you feel anymore better about how you use your talents, that's my opinion."

"I suppose you're right," Twirl says, "But the way she's been acting lately, I have a feeling her condition is far worse than just a sore throat."

"It may be," Kahn said, "I have an inkling we may wind up losing one of our best Divas."

Anna sticks her tongue out as a doctor places a stick on it.

"Say 'ah'," he orders. Doing as told, Anna bellows a soft, almost raspy sound that caused the doctor to cringe.

"Hmm...." he mutters as he takes the stick out, "How long have you've had this throat problem?"

"About a month," Anna mutters, swallowing hard, "In the last year since I joined Elite Beat Agents, I've never had this kind of problem happen to me."

The doctor hums again as he caresses Anna's throat, "We may need to run an x-ray of your throat to determine what the problem is. Judging from the sound of your swallowing, it may require surgery to remove."

"Surgery!?" Anna exclaims, "But...but if something happens to my throat, I'll be kicked out of the agency!"

"It's either surgery, or you suffocate," the doctor said, sternly, "You don't want to die so young, do you?"

Anna groans as she drops her head between her shoulders, "No...I don't...."

"Then if it comes down to surgery, you will have to accept the side effects and figure out a way to work around them."

Anna sighs in worry as she slips off and heads out of the room.

"I'm really worried about Anna," Twirl sighs as she sat in the mess hall, running her fork along an untouched plate of spaghetti and meatballs, "I don't want Anna to quit if there's something seriously wrong with her throat. She's one of our most respected allies."

"Don't worry so much," Twist chuckles as he sits back in his chair and sips a cup of herbal tea, "Anna ain't a quitter. She may sound different than before, but it's not going to hamper her ability to perform. She'll be just fine."

"Maybe.... But I'm mainly worried about the Commander. If what Anna has destroys her ability to perform to his expectations, he might push her to the sidelines and recruit another Diva to take her place."

Twist prepares to say something to counter Twirl's worry when he's suddenly interrupted by an unwelcomed voice.

"If you ask me, we were better off without her," huffs a voice. Both "T"s turn to see two girls, dressed in the same outfit as Anna, walk into the room with smug grins on their faces.

The one who spoke, Vixen, had red, short hair with gold stars hanging off her ears, wearing orange, see through shades. The second, Liza, appeared twice as smug, with long, dark blue hair hanging down to her back, and a red, ridiculously large ribbon tied to the top of her head.

"The Commander made a bad choice choosing her to be third banana to us," Liza muses, "All because her speech moved him to tears."

"Why'd you choose now to doubt the Commander's decision?" Twirl asks, trying to contain her frustration over the Diva's lack of faith in Anna, "If you'd just give her a chance instead of treating her like your personal verbal punching bag, you'd realize just how reliable she can be."

"I could rely on her as far as I can thrust my hips," Vixen tsks, "Why do you think she ranked third in the American Cheerleader competition? Anna says she would use her performance and fame to lift the spirits of anyone who see her. But after spending a year watching how she achieves that goal, practicing to achieve her wish of making everyone happy, that little 'tear-jerker' seemed nothing more like talk than motivation."

"Haven't you noticed how hard she works to please everyone she encourages?" Twist asks with a shrug, "Even when she comes home late with little to no time to rest, she puts it at the bottom of her to-do list to respond to a mission."

"How hard she worked?" Vixen snorts, "Have you seen what she does the moment she's relieved of her duties for the day? She snatches one of our vehicles and runs off to Japan 'til the dead of night, then spend most of the day sleeping off her experience. She may as well be born there, using her third-rate cheerleading skills to teach some high school girls to perform to a random sports event."

Twirl frowns in frustration as Vixen and Liza turn their backs to her and Twist, "I don't know about you, or care for that matter, but I'll be glad when Anna loses her voice for good. Maybe then we'll find someone who can do a much better job at sticking to her achievements than use it as an excuse to take advantage of EBA's international tunnels."

The two then saunter into the kitchen to pester the chefs for lunch. Twirl gets up, about to storm after them when Twist grabs her arm.

"Yo, cool the rage, Honey-bun," Twist laughs, "Those two couldn't separate a happy dawg from a sad one if they stared at their tails for hours. You shouldn't let their criticism over Anna get to you."

Twirl sighs as she flops back on her chair, "I'm sorry, dear. I'm just agitated that nearly everyone in the agency can go about, acting on what they see like they were some fortune teller lookin' into a crystal ball."

"That's 'cause they haven't been here as long as we have," Twist says, reassuringly, "Give them a few years, they'll simmer down and come to terms with the reality of maintaining peace and sincerity through song and dance. Then they won't be actin' like they can be some kind of God decidin' how everyone should live."

Twirl sighs again as she goes back to playing with the lone meatball sticking out of her spaghetti. Little did they realize Anna standing outside the doors of the mess hall, trembling in distraught over everything she heard from her intimidating superior Divas.

It was a bright, sunny afternoon in Japan as Anna drives the EBA convertible down the busy streets of Tokyo. She takes every moment to admire all that she loved about the small nation, knowing this could be her last visit before the dreaded surgery that may end her chances of showing the world she was more than a simpleton cheerleader who won 3rd in the American Cheerleader competition last year.

Vixen and Liza were right about one thing, she has manipulated EBA's international tunnels to go to Japan whenever she finds the opportunity, spending little time practicing for missions and more time finding new souvenirs to bring back to her quarters. But she also has a huge heart, putting the welfare of those who call for them before taking a meager stroll down the land of the rising sun; something that netted her more confidence and respect from the veteran Agents than her two superiors. It would be sad to walk away from them when she is eventually relieved of her duties in favor of someone who has much better vocal stamina than her.

Anna's train of thought immediately melts away when she comes across a festival taking up most of the street she's driving down. The sight of distant floats preparing for a race immediately excites her.

"Eee! It's a Matsuri!" she squeals, "I knew there'd be a silver lining in my numbering days! I gotta check it out and get as many souvenirs as possible!"

She immediately parks the convertible on the next street over and skips over to the festival to enjoy all the games, food, and parades it has to offer.

Three games, several prizes, and a cat mask later, Anna has already covered half of the festival and is still ecstatic to see more. But as she prepares to tour the rest of the Matsuri, she comes across a scene near the starting line of the float race.

Two people wearing different happi coats and gender are in the midst of proposing to each other. The black, spiky haired boy wears a blue coat while the brown haired, ponytailed girl wears a red coat.

"Shizu-chan!" the boy began, "When I win the Mikoshi race, I'll propose to you."

"Shin-chan...." Shizu sighs lovingly before a voice interrupts their tender moment.

"You dare say such a speech before you compete against me?"

The two turn to see an elderly man with shaggy, gray hair stand before them, wearing the same coat as Shizu.

"Father!" Shizu yelps.

"Father-in-law!" Shin gulps.

The old man laughs halfheartedly, "Father-in-law you say...? Go ahead and say that jargon when you out beat us!"

As if on cue, a group of men appear behind him; the Neighboring Town's Robust Group; all just as old as him, but twice as buff. Shin is less than intimidated by the stance they strut.

"I won't lose to you!" he declares before looking to his supporting shrine carriers, "Right guys!?"

Unfortunately, what passes for supporters had turned tails and fled, leaving him alone in the middle of the arcade like a loon. Shizu's father laughs in smitten confidence of Shin's abandonment.

"Seems confidence came a little 'too late', eh?" he muses while his daughter stands by, watching helplessly as Shin hung his head down low in dying hope.

Anna frowns in complete shock over what she was just witnessing. During the times she spent in EBA, Japan remained the only country that didn't scream for their help. Sure, there were a few blips of distress on the international maps in the EBA garage, but they all vanish within a second of showing up. Because of this, everyone assumed the Japanese community was too confident and high-spirited to accept help from an overseas organization.

But when seen up close, as of right now, Anna gets a slap of reality in the form of witnessing one of them about to lose his cool under pressure.

Distraught over the thought of losing his one true girlfriend, Shin hangs his head low while muttering in desperation.

"O...."

Why hasn't he called for help yet? Anna wonders to herself. She was aware of the fact that most of the Japanese community doesn't speak 100 percent English, but c'mon, even the most lacking in American linguistics would know that "help" means to call for someone else's aide! That's why EBA focused on the word when they organized this agency; so the entire world can understand and know that someone is watching over them, ready to jump in and encourage them to continue fighting for what they truly want.

Shin's trembling increases as he grits his teeth in more desperation, "O...."

As she continues to mull in her own thoughts, she begins to wonder if the real reason those blips on the map keep disappearing is because the distress has given up their fight; spending the rest of their life questioning why they even bothered to achieve such an impossible goal when no one was around to encourage them to continue.

Just bringing up this assumption made her blood boil in that EBA hadn't investigated this situation further, and THOUGHT Japan wasn't linguistically aware that a simple word was all they needed to shout in order to send a trio of motivators to dig them out of the grave they had been shoved into.

Well Anna is going to change all that right now! She will first encourage Shin to shout "help", then spread EBA's will to motivate the world to the rest of the Matsuri so they can tell their family and friends, and convince them to try calling for them when the chips are down with no way for them to pick them back up.

Just as she was preparing to confront Shin, however, he suddenly rears his head back, and screams at the top of his lungs.

OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!

Anna screeches to a halt upon hearing him scream that word. Before she could figure out why, three men in Japanese school uniforms popped out of three different stands tailored towards food.

The first man on the left had black, sleek hair and an eyepatch covering his right eye, seeming to be in the midst of preparing Okonomiyaki. The second man on the right has a large, blond Mohawk and sideburns cut away from it; he appears to be in the midst of making fried rice. The last man in the center has a large, reddish-brown, complicated-looking topknot covering his head and a red bandana; a red band wraps around his arm with the crest of a star-like symbol and the kanji for "cheer" written over it distinguishes him as the leader; he is seen in the midst of making crepe.

Shizu suddenly perks up as the race gets underway, watching as Shin and his competing racer take their place at the starting line.

"You can do it, Shin-chan!" she shouts with encouragement that only made her father laugh in more smitten confidence.

"At this rate, I'll lose...." Shin mutters in the midst of surrendering to the jaws of defeat.

At the moment the race starts, the three men appear behind Shin and shout "osu" as a way of grabbing his attention. The split second the sound reaches his ear an invigorating sensation burns within his soul, fueling him with confidence and encouragement.

Determined to win the race he pulls up his sleeves, grabs the handles of his Mikoshi shrine and makes a mad-dash to catch up, and outrun, the group of muscular elders lead by Shizu's father.

Anna looks between the neck-and-neck race, and the men who shouted at Shin, seeing them throwing off some kind of arm swinging, punch-throwing, upper-body-pivoting, foot-stomping performance to the rhythm of J-Pop that is further fueling the motivation burning within his heart.

These long-tailed, gakuran-donning men are using almost the exact same methods that EBA uses when they're called out to motivate someone in need; the performance, the music, the shout, could they be some kind of super secret unit that Kahn created to appease to the Japanese Community?

As she continues watching the race move through the aisles of the Matsuri, several other participants, school girls, elderly, even American visitors saw what was going on, abandoned their stuff and rushed over to help the ailing racer haul the float while bowling over his opponent in the process.

The sight of it rekindles her will to get back on the field, no matter what outcome results from the tumor that would eventually strip her of continuing her service to the cheering organization. Perhaps she can convince Kahn to let her join this super secret unit once her uses has been snatched from her hands to be given to whoever Vixen prods into joining the Diva unit.

With the efforts of the aptly named "Ouendan", Shin manages to outrun Shizu's father and cross the finish line, throwing a victory sign as he did.

"You did it, Shin-chan!" Shizu shouts with excitement while her father curses under his breath.

Later that night, Shin approaches Shizu, holding her hands up as they lock together.

"Will you marry me?" he asked.

"Yes, with pleasure!" Shizu replies happily.

Equally happy is her father who cries for joy, "What a blessing for those two rascals!"

Tossing the soon-to-be newly weds onto the Mikoshi, he and the other participants in the race begin parading down the aisle, "Let's go, you guys!"

The Ouendan, meanwhile, were too busy breaking down their stand to watch the rest of the festivities. While the followers collapsed the stands and gathered the ingredients for the food they made, the leader heads off to the other side of the city where he finds a black convertible sitting on the curb with a yellow star painted on the center of the front hood, and the steering wheel oddly placed in the middle of the front seat instead of either the left or right side.

Aside from the odd position of the driver's seat, there were a bunch of complicated looking buttons and monitors surrounding the dashboard, one of them, near the steering wheel, seems to be acting like some kind of video screen for something.

Before he could ponder more about where the car came from, he sensed someone approaching and turns to see Anna heading down the block with an arm full of souvenirs she bought at the Matsuri. Upon seeing him, she immediately squeals with excitement before rushing over to him.

Flabbergast, the leader turns to put up defenses only to be met by a small mountain of souvenirs and the left half of her blonde hair flying into his face as she threw her arms around him.

"You were AMAZING!!!" Anna squeals again, nearly squeezing the life out of him before letting go and forcing him to catch her stuff.

The leader stares that the souvenirs cradled in his arms, many of them common junk anyone could've picked up at an old trade shop. He picked up a bag of five goldfish swimming around the water provided while Anna pulls the trunk open.

"I can't believe the Commander didn't mention you before!" she rambles on while pulling the souvenirs from the leader's arms and tossing them inside, "A unit dedicated solely to the Japanese Community.... Forget waiting until I get replaced by whatever naïve, freckle-faced teenager Vixen and Liza bully into joining the Diva unit! I wanna be transferred to this super secret unit NOW!"

The leader stares at her like she was crazy as she shuts the trunk and saunters over to the driver's seat, "I don't blame the Commander for not wanting to mention this Ouendan unit. After all, the Diva unit has only just been molded into shape a year ago with so few brave enough to muscle their way through the hostile training and set out to save people from depression and surrender. It's not surprising he wouldn't bring you up, knowing I'd rush to get in and abandon my less than fellow Divas."

Anna hops into the driver's seat, about to turn on the ignition when she looked behind her and saw the leader just standing on the curb with six bags of water in his arms, each containing between 3-5 different species of fish.

"Well? C'mon! You gonna get in or not?" she asked, rather impatiently, "I know it's late at night, but you still gotta send your report to the Commander, don't you?"

The leader's frown tightens a bit in confusion over what he had just walked into as he looks between the convertible, back towards the Matsuri, and down the street where he was originally supposed to be heading.

If it were any normal person, they would've just called her loony and walked off. But something about her spirit was making him hesitate to even say anything regarding her confusing mess of Japanese jargon, or simply walk away and see how she'll react. Reluctantly, he climbs into the backseat of the convertible and waits for her to start up the engine and drive off to wherever it was she was going to take him.

End Notes:

1. No, I don't think Anna was a Diva before she joined the Ouendan. That was just a "what if" thought that I decided to stick in just for the sake of expressing my view of how she became the only American to join the squad.
2. A Matsuri is a seasonal festival originally dedicated to the cultivation of rice, the appease of the spirits and gods, and ensuring a bountiful, agricultural year.
3. Mikoshi s a lavish Shinto shrin dedicated to housing the spirits of the local deity, designed to be carried by locals as part of a parade and a race through the arcades of the Matsuri and other neighborhoods.
4. Yes, I'm aware this isn't the first stage in the game. But since the only way to figure out who goes first is by accessing High School in the Option's menu, I didn't feel there was any need to start with Tsuyoshi first.