Deck: J0KER

By Chronic Guardian

Game IX: Poker

Rules:

Poker, while commonly understood as a distinct game, is also a family of games based around the skills of bluffs and tells, a shared system of hand rankings, and the inclusion of external punishment/reward, most commonly money, in order to function properly.

"Straight" Poker is played between 2-10 players with each player being dealt 5 cards. Various combinations match up to certain rankings within the game system, with a royal flush (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten of the same suit) being the most powerful. After the cards have been dealt, betting commences with bets being contributed to the pot and players are given the opportunity to participate by checking, raising, or "folding"(resign from the round) according to their confidence in their hand. However, because the game is played with a closed hand, a player with a poor hand may still cause other players to fold through deception.

After the last round of betting, there is a showdown, in which the remaining players who have not folded compare hands. If a player goes uncontested and all other players fold before this point, then the winner is not compelled to show or compare their hand and wins the pot. The remaining player with the highest hand wins because of two factors: first, the luck of the draw, but second, and even more importantly in forcing other players to fold, because he or she made others believe the luck of the draw was with him or her. This is where the chief enjoyment in poker comes from, not the strategic playing of accrued cards, the sharpness of reflex, or even the plain arbitrary shuffle and deal of other games. It is a game that can be won on sheer skill of human manipulation with even the worst hand.

And yet, if the bluff is called, even the greatest Poker player must face up to the reality of his or her hand. In either case, it all depends on how much any player is willing to risk in order to be faced with the truth.

-Deck Detachment "Zetta Squad", October 2104, Direct Retrievable Audio Wave #99: corrupted datalog from unidentified user. Extracting…

-Recovering resources from server...

-ERROR 104: Connection failed.

-Repairing connection…

-Restarting DRAW RAID drive #1…

-Collecting data mirrors…

-Recovering resources from server...

-Recompiling…

-Recovered datalog as follows:

"Yutsui. Yes, I suppose hearing my voice after all these years may be a little shocking. Rest assured, this isn't a digital recreation. It's really me, I'm not dead. The Eden Field, it worked. Some of them it killed, just like you predicted, but not others, not me. Due to some complications with the repository equation though, I got dragged into the Noise Plane in the aftermath. The Eden Field's after affects helped me keep my sanity until I could find a way back through an area of dimensional overlap: Hokkuro. It seems our dear Director's grandson is conducting experiments here. My, but how he is like his grandfather… The boy is gifted, but I must wonder if it is prudent to leave his studies unchecked. Yuu and I used to juggle theory together back and forth in the old days. Of course, that was back when we had Hanekoma in the same office. Did you know he has a niece who joined Deck? I suppose you do. The records show her as being assigned to your unit. She has all the joviality of her uncle, I'm sure. Did you ever learn to tolerate the man? I suppose you wouldn't have to, seeing as J0KER is only loosely affiliated with CAT. I'd have expected Renkuko to join their ranks eventually but it looks like he quit the business. Did he tell you anything? You were always close. I know we shared a special friendship, but the way you would look at that man… oh, how it reminds me of my youth. I will make no secret that it is a great regret to have spent so much time locked away from the world. Despite what we call it, the Noise Plane is oddly quiet, austere. There have been patches of light leading further in where I have seen things, things I dare not trouble you with here as they are far too strange for this conversation. I suppose that partly explains why it took me so long to return. Your Ace as I may have been, I'm still only human, Yutsui.

"But I ramble, don't I? You're probably quite upset at me for shooting the breeze while my thoughts settle. I can accept that. Perhaps they've come up with a technology to 'skip to the important parts' in my absence. My, how boring that would make the world…

"At any rate, I would like to inform you of a few things that may prove useful by the time you find this message. In no particular order, the first is that the Young Mr. Minamimoto does not know I arrived back through one of his portals, nor that I continue to exist in his facility. I remember when this compound was still a liquidators' hive. I inspected it before I joined J0KER, as you know. I suppose my wandering Soul found it a suitable beacon while drifting through the Noise Realm. After crossing back over, I was found by one of the boy's subordinates, a young man going under the call sign 'Range'. It seems the Young Mr. Minamimoto loves maths even more than his grandfather and has named his entourage after different functions and elements of the subject. 'Range' has asked me to keep myself hidden for the time being, as he believes his leader is playing with Promethean flame and fears I may aggravate the matter. Considering my own exploits, I suppose it is best I don't encourage the boy, lest he end up in a similar predicament. I will reveal myself when the time is right.

"The second is that the Noise are more intelligent, more dangerous, and more aware than we had previously thought. While in the old days we modeled them similar to viruses without a conscious will beyond procreation, I've met and seen things in the Noise Realm that soundly eradicate such preconceptions. One such shining example, a vulpine of some sort, is stalking you. We both subconsciously followed the same scent for a while and I was able to observe the subject at work. I think you may have killed its mate back during the CHECKMATE hullabaloo. As fascinating as it is to note that Noise understand revenge, however, I don't think this one is to be trifled with. Be careful.

"Third: I miss the ramen Ken used to make. When we get back together, we truly must give him a visit. No excuses. I hear he's the King of his own Suit now. I'm certain the children he's accrued will be entertaining, at the very least.

"Fourth point: Young Mr. Minamimoto seems to have set up a series of arrays similar to the ones CHECKMATE had back at Sakhalinsk. I believe these are being set to a different purpose, however. Unlike Goumaki's, these ones have certain safe guards built in, making them more akin to a valve than a gateway, blocking passage from the Noise Realm as well as granting it. I must have slipped through while they were testing the functions. Perhaps the Young Mr. Minamimoto was dealing with stray Noise, allowing me to settle outside his eyes. Then again, his family has always been partial to tunnel vision, now haven't they? As fond as I am of our dear Director, he could occasionally become rather fixated on this or that. Is Yuu still that way? I do wonder how the past fifteen years have treated him…

"But again, I digress. Fifth, the Young Mr. Minamimoto has discovered a way to harness and store O-Energy. I've yet to see the full schematics of the process, but it seems this may eventually lead to a valid external power source for Deck Operatives. On that note, I hear they developed an O-Gene that communicates directly with the higher planes in order to augment the operative. The A-Gene, was it? I feel leery of this option. Hopefully it won't be passed down to CAT, although I dare say Sanae probably wouldn't touch the thing with a ten-foot pole. He was always smart about these things. I wondered about Kyohei at times, but if Sanae still works there then I rest assured.

"...Hmm… Sanae...

"...Apologies. My sixth point: Daisuke Bito, our old Joker, has found his way here and assumed the call sign 'Exponent'. I suppose that means J0KER is involved somehow. I've been working my way through the records, they seem to be mostly contained in these 'DRAW' things, and it seems he only arrived shortly before myself. Something is off, though. Did you send him? Or is Dai doing what Dai does and crashing his way through things again? Hmm… I suppose I'll have my answer soon enough. There's to be an experiment tomorrow that the entire staff has been ordered to be present for. I shall visit Dai's living quarters and see what I may find.

"Speaking of unexpected old friends, point number seven: Sanae's niece has been stationed here. They say she's an imprint conduit. If things take a turn for the worse, I'll do what I can to keep her safe until you arrive. Who knows? We may make a perfect Eden Field yet.

"Finally, I must speak to you of a certain young man I brushed against while traveling the Noise Realm. Parker, I believe it was? I was initially attempting reentry in Tokyo, I don't know how many years ago, when I found him. Well… as much as one may find when reaching across a dimensional barrier. There is a certain amount of overlap between our dimensions at places. As you know, that overlap is strongest during what we call a 'Noise Storm', but that occurrence tends to be limited to nuclear bombsites. I suppose Tokyo is still vulnerable due to the residual effects of the Second World War. How unfortunate that the Third would create so many more entry points… Anyway: Parker. I found him living as a freelance retriever. Not the most reputable occupation, I know, but he didn't live it out like most do. He's… rather naturally virtuous in the jobs he takes. While to most 'retriever' is a euphemism for 'thief', Parker is almost exclusively against a certain Yakuza gang. Skullers, was it? Anyway, he has retrieved people and items from their holdings that would otherwise be used to darker purpose. He makes me think of J0KER's original purpose… if he is still in business by the time you get this, I would very much like it if you could contact him for me.

"I believe that is all for now. I miss you, Yutsui. Hopefully I will be seeing you again soon. Until then, I will wait and watch. We must not allow the mistakes of the past to recur while there is yet a chance to undo them. We were foolish, but the strength of a Joker is that she may yet become something new. Let us wildcards put ourselves to use then, shall we? Until then, all my love."

-Close(DRAW#99)-

-J-

The lights flickered and an indignant warning buzz filled the air. Ren winced and quickly flipped the power switch back down. His ears were still ringing, but the noise had subsided.

"Well… that was exciting," Rueban commented with a passive sigh. "Hopefully we didn't blow a fuse. I don't think we have time to visit the breakers, all things considered."

"We're probably still on emergency power," Ren muttered. Of course the lab wouldn't work under power rationing... He'd been hoping Minamimoto's grandson was ego-centric enough to prioritize basic laboratory power over essential functions, but apparently the boy had more foresight than Ren gave him credit for. Still, that didn't mean they couldn't take advantage of the standard essential functions. "Rueban, Yutsui said something about the labs being isolated from the CARDs radio transmissions. Do we have any way of contacting our operations officer?"

Rueban, who had busied himself with his CARD despite the inferred interference, gave the former-king a politely acknowledging glance before continuing his work. "Depends" he answered, a slight frown passing over his face as he scanned the equipment lining the walls. "If we can find a terminal adapter that… Ah, here we go."

Finding a slot near the wiring by the door, Rueban slipped his CARD in and began typing commands.

Ren narrowed his eyes. Apparently the adapter didn't require much power to work. Perhaps the boy had simply tapped into the compound's hardwired network, minimizing the need for powered intermediation. Still, that would only work as long as it connected to a transmitter somewhere along the lines unless the TRUMP had also physically tapped into the network. Was he hijacking the emergency equipment then? That could work. The only question was whether or not the lines leading out of the lab were still intact…

Coincidentally, a moment later the facility seemed to groan as the auxiliary lights clicked off and the brighter main power equivalents flickered on. Ren raised his eyebrows at the Eight as he retried the laboratory's power switch, this time without protest from the system. "Success, I take it then?"

After a moment of unhurried anticipation, as if he were expecting another hiccup in the system, Rueban gave a curt nod and resumed his work. "Not that I did anything just yet; But so long as you're just looking for someone to give credit to, I suppose I can accept it."

"You can also get in contact with the rest of the team," Ren said stoically, turning his attention to the progress of the boot. It was probably only a few minutes, but every moment spent down here felt like an eternity while work yet remained elsewhere. Idly, his fingers wandered to his pocket watch to stroke the rose on its surface and calm his nerves. He knew who and what was at stake here, every second counted.

Rueban hummed back an affirmative. After what seemed like the longest crawl of any progress bar Ren had ever watched, the laboratory's monitor menu unlocked and populated with bright crimson options. Ren navigated to the logs to hunt down the Imprint Conduit's O-Gene sequence and expression.

Back when Reiko had created the Eden Field, she'd done it through the Harmonizer effect, or the convergence of multiple O-Energy types in a specific ratio. While it was possible to produce the effect through pure voluntary synthesis, that would depend on the O-Genes already logged and replicable within the system. An Imprint gene would allow them to cut and shuffle more effectively if and when the preexistent options failed.

A best case scenario wouldn't include making a new Imprint Conduit but rather drawing upon the other O-Abilities already logged. Of course, that was dependent upon the original conduit getting out of the Noise Realm. Thus, it was looking increasingly more likely that either he or Rueban would have to rise to the task.

As a matter of course, that would mean sacrificing their current O-Gene in the course of the resequencing.

Ren flexed his fingers, savoring the perfect detail of the rose pocket watch; He sighed, wondering how much of the air's metallic taste he'd remember when that sense was gone. In spite of himself, he felt a cold dread at the thought of sacrificing his abilities, his identity, and living afterwords as a stranger to himself. There probably wouldn't be enough time to scan and save his current sequence so he could revert back. If he went through with the procedure, it would probably be permanent.

And yet, he also knew it was his duty to Yutsui. He'd lived on borrowed time for thirteen years, enjoying every precious moment of freedom while she'd carried on the work he was meant to do. If saving her meant becoming something else, it was a small price to pay.

Taking a deep breath, Ren opened the files related the Imprint gene and scanned for relevant information.

His heart still stopped for a moment when the dismally small list of sample gene sequences blinked back at him.

On the floor above, he could hear the progress of the Noise. They had slowed down for some reason, as if loathing their approach as much as he dreaded it. Rueban's traps must have been more effective than he'd claimed they'd be.

Or perhaps someone on the outside was paying them back a favor.

Ren's thoughts drifted back to Degree, the lost member they'd abandoned before entering. If his demonstration at the Ninth Basement had been any indicator, the boy's power's were sound based and were mostly used for crippling opponents. Could it be he'd laid his own farewell present for the creatures before disappearing?

The ex-operative shook his head and forced himself to focus. Whatever the case, the Noise were still getting closer and he still had a mission to complete. They didn't have time to wait for a miracle, they needed to steel themselves and face what inevitably needed to be done.

Forcing down the churn of his stomach, he began priming the resequencer with the Imprint gene and removed his jacket. Rueban was too valuable as fire support to lose his abilities, not to mention the ethical ramifications of asking the boy to undergo what Ren himself was unwilling to experience.

"And just what are we up to?" Rueban's voice was still locked into that smooth, self-amused tone, but there was a hint of cautionary around the edges this time. The boy was duly aware that something was adrift, even if Ren had yet to say so.

All things considered, he had little to gain from hiding things from the astute Eight. "I am going to resequence myself so we may gather the pieces necessary to create an Eden field," Ren explained. He could feel the energy pulsing through the air as the machinery warmed up. "The heart of the principal is similar to what audio specialists call noise canceling, nullifying a frequency by projecting a complementary wave. In order to concoct the proper O-Energy expression, we will need to create a composite of effective signatures. Once I've finished, you and I will work our way through the facility collecting what we need until we achieve a perfect blend. At that point, we will need the others' help to finish. Do we know if the comm tower has been taken?"

"Yes, your apprentice and the Ace took it just now, actually," Rueban confirmed. "Why it should matter is beyond me, though. O-Abilities don't tend to be machine replicable. Even if we do achieve an Eden Field, I doubt it'll be something they can just broadcast over the airways."

"Not directly, no," Ren admitted. He didn't know how long the resequencing process would take, but it seemed wise to brief Rueban on the details before engaging, just in case something went wrong. "However, we can still transmit data on the mix. Tell me, did they ever advance Noise Sigil research after I left?"

The Eight lightly raised his eyebrows. "Arrays meant to house stagnant O-Energy? Slightly. Beyond binding energy to the Hearts' weapons, it was pretty volatile though."

"If Minamimoto left any lying around – or even if we must make our own – we'll be able to repurpose them to relay the Eden Field, amplifying its affect."

"Hmm…" Rueban gave a secretive, sardonic smile and ran a hand through his hair. "Sounds a little risky, considering the consequences of failure."

"Do you have an alternative?"

"As a matter of fact..."

It was right about then that the dimensional barrier groaned and the door burst open, allowing a blonde girl with designer headphones and a stuffed cat to stumble in. Apparently a key card wasn't strictly necessary for entering the 12th Laboratory as Degree had implied. The new entry took a moment to catch her bearings before she caught sight of them and flinched backwards. "—Rue?"

"…Amber."

"Your pardon?" Ren's gaze flicked between the two, at a loss for the connection but duly noting the stutter in each heartbeat. Who could this be? Not a Zetta Squad member, or not a belligerent one anyway. Their reciprocated reaction would imply a close relationship, or at least one that would induce shock upon being reunited here. Could it be…?

"Ah." Yes, the girl Rueban had been looking for, the one Yuu had mentioned, the J0KER that had been present on base.

Therefore: Zero.

"Oh, my apologies!" Zero took notice of Ren and gave a penitent bow. "My name's Amber, Amber Hanekoma. An old friend of Rue here." She threw an affectionate punch into his arm. The action sent another flutter through her pulse. "You must be new, huh? Don't worry, now that I'm here, we should be able to—"

Rueban cleared his throat. "Amber."

"Huh? Yeah, what's up, Rue?"

"This is Renkuko Tanaka, former King of J0KER."

That time, her heart nearly stopped altogether. The girl's eyes widened and she took a step back before offering another bow, this one more vigorous. When she came up, her cheeks were flushed red. "Oh… gotcha. Um… Hi, Mr. Tanaka. I… I didn't realize..."

"No need," Ren waved off the gesture quickly. Hanekoma… so the girl probably had some connection to Sanae, likely explaining how she'd gotten mixed up in Deck in the first place. With any luck, she would share his uncanny sense of unshakeable calm. "As I'm sure you're aware, our situation is deteriorating. However, I believe we've come to a solution. You are the Imprint Conduit J0KER sent here, correct?"

"Oooh… um… yeah, about that," Hanekoma bit her lip as her head slowly bobbed. "My powers kinda… well… shifted. See, I got sent to the Noise Plane in the same reaction that sent the Zetta Squad there. Now I'm… well, I'm not sure what you'd call it."

Ren lowered his eyebrows. She didn't sound too confident about the change. That wasn't good. Still, they could always just resequence someone to get that power set back. Depending on what she'd gotten in exchange for her troubles, perhaps she'd even volunteer.

"So what'd you get instead?" Rueban prompted before Ren could. The boy gave her a reassuring smile. "You know, ability-wise. Nothing too disappointing, I hope. Moving down from an Imprint Conduit is a—"

"Woah, hold on, Rue," Hanekoma raised her hands defensively. Still, there was a glint of excitement in her eyes as she corrected their perceptions. "This isn't actually too bad. I mean, it may not be exactly what we need right here right now, but it's… well… it's sort of like a Noise canceller."

The words lifted a weight off Ren's chest as the inexplicable light of hope streamed down on their plight. "An Eden Field?" He asked, trying not to jump to conclusions too quickly.

"Yes!" Hanekoma's face lit up before abruptly clouding with doubt. "...I think. That's what Ayu said about it, anyway. Whatever it is, if we can sync it up through the sequencer, then I bet we'd be able to purge out the Noise. The only question is whether or not we can do that without taking out the Zetta Squad in the process. Not sure if you noticed, but they're kinda—"

"We noticed," Rueban assured her blandly, shifting a look behind him to the lab entrance. "Continue?"

"Right," Hanekoma nodded without missing a beat. "Anyway, point is: I already tried to remove the Noise on one of 'em and it… well… things didn't turn out quite the way I thought they would."

"So we need to adjust the sequencing somehow," Ren concluded. It wouldn't be easy, but it was certainly doable. Unfortunately, unless the younger Minamimoto had developed a way to mechanically synthesize O-Gene expressions, they would still have to run it through a conduit in order to achieve the desired effect. Either way, Hanekoma would probably know something on the subject. "How far exactly did Mr. Minamimoto's experiments with your O-Gene go, if I may ask?"

The way Hanekoma crinkled her nose at the comment seemed to say he would have to be more specific. "How do you mean, exactly?"

"I meant did his research into the Imprint Gene ever progress to the point that he could replicate it through his system; mixing gene expressions without an organic host to facilitate."

"Well… not quite. We were able to transfer the ability once to Median, one of the Zetta Squad girls. Maybe if you pull up the files on that we can find something to work with?"

Ren licked his lips, again throwing a glance towards the ceiling where Noise could still be heard prowling about. How much time did they have to work with here?

Then again, how sloppy could they afford to be? As Hanekoma's earlier efforts had already proven, if they weren't careful with things, they could very easily end up killing the people they were trying to save.

Gritting his teeth in determination, Ren backtracked through the system until he found the machine's operation log and narrowed the results to those involving the Imprint Gene.

Before he could fully articulate why, his stomach sunk as three instances appeared. The first was understandable, getting Hanekoma's "blueprint" into the system. The Second was related to Median, aligning with what had already been said. The third was conducted on an unnamed subject mere hours before the system had last been shutdown. According to Hanekoma, there should only be the first two. Unless...

"Miss Hanekoma?" Ren said tentatively. "You said there was only one successful resequencing involving your gene?"

"Yeah. Well… sorta. You'd think if it were exactly the same then she'd wind up the same as me after we went into the Noise Realm, huh? Or maybe that's just the general instability of the whole conduit deal..."

"Then what happened to this one?"

Hanekoma paused and took a moment to study the file Ren had pulled up. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the page. If nothing else, her scrutiny seemed to imply that she hadn't been privy to this particular instance.

"I don't get it," she said after a moment, sounding more annoyed than anything else. "Nobody was down here that early. Double-Junior actually was having breakfast with us for once instead of eating it in the lab to celebrate the big experiment that day; y'know, the one that sent us all to the Noise Realm. I thought Dai was sleeping in, but even he would've shown up on the records as a registered subject. And if they did it then, I doubt whoever this is would have had time to leave the grounds undetected."

"Indeed," Ren murmured back. "But let's not lose sight of the benefit of the situation. According to your analysis, we have one more Imprint Conduit on the grounds that is not aligned with the Zetta Squad. Let's see if we can pull a DRAW on the instance."

Another round of file searching and they found the accompanying file, naturally unsigned.

Ren felt his breath catch as the playback began.

"Reiko… that's what they used to call me. That's who I've been trying to become again."

"Reiko," Ren echoed subconsciously. The former Ace of J0KER. Alive.

"Sho Minamimoto has resolved to invade the Noise Realm by hyper accelerating the A-Genes of his subordinates during an impending Noise Storm," the recording continued, exhibiting Reiko's familiar measured tone as she outlined the situation. "The closer dimensional proximity is theorized to develop their abilities a thirtyfold rate of normal O-Gene progression. However, as witnessed by J0KER prior to this event, such actions bear the risk of High-Energy Organic Destabilization, also known as Noise Infection. While I am not personally a match for the young Mister Minamimoto, I cannot bide my time silently anymore. Today, I am infusing myself with the abilities of an Imprint Conduit in order to gather enough resources to invoke an Eden Field and stop this madness. I have prepared the system to send a distress signal in the case of a full-on dimensional convergence. Heaven forbid that I alone face this struggle. I emerged from the Noise Realm once barely retaining my original composition. Should I fall again, however, it seems unlikely that I will be able to surmount the circumstance.

"For want of a full fail-safe, I modified certain pieces of the facility with the help of Range, an O-Gene amplifier in Mr. Minamimoto's employ. If and when the Eden Field has been synthesized, it must be planted at three sequence points in order to completely envelope the facility. The first is here, within the lab; the second, within the residential complex, near the Comm tower; and the third is located directly beneath the main plaza. These sigils have been designed to respond to an Imprint Conduit's projection. If I should fail, I pray that others may succeed me."

In the background, Ren could hear the resequencer warming up as Reiko took a contemplative breath, as if wondering what more to say before she commenced her plan.

"Finally… To whoever finds this, please give my best to Yutsui Koizumi and Renkuko Tanaka, and urge them to mend whatever rift has grown between them. J0KERs are a lonely breed, they should not be deprived of the mates meant for them."

The Draw then ended as the whine of the resequencer grew to a crackle, apparently interfering with the recording. A reserved silence took its place as Reiko's parting words were left to resonate in the room.

Ren slowly flexed his fingers as he reevaluated the situation. Again, the need for an Imprint Conduit was making itself apparent. Still, if the question of broadcasting the Eden field was already taken care of that at least took care of one element. If Hanekoma was correct, then she already carried the recipe for their secret weapon inside her, but that also meant she couldn't become their Imprinter. Ren again forced himself to acknowledge that this sacrifice was his to make.

The Noise above seemed to finally be getting excited about something. They still weren't moving any closer, but there was a commotion of some sort and a set of pounding feet closing quickly on the laboratory. If they were going to change things, they would have to act now.

"It seems the path is clear then," Ren told his younger compatriots, moving towards the center of the resequencing chamber. "I shall become our Imprint Conduit and activate the sigils. Miss Hanekoma, if you would instruct me in this machine's ways?"

"Alright," Hanekoma nodded without hesitation and moved towards the console. "It looks like you've already primed the machine. I'm gonna need to scan your current O-Gene sequence, then we can alter your abilities to match the Imprint Gene. If you can get on that testbed in the middle there, we can get started. Got it?"

"Understood," Ren acknowledged. He positioned himself on the indicated platform as two elongated metal paddles descended from the ceiling and began to circle. "Although… if it's not too much trouble—"

"Save your old O-Gene?" Hanekoma finished for him. She threw him a smile and a thumbs up. "No worries, Mr. Tanaka. I've gotcha covered."

Assured of that much at least, Ren sank back down onto the bed and forced his muscles to relax as the procedure commenced. The air seemed to buzz with energy as the paddles revolved around him faster and the outside world became less distinct. His vision began to blur and his limbs became numb. The smell of the lab dulled until it disappeared entirely and Ren was left lulled by the now quiet hum of the machine as a new sense opened up. Beyond his eyes, beyond his ears, he could feel Hanekoma, a complex and pure energy. It took him only a moment to realize it was her O-Gene emanating the sensation. A moment longer and he could feel the power flowing into him, like a warm cup of coffee in the midst of a cold night. It felt solid, smooth, firm, and yet, not rigid. It flowed through his body and coursed life back through his veins even as his senses deadened.

"So..." He breathed slowly as he worked his way to a stand. "This is the Eden Field."

Finally, he understood. It was an ability that saturated the High-Energy plane, dissolving unstable elements through sheer, overwhelming presence. It would purge the dark by filling it with light. It was perfect, but it was also unyielding.

It would destroy the Zetta Squad.

Reiko's Eden Field must have been slightly imperfect, allowing some of the flawed elements to slip through and persist. This version would allow nothing of the sort. He would have to alter it before engaging the sigils or the reaction would probably wipe anyone partially infected with Noise out of existence.

"Hey, so you got it?" Hanekoma's voice sounded more distant than before, but he could still distinguish her words. "Diagnostic says you got a perfect transfusion, so you should be able to project as well as accept. Do you need a breather or can we get started?"

"Just… a moment, please," Ren grimaced and motioned for patience. It wasn't just the Zetta Squad at stake. Yutsui was also in the Noise Realm, likely in an unstable state. Enacting the Eden Field in its current form would probably also mean killing her. Finishing the mission without her was one thing, finishing the mission by executing her was another entirely. Try as he might, Ren was paralyzed at the possibility that he had run for thirteen years only to come to the same conclusion. Was it the cruel joke of fate that perfection cared more for destruction than redemption?

He shook his head. No, he would not allow it to end this way. He was a J0KER, a wildcard. Even when the deck had emptied its traditional trumps, he could still rise above the odds. There had to be something different, something more, something Hanekoma's Edenfield was lacking.

The muffled sound of a door opening drew his attention to the front of the lab again. A young man with cerulean hair and a handgun had burst in, followed by a girl with sparkling jewelry covering her arms and neck. Ren could feel them too. The girl had something connective about her, a strong sense of command mixed with affection; the man was more on the side of defense, characterized by hard, unmovable resolve and ties that would not yield to distress. Ren didn't recognize them, and beneath their energy signatures he could feel something broken. Remnants of the Zetta Squad, no doubt. Also almost certainly out for blood, considering the other Zetta Squad members he'd met up to this point. Hoping to avoid a confrontation, he raised a hand towards them in a call for peace.

Either the young man didn't see the signal, or he didn't care altogether. He uttered something that was probably a curse and leveled his handgun at Hanekoma. Ren felt his pulse jump as he stumbled forward. His orientation felt slippery, as if he were in a dream and he couldn't quite tell which way was up. He tried to call out for the young man to stop, but the cry seemed to stick in his throat.

Blam.

The gunshot rang out and Ren forced himself to keep going. Grabbing hold of the young man's defensive abilities, he threw up a shield between the two parties. He should have thought of it earlier, but his grip on his new O-Gene was still a little soft.

"Rueban!" Hanekoma's scream pierced his now foggy auditory faculties. That was strange: She sounded fine. Shouldn't she be the one they were worried about?"

"Amber." The reply was weak, strained. Almost as if…

No… Ren blinked his vision into focus to see Rueban in Hanekoma's arms, a red splotch growing from a hole in his shoulder.

Blam. Blam. Blam.

"It was a trap! A damn trap all along," the gunman shouted, unloading more rounds into the barrier. Thankfully, they bounced harmlessly off the energy shield. "Ribbons played us! They only sent us down here so Zero could finish us off! Dammit… Dammit!"

"Stop! Cato, stop!" His companion shook him, pleading for a ceasefire. "We don't know if they—"

"Root, you heartless, hopeless idiot," Hanekoma growled, her voice terse. She must have put Rueban down, because she started charging for the gunman, raising her outstretched hand as energy gathered. Ren barely intercepted her before she broke through the barricade and erased the aggressor.

"Let me go!" She thrashed wildly in his grip. It was all the former King could do just to hold her back. "He shot Rue! Dammit, Root! I'll kill you! I don't care what else happens, you freakin' shot him! I'll—!"

Finally getting his bearings in the swirling mental soup of the world, Ren put Hanekoma into a defensive hold and forced her back. "Calm yourself!" Wheeling on the new entries, he glared at the blue haired young man and reached into Rue's flickering light. "Detonate."

The handgun whined as its pieces superheated, then exploded, sending tiny scraps of hot metal skittering. The gunman flinched and stepped back, uttering a string of expletives along the way.

"We are not your enemy," Ren went on, closing the distance with a few brisk steps and catching the young man by his uniform. Lowering his voice, the ex-operative stared deep into the younger man's still burning eyes. "But if you kill either of them, I assure you, there will be no escape from justice."

"Justice? Ha! What a load of bull," The young man, Cato, scoffed and spat in Ren's face. "She killed Range. She's the murderer here, not me!"

"And if the boy dies?"

Cato's confidence flickered as his eyes shot to Rueban. "He… he was defending a traitor. If he wants to take a bullet for her then hell if I—"

"Cato!" The girl that had entered with him interrupted, hands balling into fists at her sides. "Don't you realize what you're saying? We can't do that! We can't just live and let die, we've got to choose the world we see, choose the world we live in. If we survive just by killing, then… then what does that make us?"

"Alive," Cato replied tersely. Still, Ren could see the fire dimming in his eyes.

"But living for what?" the girl demanded. "Cato, if we let him die, then we might as well be Noise already. We can't just… I mean, I wanna live, like this, me!" she thumped a hand on her collarbone for emphasis. "I don't want us to turn into something we aren't. So… please? Don't… don't do this?"

The two locked eyes for a tense moment before Cato gave an irritated sigh and looked away. "Fine…Then what do you want me to do about it now? He's already shot, and we're already gonna end up as Noise. What am I supposed to do about it?"

Ren let go of the young man's uniform and stepped backward. What indeed? The shot had already been fired and the Noise infection had already taken root. Taking the bullet out wouldn't be enough, they'd need to disinfect and heal as well. They needed to reconnect that which was lost.

Then, like a bolt from the blue, it all made sense. As if destiny had been lining up the pieces simply waiting for them to be turned over, Ren understood what he had to do.

"Lend me your strength," Ren told them, reaching out with his O-Gene and taking hold of theirs. From Cato, he took the stability protection, and from his partner the serenity of control in the midst of chaos. Mixing them into the Eden Field, he began to formulate a new expression.

Cato blinked as the aura began to fill the air. "What… what are you?"

On the floor, Rueban choked as his bullet wound drew itself back together.

"This is the truth, that which I have been seeking my entire life," Ren told the young man. He reached out with his senses and it was as if the world had become clear again. He felt the sigil nearby and imprinted his power onto it. "When the lost have fallen and the ways of life have been replaced with death, the world needs not only judgment, but salvation as well."

In his head, he thought he heard Reiko laugh, just as she had in the old days. Well… It's about time you noticed.

It wasn't until a moment later that he realized the world was changing. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the basement.

-J-

Leo stared at the curly haired girl as his mind scrambled to figure out the best possible way to neutralize her. She supposedly had just absorbed his powerset, so going head-to-head was probably out of the question. He'd only had about a day's experience with it anyway, so he didn't have any sort of advantage in that court. Still, he had enough peace of mind to slap away the hand that was moving for his throat. His arm came away stinging, she'd probably been going for an electrocution. Vaguely, he wondered if she would've been caught in the current if he grabbed her. Maybe she was suicidal at this point…

Shuffling backwards to get a little room between them, Leo rested a back foot against the stairs and quickly wiped the weariness from his eyes. "Reagan!" He called over his shoulder. If this was going to happen, he'd probably need backup. Taking the rogue in his current state would be like trying to make a ten-foot jump on crutches and he wasn't feeling creative enough to figure out the trick to it.

"Just a minute!" She shouted back. "Power's on again. I'm getting coordinated with the rest of the team."

"Looks like we have a moment alone then," The rogue girl noted. She formed a fireball and chucked it at his head, narrowly missing. "Let's make it last, huh?"

Leo gave a tired smile and shook his head. "Yeah… Thanks, but no thanks." He grabbed Reagan's lightning and sheathed his arms in the stuff. "It's getting late, and I've got a curfew to catch."

"Hmph… suit yourself." The girl shrugged and promptly changed her aim towards Pokoni.

"Hey!" Leo fired off a few shots by her face, getting her to dance out of the way and leave the Seven alone for the moment. "What the hell? He's just a kid!"

"He's part of Deck," She answered, returning fire with a few bolts of her own. One grazed his side, causing him to gasp and clutch at the wound. "If I leave him alive, he'll be back. It doesn't matter what order you fall in, what matters is that you don't come back to try to kill us again."

"Yeah, I get that part," Leo grunted forcing himself to keep moving. Apparently the girl was good with projectiles. Maybe if he got up close and personal, he'd stand a better chance. "But why try to do that by killing people? Wouldn't it just be enough to give 'em the hint?"

She gave him a measuring look and nimbly kept her distance as he tried to close the gap between them. "...Leo, was it?"

"Leo Parker, yeah. Nice to meetcha."

"Median," She answered off-hand, laying a hand on her chest. "Did you know that this isn't the first time this has happened?"

"I don't know a lot of things," Leo admitted without missing a beat. "Doesn't mean I don't know wrong when I see it."

"We're just repeating history," Median went on, she conjured up a series of fire pillars in his path, staggering his trajectory. "This is all part of a broken line, and unless we purge some of the old blood, it's all going to end up the same. We're scared, but we're going to survive, and we're going to do whatever we have to to do it."

"So you're going down fighting..." Leo summed up. Grasping the same fire, he forced the flames into submission and continued his dash around the room. "Not even gonna try to make peace?"

"What's there to make peace about?" Median asked calmly. Spreading her arms, she summoned a ball of electricity similar to the one Dai had made earlier. "You want to eradicate the Noise and we are the Noise. We either fight or we die."

Narrowing his eyes on the barrier, Leo sent his own bolts into the ball of lightning, hoping to give it a new direction with the momentum. Just as planned, it reeled backwards and sparked into oblivion against the wall. Median had gotten out of the way by then though, and was again lining up a shot on the downed members.

"Why?" Leo pressed, coming between her and her targets. "Who gets to decide this? Why are you guys suddenly the enemies of the world and no one's gonna try to help you? C'mon, you're part of this whole Deck thing, aren't you? Look at us, I haven't even been here that long, but I know we stick together! You're a part of that too, so we're not giving up on you!"

Her eyes flashed, showing a rare sheen of spite. "According to whose, authority, Leo Parker?"

Before Leo could answer, the air seemed to stretch, thinning into a black hole. Median went rigid as her limbs were grasped by a golden aura and she was forced against the wall. "According to his authority," Ayumu answered, calmly stepping out of the portal. "Leao Parker: the Ace of J0KER."

While the occurrence was probably on the weirdness level of the Shark in the concrete back in Tokyo, Leo was too exhausted to wonder about it too extensively. That didn't mean he wasn't excited about the lost member's reappearance though. "Ayumu!" He called out, breaking into a grin despite himself. "Hey! Where you been, buddy?"

"Sorry, Leo," the blind Jack answered, continuing to restrain Median. "Let's just say I heard someone calling. I see you kept the team together pretty well. Good job."

"So…" Median gritted out. "You're the Jack..."

Ayumu seemed like he was about to reply when his golden aura turned back and enveloped him. Median, now emanating the gold tendrils, slammed the Jack against the wall before faceplanting him into the floor.

"Ayumu!" Leo shouted in shock, reaching for the blind boy. Still enveloped in the golden aura, the blond slowly lifted off the ground again.

"You want to stop me?" Median asked, mercilessly unaffected by her own brutality. "I'll make you see. One of us has to die, or the cycle goes on. Even if you stop hunting us, others will. I'm not going down that path. I'm accepting reality."

Leo didn't answer as his mind kicked into high-gear searching for a solution. He probably couldn't break her connection with fire or lightning; She'd proven she could dodge that earlier and Ayumu was in her aura grip already. If he was going to take her out, it would have to be something she either didn't see coming or was just plain undodgable, neither of which were available in his current moveset.

Unless… Leo flicked a look to the now unconscious Jack as the half second stretched even longer on the high of adrenaline. What sort of power set did he get from the blind boy?

Without taking the time to analyze it, Leo lifted a hand towards Median and grasped at the empty, but still present, flow he felt in Ayumu's direction. Subconsciously, he shouted the new move's name. "Tornado!"

Median had just enough time to widen her eyes before she got caught in the wild winds and was shot like a sling into the far wall. She made contact with a ringing clang and a sharp cry.

Leo took a deep breath and bent over as his adrenaline ran dry and his fatigue caught up with him again. "Like… I said..." the Ace huffed, resting his hands on his knees. "We stick… together. A'ight? But… that doesn't mean… I'm just gonna let you… you..."

Behind him, Reagan finally emerged from the small computer room and jerked in surprise. "What the hell happened here?"

"Hey… I tried to… call you."

"Oh… Curly got loose, huh?" She grimaced at the damage, moving in to check on Pokoni and Dai. "Sorry, I ran into trouble with the system. I've got an uplink to the TRUMP's computer, but the Two's sort of tied up at the moment. It seems like this Noise Storm thing is generating a lot more Noise than most of us can handle."

"Speakin' of which…" Leo mumbled, drawing himself up to a full stand and bracing his hands against his back. "How you figure we should deal with the guys waiting for us when we need to come down?"

"Hmm… maybe we could get a rooftop evacuation?" Reagan suggested, playing with her braid as she looked towards one of the windows looking in on the room. Outside, dusk seemed to be settling in as the dreary cloud covered sky darkened even further. "If we can get the TRUMP close enough we should be able to make it, so I guess that all depends on the pilot then. Well," she paused and shifted a look downward, "that and however long it takes the Noise to get up here. If we get desperate, we'll have to think of something else."

"Eh… we'll deal," Leo said, waving off the trouble. "In the meantime, we should probably try to make sure Median doesn't try backstabbing us again."

Reagan cocked her head. "Median?"

It took a moment for Leo to realize she hadn't been there for the name exchange with the rogue member. "...Curly," he rephrased. "She seems a little… unstable."

"You think?" Reagan returned dryly, moving back towards the computer room. "C'mon. There was something in your pack that I think I can modify into handcuffs."

He followed without argument. Reagan was more awake than he was at the moment, and he wasn't going to be getting anything done just sitting around.

When they got back to the flashing screens, things were looking significantly different from when Leo had last left them. Reagan's CARD was on the desk, hooked up to the console. It was set to display the members' current positions in the compound. Most of them seemed tied up in the labs at the moment, although there were a few in the power area. Considering there were more dots than J0KERs (six were blinking in the Comm tower alone), Leo figured it was based on something other than CARDS, allowing members who didn't have the device to be tracked.

But seriously, there were a lot in the lower basements. He felt his eyes narrow as he tried to figure out what was going on. A showdown, perhaps? After all, Median had sort of hinted that the whole Zetta Squad had gone downhill. Maybe the other members were having a less-than-civil exchange of ideas.

Maybe the other members were on board with the whole kill-or-be-killed thing.

Leo frowned as his stomach churned. He tried to tell himself it was because he'd barely had anything to eat all day, but he had enough street smarts to know that wasn't the case.

"Hey… Reagan?" Leo asked, staring hard at the dots.

"Mmm?"

"The others… they'll end things peacefully, right?"

"...Probably," the way she said the word wasn't very reassuring. "I know Master Tanaka would want to, but I don't know enough about the general policies of J0KER. Then again, it's a pretty complicated situation. If this were INSTEP, it'd still be up in the air."

"INSTEP?"

"Inter-National Security Tracking and Emergency Prevention," Reagan answered. "Master Tanaka holds a Ranger's license from them. They try to keep everyone alive, but there is a limit on what any one group can do. I mean, think about what would happen if these guys got loose on a civilian population. When it comes down to that, you can't sacrifice the innocent just to keep your own hands clean."

"...We can't give up just yet," Leo repeated to himself, putting the matter to rest in his head. What Reagan was saying made sense, especially in light of Median's latest attempts, but the dots were all still there, weren't they? He couldn't just let it go when it was right there. If he had to fight his way back down to the others in order to make it happen…

He blinked as one of the dots on the lowest basement disappeared. What was that supposed to mean? Hopefully nothing too serious...

"Alright… here we go," Reagan emerged from his pack with a crude pair of double loops.

"Okay!" Leo took the proffered item and smiled back. "...What are these for?"

"They're handcuffs," she explained. "Or close enough to it in this case. Look… I know it's not my best work, but I guarantee they'll work for what we need them, okay?"

The Ace nodded, happy for a distraction from the display. It seemed heavier than he'd expected, but that probably just meant they were sturdy. Taking his package back to Median, who was still knocked out from the last blow in the next room, he bound her hands and hoped that would be enough to at least slow her down when she woke up.

He paused after binding the girl's hands. She was still breathing, but he'd given her a few nasty bruises with that last attack. Odds were she wouldn't come out of this without a concussion. Did he have anything in his pack for that? Not that he was a medical expert or anything, but it sounded like something field operatives should be equipped with.

He hurried back to the computer room. Reagan was again curled up with her CARD in the corner. She raised her eyebrows at him for a moment, but then she was back at whatever she was working on. After a little more searching, he found the standard red-cross-marked case and returned to Median. Inside there were bandages and salves with instructions printed on the back as well as a small manual, probably containing instructions. Leo forwent the book, he was more of a hands-on learner anyway, and found something that mentioned bruises to spread on the affected areas.

Behind him, there was a deep grunt. "So… tha's the way you tumble, huh?"

Leo threw a glance back to see Dai back on his feet. Leaning heavily on the nearby wall, but still standing all the same. The older man was scowling. Despite his exhaustion, Leo offered a grin and a wave. "Hey, good to see you awake. You feelin' alright, or does your head still buzz?"

"Don't be a grog smacker," Dai grumbled, looking away. "You know I'd hit you for that if I weren't so damn impressed."

"Okay..." Leo got the bandages out to finish his work, but raised his eyebrows at Dai in a signal to continue. "...And?

"Look..." Dai sighed. "I don't know what you've got in your hand that makes you sure as strawberries we gonna make it, and I'll be dipped in sour sake before I get why you keepin' the traitors alive, but what I do know is you're makin' it work."

"Thanks!" Leo accepted the statement with a bright smile and a nod. He cinched Median's bandages just as a soft groan escaped her lips. That seemed like a good moment to move away. If she woke up without him noticing, he didn't want her stealing his powers again. He motioned for Dai to follow as he made to check on Ayumu. "Although… I wouldn't mind suggestions on what to do now."

"'Bout that..." Dai sniffed and rolled his shoulder off its support before hobbling after Leo. "We surrounded by sound byters, ain't we? Not quite sure what the latest turn o' the Die is exactly, but it's got somethin' to do with Noise, 'n I can feel a hack load of the buggers down below."

"Huh..." Well, it wasn't like he'd been thinking it would be easy. Maybe with Dai and Reagan they'd be able to make some sort of clearing. Of course, assuming there were still as many Noise as when they'd left, they'd be better off scaling the outside than attempting that route. If Ayumu and Pokoni were up for it though…

Leo hunched into a crouch by the blind psychic just as the boy was stirring. Ayumu's mouth twitched once or twice before his pure, unpupilled eyes blinked open. He had a bloody nose, but otherwise seemed to be in okay condition.

"So… we won," Ayumu said, slowly working himself up to a sit. He winced, probably from some damage to his ribs, but didn't sink down. "You must've grown while I was out. I guess Yutsui was right about you, then."

Leo slipped a look back to Dai. "So most Deck guys don't get the hang of things this fast?" He asked, aiming the question at nobody in particular. "Good thing I'm a natural, then!"

"Part of that is the Noise Storm, of course," Ayumu went on. "The dimensional overflow is hyperstimulating your A-Gene development; on the other hand, actually using the O-Abilities takes a certain amount of Imagination, especially in your case."

"As in, because I'm a conduit, right?"

"Pretty much," the Jack acknowledged. "Other users are a little more straightforward and intuitive with their O-Genes. Part of why you were chosen was because you knew how to think on your feet and use the world around you. Even if there was a shuffle, you'd still be able to play with the hand you were dealt."

"Ha! Yeah… About that…." Leo felt a rueful smile spreading as he rubbed at the back of his head. "Umm… You don't happen to have any ideas of how we get out of here, do you?"

Ayumu shrugged back and swiped at his nose. "Sorry… We might just have to ride it out. I ran into someone in the Noise Realm that might just—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… Time out," Leo made a "T" with his hands and frowned. "Noise Realm?"

"Yes, the higher dimension that the Noise originate from," Ayumu continued calmly. "Unfortunately, one of the side-effects of the A-Gene is that the thin dimensional barrier induced by a Noise storm makes it possible for involuntary crossover to occur, even without a portal. Will that explanation be enough for now?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"Good, now try to not interrupt. Let's just say that there's someone on base right now who might be able to take out all the Noise at once. Part of that is going to involve coordinating certain amplification devices, and that's where we come in with this tower."

"Oh..." So staying in the tower was actually helpful? "Well… that's good." If it was out of his hands, it was out of his hands. Part of him wanted to do more, but the other part knew there wasn't much point in worrying about it. "So we just sit tight and—"

A bone-chilling crack rung out through the air just as the floor inexplicably seemed to tilt a few degrees.

"What the—?!" Leo caught his balance after a quick shift in weight.

"Gah!" Nearby, Pokoni jerked awake and scrambled to a crouch. He did a frantic scan of the area before setting on Leo with an indignant panic "Who forgot to pay the gravity bill?!"

"Pokoni..." Ayumu gave an aggravated grunt as he tried to work himself to a stand. "I don't think that's the problem."

"Yeah?" Pokoni challenged the older boy. "Then what is, your Jacksiness?"

"Well..."

Ayumu was interrupted as the entire structure groaned and continued to shift. Leo grabbed the Jack by the arm and ran for the far wall that was quickly becoming the floor. Even with the divide into the computer loft, the room was still fairly circular. If they started rolling, then maybe…

Wait. Leo desperately began trying to reverse his motion as he realized concentrating all weight on the ailing side of the tower would only hurt their current situation. The lift shaft groaned and cables snapped. A swarm of crimson started pouring out, followed by the cacophony of Noise below. It was too late, they were going over, and no amount of free running was going to help them survive if they were still inside by the time they completed their five-story drop onto the cliffs below. Not unless they could fly.

"Hey! Back off, ya buncha bugmunchers!" Dai made a slapping motion at the newly arrived horde of small crimson creatures. They looked vaguely like tennis-ball sized tadpoles, now that Leo could distinguish a few out of the crowd. In response to Dai's command, the swarm turned aside and started surging for Leo's position.

"Wait a minute..." Another crack. Leo's mind scrambled to complete the spark Dai had just ignited. Could he command the Noise? If he could get them to form a platform, then perhaps…

"Leo!" Reagan emerged from the computer room, both their packs slung over her shoulders, and locked eyes with him for a moment. She was interrupted when Pokoni tumbled into her. Leo had about two seconds before everything went into freefall.

"Dai!" the Ace shouted out. Dai looked up as Leo motioned towards the Noise. "Make us a raft!"

"Got it, Ace!"

Leo jumped with Ayumu onto the mass of Noise and turned towards the Jack. "Ayumu, I need you to—"

"Got it," Ayumu cut him off, probably reading his mind. Immediately, his golden aura reached out and lifted the remaining members of the team off the ground. Leo made sure Median was among the carried before moving to the next point.

"Great! Now hang on!" Leo pointed skyward, now the wall that had become the ceiling, and gathered the wind power he got from the Jack. "Pokoni, clear the way!"

Pokoni threw a fireball at the indicated spot, blasting a hole in the barrier and clearing the way to the dark sky above.

"Reagan, give us a boost!"

Ayumu used his aura to maneuver the girl beneath them and she kicked off of the ground. Carried by the amplified motion, the Noise platform shot out of the falling tower and into the open air. The lights of the compound shone in the mists below, sparsely but brightly. Not waiting for their upward momentum to reverse, Leo made an updraft under their living platform, giving them some buoyancy against the plummeting winds.

Still… it wasn't going to be enough. He was going to need help to slow their descent in time.

"Ayumu!"

The Jack gave him a disapproving look as he thought up the plan. "You're sure about that?"

Not bothering to articulate why, Leo just nodded firmly. "Yes!"

Ayumu sighed and drew Median onto their small Noise Island. The curly haired girl was bleary eyed and hung like a rag doll, but she was still awake in some sense of the word.

"Median," Leo said, half out of breath. His muscles started to ache as all his energy was thrown into the effort. "I need you for us survive, just like how you need us! Please… help me do this! Help us live!"

She stared back and for a horrifying moment it seemed like she might refuse. Her eyes began to swirl dark before she shook her head, clearing them again. "...Cuffs." She uttered the single word and offered her bound hands towards Leo.

Without a second thought, he tore the device off.

Suddenly, their slowing power more than doubled. Leo braced himself as they shifted to gentle descent just when the ground was rushing up to meet them. Leo couldn't quite tell where they were until he saw the egg modules from earlier. "Hey!" He grinned at Ayumu. "Not bad! We're almost back at the—!"

His statement was cut short as something very large swept out of the darkness and bisected their Noise ferry, sending the whole group tumbling to the ground through a cloud of static.

Leo caught himself and dissipated the last few meters of momentum with a roll. Ayumu wasn't so lucky. Both he and Median fell awkwardly onto their limbs, at least avoiding outright belly flops, and cried out in pain.

"What the hell was that thing?!" Reagan demanded. Of the group, it seemed she'd fared the best. She was already on her feet scanning the sky for another pass of their aggressor.

"Another Noise," Dai grunted, picking himself up. He winced in pain and leaned down on one knee. "I could feel it. Bigger than any raghandler I've ever seen though. I say we make like pins and roll, a'ight?"

"So… it's happening," Median gritted out, gingerly holding her leg. "The Noise Storm… it's summoning the Noise from further in their dimension. Minamimoto called them 'Ring-Leader' Noise, I think. You won't be able to stop it without..."

"Without what?" Pokoni pressed weakly, lying on his back. "C'mon… don't go quittin' on us now, Curly..."

"Fusion," Median finished. "It's one of the perks of the A-Gene, the ability to harmonize your energies."

"Great!" Leo sloppily snapped his fist into his open palm and tried to smile. "Me 'n Reagan'll handle this one. The rest of you—"

"We've got to get to the TRUMP," Ayumu stated solemnly. "With the tower down, we'll need to use it to co-ordinate the plan."

"That'll work," Leo acknowledged. "Dai?" He threw a look to the older man before flicking his eyes to the injured members. "Think you can get them there?"

"Heh!" Dai put on a smug look and crossed his arms. "Sure as pink turtle meat'll give you a stomach ache! Who you think you're talkin' to, kid?"

"Alright, then get rollin'," the Ace ordered, joining Reagan to look for their target. "But I better see you in one piece when this is all over, okay?"

"Likewise, Parky," Pokoni groaned out, forcing himself to his feet. "Don't let your senpai down!"

They exchanged parting words with the rest of the group before Dai picked up Median and headed out with Ayumu and Pokoni in tow. In the clouds above, Leo could still hear the Noise gliding by, as if circling its prey.

"…We do got this thing, right?" he asked Reagan after a moment, watching their companions disappear into the mist.

"Statistically speaking? No way in hell."

"Eh… statistics are overrated."

She sighed. "Then I hope you've got a damn good hand you've been hiding."

"Trust me," Leo told her with a smile. "It's worked so far."

The fog swirled as a gigantic Noise fin began sweeping back towards them, finally reappearing.

Leo took aim and let the energy flow through him, coursing through his body. Reaching out, he tied his power to Reagan and braced for impact.

"Alright," Reagan breathed, "do or die."

"I'm all in!"

The night air filled with light as lightning arced out in series of luminescent fists, pummeling the creature's underbelly. In between the flashes, Leo could see the silhouette of a swordfish in the sky. An earthshaking bellow rung out, forcing both Ace and Nine into a crouch, before the creature retreated.

"I think you made it mad," Reagan noted, readying another attack.

"Great," Leo filled his veins with more lightning and began searching the sky again. At this point, they were just buying time. All they could do was wait for it to come to fruition. "Let's keep it that way."

-J-

By the time Izo ran into trouble again with the Five and the Three, he felt more intrepid in battle. Certainly the experience still had its harrowing moments, but the flow felt more natural now. The ice came as an extension to his movements, allowing for a certain amount of improvisation once her got complacent with it.

"Like, not too shabby?" Kyasako giggled as they finished another fight. "We'll be done with this in no time!"

When they arrived at their destination, Arisa would do the honors of removing the access plating and showing him where to direct his power. The first location led to the labs. From there, they moved to a number of substations that slowly seemed to work their way back towards the East where the staffing complex inhered. On their CARDS, they could track power shortages and the locations to fix them. All the while they stayed fairly close to the generator room.

Finally, when things began quieting down and Ayane's waypoints stopped showing up, the team stopped to take stock of their situation.

"I say we head towards Ayane and Ghetto-man," Arisa put in, looking down the access tunnels towards the laboratories. "We haven't heard back from 'em yet, so they're probably still BIOLC. You guys with me?"

"Sure!" Kyasako accepted the challenge quickly. "So long as you've got candy to share, Ari-chan. I'm kinda running low..."

"Great!" Arisa grinned and turned towards Izo. "So what about you, Ice-man? You with us?"

Izo adjusted his glasses and glared back at her. "Cease, circumlocuter. Such aberrating ambition will serve you naught."

Arisa gave him a shrewd look. "Is that supposed to mean 'no'? Or are you just hoping I don't know what all your big words mean?"

"Such endless palavering," the blue-haired poet lamented under his breath. Flipping his bangs, he turned his head to the side and went on. "Indeed, I meant 'no'. It seems more profitable to me to retreat to our anchorage in the TRUMP. Things are coming to a denouement very quickly, so if we must depricate ourselves ambling, I'd rather do the least of it and actuate towards our final destination. If we must suffer the passage of idle hours, we may at least do it in effulgence and comfort."

"Huh..." Arisa lowered her peach eyebrows and stuck her tongue in her cheek. "So WYSI..."

Beep beep! The unwieldy acronym forger was cut off as each of their CARDs gave a notification alert. "YGM, Alice-sama!"

Izo huffed another sigh, but took the interruption as a free pass on finishing the conversation. If he was lucky, it would be orders to definitively settle their dispute.

Izo Shuito, the message began. Please report to the TRUMP immediately, your talents are needed. Take the emergency lift now indicated on your map. See you soon! (3=^-.-^=Nya)

Well… Izo lowered his eyebrows as he checked the included map. The lift actually wasn't too far. That was uncanny… His recent trawling of the forum had revealed something ostensible regarding the enigmatic San-Nya, but he'd missed the notification that it had become their mission officer.

"Huh… well, I guess TNPIAN..." Arisa murmured after reading her own version of the notification. "C'mon, we're headed down."

Izo snorted. "Disobeying orders then?"

The Five gave him a funny look. "Umm… WAYTA? That's exactly what our orders said to do."

"Whoa, hey guys!" Kyasako waved her hands frantically as she came between them. "What if we, like, got different orders? I mean, we each got a message, right? Mine just said to go with Ari-chan, but it doesn't say anything about what Izo-kun's gotta do."

"Huh… AEVP, Kya," Arisa nodded with a thoughtful frown and backed off. "Okay… so what's yours say then, Shuito?"

"See for yourself," the blue haired Four muttered, showing them his CARD.

Arisa took the device from his hand and quickly scanned his message. Her mouth assumed a disappointed quirk as she grudgingly returned the CARD and turned to go. "Okay. Whatever, I guess," she said, throwing a curt wave over her shoulder. "Don't go taking off without us though, 'kay?"

"Hmph… incorrigible addle-pate."

The peach haired girl shrugged off the comment and kept walking. "Hey, don't you have somewhere to be?"

Izo pursed his lips and brought back up the marker on his CARD. She was right, standing here and arguing wouldn't actually be getting much done other than assuaging his own contumacious indemnification. He gave one last look after his retreating companions, catching a glance of Kyasako waving goodbye with a fatuous grin on her face.

"...Feh." What a looney...

Deciding not to wave back, Izo simply adjusted his glasses and went on his way. He almost felt a pang of regret for not returning the gesture, but he quickly buried the feeling. This was almost over, he was almost free, there was no point in forging connections that would be gone tomorrow.

He found the elevator with relative ease and unlocked the door by waving his CARD over the control panel. He had just placed a foot inside when the world seemed to shake, corresponding with a muted thunder overhead. Izo paused. Was this really the prime idea of the juncture? He was being impelled from a relative bastion to a practical bataille de carnage totale. There were no Noise in the immediate vicinity. Perhaps he could linger a while until the scuffle concluded...

Then again, he didn't have any camaraderie bolstering his defense if a Noise swarm happened upon him here. Getting to the TRUMP would be a more effective schema for securing his continued well-being. It was all a question of getting there.

As if to cement the decision, the clamor of a Noise horde began echoing down the hallway. Closing his eyes and mentally slapping himself, Izo stepped inside the elevator. Before the creatures could come into sight, he jammed the only button available and braced himself. The floor lurched as the door closed before ascending smoothly and rapidly, contentedly humming to itself as it conveyed him towards the above-ground conflict.

He didn't flinch as the platform came up into the open air. The temperature disparity only brought things closer to his natural attunement. Night had fallen in his absence and a thick fog had rolled in over the facility, pierced only by the luminary lances of walkway and building fixtures. Drawing a long breath, Izo turned to catch his bearings and determine the relative placement of his current ambition.

There, a towering array of lights in the same silhouette of their transport, lazily blinking in the umbral mist as if staving off fatal slumber. Izo could hear a struggle occurring, but it was auspiciously from the opposite vector. As if in a haze, he stumbled forward, putting on foot in front of the other until the open boarding hatch yawned open to greet him. The air felt heavy and Izo felt as if invisible hands had begun to clutch at his clothes, bidding him to simply stop and stay. The dark seemed to grow with every waning cycle of the landing lights until there was an impermeable barrier between him and the save haven.

Suddenly, almost by accident, he finally made it inside with a shuffling step and collapsed against the wall. He was alive. Whatever shadows were haunting him outside, he was beyond their grasp now. His senses began to flow normally again, like a sleeper coming out of a dream's embrace. He took deep, greedy lungfuls of the pure air and shook his head. What was going on out there?

"You'll never win!" Crash!

Izo jerked upright and twitched violently. Abdicate that inkling, what exertion is en déroulement here? The exclamation had certainly originated from further within the trump. The cry was masculine, though pitched higher in desperation. Had he heard them before? Was it one of the stray Zetta Squad hoodlums raising cain in his absence?

A feminine voice answered with an insufferable giggle. "Just give in already. If you be a good boy, I'll make sure we get to keep you."

"No way! A good pilot goes down with the ship!"

"Oh, well… I guess I could do that too."

Izo eased forward, trying to get an angle on where the skirmish was coming from. It seemed like the cockpit area. He scowled. As much as he hated the idea of engaging in this particular circumstance, he couldn't afford to lose the ship's operator. With uncouth, paroxysmal steps, he forced himself forward and groped with his mind for something to use against his opponent.

"So," the feminine voice drawled, sounding more amused than anything else. "You had enough yet?"

Izo rounded the corner to find a well endowed blonde girl with wings and Noise arms partially obscuring his view of another figure leaning heavily on a control board. The downed person shook with a defiant grunt that was probably meant to be a chuckle.

"You still don't know the answer to that? I'm a J0KER, through and through. I may be a Two, but I'm not gonna let the others down. We're a team, and I'm a team player. You can't expect others to hang on if you don't do the same thing, so I'm hangin' in there to the end!"

"Huh," The girl put one hand on a tilted hip and reached with the other to lift the person, a man with a curly ponytail, off his resting place. Catching Izo's gaze the man, the Two of J0KER, set his face in a determined expression and gave a weak nod. "Well, that's too bad. Say high to your erased friends for me, 'kay, sweetie?"

"Likewise, Tyke," Izo growled. Then, before the girl could spin around and stare at him in shock, he lifted a hand and released his gathered power. "Frostbite!"

The girl screamed as ice burst out aggressively across her body. The Two was thrown flying over Izo and tumbling to a halt against the far wall. He let out an "oof!" and settled into a heap of exhausted limbs.

"No faaair!" the Noise girl screeched, throwing a punch in Izo's direction. Although he had studiously stopped before he would fall within her reach, her arm seemed to elongate before his eyes, delivering a solid blow to his stomach.

Izo gasped for air and stumbled backward a step before glaring back at his opponent. "Accusing me of inclemency?" He retorted, wiping at his mouth. "You haven't the most petite inkling… Freeze!"

Ice snaked up her legs quickly encasing her until she was completely immobile.

Izo shakily adjusted his glasses and managed a contemptuous snort. "Now lie fallow, mon adversaire."

Behind him, the Two groaned and slowly untangled himself. "Hey," the man said as he worked up to a crouch. "Thanks for the assist, buddy. That was… that was pretty intense. Not saying I was completely out of options just yet, but it's nice to not have to do everything myself."

"Not out of options? Feh!" Izo flipped his hair and turned away. "Is this the thanks I garner from a delusional twitty like you?"

"Well..." the Two moved closer and opened his hand, revealing a small rod with three prongs at the end.

Izo gave an unimpressed sniff.

"It's an energy leech," the ponytailed man explained, adjusting his camoflauge print jacket. "It's kinda like a… well, I should probably leave the explaining for later..."

Or never. Izo noted with a frown.

"Anyway," the man continued. "We're not out of the woods yet. Did you bring anyone else with you?"

"Anyone else?" Izo balked at the presumptuous assertion. "I was the only one with orders to come."

The Two stopped short at the exclamation and tilted his head. "Orders? I didn't send out a distress signal… did Yutsui—?"

"No, but I did."

Both Izo and the Two whirled in place to meet the velvety alto of the new comer. A woman slightly shorter than Izo met them with a quiet smile, coming to join them with graceful steps that seemed to glide across the deck. She was clad in the same uniform the Two wore under his jacket and had soft, coffee brown hair done up in a large bun behind her head.

"Oh… thanks!" the Two offered haltingly. "And… you are?"

"My deepest apologies, Mr. Graves," the woman returned, her smile widening as if at a private joke. Frankly, it made her look anything but sorry... "I couldn't reveal myself earlier as the Noise seem to have a taste for my true form. At this point, however, that objection seems effectively moot, now doesn't it? Thank you for talking with me as we waited."

"Talking?" Mr. Graves turned to Izo to exchange a bewildered look. "When did this happen? I mean, the last person I talked to was Rue-kun. In between that, there was only… oh..."

Izo narrowed his eyes as the still cryptic statement. "Care to elucidate?"

"True form…" The Two murmured, shaking his head in disbelief. "Wait. You're not saying…"

"Yes, I've always wondered what it was like to be a gray tabby. I should have liked to be a calico, but that would have been a little too telling to some," the odd woman said, as if admitting to being a cat not minutes earlier were the same thing as changing clothes. "Again, thank you for the companionship.

"However, as you say, things aren't quite settled yet. I believe Renkuko should be finishing up with the Eden Field as we speak. I guided him to the last check point before coming back to meet you. I see my gambit with Mr. Shuito came to fruition. Unfortunately, it seems the Noise Storm is making a little more trouble than I anticipated. A demon-class Noise has entered the area, a Xiphias Cantus, if I'm not mistaken. It's presence is interfering with the Eden Sigil energy flow. Unless we can get it to stop flying around our current position, we won't be able to create a secure orchestration of the reaction."

Dare I request a clarified alternative? Izo thought with a scowl. The woman was speaking utter nonsense!

"Well..." The Two grimaced, but put a thoughtful hand to his chin. "Doesn't seem to worry you too much. You got something in mind?"

"My, what faith you have!" the woman laughed. "Yutsui must be quite at a loss as to what to do with such a trusting operative.

"But yes, I believe I have just the solution. If Mr. Shuito will accompany me, I believe we will be able to still our airborne aquarian long enough for the reaction to activate. If you would be so kind as to begin broadcasting the code I provided, I dare say we'll be able to enjoy a clear sunrise. Won't that be nice?"

"Feh, I must say I'm more innervated by survival than a sunrise," Izo grumbled.

The woman simply tilted her head and gave him a questioning look. "Did I not imply both?"

Izo had no reply to the impish retort, but a thunderclap that shook the TRUMP seemed to draw the conversation to an agreeable close anyway.

"Okay… Let's do this!" Mr. Graves said with a grim look. "See you two on the far side?"

The mysterious coffee-haired woman nodded and motioned for Izo to follow her out. "Peace be with you."

Izo muttered something to the effect of "good luck" and reluctantly followed the strange new comer back towards the looming dark. On the threshold, however, he stopped and drew a steep breath.

"Hmm… high-energy sensitive..." his companion noted, nodding her head as she observed him like a laboratory specimen. "Intriguing… Don't worry though. This will all be over soon."

"That's what I'm solicitous about!" Izo hissed, clenching his fists. "I didn't come to expire here! Whatever it takes, I intend to outlast this ordeal!"

"Ah… and yet, as they say, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'," the woman returned calmly. Izo swore she was wantonly teasing him. "If we want to live, we must do more than simply exist. I know you're frightened, Shuito, but you are the key to ending this nightmare. Just go a little further, I promise nothing will harm you."

Izo gave her a stern look. She gazed inflexibly back with a calm, yet deadly serious glint in her eye. "Trust me."

He screwed up his face and willed a step back into the cloying dark. His foot set down without resistance. Slowly, he opened his eyes and realized the dark aura had parted way for them.

"A nice trick I picked up while I was away," the woman commented joining him in the sojourn outside. Before his eyes, the mist seemed to shrink and recoil from her advance. "Now… we really shouldn't keep poor Mr. Graves waiting. Shall we?"

Izo chose not to respond. He swallowed a frown and took tentative increasingly confident steps as the previously noted effects of the mist continued to elude him. He set his CARD to light their way as they left the TRUMP behind and set off towards the edge of the plaza.

Just as they were reaching the path the Ace had taken earlier, Izo noted movement in the fog coming towards them. On reflex, he tapped into his ice flow and prepared something to throw at the possible aggressors.

Then a familiarly impetuous voice broke the silence. "...Bluebell?!"

Izo closed his hand and canceled the attack as the blaze-haired Seven stumbled into view, followed by a burly stranger with an eyepatch toting yet another addition to the group on his shoulder. Nearly dead on his feet, the blind Jack trailed behind and simply gave them an acknowledging wave as he took the opportunity to rest.

"Hey, Pokes," the man with eyepatch rumbled. "Who's this gumball?"

"Another Kouhai!" Pokoni exclaimed with a grin, perking up despite his initial exhaustion. Turning to Izo, the boy continued. "Hey, listen! Parky's still back there with Gingersnap taking care of some mega-monster-sized Noise! I'd give him a hand, but I gotta escort this guy and—"

"No need to catechize, Tyke," Izo said stiffly, pushing forward, "I've already been conscripted to the task."

"Oh… great!" The boy redoubled his faltering grin and raised a fist. "You got this, Izo! Knock 'em dead!"

"REIKO?!" Beside Pokoni, the eyepatched man thundered. "Reiko, frag-tailin'-the-Calico?!"

All eyes turned to the odd man again, who, in turn, was staring mouth agape at Izo's escort.

"Hello, Daisuke," she greeted the man with the same unflappable calmness that seemed to define her quintessence. "Good to see you're surviving fairly well. Take them back safely, won't you?"

"Y-Yes Ma'am!" Daisuke stammered out, stumping off with a renewed vigor. "C'mon, Pokes, the Boss gots this one!"

"Huh? What?!" Pokoni belatedly stumbled after the large man. "The who?"

"Yo, good luck," Daisuke went on, ignoring his small companion. "Don't go disappearin' on me again, a'ight?"

"Don't worry, Daisuke," she assured him. "I have every intention of staying this time."

With that, the small group again continued its exodus towards the TRUMP. Izo stomached his surprise at not being called the ridiculous nickname the brat had come up with earlier. Reiko smiled and raised her eyebrows as she tilted her head back towards their previous course. "Mr. Shuito?"

"Hmph." Izo shook his head and followed.

The sounds of conflict grew closer and Izo was beginning to occasionally glimpse arcs of lightning in the fog. They had come upon a series of structures shaped like unbloomed flowers when his guide, Reiko as the large man had called her, signaled a stop.

"Alright, Mr. Shuito," She addressed him softly. "We have arrived. Do you feel the power?"

Izo paused just long enough to dip his mental fingers into the proverbial flow that seemed to correlate with his powers. He twitched as power rippled through him. "Aye," he replied simply.

"Good, then I need you to reach beyond just the ice that you know. Go further than you've ever gone before. Feel the world, feel those in it. Understand that ice is that which stagnates, that which slows. I need you to stop the Noise. Everything is in place, just take this one last step with me. If we work together, we can make it happen. Do not be afraid. If we can do this, then everything else will be okay. Trust me."

Izo looked into her eyes as she spoke, one hand extended towards him. Her dark brown irises seemed to enchant, filling him with warmth and life as she conveyed the plan. His mind cried out in counter, reminding him of Amber's warning against using advanced powers, his heart protested, admonishing him that it couldn't be done.

And yet, he still reached back.

Izo didn't understand why. Despite himself, he felt secure, connected. His mind cleared before filling with the cosmic scale that Reiko, a woman he had barely learned the name of, had been weaving in the air simply a moment ago. But he felt it now. It was real, there in the palm of his hand. I could feel the air, the bodies of his comrades struggling towards life, the colossal Noise cutting through the air above. More than anything, he could feel Reiko nearby, alive but tranquil, beating in rhythm to his own being and slowly leading it to a tamed equilibrium. Grasping that feeling, he closed his eyes and uttered three words.

"Time, Be Still."

Just like that, the universe seemed to hush. Izo breathed a quivering exhale as the world slowly saturated with light. It was searing, but embracing. He could feel a heaviness leaving him that he didn't know he'd been carrying. Reiko still stood there before him, eyes closed, a quiet smile on her lips. Above them, a horrendously large Noise began to crumble into flakes of light. The moment seemed to stretch until Izo could hardly tell if he was still breathing and alive or if time had truly frozen for him as well.

And then it was dark again. Izo numbly crumpled to the ground as the exertion holding the world caught up to him. He gasped for air and trembled as a cold sweat broke out over his body; but he was still alive, and more so than he could ever recall being in the past.

"Thank you, Mr. Shuito," he heard Reiko say warmly. "Mission… Accomplished."

As he drifted off to peaceful repose and hands lifted him from the ground, his breathing evened. He had done it. He had done what only he could do. He had stopped the Noise.

He was alive, and he had nothing to left to prove.

***Author's Note***

Tadaa! That's right, Game IX is the climax and Game X is falling action! Bet you didn't see THAT one coming!

Okay, I know this took way too long to come out, but I dearly hope you still enjoyed it despite the wait. It was so gratifying to bring everything together (Kudos to anyone who saw either the "Time, be still" or Reiko reveal coming before they happened!) and writing knowing this was the end of the mission was exhilarating in its own terrifying sort of way. Certain questions, such as what happened to Yutsui, will be answered in Game X, but for now, I really do hope that this chapter was enough emotional payback to tide you over.

As most of you know, I've been really busy with school lately, (Latin American literature is a depressing subject…) but I still somehow got this chapter out. Really, it's a miracle that it happened. Now while customarily I would point you to the miracle worker who is Aviantei, who puts out quality material an a staggeringly regular basis, this time I'd like to direct your attention to all the writers who struggle like me. That's right, if you haven't dropped by the Shibuya Operation Story Storm community yet, I ask you to do so right now and give some attention to the stories that have begun, but haven't quite found their ending yet. These authors have all been so kind to me in taking part in this endeavor of story writing and truly are all talented enough that I can unashamedly advertise their skill. Maybe they won't all be your cup of tea, but that's okay. Sauce Project is about making a safe place for writers of all kinds to get out their ideas and explore what's important to them. As Shiki Misaki once said, "Sometimes, people just need someone to listen". To all the friends that have carried me so far, thank you for listening.

Also, thank you so much to every author who trusted me with anything to make Deck J0KER possible. I'm still amazed that you let me do this and am so very honored to have had the opportunity to explore these alternate imaginings of some of my favorite expansions of TWEWY. You all Rock as hard as Dëf Marche!

Oh, and a special thank you to one of my little sisters who actually reads the nonsense I write (you know who you are). Thanks for taking this journey with me, kid, it meant a lot to have you along.

Lastly, if you were looking for a good moment to review… well, you could wait till Game X, but I feel like the emotional high is right here at the climax. If you enjoyed any of this crazy, mixed up universe and my attempts at making something awesome happen, drop a quick comment below to let me know. Thanks.

Anyway… I'm done rambling. Thanks for reading! I will hopefully be seeing you soon for Game X, but just in case life gets in the way… make sure to stay saucey, and remember: The World Ends With You.

***Secret Reports: The Zetta Squad***

So… the Zetta Squad is a bunch of OCs taken from Crow's Gamble's Choose the World You See. In their original incarnation, these guys are supporting protagonists to Sho Minamimoto and Megumi Kitaniji as the two essentially lead an insurrection against the current GM. Unfortunately, they're also being picked off one by one as tensions escalate. The versions you see here are actually pretty different from their original templates, almost to the point that Crow could rightly be insulted that I even asked to borrow them (please don't actually be insulted, Crow). Essentially, because they work with Sho in the original to raise an army of Taboo Noise, I figured the whole Noise Storm concept worked as a pretty good parallel here, so that's why they got the part.

Truth be told, I actually feel like these where the most difficult loaned characters to work with. The hardest part of writing these guys was trying to keep in mind that, like the rest of the characters present, they're here seen operating with their entry fee intact and thus behave a little differently than what we see in the original. Developing this broad cast of villains was challenging, especially given how little page time they got because they come in at the end of the story. Overall, I just hope they didn't turn into a big pile of villains ex machina, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. So long as they sort of made sense, I'll take it.

You can check out the continued adventures of the Zetta Squad in Crow's above mentioned story. Drop by and give it a review sometime.

***Secret Reports: Xiphias Cantus***

This is the Noise form of a certain Reaper Officer in From the Underground Up. I essentially included it as a plot device to get Leo and the others down from the tower and add some tension to the last sequence as we saw bigger and badder Noise swarming into the dimension. Honestly, I feel like this boss battle sort of got sidelined a little, but it'll get a bigger focus in FtUGU, so I can't be too disappointed.

***Secret Reports: Amber Hanekoma***

Amber "Hype-Chan" Hanekoma is my own take on Hype-Chan as developed over the course of Hybrid::Mixed Feelings, named so because back in the day, Hype-Chan was actually called "Hybrid-Chan" because she's a hybrid of all the previous players.

I really like anything having to do with Hype-chan just because I love the fanbase speculation, but Amber is definitely my head-canon imagining of the girl. She's got a straightforward nature drawn mostly from mixing Neku, Beat, and Josh together as well as a lot of insight once she's got her bearings. Writing her here was a lot of fun because in her Hybrid incarnation she's still kind of finding her way in the world. Here she's more in the know and actually gets to be pretty active in shaping the plot. Also, Rueban taking the bullet for her is intentionally a reversal on certain events in her home fic, where the two are partners (not that its all that surprising…).

Amber also stars in a handful of expansion/alternate one-shots usually centered around her and Rueban. If you're as unduly fascinated by her as I am, I suggest you check them out.

***Secret Reports: The Rest of the Hybrid Crew***

Getotsu, Pokoni, Ayane, and Kya are all characters that appear as additional players in Hybrid::Mixed Feelings. While they got some development there, I really wanted a chance to delve a little deeper into their characters, especially with their entry fees back. Ayane, particularly, presented great opportunities for keeping things in check and getting things done here (good job, Aya-chan. High five!). While I certainly have my own fondness for these creations of mine, I also hope you didn't find them too burdensome. Getting to explore Kya's psychs, Pokoni's team dynamic, and Ayane in a leadership position was all a lot of fun, but it'd be a shame if I was doing it at your expense.

Also, Getotsu's powers were developed specifically for this story. Originally, I thought of him as a generic Diamond type psych user but eventually decided that was too similar to Ren (actually, Getotsu's similar to Ren in a lot of ways. Almost too much so… that's part of why he's an apprentice to the ol' Reaper Officer). Hence: this weird gravity thing that kinda worked out.

Anyway, yes, these guys are all mine and, while I doubt it, I would love to write with them again sometime. In the meantime, I hope they were at least good here.

-CG

20-FEB-2016

}The Inside Joke{

\\What the **** just happened? (2little2late)

-I dunno! Like… something good? (Kyaaa)

-Something crazy… (N31!31)

-Whatever was, it looks like it got rid of the Noise. Does anyone know how the Zetta guys are doing? (XMaybexImxAxLionX)

-We've got some down here, they're still breathing. Put twice through the ringer, but they're not dead. It looks like they'll be okay. (AllTheHype)

-Okay, but what happened?! (2little2late)

-Amber, I think I'll let you explain this one later. (RueTheDay)

-Gee, thanks. I missed you too. (AllTheHype)

-No need, I'll handle the debriefing myself. (3=^-.-^=Nya)

-Heh, TSBG...(ari3)

\\Hey, looks like the dust's finally settling. Can everyone report in so I can get a headcount? (}+REvanantCG+{)

-PaAf. (ari3)

-Here. (N31!31)

-Still kickin'! (XMaybexImxAxLionX)

-Believe me, I am still alive. (Ayumu)

-What he said! (2little2late)

-Thanks to the back up, we pulled through. (-Sentence-)

-Barely… (GhettoSoup)

-Awww… hold on, Mr. Ghetto, I'll bring you a heal pill! (Kyaaa)

-… (GhettoSoup)

-I'll take that bullet for you, Mr. Tezano. Also, here. (RueTheDay)

-Not sure if it counts but… yeah, I'm here too. (AllTheHype)

-I have Izo, we should be fine. (3=^-.-^=Nya)

-Great, and I've got Mr. Tanaka on visual. So that just leaves... (}+REvanentCG+{)

-Yutsui… (R3N)

\\So… now that the Zetta Squad's sorta neutralized… what happens to them (XMaybexImxAxLionX)

-Protective custody, I think. Unless the King or Ace says otherwise...(-Sentence-)

-I mean… they get a second chance after this, right? (XMaybexImxAxLionX)

-Time will tell if they can regain their original selves. I'll do what I can, but ultimately… well… (-Sentence-)

-Considering this is Ayane, I'd say it's in good hands, Leo. (Ayumu)

-Thanks, Ayumu. Still... keep me in the loop, a'ight? (XMaybexImxAxLionX)

\\Hey… so I know most of you just got through with the battle of your Deck Career, but I'm picking up new life signs across the compound. Anyone up to investigate? (}+REvanantCG+{)

-Do we have to? (2little2late)

-No, this mission is strictly voluntary. (}+REvanentCG+{)

-Acknowledged. (R3N)

-Right there with you, Master. (N31!31)

-Same here. Send us the coordinates and we'll see what we can do. (-Sentence-)

-I guess I'll go with Reagan… (XMaybexImxAxLionX)

-Sorry guys, I've got to get a certain wisecracker to medical attention. (AllTheHype)

-Rueban? 0_0 (Kyaaa)

-I'll be fine. (RueTheDay)

-Sorry. I'm not taking my chances, mister. (AllTheHype)

-...Yes, dear. (RueTheDay)

***Thank you all for coming so far! As a special bonus, leave a question in your review and I'll make sure someone gets to your concerns next Game. All my love. (3=^-.-^=Nya)

- Uh...what? (2little2late)

- Y'know… for such a smart cat, San-Nya doesn't make a whole lot of sense...(XMaybexImxAxLionX)

- Authorization Confirmed. Input new user tags. (}+UberkindCG+{)

- Et tu, Uber? (RueTheDay)

#WildcardShuffle – Current Song – Fight On(The O.C. Supertones)

Next Song – Spartan(Five Iron Frenzy)