Chapter Twenty One: Wednesday's Changes III

Kazuya's destination had somehow ended at Miyashita Park. Although, he supposed that it made sense. After his release of pent up emotions, Kazuya needed some time to calm down and gather his thoughts.

The pressure really was starting to get to him. He hadn't truly meant to burst out in panic like that. Usually, Kazuya was much better at bottling up his emotions and masking his true thoughts. He'd have to watch his stress levels from now on so that he doesn't affect anyone negatively because he wasn't feeling well.

Kazuya sighed. He didn't know what he would do without his friends; Atsuro and Kaido.

Since he was already at the park, he supposed that he could just start searching for Joe in the surrounding areas. Kazuya carefully walked around, double-checking certain areas to make sure he didn't accidently miss Joe.

The park wasn't in the best condition, and from the smashed benches and ragged claw marks, it was clear that demons had passed by not too long ago. It certainly explained why the park was completely empty, apart from himself.

Standing in the exact spot he had slept during the Tokyo Lockdown, Kazuya could almost imagine that he was back home. After staying for a night at Naoya's place, Kazuya would be leaving the apartment to meet up with Atsuro and Yuzu. They were going to Haru's concert, just as they promised they would once the Lockdown was over.

A smile flitted on his face before she shook his head to focus on reality. Now wasn't a good time to get lost in daydreams.

Joe didn't appear to be at Miyashita Park, so he moved towards one of the exits from the park to go check out other locations.

Suddenly, Kazuya felt a slightly heavy mist-like presence behind him and he stiffened. He slowly forced himself to relax and nonchalantly turn around.

The man of white and black and red smiled. "Hello, son of Adam, or should I say, Abel?"

Kazuya observed the Septentrione to figure out his intentions. Why did the Anguished One appear here? It didn't seem to be a coincidence that they met like this. Was he going to fight? Perhaps it would just be a passive conversation. If possible, he wanted to ask the Anguished One a few questions considering how close he was to Polaris and indirectly to God.

He calmly greeted him back with a question, "the Anguished One… What are you doing here?"

Perhaps Kazuya hadn't hidden his emotions as well as he thought he had because the Anguished One chuckled in amusement. "I was waiting for you," he answered, "I've wanted to talk to you for quite some time."

Once Kazuya understood that they wouldn't be battling each other just yet, he lowered down his guard. It would be easier if they could speak to each other openly.

Kazuya smiled, the one reserved for his friends, and admitted, "I want to talk to you, as well."

Kaido sighed in annoyance as he walked down the streets.

Truthfully, he didn't really care about whether or not Joe died. He didn't know him too well and there wasn't anything spectacular about him. Like Mari and Kazuya and… Atsuro, he supposed, Kaido would save them without question. Naoya, on the other hand, was perfectly powerful enough to fend for himself, but Kaido supposed that he could help him whenever he needed aid. Although, he strongly doubted that day would come.

Besides, people died every day. He had seen death with his very own eyes, even before the Lockdown happened. First, it was his brother who got the life sucked out of him from that demon, Kudlak. Then after he took the mantle of leadership for the Daemons, he had his fair share of life and death situations, especially with the type of shady work he did. It was a harsh truth, but it didn't make it any less true.

Even if he didn't particularily care, Kazuya cared immensely. After spending time with him, Kaido had to admire the amount of kindness Kazuya contained. Rather than the usual case of weakening the bearer, Kazuya created his strength from that kindness.

He was strong, just not the usual kind of strong that Kaido was. Kazuya's mental and emotional strength pushed him to be as strong as needed to be in any given situation. Kaido still knew, though, that Kazuya was rather fragile at the same time, especially when it came to deaths.

Kaido needed to find Joe.

Glancing around, he could see a couple of people sitting on the ground, looking haggard. Some even showed visible traces of artificial or shallow wounds. Kaido looked at them only for a moment before completely ignoring them. If he remembered correctly, Joe was the tall guy who wore a striped cap.

There was movement at the window of one of the better looking houses that was not completely destroyed, but Kaido dismissed it. He didn't think that Joe would be loitering inside a building.

"There I go~ Doo-dee-doo-doo~ Ba-dum-bum~ Hmmm-mmm-mmm~"

Kaido watched as the man he was looking for casually stroll down towards him with his hands in his pockets. A smile was on his lips as he hummed an upbeat song.

"Oh!" Joe exclaimed when he finally noticed Kaido's presence, "Kaido, right? What're you doing here? Did you decide to take a walk, too?"

Kaido promptly answered impatiently, "I could ask you the same thing. Well, whatever. I found you now so I don't really care. Stay right there and don't move."

Joe looked befuddled for a second before he laughed in acceptance. "Okie-dokie."

Turning his eyes away, Kaido took out his phone. He needed to tell Kazuya that he found the idiot.

[Kaido?]

"Hey, Kazuya," Kaido greeted, "I found him."

He heard a soft sigh of relief.

[You did? That's great. Let's meet up at JP's Headquarters.]

"Got it."

After the call ended, he snapped his phone closed and looked back to where Joe was standing… or was supposed to be standing. Kaido's eyes narrowed and a furious scowl appeared on his face when all he could see was empty air.

He was pretty sure that he had told Joe not to move a single muscle, and he was pretty sure that Joe spoke in consent of his request.

Kaido cursed in frustration. Now he had to go search for him all over again. Plus, he had just told Kazuya over the phone that he found that troublemaker.

"…When I find that idiot…!"

Before Kaido could walk off in irritation, the ground began to shake. Since Megrez was still around, there were bound to be a couple of earthquakes here and there, but this was no ordinary one. It was different… more powerful… It was a massive earthquake.

He swayed slightly, his foot moving outwards to regain his balance. When he glanced to his right, Kaido saw a building – already slightly damaged – fall apart completely before his very own eyes.

"God damn it!" Kaido swore in slight alarm, running roughly ahead despite his precarious surroundings and unstable footing.

Joe had better not die because a building fell on top of him.

"May I call you Abel?" the Anguished One asked, "or would you prefer Demon Overlord? The King of Bel?"

"Abel's fine," Kazuya answered, "I don't mind."

"Wonderful," the Septentrione complimented with a pleased smile, "you have a wonderful name. Abel… the breathing spirit. You, who will bring change, carry the breath of life within you. It is fitting."

"And you call Hibiki 'the Shining One' because it suits him, as well?"

"Indeed. Hibiki Kuze is fascinating, is he not? He carries limitless potential. He has the ability the change the very fates of those around him."

"But you must have many questions you wish to ask," the Anguished One said, directing the conversation back on topic, "I will answer all of them as long as they are well within my capabilities."

"You're the one who sent the mail to our COMPs when we first arrived to this world," Kazuya stated, "and then, you didn't send a death clip for Hibiki yesterday. I was the only one who could have known about his fate since I could see everyone's death clock. You were testing me."

"The death clock…" the Anguished One repeated. "I must commend Cain. I would never have imagined that a human would be able to create a demon summoning app. Humans hold more potential than I had thought."

"I did test you," he conceded without guilt, "I needed to know how determined you were… Not only for your objective, but for your desire to aid this world. You are an outsider. You have no need to involve yourself, yet you choose to do so. Why? What drives you do to such a thing?"

The Anguished One stared at Kazuya intently, pure curiosity burning within his eyes.

"I don't really have a definite reason for doing what I'm doing. I just don't want to see the same thing happen to this world as it did back in my own." Kazuya answered honestly before chuckling bitterly, "although, things haven't exactly changed for the better. Maybe I'm not doing a good job, after all."

"Your presence in this world has changed more things than you think," the Anguished One said, "whether or not it is considered good or bad will depend on you."

Kazuya opened his mouth to reply, but the sound of his cell phone ringing cut him off. The sharp sound pierced through the sullen mood, and Kazuya quickly took his phone out and flipped it open. The screen showed the caller's ID.

Looking at the Anguished One in question, the Septentrione only smiled in patience. Kazuya took that as a sign to answer his phone.

"Kaido?" Kazuya inquired in confusion.

A gruff voice answered his unspoken question. His eyes widened, and he breathed a sigh of relief before an elated smile appeared on his lips.

"You did?" He asked, even though he knew that he didn't need to. "That's great. Let's meet up… at JP's Headquarters."

After receiving confirmation, Kazuya ended to call.

"Your friend?" The Anguished One questioned, reminding Kazuya of his presence.

"Yes," Kazuya replied in a more positive mood, "Kaido found Joe. He won't have to die."

"That has yet to be seen, Abel," the Anguished One denied. He sported a more serious look on his face.

Kazuya's smile immediately turned into a frown. He wasn't quite sure how he should take the Anguished One's comment. What exactly did he mean by that?

"Kaido is strong," Kazuya defended, his words becoming surer as he continued, "he won't let Joe die. I believe in him… I trust my friends."

"Of course," the Anguished One assuaged in an apologetic tone, "it was not my intention to cause you any displeasure."

Kazuya shook his head, realizing that he had taken his words far too personally. "No, it's fine. I know you didn't mean like that. I just…"

"Perhaps we should end our conversation here," the Anguished One offered, noticing how the young Demon Overlord was losing the words to express his emotions. "But one last thing… your search for God will be coming to an end soon."

Kazuya's attention refocused on the Anguished One, forcing himself out of his own distress.

"Your search will end once all Septentriones are defeated and the way to Polaris is opened," he said, confirming Naoya's previous presumption. "I leave humanity in your hands, Abel. Surely, you are a key factor in the events to come."

Kazuya spoke hesitantly, "Anguished One…"

The Anguished One smiled, seeming to already know what Kazuya wished to say, yet waiting for the words just the same.

He changed his mind at the last second. "No, it's nothing. Let's talk again sometime."

"Yes," the Anguished One agreed, "I look forward to our next conversation."

He left, instantly vanishing away silently from the spot he had been lightly standing on. It was the same way he had appeared before Kazuya.

Kazuya sighed. It was obvious and he already knew that it had to happen in the future but...

He couldn't comment on the fact that the Anguished One's death clock held the number four.

The ground shook harshly, and Atsuro watched slight mayhem unfold from his seat on the ground.

A few JP's members were trying to direct the hysterical civilians towards a much safer area where they wouldn't have to worry about being buried alive under rubble. Unfortunately, from the movement of the earthquake, it was hard enough to stand up, much less move.

"We have to get rid of this Megrez bud!" the JP's group's team leader ordered, "quickly! It's causing too much damage!"

The three remaining members who weren't aiding the civilians were already in combat with a demon that had decided to use the earthquake as a distraction to cause more havoc. They were in no position to follow their team leader's instructions.

Seeing how unorganized the JP's members were, Atsuro decided that he should help out. He was starting to get disorientated from all the shaking.

"I just need to kill this bud, right?" Atsuro asked.

Before the JP's team leader could process what Atsuro said, he already had his COMP out to summon his demons.

Vishnu immediately sent his force magic towards the demon that the JP's members were fightning. The vile demon, Abaddon, was resistant to force attributed abilities, but Vishnu's high level and skill in magic cancelled out Abaddon's advantage. After continuous short whirlwinds of magic, the Abaddon was shredded into pieces.

Asura, on the other hand, headed towards the opposite direction from his demon partner and towards the Megrez bud. Even though the ground was shaking, his steps were sure and steady.

He clasped his six hands together, bringing the three clasped pairs on top of each other, and smashed down onto the Megrez bud. Asura's strength flattened the bud and created a crater on the ground. Small cracks ran out from the middle of the crater, and when Asura removed his hands, the bud quickly vanished from existence.

The earthquake slowed down to a complete stop, and the frightened screams turned into soft sobs of shock and relief.

Now that the civilians could think properly, they followed instructions from the JP's members without question. The three JP's members that were fighting Abaddon looked at the spot it was at in confusion before regaining their bearings and aiding the other members in helping the civilians.

"Kihara!" the JP's team leader called out, as Atsuro stood up from where he fell when the earthquake first started. "You defeated the Megrez bud. Thank you."

Atsuro stared at his face in concentration, trying to recognize him but having no luck. "Sorry, have we met before?" he asked in confusion and genuine remorse if they had indeed met before.

"No, of course not," the JP's member answered, "but I do know of you. I'm sure that everyone knows of you and your group of friends. You helped JP's against several of our enemies, and we're all grateful to you. With your big achievement, it's no surprise that word would spread fast about you."

"R-really?" Atsuro said in shock. Even though he helped end the Tokyo Lockdown back at his world, he never received any kind of recognition. He didn't really want any – although a 'thank you' would be nice at times – since he preferred to return to his normal, peaceful days, but it was still a surprise to see how different the two worlds could be. Atsuro supposed that helping out a government organization changed a lot of things compared to just doing things in their own little group.

"Yes, your help is greatly appreciated."

Atsuro just laughed bashfully. He wasn't used to all the praise. "It's no biggie. I just help out where I can."

Atsuro glanced at the other members of JP's and continued, "I guess I should be going. You need to help out the civilians too, right? I don't want to get in your way."

After exchanging farewells, Atsuro walked away to leave the area. He was far enough from the crowd of people, only seeing silhouettes and hearing soft sounds, when a casual voice made him pause.

"Hoo, boy! That quake was a big one!"

It was Joe who was standing close by, his right hand on his forehead, covering the sun from his eyes, and looking off at the distant crowd.

"Joe?" Atsuro called to get his attention, "what are you doing here?"

Joe smiled cheerfully at him. "Atsuro! What a surprise! I'd ask you the same question… but I guess I wouldn't need to since I saw you deal with the Megrez bud."

"Well, I'm glad I found you," Atsuro said, "I was looking for you."

Joe looked surprised before displaying a slightly touched expression. "Awww…" Joe responded, "has old Joe finally become popular? It's seems that everyone's been looking for me."

"What do you mean?" Atsuro questioned, "who else was looking for you?"

"Y'know! Your friend; the aggressive one. I think his name was Kaido," Joe said without a care, "he told me to stay there, but then he called someone on the phone. It looked pretty important and there was some Shounen Jump that I wanted to buy… So I decided to leave. I mean, I'm sure that he wouldn't miss me that much, right?"

Atsuro stared at Joe in disbelief. Throughout his whole explanation, there was only one line of thought that Atsuro had: Kaido is going to be pissed.

Atsuro shook his head. He could deal with Kaido later. First, he needed to explain to Joe how much danger he was in. "You remember how the COMPs allow Kazuya to see death clocks, right?"

"Hmmm… did it?" Joe asked before nodding in confirmation, "oh! Yup, I remember it now."

"This is important," Atsuro said seriously, "your death clock is zero. This means that you have a high probability of dying today. That's the reason why Kaido and I were looking for you along with Kazuya. You can't leave my side, okay?"

Atsuro thought he saw a look of terror pass by Joe's face, but it was replaced by his natural easy-going look too quickly for him to double-check.

"Seriously?" Joe said as he laughed, "well, it's good thing that you found me then."

Atsuro looked at Joe in disbelief. Atsuro had looked death in the face many times during the Lockdown, and no matter how many times it happened, he would never get used to it. To know that he could die at any moment scared Atsuro a lot.

"How can you just dismiss it so easily?" Atsuro asked, "aren't you scared of death?"

Joe's extremely bright smile – it was only then did Atsuro notice how forced it was – dimmed, and he looked at Atsuro… well, not quite seriously, but his eyes showed that he understood more than anyone would have thought he did.

"Truthfully, I frightened out of my wits," Joe replied, "but I'm an adult, you know. I can't let you kids take on all the burdens. I've got to step up and besides, someone's got to keep everyone's spirits high. They do say that good food for the spirit is good food for the body!"

"That's…" Atsuro started. He didn't know what to say. He understood what Joe was saying. After all, it was his job to be cheerful for Kazuya. Still, he never knew that Joe was thinking that deeply. He really wanted to help everyone out.

Joe laughed again, returning back to his normal self. "Well, I'll stick close to you until I'm free to go."

"Yeah," Atsuro said, "can I borrow your phone? I don't have mine anymore and I need to call Kazuya to tell him that I found you."

Joe easily gave his consent and handed over his cell phone. Atsuro flipped it open; ready to punch in Kazuya's number, only to realize that the screen was black. He stared at the screen for a few seconds and punched in a few buttons to see what the problem was before looking back at Joe in incredulity.

"Dude! Your phone's dead! Did you recharge it last night? You'll be completely defenceless without the demon summoning app!" Atsuro exclaimed, showing Joe the dead cell phone.

Joe took his phone back, fiddling with it, and then laughed. "My bad! I knew that there was something I needed to do last night!"

Atsuro sighed. If Joe had a COMP, then they would have been able to get his summoning program up and running in no time. He did still have the handheld rechargeable battery device, compatible with COMPs, in his bag that he carried around with him everywhere. Atsuro supposed that it couldn't be helped.

"Let's head back to the JP's HQ. You can recharge your phone there. Besides, we're going to be fighting against Megrez soon," Atsuro decided.

"Alright," Joe responded, "shall we go?"

A/N: Well, just some interaction between the Anguished One and Kazuya, the search for Joe and some insight on Joe's character. I wasn't expecting these scenes to be so long. I had been planning to add Hibiki's battle after, but that'll have to wait for next chapter. Yeah, so no battle scene with Joe. I thought that it'd be fine if Joe was saved this way since I'm pretty sure that some characters were saved this way in Devil Survivor Overclocked.

Also, these chapters are happening quite differently from when I had first envisioned it. At first, I was planning on Kazuya going with Yamato to the meeting, where they'd have some kind of conversation during the train ride. Naoya wasn't originally going to be with Hibiki. Then, Hibiki would be with Makoto and Otome like it was in the game, and everyone else would be fighting to save Joe. But then I realised that Joe's death clip battle didn't happen until after the meeting when the terminals were working again. So, I decided that Joe didn't really need a death clip battle. Also, I didn't quite know how I was going to add the interaction between Yamato and Kazuya, and I didn't want Kazuya to be with Hibiki during the battle (the demons that talk would know that Kazuya was the Demon Overlord). Besides, if I wanted Kazuya to be in the same train ride as Yamato, he would have needed to have left somewhere before the physical examinations, so that was a no-go. It was then that I decided to just add the interaction I wanted between Kazuya and the Anguished One. It was a good place to add it in. And so, the story is heading towards this direction.

Anyways, I'm going to have to show more of Kazuya's character, or weakness, as we're nearing the end. (There's still a long way to go, but it feels like it's coming to an end.) Kazuya's mask is starting to crack. It'll slowly lead to the moment where Hibiki helps Kazuya, while Kazuya continuously aids Hibiki.

Just a little overview of what to expect in the coming chapters and what could have happened in these chapters. Look forward to the next chapter!