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Colorado Springs, Headquarters of United States Stargate Command, ninety minutes after supper on Sunday (Tōkyō/P'yŏng'yang time: Thirty minutes before lunch on Monday)...

"Doctor Fraiser?"

Janet Fraiser perked, then she looked over from her work desk. "What is it, Master Sergeant?"

"Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we just got a signal from Miss Kim at Asadal," MSgt Walter Harriman reported. "She wanted to contact Doctor Jackson concerning Doctor Gardner. Miss Kim had a friend capture Osiris and was able to free the doctor from being possessed." Here, the native of Vancouver across the Columbia from Portland shook his head. "I had to tell her about what happened to SG-1. She immediately offered to get friends to help Miss Wakefield, Captain Doolittle, Captain Swanson and the others rescue the team, but she also wants a medical doctor to come examine Doctor Gardner. She doesn't have a trained doctor or healer where she is right now. Given what Osiris did..."

The senior medical officer was already on her feet and proceeding to retrieve her field first aid kit. "I'll need a couple of the girls with me," she then advised. "Does the general know about this?!"

"I told him, Healer."

Fraiser gasped on hearing that soft voice, then she turned to see a certain rose-haired Noukiite metahuman free warrior standing nearby, looking very calm and collected. After a moment as she patted her heart from the surprise appearance of the Dragonspeaker, the native of Spokane gave her an annoyed glare. "Kyech, PLEASE!" she snarled before slipping off her smock, putting on the lightweight blue jacket with the white USAF symbol over her left breast; she had heard from Samantha Carter that Kim Hyegyŏng always kept her underground base quite cool in echo of how the weather in her older-selves' kingdom on Yiziba normally was like, even in summer. Once she was ready, she nodded.

Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech of Ait'uch Nehech nodded in return as she grasped her hand...


P'yŏng'yang, Asadal Base within Moran-bong, that moment...

...then they found themselves within a vast underground chamber whose total volume rivalled that of Stargate Command's own chambers within Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. As Fraiser relaxed herself — she had to admit, travelling Kyech's way was even more comforting than travelling via Stargate — a friendly woman's voice hailed, "Ah! Ŭisa-sŏnsaengnim!"

Kyech gave the approaching Kim Hyegyŏng a proper fist-in-palm military salute while the visiting doctor from America formally saluted the reborn Sandalwood Empress of two separate kingdoms spanning the ages and two separate planets. "Hello, Miss Kim," Fraiser said before she laughed as the niece of the current leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea came up to sweep her into her arms. "Hey! Hyegyŏng-a!" she playfully scolded as Kyech herself lightly smiled at such exuberance; the doctor had been deployed to the Republic of Korea working as part of the 8th Medical Operations Squadron at Kunsan in North Chŏlla Province on the Yellow Sea coast south of Sŏul before being assigned to Colorado Springs, so she knew some of the common honorifics. "Stop that!"

Hyegyŏng's dark brown eyes twinkled with mischievousness. When she saw that for the first time, SGC's senior medical officer was forever convinced that the whole idea of North Koreans NOT having a sense of humour should be permanently committed to the circular file. After she leaned over to playfully kiss the Dragonspeaker's cheek, she waved them over to one part of the ancient base that her first-self had created to store most of what he stole from the Goa'uld during the First Invasion of Yiziba five millennia ago. "You're lucky that I had been on the lookout for Osiris for a while, Imoni!" she stated as they nodded to the androids standing guard over various rooms in the base, they clothed in the proper battledress of the Korean People's Army. Fraiser knew they were Shōzoki in origin, having been infiltrated into the country by agents of their controlling master program — which sounded to her like Skynet in the Terminator movies — before Hyegyŏng got to them and freed them, allowing them to become fully sentient...and become fanatically loyal to her along the way. "There's someone else that I was able to locate when I deciphered some Goa'uld artifacts that I've found over the last year. It's a pity I couldn't have intercepted Osiris before he possessed Daniel-ajŏssi's friend." She winked at the native of Spokane. "But I think I've tamed him — pardon me, 'her' — for the time being."

Fraiser's eyebrow arched. "Oh? How so...?"

In answer, the Sandalwood Empress opened one door into a private examination room. Once past the doorway, the visiting doctor and Noukiios' greatest warrior were quick to see four people inside. One was Nator'beneseam Guo'ono, a teenage boy from Yiziba who had been Gifted as one of many empathic masters who effectively served as would-be fathers to desperate mothers wanting children when nesting season came; noting how young the cute redhead looked, Fraiser winced on realizing what had exactly happened to the first pharaoh of Egypt when s/he had been caught. Seated close to Nator'be was Sarah Gardner, dressed still in the flamboyant gown that Osiris forced the archaeologist from England to wear when he had been possessing her. And on one of the diagnostic beds in the room...

"Isis?!" Fraiser quietly demanded after seeing the virtual twin sister to Gardner — no doubt, Osiris' soul had been inserted into a battle doll Hyegyŏng obtained from Kasuga Ayumu's pocket dimension — now warmly holding a beautiful tanned woman with long dark brown hair in her arms, the two muttering in their native tongue as they gazed into the other person's eyes for the first time in over nine millennia.

The doctor hadn't been quiet enough; on hearing that familiar voice, the two Goa'uld-turned-pre-Gifted Yizibajohei perked, then looked over before the eyes of Gardner's twin's brightened in recognition. "Ah! Healer Fraiser!" Osiris called out, her voice possessing her last host's refined Essaxon accent. The reborn pharaoh then focused her attention on Kyech. "A Pakalach...?" she wondered as she scanned the line of Noukiite common script flowing down the Dragonspeaker's jacket flap.

Fraiser gazed in amusement at Kyech. "If I may?"

The native of Ryekkyuk on the northern continent of the homeworld nodded her permission. "Lady Osiris, may I present the loyal free warrior to Her Imperial Majesty, the Ch'uot'uokse Empress Eyu-Ki Yech'a-Suoaech Hechnich'-Aiseuach of Nehech: The Lady Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech of Ait'uch Nehech, adopted blood sibling of the Great Sky Lord Nengmek'i." As Osiris' hazel eyes went wide with recognition, Kyech saluted her in the proper Noukiite style.

An amused smirk crossed the ancient pharaoh's face. "The one whom it is said that even Anubis is mortally terrified of," she declared, making Isis Taylor gasp as she stared in disbelief at her reborn husband. "He lives, my wife," Osiris declared as she gazed upon her mate, her face softening as she moved to pull Isis protectively closer. "After I possessed Sarah and fled Earth, I was contacted by his first prime in secret, where he offered aid in allowing me to rebuild my empire among the stars."

"You should have told the others, my husband!" Isis snapped. "Given the level of his crimes...!"

"He's partially ascended, Isis."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

"No...!" Isis hissed. "The Ancients aren't THAT stupid..."

"He tricked Oma Desala years ago to show him the ways of Ascension," Osiris wryly explained as Kyech shook her head, pinching her noise at THIS new complication when it came to relations between the "children of the gods" and the other sentient species of the galaxy. "Once other Ancients sensed what happened, they forced him into a semi-ascended state; they couldn't revert him to be totally mortal once more. His..." A shudder ran through her. "His power is insane! He has greater mastery of the Ancients' technology than any of us could imagine. Even more, he's held back and allowed the battles between Ra and Apophis to carry on, waiting for the chance to become the Supreme System Lord..."

Her voice was cut off when a faint rumbling sound echoed through the room. "The Stargate," Nator'be declared as he reached over to squeeze Gardner's hand. "You expecting a visitor, Hyegyŏng?"

"No," the reborn first ruler of Kojosŏn on Earth and Kuorim on Yiziba said as she marched out of the room to see what was happening, with Kyech following.

By the time they got into the main part of the base where the "Beta Gate" had been mounted, three chevrons had already locked into place. As the reborn first couple of ancient Egypt, the former host of the first pharaoh of that kingdom, her young would-be lover and the doctor from Washington state came out to join their host and Noukiios' mightiest warrior, the fourth chevron locked into place while Hyegyŏng gazed upon the advanced computer she hooked into the Stargate to detect from where potential visitors hailed. "Phentax Two...?" she wondered as the fifth chevron locked.

"I doubt Miree would allow anyone to make use of her planet's Stargate, Hyegyŏng-u," Kyech advised.

Before the Sandalwood Empress could formulate a response, the final chevrons locked into place and the wormhole formed between Earth and the homeworld of the once-greatest military power of the Galactic Federation of Planet-states. Seconds later, a tall, muscular man in a traditional Yizibajohei sleeved battlesuit walked through the event horizon; red overall, it had a violet belt and slip-on shoes tucked under the bell-bottom trousers, a golden symbol resembling the signal strength bars on a mobile phone screen over his heart. Staring at the raven-haired, middle-aged native of the northern polar continent who was the current incarnation of the Mad Prophet of the Future, Rimmim ("Millennium"), Osiris felt a gulp rise up in her throat. Despite the man wearing shaded goggles, the dark brown eyes that peeked out of that fleshy face sparkled with a level of barely-contained insanity that the first pharaoh of Egypt was quick to conclude would have matched that of her would-be patron Anubis.

"I see you were able to finally retrieve Isis' errant mate, Hyegyŏng," Leno Lu'umlo declared as the Sandalwood Empress walked over to warmly embrace the man who saw himself now as the "champion of balance" between faces and heels on the World of the Forge.

Isis shuddered as she drew herself closer to her reborn husband, Osiris' arms squeezing her body in reassurance. The Goa'uld couple then tensed as Leno's dark eyes focused directly on them. "You need not fear me," the reborn prophet who had been a thorn in the sides of many over the incarnations calmly declared, his voice a deep baritone that could easily be mistaken for that of a Goa'uld's despite it not echoing. "I cannot help but rejoice at the idea that two of your ancient race have been forever saved from the madness of the Alterans, then allowed to join the true Great Show of Life..."

"Not that we were given much of a choice!" Isis hissed.

That didn't phase Leno. "Yes, permanent death without a chance to truly live away from the control of others would seem to some a more preferable fate." He shook his head, not taking notice of the fact that Janet Fraiser was moving to shift Sarah Gardner away from the reborn preacher's line of vision. "In all my incarnations since the Dawn of Power, I simply could NEVER understand that!" he confessed. "Still, you are safe and have avenged yourselves on Ra by regaining control of your lives, not to mention avenging yourselves on Telchak by being cleansed of the influence of the false mesonium the Alterans created sagas ago in hopes of allowing themselves to 'ascend'." A sneer twisted his face.

"So where have you been, Ajŏssi?" Hyegyŏng asked as she came over to slip her arm around Leno's, her eyes flicking over to the captain of her "personal guard". As he nodded before moving to escort Fraiser and Gardner to a nearby examination room to allow the doctor the chance to look the archaeologist over — with Nator'be accompanying them — the Sandalwood Empress waved her guests over to a nearby lounge while several of the gynoids moved to prepare drinks and snacks.

"Fortunately for me, I discovered a most interesting project being carried out by young people on Phentax Two who took advantage of the bioroid factory to create replicas of favoured fictional characters here on Earth," Leno stated as they sat, with Osiris, Isis and Kyech joining them, the two Goa'uld staying close to the Noukiite free warrior while warily watching the native of Yiziba. "I wonder if Tariko ever told you of this particular fight scene simulation game, Hyegyŏng: Danganronpa?"

She blinked in confusion before nodding. "Yes. Similar to the novel Battle Royale in general concept; Tariko-ya utterly HATES that story script! A group of people my age are trapped within a school, with no escape except being made to murder a classmate without being caught." As the two Goa'uld gaped in shock that such a thing could be imagined among the Tau'ri, Hyegyŏng added, "The first game appeared two seasons ago with a sequel having come out this summer..."

She perked as the ancient Stargate — which had cut off the wormhole to Phentax Two once her guest came through — activated anew. "Ah! They're coming now," Leno declared as he turned to watch.

As Hyegyŏng gazed in expectation at him, Kyech's eyes narrowed in outrage as her own meta-senses told her something. "People there saved real-live versions of the characters of this game from facing the judgment of the Ch'uoeuk at the Pools of Reincarnation?!" she hissed, her eyes glowing.

"At the very moment of their death scenes, my dear," Leno stated as he reached over to squeeze the Dragonspeaker's bandaged hand while the first two chevrons clicked into place in the background. "All of them were struck down in the very PRIME of their young lives, Kyech! Denied the right to live their lives as they so chose to live their lives! I'm sure even your Ch'uoeuk would LOUDLY approve of saving the souls of ones so young and letting them live again in such a matter! As I recall, you certainly don't object one bit to the concept of the Doll House that Ayumu currently manages."

Those glowing orbs focused on him. "They even saved the one who orchestrated that obscenity, Leno."

"All in the name of the Great Balance, Kyech."

Hyegyŏng's head snapped over. "You mean...?!"

A flash of energy then caused heads to snap back towards the Beta Gate...

...then they blinked on seeing a woman the same age as the niece of North Korea's leader standing on the ramp leading to the ancient wormhole device. Like Leno, she was dressed in the more traditional sleeved battlesuit design with a hood drawn over her head. Such was black overall with dark grey belt wrapped around a slender waist, dark grey boots peeking out from under the bell-bottom trousers. Over the left breast was a dark grey spiked circular orb bearing a black eye on it; seeing that, Hyegyŏng tried not to grin too much at who Leno just arranged to have reborn...and in a perfectly cloned Terran-form Avalonian body of the woman both known as the Ultimate Fashionista...and the Ultimate Despair!

Or as she would now be called on Yiziba, the Herald of Cosmic Doom, Likenuo!

As the woman who organized the Killing School Life on her peers of the seventy-eighth class at Hope's Peak Academy in another dimension's Tōkyō two years ago renamed herself, Verzweiflung!

"North Korea..."

On hearing that voice — which was not the normal high-pitched tones the poverty-born teenage fashion model had been depicted with in the Danganronpa games and anime released to date, but a frigid monotone that would make most people soil themselves in terror if they didn't realize what this cosmic metahuman empathic vampire and emotional manipulator really was — Osiris felt Isis squeeze the breath out of her as she ducked away...just as a cold smile crossed Enoshima Junko's face.

"How delicious...!"

By then, the event horizon had formed again within the Beta Gate...

KK-KLONK!

"Not THIS time, Enoshima-san!"

As Leno moaned while rubbing his head, Hyegyŏng gaped in awe on seeing who just came through the wormhole from Phentax Two: An incredibly muscular, dusky-skinned woman in an old-style off-white uniform that would be seen as one befitting a martial artist, it possessing a black belt and with black boots, a framed black open hand insignia over the heart. Said woman was a giant with all-seeing grey eyes peeking out of a face that didn't bear the ugly diagonal scar from the left forehead to the right cheek, that brooding mask still framed by long shaggy silver hair to mid-back. Like the Dragonspeaker, the Ultimate Martial Artist known now on Yiziba as the Eternal Grappler of the New Dawn, Likim ("Niten"), bandaged her hands that served as her primary weapons against all foes.

Given that Ōgami Sakura had died in the Killing School Life events that consumed over half of Class 78 at the Hope's Peak Academy, it didn't surprise the Sandalwood Empress that her reborn bodyguard had knocked Junko down with her fist the instant she came through the Stargate.

"Sakura-ssi..."

The martial artist's head snapped over...

...then she gasped in disbelief on seeing the niece of the current ruler of North Korea as she rose, revealing her burgundy-shaded old-style uniform, which bore multiple dragon-like designs on the arms, legs and around her chest. A samt'aegŭk was over her heart, surrounded by gold p'algwae trigrams in an octagon-like design. Noting that, Sakura lunged over to drop to one knee, bowing her head to the reborn queen of Kuorim that she — then a he — fought alongside with during the Dawn of Power.

"MY QUEEN!"

Osiris and Isis gaped while Kyech nodded in understanding and Leno moaned.

"Why couldn't they ALL be heels...?!" the Mad Prophet of the Future hissed out...


At that moment, seven kilometres to the north-northeast...

«Comrade Marshal?»

The young First Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic didn't visibly react to that whispered telepathic voice echoing in his head as he gazed dispassionately at the small group of American government officials and military officers who were now relaxing in one of the secure meeting rooms within the Ryongsŏng Residence, his primary home in the like-named precinct of the capital city. What did you find, Sarang-a? he thought back.

Kim Chŏng'ŭn tried not to shudder on feeling the wave of sheer joy that his senior metahuman bodyguard now felt at being addressed with such a familiar title by him. Like others of the specialized warfare element of the Kippŭm-jo, Major Kim Sarang was an officer in the People's Army, originally from Sangwŏn to the southeast of downtown P'yŏng'yang, who had undergone very rigorous training with the Special Operations Forces to keep her body in perfect shape and ensure her powers remained top-notch; like others of the team officially known as the "Manjok-cho Sŭmullet", Sarang was often expected to provide sexual services to anyone her supreme leader allowed her to be intimate with. «It appears half of Kinsey-sang'wŏn'ŭiwŏn's companions have been possessed by these aliens he just warned us about. Among them are Gold-ssi, MacKay-ssi and Wilson-ssi.»

Are Langham and Devlin aware of this? the supreme leader of North Korea thought as he watched while Senator Robert Kinsey showed some pictures on his laptop concerning Stargate Command's previous findings to very wide-eyed senior intelligence officials of the People's Army who were also fully in the know concerning the various metahuman forces currently active worldwide.

«No, Comrade Marshal.»

«Comrade Marshal, the senior bodyguard currently controlled by a Goa'uld knows that at least one-tenth of the field forces of the National Intelligence Directorate have been infiltrated by his countrymen,» a new voice then spoke in his mind.

That fact made one of the most powerful men on Earth inwardly shudder; again, he had his wonderful bodyguards to thank for helping him keep himself under control in the face of this group who were now trying to convince him of the potential danger his youngest NIECE now demonstrated to him...no thanks to a certain woman from Japan who could be thanked for chasing off those lunatic aliens from Earth three days ago! ONE-TENTH?! he mentally snapped as he focused on the stoic man standing close to one of the main entrances to this room. How many people are in this group altogether, Shiyŏn-a?!

«About five thousand, Comrade Marshal,» Lieutenant Pak Shiyŏn from Wŏnsan on the coast of northern Kang'wŏn near the border with South Hamgyŏng answered.

Learning THAT, Kim allowed himself a frown as he focused once more on the senior senator from New Mexico who had tried on many occasions over the last four years to have Stargate Command shut down due to what he saw as a colossal waste of money such a specialized organization within the American military was costing tax payers; that had been one of the first things his psionic observers had detected from the native of Cloudcroft. He had guessed what type of man Kinsey was deep down: A greedy and ambitious fellow who wanted nothing less than to unseat Josiah Bartlet's chosen successor when the next presidential elections came in four years' time, then become the "leader of the free world" for up to eight years as allowed by that nation's constitution. Some freedom! the supreme leader of North Korea snorted on reflecting that, earning him silent amused giggles from his wife Ri Sŏlju and his younger sister Kim Yŏjŏng; both were attending this meeting as "special strategic advisors". Fortunately, the influence of people like Kim Sarang and her subordinates made sure the Americans here with him today, possessed by the alien serpents or not, who would have objected to two "civilians" being in on such an important gathering wouldn't say a thing; members of the Sŭmullet team were artisans when it came to subtly influencing other people's minds, especially when in such close range.

As he felt himself flooded with waves of delight at his mentally acknowledging his subordinates' work for the cause of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and his own control over the country, Kim frowned as he called up a mental image of his half-brother's youngest child when she was last seen in public two years ago by field agents of the Chŏngch'al Ch'ongguk, the DPRK's external intelligence agency. While members of the RGB hadn't then been able to confirm who Kim Hyegyŏng met in a café near the Altira Macau casino in the "special administrative region" formed over the former Portuguese colony near Hong Kong before the girl vanished, comparisons with modern images now identified said stranger as Tariko Katabarbe, the man-turned-woman who had been on a decade-long quest to protect Earth from all forms of alien encroachment, especially from the Urusians and their allies...

...and who had just been publicly confirmed to have become empowered as one of the most feared beings in the cosmos, one even the Goa'uld themselves were terrified of!

So what did that ultimately mean for Kim Hyegyŏng...?

Kim knew the girl was "gifted" as residents of Yiziba called it, supposedly as that planet's counterpart to none other than Tan'gun himself; as to what exact type of metahuman powers the girl currently passed, such was a mystery. According to what Kinsey told him, that was a being who's incarnation at the time of the Dawn of Power two millennia ago fought like a tigress to protect the people of her home kingdom of Kuorim on Yiziba's eastern equatorial continent from the ravages of marauding metahumans even when neighbouring countries had collapsed into sheer anarchy. Since that time, incarnations of the being who had earned the sobriquet "Sandalwood Emperor/Empress of the New Dawn" always fought for the "Nameless", people who were metahumans as almost all on Yiziba HAD to become thanks to both the planet's savage wildlife and rogue metahuman "heels" who would gladly kill defenceless innocents for whatever reason struck their fancy..,yet, unlike the "Named" who were the more well-known natives of that world, never resurrected themselves via the Moon-sized ball of mesonium that once formed the great Forge of the Seekers. And while there had been times that past incarnations of the being whose collected memories were now fused with Hyegyŏng's very soul had tried to reform Kuorim on its ancient territory, what were the girl's plans NOW...?

If only she could be found, Yŏbo, the supreme leader's wife mused after sensing his introspection.

Kim flashed Ri an amused look...

"...so you believe the girl has control of not only this Stargate that was in Antarctica all these years, but a considerable cache of Goa'uld artifacts that her past-selves obtained over the years, Senator?"

That was Captain Pae Tuna, the only one of the Sŭmullet team who had come to this meeting "in the open" to meet with the Americans. She had been introduced to Kinsey and his companions as a highly-trained intelligence officer who had done field work alongside members of mainland China's MSS monitoring potential alien incursions in eastern Asia; of course, her friends in the team had been quick to ease the Americans' concerns about someone so physically young being involved in something like this. Of course, all members of Sŭmullet were polyglots; English and Mandarin were two of the languages they had taught themselves when they were officer cadets. "So we learned from Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter, Captain," Kinsey answered before he turned to gaze on his host. "As to how on Earth the girl or her past-selves were able to obtain that sort of equipment, we don't know. O'Neill and Carter, thanks to their overwhelming trust of Katabarbe, never pressed her for details."

"She could possibly use these materials to overthrow my brother?" Kim's sister then demanded.

"A possibility that can't be discounted, Mrs. Kim," Colonel Harold Maybourne, the senior military officer of Kinsey's delegation, declared as he gazed at her. "From what I've learned during my times in Cheyenne Mountain, your niece is no supporter of your brother."

Silence fell as people turned to gaze on North Korea's supreme leader. After a moment, Kim asked in accented English, "Does your president have any idea about the girl, Senator Kinsey? I'm sure General Hammond would have passed such information to him the instant it was learned by his subordinates. While I'm grateful that your leader is ultimately willing to share the spoils obtained by the members of the general's command to everyone on Earth — especially given the events of the last year in Japan — I'm sure he wouldn't welcome any sort of destabilization in this part of the world being provoked by the girl." He sighed. "Sadly, we've no idea how much her father's teachings may still influence her."

The New Mexican shook his head. "I really wish I could answer that, sir."

"Most likely, Comrade Marshal, we'll have to find her ourselves," Tuna suggested.

"We should help, Senator," Maybourne advised.

As Kinsey nodded, footfalls echoed from outside the room, making people turn as a side door opened, revealing a colonel bearing the insignia of the Ministry of People's Security. "Forgive me, Comrade Marshal!" he said as he saluted the supreme leader; the man spoke Korean though the Americans had universal translator devices in their jackets so they could understand what was going on. "There's an incident at the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum! It..." He paused as he gazed on Kinsey before taking a deep breath. "Somehow, the spy ship Pueblo has been transformed into one of these 'shipgirl' beings that young Comrade Saeru Hinako introduced to the world late Saturday evening!"

"Oh, dear God...!"

That was Kinsey, who was now QUITE pale as he stared in disbelief at the colonel. «Foolish of him, ne?» Shiyŏn chided as amused laughter echoed in the minds of the supreme leader, his wife and sister.

«His concern is real, Shiyŏn-a,» Tuna advised. «He believes that this being might unleash all sorts of horrors on the people in P'yŏng'yang and elsewhere in the country if she is aroused...and given what really happened all the way back in Chuch'e Suin'ilgom-nyŏn...!»

Enough, Tuna-ya!

That was Kim Chŏng'ŭn, who was now gazing at the colonel. "Comrade Colonel, has...?" He then paused before gazing at Maybourne. "Tell me, Colonel Maybourne, what sort of honorary rank in the United States Navy would this person possess? Given what your president said..."

The former special tactics officer from Santa Barbara in California hummed as he considered that. "Well, given at the time of the initial trespass into your country's waters, she was commanded by a full-bird captain, sir, she could be rated as a captain herself. However, if I recall correctly, Pueblo was built as an Army small freighter before the Navy got their hands on her in the 1950s to make her a spy ship. I'm not sure who would have commanded her back after World War Two, Marshal Kim."

«Ugh! I don't want to be no square four striper, man! That's WAY too much a downer!»

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

"Who the HELL was that?!" Doctor Brent Langham demanded as people looked around.

"I heard that!" the first lady of North Korea exclaimed. "Who WAS that?!"

A chuckle escaped her husband. "I believe, Tangshin, we're now 'speaking' — so to speak! — with the living soul of the Pueblo herself!" Kim declared, making the Americans blink while the other Koreans in the room looked awestruck at his quick deduction over what was now going on. "Good morning, Comrade!" he then clearly called out in English as he gazed towards downtown. "I pray you're not going to do something harsh to anyone who's with you right now at the museum."

«Nah! Chill, Comrade Marshal! It's all cool!» came the reply from by the shore of the Pot'ong River closer to downtown, a flood of pure reassurance making all the people in the meeting room relax. «If you didn't know, my generation back Stateside wanted to ban the Bomb and bring all the world together as one cool commune, all in harmony with the Astral Plane and healing the biomass of Mother Earth from all the bad things humans have done to it over the years!» As Maybourne shook his head, muttering that said shipgirl was now some insane hippie, the living spirit of the second Banner-class environmental research/intelligence vessel added, «Er...much that I hate to tell you this since you're having that big powwow at Ryongsŏng right now with those squares from Stateside, but you've got yourself a bit of a snake infestation in this town, Comrade Marshal! Two of them were possessing two members of the local cop shop; they just tried to turn a bunch of little comrades from the Music Academy in Taedonggang-guyŏk into Swiss cheese!»

"WHAT?!" Kim shrieked as he bolted to his feet.

"COMRADE MARSHAL!"

"WHAT?!" the supreme leader demanded as running footfalls heralded the arrival of another colonel, an artillery officer from the People's Army ground forces. "CAN'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY, COLONEL...?!"

A bow responded. "Forgive me, Comrade Marshal!" the colonel nearly sobbed. "But some metahuman woman — an American, we believe — has just flown over the Demilitarized Zone near Kaesŏng...!"

"WHAT?!" Kim shrilled again.

"...and she's now changing the very SOIL of the earth somehow!"

"Oh, SHIT...!" Maybourne moaned.

"How so, Comrade Colonel?!" Kim Yŏjŏng demanded.

Here, the colonel looked...lost. "Well, according to the reports we received from the forces deployed close to Kaesŏng, Comrade Kim, this woman...is making the soil grow...well, POTATOES!"

Jaws dropped. "Potatoes...?!" Kinsey wondered.

«Hey! That sounds like Bannie!» Marlene Bucher-Flanagan then cheered...


Near Changp'ung village in North Hwanghae Province (ten kilometres north of P'anmunjŏm), that moment...

"So much FOOD...!"

"Look! There are even sweet potatoes!"

"It's a MIRACLE!"

Hearing the voices of both the civilian villagers and the People's Army troopers assigned to this sector close to the most-heavily guarded border in the world, the reborn and transformed namesake of the Hero of Derna could only smile, her brown eyes tearing on feeling the sheer relief everyone close to her now expressed from the fact that after DECADES of food shortages, people could EAT! As children joyfully raced around to gather freshly-grown potatoes in baskets to load into carts for distribution, soldiers formed human chains to pass on their own share to load into vehicles to ensure the bounty could be stored in safe places for use by cooks. While there were a couple obvious commissars from the government who looked lost as to what to do in the face of what the reborn sixth of the Fletcher-class destroyers just did, even the senior mud-eaters who responded to Matilda O'Bannon's trespass of North Korean airspace seemed satisfied that the shipgirl's current mission was for the good.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant Colonel O'Bannon...?"

Hearing that voice speaking accented English, the adopted native of Fauquier County in northern Virginia and Bath in Maine perked before she turned, then she straightened herself to attention, returning the salute of the raven-haired Oriental woman in the uniform of a Swiss Army major, the badge of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission on her camouflage uniform top. She was being escorted by a smiling North Korean colonel in field battledress. "Yes, Major...?"

The major grinned as she lowered her arm. "Major Sophie Jean, Swiss contingent of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, Colonel O'Bannon." She waved to the colonel, who gave the reborn destroyer a smart salute, the delight he felt on seeing so many people under his protection now being able to eat properly quite apparent to Matilda. "This is Colonel Oh Kyŏngp'il, liaison officer of the People's Army to the Commission in P'anmunjŏm. I assume that with others like yourself, your uniform has some translator system that allows you to interpret what people are saying no matter what language is being spoken...?" Her voice then trailed off in an obvious question.

"Yes, Major," the shipgirl responded before she blinked. "'Lieutenant Colonel'?"

Jean gave her a smile that made Matilda's heart flutter. "As I recall, your namesake was a member of the United States Marine Corps during the time of the First Barbary War in the 1800s..."

Hearing that, the pretty teenager with the pixie cut caramel hair blinked as she considered that before she hummed. "Um...y-yeah! I guess that would make sense! Never had jarheads in my crew, though...!" she confessed, earning her a curious look from Colonel Oh. "That's a nickname everyone in my service gives Marines, Colonel. Sorry to confuse you about that," she then explained.

He nodded. "Understandable, Comrade Colonel. And thank you for doing what you did. Though still..." He tried not to wince. "It IS a violation of our airspace. By all rights, you should be taken prisoner..."

"What did make you do what you did, Colonel?" the Swiss officer — no doubt, she had a mother from this side of the world, Matilda mused — asked. "While I'm not familiar about metahuman capabilities..."

A helpless shrug answered. "Well, I was heading this way after my hull was rebuilt and I was turned into this at Kearny — that's where I was scrapped after I was struck from the Register — then I heard Pueblo's voice as I was coming towards Japan, so I flew this way to look in on her; she didn't sound good to me." As Oh and Jean winced on hearing the name of the infamous spy ship, Matilda added, "Soon as I crossed over the DMZ, I..." Here, she blanched. "The soil...!" she hissed as tears flowed down her face, she dropping to her knees as her hands touched the now-lush undergrowth...

People gasped as a wave of silvery-red energy exploded from the destroyer's hands in every direction, spreading to a considerable distance beyond the limits of Changp'ung-ŭp itself; to Oh's experienced eyes, the whole of the county would soon be washed by such power. As the children screamed in delight on seeing the kind Western angel again using her magical powers to give them more food, more potato plants sprang up from the ground as water misted over everyone's heads, drawn from the nearby Rimjin River to feed nutrients into the ground. "Mon Dieu...that's unbelievable!" Jean hissed in her native French as Oh shook his head, trying to equate what he knew about science to the MIRACLE being unleashed by this reborn warship spirit; his own troops had tried the sweet potatoes Matilda's chlorokinesis allowed to grow here thanks to many attempts at growing the hardy vegetable in this part of the world to supplement scant rice sources, pronouncing them to be even of a finer quality than had been issued by their support personnel from the few foreign imports that got into the country.

"The soil is drained and needs to be replenished, Sophie-san."

Hearing that in Kyūshū Japanese even if she could interpret it in French, Jean spun around...

...then she gaped on seeing the smiling teenage girl standing nearby, dressed in a solid forest green bodysuit of the modern halter-top style with golden vine leaves flowing up the sides of her legs, hips and abdomen to form trimming framing her breasts, gold belt and boots completing the ensemble, a blooming chrysanthemum-like flower on her chest. She appeared to be seventeen, possessing turquoise eyes and aqua-shaded raven hair cut to a taper at the neck, bangs covering her forehead. As Oh shuddered on recognizing this woman as clearly Japanese, Jean blinked. "Who are you?"

"Oh, just a kidnap victim of a bunch of stupid umale who thought they could conquer Yiziba of all the planets in the galaxy, Sophie-san...and they wanted to try to use the Unending League to get their way," the native of Beppu on the east coast of Kyūshū stated with an amused smile before she walked over to kneel beside the sobbing Matilda. "Oh, Matilda-chan...!" she soothed as she wrapped an arm around the shuddering shipgirl's body to comfort her. "There! There!" she then said as the adopted native of Virginia and Maine leaned against the second-year student who was got the most votes in the South Area round of the Zenkoku Seifuku Bishōjo Grand Prix the previous summer. "You made the soil so much better and made the people happy! Here, let me make sure these poor people can have a more balanced diet now that the soil can grow more things. Potatoes are good, but...!"

With that, the new incarnation of the most powerful warrior serving in Yiziba's greatest legion of metahuman fighters raised her hand, a brilliant silver burst of energy exploding from the palm...


Itabashi in Tōkyō, Azuma Senior High School, that moment...

"Huh...?!"

People in Class 2-3 perked on hearing that sleepy voice. At the head of the class, Kimura Hyōsuke turned around to gaze upon Kasuga Ayumu, who was slowly rising from the nap she had been taking while the infamous classics teacher was giving his lecture. Of course, Kimura didn't mind that in the end; given he had become a teacher to be close to high school girls, anything within reason was tolerated by any girl in his classes. Atop that, given that the native of Wakayama WAS the Goddess Who Walks Among Men, she could easily use her reality-warping powers to catch up on anything she missed when her chronic narcolepsy got the better of her. "Is there something the matter, Ayumu-san?" the spiky-haired forty-something with the seemingly always-fogged glasses asked.

Ayumu blinked as everyone else in the class gazed worriedly at her. "Oh, sorry, Sensei!" she said as she rubbed her eyes. As Aida Kaori — known more popularly among her peers as "Kaorin" and Gifted as the Great Bard of the Soul, R'bem Yomem ("Heart Player"), one of Yiziba's most powerful non-cosmic empaths — reached over to squeeze her classmate's shoulder, Ayumu looked off to the west-northwest. "I just felt Lady Nature use her powers in a pretty big way somewhere close to here."

That made the Gifted people in the class — all of the Azuma Gang was there save for Mizuhara Koyomi and Takino Tomo; the teachers understood what had prompted the Wild Warrior of Passion and the Mistress of the Mind-Dive to head to Uru just in case any Goa'uld came "fashionably early" — blink in confusion. "Oh, it was just Lady Nature. Thank goodness...!" Mihama Chiyo noted...

It hit them!

"LADY NATURE?!" the others of the Azuma Gang in class shrieked as one.

"Hey! Hey! Relax, everyone!" Ayumu called out, which made the others pause before they totally flipped out. "It's okay! Lady Nature is Takanashi Naoko-chan from Beppu!" She looked at their classics teacher, an amused grin on her face. "You know her, don'tcha, Sensei?!"

Kimura now looked as if he had just got a waterfall of calendars depicting pretty high school girls in skimpy bikinis for his birthday! "Of COURSE I know her, Ayumu-san! I actually VOTED in the Grand Prix!" He then paused before tears flowed down his cheeks. "Oh, the AGONY of it all!" he moaned as many of the boys in the room nodded in agreement; it always angered many of the girls that their male peers supported what the stalking pervert with the hidden heart of gold always said...even if he was married and a father to boot! "Trying to CHOOSE who should have won the Grand Prix! ALL of them deserved the chance to win! Their beauty was truly past all compare!"

As the boys whooped in agreement — everyone who associated with the Azuma Gang knew of Tariko Katabarbe's promise to Higurashi Akane (who was Takanashi Naoko's best friend) concerning finding the participants of the Zenkoku Bishōjo Seifuku Grand Prix after they disappeared without trace the previous summer — Kimura then cleared his throat. "Ayumu-san, you're excused from class right now," he sternly declared. "Go look in on Naoko-san! Make sure she's alright and find out what happened to her co-participants! I'm sure Akane-san down in Fūka would be happy to learn her friend's alright, to say anything of being Gifted! Not to mention all the parents and other relatives as well!"

That made Ayumu get to her feet, she giving him a jaunty salute. "Yes, sir!"

And with a flash of energy, she was gone...


Near Changp'ung village...

"Um...what did she just do, Major...?"

Sophie Jean was shaking her head. "I don't know, Colonel..."

A flash of light made the part-Korean Swiss officer and the senior North Korean liaison officer to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission spin away from Matilda O'Brien and her companion...

"O-ha!"

...before they gazed on someone that both officers knew of QUITE well. "Comrade Kasuga...?" Oh Kyŏngp'il gasped as he tried desperately to suppress a gulp.

That declaration made the current incarnation of the Cosmic Protector of True Life, R'belim Bolem ("Lady Nature"), look up to stare in surprise to see the current incarnation of the Goddess Who Walks Among Men nearby, looking around in delight on seeing the massive fresh growth of various fruit plants, flowering trees with ripe nuts and vegetable bushes where there had once been nearly-barren fields thanks to overexploitation. As people around them, civilian and military, screamed in delight on seeing such a cornucopia of fresh produce — already, children from Changp'ung were trying out just-ripened persimmons and apples while elders of the village were moving to pick a nearby ginkgo tree to get at the healthy fruit hanging from the branches — Takanashi Naoko sighed as she moved to help the shuddering sixth of the Fletcher-class destroyers to her feet. "You're not here to start something, are you, Ōsaka?!" the native of Beppu wondered before leaning down to dry off Matilda O'Bannon's face.

That earned her a wave of denial from Kasuga Ayumu. "Eh! That's so blah, Naoko-chan! Especially when we got the Goa'uld to deal with tomorrow night over Uru!" the native of Wakayama mused, that making Major Jean and Colonel Oh relax; they remembered the "flash of night" early Saturday afternoon. Seeing the other woman's eyes widen in surprise, Ayumu added, "Since we got shipgirls like Matilda-chan here back, a whole bunch of symbiotes wound up as snacks for them..."

Both reality warpers then jolted while the adopted native of northern Virginia tensed as her stomach growled loudly. Hearing that, a smiling army captain came over with some apples. "You should eat something as well, Comrade Colonel!" he scolded respectively.

Matilda blinked before she chuckled. "Uh...y-yeah! Th-thanks, Captain...!"

The children stopped to watch, then they cheered as the tomboyish shipgirl took the fruit in hand, biting into one beautiful red apple. As the soldiers whooped "O'BANNON MANSE!" in delight at such an act of peace from the most decorated destroyer of World War Two, the whooshing sound of wind passing a girl's body made people look up to see five teenagers appearing to be Matilda O'Bannon's age soar down from the southeast to land on the ground nearby. "Banny! Olá! It's been so long!" the grinning woman with the long, shaggy dark brown hair and the olive skin denoting her twenty-four years of service with the Marinha do Brasil called out, her hand raised in a wave.

Before Matilda could ask what was going on, she wound up in a dog-pile of cuteness as she was swarmed with hugs from Vitória Guest do Pará, Louise Cushing do Paraná, Otávia Hailey de Pernambuco, Nora Irwin de Santa Catarina and Laryn Braine y Garcia. Some of the children cried out in fright on seeing the strangers overcome the wonderful American angel who gave them, their families and the brave soldiers of the nation so much scrumptious food, immediately alerting some of the older residents of Changp'ung. "KOIMULDŬL!" the mayor of the village howled as he marched over, seizing a sergeant's Type 88 rifle before levelling it on the girls swarming over Matilda. "GET OFF...!"

A dark hand slammed down on the fore-stock of the locally manufactured AK-74 assault rifle, making the mayor look up to find himself glaring into the burning dark brown eyes of an African-Brazilian woman in her twenties, possessing wild shaggy black hair in curly bangs to her shoulder. She was in a traditional sleeved jumpsuit, dark blue overall with dusky gold belt and boots, the naval coronet-topped badge of the Brazilian Navy on her belt buckle. On her chest was a circular badge crowned with a naval coronet displaying a picture of a hand hoisting a torch on a green field, that framed by a wreath of laurel. The name MINAS GERAES in red was on a white field in the name plate under the coronet.

"Senhor Presidente...!" the woman spoke in a voice that brooked no defiance from the elderly man, her accent a mixture of Northumbria English and Gaúcho Brazilian Portuguese. "Surely you Koreans would understand that Senhorita Tenente Coronel O'Bannon is now reuniting with five of her beloved sisters, four of which were kind enough to escort my sister and I to this beautiful land."

Hearing that, an elderly woman growled, "SŎBANG...!"

As the children seeing this grinned in anticipation, she stormed over, snared the mayor by the ear, then dragged him down. As the sergeant retrieved his weapon, she gazed on the dark-skinned adopted native of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Encruzilhada do Sul in Brazil's southernmost province of Rio Grande do Sul. "My apologies for my husband's stupidity, Comrade Captain," she declared, making the reborn first of Brazil's dreadnoughts gape in surprise at her. "Given the way Comrade Colonel O'Bannon's sisters are acting, it's as obvious as the potatoes and other fruits and vegetables she and her Japanese friend just gifted us all that they ARE her sisters!" She then held up a finger. "However, there is only ONE president in our republic, Comrade Captain: The Eternal President himself."

A giggle echoed from nearby. "Oe, Halmŏni!" Ayumu then spoke up, holding up a finger to make sure people paid attention. "In Portuguese, 'Presidente' also means 'mayor' or 'chairman'!"

People blinked as they took that in. "So who are you anyway, Captain...?" Sophie Jean asked as she came over to stand before the reborn dreadnought.

"Encouraçado Minas Geraes da Marinha do Brasil, Senhorita Major," the woman replied as she gave the Swiss officer a salute, which Jean returned. "The human name given to me by the noble Angel of the Seeker's Forge now makes me the adopted daughter of my most famous crewman, who was then serving aboard me when he led the Revolta da Chibata." She gracefully bowed to the younger woman. "Capitão-de-Mar-e-Guerra Joana Cunegundes Felisburto at your service."

People perked. "The 'Revolt of the Whip', Comrade Captain?" Oh Kyŏngp'il asked.

The face of the battleship whose construction launched the South American dreadnought race before World War One darkened. "A most ugly time in my adopted country's history, Senhor Coronel..."


Meanwhile, back in P'yŏng'yang...

"What the...?"

Everyone currently inside the main hall of Asadal Base perked on hearing that annoyed voice, then they turned as one to gaze on a shuddering Enoshima Junko. As some of her fellow Killing School Life participants quaked, they looking ready to dog-pile the reborn Ultimate Fashionista, the native of another universe's Machida west of Tōkyō proper focused her attention to the south-southeast. After a second, a sneer crossed her face. "The Unending League are back?!" she demanded.

That made people's eyes widen with both surprise and fear as memories from previous lives came back to them. "The Unending League?!" Fukawa Tōko demanded as she walked over to stand closer to her old classmate. "How could you tell, Junko-sama? I know you're a cosmic meta..."

"I just felt Lady Nature use her powers to restore the soil to a level that could make North Korea the biggest food producer in this part of Asia, Shō," the Herald of Cosmic Doom replied with a grimace as she glared at the new incarnation of the Slaughterhouse Poet, Lutonike ("Völkermord"). Junko gladly addressed the woman declared the Ultimate Writing Prodigy in the Seventy-eighth Class of Hope's Peak Academy by the nicknamed her other personality state earned as the Ultimate Murderous Fiend. As Tōko blushed — Junko found it amusing that the simpering bookworm had such a nasty side once she was Gifted on Phentax Two; the fashion model laughed herself sick when Tōko lovingly butchered several squads of local goose-steppers who stormed the warehouse outside Lumukyō to stop a group of Danganronpa fans from bringing them back to life with the help of some alien mesonium-based weapon that looked like something welded by one of the pretty warriors of Sailor Moon...to say anything of the veterans of the Killing School Life and associated games being Gifted with the help of a Terran-turned-Yizibajohei Yakuza wakagashira of all things! — the architect of the Killing School Life again gazed in the general direction of Kaesŏng. "She's outside some village with Infinity right now; all the people there, even the local goose-steppers, are celebrating her making the soil rich and giving them loads of fruit and vegetables to eat." Her face twisted into a disgusted sneer. "SICK...!"

"Post-Gifting Shock..."

People blinked, then they stared at the crimson-haired woman with the Klingon-like forehead ridges and the flower tattoos on her cheeks. As Kim Hyegyŏng nodded in grim understanding, a wide-eyed Naegi Makoto blinked. "Um, what exactly is that, ma'am?" the Ultimate Lucky Student who had been reborn as the current incarnation of the Travelling Angel of Fortune, Tyuo'omsu ("Bonaventure"), then asked as he tried not to blush on taking in the Dragonspeaker's country girl-like beauty.

Kyech gazed in amusement at the boy who had got into Hope's Peak Academy by virtue of being such an ordinary person; noting he was a MALE Avalonian before his Gifting didn't surprise the old warrior of Ait'uch Nehech given Leno Lu'umlo's involvement in their rebirth in this dimension. As Makoto's former junior high classmate Maizono Sayaka moved to stand closer to him while giving the celestial dragon-blooded free warrior of Noukiios an admiring stare, the native of Ryekkyuk explained, "Because Terrans don't live in as high a mesonium-rich environment as Yizibajohei, those who become Gifted from this world experience a period called 'post-Gifting shock', where they feel the need to exercise their powers to regain their internal balance because of such an infusion of energy. As Junko is an empathic vampire that feeds off the despair of others, what Naoko just did literally cut her off from a great feast."

"Hai, Ren-dono's right," Yamada Hifumi affirmed. The hands of the Ultimate Dōjinshi Creator who had become the Picture Storyteller, Lo'omem ("Indie"), were shaking badly. "I feel the need to get pencil and paper so I could create a story and bring the characters to 'life'..."

Hyegyŏng gazed at her senior gynoid aide, who nodded in understanding before heading over to guide the stocky but no-longer fat amateur writer/artist to a side room. As Kyech scratched her head in confusion at being called "Lady Ren" by one of the victims of the Killing School Life, a flash of energy made heads snap over to see a girl in a grey battlesuit appear. Noting who just came in, Leno shuddered in anticipation of a good show while Osiris' eyes went wide with horror on gazing upon a being said to scare even the ANCIENTS and the ORI! Looking at the native of Wakayama, the reborn veterans of Hope's Peak Academy blinked as flashes of recognition crossed some people's faces...

"ŌSAKA-SAN?!"

That was Hifumi, who now looked as if Christmas came early. Before Kasuga Ayumu could understand what was happening, the amateur manga artist zipped over to snare her by the hand, his Avalonian telepathy probing the Infinite One's mind to confirm what she was before he dropped to his knees in joy, eyes tearing in delight on seeing what was (to him) a famous manga and anime character literally brought to life! That statement was enough to make some of his peers also gape in surprise. "Oh, my! That IS Ōsaka-san!" Asahina Aoi exclaimed as she pointed at the most powerful of all Yizibajohei.

"Eh? From Azumanga Daiō...?" Fujisaki Chihiro timidly asked.

"Huh?! 'Great King Azumanga'?!"

That was a very confused Ayumu. "Don't you know, Ayumu-yu?" Kyech asked. "What is real in one universe can often be fictional in another? Where Hifumi and his friends come from, your adventures with Chiyo-yu and the others in your class were depicted in a series of t'uchseu publications and ch'ekseu productions; 'Azumanga Daiō' was the name given to the series."

"Honestly, Kye-chan, I KNOW that part!" the Goddess Who Walks Among Men assured her friend from Noukiios. As Kyech gave her a bewildered look, Ayumu shrugged. "It's the NAME I'm confused about!"

People staggered. "Um...hey, Ōsaka-san, do they publish Dengeki Daiō here?!" Aoi asked.

That made the Infinite One blink for a moment before she hummed, nodding. "Yeah, they do, Aoi-chan..." Her eyes then widened. "Oh, I get it! Still, it IS kind of a dumb name..." She then gazed on the Ultimate Swimming Star who had been Gifted as the Ballerina of the High Seas, Yo'oyuor'ba ("Nuotatrice"). "Then again, I think you'd guys would have a big problem about what you all went through at that death-trap of a high school being called 'Denying the Bullet'..."

Hearing that, the people whose souls had been pulled from a parallel dimension blinked before they nodded. "You do have a point, Ōsaka-san," Hifumi mused as he got back to his feet, then he blinked as his hands quaked again, said shakes now spreading to his arms. "Oh, dear..."

The chief gynoid aide to the Sandalwood Empress smiled. "Right this way, Yamada-sŏnsaengnim."

He nodded his thanks as he followed her out of the room while Hyegyŏng herself came over to stand close to Ayumu. "The Great Show of Life is certainly getting more interesting, ne?"

"Yeah, you're right about that...uh-oh..."

Everyone perked. "What is it, Ayumu-san?" Ōgami Sakura wondered.

"Where did Junko-chan go?"

That made the new arrivals gasp in horror before they looked around the room.

There was no sign of the Ultimate Fashionista...


Near Changp'ung, that moment...

"At least the kids here are happy now..."

"Yeah! Still, they would have been happier if the adults weren't so stupid!"

"Eh! It's been going on since the 1950s, Kotoko-chan! Give them a little time and they'll be fine!"

A cold laugh escaped the pretty sixth-year elementary school girl now seated in the VERY advanced hoverchair which was floating off the ground some distance from where the natives of the village close to the Joint Security Area at P'anmunjŏm and local army forces were still celebrating the re-flowering of North Korea thanks to the namesake of the Hero of Derna and the most powerful of the Unending League of Super-Soldiers. Such a reaction from Tōwa Monaka automatically made the other members of the Tinuo Rimle (the "Warriors of Hope") clam up as they waited for their leader to pronounce her judgment on the current situation. Watching the children play with a critical eye recently honed thanks to the memories inherited from her past-selves who lived as the Crafter of Playtime, Damdo-myuo (the "Toy Queen"), the would-be heiress of the Tōwa family fortune and alumnus of Hope's Peak Elementary School in another dimension could only smirk. "They'll need help," Monaka then declared.

"How so, Monaka-chan?" Daimon Masaru asked as his fists clenched.

A snort escaped the leader of the Warriors of Hope. "It appears, Daimon-kun, that the so-called 'hermit kingdom' isn't as secure as the 'great successor' up in P'yŏng'yang would believe," Monaka noted. "At least a good number of the 'people' here — both the soldiers and the civilians — are actually Shōzoki." That declaration made the other children whose adventures would have been revealed in this dimension sometime next year tense. "All of them slaved to the videocam-in-the-stars that rules that planet these days." She shook her head, her green eyes glittering in anticipation of using her technokinesis to literally BREAK all the members of the so-called "perfect" race now in range. "Stupid..."

"Just like the freakin' Cylons in Battlestar Galactica!" Kemuri Jatarō snarled as his hands twitched in anticipation of getting hold of some good clay or other material to animate with his psychokinesis — Gifted to him as the Moulder of Art, Tutoloto ("Black Doll") — to use against the machine descendants of an effectively-extinct race whose classical modes of thought would have easily matched the Neo-Confucian morals used to run Korea during the Chosŏn dynasty. "I'm gonna LOVE this one, Hime-sama!" he then cackled as his grey eyes glittered with anticipation. "That artificial skin of theirs is easy to twist around. Let's see how THEY like losing control over their bodies..."

"Not until I sever the links with Mother, Kemuri-kun," Monaka sneered as she glared at the shockingly handsome boy with the well-groomed caramel hair. Much that even now after "dying" and being literally reborn in a universe where she, their nominal leader and all their peers were — or would have been? — seen as FICTIONAL CHARACTERS had shocked the leader of the Warriors of Hope into a more stable frame of mind, she still found Jatarō's slavishness towards her quite loathsome. "Once the organic soldiers are alerted to the true threat and they help disable the lot, you can have your fun!"

"Hai, Hime-sama..."

"Good...!"

All five children then tensed on sensing something familiar, then they spun around...

"JUNKO-SAMA!" they screamed joyfully on seeing the spiritual leader of their movement.

Of course, the Ultimate Fashionista who was now also the Herald of Cosmic Doom hadn't come alone; her elder twin sister Ikusaba Mukuro was at her side, dressed now in the grey urban camouflage combat uniform of the Ultimate Warrior, Byuole ("Kämpfer"), a reincarnated special forces trooper from the western equatorial continent who had initially fought with the fascist-like forces of the same nation that birthed many of the Unlimited League in the run-up to the Dawn of Power.

Unfortunately for the Ikusaba twins and the passionate followers of the younger of the pair, the shouts from Monaka and her peers had been loud enough to make dozens of people look their way from the area close to where Takanashi Naoko and Matilda O'Bannon now stood.

"AH! LOOK! THERE ARE SHIPBOYS!"

Hearing that shout from a teenage girl in the blue-and-red uniform of the Chosŏn Sonyŏn-dan as she pointed their way, the shipgirls that were present all looked over before Joana Felisburto heartily chuckled. "There are no such things as shipboys, young bandeirante!" the first of Brazil's dreadnoughts stated, making said girl blush at being effectively called a "pioneer". "All those such as myself, young Tenente Coronel O'Bannon and her sisters were created as women. Still, I think the bandeirantes do Japão that have just joined us are no doubt worried about Senhorita Takanashi."

"Not necessarily true, Joana-san."

That was Naoko herself, whose eyes were narrow as she glared intently at Junko, allowing her own clairvoyance to scan the just-arrived refugee from another dimension. The Herald of Cosmic Doom calmly stood her ground as the Cosmic Protector of True Life moved away from Matilda and her sisters, marching smartly over to confront the newcomers. Instantly, the Warriors of Hope shuffled back to not draw the oncoming woman's attention; even if they knew their Junko-sama was a cosmic meta, any incarnation of Lady Nature was NEVER to be crossed. Naoko smirked as Mukuro moved to bodily protect her beloved sister. While any incarnation of the Ultimate Warrior would always be a handful to deal with, the native of Beppu could sense that Mukuro was just Gifted in the last day or so. Naoko and her co-contestants from the Zenkoku Bishōjo Seifuku Grand Prix had almost a YEAR to master their abilities as they chased down the stupid, selfish Tok'ra who tried to enslave them thanks to tricking a grieving father into believing his dead son had survived exposure to the galaxy's most potent virus.

"So Danganronpa is real somewhere else, eh?" Naoko then teased as she stood about three metres from Junko, crossing her arms as her eyebrow arched. "Let me guess: Some dolt on Phentax Two wanted replicas of their favourite characters, but something went wrong."

"Considering that they used the Gift the first Healer of Destruction bestowed on that Sagussan brainiac twenty-five sagas ago, our survival — for those of us who fell in the Killing School Life...which, a while after our time, was made into a reality television show..." — here, Junko smirked as Naoko's blue eyes widened in horror — "...well, it was guaranteed. Fortunately, that nice Leno Lu'umlo was happy to help us get the right Gifts to survive in this universe." Smirking as the Cosmic Protector of Life moaned on hearing about the Mad Prophet of the Future's starring rôle in bringing the alumni of Hope's Peak High School and its elementary branch to unleash chaos in this dimension, the Ultimate Fashionista added, "Lucky for us that one of our 'fans' on that planet had a father who befriended the Dragon of Dōjima himself and kept things secret about him being Gifted to his own superiors back home..."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Time out here! I've heard of weird confrontation scenes, but MAN...!"

Everyone blinked, they they spun to gaze towards Junko's right...

"Insanity...?!" both she and Naoko hissed...

...on seeing a certain smiling native of Cincinnati sitting on a large rock nearby, his arms crossed as he gazed in amusement at his sister cosmic metas and the young ones who gladly followed the reborn shit-disturber from another universe's Machida near Tōkyō. As the soldiers all squawked on seeing that yet ANOTHER American — and a MAN at that! — had just appeared in their territory unbidden, a certain part-Korean Swiss Army officer gaped in disbelief. "DEAN AMBROSE?!" she exclaimed.

That made the man now known among wrestling fans as the Lunatic Fringe — as demonstrated by his psychedelic jumpsuit with black boots and belt, the whole topped with a black bomber jacket, he was known on Yiziba now as the current incarnation of the Universal Chaos, Duoti ("Insanity") — perk. "Holy shit! I've got fans here?!" the man born Jonathan Good wondered as he gazed at Sophie Jean.

As the native of Geneva blushed on hearing that, Junko sighed. "You here to rumble?!"

A casual shrug answered her from one of the most powerful cosmic metas of all. "Nah! I can tell the Flower Girl here had loads of practice dealing with her powers..." Here, Dean chuckled. "But, as I can sense from you, your sis and the little ones, you're about to have nice bouts of Post-Gifting Shock very soon!" He shook his head as he gave her an expectant look. "What are you calling dibs on?!"

The woman who had unleashed the Killing School Life for her class at Hope's Peak blinked in surprise on sensing that the wild maniac of the Shield was willing to let her unleash herself on whomever attracted her attention without butting in the way, then she smirked. "Recommendations, Monaka-chan?" she then wondered as she gazed on the leader of the Warriors of Hope.

"Loads of Shōzoki here to play around with," the would-be heiress of her family fortune noted.

"There are Goa'uld here as well," Naoko noted. As the people from another dimension gaped and Dean smirked, the native of Beppu winked. "We got LOTS of first-generation battle dolls with empty tanks."

That made Junko hum before she smirked, her eyes glowing...


At the Ryongsŏng Residence in P'yŏng'yang...

«Oh...how so DELICIOUS...!»

All the people in the meeting room where Kim Chŏng'ŭn, his wife Ri Sŏlju and his sister Kim Yŏjŏng were getting together with Senator Robert Kinsey and the top secret delegation from Washington concerning the young chairman's errant niece perked on hearing that voice echo in their minds, they immediately looking around. "Who the hell was THAT...?!" Colonel Harold Maybourne demanded.

«Comrade Marshal, the voice is coming from the general direction of P'anmunjŏm!» the mental voice of Major Kim Sarang echoed in the heads of the senior North Korean leaders; noting that, the grandson of the founder of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea found himself mentally grinning at the sheer level of discipline that his chief specialized warfare assistant was demonstrating in the face of such obvious power by someone native to Japan if the accent was right...

Who is it, Sarang-a?! Kim's wife demanded.

«It...she...!»

«Ah! Ah! Ah!» a young man's voice cut in, he being heard by all in the room. «Don't make the reveal scene TOO early, Sarang-a!» As the Americans all gaped in confusion, a chuckle echoed through their minds. «Oh, c'mon, Kinsey! Don't you know by now that every country on the planet has...» — here, the voice of what Maybourne realized was the young wrestler who was known to fans as the "Lunatic Fringe" just DRIPPED with scorn — «...'specialized warfare' forces...?!»

«Oh, honestly, Dean-kun!» a new voice chimed in, she Japanese with what the members of the Manjok-cho Sŭmullet both in the room and in monitoring rooms nearby recognized as a Hōnichi Kyūshū accent. «From what Ruriko-chan just 'told' me thanks to the memories she just lifted off Hammond-shōshō and his friends, everyone who tries to butt into the interesting scenes people at Stargate Command get involved in have to be taking STUPID PILLS in the morning!»

That made the North Koreans either laugh or snort in amusement as members of the "Committee" from the National Intelligence Department that were trying to press for complete American supremacy when it came to Earth's relations with alien races exchanged shocked looks. Before Kinsey could demand what was going on, the first voice everyone heard in their heads broke into their minds with a trill of near-orgasmic joy. «Oh, the sheer DESPAIR I'm feeling right now...!» she gasped. «Believing you're so strong...and then learning you have nothing but SAND in your hands!» A cold cackle made people shiver to their bones as some in the room sensed something with the power of a typhoon surge into the cores of their souls. «My sincerest complements, Kim-gensui! You have a lot more in common with Hyegyŏng-chan than you believe!» that voice then declared, making the young leader of North Korea perk. «Believe me, you two will serve better as ALLIES than enemies!»

"Who are you?" Kim demanded, grateful that the members of the Sŭmullet were always ready to protect the integrity of his mind from attack. "Why are you here in my country?! Did my niece capture you?"

A wild laugh answered him, full of honest amusement. «Oh, no! Hyegyŏng-chan had nothing to do with bringing my SOUL to this dimension after I died in the Killing School Life, Kim-gensui! That, you can thank the rimrae umale from Phentax Two who got their asses kicked in a Mother of All Fight Scenes I unfortunately missed out on! It sounded SO interesting! Oh, the DESPAIR...!»

"Enoshima Junko...?!"

That was Doctor Brent Langham, a scientist who worked in Area 51 creating devices that would support Stargate Command and the NID in their missions. "Who the hell's that, Doc?!" Maybourne demanded.

"Character in a video game from Japan called Danganronpa, Harry," Langham answered. "My son just LOVES the game! Enoshima Junko's the titular villain of the peace! She seeks to unleash 'ultimate despair' on the world since she finds it just too BORING for her to tolerate..."

«Well, that definitely shows that the people who made that game sure misread the script about that whole mess, eh, Junko?!» Dean Ambrose cut in.

«Yeah!» the Ultimate Fashionista declared. «As I sensed it when Marlene-chan down by that gaudy pyramid hotel told you, you've got a BIG snake problem, Kim-gensui! And you got a big terminator problem as well!» As Maybourne croaked on hearing that — which made Captain Pae Tuna pale in horror as she sensed what the special tactics officer just concluded from that tidbit of information — Enoshima Junko chuckled. «But never fear! Junko-chan's here to be an anti-face! So...!»

«Theme music!» Dean called out.

Ominous electronic music began to echo throughout the residence, making everyone tense as Langham dropped into his chair, reaching for his head as the sheer IMPOSSIBILITY of the moment overcame him.

«Oh, the DESPAIR...!»

Suddenly, the three members of the Committee who had been identified by the Sŭmullet team as being possessed by Goa'uld croaked as their eyes began to glow and their bodies shook wildly...

«You are no gods...!»

The song then changed...

In the daylight,
I'm your sweetheart!
Your goody-two-shoes prude
Is a work of art!
But you don't know me...
And soon you won't forget,
Bad as can be, yeah!
You know I'm not so innocent...

As the possessed Harvey Gold — a former Navy flag officer who joined the NID shortly before the original mission to Abydos four years before — dropped to his knees while a scream of heart-wrenching denial escaped him, those of the American group's bodyguards who were also controlled by Goa'uld shrieked out as they tried to snare weapons from the North Koreans in the room...

«Face REAL power and you're so HELPLESS...!»

Suddenly, one wall of the room collapsed as a lithe form in a dark blue-and-blue-grey jumpsuit flew into the room, she pivoting in mid-air to land in front of Kim just as one of the possessed NID guards snared a Type 58 rifle, spinning on target. "BOW TO YOUR GODS, TAU'RI...!" he bellowed as Kinsey croaked in horror on realizing how badly the NID had been infiltrated by the Goa'uld.

Welcome to the nightmare in my head!
(Oh, God!)
Say "Hello!" to something scary!
The monster in your bed
(Oh, God!)
Just give in and you won't be sorry!
Welcome to my other side...
Hello, it's Mz. Hyde...!

The guard then pressing the trigger to send a fusillade right at the leader of North Korea.

"UP YOURS, LAR'BEKE!" the reborn second of the Banner-class spy ships snapped back.

A barely-visible shockwave of air lashed out from Marlene Bucher-Flanagan's hand to make the bullets shatter in mid-air before said guard was turned into melting flesh and gore. As a fast-moving blur heralded the arrival of the reborn TMK Chŏnbuk to help out, Harry Maybourne screamed out as he lunged for Robert Kinsey, "EVERYONE, HIT THE DECK! SHIT'S GONNA FLY!"

"CHAL MŎKKESS'SŬMNIDA!" Elaine Sŏn'yŏng Larson screamed in anticipation.

As Maybourne and Kinsey got clear while the newcomer effectively killed Gold, Pak Tuna spun about to use her telepathy to stun the other Goa'uld until the just-arrived reborn American-turned-South Korean destroyer got finished with them. "MARLENE-A! CALL YOUR FRIENDS! WE NEED THEM!"

Marlene looked up as Kim Chŏng'ŭn patted her shoulder, then she moaned. "Oh, hell! The kids!"

And with a back-blast of air, she was racing off towards where she had been docked on the Pot'ong River. By then, Elaine had been able to rip out the symbiotes from everyone in the room who had been possessed by Goa'uld, snapping their necks to make sure they couldn't possess someone else. As Tuna breathed out in relief while leaning on the table, the leader of North Korea took a moment to take in how many had been close to him. "Oh, my...!" he noted. "Senator Kinsey, I would strongly recommend that you concentrate more on what's happening in your own backyard before bothering us..."

Explosions echoed from outside, making Elaine look to the south, her mind reaching out. "Oh, Hwan'in-nim!" the adopted native of Stamford and Chŏnju exclaimed. "What the hell are THOSE things?!"

"What things, Commander?!" Kim demanded.

Elaine gazed in stunned shock at him. "Humanoid robots, Wŏnsu-nim!" she reported. "Disguised as members of the People's Army and the Ministry of People's Security! Some of them are attacking the young music students Marlene-a befriended after her Gifting by the War Museum!"

"Shōzoki, you mean?!" Maybourne demanded.

«Hey! Great guess, Harry!» Dean Ambrose's mind cut in. «You get a cookie!»

As the special tactics officer groaned at that snide observation from the Lunatic Fringe of the Shield, Kim scowled. "Comrade Commander, I have no right to order you to do anything, but since Comrade Captain Pak requested your old fleet-mate summon other shipgirls to deal with the aliens now infiltration the nation, they'll need to feed! Someone, fetch a bucket so she can feed her friends!"

"At once, Comrade Marshal!" the colonel who had charged in some moments before to report about the incident in Changp'ung screamed out before racing out of the room.

People then tensed as the voice of the reborn USS Pueblo echoed in their minds, «Mayday! Mayday! This is an all-call message to any American or allied shipgirl who can hear this! This is United States Ship Pueblo, hull number Alpha-Golf-Echo-Romeo-Two! I'm currently trapped with civilians by the Pot'ong River in P'yŏng'yang, Korea! I need help ASAP! Alien machines disguised as human soldiers in local security forces shooting everyone who get in their way! Bring help...!»

"Calvary's coming...!" Elaine hissed.

"Let them be swift," Kim breathed out as his wife moved to embrace him.

"Amen to that, Mister Chairman," Kinsey grimly declared...

To Be Continued...


WRITER'S NOTES

Note that as with the previous part, the time frame of this chapter matches that of Part Twenty-six. The next part will start right after the end of Part Twenty-six.

Many thanks to Dr. Tempo for introducing me to the characters of Danganronpa; this part couldn't have been written without his input.

Translation list: Moran-bong — Moran Hill; Ŭisa-sŏnsaengnim — Standard title used for medical doctors; Imoni — Maternal aunt; Ajŏssi — Paternal uncle; Samt'aegŭk — Three-colour version of the t'aegŭk/tàijítú symbol often used to represent South Korea, coloured red (earth), blue (heaven) and gold (humanity); P'algwae — Korean translation of the Mandarin Bāguà ("eight symbols"), the trigrams used to represent different forces in Taoist cosmology; Kippŭm-jo — Happiness Team; Manjok-cho Sŭmullet — Satisfaction Team #24; Sang'wŏn'ŭiwŏn — Senator; Chŏngch'al Ch'ongguk — Reconnaissance General Bureau of the General Staff Department (short-formed RGB); Yŏbo — Now normally translated as "honey", this is actually short for yŏgi poseyo ("look here"), which is a term of endearment married couples use for each other; MSS — Ministry of State Security (in Mandarin, Guójiā Ānquán Bù), mainland China's security/intelligence agency; Tangshin — Literally "you", this is another term married couples use for each other; Taedonggang-guyŏk — Taedong-gang ("Taedong River") Precinct; Ŭp — Village; Rimjin — North Korean pronunciation of "Imjin", a tributary of the Han River on which some elements of the DMZ between North and South Korea lies; Olá — Hello; Marinha do Brasil — Brazilian Navy (short-formed MB); Capitão-de-Fragata — Portuguese way of saying "Frigate Captain" (short-formed CapF); Contratorpedeiro — Destroyer (short-formed CT); Nŏ koimuldŭl — You monster; Tenente Coronel — Lieutenant Colonel; Sŏbang — Literally "west room", this is an archaic term taken from Chosŏn-era Korea a wife uses for her husband; Halmŏni — Paternal grandmother; Encouraçado — Dreadnought battleship (short-formed EC); Capitão-de-Mar-e-Guerra — Captain of Sea and War, the Portuguese title for a navy captain (short-formed CapMG); Wakagashira — Under-boss/second-in-command of a Yakuza clan; T'uchseu — Manga; Ch'ekseu — Animation; Chosŏn Sonyŏn-dan — Korean Youth Pioneer Corps, also called the Korean Children's Union (short-formed KCU); Bandeirante — Based on the Portuguese term for "flag", this was used to identify early explorers of Brazilian territory (these days, the term is also applied to the local Girl Guides); Chal Mŏkkess'sŭmnida — Literally "I will eat well", the phrase used in Korea when someone is about to being his/her meal; Hwan'in-nim — Literally "Lord of Heaven", the god of the skies in Korean shamanism and the mythological grandfather of Tan'gun-wanggŏm; Wonsu — Field marshal, the Korean reading of the characters going into the Japanese term "Gensui".

I created the term Pakalach ("ring souls") as the Goa'uld term for Noukiites by borrowing one of the syllables of "Chappa'ai". This is bestowed thanks to the standard Noukiite beliefs of reincarnation.

Stargate SG-1 character notes: Anubis first appeared in the last episode of the fifth season, "Revelations". Telchak was first mentioned in the two-part episode "Evolution" (eleventh and twelfth episodes of the seventh season). Senator Robert Kinsey first appeared in the second-to-last episode of the first season, "Politics". Doctor Brent Langham and Agent Mark Devlin first appeared in the sixth season's fourteenth episode, "Smoke and Mirrors". That was also the episode where the other members of the Committee appeared; the names mentioned for them are based on their actors' names. Colonel Harold Maybourne first appeared in the first season's seventeenth episode, "Enigma".

Millennium (Leno Lu'umlo) first appeared in Regina Magia's omake A "Quiet" Time in Delaware.

Danganronpa character notes: Enoshima Junko, her fraternal twin sister Ikusaba Mukuro, Ōgami Sakura, Fukawa Tōko, Naegi Makoto, Maizono Sayaka, Yamada Hifumi and Asahina Aoi were characters from the first game released in 2010, Trigger Happy Havoc; they would also appear in the anime series based on that game. It was also in that game that Tōko's homicidal alternate personality, Genocide Shō, first appeared. The members of the Warriors of Hope first appeared in the 2013 sequel game, Ultra Despair Girls; this one as of yet hasn't been given an anime version.

Shipgirls introduced in this chapter:

Capitão-de-Mar-e-Guerra Joana Felisburto MB (Encouraçado Minas Geraes [pendant 01])
Lieutenant Colonel Matilda O'Bannon USMC (also Commander USN) (United States Ship O'Bannon [DD-450])
Capitão-de-Fragata Vitória Guest do Pará MB (formerly Commander USN) (Contratorpedeiro Pará [pendant D-27], formerly United States Ship Guest [DD-472])
CapF Louise Cushing do Paraná MB (formerly Commander USN) (Contratorpedeiro Paraná [pendant D-29], formerly United States Ship Cushing [DD-797])
CapF Otávia Hailey de Pernambuco MB (formerly Commander USN) (Contratorpedeiro Pernambuco [pendant D-30], formerly United States Ship Hailey [DD-556])
CapF Nora Irwin de Santa Catarina MB (formerly Commander USN) (Contratorpedeiro Santa Catarina [pendant D-32], formerly United States Ship Irwin [DD-794])
Capitán de Fragata Laryn Braine y Garcia ARA (formerly Commander USN) (Armada de la República Argentina Almirante Domecq Garcia [pendant D-23], formerly United States Ship Braine [DD-630])

Note that the Brazilian Navy doesn't make use of a universal ship prefix, but type prefixes. Also, ship pendant numbers didn't come into vogue until after World War Two.

Sophie Jean and Oh Kyŏngp'il are characters from the 2000 drama Kongdonggyŏngbiguyŏk JSA, also known as Joint Security Area, the highest grossing film released in Korea to that date. Details concerning what happened to Oh in this story is much different than what was depicted in the film.

Takanashi Naoko (Lady Nature) is a character from Zenkoku Seifuku Bishōjo Grand Prix; in the first version of the game released in 1996, she was the top character of the South Area (covering Kyūshū and surrounding areas). She would also appear in the sequel dating simulation game, Find Love.

Azumanga Daiō character notes: Kimura Hyōsuke is one of the background characters appearing throughout the series; his given name is my invention. Another one is Aida Kaori (Heart Player), also known as "Kaorin". It was within the monthly comic magazine Dengeki Daiō where the manga was published from 1999-2002. And YES, the title of the manga reads as "Great King Azumanga"; "Azumanga" is a portmanteau of "Azuma" (from the series' creator, Azuma Kiyohiko) and "manga"!

Of course, the "Ren-dono" title Indie (Yamada Hifumi) applies to Kyech is a salute to the character in Koihime Musō that inspired her. Re-read the writer's notes to Part Twenty-five to see what I mean.

The choice of the song Mz. Hyde from the band Halestorm to serve as the "theme music" for Verzweiflung (Enoshima Junko) is inspired by an amateur music video put out on YouTube by ATO Productions in the summer of 2017. Now, given that the song was written and released in the fall of 2013, its appearance in this story would be impossible...but for reality warpers like Insanity (Jonathan Good AKA Dean Ambrose), things like adhering to a simple idea like time are often ignored.