Epilogue

"I now pronounce you man and wife." The man standing behind the loving couple declared followed shortly after by a lot of clapping as the family members in the room stood up, welcoming the newly weds as they engaged in the typical wedding kiss.

Reku couldn't be any happier. His body trembled inside his black samurai-style male kimono as his mind finally registered what was going on. It had been a whirlwind to him to this point, when the entire world seemed to slow to a crawl.

Akina was delicately wrapped in a very expensive black silk kimono adorned with pictures of many colored flowers running all over it. Her long sandy blond hair was stylized in a traditional Japanese way, pulled up and decorated with traditional ornaments and accessories.

She was gorgeous.

And he didn't look anything less than handsome himself.

Finally breaking, the two of them smiled at one another, lost in each others eyes. They both could smell the fresh, spring time air wafting through the church's open windows; a time of blooming and flourishing for many things in the world. The time that these two had chose to blossom into a full couple together, ready to take on the world together.


Walking from an alley way, Kiro was dressed completely in a black hoodie to hide his demonic appearance. Pulled down low over his brow, it even shadowed off his eyes from outwards gazes, just leaving his grayish colored skin exposed; hard to distinguish against the shadows already there.

Ripping his arm through the air, he smashed his gloved hand into the brick wall on the side of the alley, instantly sending cracks racing through the face of the stones.

"No sign of her yet, huh?" Kaira's voice asked from under the hood of her own hoodiee, also pulled over her body and head to conceal her appearance from the world. She was leaning back against a motorcycle, her arms crossed as she waited patiently for Kiro to respond. When he didn't, she continued. "It's alright. We'll get her sooner or later."

"It'd rather it be sooner." Kiro finally spoke, slowly pulling his arm back from the wall. "How I'd love to sink my claws into her neck and strangle her."

"I know you would." Kaira unfolded her arms, letting them flop unrestrained to her sides as she pushed herself off of the bike with her butt and stood straight up. "But you don't need to over work yourself for little ol' me."

Growling, Kiro walked past her and whipped his leg over the bike as he mounted it. Lifting his head, he looked off towards the western sky, seeing that the sun was sinking lower towards the horizon.

"We've got to go." He finally said. "We've got a party to attend and we've got to make a pit stop before then." Nodding in agreement, Kaira got onto the motorbike behind him, situating herself so that she was comfortable. Sighing, he lowered his head, staring at the road before the bike's front tire. "You know you don't have to follow me around, don't you? Our lives apparently are already short in these torn states of in-humanity. Wouldn't you be happier being in some sort of luxurious home rather than going on some vampire hunt?"

"I would probably be more cozy, yes." Wrapping her arms around Kiro's torso, she prepared to hang on for the ride. Resting her head against his back, she closed her yellow slotted eyes, smiling a bit. "But not happier."

Without any further reply, Kiro lifted his head, staring off down the street. As he started the motorcycle, a smile crept across his face, feeling the body pressed against his back.


A rapid knocking on a large wooden door made Chime shift her head upwards, staring at it as if to see who was there. Since the door was shut, her vision was blocked. "Come in." She ordered, allowing whoever it was to turn the knob and walk in.

A mid-height man strode into the room, looking around with a paranoid glance to see if there was anyone else in the room before brining his eyes down onto the green haired woman, now resting in a large recliner.

Smiling a bit, the man pushed his oval shaped glasses up his nose before taking his hand on a quick run through his neatly combed over brown hair.

"It's been a while, hasn't it Chime."

"I'm not coming back to the Underground Circuit. End of story Tatashi."

Her former manager chuckled a bit at her stern statement. Pushing the door closed behind him gently he looked at her with a large and friendly smile. "You really assume that the only reason I would come to see you is to beg you to come back to the circuit?"

"It wouldn't be the first time you've tried to bribe me to come back." Chime responded, crossing her legs and arms almost simultaneously, showing she had no fear of the man. A slight smile even cracked on her lips.

Sighing, Tatashi's head fell a bit, realizing that she was too smart to fall for any stupid friendship trick. "Come on! Mashima doesn't even reel in half as much money a duel as you did at your peak, which happened to be your end too." He begged withholding the 'actually being on his knees' part.

"I think the lady said 'no'." A new voice entered the room as the wooden door, which wasn't latched, just pushed closed, swung open enough for another person to enter the room.

"Good timing Chao." Chime smirked, seeing her 'hero' of the moment walk into the room.

"She seems to much prefer it here in the Pro Leagues. It's not only legal, but from what I hear; more beneficial to her overall health."

Growling at him, Tatashi turned back towards Chime before swiveling on the balls of his heels and slithering out of the room.

"And you might want to consider leaving this fine lady alone from now on, you hear!" Chao yelled after him, doing the stereotypical good guy act.

Laughing a bit, Chime uncrossed her legs and stood up, watching as Chao became more relaxed, realizing there wasn't going to be any sort of physical fight.

Or so he thought.

"You do realize that is my sister you were talking about…" A gruff voice whispered into Chao's ear, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up instantly, his eyes growing wide with fear. Taking a ragged breath, he tried to calm himself a bit, finally grasping the situation.

"You've really got to stop doing that Kiro." He spoke, taking a step forward and flipping around to see the demon standing behind him, knowing full well he hadn't been there a couple of seconds before.

Chime was chuckling a bit at the whole situation, coming across the room before embracing Kiro in a tight hug.

"It is good to know you haven't changed much Kiro." She said as she got her hug from him before backing off.

"It's all a matter of keeping him in line." Kaira, who was also suddenly standing in the doorway, spoke, adding into the joke. "Sometimes it's not easy to keep an eye on him, but it sure makes life interesting."

"I bet it does." Chao nodded, smiling a bit with his own pleasure. "It's good to see you guys again." He threw in, staring at his old friends.

"It sure has been a while." Kaira agreed, looking over at Kiro before bringing her head back and changing the subject rather quickly. "But I'm sure we don't have time to sit and reminisce right now. I believe our presence is required elsewhere."


"Thank you. Please have a nice day." Joe smiled as he handed a bag across a clear glass counter to the awaiting customer. Standing back, he watched as they exited the store, the door swinging closed behind them.

With no one else around him, Joe let out a sigh of relief, quickly brushing his palm over his store uniform. Stepping around the counter, he walked towards the glass door and flipped the Open sign over to display 'Closed' to the public.

Turning, he looked back over the large floor of the room he was standing in. Four tables ran in rows of two along the sides of the room. Smack dab in the middle of the floor was a large square box marked an area for a dueling ring.

He had taken a job working at a place called Crossroads Card Shop. It wasn't an undersized or run down store by any means, but certainly wasn't the biggest card shop in town. It held its own fairly well in the competitive market. Many preferred it because it had wonderful prices and a nice atmosphere emanating off of the employees. Mostly because the employee's all were duelists, able to relate to the public they were serving.

Joe smiled as he walked back across the floor. He liked his job here, as it revolved around something he loved.

But today Joe didn't have a problem with closing up early. His boss had said it'd be fine for this occasion.

He stopped when he heard the bell sound through the store indicating that someone had entered the store. Turning around he was prepared to give the speech about them being closed.

The words were stopped before they even got into his mouth. A smirk creased his face as he watched his blond haired friend step into the store and gently shove the door shut behind him. Taking a breath, Kevin looked up at Joe and gave a big, dorky grin. "Hey dude!"

"Yo Kev." Joe turned and went back to what he was doing, heading for the back room of the store. "You all set for today?"

"Of course." Kevin followed Joe as far as the counter and leaned over it, resting his head in the V created by his hands. Wriggling his body a bit he felt a backpack he was wearing sliding about on his back as a reminder that it was still there. "And yourself?"

Laughing a bit from behind the door that lead into the back room of the store, Joe reemerged just as he finished pulling on a light jacket over his work uniform. "I've always been ready. You should know that about me by now."


Sachiko strode out of her bedroom at Usami's house, smiling a bit as she came into the room. She wasn't dressed up to a formal level, but she was dressed nicer than any other average day.

"You look stunning." Commented Usami from her place on her couch.

"Thanks." Sachiko replied, taking a quick look down her body to make sure everything was straight.

The two of them were still living together, becoming more of roommates rather than just Sachiko being a guest in her house. The arrangement seemed to work out rather well for the time being.

A loud ring from the door bell interrupted the two women. Both of them cranked their heads around to stare at the large wooden door that sat at the entrance to the house. They watched it crack open slightly and Ryokurio poke his head in, smiling when he saw his sister and Sachiko.

"I assume it's safe to enter?" He asked, watching the two of them nod. "Good." Pushing the door open he strode into the room leaving the door wide open behind him. "So you two ladies ready to move out?"

"All set here." Usami spoke for both of them as she pulled herself up off the couch.


Ronin stood in the corner of the large golden room in Order's castle. Tapping his foot against the ground, the clanking of the armored boot he wore echoed off of the walls.

Sighing a bit, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall, staring at the completely empty room.

"Oh come on people." He growled in his head just as the door to the room swung open. Order proceeded to walk in. "About freaking time!" Pushing himself up from the position he was just in, he took a couple of steps towards Order.

"I've been informed that it's time to start. Order declared, turning away from Ronin and closing her eyes. Within seconds, multiple huge bubbles of light began to grow in the vast area before her, bursting instantly to reveal a massive crowed of people. The group had been reunited. Everyone was standing in the room now, all of them looking rather happy to see the golden castle again.

"It has been a while." Order spoke first, welcoming them all with her sweet, serene voice. "It brings me great pleasure to see you all here, and all really happy."

"We spent a lot of time here in the past years during some rather odd situations." Joe was the one to respond first.

"But nothing could ruin this day." Reku wrapped his arm around his new wife, looking into her eyes for a couple more seconds before looking back at the group that was around them.

"Ah yes, congratulations." Order acknowledged the newly weds, followed by a almost unison 'congratulations' from everyone else in the room sans Ronin, who chimed in rather late, and with less than pleased tone in his voice.

"Yeah, congrats." His eyes were focused on the floor as he spoke it, drawing them back up to the couple only to see Akina trying to stifle a laugh. "What is the matter with you?"

"Still trying to act tough?" She questioned, causing him to blush slightly. Quickly at the end of her sentence she threw in; "Mr. Bodyguard."

"Someone has to keep this world safe." Ronin snapped back, his embarrassment showing full force. "And frankly, the monsters here see my power and begged me to not even leave for today."

"But he must still care about us, as he actually did accept our invitation and show up." Reku smirked at him, causing Ronin to narrow his eyes.

"Did you think I'd miss this?" Ronin lifted his left arm, revealing his emerald green duel disk. "A chance to prove to you all who here really has all the power."

"You'll be knocked down a few pegs once you end up in last place." Reku's trash talk had the humorous undertone to let everyone know he was still rather joking about it. From his side he revealed a rather large duffle bag. Pulling open the lid, he pulled out two emerald green duel disks of his own, handing one to Akina.

"Well I'm glad that you guys liked the idea." Kevin smiled, sliding the backpack off of his back and pulling out his own duel disk. "I figured that since dueling brought us together, and got us through so much, that a honorary tournament between just us would be appropriate on a day as special as this. It's perfect to unwind after all that planning for your wedding," he was looking at Reku and Akina as he spoke. Turning a bit, he slowly looked around the group, "and after work and the hassles of everyday life. And it'll be the perfect landmark for this one year anniversary!"

Out of nowhere, everyone else held up their duel disks, smirks upon their faces as they were all ready to get this under way.

"May nothing like Freyr or anyone else ever threaten either world." Joe's duel disk was activating as his speech was taking place. "Or we'll just have to come and knock them down again."

"Than shall we do this." Reku asked, moving forward in the group, the duel disk on his arm sliding into position as he spoke. Tugging a bit at his kimono, he emulated confidence and smugness very well.

"DUEL!"

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Words from the authror: Welcome everyone who is reading this, as it means you have finally completed my Team Zero: The Last Guard fic. Likewise, the progressive series. I'm really only saying things here because I need to give credit. Though those who have helped me know who you are.

Then, I'd like to thank all of you who have read. And even more thanks to those who decided to actually give me feedback by posting a review. Sometimes that was all I needed to get the energy needed to keep going on with this.

Now, if you've all noticed anything, have questions that you'd like answered, or any other things about my story, don't hesitate to hope over to my forum and ask away. I'll be glad to answer anything.

Anyways, big shout out to you guys who are reading this. Thanks again! You all have a nice day!

Rex
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