Prologue 2: O Brother, Thou Must Not Die

"So, it's happening in Paris and New York as well?" The voice of a young girl spoke out.

"Golden… chains? Erica, Gemini, are you two sure this information is reliable?" The voice of a young man spoke out.

"Yes sir, they suddenly appeared around Paris… it's extremely disconcerting." Erica said.

"Same deal with New York. We're looking into it, but there's not much to go off of right now." Gemini said.

"Have they caused any real harm yet?" The girl said.

"Not yet, thankfully. I've wondered if we should just accept them as one of God's mysteries." Erica said.

In truth, Erica Fontaine was a member of the Paris Combat Revue with rather mysterious powers that she awakened to when she was young. Being involved with a fatal car accident that wound up killing her parents. The Paris Combat Revue was dedicated to upholding the peace in Paris by protecting the innocents from Kouma.

"So they can't just be destroyed?" The young man said.

"Sadly no Ogami, even our STARs can't seem to do anything to them." Gemini said.

Gemini Sunrise was also a member of the New York Combat Revue's Star Division, another group tasked with protecting people from Kouma. Originally from Texas, Gemini went to New York with her horse Larry after the death of her master, Mifune. Unfortunately, it came with a split personality that came in the form of Geminine… she got better eventually.

"Yet not one in the Imperial Capital… just what are these things doing?" The girl said.

"That's exactly why we're going to investigate Sakura." Ogami said.

"Huh?" Sakura asked.

Ichiro Ogami and Sakura Shinguji also happened to be members of the Imperial Assault Force, made to defend the Imperial City from the Kouma as well. All three divisions had to take on the identity of theater troupes to prevent panic from spreading.

"I'm off to Paris with Erica and you'll be heading to New York with Gemini, the sooner we find out where these chains came from, the better." Ogami said.

Gemini suddenly smelled the air. "Does anyone else smell that?"

The four turned around to be met with three unfamiliar faces.

"What the–?! KOUMA!" Sakura shouted, gripping the handle of her sword.

"Now way! I thought we wiped them all out!" Ogami said in disbelief.

"Now's no time to shake in our cowboy boots!" Gemini said.

"Ogami! Incoming!" Erica shouted.

The Kouma quickly approached them, letting out low sounding growls as they closed in on our heroes. Thinking quickly, Ogami quickly stood in front of Erica and was struck right in the chest.

"GAH!" Ogami shouted as he fell backwards.

"OGAMI!" Erica and Sakura both shouted out at the same time.

"Th… The Imperial Theater's Defensive Wall! Raise it now!" Ogami said.

Without second thought, the wall was raised and the four were safely inside.

"Ogami, hang in there! You… you did that to save me…" Erica said as Ogami lied there, not moving an inch.

"Nngh…" Ogami managed to groan out.

"Th-There's no choice! He may never wake up again without my passionate kiss!" Erica said as she leaned closer to him only for Sakura to walk up to the piar.

"Erica! Hold it! I'll take care of him, you stay right there!" Sakura said.

Gemini quickly backed off to give them some room. "Hoo boy, I can see this turnin' ugly real fast. They'd better hurry up and rescue him."

Ogami slowly opened his eyes to see the two girls looking over him.

"Thanks you two!" Ogami said as he slowly got up.

"I'm glad you're okay, though I should've been the one to save you, I'm a nun after all." Erica said.

"Sheesh! You two had me so worried!" Sakura said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Worried about what, is the question…" Gemini said before she got interrupted.

"Gemini? Did you say something?" Sakura said as she turned to her.

Gemini quickly panicked and replied. "No ma'am! Quieter than a mouse in a mousetrap here! C'mon, let's give 'em a counterattack!"

Just then, the Kouma had managed to break down the defensive wall and began to move in. Not wasting a single second, the four drew their weapons and proceeded to cut them down.

"Phew! Did we get them all?" Gemini said.

"The presence seems to have faded. Ogami, are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But now I'm starting to get a really bad feeling about this trip." Ogami said, visibly concerned.

"Mysterious chains in Paris and New York… And now Kouma return to the Imperial Capital." Erica said.

"Well, we better get going then. We'll leave this for the rest of the Flower Division to handle. I've ordered everyone in the Flower Division to be extra vigilant and step up their patrols." Ogami said.

"Paris and New York are really starting to worry me… Let's go Commander Ogami!" Gemini said.

"Indeed, as I mentioned, I'll be heading with Erica to Paris and Sakura will be heading to New York with Gemini as the Flower Divisions representatives in this matter. Gemini and Sakura, I'm counting on you two. And give my best to Shinjiro." Ogami said.

"Yessir!" Gemini said.

"Erica, take good care of Ogami, understand?" Sakura said.

"Leave it to me! I'll be a most dedicated Parisian lover!" Erica said.

"A most Parisian… what?" Sakura said, dumbfounded.

"As a lover of Paris and a member of its Combat Revue, I'll make sure he's well looked after!" Erica said.

"Commander Ogami, shouldn't we get going?" Gemini asked.

Ogami laughed to himself before speaking up. "Yes, we should. All right, let's move out. Farewell, Tokyo. I promise we'll be back!" Ogami said as the four left for Paris and New York respectively.