As I sat in front of my desk, my eyes were glued to my screen, where the cursor continued to blink on and off in front of nonsensically scribbled notes, no real coherency behind them. My eyes were wide and bloodshot, my mouth hanging open, and I barely moved an inch. "I don't need it..." I told myself. "I don't need it... I definitely do not need it."

Finally, it came to a point, my teeth grinding together, as something bubbled up inside of me and burst forth! "I! NEED! IT!"

My fingers flew across the keys, punching them so hard that I threatened to blister my fingers or bust the keys themselves! A hunger was deep in the pit of my gut! My head was throbbing from how big a storm was brewing in there!

On the opposite side of the room, Ruby, Hyde, Yu, Weiss, and Yosuke were all watching me mixed emotions of worry, concern, or fear. "Uh... do you think he's going to be okay?" Ruby asked. "At this point, no. Not really," Yosuke replied. "This is idiotic," Weiss said. "He's going to give himself an aneurysm."

"Can you blame him though?" Ruby asked. "He's wanted to make something like this for, like, five years! And now that he has a proper excuse to try it, do you really think it's a bad thing that he's as passionate as he is?" "He's going to die," Yu said. "Don't be that morbid!" Ruby said.

"Ruby?" Hyde asked. "Maybe it's the best thing that you go on ahead and talk to him?" "Huh? Me? Why me?" Ruby asked. "He likes you best," Hyde said. "He likes you too!" Ruby said. "He likes all of you! And everyone who's not here!" "Yes," Weiss said. "But that isn't what we're saying." "What Hyde meant is," Yu said, "he does like us, but as he said, he likes you best."

Ruby puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, before she relented with a heavy sigh. "Okay," she said. "But if I get bitten, it's your fault. Just be aware of that."

She took a few cautious steps forward, before poking me gently in the back. "Uh... -?" "Not right now Ruby," I replied. "I've finally got it this time! I totally know what I'm doing!" "Yeah, but -. you've said that for, what, four months?" "Well... yeah, but," I tried to say. "And haven't you felt like giving up in that time due to not having any new ideas?" Ruby asked. "Sure. But not that-" I tried to say, but Ruby cut me off again. "And aren't you really dedicated to this story," Ruby said, "just because you want to show the characters you love together?" "... Maybe," I said.

"You don't have to make this the plot of the next Persona game or something," Hyde said. "Just do what you think is fun. If you're not liking what you're writing, then you shouldn't be writing it."

"We all care about you," Yu said. "And we hate to see you kill yourself like this." "Yeah partner," Yosuke said. "I mean, to me it looks like you've got some real inner conflict going on in there. Just accept yourself and move on." "You really had to make that comparison?" Weiss asked. "What?" Yosuke asked. "It was there!" Weiss rolled her eyes. "Look," Weiss said, "just do what you think is right. For yourself. You have really great ideas in there that deserved to be shown. Just... do it the right way."

I was touched by what they were all saying. It meant a lot to me that they were willing to confront me like this. "Thanks guys," I said. "And I'm... sorry for pushing this so long." "Don't worry about it," Hyde said. "But seriously, at the rate you were going, the fifth franchise of BBTAG would've been announced by the time you were truly satisfied with your new first chapter." "Ain't that the truth!" I said.

"Well, I guess this is happening." "Just know," Ruby said, "we'll be there all the way!" "Thanks again," I said. "And if you have any other ideas, let me know!" "May I?" Weiss asked. "Hold yourself there Ice Queen," Yosuke said, "cause' I think I know where you're going with this." "Shoot," I said. "WHY IN THE WORLDS DO I HAVE TO BE PAIRED WITH-?!" both of them began yelling.

Well, I hope that this whole struggle can finally be set aside. I thank you all again for your patience and cooperation, and I apologize again for why this was taking so long. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, and I think it's finally time I addressed the biggest issue with this whole thing.

I was trying really, really hard to make some gripping story out of this, and it wasn't meshing well at all. It was aggravating, and way more stressing on my mind than it deserved to be. So, I figured that instead I would focus on the main thing that I wanted to, which was character interactions. Just getting the chance to put characters together and see them do stuff that I think would be fun, and fitting with the franchises they're based on.

I clearly overestimated myself when it came to trying to create a direct sequel to the events of BBTAG's stories, and it ended really poorly. I literally tried rewriting this thing about, eight times at least? Even going back and experimenting with older ideas. It was a horror show. Even with breaks, I was not satisfied with anything I was putting out, and grew to realize why pretty much every other BBTAG story thus far does NOT feature a plot like this.

So, I've decided to throw in the towel and decide, "f**k it! Going strictly zero plot!" So, yeah, this story will now be relocated to a separate document, and exist sorely as one shots that take characters together, and see how they interact at any given situations. Obviously I won't be focusing on EVERYBODY, but mainly characters I'm familiar with. And at the very least, without any major plot, I can actually include characters from the title franchise, Blazblue, who I was trying to incorporate back in at some point due to reactions from some readers and my own hindsight.

Will I try to attempt larger plots again later on down the road? Maybe. Again, I still have some ideas I wanna try executing, but I'll just start with baby steps and see how I feel later. There's somebody still waiting in the shadows that I feel does not deserve to be ignored.

"I knew you still cared." "What about me?" Izanami asked irritably. "Get back in that corner where you belong!" I said. "You were one of the main reasons for this!" "Ass," Izanami said. "And dude," Hyde said, "were you really gonna have a whole arc about me being-?" "We're ignoring that!" I said. "This is my personal, parting narration part! Everybody else just SHUT UP!"

*Ahem!* So, if you have anymore suggestions or scenarios you would like to see, please feel free to let me know. I'd be happy to hear back, particularly if you want me to leave up this version of the story just for posterity's sake, or if you feel I should take it down, because frankly, I just do not care anymore. Want me to keep it up? Cool, I'll do that. If you want me to take it down. Cool, I have no problem with that.

And for some preliminary questions as of now: What world does will these one-shots take place on? I do not care. Personally, it could be any of them, as I do plan to have multiple landmarks from each world show up. How many characters will show up? As many as I feel comfortable with. Once more, it has to do with how much I know the character, and if I feel I can make some interesting moments with them. But expect representatives from each franchise, including those not featured in BBTAG. Will the characters from the unannounced fifth franchise show up? Of course they will! Like I said, I'm just waiting for when they do in order to do anything with them! So, yeah, we're still waiting on that ArcSystem... You gonna, y'know, announce that at any point?

So, like I said, thank you all again for your patience and consideration. I really do appreciate the positive feedback I've gotten from those of you saying that I've been doing a good job. It really flatters me and makes me feel more confident than I possibly could have before starting this. But in my humble opinion, this draft of the story was awkward, inconsistent, and overall just not as good as I was hoping for. I hope to release more quality stories in the future. And yes, I do plan on releasing an unrelated story to BBTAG at the same time, in case you are interested.

Until then, thank you all once more, and I'll see you in the first one-shots!