"Meeting?" I repeat, taking in the strange sights.

"Yes. Today, we will discuss our next course of action. In this room are some people involved in this discussion, and those stationed at the corners are for security." Munakata says, gesturing to some people in the room. "Those not involved, leave."

Most of the people file out of the room, leaving the room with me, Sakakura, Munakata, four large security guards and some other men and women in suits. I sit on one of the empty chairs and ask, "Where do we start?"

"Firstly, we'll discuss what the Ultimate Despairs are possibly doing." Munakata says, tapping a few buttons on a tablet on the table in front of him, and a huge screen behind him comes to life, displaying what looks like a map, with some parts circled. "The circled areas are where Ultimate Despair members were last seen. Sakakura and I have found from our morning reports that they have not been seen or heard from since last night."

One of the men raises a hand. "Sir, what if they're dead?"

"Impossible." Munakata immediately says. "They couldn't be killed just like that, and I don't think that everyone in the Future Foundation would be enough to take them down. So firstly, wha-"

"Help!" Yells a voice from the door. Everyone's eyes turn to the source, and in the doorway stands a panting, panic-stricken man. "There's... been a... security breach!" He says between breaths.

"What?!" Munakata says, standing up. "This could be their attack. I'm placing the building under high alert! Everyone, report to your appropriate stations!" He yells, and after tapping a few buttons an alarm begins to sound as the room turns red.

"Strategist! Go get Gekkogahara! Munakata and I'll meet you at the lobby." Sakakura shouts over the blaring alarm, and I nod and run out of the open door.

I reach the elevators and one is sitting unoccupied. I quickly press the 10th floor, and the door shuts. In a few seconds it opens and I run down a hallway. The second right turn... there! I turn and halfway down the hall is the door labeled 'Miaya Gekkogahara'. I rush towards it and open the door, calling her name. No response. I dash across the room and into her office, but the room is empty. Her highly modified wheelchair is sitting there, her scarf laid out perfectly symmetrical over it. I go to the room door and open it. "Gekkogahara!"

As I rush in, I see the room... completely empty. Wait... looking closer, the bed has a small lump under the blanket. No time to waste, I run over and yank the covers off to reveal the young woman curled up, her eyes shut tightly. She opens them slowly and her blue eyes meet mine.

"Gekkogahara, now's not the time. We have to go, Sakakura will meet us at the lobby. We're under attack." I say quickly, and she shakily gets up. "C'mon, we'll take care of whoever this may be." I say, trying to reassure her. It seems to work and she nods, and I lean against the door as she rushes to put on her shoes. Afterwards, she heads to her work desk and grabs a small bag from a large drawer.

"Laptop with secret official stuff?" I ask, smiling. She nods, and runs past me out of the room. I follow her and she looks back, and after confirming I'm behind her she heads for the elevators. I reach them a second after she does, and she pants to catch her breath. "Haven't run in awhile?"

She nods, and the elevator arrives and we enter, but rather than pressing any buttons she takes out a small key and inserts it into a keyhole. The doors close and the lift jolts before practically shooting down. Holding tightly to the railings, I feel my breakfast is fly up my throat. The lift slows and after coming to a stop the doors open to reveal the lobby. After some taking a few seconds to readjust myself, we jog out and see a group of armed men talking to Munakata and Sakakura. We walk down the stairs and Munakata glances at us before looking back to them.

"You know your orders. Go and the moment you see someone of interest, use your radios." He says and the small squad nod, salute and jog out of the room. "Strategist, Gekkogahara, no one knows yet who or what is attacking us. No sight of anything suspicious."

"Hmm..." Think smartass, this is your rare chance to use your talents. "What if they destroyed their own mode of transport, like a suicide bomber?"

Munakata's eyes widen at the idea. "It would be possible. Detonating a large enough bomb with the perpetrator stuck next to it would bring someone the despair they so desire. Gekkogahara, can you access the building's surveillance cameras from here?"

I look down at her and she nods, sitting down and unzipping her bag, powering her laptop. I look back to Munakata as she begins to type and click. "Have you ever been attacked before?"

He shakes his head and sighs. "No. It shouldn't be possible, since only those in this building know where it is. However, if you found it, others could've too."

I open my mouth to speak but Sakakura beats me to it. "Munakata, what should we do?"

I glance at him, and he wears an expression of determination. Munakata looks down for a moment in thought, before walking over to a table and picking something up. "Take this and walk around the surrounding rocks. If you see anyone suspicious, immediately press the red button. Do not engage."

Sakakura walks up to him and grabs the small contraption, nods and jogs out of the lobby. Suddenly Usami speaks up. "I'm in the system, but I haven't found anyone suspicious yet. Most of the other leaders are in their offices, protected by a small squad of armed guards. Yukizome is in a lift with her guards, coming down here."

Munakata quickly turns to the Therapist, but looks back to the lifts slowly, frowning and murmuring something. He looks at me and says, "Strategist, stay with Gekkogahara. I'll be right back."

I nod and he runs up the stairs. I walk over to Gekkogahara and sit on the floor next to her. "Are you okay?"

She looks at me, confused, and Usami replies. "What? I'm fine, Strategist."

"No, you weren't. You were clearly panicked when the alarms went off. Now may not be the time to disturb you, but if you can tell me what's wrong I'd appreciate it." I say, looking at her blue eyes glued to the screen. Her expressionless face turns to a frown and she sighs as she stops working, and locks eyes with me. A few seconds pass and she turns to the screen, typing.

"I'm afraid. The alarm never goes off, and as a leader of the Future Foundation I should expect this kind of thing, but... it's scary. When it started blaring, I was worried that it was over. I was worried that someone had found us and would kill everyone. I'm scared of that... not the death, but the despair. People would be killing each other and at the end of it the Future Foundation would be gone, and there would be no more hope... I'm scared of that more than anything else." Usami says, and Gekkogahara's eyes tear up slightly as she attempts to control her emotions. I hold one of her hands, and she turns to look at me.

"Miaya Gekkogahara, I swear to you that this senseless death will end. The Future Foundation will not fall, and I won't let anyone kill or be killed. This Tragedy will end, and we, together with the others, will show the world that there is hope for everyone, even when it feels as if there is none." I say, looking into her blue, scared eyes. They widen slightly, and she pulls her hand back, wiping away the small tears, and a weak smile forms on her lips as she begins to type.

"Thank you, Strategist. Let's get back to work then, shall we?" Usami says, and I smile back at her as she switches to the surveillance cameras, cycling through various rooms and hallways. "Do you have any idea what to look for or where?"

An idea comes to mind. "Does this place have any secret places? Like an underground entrance or some secret rooms?"

"No, at least none I know of. Only Munakata and Tengan would know for sure though, since they built this place." Usami replies, the computer continuing to cycle through various hallways.

"Strategist." A man says, and I turn to see Munakata walking down the stairs with a woman wearing a white coat with long orange hair tied into a ponytail. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not yet. But are there any secret places in this building?" I reply.

"Yes, however I cannot disclose this information unless absolutely necessary. Besides, only Tengan and I know their locations." He says, looking at me as if to say, 'don't pry any further'.

"Alright, well I'll just hope that the enemy didn't find them then. However this doesn't make much sense to me. An enemy attacks, but no one shows up and no one is even fighting." I say, thinking. Is it possible that... "Wait, what if the attack is false?!"

Munakata, the woman and some guards are now next to me. His eyes narrow at me. "What do you mean?"

"What if this was faked to distract us from something? Like maybe to throw us into chaos while they set something up in the shadows." I say.

"Then why? And does this mean that the person who informed me was a traitor?" He asks, and his eyes widen as it dawns on him. "Of course, the alarms would've automatically gone off if someone either flipped an emergency switch or if the building sustains any damage."

"So that guy was telling you directly because he knew where you were, and knew that you'd immediately trust those in the building, so he tricked you into activating the alarms!" I say, describing the person's actions. "But we don't know who he wa-"

"Sakakura!" Munakata shouts, cutting me off. "I sent him to the outskirts of the base on his own. He could be in trouble!"

Munakata begins to run through the lobby, and the woman chases after him. I look down at Gekkogahara. "I'll be back." I say, and I turn to the guards, raising my voice. "Hey! I'm ordering you to protect her!"

One of them, probably the leader, nods and they stand near her, and I look at her one last time before running after the two. After exiting the lobby I see them round a corner on my left and I chase after them, only to bump into someone. Who the hell? Ah, the Ultimate Pharmacist, again. "What are you doing, Kimura?"

She turns to me, shocked by my sudden appearance, and replies. "I was following Munakata and Yukizome. They were running somewhere so I wanted to make sure I could help if they got into trouble."

"Funny, I was doing the same thing. C'mon, let's go." I say and she nods, joining me in running after them. Eventually they stop after climbing to the top of a small hill of rocks, and we catch up to them. "Guys, what's up?"

Munakata turns to us, and the woman, apparently Yukizome, continues to look over the edge, expressionless. Her face looks darker, and her eyes are almost impossible to see. "That."

We look at each other and nod, joining them on the edge. Looking down the 10-meter drop, we see... someone, standing in the center of a small circle of bodies, all lying motionless on the ground, and among them is one wearing a white muscle shirt, with a distinctly muscular and fmiliar build... "Sakakura?"

What the hell? He's the Ultimate Boxer. He matched Akane Owari's speed, and most likely had the strength to KO someone in one punch. So how was he laying there, on the ground beneath us, incapacitated. Wait... Incapacitated. Seiko Kimura. Ultimate Pharmacist. Munakata. Swordsman matching Peko. One enemy.

"I have a plan." I say, looking to the two.

AN Stuff

So yeah this is shorter than usual, but I wanted to have some more time to work on the next part of the story. Anyways, I hope to see you next time and as always, feedback is greatly appreciated.

A picture is worth a thousand words
But a thousand words can paint a picture