Chapter 5: The I Begins/Strange Puppets Appear

Author's note: Welp, I'm officially making my comeback! And hopefully, this'll be the start of new heights for the world of Aquarion! But on the other hand….I'm definitely sorry for the long wait! High school has been crazy, especially with the Senior year coming to a close….

Anyways, give your best about this chapter, my fellows!

With a spin of the familiar card, Dr. Facilier and his cohort (well, surviving one – those old Masquerade Memories never did change the users back) appeared back in their safehouse, a well-stocked small base for their operations in this universe.

It was a stroke of luck that they managed to get here first, actually. Those lunatics in the other divisions of the Organization would've already been raising Hell on both of these planets, wasting resources in a war that they could've started, and then won, at a later date. How and why they ended up being there to begin with, Facilier would never know – not that he could claim to be better, really.

Facilier knew he was nothing but a slimy, cheating bastard – in a few senses of the word, anyway. Then again, with so many supernatural forces working against each other just for the sake of giving existence meaning (read: making things fun), the only way to go would be to make the best deals with the most powerful 'friends' from the darker side of reality. Sure, the whole thing could bite you back in the ass if you weren't careful, but that was the main rule of the universe – equal risks give equal consequences.

Fortunately, though, Facilier's operations in New Orleans managed to draw the attention of an entity even more powerful – and definitely more ambitious, malevolent, and damn smart – than the loa of his world. And his proposal was something that couldn't be refused – new sets of spells, greater physical capabilities, even the chance to see the creation of a new world!

Facilier was, if anything, a man that wouldn't throw opportunity away – and this was the biggest one in history! So of course, he made the final plunge and joined this mysterious "Seeker of the Kingdom" and his organization, even if it meant never coming back to his native New Orleans….as a human, that is.

Nodding to more of the Masquerade users, Facilier let them take the Trigger Memory user back to the medical bay. Assets were assets, after all, and to be fair, the man did do damn well to get where he was before – weapons experts weren't common, after all, especially of his caliber.

With a sharp turn, Facilier made to his quarters – a recreation of his original Voodoo Emporium back in New Orleans, if only to be a little sentimental. Situating himself on his favorite chair, he then arranged a few of his signature tarot cards before he spun them into a portal outlined in blue – an easy way for magic-users of the Organization to communicate with the rest of their fellows, even the Superior himself. Of course, now wasn't a time to be distracted – on to the needed report, as per procedure.

"Is everything going well on your end, Facilier?" the voice of the Superior greeted him from his end of the line.

"Just about as well as you predicted, my good man – which is to say, all but our Trigger finger have been wiped out." Facilier casually replied, slouching in his chair while he fanned out four cards in particular.

"So the new Double has already shown progress in his evolution, yes?"

"Along with that stupid game-breaking Machine Angel of his…."Facilier added, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Are you honestly that certain that we'll be able to get anything from that kid as long as he has that Giant on a leash?"

"His having the Titan of Genesis on his side is exactly what makes him a greater advantage to our cause," the Superior rebutted. "With the might of the Gaia Memories already synchronized with Solar Wing, both of the two powers could become great enough to fulfill one of the Great Trinity."

"And thus open up the way to the remade Keyblade War," Facilier continued the line of thought. "But still…are you sure that this whole thing can go on without a hitch? Ol' pretty-boy Shadow Angel might not take too kindly to his…."

"He will be dealt with in due time," the Superior remarked. "On that note, I think it might be best to call on the rest of our forces."

Facilier blinked in surprise, and then grinned maliciously. "So you mean….?"

"Indeed – the race of the Gaia Memories officially commences."

The return trip to Neo-DEAVA was a rather solemn affair. The fact that a new group of Gaia Memory users was now active weighed heavily on Amata's mind, and his apprehension was palpable. Dantes looked on in worry – maybe the parallels he made between himself and Amata were an understatement of the real tensions on the younger man's person.

Having to deal with an alien invasion was one thing – dealing with an entire organization of genocidal, darwinistic lunatics, alone, was another matter altogether.

Unfortunately, Dantes simply wasn't qualified to help Amata as a teacher should – and he knew it, which only made him all the angrier at himself.

"Dammit," he muttered to himself even, "of all the times for me to actually be a teacher -!"

He would've continued his self-depreciative episode if he didn't notice Mikono and Zessica sharing a nod before they went on to Amata's position. Seeing the two girls tap on Amata's shoulder before they started talking with him, Dantes simply smirked before he turned away.

All at once, he felt shame, joy, and pride – the former for failing as a teacher in supporting his students (in truth, he honestly didn't care about gender – all of the Elements were still the wards of Neo-DEAVA, and thus the responsibility of the teachers as a whole), and the latter at seeing that already the newer generation was taking steps in helping one another and other people.

Moving on to the other side of the ferry, Dantes let his mind wander back to the first question asked of him when he chose to become an Element – 'Would it really be worth it?' Looking at the trio, he gave his newest answer:

Damned straight it was worth it.

(Line Break)

"Ah, Sora-san, Suzushiro-chan, Wong-chan. Professor Dantes." Zen greeted them all as they made into the bridge room. "How did the assignment go?"

"Aside from meeting Gaia Memory-using aggressors and pretty much confirming that there'll be a war, pretty close to what the exercise was trying to accomplish, actually!" Amata supplied mockingly. Mikono followed in kind with a scolding elbow to his arm.

Zen stopped smiling and raised both eyebrows in alarm before he continued. "Then enlighten us with a situation report." he ordered, neutral but more serious.

"Allow me, High Commander Fudo." Dantes interjected. "Given what transpired, I believe that it's best for everyone that Sora-san get some rest for the meantime." Looking at the Element in question, Dantes's expression softened before he said "Go ahead, Sora-san. You've more than earned it with your actions today."

Blinking in surprise, Amata shook his head clear and saluted with his right hand across his heart. "Yessir!" He then made his way out of the bridge room.

"Now hold on a second, Amata!" Zessica yelled as she raced up to him, with Mikono following at a more sedate pace. "Do you even know where to go?"

Silence. Then….

"Oh yeah!" Amata remembered, pounding the bottom of his right fist into his other palm. "That's what I forgot – where am I staying?"

It spoke a lot about Zen's ability to compose himself that only he remained standing – everyone else flinched either forward or back before they got themselves back upright. Dantes took action to erase the awkwardness by asking Zen just that.

"With that in mind, where exactly is Sora-san supposed to stay in the Academy?"

Taking a Joker card out of seemingly nowhere, Fudo then flicked it at Amata before he responded. "With how things are proceeding, I believe it prudent to let Sora-kun get his own lodgings separate from either of the dorms – perhaps even a base of operations as part of the elite of the Intelligence division?"

"What?" everyone exclaimed, with Amata barely catching the Joker card as he joined in.

"I see no reason to deny this," Fudo argued, "seeing that Sora-san already displays great capability as a combatant and a detective."

"How do you figure?" Amata asked skeptically.

"You were able to keep your head in the midst of being held hostage, and show strong aptitude for gathering information and being able to safeguard it as well as play it at the right moment." Smiling that awful 'know-more-than-you' smile, Fudo then added "Simply put, you already do well to live up to the title of a Kamen Rider, as well as a detective!"

Bashful, Amata argued with "W-well, I don't really think that I – WAIT A MOMENT!" he shouted as he processed the last part of Fudo's sentence. "How do you know about Gaia Memory Riders being (mostly) detectives? I've never said anything more back then!" he stated while pointing a finger at Fudo.

Again bearing a Cheshire cat grin, Fudo supplied him with "May I remind you of what you said in your first battle, Sora-san? 'Seeking the truth', as you put it?" With a flourish, Fudo then appeared right next to Amata- much to the boy's shock. "I simply filled in the lines, and acted upon what you seemed to desire – and, being a detective under Neo-DEAVA's employ gives you considerable authority and flexibility."

"-!" Amata almost got to arguing with Fudo, only to stop right in his tracks. Relenting, he just said "Good point. ….Sorry about my outburst."

"Ah, but it merely shows acknowledgement on your part that some emotions are better disposed when vented." Fudo replied. "Nothing is ever truly meant to be contained, after all – compelled and guided, yes, but not contained."

"The whole 'Harmony vs. Discipline' argument, eh?" Amata asked with a raised eyebrow. "Eh…nice in principle, but kinda hard to really practice."

"But hardships are exactly the point." Fudo argued, again smiling. "Peace can only be achieved when opposing forces learn to coexist with and understand one another. Such is the way of life!" he finished with a flourish.

Amata could only roll his eyes. 'If only…'

"But enough of that!" Fudo started again, now going into official business. "If you may follow me, Sora-sa- no, I suppose it would be best to call you Captain of Intelligence, now wouldn't it?" he added rather affably. "For procedural purposes, your new quarters will be located not far from the Headmaster's building, actually."

"Seriously?" Amata exclaimed incredulously, even as he went along with the High Commander. "You honestly have enough faith in me to be a trusted subordinate to the top brass?"

"Well…" Fudo drawled out, "Perhaps that is overestimating you, if Suzushiro-san's reactions to your….escapade a while ago indicate anything." Chuckling at Amata's groans and the girls' own scolding amusement, he continued, "Therefore, I believe that it would be best if she shared Wong-san's position as a guide – making her position of, ah, 'mother hen' official."

Amata was about to squawk in outrage and embarrassment (although, he noted, he really wouldn't mind being Mikono's subordinate in….a more risqué way) when Mikono elbowed him hard, smiling a little too sweetly and saying "That'll be a perfect arrangement, High Commander Fudo-san! Now if you'll excuse Amata-kun and I…" before she took an iron grip on the boy's arm, which he tried valiantly to break as she started going on to the Headmaster's building. All at the same time, and much to everyone else's amusement, Amata pleaded with Mikono to let go and stop being so uptight – to which Mikono silenced him with a glare that spoke 'Don't even think about it, mister!' in spades.

Absently, Dantes commented "Maybe he and I actually do have more in common than I thought…."

To this, Fudo then added his own thoughts, "Oh? Empathizing with a student being forced to follow a girl around on a proverbial leash? Perhaps you've also shared a similar dilemma in your…ah, never mind."

"No, no," Dantes argued, "I'll be honest – I did get whipped by my girlfriend, I'll admit that. But I know my limits and problems, and I can accept that." With a sigh, he then commented "But I can't say that I have the same confidence in Sora."

"Reminds you of your younger says, then?"

"Aside from the whole Rider business and having more complications in his life? …..Yes, he reminds me a little too much of myself."

"Then perhaps Suomi-sensei would be happy to help with this? You do seem to take a fancy with here." Fudo chuckled good-naturedly.

"Sh-she and I only have a professional relationship! Nothing more, and nothing so damaging to her honor!" Dantes hastily denied.

"OOooh~, Dantes-sensei!" Zessica teased, even as she started walking away. "I never knew you entertained such thoughts about Suomi-sensei! Although…actually, she might not feel all that bad about it anyway!" she laughed.

With Dantes wisely choosing to kill the conversation then and there, Fudo then started making his way to his own room – or, more specifically, his own part of the main Administration building.

"Time to see how well you grow this time, Amata Sora….*sigh*" With a huff, Fudo then let his façade of stoic cheer slip for a bit.

For all of his good intentions and intellect, Amata Sora still had a lot to learn – or rather, really understand.

"Oww!" Amata complained even as he rotated his arm once he got out of Mikono's hold. "You could've just asked me to follow, Mikono-san!" For such a relatively petite – but still healthy – girl, she certainly had a strong grip.

But even so, Amata was internally laughing. Already, Mikono was proving herself a far better individual than she claimed to be – leagues better than him, actually. 'Useless, my ass! You'd give Silvia a run for her money any day!'

"Then how exactly would I have been sure that you made good to go and get some rest as High Commander Fudo said? Hmm?" she asked him reprehensively.

"Do I honestly look stupid enough to make things worse for myself?" Amata asked, though he couldn't resist letting a laugh crack his face into a grin.

In response, Mikono adopted an unamused glare that knocked Amata's grin right off. However, with a sigh, she simply took Amata back to her before she secured her arm around his whole person. "Maybe it's for the best that I'm taking over Zessica-chan's duty as your caretaker. I think I'm doing much better in keeping you on a leash."

"That said," she then looked Amata in the eye – to which he immediately flinched – "You and I are going to have a talk once we get into the Headmaster's space. Understood?"

Her face left no room for argument. With a sigh of resignation, Amata simply leaned back and rearranged Mikono's arm so that she instead held onto his hand.

With no further words, the two made their way forward to what could only be called – for all intents and purposes – their new home.

And watching it all, unbeknownst to anyone, were two spiritual entities – one, a redhead not unlike Kagura, except he had orange hair like Amata's and was clad in mainly green clothes, and the other, a blonde girl in a primarily pink outfit. Although he himself wasn't truly aware of it, Amata had just attracted the attention of two of the past generation of Aquarion's pilots - Apollo and Silvia de Alisia.

"Heh," Apollo chuckled, "for a hotheaded otaku, the guy's been doing well for himself!" He leaned back even as Silvia let loose an explosive sigh.

"Would you honestly call crashing back-first into the ground with no regards to his own well-being 'doing well'? Even you had more sense than that most of the time, Apollo!" Silvia argued, throwing her arm toward Amata's position.

"But that's why we had you there for all of us back at DEAVA, Silvia!" Apollo laughed before he caught Silvia in a hug, her scream of indignation turning into a laugh as Apollo spun around with her in his arms. Taking a moment, he then nuzzled into Silvia, letting himself take a more sober tone. "You helped everyone out and got them to understand each other better. You even helped us make Rena part of our family, even with all that's happened." Kissing Silvia's forehead – much to her equal indignation, pleasure, and embarrassment – Apollo concluded with "You've already done so much for all of us. And now…"

"And now, we help them get their happy ending." Silvia said as she looked back at Amata and Mikono, her back facing Apollo in his embrace. "But still, don't you think all of those anime and everything else in his head will hurt in the future? With Aquarion's powers, they could end up bleeding through!"

"We'll be there to help them right out if that happens," Apollo waved casually. "Besides…" he then looked at Silvia again, "all of those memories of his are too precious to take away. And I think he knows that too."

"Yeah," Silvia nodded, "they are too precious to mess around with. But why wouldn't they be?" She looked at Amata in particular, and the other connections that he unknowingly had. "People need heroes to learn from – only through them can they make things better for themselves and the people next in line. Sure, there are always plenty of problems, but they can still be fixed."

"Definitely." Apollo agreed. "You know what? I don't think Amata's gonna appreciate us dropping subtle hints about us here and there for him to work out – he'd probably already go nuts!"

Laughing a little bit, Silvia started leading Apollo towards their new selves. "Yeah – the best thing to do is meet him face-to-face, as we should! The past must always give its wisdom to the future, after all!"

"Lead the way, then!"

And with that, the two spirits opted to take a proactive role in helping the new Rider complete his new mission – finally putting the story of Aquarion to a close.

With another sigh, Amata fell back onto his new bed in the room he had gained as Captain of Intelligence. Luckily enough and equally surprisingly, the Headmaster's Building was actually a small, but lavish, mansion meant to hold – well, just about any event, really. And owning a fancy-pants mansion meant having damned comfortable rooms for guests/long-term residents. All in all, the whole place was basically theirs to call home!

Whoever this Headmaster and Chairman was, Amata had to give them something nice as a gift – they certainly knew how to be a good host!

But moving on from that, Mikono certainly lived up to her word; once the two had officially claimed their beds (which happened to be part of the same room), she took Amata by the hand and unceremoniously pushed him into a sitting position. Not long after, she took a seat to his left, looking at him with a stern glare. ….Yeah, she definitely knew how to cow somebody into submission. Maybe this was just something that came up in exceptional circumstances? Amata never did try to find out if something like this could happen in real life.

"Amata-kun," the violet-haired teen girl called out levelly. "With all that's happened, I think it's time that you started being honest with me."

"Wha-?" he started in reply. "Err…what do you mean, exactly, Mikono-san?"

"You're still hiding some things from everyone, aren't you?"

At this, Amata began to panic a little. Of all the times for things to go downhill…!

Hoping to lie but still satisfy her curiosity, Amata stated "Nope! Nothing's wrong here, I've already said everything I know!"

Pouting rather effectively (showing steel in her eyes as she narrowed them while puffing her cheeks a bit), Mikono stared him down before she called him out on his bluff. "I refuse to believe in such a blatant lie!"

"L-l-lie?" Amata said panicking. "Bu-bu-but I never said anything more than what I honestly know! Really!"

"Don't you even think about trying to keep this up, mister!" Mikono yelled at last, finally losing patience with Amata's bluff. "Either you tell me the whole truth, or so help me, I will expose you to the rest of Neo-DEAVA and kick your ass all at the same time!" she roared, knocking Amata so far back with the sheer force of her voice that he ended up being sent sprawling onto the bedroom's floor. At this point, he chose to stick very closely to its surface – to move now would be to invite even greater slaughter on his person! And…well…he had to kick himself on general principle.

Only an absolute idiot would've been able to pull something like this off (combining exceptional recklessness, really bad luck, volatile tempers and really close people), and yet he did it!

….Then again, maybe it really was just plain old rotten luck. It wasn't like he could've done anything different at all of those times! He did what he had to! ….And the only problem was getting Mikono and the others to understand that. Well, in hindsight, this sort of thing would've come up sooner or later. Might as well nip it in the bud.

Of course, while Amata wildly rushed about mentally, his body had yet to catch up. Thus, all he could do was intelligently say "…..okay?"

Once he did so, Mikono snapped out of her trance, blinking at Amata sprawled about. When she processed what he had said to her little…incident, the corners of her mouth started twitching upwards. To add to her crumbling self-control, she started shaking with her repressed laughter. Of course, to Amata, the poor girl looked like she was having a mental meltdown! He had to do something – the last thing he wanted to do was break someone's sanity!

Then Mikono pretty much sent him bowling over backwards again with – with a giggle. Then, to his further confusion and slight terror, she then escalated into full-blown laughter, collapsing onto the bed. She even started kicking her feet!

…Well, one thing was for certain: If he was going to retreat, now was the time! He started edging towards the exit, hopefully not drawing Mikono's attention.

Unfortunately, he still got her attention. "W-wait, Amata-kun!" she struggled to say between her laughs. "J-just…just - ha-ha! - wait! We-we're not done….yet!" With her energy spent, she finally laid fully on the bed. Knowing better than to cross her again, Amata complied and sat down beside her.

Silence reigned between the two until Amata spoke up. "So….you feeling better now?"

"Mmmm." came Mikono's lazy reply.

"….Any reason for the breakdown?" Amata asked hesitantly.

"….." was Mikono's first response. "Maybe I know why Cayenne-niisan acted like he did with me. All he wanted was me to be safe because he cared about me…..and, well, it's actually kinda fun bossing people around!" she added with a grin that did no favors for Amata's nerves.

"….So what does that mean now?" Amata nearly squeaked his question out.

"It means…." Mikono then looked at him again, though with a little more resigned irritation in her eyes, "that I have plenty to work through when it comes to you, Amata-kun."

"D-do you really have to put it like that?" the boy whined.

"Indeed I do."

"…..haaaah! Fine then, you win!" And with that, Amata also collapsed onto the bed, lying next to Mikono. However, Amata took a long while to compose his thoughts.

How he could word the truth in a way that could make sense and not make him look like a lunatic? Hell, how could he possibly tell the truth either way? There was no guarantee that the truth would make things easier or better for anyone, and if anybody else could become a target…..Amata started tearing at his scalp in anger. There was no conceivable way to go about this!

Before he could get more self-destructive, though, he felt softer hands grasp his own. To his surprise, Mikono was gently holding his hands away from his head, giving him a worried, but caring smile before she calmed him down. "Amata-kun, it's okay. If it's too hard to explain, then just say it as you want to."

Taking time to hold his hands close to her heart, Mikono continued talking. "All I want is for you to be honest, Amata-kun. You can trust me, because I'll always be honest with you. Okay?"

With her caring smile, Amata relented. "It…it's still not easy, Mikono-san!"

"Just 'Mikono' will be okay."

"Umm…anyways, I understand that you – wait." Amata turned to her fully. "How did you know I was hiding anything anyway? It's not like I suggested something like that."

"No, Amata-kun." Mikono refuted him, "you did suggest it – even if you didn't say anything, your heart and soul did."

"Huh?" Amata was nonplused.

"When we were in Aquarion," she clarified, "when you cancelled your…transformation, actually, I felt it: your fear, your tension, everything you felt at the time and long before that, too…whether you wanted to fight it or no, I felt the connection."

In a rather bold move for her, Mikono placed her forehead on Amata's, much to his flustering as he tried to move away. But her hands held his in a firm, but concerned, grip as she started speaking again. "Amata-kun, you don't have to keep everything to yourself. Even if the others don't really trust you yet, you'll always have me to stand alongside you. So please…" she then backed away, giving the best smile she had given yet, "tell me everything."

Astounded by how heartfelt and honest Mikono was, Amata had no other choice but to relent. And – though it was a foolish move, in his opinion, he told her everything: How the Gaia Memories, Dr. Facilier, and even Aquarion were just fictional constructs from his universe, how he ended up on Vega, the real story of 12000 years ago, even about himself. And through it all, Mikono sat there, patiently listening.

Sometime later, Amata had finished bearing the truth out to Mikono. Anticipating a negative reaction, Amata made to leave Mikono alone in the room. "See you later then, Mikono."

But Mikono stopped him, prompting him to turn around. Instead of an angry expression, though, she actually looked glad. "Eh?" was Amata's curt question at this.

"Did that really feel so hard to let out, Amata-kun?"

"Well…" a pause, "Not really."

She nodded. "Good. Like I said before, you can always be honest with me." She hugged him one more time. "And if we work through this, everything will work out. That's a promise."

The new Kamen Rider grinned a little bit before he returned the hug. "Yeah."

Mikono then let go before she made her way out of the room. Before she did, though, she actually walked up to Amata and planted a kiss on his forehead!

"Have some good dreams, okay Amata?" she told him as she left the room.

Amata, on the other hand, was stock-still. Idly touching the spot Mikono had kissed, he then fully realized what had happened. With that on his mind, he did the rational thing:

He fainted onto the bed, sighing happily as he let himself drift to sleep. His last thoughts as he fell to Morpheus were this:

'Today was sooooo worth it!'

MIX was definitely not having a good day.

Really, though, everything started with that boy defiling Aquaria with his powers, Gaia whatevers or something. Thanks to him, the whole status quo of the Holy Angel Academy was undergoing a massive restructuring! Nothing was truly sacred anymore! The whole thing was nothing but a filthy mess!

She also had to deal with a constantly nagging voice inside her head that argued that something like this was probably for the best, seeing at how poor the original Aquaria teams fared in comparison to Double.

Whatever the reasons, though, MIX still had to oppose this whole fiasco on general principle! That Amata Sora character was still a wild card in the grand scheme of things, and there was no guarantee that his information was everything the situation was about. And furthermore, he had broken the taboo of Cross-Gender Gattai! Her blood boiled more at the thought.

"That stupid little upstart," MIX muttered as she walked around her dorm room, much to the annoyance of her other roommate, Zessica. "He has some nerve challenging the rules of Neo-DEAVA!"

"In his defense, he didn't know something like that would happen." Zessica rebutted, ticked off a little bit at how MIX looked at Amata unfavorably. "And it's not like he's that bad of a person – he's already given as much information as he can, and he really is a genuinely nice guy! Have a heart and be nice to him, MIX-chan!"

"I will not!" MIX shouted back. "He is probably the filthiest of all the males, particularly because of those Gaia Memories of his! Tapping into the consciousness of the planet…that's like you're playing around with the powers of God!"

"And we're not doing the same when we're piloting Aquarion?" Zessica snarked, raising an eyebrow at MIX's rather hypocritical logic.

"We were already trained and confirmed to be pilots and operatives of Neo-DEAVA. That fool is just some random civilian with little to no background info gallivanting off with the most legendary figure of all time!" MIX debated angrily. "He cannot be trusted!"

"He can be trusted!" Zessica snapped, causing MIX to look at her in surprise. This was the first time she had seen Zessica so angry – and passionate in defending someone else. "Amata-kun might be a cocky little kid that's trying too hard to live up to his new titles, but the effort he gives and the intentions he has are real deals! We can have faith in him!"

"Zessica-san…." MIX called her name in shock.

"You know, maybe it is a good thing we all have Amata-kun now!" Zessica stated firmly. "Things are getting more serious now, and we all have to pitch in and do our part! He's already facing things as maturely and as responsibly as he's able to, so we have to catch up! Face it, MIX! It's time to grow up!"

"B-b-but…" MIX tried to make an argument, but she faltered in the face of Zessica's fiery determination and righteous anger.

"No, no buts, MIX-chan! Amata-kun deserves a lot more respect from us for all he's done and what he's willing to try! He…" she stopped for a little, "he really is too much of a nice guy to leave alone." She sighed at her thoughts. "Maybe Miko-chan was right to be such a worrywart – Amata-kun would probably walk into a minefield if somebody doesn't stop him."

Hearing this, MIX tried to salvage her pride by digging at Amata's faults. "Hah! If that fool actively seeks to destroy himself, regardless of reasons and consequences, then let him burn! That's what he wants, isn't it?"

A very bad choice of words, she soon realized, as Zessica stopped moving, woodenly looking up at MIX. When her eyes met the other girl's at last, though, MIX had to do everything she could to stop herself from fainting on the spot – Zessica's glare was that full of indignation and rage.

"You take that back about him, you brat." Zessica growled at MIX. "Amata-kun is not trying to get himself killed; he's acting to make sure that nobody else does, or has to! Hell, the only reason he's putting himself on the line so often is because that's what he is – a stupid-assed bleeding heart that takes way too closely to the superhero thing to be careful!" at this, she started breaking into small sobs. "God dammit, he is going to get himself killed!"

"Zessica-san…." MIX muttered in worry. If her sometimes-friend felt so much about this Amata person….then again, maybe Zessica was right. For all intents and purposes, Amata had little to no real experience (or so it seemed, for now) in combat, yet he wholeheartedly engaged the Abductor commander solely because of the fact that it was an active threat to everybody in Neo-Venice at the time. In spite of the odds, Amata chose to act both on what he could make of the situation and his own code of honor.

Simply put, what took professionally-trained soldiers to accomplish was surpassed by a boy – no, a young man who simply did what he was willing to do. …Not many could boast of doing the same thing, MIX herself being one of those that couldn't.

And in the grand scheme of things, maybe this was for the best – they had a new, obviously powerful ally on their side, the mysteries of the Abductors was being unraveled, and…well, Zessica herself seemed to be opening up a lot, too. MIX couldn't even remember the last time her acquaintance acted so genuinely passionate – that last relationship ended on a rather sour note.

So, finally getting herself straightened out, MIX then placed her hands on Zessica's shoulders. "Zessica-san, I think I can understand where you're going with this. And, for all it's worth, you might be right – Amata does seem like a truly altruistic person, a rarity in any case. And, like you said, if he's going to do so much for us, the right thing to do is to help pick up the slack and fight alongside him. Nobody ever said superheroes had to go without their own – and, well, I'll give him a chance if you could like him so much."

Zessica, for her efforts, calmed down as she started drooping in place, ultimately resting on MIX's shoulder. In response, MIX moved her arms to hold Zessica in a tender hug. "Thanks for understanding, MIX-chan."

"Don't worry." MIX replied. "I'd give the benefit of the doubt to anybody that would be willing to fight for this world so readily. And…well, I can kinda see why you like him so much!" She finished with a mischievous grin.

Zessica's eyes snapped wide open once she processed what MIX just said. Spluttering, she scrambled away as she tried to deny MIX's claim. "A-Amata-kun is just a friend! Nothing more, nothing less andIthinkMikono-chan'salreadypeggedhimasherhenpeck edboyfriendanyway!" she cried out, accelerating her speech as she became more flustered.

"Denial's not just a river anymore~" MIX called out as she leapt off of the bed, glad that she managed to calm her friend down and get her spirits back up again – and if it meant getting a rise out of her by being a wiseass, then so be it. Mopey Zessica was much more to deal with than Peppy, Teasing Zessica.

And with an ensuing pillow fight that thankfully only stayed with MIX and Zessica, another day for the Elements of Neo-DEAVA came to a peaceful dénouement.

Or at least, for them…..

Not too far from an asteroid belt situated well above Vega's atmosphere, one of Altair's Gniss units – specifically, a stockier one with a left eye-piece made of three revolving lenses, not unlike those for snipers, clad in mostly yellow and brown military tones - was standing on the bottom of one of said asteroids, directing his AI forces to mobilize. For the time being, this would be another field examination of the Machine Angel before any further strategy could be made – all of it being remotely operated by the last son of Altair, Jin Muso, a rather wiry fellow, with grey eyes and a greenish mop of hair that sometimes covered his eyes when he needed that element.

For the time being, though, Jin was running maintenance on his AI units, checking for any deficiencies before he went off to battle. 'So far, so good – everything's in order, then!'

Unbeknownst to him, though, a relatively small robot of sinister make and origin – a spindly creature that seemed more like a metal insectoids with a humanoid gait – made its way to the first of Jin's many Radius Gniss models. With a low, but still malevolent, chuckle, the mechanical menace crawled up to the behemoth mech before it made its move.

"Time for the party now!" it chuckled evilly as it took a Gaia Memory in hand and plugged it in. Immediately, warning signs blared across the Radius Gniss and the rest of the automated Abductor platoon, all of them short-circuiting before the change overtook each of them. And the last thing Jin Muso heard as he lost the connection was this phrase:

"SHINIGAMI HAKASE!"

Author's Note: And here it is, after pretty much two weeks! (Not that Driving school helped any…)

As for you readers, please accept my humblest apologies! It's been hard trying to get the flow of the story again, and my muses have taken extended (mis)adventures with various fictional works! SO again, I'm sorry!

But anyways, please do feel free to give your critiques! Oh, and spread word of mouth to others, by the way! (Sweats)