Hello everyone, sorry for the delay. I know I implied that updates would be more frequent, but the start of university brought an unholy mass of complications to deal with and writing was put on the back burner. Finally, I was able to finish up this chapter though. Also, Cel is my own OC, not someone from the PoT universe. Just to clear up any confusion.

"Is this really what she said?"

"Yes, Queen," Ryoma confirmed for the second time. He suppressed a small smile. The fact that the always cool and composed Shadow Queen was surprised about the information he'd gathered was awesome. Despite the fact that she called him her prodigy and insisted that she respected him, some of the glances she cast in his direction were more fit for an owner humouring a favoured pet kitten than a mentor to a student.

Now, she tapped a perfectly manicured nail against her cheek before her red lips curled into a wide smile.

"Well done, Ryoma. Very well done," she said, her voice rich with approval. Queen's eyes were covered by a veil as usual, but he could feel her looking at him.

A warm glow of happiness rushed through him at her words. He worked hard to make her proud, worked hard to prove that her gamble on a scrawny street kid was not wasted. And being in her favour made life a lot easier.

She beckoned him towards the chair by her desk, much closer than the formal chair he usually sat in.

"Come, then, my little fox. We have plans to make and a party to crash," she said with a smirk, "Tell me what you think."

Ryoma took a moment to rifle through his notes. The conversation had been long and sprinkled with seemingly meaningless topics. Further study had revealed what was really being said, however.

"The most important thing is the Enterprise Association meeting they are talking about. E-A are the initials of the Earth Alliance, so it's likely that the Maiden's people will be meeting with their partners, the Southpaw group. Though she said 10 pm, she said it in English, so they will probably be having a mass gathering with their New York branch, maybe through video cam, at 12 noon Japan time," he paused, "The dome is straightforward. The only building in Tokyo with a distinctive dome is the tennis association building. They have meeting rooms in the basement underneath the courts, although they're not very popular because of their expense and the environment."

"Excellent. So what do you suppose we ought to do?" Gone was the wide smile and the amused voice, replaced with a brisk, businesslike tone.

He took a controlled breath. This was the most important part—he would have to be very careful. If he wanted to impress Queen, his idea had to be sound and effective. Any holes in the plan would be unacceptable.

Tezuka walked briskly to the meeting room. Inui's information and the Kansai notes had been…enlightening. Now that the team had been debriefed on the situation, all there was left to do was break Kaidoh's status to them. He had specifically requested to the Director for the meeting room to be silenced and the area around it had been shut down under the pretence of maintenance.

He reached the room just as Momoshiro and Eiji were walking in. When he entered, he took note of the people already in the room. Good, the team was all there.

"So, why all the secrecy, Tezuka? Don't think I didn't notice all those maintenance signs outside. And who would have guessed that the Director's office had a secret stairwell leading down to the back rooms?"

"Yeah, Oishi, I saw that too! When Momo and I walked in, the window on the left was taped over from the outside," Eiji said, " And who knows why the Director needs a secret passageway?"

He pursed his lips and spoke abruptly, cutting off Eiji's rambling, "Today will be your final debriefing before we being our investigation into Prince. We also have a possible undercover op to discuss."

When his words were met with confused silence, he gestured to Kaidoh, who reluctantly stood up while Tezuka himself took a seat. Instantly, all the eyes in the room were focused on Kaidoh. Silence settled over them uneasily. Despite their faith in their teammate, nobody could deny that strange things had happened and it seemed that Kaidoh was tangled in something.

Kaidoh's grimace only deepened. Well, better to get it over with.

"I'm currently working as the Tokyo vice and Right Hand of the Maiden," he paused while that blunt statement sunk in, and then continued ruthlessly, "We're going to try to put someone, probably Eiji or Momoshiro, undercover into the Maiden group. I can vouch for you if anything goes wrong, which puts this at a level 4 risk operation instead of a level 6. According to the intelligence put together by the TENNIS commission, Prince is currently active in the Shadow group. He's reportedly been very close with the leader of the group herself, a woman commonly known as the Queen."

Inui stepped in then, seeing Kaidoh's stressed face and brittle demeanor. "There is virtually no intelligence on Queen. She became a significant figure in the underworld less than 10 years ago, and her personal assistants and bodyguards are rumoured to be extraordinarily paranoid and protective of her. The former leader of the Shadow group supposedly gave her his blessing before vanishing. Some suspect that the handover was actually more of a bloodless coup. In any case, her influence must have already been strong, because there was little to no violence or opposition to her succession," he looked up from his notes, eyes burning with a peculiar fire, "If you look through your dossier on Prince, you'll find that he appears to have been active in the Shadow group beyond Tokyo as well. Murmurs in the underworld indicate that he is of particular importance, perhaps even the Queen's protégé. This is critical to our search."

Tezuka then stood up again, signalling for Inui and Kaidoh to sit down. The part of his mind (a very small part, he reassured himself) that had been corrupted by Fuji was amused to see the team collectively tense up even further at the prospect of some other shocking piece of information.

"I just have a small addition to make to the debriefing. Cel, our MCRT supervisor, has also been taken off of MCRT duties and will be serving as the supervisor for this case. Her security clearance is high enough to discuss most things on the case. However, Kaidoh's particular position will remain classified. I'm sure you all understand that he is risking his life by taking an active role in this case."

He took a moment to examine their expressions. He had tacked on that last line, because he couldn't help but be worried that Eiji and Momoshiro, being both prone to snap judgements and overexuberance, would make some rash decisions. Eiji had Oishi to temper his foibles, but Momoshiro and Kaidoh had a special relationship. One that was put at risk by these new revelations.

As he watched, Momoshiro's face went through a series of minor contractions before settling on a grimace, jaw tightly clenched as he looked intently at Kaidoh. This did not bode well.

Well? Well? How did you like it?

A few important notes:

I have NOT said who Queen is. Nor have I mentioned the Southpaw group before this. I'd like to hear your guesses (Southpaw should be easy, Queen...is supposed to be difficult.)

A few of you gave me some good suggestions, and I tried to bring the story in a direction that seemed to fit best. Please give me feedback, and if you have any ideas you think would be good/you would like to see in the story, let me know! Feed my plot bunnies :)