"Haah…haah…haah…*cough*"

Kaguya looked on towards the horde of demons amidst the pile of shredded flesh and bone that surrounded her. Her body, while seemingly unscathed, was running on fumes. She could only afford to hunch down as the exhaustion was beginning to take its toll on her. Despite being an immortal, there were only so many times one could continuously regenerate and revive on-the-go before feeling drained.

The horde, which appeared to be an endless wave of demons, were closing in on her. Wave after wave, she fought them all. And she fought them well. Whatever brutal methods they use in an attempt to stop her, she always one-upped them.

When a Mancubus blew her arm off several waves ago, she swiped that arm mid-air with her remaining good one and rushed towards the grotesquely obese demon. Dodging its slow heavy swings, she plunged her severed arm into its heart with the sharp bony end like a crude blunt knife, blood spraying her face upon puncture. The end result was a dead obese demon with its one eye bulged out in pain with Kaguya's arm sticking out as though it burst out from its heart. She felt immense pride in viewing her handiwork, shedding a single tear as she couldn't help but remember the beautiful executions she had fun doing in a modded version of The New Order; her own mod, made on her dead PC. Remembering that awful image was enough to reignite her anger towards the legions of hell. She then heard a loud roar followed by heavy charging feet.

Wasting no further time, she yanked her arm out of the corpse's heart and reattached it to its rightful replace before ripping off the blaster from the corpse. She then quickly spun around and fired the blaster towards her pursuer, blowing a gaping hole in its chest. It was only after the it dropped down in its own entrails did she recognise it as a Hell Baron.

Now, as her body ached and strained, she was still determined. Her eyes gave off a flare of burning rage. Rage that could only be quenched by the eradication of these beasts.

And she knew. She knew that she had struck fear in the hearts of these bloodthirsty abominations. Fear that she could taste from their anguished screams and screeches from afar; pitiful attempts at a battle cry. Their eyes and mouths wide open as though in disbelief and terror. "How could this be?!", she imagined they'd say. "Why is it that a mere frail being wipe us all out?!"

However, they remembered. They remembered very vividly. Remembered that the very person who made a legend of himself for tearing through Hell was, too, once a simple fleshbag in their eyes.

"You bastards…", she muttered as she forced herself to stand straight. "You really think you disgusting lot can defeat ME?!"

The demons roared back in reply as if accepting her challenge.

"Idiots… you really are something special, huh? Here I stand, bathed in the blood and guts of your comrades and your response to that is to continue attacking me?", she said as she proceeded to pick up an assault rifle on the ground and walked towards them.

Without a care in the world, she began walking faster towards the rushing horde. Then walking gave way to running. It wasn't long before she was charging head on into the roaring mass of demons yelling, "Come at me, you filthy heathens!", as she gunned the frontline of imps down. She grinned as she saw them flop and writhe. Then, upon realising that she was about to run out of ammo, she fired off the last burst and then jumped into the fray, wielding her spent rifle as a club.

"Man," she uttered as she swung the heavy assault rifle over her head with a manic grin. "This!" Whack! "Sure!" Thwack! "Beats fighting Mokou any day!" Splat! "Gah!... Fuck!"

She keeled over in pain as she felt an intense burning sensation going through her chest. Putting her hand over it, she realised that she now has a fresh, charred hole where her heart's supposed to be.

Looking behind her, she saw the culprit: A Hell Razer who was about to run away upon noticing her glare. Not that anyone would blame it for fleeing; it was extremely rare to find prey that was not only tenacious but impossible to kill.

"Get back over here you coward!", she shouted as she chased after it, whacking several Imps that got in her way. The Razer was fast, nimble and agile but it was no imp and it wasn't long before she was hot on its tail. However, just as she was about to snatch it, she was blown into the air by an explosion and then impaled by a large bony hand. "Arghh!" She felt herself be violently pulled into the air as she noticed the skeletal fist protruding through her chest. "Damnit! Not again!"

Everything around her became a sickening blur as she was spun around like a ragdoll on a stick. Apparently, her tormentor felt the need to watch its prey's agonised expression as she was then removed, turned around and then impaled again so that her face was facing its gloating grin.

Kaguya was royally miffed by this point. First she was forced to do the stupid counselling job for Eirin, then her laptop was reduced to ash, and with it, her game and now this? Being turned into sock puppet for insolent skeletons to fool around with? Enough was enough. Fuming with anger, she shot a glare straight into the Revenant's flaring sockets.

"Oi! Give me your rocket launcher for a sec!"

The Revenant could not contain its shock. Its jaw dropped. 'That's not possible!', its face seemed to suggest. 'That's not possible at all! This flesh before me should've been dead! But all that shock meant nothing to the person glaring at it.

Kaguya, unfazed, forced herself to push further down the demon's arm, painting it with her own blood as she pulled herself all the way to its shoulder, and smashed its head with its own shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. She then slid right off it as the skeleton's flight went erratic, crashing down in a cloud of dust.

She stood up moments later, emerging from the dust cloud, panting. The wounds she sustained had just healed. Her eyes hungrily scanned the arena for any sign of the cowardly demon. Then, she felt its red hot laser singe her cheek, its bright stream immediately notified her of its origins. "Why, you little…!", she huffed before sprinting towards the demon.

Blinded by rage, she did not notice the arrival of another fighter behind her, joining the battle. One that announced their presence with waves of plasma. One that greeted skulls of Hell Knights with their heel. One of pure fury.

"How are you feeling right now, Miss Onozuka?"

"Oh, I'm feeling a lot better now. Thanks," replied Komachi in a hushed tone as she picked up the cup of water offered by the nice-looking moon rabbit nurse. She then let her gaze lower to the small bump on her stomach.

'How did it come to this?', she wondered, putting her hand softly on it, her eyes wistful as she smiled.

It was not that she forgot what happened. If anything, she remembered it very well. That fateful meeting at the eel shack, the drinks they had together, the joys they shared, his confrontation with her boss over extra-marital affairs and the proposal that came right after.

How could she not refuse a bold man like that? A man that, despite her multiple attempts at discouraging him due to what she was, always kept coming back? A human, faced with the wrath of the Judge of Paradise herself, stood his ground and gained her respect? A person, who made her, the ferryman of the dead, feel treasured and loved? Of course she'd say "Yes!"

Then came the happiest two months of her life. After lengthy negotiations, her boss officiated the wedding and forced them to do all her paperwork. Mountains of it. But they didn't care for they had each other. It was the perfect job for him, she later found out, as his body couldn't handle hard physical labour. So she helped him get a job in the nearby town as an accountant. They then settled down in a small wooden house that they built together close to the Sanzu.

Often, he would always come back from work with the odd flower or trinket that he would pick up on his way back. And he would always wear that goofy grin of his when presenting them to her. In return, she would occasionally ferry him across the Sanzu and just talk the day away, ignoring the odd mosquito bite or two or whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears before getting lectured for public indecency by Shiki. While she would usually scold them before they got any further than hugging, their greatest achievement to date was doing the deed successfully on the boat without detection under the cover of fog. And she was none the wiser when she met them later, oblivious to their flushed red faces. Komachi felt herself blush as she reminisced about their daring escapades that followed. Oh, how the boat rocked indeed…

But, the joy she had was short-lived. He later contracted an incurable disease that caused him to bleed from sores that popped up on his body. A disease commonly carried by mosquitoes. He fought on for a good two weeks but the high fever that came with it ended his pain. Komachi, stricken with grief, donned her work clothes and headed out to the river Sanzu after burying him behind their house, ready to ferry him across one last time.

When she got to her boat, he was already there waiting for her. Throughout the whole trip, they only looked at each other with wistful smiles as the boat rowed across the misty waters. Before long, they had already reached the shore.

"I'm sorry, Komachi…", he finally said before he got off her boat. "I really am an idiot, aren't I? I'm going to be unable to give you gifts like I usually do." He wore his signature grin, betraying his sorrowful tone.

He tried taking her hand in his but it simply falls through. "If anything, I guess, take heart that your boss…no…I mean, your friend, will always be there for you no matter what. It's been fun, right? So please, don't show me that pained face…"

'Dummy,' she recalled her reply as her eyes were now fixated towards the cup of water in her hand. 'You already gave me plenty. Now go. Continue on to the afterlife. I'm sure she'll be lenient in judging you. These gifts of yours, no matter how simple and common, I'll cherish forever.'

"And even now, when we have long since parted, you've given me another gift." Her eyes welling up already, she caressed the bump a few more times before downing the water in one gulp to suppress the incoming strain in her throat.

"Ah, yes, what a wonderful gift you are going to get! Hell's gift, that is."

She suddenly felt her body become paralysed as soon as she heard the voice in front of her. Her eyes, the only part of her that was unaffected by the paralysis, became wide with shock seeing that the nurse that tended to her was now dead on the floor, her head shot along with the rest of the staff in her ward. Staring her dead in the eye was a manic dishevelled Defence Guard officer, her uniform stained in fresh blood.

"Kuh…! What are you…doing!", she grunted as she struggled to regain control of her body.

"Well, you see, heh… We're doing y'all a favour here," the officer started, twirling her gun around. "I am preparing every patient here to be offered a chance to be…ascended! So, I spiked the water with a bit of paralysis agent."

As she said this, she could see from the corner of her eye that three demons had entered the ward. 'Crap! If they're already here, then the whole facility is…!"

"Now, now I know what you're thinking. 'What about the others who won't be ascended with me?', right? Well, do not worry. Rejoice, because this ward has been chosen to be the first! The others will have their turn soon. And now," she said, bringing out a large knife and slowly bringing it down to her stomach. "I was gonna have the boys over there mince you up like the other patients to be part of the new Gore Nest we're building…"

As if listening to her order, the demons began tearing apart the dead staff and piling the corpses in the middle of the ward. When they were done with the staff, one moved on to the paralysed patients who could do nothing but look on in frozen terror as the demon mutilated them. The other two circled around the pile of gore, deep in trance.

The crazed officer let out a deep chuckle before continuing. "…However, I so happened to read your medical report before waltzing in here and it seems that you have a very special something in you and it would be such a waste if I just kill you now…" She then stroked Komachi's bump and gave it a lick.

Komachi's heart then began to pound when the officer put away the gun and slowly took out a glowing orange glass orb from her pocket, knife still poking her stomach. Beads of cold sweat were rolling down her forehead, breathing heavy.

"That's right. You're too special to be ascended as a tool for aiding Hell's army. Instead, you will be part of Hell's army as its Succubus!" she cackled, the orb now placed on Komachi's exposed navel after she made flicked open her hospital gown with her knife. "Spawning more soldiers for the conquest, you will be an indispensable asset! Oh, what a glorious fate! You will begin with the one you've already got right…here…"

The knife was raised. The orb was in place. She could feel the energy within it writhe, begging to be freed. A single tear rolled down her face. She closed her eyes, awaiting her final moments before she was turned.

*BLAM*

"Huh?", both she and the officer blurted out when a demon's headless body flew past them. Furious reloading could be heard followed by the clattering of an emptied shell dropping on the floor.

The entire ward became silent. The officer appeared to be frozen in shock, staring in the direction of Komachi's would-be saviour. Then, the remaining two demons sprang into action to avenge their fallen comrade. Their roaring and screeching were swiftly silenced with two shells that tore their arms and legs off.

By then, the paralysis had begun to wear off as she found herself able to turn her head and move slightly. She wanted to know for herself who this sudden ray of hope was. And there she saw, sporting a rugged old jacket and messy green hair, pumping her Remington slow and steady, Shikieiki walking up to the petrified manic officer who still had the knife in her hand.

Pointing the barrel down her mouth, she pumped it again.

"Put the knife away, kid," she growled. "Or I'll make tax summons from your rotting skin."

"W-wait!", the officer pleaded, backing up into a wall slowly as she dropped the knife. "T-This! This can't be right! They told me this place was clear a-and you're not supposed to be even…!"

*BLAM*

"ARGH! Fuck! My leg!" The officer then lay limp by the wall with her right leg blasted in half, groaning in agony.

Komachi had little time to react to the whole thing as Shiki quickly tossed her a fresh change of clothes, folded into a neat stack, onto her lap. "W-what?", was all she managed to say before promptly silenced by a finger to her mouth.

"Suit up, grab your scythe by the bedside and follow me. Things are going to pick up heat real soon." She then went off to stand by the hallway just outside the door she kicked in earlier.

Komachi was dumbfounded to find that her scythe was indeed by her bedside. Trying her best not to hit the writhing body of her tormentor, she quickly dressed up and exited the facility with Shiki.

"Where are we going, exactly?", she questioned, walking briskly to match Shiki's pace.

Without looking, she answered coldly, "The Underground. I'm paying a visit to an old friend…"

"Uh…Reimu?"

"Yes, Marisa?"

"Wanna huddle up in that security room for a bit longer?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Why would I?

"Touché. How about the office room Sanae and I huddled in then? It will be fun~! Flicking through secret files together, telling each other ghost stories, have tickle fights, just you, me and…"

"Okay, now you sound like a pervert you…"

"What do you think did this, you guys?", interjected Sanae, pointing out to the hallway before them. It was a redundant effort on her behalf as they were all already staring at the display before them for quite a while. On the ground, sprawled headless and armless on the floor, lay the body of the demonic skeleton that terrorised them along the hospital corridors. Whoever or whatever it was that killed the demon must have been very strong and full of anger as the blood spattered all over the place indicated extreme prejudice. They had been staring at it for the past ten minutes or so since the ruckus outside their respective hideouts died out.

On its body, Reimu just realised, was a note. Like the ones pasted on their guns earlier in the bar, it was hastily scrawled on. 'Guy really loves his Post-Its, huh?'

She moved in to pick up the note, reaching out with caution as to avoid touching its remains. For all she knew, that thing could just be playing dead. As she crouched to pick it up, she noticed that the only thing that remained of the skeleton's head was a pile of mush. She thought nothing of it as she straight away stood up and held the note up to read it. 'I wonder what he's gotta say this time…"

With bated breath, Marisa and Sanae, who were busy staring at the corpse and poking it earlier, held on to each other in anxious anticipation as Reimu began to read it.

"It says here, let's see…" She cleared her throat first and put on a pair of imaginary glasses. "Hurry and retrieve the Scroll that lay in the hands of the Moon's Brain…"

"Moon's Brain?", blurted a seemingly confused Marisa. "The Moon is a rock, not a living thing. Why would it have a brain? What do you think, Sanae?"

"Maybe it is a codename or title of someone important in the Lunar Kingdom?"

"Let's see…Someone important, eh? Must be some big shot," said Marisa, stroking her chin.

"Reisen, maybe?", Sanae suggested.

"No, not her. She can fire shots at people and make them cuckoo with her red eyes but she's far away from becoming a big shot."

Twitch

"Kaguya then?"

Twitch Twitch

"Haha, no. She's the Lunar NEET; all she ever does is stay holed up in that room of hers. Makes cool gameplay videos, though. Would never do something this extreme."

"How about Sagumo?"

"Seriously? That one-winged, sign language angel? No way."

"Then how about…?"

"OH MY GOD STOP IT ALREADY!", yelled Reimu, causing Sanae and Marisa to jump in surprise and clam up. They then slowly turned towards an irate Reimu, her eyes glaring daggers towards them.

"First off, it's obviously Eirin. Secondly, let me finish reading it!" She then sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. "Honestly, how old are you people again?"

"You mean, you don't remember my birthday?", asked Marisa in mock disbelief. "Oh, what terrible friend you are! I remembered yours since the day we met!"

"Wait, what about mine then?", added Sanae, prompting a blank stare from both Marisa and Reimu.

"…I give up."

"Oh, come on Rei…", said Marisa. "We're only having a bit of fun. Don't we have enough doom and gloom around us already?"

"True…"

"Well, loosen up a little would'ja? Better to go around investigating feeling good than feeling tense all the time. Also," she paused, taking out some files out of her hat. "I found some interesting info in those file cabinets."

Reimu folded her arms and raised a brow. "Go on…"

"Okay, so, all of the files that I have with me here right now contain reports and records of dealings and projects that this facility has with Former Hell Solutions. Most of them seem harmless; business transactions, backup generator instalments and joint CSR projects like annual vaccine injections to Underground citizens. However," Marisa then pulled out a bright red file. It had no fancy plastic label that categorised it; only a taped strip of blank paper. "This one right here involves the recent construction of the new power plant."

Upon hearing that, Reimu and Sanae came closer to her to see the contents of the file. Then, Reimu suddenly snapped her fingers and fished out the note out of her pocket.

"Wait, I forgot to finish reading it!", she reminded.

Now it was Marisa's turn to raise a brow. "Wait, you mean there's more to that note?"

"Well, yeah!", Reimu shouted. "I was about to read out the rest of the note before you cut me off!"

"Okay, okay, get to it already."

Reimu cleared her throat before she held the note up again. "Hurry and retrieve the Scroll that lay in the hands of the Moon's Brain. Then, make haste to the source of the Pillar of Light. Someone dear to you awaits."

"Someone dear, eh?", Marisa quipped. 'Does this mean that Nitori's still alive?' She then shook her head and went back to the file in her hand.

"Speaking of light pillars and moon brains, seems here that Miss Eirin's humble establishment here has been working together with the energy company to venture into interdimensional travel. Specifically, to Hell."

Reimu's eyes widened as she saw pictures of the Hell expedition. The arid red land, the ominous rivers of blood and skull ornaments, the tomb and the sarcophagus, it all matched the images that flashed in her head not too long ago. She felt increasingly uneasy as the pictures went on to show the retrieval of the tomb which was simply labelled, "#2". On it, an ancient pair of gauntlets… "Alright, I think we get the gist of it."

"But that's not all," Marisa continued. "Every single project prior to the one in this file were approved and signed by Eirin and Satori, the CEOs of both establishments. This one? Signed by none other than the co-founder herself, Orin, with Satori nowhere to be found. Not even a mention. None from Eirin either as well. Instead, the second person is this unknown lady called Olive Capirie. She's apparently the head neurologist but there's no mention of her anywhere in the staff roster when I checked earlier."

"Curioser and curioser…", Sanae commented.

"Is 'curioser' even a word, Sanae?", Reimu questioned. All she got for a reply was a shrug.

Suddenly, they heard a loud bang coming from the distance. Fearing the worst, they scurried into the security room and checked the entrance camera. To their horror, a large swarm of demons were banging on the shutters with several large pink demons with sharp tusks ramming into them. "Entrance shutter integrity at 15 percent!", warned the automated PA.

"Crap! They're gonna break in at any moment!", cried Sanae.

"Hold on! I'm going to try something!" Reimu then quickly scrolled through the many security cameras, hoping to find an escape route.

"Entrance shutter integrity at 10 percent!"

"C'mon, Rei! We don't have time for this!", yelled Marisa.

"Give me a few seconds!", Reimu yelled back, eyes darting around the multiple security feeds in their vicinity.

"Found it!"

"Where is it, Rei?!", Marisa demanded.

"It's just down this corridor." She then brought her discovery to full-screen. "There's an open elevator not down the direction of the dead skeleton. If we hurry, we can still make before they break in."

"Wait, doesn't that seem oddly suspicious…?", questioned Sanae.

"No time for that, Sanae!" snapped Reimu. "Now grab what you can from here and move!"

They then scampered around taking as many weapons as they could carry from the weapons cabinets and ran out to the corridor. And sure enough, there, in the distance, was the bright white light of the elevator waiting for them to enter.

"Alright, let's move, move, move!", ordered Reimu.

Just then, they could hear a deafening boom followed by a cacophony of shrieks and roars. "Entrance shutter integrity at zero percent."

"RUN!"

They then scrambled into a mad dash towards the elevator as the rumbling footsteps of demons closed in. Luckily for them, they managed to get into the safety of the elevator. However, there was no relief to be had as the doors seemed to stay open.

"Damnitdamnitdamnitdamnit!" Reimu mashed the 'close' button repeatedly in a frantic hurry, threatening to destroy the button altogether. She peered over the elevator panel and mashed even harder: The pink demons were already down the corridor, charging straight towards them.

"CLOSE, DAMN YOU!", shouted Marisa in a panic. As if heeding her frantic order, the elevator doors then began to close albeit ever so slowly.

"Umm…uhh…umm", mumbled Sanae as she fidgeted and shuffled around the elevator thinking of ways to help. Then, her face lit up. She remembered bringing along a rocket launcher on her way out. She instinctively propped it up to her shoulder, pointed side facing the charging demons. Then, as the Pinkies charged closer towards them, as the door began to narrow, she opened fire.

Reimu and Marisa jumped in shock as the rocket zipped passed by, inches away from them. Their eyes then followed the rocket's smoke trail, tracking its haphazard flight as the door finally shut. They then heard a loud 'BOOM!' followed by intense rumbling of the elevator.

Without waiting any further, Reimu slammed the button that led to Eirin's office as soon as the rumbling subsided. Feeling themselves being carried upwards, they let out a long sigh.

They looked at each other for a while. Then to the chaotic view outside. Then looking at each other again. The air in the elevator became increasingly dense as the transparent elevator rose floor by floor.

Then, they burst out laughing. Tears ran down their cheeks as they laughed like madmen before calming down. Reimu and Marisa, still smiling from laughing, turned towards Sanae.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!", Reimu screamed, choking Sanae and shaking her violently.

"WE COULD'VE DIED BACK THERE, YOU DAMN PILLOCK!", added Marisa, punching her in the gut.

They then let her go and pulled her into a group hug. Sanae was overwhelmed, trying to process the mixed feelings she was experiencing.

"…Thanks, Sanae," sighed Reimu. "We owe you one."

"Hear hear," Marisa added. "But seriously, warn us next time before you do somethin' like that."

After they let go, Sanae giggled a little and scratched her head sheepishly. "Well, I had to do something or else I'd be deadweight."

"True…" Reimu answered. "Speaking of deadweight, what weapons did we bring with us? I got a shotgun and an assault rifle."

Marisa reached into her pocket and pulled out a .50 calibre revolver. "Well, I have this here elephant gun and another smaller revolver in my other pocket. How 'bout you, Sanae? Anything besides that rocket launcher?"

"Umm…" She then patted herself down and fished out the pistol that they got earlier. "Nope, just this."

"Oh well, gotta make do with what we've got I suppose," shrugged Marisa.

After checking their newfound weapons, they then waited for the elevator to reach the top most floor, taking in the view as they passed floors.

Outside, from the Oni-grade protective glass elevator walls, they could see the city below become desolate and lifeless. The power plant's pillar of energy shined a brilliant blue, guarded by flying demons that roam the plant's skies. Floating grotesque one-eyed blobs of flesh, flying flaming skulls, skeletons with jetpacks. With one of them wielding a…trumpet.

'...What?'

"Admin floor," the elevator announced, leaving Reimu to question her sanity at the odd sight she just saw.

Upon stepping out into Eirin's office, they knew something was off right off the bat. The whole room, wide and spacious, was dark. The only sources of light were a few computer screens and the main monitor from Eirin oversaw the medical facility's operations. And sitting unconscious before them, bound and gagged to the chair, was Eirin herself.

They rushed towards her and undid her binds. Reimu examined her for any sign of injury but she could find none. "Sanae, check her desk for any indication that she's drugged," she instructed.

"On it!" She ran to Eirin's desk, illuminated by the elevator's light, and quickly came back with a paper cup and an empty small bottle of medicine. "Rei, I think this might be it."

She took the medicine bottle and read the label. Chloroform. "Damn…if she drank the whole thing, who knows how long she's been knocked out."

"Two days," replied a low voice from the shadows. "She's already unconscious for two days. She'll be up very soon if my estimates are correct.

The three girls took a step back at the suddenness of the voice. "Who are you and how do you know all this?", Reimu questioned, holding back the quiver of fear in her voice.

The voice then let out a low, ominous chuckle before answering. "Because, young Hakurei, I too, am a doctor."

Reimu's eyes grew wide as she heard his words, rendered speechless. Then, heavy, calculated footsteps began to approach them.

Kthunk, Kthunk, Kthunk.

As each step sounded closer and closer, they could see a tall slender figure trudge out of the shadows. The figure looked less and less human the closer he got to them. Then, once he stepped into the light that they took comfort in, they then saw his true form: A towering robot looming over them. He had no mouth, no eyes, no facial features. Only a vertical blue slit on his sharp angular head. Countless servos and valves could be seen moving in his joints in mechanical harmony.

The robot chuckled again, causing the girls to reach for their guns. Noticing this, he took a step forward and motioned them to stop. "Save your ammunition," he ordered in an unnatural calm tone. "You'll find better purpose shooting the wall."

Gulping down her fear, Reimu moved forward and faced him. "Who are you, really?"

Silence filled the air. She stared down the robot in an act of adrenaline-induced defiance. A low hum broke the silence before he answered her.

"My name is Dr. Samuel Hayden. I believe we can work together in resolving this crisis."