September 18th, 2030 – Wednesday, 1:00 PM

(POV: Third)

The semifinals were about to begin. The eccentric, pink-haired announcer took flight in her identified flying object. She raised a microphone, eying the crowd of excited spectators as they roared with exhilaration. Paruko was quick to return the favor to them. She knew that the show had to go on. The lights began to illuminate the entire room, revealing the fighting arena. The four remaining teams stood proud and tall, waiting for their directions.

"I welcome you all back with the exciting matchups today!" Paruko exclaimed. "As a refresher, this will be a best of three. Before each team fights, one fighter from each team will be selected at random. Once done, the winning team gets one point, the loser gets nothing! The random matchups continue until one team has two wins. There are no ties here, folks! Okay! The teams being matched up today are-!"

Paruko raised her hand, darkening the room. At first, the audience was rather distraught; mutters filled the crowd. They must have had a difficult time deciding whether or not this was done on purpose. Fortunately, their questions were answered when four extremely bright lights flashed over the four teams. The spotlights came in two different colors; red and blue. When the four teams realized the situation, they soon discovered who there opponents were. "Both teams assigned to blue! Team Redemption and Dragonic Trinity! Both teams assigned to Red! Team Fujimiya and the A-Team!"

(POV: First)

(Dragonic Trinity) vs (Team Redemption)

It took some time, but our team was finally put back into our break room. We were waiting for the announcements as we all stared at the large television screen. Paruko was hosting this once again as an employee hauled a large board. It acted like some sort of slot machine except it had three digital squares on each side. Upon watching them turn the device on, pictures of us and our opponents were placed on the different slots; our team on the left slots while the other team remained on the right.

I was sitting down as I watched this; I couldn't help but feel antsy at the thought of facing Liam. Call it a sudden drop in self-confidence, but I was definitely not in the same league as him. It finally got so bad that I zoned out, tuning out the events happening around me. No one seemed to notice since I was just blankly staring at the television screen. Tasuku and Jack were probably talking to Arkaid and Gao while I was just looking up, watching figures on the screen move yet not registering any of it.

Someone tapped on my forehead. My senses came back to me as I quickly shook off my antsiness. When I turned to see the one who broke me out of the zone I saw Arkaid in her SD form. She was standing on a similar pad to the one I was sitting on. For a moment I couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that she needed to stand up on something to reach my height from waist to head. "What's your input?"

"Input?"

"Were you not listening?" Arkaid asked. I quickly looked over to see Tasuku, Gao, and Jack looking over to me like they expected me to say something. "We're discussing the mission."

"O-oh, right now?"

"Yes, right now," Arkaid sighed back. "CJ, how were you not listening?"

"Well, I am now," I quickly returned before focusing on Tasuku. "So what happened?"

He pulled out a communicator of some sort. It was orange and had a fairly compact appearance. "I have some updates from Ms. Fridrik. They've just confirmed that their bugs are caught some audio from yesterday and today," he began. "However, they're trying to listen to it now and go through it. This should be happening while we're fighting."

"So we're still on waiting on them," I sighed. "What's our purpose again?"

"Our purpose is to act as a secondary legal group," Tasuku retorted calmly. "We're supposed to continue if they can't. If they lose, we need to keep going."

"But now we're in another problem," I retorted. "If we beat Team Redemption, what happens?"

Jack pondered for a moment. "That's what we're trying to figure out, and which is also why Ms. Fridrik and the others are going through the audio right now. They can't afford to do it later if we win, and we can't necessarily stall either. There could be a chance that they think we're onto them, especially if-" Jack paused for a moment. He turned away, soon shaking his head. "… Nevermind."

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's nothing," Jack replied. "I was being ridiculous of thinking about saying such things around you."

Arkaid looked over to me, soon lowering her head. "Remember what Ms. Fridrik told us about Liam?"

"We can trust him," I sternly replied. "He's on our side. Getting back on track, let's just play. Hopefully, the boss can get the info we need. If we win, and they react, then, either way, we'll just keep our eyes on them and see if they do anything…. Looks like we're done talking about it, though." My eyes were locked back on the television screen. The slots stopped spinning, matching Gao Mikado with Gale Minas. I looked over to Gao as I overheard the crowd cheering from the television. He made a fist with his right hand as he eagerly punched it into his open left. He smiled confidently as he gave us a thumbs up. "Do you best."

"I'll do that and more," Gao replied. "Time to show him that the Mighty Sun Fighter is here!"

Gao Mikado vs Gale Minas

The Mighty Sun Fighter took to his side of the arena. The proud teenager kept his arms crossed as his face beamed with the excitement for the game. Watching him made me feel rather intrigued, for all sense of anxiousness and nervousness were nonexistent. To him, it was just the opposing fighter and himself. However, that was also literal; neither he nor his buddy actually had official buddies of their own.

Gale Minas looked rather scrawny compared to most teenagers his age. The 17-year-old's svelte appearance made me wonder if he was just avoiding food or it was just the way his body worked. Regardless, he sneered back at Gao, acting as the villain. The kid raised the right corner of his mouth as he pulled out an odd triangular prism-shaped case. I recognized it; it was a case that people were able to borrow in order to luminize their cards. It was something people used before they were to receive their Core Deck Cases when they get their buddy.

I didn't expect any single member of Team Redemption to use their Dark Core Deck Cases. At this point, I knew that they were with The Will of Kyoya, but we still needed to prove it, especially when the others were still skeptical of my friend's words. However, none of that mattered right now to Gao; he was only involved so that we could have a three-person team. Right now, the only thing that mattered to him was buddyfighting the person directly across from him.

Paruko flew overheard as she eagerly announced the introduction to the audience. The crowd seemed to grow more boisterous at the sight of Gao Mikado. However, Gao retained his confident stance. He made no other movements; he just looked ahead at Gale. The opponent shuttered before resting his hand on the borrowed Core Deck Case. The object began to float slightly, keeping its stance at his side. He sneered. "So, the Mighty Sun Fighter is my opponent? I hope the rumors about you are true."

"The good ones, I hope," Gao replied back with his beaming smile. "I'm going to win this one for Dragonic Trinity. I can't let them down now!"

"Suit yourself, but my creatures are going to destroy you," Gale groaned back. "They'll rip you apart, bit by bit. I'll make sure the Mighty Sun Fighter, like any other rumor, finally fades away."

"I'd rather be friends, actually," Gao eagerly returned. "There's no need for that kind of attitude."

Tasuku and Jack remained by my side. The Buddy Police officer couldn't help but laugh to himself as he heard his friend on stage. Arkaid, taking interest in this behavior, turned to Tasuku. "Is something comedic about this?"

"No, not at all," Tasuku replied softly. "I'm just glad that, even after everything, he's still Gao."

After everything? That comment didn't seem to make Arkaid wish to ask more. She returned to my side and focused her attention on the fight happening before us. However, that comment still lingered on my mind. 'After everything.' Paruko's shrill announcing broke me back into reality as she announced the beginning of the buddyfight. Gao was going to be going first. I saw Gao as his Core Deck Case barely changed shape. However, yellow shards protruded from the device, making it look like the sun. Pieces of red and orange made up the bulk of the device as it locked itself into Gao's belt. The two fighters placed their hands over their deck, preparing to rev up the crowd with their chants. "Emergency Launch, from the eye of a storm! The justicial light of the sun! Luminize!" Two giant holographic representations of his cards flew over to the left side of the field, representing his two gauge cards. No one could see what they were; they maintained a light-blue color. At that same moment, six luminized cards emerged from the device and centered themselves in front of Gao, representing his hand. "Beaming Sunshine Guardians!"

Gale smirked. His core deck case released the cards in the same manner as Gao's. "Demons who survive off darkness and despair! Dive within the depths of the eternal abyss! Luminize! Gates of Dark Symphony!"

Paruko screeched, exhilarated from the fighters' words. "Now! Buddyfight!"

Gao and Gale, in unison, exclaimed, "Time to raise the flag!"

Gao smirked. "I fight for Hero World! And my buddy will be Buddy Police, Decker Drum!"

Gale muttered back. "Darkness Dragon World. My ally is Death Ruler, Blixt."

Because neither person fighting had a real buddy, they had to declare it before the battle started. It was Gao's turn first. He placed one of the luminized cards in his hands into his gauge, bringing him to three. This allowed him to draw another card. "So, you're using death rulers. I'm going to need to be careful with them." He looked at his hand, soon smiling upon seeing a familiar face. "Glad to see you again. I pay one gauge to buddy-call to the right; Buddy Police, Decker Drum!" The dragon emerged once again, roaring as he seemingly leaped out of the called used to call it. It took to the right monster circle, settling down before giving a salute. It was a size 2 monster with 5000 power, 3 critical, and 5000 defense. The buddy call allowed Gao's life to go up to 11.

I turned to Tasuku, finding the play to be rather off. "Shouldn't Gao put him in the center so he's protected next turn?"

"It wouldn't work out; he knows the type of deck his opponent is using," Tasuku returned.

Jack elaborated, for he knew that I was still confused. "Gale is using Death Rulers and, possibly, Gate Guiders. Such monsters are able to attack the fighter even if a monster is in the center."

I started to understand, but I didn't get the whole thing until Arkaid pointed out the true problem from all of this. "Based on what I saw from last game, Gao's defensive spells involve not having a monster in his center position."

My eyes widened. "So if his monster is in the center, and the Gate Guiders and Death Rulers are still able to attack Gao, then that would mean-!"

Arkaid nodded back to me. "He wouldn't be able to protect himself with his spells. He'd be placed at an extreme disadvantage."

Tasuku gritted his teeth. "That's the bad part; most of the defensive spells in his deck involve not having a monster in the center, and that's because he's dealing with the limit of defensive spells Hero World has. It's more about offense."

Jack nodded back. "The good news in all of this is that Gate Guiders and Death Rulers have low attack and defense, so defeating them shouldn't be difficult."

I shook my head. "But Gao's defensive spells are out of the question." I could only watch as Gao continued on with his turn. Drum attacked the other player, bringing his life count down to 7. I could only tense up as Gao ended his turn. "I just hope he'll be able to do more."

It was Gale's turn now. He drew a luminized card, fluck a useless card into his gauge, and drew another card. "So sorry about this. Actually, not really." Gale flucked a luminized card into his center circle. He called upon a hooded puppeteer with a set of curved horns. The only things that could be seen under the hood were his crimson eyes. He motioned two small skeletons like puppets, leaving the crowd unsettled. "I activate his ability. Hehehe, once called, I move a size 2 or less monster to your center."

Gao froze up. He watched as Drum was manipulated to leap into the center. It took some time before any one of us was able to understand what it was. Paruko revealed the truth about the card, aiming some sort of pink, scope-shaped item. She began to read the details. "So horrifying! It's a size 1 with 4000 power, 3000 defense, and a critical of one! Gale was right about its ability, and his name is Death Ruler, Manifile."

Jack was growing worried. "There's a card like that?"

Gale continued with his turn. "I activate the spell, Devil Stigma. Manifile's done his purpose. I'm able to sacrifice him, giving me two more gauge and an extra life." Gale Minas was now at a total of five gauge and 11 life. "I'll be using the two gauge I just gained to call, to my center area, my buddy, Death Ruler, Blixt." The skeleton of a demonic creature emerged from the card. Most of its body was covered in a golden armor, but the being's black wings were torn and shredded apart. At its right side was a glowing blade. The creature was a size 2 with 4000 power, 3000 defense, and a critical of 2. "He may be weak, but his ability is insane; he has 'Shadow Dive' and 'Double Attack.'"

I leaned forward. My interest peaked as I finally found out the ability's name. "So that's what allows him to attack Gao directly… Shadow Dive."

Gale seemed to appreciate the fact that he was at 9 life now. He smirked before flicking another card from his hand. "I call to the right, Gate Guider, Stiju." The golden creature appeared to have multiple arms and hands. The rest of its body was something out of a nightmare. His head carried the skull of a possessed goat, and under his torso remained a serpentine tail, coating with rotting bits of flesh. It was a size 0 monster with 1000 power, 1000 defense, and 2 critical. According to Paruko, it also had Shadow Dive but also had Linklink; if the creature is destroyed, its controller loses 1 life. "Now, I want you to understand this, Gao. I know you can't rise above this. Understand your situation right now."

"Things may be bad now," Gao returned back. However, the confidence in his voice waned. He was less himself now as he stared at the ghoulish creatures before him. "But I know I can get through this."

"But you can't defend this right now, can you?" Gale snickered. "Both my monsters have a critical of 2, and one has Double Attack. Are you really going to remain confident after I bring your life down from 11 to 5 in just one turn?"

We all watched as Gao could only take the incoming attacks. The demonic creatures slashed into him, reducing his life by two with each blow. He braced himself as the attacks phased through his body. The matter behind the attacks still had some force, almost taking him off balance several times. However, he was able to maintain his ground. He returned an eager look, but we all knew that the situation was incredibly dire for him. The only way he could turn this around is if he was able to unleash an insane counterattack.

Tasuku urged himself forward. "He needs to transform with his card, now!"

Arkaid agreed. "That will give him some defense, after all."

I looked back, trying to understand what they were saying. It was then that I remembered that, in round one, he transformed with one of his monster cards and became one with them. He was able to have the same monster stats as his monster, and that's when it hit me; by transforming, he was also able to have the defense points too! That would mean that the only way Gale could hit Gao is if he attacked with much stronger monsters, making monsters like Stiju become completely worthless! "Would some of his other defense cards be online after that?"

Tasuku smiled. "I know one of them would. Let's hope he gets it."

It was Gao's turn once again. He drew a card, charged a useless one into his gauge, and drew another. "I won't let things end here. I activate Hyper Energy!"

Paruko beamed. "Incredible! He just activated a spell card that increases his gauge by Four?! Could it be that he's found a way to end it here?!"

"I'll activate the ability of Buddy Police, Decker Drum!" Gao exclaimed. Two cards from his gauge vanished from sight. "By using two gauge, I'm able to destroy a monster on your field!" Drum aimed a drill-based weapon at Gale's center monster. His a loud grunt, he unleashed an array of strong blasts through the air. The projectiles made contact, destroying Blixt. "Now your center is open! Now I call Cyber Police, Lightning Chase to the right position!" Gao called forth a humanoid completely covered in white armor. Sirens acted as shoulder pads as the humanoid rode a futuristic white motorcycle. It was a size 1 with 4000 power, 2 critical, and 1000 defense. "Now! Transform!"

Our team unleashed a collective cheer while Arkaid nodded back. "Yes! He got it!"

"By paying 1 gauge, I transform with Explosive Takedown, Rampage Sonic!" Gao became one with his monster's equipment. He now carried 5000 power, 3000 defense, and 3 critical. However, he wasn't able to attack with him because Drum was in his center. However, he knew another way of clearing his center. "I'm going to call forth Drum's ultimate form! The true embodiment of justice!"

Arkaid smiled softly. "Brilliant! He's going to remove Drum from the field by going over the size limit, causing him to make the monster leave center circle and the field entirely!"

"To the left circle, I pay 1 gauge to call Rescue Dragon, Justice Drum!" The dragon left the field, only to soon return. His armor intensified as he carried a massive missile-based weapon with only his right arm. His muscular arms were emphasized by the uniform he wore. The dragon's long, red scarf fluttered slowly. A true hero revealed himself on the battlefield. According to Paruko, this creature had 5000 attack power, 2 critical, and 5000 defense. "Now, Justice Drum! Attack Stiju!" Without much thought, the dragonic creature fired a laser beam at the opposing creature, destroying it instantly. Gale grumbled as his life dropped to 8 due to lifelink. "I'm not done yet! I activate Drum's ability! Because I'm transformed with a monster, I'm able to attack with Drum once again!"

Paruko being exhilarated was an understatement. "Unbelievable! After what appeared to be a hopeless situation, the Mighty Sun Fighter himself was able to change the course of the battle almost instantly!" The crowd roared back. Gao's name was chanted from the stands as the intenseness of Gao's eyes made Gale writhe in disgust for the child.

"Justice Drum! Attack the fighter!" Drum aimed and released a missile at the opponent. The object phased through Gale but unleashed a holographic explosion just behind him. The force behind it was still enough to make him lose balance. His life dropped to 6. "Now, I attack with Rampage Sonic!"

Gale raised a card from his hand. "No. I cast Black Dragon shield!" Not only did he nullify the damage from the attack, but his life went back up to 7. As we watched Gao order Lightning Chaser's attack, bringing Gale down to Gao's 5 life, we were so incredibly hopeful that things were starting to turn around for us.

(Pov: Third)

Just outside the arena, Alvis was just to navigate through their recorded audio. Sitri remained next to him as Abigail and Bozo kept a lookout outside. Ms. Fridrik didn't want to take any chances. According to what Tasuku was telling them, Team Redemption was still in their break room. However, they didn't want to take any chances of people eavesdropping on them. Halia remained on her buddy's shoulder as Ms. Fridrik tried listening to the audio with Alvis. The audio was from the previous day and before the current match. Hopefully, they were going to get to the bottom of something.

For a while, it was nothing but a lot of noise. The three fighters of Team Redemption, as well as their buddies, were mostly conversing about how they'll be doing in the match so far. Ms. Fridrik scratched the side of her lip, grumbling to herself. Alvis caught on to this. "Everything alright, Boss?"

"I'm starting to regret something, but only a little bit," Ms. Fridrik began. "CJ might have been onto something. You remember what happened five minutes ago, right?"

"Yeah, I thought we were so close to hearing something in this. Hoshi and Gale wanted to talk."

"But as soon as Demios and Liam join the recording, the conversation shifts," Ms. Fridrik returned. "But the only reason why I'm slightly regretting this is because of how I still believe he's working with them."

"What do you mean?"

As Ms. Fridrik began to give the details, Sitri started to listen closely to the recording. He raised his right ear closer to the device. "Firstly, there's still a chance that Liam and Demios are in a position similar to the one that transporter was in."

"The one that was anonymously dropped off with their buddy?"

"Yeah, that one," Ms. Fridrik continued. "But maybe Liam is a bit higher than that guy. Maybe he's working with the Will but only as a lackey?"

"But that's if these guys are with the Will at all," Alvis retorted.

"I'm just saying that there's always a chance that he's still with them," Ms. Fridrik returned. "It's just that I now want to know why they're treating him with some distance."

"Maybe he only knows a little bit of the Will."

"True," Ms. Fridrik returned. "There could be a chance that he's only expecting a little bit of something that there's a lot of. Even though I can't shake my suspicion of him, what Liam has done for CJ makes me think that he isn't a bad person."

"… It's weird seeing you like this, Boss." Ms. Fridrik and Halia turned back to him, sharing the same confused look. "Sorry, it's just that I never saw you this serious before. I'm too used to seeing you busting our chops."

"That's because I'm actually doing something, and you normally just see me in the office telling you to do things," Ms. Fridrik returned. "When I'm actually doing something I take my job very seriously, but that's when I'm actually on the job. When I'm at the office, or outside of it, I bust your chops."

"Excuse me for saying this, but I think I'd prefer to be around someone who doesn't bust my chops almost all the time."

Halia squawked back. "I'll bust your head and then your chops if you say something like that to my buddy again!"

Alvis retreated back when the three of them noticed Sitri fiddling with the audio device. He was pressing the rewind button. The recorded time went back to a certain point before he selected 'play.' Ms. Fridrik looked down to him, finding it odd that Sitri wanted to go back through the recording. The others focused in on it, hearing the conversation that Sitri wanted to listen to once again.

"Is he gone?" The first voice was weaker, less intense than the second. Ms. Fridrik was able to identify them as Gale and Hishi respectively. They were speaking rather lowly in terms of tone, but the number of bugs allowed for a much more clear recording. "Yeah." "Thank God. That green-licking weirdo and his dragon were getting annoying." "It's fine. Calm down." "How can I be calm? I hate working with the guy. Why didn't Master Eirik give us a third?" "I remember you hating the one he first brought on." "Was his only option REALLY that Shido weirdo? You and I should overthrow the guy one day. It's not 'our' fault that other lackeys left the shipment here. Why should we have to deal with that?" "It's for The Will." "I'm pretty sure the old Kyoya Gaen is smarter than that. He would've had us be more prepared. Fuck Liam, and Fuck his Demios." "Quiet down. I think they're coming back." "For fuck's sake."

The four of them turned to each other. Ms. Fridrik took initiative. "Master Eirik?"

Sitri muttered back. "Yeah. Weird name. They seem kinda pissed at him."

Alvis. "They seem pretty disgruntled, especially about that 'Shido weirdo.' It's kinda funny."

Halia shook her head. "None of that matters now."

Ms. Fridrik pulled something out of the side of the device. It resembled some sort of hard drive. "She's right. We can confirm they're working with The Will and that Liam isn't with them. So far, everything that CJ told me checks out, except for the exchange location."

Alvis winced. "That part worries me," he began. "Still, he was on the money for everything else, so there's that. Once the day's over, let's bring this back to HQ."

Ms. Fridrik sighs. "Or Tasuku could do it."

"But his team is still playing."

"Against Team Redemption," Ms. Fridrik returned. "After what I heard about Liam and how he plays, I wonder if our guys could actually pull off the win."

(POV: First)

Gale snickered back. Two turns had passed since this point, both fighters had been displaying strong turns back to back. However, it was approaching the eleventh hour. Gao Mikado had 3 life while his opponent had a measly 2. Gao Mikado managed to maintain the field from the previous turn, keeping his Justice Drum intact. However, Gale was starting to struggle. The drawback to Shadow Dive is that the monsters that have it normally have weak attack power. This was hurting him at this stage in the game; Gao's transformation into Explosive Takedown, Rampage Sonic had slowed down his momentum.

Even so, Gao made sure not to leave the person with anything. The only thing that Gao left Gale was a gauge count of three cards. Feeling rather confident about his position, Gao felt free to relieve some tension. He was panting; the battling was wearing him out. He was getting really into it, causing his body to release heaps of adrenaline to flow through his body. Gao was ready to have this continue on, leading his team to victory. However, Gale, with the last three cards in was hand, was more annoyed than anything.

Finally, he sneered back before moaning angrily. "Mighty Sun Fighter, you need to learn your place in the world." He drew a card, charging one card into his gauge, only for him to draw another. "I'm 17. I'm not going to lose to some half-pint pre-teen."

"Age has nothing to do with it," Gao replied strongly. "I'm passionate about this game, and I'm willing to go beyond to lead my team to victory."

"You're not going to be getting it, so don't hold your breath," Gale snickered. "You lost the moment I unleashed my massive attack those turns ago. I'll give you this; if you were able to Transform into that stupid item a turn earlier then my massive attack wouldn't have been worth much. However, you couldn't, and now I will lead you to reflect upon your continuing struggle."

"Excuse me?"

"You should've just accepted defeat after that turn," Gale replied. "I equip, DEATH Wave Rod, Sterben." Suddenly, a black scepter materialized into his hand. He stuck it out to Gao, smirking cockily. "I discard a card to use Sterben's ability. I can no longer attack with it, but I'm bringing Drum to the center."

"To what?" Gao asked back. "With that small hand of yours, and after destroying your buddy monster twice, do you really expect me to think you were able to get a third so quickly?"

"Of course not," Gale snickered. "You know, Gao. My offer wasn't to mock you. My offer was so you wouldn't experience one of the biggest fears of your life." Gale selected one card from his hand. Immediately, three cards left his gauge. "I skip right to the final phase." Gao was left befuddled, puzzled at the impact. Nothing around him appeared out of place. He started to survey the area; nothing was happening. He initially figured that nothing was wrong. The only thing that seemed to happen was that Justice Drum was now turning to face him. Gao did find it weird, but he figured that seeing a representation of his friend's face would be rather comforting.

Everything appeared to become still. Gao started to cry. He was looking directly at Drum's face. By the time we realized what was going on, Gao fell to his knees. Justice Drum was standing above him with eyes blood red. Nothing but contempt and rage came from the dragon of justice. He was staring at Gao, watching as the Mighty Sun Fighter was reduced to a weeping child. The dragon stood there as he charged an attack. Gale's snicker turned into a slight frown. "It hurts, doesn't it. That's why I don't want a buddy. No matter what, the fear of them betraying you just hurts too much."

Gale could only turn away. "I had a buddy once. She left, never to return again. Before leaving, she attacked me, leaving me … gone… lost. Now I fight with the same rage, contempt, and hatred she left me." He glanced over, watching as Justice Drum's muscles tensed. He roared violently at Gao, causing the fighter to scream. "What you're seeing now is a true nightmare. The impact; Nightmare Despair. I give a monster in your center an extra critical and have it attack you. That is the embodiment of my deck. What you're seeing now is absolute, true despair."

Before anyone could see it coming, Drum unleashed a missile at Gao. Even though I knew the holographic representation could've had physically hurt him, everyone seemed to know it hurt him in a different way. I could only lower my head as I watched Gao's life count drop to 0. Tasuku and Jack rushed up to Gao. The two of them attempted to comfort him. The child seemed to slowly recuperate, returning a soft smile back at his friends. However, I was stuck, looking lost. That same despair struck cold with me. I watched as a monster struck down his own buddy. He may not have been real but, for that one moment, it felt real to Gao.

Paruko stopped announcing enthusiastically and actually flew down to Gao and the others to check on him. Gao nodded back, saying he was fine and that he was just spooked for a moment. But something stuck out to me. I looked over to Gale, watching as he looked… pained. He pulled at his chest and squeezed it, almost like he was holding back the pain. He must've hated the deck he used, but it was all he remembered. It's the only thing he remembered from his buddy; the pain of such a wretched goodbye. I couldn't help but see a different version of him. The worst part of all of it was when I realized that this could've….

It could've been me.