Realization

Kagami was getting impressed by the minute.

He can clearly see that she was giving it all she has, and took him seriously at the very beginning.

She showed her full speed and hits her hardest, as hard as a kid her age can do.

Did she sense how strong he truly is under his nice guy facade?

However, she has yet to change into what Makubex called 'Flame Lord' mode.

A state wherein fire would appear in the middle of her forehead and her eyes would glow like a hot poker on metal.

Granted, she can use her flames any time but only in Flame Lord mode can she fly.

However, she seems determined to go far just by herself though.

Cute.

But a very tough cutie whose ability was tougher than Fudou Takuma's Insight Power.

Everything he does, she counters instantly with well-placed blocks and parries...albeit barely.

He's physically faster than her after all even if her mind is faster than his. But still, he could hardly land a hit on her while his own experience makes it a tie. With age comes wisdom was a saying created for a reason with his 'wisdom' being battle wisdom.

'Why not show me the Lord of Flames, Tsunade?' Kagami asked her nicely. 'I want to see it. They say your flames are beautiful.'

Well, they had a lot to say about her flames.

'Its something I only use when I truly want someone dead.' Tsunade grunted as she turned him down.

'You had a lot of people you want dead when you were a kid from tales I heard.'

'That's justified, jackass. Who wants to be toyed to death by those bastards?' Tsunade growled in anger as she grabbed his knee with her left hand when he tried to knee-kick her. 'They come out of nowhere out of the blue spreading disaster and blood in their wake just for kicks! They're a bunch not even a saint will forgive!'

'Hummm...then, if I ask Emishi to play with Shido-kun, will you finally use your powers?' Kagami's smile turned chilly.

'Hooo? You wanna be human barbecue that badly?' Tsunade growled in warning at the threat given to her just to provoke her into using her powers. To Tsunade, Shido was her most important person in the world. 'I dare you to try and I'll have you delivered to Makubex a la Kentucky Fried Host-Boy!' she warned with killing intent to match that made Kagami whistle on how potent it is.

'Uwaa, scary~!' Kagami whistled. 'Oh, and I'm not a Host-Boy...' he said in amusement. 'I live here too you know.' he laughed. 'I just dress like this to look cool.' "Do I really look like a host?"

xxx

'That sounds interesting, Tsunade.' Makubex listened on, amused. 'It looks like you grew up a bit more last time we saw you.'

The Kakei siblings were silent as they watched the fight.

Make that three fights.

Its difficult to get a true grasp of Mido Ban and Fudou Takuma as both are too fast for the computers to get a grasp on. They can at least get a grasp on Emishi and Shido.

But what's shocking was Tsunade's progress.

She couldn't fight with an adult three years ago but now, she can actually manage to catch up to Kagami. And that's without using her powers.

'Hooo? She's not using her flames.' Juubei mused. 'She could have easily dominated the fight had she had.'

'She's not that kind of person though.' Sakura said. 'She judges if people are 'worth it' and they usually die if they're worth it.' she stated. 'If Kagami did go for Shido, she just might.'

Just how many buildings did that girl atomize with her flames aiming to kill when she thinks Shido's about to be killed by the Belt Liners?

'Oh yeah, they're joined at the hip aren't they?' Makubex commented. 'She once told me that she's the Juubei to Shido's Kazuki.' he said. 'And she's serious about it.' he added after a short pause that got the siblings doing a double-take.

'Hooo?'

'Yeah, tell me about it. Its how she sees their partnership.' said Makubex.

xxx

'What is Makubex planning? What does he want with a contraband he stole from the government?' Tsunade asked Kagami as she fought him.

'Wouldn't you like to know?' Kagami smirked. 'He intends on using a Lens to bring Sunlight to this murky town. Wouldn't that be interesting?'

The L of I.L stood for Lens, that much, Tsunade managed to piece together. 'I had fun, Tsunade-chan but next time...show me your flames. I wanna see it.' and he vanished into mirror crystals, forcing her to shut off her eyes and covered her nose.

'...'

She went to grab her backpack to look for the others who were...banged up bloody as opposed to her really smarting in her arms and the palms of her hands.

'Good grief! Did you go through a food processor?' Tsunade gasped as she used bottled water and tissue to clean their wounds off of blood before Oxydol followed making the men hiss in pain, and then the wrap-up. Last thing she did, was burn the soiled tissues.

'Ah shaddap kid.' Ban pouted. 'But at any rate, I figured it out now.' said Ban. 'We really are on borrowed time as Tsunade feels.' he said, remembering the vague words of precognition Tsunade spoke of hours earlier and its certainly come to pass.

'Did you figure out what I.L is Mido? The most I could get from Kagami was 'Lens'.' said Tsunade.

'Its a big bad thing they stole from the government.' said Ban darkly. 'Implosion Lens.' he spoke the words in English.

'What's that?' Shido and Tsunade clearly looked clueless but the girl clearly felt incredible apprehension.

'Basically, an Implosion Lens is the trigger to an Atomic Bomb.'

Shido and Tsunade paled in horror.

'What?!'

'Then what blondie said when Makubex is using the Lens to bring Sunlight to Mugenjou...the light he referred to is actually an explosion?' Tsunade croaked out, her throat growing dry on her as she spoke out of horror.

'Aa.' Ban swore. 'The principle is pretty simple.' he said. 'You need to get a fissionable material like Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239 and compress it with a normal explosive causing it to fission.' he explained the mechanics to the clueless pair. 'But it won't work unless the energy from the explosive is transferred to the fissionable material in the center. You have to skillfully lay out various explosives with distinct ignition temperatures according to very precise calculations, forming a detonator called the Implosion Lens.' he said. 'The Implosion Lens is only the complicated, secretive part but once you have it, even an idiot can make his own Atomic Bomb.'

'Precise calculations...' Tsunade frowned. 'Waitaminit...' she thought deeply and shook.

It came to her.

'Did your gut say somethin' princess?' Ban asked, lighting a cigarette.

'While I get that Mugenjou residents can easily steal the Implosion Lens off a facility that the stolen-from hired Freelancers like us...do they have the strength to grab some Uranium or Plutonium and make their way here without an army after them as just one of those can really alarm the army into pursuit as even the lowliest officer in command would freak out about it especially if they know how it's made?' Tsunade stammered out as she and Ban realized one thing.

'Fuck. We have a Judas among us.' Ban swore as that, is bad, they all thought. 'Someone among us is hired by Makubex, mixed in with us well carrying either of the two and making their way to him with the final piece of the puzzle. Borrowed time indeed!' they stood up. 'We gotta scram and figure out who it is, destroy the material and problem solved.'

'Dammit...even I heard what an Atomic Bomb can do...its not just Mugenjou, all of Tokyo will be toast with radiation spreading from beyond a la Chernobyl!' Shido choked out. 'Just what happened to Mugenjou while we were gone, that drove Makubex to this?!' he was near-hysterical by this point. 'No wonder that after the job, the government'll kill us!'

'That's why we run!' Ban grunted. 'I'm worried about Ginji! He's naive to the point of stupid! Mugenjou's against us he probably thinks they're still buddies and you can guess how well will that go...and I can guess who the Judas is! This is the worst!'

Run they did.

'Hey, let's go under!' Shido told them. 'The mice found something good!'

'Ooh, our brigade found something?' Tsunade squealed excitedly. 'What is it? The others?'

'Yeah! Let's hurry!'

'And we're the only ones above ground? You gotta be kidding me!' Ban fumed.

xxx

Thus in twenty minutes...they all gathered in a room full of numbered doors.

'Hey, where's Ginji?' Ban asked as he bashed through the wall with Shido and Tsunade but earned deadpan looks from everyone else.

'Er, Mido? You're literally on top of him.' Shido deadpanned as Ban looked down to see a hand shakily go out under the rubble.

'H-heavy...'

'Oops.'

'Hey, I know you guys went off together but don't take being on the top too seriously...' Tsunade giggled impishly, earning an annoyed look from Ban.

'Shut it, twerp!'

'Shido, just exactly what is she doing, when you're not around?' Kazuki asked a bit warily as Tsunade's been making gay jokes lately. He was glad he's not on the receiving end yet...for now. For now, she's doing it on Ban's expense.

'How should I know?! She's staying with Madoka when I'm on a job with shady bastards!'

'Well, I'm glad you guys aren't that injured, but before we go face what's behind those doors...how about dinner since I doubt you guys had any?' Tsunade took out many paper boxes and bottled water.

'Oi oi, we can't exactly get messy before a fight...' Himiko pointed out.

'Its not messy if its kebabs you know.' said Shido. 'Be glad my partner's considerate.'

'Ah, not messy then but...' Kazuki swooned as Tsunade handed out three long boxes per person. 'Tsunade-chan's cooking is simply on divine levels...she can probably make something like a kebab seem more luxurious than it usually is.' he's already her fan, especially as he enjoys her cooking through her notes.

'Ah, Ban-chan you guys don't get any?' Ginji asked as he got his own boxes yet Ban, Shido and Tsunade has no lunch boxes. And the Kebabs are delicious!

'We already ate when we hid in a nice blind spot, don't mind us.' said Ban. That, and compared to Ginji, his stomach is much fuller than what those Kebabs can do anyway.

The Kebabs are all cubes of melt-in-the-mouth beef, with a delicious sauce.

But Ginji found something.

'Oh, what's a dice doing here?' he mused as he picked it up.

'That wasn't there on the floor earlier.' Tsunade frowned. 'So...you discovered it and can now use it huh?' she muttered to herself.

'We can use it to decide what door we can pick!'

'Ahou! As if that'd work!' Ban scolded at his partner's stupidity.

'Maa maa, its already predetermined which was why it was put there. That wasn't on the floor earlier.' Tsunade told him snidely as several eyes widened. 'If we roll that dice, none of us will get the same number which means our fate is decided from the start.' her colleagues all looked at her. 'We'll all have a play date soon enough.'

'Well, ain't you guys glad you got a midnight snack?' Ban deadpanned wryly. 'We got a date after this.'

'Well, I go where Shido goes.' Tsunade shrugged.

'Yeah but next year, you'll try for independence, alright?' Shido told her. In the clan of Mariudo, you're classified as an adult when puberty hits. Tsunade hit puberty hard when she was eleven but...no means no, thirteen is thirteen!

'Hai hai.'

Thus after a meal, Akabane picked the dice.

'1, is it? So this is my fate.' he mused. 'I'm going on ahead.' Ban glanced warily at him...and Kazuki was next as Akabane entered his door.

'Kazu-chan?' Ginji mused as Kazuki took his turn.

'Fate huh? If its a fate chosen by Ginji-san, then its a fate worth fighting for.' he tossed the dice to show 2.

Shido picked up the dice to show 3.

'Sounds fun.' Himiko tossed hers to get the number 4.

'Since this was my idea I get to roll now!' Ginji beamed happily as he got 5. 'Alright! I got five!' Tare-Ginji cheered, waving white fans with the red circle, a japanese flag fan. 'Wait a minute, are we getting separated again Ban-chan?' he fretted as Ban picked up the dice.

'You shuddup and be quiet.' he said as he tossed it...bounced three times...it landed on six. 'Heh, nice one Makubex.' Ban scoffed, pushing up his shades. 'Let's go.'

They went for their doors.

xxx

At door no. 3...

'Its weird Tsunade.' said Shido. 'Its dark in here yet I know by gut where I'm going. If its another controlling system I'll be mad...'

'Its not but there is interference in the atmosphere somehow that makes us go where they want us to go. Another illusion.' Tsunade sighed. 'What's new. But according to our gut, blackness aside, its a straight room.'

'Yeah, its what my Bat Ears tells me.' said Shido, his ears picking up bouncing soundwaves by echolocation caused by their steps as a guide of sorts.

'Since Makubex knows I go where you go, he probably has something in store though I won't meet host-boy this time.'

'What's your feel of host-boy?'

'He's as good as Akabane in combat but the weaponry...Akabane's five steps above him. Host-boy uses broken mirrors and crushed mirror shards while Akabane uses scalpels.'

'Yeah, I can see that in a fight in my head. That won't go so well.' Shido nodded at the sheer insanity. Who's using broken mirrors without cutting themselves?

'Well, see you later.' said Tsunade. 'There's a gimmick in 3...2...1...'

Shido braced himself in all directions but a chute opened under them, making Tsunade fall.

He knows she'll be alright since she accepted falling down below...

xxx

After quite a slide...Tsunade arrived in a room...well, the end of the chute was a glass prison.

That's in a room.

'Why am I in a bottle?' she croaked out, blinking owlishly.

'Simple. He wanted you out of the way.' it was Sakura. 'We designed this special glass prison just for you, Tsunade. It heats quickly so using your flames inside is a bad idea and its so durable you can't break it.' she said. 'Your intuition is too problematic.'

'Oh dear, I'm being underestimated.' Tsunade pouted indignantly as Sakura narrowed her eyes. 'As the Lord of Flames...my own fire or anything heated by me, cannot harm me, y'know?' she grinned as she touched the glass walls and it became orange-ish red, the state that glass can be re-shaped after being melted...

The glass melted.

'That can't be! That glass is specially-treated which was why its so hard to forge just for you!' Sakura gasped out in disbelief that the glass prison made for torture to make her unable to escape was undone so quick.

'I am the Lord of Flames.' Tsunade purred as she instantly appeared behind Sakura, landing several blows on the woman from top to bottom but not lethally. Its enough to subdue the older woman. 'Anything, I can burn, melt and evaporate.'

There was one thing about her that only Shido knows that was Tsunade's ultimate secret.

Her flames aren't just ordinary fire.

Not even she herself knew its true nature but she felt she can overcome impossible odds if she wishes it so.

Not even she herself knows why her flames is weird but she's grateful its as weird as Ginji's Lightning that rapidly heals him.

She mummified Sakura with her own cloth and found her own way out as she has nothing to gain from her supposedly-prison room...and she found herself leaving the underground to a building, following her instincts to safety.

Well, she did injure the girl, her feet wound up leading her to a clinic she didn't know existed till now.

The old man is real, the girl with him isn't.

'Gramps, we have a guest!'

'Lord of Flames, Tsunade.' the gramps mused as Tsunade's eyes fell on the man's computer.

'Makubex is feeding everything to every frigging computer in Lower Town?' Tsunade frowned. 'Anyway, I got a patient for you. I sorta banged her up a little or she'll never let me go. What happened in the three years that we were gone that Makubex wanted to threaten Babylon City with an Atomic Bomb?'

'A what?!' the girl yelped as the man gulped.

'Atomic Bomb...'

'Yeah. But that'll never work gramps.' said Tsunade. 'Babylon City can create a world of lies, and control its people the way they want unless you're damn perceptive enough to keep your will to yourself. And with an Atomic Bomb...the head honchos can make it so that it never happened...erase this fortress of lies and start anew like resetting a computer to reformat it. Only, there's no backup drive. Mugenjou is like a twisted game of Sims, if you heard of that game. You create places and people, control their actions, you decide who they can be with, etc. Even how they die.'

'...you knew that far...' Sakura choked out, groaning from her injuries, regaining consciousness. 'Do you understand what we are fighting against, Tsunade?'

'I was the first to know for years and I told Shido...but we had to keep it to ourselves because truth is stranger than fiction.' that was to Sakura's shock. 'Had we told you years ago, would you have believed us?' Tsunade pointed out and she got nothing but awkward silence.

'That's why we didn't say a word. We had no choice. Then there's Kazuki...never knew he went to Belt Line but he described insane stuff Shido and I can't believe him either, if not for the fact that he also saw illusions. And these illusions are deadly enough to shatter our minds and reflect it psychosomatically on our bodies. In Mugenjou, truth is stranger than fiction. But its shockingly all real.'

'I see...so its hopeless from the start...?' Sakura whispered somberly.

'Its not hopeless...but Makubex the moron started things wrong when he too, discovered the ugly truth the hard way as we had. Its so easy to get our freedom if its him. He has the smarts, he must figure out the right answer and it is certainly within his capability as the genius brain of VOLTS. If he figured out what I had in mind...Lower Town will effectively separate from the upper levels. We can live independently in freedom. Our own actions and feelings are decided by us.'

'...I wish we knew that sooner...' Sakura lamented. 'Things wouldn't have gone this way but you're right...who'd believe you back then?'

Soon, Shido came with Emishi.

'Ah, you fought Sakura?' Shido asked, as his partner was with Sakura.

'Not much of a fight...they tried to keep me out of the way in a supposed inescapable special heat-conducting glass prison so I can't bust my way out...didn't work.' Tsunade snorted with a shrug.

'Its impossible to keep you away.' Shido snorted. 'You're a person who's the very definition of 'free'.' he said wryly. 'Nothing can deceive you and nothing can contain you.'

Tsunade beamed with a peace sign.