*Note: Before we begin the author's note. Whoever the hell is reporting comments with swearing in them on Wattpad, I am going to please ask you to stop. It is NOT needed. Thank you.*

I'm on a roll with these chapters. Back-to-back releases, and no sensation of burnout whatsoever! To be completely real, this is probably the most fun I've had writing a fanfic for ages, and I think it has everything to do with the community around this story. That, and I just love writing Jolyne. She's hands down one of my favourite original characters I've written in a long time. Granted, that list is short, consisting of her and one other character, but that doesn't matter.

Now, there is one thing that I'm going to bring up, and that is that I've made a playlist of songs that, I would consider "Openings" and "Endings" of this story. If you want to find it, search this: [Fanfiction] Gamer Of The Multiverse OPs and Eds, on Spotify.

For the current relevant songs represented by chapter count:

Chapters 1 – 17: DEAD OR LIE by Trustrick and HANABI by Ikimonogakari

Chapters 18 – Current (as of writing this): GO CRY GO by OxT (the goats themselves) and ViViD by May'n.

Afterwards are for future arcs (namely within the next universe, which as of writing this, seems to be that it's going to be RWBY, with Genshin Impact slowly creeping up on it). Speaking of the next universe, here are the current poll results.

RWBY – 23 votes [1st]

Genshin Impact – 20 votes [2nd]

The Owl House – 11 votes [3rd]

Kuroinu – 8 Votes [4th]

If you want one of these four worlds to be the next one, vote! Otherwise, don't complain if the world you want (out of these four) isn't next! Now, with all that fluff out of the way, before we get to my response to reviews/comments…

1: I have a P-Atr-Eon. Please check it out! The links are all in my bios on Wattpad, FF Dot Net, Ao3, and Qoutev. Just in case, here is the link: gobblegum2?fan_landing=true&view_as=public

2: The Poll for the next world is now up! You can find it on my profile on Fanfiction Dot Net under the username DeathlyJazzHands55. It will be up until The Danganronpa Universe is finished. Once it is, I will take down the poll and begin planning out that world. If you cannot find the poll on my profile, or my profile in general, use this instead: poll4630933xB6B34Bef-145 and for those on Wattpad unable to see the link without it being split up: take. Super survey poll 4629498x00734f98- 145 type this into your search bar (without the spaces) and boom! There you go.

Now! Let's jump into those reviews/comments!

[Response to reviews/comments]

(Qoutev) JammyJam: I'm glad you're enjoying this story so much! I appreciate your enthusiasm! We'll get to Rantaro and his family at some point in this arc… although, to be honest, considering what's going on in the plot. We may or may not go after them. Not because I don't want to, but… well, you'll see….

(Qoutev) TACO SENSEI: Bittersweet is my favourite kind of ending. I feel as if Jolyne should be allowed a moment of happiness with someone she actually has feelings for instead of being with someone for the necessity of a Quest like so many other Gamer Fanfics do. It is a bit rushed, that much I will admit, but their relationship will have the chance to expand as the story goes on. As for the other universes and their explanations, seeing as most of this is in the perspective of Jolyne (albeit it being written in the third person) the chances of that being the case as she explores the world and finds out more about it is highly likely. Don't need to worry too much on that front. Also, if you're looking for a good way to get into RWBY, I'd suggest the original show. While the animation is lowkey kinda bunk, it's the fights that the show is well known for. It gets better as the show goes on. It goes from Jank to not bad. Another way would be Ice Queendom. I haven't watched it myself, but from the clips I've seen on Youtube, it doesn't seem all that bad.

(Ao3) Spearow: Honestly, I wasn't able to fit the author's note in the *notes* section of chapter submissions. The character limit forced me to put it in the actual chapter, and it's normally bold on every other site I post it on so that it separates the chapter text from the author's notes.

(Ao3) MarcusCooper: I don't really plan to add any of the Kuroinu girls to the harem. They've been through enough of that crap anyway. They need a break. As for them becoming Council Members, I do have a few of them planned to be added. Am I going to spoil that? Absolutely not. When the time comes for Kuroinu to happen, that'll be when we'll see who goes where and why. Also, ya didn't make me uncomfortable by asking that question. You're all good!

Kolt999: Okie Dokie, so, there is (yet again) a lot to respond to. I'm going to try to keep it to less than a thousand words if possible, but with the amount there is to respond to, it's going to be difficult. So, instead of writing all this fluff, I'm just gonna jump straight to the response! (Once again, rip to thou's fingers, but thank you for the long review. It gives me a lot to chew on and think about. Also, nice reference to Die Hard: Die Harder, lol).

First thing: Ah, yes, current canon RWBY. See, for me, I hopped off the train after Vol 4. I saw the slippery slope it was falling into, even before I became good at spotting things in writing. I just knew that RWBY was going to fall into a pit and choke on their ego as it went. And it seemed as if I wasn't wrong. I watched the first little bit of Vol 8, saw what they did to my boy Ironwood, and became very glad that I dropped the show when I did. Team RWBY is so insufferably up their own ass in that season it boggles my mind! How one of my favourite shows could take such a nosedive in quality in such a drastic way really annoys me. Believe me, when I get my claws on the RWBY Universe…. Oh boy… I'm gonna have some fun.

Oh, and that comparison between Kamoshida's palace in P5 and Kuroinu… yeah, no, not even Kamoshida would find that amusing. Don't get me wrong, Kamoshida is a deplorable human being, and deserved what he got (honestly, he deserved worse), and his Palace made me uncomfortable when I played through it. However, I'm pretty sure he'd draw the line at literal CP. Like, teens are one thing, but… a-hem, anywho, not getting into that.

Second thing: A-hem, anyway. Chiaki being down-bad for Jolyne was something I kinda hinted at that in the chapter before last, and If I'm going to be honest with myself, I probably could've written it better. Eh, just my opinion, but, I digress. Aoi did, indeed, get very lucky. Had Jolyne not shown up, Aoi would've been dead, 100%.

Third thing: Monica is an interesting character to write about. And as the story goes on, and she grows older (because yes, characters in this are going to age) I'm sure people will relate to her more and more. Oh, and I was the exact same way in middle school. I'd get home, and shut down completely. Then again, my middle school sucked donkey dick, so that might have something to do with it.

Fourth thing: I feel the same way toward Mukuro. She had a lot of potential, but all the source material after THH painted her as a clutz who got beat by people who she, realistically, should've curb stomped easily (if we're discounting Izuru. That man, as you'll see in this chapter, is a walking "fuck you I win" hack given flesh and form). For someone who has never been wounded even once in literal warzones, her being beaten by some 16 to 18-year-olds makes no fucking sense. I'm a power scaling nerd, and while I'd love to break down how that makes no fucking sense given her stated feats, Imma leave it at that for now.

As for Sakura, no, It's not Nanomachines, as funny as that would be. It's Armament Haki. When it first debuted in One Piece, it did slowly, gradually coat the arm, rather than just *appear*. That's because the person using it wasn't the best. And Conquerors Haki is sorta like that, but different. Conqueror's Haki isn't just "my general presence is dangerous and you will pass out if you come near me" it's more like an actual ability. It's based on the person's will, and so the more willpower and specifically Kingly Ambition a person has, the more power that person's Conqueror's Haki will have. For example, Shanks, who has the strongest Conqueror's Haki, can negate Observation Haki with his Conquerors, which Observation Haki is basically like the Sub-Stand Epitaph from JJBA, just stronger and shows you the full event rather than the result.

Fifth thing: A-hem, rambling aside. Sayaka being Jolyne's grounding force was something that was needed. If I made Sayaka crazy like all the other members, it would be just a circle jerk of people who wanted to end the world. There will be more people who get added in this arc, actually, that become grounding forces, as well. I won't say more than that, because that person appears in this chapter.

To touch on the whole Chiaki thing, yeah, I did that on purpose. There are just some things you can't change about Chiaki. It doesn't matter what side of the "war" she's on, she'll always be the glue that keeps the team together. She's endearing in that way, it's just built in as a part of her personality. Oh, and the interaction between Chiaki and Izuru is going to be so fun to write about when the time comes for that.

One small correction about Whitesnake. It's a part 6 Stand, belonging to the main villain of that part. And no, from what I've seen of it in Stone Ocean, it can't bring back memories, only tamper with them and change them to fit the user's goals. Whitesnake can't bring people back through the use of uncovering memories. In fact, the only thing that Whitesnake could do is probably alter Izuru's memories in such a fashion that it'd be more like the example you brought up with Izuru having Hajime's memories, only through his perspective, and not Hajime's, since Hajime is "dead."

Ah, now we're done with that. With all of this out of the way, let's jump into the chapter (sorry to all those reading on Ao3).

xxXXxxXXxx

[Jin Kirigiri]

During his tenure of being the Headmaster of Hopes Peak Academy, he couldn't remember a time when he had felt more disgraced. His hands were dripping in blood… not literally, but metaphorically. He watched the recording over and over again, of him standing over Nagito Komaeda's corpse, the melted mess that it was.

He had killed a student. He didn't know why he did, or what that version of himself was thinking. But he did. He murdered a student in cold blood. His eyes glazed over as it happened. He knew that much. He knew that whatever happened caused him to forget the why and the how. All he knew was that the little canon that had been on his shoulder had been responsible for it.

He couldn't make it appear anymore… maybe it was because he lost the ability? Whatever. He didn't care. He failed as a headmaster. He failed as someone who was supposed to watch over the school and protect the students. And, worst of all, as he was now realizing, he failed as a father. His daughter hated his guts for "not carrying out the family tradition", something drilled into her head by his pathetic excuse of a father.

His father kidnapped Kyoko at a young age, so young that any memories she had of him were foggy at best and negligible at worst, and raised her to be a prodigy far away from society, and in such a remote location that the authorities could never find them.

It pissed him off. It made his blood boil. He wanted to jail that rotten bastard for kidnapping his daughter. To expose the world's best detective for the horrible things he did to his own family by forcibly separating it. But alas, he was too late. He was already dead, dying 2 months ago of a heart attack. It enraged him to his core. But, at least he had a chance to build a bridge to his daughter. To reconnect. To try and build that relationship back up.

Or, at least, that was what he had tried to do. But she adamantly wanted nothing to do with him. Refused to talk to him, and even called him a bastard right to his face. A failure, and a horrible person for abandoning her.

He wanted to snap at her. So badly. He wanted to yell at her. To tell her what really happened. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't know what it was that stopped him, but he regretted it. He let her feel what she wanted to feel. Let her believe what she wanted to believe. One day, she'd awaken to the truth and realize just what kind of horrible person her grandfather had been.

That was, of course, if she was able to return to school. The damage done to her hand was unsightly. Her entire left hand was burned to the bone, literally. Through some means, however, she was able to move it. He went to see her in the hospital every day, just to see how she was doing. But she'd routinely ignore him.

He'd try talking to her. She'd ignore him.

He'd try asking if she was okay. She'd tell him that she was fine, and leave it at that.

He'd ask who burned her hand away. She'd refuse to answer, stating that it wasn't his business.

Since then, he stopped visiting her. No one visited her in the hospital, from what he heard from the staff. No one wanted to talk to her. Her own classmates barely even realized that she was in their class. She was so disconnected from the world, it was sad to see. She had no social awareness, and it was downright depressing.

And it was all thanks to that awful, piss-poor excuse of a father he had.

Taking a swig from a sake bottle on his desk, he felt the concerned eyes of Koichi Kizakura staring him down, said man stroking his goatee with infrequent regularity. "Kirigiri-Kun… I've never seen you pick up a bottle and swig it like that… something happen?"

"You were right…" Jin said, leaning back in his chair, and looking over to Koichi, who now had a confused expression on his face. "About the magician, I mean. Er, sorry, the mage. She did something to me. Made me kill a student for her. You were right… she's evil… and I'm convinced she was the person who put Kyoko in the hospital…." Jin said, clasping his hands together.

"You want me to report her to the police?" Koichi asked, crossing his arms. "All I have to do is pull some strings, and—"

"No," Jin interrupted, catching Koichi off guard. "That'd be a massacre. Tell me, you heard about that Yakuza raid a couple of days ago?"

When Jin said that, Koichi's eyes widened. "You don't mean to tell me…?"

Jin nodded. "Yeah, that was probably her. I mean, laserbeams, purple goo monsters, the smell of molten slag? That has to be her. If you call the police on her and have swat teams show up, they'll be massacred. Besides, this isn't our fight…." Jin said, looking at his computer, as a video recording of a long black-haired young man in a black business suit with pale skin and deep crimson eyes played. The video showed the man summoning lightning from his fingertips at several fast-moving robots, all the while the boy was destroying the drones with pathetic ease, his uncaring expression never once changing the whole time.

Koichi grimaced at seeing the video. "That the result of the Kamakura project?" Koichi asked. Jin nodded, closing the file from his emails. "How'd the kid get magic?"

"Watched the surveillance footage in the hidden cameras dotted across the school. Everyone seems to think that we don't have security cameras. In reality, we do. They were put there by the former Ultimate Spy as a means to challenge himself every day. We've been using them ever since. The higher-ups simply took the footage and had their analysts watch the videotapes of Brooks using her magic to extrapolate what they'd have to do to give artificial magic to Izuru Kamakura," Jin explained as Koichi scoffed.

"The founder's name? Really? Couldn't they have been any more original?" Koichi said, earning a groan from Jin. "What? Am I not wrong?"

Jin shook his head, sighing. "No, Koichi-Kun. That's not what's important. What's important is what Izuru stands for. He is an abomination to all of humanity—a false hope if you will. However, he may very well be our only shot at getting rid of that mage once and for all. For all the evil she has done. For all the lives lost… to avenge Class 77 – B, whom she personally tortured."

Koichi paled at that, before looking away with a vicious sneer on his face. "Damnit… I haven't seen Chisa in a long time. That must've been why they've been gone. I thought Chisa took them out on another field trip…."

Jin nodded. "As did I. Chisa was known for that sort of thing. However, her body was not found with the rest of Class 77 – B. Neither were Gundham Tanaka's, Saionji Hiyoko's, Koizumi Mahiru's, Tsumiki Mikan's, Hanamura Teruteru's, and Nanami Chiaki's. There is a high likelihood that all of them are still alive, and had escaped. Why they didn't come to us about it is unknown. I've seen Nanami-san walk around the school through the surveillance system, following Brooks to her Ultimate Lab. After that, she hasn't come out in over an hour," Jin explained. Koichi nodded, looking at the entrance of Jin's office.

"So, how do we get Izuru to help us, then? I doubt the Steering Committee is going to actually let you see him. Besides, those bastards just wanted to prove a point, right? They don't give a shit about the school anymore. They haven't for two decades," Koichi spat, glaring at the floor with a clenched fist. "All they've cared about is that stupid fucking project. That's been their focus for the last 20 fucking years. I—"

"Koichi!" Jin raised his voice, causing the blond-haired drunkard to bite down on his lower lip. Jin sighed yet again, taking another swig from his bottle of sake. He put the bottle down, narrowed his eyes, and spoke. "I understand your distaste for the steering committee. I dislike them just as much as you. However, we don't have much of a choice. You saw what kind of power she has. I'd rather not run the risk of having innocent lives lost. I care about the safety of my students, and to have this monster running about doing as she pleases because no one can stop her… I resent that. I've played coy with her long enough. It's time that I act against this menace." Jin paused, adding a dramatic impact to his next set of words. "If regular people cannot deal with her, then I guess it is only fitting…. For two monsters to battle it out."

And on the laptop screen, Izuru Kamakura stopped dead in his tracks, as a horde of robots surrounded him. The man appeared to sigh, before summoning a massive, dark red gauntlet around his right arm, the likes of which appeared to travel up to his elbow, with a bright green gleam at the palm of his hand.

[Jolyne Brooks]

Jolyne had to admit that the café that Sayaka had taken her to was quite interesting. Currently, the pair were seated across from one another, sitting in a booth with a white table separating them. In Jolyne's hand was a cup of milk tea, which was brought to her on a small plate. There was a napkin to the left of the plate, as well as another plate with a biscuit on it. Sayaka had ordered the same thing, though her tea of choice was Chai tea.

"Thank you, Brooks-senpai, for covering the bill… I know it's a bit expensive, so it was very thoughtful of you," Sayaka said, a small smile on her face. Jolyne couldn't help but smile back. It was kind of endearing, to be honest. The dual-haired mage hummed in acknowledgement, sipping her tea before placing it on the small dish.

"I don't mind, Maizono-san. Besides, 10,000 Yen isn't all that much. For tea and a biscuit? Maybe, but the quality outways the quantity," Jolyne replied, glancing out the window and into the busy streets of Asahikawa. The train ride from Tokyo Prefecture to Hokkido was about 2 and a half hours. For most of that time, the two simply sat in silence. There were a few times when Sayaka looked at her, and went to speak, but didn't, often resulting in her cheeks flaring red. They also had held hands the entire time.

When people noticed her on the train and tried to speak to her, Jolyne often felt Sayaka's hand squeeze over the top of her own. Having known someone in her past that did that when they were uncomfortable, Jolyne knew what it meant, and often told the people who did try to speak to her to buzz off. Though only when she squeezed her hand. Incidentally, her reputation grew by another ten points during the entire train ride, bumping it up to 71 out of 100.

Funnily enough, during their train ride, two of Sayaka's idol group members ran into them on the train. Fumiko Tatsumi, and Saichi Todokami. Fumiko was a petite teenager with flowing black hair, light brown eyes, and tan skin. Jolyne couldn't really remember what she was wearing, aside from the black crop top that she had on. Saichi had bright orange hair, orange eyes, and a similar pale skin to Sayaka. From what Jolyne could remember, Saichi had been wearing a white blouse and blue jeans. If she remembered correctly, she also had a black hairpin to keep her bangs from getting in her face.

They made pleasant conversation up until they had to leave, so Jolyne's impression of them was positive. At least, when it came to those two. They mentioned two other members of the Idol group, Satomi Aoba, and Ayaka Haneyama. Jolyne was curious to meet these two, especially if they were half as nice as Fumiko and Saichi.

The recollection of the train ride had been a short-lived memory, but it was something she'd keep in mind for later. "Brooks-senpai," Sayaka said, catching Jolyne's attention. Jolyne noticed that Sayaka had a bit of a concerned expression on her face, which set off alarm bells in Jolyne's head.

"Hmm?" Jolyne hummed, raising an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. Sayaka leaned into her ear and whispered.

"I think someone's watching us, in booth number two," Sayaka spoke, her eyes drifting over to the booth opposite of the entranceway. Jolyne's eyes followed where she was looking and landed on a thin-looking man with short black hair, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. He seemed a bit skittish, fidgeting with his fingers. His eyes glanced up and down from his table to them, all the while biting his lip repeatedly. He seemed a little pale, though that could've been something related to the man's condition.

The man looked to be in his late 20s, and from the corner of her eye, she could see that in the man's pocket was what appeared to be the butt of a switchblade. His eyes were frantic like he was debating something in his head. Jolyne grew a little cautious. Fishing something out of her inventory, she slid a Spell Token over to Sayaka. The blue-haired teen picked it up, looking at it with a confused expression as Jolyne whispered in her ear.

"It's a spell token. Snap it in half and you'll gain a spell, along with enough Mana to use it. I don't like this guy. He has a weapon on him, and with the way he's looking at us, I can tell there's a chance he might do something. I don't know if he'll attack us. He seems like a fanatic or a stalker. He's been following us since we left Hopes Peak, at least, I think so," Jolyne explained, as Sayaka held the token. She drew back from Jolyne, before slipping her hand under the counter. The sound of snapping plastic echoed around the table, as a black aura covered Sayaka's hands.

A small pop-screen that only Sayaka and her could see appeared in front of her, and she saw was… well, it was interesting, to say the least.

[Congratulations, Sayaka Maizono! Jolyne Brooks has gifted you…]

[Legendary – Death's Touch]

[Description: By activating this spell, your hands become coated in Pure Death. Upon touching someone with it, they will die, instantly. The spell is active only when you deem it to be, so there is no need to worry about accidentally killing someone.]

Sayaka let out a shuddering breath, before sighing. "Interesting…" Jolyne hummed. "Why is everyone getting so lucky!? I would've killed to have that spell!" Jolyne thought. "At any rate, if that man attacks either of us, we don't have to worry about him doing anything to us. So, for a little while longer, we should enjoy this before something bad happens," Jolyne said as Sayaka nodded.

The two drank their tea in silence for another minute when shuffling ruffled from behind Jolyne. The dual-haired mage paid no mind to it, as she took another sip of her tea. Sayaka's eyes widened for a split second, before seeing Jolyne's calm expression, as she too calmed down. The two watched as the man from the back of the café walked past Jolyne, his eyes vacant of anything that presented emotion. When he reached to where Sayaka was sitting, his hand zipped out faster than lightning, grabbed Sayaka's wrist, and wrenched her out of her booth, placing his switchblade up to her neck as Sayaka paled.

Jolyne shot up from her chair, anger in her eyes as she glared at the man. "What the hell?!" Jolyne shouted as people's attention was drawn to the man. He looked panicked, but at the same time, resolute in his actions. People started getting up from their chairs as the man backed up with Sayaka, knife still to her neck as Sayaka tried to break out of the man's bear-like grip.

"No one move! No one moves, or she dies! No one call the cops either because if I hear any sirens, the bitch gets it!" The man roared, making everyone freeze on the spot. Jolyne calmed herself, and put her hands up. She didn't think that this would've actually happened and assumed she was just being paranoid. However, as it turned out, that was NOT the case.

The man glared at Jolyne and shouted at her. "I said don't move!" The man shouted, pressing the knife closer to Sayaka's neck. Sayaka gasped, frozen in shock as Jolyne's eyes narrowed.

"Sir… there's no need to do this. Let her go," Jolyne said, her tone of voice calm, looking at the man with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Fuck off! It's your fault, anyway!" The man spat, glaring at her as Jolyne perked an eyebrow.

"My fault? I hardly see how you holding a knife to my…." Jolyne trailed off, biting her lower lip, trying to find the right word so that she didn't cause the crazed man to do something stupid. "Underclassmen's neck. Please, let her go, and I might forgive you," Jolyne said, looking the man in his eyes, though his expression was unwavering.

"Shut the fuck up! I saw you holding hands! I saw you blushing at each other! You're not just that! You two are dating, aren't you?! You sick fucks!" The man ranted, glaring at her. "I was a fan of Sayaka Maizono, but to find out that she's gay?! That's irremediable! How fucking dare you take her away!"

Jolyne felt her right eye twitch with indignation. "Is that seriously his problem!? What the fuck?!" Jolyne sighed, shaking her head. "Sir, you've got it all wrong. I'm not dating Sayaka, I—"

"See! You used her first name! You already have first-name status with her! YOU SICK, SICK BASTARD! Love is between a man and a woman! Not two women, or two men! It's wrong! It's illegal! it's…! It's…!" With each word, he pressed the knife closer and closer to Sayaka's neck. A small trail of blood began to trickle down Sayaka's neck as he pressed harder. The blue-haired teen gasped in pain, and that was when Jolyne saw red.

In the blink of an eye, Jolyne was behind the man, shocking him, and then without warning, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and pressed down on the pressure point underneath his chin, knocking him out. Sayaka stumbled forward as the grip on her loosened, clutching her neck as she coughed. The man fell to the floor with a thud, as Jolyne glared down at the man with nothing but disgust. The dual-haired mage kicked him in the ribs, before walking over to Sayaka and draping an arm over her shoulder.

The poor girl was shaking in fear, although her shaking was somewhat subdued by her presence. "Hey… you're okay now. He's not gonna hurt you… he can't hurt you," Jolyne spoke, her voice soft as Sayaka nodded.

"T-Thank you… Brooks-senpai…." Sayaka muttered, rubbing her neck. When she pulled her hand away, a small amount of blood appeared on her hand. She paled even further as she closed in on herself. Jolyne frowned, letting go of the blue-haired teen.

"How bad?" Jolyne asked as Sayaka shook her head.

"N-Not nearly as bad as I thought… he broke skin, but that was it…." Sayaka muttered again. Jolyne sat next to her as another patron walked up to them. Jolyne got a little defensive, and Sayaka shrank into herself a little, but not too much.

"Are you two okay?" The boy, rather teen, said as Jolyne's eyes widened. His light green hair sat gently against his forehead. His lime green eyes were littered with concern, as his necklace dangled just below the collar of his white and blue striped short-sleeve shirt, his pale skin being something of an oddity considering what he did for a living.

"Rantaro? I wasn't expecting to see you here," Jolyne said as Sayaka looked at Jolyne, a questioning gaze dancing in her eyes, as Jolyne made an "ah" expression, before clearing her throat to explain. "My bad. Sayaka, this is Rantaro, a friend of mine that I met when I went on that camping trip with my classmates. Rantaro, meet Sayaka, though I'm sure you at least know of her name," Jolyne said as Rantaro smiled.

"Yeah, I know of her. How can you not? You'd have to be literally living under a rock to not know of THE Sayaka Maizono," Rantaro said, extending his hand toward her neck. Sayaka recoiled, only to stop when his hand glowed green, and for her slight wound to disappear, along with, presumably, any traces of pain. "How's that feel?" Rantaro asked as Sayaka looked from what she could see of her neck, back to Rantaro.

"I… You can heal?" Sayaka asked as Rantaro shrugged.

"I dabble," Rantaro said, his tone joking, before turning to look at Jolyne. "I'm glad to see that you're on your feet. The last time I saw you, you had a giant hole in your torso. I was kind of worried that you died," Rantaro said, his tone solemn as Sayaka's eyes widened.

"What?!" The idol said, looking at Jolyne, who shrugged.

"You remember what I said? Yeah, that…." Jolyne replied, shaking her head. "Idiots… Honestly, I can't believe them. One day after I wake up…."

Rantaro raised an eyebrow, looking at Jolyne with a questioning glance. Jolyne lightly scoffed, gesturing over to the entrance. "Not here. We can walk and talk, I don't want to be here anymore than I have to be. Not after what just happened…" Jolyne said as Rantaro nodded.

Not a second later, the now group of three walked out of the café, as Jolyne left ten one thousand yen notes on the table that they were just at. Once they got a ways away from any populated commercial business or place of gathering, and as police cars sped down the street, heading toward the café, Jolyne gestured to an alleyway, which the three of them walked into.

"Why an alleyway?" Rantaro asked as Jolyne shrugged yet again.

"No one's gonna listen in if they think something shady's going on. Besides, Sayaka's been spotted at a popular location, meaning that the place is going to be swarmed in about a minute or so by her fans," Jolyne replied, looking over to Sayaka. "No offence, by the way."

The blue-haired teen gave a polite smile in response, before shaking her head. "None taken, Brooks-senpai." Jolyne nodded, then looked back to Rantaro.

"To explain. When I woke up from my coma after that incident when I got back to class, they tried trapping me in a net, and then, from what I could guess based on what I saw and how they acted when that failed to do anything, they were going to attack me and possibly kill me for my "transgressions." They believed I killed Nagito Komaeda because he was attacked by someone with magical abilities. Seeing as I was the only one who had magical abilities in that area, minus Gundham, who had a provable alibi, what with his abilities not having to do with melting people into flesh cubes, one thing led to another, and now most of Class 77 – B are corpses festering in the school's basement."

Of course, that was a lie, well, for the most part. But none of them needed to know that.

Rantaro bit his lip at that information, crossing his arms as he sucked in a deep breath. "That's…. did you do that, Jolyne?" Rantaro asked as the dual-haired mage nodded.

"In my defence, they were trying to kill me. I played the self-defence card, and they had a really good shot at it too. I had to do what I had to do. The only ones who didn't die were Gundham, Hiyoko, Teruteru, Mikan, Mahiru, and Chiaki, the latter of which was completely against them doing the whole thing in the first place," Jolyne said, shaking her head. "I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to have them as my enemies… but they made their choice. They paid for it. As far as everyone's concerned, they've disappeared off the face of the earth for no explainable reason, with myself and Chiaki being tight-lipped survivors of something awful happening."

Rantaro sighed, lowering his head as he took in that information. He was silent for a few minutes before Jolyne noticed that her reputation went down with him by five, going from 50 to 45 out of 100. "I don't like it…" Rantaro began. "But… in the same breath, I understand. They did something awful to you after what you went through. Any sane person would've reacted violently. Maybe not by massacring them, mind you, but in the same breath, you're at least remorseful for what you did. That's all that matters to me," Rantaro stated, his tone calm, and slightly disappointed sounding.

"Eh, it could've been worse. Way worse, so I'm thankful for that," Jolyne thought, nodding. "As I said, I didn't want to do it. But they forced my hand. It was my life over theirs, and I valued my own life more. One of them turned me into a human donut for crying out loud. Imagine waking up, and that same person tries to knock your head off your shoulders, and refuses to listen to reason!" Jolyne said, anger bubbling in her veins.

Suddenly, a hand gripped her shoulder. Jolyne looked over her shoulder, and saw Sayaka, giving her a look of worry. Jolyne placed her own hand on top of Sayaka's, and smiled, before looking back to Rantaro, who looked a little concerned. "Sorry… I'm still angry about that. Gods, I know that sounds petty, but—"

"No, no, I understand," Rantaro said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. Her reputation with him went up back by 5, returning to 50 out of 100. "While I still have my reservations, I guess from your perspective, that makes more sense," the green-haired teen said, sighing. "Well, I must be going. I have to get back to my apartment. I'll catch you later," Rantaro said as he was about to walk away when Jolyne thought of something.

"Hold on! Wait, Rantaro!" Jolyne said as the teen turned around, raising an eyebrow. She cleared her throat and closed her eyes. "Rantaro Amami – Invite." As Jolyne said that, the invitation box appeared in front of Rantaro, who blinked a few times upon seeing it. "We could use a healer like you. Join The Grey Council, and I'm sure we'll be able to find your sisters with relative ease."

Rantaro's expression became sombre after that. "Ah… my sisters… I… I have bad news about that, actually…." Rantaro said, looking over at the floor. Jolyne felt her heart crack, as she covered her mouth with shock. Rantaro nodded, not saying a word. The implication was clear, and it almost made Jolyne cry. "Papua New Guinea. Outskirts of the Kolufu Tribe. Their bodies were found there. They've since been returned and buried…."

Jolyne walked up to Rantaro in a moment of weakness and surprised him with a hug. The boy jolted but nonetheless appreciated it, judging by the look in his eyes as he reciprocated the hug. "I'm… I'm so sorry to hear that…." Jolyne muttered as the green-haired teen lowered his head. A single tear trailed down his cheek, but nothing more than that. The two let go of one another, the younger of the two by a year wiping the tears out of Jolyne's eye.

That had probably been the first time Jolyne had cried about someone else's family before. The pain in his voice was palpable, and when he spoke, it stung her to her core. She watched as he accepted the invite, before looking at her. "Thank you, Jolyne. I…" he cleared his throat, his voice returning slightly back to normal. "When will I meet the rest of this Grey Council?" Rantaro asked.

Jolyne, for her part, walked back to Sayaka, before grabbing her hand which was immediately reciprocated by the idol. "This weekend. We're going to be holding a meeting at the Towa Estate. If you don't have the means to get there, then, by all means, use the mental connection that I'm providing you with right now," Jolyne said, tapping the side of her head as Rantaro blinked rapidly a few times, before tapping the side of his head in confusion.

"Do you hear my voice in your head, Rantaro?"

Rantaro's eyes widened, then, the lime-green-haired teen smirked.

"I see how this works. Okay, I get it. We use our thoughts to communicate. Nifty. I'll let you know then when the time comes." Rantaro said via the connection, before turning around and waving bye to the pair, heading out of the alleyway. In the corner of her vision, Jolyne saw a pop-up of a "quest complete" box. And then, Sayaka's reputation skyrocketed.

[Reputation and Affection with Sayaka Maizono increased by 50]

[Reputation: 100/100 – Complete!]

[Affection with Sayaka Maizono increased by 21! (Affection boosted thanks to Unrivailed Charm and Beauty): 41/100]

"Hmm… I didn't unlock anything. It seems that Unrivalled Charm and Beauty was the only thing ability-wise she could give me. But… that's not what I'm after…." Jolyne thought, smiling. "Sayaka, I—"

"Jolyne…" Sayaka said, her voice seemingly unsure. Jolyne, for her part, felt her heart pound against her chest. While normally calling someone by their first name was a normal thing, in Japan, it showed that the person cared about you enough to remember your given name. And, it also showed that the person who said it believed that they had a deep enough bond with that person to say it. And seeing as Sayaka had only really known her for more or less a day, Jolyne was a little taken aback.

"I… I wanted to properly thank you… you… you saved my life from that creep, and…" Sayaka said, shaking her head. "Can you walk me home? It's not too far from here, and it's starting to get late," Sayaka said as Jolyne looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to set, and the sky was turning into a more orangish colour compared to its natural blue.

Jolyne looked back at Sayaka and nodded. "Yeah, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't," Jolyne replied, as the idol smiled sweetly. The two left the alleyway and walked down the sidewalk through the bustling city. The walk was pleasant, with no interruptions. A few people noticed Sayaka and waved, which she waved back to. A thought came to her suddenly, and that being the prospect of meeting Sayaka's parents.

What were they like? Would they accept the fact that their daughter liked women? From what she remembered, Japan wasn't really pro-LGBT. Would they have to hide their relationship from them? So many questions, and so few answers. It was actually kind of bugging her a bit. But, she didn't make it apparent.

Although, that did raise a few points of interest. That being time, and what came with it. How much had the world progressed since 2004? Clearly, vehicles were much better, and far superior to the stuff back when she was Jack. Obviously, video games had gotten better, and there were more books in The Dresden Files than just 5, Death Masks being the last one she read before her death.

It made her wonder, but not enough to make it a full talking point with Sayaka. Then again, she'd probably be weirded out because that wouldn't make much sense to her. After all, she had grown up with all this advanced tech, whereas Jolyne had been plopped into it.

"Whatever, that's not important…" the dual-haired mage thought, looking down at Sayaka. She seemed to be immersed in her own thoughts if the determined expression on her face was anything to go by. A lot had happened today, along with a lot of reveals. It was clear that she was either going over today's events in great detail within her head, or something else. Probably her next session with her Idol group.

That was something that Jolyne hadn't stopped to consider. Sayaka was an Idol. She had things to do, and group members to support. And if she was separated from that…. "Travelling the Multiverse… how would that work? Would that mean I'd have to bring her Idol Group with me and everyone else? They aren't Ultimate Students…. Then again, neither is Rantaro. Hmm… that is something I'll have to bring up with Sayaka at a later point."

Much to Jolyne's chagrin, they had to use the train again, but it was only to get to a closer station. It wasn't as if she hated public transit, it was the fact that they had to use it again. It was too cramped, and everyone who was in it hadn't showered in hours. Luckily, they were able to find a seat. That was all that mattered to Jolyne. She refused to stand up on the train.

By the time they reached a rather wealthy-looking neighbourhood, it was a fairly short walk to the large white concrete and wood house. And while normally she'd pay attention to how the house looked, there was something off. Something that made Sayaka let go of her hand. Something that made Sayaka pale.

The front door was knocked down.

Panicked thoughts rushed through Jolyne's mind. It wasn't that she knew Sayaka's parents or anything like that, but this was her friend, soon-to-be-potential-Girlfriend's parents in there. And whoever did this had no passive intent. No one looking for a friendly greeting would knock on a door.

A pit formed in Jolyne's stomach. And it only got worse when she looked over at Sayaka. She was paler than she was when she had that knife stuck to her throat. When her life was being actively threatened. And it was in that desperation that Sayaka did a stupid thing.

Sayaka rushed toward the house.

Jolyne cursed under her breath and followed after her. There was a chance that the enemies were still in there, and Sayaka, who only had one, albeit overpowered spell under her belt with next to no combat training, ran in there without a second of hesitation.

Luckily, there were no enemies in there. But unluckily, what they were greeted with was far worse than what Jolyne had been expecting. Upon entering the house, Sayaka came to a screeching halt, as did Jolyne. Why? Because two corpses lay just beyond the entrance of the house, both with blue hair, both dressed rather nicely, not that it was important, and both were in a pool of their blood with two holes within their torsos.

Sayaka's parents were killed.

Sayaka fell to her knees, as Jolyne knelt to her level, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as she cried ugly sobs that, if anyone of her fans saw, would probably call her weak—in which case, they could eat her fist for all she cared. Jolyne did her best to comfort Sayaka, as the idol hugged her, burying herself in Jolyne's hoodie. Jolyne rubbed her back, trying to calm her down, though it seemed to have no effect.

This was awful. Her day had been going well for a fucking change, and now shit like this had to happen?! Not only that, but… it made no sense. This was senseless. There was no clear motive, there was no real reason to have this done. It was a pointless killing…. And it made Jolyne furious. Someone had been watching them, and a part of her believed that the stalker might not have been the one who had been following them from Hopes Peak.

Someone targeted Sayaka's parents. Someone went after two innocent people who had nothing to do with what was going on, aside from the fact that they were related to Sayaka, who had been seen next to Jolyne on the streets. And then, a few realizations came to her in a moment of rage. The stalker was most likely alerted of their location and was there to distract them, which would make Jolyne assume that the person who had been watching them from the distance was the stalker.

When in reality, all he was there for was to be a distraction. A distraction that not even Mono could pick up on. The person who did this, or at least helped in it happening, had to have known Jolyne's skill set because otherwise, they would've done this while she wasn't distracted. Meaning that this person was weak. Or, at the very least, was cunning to the point that strength didn't matter.

Not only that but this mysterious someone had to know how The System worked, because if something like this happened while Mono was aware, Mono would've alerted her into stopping it, as it seemed to create Quests out of nowhere when she was needed to do something, even if it was mundane. This was Someone who could send a message to Jolyne through the deaths of other people important to her, indirectly or otherwise.

But just who exactly would do that? Who would be so heartless to do such an awful thing? Luckily for Jolyne, she didn't have to worry about going on a manhunt. For she already knew exactly who did this. No, not who, but what. Because the who wasn't a single person. No, that would be too easy. It was a group. And the name of that group was plastered on the back wall, smeared in the blood of the two innocent victims who lay before them.

And that group was….

D.I.C.E.

-To Be Continued in – D.I.C.E. Versus The Grey Council – Part 1-