Bonus Chapter: No Way Home (For Now Anyways…) Part 1 (or only part if I don't feel like writing another one of these)

Remaining Citizens: 7

Ai Mizuno (Zombie Land Saga): Ultimate (Zombie) Idol

Ryuji Sakamoto (Persona 5): Ultimate Track Star

Emma (The Promised Neverland): Ultimate Moral Compass

Gold (Pokémon Adventures/Pokémon Special): Ultimate Hatcher

Miles Morales (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse): Ultimate Successor

Yu Ishigami (Kaguya-sama: Love Is War): Ultimate Pessimist

Killua Zoldyck (Hunter X Hunter): Ultimate Assassin

Ai's POV

"Why can't you two just accept that the original one is better?"

"Hell no! His performance has not aged well at all man, you're seriously just blinded by nostalgia!"

"C'mon guys… can't we just watch the movie already? We don't even know if those rumors are true."

"They have to be! You can't fake leaked photos like these!"

"CAN YOU THREE JUST BE QUIET?!" I shouted in annoyance.

That conversation was really starting to get out of hand from what I could tell. I could barely think in this room when they began to discuss.

I stare unamused, "What are you even arguing about, huh?"

Ryuji speaks up first, "Spider-Man: No Way Home is available digitally, and THIS GUY just had to bring up his love for oh-so-perfect Tobey Maguire!"

He was pointing at Ishigami who just raised his hand to make his point.

"Look, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland are cool and all, but I don't see them as true Spider-Men. Especially the latter, Iron Boy Jr.."

"Hey hey hey! That's taking it too far dude!" Miles was a bit offended at that comment.

"Are you for real? Garfield's Spidey swings circles around Maguire's! And he even skateboards, does your Spider-Man have a skateboard? I don't think so." Ryuji crosses his arms and scoffs.

"... You're all fighting because of superhero movies?" I responded exasperatedly.

"I ain't fighting, these two are! And all I said was that I can relate with Tom's Peter because of him being around my age and having to struggle with living up to big heroes. Well, except for his Sub Haven comments, I like bread." Miles defended himself.

"It's not gonna matter anyways, all three are gonna be in this movie! Just you wait… oh hey Emma, who's your favorite, huh?"

Ryuji saw her walk into the lobby of the Hope-tel and she was immediately put on the spot. Oh great, now she's getting dragged into this.

"U-Uh… favorite what?" She asked while tilting her head as her ahoge bounced.

Ryuji was now in her face. "Spider-Man! The new movie's out and we're gonna watch it later! So tell us which one out of the ones we wat—ouch!"

"You're making her uncomfortable, Ryuji! Give her space!" I scolded him as I pulled him away by his ear.

Emma laughed awkwardly, "Ha, thanks."

I nod to her, "No problem."

"Hm… I would say I like Miles! He's the only Spider-Man I actually met in person after all!" Emma answers with a smile.

"Aw, that's really sweet!" Miles smiles back at her.

It really is, Emma's a real ray of sunshine here in Kiibo Nexus.

It's been about a few weeks since the killing game has ended, and life here on this floating city in the middle of the ocean has been… interesting to say the least. It certainly hasn't been boring, with a group as rowdy as this it could never be. The former Monocity has been turned to a second home for us, ironic after so much suffering and death happened here. Funny how we spent so much time wanting to escape and now we end up living here for longer.

We still have one goal in mind though, track down Tsumugi and her colleagues and stop their madness across the multiverse. Before that though, we have to wait until our "sleeping" companions wake up. That's when we'll begin preparing for the search.

For now however…

"Yo, Killua! What do you think?" Miles asked the young assassin in the corner.

"Can I say Tom Hardy's Venom?" He asks with a smirk.

"Get out." Ishigami says bluntly.

"Jeez, I just find Venom and Eddie to be funny together." Killua rolls his eyes as he walks out into the city.

"Ugh, I should have been more specific and said which Peter Parker… hey Ai, how about you?" Ryuji turns to me next.

"I'm not getting involved, see you all later." I walk out to join Killua outside.

"Eh?" I heard the three Spider-Fans let out as I exited.

I really did not want to be in the middle of another long conversation about this. I would have said MCU Peter anyways, his convictions and will to not give up is what draws me to him.

"Right behind you." I told Killua as I ran up to his side.

He turns to me with a question, "Glad you got outta there, didn't you?"

"Very much so." I answer quickly and honestly.

"Same. I love those movies, but man they're way too sensitive about certain stuff." Killua spoke the truth.

"Yeah… so are we headed the same direction, or are we gonna split in a few seconds?" I say.

"Classroom 77-B?" He guesses.

"Indeed." I nod at his answer.

Killua turns to face the road ahead, "Well, let's go see if anyone's gotten enough beauty sleep."

Over time we've gotten used to walking around the city streets, so traveling to the school building on foot was not a problem. I also learned quite a lot about the previous killing games when ours was over, which allowed me to see that this school was a direct replica of Hope's Peak Academy (the location of the first killing game and an important place throughout all of them). Tsumugi really loves this universe, it's unsettling.

"HEY! HEY! HEY! I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!"

That was Gold, who was skating down in our direction and calling out to us.

"What is it now? Is it about those Franchouchou idol holograms? I told you that they're part of the stage and can't be removed, and I don't even want to imagine what you'd pull if they were removable…" I shivered at the thought, I wish I could forget that now.

"N-No! What kinda guy do you think I am?!" Gold let out, offended.

"Reliable, but reckless and also a pervert." Killua tells him with a straight face.

"Harsh man… but this is seriously important! Look at my clothes, does anything look different?"

Killua and I looked over him for a second until it clicked for us. His clothes were covered in ash.

"Misato's woken up, and it was uh… rude awakening I guess?"

Oh. We need to hurry.

"She's still in the lab, let's go now!" Gold got back on his skateboard and put on his goggles before rushing over to the school.

"You want a lift?" Killua asked as he charged up his "Godspeed" ability.

"Sure, just don't drop me." I warned him as he picked me up and carried me in his arms.

Misato Tachibana, known to us as the Ultimate Arsenal. The unfortunate first victim in our killing game experience, stabbed by "Ultimate CEO, Seto Kaiba" aka Tsumugi Shirogane using Espio's kunai. We did not get the chance to talk all that much, aside from seeing her anger issues and her being able to take out weapons from out of nowhere.

Even still, I felt really bad for what happened to her, she was just used as a tool to help kickstart the killing game. So when we saw her sitting on the floor of the hidden lab, quivering as she looked around, I just had to hug her.

"Welcome back, Tachibana-chan."

"U-Um…" She uttered, confused.

"Yeah, good to see ya Bazooka Girl. And thanks for messing up my digs with a machine gun by the way, now I've got no clean clothes!" Gold said to her as he showed off his scuffed clothes.

"S-Sorry." She apologized.

I shook my head, "You should know better than to not startle her when she's just woken up! Besides, you could just go to the laundromat to wash your unclean clothes."

"Wait there's one here? I've just been reusing the same few outfits for weeks now!" He reveals to me.

As I grimaced in disgust, Killua walked up to Misato next.

"How does it feel, to be back in the land of the living?"

"I… I really died, didn't I? I was waiting on Gold for us to meet up, but then Kaiba just bursted into my room and stabbed me…" She responds.

Killua, Gold, and I looked at each other with similar expressions on our faces.

"Well… the thing is, that wasn't the real Kaiba. The real one was never here to begin with either." Killua began to explain.

"HUH?!" Misato reacted how I expected her to.

"Jeez, this will definitely take a while." Gold put his arms behind his head lazily.

It took about half an hour to explain everything that occurred between her death, up to the end of our battle with Shirogane. I could tell that she wasn't getting all of the information, which I did not blame her for. I mean, for her it feels like it has only been a short time since her death. The story is also ridiculous itself, but I think we've all gotten used to it at this point.

"..." Misato's mouth was agape as we finished.

"Uh… you got the gist of it right?" Gold asked her.

"I think so… she really escaped, hasn't she?" She questions us about the one that killed her.

"Yup, her allies were able to warp her away before we could get the chance to capture her. On the bright side her original plan failed." Killua shrugged with his shoulders and put his hands in his pockets.

"She'll definitely be continuing her schemes elsewhere however, so we'll need to be prepared for what else she has in the works… None of us can go home until this is over." I sighed.

"Hm…" Misato grunted when she heard that last sentence.

"You know what, how about we go grab a bite? That'll make ya feel better, I'm sure of it!" Gold bursts out.

"I mean, she might actually need some food after spending so much time inside that pod…" I subtly agreed with him.

"Good! It's settled then! C'mon, Misato!" Gold grins as he lets out his "Typhlosion'' named Exbo (we learned their names by now, they're also quite friendly albeit just as reckless as Gold).

"What the—Hey! What are you–"

Gold pulls her atop of Exbo and the two of them rush out of the lab before saying another word.

"Good grief…" I uttered as I crossed my arms and shook my head.

"How long until she shoots him with another weapon? One minute? Two if he's lucky?" Killua jokingly asks.

I pinch the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

"At most twenty seconds."

BANG!

Fifteen seconds, new record.

Misato blew the smoke off of the handgun she shot Gold with as he rubbed the back of his head in pain. Exbo shook off the excess flour off his head as he sat down to rest.

"Agh… where do you even get these things?!" He shouts at her.

"Where do you get the idea to just grab my hand without my permission!" She bites back.

"These hands were made for holding girls' hands, it's their purpose!" Gold says in reply.

"Grrrr…" Misato grits her teeth as she whips out a gatling gun.

Gold is understandably spooked about this, "Whoa whoa whoa! I'm kidding, I'm sorry!"

Misato looks at him for a minute before deciding to put away the heavy weapon, much to Gold's relief.

"Hooo boy… you gotta learn to chill, Gun Gal. It ain't gonna make you any friends if you keep blasting people, much less a boyfriend…" Gold mumbles.

"I-I do have friends! And did you say… B-B-Boyfriend?… N-Never mind!"

"Eh?"

Gold turned to her and noticed her face getting bright red. He smirks, this can't be good.

"So you do have someone back home ya like? Who's the lucky guy? Or lady, I should have mentioned I don't judge."

"I-I don't, Sasahara's just my idiot classmate!" She shouts out before slapping her mouth shut with her hands.

"Sasahara, huh?"

Misato turns away to hide the blush on her face, "He's not important right now! Why do you keep bugging me anyways?"

"I'm just trying to get to know you, y'know? Since… last time we didn't get the chance to. Sorry about making you so mad back then, I guess."

His answer made her turn back to him, from the look on his face he was completely serious.

"No, I should be the one who's sorry. I still can't get rid of this temper of mine, so when you just kept pestering me I couldn't handle it." She tells him.

"Ah, that's alright. I really do seem to make a lot of people angry at me, it's just in my nature." Gold kicks at the ground and looks at Exbo scratching his ear with his paw.

"... Can I tell you something?" Misato holds her hands behind her back and fidgets.

"Uh, sure?" Gold raises an eyebrow.

"So… remember when I called you over for that meeting before… I got killed?"

"Oh, right… so were you actually planning on killing me?" Gold assumes.

Misato shook her head, "Of course not! Well… it did pass through my mind once."

"Happened to a few other people, no big deal. For one guy that idea never left…"

"Aoba, yeah. But I really wanted to make amends for the way I acted, we were still complete strangers and yet I still chose to threaten you with violence. That's… far from okay."

Misato's head was down as Gold listened intently.

"I don't expect forgiveness but… what are you doing?"

Gold had his hand out in front of her.

"It would be hard for me to forgive you, especially after you actually shot at me multiple times today. Still, that doesn't mean we can't be pals." Gold grinned, surprising her.

"A-Are you stupid?! How could you be so welcoming towards me, even though I've been arguing with you from the start?!" She asks him exasperatedly.

"Ha ha ha! Some of my best friends are people that I argue with every time we meet! That's just another way we bond, I guess. The killing game's over, so how about we let bygones be bygones and reintroduce ourselves yeah?"

Misato continued to look at him with confusion, but eventually she smiles back and shakes his hand.

"Misato Tachibana."

"Gold, from New Bark Town. Alright, it's party time! Wahoo!"

Misato giggles a bit at his enthusiasm as the two of them hop back onto Exbo and head to grab some food.

Back to Ai's POV

"WELCOME BACK MISATO!"

Party poppers went off as we all were at the Hope-tel to celebrate the first return of one of our companions.

It's really a joy to see everyone so lively, although we did throw a small party after our victory over Shirogane, but everyone was too exhausted from the fight to enjoy it too much.

"It's so good to see you, it feels like it's been forever!" Emma greets her and hands her a slice of cake.

"No no, Emma. I don't think she needs that big a slice, she needs to look good for Sasahara!" Gold chuckles.

Misato simply whipped out a shotgun and blasted him, knocking him out of his chair.

"Freaking gun-dere…" Gold uttered in pain.

Misato just smiled just then, it looks like their relationship is improving… albeit only slightly

"Nice, the movie's now live! Let's get to watching!" Ryuji whooped as he turned on the tv.

"I can't wait!" Miles pumps his fists excitedly.

"Now no arguing again, okay you three?" I scolded the trio from before.

"Jeez Ai, what are you our mom?" Ishigami rolled his eyes as he turned to the screen.

"Really starting to feel like I am." I shook my head as the rest of us began to watch the movie as well.

Despite everything that's happened, this group really is like a family now. I feel like once we're all together, then it'll be even more chaotic. I really do miss Franchouchou though, but until the day comes where I can find them, it seems we have… no way home.

Long time no see! I really do feel happy to revisit the Nexus crew after a while. It is getting difficult to write the casts of both Epicenter and Guardians (especially after encountering problems with the latter), so coming back to the originals really makes me smile. I hope seeing them again made you smile too. I really delved into Misato more this time around, instead of ending it like how I did originally with her. Having her and Gold make up was definitely something I wanted to see, and now it's reality. Thank you all for reading, I will see you next time for the next Guardians and Epicenter chapters! (And let me know if you guys want to see the Nexus cast once again for another round.)