The Rebel Doctor

by Kazragoth

Ren Amamiya, leader of the once renowned Phantom Thieves, now leads a prosperous and peaceful life with his friends, and has left the world of the living, fully content in his aged years. The progenitor of Personas has other plans for him, however. One that involves an already ruined world. Well, at least he's already dead when this happened.

11. 2-2: Settling In

"Hey, you've heard the news, right?"

"You mean Persona, right? Turns out the Doctor has some hidden Arts under his belt! How cool is that?!"

"Yep! And turns out we have 2 more of those Arts users with us now! One of them is like those kitties Mousse has, but he can talk and do so much more!"

"Great! Who's the other one?"

"…That would be him."

- 2 Reserve Operators in the Bloodstained Bar

CHAPTER 2

SETTLING IN

3:46 PM

Human Resource Department, Director's Office

---

"I never thought I'd live to see the day of seeing myself do office paperwork."

Ren let out a sigh as he plunged himself down onto the comfort of his wheeled chair, looking at the stack of papers placed on the left side of his table before casting his eyes practically everywhere else. And by everywhere else, it means the whole scenery of his new office. With his "amnesia" barring him from continuing his supposed research into Oripathy, Amiya decided to appoint him as Director of the Human Resource Department. Even though he's confident Shadow can cover the research prospects on his own, there is no way in hell he's going to let the ghastly being out in the open when the risk of some smartass showing up, discovering his presence, then putting two and two together is present. Shadow is no doppelganger. He is a living and breathing soul, and more importantly, the old Doctor that Rhodes Island knew and remembered.

Speaking of his new office, Ren can safely say that the whole room is decked out to be as comfortable as possible. In one side of the room is a comfy sofa in case there are visitors coming by, or in drastic measures, a place to sleep if the blanket on top is of any indication, along with rows of bookshelves on each side of the sofa. Right behind him is a small table with drawers and a tray holding glasses on it. Topping off the sight is a blue electric kettle with the Rhodes Island logo on it. If he ever felt tired, it's always assuring to know that he can fall back to brewing some coffee to juice himself back up, or cook some instant noodles directly in his mouth if he somehow went mentally insane. His mask was left hanging on the coat rack near the door up front.

It was a relatively moderate sized office, so to speak, but everyone can agree that the office alone feels like a good place to work and unwind at the same time. And luckily enough, Ren finished his arduous work for today. Organizing the files to begin with, Operator appointments for the Trading Posts and Power Plants, clue searches, and the training schedule Dobermann gave him not long after he started working. Not to mention that he has to oversee the new Operator recruits to Rhodes Island. It was too much stuff to handle alone on that front, and Ren was really wishing that Makoto was here right now. Her capabilities as Student Council President would have helped a lot. It took a solid 3 hours of time to finish it all.

Luckily enough, HRD Directors are required to appoint an assistant to help with their duties, and he was quick to ask Amiya for help. Sadly, she had other matters to tend to, promising to send someone else to help in her stead. Ren had to note how sad she looked when the realization hit, as if she regretted that moment. Luckily enough, unbeknownst to Amiya, Ren already prepared a substitute for her.

The substitute however proved to be only good for moral support.

"Eh, could be worse, buddy. You could end up being a janitor, and I sure as hell don't want to clean a place as big as this."

"Says you, Walter. Aren't there supposed to be mercenaries that do well with paperwork?"

Walter the Imp. The Devil Persona he earned from W. The mercenary that seems to know of Shadow's past as Doctor and Warlord. When the upbeat mercenary-based Persona said that he has that charm, his looks are a good enough start. Short spiky black hair with looks of carefree attitude, with piercings on both his ears, and a pair of sharp red horns on the sides of his head as a reminder of W's demonic Sarkaz influence. Donning a large red coat that shows off his toned midsection dotted with black lesions and a pair of baggy trousers, he really looked like am Infected mercenary. To drive the point across, a one handed grenade launcher is holstered on his side, possibly used for his fire spells.

"That kind of mercenary would end up being an intern, buddy. And as far as I remember, those assistants that Amiya talked about can also cover as guard duty. I don't mind the fresh air, but why did you call me out here anyway?"

The good Doctor crossed his arms behind his head as he leaned back on his chair. "Trying to see if I can train up my control over Personas this way. Evoking them is one thing, but materializing them is another. At least I can make sure you won't go away if someone hits you with a rock."

The Persona proceeded to laugh at Ren's claims, earning his displeasure. "Get real, buddy. I know I, and I mean we, except that shady wraith friend of yours, are no more than masks of your own soul. But are we really that fra-Ow!"

His words are cut off when he got hit with a pencil directly at one of his lesions. He had talked with Philemon beforehand regarding the matter. And to his detriment, it had turned out that Arsene was the only one who is given the full head start in the incarnation deal after he got Philemon's upgrade due to their innate link as his true Persona. If he were to invoke other Personas, he would need to foster the link between them and make it stronger, and the most adequate training would be to evoke them whenever possible.

The pencil hurl was made as a test to see how durable a Persona can be, and he knows Walter is not going to like that sudden move. He is not having any of it though.

"That, was not cool, Ren."

"Eh, I'd say it's worth it. Turns out you're right."

"Heh, see? I told you we're not as flimsy as paper!"

Ren will have to concede to Walter's claim this time. Before he can continue his conversation however, the office door slid open revealing a familiar girl with an oversized shirt.

"Doctoooor~! Special delivery for yo-woah, woah!"

The head mechanist Closure made herself known as she stepped in with a smile. Yet, her steps soon got out of balance as she entered with a stack of papers so high that it reached her flat chest. Nobody would want a strewn of papers on the floor, so Ren quickly commanded Walter to help the vampire with the stack, which she appreciated.

"Whew! Thanks for the help! I was about to fall over!"

"Don't mention it. Man, I didn't expect to do manual labor so soon though. Hoy, Ren! Where do we put these?!"

Ren simply pointed at the table in the middle of the room, and both Sarkaz placed the stacks down with Closure wiping her sweat off her forehead. The Doctor found himself perplexed at the size of the stack. "Closure, what's with the huge stack of papers?"

Closure wiped a sweat off her forehead as she sat down. "You can blame Amiya for this. She loaded me off with your research papers as soon as she saw me! I know she's a good girl and all, but she needs to take it easy! I'm no good with heavy stuff!"

Ren had to agree with Closure here. The stack of papers on the table are too much to handle on her lonesome, and according to the mechanist, these are all of his research notes. He visibly frowned as he uttered a question.

"Closure… How many of these papers are there?"

"Well… around 100 papers. I know you're hellbent on curing Oripathy, but I didn't know you're THAT obsessed, Doctor!"

The sheer numbers alone were enough for Ren to immediately trigger a mental conversation with Shadow, seeing as he's the original author of said papers. The response he got however is jarring.

'You have no right to criticize me for my amount of work, Joker. The amount of papers I've produced is the culmination of my methodical passion and undying hatred for the disease that plagued this land. I had thought you to be understanding, yet it seems I am mistaken.'

'I don't plan on criticizing your hateful passion for research. Rather, I'm baffled by the amount of papers you've wrote! How long have you been researching?!'

'More than you can hope to understand. If you're going to make your first steps of ridding the world of Oripathy outside of battle, then I suggest you begin to study the papers I've written, no matter how much you want to complain.'

'When I have no knowledge of Oripathy at all?! Can't you just teach me on the case?'

'Your level of understanding of Originium in general is too low for you to understand my research, Joker. You will need someone to tutor you on the matter. Unfortunately, it will take time for me to relearn what I have researched before I can teach you.'

While Joker continued on his mental debate, both Closure and Walter stared at him, with the former looking utterly confused. "Uhhh… What's going on with Dr. Ren? He's just went into silent mode all of a sudden."

"Oh, he's probably talking with one of his Personas. Happens sometimes."

"Heh, that right?" Closure let out a huff as she looked at her fellow Sarkaz. "Speaking of Personas, you seem confident in your answer. How come you know he's mentally chatting with his Personas? Who are you anyway? Never seen you round here."

The imp's confident smile widened as he introduced himself. "I'm Imp. A Persona under Doctor Ren, and a demolition mercenary on the double. Feel free to call me Walter though. That's the name Ren gave me."

Closure's eyes widened at his intro. "Hold up, you're a Persona?! You don't look that different from a local Sarkaz! Nice to meet you, Wal... wait, your name's Walter?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

Flashbacks of recent events haunted Closure's mind as soon as she realized what his name was, and in the next moment she was debating on whether to act all embarrassed in front of the person that called her energetic and cute, or choke him for calling her a slob with no pants.

In the end, she mustered all her self-control to provide a calm response. "It-it's nothing! Nothing's wrong with your name, Walter! It's a good name! Gotta give props to the Doctor for his naming sense!"

Walter quickly noted on how Closure's delayed reply is a sign that he shouldn't bring up his earlier opinions on her. "Okaaaay. So, you're saying this whole stack of papers are his research notes? Why bring all this to him? You know he's got memory loss, right?"

"Exactly why I brought all this over to him! Amiya told me that Doctor may want to relearn all his research! Besides, we can't let this much stuff go to waste all because of some amnesia, right, Doctor? Doctor?"

"H-huh?"

Ren snapped out of his stupor when Closure called out to him, yet he was out of the loop. "Sorry, what are you guys talking about?" A question that made Closure sigh while making Walter snort.

"Doctoooor… Amiya made me bring all these papers to your room so you can get back into the swing of things! You're one of the leading researchers on Oripathy, and she's, nay, WE'RE hoping that you can read back up to your old greatness! Can you do that?"

It pained Ren to disappoint so many people with high expectations of him. He rose up from his seat and grabbed a research paper from the table, and sure enough, the whole research paper felt like dealing with next level quantum physics. "Sorry, but I can't make heads or tails of what I'm reading."

Closure paled as her ears caught his answer. "No, no way! You mean I brought all these papers here for nothing?!"

With how panicky the vampire was acting, Walter stepped in. "Whoa, whoa, calm down there. I'm sure Doc will find some way to get back in gear. I can guarantee that as someone who's a part of him!"

"Walter's right. I'm happy enough that you carried my papers all the way here. I'll keep them, and I'll try to relearn my work as best as I could. You have my word."

Hearing the reassuring words of both Ren and Walter helped Closure in calming down. "Thanks, Doctor. I know a lot of people will feel very sad hearing this. I know I would."

Ren nodded briskly in return, with Walter patting Closure on the back much to her chagrin. Knowing how everyone trusts "him" to get back into the research groove, he put it on his mental to-do list of things he needs to do in Terra. First is dealing with Reunion, and then committing time into researching Oripathy with Shadow's help. There's also Philemon's plight with the Seaborn threatening to invade his home world, but like what the progenitor said, that quest can be put into the back burner due to their nature.

Now that that's settled, Ren sat back down on his work chair stretching his arms out. Seeing Walter sit down and relax is normal, but he didn't expect Closure to get herself settled in as well.

"Closure, you're not getting out?"

Closure immediately put up a made-up insulted expression. "What, you're kicking me out, Doctor?! I'll have you know that Amiya assigned me as your temporary assistant for today! I myself have no projects to do today, so consider yourself lucky that I have time for you!"

"Heh, just say that you're bored, Closure. Everyone has those moments, even me!"

"…Maybe I should have just choked you for calling me a slob."

The words Closure muttered made both Ren and Walter drop a sweat, especially Walter since those mutterings are aimed at him. In a bid to save Walter and himself from a headache, Ren quickly switched the subject.

"Anyway! You're the head of the Engineering Department, right? What do you mean by projects?"

Closure's ears perked up from the question hurled at her. "Oh, you mean my personal projects? Well, I say I'm the Engineering head, but with how I've run out ideas, I've basically ran out of things to do! I've got my personal robots from Raythean Industries that I modified, and I have my own shop up and running!" Her enthusiasm slowly faded as she continued. "But ever since then, I'm now no more than Rhodes Island's most experienced handywoman, and we all know how boring being handywoman is like!"

Ren and Walter had to suppress a chuckle from imagining Closure as a handywoman. "That so? I'm surprised Phil didn't load up your plate with the results from examinations."

"On the contrary, we'd have to make our way to Lungmen first if we're going to get the schematics for our promised project, and that's going to take a WHILE! I need a new project now, damnit!"

Closure ended her plight with a whine as she slumped into the sofa. Walter himself shrugged while giving Ren an "I have no clue what to say" look, prompting him to call the mercenary back to his mind, and so he obeyed and disappeared without being noticed. Shadow however, had his own plans.

'Her current state of boredom may prove very well be beneficial to us. While Closure has proven herself to be an annoyance, her position and experience as head of the Engineering Department means that her skills are not to be underestimated.'

Ren mentally lifted an eyebrow at Shadow's words. 'So you're saying I have to make a deal with her?'

'Yes, and with your power of words, you should be able to offer her a deal you can't refuse. Surely you know a way to win her favor quickly.'

Ren shuffled through his mind for any possible offer, and already he found one through his old days as a Phantom Thief, one that involved his workbench and his wrist strapped grappling hook. With her intellect and craftiness, Closure should be able to make a prototype of a grappling hook that he can use, and then improve it over time with his help. Plus, Closure also doubles as a shopkeeper, and who knows what kinds of things she sells?

Well, what better way to know than to ask? "Closure, you said you run a shop, right? What do you sell?"

"Eh? well, I sell a lot of things. Equipment upgrade materials, raw LMD, and construction materials. Heck, I can hook you up with our clothing line contacts if you want some fresh new kicks, long as you pay up, of course. Same goes for furniture brought in by our associates!" That was all that Ren needed to hear, and he smiled.

"Well, Closure, what do you say we have ourselves a deal?"

The vampire snapped her neck towards the Doctor, her eyes glinting with potential benefit, yet she played it off. "A deal? What're you talking about, Dr. Ren? Far as I remembered, you're not that good at cutting deals. And where's Walter?"

"Ah hush. I made him go back in my head." Closure had to snort at the thought, which annoyed the Doctor. Anyway, listen, I have my own personal projects in mind that I came up with ever since I came back to Chernobog. Since you're around, I'm hoping you'll be able to cooperate with me on this."

Closure's eyes lit up as Ren went on, and by the end of it, her eyes are literally shining. "Really, Doctor?! You bet your ass I'll help you on that! Any project coming from you is a rare deal!"

"Heh, was I that much of a recluse back then?"

"Duh? The only time you were social is when you're in the front lines of war or with other researchers! Even then, the others found you to be quite unnerving at times!"

Ren can hear Shadow letting out a breath at the truth presented. Nevertheless, he was pleased that Closure is so willing to cooperate. "Excellent, in that case, do we have a deal?"

"Oh, not so fast, Dr. Ren! I may know a good deal when I see one, but you gotta let me have a piece of my own too!"

"You want to know of my Personas more, right?"

Closure huffed out in an impressed fashion. "Yep! You catch on quick, Doctor! That Arts of yours carries lots of potential that'll be very beneficial for all our future operations! As soon as we get Phil's schematics, I'll see what I can do to augment our weapons. Plus, you clearly haven't been given a proper tour to all of Rhodes Island, so let me toss you in the honor of letting me guide you on your tour! What do you say?"

When he thought about it, Ren was being given a 2 for 1 deal. How can he refuse? "Deal."

Both heads shook hands, and at that moment, Ren heard the familiar voice.

"I am thou, thou art I."

"Thou hast acquired a new bond."

"It shall become the second wind that floweth on the wings of rebellion."

"With the growth of the Sun Arcana, you have walked the first step in your new journey, to usher freedom in this ruined world…"

The Sun Arcana. Joys and accomplishment, and limitless energy to pursue ideas and dreams, with the optimism to match. The irony was not lost on Ren considering that Closure is a vampire who are known to burn under sunlight, but with how perky and energetic she is in her line of work and passion, he can't argue with the Arcanas on the matter.

'You did not disappoint, Joker. You have done well in capitalizing Closure's desire for innovation. Her expertise will surely give us an edge in our war with Reunion.'

'Is it always war that rages in your head? I see this as a way to help each other out. Nothing more.'

'Perceive it what you will. It is a benefit nonetheless, and I await to see what you have in store, Joker.'

Shadow's voice soon faded away from Ren's mind. Much to his pleasure. Nevertheless, Closure got up from the sofa with renewed vigor as she went over to the Doctor with a wide smile.

"So, what's your first project you're dishing out, Doctor? I'm all ears!"

And Ren had the proper answer to give. Something that has been with him through thick and thin as one of his main equipment, all the way back then in his old life.

"What do you say about a wrist strapped grappling hook?"

- Take Your Time –

4:06 P.M

The Dormitories

---

"One lump or two?"

"Two please."

Morgana found himself wearing a calm expression as Natalya placed two lumps of sugar in his cup of tea, the feline making sure to blow on the beverage to make sure it's not burning his mouth. Only then he leaned in to take a sip, and he let out a sigh. Morgana decided to seek out one member of the Ursus group, and he ended up with Natalya, and what better way to talk things out than with a tea party?

"This is a good cup."

Natalya wore a pleased expression as she sipped on her cup. "I'm happy you like it, Morgana. I was surprised to find that Rhodes Island's pantry had a wide assortment of tea bags. They're kind enough to let me take a few small boxes of them, which I truly appreciate. I believe this tea is Victorian Grey?"

"Victorian Grey… It does have that kind of unique flavor, what with that citrus undertone. I think I found my new favorite."

"Wonderful. I'll be sure to have a pot ready for you whenever you visit for a chat, Morgana."

Two cultured individuals, an Ursus noble and a Feline having a little tea party can be quite an adorable sight to behold. Many Operators would agree on that front, though some may deny that, especially after they witnessed how abnormal Morgana truly is. His combat evaluation tests have shocked the instructors and analysts to the core. Even Dobermann found herself speechless at Morgana's capabilities. Who wouldn't be, when they saw the cat summon a Persona and literally transform into a mascot, and then into a multitude of vehicles all at once? He can hardly suppress the smug smirk on his face over their shock. It was that hilarious.

As soon as the tests are done, he immediately applied to become a combat operator after much recommendation and debate from the instructors. To his convenience and amusement, Ren ended up being the Director of the Human Research Department. Hence, his application was immediately approved, finalizing his official induction into the Combat Department, with mobility, navigation, and survival support as his fortes.

"Still, your proficiency with your Arts is truly a surprise, Morgana. I know you have your Persona with you, but to think you can transform…"

Morgana can't help but chuckle. "Well, if I'm to work my butt off, I gotta show off what I can really do, cards fully laid out. Makes things easier on the long run. Anyway, how about you, Natalya? Enjoying your life at Rhodes?"

Natalya herself smiled at his question. "I have, and the others share my sentiment as well. Truly, I did not regret the day we escaped that fallen city with our lives, now that we are back in civilization."

"And what of the others? I know all of you are happy to finally escape that hellhole, that's certain."

The noble hummed thoughtfully. "That is true, but I can only tell their thoughts so much from a glance. Sonya may not look it, but she's a hard worker, and I'm sure she'll find combat as a good way to vent. Rosalind would be on the same boat as well, though I'm sure she's mostly content with her new life. Lada herself is in an especially good mood, knowing she can do well in the cafeteria for now. As for Anna, I remember Rhodes Island having a library. She'll feel at home there."

Morgana can only listen on, relief washing over his features as he thought of his fellow groupmates. He may only be part of Rhodes Island now, but he's also part of the U.S.S.G. And it's his job to keep an eye on them, particularly on their mental states. Traumas don't go away overnight, especially when it involves a lot of actions and events that are far too graphic to describe, yet end up described anyway.

"With that said, what of you, Morgana? How are you faring in Rhodes Island? I'm sure our fellow residents may be talking about you behind the scenes. You've caused quite the stir based on the rumor mill."

The feline let out another laugh at the news. "Heh, I'd say let them talk behind my back. If they're gonna talk bad, I know what it takes to set them straight."

"Pffft… I just hope you don't settle for your paws. You are a strong cat after all."

Morgana puffed his chest in pride, which made Natalya look at him in amusement. She had to remember that back then, the rabid kids and bullies on Peterheim had made a point to avoid him at all costs due to his "methods" of keeping things peaceful. Though she'd prefer that he'd use more pacifistic methods in addressing the rumor mill and gossipers. Civilization requires civil conduct and solutions after all.

After sharing their laughs and small talk mostly involving their plans as residents of Rhodes Island, Morgana turned his attention back to Natalya as he sipped his tea from the edge. Checking up on the Ursus girls is one of his priorities still, but he also had another reason for meeting with the young middle schooler. One that involved her status.

As he sipped on his refilled cup of tea, savoring the taste of the Terran version of Earl Grey, the feline began to tread carefully on the conversation. "Natalya. You mind if I ask you a question?"

"What is it, Morgana?"

"I want to learn more of the current condition of the nobles of Ursus. Can you teach me?"

The gravity of the question made Natalya still her movement as she went to grab her cup. Good thing, otherwise she may have broken it if it was already on her grip. There was a hint of hesitation from Natalya as she eyed the cat curiously, and warily.

"…Pardon me for asking, Morgana. But why do you want to know that? Rather, I expected Anna to have taught you about it when she taught you on Ursus history already."

Of course, Morgana anticipated that question. "I prefer to hear of their current deals from someone who lived their life in the upper class, Natalya. I know I'm asking a lot here, considering your condition as a fallen noble. Plus, the history books only gave insight on general nobility of the past anyway."

Natalya found herself ruminating over the choices. Truth be told, she was not quite well versed in Ursus history in general. But when it came to the rise of the nobility, with her family being one of the new nobility, so to speak, she has experience to back her up. She didn't know if Morgana is even telling the truth with his intentions. The feline had a way with words and that same power can be said to lie his way through things.

In the end, she obliged him, knowing she can trust him to tell his reasons justly. "Very well, Morgana. I'll teach you about the Ursus nobles, at least in current time. First, you are aware of the event that had split up the upper class back then, no?"

"The Great Rebellion and the Bloodpeak Campaign, right?"

The Bloodpeak Campaign and the Great Rebellion. Two important events in Ursus' history of wars linked to each other, which had given rise to the new, current emperor in the aftermath, leading to the series of new rules and policies, along with the rise of new nobles after the old lost their glory after the war. Morgana had learned all that much with Anna, but now he needs to know of the current state of the nobles, and hopefully, the condition of Ursus' army by extension.

As for Natalya, she was pleased by how much Morgana learned. Anna really would make a good teacher. "That's correct, Morgana. I don't think I need to tell you what came of the war afterward. The old emperor was deposed and replaced with a new emperor, Emperor Fyudor. He installed many new policies to recoup the loss of resources in the war. Many army generals were executed, the vote for Infected advocacy is fought for, and for the nobles, the nobles who were part of the war lost their glory, and new nobles rose in power to replace them. The Rostova family, my family, are part of these new nobles."

Morgana found her explanation to be helpful. So Natalya's family were part of the new elite nobles under the new regime. The cat nodded understandably as he sipped on his tea, pleased with her tutoring, "I take it the Ursus Army is siding with the old nobles on this?"

Natalya can't help but raise an eyebrow at the direction of questions. "Yes, what with the army generals receiving the executioner's axe at the end of the war. It came as no question that the old and new nobles are in bad blood ever since, even though the old nobles lost their influence. Why are you asking this though, Morgana?"

Silence fell upon the room as the cat circled his thoughts around on whether or not he should let Natalya in on his suspicions. Honestly, even though the middle school student is a noble herself, the status became moot after they escaped. Plus, there's no way for some Ursus official to listen in on their conversation. After all, you'd have to be bored shitless to listen in on a child's conversation unless for medical reasons.

His mind made up, Morgana sipped his cup, soon to be empty once more, then spoke up. "This is because…well, this has been on my mind ever since the day of our escape, Natalya. How strong is the Army now?"

"Well, even though they suffered great losses, the army is still capable of going to war if they so wish. But to go to war when they're still recovering would be foolish, even if the Empire thrives from war." Natalya answered as best as she could, yet one can't deny the confusion she's experiencing right now.

"And Chernobog. Is the mayor part of the old or new nobility? Or someone outside of it?"

"He's actually part of the new nobility, and a friend of my parents. Count Boris has always been a pleasant man, and a good figure to be called uncle. Yet…"

Morgana raised his paw as if telling her to stop, and Natalya obeyed him without a word. Death always had a penchant for separating people from each other, especially loved ones. It probably shouldn't be said over and over again, but yesterday's events shouldn't be probed so much.

"Still… I don't understand why you are asking these questions, Morgana. Your line of thought is very confusing. How is all this related to what transpired yesterday?"

At her question, the cat sighed. Will he regret this? Probably. "Natalya. Have you ever wondered why Reunion is able to take over Chernobog without a hitch?"

"Truthfully, no. I never gave much thought into that. I was busy uniting the nobles during that time."

"How about when I showed up?" The head shake Natalya did was enough of an answer. "Okay. Listen, Natalya. This is all just speculation, but I have reasons to believe that Ursus' old nobility has a hand to play in this whole deal."

The aristocrat visibly widened her eyes at what she practically heard just now. But as if calling upon her noble upbringing, she calmed herself down. "Morgana…care to elaborate?" A gesture that he happily obliged.

"Well, think about it, Chernobog is in the hands of your family's friend, who happens to be the new nobility. Meanwhile the whole army could have just swooped in to save the day when they showed up, except they're siding with the old nobles. And the whole bad blood thing made the whole picture clearer. You see where I am going with this?"

Natalya scrunched up her expression, coming to the conclusion all on her own. "Are you implying that the Army simply did nothing to counteract the invasion? They let Reunion take over Chernobog just like that?" A look of contempt was pictured on her face at that moment, a look Morgana shared.

"Yes. The Ursus Army, under the influence of the war-torn old nobles, sat on their asses while Reunion just goes and kill any civilian and local guard they come across. Again, I can't tell if all I'm saying is nonsense or not. All I'm saying is merely speculation, please keep that in mind."

With all that said, profanity be damned, even after that word of caution, he can see clearly her current composure. Slight as it may be, but his friend is trembling. Whether it be out of disdain or shock - and he was certain it was disdain – He grew worried for her nonetheless. He was about to say something when she took her tea cup and sipped the whole drink dry, all clean of liquid, and let out a controlled breath.

"…Are you alright, Natalya?" His worried expression was met with her composed, though slightly lamentable stare. The Natalya he always knows to have that good courteous smile…he's slowly regretting dropping this bomb on her.

"I'm fine, Morgana. It's just… I know all you're saying is speculations, and I'm aware of the conflicts between our fellows. I just didn't expect them to act blind when they could have saved us. We nobles do not forget debts easily, and its unthinkable that they'd rather not take advantage of our nature over…this."

A visible frown is plastered on the cat's face, seeing her clearly distraught over the implications that could either be mindless rambling or a slither of the actual truth of the invasion's proceedings. Still, she pushed on with the warmest smile she can muster. "Thank you, Morgana. Thank you for telling me this."

The feline found himself a bit flustered at her word of thanks. "W-why? I'll be honest, I don't know if I even wanted to tell you this. But then I've gone and done it anyway, mainly because I hope you don't spill this to the other girls."

"Hope, or perhaps you trust me enough to not tell this to Sonya and the others?" Natalya stared knowingly at the cat, gentle as ever. "Don't worry, Morgana. We both know that telling them will do more harm than good, and I'm happy you're willing to trust me enough to tell me of your suspicions."

Under the noble's gentle smile and prodding question, Morgana can't help but sigh in defeat. Really, he should have worded his reasons better. Natalya is more perceptive than he gave her credit for. Or rather, he shouldn't underestimate the only U.S.S.G member who knew he's a boy on first glance. He leaned onto his cup for another sip, only to find that its empty. Natalya proceeded to pour more tea into his cup, yet no liquid came out of the nose.

"Ah, it seems we've run out of tea. Shall I brew more?"

"Yeah, please."

Heeding his request, Natalya slowly rose up as she grabbed the pot to brew more tea, only to be halted by the knocking of the metal door and the sounds of a familiar peppy voice. "Hey, Natalya! You in there?!"

"Coming!"

Placing down the teapot in her haste, the noble girl opened the door in front of her to find a familiar girl. Dark brown hair, energetic expression, sailor shirt, yep. It was Rosalind. "Good evening, Natalya! You didn't happen to know where- Oh! Morgana's with you. Nice!" The brawler girl had a brighter expression as she peeked over Natalya to find the cat. Granted, she had to stand on her tiptoes just to peek over her classmate.

"Yes, he's with me. You seem particularly happy today, Rosalind. Is there some special occasion?"

"You bet there is! We're having ourselves a little party to celebrate our freedom! Sonya and the others are already waiting at the Classroom, and it's my job to drag you two over!"

A party? That was enough to lift the spirits of both bear and cat after such a heavy conversation. "In that case, let me clean up for a bit, and then me and Morgana will join you."

"Great! I'll be outside if you need me!"

With Sonya's peppy right hand woman out of view with the door closing in on each other, the former noble turned back to Morgana who held a mirthful expression. "I know this comes without question, but we're not speaking of this conversation to the girls, and we never spoke of this, ever. Agreed, Natalya?"

"Hehe, agreed, Morgana. We don't need to be downers, now do we?" With a single wink at the suggestion, Natalya began to clean up their little tea party, with Morgana helping her as best as he could despite being currently a cat.

"By the way, you guys are setting up fast. The Classroom?"

"Yes, in Anna's room. You can say that it's a gathering place or a hideout of sorts for us. Some things never change, after all."

"Now that's one thing I can get behind."

It took a few minutes before both of them walked out of the room, with Rosalind waiting for them with her hands behind her head. The walk to the Classroom itself was not that long due to how close the rooms of the Ursus girls are to each other. It didn't even take 30 seconds before they're at the front of Anna's doorstep. Rosalind gave the door a cursory knock and called out to the insiders.

"Hey, guys! I brought them over!"

"Come in. We're all ready."

The metal door slid open as the two girls and cat entered the room. And already Morgana found himself amazed at the sight. The metal table is lined to the brim with drinks of all sorts from soda, honey, and cold water, as well as many snacks of many varieties from cookies, chips, and biscuits. As for the décor, he wasn't surprised to see a large array of bookshelves lined on the walls since she's a book worm. She must have gotten them recently though, since there are very few books filling them up. He'd analyze the décor a bit more, except Lada immediately rushed over to him, picked him up, and cuddled him like a toy. He can already hear some girls chuckling at the sight as she coddled him, and if his expression is anything to go by, she's putting too much strength into it again.

"Heh, somehow I'm not surprised seeing this. Good to see you, Morgana."

Even though he's close to being crushed to death, Morgana did his best to respond. "Urgh…Good to see you, Sonya… Help…"

"Oh, yeah. Lada, you're crushing Morgana again."

"Ah! Sorry!"

With haste, the resident cook of the U.S.S.G quickly placed Morgana down on the ground, patting him in various areas just to make sure he's alright, in which he is. No way he'll go down that easily. With a breath, he leapt over to a nearby chair, eyeing his surroundings. Natalya and Rosalind simply chatted over how this party came to be, Sonya's busy consoling Lada over barely breaking his bones again, and then there's Anna, simply sitting with him, reading whatever book she has currently.

And lastly, there was him. Morgana, the guide born of humanity's hope, and a Phantom Thief of the past. In a way, he's reminded of the times the Phantom Thieves would celebrate their successful heists, by partying the day away after much preparation. His escape out of Chernobog with the U.S.S.G and into Rhodes Island can be said as another successful operation of its own right. No one would be mad if they were to celebrate the occasion, no? Especially since these kids need to enjoy the moment as much as they can. Terra is a cruel world, and there can be no debate that they'll soon end up in the crossfire of death and despair.

For now, he'll savor this party with the girls as best as possible.

"Alright, Sonya. Say something for the party, you're our leader after all."

"Hah…fine. Let's have fun today, to celebrate getting out of that hellhole!"

And together, the Ursus Student Self-Government Group let out a rousing cheer, for their new future.

"URA!"

- Take Your Time –

6:18 P.M

Bloodstained Bar, Rhodes Island Ark

---

"Enjoying the drink, dear customer?"

"Hah…way better than the stuff they sell in Lungmen, that's certain."

"Haha! I'm happy to have satisfied you've found this to your liking, friend. Still, I didn't expect a new recruit like you to just come to my bar so quickly, especially since you look more like an official."

Zenkichi can only let out a sigh as he stared back at the barkeep, Midnight, as he introduced himself when they first met. The man had the smile, he had the swag, and had the equal amount of bold bullshit to back his game up. It didn't even help that he had the trademark dashing looks of a Vampire, and he's not going to debate his popularity with the ladies at that point.

As for him? He was busy relaxing in a way he knew how after a day of work in Terra. Going to the nearest bar and sip down a cocktail or two. And right now, he's downing what Midnight calls the Teal Siesta, a cocktail best known for its teal coloration and refreshing taste of mint and curacao. If anything, this is the closest Zenkichi will get for a close approximation of the Hawaiian Blues, and he's going to enjoy every minute of it.

The work in mention however? He gets to actually work tomorrow. His current day is loaded with physical evaluation by the Rhodes Island instructors as well as interviews with Amiya, in which he's still having a hard time believing that the little bunny girl is running the whole show of Rhodes Island at such a young age. Of course, this isn't the first time he's dealt with superiors younger than him.

He's just hoping the poor kid won't work herself too hard like Ch'en. At least that Lung woman is willing to listen to his advice and take breaks every once in a while, even if he had to take a jab from her about his age.

"Wonder what's up with her now…"

"Hmm, what's up? You've been staring at your glass for quite a while now."

The aged man looked up towards Midnight who stared at him incredulously as he cleaned a glass. Was he really just lost in his own musings that long? Now that he stared at his Teal Siesta, it was still halfway full, and the ice is about to melt.

"Nothing, nothing. Just thinking of my old buddies back at home."

"Really now? I'd be happy to listen to you, but it looks to me I'll have myself some regulars. Perhaps they'll listen to you in my stead."

The vampiric host pointed towards the entrance, and Zenkichi turned his head to look at the newcomers approaching the counter. 2 people, one a man wearing a pair of shades with brown hair. The other, a young woman with cat ears and the tail to boot, having a cheery expression on her face. He's not going to start describing their clothes, that's for sure. It ain't his style. What is also sure is that they decided to take seats right next to him, and he straightened his posture up. No way in hell is he gonna ruin his impressions on his new co-workers just because he seemed depressed at the start.

"Ah, Mr. Ace and Ms. Blaze. What'll be your choice of drink today?"

"I'll have what he's having." The man called Ace pointed to Zenkichi's glass, much to the latter's spike of curiosity.

"I'll have a Bloody Mary, Midnight! Thanks!" Note to Zenkichi. Some things remain the same.

"Siesta Teal and Bloody Mary. Excellent choices! Perhaps the 3 of you can get to know each other better while I work my magic. Have fun~"

"Midnight, you-!"

Zenkichi shot a look of displeasure at Midnight, who is clearly smirking as he turned around to do the mixing. To put it plainly, he threw him into the headlights, and now the two "regulars" are staring at him, especially that Blaze woman who had a catty smile he can't hope to express. The former detective found himself in a panic over what to talk about, and being thrust into awkward situations are one of the thing he dislikes the most.

"You're one of the new recruits, right? Mr. Zenkichi, was it?"

Thank god Ace broke the ice. Though not in a way Zenkichi liked. "Yes? You know what, scratch that. How did you know my name and codename to boot?"

Now it's Blaze's turn to speak. "Your interviews and personal data are filed into Rhodes Island's database, so of course we'd be able to know! Don't worry, you'll get used to it!"

"Okay…Wait, hell no. How am I supposed to get used to my own personal info is exposed like an open book?! They're not gonna expose my email accounts and general passwords, are they?!"

His panicky outburst is met with laughter from both newcomers. "Relax, Mr. Zenkichi. Rhodes Island values privacy as much as everyone does. All of your interviews and personal data are disclosed under your permission. We don't have any use for your email accounts anyway!"

"Besides! Everyone knows not look at each other's internet history!"

If the two were trying to placate Zenkichi, then they surely achieved success. The Lupo in question can only sigh with relief, ignoring the possibility of him making a complete fool of himself in a bar of all places. That also addresses the disclaimer Amiya warned him about regarding his personal data during the interview. There's yet one more thing to address though.

"Privacy reasons aside, I'm very inclined to detain you two for violation of one's privacy in the form of mention of one's name without his consent. You two haven't even introduced yourselves! Where's the courtesy?"

The accusation was enough to still the two elite Operators. Without much reprieve, Ace took the first turn. "Sorry, sorry. Where are my manners? I'm Ace. Elite Defender of Rhodes Island."

"You can call me Blaze. I'm an elite Operator like Ace here! You can always count on me to light your day up! By the way, what are you? A cop?"

Hearing how they introduced themselves, Zenkichi hummed in satisfaction, even though he heard their names from Midnight. "Alright. Now we're up and proper. I'm Zenkichi Hasegawa, codename Wolf. Good to meet you two."

Ace nodded his head with a smile on his face, while Blaze huffed at how easily Zenkichi avoided her question on his cop status. just in time for Midnight to swoop in with two glasses. A thin glass of Siesta Teal filled to the brim with blue liquid and a lemon slice jabbed at the rim, and a wide glass filled with red liquid that awfully reeked of tomatoes and chili. The host also happened to refill Zenkichi's glass of Siesta Teal as well, much to his curiosity.

"I can tell you three will have quite the lengthy conversation. You'll need this. Trust me."

Zenkichi can only nod before Midnight retreated back to clean his glasses until they're spotless. Blaze decided to take a large swig of her Bloody Mary, and let out a sigh of pleasure as she slammed her glass down. Safe to say, the Lupo ex-detective found his eyes widening at the sight.

"Okay, you don't just down that Bloody Mary like it's a glass of cold water!"

"Hah…I'm fine! I always drink the Bloody Mary every time I swing by! You shouldn't underestimate someone's spice tolerance, especially if you're real hot like me!"

Already he can hear Hoshiguma in his head laughing at him in some random flashback, calling him out for the same thing, even though it's for an entirely different beverage. "You know what? I won't argue any further. By the way, is that supposed to be some sort of self-flattery, or some convoluted pun?"

"It's a pun. Blaze here is an expert on fire based arts, particularly she has a tendency to heat up the air around us."

Ace's explanation made Zenkichi look at Blaze with a prodding stare. The Feline Elite in turn grinned. "What's wrong? Feeling hot and bothered already? I'm not doing anything here, you know."

"No, no! I'm not drowning in sweat here! And what the hell is with that suggestive figure of speech?!"

Contrary to his defense, cold sweat trickled down his forehead as he sipped his Siesta Teal to ease his distress, the two Elites sharing a laugh at his expense. "Ace, I think I'm gonna like this guy! He's hilarious!"

"Agreed. It's not every day you meet a man his age having such a comedic side."

"Really picking on the one person looking older than the rest, are you?!"

Zenkichi visibly deadpanned at both Ace and Blaze, and that only made the two laugh harder. He's not sure if their current conversation means that their association is going off with a flying a start, but he's certainly not enjoying how he practically made a fool of himself. If anything, his past experiences show that the people who laugh at his antics mostly ended up being his friends. So he supposed it was good? He's not liking it still though.

Such is why after the laughter calmed down, he decided to employ the tried and true tactic of subject diversion. "How about this. Since you two are practically elites, meaning that you two have been around more than I do, how about you two show me the ropes on what being an Operator is all about?"

Blaze visibly perked up at the mention of teaching a new recruit. "Well, Zenkichi. You've come to the right pair of guys that fit right for the job! Ask us anything!"

Perfect. Truly, a successful attempt at killing two birds with one stone. "Great! Let's start with the bread and butter then. What do you guys mostly do as Operators?"

Ace sipped down on his Teal Siesta before giving an answer. "Well, we as Operators at Rhodes Island do whatever is required of us. Both me and Blaze belong to the Combat Department, but it doesn't stop us from pitching in to help the others at other Departments."

"Yep! I may be only good for cutting down stuff and burning stuff up, but the Construction Department always calls me when they want to cut down some parts for repair! The point is, as long as you can help out in Rhodes Island in any way, you're already qualified as an Operator!"

"You know, it's very convenient that you're leaving out the interview part, Blaze." Blaze herself visibly stiffened at Zenkichi's accusation, giving Ace an amused expression.

"Yes, Mr. Zenkichi. We can't forget about the interviews, since we're an official company and all. I'm surprised you forgot about that, Blaze."

Blaze pretty much knew Ace was teasing her, and she didn't like that. "Ahhh, Cut me some slack, Ace! You know I don't like being put on edge on the other side of table, especially when it's Dobermann of all people questioning me! You know what? Zenkichi! Who interviewed you?!"

"Me?! That rabbit girl Amiya did the questioning for me! For the record, I still can't believe that kid is running this whole company! At least I know she has good enough advisors!"

Zenkichi's defense made Blaze's face contort into jealousy as she slammed a fist on the counter. "Damn. How come you got the long end of the stick?! I wanted to be the one questioned by that cute rabbit! But, no. I end up with a stuffy old woman! Eh, don't tell Dobermann I said that!"

Now it's Zenkichi's turn to laugh at Blaze's whining. He's already seen what Dobermann is like, and frankly, the Feline is right on the fact that he got the lucky draw on the interviewer slot. Both elites and recruit downed their respective drinks and sighed as a new subject took root.

"Now, let's bring the subject to you, Zenkichi. We know your previous affiliation with Midsummer's Dream Laboratories, so how about you tell us about your work there?"

The Wolf's previous work routine was enough a story all on its own, and he's happy to express his story. "Honestly? My work is almost the same as my work before I moved to Midsummers. Just gave me new work while lightening my old one."

"Someplace else before the Labs? Where did you work before then?"

"Lungmen Guard Department, Public Security Department as a detective. Also served in the Victorian Army for a few years beforehand too. Real heavy stuff, I tell you."

The amount of work experience Zenkichi racked up made Ace whistle in amusement. Blaze however… "Hold up! You served in the Victorian Army?! Heard the whole ranks can get real hectic at times! Well, I can understand you ditching the joint after a few years, but being part of the police is equally big work! You sure you're not getting stressed out from them?"

Blaze's heated questioning made Zenkichi raise his hands up in defense. "Chill, chill! You're right. Army ended up being too serious for me, so I quit. L.G.D ended up being a better place to work in to crack down on crime. Pay's good, I get a good dose of action, and the whole place has a colorful cast of co-workers too. Even after switching to Midsummer's, I still help them from time to time. Can't just cut ties with my friends after all."

Ace slowly shifted his opinion on Zenkichi. Perhaps he's getting a deeper feel on his personality on the inside. "Haha, knowing your natural behavior, I won't be surprised if you're one of the popular officers. What do you do on Midsummer's then, Zenkichi? Well, apart from helping the L.G.D, of course."

"Well, it's mostly relief work for the Infected. Lungmen's slums are loaded with them, and I've been delegated as leader of the help team. Helps that I'm former L.G.D though."

The mention of the Infected made the Defender narrow his eyes. Blaze herself let out a sigh. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Infected are forced into the backwater. How bad are the Infected in Lungmen, Zenkichi? Maybe we can help them."

"They're holding quite well since they have their own leadership, but… I don't think you'd be able to help them all that much."

And then came another slam on the table. "What do you mean we won't be able?! I get that we shouldn't mess with the slum officials, but there's gotta be something we can do for the Infected folks, right Ace?!" Ace went silent once he saw Zenkichi's annoyed expression, ignoring Blaze's outburst.

"Hey! Reminder that I said currently! You'd need permits straight from the L.G.D if you're gonna do anything related to the slums! I'm lucky enough that the top brass allowed us to work on helping the Infected slums, but damn it's a piece of work!"

"… Okay. Think I got too heated there. Sorry about that." Blaze visibly shrunk as she sipped her drink with Zenkichi. Ace however had his own question in mind.

"I'm sorry, Zenkichi. I'm happy that you hold priority in helping the Infected of Lungmen, but what has made it so difficult? Perhaps there's some way we can help you on that regard"

"…Oh boy, now that's a story."

Zenkichi visibly shifted about as he took another sip of his glass. Both Ace and Blaze fixed their attention at the aged Lupo before them. Perhaps they'll be able to gain more insight on him.

"I think I should start with how far the L.G.D made progress. I should tell you first that the head of the L.G.D, Chief Wei, is no pushover. Not only is he Chief of the whole force, he also rules the whole city of Lungmen. Meaning, he holds the most say in the rules and regulations of the whole city. Hell, I won't be surprised if he built the L.G.D just to maintain the rules he made himself. I don't know when it came to be, but the slums were built in a group effort to give the Infected to place to belong. You know how it is with most cities. Normal people and the Infected cannot mix."

"I see. Good work on your chief for succeeding with that plan, then. But, how does that relate to the problem you have?" Zenkichi let out a heavy sigh at the question hurled.

"The problem is that the people down there are pretty much saying "fuck all" to any help we give them. Lungmen's whole motto pretty much promotes openness, inclusivity, and liberty, and Chief Wei pretty much tried so many ways to help the Infected people of the slums. Yet, all they do is push away the aid and give us cops the middle finger. I get the Infected are very distrusting towards the Uninfected, much less ones who are in the force. But if they're going to keep on being hostile towards outside help, then at this point, they're gonna slowly kill themselves, and I'd be damned if I let them die out like this. Hell, so far the only people the slums only trust is Superintendent Ch'en, Inspector Hoshiguma, and myself. And I only got trusted because of the former two!"

Hearing Zenkichi speak of the Infected practically self-destructing themselves out of pure hostility doused away Blaze's fiery demeanor so hard that she drank her entire glass of Bloody Mary. "Ugh... Think I need another glass. Midnight! One more!"

Ace himself had a grim expression at the end of Zenkichi's tirade as he asked slowly."...I'm guessing this is why you did the second job switch over to Midsummer, Zenkichi?"

"Yeah. I'm a real popular guy on the force, so a lot of boys and girls were sad to see me go when the news hit. Had to placate a whole bunch of people before I'm finally off the hook. Was simple though, just have to say that I can be allowed to join their operations every once in a while, and it's all good. Chief Wei personally entrusted me to handle the Infected slums with Ch'en before I left, and judging by how much shit he took over the time I served, I'm pretty sure he washed his hands off."

Blaze looked at the ex-cop with a small smile. "Looks like someone had a hard time being Mr. Popular. Well, good thing it's not total goodbyes between you lot, because that would suck. It's good too that your ex-boss trusted you with such a massive job. Anyway, enough on the depressing talk! You're here now, you're a freshman, we're your senior for who knows how long! By the way, how long's the term of cooperation anyway?"

"Well, to put it in words, for as long as we can cooperate. Phil had a real high opinion on your company, and after meeting the folks over, I can see why he put a lot of faith in you guys. Says our causes are the same."

Blaze lit up again. "Sweet! Means we'll be able to have lots of drinks together! Never thought I'd be this happy to meet a recruit! How many drinks have you had since you've been here, Zenkichi?"

"We're going off course again, Blaze." The Elite in question pouted over the reprimand, with Zenkichi having another deadpan. "Anyway, you said that this Phil, I assume is your current boss, said that Midsummers and Rhodes are the same. What do you mean, Zenkichi?"

The Lupo took the time to down his Siesta Teal, said drink close to empty when he's done, before speaking. "Let me tell you something. Midsummer Labs ain't your conventional research company, even though Phil told me that there are other unconventional companies like us, but that's beside the point. The point is, he believes that Rhodes Island and Midsummers have the potential to have a shared goal."

"And that shared goal is?"

"Bringing this dystopian wreck of a world to a brighter future for everyone."

Blaze and Ace visibly went silent over that answer, each with various expressions. Zenkichi took their silence as a sign to continue his tirade.

"Okay, I'll be honest here. Lot of people here don't like living in this world, no doubt. You have the Infected trying to makes end meet while living under the risk of dying and mistreatment while they're at it. You have the Uninfected living in fear over Oripathy and ending up being Infected, some of them ended up treating the Infected so bad they did mass shootings. You know what that causes? A wheel of bullshit that keeps on going forever and ever. You already have one example of that hatred from Lungmen's Infected slums."

Both Elite Operators frowned over the reality, the wheel of bullshit Zenkichi talked about being Terra's cycle of hatred that's been going on for so long. "Phil and me, as well as everyone in Midsummers knows that the cycle has to stop one way or another. Our company may specialize in research of the human mind, but that doesn't mean we can't branch out to other areas. I gotta pull back on this, but like I said, we provide relief effort for the Infected as best as we could, treat them as best as we could, except we're no meds company like Rhodes Island. If we're going to stop the cycle, we need help. Not just for the Infected over at Lungmen, but for the whole of Terra too."

"Is that why Phil chose to ally himself with Rhodes then, because of his vision?"

Ace's question was answered with a nod of confidence. "What can I say? We did our research, and that's why we sought you out. Hell, look at us! We may have a lot more in common than we thought! A bunch of oldies brought together just drinking away and talking about how the world is mostly total shit!"

"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm the second youngest Elite Operator in Rhodes Island! No way in hell am I an old hag like you!"

"Hey! At least I'm spiritually young! I'm definitely not feeling young at all!"

"Yeah, right. You're practically in your 40s!"

And so Blaze and Zenkichi devolved into more rounds of bickering over their age, with Ace watching the two in amusement as they kept on rambling on passionately. After their long winded conversation, Ace now has a good idea on what Zenkichi is like. He's a spirited and carefree man, capable of livening up a party and getting along with people easily. He's honest and transparent, which is good when dealing with negotiations. And like Blaze said, he is also a comedic person, if his panicky outbursts are of any indication. He's also a loyal friend who won't abandon you when things get rough.

And the most important of all, is that he'll never give up on the forsaken, even if they push him away. He can probably credit Zenkichi's years of experience in his whole life, whether in the army, the police, or Midsummers. And the best part? The Lupo ex-detective knew not to stray from his own life values or extend too far from the law when trying to uphold his justice, no matter how hard it is. He can respect Zenkichi for his choice in quitting the force to pursue his ideal. As long as he doesn't regret it in the end.

Such is why Ace called for a refill from Midnight while the Elite and recruit are busy bickering among each other. By the time they're out of breath, all their drinks are filled to the brim.

"Zenkichi?"

"Yeah, Ace?" His expression did little to hide his fatigue as he saw the Sarkaz raise his glass.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that today is a good day to commemorate the inclusion of Midsummer's Dream Laboratories into our fold. I say we have ourselves a little toast to celebrate."

Blaze groaned as she stared at her glass. "When we already drank earlier, Ace? Appreciate the refills though."

"So? It never hurt anyone to celebrate a little late." That was enough for both Blaze and Zenkichi to suck it up. Really, they're still celebrating, after all. After a short moment, both of them raised their own glasses.

"Well, here's to a long lasting friendship and a brighter future as we fight together!"

"Cheers!"

And they proceeded to down their respective glasses, sighing in relief over the refreshing sensation of their drinks, may it be chill or spice. After such a toast, the situation calls for a new topic of discussion, and Zenkichi found the perfect topic.

"Say, I met someone recently along with Phil, particularly when we first touched down on Rhodes. Think you guys call him the Doctor?"

"Oh-ho. Gossiping about Doctor Ren, are we~?"

And Midnight swoops into the conversation, though he supposed he didn't mind. As a bartender, Midnight must have hoarded a lot of rumors. How famous did he make himself during his time on Rhodes? That's what Zenkichi wants to know.

"Riiiiight. Anyway, I wanna know what you guys think of him. He seems like a nice guy."

Ace was the first to chime in. "You're right on that, Zenkichi. Doctor Ren is a trustworthy person, though a bit of a recluse in the past. He seems to be a lot more interactive with the others though, especially since he took his mask off for the first time."

"So those rumors are true, then. I keep hearing from patrons that Doctor took his mask off during his extraction, and reportedly, he's quite the looker. He's already gotten some girls swooning over him, and I can't help but feel amused. I feel as if I've gotten myself quite the competitor!" Zenkichi was close to laughing his ass off over Midnight's admission. "Though, there's other rumors of his Arts being very destructive. He literally blew a hole over the city superstructure if I remember correctly."

Blaze's eyes widened in shock. "The hell?! And they said I'm the one who disregards collateral damage! I haven't met Doctor directly, but I certainly don't want to piss him off if he can pull off that stunt and just shrug THAT off! Even I can't blow a hole down with my Arts alone!"

"Hahaha, relax, Blaze. Doctor Ren is not that easily irritable. In fact, he's grown to be quite outgoing. Speaking of outgoing, what do you think of the Doctor at first glance, Zenkichi? You've seen him before, right?"

Hearing everyone's opinions on Ren right now made Zenkichi mentally shrug. That boy hasn't changed drastically even after death. To Zenkichi, however. Ren remaining the same flies by him just fine.

"Well, as for me…"

And he has his own opinion of Ren, even after all these years.

"He's a Joker. A smart, responsible, and crazy show off that you can trust with your life."

- Take Your Time –

8:02 P.M

Rhodes Island Observation Dock, Outside.

---

The stars twinkle on the skies above Terra, free from interference of light pollution as Rhodes Island traverse the vast barren deserts of Terra. Leaning towards the railings of the observation dock and staring upon the stars, the master of the Collective Consciousness of Earth, Philemon found himself thinking back on the many events that he had observed before descending upon this world. He had seen many events unfold, the many wars that plagued the land, the conspiracies and politics that had ravaged each country, the mysteries buried beneath the soil and its origins, as well as the otherworldly monstrosities lurking within the shadows, never meant to be unleashed upon man.

And then comes the issue of Oripathy which has plagued humanity, perhaps since time immemorial, with the Catastrophes, natural disasters being one of the carriers. Truly, Terra is a land plagued by innumerable ruin and nearly devoid of hope. In his 3 decades of observation, Philemon had borne witness to the disparities and conflicts between humankind, and most of it came from that very disease. The uninfected fear and antagonize the Infected, while the Infected hate the uninfected and foment their fury against them in turn. Case and point, Ursus' acts against the Infected and the existence of Reunion. As one who represents the goodness of humankind, the master of the Collective found himself greatly saddened by the condition of the world's inhabitants. Even if he entered this world for an entirely different reason, to stave off some possible otherworldly beings that may wreak havoc in his own world, he can't help but wanting to aid Terra as well.

As he continued to lament the situation of Terra under the stars, the sound of faint footsteps can be heard in his ears, along with the sliding of the hydraulic doors, opening and closing as the footsteps got louder. Philemon turned around, carrying a highly expectant expression, and found his expectations fulfilled as he saw a figure with rabbit ears approaching him.

"Ah, Miss Amiya. I'm glad you're able to join me at this time. I hope my request didn't add to your troubles as a leader of your own organization."

The young leader of Rhodes Island shook her head with a smile. "You don't have to worry, Mr. Philemon. It's hard work, but I have a lot of people helping me." Amiya leaned towards the railing, joining Philemon in his stargazing. "Do you have something to talk about, Mr. Philemon?"

"…Look up upon the sky, Ms. Amiya." Philemon pointed upwards. "What do you see before you?"

Amiya looked upward as Philemon said, and she too gazed upon the scenery above them. "I see lots of stars, Mr. Philemon. A lot of beautiful stars. What about them?"

The enigmatic man let out a mirthful sigh. "The stars above us, humans in the past once looked upon these terrestrial objects as guidance. They look upon the stars for directions as they wander the land. Oracles of old look upon stars to divine the fates of men. Many legends themselves are foretold, its great players embedded in the stars as constellations, from Minoan myths, to Yen folktales, the many times humanity has relied on them is countless, and beautiful on its own right."

Amiya found herself perplexed at hearing Philemon's musings "Um, what are you trying to say, Mr. Philemon? You really know a lot, but I don't really understand."

Seeing the young rabbit adopt a confused expression made him adopt a small smile. "I apologize, Ms. Amiya. You can say that my previous statements are inane ramblings from my own soul. I barely have time to express myself, so to speak."

"Oh." Amiya laughed in a somewhat awkward manner. "It's alright, Mr. Philemon. I understand what you mean. I see a lot of other Operators ramble about things too to express themselves. Do you not do the same with your subordinates, Mr. Philemon?"

"Unfortunately, no, Ms. Amiya. Most of my time is heavily invested into maintaining my work and conducting private research. I barely have time to even interact deeply with my fellows in a casual manner." Philemon sighed as he gazed upon the deserts. "Most of my interactions are purely out of business, except with a few. You can say that I have accumulated…stress in my mind."

To Amiya, seeing Philemon admit that he too is stressed, despite him looking as if nothing will faze and burden him at all made her adopt a smile of her own. Perhaps can help relieve his stress somewhat by sticking with him and talking with him. She can learn more of the CEO as well through this. "I see… Well, maybe I can help you relax, Mr. Philemon. No one should overwork themselves every day. Doctor Ren used to be like that as well back then, and I don't want you ending up like him."

Seeing how Amiya cares for her Doctor, and by extension, his own being as he went on to talk of his condition did nothing to change Philemon's expression other than adopting a gentle stare, though he can feel her genuine emotion. "I appreciate your sentiment, Ms. Amiya. In this case, let us play like so. You are free to ask me a question, and in turn, I shall ask you a question of my own. Follow up questions do not count as a separate question, and we must raise our hands once we stop our line of questioning. Is this acceptable?"

Amiya nodded earnestly at Philemon's proposal, interested in the prospect of playing this game of questions. "Good. In which case, you will have the first move, Ms. Amiya. Ask away."

"Okay." Amiya closed her eyes and put on her thinking cap, only to come up with a question quickly as she opened her eyes back. "Well… I'm sorry if I seem intrusive, but what do you mostly research? You seem highly knowledgeable in many things."

Philemon wasn't surprised that that was the young rabbit's first question. "I research a lot of things, Ms. Amiya. I also chose to study whatever subjects that strike my fancy. History, mythology, psychology, and geology are such subjects. Mastery over the tarot has also become a subject of mine, though I do not put it into practice much often. That is because I have someone who practices and offers divinations through the tarot frequently."

"I see. Well, we also have someone else in Rhodes Island who divines through the tarot as well! She's very nice, even though I've heard she gambles a lot…" Amiya can't help but be reminded of Gitano whenever someone mentions the tarot. Especially when her divinations are mostly correct.

"Haha, sometimes our fates in the world are set in stone, and at times, they are tossed up to luck. Even then, the stone setting can very well be changed at the hands of others, and will lead to a new destiny." Philemon looked at Amiya, keeping a calm expression. "That said, I'm sure your diviner friend is helpful in determining the path of your future through her predictions. Facts and truths may sometimes be not enough to give you assurance, after all."

"I see… thank you for answering, Mr. Philemon." Amiya nodded as she raised her hand, signifying that it's the CEO's turn to ask a question to the young leader of Rhodes Island.

"Very well then, Ms. Amiya. I will ask you this then. What do you think of this world?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry, I'll clarify then." Philemon cleared his throat before reiterating. "What do you think of this world of Terra, with its many Catastrophes plaguing the lands, and the people's bonds gravely fractured due to their suffering of Oripathy? I understand if you need time to think on the question. I also understand if you feel the need to abandon the question entirely."

Amiya can't help but frown at Philemon's question. She didn't expect to be hit with such a deep question as the very first one, and he would be right in the fact that she needs to think hard on the matter. What does she think of the world she is born in, a world rife with strife?

After much thought, Amiya fixed a firm stare into her expression, gave Philemon her answer. "Mr. Philemon, I should be honest. Terra is not the kind of world I wish to live in. I still don't know much of the world, but I've met so many people suffering from many things, most of which because of Oripathy. I've heard so many stories from them about their lives, how they had to shelter themselves from society, enduring many hardships as they make ends meet. I'm happy there's some people who still care for the Infected even under such risks." Amiya's expression fell for a bit. "But there are people who are unlucky. They got abused, and ridiculed, and I heard some even got tortured just because they're Infected."

Philemon had already observed the suffering that Amiya spoke of, yet hearing her directly say it still pained him. "I see… Suffering has always been a part of humanity's struggles, as is the fact of life that you know, Ms. Amiya. However, grave actions against those ill of body and wanting of mind are an affront to life itself, even if it's done out of fear."

Amiya can feel the sting of the words from the man before her, and it made her shiver. But she still pushed on. "Yes, but that's why we as Rhodes Island members and Operators fight to safeguard the Infected. We don't want to see this world deteriorate into a darker future in a cycle of hatred. We want both the Uninfected and Infected live hand in hand, in harmony. I know that this task is almost impossible, but we're going to keep trying, no matter what."

Such an answer filled with conviction made the Master of the Collective smile at Amiya for the display. It was even enough to make him chuckle, which confused Amiya somewhat. Did he find her answer funny somehow? The CEO simply shook his head.

"I'm sorry for my behavior, Ms. Amiya. But, to make sure we do not come to a misunderstanding, I do not find your goal to be foolish. Rather, your goal is indeed almost impossible, but it is a noble one to strive for. After hearing your answer, I am relieved to know that I have not made a mistake in seeking cooperation with you." His joyful expression mellowed into his usual smile. "With that said, I believe we should end our game prematurely. I fear the rules imposed may prove to be ineffective should our conversation continue. You have a lot more questions to ask, no?"

Part of Amiya was a bit glad that she didn't have to raise her hand any further whenever she wants to ask a question, but she didn't show it. "Well…in that case, what do you mean when you said you're relieved that you cooperated with us? I know we're going to accomplish great things together, but I don't really understand why you said that."

"Look upon the plains, Ms. Amiya. What city lies beyond upon the dusty deserts in this direction?"

Amiya leaned against the railing as she winced her eyes to the distance, only to find nothing but sand shaded by the moonlight. When it comes to cities though, only one comes to mind.

"Chernobog."

Philemon nodded before putting on a neutral expression, looking at the same direction. "Correct, Ms. Amiya. And what has taken control of the whole city is an organization that is a manifestation of the fury the Infected has kept in their hearts for decades, and perhaps centuries. If I were to give myself a role, it would be that of an observer."

"An observer?"

"Someone who watches the events happening in the world from the sidelines. I am not much for direct violent confrontation, Ms. Amiya. Such is a matter I leave to my agents such as Mr. Zenkichi. I favor settling disputes in a civil matter instead, and continue to observe the world." He hardened his expression towards the distance. "The presence of Reunion threatens to throw the world even more off balance, however. Should they be left alone, I fear the wheel of fate will shift into further discordance and chaos."

Amiya can't help but gain a wary expression as she heard his declaration. His confidence in his proclamation is very telling, yet she felt a slight tinge of doubt at his words, saying as if he plans on purging Reunion from the earth to maintain balance. To purge a whole organization of Infected goes against everything Rhodes Island stands for, and Amiya won't have it.

"Are you saying that we have to exterminate Reunion to its core, Mr. Philemon?"

With such a wary tone being used, Philemon knew that a misunderstanding is bound to happen without clarification. "No, no, Ms. Amiya. You misunderstand me. I do not wish to wipe out Reunion at all. Rather, the presence of Reunion is no more than a testament of humanity's tendency to make enemies of themselves. Rather, I would prefer if we can guide them back on the right path. As they are now, they are also on the path of self-destruction."

"Th-that's a bold claim, Mr. Philemon! Reunion has been in action for so long! How would they be destroying themselves?!" Amiya's question was a wild one, yet Philemon remained calm as ever.

"What I have observed is based entirely on experience, Ms. Amiya. Any organization is bound to have some inner strife. I am sure you've seen it in the brief skirmishes with them, that their unity is rather…fractured."

Amiya can't help but think back on Mephisto, Faust, and Crownslayer when Philemon came with that question. True, their relations are honestly rather strained when she looked at them, mostly between Mephisto and Crownslayer. She can't infer any more other than that, however, just from a single interaction alone.

"I can't really tell much, Mr. Philemon. Sorry."

"I understand, Ms. Amiya. Perhaps I have overstepped myself. Perhaps you'll be able to see more of what I mean when you encounter them more at a later date."

Amiya stared back at Philemon in slight confusion. "But what of you, Mr. Philemon? Maybe you can tell me what is going on within Reunion? You seem to know so much as an observer."

Philemon looked at Amiya knowingly, before adopting a gentle smile. "I'm afraid my knowledge on Reunion alone is just the same as you, Ms. Amiya. My statements are simply hypothesis, and it is far more beneficial if you were to see with your own eyes instead."

The chimeric cautus had to admit that she was annoyed to have her question shrugged off just like that, and she sighed at that fact as she looked towards the sky. Her curiosity however did not fade over her new business partner. The man known as Philemon Kaleidus carries with him an air of mystery, as someone who claims to be learned in various subjects, as well as a feeling that he knows more than he lets on. Not to mention his sudden interest in Dr. Ren. The CEO said that his interest is mainly because of his newly profound Persona, but is it only just that?

"It is getting late."

Amiya's musings were cut off when he heard Philemon's words. Now that she thought about it, they've been talking for quite a while. "Oh, what time is it?"

Philemon pulled his right sleeve back, revealing a simple black watch on his arm that he peered into. "It's 8:36 P.M, Ms. Amiya. I believe it's time that we turn in for the day."

"Eh? But I usually sleep an hour later, Mr. Philemon. This is still too early!"

"Are you sure? Perhaps someone would need your help within the Ark."

Amiya shook her head. "I'm sure nobody will have any work to do in these after hours." Philemon chuckled at the answer.

"I see, then I pray you join me as we talk the night away, Ms. Amiya. Surely we have enough topics to amuse ourselves with."

Amiya nodded as they remained in place, leaning against the railing while staring at the vast deserts filled with slugs and spiders. The silence was quickly broken by Philemon with a question. "I understand that Rhodes Island has another leader besides you and Dr. Ren?"

"Oh? You mean Dr. Kal'tsit?" Philemon merely nodded.

"Yes. I would like to ask where she is now. I wish to talk to her."

"Ah, she is over on Lungmen, trying to earn cooperation from the officials. We're currently on our way there." Amiya's curiosity returned as she asked. "Why do you want to talk to Dr. Kal'tsit though, Mr. Philemon? Do you two know each other?"

That question made Philemon go silent, making Amiya more curious than ever. A few seconds later, she got his reply.

"I simply wish to secure our bright futures as fellow practitioners of our respective arts. That is all."

- Take Your Time –

9:21 P.M

Chernobog

---

A day has passed ever since the invasion of Chernobog by the forces of Reunion. The day a Catastrophe plagued the city and left it to be no more than ruins. Yet for this Infected organization, taking over this city bordering on Ursus territory is but a single step in their multitude of plans. Plans that their leader, Talulah keeps in her mind, only to be divulged when necessary. For now, however, Reunion still have a lot to do in consolidating Chernobog as a suitable foothold in future operations in Terra. That is why when even in the dark of night, many white coated Infected ran about in the streets, some carrying supplies to deliver to other members, some tending to the wounded as best as they could due to their skirmishes with the Ursus Guardsmen and Rhodes Island.

One particular member of Reunion ruminated on the events of yesterday, standing in command of a hastily built watch post near the city hall, now bearing the flag of Reunion on its roof. He was a man of great stature, standing over 2 meters in height, fully armored and donning a metallic mask in the shape of a deer's skull. A large shield bearing the faded 2 headed eagle insignia of Ursus was on his right hand as he stood, and an equally imposing spear was on his left. He soon discarded the armaments he currently had, however, laying them on the ground as he sat on the gravelly road. To many members of Reunion, he was known as Patriot, leader of the Aegis of the Infected. But to his old friends, he was Buldrokkas'tee, former General of the Ursus Army.

However, the Patriot also held a hidden history within him that has dated years back, before he even joined the Army. Deep within the lands of Kazdel, he was a member of the proud race of Wendigos, with their great power in form, along with their culture in their rites of cannibalism. He has served the late Theresa, the Queen of Babel of old, with experiences and a memory that left him ridden of guilt, believing that he had betrayed the Lord of Fiends.

And now, the very same memory seems to have returned to haunt him, for rumors of one man circulated among every rank and file of Reunion. A man, who shows compassion to the just and honorable, may it be friend or foe. A man, who would tear down those who commit grave misdeeds in his presence. A man, who would bear the name of devil with defiance and pride as he fought for the future.

"The Demon Lord, of Rhodes Island."

Such a title held by a figure within Rhodes Island has perplexed him to no end. According to Kazdel legends that persisted until today, only one person may be a Demon Lord of Kazdel. The royal bloodline of the Demon Lords can only be passed down through a certain ritual only known to royalty, and this so called Demon Lord of Rhodes Island has somehow taken that title to his own. Buldrokkas'tee himself held many an opinion regarding the man. For one, if the rumors that told of his behavior were true, then he should very much like to meet him in person, perhaps strike an amicable conversation even if they are enemies.

On the other hand, Patriot hadn't seen the person in question himself, and if the rumors that also tell of his features are true, there is nothing on his person that shows him having Sarkaz features, not even a single horn or tail. The Patriot would be filled with contempt that this unknown man would take the title of Demon Lord without knowing of its significance, or even worse, usurp that title as no more than a pretender, meant to sully Her Highness's name.

But then comes the part regarding his Arts, one that has shook the Reunion forces due to how his power allowed him to duel his supreme leader, Talulah, on even ground. A winged creature of his own creation, sporting a mask-like grin as a visage, capable of dark Arts and throwing Talulah like a ragdoll, on top of his capability to blow a large area of Chernobog apart and leaving a hole into the mobile city's inner infrastructure. The results had to be seen to be believed.

To sum it up, the Demon Lord of Rhodes Island is an enigma of his own right. One that made the old war hero wary of his existence. He ended up contemplating on his old friend, the General's decision to join Rhodes Island, considering how a person such as him is within their ranks.

---

"This… Demon Lord. I remember way back then when you said that the title can only be inherited through succession, Patriot."

The Wendigo nodded slightly at the Liberi's reminiscence. "Yes, my friend. Yet, this person, affiliated with Rhodes, has claimed that title for his own. His actions shook, Reunion to the core. Many soldiers, dead by his hands. Many others, spared by his will."

The General lifted an eyebrow at his admission. "And what of Talulah? Surely she will not stand still watching his actions unfold before her eyes."

"She has faced him. I asked, and she spoke, that he is a formidable adversary. Defiant, skillful, and carries great power. No one, has ever fought her alone, and achieved victory."

Hearing of the Demon Lord's victory over Talulah left the General in contemplation. "Hrrm… This is quite the matter indeed."

"Yes. Even still, you will go regardless?"

"Yes. Even if what you have told me is right, friend, I believe he has done it all with his best interests in mind. You say that he has spared many despite killing others as well." The General stared at Patriot with a firm expression. "That is enough to tell me that he is no mindless brute. If I do end up meeting him in the future, I will take my chances and try to trust him."

Patriot can only nod, a mild expression of acknowledgement under his mask. "I understand. I too, feel the same way, General. I will, respect your choice."

---

An hour had passed ever since their short reunion. In the end, Buldrokkas'tee can only pray that the General and him may never meet on the battlefield, and that his friend will have a better life in Rhodes Island.

"I pray, that our bittered lives, will find peace, friend."

...

While Patriot prayed under the night sky, two other leaders sat by a campfire in the central plaza as their comrades ran about trying to restore Chernobog into an operational state. Crownslayer and Faust warmed themselves in the heat under the cold night, blowing into their hands occasionally when the winds blew past as they were still recovering from their skirmish with Rhodes Island. Crownslayer's hood and mask were lowered, showing off her absentminded face and lupine ears, looking somewhat bored as she stared at the campfire while thinking of her patched up cuts and wounds. While Reunion itself is lacking when it comes to users of medical Arts, and she sure as hell don't want to leave things to Mephisto, a simple first aid kit procured from the nearby hospital was enough to treat the damage she endured against the so-called Doctor Ren of Rhodes Island. She cared little for whatever new title he got after yesterday's battles. All she knows is that he has the skills to cause rumors all over the organization, not that she cared.

Faust however fared worse than the Lupo, seeing his leg is still aching even after it was treated as best as possible by Mephisto's men. The impact of the attack caused by the Demon Lord was indeed just meant to impair him, yet it still hurt like hell, as if being hit by a hammer. At best, he'll recover in a few days or a week at most. Until he fully recovers, he's currently out of commission.

"Hey."

Seeing as there's no one else other than Crownslayer addressing him, Faust turned to face the assassin. "What is it, Crownslayer?"

"How's your leg? I heard what happened from the Phantom Crossbowmen." Faust tilted an eyebrow at her question, making her sigh. "What? I can care for others too, can't I?"

The Pythian boy blinked at Crownslayer's counter question before nodding. "Yes, you can. As for my leg, it'll be a while before I can recover. Maybe a week at worst. How about you?"

"Compared to you, I got off easy. I can get back to work as soon as tomorrow, 2 days if I want to hang back further." Crownslayer stared at the campfire before looking back at the Sniper. "Still, I'm sure we all know who's the grand loser yesterday."

Faust frowned over Crownslayer's implication. Of course, who could be the grand loser of yesterday other than Mephisto? Though the Medic Ringleader's forces are vast with his many Soldiers coupled with conscripted Junkmen, he had still engaged in battle in Rhodes Island twice and lost on both accounts. Even worse than his heavy losses are the utter humiliation he experienced in the face of that man. First is when he outmatched him in the first skirmish, along with the great punch directed at his face. Second is when he made a terrifying show of power, and then proceeded to blow him over with the knight's mace. Not only was he damaged physically, but the very mention of the man that made a joke out of him is enough to piss him off. It was pitiable to see how much the Demon Lord has affected him.

"The Demon Lord of Rhodes Island…"

The assassin can't help but snort as he heard of Faust's murmurs. "You're thinking of him at this time? Come to think of it, he really did a number on both of us, did he?"

"I think he did a number on all of us, Crownslayer." Crownslayer proceeded to sigh.

"Not all of us. Talulah didn't bring the Yeti Squadron and Guerillas with her that time. They're too busy clearing the other sectors. I'm sure they've heard the news already though. He's making a lot of waves."

Faust can't help but chuckle mirthlessly. "Really? What did the groups say?"

"Not much. Yeti Squadron had some odd news though. Airborne Division apparently lost one of their men. Any guesses on where the missing man might be?"

"I don't know. I just hope he's doing all right… or he died a painless death yesterday."

Crownslayer simply shook her head. She can hardly believe how he can just say things like that so easily. When put into comparison, the Lupo is still older than Crownslayer by a few years. Though, she has no right to judge how Faust behaves overall. When he first met both him and Mephisto, they're practically like lost children with nowhere to go. She herself has her own motives for joining Reunion. One that involved her parents and vengeance.

With the previous topic now up into dust, Crownslayer decided to go for a new topic.

"You know what? What do you think of him, Faust?"

"Of who?"

"The Demon Lord of Rhodes Island. We both got our asses kicked by him, after all."

"Hrrm…"

When it comes to the Demon Lord, or in the more formal case, the Doctor of Rhodes Island, he has many opinions regarding how he acts and fights based on their interactions. All of those opinions in turn can be summed up into one sentence.

"He would have made a great leader for us."

Crownslayer's eyes widened slightly. "You're saying he's just like Lady Talulah?"

"No, no. I'm not saying he's just like Talulah. Both him and her are completely different. He may be a bit brash, but he's a quick thinker. He also doesn't seem to care whether we're friends or enemies. He'll extend a helping hand regardless. Not to mention how he easily inspires his men." Faust paused slightly to catch his breath before continuing. "I think he'll be able to get along well with us."

"Even if he's uninfected?"

"Even if he's uninfected. He hates the persecutors of the Infected as much as the others. He even declared that he'll burn Ursus to the ground if he ever sided with us."

Crownslayer remained silent after hearing Faust's opinions. You'd either have to be extremely brave or practically insane to declare your intent to tear the land of Ursus to shreds. Even if you're as strong as Talulah, you'll need a lot more than singular power to stand up to them. She'd dealt with the Ursus soldiers in the past, and that was enough for her to know that even if Reunion is as large as they are now, they still don't stand a chance. Yet…

"Well, even if we have good opinions of him, that doesn't change the fact that he's an enemy of us. If we have to fight him, we have to fight him."

Faust stared at Crownslayer blankly. "Do you want to fight him though?"

"Frankly? He'll just beat me again, so no. But if Lady Talulah wants me to deal with him, then I have to do my best here."

Faust can't help but sigh at Crownslayer's nonchalance over the matter. He'd never say this to anyone, other than possibly Patriot, but he's starting to lose hope over the Reunion being able to achieve their goals. Their modus operandi had also shifted greatly over the years, shifting from sheltering refugees like himself and wandering the wastes of Ursus looking for a place to belong, to terrorism, vandalism, and brutal takeovers. Case and point, their conquest of Chernobog. His part of the slaughter was only under Talulah, and by extent, Mephisto's orders, but he didn't like raising his weapons against people he knows were trying to not do any harm. Orders are orders however, and he can't disobey them.

'If I can… leaving would be the best choice in the long run. Reunion has changed too much.'

As Faust mused in his contemplations, Crownslayer stood from the ground, stretching her arms out with a yawn as she raised her hood. "Hey, if you're done warming up, we better head back. It's getting late."

"Ah." Faust snapped out of his musings. "Yes, I understand. By the way, how are the Avengers?"

Crownslayer can't help but smile a little. "Most of them are doing fine. We have some losses, but we mostly have to deal with minor cuts. How's your Phantom Crossbowmen?"

Faust breathed in with relief. "Same as you. Only a few losses. We only lost the initial scouting team."

"That so? Well, go get some sleep, Faust. Especially since you're still healing."

"Yeah. You too."

Seeing that Faust won't be moving anytime soon, the assassin Lupo soon walked away from the campfire, looking at the night sky as she traveled back to the camp. Upon her arrival, a Hateful Avenger ran over to greet her.

"Crownslayer. You're back!"

"Yeah. The night winds were nice. Anyway, how goes the treatment for the others, Singe?"

Singe, the right hand man of Crownslayer made his report. "Most of our people have been treated properly, Crownslayer. The supplies we found at the nearby hospital helped us tremendously. Everyone should be back to normal in a day."

A satisfactory report, Crownslayer received. "That's good. Take a breather for today. We can continue tomorrow."

Singe nodded with a smile. "Right. By the way, how was the campfire?"

"It was good enough. Had some good talks with someone there. We can talk about it later tomorrow."

"Okay, Crownslayer. Sleep well."

Crownslayer simply turned around, waving her hand goodbye as she walked over towards her tent. Her talk with Faust was interesting indeed, and it got her thinking of what the future has in store. Will they encounter Rhodes Island once more, encounter the Demon Lord once more, or will this be just a one-time deal?

"Eh, I can always think of it while sleeping."

...

While most people at the time would be sleeping, however, someone else was still awake. And of all the things she could be doing at this hour, she was staring at a massive pit that is a few ways from the central plaza, completely aware of who made the giant pit in the first place.

"Well, well. I know they said he made a pit, but not this big of a pit. You really outdone yourself, Joker~."

W kept her trademark smile as she surveyed the large pit caused the massive blast of Arts yesterday. Though, she can't do much in that regard since the pit swallowed the whole width of the road and stretched onto the side roads, covering at least 10 meters in length. W wouldn't admit this to anyone, but as confident as she was in blowing shit up, she won't be able to blow a hole this size with her explosives from above ground. She'd need to go down below the city's infrastructure and plant bombs at the right places, and then pull the trigger.

One thing's certain, W is now inspired to craft even more potent explosives than ever. At least ones that are much better than her C4s. For today, she was done waltzing around for the night, and the mercenary camp is just a few ways away from where she was. Nothing was around to practically stop her from going along her merry way.

Unfortunately, someone just so happened to be in her line of sight, and she was not fond of anyone stopping her from getting her beauty sleep. Judging by his long white coat and overall look, most likely he's one of the Wraiths in the Infiltration Division. She never really talked with a Wraith before other than for mechanical equipment maintenance. Talking with a Wraith at this hour however would only waste her time, especially since the Wraith is approaching her. The mercenary decided to keep on walking without making a sound. She's not Mephisto, but she still has a fair share of haters. Nobody would actually try to seek her out at this hour, right?

"Hey, you're W, right? I thought I'd never find you at this hour."

And much to her disappointment, the world had proved her wrong. "Haaaah… Yes, yes. I'm W. Sarkaz merc leader. What does a Wraith want with me? Shouldn't people like you be sleeping at this hour?"

The Savra Ergate before her shook his head. "That's kinda why I tried to find you, honestly. Name's Ethan, by the way. Mind if I ask you a favor?"

Now that came as a surprise for W. What would a Wraith like him want with a mercenary like her? "Really now? What favor is it that you want me to do? You know I don't come cheap."

"Eh. I know Sarkaz mercs don't come cheap, but I'm still gonna ask anyway. Can you smuggle me out of Reunion?"

With how confident, or casual Ethan spoke his request, it's of little surprise that W's own surprise grew, quickly shifting into amusement. It's not every day she can find a defector asking her a favor to break her out of the organization she's currently working for. Then again, she never liked Talulah in the first place. Ethan may be no more than an infiltration Wraith, but if she can reduce Reunion's numbers in any way, she may as well take it.

With that in mind, W curved her lips into her trademark smile. "You know what? Since you came all the way out here in the middle of the night, I may as well hear you out. Why ditch Reunion? Wasn't it nice to hand it to them self-righteous pricks?"

Ethan scratched his head as he answered. "Well, honestly I don't really like seeing my buddies tear into the others, but that's not important. You probably heard of the Airborne Division, right?"

The mercenary tilted her eyebrow. "The guys in jetpacks? Uh-huh? What about them?"

"Well, one of their folks went missing after they did a head count yesterday."

W is slowly losing interest on the issue. "So? Pretty sure that single one kicked the bucket. Why fuss up over him?"

"That's because that missing soldier is no run-of-the-mill soldier. He was ex-Yeti." Ethan's expression grew serious. "And a friend of mine."

The tapping of feet can be heard as W grew impatient. "You know what? Let's cut to the chase. What the heck happened to his Kevin guy?"

Ethan softened his expression, noticing W's impatience. "Well, I overheard this back earlier when I cruised by the Division. Did a bit of asking, and it turns out that no one died after they did the head count, except one went missing."

"So what, you want me to bail you out of Reunion just so you can find your friend? You have balls, I'll give you that." Her impatience soon faded after hearing the story. "One problem though. You have any idea where your friend went?"

"Beats me. I do have a hunch though, and that involves one particular group that's been the talk of the town since yesterday. Have any ideas?"

With how convenient his line of questioning is. W was this close to cracking up into laughter. "You're joking. You're saying this jetpack buddy of yours fled to Rhodes Island? You can't be serious, right?"

Ethan on the other hand got a bit more serious. "Probably. But I know him well enough that he would ditch Reunion first chance he gets. Kevin wasn't really much of a fighter anyway, and he doesn't like senseless violence." He stared at W with a glint on his eyes. "And considering yesterday, I honestly won't be surprised if he got away after seeing Reunion acting like this."

W's smile just got even wider after hearing Ethan's resolute response. She's still having a hard time hearing this spiel from the Wraith in front of her. His friend fled from Reunion because it's getting too violent? She didn't really care whether if this Kevin just up and went or fled with his literal tail between his legs. But what of Ethan?

"Sure, sure. This Kevin guy ran away because the Infected got too heated. But what about you? You gonna run away cause the club is getting too drunk on blood?"

Ethan scratched his head before shaking it. "Well, I'd be lying if I said I wanted to stay. I've been in so many similar movements like Reunion that I can tell when it's time to bail before things go south. And for Reunion, I ain't seeing much unity between the leaders round these parts. If this continues, this whole movement's gonna go down under."

"Oooh… Sounding real confident, are you~?"

The longer W talked with Ethan, the more she found that he didn't seem that bad of a talking buddy. He seemed overall chill on his own, with his fair share of serious streaks when it comes to stuff like wanton violence, which is ironic due to her crazy tendencies. The mercenary herself can't help but wonder if striking a deal with Ethan will be a win-win situation for her. Not only will her status as a mercenary warrant lesser attention than the higher-ups, and thus allow her to smuggle Ethan off of Reunion on an easier note, this will also serve as the perfect excuse for her to meet up with both Joker and Doctor once again, depending on the possibilities available.

'After all, I'm sure Doctor won't mind having more pawns on his board. It's all just a game to him anyway. Joker may get a new buddy too."

With profits all around, what kind of mercenary would W be if she didn't agree to such an offer? "You know what, Ethan? Since I'm feeling generous today, I'll help you out in escaping this sucker fest. In fact, you don't have to pay me in LMD this time around. Not a bad deal, right~?"

Ethan had to do a double take on W's words. "Really?! What happened to the price tag though? You said you won't come cheap." His question was met with soft laughter.

"Don't be silly. Mercenaries like me know when to cut prices down when things are convenient for them. As for me, I have my own contact within Rhodes Island, and one I want to squeeze words out of. Wouldn't this be convenient for both of us~?"

Ethan slowly digested W's reasoning, leaving him only to nod with vigor. "Hmm! Very convenient if I do say so myself. Best part is I don't owe you even a single LMD for this! Thanks for this!"

W shook her head. "Hey now. I know I said I'll work things out with you for free, but you still owe me something other than LMD. Maybe a drink or two. Doesn't really matter, honestly. I can't really get away so easily from the city willy-nilly, so you pretty much have to chill out until I have the chance."

"I can wait. Just knowing that being able to get out is good enough. Thanks, W! You're not so bad, after all."

The mercenary can't help but scratch her head at Ethan's gratitude. Almost nobody thanked her for anything. "You know what, you go ahead and scram now. I have some beauty sleep to do, so I'll hit you up when I got something. Got that?"

"Uh-huh. May as well turn in too. See ya!"

With Ethan turning around with a carefree step and jolly laugh as he walked away, W found herself almost wanting to laugh at how random the whole encounter was, like the many other times she wanted to laugh during the conversation. In the end though, she can only feel some slight tinge of excitement at the thought of laying down more flak on Doctor and Joker the next time they meet. The way she sees their deal, Ethan is using her to bail from Reunion, and W is using him as an excuse to meet up with her inside contacts. It really is a win-win for both sides.

Alas, she can't hastily operate under Talulah's nose, so she can only bide her time for now. With a spring in her step, the mercenary cruised her way back to the mercenary camp, a myriad of emotions circulating in her cute and psychotic head.

"I have a lot of work to do in the next few days… I wonder how he's doing now~"

- Take Your Time –

8:48 A.M / Cloudy

Rhodes Island Hallways

December 25th, 1096

---

"I still can't believe that your entire shop is just a massive vending machine. Can't you just make it into something else?"

"Hey! What do you mean just?! My shop is the pinnacle of my efforts to provide a simple, compact, and efficient way to purchase any form of resources you require, Doctor! And I'm not going to take your downplaying of my genius lying down!"

"And I'm not, if those robots of yours have anything to say about it. Instead, I'll report to Amiya regarding your attempt at SWINDLING my personal rare resource stockade for LMD conversion!"

"No! NO! Don't, Doctor! Amiya will obliterate me if she finds out, or worse!"

Seeing Closure panic like this over her attempted crime was enough to make him laugh over the hilarious irony of the matter. Ren himself didn't know he had a personal stockade of Orundums and Originite Primes from who knows where, and he's not going to question where and how he got them due to its rarity. As for Closure's crystal clear attempt at swindling, it's going to take more than a gray tongue and slow hands to fuck with a Phantom Thief, especially in broad daylight. It was so obvious it was pathetic. And to think, she tried to do this in the middle of their official tour!

Speaking of robots, he has to give credit to Closure for the modifications of the robots she spoke of yesterday and creating AIs for them from scratch. The meek and soft spoken Medic Bot Lancet-2, the trustworthy and dependable Guard Bot Castle-3, and the energetic and hotheaded Specialist Bot, THRM-EX. All of them a colorful cast of personalities all down the line. It is lamentable however, that it was Closure of all people that did the modifications to their personalities. Lancet is far too pessimistic, THRM-EX uses too many heat synonyms, and Castle adores Closure too much. Hell, all the robots seem to adore Closure above all else. Times like this are where he wished Futaba was here, just so she can give Closure a run for her ego money.

That aside, Ren found himself enjoying the official tour Closure promised him to give today. The Workshop already gave him promise that his personal projects will be in great hands, Closure's shop is a great boon should he come for said resources that Closure offered, and the Trade Posts allowed him some insight on Rhodes Island's businesses. As they walked down the halls of the Ark, Ren figured that it's time for a refresher.

"Anyway, where are we going next on our tour? We already visited the Workshop Department, your shop, and the Trading Posts. So, where to?"

"Well, now that you're done threatening me, we're on our next leg of the trip! We're going to the Factories! I'm sure you've read it up when doing your work, right?"

"…No, weirdly enough." If anything, Ren found that to be the only weird issue that went on during his work yesterday. He was tasked with worker allocations for the Trading Posts and Power Plants, but not the Factories. He had to wonder where the papers went for them.

"Well, in that case, lemme give you a general overview! It comes without question, but the Factories are where we manufacture resources for Rhodes Island! We mostly produce gold bars and Battle Record duplicates, though we can produce Operator Dualchips in a pin…what's wrong, Doctor?"

It goes without saying, but as a native of a world where pure gold bars are a great rarity, Ren was unsurprisingly taken aback. "Closure…answer me this. How much does a single gold bar cost in LMD?"

"Uhhh… 500. Why do you ask, Doctor? Don't you know gold bars are common in-oh wait, amnesia. Sorry!"

Closure chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of her head while Ren plunged into deep thought. Supply and demand falls into effect, and when put to retrospect, looks like Ren has to get used to the fact that in Terra, gold bars are a commodity, and processed Originium are the rarity. As he mulled over his aged economy lessons, the two approached a wide door with yellow marks on both sides.

"Here we are, Doctor! One of our esteemed factories is right before us! Where everyone is kept in high spirits to work and contribute towards supplying Rhodes Island! Trust me, it'll be quite the sight!"

Closure led the way as the doors slid open before them, with Ren following after the vampiric mechanist. His eyes immediately beheld a large area painted in a metallic sheen, with large machines busy pumping and operating in good capacity. Duplicators, smelters, and compressors working on producing whatever materials needed for the Rhodes Island necessities. Ren would have enjoyed inspecting and learning of the various machines under Closure's guidance. Except….

"Eh…."

"Closure? What's going on-" Ren was immediately blocked by a verily panicked Closure.

"Nothing! Nothing bad's going on! It's all fine! Let's just move on from this Factory and move to the-"

"Forget that! Out of my… What in the fuck?!"

Ren immediately pushed Closure out of the way, and he was immediately greeted with dread. Closure had said that it will be quite the sight, yet it was not a sight he had expected. There were many people strewn on the floor, some up, yet staggering as they tried to do their work to no avail. The common deal however is that all of them share the condition of great fatigue, and it made the whole place look like a site of worker abuse. Ren quickly spotted a familiar masked Operator, struggling to get up, and quickly rushed to him.

"Noir Corne! You alright?!"

The Oni Defender weakly turned his head to face Ren, his expression completely hidden by his mask while the Doctor cradled him with his arms. "Hah…hah… Dr. Ren, thank goodness you showed…up. We've been working at this…overnight. There's been no orders…of replacements!"

Anyone with a lick of sense knows that these people need rest, and fast. He'll have to issue calls from the medical department for transport, but first… "Who's running the place? I need to give them a piece of my mind!"

"Kack… It…it was Miss Closure. We don't even know…why she decided to take over command… we even filed papers… for a quick replacement of command, but it…never seemed to reach you… we regret… everything…"

"Noir Corne! NO!"

The Defenders' body had slackened completely as his mind fell to the fatigue, falling into slumber as Ren grieved over the loss. Closure however, had other plans as she turned tail and backed away slowly.

"Well… Uhh… I guess I gotta end this tour prematurely! Just realized I have some other work to do, so imma just-"

"Closure."

The deepness and tone filled with threat made Closure yelp as she peered behind her, only to find the esteemed Doctor Ren staring at her menacingly as he laid Noir Corne down on the ground. Every inch of her pale skin seemed to grow paler and went to a crawl the longer she fell upon his silent, yet furiously overbearing stare. Even worse is the yellow glinting lights that lay beyond his mask, with clear malicious intent.

"Ehehe…Doctor, for the record, I have no clue where I put the replacement files! Maybe I misplaced it with my project files, haha…"

"Did you?" Ren slowly rose up and approached Closure in silent steps. Yet to the vampire, those silent steps were as loud as earthshattering stomps to her ears, and her fear spiked as the distance between them lessened, prompting her to slowly back away due to her severe flight response. The Doctor spoke once more, his cold tone unchanging.

"Closure."

"Y-yes, Doctor?! W-what's up?"

"I remember you asking for a demonstration on how destructive my Personas can be, yes?"

With how scared shitless she is, Closure knew that not answering would mean signing her death warrant, and she's too cute to die. "Uh…yeah! I definitely remember that! Needed to gauge the amount of power we can contain for our joint project with Midsummer's after all!" Yet Closure felt that she still answered wrong, because she somehow felt that he was grinning.

"Good of you to remember. Because I've found the perfect test dummy for the occasion. Wouldn't you agree, Closure?"

Already Closure regretted answering the question, since she knows who is going to be the test dummy in question. Sweat drenched her whole body as she continued to step away from Ren, not wanting to be subject to the myriad of Arts under Doctor's command if his Arcana is to be believed. It's official. Ren has made his way on Closure's Top 3 of "People You Mustn't Piss Off, Ever".

"Wait, wait! Doctor, please wait! Before you do all sorts of unimaginable things to little ol' me, please, let me say something in defense! I'm begging you!"

"…You better not attempt to run away."

Closure mentally thanked whatever gods there are in Terra for allowing her to say whatever last words she has to offer before she gets skinned alive.

"Okay… so, anyway…"

Except she has no intention of getting skinned today.

"NIGERUNDAYO!"

So she ran, she ran as fast and as far as her slim legs can carry her despite his superior's warnings. As for Ren, he was utterly appalled by what Closure had done. He can't believe she actually had the audacity to perform the Joestar Secret Technique on him, as futile as it was. In order to capture the irresponsible mechanist, and possibly restore honor to the Joestar family name, he immediately lunged forward in hot pursuit.

"Closure…"

As soon as he catches her, he's going to make her pay for forcing him to work, in a free day no less!

"…YOU FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

---

WE GOT OURSELVES AN ANIME, LADIES AND GENTS!

Anime hype aside! I'm so, SO, SO sorry for going into absence for literally more than 5 months. A lot of things happened over the course of the days ever since I wrote the last chapter. College began for me, new games have caught my interest, and new events keep popping up that I need to rewrite a few scenes. It doesn't even help that I've been struck by the plague of demotivation due to so much time that passed. I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting.

Anyway, let's get down to what I wanna talk about in my absence. For one, in account for the potential mistakes and tidbits I want to change and correct in the event that I mess something up, I'll post a new afterword series called Patchworking that lists all changes I made in previous chapters, like so.

---

Patchworking!

1. Replacing Saltwind City with Sal Viento in 2-2. I know they both mean the same, but it's SV for crying out loud! Setting this up when I potentially reach Under Tides in story. Also did some slight edits here and there to match Under Tides info.

2. Removing clear mention of characters that shouldn't have been mentioned just yet in 2-2. A critical mistake on my part.

---

Just like that. So if you notice any changes in previous chapters, look no further than here. Also, the events over in CN has really screwed me in writing whole sections. Most notably, the formation of the Sun Arcana. I had initially planned for Eyja to be the first. But since Vigilo clearly revealed that Eyja only got inducted into Rhodes a month after the Chernobog Incident, I had to switch to Closure. I hope it's satisfactory.

Another thing is with reviews. I always read your reviews and try to cater to them. One may say I glorify Ren, and I'll admit that he mainly gets spotlight since technically this is his story, but everyone has their own lives too. I'd be damned if I just ignore them altogether. Another thing is how Closure's Point of View is a waste, and I'm sure some others may agree with you. But that whole chapter is my own way of approach. We've seen Terra so much from the eyes of a Persona user, so what if we see how a Terran views a Persona user and their powers? I do appreciate your recommendation since it inspired this whole chapter in the first place, Mr. Aura King. Thank you.

Some reviews make me happy, some reviews hit me in the heart, but that is fine. I just want to write my stories without fear. Writers should be proud of their own stories, no matter how others may think. The only one capable of stopping your own writings, is you.

And finally, the next chapter. Honestly, I do not know when the next chapter will drop. Like I said, college is a bitch, and will delay me greatly. There's also a whole slew of games that I need to keep track of during it too. Arknights is dealing with the Seaborn, Honkai are experiencing a massive surplus of lab rats fed to the Ouroboros, and the game I mentioned that will have a 3rd sequel translated next month. Sequel series. Good shit I tell you. Speaking of Arknights, I netted Skadi and Kal'tsit in 51 rolls! How did you lot fare?

Just remember. I will never abandon this story even if my life depends on it. The day this story dies is the day I die. And I will not fall to some damn virus circulating over nearly 2 years. It's been a while since I wrote though, so I apologize if the quality of my writing dropped.

Always remember, even when your days feel dark and you have too much on your plate, take your time.