The group had arrived at the capital, Yukishihon. Blastoise had insisted that they become Senshi, so that they could legally fight the cult and receive recognition. They were currently standing in front of the NSA Headquarters. It was a massive blue and white building comprising four towers. Three of them formed a triangle outline with the central and tallest tower in the middle. The tower was massive, only rivaled by the Hanabi Tower in Poketopia. The group was waiting outside, staring up, trying to catch a glimpse at the top of the tower.
"H-hey guys!" Someone yelled. The group turned around and cheered. Infernape ran towards the figure and embraced them,
"Missed ya, buddy."
"I came as soon as I heard that the cult was back. That was a great concert, Lee," Ampharos said, "The train here was pretty expensive though." Lopunny ran towards the electric type,
"Hey! Ampharos! How have you been?" said Lopunny
"I've been alright. How have you and Lee been?" asked Ampharos. The fire type walked up and wrapped an arm around Lopunny. He remarked,
"Better than ever, all thanks to her." Lopunny playfully pushed him,
"Stop it!" she said.
The group entered the building together as Sceptile and Blastoise turned in their recommendations. They were then forced to wait for each of their recommendations to be verified. Having sat down in the office, Aggron was the first to talk,
"Best of luck to you all! Cannot wait to see you pass!" He said. The group all nodded in agreement. Lopunny leaned back in her chair,
"I can't wait to get this over with. This is gonna take forever." Infernape wrapped his arm around her,
"Come on, it can't be that bad."
Nine hours passed.
Lopunny screamed in despair. The rest of the group was not fairing much better. Infernape had straight up left to sleep outside. Gardevoir and Garchomp were struggling to stay awake. Aggron was in a state of semi-delirium, muttering to himself,
"Five more minutes." Sceptile had gone through two entire packs of cigarettes. Blastoise was slamming his face into the wall. The only person not affected by the long hours was Ampharos. Lopunny saw this and scooted towards him.
"How are you still functioning? It's 11:00 o'clock." She asked. Ampharos jumped slightly but he recovered,
"I'm used to staying up long hours. I used to work the night shift." he explained. Lopunny was very intrigued,
"You did the night shift, Ampharos?"
"Yeah," he said, "it's where I got my fear of the dark."
Lopunny gently placed a hand on Ampharos's back. He shivered for a moment before accepting the gesture. She patted his back,
"You're a lot braver than you give yourself credit for."
"Thanks," he said. Lopunny took notice of his WristOn,
"What have you been up to since you left?" She asked. Ampharos then elaborated on his time away. "I've mostly just…sort of kept to myself. Everyone back home welcomed me back with open arms. Furret got me a gift." He then showed her his new WristOn, "It's the latest model. I can send my location to someone if I really need to."
"Ah, that's sweet," said Lopunny, "Oh, do you think you could help me review some answers? I flopped the written exam so I could use some help." Lopunny offered. Ampharos nodded in agreement and he pulled up the study guide to help Lopunny. He read out the first scenario,
"Alright, a man is holding a woman hostage in front of a bank. What do you do?"
"I kick them." Lopunny responds flatly. Ampharos glanced over at the hybrid and hesitated to reply,
"W-wrong." Lopunny shook her head,
"Bullshit! He's gonna kill her. He's got nothing to lose, just kick him." she argued back.
"A-a-anyway, next question. There is a killer on the fifteenth floor of an office building. He is descending via the stairs. What do you do?" He stated
"I kick them." Lopunny repeated. Ampharos shook his head slowly. He didn't say anything at first but eventually told her,
"Wrong. It says you are supposed to isolate them from civilians and then engage." Lopunny stomped in frustration,
"Come on! I can kick him. I can create ice on my hands for gods sake! I can deal with him." She groaned. Ampharos was beginning to see why Lopunny had flunked the exam.
"A ship has been hijacked by terrorists. What do you do?" He was quiet as he waited for an answer.
"I go on a ship to the location." She answered. Ampharos sighed in relief, she had gotten-
"Then I kick them." Ampharos quickly nodded. He gave Lopunny the thumbs up,
"You-you-you got it right." Lopunny's cheerful expressions quickly faded. She curled up onto the chair. Ampharos immediately bowed before her and apologized,
"I'm sorry!"
"Don't apologize." Lopunny remarked quietly, "I'm gonna fail again."
"Bun Bun, do you need help?" Infernape asked. He had walked back into the waiting room and he patted Ampharos on the head,
"Thanks for helping her." he thanked. Lopunny grinned but waved her hand, gesturing him to go away,
"It's alright. I'll figure something out." she said. Infernape shook his head,
"No no no, let me help you." he insisted. He sat down in front of the ice type, "What'cha struggling with?"
"She needs help with the written exam." Ampharos explained to Lopunny's dismay.
"Wow," she remarked, "way to rat me out like that. Traitor." Ampharos sputtered, but converted it into a anxious grin,
"Well, it was just to help you."
Infernape chuckled as he pulled up the study guide. He looked at the scenario that was randomly generated,
"There is an explosion at a power station and there is an outage in a five block radius from the station. There is the possibility that it was intentional. What do you do?" Infernape asked. In his head, he began to work this out. So, someone blew up a power station, that would mean they needed something shut off. Perhaps security, but where would that be? Why would they stay at the power plant if they were going to blow it up? Maybe they had set a bomb with a timer and they were on the other side of town? Or, what if it was a work? What if they wanted him to think that they were on the other side of town? What if they were at the power plant right now, or it could be a triple-
"I can tell by the look on your face that you're overthinking it," said Blastoise. The two looked over to see Blastoise approaching them. Blastoise looked at his daughter and Infernape. "You're both going into this with the wrong mindset."
"I'm not overthinking this!" Infernape whined, "It's obviously a quadruple trick." Blastoise chuckled,
"There's no shame in it. It happens to the best of us. But when time is of the essence and lives are on the line, you need to act fast." Lopunny was about to talk smack to Infernape, but then Blastoise said, "And by fast, I mean not so fast that you charge in blindly." Lopunny frowned.
"Perhaps you just need to look at this from a different angle. When I see a problem, I think about the phrase: ADF."
"ADF?" The three asked. Blastoise nodded as he elaborated,
"Analyze the situation and your resources. Determine the best course of action with the information you have. Follow through with your plan. Now take the example with the power station."
Infernape and Lopunny looked at the problem they were given,
"We know that there was an outage within five blocks." Infernape began.
"That must mean that only part of the station was destroyed, meaning that it was intentional." Lopunny continued.
"So the best course of action is to close of the perimeter and look out for suspicious activity in the perimeter!" They both said at the same time. Blastoise and Ampharos clapped for the couple.
"Oh, Grandpa," Lopunny began, "What's taking so long?"
Blastoise screamed into his arm before he answered. You might say, he was a little frustrated. He groaned,
"The Nihoneran Board of Senshi Action. The biggest mistake in years." Infernape, Lopunny and Ampharos all exchanged expressions of surprise. They didn't think that a board of people would be such a pain in the ass.
"Do you want to know why the Senshi didn't go help when the Black Masks took over Boltein? It's because of them. They were created a few years back and they are insufferable. I am all for new ideas, and new perspectives, but when not a single one of them has any experience in the slightest, you can understand why I am just a little peeved." He said.
Just as he said that, someone came through the door and said,
"Blastoise, you and your group may see the board." Everyone then cheered as the wait was finally over. They followed the person as they led them to a meeting room. They saw a table up on a platform about ten meters up. Atop this platform was a table with five figures obscured by the shadows. It was like staring at the metaphysical courtroom that decided whether someone went to heaven or hell. One of them spoke up in an old, weathered voice,
"We have looked over at each of your proposals and we have a few questions."
The group answered many of the questions asked by the board. Some of the questions were unnecessarily personal: discussing their families and their majors in college if they went. Then it was Infernape's turn. He went up in front of the table. He could make out about five figures in the shadows.
"You are Son Lièyànhóu, correct?" One of the figures asked. Infernape nodded, confirming his identity. They then asked,
"Were you accused of murder on October third, 2239?" Infernape exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding. He gulped quietly.
"Yes. Yes I was," he said. The board muttered something indistinguishable to each other. Infernape's breathing increased slightly as he crossed his arms, holding his biceps as though he were hugging himself. As the board continued muttering, Infernape shut his eyes. He wanted to lash out but he knew he couldn't. Now, he had to start moving forward instead of looking back. Eventually, they looked back at him and said,
"Unfortunately, we believe you are not fitting for the role of Senshi," A member of the board said.
"WHAT?!"
"Having reviewed your past, we have determined that you are too…weak-minded." They argued. Blastoise stomped in front of Infernape,
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Even if he was acquitted, we simply cannot accept someone who has…a difficult upbringing," said the board in a sickeningly condescending tone. Infernape needed no reminding. He hadn't spoken to his mother in the eight years since the incident, and never met his father. But how many Senshi came from difficult backgrounds? Why was he being singled out here? Hell, he probably wasn't even the only Senshi who had been taken to court. Blastoise called this out,
"And…I was recruited, and you should know where I came from," he said.
"Mmm, yes quite," said the board, "But your circumstances were different. You were a hero during your service."
"Don't call me that," said Blastoise.
"Anyways, his upsetting past life is something to consider. After all, you cannot run from your past," hissed the leader of the board.
"But you can move forward from it," said Blastoise, "You are a council of fools if you don't see that." Soon, the rest of the group stood up to defend him. All of them standing up for him.
"He's saved so many lives!" yelled Gardevoir, who was backed up by Garchomp,
"Even when he had no reason to, he was always there to help.
"I've never met another man deserving of being a Senshi!" said Aggron.
"He's my best friend!" exclaimed Ampharos, "And he's a hero! I can promise you that!"
"I don't give a fuck what you think," said Lopunny, "He's amazing!"
Seeing the rest of the group standing up for him. Seeing all of them fighting to ensure Infernape could get in. He was reminded of two important people in his life. It almost brought a tear to his eyes. He knew they cared, but seeing it was something else entirely. A grin appeared across his face as an idea popped into his head,
"Hey!" He yelled, garnering the attention of everyone.
"I guess you're right! I guess I am a weakling. I'm so weak that I got to meet Donquixote."
The entire board froze, their eyes were all focused on Infernape. Their eyes no longer had boredom or condescension like they had previously. One of them immediately yelled out,
"How do you know that?! That's classified information!" Infernape turned around, a smile wide on his face.
"I'm sorry but I was so pathetic that I got kidnapped by the Phantom Corp. You guys probably know what I did to the Black Masks so Donquixote wanted to thank me. I managed to take a picture of him and some of his followers. It would be a real shame if someone revealed they exist."
Infernape didn't know what the board was thinking but he knew that they were pissed. He then noticed something, the board member on the far right turned to the others,
"Let him in." they board looked upon their brethren, looking for an answer,
"Let him take the exam. When he fails, we'll kick him out." They responded. The board then whispered amongst themselves and then declared to the fire type,
"Alright. You may take the test."
Lopunny cheered as she embraced her boyfriend, flipping off the board. As the rest of the group celebrated with Infernape. Blastoise violently stared at the board, who stared back. Lopunny then whispered into Infernape's ears,
"Where did you get those pictures?" Infernape smirked at the hybrid,
"What pictures?"