D-004

3 days before launch.

The clock strikes 6, and Icarus speeds right on to Miles' lab once more for the debriefing.

Unlike his previous experiences, he finds the lab fully lit up in a nice, cosy yellow atmosphere. Soft and jazzy sounds ease his body and mind. He finds wooden chairs lined up in rows of 3, facing a dark-blue board. The first person he sees sit down is Cosmo, choosing to sit in the middle of the middle row alone. The feelings of shame from a few days back come crawling right back to Icarus as he looks away from her direction, refusing to make eye contact. That feeling is cut short by the "Hey, Icarus!" he hears from his mother.

Icarus: "Hey, good to see you."

She gives him a small kiss on the cheek

Amy: "Good to see you too, kid. We haven't really talked much since…"

"Yeah, I know. Sorry about that outburst."

Amy smiles in relief. They did a good job of raising him after all.

Amy: "Don't sweat it, sweetie, I am glad you are all better now."

Icarus nods and walks forward to take a seat, giving a mere "what's up" up-nod to Shadow.

The silence is interrupted by the metallic footsteps of one Itadori Kujo.

Itadori: "Hmph, all the power in the world and yet this…pathetic display is all you can muster. How foolish. What's the housewife and kid doing here, anyway?"

Amy: "Excuse-"

Shadow: "I'd recommend you stop talking before I make your grave the leading display here."

Itadori: "Know your place, lab rat."

"I do know my place, the question is, do you? No matter what closeted society you came from, I am this one's ultimate life form, and you will follow my lead regardless of if you 'approve' or not, Kujo."

"Then, please, try your best to make me kneel."

Shadow begins to stand; Icarus takes notice while Amy grabs Shadow's arm to try and make him sit back down.

Icarus: "Woah, woah, settle down, what happened to all that calm demeanor when you were at our place?"

Itadori: "It was an exception I made for being invited to your home after you, Icarus, saved my daughter, however-"

Icarus: "Then you better respect the ones who raised me to do that. Without them, who knows what I could have done in that situation."

Itadori: "You don't mean that. A person like you, destined for greatness, would have saved her regardless."

Icarus: "Not this crap again…I do not know what an erba is or whatever the hell you keep-"

Itadori: "Eraba reshi mono!"

Icarus: "Who cares what it's called?! I am saying-"

"HEY!"

A familiar voice makes them all freeze on the spot.

"I already told you guys to NOT fight in my lab!" Miles comes into the scene.

Itadori folds his arms and mummers under his breath:"Tch, he started it, you know…"

Icarus sighs and decides to sit back down. Amy taps him on the shoulder and he gives her a soft look and a thumbs up. Miles walks in front of the chairs and faces his back to the board. Itadori keeps standing, refusing to sit down next to those he considers beneath him.

Miles: "Now. tension is at an all-time high, I get it, but if we are doing this, we need to stick together, capiche?"

Cosmo: "Yes, I would greatly appreciate that. Clearly there is a lot of unresolved…problems going on here, but we aren't going to succeed in our mission looking like this."

Shadow: "Agreed."

Itadori: "Hmph!"

Miles: "Alright, with that settled, let's talk emeralds, yeah? Upon further inspection, it turns out that only five emeralds were overloaded, the other two actually followed the plan without a hitch and thus they are somewhere on planet Earth. Amy and I…"

Miles takes a glance at Icarus, his expression softening slightly.

"...and I guess Icarus as well," Miles continues, "will head out and gather those two emeralds. Regarding that, Shadow, I will need you to-"

Shadow: "See my connections with GUN, got it."

Icarus: "You guys got links to GUN too?"

Shadow chuckles with a prideful smirk.

Shadow: "Heh, guess I was bound to introduce you to her sooner or later."

Icarus leans in towards his mother and whispers "Who's she?"

Amy replies with "Someone you shouldn't hang around too often."

Miles: "Right, with all of that out of the way, let's go a bit higher. The emeralds in space are all on different planets, I have made contact with all of them…however…I'm afraid Cosmo was right."

Cosmo suddenly stands up in fear. "No! You can't possibly mean-"

Miles: "They haven't gotten their hands on them yet, but they already contacted all the planets with the emeralds on them, warning four of them that if the planet doesn't give up the emerald willingly…"

Cosmo sits back down, almost…defeated.

Cosmo: "...they will take it by force."

Miles: "Afraid so."

Itadori: "What about the fifth planet?"

Miles: "Well…that one…was already taken over by the Metarix years ago."

Cosmo: "Tch!"

Shadow: "How should we proceed then, Miles?"

Miles: "We stick to the plan, you, Itadori and Cosmo will go from planet to planet and get the emerald from there."

Icarus: "If I may, this leaves the planets wide open for attack after we…uh, they leave…what's the strategy there?"

Miles: "I don't think there is we need one. Once the Metarix hear about our attempts, they wouldn't want to diverge their forces into what they consider worthless planets. They will most probably come to Earth in pursuit, and we will take care of them when that happens."

Icarus: "You aren't planning on…actually wiping out the Metarix?"

Room falls ill to a deafening, almost shameful silence.

Itadori: "Why would we? We need to protect our planet, if we dip our feet into every planet's safety, we wouldn't be able to get knee-deep in our own."

Icarus: "I am not saying we protect everything, but what I am saying is…do we have the power to stop them?"

Miles: "That's a complicated-"

Shadow: "Yes, we do."

Icarus: "...and?"

Shadow: "And we aren't doing it, because we may lose that power in the process, and if that happens, this planet is as good as space dust."

Icarus stands up in frustration. "Are you serious?! What about every other planet they will enslave while you are too busy...burning away pasta-"

Amy: "Icarus, please calm down-"

Icarus: "Why aren't YOU saying anything?!" He turns to face and to point at Cosmo. "Your home was annihilated by those Matrix guys or whatever and you are okay with this?!"

Cosmo replies calmly: "Truth be told, I only came here to prevent the emeralds from getting into their hands, and I am more than grateful for your peoples' help. Expecting anything more would be utter delusion. Everyone who has ever tried standing up to them are nothing more than mere ashes as we speak, and that is a fate I am sure no one wishes upon themselves."

Icarus tries to reply back, but no words come out. His mouth is wide open in bafflement.

Miles: "I…I will send the details of the planets later once I finalise them. That's all for today."

Everyone begins to walk out of the lab in silence as Tails turns off the lights. Icarus remains frozen in place, looking down at the ground in defeat.

His mother walks up to him.

Amy: "Hey…"

Icarus: "..."

Amy: "Yeah, I get it…but…look…Icarus…" She cusps his cheeks, making him look down on her eyes before continuing, "...you are a sweet boy…a kind boy…but…sometimes you need to help those you can see first before helping those who you can't see. You can't help everyone, son."

Icarus holds her hands, his eyes twinkling with innocence as his voice softens.

"But why won't you try?"

Her son's words hit like daggers piercing through Amy's heart.

"We did. I promise you. We did."

She closes her eyes to prevent the ocean of tears from overflowing and kisses him on the forehead for what feels like an eternity, before softly letting go of Icarus and following the others on the way out. The final light turns off, leaving Icarus to be shrouded in darkness as he ponders his mother's words.

However…as the night fell and the moon rose, Itadori Kujo questions himself: If anyone could have the power to stop such a galactic threat…perhaps it could be…

No. He was destined to fall by another mortal hand. Even a prophesized power cannot overcome what is written in the book that's called destiny. After all, it's the one that gave him the power to try in the first place.

And with that, the rest of the day unremarkably passes as the world sleeps in peace once more…

2 Days to go….