#eddy kozlov | freedom's force

[valorousflower]

@archivisim - closed starter

Straight Into Doom

Tenguu City?, Japan

Shido Fujimaru..

Fumiko remembered that name for sure. Saving him from potentially being claimed by the Desolation, and bringing him in to heal in Classic Order territory. She remembered the kindness in his heart. Then, after hearing the horrifying story of what had happened to him, it broke her heart into a million pieces.

Of all the desolating events that has happened because of RSP-3812, Fumiko needed to put that to an end, and so did the Classic Order.

To save the world from the monstrous entity he has become and Shido himself as well, she must do it by any means necessary. But, this was a being beyond most comprehension. It was quite possibly a suicide mission of her own to get this mission done, but she replaced such a thought with bravery.

Just bravery.

"This is General Rose of the Classic Order." the voice of a young woman spoke over a Classic Order communications device. "I need to know the whereabouts of Fumiko Arai."

"[Major Tom]: Fumiko.. Fumiko needs some alone time. She's fought against the majority of the Desolation's threats in the past already. She's probably in her mansion taking it easy."

"[Colonel Eddy]: Alone time is right. She's going into RSP-3812-1 all by herself."

"[Major Tom]: WHAT?! NO! WE NEED TO STOP HER! SHE'S GOING TO GET HERSELF KILLED!"

"[General Rose]: You're right. Colonel Eddy, follow her into RSP-3812-1. I'm calling in Champion Lightstrike into the danger zone as well. Please, stay safe. No one is ready to take on RSP-3812. We can only hope, for him to return as we keep up the fight."

Him, as in the Indomitable One. The Indomitable One was not the type to save those in need, but for his mission of vengeance. Currently, the ascendant being was fighting off Xeth's forces in another plane of existence. A battle between the Indomitable One and RSP-3812 was very unlikely, so all the Classic Order, ex-Desolation forces and the Champions of the world can do is fight.. and pray.

PETAL SPRINT.

Fumiko kept sprinting without tiring thanks to her ability, until she reached the boundary point, looking over what looks to be Tenguu City. She learnt about this city in her earlier years, but never actually ventured into it.. this was the place, to end it all.

Just inside of the boundary, she took out a white notepad with a pen to match its fine color, and proceeded to write on it.

"[written text]: Shido-san, it's Fumiko. I have arrived to save you from the horrors of what has happened to you. I feel so bad for you, that's why I'm gonna save you. Please, stay strong. <3"

The heart in her notepad glowed a bright white. She ripped out the paper from the notepad and placed it down on the grassy terrain, before she sprinted off into the city..

[valorousflower]

That was good.

These were not manifestations of RSP-3812, rather a third party. Four women, and Himeko Fujimaru herself, who seemed to be the little sister of Shido, also trying to save the likes of the boy. Colonel Eddy had already put away his giant two-handed sword into his coffin, before placing the coffin down on the ground, sitting on it.

Fumiko had a worried brow marked on her face, as this situation still remained complex. The presence of an evil, destructive entity was still looming in the air, and a direct resolution was not going to be set in motion. It was far more complex than that.

Legendary Champion Lightstrike crossed his arms, his sword sheathed behind his back. He didn't exactly have the fears of Fumiko, being far more experienced, as well as Eddy, but he acknowledged that there was a job to be done. Resolve THE FALLEN.

They had hoped, that getting in there and scanning the area with Omniscient was going to be enough. The tank continued to pick up on the energy that the FALLEN was pulsing.

"I've already introduced myself from earlier." Eddy became well-seated on top of his coffin. "This here is Fumiko Arai, Champion of Japan and youngest Champion in the world. Don't be fooled by her age; she might act fearful and all, but she can get in there and fight whenever needed."

Eddy gestured over to Lightstrike. "Dave Vincent, the legendary Champion known as Lightstrike, and currently the most powerful Champion in the world with the departure of the Indomitable One. He is an undisputed legend in swordplay, and reaches speeds of up to 9039 times the speed of light. He's also the first person to defeat a Desolation Grandmaster in millennia."

"As I mentioned before, we are known as the Classic Order. Many organizations and armies throughout the history of Earth have been formed to take on the evil force known as the Desolation, but many of them crumbled, and none of them got to bear the title as the super elite force of the world like we did. We were successful in taking down the Desolation and their leader, Ctelozapth in the end. But, we comprehended that our work was far from done, evident by RSP-3812's appearance."

Champion Lightstrike walked forth, a decisive mind into play.

"We had hoped to be the diversion here. Halt the FALLEN's actions furthermore by getting in there and contesting, while trying to find a potential resolution. Would there be no resolution, we'd hold onto hope that the Indomitable One would come back and defeat the FALLEN."

"He's the Ascended One. Only one exists in a single universe. Right now he's out trying to slay Xeth, the supreme being of the multiverse, but who knows whether or not he may come back."

Lightstrike looked up into the skies, where space was. The Indomitable One, taking off throughout the universes, traveling beyond space and time, and into dimensions infested by Xeth's forces, destroying Xeth's reality piece by piece.

"He may be the only one who can defeat the FALLEN."

It had all looked like the situation was going to escalate even further. Although Vivio Alter and the Herrscher candidates had appeared to secure "Shido", this man wasn't going to be having any of it.

The Herrschers had no real interest in fighting this man, if only to determine what his intentions were, but they were ready if he continued to be this boneheaded. It looked like his comrade was trying to talk him down but he wasn't listening. The four would ready their weapons....

Until another individual had suddenly appeared. The four had been surprised at how fast this individual had come. This made the four women narrow their eyes, initially thinking they had to deal with another enemy.... that was until they heard his words.

It didn't seem like he was interested in fighting, only wanting to get down to the bottom of this like they were. The four were still on guard, but they were at least glad that someone was being reasonable here.

If they all wanted the same thing, which was the resolution of the FALLEN Crisis and Shido's safety, coming up with some sort of plan would be the next step, since Ratatoskr's original containment plan had pretty much fallen apart.

Plus, it was probably not a good idea to make an enemy of the guy who just performed the feats he described.

"Tell you? We don't even know who the fuck any of you guys are! We had our own plan set up to fix this and you guys went and---"

"Glacea."

Tenebria said firmly as she held out a hand to her comrade, stopping her from continuing with her rant. She then turned to the Lightningstrike and spoke.

"Sorry about her. From what we can tell, you're here to resolve this crisis caused by the FALLEN, or RSP-3812, as has been designated, right? We can assure you that we're not servants or manifestations of the FALLEN. We have the same goal as you, though our method in achieving it was very different from whatever you people had in mind."

"Indeed. We are friends of Shido and we have been empowered by the Ratatoskr Foundation to resolve this in a clandestine way that ensures both his safety and the stability of reality itself. This plan included having us integrate ourselves within this singularity and become part of the "everyday life" that Shido, or the being taking on his visage in hopes that it would awaken the real Shido to take back control and reabsorb the entity back into his body. However, we had not anticipated .... outside parties to step in, especially after we were reassured that the Global Defense Coalition would not be interfering."

Though that plan had fallen through given the events of the last several minutes or so. Shido would now know what Vivio was, he remembered who she was, and now he was aware that something was up.

The reawakening of Shido was meant to be a gradual process, done so in an environment that he would be comfortable in, which was the singularity the entity had created. Forcibly causing his memories to come back all at once through crazy situations, would have forced the "bad" memories, the ones behind his PTSD that they recently learned about that would cause the entity to lash out again and continue its rampage.

It was all good that the situation, at least for now, had deescalated and that there was room for discussions, but there was something else strange that was afoot.

The Herrschers had no idea who the Classic Order was, or at least not that familiar with them. All they really knew about it was based on what Shido had described when he had been briefly stranded in another reality back when the Foundation was experimenting with Inter-dimensional technology and an accident occurred.

No one really thought much of it at the time after Shido was recovered, marking it as just another incident that the guy had gotten himself involved in as usual. But it begged the question.... how had they gotten their forces here in the first place?

As that question loomed over the heads of the four, the space above the city would begin to ripple.

A large, white and blue Aircraft would hover above the city, taking up much of the sky as its presence dominated the air. The four Herrschers didn't appear to be all that concerned about it as they knew exactly what it was.

The Fraxinus Excelsior.

One of the flagships of the Ratatoskr Foundation, having been cloaked above the singularity the entire time monitoring the situation. Immediately following its reveal, a small spherical device would be deployed from the aircraft as it hovered down to the group below.

It eventually stopped beside the four Herrschers and would be revealed as some kind of projector of sorts, as it would display a holographic image of a person.

The image would be that of a girl around Fumiko's age, long red hair tied into twintails, and was seated in a chair with an expression that told them she was not pleased at all.

"Hi there. This is Commander Himeko Fujimaru of the Fraxinus Excelsior. If you're done shooting lasers all over the place and playing tag with my brother, I'd like for us sit down and debrief you on the situation from the perspective of our end, hear you guys out and hopefully work together to get this resolved without any more damage or risks of triggering an XK Event. Sound good?"

[valorousflower]

Colonel Eddy of the Classic Order, he was the extreme circumstance of a critical, seemingly hopeless situation. As the Desolation unleashed calamity upon the world, he was the herculean powerhouse to dish it back towards them. Some may have compared him to the Eradicator, who has single-handedly taken out the rest of the Desolation and their leader, Lord Ctelozapth.

Heroes take on true evil. But, were these four beings and beings of the singularity truly the ones who are evil? This was becoming increasingly difficult for Colonel Eddy and Fumiko to take on, with the added reinforcements of the third party, or perhaps, the FALLEN's servants.

Eddy was convinced, that these women were the FALLEN's servants. Though, Fumiko was having second guesses.

Fumiko took the blows to the face and gut, falling down to ground level, before recovering and flipping multiple times, landing on a rose circle that broke her fall, one foot crossed over the other, in a refined stance.

She took a deep breath, overcoming her fears once more, before walking up next to Eddy, facing the four women.

Colonel Eddy had his coffin right behind his back, held by a chain.

"You four.. you must be the FALLEN's servants."

He declared, before spinning around his coffin at ludicrous speeds with his chain, and swinging it down against the ground, creating a larger crater than before, even crumbling the buildings right next to him. Fumiko was having second guesses, wanting to prevent a fight as much as possible. For Eddy, it must be done.

Fumiko became notably closer to Eddy, even reaching out to his arm, like a daughter to her father.

"You four must stand aside, or pay the price. The FALLEN has been marked as a Deity-level threat, and Fumiko for the longest of times has been concerned over her friend that she has fought alongside against the Desolation, Shido Fujimaru. We lose him, we have no means of resolving anything and everything."

"But."

He picked up the coffin with both hands, the coffin opening. It unleashes a gigantic two-handed sword, pulsing with a blue energy. While it was meant to be two-handed, Colonel Eddy defied it, and held it with one hand, and the coffin in the other.

"Get in our way, and you will all be beaten into submission. None of you will recover until it is all done."

"So."

"What is it going to be?"

Fumiko shook her head. It was all starting to make sense now. She came to her senses. Colonel Eddy wasn't having it, and couldn't take the risk of trusting any of them. She shook his forearm, and looked up at Eddy.

[sign language]: "These are not the enemies, I can tell."

Eddy looked down at the little Fumiko, and shook his head back at her.

"We cannot trust them. They have come out of nowhere to take Shido, very suddenly and with little explanation. If we back out now, RSP-3812 will destroy everything."

[Sergeant Ed]: "Omniscient Tank has arrived, sir. Minus 4 minutes."

A bright light of a body emerged from the boundary, just outside of the city. In a mere instant, he sped towards the city. With the Omniscient Tank's radar, it was easy to detect all the lifeforms in the area, as well as the chatter that went on.

It was.. the legendary Champion himself. No one else moved that fast. He was the fastest of them all.

"She's right, Colonel."

At nearly ten thousand times the speed of light, he had appeared in the midst of the encounter, standing in front of giant fortress of a man, the younger Champion, and the four women.

Another man in near-futuristic, but lighter armor, having a bright light aesthetic to it, marked golden. As the bright light around his body subsided, it fully revealed the man in armor.

"These four are not the enemies, only a third party. We're all wasting our time here, just fighting it out. Both the safety of Shido Fujimaru and the universe are at stake right now. We must collectively initiate a plan together to resolve all issues, by any means necessary."

"Champion Lightstrike.. you've come earlier than I anticipated."

Legendary Champion - Dave Vincent, The Lightstrike

"My speed, I managed to slice open the boundary utilizing all of it, as well as the attack potency of my sword that shredded through the barrier. Ran about 60000 times around the Earth in a second to gain the most momentum with my swings.. it was.. real hard to break apart."

The Colonel nodded at that, and lowered his weapons. He approached the four women.

"Why didn't any of you tell me this beforehand? We could have avoided all this wild partying."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"

The screams of Xia rang out as the Share Barrier she formed around her was under assault. She was putting everything she had into maintaining it, but even still it was taking its toll.

She wasn't going to hold out much longer.

That feeling was already starting to sink in as she was starting to regret not accessing her Ascended Form earlier the moment she had trouble with this guy.

In her Ascended Form she could have at least been able to get in closer and render him obsolete in a single strike, but she opted not to because she thought he was only some ordinary soldier in highly advanced gear. She felt there was no need to use such a powerful form at the time.

With Eddy's further strikes, the barrier had cracked. It hadn't broken completely but it was cracking up. Her attempts to repair the damage would only delay the cracking of the barrier.

She couldn't keep this up.

She had already fallen to one knee as she held onto her sword, stuck into the ground as she desperately tried to hold on.

-

The more Shido watched, the more angry he was starting to get.

This was too much. At this rate, Vivio was going to become seriously injured or worse. he remembered her. Her name and what she meant to him. Remembering caused his head to pound with a migraine as more memories were threatening to emerge but he ignored that.

It gave him no answers as to the wider picture of this situation, but he could come to a conclusion of his own.

Vivio had come down here to save him from these people, who wanted him for whatever reason, and that they were willing to do anything to ensure that their objective was completed.

Even if it meant brutalizing ordinary delinquents if they so happened to get in the way.

Even if it meant unleashing the artillery of an entire fortress on a single girl.

As far as Shido was concerned, there was nothing heroic about this. All he saw was someone who thought that overwhelming force was the only way to resolve a situation.

He had been about to make his attempt to get free right then and there when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

He would tell it was small and round as it rolled up towards him and Fumiko, but by the time he could even tell what it really was, it was too late.

"Wha----"

Shido's entire field of vision turned white.

The entire rooftop had been seemingly lit up as both he and the girl restraining him would have been unprepared for such an occurrence and blinded as a result of the strange device going off.

Shido's ears were also ringing, as whatever had just went off had not only targeted their sight, but hearing too.

Shido could not see or hear anything, but he could feel some slender arms grab him and pull him away somewhere. For Fumiko, immediately following the flash, she would have felt a strong kick to the face and another to the gut, causing the release of Shido in the first place to facilitate him being grabbed.

As he felt himself being pulled along by someone, his hearing was slowly coming back, albeit very muffled and barely audible. He could hear the voices of several other people he couldn't recognize, though he could make out they were female.

"I got him!"

"Good! V, open up a portal quick!"

"Gotchya. Crostie, do your thing!"

"Yeah, Yeah, I got it!"

Shido's vision was starting to come back. As it slowly began to clear, he could make out two girls - one with a bright lavender colored hair and another with black hair grabbing him and rushing him towards what he could only make out was a glowing purple vortex of light.

The person who was closest to Fumiko, the one who most likely attacked her looked to have the same shade of colored hair that Vivio and this other girl had. In fact, now that Shido's vision was clearing, he could make out that she looked like.... an older Vivio?

What even was going on?

-

Crack.

Crack.

SHATTER!

It had been too much.

A good part of the barrier had shattered thanks to that last attack, leaving an opening for her to be attacked. She screamed as she was overwhelmed by the constant attacks, blood spilling from her lips as she pushed herself too far and was now wounded.

Through the pain she was experiencing and the chaos she was subjected to, Xia could only think about how badly she messed up. If she fell here, then Shido would be taken. These people would likely subject him to whatever it is they wanted to for the sake of the world, likely killing him in the process while also potentially triggering the Manifestation to lash out and kill them all.

It appeared to be hopeless....

But something unexpected would happen.

Several spears with green tips would fall from the sky, not aiming for Eddy himself, but the orbs he deployed to attack her. One by one, the orbs would be taken out by these objects, reducing the attack pressure on Xia.

A crystalline sigil-like construct would manifest and be sent towards Xia..... or rather the space above her. The orbital attack would be blocked by this thing as it would do more than simply shield her, but also reflect the laser back where it came from, the construct likely having some magical properties that facilitated this phenomena to occur.

And lastly, the final attack was directed at the Colonel himself

Four blades of energy would fly in his direction, sticking themselves into the ground as they surrounded him. The colors of the blades were Red, Green, Blue, and Pink, and each glowed vibrantly.

These blades would form some kind of barrier, or territory around the Colonel, but make no mistake this was no protective barrier. This was designed to trap him and to employ certain effects upon him while he was trapped, based on the authorities these blades seemed to carry.

At the wielder's choosing, the gravity with in this field was increased, making it difficult for him to move around freely. Xia looked up as she saw three figures descend in front of her.

These three women bore some striking similarities to Xia, suggesting they were of the same type of being she was, but obviously looked different enough to be distinguished from one another.

"You.... You guys finally came."

"Hah, of course we did. It's a wonder you even lasted this long against an enemy like this by yourself, Vivio."

【TENEBRIA: Herrscher of Xenokuni】

"You had one fucking job Vivio. Now we gotta step in and save your ass and Shido. Well, what else is new anyway."

【GLACEA: Herrscher of Ymir】

"I must say it is rather fortunate we arrived when we did. I dare not think of what were to happen were we a moment too late."

【VERIDIA: Herrscher of Elysium】

The Herrschers of the remaining nations of Gandstadt had finally arrived on the scene. With her friends now here, there may actually be a chance to turn this around.

[valorousflower]

Colonel Eddy was the aggressor here.

Alongside Fumiko, he has fought many of Japan's greatest threats. Through the symphony of supersonic bullets, beams and laser, he had always remembered the Desolation's best of the worst in the back of his mind.

To have fought alongside a brave young girl like her, it was an honor.

Eddy wasted no time in going in, strafing forward at Xia with his sniper rifle, currently on an overload mode as the fire rate started to pick up. The laser remained in place as the Colonel would notice that the bubble of energy would make the likes of Xia stationary. Three or four more gray laser drones popped out of the coffin which was behind his back, firing more.

Eddy got closer and closer, until he was fully closer quarters.

"You're going down."

[Major Tom]: "That's it, Colonel! Give it to her!"

EAGLE FLY FREE

That was his signature move. His body turned bright blue and his coffin bright red as he switched into it, as he leaped upwards into the air, 90 degrees above Xia. He spun in a full 720 degrees before delivering a fully-loaded, fully-powered coffin swing to try and break the bubble of energy, and even to try and wound her in the process.

This was too much for Fumiko to see., but.. she understood.

He had always said to his men, "You want the best? Here I am." He never lied about that, in whatever mission he was in against the Desolation. Eradicating Desolation bases, sabotaging and destroying superweapons, saving the lives of soldiers and civilians alike, and eliminating Desolation Elites and Grandmasters.

This was a world to be free of conflict and strife. Colonel Eddy was there to take it back through force against the Desolation, and to bring the countries, especially the United States and Japan, to a glorious tomorrow.

Eddy Kozlov, Freedom's Force.

(Just how many weapons does he have access to?!)

Xia mentally exclaimed, upon the deployment the laser firing spheres, the orbital laser being fired from above, in addition to the massive sniper rifle. Xia was now facing a three front assault, seemingly designed to limit any chance of a counter attack she could make.

She was already on the move, flying about as she did her best to avoid the lasers, trying to keep out of the range of the orbital strike, while also being mindful of the rifle.

It was like she was dealing with three different attackers at once.

Admittedly, when it came to facing down multiple opponents at the same time, especially with this much heat, she was somewhat weak against. That was what led to her defeat during the Holy War when the other Herrschers had ganged up on her in the Floating City of Audapapadopalis way back when. It seems even now she wasn't quite acclimated to dealing with such overwhelming force.

-

Through out all of this, Shido only really had one question.

Why?

Why was any of this happening in the first place? Because of him? He knew that these people wanted him for something, but what that was he did not know. The purple girl, Xia, he heard name herself, said that she was his best friend. He didn't remember meeting someone like this --- he was sure he would remember a person as extraordinary as she was.

And yet, he could feel a strange sense of familiarity. Some deeper part of his mind was telling him that Shido did indeed know Xia, that she could be trusted.....

.....And that she was also in trouble.

Shido thought this was too excessive. It was crazy that this amount of firepower being used against a single girl was way too much. Was he trying to kill her? he wasn't sure, but if this continued, she wasn't going to be standing much longer.

(....Damn it. I'm not sure who's the 'good' guys or the 'bad' guys in this situation, but she said she was my friend. I don't know the full story, but even so, can I really just let this continue?!)

Even if he wanted to do something, he couldn't. He was restrained by this girl next to him, he was on a rooftop and unable to reach Xia in time, and he had no real way of taking on that human fortress. He would be obliterated within seconds if he went down there.

The sound of the rifle being fired rang out, and with clarity, he instinctively called out a name he had suddenly remembered.

"Vivio!!!"

-

"....?!"

The familiar voice had caught Xia's attention. Even though she heard it many times before, in this case, it gave her a sense of a terrible omen.

"He" was starting to remember.

Memories of Shido's life were beginning to surface, and the first of those was none other than Vivio herself. She could only curse as she feels she let the situation get out of control the way it had.

The orbital laser was moving ever so closer.

The drones continued their assault.

And the sniper rifle had fired several bullets heading her way.

Realizing she couldn't evade all of this at the same time, her only option was to form a defense that she would have to do her best to maintain. Thrusting her sword downward, the purple aura around her body expanded into a bubble of energy with electrical surges, manifesting a barrier of Share Mana that fended off the bullets, the lasers from the drones and the orbital strike.

While this would protect her from any direct hits, at least from the offset, forming a barrier like this was quite taxing for Xia. Defense wasn't the area she excelled at, and she knew that doing this would not just cause strain on her energy reserves, but would pin her down in a single location. It was risky but it was her only option in such a situation.

At any rate, she was struggling to keep the Share Barrier up as the orbital strike hit, causing her to strain herself even more to keep up her defense.

[valorousflower]

Eddy had a different mindset. While Fumiko stayed by the sidelines, Eddy was confident in taking down Xia in the given time he had. He didn't need the legendary Champion Lightstrike to finish up business here. He opened up his coffin once more. revealing plain, floating gray spheres that also hovered around the air.

At an instantaneous speed, they all scattered, and started firing out short-burst blue lasers at the woman. Eddy was no one-dimensional combatant. He had decades of experience and knew how to access a situation as well as execute his attacks greatly.

He took out a super heavy sniper rifle, extremely bulky and heavy in its own right. On its barrel, it had the white name tag of "CWR-2", loaded with an extensive mag of supersonic rounds.

As the gray orbs kept up the fire, he strafed from left to right continuously, and breathed in as his scope was at the ready, aiming for Xia's upper torso. She was fast, evident by her ability to dodge the bright blue energy sphere. Aiming for the head would be selling it.

Two dimensions of fighting wouldn't be enough for him. He was a super heavy powerhouse, after all. He tapped his right red lens, the lens transforming into a firing mode, calling down an orbital laser. A bright blue beam in the current position of Xia, indicating yet another form of attack.

"Eat this."

A slow-moving, orbital laser fired down at Xia 90 degrees, slowly moving and chasing down Xia to wherever she may move to. It's arguably the slowest of his three forms of attack, but now, she had to deal with his sniper rifle, laser drones and orbital laser.

He wasted no time in firing his sniper rifle, the sniper rifle shooting out, having a rhythmic fire rate as he kept up the fire.

Fumiko was anxious. Was Colonel Eddy going too far with the power level of his attacks, or was his experience going to show and ultimately exercise the control of his power extent?

An expression of surprise fell upon her face when she saw Eddy taking a swing at the attack, which instead of exploding upon contact, the sphere had been altered, at least in coloration, and was reflected back at her at an even greater speed than it was thrown.

It just barely missed her as she was able to move over to the right, the orb whizzing past her way too closely for her liking.

She however didn't have time to catch her breath as the large mines quickly followed after, causing her to act quickly.

Using her Teleport ability, she warped herself several meters back to gain some distance from the explosive projectiles, slashing outward with her sword <Critical Edge>, to send a wave of compressed air at the mines, cutting through them and causing them to detonate early.

However, Xia had miscalculated on how far away the mines were, as the mines had been close enough to the point where the shock wave of the explosion still hit her like a sucker punch that sent her flying back toward the ground, though she was able to avoid crashing into it outright by regaining aerial control.

She no longer had the high ground, and she was somewhat singed, but it could have been worse had she taken on the explosives head on without protecting herself.

(....This one seems to excel in long ranged combat from what I've seen so far in addition to having countermeasures against energy based attacks. Which means I need to find some way to get in close before he can utilize his artillery effectively.)

Xia stared at the enemy trying to find any weaknesses or openings she could exploit in her favor. She had initially pegged Fumiko to be the hardest of the two threats, but from what she was able to tell, the man was no small fry either. This wasn't some brute she could outsmart and overcome with relative ease.

She debated on whether to use the Ascended Form, but she refrained as it would take up too much energy if she decided to go all out with it, leaving her depleted and vulnerable for a time later. It was still a new form she had been getting used to, so she would not use it carelessly unless the situation became dire enough to warrant its usage.

Perhaps instead of trying to end the fight, she could attempt to stall long enough until the others arrived. He may have been able to take on one or two Herrschers by himself, but three and beyond she doubted, at least not without back up. So far it was only Eddy and Fumiko that were the main combatants here, however she had no idea if there were anymore of these Classic Order members in the city besides these two.

[valorousflower]

It seems that this third party didn't know Fumiko's and Eddy's intentions. Fumiko in particular wanted to save Shido, while Eddy does what he does best: save the world from the atrocities that have been spawned by Xeth. This however, is a far different ballgame, far beyond his comprehension. RSP-3812, or the FALLEN was a different story and territory that he however, has no problem taking on. Taking on something so new and different, he was going to get it done.

It was the right thing to do.

But, neither did Fumiko and Eddy know who this person or even group was. Too much needed to be found out about, and that was through sheer combat.

Eddy kept up the fire, even as he noticed that Xia was avoiding the bullets well. He noticed well of the distance the woman was trying to gain, and he had to cease fire to come up with a different tactic.

It was at that moment, when he quickly drew out his coffin, it glowing a bright blue, then red, then blue, then red, then blue.. at an enormously fast pace. It stopped at blue. The Classic Order was known for taking on the Desolation whose superhuman combatants consist of dishing out energy attacks, and Eddy was no exception in gaining modifications to counter them.

With full herculean, super strength, he swung powerfully at the purple sphere, the sphere turning a bright blue. It turned a bright blue just like the coffin, and reflected back at Xia at unreal breakneck speeds.

To follow up, he decided to go on the offense after his counterattack. The huge incendiary mines flied at Xia, following up after the bright blue sphere, to eventually possibly explode around Xia.

BGM: Unknown Frontier

Xia didn't know a single thing about the Classic Order, or this "Desolation" for that matter, as this was the first time she was hearing about them, and the fact that not even Himeko and the Ratatoskr Foundation seemed to have prior knowledge of this group told her they must have come here from another world.... and if so, why were they here trying to kill Shido ( or the thing that had hijacked his body rather)?

She had no idea what was going on herself anymore, but from hearing what they intended to do, she knew she could not trust them with this situation. They were going in guns blazing, intent to kill someone who didn't deserve it nor was even in control of his actions, without even understanding the possible risks involved in making such an attempt.

She couldn't reach Shido right now.

Even so, she would beat this man and deal with the girl holding Shido captive once that was done. She could tell these were no ordinary enemies though. She was wary of Eddy and was cautious of Fumiko due to not understanding the nature of her abilities. An approach of caution would have to be taken in this fight.

Once the minigun-type weapon started firing, Xia kicked off the ground, flying to the left to avoid getting shot down. To gain more space and range, she had warped herself once again, this time back outside into the streets as she was now airborne.

While she could easily close the distance and directly attack now, she was aware of those incendiary mines floating around him. It would have been silly of her to attack head on with those things around, so she sought to deal with those first.

Manifesting a purple sphere of Share Mana, slightly larger than the size of a basketball in her hand, she tossed it straight at Eddy from where she was above at an impressive speed.

Whether it hit him, hit the ground next to him, or shot down, any sort of impact would cause the orb to explode. Xia hoped it would explode next to him, taking out those mines around him.

[valorousflower]

BGM: Daisuke Ishiwatari - The Kiss of Death

Colonel Eddy slammed his chain down, the coffin creating a medium-sized crater from the colossally strong impact. He was a man of steel, of strength even greater than Fumiko's. Some consider him to be a United States Champion, having worked with the likes of the Legendary Lightstrike and Quadshot in defeating the first Desolation Grandmaster ever.

He was ever ready to fight, as battle and war flowed through his veins like no other. The Classic Order was meant for these kinds of threats, and was more confident than ever in taking on a Deity-level threat.

"Colonel Eddy Koslov, Colonel of the only Super Elite force on Earth, the Classic Order, operating in the Classic Order superfortress of Japan. We have liberated the ancient yet advanced evil force known as the Desolation from the world, and we have no problems in eradicating the FALLEN. You know not of the weight of the world if Shido is not in good hands. Our will is soaring strong."

The giant man looked unfazed by her transformation. The Colonel has faced off many beings of various powers of the Desolation; this might as well be in his backyard to fight the likes of Herrscher Xia.

"We fight with honor, and I will fight you alone. Fumiko, get to height with Shido."

Fumiko was anxious about this fight, but.. she complied. She jumped up high into the air with the tied up Shido, landing on the edge of the rooftop, letting Shido watch the fight as he gripped him tight.

"The Indomitable One.. he cannot save us. He is off fighting off the forces of Xeth in his mission of vengeance, while we are left alone with a potentially universe-destroying entity of negative energy."

The Lightstrike.. he was bound to come soon. However, the boundary was notably getting more powerful as time flowed by with Eddy and Fumiko and this third party, and required a reinforced structure like the Omniscient tank.

The Lightstrike was the greatest Champion, and a last resort. Things were becoming more unexpected by the minute.

"[Sergeant Ed]: Omniscient tank's ETA is 10 minutes, sir."

Colonel Eddy opened up his coffin while it stood vertically, revealing a powerful minigun with laser rounds. He wielded it in his hands. At the same time, massive incendiary aerial mines followed up coming from the coffin.

"You'll regret this."

He began firing out a tremendous amount of bullets, his aim top-notch, the laser bullets having unreal stopping power in its own right. The incendiary mines were on the defense, flying around Eddy.

The two had no idea where they were going at this point. Vivio had a location in mind, but with all of the attacks and impediments thrown at them, she had to constantly change her path on the fly and find ways to at least prolong their escape attempt.

As such, they were running through the building, trying to find some route they could use to slip into the night. There had been a moment where she had thought they had genuinely lost them.

That was until they felt the affects of the stun mines hit them from the other side of the wall they were running along side with.

Confused as to what just happened, the two found themselves freezing in place as they were stunned. The next thing Vivio noticed, Shido had been grabbed by the rose whip and was pulled in. Shido wasn't able to fight back as it had been too sudden for him to react. And even if he tried, the girl was far too strong for him to be able to physically overpower by himself anyway.

Looking up, Vivio sees Shido was now captured by the enemy, the huge man having now joined up. The situation had taken a critical turn and she now had to turn this around.

"Yeah right.... like I'd just let you whisk off with him to do whatever!"

She would straighten herself, violet eyes staring forward as she glared at them. If it was anything she and Shido were notorious for, it was their tenacity and will power to get done whatever goal they set in mind. And right now, her goal was to get her friend back.

A fight would be inevitable.

"And yeah, of course I would! Wanna know why? Cause' he'd so the same for me and anyone if the roles were reversed! You've got no idea how much he's done for everyone even if he doesn't remember and everyone takes for granted! That's why, I won't leave my friend to you. If you wanna take him, you'll have to pry him from my cold, dead hands, buddy!"

BGM: XIA / First Link

Violet eyes would suddenly flash a vibrant blue, glowing almost as if they were artificial. But this was no light show, and in the next few seconds, these two were going to find out.

Her body would glow a bright purple, almost blinding until the light exploded out, revealing that the girl from before had been replaced by a young woman with darker, longer violet hair, blue eyes, a black and purple combat suit, bright purple wings of light and a dark sword that was about as tall as she was.

The Herrscher State.

It had been agreed upon that she or the others would avoid using these forms in front of "Shido" to avoid further complications to the already sensitive mission, but that had already been thrown out when they started firing orbital lasers into the Singularity.

They had captured Shido after her failure to get him to a secure area, now she had to get him back, before they decided to dissect him or trigger a XK-Class event by forcibly triggering "Shido's" memories.

A powerful aura surrounded the woman as she pointed her sword at them, the Share Mana flowing through her very form as she spoke, her voice noticeably deeper to match her current appearance.

"I am Herrscher Xia, Holy Patron Unit of the nation of Aetheria, and the best friend of Fujimaru Shido. His protection and the resolution of this singularity lies with me, along with the other Herrschers of Gandstadt and the Ratatoskr Foundation. I will not let you take him. Release him, or I will be forced to use violence."

Her words carried an edge to them as she floated there, unwavering.

Right now, she could only hope to get him away from them and hold them off until Yuna, Noire, or any of the others arrived, as she was certain they were all aware of what was happening with the plan now.

[valorousflower]

Colonel Eddy had just noticed that they were somewhere nearby, very likely inside a building with the purple-haired girl utilizing her traversing powers. He took note of that. He decided to talk to Fumiko through Classic Order communication technology.

"[Colonel Eddy]: They're inside a building. Gotta be. Any one of these two buildings. Rose Pulse them out."

Fumiko Rose Grappled towards the largest building in the area, swinging upwards and flipping multiple times in the air. She calculated the amount of distance and likelihood of the targets' locations in the volume of area, managing to Rose Pulse both of the nearest buildings effectively with her white glowing rose, setting off another white outline on the girl and Shido, marking them for her and Colonel Eddy to engage again.

The huge aerial stun mines lined up on Colonel Eddy's control, circling around the building to aim for certain edges of the office building. These two seemed lost and unable to find the best route possible. Eddy and Fumiko remained calculated and precise in their engagement. The stun mines collided and exploded against the walls near Shido and the girl, the sheer power of the stun enough to affect the other side of the wall, hoping to stagger the two.

"[Sergeant Ed]: A nice cup of liber-tea! YEAH! You got 'em! Go for it, Fumiko!"

Fumiko was still in the air, flipping about. Timing and calculating her next move, she skydived into the ground, before landing on a rose circle near a window where Shido and the girl were navigating by. With her rose whip, she threw it at Shido and with her super strength, pulled him towards her, spinning him a great amount of times throughout, before holding him in place by her, gripping his upper arm with her other hand holding onto her whip that tied Shido.

Colonel Eddy ran right next to Shido, chain and coffin in his hand.

"Give it up. The Classic Order needs Shido for this mission. You really want to risk the entire world for him?"

He knew, he knew this wasn't the real one. The true Shido was the entity RSP-3812, but with this version of Shido, there were questions bound to be answered.

Colonel Eddy and Fumiko were at the ready, ready to fight if the purple-haired girl persists.

BGM: Phase_OUT

Vivio couldn't have been more happier now that the drones were taken care of, courtesy of her younger sister Yuna, but their problems were not over yet. Not even close.

Even as they spoke, she could tell that Fumiko was rushing ahead to cut them off, and even still the huge man was still giving chase, having deployed some aerial devices that she wasn't quite sure what they were, but knew she couldn't let those things catch up.

Vivio could tell "Shido" was confused about what was happening and yet hadn't shaken her off. This told her that he was trusting her, at least for the moment, which was good. She, along with the others had hoped their first interaction would have been smooth and seamless, but that seemed to no longer be an option. She'd have to deal with the aftermath once they got Shido to safety.

"Oh c'mon..!"

As if attempting to box them in wasn't bad enough, she saw a light from up above that was heading down towards them! A number of options were rapidly going through Vivio's head at once until she eventually settled on one that would at least prolong their escape attempt.

Glancing to her left, which would be towards nothing in particular from a certain point of view, though in actuality, she was looking at the building that they were beside and timed her following action with the orbital strike.

In literal seconds before the strike hit the ground, Vivio teleported herself and Shido into the building next to her, initially unsure if she could pull it off with the potential of getting them both stuck inside a wall or other object.

Fortunately, this didn't happen, as the two reappeared on the other side of the wall they were running next to, still in running motion. The pair would fall over, feeling the affects of the strike surge through the walls and hit them.

-

Shido felt his body lock up as he hit the floor, the painful and uncomfortable feeling surge though him in that moment. It took nearly every ounce of his strength to resist crying out from the shock, though when that happened, something else occurred.

It was brief, but for a second, he had a vision.

He was in a place that looked like an office, much like the one they were in currently, though of an older design and was bright yellow. In the flash he recalled a group of white featureless Mannequins towering over him, and in the next, was a young woman with long purple hair, wielding a black sword that was almost as tall as she was.

Shido wasn't able to make sense of this vision, but before he knew it, he was back in the real world, still on the floor in the dark office as he let out a light gasp.

Turning over to Vivio, he saw that she too was on the floor, though she was attempting to pull herself up with gritted teeth.

"H-Hey, are you alright?"

"Owie... yeah, I'll be fine, been through way worse than that but still...."

The girl said as she slowly pulled herself to her feet. Shido sat up, albeit slowly himself as he still felt like he had been hit full on with a tazer... which was basically what happened.

"C'mon, we gotta get outta here..!"

She extended a hand for Shido to take, which he did, helping pull him up as a result. Shido could tell she wanted hurry and get to wherever she wanted them to go. Even though it looked like they were safe for the most part, with people like that girl and the armored man hunting them down, as well as whatever resources they had on hand, they couldn't stay in one place for too long.

Whatever they were doing, whether they had already knew where they currently were, or were deploying something to track them down, Vivio and Shido didn't want to stick around to find out.

Having now stood up, the pair would push their bodies onward through a set of doors that would take them deeper into the building, unsure of where they were going but vigilant nonetheless.

[valorousflower]

Fumiko wasn't fazed when the two went right through her thorn wall. She had already planned her next move. She was moving extraordinarily fast, and she continuously navigated through the rooftops of the buildings. She front-flipped up in the air multiple times before bouncing off of a rose circle, launching her across the unknown-purple haired girl and Shido. When she was 90 degrees above Shido and the girl, she set off a Rose Pulse to give them a white outline for Colonel Eddy, giving him an opportunity for better targeting with the aerial stun mines.

After she landed parallel of the two on the other side of the building, she began Rose Sprinting past them to try and cut them off eventually.

The drones were dropping one by one, and eventually, none were left.

"[Major Tom]: Sir, the drones are being destroyed! The drones!-"

"[Colonel Eddy]: No matter. Fumiko will catch them, and I'm right behind them. They won't escape our grasp."

Eddy's aerial stun mines continued to give chase to the two. However, he decided to take a step further and tap into his red eyepiece, calling in an orbital EMS strike where the two would be more isolated from the citizens, a bright vertical blue light coming down directly front of Shido and the girl, temporarily stunning anyone in its massive radius.

"[Colonel Eddy]: Calling in orbital EMS strike."

Fumiko heard that, and had also already sped up directly in front of the two, and she was already aware of the orbital strike's true radius, and stayed clear of that. She had her Rose Whip ready.

"[Major Tom]: Sweet liberty.. this might actually be a third party. But.. why are they going against us? Don't they have the same goal as us?"

"[Colonel Eddy]: Hold your horses, son. We don't know yet. We succeed on this objective and we will know."

This was a confusing time, even for Fumiko. They had to get this done, no matter what.

Shido was beyond confused.

He was completely in the dark about what he had gotten himself wrapped up into, as part of him felt like he would have preferred having to deal with the delinquents instead of.... whatever this was.

He had no idea who those two people were, nor who this girl was dragging him along for that matter, though there was a small part of him that felt like she could be trusted. He was relying on his gut instinct at this point, which told him he would be safer with this girl more than anything.

He could see the other two giving chase.

Whatever they wanted him for, it was obvious that another chase would ensue, though with how fast the two were moving, especially Fumiko, he had doubts on whether they could actually escape.

He saw the thorns land on the ground in front of them, forming a wall that completely blocked their path, and yet the girl didn't stop running.

"U-Um..?!"

He glanced over to the girl, wanting to say something, but before he was able to, he found that his surroundings had changed slightly. The wall of thorns were now suddenly behind them and were quickly getting further away as the pair continued running.

From the point of view of the others looking in, Shido and his acquaintance had vanished in a bluish purple light before reappearing several feet ahead from where they were, by passing the trap.

It took Shido a second to realize that the girl had teleported them, her body briefly glowing before the light faded.

Even so, their flight didn't stop as they turned the corner, heading down a street that had more people out and about.

Within the earpiece the girl was wearing, a voice spoke through.

"Sis, there's a few drones up in the sky monitoring your position! I'll see what I can do about them, but as long as they're around, you won't be able to lose them."

"I hear ya, Viv Junior! I'll keep trying to shake these bozos off of us!"

As the two ran, elsewhere in the city, a figure had flown up into the air, some sort of rifle-type weapon in hand as it was aimed at the drones.

The triggered was pulled and a pink colored beam of energy had been fired, heading towards one of the drones to begin destroying them one by one.

[valorousflower]

It wasn't going to be that easy. Eddy saw it coming, and so did Fumiko.

He took the kick to the head, stepping back a few steps, however remaining in his standing position. Stunned, the next few seconds, he'd realize that machinery of an unknown origin would pop out smoke everywhere, giving the likes of the purple-haired girl and Shido himself a head start.

Regaining his consciousness. He picked up his coffin and slammed it against the ground harder than the previous slam, separating the smoke. He saw Shido and the purple-haired girl in the distance.

"Dammit. Must be one of the FALLEN's servants. No one else could have gotten into this boundary." Eddy looked over to Fumiko. "Fumiko, get height and stop them. We don't want her dead, just incapacitate her and we'll get answers."

Without wasting any time, the Champion grappled up to a large building with a white grappler whip, navigating and free-running through the top of the buildings, already getting a good sight of the two fleeing. She summoned horizontal and vertical white thorns that formed a wall, blocking Shido's and the purple-haired girl's current path.

Eddy was remarkably fast for his size, although not as fast as the likes of Fumiko who moved at massive hypersonic speeds. Opening his coffin, a plethora of jumbo aerial stun mines with the Classic Order symbol on each of them started flying towards the two, ready to detonate whenever.

"[Major Tom]: Damn. Who.. is she?"

"[Sergeant Ed]: Either a third party, or like Eddy said, one of the FALLEN's servants. Colonel, we have drones right above the two at all-times. They should be marked on your map."

The small Classic Order drones flowed through the air of the sky, scanning Shido and Vivio. Meanwhile, Fumiko and Eddy kept up their pursuit.

"...Eh?"

Before Shido could get any further away from the scene, he finds himself grabbed by the collar, unable to move any further.

The large man's presence was clearly felt as he stood over him, Shido couldn't help but to feel intimidated himself. But that aside, the man's words confused him.

False reality? Was he talking about VR or something? He didn't quite understand what he meant.

"W-Wait a minute, what do you mean? False Reality?"

He didn't know what was going on or why these people wanted him. All he wanted to do this evening was have a meal at a restaurant, he didn't want to be chased around by delinquents, or be captured by strange people.

It was getting dark out.

He was sure Himeko would be worried about him if he wasn't home past six. He contemplated about struggling but he knew he couldn't escape. The man could just as easily overpowered him if he tried to wriggle free and run off.

However, it was unbeknownst to everyone that a new figure would emerge from above, dropping down with a kick straight into the man's head.

Looking up, it was a girl of a rather small frame with short purple hair who had arrived. Despite her small size, the kick she landed packed a heavy weight behind it, which would have at least staggered the guy, if not outright cause him to tumble over and ultimately force him to let go of Shido.

She performed a flip in the air before landing right next to Shido.

"And she strikes the landing~! Sorry to crash in on your little parade here folks, but I can't let you take him. I'd like to stick around and explain, but I'm on a tight schedule here. Hit the smoke, Viv Junior~!"

Before Shido could even react to the current events unfolding, two white and purple drone-like machines would come flying out of an alleyway to the left and deploy several small orb-like devices.

The orbs would then let out a thick fog of smoke that caused Shido to cover his mouth and cough. At the same time, the purple haired girl simply grabbed his hand and winked.

"Don't worry, I'm here to save you from ol' muscle head there. C'mon!"

"H-Huh?! What are----?!"

Shido never got another word out as he found himself pulled along, the girl taking off into a sprint with Shido in tow into the streets.

[valorousflower]

Fumiko had frowned at Shido's deep train of thought and urge to walk away from this all. Although, she couldn't blame him. Being chased like that around the city by such.. brutal men would wear anyone out. For the likes of Eddy though, he was all business; no fuss, no nothing.

Colonel Eddy placed his coffin down horizontally on the ground. With more and more information being gathered about RSP-3812-1, it seems like it truly is a perfect replica of the once truly living Tenguu City. Drones of the Classic Order would come in and out to navigate and scan this area, and it was intriguing what the FALLEN was capable of creating. After all the destruction it has caused throughout Earth, it must have calmed down and resided in its territory.. for now.

Eddy grabbed Shido by his collar, preventing him from running away. An armored glove held him tight.

"Hold on, son. You're tied to a false reality. We need you for something." His American accent was as clear as day. He was going straight to the point with this one; no bullshit.

Fumiko stood there in silence, given the fact that she wasn't the one capable of talking. Was this really Shido? Where is the real Shido; the entity that they were meant to hunt down?

The sudden appearance of the whip in Fumiko's hand had already been enough to make the eight men wary of her, now knowing that this girl wasn't exactly normal to begin with, but the sudden arrival of the seven-foot tall man in black armor, huge chain-like weapon in tow, the "tough guys" were now the ones who were intimidated.

It became apparent to these guys that those two were not normal people they could push around, the tall guy especially they weren't going to mess with that!

"Man, fuck this! Let's get outta here!"

After taking a step or two back, the delinquents decided to just leave, some taking off running as they wanted to get as far away from there as possible.

(Who.... Who the heck are these guys...?)

Shido had that thought as he stared at the girl and the armored man.

They had saved him just now. That being said, he couldn't help but be curious. He had heard rumors and urban legends about Espers, and people who had strange powers, courtesy of his friend and Classmate Motoyatsu who goes on and on about that sort of stuff, but he never thought he'd actually encounter something like that.

The girl had displayed supernatural abilities by conjuring a whip out of nowhere, so it made sense that he would think she was in fact, one of these "espers" he's heard about every now and then.

The man, he wasn't sure. His first impression was that he was a soldier of some kind, but what kind of soldier carries a chain around like that? Was he going to use that against those guys if they hadn't backed off?

Shido was left with more questions and a sinking feeling that he should probably head home for the day. He had enough excitement for one afternoon, so he decided to casually walk away, hoping they wouldn't notice or were after him for some reason. T-They weren't after him, right? He was just a normal high schooler after all!

(...I don't know what's going on but I think it's time to head on home. Himeko might get worried if I stay out any longer anyway.)

Yep. He had those thoughts as he walked away-

[valorousflower]

Of course, Fumiko had fought far worse before. Far, far, far worse. Confronting and incapacitating Kawamura's forces in the past has given more experience over time, and even without it, she was already an extraordinarily capable and gifted fighter. Bravery intact, she didn't fear the eight huge men, and proceeded to confront them further by walking forward towards them, even with the knives and intimidating looks from them.

She summoned her Rose Creeper whip, whipping it around in motion before it laid down on the floor, its extent being great. It glowed a shiny white, and her stern look transitioned to a glare.

Fumiko didn't know if these men were truly human-level fighters, but she kept a wary mind.

"[Colonel Eddy]: RSP-3812's location is unknown still. The drones aren't enough. I need someone to deploy an Omniscient tank right off the bat."

"[Sergeant Ed]: On it, sir. One omniscient tank should be arriving with an ETA of less than an hour."

The Omniscient tank of the Classic Order.. was used to marking beyond just the enemies and landscape on its map. It has tracked the likes of Tragedy energy and even energy of the Calamity Effect, one which Xeth himself has conjured.

Omniscient was gonna do its job, but RSP-3812-1 is potentially the most dangerous place on Earth right now. Without its defenders, it was nothing.

"[Colonel Eddy]: Target acquired. Closing in."

Colonel Eddy revealed himself by leaping from a distance and in front of the eight men. He towered over them with a very built figure and being 7 feet tall. His huge coffin that he wielded by a large metal chain had Classic Order design, with a very concentrated color black. From top to bottom, it had various metal spikes. In front of the coffin, it had the name "Classic Order. United States" marked on it.

He slammed it down against the ground, creating a small crater around it from the impact. Colonel Eddy's armor looked near-futuristic, built and powerful, with the color black. He had one-len military glasses which was colored red, utilizing in his right eye.

"Enough, the eight of you. You're on Classic Order business. Leave, or be brutalized, punks."

His tone was utmost rough. Fumiko can't help but be anxious around Colonel Eddy's presence. The Classic Order had reached its global goal of liberating the Earth from the Desolation, and has been known to be truly legendary heroes ever since. Even back then, for centuries, they were the heroes of the world.

She hoped that the men would come to their senses and end this.

The sudden arrival of the girl landing in front of them caused the men to stop in their tracks, mixtures of confusion and rage evident on their faces. Shido would also stop, only after realizing that the men had stopped chasing him as he could no longer hear their footsteps, or angry yelling.

"...Huh?"

Confusion would also fall upon Shido's face when he saw what was happening.

If he had to hazard a guess, the girl looked to be around the same age as his younger sister based on appearance alone, though where she had come from was anyone's guess.

More than that, his concern was also evident in the fact that she was facing down eight angry guys who towered over her. Shido, despite being no stranger to a scrape himself, was smart enough to know there was no winning in a 1 V 8 confrontation. Not unless she was some kind of skilled martial artist.

Shido felt like he should say something, but refrained, wanting to at least see how this goes.

The men on the other hand, were less than pleased about this sudden development. A bald, tough-looking guy with a tattoo on his head stepped up and glared at her.

"Hey girlie! You better mind yo business and run on home before you get yo self hurt, ya hear me?"

Some of the others walked closer to back up their comrade, each of them glaring down at her while some slowly pulling out knives from their pockets and grinning, thinking there was no way this kid posed a threat to them.

[valorousflower]

Drones marked with the Classic Order emblem flew above the singularity. The city, which the entity had seemingly conjured. They scanned over the unknown energy that emitted and flowed, and Classic Order soldiers has gone to work in analyzing what it truly was. Champion Fumiko was in there, alone, and amidst all of the seemingly normal vibe, something was wrong for sure.

The drones flew in closer into the city, analyzing "Shido" himself and a bunch of big guys on the pursuit of him.

"[Major Tom]: Fumiko, can you hear me? Gah, horrible signal, but.. I think you can still hear me. I spotted Shido Fujimaru himself, yet I don't think that's him. I marked it on your map, get in closer to see what it is. Eight men are after him, but be wary of anything else that may pop up."

Fumiko nodded at this, acknowledging and hearing Major Tom adequately enough. Closing in faster onto Tenguu City, she was slinging through the city with her Rose Grapple. Through the back alleys, she navigated by running on the walls, flipped horizontally. Eventually, she would get closer and closer to the likes of the men and Shido, before jumping and spinning in the air at high speeds as well as at an angle, flipping multiple times downward before landing on her feet in front of the men, a rose circle forming beneath her feet, one foot crossed over the other.

Fumiko gestured for them to stop, her palm facing towards the eight men, a stern look marked on her face.

"[Colonel Eddy]: Closing in on RSP-3812-1. Armor's checked, weaponry and abilities intact. Things could get hairy real fast."

"[General Rose]: It won't take a long time for Champion Lightstrike to get there. Stay put, and take action until something comes up. Please, Fumiko can't die."

More Classic Order soldiers took base at the communications center of the nearest headquarters in Japan. They were analyzing this unknown singularity and potentially, even the entity. The entity however, was an extremely difficult target to identify at this point. Potentially even impossible.

Location: Tenguu City (?), Japan.

Timezone: 5:05 PM, JST

_______________________________

The city was as vibrant as ever.

Of course, to the world outside, everything that would be seen here was nothing more than a fabrication, a mimicry of what used to be, as the city had been destroyed about a year or so ago in an anomalous disaster. However, it was a mimicry that was as real as everything else beyond the boundary of the Singularity.

To the "people" that lived in it, nothing was any different. They all knew who they were, had their own memories and experiences and lived normal everyday lives within the city that had returned, blissfully unaware of the true nature of their own existences.

"Shido Fujimaru" was also one of those people. For him, his life continued on as normal, living as an ordinary person you could find anywhere in the world. He had friends, a little sister, went to school and got average grades. Overall, there was nothing in particular that seemed remarkable about him.

And he found no issue with how things were. From his perspective, Shido Fujimaru's life continued on as normal, for better or for worse.

"Oi! Get back here you little fucker!"

And in this case, it was questionable whether or not this was in the latter category.

“Ahh! Shit! Shit! God damn it! This is just too much misfortune!”

Even as he realized his cries sounded rather strange, Shido showed no sign of stopping his tremendous flight.

As he ran through back alleys during the evening, he glanced over his shoulder.

There were eight of them.

He ran frantically all over for almost 2 kilometers, but there were still eight of them. Of course, Shido Fujimaru had no way to win in a fight against that many unless he happened to be a former foreign unit’s cook or a cyber ninja that had survived to the present day. In a fight between angry guys, anything beyond 1-on-3 was out of the question. That could be called “impossible” even before taking any skill he might have had into account.

Shido kicked over a filthy plastic bucket and frightened off a black cat as he continued running.

It was "July 19th."

The fault lay in that date. Because summer vacation would start the next day, he was in such high spirits that he grabbed a manga at the bookstore despite a glance at the cover telling him it was no good, entered a family restaurant to treat himself, for once, to a nice between-meals snack, found a girl surrounded by clearly drunk delinquents, and decided that some rescuing was in order.

But,he had not expected more of their comrades to come swarming out of the bathroom.

One thing led to another, and now he was being chased around the city by eight guys that were twice his size. All he could do aside from run for his life was lament the misfortune he got himself into.

“I had to run out before the hellish Goya and escargot lasagna I ordered even arrived. I didn’t even get to eat anything, but I’m being treated like a dine-and-dasher. What kind of misfortune is this?! Gyahh!!”