Silence had fallen upon the room. All things considered, things were a bit calm. A bit too calm, one might say. Though, that only worked to their advantage, in Arctaius’ head, at the least. The last thing they needed was to draw any unneeded attention. Something that more yelling would most definitely attract. He continued leaning upon the wall, glancing between Valaria, and Maeda. The two, as he would expect, did not take their eyes off of him, nor the three he came here with. He stood up straight, as he began walking to the door, walking past Maeda as he did so.

“Now… With that being said, if you’re done interrupting us, we’ll be resuming our plans.”

Maeda turned on his heel

“Hold on- You can’t just randomly bust in and th-”

However, his protest was ignored, as Arctaius dashed out of the room regardless. He was left with his mouth agape, looking into the hallway. He sighed as he turned back to observe the other tides.

“He hasn’t changed at all, has he…”

Alarick decidedly ignored this, as he began walking as well.

“I’ll be going as well, no need to stay here.”

He swiftly ran out of the door as well, just as Arctaius had. Something that would draw Valaria’s attention, and her ire...

“What the- Get back here!!”

Soon, running past her, was Kazimir.

“Why would we do that- weren't you the one who wanted us to leave?”

Kazimir proceeded to dash out as well. Leaving Zhao standing on the balcony, alone with the two. For a moment, he lingered, glancing between them, before he began walking toward the door as well. As he grabbed the doorknob, he looked over his shoulder at them.

“Apologies for the trouble…”

Zhao soon walked forward, pulling the door closed behind him, and leaving the two in the room alone. After all that, Maeda scratched his head in confusion. The entrance of the four, how long they stayed there, and for some reason, the one he knew as Corde being with him? There was a lot that didn’t make sense here. Though, aside from his confusion, was simmering anger. Arising as he looked back upon the happening. He arched his brows, frowning.

“The nerve of those guys, busting in and then ignoring us like that…”

That word, US, caught Valaria’s attention, her gaze soon shot over to Maeda, as she pointed at him, soon, yelling once again.

“Who is US? You’re in trouble too!!”

His mouth was left agape at her response.

“HUH???”

The display did not go unnoticed. As the tides glanced back at the room, for a moment. Though they soon turned their attention toward one another.

“Well then. Considering that guy didn’t tell us how to get TO the throne room...We’ll have to find our own way.”

As Arctaius spoke, Alarick followed up.

“I assume that everybody has their Holo-phones active…”

Zhao and Kazimir nodded, as did Arctaius.

“Good, My plan is simple…. Split up for about 10 minutes apiece, and return to this spot for a rendezvous.”

“Right- I’ll mark the location on mine…”

He soon reached into his pocket, pulling out his holo-phone, as he tapped the side, the display came up. And, soon, the others did the same. Though, as Arctaius looked closer at his screen, he took notice of something. The Numerous missed calls, from Asami, Akashi, Yudei, and Shinto. And, as it looked to him, there were many. Though in his head, he knew he could catch flak for that later, at the moment, he didn’t have the time to worry about that. Wordlessly, he cleared his notifications and marked the location on another app.

“Time to move.”

Soon, they began to move away from one another, spreading out to find their target…

Though, the ones he’d ignored were having their own issues. While the tides made their way to Niopolis, within the Shima ward, the students of North Shima High carried on with their normal routine. Though what happened just a day earlier was anything but normal. With the apparent cause of the attack already deceased and more than enough of the ward left, they were able to, somewhat return to normal… Though one could not deny the effects of the attack, all around a certain Brunette, chatter about the events that would come to be known as the “Shima Inferno” would continue. The uniformed girl still had some negative thoughts run through her head.

Even with Arctaius’ words, she could not help but feel some responsibility. Though it was something she decided to ignore. After all, the thoughts she had would not change the results of the battle she saw, the very reason she’d come out. She took out her holo-phone, checking her notifications. But, aside from some unrelated messages, nothing.

“I take the time getting his number from ketamura… only for him to not pick up, is he already getting involved in something? Hopefully, the others have had better luck than I have.”

She soon placed it back into her bag, as she continued to walk down the street. Ignoring those around her, or, at the least, trying to. That was, until, she found one of the many pedestrian paths, lined with concrete. It was there that Shinto, Akashi, And yudei stood in a circle, talking amongst themselves. Though what they talked about eluded her. Though that wasn’t her focus, she soon began to walk toward them, catching Yudei’s attention, as his orbs moved in her direction. It was after this that he put his hand up, and the two stopped. Akashi glanced at him.

“Come on, I was in the middle of a st-”

“Later, She’s here.”

As Yudei cut him off, Akashi turned his head, and there, he saw Asami standing. Shinto soon turned his head as well.

“Oh, You’ve finally made it.”

“Took ya long enough…”

These words caused Yudei’s gaze to slowly drift over to the Youth.

“Akashi… You just got here like 5 minutes ago.”

Akashi glanced back at him.

“What? No, I was here first…”

Yudei scoffed.

“As If... If you were here first, Then Arctaius isn’t a proto-human.”

“He Is a proto-human, though.”

“Yeah, That’s kind of the point, Genius.”

“Heh, thanks.”

“I was being sarcastic…”

“I knew that. I was just playing along.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Says wh-”

Asami soon began stepping toward them.

“Can we stop wasting time with this… We have more important things to worry about.”

And, just like that, they went silent. Akashi pushed his glasses up with his fingers, as he began to speak.

“Right… Unfortunately, I've made no progress in contacting him.”

Akashi scratched the back of his head, as he began to turn his gaze down the street, away from the rest.

“Neither have I. And from what I know- Tanabe doesn't even have any of his contact information…”

Yudei began to lean on the wall behind him, closing his eyes.

“Makes sense… She isn’t too connected to us after all. I’m surprised he even gave you all his holo-phone number. Considering how many years he’s had that beforehand. But back to the important stuff- I got nothing.”

“So that means that none of us have…”

Asami sighed as she finished speaking. Though, unbeknownst to them, on the roof of a building, about five stories up, there stood three men. The one at the forefront, was a rather large man with an angular jaw, that, and the small wrinkles on his face, showing his age. Though, there was something that would make people recognize him in front of the rest, well, given they were with the same group. The clown-like markings around his eyes. Something that had given him the codename “Jester.”. Beside him, was another man, his body covered with thick black armor, and a cloak draped over his shoulders, of the same color. His face was unseen, courtesy of the helmet on his face. He was unlike the first man, given that he required the long gauss rifle on his back. This was the man who came to be known as Braunch. The final one, however, was a man just a bit shorter than Jester. Though his build was much stockier. A notable feature of his, the head of white hair on his head, that seemed to twist upward. Something that distinguished him from his contemporaries, the man known only as Han. Jester stepped forward, speaking in a deep, slow tone.

“There they are- Friends of Arctaius Corde, If we play our cards right, we can use them as a bargaining chip.”

The man with the rifle was the one to speak next.

“Right… We already screwed up enough in our last operation. We need to make sure we can get back on the field again.”

Finally, the third spoke.

“It’s three brats. The last thing we need is to fail to capture them. That ain’t the type of reputation hit you recover from.”

As Han cracked his knuckles, Jester bent his knees, preparing to leap off the edge.

“You got that right… Move out!”

Jester soon leaped off the building, soon followed by han And Braunch. The four continued their conversation, all the while, the rest continued to walk, unaware of their approach… At the least, until, in the corner of Shinto’s eye, he saw a shadow looming above them. Soon followed by Han landing to their left, cracking the ground underneath, braunch, landing to the right, though, much slower than Han. And, finally, Jester, landing in the center, directly in front of them. This display confused them quite a bit. Just who were these men? Jester soon pointed at his targets as he spoke.

“Friends of Arctaius Corde. You may call us the Jade Fang Triad….We’ve been sent here to “take care” of you.”

Part B

Asami stood in silence, as her gaze began to move between the three men, though she eventually began speaking, it is much quieter.

“H-Hold on a minute… These guys all jumped from that building- that one has armor, and a jetpack on, but. Since those two have none - they must be…”

Asami began to think back, about the words the one who Arctaius’ left with. The bald one wearing a monk’s robes. As her gaze zeroed in on Jester in front of her, the words echoed in her head.

“We don’t have an exact measure on their forces, but we know that they are widespread… And likely have strong Proto-Humans on their side”

Shinto frowned as he pushed his glasses up… If what she was suggesting was correct, this didn’t look like it’d end well.

“ Proto-Humans… Those who encounter Protomis or were the child of yet another proto-human…”

His words caused Yudei to raise an eyebrow, glancing over him.

“What did you say that for? That’s basic elementary school knowledge.”

Akashi’s gaze moved away from the unknowns, and back to his old friends.

“Forget that for a second. If what Hoshi is suggesting is right, and what the bald one said was true... These men must be from the Kaemerge!!”

With Akashi’s words, Their eyes widened in not only surprise...But Fear as well. The faces of all of those there are covered in surprise, aside from the ones who took note of the landing. Confused chatters erupted from the small crowd. Who were they, And what was the Kaemerge? As the sound of the chatter began to reach Jester’s ears, he frowned.

“That fool Yuutaro, he’s managed to let our name leak out… We’ll just have to fix his mistake… Leave no witnesses!”

His last words did not go unnoticed. Soon, the people on the street began their attempt to dash away, But braunch swiftly unslung his gauss rifle and began firing into the crowd. Booms echoed through the air, as the rounds flew out, tearing off limbs from those unfortunate enough to be in the path. Though, for those unlucky ones, they died instantly. Jester and Han glanced at each other, nodding, before rushing off to opposite sides of the path, ripping apart the bodies of those they came close to. To make matters worse, however, the two were much more of a blur to those in the crowd. Any chance of escape they had was soon dashed, Braunch’s continued firing, and the speed of the proto-humans. Soon, the firing subsided, and, the two Proto-humans came to a stop. And on the streets around them, were piles of bloodied corpses. Seeing the disfigured bodies. It implanted fear, it disgusted them. Though the four may have attempted to avert their gaze, by that point, it was much too late, they’d seen everything. Including the Triad beginning to approach them. The smile on Han’s face grew, as his teeth became visible.

“Alright, We made good time. Let me take out one of em’ haven’t got any kills in a bit.”

Jester glanced at him.

“Leave at least two of them alive. Don’t forget the mission.”

“Right.”

Soon, a blue light began to surround Han’s hands, pure plasma. Something those targeted took notice of, their gaze shooting over to him. The fear in their expression only continued to grow as he bent his knees, and leaped toward them. Asami closed her eyes as the man closed in, but… Was soon surprised by the fact that he wasn’t there.

Her eyelids parted slowly, as something caught her sight, the man had stopped, and, to his right, was another she didn’t recognize. A man with wild, spiky brown hair, that went all the way down to the middle of his back. His opened black leather jacket revealing a white t-shirt underneath. He stood there with a lit cigarette in his hand. All the while, Han stared at him with widened eyes.

“This guy… What level of protomis does he have?! And how did he manage to get this close without me or Jester s-”

However, his thoughts were interrupted by the blurred form of a fist smashing into his stomach, bending the man’s torso, and sending his head lurching forward. The man did not stop there, he pulled his fist back, throwing a kick at the man’s side, sending him barreling away. Destroying a building in his path as he finally came to a stop, rubble, and dust alike cascading outward. Even so, the man stood as if twere a simple annoyance, as if it was just another day. Even with the scene around him. Watanabe glanced between Jester and Braunch as he placed the cigarette in his mouth. He stood there with his eyes closed for a moment, before he removed it, exhaling the smoke. Holding it between his fingers as a deep voice came from his lips.

“Sorry, but I can't let you do that…”

Jester raised an eyebrow.”

“Just who are you supposed to be?”

“Who I am is none of your concern… But, eh, I see no problem. My name is Taiki. Watanabe Taiki…”

While this exchange took place, Han’s face began to twist into rage. His smile turned to a grimace, as he arched his brows. He soon hopped out of the building, the sound of which got Watanabe’s attention. It was after this that his eyes bore into the interloper. Even so, his expression kept the same disinterest, as he placed the cigarette back into his mouth.

“Who cares what his name is? He’s getting in our way!”

As he yelled, Han surrounded himself in the blue plasma once again, he clenched his fists, Bent his knees, and he jumped toward Watanabe. However, the man quickly stepped back, moving out of the way of the attack. Han was not finished there, however, he soon turned, and began to dash toward him again, beginning to launch out a flurry of strikes… Even so, the man danced around the strikes as if they were nothing, even having the time to remove his cigarette from his mouth. Saying a single word in the aftermath.

“Shift…”

Just then, the cigarette was soon surrounded by a green light, which seemed to obscure their view. Soon, the smoke stopped flowing, as the light began to expand, becoming thicker, and, much longer. As the light finally dissipated some moments afterward, in Watanabe's left hand, was a longsword. Soon, Taiki jumped back, moving the blade in front of him, and putting both of his hands on the hilt. All the while, the four, that looked to have been forgotten, stood observing the change.

“Wait... Where did that sword come from?”

As Asami spoke, Shinto began to look closer at the blade itself.

“I’m guessing that’s his ability.”

Soon, Han jumped away from the man, landing by Braunch. Jester soon did the very same, joining his allies. Jester soon shifted his left foot forward, as he put both of his hands in front of his chin, adopting his stance.

“This one’s no small- fry… We’ll have to take this seriously, I can lead the attack…”

Han nodded at his suggestion.

“Alright, Braunch, can you keep watch for anyone else?”

“But of course…”

Soon, Jester began his plan, dashing toward Watanabe, and kicking up winds with his speed, causing the hair, and clothing alike of those he sped past flowing. Even so, Watanabe stood there, unfazed at the man’s attack… Something that he wasn’t fond of, though, he did not dwell on it.

“No matter how strong you are, nothing can stop us!”

Though, as he spoke, Watanabe soon went to meet his charge. Soon, the two burst past one another, stopping 10 feet away from another. The two stood in silence, facing the opposite direction. Though what happened when they met each other was unknown, it was clear that they both made their attempt to attack the other. And, for what felt like minutes, they stood with the results unclear to them… At the least, until blood began to spout from Jester’s neck. And soon, his head slid off of his neck, rolling away from him soon afterward. Soon followed by the collapse of the man’s body. As for his allies, their eyes widened, as they yelled out

“Jester!!”

Just like that… One of his oldest friends was gone. Braunch wasn’t too sure he could do anything, but, even so, he wouldn’t let him get all three of them so easily. Braunch aimed at Watanabe and began firing rounds at him. Even so, it seemed as if he hadn’t moved. Braunch continued firing until he took note of something. He hadn’t heard any impact, aside from the sound of broken glass. Something that was a far cry from the sound of a round hitting a human body. Given that the man wasn’t a window… It could only mean one thing. His eyes widened as he took notice. The man was no longer there!!

“None of my slugs hit him… They’ve all gone into that building!! Dammit, Where is he now?!”

Braunch was taken by surprise as his question was answered, with Watanabe appearing right in front of him. Soon, taking a swipe and cutting through his armor like butter. With his head and shoulders removed, staining the blade, and Watanabe’s face with the crimson liquid.

“Is this it? I was expecting more…”

Han soon began to grit his teeth at his words, as he opened his hands. How dare he disrespect them like that, how dare he kill them!

“Dammit… Braunch, Jester… This won’t be the end of the jade Fang Triad-- Prepare yourself!! RADIANT MISSILE!”

Han threw his hands forward, as a ray of Plasma flew from his hands. The light that resulted filling the eyes of Arctaius’ friends, nearly blinding them as it barreled forward. However, Watanabe soon hopped into action, hopping over them, and landing in front of them. Soon, he stomped the ground, displacing the concrete under his foot. Soon, his hand shot out.

“Shift”

Soon, the layers of concrete changed, into not one, but five layers of solid tungsten. Though the first and second were destroyed. The attack lost its steam and soon looked to have dissipated... Han tsked as he began to prepare another attack… At the least, until-

“I sense movement… He’s above me?!”

As Han looked up, indeed, Watanabe was overhead, he soon brought his blade down onto his opponent. Han began to leap backward, in an attempt to avoid him, but- it was much too late, Watanabe began to cut across his torso time and time again, until his body fell limp, and he landed facefirst. Watanabe turned on his heel, not sparing the man a single thought. All the while, the man’s blurry gaze fell upon the man’s disappearing form.

“This is how it ends, huh… To think that the Jade fang Triad would die here…”

With this, Han, the last member, meets his end.

“Man... Is that it? That wasn’t even enough for a warm-up… I was hoping for more. REVERSE.”

As he invoked that word, the tungsten, or, at the least, what remained, returned to concrete, the very same happening to his cigarette. All the while, Asami and the others looked at the approaching man in awe.

“He- He took them out so easily?! What was that?”

Yudei’s mouth was left agape, though, he finally closed his mouth as Asami spoke.

“He saved us there…”

Watanabe stopped a few feet in front of them, shoving his free hand in his pocket.

“That wasn’t for nothing... You must be the ones I’ve heard so much about… Then I suppose you must know where he is, from what I know, he left the country…I’d like to find out where he ran off too.”

His words triggered something in Asami, she stepped forward, arching her brows.

“Why would we tell you that? How do we even know we can trust you??!”

Watanabe stared at her, his expression blank at her...Enthusiasm, especially given her volume. He soon pointed at her.

“You seem to be the most enthusiastic here… What are you- his girlfriend or something?”

Asami sputtered, as a small amount of pink dusted her cheeks.

“Gir- What?! How could you just assume that?”

Well...At the least, this could provide some distraction from what just took place. Something Akashi wasn’t opposed to, he stepped forward, reaching Asami’s side.

“What’s wrong with assuming that if he’s right!!”

Asami looked at him.

“But he isn’t!!”

Watanabe took another drag, watching this take place.

“Meaning that I am…”

Her gaze shot back to him.

“No, you aren't!!”

All the while, Yudei rubbed the back of his head as he observed the continued exchange of words.

“This guy… He acts like arctaius. Actually- considering his age, it’s more like… Arctaius acts like him.”

Asami crossed her arms, looking away from them. Soon silence had returned between them. And, yudei had found his opportunity.

“Watanabe-San, If you don’t mind us asking… Before we tell you where Taius is, can you

Tell us how you know him? We just can’t trust you enough yet.”

“... I suppose that makes sense, Fine then, I’ll tell you how I met Corde.”

His words began to trigger some memories… How he met Arctaius, huh?

“ Now that I think about it, arctaius has never told us much about his life before he met us… Maybe we can finally find out a bit.”

To Be Continued