May 6th, 2026.
"Hey, where are you?" The Detective asked, phone against his ear.
From halfway across the city, Icarus wandered the rooftops with one hand pocketed and the other holding his phone.
"With Kima. I managed to convince her," the Jester replied.
"Proud of you. Let's rendezvous in the forest, then."
By the time the sun had set, they'd arrived at their destination. Icarus entered the forest, both hands pocketed. Kima's purple eyes admired the surrounding greenery. This scenery's beauty was just as unmatched as it was the first time she witnessed it.
'Look at that. It's so beautiful. Man… if Katie were here, she—'
She stopped herself. The destruction of the world foretold humanity's end. And the one who invoked that destruction was none other than…
Chrollo's hand grabbed her shoulder. She looked at the Jester, then at the emerald blades around her feet. The environment blurred to her as she became lost in her thoughts that unconsciously turned into her words.
"What's the point of doing anything? Even if we deal with Katie and Alex before they manage to slaughter anyone, we'll have to deal with you. You'll just… keep coming… until there's nothing left. It's hopeless. We're all gonna die."
Icarus stared at Kima. Despite his past rejection of his true intentions, his intrigue was piqued. He felt unreasonable agony while he was torturing Ace, but that was to be expected. Being brutal towards humans often resulted in that outcome. Yet, this was entirely different.
He had hurt the others around her yet she stood well. This newfound ignorance within the human mind—was it unique to females? Perhaps, within Icarus, the declaration that he wanted to destroy the entire world was slowly turning false. Then again, it wasn't like his accomplices needed to know.
Before he could lull her into a chimera sense of security with false reassurance, he felt the ground rumble beneath him.
"Did you feel that?" He asked Kima beside him.
"Sorta…?" She somewhat agreed, sliding her shoulders into a shrug.
Icarus pushed Kima out of the way, having raised his left arm for the incoming lightning bolt to effectively crunch his limb. Though his arm was now gruesomely contorted, he had managed to protect Kim from stumbling into the crossfire. Following the projectile's absorption, Kim popped her head from the shrubbery, revealing her pretty white face.
"What was that for?!"
"Someone shot something toward me and I protected you?" Icarus recounted.
"Who's attacking us anyway?" Kim asked, interlocking her fingers to summon any of her Beasts.
"Pretty sure it's one of your idiot friends."
Icarus quickly regenerated his destroyed arm and shoved his hands right back into his coat's pockets. Having emerged from the bushes, Jefferson dashed down the path and immediately socked the Jester in the nose. As expected, Chrollo fell to the ground, blood leaking from his nostrils.
"Ow…" his leaned-back head groaned against the ground.
"What the HELL IS HE DOING HERE?!" Jefferson angrily asked.
"Calm down, Mr. Jefferson, he's here to help us!" Kim said, palms flat against the stronger man's chest.
"Why would we ever need help from scum like him?!" He spat, glaring down at Icarus from over Kima's shoulder.
"Cuz you're all too weak to deal with it yourselves—"
"What seems to be the problem here?" Azazel's voice abnormally originated from overhead.
The group upturned their heads, spotting the Detective standing tall against a tree branch. Upon announcing his presence, he jumped down and easily landed onto the grass behind Jeff. Kim removed her palms from the man's chest, instead turning around so she could extend her hand to the floored Jester. While Icarus stood, Jefferson explained the 'problem' to Detective Karlo.
"What do you mean? This is the same piece of shit who's threatened us for the past three years! Why would we ever need his help?" Darrell's genuine intonation questioned,
"Ace is out of the question considering he was closest to Katie and Alex. If June's with her brother, then we can't ask her, either. If we exclude him and the Founder's corpse he's puppeteering, it's just us four. Sorry but… just us can't beat what those two are capable of, even with Ace and June's help. So, for the time being, we'll be allying with the Jester. When all is said and done, we'll go back to being enemies again." The Detective sighed out the corner of his mouth and whispered, "Maybe then, one of you guys will finally be satisfied."
Darrell averted his gaze, his gritted teeth displaying blatant frustration. "I'm sorry, sir, but… I don't know if I can fight alongside him. It's just not right," he said.
"Frankly, I don't care what's right or wrong. You stay or you go. No one's forcing you to be here." Detective Karlo shrugged. "Thinking in terms of what's right and wrong is useless. Fight for what you believe in. That way, if anyone challenges what you're fighting for, you'll know… you're fighting for yourself," he said.
Jefferson's eyes turned dull. At the mention of himself, a dead man's voice rang throughout his head. Ryosuke Satoru's dead voice. Despite being his enemy, the Samurai's last words lived on within the heart of one man: his executioner.
'The Jester and I were never close so I doubt he'll be saddened at my demise. I was always just a tool for others. But you're my executioner so please. Don't ignore who I am. Don't ignore who you are. Don't forget… who you are.'
"Jeff!" Kim's voice called out to him.
He turned toward her. Newly standing beside the Detective was none other than the goggles-wearing brunette Natalia Smith. Seeing as how everyone was finally gathered, they could now discuss and strategize. So, Darrell reconvened with them, now standing beside Kim with crossed arms. The man's brown eyes falsely scanned his surroundings, his pupils inevitably ending up shooting daggers into the Jester's uncaring features.
'The Jester and I were never close so I doubt he'll be saddened at my demise…'
Right now, within Jefferson, his feelings could be simplified to but a single phrase.
'I'm going to kill him…'
While Darrell was debating how to murder Icarus in the future, Azazel was explaining not only the route they would take but how they would take it.
"Since there's no other way out of the city, we'll be using the bypass to hike toward the desert. Once we arrive there, we have equipment at the end of the structure so we can cruise through the desert and probably manage to get to the sea by Friday. From there, we take the ship to Europe and two days later, we should be able to evacuate Retly before the Tower descends from orbit. How does that sound to you all?" the Detective asked everyone around him.
"It sounds like wishful thinking," Nat said.
"Agreed." Icarus finished scratching his beardless chin, then dug into his bad pocket. "One second," he said.
Icarus spotted a nearby tree and then chopped it down with one hand, leaving nothing but the stationary stump remaining. He walked over to it, having finished unraveling the map from his pocket and spread it out over the makeshift 'table'.
"Okay, first off, even if we get to the port past the desert outside the forest, it's not gonna take two days to get from here to Retly. It'll take two weeks to get from America to Europe. By the time we get there, we'll be met with a blank plain," Icarus explained.
"He's not wrong. It took us four weeks to get from Retly and back the first time we went," Kima informed the Detective.
"I guess you're right. Then again, that's not our only option," Natalia said.
"Yeah, we can use a plane. That way, the longest we'll take is 10 hours—" Jefferson was interrupted.
"That was my initial decision. But we don't know if the Tower has any aerial projectiles that can knock us from the sky," Azazel suggested.
"How can you be so sure they'll attack us? Are they that ready to kill us should the opportunity arise?" Kim asked.
"Aren't we?"
The Detective examined the people he was surrounded by. Their conflicted expressions were predictable. In retrospect, asking them to slaughter those they'd fought beside and laughed along with—perhaps it wasn't right, perhaps it was, considering their situation. Regardless, Azazel realized his hypocrisy. So, he decided to say something about it.
"If anyone here has any reservations regarding the extermination of Katie Moon and Alexander Amara, say them now."
They were silent.
"Are you sure?"
The one who asked that wasn't Detective Karlo. Instead, those inciting words slithered off the Jester's lengthened tongue. Sinisterly smirking at all of them while the clouds above started bundling, soon roaring with unimaginable thunder. And with the thunder's arrival came the climatic shower, ounces of water descending upon their idle bodies. The motionless strands previously rested over his back began levitating above his head, now erratically moving every which way to mimic the lighting's signature chaos.
"Did you formulate this alliance while lacking the necessary determination to slaughter our enemies? How pathetic can you worms get? This isn't just some half-ass battle we're going to fight. If each and every one of you don't man up right now, you all can kiss your dirty world goodbye."
Icarus's words weren't as encouraging for some as they were for others. Just seconds after he finished speaking, Jefferson punched him square in the face yet again. As expected, the Jester fell; his face and black eyes utterly dull. Withholding his mocking laughter was too difficult, regardless of his floored build. His scorning cackling resounded throughout the jungle, spreading unnerved bumps across everybody's skin.
"That's ENOUGH!"
Detective Karlo's demanding voice was powerful enough to dissipate the Jester's villainous laughter. His manic expression reverted to a quiet smile, now standing tall after having wiped away the dust plaguing his pants.
"Disregarding how much of an asshole he is, Chrollo's right. If any of you lack the necessary determination, this fight is over before it even begins. Nothing can be done for Katie and Alex now. All that means is we manage to slaughter them without fail," Azazel informed the group.
"How can you be so nonchalant about this? Katie's your daughter. I thought this burden would be cursing you the most," Kim commented.
"Detective Karlo is capable of making the necessary sacrifice for the greater good. Maybe the rest of you should follow his lead," said Icarus.
Azazel nodded at the Jester, now looking at everyone else with surveying eyes. "Now that we've reached a consensus, I think it's best we head for the plains upstate," he said.
"Why? What's up there?" Kim queried.
"Rizia's plane. But they support Katie and Alex so we'll have to steal it." Detective Karlo pointed to Jefferson. "Copy Eternal Sight and scout on ahead. You, too, Kim," he ordered.
"What's the point in asking them to do that?" the curious Jester asked.
"If Rizia or Ace have already noticed we're missing, they know we only have two choices. It's more than likely that they're waiting for us there, awaiting the perfect opportunity to ambush us."
Just as the Detective predicted, there they stood, gathered around the parked plane.
Rizia, leaning against the aircraft's exterior, turned their head the tiniest amount to the left. Ace slid the newly-lit joint between his lips, lengthily pulling smoke from the spliff before puffing it out his mouth.
"You stressed?" the former Harbinger asked.
"A little bit," he said.
He took another inhalation from the spliff, removed it from his mouth, watching as smoke leaked from within moments later. Following his examination of the blunt with Eternal Sight's superior perception, he extinguished it against his lighter and sighed. His knees bent. Now crouched against the grass, his fingers slipped through his red-white hair.
"I can't say I blame you. This is a rather perilous situation we've been thrust into…" Kosuke trailed off, sympathetic gaze noticing his crouched build. "Ace, how do you truly feel… about all of this?" they asked.
His fingers interlocked. "For the longest time, I've felt I was searching. Whether it be a person, thing or place, it's all irrelevant to me if I deem it 'important.' If that something important was stolen, it wouldn't matter who or what I'd have to destroy until I had it back again. People close their eyes to spare themselves the truth. That wasn't the case for Katie. Despite how horrible the truth was, she'd always stare ahead at it with opened eyes. I don't know what she thinks but perhaps… There's some part of her that's the same as me."
"In what way?"
Ace's breath hitched. Holding his head with his right hand, he said, "I don't know anymore. I just wish things could go back to the way they were before. I still want to believe… we're doing the right thing."