Both out of fear of my fan's reaction to that chapter's ending and it being the New Year here's a present. Another chapter! Also, there was a chapter release before this today.
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Terror Infinity Side B
Chapter 13, Apocalypse Alice
- PENALTY 4, THE FALL OF HERO TEAM - NEGATIVE 1500 DEDUCTED.
Shin: Wha.. What happened?
Shin found himself laying on the floor of the chamber now cleared of monsters, with his head resting on a girls lap. The lap pillow was nice, yet Shin needed a moment to figure out what was going on. What gained his full attention was the face of the girl supporting his head.
It was one of the two woman he loved most in the world, Hikari. Shin hadn't seen Hikari since the beginning of the mission, which felt like a life time ago. If not for the sense of bliss from just laying on her lap, Shin wouldn't have hesitated to kiss his girlfriend despite being inside a dangerous magical Labyrinth.
Hikari: Shin, you’re awake!
Shin: Hikari? You’re alive. I'm alive? What happened? Where's-
Hikari: Shin don't talk. Misaki, Shuai, Kampa and I are all alive as well, so don't worry. Aqua and the others as well, but that's not important. We just took out those bullets in your body and you've just healed. We're taking a break right now, so please rest for a moment.
Hikari gently placed Shin's head down on the floor and ran to call the others, letting them know he was awake. Shin wanted to follow after her, but his body screamed for him to stop. He reluctantly listened to it. Shin was surprised that he was still alive, but he was certainly not well. Shin felt that all his wounds had healed, but his body still ached all over. He had been shot before, but this was the first time he's felt so afoul and the wounds weren't healing as fast as they should. It was still faster than the average human, but not as fast as it should be for someone with Shin's enhancements and having unlocked the Second Stage.
Shin: God, Varanium bullets hurt like hell! I'm beginning to feel sorry for the Gastrea.
Shinnosuke: What is this guy talking about? Also, is he really still alive? What kind of magic can heal him when he was unconscious?
Himi: I, I used my magic to try and heal him, but the recovery was far too fast. My healing magic isn't that powerful, so it wasn't me.
Shiro: I don't recognize any of the magic that any of these guys use, but that isn't rare is it? We didn't recognize any of Kiri's magic either and my own are unique as well. It's a big world where countries spend untold sums of money to bring back and research magic after all.
Shinnosuke: Tch, further proof that this world is a messed up place. Hey, now that you're awake you can fight. If you can fight then we can head out.
Hikari: Hey, wait just one minute! Shin is hurt. He needs more time to-
Aqua: Hikari, Shinnosuke is right. We don't have the time to rest any more, or to wait here.
Hikari: But...
Shin: Everyone, I'm fine with moving out. I don't know how much time has passed, but we are on a time limit. Still, before we head out can someone can someone tell me what happened while I was out?
Misaki: I'll tell you Shin.
Shin: Ah, you’re alive Misaki... Great.
Misaki: Screw you! What was with that tone as if you couldn't care?
Shin: Well, I'm glad that your alive, but you can't compare it to the joy of knowing that my Aqua and Hikari are alive and well. You on the other hand... though I'm glad to see Shuai and Kampa are alive and well. Even Jin and Connor, it's good to see that you’re fine as well after parting ways.
Misaki: Fuck! You should have just stayed unconscious!
Hikari: Now, now Misaki. I'll explain what happened to Shin, so just go off to one of the corners and sulk at your lack of popularity.
Misaki: Shit! Just because he's a harem bastard, he... Whatever! Mokoto is enough for me.
Hikari: Ah... now then. Let me explain what happened since you've been out.
Shin: Thanks, but first let me explain what happened on my end. That will fill in the gaps in the story.
Shin explained what happened on his end and once he was finished telling them the betrayal of Derrick (leaving out anything that the people of this world couldn't understand) he heard what Hikari had to say. It seemed like betrayals were common place in the world Apocalypse Alice seeing as Team Japan was more shocked than Hero Team about what happened, and after just hearing that part, the members of Hero Team left. Shin wondered why that was, but now he could talk to the others without any restrictions.
Shin found out from Hikari that by the time he woke up everything had been settled for good or bad. Hikari took Misaki's place and began to tell Shin the events of that occurred while he was unconscious. She herself wasn't with Shin's group, but with Hero Team, yet she was able to put together a near perfect recreation of the events with Aqua, Jin and Connor's testimony.
It started with the Aqua, Connor, Jin, Yousuke, and Himi. After parting ways with Shin, they were getting ready to combat the many monsters of the Labyrinth that were for some mysterious reason knew where they were and were converging to attack them. They were ready to fight until Shin returns to reinforce them when a horrifying discovery was made.
Himi had been using magic to perfectly avoid the monsters of the Labyrinth and the reason why all of a sudden she seemingly failed was revealed to be on her person by Jin. Jin was surprisingly a very observant individual, and so he soon notice that something was placed on Himi's person. Pinned to the back her school uniform was a small ball shaped object.
Jin called intention to it surprising everyone – Himi the most of all. Himi used one of her Support Magics to examine it and Himi discovered that it a foreign magic item. She had never seen of such a tool, but she quickly figured its function and turned pale. According to Himi... the small ball was in fact bait.
Magic Bait.
The small ball was constantly emitting a low level frequency. Low level waves of magic that go unnoticed by normal human beings, yet calls on nearby magic creatures to converge on the bait. They were confused as to how such a thing got onto Himi. Himi claimed that she had nothing to do with the magic bait and it was Jin who immediately figured out that it was Derrick and the Newbies who planted the bait on Himi.
Jin also said that they planned all of this, the monsters converging of the group and convincing Shin to lead the newbies to safety. Then even before Jin could say that Derrick was planning on killing Shin and why, Aqua grabbed the bait from Himi, threw it in the opposite direction and chased after Shin and Derrick in the direction that they went.
Everyone followed after Aqua, and leading the way she instantly killed any monster that they encountered, elite or otherwise. They caught up to Shin, Derrick and the newbies, but not in time.
Shin looked to be on the ground in incredible pain, and Derrick and the other newbies had guns pointed down at Shin, who all had yet to notice their group's presence yet. Aqua, filled with rage, raced over to Shin, but it was clear that she wasn't going to make it to Shin to save him, so Yousuke acted. Yousuke activated his magic Reverse Force Switch.
Reverse Force.
The forces in the targeted area will be reversed for an instant. Only an instant. However, even if it's only for an instant, a magic that's able to reverse forces requires great power. Unfortunately, some of the bullets hit Shin before the magic activated, but the rest and Derrick's own aimed at Shin's face fell back and hit the newbies, but not killing them. Derrick and the newbies were surprised, but it was all over.
Connor with the Auto 9 had already shot the hands of all the newbies holding guns with perfect accuracy and Aqua was right in front of Derrick with her Adamantium claws drawn out, ready to slash him.
Derrick was resolved to die on his mission for Mass Enlightenment, yet panic firing off a random shoot that missed Aqua completely. His shot struck Yousuke square in the forehead, instantly killing him. Aqua then, without any hesitation, hacked off Derrick's face and what remained fell to the ground in chopped off pieces of flesh and brain matter.
- PENALTY 4, THE FALL OF HERO TEAM/YOUSUKE ENDOU - NEGATIVE 1500 DEDUCTED.
- PENALTY 1, NEW PLAYER KILL - NEGATIVE 1000 DEDUCTED.
At that moment every living Player in the Empress' Grave Labyrinth received a message from God telling them they were deducted 1500 points for the death of Hero Team Yousuke Endou. Aqua herself was charged with the additional penalty of killing a Newbie Player for negative 1000 points, yet she didn't care. Aqua just rushed over to Shin’s side.
For a moment Aqua was panicked over what to do, but soon realizing that Shin was still alive. She began to take measures to make sure that he stayed alive. Aqua went into Unlocked Mode and began to take out all of the bullets inside Shin's body with her claws. She figured out from the black colored entry wounds and Shin's burned flesh around the wounds that the bullets were not normal. She quickly retrieved and threw them away. Jin recognized them as Varanium Black Bullets from the Black Bullet Anime, but Aqua could care less. She then took out from her RPG Bag a Hemostasis Spay for Shin's wounds and forced him to drink a Low Grade Potion that Saki made before her death.
Aqua, Connor, and Jin were happy that Shin was alive and looking better with each passing second, but because of the sight of Himi crying over Yousuke and fruitlessly attempting to use healing magic on him... they couldn't stay in a good mood. Not only was their leader Shin injured, the death of Yusuke meant they lost a valuable comrade and costed each Player 1500 points. For most of the Players, both veterans and Newbies, the negative 1500 points meant death after all.
Everyone began to despair, but Shin's group then found new hope.
The battle inside the chamber room started by Hero Team and Hikari's group finally registered for them and they discovered the rest of their comrades were indeed still alive. Aqua was still worried about Shin, but she knew that the others needed her help, so she had Himi and Jin guard Shin, and, along with Connor, she joined the battle in the Third Level Chamber Room of the Labyrinth.
The combined forces of Shinnosuke, Shiro, Gunjou, Hikari, Misaki, Kampa, Shuai, and with the surprise assistance of Aqua and Connor, defeated the monsters and Elites swiftly. Hikari and the others, seeing Aqua, were happy to have finally met a comrade until they learned about everything that had just transpired.
Hikari left in a rush to see Shin, and Shiro... Hearing that his friend and comrade had been killed, betrayed by a comrade he almost lost it. Everyone decided that it was not the time to move to the next level of the Labyrinth and so they decided to rest and check up on their comrades.
Himi, who had come somewhat back together after Yousuke's death with her reunion with Shiro, went over to Shin. Shin was still unconscious and healing at a fast speed, but to be on the safe side Himi used her magic to help heal him. Shin wasn't a close comrade for her, yet he had saved both her and Yousuke's life earlier, so she wanted him to live.
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Hikari: That's about everything that has happened. We did send Himi and myself down to the next level of the Labyrinth in preparation for when we descend, but other than that we have been resting to recover our health and spirits.
Shin: ...I see. What happened to the other newbies that were with Derrick? I don't see them.
Hikari: Dead probably. The four of them were not under Derrick's mind control anymore, but they still hostile towards us all. Shiro, still upset over what happened to Yousuke, gave them two choices. To run away and take their chances to survive, or to die then and there by his own hands.
This then brought Hikari's explanation to the awkward talk she had to have with Shin.
Hikari told Shin that there was a falling out with Hero Team while he was unconscious. Not said outright, Hero Team didn't want to work together with the members of Team Japan. Derrick and the other newbies were confirmed members of Shin's group, and so the responsibility of Yousuke's death, their comrade and friend, fell to Team Japan.
They were also originally suspicious of Team Japan's origins from the get go, so the idea of acting apart from them now on was more than tempting. Of course Himi, who fought together with Shin, Aqua, Connor, and Jin tried to explain to Shiro, Shinnosuke, and Gunjou that not all the people of Team Japan were bad and could work together without harm.
Still, it was hard for them to trust Team Japan after the death of Yousuke. In the end it was decided that they would still work together, but only on a professional basis. If not for the sheer difficulty of the Labyrinth and the vacancy of two members of Hero Team, they wouldn't have bothered to wait for Shin to recover and would’ve proceeded to the Diseased Girl by themselves now that Hero Team reunited with Himi and had access to proper support magic.
Hikari: We'll still be working together to defeat the Diseased Girl, but no more incidents will be forgiven. Shinnosuke even said he will kill us without hesitation if we mess with them again.
After Hikari finished explaining things each member of Team Japan left to rest on their own. Shin personally wanted to be left alone for a while after the event with Derrick and the newbies and others felt the same to an extent. Even Hikari who wanted to look after the injured Shin stepped away to collect her own thoughts, but it was mainly because she saw how upset Shin was and wanted to give him some space.
Alone, Shin looked over towards the Hero Team camp who were sitting around the stairwell to the rest level of the Labyrinth. One couldn't tell easily, but they had naturally set themselves in a way to immediately escape alone to the next level in preparation for any suspicious movements on Team Japan's end. It didn't need to be said that trust was dead between the two groups.
Shin: (Obviously they don't really trust us, but that can't be helped. I couldn't fully trust another group who would let one of my people die. I definitely wouldn't trust their leader's judgment... Which is me. I'm not much of a leader, but how could things turn out so bad in an instant like it did. I, I should have taken Jin's warnings more seriously!)
Shin felt that a both as a leader and individual he was lacking. It was true that he was placed in a extreme test of leadership on his first mission as the leader of Team Japan, but it doesn't change the fact that he failed. It was not even by his own power that he survived, but the power of his team.
If not for Jin noticing Derrick's scheme, Aqua taking immediate action without care for losing an extra 1000 points, and Connor's assistance in disarming the other newbies under mind control without killing them and suffering a major penalty... team Japan may have met a dead end, or at the very least he surly would have perished.
Shin: (As I thought. A team is necessary and it was that power that allowed us to get by. Not me, but it was the team's power that saved the day. If, it was Saki... no, any other competent leader would have done better than I did.)
Shin once more gazed at Hero Team in guilt.
They had their weakness as well, but they could come together when it counts. Sure, Shinnosuke's inability to trust and Kiri identity as a spy had so far held back Hero Team's potential, but most likely in the future, even with the loss of Yousuke, Hero Team will rise to great heights. They had not even let one members death lead to the collapse of the team under the leadership of Shiro.
Shin kept looking on at Hero Team with admiration and failed to notice when one of his comrades made his way over to him. He just stood there for a while and looked over towards where Shin was gazing at. It was only after he began to laugh out loud did Shin realize that he was no longer alone.
Jin: Haha... Hahaha...
Shin: Jin?
Jin: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Look! Isn't it amazing Shin? Team Hero may have abandoned us, yet they still stood back up from the death of their dear comrades Yousuke and moved forward!
Shin: What are you-
Jin: Truly, it's a magnificent display of friendship and comradery. We should hope to strive for such an amazing team, right leader? Ahh, really, you can't see this kind of thing outside of the worlds of Games and Manga. That's why the real world that I despise is so lackluster... Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhah! This place is the best!
Shin: ...
Jin: No need to feel embarrassed, leader. You feel the same as I, right? Despite the pain of betrayal and feeling responsible for the death of someone worthy of calling a comrade... You were moved by such an ideal team. Not just because of responsibility as a leader, but because-
Shin: ...
Jin: Never mind. You don't have to confirm or denial, Shin. You’re the leader of Team Japan after all and can't ignore the responsibilities thrust upon you. They are your friends after all. No one wants to die. After all, if we do the fun ends.
Shin: Jin!
Jin: Sorry, I'll stop here... but let me just say this. You, no – we can definitely build such an excellent team one day. You were just dealt a bad hand this time. Don't worry, since I don't want to die and I'm unfit to be a leader outside of guilds within games... I'll just help you from the background. Offer sage like advice as a side character from an Anime who you forget their name thee chapters later. Garbage like me can't take the center stage like you.
Shin: ...
Jin: Also, don't forget that we now actually have to defeat the Diseased Girl ourselves. We're at negative 1500 points and Aqua is at negative 2500 points, so who knows how many of us here are in the red right now in points. Hero Team may want to use the Holy Sword to save their comrade Kiri, but for our sides sake we have to betray them and-
Shin: Jin, just fuck off for a while. You’re just reminding me of my defects as a human being.
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Having said that, neither one of them said another word to each other for an entire minute. They just stood there looking at each other. One glaring and the other smiling without a care in the world. Jin was not upset and was still smiling as he walked away from Shin. Shin only gave Jin one last quick side glance and went back to thinking over things... more so than before after talking to Jin.
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As he looked deep within himself for answers, Shin all too quickly realized that he was filled with hatred. It was the first time Shin saw such ugliness in people. Even though this sort of thing happened frequently in the Mangas and Animes that he loved, but when it happened right in front of his eyes, to him, the shock was indescribable and it made him sick to his stomach.
Derrick, a spy for the Four Pillars organization Mass Enlightenment was one thing, but what he heard about the newbies from him and saw in their eyes, Shin felt disgusted. Even if not everyone can be saved, God's Dimension was a place that one could not survive alone. They all should have been doing their best to survive, but all the newbies aside from Connor and Jin, they just wanted to lash out at Shin and his comrades.
Shin: Fuck... damn it all to hell!
Aqua: Shin, are you okay?
Shin: Aqua?
Shin looked over and saw that Aqua was standing next to him. Like with Jin, Shin was too focused on his problems that he didn't notice that someone had approached him. That was dangerous with enemies like the Undead Assassins waiting for a chance to kill them all, but Shin couldn't care less about them. Aqua then sat down next to Shin and looked at him with worry, but not compassion.
Aqua: Shin, we're in the Labyrinth. You can't keep zoning off like this. You're somewhat covered by your comrades, but an Undead Assassin may try to kill you.
Shin: ...
Aqua: I know you can't help but think of the things that went wrong, but this is not the time. We don't have much time left to defeat the Diseased Girl before the labyrinth becomes anchored in the real the world as an Eternal Labyrinth. That also means mission failure and death for all of us. Please think about your mistakes at a later-
Shin: Hey... Aqua... am I... was I really wrong to believe in others?
Aqua: ...Shin, there’s no absolute right or wrong. You’re thinking about things too much and it doesn't suit you… Comrades are important, but as a leader you can’t put yourself on even grounds with them. With power comes responsibility. You've probably heard of that phrase before even if you’re not the wall crawler in red and blue tights, right? You’re responsible for the safety of all team members. You’re still lacking on when and where you should give up and the times you should persist to the very end. The only thing you did wrong was treating everyone equally when you just felt sorry for them.
Shin: And Derrick? I acknowledged him from the start and let him into the team, and he turned out to be a part of Mass Enlightenment. The newbies this time couldn't handle the dangers of the Labyrinth and should have probably been abandoned, but Derrick made the situation worse. Maybe a few originally decent ones could have-
Aqua: Shin, there's no point about talking about “what ifs.” Well, to be fair that isn't just your fault. We all knew that this could happen. That Mass Enlightenment, or one of the other pillars, could have sent a spy into our next batch of New Players, but not so soon. We also never thought up effective counter measures either. Don't dwell on it for too long.
Shin: ...Thanks. Still, what about the others? They did indeed go along with Derrick, but they were just desperate, right? Like we all are no matter how many enhancements we gain. They even helped us out as best they could until just recently because they wanted to live... and Derrick simply took advantage of that. Maybe I made a mistake when I started to view the New Players as people to drag us down, or the same level as comrades who should be protected, but things could have been better. If I treated them better, or at least looked at them in a better light and showed that... maybe Derrick wouldn't have been able to brainwash them so easily.
Aqua: Shin, you made a choice. The paths we take, the newbies that God chooses, or the survivors that the missions choose. You have to know who can become your comrade. That's all that matters and it’s not the people who can’t adapt to this world who should be protected. If you choose them, they will drag you down with them when this world tries to eliminate them. It's true they were taken advantage of, but that just shows that they were weak and were going to die sooner rather than later. You said yourself Derrick's ability wasn't omnipotent. It didn't work on us Players or even the two Newbies Connor and Jin. Those newbies who got taken advantage of were weak. As the leader you have to have the ability to see people for who they really are and figure out their worth to you and the team that you lead.
Shin: Sounds hard, this leader thing... I see why you didn't want this role, Aqua.
Aqua: Yeah, but it isn't like my way of doing things, not trusting any of the newbies is correct. There were times where I met newbies with potential similar to yours, but I didn't extend them a helping hand when they needed it the most and let them die. I am unqualified to be a leader, but Shin, you still have time. Life is a long path after all and you will learn and grow up gradually.
Shin: I don't feel that I will. I'll probably fail again.
Aqua: Really? That's fine as well. Shin... the truth is that I am jealous of you who can still see hope in the future, whereas I can only look to survive one day at a time. I certainly don't have any grand dreams like building a Harem of Anime characters or becoming a special person. That's why you will correct yourself when you know it’s wrong even when you do not have all the knowledge in the beginning. Shin, you will grow up, and remember to put yourself in the position of a leader, not complain like a team member. I can criticize you all day, but I'm not the leader that this team chose. You are. You alone make the final calls for better or worse. It’s also important to choose your comrades and only you can do that.
Shin: How to go about choosing comrades, huh? It shouldn't be so hard.
Aqua: Yet it is. Those without talents, those that may betray, and those with an ugly heart you definitely can’t and shouldn't try to save those kinds of people, or let them into the team. Remember you are not a savior. You are not alive to save them. You need their strength, and the strength of your trusted comrades so you can live. It's the same for everyone else. Don’t mess up the order... what you want is to live on to fulfill your goals, right? If so then crush all the obstacles stopping you from living your life the way you choose... if you can do that then...
Shin: Then what?
Aqua: ...Then I'll stick with you for as long as possible... as a comrade.
Shin: Aqua... I would have been more moved if you declared yourself my girlfriend.
Aqua: No.
Shin: Then how about wife number one? The first spot can only belong to you... though I plan to treat all of my women equally. Still-
Aqua: Ahhh, I feel stupid for trying to talk to you! You're not depressed at all. Anyways, Shin, just do your best, learn from past mistakes and the trials that you've overcome. That's all anyone can ask of you. No one is born a leader and just doing your best may not promise that you, or anyone else, will live through today, tomorrow, or next week, but the one who survives and learns from failure is the strongest.
Aqua left Shin alone after saying that. Shin still felt confused about a lot of things, but he felt a lot better than before. Even though he didn't have all the answers yet, it felt as the fog had been lifted.
Shin: I guess I need to talk to everyone.
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It was about time for everyone to head out, yet I had gathered my comrades of Team Japan for one last meeting before leaving.
The next and confirmed by both Hikari and Himi as the final level of the Labyrinth, where the Diseased Girl awaits us. We had no more time to spare as we needed to reach the Diseased Girl and defeat with the little time that was left thanks to waiting for me to recover.
Hikari: Shin, are you really alright to be fighting? You were shot so many times with those special made Black Bullets.
Shin: I'm fine, so don't worry anymore about me. I'm not close to 100% I admit, but I can definitely keep going.
Hikari: But-
Aqua: Don't worry about Shin, Hikari. His enhancement path’s greatest strength is its ability to recover and quickly at that. Ki Energy and One-eye Ghoul Mutation possess a far more excellent healing factor than my own enhancements. Also, they’re both at the B rank level and Shin has Unlocked his Genetic Constraint to the Second Stage. Remember what Sozin told us? The Genetic Constraint is the key to bringing out the full potential of enhancements. That's why even without having to go into that mode, not just Shin's fighting potential, but everything has improved. Especially his healing factor.
Shin: Is that really the case?
Aqua: How would you be standing there otherwise? If you received those injuries while at the First Stage you would still be recovering needing a few hours to recover. My guess that if you were at the Third Stage you wouldn't have needed the hour to recover and start fighting again with only a few minutes of rest.
Jin: Really?! This Genetic Constraint and enhancement stuff is amazing. I can't wait till I get to try them out.
Shin: That's only if you get to live through today, Jin. Anyways, everyone, I have something that I want to say before we head out.
I looked towards each member of Team Japan before and began to tell them my thoughts.
Shin: Hikari, Aqua, Misaki, Kampa, Shuai, Connor, and Jin. I think our thoughts had gone into the wrong direction in this mission. Maybe it was over confidence or maybe I over thought things, so much that I forgot our original goal which is to survive. Everything else comes second or not at all. We all just want to survive to live another day.
I didn't have all of the answers and I didn't know if they really understood what I was saying, but I still gave to try.
Shin: Do you all still remember what I said to you in the last mission? I said I will do my best to protect my comrades, to trust and support them, then we will survive with the power of the team. For those reasons, I chose not to abandon Shuai and I don't regret my decision since he has become a reliable member of the team, but even so my thoughts went in the wrong direction. The problem at hand is this: Who can become our comrade? Shuai, a normal person could rise to the challenge of this dimension, but sometimes others can't. That's just a fact.
Shuai: ...
Hikari: Shin...
Shin: Hikari, not everyone is worthy of joining us. Like the normal people who just arrive to God's Dimension. They’re mentally weak and can drag us into danger. Those that can betray us at critical moments are not qualified to become our comrades either and should be erased early on. Derrick was skilled at manipulating others, but it wouldn't have been so easy if the newbies had a stronger will since Connor and Jin were fine and worked for the sake of the team. I truly believe that if Hikari, Misaki, Kampa, Shuai, and I were the newbies this time around we wouldn't have fallen into Derrick's trap. Derrick was unable to win over Connor and Jin after all, yet I included all these newbies into the group even though I didn't believe they were capable of keeping up with us. This was the fatal mistake that I made. Seeing potential in others that just wasn't there and not seeing Derrick's true character were near fatal mistakes and if not for this excellent team I would have perished.
Misaki: So what should we do then? Not include any new members from now on?
Shin: No, we won't and can't do that, Misaki. Our team needs to keep growing. Both quality and quantity. I will still continue with my ideology though. The power of comrades is very important and we should trust and support one another. I won’t treat everyone as a number, but I will change what I did wrong. Only people who gained the trust of everyone in our team, have the talent, and pass a trial like Aqua used to judge Newbies with can become our comrades.
Kampa: And everyone else?
Shin: As for those normal people who can't adapt here... I can only offer them some help. Like weapons and warnings at most, but their lives won’t be a reason to put this team in danger. If necessary, I will abandon normal people for this team. A team composed of the comrades and friends that I have acknowledged. This is a cruel world and everyone is just struggling to stay alive. We are the same, so we must do all that we can to keep going. This time’s incident was my fault and I'm sorry for that. If I had not rescued Derrick and the newbies back then none of this would have happened. We wouldn't be at negative 1500 points and 2500 for Aqua. Still, this may have been a blessing in disguise seeing as no one on our side lost their lives this time around. We can learn from this and do better. I forgot that the most important thing as a leader is to be responsible for the safety of my team, and not for everyone. I am not a savior. From now on, I'll only be responsible for our team. I can help newbies, but we won't risk our whole team to help them. At the same time, any newbies that want to join our team must have the talent, and they must be someone we can trust. Further, more than half of us have to agree. So let us do our best to survive everyone!
There. I said it. Everything that I wanted to say was said. I did my best to come up with some solutions so that this doesn't happen again, but who knows if what I came up with was right. I'm probably not suited to being the leader.
I would much prefer to just be a Player of God's Dimension and only have to worry ultimately about my own life and try to have fun along the way... but I am the leader. Until someone better comes along I'm responsible for everyone who I call a comrade and their lives. Like Zero of Code Geass R2, I'm not fighting just for myself or just one person anymore.
Aqua: Shin, you don’t have to blame yourself. We were all too careless. We’re also responsible for the loss of Yousuke, which put us in this dire situation. Also, me killing Derrick was short sighted, so don't worry about my situation. We may come out with a loss if we don't kill the Diseased Girl ourselves, a few of us might die due to being in the negative if another member of Hero Team falls in the Labyrinth, but we're not without hope.
Shin: Thank you, Aqua. Also, why did you kill Derrick like that? Throwing him into a pack of monsters would have worked just as well. Also, we could have learned a lot from interrogating him.
Aqua: Th-that's... None of your concern!
Hikari: Could… could it be because Derrick was pointing a gun at-
Aqua: Hikari, another word and I'll tell everyone about what you wrote in your journal.
Shin: What's going on? What journal?
Hikari: Nothing! And how do you know about my-
Shin: Really, what's going on?
Hikari: Nothing! Nothing is going on, so shut up otaku loser!
Shin: What the hell! I'm not the best, but you should still show your leader some respect!
I didn't even say anything Anime like out loud, yet I get yelled at by my second wife? Where's the logic in that? Where's the love? I once more realized my goal of a harem was far, far away. It was then that Connor finally decided to speak.
Connor: I think Shin is right. As a leader you don’t need to have overwhelming power, or an unparalleled capacity to lead. What you need is to be able to identify and make use of everyone’s strengths. Those who can bring together the people around you have the qualifications to be a leader.
Kampa: I agree, but Connor, you seem knowledgeable about the subject.
Connor: ...In the real world. I am... was the leader of a mercenary group composed of fellow child soldiers. We were originally kidnapped by a government that no longer exists today and trained to be their weapons. Then the day came that I realized I was stronger than the adults who ordered me and my comrades around and to our deaths. That day I started a takeover and won. I became the new leader, having proven my strength, and everyone gathered around me.
Hikari: I don't know if I should be impressed or saddened by that story. So you were the dictator type leader?
Connor: Yes, but I've had problems with that kind of leadership which was part of the reason I disbanded my group. An absolute leader can't give birth to trusted staff members if they aren't allowed to protest your decisions, even if the ultimate decision still belongs to you. That's why I don't totally disagree with Shin's way of doing things with team work. Team work may be the key to surviving here, but we should still be careful.
Jin: Connor is right. Anyone who isn’t a team member... we first have to view them as enemies before they become a team member.
Misaki: You talk as if you are already a member, Jin.
Jin: Really? Then excuse my behavior. I don't know if I can match such a great team like this, but I'll try my best to meet everyone's expectations!
Hikari: No one here has any of you.
Aqua: Ok, that’s it for the self-blaming and messing around. We said all that needed to be said and I think Hero Team is ready to leave as well.
Shin: Alright then. Everyone, let's go!
We, both Team Japan and the four members of Hero Team stood ready to descend down the stairwell that would take us to the final level of the Labyrinth. As we began to walk down into the unknown towards the final battle, I check my Headphone Fuzz to see the time that we have left.
Shin: I know that because of me we wasted so much time, but there's no more time for self-blame. I can only do better and keep myself and my comrades alive!
- [ONE HOUR - FOUR MINUTES - TWELVE SECONDS]
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Authors Note:
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Proofread by Hoebagger