"So, how is he?"

"He's... well, he's..."

Hoshikawa Subaru had no friends. He sat in his room all day, cross-legged on his bed, staring up beyond the clouds through the skylight above his bed, waiting for the sun to set. He hadn't smiled in seven years, since wreckage of the International Space Station Peace had crashed into the Pacific Ocean in a glorious fireball, devoid of any remnant of its crew.

"He still misses his father."

"Naturally. We all do. So, how is he?"

"He's..."

The sun was setting, which meant that it was time for him to go. He slid off of his bed and trudged out of his room, his boots thumping on the stairs as he emerged into the foyer and shuffled past his mother and a man in a blue jacket who seemed vaguely familiar. Not that he cared; his mother was probably just having a friend over.

"Subaru!"

Wincing, he gazed at his mother almost sullenly. "Yeah?"

"Come over here and say hello to Amachi-san."

Subaru hesitated for a moment, but then decided it would be easier if he just complied with his mother's wishes.

"Hello, Amachi-san; it's good to meet you."

The boyish, round-faced man extended a hand that easily engulfed Subaru's when he shook it. "Hello, Subaru-kun. It's good to meet you, too. You don't have to be so formal, though. Mamoru-san is fine."

"As you wish."

As he had no further desire to speak to the visitor, Subaru moved to leave when his mother called for his attention one last time. "Subaru, did you finish your homework?"

Subaru didn't go to school; he hadn't gone in seven years. His mother had made an arrangement with the school so that he wouldn't have to – so long as he completed his studies and sent them his completed homework under the ever-watchful eye of "Aide", the school's representative NetNavi. This never stopped his mother from nagging him to go, however. Sometimes he wondered if he might as well just drop out. (As if his mother would let him).

"Yes, Mother," he answered in monotone. "My homework is done. I sent it in, too."

Unable to think of anything to say, Subaru's mother helplessly watched her son head toward the front door, her face creased with sadness.

"I see," muttered Mamoru. "Oy, Subaru!"

Subaru, wondering what he would have to go through this time, turned back to find Mamoru approaching him, a decidedly large grin spreading across his face. "Hey, I've got something here I think you might fancy."

Mamoru put his hand in the pocket of his blue uniform jacket and retrieved a pair of sunglasses – the strangest Subaru had ever seen, not in part due to the fact that its main component was a single, audaciously green lens. The boy raised an eyebrow at Mamoru, who was holding the glasses out to him as though they could have been some incredible treasure.

"These belonged to your dad; I happened to find them at his old workstation. I figured it would be best that they went to you."

Subaru paused, and then he took another look at the sunglasses. He examined them closely, recognizing the starlight design his father was famous for at the tips of the glasses' temples (it was a symbol which Subaru also bore in effigy – the shoulders of his favorite shirt were each marked with a white version). The article itself, upon closer inspection, revealed a series of radiating, yellow rings embedded within the lens material, although they were so dim it was hard to notice at first. Finally, Subaru noticed a short line of text inscribed along the upper bridge of the frame. "Visualizer Model Zero?"

Mamoru shrugged, still smiling widely. "No idea what it means, just that your pop always used to wear them. What, he never wore these home?"

Now that he thought about it, Subaru did vaguely remember that his dad had worn bizarre glasses like these, back when he was still a child, before Peace. Slowly, he put them on, resting them atop his head. Now that he thought about it, they didn't seem so bad after all. Maybe the lens was some kind of special material. You never knew – his dad used to work on all sorts of unusual things.

"Thank you, Amachi-san. I'll take care of them."

While he certainly wasn't smiling, it seemed to Mamoru that whatever weight Subaru had been carrying had been lessened slightly. "I'm glad you like them. Take care. And don't be so formal."

Subaru nodded respectfully, and turned away, heading unimpeded through the front door.

Inside, his mother turned to Mamoru apologetically. "Well, that's how he is."

Mamoru nodded thoughtfully, and then drew another object from his pocket: a small, blank card, which he held out in front of him. "Card Force Activate: Address Data – Amachi Kenkyūjo."

The card in his hand responded instantly, gleaming in response to the command. After a moment, the light dimmed, and he held the card out to Subaru's mother.

"Here, Akane. This is for you and Subaru. It's where I work now; you know I quit WAXA? I started an independent research facility so I could keep looking for him. Come and visit some time; we can have lunch. Like old times."

Akane looked intensely at him, ignoring the card. "You didn't."

"Of course I did," said Mamoru seriously. "What do you think I've been doing these past seven years? Twiddling my thumbs? I've been working on establishing myself independently of those corporate nimrods at WAXA. Why do you think I came all the way out here after all this time? To play backgammon?"

"You mean you've been working on that for all this time? You went into hiding, you missed Daigo's funeral, you quit a healthy, respectable job for that? Mamoru, the Peace was destroyed! The crew is dead, burnt to ash, gone! Everyone's gone." Akane's eyes twitched at the last words.

"I don't believe it," said Mamoru quietly. "I refuse to believe that's the end of this story."

"What story?" demanded Akane, her voice rising. "Peace fell to earth in disaster! There was nothing but reentry wreckage; any members of the crew would have burnt to ash!"

"That's exactly why I refuse to believe it," maintained Mamoru solemnly. "The Peace was far too sturdy to be so ridiculously damaged, even by reentry or outside damage. I can only assume something else happened."

"Yeah?" exclaimed Akane, her voice and temper rising. "Like what?"

Mamoru hesitated, showing weakness for the first time. "I- I don't know."

"No, really?" said Akane bitterly. "Face it, Mamoru, the Peace was a failure. My husband led a crew of men to their deaths on a search for another world based on some moronic idea he had, and now none of them will ever come back! You think I'm the only one who's suffered? There are whole families all over the world trying to move on! Why can't you just let them rest in peace?"

"Because I can't believe they're not out there somewhere," said Mamoru. "Your husband was a brilliant man, Akane, a pioneer! It's thanks to him we have these!" He threw his arm up, exhibiting the machine on it..

"Transer technology is his brainchild! The three Satellites that help maintain this world are his magnum opus! The man was incredible! Those men who went with him were all skeptics and non-believers, but he convinced them all the same! They had absolute faith in him! You can't possibly think–"

"You think you know him so well?" retorted Akane. "Let me tell you something, Mamoru. Of course he was smart, but you forget how he was so charismatic. He could make men dream, make them believe in a happy ending. That was how he got that crew. He had a zany idea that he knew how to word the right way to get himself a space station dedicated to finding this make-believe planet that got him killed!"

Mamoru regarded the woman before him solemnly, almost as though he were appraising a stranger. "Daigo's not the only thing here that died, Akane," he said quietly. "I noticed it when I first stepped through that front door of yours."

Akane raised an eyebrow scornfully, which Mamoru accepted as her response in full.

"This house has turned into a wretched little hole over the past seven years, and I'll tell you why. You want ME to move on? Take a look around you! You get upset merely thinking about Daigo – you haven't moved on at all! And just think about that kid of yours! He's freaking fourteen! The only things he should care about now are sports and girls, and yet he's so miserable that I'm starting to believe he hardly knows what either of them are! Damnit, what kind of mother lets that happen to her son?"

His words took effect immediately; Akane's expression had completely changed to one of shock – Mamoru might very well have struck her across the face (to be honest, he was sorely tempted). Her mouth moved desperately, but she couldn't muster even a word, much less a response.

"The only thing that's really died here is your faith," Mamoru was now speaking silently, but every word was clear. "You've lost your ability to hope for even the smallest happy ending; you find no reason to get up in the morning except that it's easier to just go through the motions, which I can only assume is why you haven't collapsed into depression."

Akane watched Mamoru turn and walk away, her mind frozen. He reached the door and put his hand on the knob, and then looked back at her. "Akane, please, don't let it end this way. You have a life to live, and so does Subaru. Don't do it like this."

Twisting the knob and pushing the door open, Mamoru made his way out onto the porch, hesitating just before he stepped onto the sidewalk. "Oh, one last thing. Turns out I'm not the only guy who's come out of hiding – I happened to see Shin the other day. He told me to say 'Hello.'"

And then the door swung shut and Mamoru was walking down the street, and Akane was alone again, so much information and emotion coursing through her that she could do nothing but collapse upon the sofa in exhaustion and begin to cry.

Subaru maintained a fairly regular schedule. His day was mostly devoted to staring up through the clouds, but his nights were spent atop a large hill to the northeast of Kodama Town by a lake, where one would find the Observatory.

The Observatory had once upon a time been a miniature research center and museum, a subsidiary of WAXA's, though following the Peace incident, flagging attendance had caused WAXA to give up the property as a bad job, relocating its scientists and much of its resources, donating the remnant property – which amounted to little more than a few telescopes and bizarrely, an ancient locomotive that had been part of its museum exhibit on ancient technology that had proved too bothersome to remove – to Kodama Town, which had turned it into a small park.

It was a fairly popular hangout for the residents of Kodama during the day, especially for the kids who would play tag or hide-and-seek around the locomotive, but what Subaru appreciated it for was its after-hours appeal (and not the uncouth kind) – the Observatory had the best stargazing around, or, at least, suffered the least from the sky glow of Subaru's hometown. It wasn't perhaps as close to the sky as the roof of the school, but Subaru didn't go to school.

But from where he was standing, it would be half-an-hour before the first stars began to glimmer, which was plenty of time for him to reach the Observatory, but was also plenty of time for plenty of other things, too, such as the first of several interruptions catching up with him. "Oy, Subaru!"

Subaru recognized the voice – he'd heard it not fifteen minutes ago. Sure enough, Subaru looked over his shoulder to discover Amachi Mamoru jogging up to catch him. "Hello, Amachi-san. Can I help you?"

"Yeah," gasped Amachi as he drew to a halt. "Don't be so formal."

Apparently the man preferred the activity of a scientist to that of an athlete, to judge from his panting. After a moment, though, he was able to right himself. "Here, I've got something else for you – I would've given it to you earlier, but you skedaddled pretty fast, there. Your mom didn't want it, so I figured I might as well try and find you."

Subaru gazed steadily at the card Mamoru handed him. It was a standard issue Blank Card model, but with a Rewrite already enacted.

"Amaken?" he said, shortening the name to something slightly easier on the tongue.

Mamoru grinned. "Little research center I started up to keep looking for your old man when WAXA gave it up as a bad job, with a museum about space as a bit of a revenue operation to keep it going."

Subaru paused, looking up at Mamoru. "Amachi-san, my father is dead."

Mamoru stared back evenly. "You don't know that."

"Amachi-san, the Peace-"

"Oh, shut up about the damned Peace. I just had that argument with your mother."

Subaru couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the man before him. "Amachi-san, I understand how you may feel, but the only logical outcome is that my father is dead. His station was destroyed and fell to earth, even if they somehow survived whatever destroyed the ship, it's been seven years. The crew couldn't possibly have that much oxygen, so even if they're floating around somewhere out there, it's as cold, dead body frags."

Amachi looked evenly at Subaru. "You don't know that."

Subaru, whose logic simply couldn't keep up with Amachi's determination in the face of fact, said nothing, and so Amachi continued. "Tell me, Subaru, have you ever seen your father's corpse?"

The younger of the two suddenly found his voice, but it came only in fits and spurts. "Wha- I don't- How on earth can you ask me that?"

"Have you?"

"Of course I haven't! No one has!"

"Exactly my point," said Amachi evenly. "The only way to really know if your father was dead would be to know he was a corpse. As we don't know what happened to any of the crew, it's just as possible to assume he's alive as it is to assume he's dead."

Subaru regained his composure. "Amachi-san, the Peace was destroyed in space – the vacuum would have instantly ripped the crew members apart. Even those frags of the crew falling to earth would be a trillion-to-one chance."

Mamoru stood his ground. "Yeah? What if I told you I don't believe in chance?"

Subaru was growing increasingly irritated. "Look, Amachi-san, I mean you no disrespect, truly, I don't, but I'd would really prefer to go, now. I have something that I was planning on doing. Good night, and I hope you have a safe trip home." He rounded on his heel.

"Oh, come on, Subaru, staring up at the stars won't bring your pop back."

He promptly stopped in his tracks, wheeling back around to glare at Mamoru. "Don't you think I know that?" Subaru demanded. "Do you honestly think I'm that heartless? You have no idea who I am or what I do. Has it never occurred to you that I prayed and wished for my father to come back home for years after the Peace came crashing down? I wanted so bad to see him again, for him to come back and fix the mess that I call home... but I won't ever see him again! I go 'stare at the stars' because it's the last bit of him I have left! Don't make me have to throw that away, too!"

Subaru discovered himself breathing heavily, and, unless he was mistaken, he was beginning to cry a little, too. He wiped his tears away, forcing himself to regain composure. "I apologize for shouting like that, Amachi-san. Please excuse me." He had to get away from this man, to hide from the reality that his father wouldn't ever come back. "I understand how you feel, Amachi-san, and I wish you were right, but I can't help but accept that he and the crew of the space station were lost when that meteor struck it."

Mamoru looked hard at Subaru, as if he were deciding something. "Subaru, what would you say if I told you that the Peace wasn't destroyed by an impact?"

"I would say – wait, what do you mean it wasn't an impact? The news service-"

"Is more concerned with selling a story than with boring old fact," interrupted Mamoru, enjoying a smug little smile as he turned away from Subaru. "C'mon, you should be enough of a cynic to realize that. It just bet on drama instead of on mystery. Me, I've been trying to figure why that remnant of the Peace looks like shredded paper." As if on cue, his Transer beeped, and he stole a quick glance at it.

Subaru opened his mouth to say something, but the man had started jogging away. "Sorry, kid! I gotta get going! Left my partner in crime at the station an hour ago!"

Subaru did the one thing he could think to do, and charged after Mamoru. "Wait!" Unfortunately, it seemed that Mamoru was a much better athlete than he let on, easily outdistancing the scrawny teenager.

Subaru quickly found himself alone on the street, and, exhausted, he slowed down to a staggering walk. What was he doing? The word of some dreamer like Amachi Mamoru was hardly worth acknowledging, let alone putting any investment in. Subaru quickly shoved the rewritten Card in his pocket and resumed his walk.

The sun had crossed half way over the horizon and was blazing red, casting long shadows from the houses over the street and other houses. Subaru found himself slightly more at ease – he much preferred the shade, and he wasn't saying "no" to the cool breeze, either.

After a moment, he reached the edge of the sidewalk, waiting to cross the street as the bus that was undoubtedly carrying Amachi Mamoru away drove past. Indifferently, he crossed the street and turned north.

Subaru trudged down the street towards the Observatory, seeing few others, mostly some children heading home after a day of play and a couple walking in the opposite direction, arm in arm, though none of them stood out nearly so much as the man Subaru passed as he rounded another corner, who was wearing what looked to be a short cape made of silvery cloth over what were a business shirt and gray pants, whistling cheerfully as he strolled past. As he wasn't paying attention at first, Subaru didn't recognized the oddity until it had nearly past him, and when he turned around, the man was gone.

It was approaching sunset, and so Subaru picked up his pace slightly. Finally, he found himself standing at the foot of the hill the Observatory rested on, just on the other side of a flight of stairs.

"Hello! You there, in the red shirt!"

Oh, for CRYING OUT LOUD, would he NEVER get there? Subaru looked over his shoulder to discover who had hailed him.

Oh, wonderful. Three times the fun.

Approaching him was a girl flanked by two boys, whom Subaru figured averaged to be about his age, despite the nearly laughable discrepancies in their anatomies.

The girl herself Subaru assumed to be the leader, judging from the fact that she seemed the most professional of the three unknowns, and perhaps also from her truly ostentatious golden curls, which were perhaps her most outstanding feature – the only time Subaru had ever seen this particular coiffure had been on the cover of a fashion magazine, so he assumed it was less strange than he first thought.

To her left was a much larger, much less perspicacious-looking boy who was easily two or three times Subaru's size, who seemed, according to the crossed knife and fork design on his shirt, to have a certain fondness for eating.

To the girl's right was a boy in serious need of puberty, made all the more egregious when you considered him in contrast to the young giant on the girl's opposite side, though Subaru found himself somewhat distracted by the smallest's valiant, if horrifyingly doomed, attempt at a welcoming smile.

"Can I help you?" Subaru asked unenthusiastically, hoping that he please, please, please couldn't.

The girl at first didn't seem to hear him, instead turning to the smaller boy. "Is this the one?"

The boy adjusted his glasses and nodded. "Hoshikawa Subaru, age 15, hasn't gone to school in seven years, two months, three weeks and eight days – extended member of the Kodama High Freshmen Class. He's our man."

Subaru couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at how the smallest of the three managed to balance between the realms of intelligence, social ineptitude, and obsession with such eloquence – to call him a nerd would simply fail to encompass the sheer enormity of it.

Upon receiving this verification, the girl turned towards Subaru, stepping forward, just in case he hadn't quite figured out he hadn't figured who exactly was in charge, here.

"Hello, there!" said the girl in a bright, if somewhat imperious voice. "Allow me to introduce myself: I'm Shirogane Luna, and these are my associates, Ushijima Gonta and Saishouin Kizamaro," she indicated the ox and the spider monkey in turn. "We represent the student body of the local high school. Well, I do, mind you, these two are simply aides."

If she was expecting him to be impressed, she was sorely mistaken.

"Hey!" said Gonta after a moment of Subaru's unresponsiveness. "Iinchou was speaking to you! Say something!"

"Yeah!" squeaked Kizamaro. "Show some respect!"

Subaru decided he might as well go with it – it was easier than picking a fight with the girl's bruiser.

"What do you want?" He didn't have to like it, though.

"Well, as representative of the freshman class and potential student body president, I have taken it upon myself to ensure and maintain the efficiency and dedication of the freshmen, a group of students to which you belong."

"I homeschool," said Subaru quickly.

"Correction," asserted Kizamaro, his tiny, hunched body emerging just enough from behind Luna to leer at Subaru. "You work under an extended program – you still study school-appointed material, you merely complete it from the comfort of your bedroom, though not nearly as well as you might."

Oh, Subaru really wanted to wipe the smirk off of that face.

"As such," said Luna, picking up the conversation, "we have decided it necessary that you come to school, so we can monitor your studies and perhaps improve them."

"Because you're just a good person, right? Simply doing your duty?" said Subaru, irony practically oozing from his voice.

Luna smiled, recognizing that Subaru wasn't going to be convinced so easily. "Well, let's put it this way. It would look very good for me if you came to school, and once I've gotten what I want, we can work out something that you would benefit from, hmm? Do you play sports? I can probably arrange for a spot on a team somewhere."

If Subaru wasn't so annoyed, he might've laughed at her. At least this Shirogane girl wasn't beating around the bush.

"I'm sorry, I've got nothing to do with you," said Subaru. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have something to do elsewhere." As he spoke, he looked up at the sky. He had missed watching the first few stars twinkle into view, and as he didn't feel like waiting for a response, he pivoted on his heel and walked away.

"Hey!" cried Gonta, starting after him. "You come back here and apologize, jerk! Iinchou's trying to make you a deal!"

"Gonta-san!" snapped Luna, rounding on him. "Stop that this instant! You aren't helping anything by doing that."

Gonta immediately stopped and returned, looking upset. "But he's being rude."

"And threatening to beat him up is going to help how?" said Luna.

Gonta looked down, embarrassed. "I thought he could use some convincing."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Gonta, you're in high school. At some point, you're going to have to start using your brain! Hoshikawa-san isn't the kind of person who you can bully and intimidate, he's too smart for that. We're going to have to convince him some other way."

"But I thought he wasn't good at his studies," said Gonta, confused.

Luna struggled to maintain her composure. "There's more than one way of being intelligent, Gonta-san. Take Kizamaro-kun, here. He can do calculus on the back of his hand. Can I do that? No. Me, I'm better at the politics kind of smart. For example, Hoshikawa-san is under the impression that not going to school is a better choice for himself. We'll need to find a way to convince him otherwise, and not. Through. Force," she emphasized, glaring at Gonta.

She quickly rounded on her heel and began to walk away, with Gonta and a decidedly smug-looking Kizamaro tagging along behind. "Now, we're going to try again, naturally, though we'll have to take a different approach. We'll just be on guard for when the opportunity comes knocking. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Iinchou," answered the boys as the group of three walked back towards the residential district of the town.

It was definitely night when Subaru finally finished hiking up the hill's stairs to reach the Observatory. The stars above him were bright, twinkling away as he trudged up the last few steps. With an exhausted sigh, he collapsed on a bench and just sat for a few minutes, resting and reflecting on his day, or, really, just the past hour.

He let his head fall backwards over the edge of the bench with a groan, and then emitted another one when his Transer beeped at him. With a sullen glare at the offending article, he held his arm up and traced a square with his finger, which summoned a wave-screen of similar size.

He gazed at the screen, examining the list of data before him. Spam, spam, spam... aha. Oh, great. A wavecast from the almighty Iinchou.

'Hoshikawa Subaru' (How the hell did she get his dispatch-ensign? Did that pet nerd of hers hack his Transer?)

'Subject: Review'

'Hoshikawa-san, I wish to apologize for our meeting going... shall we say 'sour'? I understand that you have very little desire to attend, if any at all, while I have a very great desire for you to attend, which leaves us at something of an impasse. I am willing to negotiate and discuss terms.
On a more conversational note, have you received the new Brother Band upgrade? I recently obtained the newest version, and I was uncertain as to whether or not you did as well, as your Kizuna level reading is, well, nonexistent. Just in case, I have included a tutorial on how to–'

Subaru disintegrated the screen by swiping his fingers through it, which, while not exactly the standard or proper method of closing a wave-screen, was far more in tune with his mood. With yet another groan, he heaved himself up onto his feet and sauntered a way from the bench, past the egregiously present locomotive.

In front of him was a set of stairs that led up towards some scaffolding, the last remnants of the original observatory. At the top one could find a few telescopes, all of which had been modified for free use – on any other night, he would be crouching over one, humming to himself as he examined the stars, maybe even having brought a notebook with him to keep track.

Tonight, he wasn't feeling up to it. Today had been a very off day, with too many emotional highs and lows for Subaru's taste.

"Why me?" mumbled Subaru tiredly at no one in particular.

He leaned against the western railing and looked up at the stars, quietly taking in the magnificence of the heavens.

"Hey, Dad," he whispered after a moment. "It's me again."

The stars above twinkled away beyond him as they'd been doing since the dawn of time, concerned with a world where the glorious hopes and dreams of humankind were as significant as ant-poop. Subaru sighed, feeling very, very small and unimportant.

His father had been different. Hoshikawa Daigo had believed in a greater destiny. "You know what makes humans special, Subaru? We're the one species on this earth that asks questions. Nothing else from this planet can make that same claim – even the smartest apes and dolphins are only concerned with figuring out how to fulfill their needs. Humans have already gotten theirs – we have shelter, food, and water, and yet we still want more – we have a natural urge to see more of this great universe!"

"I met a friend of yours today – Amachi-san. He seems nice."

'Don't make me throw that away, too!' Subaru forced himself to bury the sudden thought.

"He gave me these," continued Subaru, indicating the Visualizer still perched atop his head. "I still have no idea what they do, though. Are they supposed to see things normal people can't?"

Subaru hesitated for a moment, considering. The idea that had just popped into his head was ludicrous – how incredibly like him to imagine seeing the invisible. But this idea just wouldn't go away, that the Visualizer was somehow supposed to be able to see something. It had to be the name – if Hoshikawa Daigo had gone so far as to name such a strange-looking pair of sunglasses the "Visualizer", something was probably up with them. Still, no matter how he tried to rationalize it, Subaru couldn't help but shake the feeling that these were special.

And then it hit him. The most ludicrous idea of all. He had no will to shake it – somehow, if he put on these glasses, he might just see his father. He couldn't help it – the terrible, wonderful image of his father smiling at him had overwritten the cold, base logic he was so familiar with. Slowly, he closed his eyes, and slid the Visualizer over them, facing the heavens. He took a shaky breath and then opened his eyes.

The stars above twinkled away beyond him as they'd been doing since the dawn of time, concerned with a world where the glorious hopes and dreams of humankind were as significant as ant-poop. This time, however, they all looked green.

Subaru couldn't help it – he threw his head back and laughed. He laughed long and hard, with a mirthless cry that announced the understanding that things could not get worse, that heartless, mocking laugh that Subaru had been waiting to release for seven years.

What was he thinking? What could he possibly have been thinking? There was nothing special about these glasses. There was nothing special about the sky. And there had especially been nothing special about his idiot father who tossed people up and promised to catch them when he couldn't.

"You know what?" said Subaru staring up at the heavens as if they were listening. "I'm done with this. I'm done with it all. You have your dreams, your hopes – me? I've got my reality, and I'll stick with it if you don't mind."

The smallest trace of wistfulness curled his lip. "I only wish that Dad could have done that, too."

And then it happened – a shooting star shot across the field of his vision. Subaru blinked, stunned, and then laughed even harder. What, was the universe promising to make a wish retroactively come true?

...Well, even if it wasn't interested in granting wishes, it was certainly up to something. The shooting star rocketed overhead again, this time in the opposite direction. This movement, however, produced something Subaru hadn't expected: a soft yet crystal-clear note that seemed to penetrate Subaru's whole body. And then it sang out again, as the shooting star above arced in a different direction. Subaru tore off the Visualizer to see more clearly, only to find that he couldn't see the bizarre meteor any more. He stared at the Visualizer in his hand for a moment before immediately re-donning it.

The tone rang out a third time, and this time, Subaru's realized exactly where the magical note was coming from – the small shooting star pendant his father had used to wear before he left on the expedition he would never return from. And then his Transer answered it with a small Ping. And then another, and another, as the star above him continued to dance.

Subaru looked as his Transer, and then registered a double-take. It was a wave-cast, which was somehow completely blank, there wasn't a message, a subject line, or even a target-ensign. There was only an access signal and the accompanying image – and it was his dad's. Hoshikawa Daigo was smiling at his son again.

The conversing tones from his pendant and from his Transer suddenly sped up, and Subaru whipped his head up to find the star again. Incredibly, while it was still dancing around wildly, it was growing larger – no longer was it a mere line of light in the night sky. After a moment of this, it steadied itself in the center of his vision, and began to grow much larger at a higher speed. And then Subaru realized that it wasn't getting larger - it was instead honing in on him like some cosmic sniper bullet.

Subaru wondered exactly how much the universe was concerned with him. "I take back the wish!" he said, knowing full well that the shooting star probably wouldn't care. Indeed, the shooting star would have none of it, and sledgehammered Subaru straight in the chest.

Subaru was floating along in a sea of white. Gradually, he became aware of a small song playing in the back of his mind, which slowly turned into a voice. Curious, Subaru wondered what it wanted.

"So this is earth." So it was completely ignoring him. Of course.

...Subaru's awareness of the world around him came back to him in fits and spurts. With a groan, he heaved himself into a sitting position, and shook his head blearily. Despite the fact that he felt like he'd been hit by a truck, he was mildly aware that the weight of the Visualizer was missing, and he fished around for a moment before he rediscovered them and put them on.

"And you are Shin, correct? I was under the assumption you'd be bigger."

Subaru then realized where the words were coming from. Floating nonchalantly above him was one of the weirdest things he'd ever seen – a creature whose body seemed to consist of some kind of visible electromagnetic field (a flaming green electromagnetic field, for that matter) that was clad (how do you garb an electromagnetic field? How do you SEE an electromagnetic field to garb it in the first place?) with what appeared to be a kind of blue body armor that consisted of a torso and some beast-like head that looked to be some combination of bear and dog (and yet like nothing Subaru was familiar with, a trait of this creature that was becoming somewhat redundant). After a moment, Subaru realized that the two floating armored rings were bracelets attached to its electromagnetic field-arms (at this point Subaru figured he might as well roll with it, as he was now fairly certain he was having a lucid dream).

"Shin?" said Subaru. "Uh, no. Never heard the name before."

Surprisingly, the creature's beast-like face assumed an expression that was undoubtedly puzzled. "You can see me? Humans shouldn't be able to see me."

Subaru figured he probably shouldn't point out the oddity of first addressing him by name (inaccurate as it – he? – had been) and then wondering how he could be seen. "I have no idea, either, to be honest."

Subaru moved to stand, but the sudden movement made his head spin violently – his glasses slid off of his nose as he seized the railing and vomited gracelessly over the side of the scaffolding. The burning, acidic taste of the vomit told him that this wasn't a dream; he wouldn't feel such physical misery in a dream. He wasn't feeling much better for the realization, though.

"Ah, yes. I know what you are doing – this is the human activity known as barfing, correct?"

"You got it," wheezed Subaru, wiping his mouth as he turn around, and then, "Where'd you go?"

"I have not moved since you demonstrated your capacity for dispensing vomit."

Suspicious, Subaru picked up his glasses and placed them back on the bridge of his nose. Sure enough, the creature was still there, looking at him from the other side of the Visualizer lens. "Ah. So that's how it works."

"Intriguing. Is that what is called the Visualizer?" asked the creature, snaking closer towards Subaru through the air to get a better look.

Subaru raised an eyebrow. "How do you know about the Visualizer?"

"Hoshikawa Daigo told me to find the human who bore the visualizer and that he had given it to a man named Shin, who wore an transmitter in the shape of what he called a shooting star."

Subaru hesitated. "Hoshikawa Daigo? You knew my father?"

"Father?" the term seemed alien to the creature. "You have some relationship with Daigo?"

"I'm his son."

"Then you are the Hoshikawa Subaru that he spoke of," realized the creature. "I thought you would be smaller."

"Great, first I'm too small, now I'm too big," muttered Subaru. "Who are you and how do you know my father?"

"I am... War Rock," said the creature (it certainly seemed to be male from its voice alone). "I am a renegade from the planet of the Shuuhatsuujin. Since I turned rogue I have been waging battles across the cosmos for the better part of the past seven of your years in order to seek out this Shin Hoshikawa Daigo told me existed."

"Wait, you came from space?" said Subaru. "So you're an actual alien?"

"I might very well say the same thing about your father," said the creature called War Rock, a little miffed (apparently aliens could feel miffed).

"Wait," said Subaru suddenly, whipping his head around. "So my dad was right! This is... incredible!"

War Rock cocked its head curiously on its side. "Your father was correct about what?"

"That there was life out there!" exclaimed Subaru. "But wait... then why did the Peace fall to earth?"

"The Peace?" repeated War Rock. "Oh, you refer to his vessel for traveling through Deep Heaven."

"Yeah, that," said Subaru.

War Rock hesitated, and in that moment he lost his opportunity to answer. The world around them began to shake violently, causing Subaru to lose his already shaky footing. With an unpleasant thud, he landed on his back and smacked the back of his head.

With a groan, he looked up noticing something he hadn't before. Through the Visualizer he saw what he could only describe as a labyrinth in the sky made of paths of light miles above him. He had never seen it before, yet knew exactly what it was.

"Is that the Wave Road?" Subaru groaned, getting to his feet.

"The Wave Road?"

"Our information transit network," explained Subaru. "We used to call it the internet until we lost the ability to contain it within out computers, so it exploded out and became part of world, too. I never actually expected it to be a road, though." Truth be told, he'd always thought it was a stupid name for it; now that he saw it, though, he was rapidly reassessing his position.

"Impressive. How much information do you humans go through?" said War Rock, likewise watching the sky.

"A lot," Subaru emphasized. "We have to make up words to describe it. But what's going on with it?"

The Wave Road above them, which the Visualizer had magnified in response to his eyes focusing on it, was shaking erratically, splintering in several spaces as dots of light not unlike War Rock's original appearance were dancing about.

"Ah, yes. There they are," said War Rock, though Subaru could hear a low growl coming from the otherworldly creature. "I was wondering when they would choose to appear – hiding would be an unusual tactic at this point in time."

"They?" said Subaru, the hairs on the back of his neck rising. "Who's they?"

"Do you recall, Son of Daigo, that I said I've been fighting for seven of your years to get here?" said War Rock, not really waiting for an answer. "I've been escaping their hunting beasts."

"Hunting beasts?"demanded Subaru.

War Rock paid him no heed. "When I first arrived, I was attacked by a powerful force that took the form of a large human in black armor and a blue cape. He engaged me in battle as I tried to enter your atmosphere. It took a moment of explanation, but when my assailants showed up and validated my story, he let me pass to find the man called Shin."

The vibration of the air intensified, and Subaru could only barely hear War Rock's continued speech (if it could really be called that).

"He seemed as though he would be able to fight off the beasts. Either that was not the case, or the beasts received reinforcement."

Subaru hesitated. "Wait, they're fighting Colonel?"

"Who?"

"That's the name of the defense system! Colonel! They're battling Colonel!." And winning, it seemed, though Subaru didn't particularly want to admit this.

The lights above suddenly exploded outward, traveling away and down, Subaru realized, from the Wave Road.

"Reinforcements," affirmed War Rock. "They've had reinforcements here?"

"Who reinforced them? Oh, crap," Subaru realized. "Virii."

"Virii?" repeated War Rock curiously.

The locomotive suddenly let out a long, shrill whistle. Ever so slowly, it's wheels began to turn.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" groaned Subaru.

The locomotive was situated on a long stretch of track that came to an end roughly thirty feet in front of the train. As there had been no need for it, the track had never had any measures that would prevent the train from rolling off the end. Which in turn put nothing in its way.

"It would seem the hunting beasts and your "virii" have joined forces," said War Rock. "And apparently the virii are roughly as intelligent as the hunting beasts. They've missed me entirely."

"So, you're safe then?" said Subaru, waiting for the catch.

"Relatively. It seems, however, that they plan on using that bizarre machine to search for me in the local area."

The ramifications hit Subaru hard. "But they'll destroy the town if they crack that thing! Damnit!" He sprinted away from War Rock and down the scaffolding stairs, finding War Rock floating easily along beside him.

The train's wheels were so old that it would take some time before they could really begin to roll, though Subaru had very little intention of letting that happen.

"What are you doing?" asked War Rock as Subaru leapt into the engine of the train, dashing over to the console.

"I plan on stopping the viruses," said Subaru. "Colonel's defense systems are incredibly effective against malicious and irregular programming, but these new virii are different. Too many of them and the system gets overwhelmed. Your hunting beasts probably didn't help."

Subaru shoved a hand into the pack he carried around his waist and drew out a few cards, flipping open his Transer and summoning another wave-screen.

Lines and lines of code streamed across the screen in front of them, unintelligible to War Rock, though Subaru seemed to understand. War Rock watched as Subaru began tracing his fingers across the screen, and then he halted, selecting one line of code that looked to be rapidly disappearing. He took one of the cards, and swiped it through the corresponding Transer slot. "Battle Card: Cannon."

The line of code ceased disappearing after a moment, but Subaru waited, unsure. Sure enough, the line resumed evaporating, eliciting a swear from Subaru.

"Your hunting beasts aren't helping," he growled.

"Why do you take such issue with these "virii"? You are relatively safe from this machine, are you not?"

Subaru hesitated. "Yeah, but people will get hurt if I let them hack the train. And if they're gonna stampede all over town, my mother might get hurt, too. I won't let that happen."

"Your mother?" repeated War Rock,

"Did my father ever mention a woman named Akane?" asked Subaru, swiping another Battle Card, which had only a temporary effect. The locomotive whistled again, and the whole train lurched forward suddenly.

Subaru swore again. "There's something wrong here! Are your hunting beasts intelligent?" he asked. "Like you or me?"

War Rock shook its head, which in calmer settings Subaru might've thought looked freaky. "I thought so," he said instead, returning to the wave-screen. "These things are responding to me directly; they're trying to lock me out of the system."

"Which means...?"

"That there's somebody else in there; somebody wants to keep me out, so I won't be able to do any– CRAP!"

Subaru's Transer bleeped at him, and the flashing red word "LOCKED" appeared across the wave-screen. The locomotive lurched forward again, and Subaru was knocked off of his feet. With a groan, he regained his footing, only to find the train was now inching forward. The whistle sounded a third time, and the speed picked up slightly.

"This machine makes an incredible amount of noise," noted War Rock. "Surely the other humans should be able to hear it."

"Maybe, but they're probably too busy watching wave-screen television. Even if they did hear it, they'd probably assume some neighborhood delinquent was messing around after hours." Subaru, approached the main console of the locomotive, attempting to access it directly. "Damn. IT. Little buggers have totally locked it down! I can't get in!"

"Do you want to?"

Subaru looked over his shoulder at the beast. "What was that?"

"Do you want to enter this console?" repeated War Rock.

Subaru looked at the creature beside him strangely. "I meant I want to destroy the virii. I can't get into the computer system to do it though, I can't hack their password."

"I understand what you meant, Hoshikawa Subaru. The question here is do you want to stop these creatures?"

"Virii aren't creatures, they're weird bits of code, but yeah, of course, I do! What do you think I'm here for?"

"Very well, Son of Daigo," said War Rock. "Then I will help you."

"Wait, what are you doing?"

Subaru had no time to react before it happened. War Rock flared brilliantly, and then with a growl, flew into his Transer. "Son of Daigo, bring forth a Blank piece of the Card Force."

Stunned, Subaru did as he was told, holding up a card. "Like this? Hey, what are you doing?"

The card began to glow brightly, and Subaru realized War Rock was forcing a Rewrite upon the card, somehow. "Now use it as you would another piece of the Card Force. We shall fight them together."

Subaru hesitated for a moment, the train rattling as it continued to move forward.

"Do you not trust me, Son of Daigo?"

"Well, to be fair, I only just met you. And you keep calling me that."

"Do you trust your father then? This technique was his idea."

Subaru stared at the screen of his Transer, from which War Rock stared evenly back. Then he gritted his teeth. "If you say so!" he said as he swiped the card through his Transer.

The effect was instantaneous. Subaru felt suddenly very dizzy, letting his eyes close as strange words came from his mouth. "Denpa-Henkan. Hoshikawa Subaru: On Air!"

Despite his eyes being closed, Subaru could somehow understand what was going on around him, almost as though he were seeing it first hand. War Rock was swirling around him, coiling about him and bathing him in his essence, and then the alien wrapped its arms around him and the incredible energy surged through Subaru's body like the birth of a star – it was... galvanizing.

Subaru opened his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was that the room around him seemed smaller than he remembered it, and then he realized he'd grown taller; it was as though he'd suddenly grown two or three years older. As he examined himself with growing apprehension, he realized he was now clad in some kind of blue body suit, with a thick set of boots that felt absolutely weightless. From his torso up, he recognized what had been War Rock's armor, though it had been shrunken and molded to his chest and shoulders, except for the emblem emerging from the center, which Subaru recognized as his Shooting Star pendant. Suddenly he discovered he was looking through some sort of visor, which was in turn part of a partial helmet his head was now clad in, something which felt so natural it was startling.

"So, what do you think of it, Son of Daigo?"

With a horrible shock, Subaru realized War Rock was there as well: his head had replaced Subaru's left hand, and the strange green flames were emerging from the back of the alien's skull, engulfing his arm. It was wholly impossible to tell where his arm ended and the alien's began.

"I think I HATE IT! What did you do to me? Change me back!"

"You just told me you were willing to enact this change. Were you being untruthful?" asked War Rock, swiveling Subaru's own arm around so they could talk face to face.

"Untruthful? You never said anything about combining! I want my body back!"

"This is your body," answered War Rock calmly. "I am simply sharing it through your Transer. Now then, I believe you wanted to bring a halt to this machine."

Subaru hesitated. "Wait, we can bypass that lock out like this?"

"That is what you wished, correct? We simply shall do so in a way you could never have comprehended," answered War Rock. "Do you still wish to? You may still stand down, Son of Daigo."

Subaru stared at War Rock, and then turned his gaze to the Locomotive's computer terminal. "Alright. Do whatever it is you've been promising."

"As you wish. Be warned, you may not be ready for this experience."

Subaru swallowed and gritted his teeth. "Let's get it over with."

"Very well. Pronounce as I do. Wave In."

Subaru hesitated, and then nodded. "Wave In!" And in a flash, he was gone.

Subaru had discovered something. Waving In made him very, very queasy. Swaying, he clutched at his stomach before planting his feet, looking around him to try and discern where he was – he instinctively realized it to be the interior of the locomotive's computer.

"Excellent, they haven't noticed us. Now, Son of Daigo, where among the hunting beasts are your virii hiding?"

Subaru looked around, and then he saw the monsters. There were dozens of them, each in a different, bizarre form. Some of them were little, almost cute, black bodies marching about with hard hats and pick axes, some took the form of maliciously grinning unicycles (of all things), and others took the form of large, flaming lizards, each hissing in some flaming tongue.

"No way," said Subaru after a moment. "These are all virii."

"Would you care to repeat that?" said War Rock, for once thrown off. "I see nothing but hunting beasts."

"All these creatures... I've seen them all a hundred times. They were part of the Wave Battle game."

"Wave Battle?"

Subaru danced backwards as one of the virii walked by, oblivious to him. "The Wave Battle game was started... almost as soon as the Peace fell back to Earth, now that I think about it. You could buy or trade Battle Cards to use against these monsters that you could find just about anywhere online, and if you did a good job, you got more Battle Cards. I'd always thought the monsters were just child-appeal images superimposed over the actual virii for the Wave Battle simulations, not actually real."

"Oh, we're real, my friend. Very real."

Subaru whipped his head around, only to see a blur of some kind of brown, before stars exploded in front of his eyes – whatever had just spoken to him had just punched him into the air.

Subaru landed painfully against the bizarre landscape of the computer terminal some dozen feet away. Wincing, he felt his cheek – judging from the pain, Subaru guessed that his cheek and jaw would have been shattered in normal circumstances.

"Hmm, you are sturdy, child. Very good. We are glad to see you are not as weak as you looked from the outside."

Subaru looked up to see... well, he wasn't sure how to describe it. It seemed human-like, having a similar anatomy and proportions, though it seemed to be clad in some kind of bizarre, malevolent suit of armor. Subaru could see no mouth, and the eyes from behind the newcomer's helmet visor gleamed red at him.

"War Rock, what is that thing?"

"I have no idea as to what that being is. I assumed you would know, this being your planet."

"Beats me."

"Strange creature!" called out War Rock from Subaru's left arm, clearly dissatisfied with this lack of knowledge. "What are you and what is your business here?"

The strange creature paused, and then began to cackle in a strange voice somewhere between the crackle of electricity and the deep echo of a cave. "We are the Jamming. Masters of beasts and scourge of worlds." At the Jamming's words, the virii monsters all turned to face Subaru and War Rock.

"I do believe I understand what is going on, here, Son of Daigo," said War Rock. "This Jamming creature is a fused form, like you and I. However, he is a man who has been fused to the lesser beast denpa, whereas I am a higher denpa than him, which is why you still retain aspects of your original form."

"So, wait, he did what you and I did with a virus?" said Subaru, looking at War Rock in horror.

"Exactly, though I highly doubt he knew enough of what was happening to do it willingly. This form is likely highly unhealthy for the human involved – these "virii" are corrosive by nature. And, now that it's been fused to a human brain, this one is intelligent."

"We are pleased with your assessment, War Rock the traitor. You are likewise correct in your assessment – our human body lacks the physical stamina to survive for long."

"Our?" repeated Subaru, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

"Their minds are fused," explained War Rock. "This would be a natural consequence of such a fusion, which is why I performed ours through your Transer technology."

"So, are you the thing that was locking me out?" demanded Subaru.

"Your human host shows only rudimentary intelligence, War Rock the traitor," observed the Jamming, cackling again. "We suppose it is unfortunate for you to come so far only to die here, bound to such an inferior member of the species."

"Wait, die?"

"Attack!"

The virii suddenly screeched as one leapt out before the others. Subaru yelled in shock stumbling back and tripping over his own feet.

KABLAM.

Subaru had expected pain, or something very similar. He had not expected the sound of a small explosion. He looked up to discover his arm – War Rock's arm – was outstretched, and that War Rock's head had changed slightly. War Rock's lower jaw had seemingly disconnected itself from the rest of his head, instead leaving only two sharp, floating fangs.

"On your feet, Son of Daigo!" cried War Rock, who apparently had no need of a mouth to enunciate clearly. "Falling here would do neither of us good."

Another virus leapt forward, but Subaru rolled away, curling back onto his feet. "What happened?"

"I attacked," answered War Rock simply. "The beast was no match for my power, and it exploded satisfyingly."

"Wait, satisfyingly? What part of explosions are satisfying?"

"Their entirety, unless I'm mistaken. I thought it was a common sentiment of the human male to appreciate explosions, or, at least, that was the impression I received from Daigo. DODGE!"

Subaru yelped and leapt to the side, almost failing to avoid a tongue of flame that would have engulfed his head. "War Rock, can't you shoot any more of these things?"

"As I am right now, my offenses require extensive charging times. And now that he knows I was likely taking advantage of it, our Jamming associate will not nearly be so quick to let his words run. AGAIN!"

Subaru leapt backwards, dodging the shockwave that one of the hard hat viruses – Mettorios, he remembered calling them (he had switched off the visuals to his own Wave Battle simulations for a long time) – fired at him as its pickaxe crashed into the ground. "So, what do we do?"

"I am not sure at this point," admitted War Rock. "I was hoping to take my time in picking them off. This Jamming is unlikely to allow us such a luxury."

Subaru couldn't help the groan of sheer annoyance. "You sound almost happy about that."

"I find pleasure in contests of strength. Do not judge."

Subaru was looking around as they spoke, realizing they were being cornered by the pack of virii. "Wait a second. War Rock, you fused with my Transer, correct?"

"Yes, I do remember mentioning that."

"Well, do you think I can use Battle Cards now?"

War Rock paused. "I do believe you can."

Behind War Rock, six Battle Cards shimmered into view. Delighted, Subaru picked two or three of them. "Excellent. We can make this work!" He hoped.

He inserted the cards into the strange flames connecting his him and War Rock. "Alright. Battle Card activate! Sword!"

The strange power flared brightly, and when it died down, Subaru discovered War Rock was nowhere to be found, instead leaving behind him the sword from the Battle Card, attached to Subaru's arm as though it had been grafted there. "War Rock?"

"Do not fear, Son of Daigo." said War Rock's voice, which emanated from the blade. "I am fine. It seems that the Transer is the connecting point for you, myself, and your Battle Cards. You may wield this weapon as you wish until it wears out."

"What do you mean, wield it?" demanded Subaru. "I thought it was supposed to be automatic! I don't know how to fight in the first place!"

"Dodge! Dodge now!"

Too late. Subaru cried out in pain as one of the beasts, a MoeRoda (one of the monstrous, flaming unicycles), crashed into him agonizingly. Subaru crashed into the ground, though he was somewhat quicker to get off of his back than usual. And then he noticed the gaping hole in his side. He wasn't bleeding, but the idea that part of his own body had been torn away was sickening.

"Maintain yourself, Son of Daigo! You are not down, yet!"

Subaru gritted his teeth and dodged another tongue of flame, this time swinging wildly with the sword and somehow managing to hit one of the viruses – one of the Mettorios had made the mistake of jumping to close and had gotten cloven in two for its troubles.

Subaru stared at the fragments of the Mettorio disintegrating into nothingness in shock at his first success as the sword disappeared, its Battle Card having exhausted its use.

"Excellent, Son of Daigo! One has been destroyed!"

"Uh, thanks," said Subaru, weakly. "But it was, uh, accidental."

"No matter! Summon the next weapon!"

Subaru did as he was told, and in the sword's place appeared a strange, nail-tipped orb with electricity crackling about inside of it. "Plasma Gun!" The strange weapon launched a bolt of lightning from its tip, which flew in a straight line directly in between a MeraManda (one of the fire lizards) and another Mettorio.

"Son of Daigo! When using a ranged weapon, you must AIM first!"

"I know that!" cried Subaru, who whipped around and fired at a Mettorio that had leapt at him, freezing it in midair – it was destroyed when War Rock fired another blast at it.

"Very good!" cried War Rock as Subaru summoned another Battle Card; another Cannon , which destroyed another Mettorio. "Now let us continue!"

"You just really want to go buck wild, don't you?" groaned Subaru, selecting another few cards. "Air Spread!" His Transer arm changed again, into a smaller, more compact blaster, which in turn fired a small burst that proved to have a wider explosion range than Subaru and the viruses had expected, damaging three of them.

"Buck wild?" said War Rock curiously. "I do not understand."

"It means you like to fight recklessly!"

"Hmm," murmured War Rock as Subaru summoned a a Long Sword. "It is an intriguing expression, Son of Daigo... I APPROVE!"

Without warning Subaru found himself being yanked through the air as War Rock swung their shared arm wildly about, cleaving through a pair of MoeRodas. Yelping, Subaru found himself having to summon new weapons just to keep up with War Rocks new-found enthusiasm. "Cannon! Wide Sword! Heat Ball! Damnit, War Rock, hold still!"

"I am enjoying going buck wild!" announced War Rock with what Subaru could recognize as glee. "Let us go buck wild, but more so!"

"We are most sorry, but no. Jamming Punch!"

Subaru again saw the blur, again felt the crushing pain as the Jamming slammed its fist into his chest, again crumpled into a heap as he slammed into the ground, this time gasping and clutching his chest.

"Son of Daigo! You must move!"

Subaru wheezed in agony. "I can't!"

"You must!"

Subaru struggled as the Jamming advanced on him, still speaking in its low crackle. "We are coming for you, War Rock the traitor. First we will destroy your host, then we will destroy you, and then we will destroy this world!"

Subaru wheezed again, somehow managing to move his right arm. Again, a set of six Battle Cards appeared, and again, he inserted several into the back of War Rock's skull.

"You will both die, War Rock the traitor. We will tear you to shreds! Jamming Machine Gun!"

"Recovery 10!"

It wasn't enough to even substantially heal him, but the relief was immediate and sufficient. Subaru quickly rolled away from the volley, spinning onto his feet and dodging as the Jamming turned after him. "Recovery 10!"

"Regeneration?" asked War Rock curiously, firing off another burst from his mouth at the half-man. It impacted, though the Jamming either didn't feel pain or wasn't affected in the slightest, as it kept advancing mercilessly. "We will destroy you, Denpa-ninken! You only delay the inevitable."

"Yeah, it's supposed to be in case the virii manage to get at your Transer when you're playing Wave Battle. I was saving them, just in case they worked. And how does it know what inevitable means?"

The Jamming was sufficiently intelligent to realize it had been insulted. And it was not happy in the slightest. "Jamming Punch!"

Subaru was ready this time, dodging quickly aside and swinging wide with another Battle Card. At point-blank range, the Plasma Gun hit the Jamming dead in the face, instantly freezing the creature in mid-swing and allowing Subaru to leap away.

Within only a few seconds, however, the Jamming had recovered and had decided to opt for distance tactics. "Jamming Machine Gun!"

Subaru leapt gracelessly away and summoned another Cannon – his last – which he fired at the Jamming.

Again, there was an audible impact, but the Jamming took no notice of the blast, again unleashing a strafe of its vulcan fire. Subaru hissed as several rounds pierced his shoulder, dodging again, though this time, he found himself out of the Jamming's sight.

"Son of Daigo, what are you doing?" demanded War Rock. "It will find us, if you hide too long."

"I know that!" whispered Subaru. "But what can we do? It's not stopping! I don't know if we're even hurting it! I never signed up for this in the first place!"

"You might wish to discuss that with our new associate," said War Rock.

"You aliens have a talent for sarcasm, you know that?" muttered Subaru. "Alright, what have we got left?"

"You, myself, and a few trading cards from what you described as a children's game."

Subaru took a deep breath. "Then I guess we'll just have to make it work."

Suddenly, he leapt out of hiding. "Oy, ugly! Come and get some!"

The Jamming wheeled around with a hiss, unleashing another strafe of fire.

"Recovery 30! Recovery 30!" Subaru felt his body heal, and the extra energy felt much better than he'd appreciated before. "Air Spread!" This time, there was a solid grunt from the impact.

"Son of Daigo, it can feel the blast! We've weakened it!"

"Wonderful," said Subaru, without conviction. "I just realized that was my last shooting attack. All I've got left are some swords and an attack boost!"

The Jamming fired yet another volley at them, with Subaru somehow managing to dodge.

"Son of Daigo, I have an idea. We might succeed if we rush him."

"What? I thought getting close was a bad idea!"

"We can be much faster than it can anticipate. Do you trust me?"

Subaru tucked into a roll to dodge another series of bullets. "Do I have a choice?"

War Rock barked in laughter. "Excellent! Now then, focus on the Jamming."

Subaru did as he was told, training his eyes on the small juggernaut. Before him, he saw a small homing trace appear on the Jamming, almost as if in response to his focus, projected on the helmet's visor. "Now, Son of Daigo! Attack!"

Subaru leapt forward, and felt the world around him slow down. The Jamming drew back it's fist, and he could hear the cry, though it was as though it were in slow motion.

"Long Sword!" cried Subaru and War Rock, this time in unison. "Plus TEN!"

The stroke was clean. The Long Sword sliced through the Jamming's midriff like a hot knife through butter as he passed underneath the creature's punch, and then the world had returned to normal, and Subaru pivoted on his foot to see what it had done.

The Jamming was standing there steadily, as though it had never been battling at all.

"Impossible, that was a direct hit!" growled War Rock. "What devilry is this?"

"Foolish denpa-ninken, we are Jamming. We. Feel. No. Pain."

Subaru gulped and stepped back. And then the Jamming's eyes blinked out. Stunned, Subaru watched as the Jamming's body split in two, the upper body sliding down the diagonal cut Subaru had made with the long sword before it exploded into particles that floated up and out of sight.

And then there was silence.

Subaru looked left and right. "Is it over?"

"Yes, Son of Daigo. The battle is won. We are victorious."

"Good." Subaru swayed suddenly, his eyes drifting shut as he struggled to maintain his balance. "Damn, I'm tired. I hate fighting."

And then he fell to his knees, not noticing the world around him melting away and leaving the engine of the locomotive. His head hit the ground and he knew no more.