Super late update, I know. I don't really have much in my defense for the delay, except for something you can read in the bottom of this chapter. I hope you guys are still with me. Or with this fandom in general.

Kunagiri & type-0 fan- WE SHONEN NOW. Okay, hopefully this chapter won't disappoint.

Sekisual- You effing traitor. Go back to the kitchen.

Muddy Writer & galahad- Thank you :D. Don't worry, Ace and Deuce will make it in the end. They just… need a long way for that.

Jack Hargreave- I take no offense. In fact, while I am genuinely happy with your expectation over me… Really, I am no man of such skill. English is second, if not third language, and I don't even have any writing class in my major. Still won't change the fact that I'll try, though. I edited the grammar errors in the last chapter.

As for Machina x Rem, I regret to say that I won't change it. This is how I take their romantic relationship, mainly to differentiate them to Ace x Deuce relationship. I put Machina x Rem relationship, as you can see even from the first chapter, only with mere subtle implication. Let's be a romantic for a while here; five years of loving each other from afar while recognizing their positions is more than enough for the flower of love to blossom fully. Yet, to balance it so that this epic isn't all about romance, I left their relationship as an open context, as of now.

Or maybe I just love to screw with my readers' head. Your guess. Ah, I mean no sarcasm and no offense, though. I'm going to need more constructive criticism for this chapter, as well as later chapters. There need to be more people like you in this site.

Unlike some losers who whined like dunces in the review, and didn't even apologize for that. *rooooooooooooooooll eyes*.

Mirae-no-sekai- Your PMs and review were a great help, buddy! Don't worry, things are starting to come to a piece. Soon.

Once again, I do not own Type-0, only the ideas for this story.

Verse VII : Calamity Trigger

"Maaaaaan…"

A whine came over from behind the barstool. It was Jack, who immediately followed that whine by crossing his arms on the surface and leaned his face down on them.

"It really comes to this… huh?"

As he whined again, King, his listener stayed collected as ever. He merely sat there on a chair, sideways, and in his arms was a lute, which he had been playing calmly for a while. A quick glance from the gunslinger to the young tavernmaster, and Tomokazu let out a small grunt.

"If you want to go, just go, Jack," he advised. "Just like everyone else."

When the words had been said, both King and Jack travelled their visions away to the scenery just beyond the batwing doors of the Eleven Summit inn. The once cheery and loud sounds of the place were no more, the smiles and laughs of the villagers were no more, the only thing that existed in the place was the calm emptiness of Korushi, which would turn into a raging battlefield in no less than a day.

The corner of Jack's lips twitched into a small, content grin. Something natural that always went with him, no matter how hard the current situation was. King's advice, apparently, fell into that category within his dictionary as well.

"Nah~" Jack rose his head up. "I'm not really looking forward to leave this place this soon~"

Jack laughed his heart up, a little dryly, but that still managed to amuse King, for the gunner quickly formed a small confident smile on his face. The situation was rocky, indeed, but not something really impossible for him, for them.

The short, peaceful moment was soon put on a stop, and once again the area fell into an awkward silence. Seemed to be content with playing the lute for long, King put the instrument politely to his side, his glance now focused on the far side of the bar.

"What about you…?" The long awaited question suddenly arrived, echoing through the empty bar, directed straight to a certain direction. "Deuce?"

Jack's gaze soon followed King's, combined in an obvious mixture of worries and amusements. On the other side of the bar, sat Deuce. Although it was only the slightest, there was indeed the troubled expression beneath her usual, heartwarming expression. In front of her was a small bottle of plain water, as she didn't drink alcohols.

"Don't be silly, Jack-san, King-san," she turned her attention to her two friends. "I can't possibly leave you two here."

Jack sighed, although King stayed stiff. Deuce was as stubborn as mule, they had already long recognized that. There were never any ways for an objection to enter her mind when she was already so determined like that. Both of them still couldn't help but get worried over her, of course. She was a girl, one of the sweetest girl ever breathed in the land of Oriense, and bloods, wars, or any form of violence in general didn't really bode well with her.

"I know what you two are going to say, and no, I am staying."

After she muttered the quick sentence, she returned to her drink, maybe even pouting a little. There was no way she would leave Jack and King by themselves. Yes, by themselves, because the current Korushi had no population except the three of them. That, and…

"After all, who would be kind enough to take care of your wounds later on?"

She was only putting two and two together. Sure, she knew very well that King was strong as hell, he even had his own tale spreading over the world, albeit not as indignant as the Four Kings tale. But even him, he had been injured from the fight against thirty men. It was Deuce who had treated him back there, and she was sure she would be the one who was going to tend him later as well.

She didn't know much about Jack, though, but she could easily tell that he was a great warrior as well, no matter how much the male tried to hide it.

"For free, that is," she added playfully. The physician smiled a triumphant smile as she watched both King and Jack let out another sigh in defeat.

It was then when the batwing doors were opened again, welcoming more of the morning sun rays inside the bar. Another person entered the bar, increasing the town's population to four person. The man only approached them gently, a confident grin plastered on his lips, which they countered differently; a curious headtilt from Deuce, another grin from Jack, and… no response whatsoever came from King. Still, his arrival was more than enough to put more ease on the three Korushi inhabitants.

His silver radiances shone fundamentally, the sure victory had been promised for Suzaku.

…

The sun touched its peak, the halcyon it emitted once was no more, exchanged by an inescapable hotness that burned every soldiers throughout their heavy armors. However, that kind of ordeal wasn't even registered on the back of their minds. Their minds raced together with their footsteps, their mission was absolute, to reach Korushi before Suzaku's army.

And they succeeded. Not only a mere success, they successfully arrived from four entrances of the town. The entrances of Korushi had been quickly secured by White Tiger Order, every private quickly moved to guard the path to prevent their enemies to invade. The northern entrance, however, was probably the most secured, since Colonel Faith Alastor, General Qator's finest subordinate entered through the said path.

"Check every house!" Faith commanded gallantly. "Do not kill women or children! Obliterate the rest!"

That was exactly why he was Qator's right hand man, because he always had something like the general himself, as well as the Hraesvelgr, which was honor and justice, something which easily went unnoticed due to how brutal the rest of the army always acted. The black haired colonel had his morals, and he would die with it.

The platoons on the southern part, commanded by another commander, were way fiercer than Faith's squad. Despite the fact there were no single soul in the area, they quenched their thirsts for blood by destroying anything that they managed to see. Anything; be it trees, fences, or signposts.

It didn't take too long for them to arrive at a certain building that was the only clinic of the town. In front of it was a small garden filled with flowers and their scents. The bloodthirsty soldiers grinned at the sight. Nothing satisfied them more than destroying something so eye catchy. They just wanted to step on those beautiful herbs and flowers right now, flattening it to their roots.

They just wanted to, indeed, because it never happened.

Before they could make their first leaps, something struck inside their minds: The slightest sound of a musical instrument from the side. At first, it only entered their ears like something so soothing and peaceful, but as the time ticked on, the melody that was featured freely inside them brought them into an entirely different state.

It paralyzed their feet, robbing the will to move off their muscles. Instantly, they were struck by surprises and fears. The soldiers of the said platoons tried their best to turn their faces to the source of the melody, yet most of them were for naught, for the melodist took the initiative.

"Please, no more steps toward the garden."

Deuce rose from her seat which was the small porch just in front of her clinic, her flute in her slender hand. Her face stayed unexpressive, for once, yet it still reflected the kindness that she always had, especially through her very eyes.

"Please," she asked. "Leave."

Sadly, she questioned the wrong type of persons. She had guessed that her demand would be unfulfilled, but nonetheless, she had decided to try it. Their only responses were loud battle cries, and they quickly darted their attentions to her. The bloodthirsty soldiers didn't seem to pull any punches despite they were fighting against one, unarmed lass.

"We don't want this…"

As they started their harmonious march towards the small girl, she muttered in the frequency that was barely audible, even for her own ears.

"I…"

They grew closer to her, their weapons raised hungrily asked for a prey together. On Deuce's end, the only movement that her muscle afforded was a hand clenching, somewhat bizarre lights surrounded it. Her beautiful green eyes were covered by the shades of her front bangs as her head bent down a little.

She was already in their ranges, but she was still not moving away. She never moved even an inch from her spot. It was only a flash moment for those who were able to get a good grasp of her face, but if one focused enough, a single crystal tear was out of her eyes.

"…don't want this!"

As Deuce raised her arm, everything was bright.

…

The western entrance was invaded no less destructive. Blinded in crazed wills, the Milites soldiers destroyed anything in their path without any exception, even though every house that they encountered had no people inside anymore. They burnt the uninhabited stores and houses, obliterating every single resources for the returnee should they return to this place later.

But just like the old saying, people with bad deeds didn't go unpunished.

Two soldiers were about to wreak more havoc, yet the moment they took a step to one of the many abandoned house, that was when they couldn't feel anything else. Something flashed by them, which quickly robbed their lives out of their bodies. Something so small, yet so sharp.

Cards.

Some of those soldiers fell down right on the spot lifelessly, putting the others' guards' up. They quickly made a defensive formation while turning their direction to whoever stood just beyond the other side of the building. It was pretty easy to figure who killed their friends, though.

"Looking for someone, gentlemen?"

It was him, the only one person who could make cards very deadly, Ace. Even though the differences of number was pretty far, he was as calm as ever, sending deadly glare to every single soldiers that stood against him.

Letting out battle cries that erupted together in one loud roar, three warriors of Byakko quickly charged at him with their swords in their right hands and shields in their lefts.

A pretty bad move.

Before they could even come close to him, they fell down to the adamantine pavement, three cards pierced hard through the bridge of their noses respectively, cutting their lives right on the spot.

"Four of Spade, Four of Club, and Four of Diamond," Ace stated out loud calmly, finally making his step toward his enemies. "Three of a kind."

Ace skirted around his path, dodging incoming arrows at his direction as easy as pie. He didn't throw other cards at them, not before he successfully grasped their blind spot by gliding around gracefully against his enemies' vision, which was still pretty easy as well for him. Before long, he was already settling his position on his enemies' back.

This time, he grabbed five cards and launched it right in front of him, which pierced them right through their necks. Whether it was fate or coincidence, the five cards that he had just thrown had the same suit, which was Diamond.

"Flush."

As he penetrated their defensive formation, Ace was still concentrating himself in grabbing another ten cards that he quickly launched again, each one of the cards still directed straight around their unarmored part that was their necks. Again, the cards were forming two poker hands, special set that was already predetermined on a card game.

"Full house…" Ace crouched as ten soldiers lost their lives before him, grabbing more cards from his inventory. "…Times two."

The platoon's number was greatly reduced only in such a blink of eyes, and it kept decreasing as they stood against him. Ace danced around the battlefield, throwing his weapons at them while doing so elegantly.

"Two pair."

Two more soldiers fell.

"Three of a kind."

Another three fell.

As impossible as it was, Ace had just performed it, a one man onslaught against a squad of Byakko. It didn't take too long for him to be surrounded by a fountain of crimson red blood of dying men, tainting his silver clothes with unnecessary red liquids.

Finally the feud ended with the victory on Ace's side. The man with different armor, as Ace assumed him as their commander, was in the confrontation with Ace the last of all, although the result stayed the same. The assassin in silver coat simply orbited his five cards at the commander's body as the final impact. The cards' suit was simply in streak, from Ace of Hearts, Two of Hearts, until Five of Hearts.

"Straight flush."

Ace motionlessly said as his enemy shrieked his dying moans, bloods following straight his words, coming out from his opened mouth.

"Called game."

The unnamed commander was no more but a history now, for he, the caller had called. A careless wind breezed, closing the curtain of the one-man blitzkrieg. He soon relaxed himself, looking at the hot sky while letting out his tiredness through a single sigh.

His part was done. Time to check on the others.

…

"H-He's a monster!"

"R-Run!"

Horrified screams quickly filled the eastern entrance. Unlike the other two entrances, the said entrance was ganged with lesser troops, although only by the littlest amount.

Still, that was probably the most fortified entrance. The true guardian of Korushi, King, was nesting there. Again, unlike Ace and Deuce, he was a man of serious business. He didn't even let a single soul touched the floor of the nearest building. He simply directed his bullets to whoever tried to step further to 'his' town.

As well as those who tried to run. He didn't pull any punches. Those Byakko soldiers asked for a war, and a war it is. He merely returned their wishes.

Standing on top of dozens of dead bodies, King pulled the triggers of his guns by his fingers again. His expression was less stiff than ever, even a small grin was tugging the corners of his lips. He still remained untouchable on his standing spot.

"Rock'n Roll!"

Loud bangs permeated the air, and the sky around King was painted with the redness of bloods.

…

Faith waited for any reports.

He waited and waited, but nobody returned to him to report the progress to him, not even the platoons that he had directly ordered. Were they enjoying destroying things without any consent too much? Or were they…

Only one way to find out.

"You," the black haired colonel pointed at his right-hand man. "Go check Colonel Erialus' troops. Report back to me as soon as possible."

"Sir!"

The soldier dashed for the eastern entrance quickly. Faith didn't stop at that, though. He immediately ordered two other soldiers to check on the southern and western troops respectively. As two privates departed for their assigned missions, Faith returned his gaze to the emptiness before his eyes.

His own troops that he had commanded didn't come back as well.

Also the fact that he was yet to encounter a single enemy around made him more cautious as well.

This one was his sole responsibility. He quickly dispatched the rest of his troops to every side of the town. Now standing without any guards, he personally joined in to check the condition of his soldiers.

What weird was that he didn't find a single trace of his soldiers' whereabouts. Not until he took a closer look into a certain building.

The famous Eleven Summit.

It was not visible. It was not audible. Yet, Faith could tell that this place was the one that hold the key for him to solve all his personal mysteries, for the place reeked of mysterious auras itself. Adjusting his arm so that he grabbed the hilt of the saber by his side correctly, Faith carefully made his way through the pair of batwing doors.

"Welcome~ Welcome~"

And everything was not like he had expected.

Sitting on every chairs of the bar were his soldiers. At first glance, they seemed to be alive and kicking, partying hard even, yet with closer look, it was pretty easy to tell that… All of his soldiers were dead already, fresh bloods joking around their lifeless bodies. The only man standing and alive beside himself was the young man behind the barstool, who surprisingly grinned confidently at him.

"So~ What would you like to drink, good sir~?"

A conclusion could be easily found. The man without any single fragment of bloods on his face was definitely the one who did this to his soldiers. The young tavernmaster Jack was definitely the culprit.

Thus, Faith wasted no time to pull his saber out of its hilt. A quick swing, and it managed to cut its target into two due to its sharpness.

That, if it hit the target.

Because he didn't. Jack managed to dodge the flash slash by crouching a little. Contrary to what Faith had predicted, the young man had troubled expression as he evaded the thing.

"H-Hey, sir! Swinging that thing here is dangerous, you know!"

Still, Faith didn't buy Jack's obvious and dorky response. Instead, he performed another quick slash, which Jack managed to dodge again. Less easier this time.

"H-Hey, come on now!"

Jack's only response was a saber slash. As Faith slashed around to chase the man before him, he managed to push him to move around the whole first floor of the Eleven Summit. He was destroying everything that he passed unconsciously with his numerous slashes.

Despite that, Jack remained unscratched. The only change in his facial was that it was now painted with sweats due to exhaustion of running around.

"So, uhh…" Jack scratched his spiky yellow hair childishly. "Can we stop this now? I'm getting rather tired, sir~"

This predicament surprised Faith, but he tried to remain intact as well. He couldn't possibly show any distressed face against such enemy, especially if that person was clearly still joking around.

"Young man," he called as he set his battle stance strong again. "What is your name?"

Jack's face suddenly brightened at that question. The young man quickly winked at Faith, and even giving him a small thumbs-up. "Kenichi! Oh, Jack might works, too!"

"…I see."

Faith didn't recognize that name, not 'Jack' nor 'Kenichi'. However, that still didn't change the fact that he needed to fight him seriously, for the young man before him was one of the strongest warrior he had ever faced.

"We're done playing, young man," Faith raised his saber up, as well as burying his feet harder to the wooden surface of the bar. His eyes were emitting different tension than before. "We're ending this."

At that slight moment, Jack felt sudden chills and shivers under his bone, his eyes widened in surprise. The Byakko commander in front of him was telling no lies. His aura had just changed, he was serious.

Even though Jack's mind was telling him to dodge, he couldn't. Faith's single slash, this time, outran Jack's speed. The cold saber's sharp edge met his unarmored clothes, its pressure blasted Jack away to the bar's titanic shelves of wine bottles. Jack's pained squawk was soon buried along with his body as the bottles fell apart on him, his chest was now tattooed with a big diagonal slash mark as he stayed barren and unresponsive in a sitting position.

Faith still didn't let his guard down. He could still tell. That kind of wound was definitely not enough to make a warrior like this Jack die.

"Ow ow ow…"

Just like he had expected, Jack's whimper erupted as the young barmaster got rid of the bottles that was stacked on his head. It took him but a little time to clean himself up out of his situation. If he didn't stop suddenly as a certain bottle was by his wounded hand.

"Aww daaaamn, you've just destroyed Pop's favorite bottleship," Jack sighed as he eyed the once-amazing ship inside the bottle crumbled to pieces due to the latest impact. "Now he's going to scold me for real!"

Even for someone with patience like Faith, he still had his limit. Until how much further this young man was planning to joke around?

Not too long, in fact.

Out of sudden, the calm and soothing aura around Jack was making a dangerous turn. There were no more good winds around his bloodied figure, even though his expression still bore no offense. Another sigh from Jack's mouth was enough to make Faith to resume his stance.

"Sorry, captain," Jack said in a barely audible frequency, mistaking Faith's rank. "But I can't have you destroying my house anymore."

His deadly words were already surprising Faith's guard, but when Jack took something from the barstool and he rose from his spot, the surprise was changing into something that resembled a pressured state. What was now in Jack's hand was none other a sword, covered by a pitch black scabbard.

Jack slowly pulled the steel blade out of its sheath, throwing the latter away when the sharp sword was uncovered. Faith was a little more surprised once again, this time by the sword's shape. It was not like any other swords that he had witnessed, it didn't have the usual straight blade, instead being a little curved. The blade had surprisingly only one sharp side, as compared to his saber, which had the sharp edges on both sides of the blade.

While Faith was a little mesmerized as he scanned the unidentified sword of Jack, the owner of the sword slowly brought it up to his side, setting the man into his battle slant.

"Genji Sword Style…"

Jack's words brought Faith out of his trance, and he quickly defined his defensive stance, putting his own saber in front of him. Jack languidly spun his sword with his two hands to his other side, making a half-circle motion. The sword's shine left crescent shaped lights as it trailed to its finishing point.

"…Enhanced Forsake!"

…

"Ace-san!"

Deuce called when she noticed the familiar figure walked just past her, running up to him soon after, her first aid kit by her hands. The male in question, pinged by her call, immediately turned his head to the direction of one of his colleagues. He also quickly stopped his beeline toward the Eleven Summit inn to converse with her for a moment.

"Deuce."

"You're not hurt, are you?" she inched her face closer to the young assassin, much to his privacies. Luckily for Ace's solitudes, she shifted her head to her side a bit, smiling as she finished her quick check. "Good, you aren't, it seems."

Must this girl be so appealing this close? Because Ace swore that she was starting to rub him, in a good way.

Ace only sighed as Deuce continued her sentences. "Have you seen King-san around?"

The man in silver coat shook his head, making the physician sigh in return. A little shrug on Ace's part, and Deuce gave a slight nod to his wordless gesture. She turned around to the same direction that Ace was facing, since the Eleven Summit was that way.

That was when Ace's eyes noticed something.

"Wait a minute, Deuce."

She returned her attention to him with a slight questioning 'Hmm?' as her head rotated to stare back at Ace. He approached her no sooner, a disapproving stare emitted from his eyes.

And his arm reached for her cheek, his hand caressed it warmly.

"U-um?" Deuce felt her face grew hotter from his sudden touch, yelping a little. "A-Ace-san?"

It was not visible for him previously, but now that he had seen her full façade, the obvious difference could be easily seen. On her left cheek was none other than… a small smear of blood, whether it was hers or her enemies' was barely important for Ace.

"You were hurt?"

"N-no, not really," she answered, shyly rolling her eyes aside. "W-what is it?"

"There's a bloodstain on your cheek." Ace pointed out, carefully rubbing his finger on her red cheek.

"O-Oh?" Deuce gasped a little when she noticed what he was implying. "Is that so?"

She tried to wipe the blood from her cheek by herself, but Ace's hand wouldn't go away. It kept caressing her cheek gently. Thanks to that, at every second passed, Deuce's blushes grew more and more hazardous.

The blood was hard to erase for Ace. He could force a little power to his effort which might help in cleaning the blood, but even the intention to do that was definitely not an option for Ace. A pure face like Deuce's was not fit to be colored with the slightest of fresh red blood, and adding a strength to wipe the stain off of her face would flinch her, which would made her face uglier than that.

And it shouldn't be happening in the first place. The kindness and purity on her face were too precious to be stained with bloods. He wanted to protect them.

"Deuce."

When he called her, their eyes instinctively met.

"…Yes?"

Her response came out slower, due to how captivating Ace's gaze at her. Amazing, charming, and protective lights that captured her attention. She wanted to stay within them.

Words were slowly becoming harder to take out from their mouths, even though there was nothing else to disturb them. Only them, in the middle of an empty town. An unfamiliar spark was traded at that point through their eyes.

This was the second time things like this happened, the first one being that one occasion in her clinic.

Emotions couldn't describe, gestures couldn't explain, and even the most beautiful of words couldn't elaborate. This was a foreign feeling that only hearts could tell, much to their own acknowledgement of the said feeling. A feeling that her heart had acknowledged its existence for a long time, but she still yet to experience herself. A feeling that he never understood even from his childhood, but his heart had seek secretively from long ago.

Love.

"Ace? Deuce?"

King's sudden entrance broke them out of their anomalous reverie. Slight gasps from the two's mouths, and Ace pulled his arm back to his side while Deuce put her hands together across her chest, both taking a step back with their legs. He quickly crossed his arms as he changed his attention to the other side, and the brunette quickly addressed the biggest man of three, hoping that King didn't see any of that.

Sadly, the blushes on their faces were not disappearing all that easy.

"K-King-san, you're back! Y-You're not hurt, aren't you?"

With their sudden quirks, King could easily tell something was happening between just before he reached them. Furthermore, both of them seemed to be evading each others' eyes on purpose. King was interested on knowing what was going on, but he decided mentally that he wouldn't push this matter as of now. Instead, he only raised an eyebrow in question.

"Did I interrupt something?"

King couldn't suppress an amused smirk as he witnessed both Ace's and Deuce's face turned total red once again, even though the former was not even staring at his eyes. Deuce fidgeted, crossing her arms together behind her shyly, while Ace kept his face away, trying his best to keep his cool composure intact.

"A-Anyway!" Deuce raised her tone out of sudden, clearly trying to change the subject. "W-We need to go to Jack-san's, r-right?"

In order to not to make a shameful display of herself even further, she quickly started her pace to the inn. King let out a sigh, another way of showing his entertained expression. He turned to face Ace, who in return ignored King's amused stare and preferred to start his journey to Jack's habitat. Showing one last small smirk, King then started his own walk to the inn.

Still, the short and simple walk between them remained full of unresolved tension. Both Ace and Deuce were clearly trying to not to stare at each other and King needed to position himself between them. Quite an amusing situation King was in, but again, he decided not to word it out loud. Watching the two's behavior was more than a treat to him.

That relatively short walk was put on hold when they arrived in front of Jack's inn. The three of them, without any exception, turned a little shocked, if not horrified at what was before their eyes.

The infamous Eleven Summit inn was close enough to be called a ruin. Although the building itself still stood strong, the door, windows, and every bits of its walls were almost destroyed.

"Jack-san!"

Deuce was the first one to run inside the bar, followed closely by the two men. Pushing the batwing doors open, the healer was soon presented with shocking scenery. She instinctively clamped her mouth with her hands in response, while Ace and King merely widening their eyes in surprise.

The bar was full with dead bodies, the tables and chairs were wrecked, and just right in front the barstool, Jack's figure was crouching wordlessly, his sword rested by his side. Deuce soon noticed the huge scar on Jack's chest and she quickly rushed to his aid.

"W-What happened here?" she quickly took out bandages from her medic kit, starting her duty to heal him. "Jack-san? Jack-san?"

A small wave of panic rushed inside her. She was even terrified at first, seeing that Jack made no movement whatsoever. King and Ace, although they weren't showing it, they were clearly worried as well when they found that Jack was not showing any response.

Luckily for the three of them, Jack, out of sudden, moved his lips to laugh. Of all things.

"Owwie, owwie…" the young barmaster winced in pain. "That actually hurts a lot…"

Listening to Jack's soft joke brought them out of their fears. Ace and Deuce sighed in reliefs, and King managed a small laugh of his own, subtly jabbing Jack's shoulder with his clenched hand.

"That isn't funny at all, Jack-san," Deuce pouted as she resumed her job. "Your wounds are terrible."

Jack being Jack, kept his dorky laughs around. King, who somewhat understand Jack's sense of humor, joined the other man's laughter with his own. Deuce was already confused with King's sudden laughs, and she was getting more surprised when Ace, of all people, was laughing as well. Deuce was left to pout harder as their laughs erupted into one.

"You boys are weird."

Nonetheless, Deuce still continued on treating Jack's wound. Their random laughs were slowly fading out as time passed.

"It is time."

The young and talented assassin of Suzaku suddenly muttered as he stood again from his spot. A little surprised at Ace's sudden action, the other three's eyes fell on him in question.

"Deuce, Jack, King…" Ace emphasized on their names, bowing his head in respect for the other three. "I know simple thanks won't suffice for this, but you have my utmost gratitude. This plan will not work without your helps."

Of course, that casual and overly polite Ace's gesture brought surprises to them. Still, smiles were soon spicing their lips.

"Don't mind~! Don't mind~!" Jack was the first to respond, winking his eyes cheerfully despite his wounds. "It's been a while since I had that much fun~"

Deuce didn't approve of his wording. Frowning in disapproval, she suddenly tightened the bandage she was working on, making Jack wincing further, and even shrieking in pain.

"Ouch ouch ouch—!" he flabbergasted in pain, maybe crying childishly a bit. "M-my little Deuce~ T-That hurts- Ow!"

"It's fun, right?" she sarcastically commented, her pouts were yet to be gone. "Also, please stop addressing me with 'little', Jack-san. I've told you many times that I am nineteen already."

Jack made another witty comments, but Deuce merely replied by turning his treatment into a little… harsher. The somewhat funny sight brought chuckles to both King and Ace.

"Ace."

The chuckles were soon diminishing as King called for the younger man. Ace stared at King in question as the said man soon stood on his two legs as well. The Quicksilver's arm soon made its way to The Caller's shoulder, patting it comfortingly.

"It is I who needs to thank you," King smiled as he stated. "Your plan was perfect. There is indeed no single victim with it."

"What do you mean by 'no single victim', King!?"

Ace was about to smile at King's gratitude, but it soon turned into an entertained chuckle when Jack's whine suddenly interfered. King, and even Deuce, couldn't help but joined with their own chuckles.

Ace shook his head slowly, still laughing. It had been a long time since he had some fun like this, and he would savor this while he could. In fact, in the worst possibility, this could be his last.

"It was rather suicidal, I know," Ace chuckled against King. "But in the end, your abilities made it works, the three of you."

Ace's rare, warm gaze fell upon King's eyes, before it moved to Jack's, and lastly, ended up on Deuce's emerald ones. His eyes rested on hers for a bit, before Ace closed them again as he bowed once more.

"Once again, my deepest gratitude," he respectfully commented. "I'll take care of the rest. His tyranny will end soon, I promise."

"Do your best, Ace~!" Jack winked at him once again.

"We're indebted to you, Ace," King nodded back. "You can do it. I know you can."

Deuce, on the other hand, could say nothing. Her gaze was that of a worried one, which Ace replied with a plain and emotionless one. Neither of them moved. Her stare wished him to stay to prevent further injuries, but her heart knew very well that he needed to do his job. Ace's only expressed his determination to finish his job before anything else.

He regretted a bit for not being able to figure of what to say to her regarding the previous event, but he rotated on his heels to walk outside, choosing his duty over everything else. He was the master key to Suzaku's master plan. He would not stop right here just because of his personal feelings.

At every steps Ace took towards his mission, Deuce could only choke harder on her unsaid words. It was very hard for her, but she knew that she needed to do at least this. Mustering every bit of her courage, she successfully grabbed his attention by calling his name.

"Ace-san!"

Ace halted his pace, turning his head around to reply at Deuce. She muttered a small excuse to Jack, which the man nodded in agreement at, before she rose to approach the warrior in silver overcoat. As Ace turned his body to stare face to face with her again, she swiftly grabbed something from her white pocket.

"Please take this."

She grabbed his hand politely, bringing it up a little so that she could pass whatever she had on her other hand. As her hand fell on top of his for the slightest moment, Ace felt himself touching something cold and heavy; a metal.

It was a necklace, a pendant that was shaped like a pair of wings.

"It's my… lucky charm," she softly explained, the faintest blush appeared upon her cheeks. "I want you to have it."

Ace quickly turned his slightly-surprised stare at her, as if re-asking her again on whether he really could have it. It only took a small shy nod from Deuce to make him succumb to her request.

"…Lucky charm, eh?" he sighed for a moment, before a smile took its place on his lips. "I definitely need luckiness in this one. Thanks, Deuce."

Without further ado, Ace made a quick work on wearing her— his new pendant around his neck swiftly, adding another unique shine to his already shiny outfit. This prompted Deuce to smile at him again.

One last glance at the three Korushi's inhabitants, and Ace made a slight nod before he made his way out for real this time. As he walked outside, he motioned a small wave with his hand over his shoulder for them. No sooner, he was already out of Eleven Summit building, and the three of them were left to stare at his back.

Unlike King and Jack, who confidently believed that Ace could do this, Deuce felt a slight pang in her chest. She couldn't help but had a bad feeling about this.

Still, she heartily prayed for his safety. For him to be able to see her once more, after all of this were over.

…

As soon as he was outside, Ace quickly whistled, and to that, a pigeon quickly landed on his forearm. As quick as he let it landed on his arm, he let the bird with white fur flew back to its destination. No sooner, the bird was left as a small dot in the middle of the bright sky. The Caller inhaled for a deep breath.

Ace's longest day was about to start.

…

As the pigeon landed on her slender forearm, Cater's expression beamed. It went up to eleven when she noticed that the bird was the one that they had been waiting for.

"He did it! He did it!" she quickly beamed up, addressing the hiding Korushi civilians. "Ace did it!"

The once dark and silent cave was now filled with joy. The non-measurable happiness and reliefs quickly sprayed over to all of the villagers' faces, thousand of loud cheers rhymed together.

"Good," General Zhuyu took his chance to speak. Unlike most of people there, his expression stayed cool and enigmatic. "Suzakus, we will march!"

Weapons raised, spirits burning within. The fires of Suzaku were blazing, craving for their glories. The big general rode off with his chocobo, and other cavalries soon followed after him, riding their own mounts.

Machina Kunagiri was one of them.

…

"Alright, alright. These way~ These way~"

Cater and her teal-haired friend, Carla, were trying their best to guide the unharmed villagers back to their village, a platoon of soldier accompanied them as they cleared the way.

A certain man, however, still stayed in front of the cave. In fact, he was concentrating his vision at the darkness of the cave's entrance. This didn't go unnoticed by Cater.

"Miyu?"

"Go on first without me," he, Miyu, or more familiar by Eight, quickly returned her question with a dismissive wave, not even staring back at his childhood friend. "I'll join you soon enough."

Honestly, he and his attachment to this place. Cater sighed dejectedly as she returned to her job to escorting the civilians, leaving Eight by himself. He stared nostalgically long enough at the cave, before Eight turned on his heels, slowly walking to follow the others who had travelled far enough.

Time to put the result of his training in the shadow no further, for the victorious sunlight had called him to dance under it.

…

"What do you think, Hraesvelgr?"

Qator motionlessly asked Trey as he unhurriedly approached the general, his personal maid following loyally beside him. Trey soon followed his superior action from on top of the city's front gate: Watching the warriors of Suzaku forcing their way in, although they were still incredibly far from the point he was standing.

"Stronger than I've expected," he commented back, a little dryly as he glared at the hoards of soldiers. "But not something that we cannot handle, in my opinion. Sad that we lost Sir Faith, though."

A flicker of anger burned in Qator's eyes at the mention of his now-dead finest subordinate, their venomous glares rested on the Suzaku's troops. "Faith will not die in vain."

Cinque made a slight headtilt at their conversation, seemingly not able to catch on with their topics. Trey, on the other hand, was smirking a little as he elegantly pulled an arrow out of its quiver. Calmly nocking an arrow against his well-manufactured bow, he aimed his weapon at the walking mobs.

"Indeed," Trey stated his opinion, his arm stopped pulling the string and the arrow was released from the bow soundlessly. "He will not."

Even though the Suzaku soldiers were still pretty far from, his arrow successfully pierced one unfortunate's private's head.

…

Ace had his plan. Suzaku had its plan. Trey had his plan. Byakko had its plan. Others might had their own plans. But in the end, he was the only one who will laugh in the end. That much was certain.

In his private chamber, Cid Aulstyne moved a pawn on the chessboard, a cunning and devilish smirk set on his lips.

As you can see after reading those blocks of texts, this is one of my main reasons for the late updating, except for the obvious procrastinator side of mine: Choreography of the battle scene. The moment I chose to write this epic, I already knew that writing chapter like this is inevitable, while in fact, I barely have any experience of writing one. Do excuse me if the flows of the fights aren't flowing nicely. I hope there are no major plothole in this chapter.

No, not Ace's/Suzaku's plan, though. I still hide it for the next chapter, although if you read over the subtle implication I've put in this chapter, you can tell the plan, moderately easy, even. Ace's battle scene was the only one with most description as well, since Deuce's/Jack's/King's full abilities will be exposed later on.

Another one that I must note that Faith IS NOT an OC. He is, in fact, Qator's right hand man. Japanese fandom seems to take him rather well due to his… Well, bishieness. You can check his tag in pixiv by "フェイス大佐". Personally, he's my favorite Byakko, while his superior come close in second place.

I am totally not ashamed of using my one of my favorite video game's name for a title of this chapter. Totally not. BlazBlue is a great game, play it if you haven't.

Lurkers/anons, by any means, please review. I'll emphasize it again. PLEASE REVIEW. No, not because I need more reviews, but because I need to know how much of you still lurks this fandom in this site. Because if the category here is already died down, I'm going to continue posting the next chapter of this story on other, better site that I've just recently found.

Nobody comments about King's Rock 'n Roll, k. It's fucking canon, brah.