Wrecked Kizoku Town Business District

Aside from several missing buildings and another number of them having crumbled apart, along with a bridge being torn in half, and the streets having gaping holes in them, along with areas in general having huge empty craters in them, this place looks fine! ... Totally. The Reality Bangles deactivated, and summoned units vanished back to Cray. Save Carlos', as it detected danger in fighting some girl who somehow summoned a Nightmare Doll out of nowhere. Hikari, having been thrown into rubble, kicked away from debris. Cursing quietly, the Seekers reported that Locrinus... was definitely gone. All his cards had turned grey, having no signs of life, or evidence there really was any at all. The queen and Ahmes sat in place, wallowing in their failure. She still couldn't fight the abominations that tore apart her timeline, and Blaster Blade knew that this was the "erasure of existence" Sakuya foretold. ... And he can't do anything about it.

"Damn it..." Yukino cursed again, lying in the destroyed remains.

"Good job, boys", Bashiro complimented the Brawlers. "We couldn't kill that thing, but we're all mostly alive, so be proud of just that, okay? Anyone starts actin' like a sad sack, I'm kickin' someone's ass back into gear." The thug gave a threatening word of encouragement. The Narukami faction was inclined to agree with him. Bigbang Slash barely made it out, but they did survive the whole ordeal. That alone was something to be proud of, considering the sheer power, size, and numbers of the Reapers. The man couldn't hear them, but the Brawlers gave their thanks. Afterward, he approached a panicking Aoi who was crouched down on the ground, staring at one of her deleted Genovious cards.

"I... remember those... I think... Ow... My head..."

"Easy there lil' pea, don't need you havin' another migraine." Bashiro removed the Reality Bangle from her wrist. The girl began staring at her hand for a good while, until she stood up with the eyepatched brawler.

"We got a lot of data today, meeting one of the Reapers again. Relay it to the researchers, and keep looking for a place we can use as a base of operations. For now, we can settle back at Umano Slums. Good work today, soldiers." Yukino, as a commander, gave a strong tone of voice to the army through the bracelet's built-in speaker. She felt horrendous, but could not let morale drop any further than it was already. A sigh escaped from her lips as she closed her eyes... and smashed apart some rubble by slamming her fist down. "Dammit! Dammit! I fought the Reapers already, and something was supposed to be different! We were prepared this time, and we didn't have to deal with the Star-vaders and Reverse at the same time! But... But nothing changed..."

The Reapers displayed levels of omnipotence and omniscience. Every tactic was moot point, ambushes were useless, and head-on assaults did next to nothing. They did this in her own timeline, and they're doing it again.

There was no difference. Nothing had changed.

"Shit, Carlos... He's still fighting that girl." Hikari recalled, snapping out of her despair for a moment. There was still something that could be done. Still... something.

Seifer remained on the ground, still squirming around in pain from his broken ribs, and having been thrown through the air after catching Rosalia. Trying to open his eyes to see was a struggle in and of itself because of the immense pain he was in... He'd stopped screaming though, thankfully. Thing Saver Dragon, before leaving with the others, glanced back at the blonde, and the Blaster Blade Seeker he'd used stayed by his side a little bit longer... Trying to draw attention to the medical help that was needed. Hopefully, as he faded away, he'd of drawn the attention needed but... In any case, the blonde, still in pain, struggled to sit up. His breathing became labored as he tried to look around the battlefield. They'd only barely survived and... Elaine. She was gone. The cards grey and void. Dammit, it took all of them and they didn't even stand a chance. Shifting a little bit to try and see how his beloved was doing, a new sharp pain hit him hard and he bent over, half crouched half laying on the ground now... Crying out with the new shock of pain.

Noel did nothing. She just stood there, frozen in fear of what was going on. Her mind was determined to jump in but her body was completely still, refusing to get into the fight to help the others. All she did was watch everyone helplessly try in vain to stop the monster using what seemed like upgraded versions of the Reality Bangles used for Stride. What was worse, the monster didn't seem to even be seriously damage aside from a few cuts and bruises. She fell on her knees and started to cry from her own uselessness and for the fact that even if she tried joining her, her own efforts wouldn't haven even changed the situation. Why... why couldn't I move... I was so scared... why was I so scared?!

Seifer was hurt and she just stood there watch. Her body still frozen, unable to move to her brother's aid. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry I couldn't help..."

The sound of motorcycle engine echoed in the now desolate area that the Reapers went wild in with their first creature. Haruto was really late to the action but then again he never thought that he would need to be early from looking at his teacher he could tell that she was preparing well for this, he had enough confidence in her and her friends....until he saw the area.

".....Oh my....I have to make sure they are safe." he said, as he fixed his helmet and revved up his motorcycle to speed into the area.

His main objective was to search for survivors or those that needed help, but he mainly focused on those he knew as by now the ambulances had started to intervene right? At some point he sped up more than the usual, he wanted to give some help to a specific person. Spotting Yukino he sped up towards her location and stopped right in front of her.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, getting out of the motorcycle frantically and standing to her side.

After making sure that she was somewhat okay, "Regardless of the situation I will get you some help but for now, get on, your brother needs our 'immediate' help." he said, as he got on the motorcycle and gestured for Yukino to get on so she could help him with Seifer.

Seifer and Haruto had not met before but Haruto remembers people quite well, he remembers a kind person who sort of helped him get interested in Vanguard on the way to Hawaii a while back, to him he was a friend. To add on to that he is his teacher's brother.

"Haruto?" The Meister turned to see him coming up on his motorcycle. Good thing he wasn't here to get brutally messed up or anything of the sort. The woman, clutching her arm, had gotten up on her feet. She looked out to gauge more of the district's - the town's destruction. Helicopters were on the way, and the Resistance was beginning to close the area off to civilians. "... I'm alright. If something's wrong with Seifer, get him to a hospital. I... have to stay here and survey the damage", Hikari replied to her understudy with the duties of being a war commander. She'll have to go check on her younger brother, sister, and lover, of course. However... getting a grasp of just how badly they lost was going to be necessary for any future battles.

"We're gonna need your help in escorting ambulances and the like, get to it." Hikari added.

Bashiro had already rushed over to Seifer and Rosalia, actually.

"Okay, okay, let's get this stuff outta the way!" The strong man tossed aside rubble, rather glad none of it landed on the two of them. One of the kids looked pretty bad though, the audible wincing gave that much. It wasn't the kind of hissing agony you'd get from a stubbed toe or anything either, no. It was the sound of a man who probably had something important broken. "Hey, can I get some help over here?!" Bashiro shouted, and Aoi rushed over to help Rosalia up.

"A-Are you both alright...?" Aoi asked the couple, putting aside her own panic and dread for the time being.

The sounds of sirens were getting closer.

Seifer, when helped up, flinched... Crying out again. This hurt, so much more than anything else... But he had to fight through it. "I-I'll be... a-alright. N-nothing to it... y-yeah?" he winced once from the pain shooting through his torso, feeling like white hot flames burning through his body. "R-rose, I think s-she went unconscious when we l-landed." he fought through the pain to speak, wondering just how badly he was injured. No he knew, he just didn't want to face it. The sirens closing were a great relief. Pain relievers thank god. "W-What about you guys?" he asked Aoi and Bashiro, looking between them through hazy eyes.

Receiving the information, Haruto immediately revved up his motorcycle at his teacher's last word and with a quick turn he was already close to Seifer's area. When he arrived the situation was already looking really difficult Seifer was in pain and it was clear from the situation that he needed immediate help.

He got off his motorcycle, looked at Bashiro and Aoi and said this, "The ambulances have to go there -points at a location- there -points at a location and repeats 6 more times- get the ambulances to those areas or notify them that they are in need of attention, i'll get this one to the Hospital myself, I appreciate the help."

Without any hesitation he helped Seifer onto his motorcycle, in a position that would not harm him, strapped him in, in any way that he could. "Just hang tight I promise I will get you the help you need."

He got on the vehicle himself then looked at Noel who was there as well, "It's good to see you again." he said, as he revved up the engine and sped off to get his friend to the Hospital, his helmet was dark so his face was not that visible for anyone to tell, aside from his teacher.

"Just hang tight, I won't fail you." he said, reassuring Seifer as he increased the speed while making sure that no sudden movements would happen that could possibly make his situation worse.

Rosalia shifted the moment she was moved, whimpering softly under her breath before opening her eyes. It took her a few moments to realize where she was at, her vision blurry until she could recognize a familiar blonde being driven away on a motorcycle?... Then, she remembered hearing Seifer's agony before passing out...

She scrambled to her feet, stumbling for a moment before wincing at the minor scrapes and bruises she sustained. Not that it was anything close to what her fiance was going through. "S-sei.. Seifer..." She took all of two steps before falling again to her knees, tears rolling down her cheeks while her hands clutched her head. The monster... the terrible, terrible monster... The brunette had done all she could with a deck she had never used before, but it just wasn't enough. There was no way it was actually gone though, right? The others... They couldn't do much to it either... Did any of them actually scratch it?! Just what was that thing!?! And her Ripis Magus, who took the hit for her...

"A-ah... Ahah.... Aahaa..." Rosalia was on the verge of hysteria, looking at her surroundings with an unfocused gaze. There were... others... there were others with her... She remembered seeing the girl next to her during the fight, but didn't know her name. And she could hear sirens approaching from... somewhere... W-we... we didn't... win... H-how were we supposed to?... "A-are you... okay?..." she managed to ask, not really sure what else to say.

Noel walked slowly, almost lifeless. The destruction around and her friends hurt was too much to take. It almost looks like all the destruction the Star-vaders caused that would take days and was condensed to this area in a single day.

She came up to Seifer finally after walking a bit and when she saw him, Noel just fell to her knees, mind blank, no words coming out of her mouth, only tears that are being poured out from her eyes. Was there really hope for peace to stay in the world? "Seifer... I'm sorry I didn't help..."

"Ah... u-um..." Aoi was cut off in her response to Seifer when Haruto came around with a motorcycle. Bashiro immediately went to help get the blondie onto the bike, and quickly discovered the problem: rib damage. The man cursed, trying to remember situations where his drinking buddies had to be carried away on broken ribs. He assisted Haruto in sitting him in a way that would cause the least amount of damage. It's still going to hurt like hell, but it's something.

Ambulances had finally gotten there, and medics quickly moved in to help those unfortunate that didn't evacuate early on.

"Oh", Bashiro turned to see Rosalia waking up, he helped the young lass onto her feet after Seifer had been removed from underneath her. Then he saw another pretty little thing about to burst into tears. The man had three beautiful girls around him, and he couldn't even find it in his heart to try to get a number. Life sucks when serious shit goes down and he can't be a scumbag.

"Ah! I-I'm... okay. Are you?" Aoi replied to Rosalia, at least. A shaky, reassuring smile trying to convey "we'll be alright" as given.

"Easy there, that thing was insane. Help or not, you being okay is probably gonna be enough for him." Bashiro spoke to Noel, trying to calm her down too.

"Christ, the elites of Link Joker did what would at least take days for the Star-vaders to do! Glendios did this kind of damage!" Yukino shouted, surveying the damage. This was horrifyingly ridiculous. The absurd amount of destruction Kraken did on his own was catastrophic, close enough to that of when Glendios tore apart the Sanctuary's castle back during the Star-vader invasion. These "bosses" of the clan were definitely not here to give humanity chances or simply take over. They were here to find delight in erasing them from existence.

"Ma'am, we're establishing HQ at Umano, as ordered."

"Good work soldier, we can regroup there."

Yukino sent a message to those with Bangles that the new Headquarters would be the Umano Slums for the time being.

A rev of a motorcycle was heard as Raiden rolled into the town. The sight of everything around him told him that he was too late. During the time the texts came, he was in the basement of his apartment, yes it has a basement; a basement he took three months making himself in secret.

He had been compiling the data he had gotten as of late and was nowhere near his phone at the time so he wasn't able to receive the text. Even if he was, he had no deck, no ability to fight. Still, he wanted to at least know what they were up against. He came knowing that he would likely be late.

He dismounted the motorcycle, looking around as he hoped someone was still there. He had used the data he gathered to determine some things, but judging by what he was looking at, it was too late to give out any information. The battles had begun and Raiden was so far unable to do anything about it.

Rosalia only nodded slightly to Aoi, though the brunette was far from okay. She wanted to break down, her mind was already fracturing with all the information and images that flooded her thoughts. But collapsing now in a panic wouldn't help Seifer... He was on his way to the hospital though; she was sure of that much. Then she noticed Noel...

Taking a deep breath, trying to calm her frazzled nerves, she moved to Noel's side and hugged the other female. It seemed she was in worse emotional condition that Rosalia herself. Actually did Noel fight at all like the others? She didn't see Noel's Jewel Knights, like she used to see before her own time in the rift... "N-noely.. He'll... He'll be okay... Y-you know that he won't leave us... L-let's go see if we can catch up... H-he... He'll probably be all patched up and ready to go once we get there..." That was highly unlikely, but both of them needed some sort of hope to cling to. "S-so.. le-et's go t-together, okay Noely?..."

Carlos was now on the floor, looking in shock at the damage caused by the battle against that tentacle monster and trying to make sense of what happened. He couldn't take part in the battle because of a weird girl. Carrying a bangle, she used a materialized giant woman to stop him and his Unit from approaching the monster. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that it wasn't a giant woman - It was a giant doll. The girl talked about how awesome it was to see the monster destroying the city or something like that. I know, weird.

As she didn't let him pass, he had to fight her to get the right to continue. But it wasn't a simple fight, it was a cardfight. "Finally, I'll be able to test this deck" He thought. The girl made the giant doll retreat and then summoned a young kid along an indescribable creature. Instead of riding it, the kid was trying to not make it angry. As Spark Kid Dragoon was already deployed, they started the battle soon after.

The battle played out as a simple cardfight. The difference was that you could actually touch and feel the Units. All the creatures the girl summoned alternated between adorable and scary, as Pale Moon usually do. Young magicians and little jugglers to horrible demons and terrifying witches, not counting the giant sentient dolls. He meanwhile used his trusted dragons and warriors, along with some beasts. When Carlos summoned his new Unit, Recklessness Dragon, he decided to do the most sensible thing... And ride (Literally) the bluish dragon. "If my mother saw me doing this... She would throw me all her sandals". She took notes of that because she rode on top of the same giant doll that she summoned in the beginning. That wasn't clearly enough, as she summoned two copies of a new doll.

He tried to reason with her, but she appeared to be way to immersed in the fight because she didn't listen. The assault of both Nightmare Dolls nearly destroyed Carlos' side, with him barely coming out in one piece. But he turned the tables with the summoning of two copies of Electric Shaper Dragon in the place where Recklessness once stood, riding it and giving a devastating blow to both the dolls and their master. Even then, the fight was far from over. The dolls were still standing. This time he could defend himself better, but that didn't reduce the ferocity of the attacks coming from his opponent. Her units appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye just to attack him and his Unit.

Carlos summoned, in place of Electric Shaper Dragon, his new main Unit - Armor Break Dragon. Paying a hefty cost in terms of gameplay to give it a boost in power, he commanded Armor Break to destroy the main doll once and for all. But, suddenly, a demon-looking magician appeared in front of the Nightmare Doll and blocked the attack. "This is bad..." He said to himself.

The coming attacks of both Nightmare Dolls nearly made him fall of Armor Break Dragon, but he somehow managed to protect both himself and his current Vanguard. He summoned Thunderboom Dragon to support him in the next set of attacks. This time, Armor Break Dragon was weaker than before. Out of nowhere, another giant doll appeared to intercept the attack of the giant armor dragon. Carlos was sure the attack wasn't going to get through. He didn't know if it was a miracle, or just that his reckless tactics were working, but Armor Break Dragon was starting to push forward the new Nightmare Doll and the main one. It was all thanks to a little magical beast, Blue Gem Carbuncle, that was giving him all its power. "Get the hell out of my way!!!" Yelled Carlos as Armor Break Dragon punched his way through the dolls, making them vanish.

He had no time to enjoy the victory, as all his Units disappeared too. And he was standing on top of Armor Break Dragon. Nice. He began to fall to certain death, trying to summon a new Narukami Unit to save his life. Not even Armor Break responded. Something was failing in his bangle, and it sure choose the worst moment to happen. But suddenly, he fell on the back of the same bluish dragon he rode in the battle. Recklessness just saved his life and he didn't know how or why. He didn't even noticed that he placed the card on top of the bangle. Going down to a safe height, the dragon disappeared, dropping Carlos on the floor and leaving him alone with his thoughts. "Man...". Man indeed.

"It'll be alright... I-I could come too..." Aoi spoke the girls. Her presence wasn't going to help anything nor would it really matter to strangers, but she'd still like to do something for them.

"Oi!" Hikari shouted during the aftermath of the fight between Carlos and Sophie. The Chosen Sword summoned the massive Bifurcation blade, ready to cleave one of the Nightmare Dolls in twine if the aggression wasn't over. Wingal blinked, though, taking note of Recklessness Dragon's actions.

The stranger she doesn't know who apparently knows Seifer spoke to her, reassuring that Noel not being there to help was more helpful to Seifer since she wouldn't get hurt. It was a smart idea too, even if she did froze from fear. "That monster... what is that thing...? It didn't get hurt at all and it was getting bombarded by powerful attacks... can we even beat it...?" Noel spoke back to the stranger, wondering if this time they can win against whatever it was that invaded this world.

That was when she felt a warm hug suddenly. It was Rosalia. It was nice to see they didn't change now that she was back. Wherever he was, Rosalia was always nearby. The warm, gentle hug helped sooth her emotions that were just everywhere making Noel an emotional wreck due to various reasons, one being her own powerlessness. "I'm glad you're safe Rosalia, I'm surprised you are used to this sorta thing. You know, the whole alien force invading..." Noel tried to make the situation like a joke to help calm herself and Rosalia who also seemed like she was shaking in fear.

Noel dried her tears and nodded to the offer of going with her to see Seifer. That was when a thought crossed her mind. Where was that girl Mirai in all this. Her strength would of helped her friends tremendously. It makes sense she wasn't here since that girl doesn't know anyone here but anyone who doesn't live under a rock would notice a giant monster attack a section of the city. "You would of been useful here... you are so strong... yet so stupid to notice things around you..." Noel muttered to herself as she got up to go with Rosalia

Rosalia frowned a bit at Noel's statement. There was no way that the brunette was used to this sort of thing... invaders... destruction... absolute chaos... But maybe it's simply because her mind was already over the edge, and that's why she wasn't freaking out like she should be. And to think that just this morning, she would panic at the smallest sign of conflict. Now, she can say that she did at least try to help fight this monstrosity that had attacked the town... Is something wrong with me?...

She glanced to Aoi who then spoke up, giving a small, sad smile to the other female. "Y-you can come, if you'd like... W-we can visit the h-hospital together... I-it's better to have friends n-nearby... I-i'm Rosalia Mooncrest, by the way. Or.. well, I'll be Rosalia Espoir eventually.. I-it's nice to meet you, an-nd thank you for your help in the fight..." With a wave of one hand, she started towards the hospital. It wasn't like her to "take charge", but someone had to in chaos' aftermath.

Raiden walked forward, looking at the remains. He saw Rosalia, Noel, Yukino, and people he had never met before. His first instinct told him to go straight to the leader, to Yukino. He wanted to see to everyone, but the best way to understand what happened would be to get the news from her.

He walked up to her, giving a serious face of sorrow at his inability to be here as he said, "I see that a lot happened. I'm sorry I received your message too late to help. Even if I did, I have no deck currently. I did have information to give you, but I doubt you want it now. Can you tell me what happened here?"

Once everything was under control (Well, sort off), Carlos stood and tried to find the woman that showed him indirectly how to use the Unit summoning bangle. "Both big rumors I came to investigate ended up being true. But I don't feel good about it anymore". Walking through the rubble, he noticed a lot off people he has seen before. Aoi was there, and a lot of people he saw on the Rijuku Park days ago were there too.

But he was only interested in the woman with the bangle. The one that clearly know what the hell was going on.

Yukino didn't see any further movements, and slowed down when Raiden and Carlos both decided to approach her. She turned to Raiden, who had been very, very late to the party. "Don't apologize, was probably better that you weren't here", the queen started. Whoever had came for the battle today experienced mind-numbing terror and a massive nosedive in morale. She needed able-bodies, but would be relieved with not having broken spirits more.

"I'll want that information soon. As for what happened here... Link Joker's back, and they hit hard. One of the Reapers - a Deletor appeared and mangled the place."

Raiden looked down and said, "I see... I was able to determine that energy similar to what Darren Shurensai gave off before he disappeared has been surfacing in bits around the city. I also had readings of another energy, that was likely this, but I don't have much of an ability to scan it now. I was only able to scan the energy from Darren because it is similar to what Noel and Seifer used in battles against me before. Even within Cray, units seem to understand that something is approaching. I was warned by a unit thanks to Xateramusa."

He looked down, thinking that he really needed his deck if he was to assist in this battle. He held up his arm lightly and said, "I'll do whatever I can to make sure this won't happen again. I want to help you protect this place, and the bonds you have with your friends. Even if I don't have such a thing, I still want to defend it."

"Wait, wait, wait..." Said Carlos upon hearing the woman talk. "Link Joker? Reaper? Deletor? What are you talking about!? This doesn't make sense at all! A giant monster appeared out of nowhere, and people were able to fight it with cards! This sounds awesome and all, but it still doesn't make sense! Now you're telling me that those stupid rumors on the internet were right!? What has the clan of Sera to do with any this!? And why it seems that people knew about this!?".

Carlos calmed down, and tried again with just a question. "Sorry. I just want to know... What is going on?".

"Sera?!" Yukino's head turned, an expression of shock on her face at Carlos speaking. ... Wait. Oh, goddammit, he was Drake the whole time! The woman facepalmed at not having realized the obvious for three months now, even when she had her suspicions of it!

"Link Joker is a clan of... heartless monsters. First there were the Star-vaders, now, the Deletors - "Reapers" that are the elites of the clan are here to kill us. I had to adjust this Reality Bangle in order for people to summon cards like I can if they couldn't already.

They're eldritch abominations. Don't worry about anything making sense, it's not supposed to. I can brief you in on more information back at HQ. I want more information about pinpointing Darren and how you found his energy signature, Raiden. ... And how you figured out about him popping up on Cray. Tell me about Xat as well when we get there."

The area was closed off to the public, and the commander was leaving.

"You're talking about the cards as if they were real creature- Wait, HQ? Like in Headquarters?" Carlos asked. "I don't know about the other things you said, but if that's what you meant with HQ, I would be fanboying if it weren't for what happ- Wait, where are you going!?" He said upon noticing the woman was leaving. "It's ok if you don't explain me anything, but at least help me look for survivors of this chaos or helping the paramedics or whatever!". Whatever was happening, it was huge.

Raiden nodded, seeing there was nothing more he could do there. Luckily his information was useful. It was the best he could do with a deck of his own to fight with. That was something that needed to change. He went back to his motorcycle, hopping onto it as he thought about where to go. Rosalia and others seemed to go to the hospital, Yukino was headed for the new HQ. He would probably be better off there for now. He headed that direction, following her as she never gave an actual address.

"They are real, and I can't stay here. The other members of the Resistance are working with the paramedics and finding survivors!"

She at least could answer Carlos with that while heading to Umano.