Outskirts

Resuming meditation, amidst a change in the winds. A...rather odd change, as a matter of the fact, as it felt as though the wind had ceased.

Satoshi's eyes slowly opened. Right. He had been sitting here for quite a while, letting the barren landscape lull his mind in an attempt to search inwards for more answers. Since his consoling of Mizumi and his interaction with Sera, he had decided to think before pursuing further action with the revolution. Unfortunately...

Seph and Angelica expressed that the fight against the invaders had entered a state of disarray. Even under the helm of new leadership, the armies continued to swing in vain. What was going to come of this? An unwinnable situation? The end of both Cray and Earth?

This hadn't broken the young man from his focus. But what did was what Seph reported next.

"...Exculpate is leading the charge against the revolution."

Satoshi stared hard into the sands of the outskirts. "So they took her."

"All I know," Seph said with a gulp of mild pain, "is that she and the invaders are fighting harder than we could have ever anticipated. And she's...not herself. She and Blaster Blade are fighting as one, but of a different mind and motive."

Neo Nectar's Vanguard shook his head. "That's not important. What's important is that she's alive. Her being alive means there's still a chance."

Seph's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? Did you even hear what I said? She's not herself---"

"She hasn't been herself for years now." Satoshi's eyes closed again. "Again, nothing new beyond her pulse. Her survival is what makes a difference for the human race, as well as the entirety of Cray. At least, that's how she'd put it, or her father, I guess."

The spiritual leader of Neo Nectar couldn't believe what he was hearing. This guy, claiming to be one of Exculpate's closest friends, the Guardian of the Triad of Hope, was just shrugging this off like it was nothing. Come to think of it, why wasn't he there, helping the other of their Triad? What was he possibly thinking? This was no way for him to act.

"You're wasting time just sitting here! No matter how many answers you think you might find, it's not going to protect people to just let them stay in your head and your heart!"

Satoshi's eyes fluttered open again with a small sigh. "Seph, you've been with me for years now. You've watched Yukino grow into Exculpate alongside us. Are you really going to tell me that even in this time of war, that what she's going through right now is any different from the past?"

Seph wanted to retort, but bit his lip. His Vanguard was incredibly wrong, but he couldn't really bring it to him. It lay with the Triad, alongside their friends, to bring Yukino back around again and again and support her. They supported her as their leader and closest companion, which lead to the success of Exculpate beyond an individual perspective.

It was going to have to be someone else's job, not his, to make him understand what the hell was wrong with this picture.

"Let's say you're not mistaken. What, then, are you possibly looking for to---"

Satoshi pushed himself up slowly. His legs ached a bit, but he was ready to move on from this place to continue his meditation while walking. As he stepped, Seph floated after him. "Hey! Don't ignore me!"

The farmboy shook his head. "What I'm looking for..."

What he was looking for was a sign of self-awakening.

"Jack Aglovale" burned with a light purple aura in the hands of the man who now wielded the blank liberators, "Bout time..." he stood, up as he started walking away from the burial that was made in the area he was in. "Guess I better let things start moving a bit..isn't tht right buddy?" he said, as his black wings appeared and he took off.

Daidragon descended down in the deserted wasteland area. Darren jumped down from it and it disappeared. The two Dimensional Robos who are always by his side both appeared, curious to what what happening.

"Why are you here and not with the others?" Daiyusha asked with concern.

"There's only two more left to deal with. I helped this time, but I ran out of power twice. I can't afford to be like this when we take on Tomato Head and the Big Ego."

"Not really seeing what that has to do with being... here," Daikaiser chimed in. "If that's how it is, just go to the facility at the base and recharge."

Darren shook his head. Even if he did that, the next big battle would drain him again. He needed a more permanent solution. He took a deep breath, his aura flared as it sent a powerful wave of his Seed energy around him. "Malice took three months to master this power. I can do it in a day if I try really hard."

Karin touched down beyond the city's edge, breathing heavily. Her armor had dissipated mid-flight, and she knelt down, trying to catch her breath. She looked back at the city- Leviathan towered over everything that was still standing as she devoured anything around her. Humanity had only just barely managed to overcome the Twin Towers, but how could they possibly contend with true divine power? A godlike being embodying an entire planet, able to not just Delete something... But wholly and truly erase it from existence.

Just what were they supposed to do in this situation?!

Karin took a few deep breaths, standing back up and brushing herself off. She took a few moments to get a grip on her circumstances- Everyone had been scattered at this point, and who knows how many of her pieces were actually left.

Not like the number of pieces mattered, anyway, Leviathan would probably just eat the game board.

"Strategy like that isn't going to help here anyway... Leviathan's a monster, she won't have a strategy for me to play against, beyond just eating everything...

So what does that leave left for us...?"

Nemesis (assuming she survived) was unable to tap into her own holy power, the Blaster had been eaten, Chronos, the only man who might be willing to help them with Strides, was gone, and Chronojet was still missing. No one Karin could think of stood a chance against this behemoth.

She sat down on the ground, closed her eyes, and started thinking again.

The motorcycle of Raiden pulled up behind Karin and stopped just before her. Darren Shurensei's unconscious body fell to the ground with it. He was the only one on the bike. He stirred from the impact and rose his head as he too the moment to realize where he was. His eyes went wide as everything that happened before rushed to him.

What the... where's Yuki... Noel... That giant Tomato headed... Did she take everyone out... Did I..."

He thought the worst, thinking he couldn't sacrifice himself correctly. She had to be stopped, but even someone as thick headed as Darren knew that couldn't be done the way thing were now. He gave a small sigh as he sat there for a moment.

"Hope isn't enough this time... we need something that can break Tomato Heads armor or we can never hurt her. Even with that, she's so strong that most things won't even work..."

It was at this time that he noticed Karin was nearby. Normally he would have sensed her by now but he didn't have much time to restore his stamina or energy. He was still running low when it came to his strength. That was one of the main reasons he wasn't making an attempt to find Leviathan now. At full strength he still wouldn't have much chance.

"Karin... you're here too..."

Karin kept her eyes shut despite Darren's appearance, trying to keep her thoughts in order. But, as luck would have it, that was around the same time her Reality bangle started beeping incessantly, signifying an incoming message. With a sigh, her eyes opened as she brought the Bangle up to look at what had just come in.

It was a record of the details of "Delete End", and the final moments of the Resistance who stayed behind.

Who had sent this? Karin didn't care, it didn't matter. What mattered was she had more information than she had before, and that this might somehow give them an edge. At the very least, they could last a bit longer in the face of this divine power.

Wait...

Karin played back the recording again, listening closely to Leviathan's own words. She referred to the power of Restoration that Chronojet had given them as a "Divine Power" as well...

She played back this part of the recording over and over, the gears in her head starting to turn once more. If Restoration was also a Divine Power, then it was of a similar nature to Leviathan's own. If it came from Chronojet, then he must be a Divine Power too. And if he was one as well, then he might be able to combat Leviathan...

But there was just one problem. Chronojet was still missing, and Karin had no idea how to find him.

Unless...

Another realization struck Karin. There was a way to find Chronojet after all- Maybe. But a "Maybe" was better than nothing. And if Karin knew Yukino, there's one place she'd go... Assuming she still lived. She cast a glance back at Darren, speaking to him briefly before her armor snapped back into existence on her, taking off towards her destination.

"...I'm going home."

Darren blinked as he saw her play the Bangle footage. She played the same part over and over. That must have been important. It keep mentioning some kind of power. Darren thought about what it could mean himself. She was like a god, right... They couldn't touch her even though she didn't have armor. Maybe only a god could fight a god... but where could they get one of those?

Darren snapped his fingers at a thought. The Time Dragon could do it. He had the power to bring back everything that happened until now, so of course he would have the power to do something about this. Maybe... if it was even around...

Darren saw Karin stand up. He held his hand out as he wanted to go with her, but he decided not to. He lowered his head as he wondered what he could even do. There was nothing he could do now, nothing but rest and restore his own energy. With a light sigh, he lowered his head onto the ground and did just that. A bed would be no safer than the ground he was on if deletion was going to happen anytime soon, so there was no reason to try to seek a safe haven to rest in.