First World: Inner Conflict.

"The lives of this planet or the multiverse?"

Edison emotionlessly asked the boy in front of him, however, Musashi knew it was also directed at her.

Biting her lips in helplessness, she couldn't answer.

This entire situation seems hopeless.

They know nothing of their enemy, other than his mind control ability that seems to have the power to touch every corner of the world.

What could they do with an enemy like that? His whereabouts are still unknown, while all the bases that got destroyed lead to nothing besides more kidnapped individuals.

'Wait...'

She suddenly felt something was amiss.

However, before she could ponder further, Edison, out of nowhere had the muzzle of a gun touching Jared's forehead.

"..."

With droplets of sweat rolling down his face, Jared stared at the vigilante with uncertainty.

"Why...? Why is there even a choice when the answer is obvious?"

The fear of his gaze and the bitterly cold intent Edison was emitting immobilized Jared to the point that he forgot that a gun couldn't even threaten him if he had a barrier spell ready.

Yet, having never met such a heavy aura coming from the normal guy out of their group was unexpected and in more ways than one incredibly terrifying.

'Just...how many did he kill?'

Minutes seemed to pass in utter silence until Jared saw Musashi coming over and gently pushing the muzzle away from his forehead.

Edison peeked at her with no emotion in his gaze, waiting for an answer.

"I think we need to cool down a bit."

She said so with a calm smile, trying to ease down the atmosphere a bit.

It was too heavy for her liking, too much!

"The situation may seem without hope, but I think we may have overlooked an important detail."

After getting both of their attention, she calmly continued while releasing an inner smile, thinking that this was for the best for all of them.

"We indeed know nothing of our enemy, it seems dreadful just thinking about too. But, we've been too preoccupied with the situation around us. Why not take a step back and rethink again?"

"We can't...we can't! Our time is limited! Why can't you-"

"Be at ease. You're too overclouded in your thinking. Let's start from the beginning."

Musashi sat down in a comfortable position before resuming her point.

"Sure, it may have been overwhelming for all of us at the beginning on the island. A week has passed since then, and we only knew one thing about him, which is his mind control. No matter how ridiculous it seems, there has to be a condition he had to fulfill to even brainwash all of these people into doing his biddings."

"Why do you think so?"

"Well, take a look at this."

Answering Edison's question, she grabbed a remote on a nearby table and turned the TV on.

"Do you see this?"

She pointed at a scene of several riots happening around China.

Looking back again, she switched channels.

"This too."

Now a news reporter could be seen broadcasting a situation in France.

He walked around the streets on barren land where buildings were in ruins, demolished from constant fighting.

Yet, the moment a noteworthy footage came on the scene, she paused and pointed her finger at something that seemed out of place.

"Have you noticed yet?"

Both Jared and Edison looked at the thing she was pointing at.

"Speakers...?"

"..."

Whereas the boy exclaimed loudly, Edison remained quiet and remembered the few footage she had shown on the TV.

"Yes, speakers. The things that amplify sound through wires or Bluetooth."

For some reason, she had a smug expression on her face. Apparently proud of her use of modernized words.

Jared's involuntarily twitched upon seeing that, while Edison wasn't in the mood for such things.

"It's everywhere."

He quietly said.

"Yes, as my *cough*- as he said, those speakers are everywhere, whether they're laying somewhere destroyed or unscathed, some sort of connection is being formed the more I'm looking at these things don't you guys agree? I mean... sure if it was a few times where it could've come from destroyed properties it wouldn't be that much of a big deal, but every footage we've come across has them showing up somewhere."

Nodding upon hearing her point, Jared still had some concern.

"What...if it's a trap? What if the guy is laying those things around on purpose to sway us off our tracks? To be honest, though, seeing how he does things, it wouldn't surprise me if he did that..."

Sighing with resignation, he looked out of the window with a bitter smile.

"Musashi...I don't know. So what if those speakers are the reason for all of the brainwashing? We couldn't-"

BANG!

Suddenly smashing the table into pieces, she coldly glared at him.

"Continue with that mindset and see where that goes, Jared-san."

With a pissed-off expression, she rubbed her temple with apparent frustration in her eyes.

Edison unamusingly watched their banter with a blank face, and without further elaboration of what he was about to do, he grabbed his things and slid the door open from the balcony.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Even though she was getting increasingly agitated due to Jared's mindset, it didn't mean that Edison was any better.

"Why would you do that?"

As the wind breezed through the room, the chilly sensation of the cold hit their skins, furthermore showcasing that it was more frigid than usual in Japan.

Edison looked down at her with a deadpan face.

"I'm going."

"To do what? Even if you have an idea, wouldn't it be the best case to share it with us? Doing everything alone...is that what you're used to?"

The end of the sentence got noticeably more butchered, but he could still make out the words.

"..."

Having no answer he turned around and jumped off the balcony, not forgetting to deploy his glider.

With that, seeing Edison disappearing into the night, she somehow felt empty.

"..."

While Musashi stared at 'nothingness', Jared was still lost in his thoughts, questioning his own qualifications.

However, not even a few seconds later, a determined expression lit up.

Clenching his fist, he slowly stood up from the chair.

'I'll save them, I will.'

As the two people were in their world, an old man on the other side could be seen pressing his ear against the wall.

"Yare yare, this is getting worst than I thought."

During the moment Edison woke up and their heated discussion which almost resulted in a fight, Kojiro had been there all the time...just that he was keeping himself out of it.

He came back a few minutes earlier after playing with the kids and sensed that Edison had woken up due to his distinct breathing, so he wanted to open the door and go in to check if everything was fine.

Until...the shit-show happened.

Now left with a semi-broken group he was quite at a loss for words.

Lazily scratching the back of his head, he made his way towards Musashi's room, until a notification popped up in front of him.

[Advocate of Vengeance: Collect speakers around the country, and connect them somehow.]

"Ehhh...?"

Confusion spread across his face, but all of a sudden a scream sounded out in the other room.

"Edi-SAN...!"

"Should've told us at least..."

Hearing her yelling and Jared's mumbling, Kojiro gently smiled.

'Goodness gracious, these youngsters have too much energy compared to my old bones. Hahahaha!'

Soon, his figure disappeared along with the wind.

...

..

.

"Sir, could you give me a reason why you need my cooperation?"

"...I need it."

"Sir, I need a reason why."

"Speakers...on."

The pilot looked at the man in front of him.

'What the fuck is he talking about?'

He sighed, thinking back on how much had been going on, and dealing with this guy was the last thing he wanted.

Glancing at his hands which held two enormous speakers for reasons unknown to mankind, he felt that he was losing his mind with the rest of humanity.

Yet, the man seemed to have not an ounce of a clue of what he was thinking and continued trying to connect them with the helicopter behind him.

"Fuck it, go ahead, we're all gonna die anyway, see if I care."

The pilot rummaged through his pockets and found a lighter and a pack of cigars.

Lighting it on and seeing the flame, he quietly put it in his mouth and inhaled the smoke.

"..."

DRINGGGGGG!

"AH FUCK!"

"..."

"YOU MORON."

"...better?"

Edison blinked at the pilot.

"Better? Yeah, but did it have to make such loud sounds, for fuck's sake! Might as well attract everyone in the vicinity. Oh, great I just jinxed it didn't I?"

After he finished, he nonchalantly puffed out the smoke and looked in the direction where sounds of people came toward them at a fast speed.

The pilot looked at Edison with an annoyed gaze.

"Now we're gonna die because of you...also partially because of me but hey, didn't know I could influence reality."

"We're fine."

"Hmmm?"

He was confused about what the guy was on about, but upon hearing nothing but silence again, he gawked at him with wide eyes.

"Y-you! I didn't know we were the same-"

"I'm afraid you're not the same as him."

"Eeek!"

Frightened from the abrupt voice, he jumped as high as a cat and looked at the newcomer.

'A fucking teenager?'

Jared stared at the pilot with the same gaze he used against Edison.

Glancing at him checking if the speakers were on, Jared nonchalantly waved his hand and dropped the things that were floating in the sky.

Not caring about the commotion, he continued doing his thing.

Jared sighed helplessly and walked toward Edison.

"With all the stuff going on, and the huge pressure of the entire world upon us, I didn't have an outlet to release everything..."

"..."

"I...apologize for lashing out at you. I didn't mean that. I was too short-sighted and wasn't willing to listen any further."

Then with a determined glint in his eye, Jared raised his voice with a firm tone.

"However, I want to make things right again. Between all of us. I...I want to show that I'm not some dead weight holding you guys back!"

"As the Admin, as the leader, and as someone who has a dream. I want to prove myself again!"

Edison calmly glanced behind him to see Jared having a sudden moment of enlightenment.

"I see."

Those were the only words that he muttered.

However, that was more than enough as Jared smiled like a kid.

"Then, let's get to it!"

As newfound strength surged through him, he started planning on what to do with the speakers as he was still a bit confused.

But, it seems like they forgot someone...

The pilot who had been completely ignored stared at the kid shouting some shit that made him visibly shut his eye.

'Yeah, yeah we get it. You're the protagonist alright.'

...

..

.

"Hmmm~"

"Hmhmhmhm~"

"What a sad day~"

"TO see baby shoes that will never...be worn~"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAAH!"

BOOM!

---------