Chapter 14 - A year later.

It had been a year since Yuudai partook in WJO activities, he hadn't been in contact with his friends except for Emi. He was being monitored and the best way to not be discovered was to stay low, as did Takashi, he hadn't contacted any of the WJO. Emi took the mantle of The Phantom Phoenix while still being The Phantom Huntress, she commanded the WJO and reported back to Yuudai.

Melinda visited him weekly and they always had a friendly chat about their past, she got closer to him that she started to trust him more and decided to stop monitoring him, she decided to tell him everything the next day at the university.

"Good morning Yuudai" Melinda greeted. He was with Emi, they were talking about something. "Good morning Emi" she also greeted.

Yuudai turned around to face Melinda and greeted her back, Emi did as well.

"Hey, may I confess something?" Melinda asked.

"Go ahead" Yuudai said.

"I've been monitoring you for a year," Melinda said. "You were suspected to be from the WJO"

"You were?" Yuudai said while acting surprised.

"Yeah... Sorry about that" Melinda said. "You can hate me, I don't blame you"

"No it's fine, I don't blame you for suspecting me" Yuudai said. "So, you're with the police?"

"Uhh, kinda" She responded. "I don't do dangerous work as they do"

"Anyways, so I am free now?" He asked.

"Yes, we will stop monitoring you" Melinda said. "Have a good day" she then walked away.

"Let's get to the headquarters" Yuudai whispered in Emi's ear.

"Yes, Commander" Emi whispered back.

They left the university and walked a few streets to a flower shop, where they sold beautiful, colorful, and lovely flowers. They were greeted by a big, friendly-looking man, he had a big mustache and he was holding a flower in a pot.

"Greetings, what brings you here?" The man asked with a friendly tone.

"I'd like to buy a flower" Yuudai asked.

"What type?" The man asked while he put the flower down.

"A flower that sings when it gets hit by a gentle breeze, white and beautiful as the moon and that brings you hope, joy, and especially freedom" Yuudai said.

"Follow me" The man called someone to replace him and he guided them to the storage area.

"It's good to see you, Nobuo" Yuudai said while pressing a secret screen behind a shelf.

"Good to see you too, Commander" Nobuo saluted.

The floor underneath them started going down, like an elevator.

"You must know our situation, right?" Nobuo asked.

"We are losing this war, am I right?" Yuudai asked.

The elevator stopped in a basement with some sort of train in a tube. They entered, sat down, and then the door closed, in a few seconds, they started to move.

"Precisely, a lot of our members have been already captured" Nobuo said.

"How many?" Yuudai asked.

"Half of our members" Emi said.

"Have you asked the leader?" Yuudai asked.

"He has denied our request, saying that we asked a lot of reinforcements" She said.

Yuudai sighed, he seemed a bit stressed, the train stopped and they exited, arriving at WJO's Headquarters. It was emptier than usual, some members had a worried expression until they saw Yuudai, with his mask on, they looked relieved.

Yuudai waved hello and kept walking with Emi and Nobuo, also wearing their masks, until they arrived to the meeting room. Inside, Mika, Kenshin, and Izanami were panicked while Mizuki and Izumi kept calm.

"What do we do!?" Izanami said panicked. "We barely have any resources left!"

Izumi noticed Nobuo, Emi, and Yuudai standing at the door. "Oh, Commanders"

Izanami, Kenshin, and Mika abruptly stopped and looked at them, they immediately sat down on their chairs.

"Commander Yuudai! It's great that you're back" Mika said, very happy.

"I thought we'd never see you again" Kenshin said.

"Well don't blame me, I've been monitored for a year" Yuudai said. "Anyways, Izanami report of our resources"

"We're almost out of it" Izanami said.

"Security report" Yuudai asked.

"The police is getting quite close to our base" Mika said. "Someone might have confessed something"

Yuudai sighed and headbutted the wall, not so hard.

"And we have two superhumans to deal with" Kenshin said.

Yuudai sighed and sat down, he was stressed and was thinking about a solution.

"It's my fault Commander, I didn't lead the team properly" Emi said.

"You're wrong Emi, you did well" Mizuki said. "It's my fault for not training the members properly"

"I agree with Mizuki, you lead like Commander Yuudai" Izumi said.

"Reinforcements..." Yuudai thought for a while and then an idea came to mind. "That's it" he said.

"Found a solution?" Nobuo asked.

"You guys heard about 'The Lost City of Atlantis'?" Yuudai asked.

"Eh, yeah" Izanami said confused. "What about it?"

Yuudai turned his computer on and accessed files that the WJO stole from the governments of different countries.

"20 years ago some explorers found some high-tech in the bottom of the ocean, in perfect shape and full of energy" Yuudai pressed a file, it showed some sort of technology. "They discovered that it was a weapon, the inside was full of small, waterproof, and complex circuits."

"So?" Izanami asked. "Someone may have built it and dropped it there"

"It wouldn't make sense, why would someone drop a weapon underwater" Yuudai asked.

"Maybe to hide it from the government?" Mika asked.

"Then why not destroy it?" He asked. "Someone would find it, even if it took 50 years"

"That would make sense" Kenshin said.

"They explored near the area they found that machine and found more" Yuudai said. "I theorize that it wasn't a weapon, it was a defense system"

"Defense system?" Nobuo asked. "To protect what?"

"We won't know until we get there" Yuudai said.

"Get to where?" Izumi asked.

"To Atlantis of course" Yuudai calmly said.

"Wait wait wait!" Izanami said surprised. "Have you gone mad?"

"Of course not, now order the remaining soldiers to build a submarine" Yuudai said. "I'll leave the construction to you Izanami"

Yuudai walked away, with Emi behind him, while Izanami sighed.

"He's mad" Izanami said.

"When has he never been?" Nobuo said.

"We'll help with the construction" Mizuki said.

Izanami sighed and stood up. "Well we should start then"

Yuudai, along with Emi, returned to his apartment, to discuss some things in private.

"What did you want to discuss?" Emi asked while she sat down on the couch.

Yuudai poured something to drink and gave it to Emi. "I'd like to thank you"

"Thank me?" Emi said confused.

"Thanks for leading the team while I was away" Yuudai said. "Don't tell yourself that you lead very badly"

"Commander, may I ask how u became a commander" Emi asked.

"That story is for another day" Yuudai said.

"I see" Emi said. "I'll wait as long as I can"

"I'll just say, that I was chosen because the previous commander had passed away" Yuudai said. "And he didn't have a right-hand person nor a left-hand person, so I was the only option"

"So you weren't chosen by the old commander?" Emi asked.

"I wasn't" Yuudai said. "And because of that, I made enemies"

"I see" Emi said.

"Emi, we need to deal with the other superhuman" Yuudai said. "We need to eliminate him"

"What about Melinda?" Emi asked.

Yuudai sighed. "We can't kill her" he said. "When talking to her, she brings me memories of my brother"

"So what will we do about her?" She asked.

"We can change her mind" He said. "There's a chance"

"And if not?" Emi asked.

"I'll give the order to kill her" Yuudai said, with a bit of hesitation. "So I'll do the best I can to convince her that the WJO is doing good"

Yuudai knew that it was going to be hard, but he wasn't gonna give up and save Melinda.