Perfect Preparation

The sun's shine upon their faces through the cracked ceiling had sent grumbles to their mouths, turning on their sides, sleepy mumbles resounding throughout the half-broken warehouse. Everyone stood present and accounted for. That was, except for one, as near the entrance, without a door, Azazel turned back with one hand against the frame, throwing the coat over his sleeveless undergarment. With nothing more than a loving look over his shoulder at his slumbering daughter, a smile crept up unusually small over his lips, before he fled, to take a walk beside the endless stream within the beautiful green.

The sounds of chirping birds were distant, for the dark sky remained still, surrounding those grey clouds, stretching infinitely as he casually strutted down the dimly-lit forest.

That distant time, from another world, a similar environment struck a chord with him. Hidden behind a plentiful amount of trees, figuring out the name for his brother's special eyes, joking around while Alex stood by their side together. Staring off at the moon bathing his white face, his spiky black hair in lunar light, the memory of those times in the past flew back to him.

"Heh…"

He could feel his legs wobble just the tiniest amount before he collapsed to his knees, grunting at the thud his bottom made when it hit the grassy ground. The running water's calm flow entered his ears like a loud calling, during this heat, at such an early time, it seemed best to take off the boots and let his toes take a dip.

'Even this water feels different…'

That faint whisper, discussing the things that changed or didn't, thinking back to New York itself, Azazel exhaled, leading his backrest back with hands aiding in his stable stance. Allowing lids to slip over the vibrancy his eyes showed, he enjoyed this silent moment, the sound of birds chirping so distantly as the sun started to reveal the tiniest glimmer of radiation, superheating the atmosphere with such blinding rays. What was this sensation he'd felt at the core of his soul? Thinking back to the multitude of memories formed in the cage of the Old World, had anything paralleled but this singular moment? But an interstice in time, for these feelings, were as fleeing as a teardrop squeezing out an eye's corner.

But that wasn't anything more than the smallest insignificance, compared to the vastness of the ocean, the tear vanished into the endless sea… for as he gazed into the calmness of the running stream, he realized he could make out the shape of his face within. Spikes of black protruding from his head's top to point at the ever-turning sky, morphing with an orange shade bleeding into the clouds, the sun.

"Isn't it ironic your name is Katie? After what you've gone through, I find it ironic… don't you?"

Even she hadn't the skills to sneak up on the infamous Righteous Crow, stepping out from the cast shadows via the surrounding palm trees, her hand brushing against the bark, feeling the dirt crunch under her shoe's sole.

"Doesn't it mean 'torture'? You're kinda an asshole for that, aren't you, old man?" Holding a joking tone, as well as Ace's smug smirk,

Kate asked this of her father; a chuckle bellowing from his glossy lips.

"It's funny, ain't it? It's like my name's any better. Azazel's a demon from Jewish mythology, don't you remember? And even so, it fits me so well."

Coddling his knee with both hands, fingers interlocked between them, Katie gradually sat her rear down beside her beloved parent. There remained a moment of silence between the two, as she threw away her shoes so she could sink her feet into the depths of the water, he couldn't help but stare. Everything else turned away, the world destroyed, all there remained was darkness, for it all revolved around her. His daughter. His child, bathing in the lights of the rising morning sun, rising from over the horizon to declare its sunny reign.

Eventually, halfway through, her legs would slide within the water, and despite the chilly temperature, she courting help but let out a relieved sigh at the stream's chill calming her nerves, for her skin to get accustomed to the natural temperature.

Neither of them said a word for a while, Azazel kept his eyes closed, with his head leaned back, palms against the grass-bed behind. He could to help but let his blue eye peek out the side, watching his daughter imitate his move like a stumbling sister mocking their older sibling.

'She looks exactly like me…'

The tiniest chuckle croaked from between his lips, her eyes tracking to stay locked over her father's face, to see that smile, one she'd felt curl up on her lips more than once. But even so, she couldn't help but feel grateful at spotting this, at just being able to share this silent moment with this man. The man she deemed worthy to be her true parent, with an arm entangling around her, their words stood inaudible as the countless stories were exchanged infinitely as the morning sun… continued to rise.

If you asked Katie about that night, she wouldn't say anything more, a smile would peek at her lips and tears building up in her eyes' corners. And though she'd never say it aloud, with those tears streaming down her cheeks, she'd whisper it as faint as the moon's distance from that of heaven and earth:

"I'm… too blessed."

…

At 0800 hours, on May 5th, 2022, Riot departed, with Kima pulling the strap over her shoulder, Ace helping him with the supplies as they packed their belongings. Standing up as he continued supplying the remnants of whatever stolen food could within the bag's confines, grunting in the background as Kim went over to everyone else, already gathered.

Azazel standing with his daughter beside him, Kim bowed, letting the shadowy patterns under her eyes glisten from the sun peeking through the wall's cracks, illuminating her white-tanned skin. As she raised her head, she could feel her short strands moving with the wind, highlighted ends flowing with the wind's guidance.

"Thank you… Mr. Karlo. I hope you have a safe endeavor. Please come back alive, you two, I don't want to have to go crazy looking for you," Kim took Kate's hands in her own, gracing her white face with a gentle smile, revealing pearly rows of teeth, "I'm sorry, for back then. I hope I can earn your forgiveness when the time comes and we meet again. I'll promise to take good care of Ace for you and June."

With that promise, she turned away to venture off with the ginger man she named her ex-lover, maybe hoping to rekindle that spark… but before she could, her wrist was grabbed. Mimicking the time it took for an eye to blink or images to be registered, Kim was yanked into a tightened embrace with arms tangling around her neck. Following that, another set, and pulling back, there were those familiar faces, riddled with tears, for June, being the crybaby she was, courting help but cry, no matter how many times she wiped away the tears with those sleeves at her wrists.

"Ish dat I'm sho shorey…" And other incoherent babbling escaped from her lips, but to Katie, she couldn't help but simply sniffle, taking the initiative here with just basic coherency.

It was almost like fate stood manipulating her every movement, like she were a puppet on a string, guided to softly touch against her shoulder, watery eyes shining in the sun's light gleaming against her head's back.

"We're sorry for ever doubting you, if you're willing to make things right, then we'll be right behind you. After all, we're not the ones you have to apologize to… are we?"

It was on that note that she could feel it stab at her heart, just the memory of her abandonment at that courthouse banging her chest, feeling that pit form in her stomach's center. But even so, as the others were forced to stare upon their weakness, she, too, had to stare upon the transgressions of the past- in the form of those red spikes.

"Yeah, you're right. Take care, everyone. We'll see you... on that date."

With that final adieu, everyone had fled, there was only the sound of indistinguishable grunting from the ginger, the warping audio of a circle marked against the grass. Truly, they were all alone; just the duo of them. Ace could feel the strap over his shoulder tighten as he threw the bag across his back, exhaling at the abruptness of the slamming weight.

"You good?" Asked Kim of the ginger, quite literally holding the equivalent to the weight of the world against his shoulders, but even so, he shook his head to her worried concerns.

"Don't worry 'bout me. I couldn't work out in prison cuz they had me chained down, well, 'cept for sit-ups, so I'm just making up for it. Plus, I want to get in shape when the time comes and we have to battle her. I wanna test out my strength- compared to hers."

The Warp Circle transported them across the bounds of the crippled Evolutionary Capital, in the form of a literal shooting star spotted just overhead. And casually atop a rooftop, there sat none other than the Wildcard himself, the Jester, with crossed legs, closing a book with the unique thud of two ends shutting.

"So, that's your play, huh? How intriguing... heh."

An inanimate gateway split through space to his back, allowing him to stand upright, feeling his joints stretch apart as he easily cracked them with but a touch of a finger, snapping the knuckle. Just a single step inside that door, shutting close like a TV turning off, the Jester continued to lurk from the shadows as everyone gradually converged on their respective destinations.

Ace Wilder and Kima Myers - Mount Everest's tip, to recruit Hana Saiai to Riot's ranks.

Darrell Jefferson and June Wilder - To locate new Artifacts strewn about the wasteland of the Remnant's homeworld.

Azazel Karlo, Katie Karlo, Natalia Smith - Free Incarnated Artifacts surely confined within ANZEN's research facility built upon the Remnant World.

With the looming hands of that date the Founder set hovering them all, Riot set out to prepare for the coming war in that place. For on July 22nd, 2022, they'd be finally returning to the place it all began... the lion's den: Riverton Island.

To Be Continued.