A Way Out

As they make it back, the police have arrived and started talking to the staff. Mr. Yamada turns and gets excited seeing his son again.

Mr. Yamada "Tsuki!"

He runs over to them and picks up Tsuki.

Mr. Yamada "What happened? Are you all alright?"

He looks at Tsuki's leg then at Shiori and Hikigaya. They nod as Tsuki answers.

Tsuki "It was just some wild coyote. That's all."

He smiles at his dad while lying, feeling he wouldn't believe him anyway. Mr. Yamada thanks Shiori and Hikigaya dearly then brings Tsuki to the ambulance for medical help. They stand and watch as Ms. Samuel walks over to them and bonks them both on the heads.

Shiori "Ow! What was that for?!"

Ms. Samuel "For scaring me so badly!"

She yells back. Hikigaya and Shiori, who were mad that they got bonked, calm down realizing that they just ran off the way they did. Ms. Samuel then crouches down and hugs them both.

Ms. Samuel "I'm glad you're safe…"

She tears up a bit as they hug her back. After a moment, she lets go and rubs her eyes.

Ms. Samuel "You two gave us quite a scare there, running off like that into a haunted forest. Next time, you should really listen to me though."

Shiori and Hikigaya look at each other knowing if they hadn't run off, Tsuki would likely be hurt or worse. As she talks to them, the others pop their heads out seeing Shiori and Hikigaya. They then bolt out and tackle them. Ms. Samuel gets a surprised look. Lucy and Chizuru hug onto Shiori as Sugawara and Haru hug onto Hikigaya with even Ryuji holding onto Hikigaya's shoulder showing signs of worry and relief. They all cry in relief.

Shiori "Ow ow ow!"

Chizuru "It was so scary! You just ran out then there was the scream!"

Haru "We didn't know what to do! We thought you guys were gonna die for sure!"

Hikigaya "Haha! We're alright guys, seriously!"

Ms. Samuel watches and sighs a bit.

Ms. Samuel 'I didn't realize their friends cared so much for them. Maybe they are turning around already.' "Regardless, you both should go see a medic. Make sure you guys are actually okay, understood?"

They nod and do as they're told.

Eventually everything settles down and the police and medics finish up. The staff get all the kids gathered up and back onto the bus to head home. Mr. Yamada and Tsuki both wave goodbye as they leave.

Tsuki "Dad?"

Mr. Yamada "What is it, Tsuki?"

Tsuki "I think I know where I want to go for high school."

Mr. Yamada smiles as he pats his son on the back. On the bus ride home, Shiori and Hikigaya both sleep the whole way on each other like they did before. This time with less drool.

Hamasaki/Asami "WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Once they got home, both Hikigaya and Shiori's parents were waiting for them outside of their homes after getting told what happened. They stand there with their eyes closed and some sweat coming down as their parents yell at them.

Hamasaki "I can't believe you two ran off on your own like that!"

Asami "What were you even thinking?! What if it was something you guys couldn't handle?!"

Asami gets more in Hikigaya's face than Hamasaki does to Shiori.

Hikigaya "What were we supposed to do? Just sit back and let the kid die?"

Shiori "I'm sorry we acted so rash but we had to do something."

Hamasaki looks at them angrily for a moment before sighing and rubbing her forehead.

Hamasaki "You kids need to be more careful. Asami is right, what if it was something too much for you? Then what? Three kids would've lost their lives."

Shiori looks down, upset that her mom is getting more upset than relieved that she saved a life today. Hamasaki feels this and gets a strained look on her face. Asami notices and moves the situation forward.

Asami "Go inside and get yourselves cleaned up, both of you. We're gonna have dinner together tonight and you're gonna explain to Takanou what happened, both of you."

They both nod and do as they're told.

Later that night, after Takanou got home from work, they all stt at a dining table together in silence. Hikigaya and Shiori eat quietly while their parents look at them. Riku sits on the side, quietly, not entirely sure what's going on. Takanou processes what he was told.

Takanou "So all that really happened, huh?"

They nod.

Takanou "And are you sure you're both alright?"

They nod again. Takanou leans back in his chair a bit and scratches the back of his head. He looks over at Shiori once again and sees tears beginning to form in her eye. He leans over and places his hand open near her on the table.

Takanou "Shiori, you're not in trouble. But you've got to understand where your mother is coming from, right?"

Shiori looks up at him a bit.

Takanou "We don't mean to make you both feel like what you did was wrong or you're being punished for it. But it was very dangerous to run out on your own like that without knowing anything of what's going on or telling anyone where you're going. Your mothers just love you dearly and were terrified to hear that both of you got hurt fighting off some animal in the woods."

Hikigaya looks up too. Asami and Hamasaki look at them warmly.

Takanou "We understand that you're both not helpless children anymore but in our eyes you'll always be our little babies. And it scares us to death to know you may be getting hurt out there or worse. It'll take us some time to adjust and come to trust that you know what you're doing but for now just promise us that you'll be more careful. Especially if you are off doing things like this, okay?"

They nod once more, looking more energetic than before. Takanou smiles at them as Hamasaki leans over and kisses him on the cheek.

Hamasaki "Well said."

He blushes and laughs a bit. Once they finish eating, Asami and Hikigaya thank them for having them over and head on out. As Shiori and the others get up to begin cleaning, Takanou comes over to Shiori and pats her on the head.

Takanou "Just so you know, I'm very proud of you for saving that boy."

She looks at him and smiles warmly, tearing up a bit. Riku then hugs her around her legs smiling.

Riku "Yeah, me too!"

Hamasaki looks at them from the kitchen, smiling warmly.

Hamasaki 'Oh, what would I do without that man?'

Back at the warehouse that Frontier and the other criminals escaped to. The young woman from before is sitting on a bunk bed in the barracks. She is reading a magazine when another worker's watch starts beeping. The young woman looks over as the worker gets out of bed and heads for the door.

Young woman "Is something happening?"

Worker "Yeah, the commander is coming in."

Young woman "Commander?! Again?! Today?!"

Worker "Yep."

They leave as the young woman stands quickly and follows as everyone gathers at a planning bench, awaiting the arrival of the commander. They chat as the young woman stands shyly by herself not talking to anyone. Suddenly the door swings open as a large figure steps through followed by Frontier. Everyone goes quiet as he comes towards the bench. Frontier is no longer wearing the machine on their arm. He is a tall man wearing a cream suit with a red undershirt and no tie. Just a weird symbol pendant where a tie would be. He stands not saying a word, just looking at the large group of underlings in front of him.

Commander Spark "First of all, I'd like to welcome all the new recruits to our team here. The boss will certainly be glad to see so many new faces. And so strong looking too. Remarkable. But that isn't why I have come here today. As I am sure many of you know, we are working on a large scale job that is going to require all hands on deck. Every single one of you will be given a task to accomplish here in this District. Whether that be resource collection, information gathering or simple support, I expect you to fulfill your duty 100%. I do not ask anything unfair. Your jobs are assigned to you based on your level of skill after all. The boss is very particular that way."

As Spark speaks, the young woman almost hides behind the others as she is quite intimidated by him. He looks over to her and makes eye contact for a moment which causes her to jump. He looks away.

Com. Spark "Which is why I'd like to call forward Stone, Gabriel and Yagi."

The group looks back to see the three men who attacked Sugawara standing with surprised looks on their faces. They do as they're told and come closer to the bench.

Com. Spark "You see, these three were given the job of tool collection. They were told to approach a child, no older than 13 years of age, and simply get the Ito tech like we asked. By any means necessary. I mean, how hard would that be, right? The child's parents aren't even in town, it's only him. But do we see any Ito tech around here? No? Well of course not, because they, all three of them, were beaten by two high school students the same age as the child."

The others start whispering to themselves about them as the three men look nervous.

Com. Spark "But, to be fair, they said that those children seemingly had extraordinary skill and precision. So, here's what we're gonna do."

Spark then lifts his hand as a glowing energy forms around it and blasts a beam at Stone which then connects to the other two. After a moment of yelling they turn to a pile of ash. Everyone is quiet but terrified how quickly he killed those three. The young woman holds her head freaking out and turns away.

Com. Spark "Ms. Amber."

The young woman, who's name is Amber, gets a terrified look.

Com. Spark "Please, come here."

He holds his hand out at her and motions for her to come to him. The others step away from her as she slowly turns around. She shakingly steps towards him. Once she's in front of him, he lifts her head to look at him.

Com. Spark "I have been made aware that you told Fullsky quite a bit of information on your last mission. Is that correct?"

She nods a bit.

Com. Spark "I see. Despite that, however, you still drove the truck all the way here, leaving her behind and successfully bringing the equipment back undamaged. For that, I am willing to overlook your potential betrayal but it isn't going to happen again, right?"

He leans in closer as she nods again but he grabs her chin.

Com. Spark "Right?"

Amber "R-right…"

Com. Spark "Good."

He lets her go and changes his attention to the rest of the group.

Com. Spark "You will all be sent back to the District to live your normal lives until you are given further orders by me. If you have no life outside of the Devil's Syndicate, you are welcome to stay here. Dismissed."

He motions for them to leave and they do. Amber quickly turns and walks away to get her things and heads out like many of the others do.

It is pretty late at night now. She's in a black hoodie and jeans walking down the sidewalk. She holds herself tight thinking about what she just saw.

Amber 'What am I doing? How did I end up in this situation? How did I let myself get involved with them?'

She starts rubbing the sides of her head realizing the severity of her situation. As she comes across this alley shadowed in darkness she hears frantic footsteps. She then sees a man come from around the corner who then turns and pulls out a gun, firing at something behind and above him. Amber freaks out and dives behind the wall as the man tries to run out of the alley in her direction. He gets out by a step before long black, almost goop-like things grab onto him all over from his head to his legs. Amber covers her head seeing this as he is pulled back into the alley. Amber lets go and slowly looks back into the alley to see a person covered in shadows standing on the man. Large black wings out of her back and a silver eye glowing in the darkness.

Man "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I wasn't going to kill them, I promise!"

Fullsky "I believe you. Don't worry."

She breaks the man's arm that was holding the gun. The man screams as she presses on his head with her hand.

Fullsky "I will know if you try anything like that again. And if you do, I will kill you."

She steps off of him as he holds his arm in pain. Fullsky then quickly snaps her head towards Amber who ducks behind the wall covering her mouth. She slowly looks back into the alley only for Fullsky nowhere to be found. She gets a confused look on her face.

Fullsky "Hey, it's you again."

Amber "AHH!"

She screams and jumps back to find Fullsky standing on the wall like she's standing on the ground. Fullsky crosses her arms.

Fullsky "What are you doing here? Don't you have criminal activities to attend to?"

Amber "N-no! I'm… just on my way home…"

Fullsky "You sure? Cause last time we met, you took that truck off somewhere I couldn't track."

Amber looks down, sweating.

Fullsky "What was in that truck?"

Amber "I already told you, I don't know! They don't tell me these things. There was that machine you were hit by then some crates full of guns maybe? I don't know… It was shipped off later that night, I couldn't-"

She suddenly remembers what she saw earlier. The men being turned to ash and Spark warning her to never betray them. She gets a terrified looks on her face. Fullsky notices.

Fullsky "What's your name?"

Amber snaps out of it a bit.

Amber "Amber…"

Fullsky smiles at her.

Fullsky "Nice to meet you Amber. Some advice: get out. You don't want to be involved with these guys."

Amber "I… can't…"

Fullsky looks confused.

Amber "They don't let anyone go… Once you're in, you stay there. Or else they'll…"

She begins hyperventilating, getting freaked out as everything starts to flood her at once. Fullsky steps down and lands in front of her. She places her hands on Amber's shoulders. This brings her in a bit.

Fullsky "What happened? Why did you join them in the first place? Let me help you."

She smiles a bit at Amber who exhales softly and looks down.

Amber "I don't know… I just left home for college, just out of town. It was going well. Then my roommate told me one night that they heard some other students talking about this huge get together. It was going to be under the Rivera Bridge. They said we should totally go and I agreed. I didn't realize that… it was going to be an initiation. Everyone who came there, the Syndicate came with a few soldiers. They offered the students a place to belong, unimaginable wealth and fantastical power. Anyone who stepped forward was given a gun. Once no one else came forward, they were told to open fire onto the crowd. There was… so much screaming… so much blood… my roommate, they… I… I was so scared… I just didn't move. Even when a bullet grazed my cheek, I didn't flinch."

She pulls her hair aside revealing a scar under her left eye going across her cheek. Something Fullsky hadn't noticed before.

Amber "When the screaming stopped… He approached me. He wiped the blood from my face. He said, 'You're quite the interesting one, aren't you? Is it disconnect or pure fear that keeps you standing here?' He then took my hand and began walking away pulling me with him. 'We will find a place for you here with us. Just like the rest.' Then he smiled at me. That twisted smile… I can't… get it out!.."

Amber begins holding her head remembering the events and falls to her knees. Fullsky is shocked at her description.

Fullsky 'There's nothing they won't do…' "Hey, look at me. It's going to be alright. Watchdog and I will protect you. We are going to bring them down and set you free."

She crouches down in front of Amber and takes her hand. Amber calms down once again feeling Fullsky's presence.

Amber "Thank you…"

Fullsky "But I am going to need your help. I need you to just do as they say for now. I want you to meet with me and inform me of anything you think might help us in stopping them for good."

She pulls out a small device from her pocket and hands it to Amber.

Fullsky "If you ever feel that you are in deep trouble and need saving, just hit the button there. Watchdog or I will come save you immediately, okay?"

Amber's eyes begin to tear up as she sniffles and nods. They stand and Fullsky hugs her.

Fullsky "I promise, I will get you out."