Holiday season decorations littered the streets, while grandiose displays of expendable cash hung from office buildings, no doubt obscuring many of the good views that office workers would otherwise have while suffering under their menial pencil-pushing jobs.

The air was a special breed of cold out in the middle of the Pacific, even dampened by the sheer volume of warm human bodies that permeated Shanhu. There was never any snow, unless one took a trip to an indoor mall that fancied itself festive, and installed snow-generation systems in its halls.

Streetside window-shop buildings offered sales that were probably only a few percentage-points higher than they were year-round, but enticed the population no less. A minuscule number of religious holdouts shouted "Merry Christmas!" with the signboards they taped up onto their windows, just echoes of a time when the holidays weren't simply about family, romance, and consumers.

After recent events, however distant they might have been to the people of Shanhu, there was an extra level of holiday cheer to their lives, knowing that a world-changing event had been averted... at the very least partially. Businesses were more festive, the people more excited, and the Fort Five, overlooking a busy column of hard streets and guided aerial lanes, had a fine view of it all.

With Thremont Corporation all but dissolved, its late leader destroyed, and the world rejoicing at the sudden resolution of a predicament that they had not even prepared for themselves, the Final Five were afforded a sudden influx of cash, albeit funneled into improving the group as a whole, rather than to spot them for whimsical desires.

The newly established "Fort Five" was their roomy headquarters, no longer confined to a penthouse that fit several supporting players, never mind the labs-worth of machinery that Anfisa had stuffed into one of the rooms. With several spaces just for things like research and technology on top of the more residential areas, the fort Five was a roomy, cozy, and downright lavishly contemporary double-penthouse situated on the sixty-third floor of a tower overlooking one of Shanhu's many lanes.

Though the size of the home base had increased considerably, the size of its fighting force had not. Only Mason, Amoix, and Yigga called the Fort "home" themselves, while Anfisa came by only to make use of the laboratory -a laboratory which was now "officially sanctioned" thanks to the organizations efforts and victories. Limov was a fleeting presence as usual, stopping by most often for free cold ones and a chat. And while John was a similarly enigmatic appearance to the Fort, he was present there on this chilly winter day.

Mason sat at the 8-person dining table of the Fort, feet away from their spacious kitchen of chrome luster, enjoying a mundane glass of water as he enjoyed some well-deserved rest. John sat at the head of the table, just beside Mason, himself sipping from a cup of coffee he had picked from the local Sundollars. Morning as it was, for The Informant, there was always work to do -that he was sitting and having a drink at all was nothing short of a miracle. Having just arrived and catching Mason and, perhaps, the Final Five themselves, he was nevertheless quick to get to the business of why he was there.

Before him lay a number of manila folders, color-coded and neatly stacked in a staggered fashion. Each one had a label, written in his characteristically no-nonsense handwriting.

[Hires]
[Leads]
[Meetings]

"I'll save you the dread of having to meet with some stuffy old men about zoning laws and sponsorships. The leads I've quickly scrounged up are probably the more interesting bits to you all, but I figured it'd be polite to solicit your opinions on some new hires as well, since you'll have to be working alongside them too, in the end," John explained, pulling down the 'Hires'-labeled folder.

"Mason and Amoix are no strangers to maintaining a place like this, though they've requested a couple more disciples to keep up with the size. More than doubled the square footage, after all," he continued. Mason nodded sagely, but maintained his usual stoic silence as he looked out the full-wall windows beside the dining space, where a cool morning light from outside drifted in.

"Mason and Amoix will take care of those, of course, but we have a few others. I'll have to vet them, much the same way I brought Jin-Sun in," he said, nodding to the cyborg. "If we don't like them, I'll just find another with Emi's help."

Contained within the list of possible hires was a dark-skinned and clearly Changed young woman, bearing elven ears and a glimmering tail. Her file bore no true name, instead labeled as "Cobalt". The position she was apparently meant to fill in was "Armorer/Equipment Expert/Supply Chain". No doubt meant to fill a niche for the growing Final Five team to ensure everyone had the tools they needed.

Next was a dour-looking man with slicked-back hair and a pale complexion, looking thirty-odd years in age. This "Walter Otto Meyer" had a whole host of accolades and titles surrounding his apparent medical expertise. Having a doctor on hand, and one who could actually handle the likely maddening variety of ailments that an organization such as the Final Five experienced, was a god-send.

Third, a bureaucrat. A middle-aged woman by the name of Francis Deloza stared back at them through the prim and uptight mugshot that featured on her dossier. Having been a lawyer, diplomat, and secretary for the European Union all within her lifetime, she appeared to have all the qualifications for handling all of the more grueling aspects of being a truly "global" heroic force, and coming into contact with all of the governments and corporations that they impacted.

"While I'm sure Iphigenia could handle such things, your talents are obviously better suited in combat where possible. Having you embroiled in arguments with politicians when bad guys need zapping is something I think we'd best avoid. Though, I'm sure no one would stop you if you wanted to 'tag along'," John chuckled.

Pulling out the second folder, labeled 'Leads', John pushed the contents more directly towards the gathered Final Five, no doubt leaving it to them to decide on what to pursue.

"With your notoriety skyrocketing into space, and an averted global catastrophe, it seems as though lots of things have been coming out of the woodwork... like the shock rattled some floorboards, and in the chaos, everyone's got an agenda they can finally start tackling. There's a lot to do, but that's what we're all here for, isn't it? For the time being, no world-changing death fleets, but I'm sure you'll encounter at least something to challenge you all."

In truth, Jin-Sun hadn't been around to witness the first few days of the world's reaction. After they'd landed back in Japan, Jin-Sun had immediately shipped himself off for repairs to his cyborg chassis, considering the damage he'd suffered from fighting Thremont and removing his safety limiters. With Iphie's permission, he and Anfisa had gone over the cyborg research retrieved from Heavyware, copying the Liquid Aurorum muscle fuel that had been used into his systems. Even with Anfisa's expertise, there hadn't been much time to copy the system besides using it to give Jin-Sun a temporary boost whenever it was activated. And there was the matter of reconstructing his sword that Runa had somehow broken. Fortunately, the blueprints to his sword had been in Heavyware's servers, and reconstructing it was only a matter of using enough Aurorum.

Once he was finished with being repaired and upgraded, Jin-Sun took full advantage of his hologram projector to completely dodge the media, allowing him to go through Shanhu without being noticed. He wasn't exactly comfortable with all this media attention, especially considering he was mainly a stealth specialist. Still, he leveraged his fame for a single interview in which he emphasized the amount of innocents Heavyware had kidnapped and experimented on, calling attention to the need to find these people and aid them. If he was going to be famous regardless, he might as well make use of it.

Without anything resembling a 9-to-5 job or schooling to deal with, Jin-Sun largely spent his time off watching wrestling and having to explain to his friends and family from his old life exactly what had happened to him after he'd signed up to be a PMC, considering Heavyware had listed him as KIA after they'd taken him in for experimentation.

He hadn't thought this through.

In the years since he'd broken out, he'd never tried to contact his parents or his previously close friends out of fear that Heavyware would have found out and tracked them down. Meeting his parents again had been...awkward. Still, at least he'd departed on relatively good terms, explaining exactly what had happened to him and why he'd never gotten in contact.

___

It had been a relaxing few weeks ever since. Considering he'd never hung around the old penthouse that much, the move to what was now dubbed Fort Five wasn't particularly jarring for him. It certainly beat the apartment he'd been using before John had recruited him. But now he was comfortably set up within headquarters.

Jin-Sun sat at the dining table, listening to John's briefing as he mixed instant coffee into his chocolate-flavored protein shake. After the informant finished, the cyborg ninja calmly sipped his ad-hoc mocaccino protein through a straw, thinking the situation over. All of the potential hires sounded like useful and much welcomed additions to the team, so he didn't particularly have a problem there. As for the leads...

"It'll be good to get back into action." Jin-Sun grunted as he reached for the folder, starting to flip through it. "One more person shows up asking me for another interview, I'm going off-grid for a few weeks. Anyways, all the potential hires sound good, although I wouldn't mind talking with your supply chain candidate when she comes in. Could use a few upgrades on my equipment."

Iphigenia Courtlandt lounged at the dining table at the new “Fort Five,” demurely sipping on a cup of hot jasmine tea. The purple-haired girl looked sharp as usual, though her hair was done in a cute headband crown braid instead of her usual sidetail. Wearing a stylized suit and tie getup with a jacket that transformed into an attractive a-line dress that ended at her knees, she looked every bit the cool, corporate boss.

It was an image that she’d leaned hard on in the wake of the defeat and collapse of the Thremont Corporation and the Final Five’s subsequent rocketing to fame. As the most identifiable of the Final Five, a bona-fide British aristocrat and majority shareholder of one of the larger companies in the world, Iphie took the greater share of the attention on the group, and as somebody who much preferred being out of the limelight, all of it was unwanted.

Though, it was a sword that she conceded was better for her to fall on than somebody like Kyouko, because even if she received the majority of the bullshit, with her social status she was also in the unique position of cutting through said bullshit without additional help.

Even though somebody had leaked her personal cell number sometime in between, hiding oneself behind a team of corporate lawyers and secretaries to avoid being swamped by attention and scrutiny was unsurprisingly effective, after all. Those were resources that she also extended to her fellow team members, although Mason, John, and the rest of the supporting staff in the organization had done a fantastic job of neutralizing the particularly egregious red tape that the Final Five’s newfound attention had brought. Iphie had been very thankful that matter had been dealt with and wasn’t something she’d have to personally take care of.

Regardless, she dealt with it all by taking a more active –if temporarily—involvement in the Courtlandt Group in her board capacity. With the collapse of the Thremonts, it was a necessarily evil anyway; although the Final Five as a group received most of the corporation’s liquid assets, Courtlandt Group inherited enough of the Thremonts’ and Heavyware’s technologies, supply chains, and secrets that it necessitated her personal involvement in the matter.

It had only been recently that she’d gotten a much deserved vacation over the past couple weeks, and it seemed like quite a bit had changed in the meantime. She had some beef with the “Fort Five” name, but the new headquarters were pretty snazzy, all things considered.

Iphie flicked through the files and dossiers in front of them as John gave his briefing. She didn’t have much to say about most of it; all of what their resident intelligence agent had said was sensible enough, and the recommended new hires looked qualified. Iphie wasn’t against supplying the team with her own tools and toys, but having a dedicated personal armorer for the group was nice, and gave a nice outside, unbiased perspective when it came to her own equipment. Getting some additional help for Mason and Amoix with the expanded headquarters made sense, and having an expert doctor of exotic ailments and equally exotic treatments on call was more than welcome. The bureaucrat drew a little more of her attention. Considering that Iphie was from the UK, and thus the European Union, she couldn’t help but to judge the bureaucrat just a little bit. Altogether though, the credentials looked flawless along with the rest. John had vetted them well.

She raised her hands in wry objection once John’s words were directed at her.

“Oh, no, I deal enough with politicians and their ilk in my other life as is. Hard pass. That’s not to say I won’t tag along if there’s a particularly tricky matter that needs an extra hand, but I’ll otherwise trust in the judgment of our new hires. Once they’ve been fully vetted, of course.”

She chuckled as he moved along to their leads, taking a few files in her hands and idly flipping through them. “Yeah, everybody’s got an agenda now. The cat’s out of the bag, but I’d rather us not be treated like some glorified PMC,” she replied, frowning at some files in her stack before tossing them back away from her before commiserating with Jin-Sun.

“At least if they show up here, Mason will chase them right out, mm? I’d also be interested in seeing what tricks our new armorer has, although I’d like to have a chat with the European Union diplomat, too.”

Runa did her best with the sudden surge of popularity the Final Five enjoyed. Generally speaking, this involved spending a lot of time rehearsing for interviews with Iphie or some of the Five's other support staff. It's almost like they didn't quite trust her on her own. Still, for someone who just wanted to be a normal teenager at least some of the time, it was that much more extra pressure.

She was nothing if not adaptable, though, and at least had the sense to make her official public appearances in an armored form or with a mask of some sort obscuring her face. She could probably go much further to conceal her identity, though if everyone knows she's some sort of shapeshifter, who's going to guess that she actually looks like herself? She was pretty sure her friends at school hadn't caught on yet, although talking about herself and the rest of the Final Five as if she didn't know them was probably even worse than the big TV appearances and similar. At least she hadn't seen any licensed products based on anyone. Yet.

She also had resisted the urge to invite her friends over to hang out at their new base of operations. And that, too, was really tempting. Or a big party. They had so much room in the new place, it'd be great. She was beginning to think Mason was psychic, though ,since every time she even thought about that sort of thing, he was around to give her a sternly disapproving look and stave things off for another week or two. Maybe if Sarah decided she really, really needed to meet her personal hero, or something.

The meeting was late enough that Runa wasn't the typical early morning teenage zombie. Not that it stopped her from consuming a truly alarming amount of breakfast at the table. Already late for school, might as well live it up before she got in trouble for showing up after half the day had gone by or something. By the time the dossiers had been handed out, she had finished her third plate of pancakes and bacon.

"I kinda feel like some of these support guys won't be able to help me directly too much, you know? Like, I just grow whatever I need most of the time. So unless they can find a way to make an outfit that won't get torn whenever I do my stuff, not sure what i could really use. And I never get sick as it is." She shrugs. Some of the Five's current science team's got plenty of research on her already, hopefully the new doctor wouldn't want even more.

"What kind of leads we got, though? Anything cool?" She eagerly pawed through those particular dossiers when they came her way. Got to figure out the best option so she can lobby everyone else for it in case they're missing her unique sense of adventure. Maybe there's something with more space monsters, or another trip into orbit.

Every night, Tian-Gui could feel the arm he lost, the pain from the phantom limb that had been pulverized in his clash against the Thremont patriarch. It kept him awake, a constant reminder of the limits of his durability, a limit that he had finally met, after overcoming the ferocity of the Abyssals’ blasts and the roar of the battleships’ cannons. But it didn’t matter.

The Shield that Bore the Sun would bear all his scars with pride.

And while Runa and Kyouko continued their education, while Jin-Sun became reclusive and Iphie became exclusive, Tian-Gui had continued to work, growing more and more accustomed to doing what he did, except without a left arm. Flamestone constructions gave him the limb he needed when he fought, but for interviews, from press conferences that he attended alongside the others to one-on-one conversations with talk show hosts, he simply tied the sleeve down for his leftside stump and continued on as normal. No tricks, no gimmicks, no cybernetic gadgets to play with, no matter how many times Anfisa enticed him with gears that would augment his supernatural capabilities. It was a message, perhaps. Even with one arm missing, he was sufficient to safeguard Shanhu.

Not, of course, that there was no change at all.

Jin-Sun, the other armored combatant in the Final Five, would have noticed the transformation first, if only because Tian-Gui had sought him out for a couple of sparring sessions. Gone were the lion-headed pauldrons and the draconic headpiece; the Flamestone vestments that he clad himself with became sleeker and more angular, pushing for greater mobility and flexibility. More lessons learned versus the Thremonts: when he needed added durability, his ability to sense killing intent gave him more than enough time to build up Flamestone. When he didn’t need it, he could opt for his more mobile form, which soon became the standard on most missions.

Some internet denizens dubbed it ‘Rider Form’, compared to the ‘Mecha Form’ of the previous era. Others lamented that Tian-Gui had gone from gigachad to soycuck. The man himself didn’t care. Added mobility gave him more options.

And of course, that same mobility was what got him to the newly-constructed Fort Five on time to not keep the others waiting.

A draft of cold air blasted into the apartments as Tian-Gui entered from the patio, his armor dissolving into rust as he stepped in. The other members, sans Kyouko, were already present, and he smiled at some familiar faces. “Sorry for my lateness; had to deal with a couple incidents on my way here,” the blue-eyed man said. “Jin-Sun, Runa, hope y’all enjoyed what downtime you’ve got. And Iphie! Swear I see you more from the screens than in-person these days.” He patted John on the back as he passed by as well, before grabbing a pitcher of tea from the open-concept kitchen and pouring it out for the others. “Whatcha got for us, my guy?”

Turns out, a whole lotta stuff that Tian-Gui really didn’t have an opinion on. The armorer sounded useful for Jin-Sun and Iphie, the doctor would be a cool dude to have on their side if dealing with some special freak disease that’s messing up the general populace, and the bureaucrat was the sorta individual who’d be shouldering all the political headaches that another member of the Final Five’s support team would’ve. Ultimately though? Tian-Gui didn’t use weapons, he recovered from most wounds with a long rest, and he generally ended up chest-first through red tape like a sprinter. It wasn’t all too interesting for him, so instead, he simply co-oped Runa’s enthusiasm instead.

“Yeah, how’s the leads looking, John? Anything big enough that’d require the whole squad to get together again?”

A long sigh escaped Kyouko as she recollected her thoughts. Staring at her reflection in the mirror. How long had it been now, ever since it all started? From the sacrifice of her best friend and an interview in a burger joint, they had infiltrated a weird science facility, went to mars and back, and ultimately defeated a company that essentially had the military power of an entire country. Shoulder-to-shoulder with those she looked up to. Her superiors.

It had been fun while it lasted, and back then she surely would have looked forward to being famous. But now? Being a hero was a hundred times easier than being a good daughter. Even now, in this most sacred of all places, Kyouko couldn't find herself finding any peace and tranquillity. Back then, when she closed her eyes and saw herself punching eldritch monsters and deranged madman she was easily able to fall asleep with a smile. Now, all she saw was the annoying face of her special someone and hearing the voice of their choreographer.

Being an idol was fun indeed, but so was refining her abilities and hanging out with Runa! Another sigh escaped her as she noticed the bags under her eyes. Sometimes, when it was really bad, Kyouko was easily able to fix it. But it simply didn't sit well with her, it was like taking pills instead of fixing the actual health issue.

Before a third sigh could escape her lips, she closed her eyes and slapped her own cheeks. "Alright..." The ember of determination rekindled once again. Somewhere deep down she already had all the solutions.

She knew that her father was someone she likely had to cut out from her life. She knew she had to call off the marriage. And, most importantly, she knew that the other Final Four were her dear colleagues. There was nothing to feel ashamed about.

Readjusting her clothing and one final check-up in the mirror, Kyouko finally left the bathroom of the Fort Five.

---

"Yo!" She gave Tian-Gui a quick greeting with a simple wave of her hand, before taking a seat again. There wasn't any food in front of her yet, only a started can of soda.

Much like some others, Kyouko couldn't really form too much of an opinion on the other hires. Though she instinctively hoped the Thremont tech-girl employee would have been among them.

Instead, she pointed at the bureaucrat. "I'll try my best handling two Iphies." She teased the purple hair with a confident smile. Kyouko herself had barely seen the others either, except Runa, but despite her childish remark, there was some resemblance to something more 'mature' about her.

... Which didn't seem to be present for long, as whatever signs of maturity Kyouko showed quickly vanished upon the reveal of the leads. "Woah!" She called out in excitement, skimming through a few. "The Musicians of Bremen, using humans to... ewh?!" She stared at Runa for a second. "No offence." Before going on. "And the Church of Gears? An entire cult of potential crazies?! And this guy... Yesterday's Promise? I'm getting bad vibes from it!" Lots of leads to pick from as Kyouko consumed one file after the other and kinda making a mess of things.

"I may not be able to shoo away the paparazzi if they find you out on the streets in the forthcoming weeks, but I'm hoping that the places you'll be will give would-be camera crews the spine-tingle to stay away," John said, tapping the desk. "To that end, no more interviews. Sorry about forcing you into that one with EGN the other day, by the way, Iphigenia. My hands were tied," he hummed.

"Cobalt won't be joining us just for the hardware you might be thinking of," he said, looking between Runa and Jin-sun. "She's been through the paces with the Osprey PMC in Australia's Area Zero. Eventually worked for Hientje's R&D. You might be privvy to your own weaponry at will, Runa, but the time may call for something... integrative. To that end, the doctor was specifically sought after due to his involvement with the cleanup of Operation Unknown -the very same that made you." He continued,

"I'm not sure what you've learned yet in history classes with Kyouko, but there was somewhat of an Operation Paperclip following -the end of World War 2. Doctor Meyer was given an amount of the research materials to continue with where he could. If there's anyone out there who could heal you when you can't yourself, it's this guy." John paused, clearing his throat as Kyouko sifted through the various leads. When she finished with her exclamations, he elaborated on the menagerie of titles that the young girl relayed.

"Magical effects in general have surfaced at an alarming rate in the last few weeks. The kinds that we don't have much information about. Ever since the Awakening, no manner of scientific research has managed to quite piece together how to understand these things. Only Grimoire Group has come close with their Leyline Engines, ignoring the amount of information they're probably keeping well hidden. We don't know how to deal with cultists, mages, the like... Any one of them could turn out big, Tian-gui, or they may be tiny. It's hard to say for some of these."

John tapped a finger on each of the dossiers that Kyouko had moved around the table, speaking about it and re-organizing it at the same time. The first was labeled 'Bremen Musicians' as Kyouko had exclaimed.

"On the matter of Operation Unknown, it seems some misplaced research materials had eluded the grasp of the 'States. Given the presence of a few misbegotten... subjects appearing in Shanhu, and the simultaneous timing of some claims by the Musicians on their variously-frequented internet boards, it's clear that they're being used for... improper means."

The document described a certain 'Musicians of Bremen' anonymous group, made up of unsavory 'artists' who dealt in body modification as a kind of artistic expression. And it wasn't the tattoo'ing kind. Abominations were encountered and dealt with in Shanhu's lower levels, and not long after forum board messages appeared from vaguely-verified Musician members claiming responsibility for the creations. There was a threat of more encounters in the future.

"If you want to pursue this one, you'll want to talk to Yigga first," John said, moving onto the next, labeled 'Church of Gears'.

"After the news cycle beat the Skyfleet topic to death, this Church came out of the woodworks. Definite cultists that are believed to have been in meetings for about twenty or so years. They're highly secluded from global connectivity, so information on them is next to nothing. They're nearby an abandoned stellar cannon power plant, long abandoned by larger civilization. It'd be a task without a lot of amenities," John said.

The document described in better detail about the reason why the 'Church of Gears' was more than just an oddity; power failures in German towns nearest to the cult's own ramshackle town were loosely attributed to them, if only due to their centrality to the surrounding affected locations. The zone they lived in was considered 'Legacy Uncontrolled Territory', signifying it's possible importance in the future with regards to stellar cannon operation. Only those belonging to no nation settled there.

The third document Kyouko had spoke of, 'Yesterday's Promise' depicted a Changed individual, heavily augmented by cybernetics. A single red eye glowed from beneath a dark hood. John paused on speaking about them, appearing as if to gather his words.

"If you'll recall the incidents where the leyline engines were 'failing' leading up to the Thremont's big move," he began, "The investigations finally came through. Turns out it was deliberate. Terrorist attacks very well-disguised as inescapable engineering failures. Yesterday's Promise is the name, though it's clearly a codename. Leader of his own band of mercenaries. Seems as though the young man was convinced by Thremont himself to aid the company and his ultimate intents; world peace by force. Give the illusion that leyline engines can't work, so the world turns to Thremont's Abyssal Engine -the thing you recovered from the flagship," John explained.

"Whoever they are, Yesterday clearly knows his stuff with magic. Finding him has been impossible, but if we work together, I think we can narrow the search, and pick up a trail."

A fourth document was labeled 'Psybloc Incident'.

"This one is likely to be the most dubious, and yet the most straightforward... paradoxically," John said. The sound of crinkling newspaper followed suddenly, as Mason jostled forward.

"If I may, Mister Cornell" Mason said, clearing his throat. The butler folded the newspaper he had in his hand, placing it flat against the table and turning it towards the group.

[10k square miles of Sakha Republic, Russia, lost to unknown event]

The news headline, and its proceeding explanation, remained as vague as each other. 'Something' had happened, and a swathe of the land became uninhabitable. Investigators entering the area never returned, and satellites could pick up no signs, infrared or otherwise, of anything living besides the hardy permafrost vegetation.

"The only sign of anything having been there was a single record in a bank transfer database row from Switzerland. 'PSYBLOC', attributed to a non-existent rural town in the Sakha Republic, way up north. Whatever's there... regular investigators have given up on uncovering. Obviously we'd be sending you all in to figure out what the Hell happened. The last one I have for you all hits Iphigenia's home," John said, pushing forward the final folder.

"London's been seeing a number of museums and research companies being pilfered. The culprit is still at large, and the only unifying feature between the items stolen is apparently buried behind the state's MI6. All of the items were labeled as 'OSW', but the meaning behind the acronym is highest-tier confidential. I'm still trying to understand why their label is a state secret, but the items themselves are not. In any case, there are other known OSW items, which means you'd all be put up to the task of aiding local police in intercepting the next attack. Thus far they've been unsuccessful. The assailant has used utterly different methods every incident."

John returned each of the folders neatly into a staggered pile, and crossed his arms over one another as he leaned upon the dinner table.

"It's up to you all which you'd like to pursue first and, of course, I'm here for you if you've got any additional questions about them."

“Kyouko!” Tian-Gui beamed, motioning with his stump. “There’s another famous face. Been eating well, I hope?” Well, considering the reality-warper’s specific set of abilities, she was likely able to just refresh herself with her own powers, but the psychological effect of having a proper meal break couldn’t be understated.

Not that Tian-Gui was one to talk.

With the gang all together and John beginning his long talk, the Flamestone-wielder settled comfortably into his chair and began to consider the options. The Musicians of Bremen and the Church of Gears were both organizations, and handling organizations was a messy task, especially when they’re united by ideology rather than hierarchy. These were long-term problems, in the end, while Yesterday’s Promise was certainly the more punchable one here. A group of mercenaries who ascribed to the Thremont patriarch’s own ideals? It practically sounded like a sequel, doubly so when he considered the possibility that they may be more than a little interested in repossessing the Abyssal Engine currently under the Final Five’s jurisdiction.

The PSYBLOC Incident, however, gave him pause. Ten thousand square miles in Russia may not have been enough to swallow up anything major, but if this was something that spread, if this was something that occurred around the world, another ten thousand square miles of sudden emptiness could be devastating. It would be enough to handily swallow Shanhu whole. A separated space, an alternate dimension. He recalled that strange occurrence back in Mars. They had managed to return from alien places before, and, between Runa’s nigh-immortal physiology, his Flamestone’s anti-supernatural properties, and Kyouko’s time-reversal powers, they were well-equipped to do it again.

A trip to Iphie’s homeland sounded like a fun vacation, but compared to the sheer amount of unknowns PSYBLOC presented, chasing after a phantom thief would have to wait.

Tian-Gui placed his hand upon that document, his eyes sweeping across the room. “If no one else has any complaints, PSYBLOC’s got the most potential for a world-ending danger if left unchecked.” A grin flashed. “And I’m personally interested in experiencing a Russian winter. How ‘bout the rest of you?”

"Kind of a shame we don't really have a magic expert on the team," Runa commented on the general state of things. Seemed like at least a couple of their current docket would really be helped by someone who knew their way around the supernatural side of the world. Tian and Kyouko were probably the closest they had, and neither of them were exactly versed in how magic worked, even if they had some connection or another to how the arcane worked.

The whole Musicians of Bremen thing was news to her and got her attention. Anything that had to do with her own origins would. "I know it's a bit silly, but I can't help but feel a sense of responsibility for this one," Runa said, taping the relevant file. "That sort of thing's pretty nasty, and I'm probably best suited to dealing with it." Of course, she could probably do that on her own, if she felt like it.

London sounded pretty straightforward, but if the regular law enforcement wasn't enough to get this guy, it'd be up to someone else. "What kind of methods are we talking about in these thefts," she asked. "Seems kind of small for us to get involved, but there's obviously more going on there. All I can see for us intervening is trying to catch the thief in the act, though. I'm certainly not too good in an investigation aside from gathering some clues or tracking someone." Given that she could be something of a walking molecular and genetics analysis lab, Runa might be selling herself short, but she's not the kind to play detective well.

"Russian winter's just cold." Meaning Runa might bother to zip up her jacket. "Probably lot of snow, too. Still, an area that big just disappearing's pretty wild. Like, Tunguska event level wild." Why was it Russia where this kinda stuff seemed to happen? "Definitely not much to go on for that one, but I guess the obvious is just walk in and see what happens. Anyone try sending in a drone or something with a camera?"

Jin-Sun leaned back in his chair, considering the options available to the Five at the moment. Body-modders and Luddite cults were an issue, to be sure, but both Yesterday's Promise and PSYBLOC seemed like greater threats. Given his history with the Thremonts, Yesterday's Promise would be his natural choice, but...

"As much as I'd like to say I want to tackle Yesterday's Promise, biased as I am, Runa's right. Magical situations are a bit out of our depth at the moment. Might have to expand this to the Final Six and find a magical specialist." He chuckled, folding his arms.

"I'm with Tian-Gui, though. PSYBLOC's a concern. I'm not saying the rest aren't potential threats at the moment, but that's all they are: potential. Nothing else here compares to ten thousand square miles just outright up and disappearing. In theory, we could split off into smaller groups to handle more of these threats at once, but I don't think that's such a good idea right now. Russia's a complete unknown, and going in blind with a reduced force could lead to disaster."

Iphigenia grimaced as she recalled the mentioned interview. “Eh. At least EGN’s one of the more tolerable outlets,” she handwaved, before giving a real wave to Tian-Gui and Kyouko as they made their way inside in their own uniquely separate ways. It was good to finally see everybody again after all this time.

The purple-haired girl sipped her tea as she got in a comfortable position to listen to John’s rundown of the dossiers and potential leads. Most of them, frankly, didn’t rouse her interest, nor did they sound like particularly world-threatening events in the making. They were all concerning, sure, but not really worth the Final Five’s time. Iphigenia personally thought that the Bremen matter, the so-called Church of Gears, and mercenary group were all things that a competent three-letter agency could probably tackle. If not, then they could probably kick the matter up the chain again.

The London incident… was in the same category, but Iphie naturally had a bit of personal bias towards events that happened in her home country and city. In fact, she took meddling with her city’s museums personally; the thought of some punk looting the British Museum for whatever nefarious means made her blood boil. The fact that research companies were being hit as well was even more concerning, considering that Courtlandt Holdings did have a lot of assets within London as well. She absolutely wanted to investigate this dossier, but the Psybloc dossier was too concerning to ignore.

“I think we’re all in agreement, then,” Iphie started. “As much as I detest the Siberian winter, the dossier there really has some apocalyptic potential. We should go in quickly and in force, but cautiously,” she nodded, mostly to herself. “That said, I think it’s understandable that I want to investigate this London matter as soon as I can after we deal with this disappearing land act, yes?”

As John revealed more details about a variety of jobs that Kyouko had rambled on about, the group came - one after the other - to what seemed like a majority vote on what to do. Going alone did not even cross the girl's mind, being the Final Five and all.

Nonetheless, the brunette enjoyed the attention she got for a brief moment as the rest was waiting for her own decision. It wasn't entirely positive for once. "Mhm..." She mused, was it really still a decision? "Russia it is! I heard they have polar bears and penguins!" Tilting her head, smiling.. "Not like we're there on a vacation but... with all five of us, it'll nearly be like one! And it counts double for me!" The brunette felt a sort of excitement she had been missing for a long time.

"So, when are we gonna go? Right now? And then London? The Bremen thing? Yesterday's Promise?" Kyouko sounded like it was already a given that they would simply tackle all of them, one after the other.

Mason wiggled his mustache and cleared his throat before responding to Runa as he lifted his newspaper back up to continue reading.

"In total, five unmanned vehicles have been sent in. Only one returned, but such a case seemed like the result of caution than anything notable. The unmanned Kurganets-70 only entered the area for about 5 minutes before returning back. The pilots... Ahem... 'chickened out' it seemed," he explained.

John nodded to the butler before returning his attention to the Final Five. Reaching across, he retrieved all of the dossiers except for the PSYBLOC incident casefile, leaving the details for the team themselves.

"Sounds like an agreement then. Worry not though, Runa. Iphigenia. We'll get to the other tasks in time. I don't currently have anyone that can or would take up the missions themselves, so most of these are on you... Not to rush you all or anything. The world might be rife with odd events, but it's been that way for awhile now, hasn't it?" John chuckled, standing up. "It can stand to deal with them for a bit longer I'd say. Let's hope none of them are the world-ending scenarios, and this PSYBLOC matter is the right call."

John gave a nod to Mason and headed for the exit to the room -ultimately he was several doors away from fully exiting the whole headquarters.

"I'll set up the transportation for you all ASAP. But until then, you've some free time. I'll call you all before the end of the day, almost certainly. I'd anticipate to be heading westbound for some harsh Russian weather within 24 hours," John explained, standing beneath the door to the hall. "And... feel free to decide on what you'll do after this mission's complete. Perhaps the Musicians or London's thieves? I'll talk to you all later." At that, John disappeared around a corner, followed by the shutting of the door behind him.

Mason ruffled his newspaper and folded it, setting it down.

"If I may, heroes, before you leave. I was hoping you could help me with a much simpler matter?" he asked, "Didn't wish to ask this of you while John was around, and risk his ire for burdening you with even more troubles. This old man simply wished to give his granddaughter a chance to meet those she looks up to."

Twenty-four hours, was it? Plenty of time to become perfectly rested then. Tian-Gui downed his tea with the finality of a man who could go for something more substantial, before turning to the others. "I've got a couple of other little things to deal with, but considering the circumstances...how 'bout we have dinner together tonight? With the whole gang n all." He grinned at Mason. "Including your grandkid. I'm sure we're not so broke after the Fort Five renovations that we can't afford delivery n all? And if we need a private venue..."

The young man jammed his hand into his pocket and pulled out a neatly folded piece of plastic, upon which was a QR code with a rainbow sheen.

"Actually got this discount to a karaoke place from a fan today. Place had pretty decent reviews online, so hey, might as well ring in the New Years with something fun, y'know?"

Though maybe the grandkid would've preferred to see the Final Five putting on one of those masked hero shows instead.

Runa gets up, immediately all bubbly at the suggestion of karaoke. "I'm game for letting someone meet her heroes. And hope everyone's ready for my horrible singing voice.

This is the sort of thing she missed with the big boom in importance. The hanging around and just doing stuff thing. Sure, most of the Five were a bit too old to really be her peers, but it was still fun and probably the closest to proper family she truly had. Gone were the times of getting kicked out of all you can eat restaurants for eating too much.

And hey, they had a day to prepare. She'd just need to throw some chances of clothes in a suitcase. "It's been way too long since we all had dinner together. Anyone else thinking like, divey, kitschy diner?"

"Sure, why not?" Jin-Sun shrugged, leaning back in his chair as he finished the last of his protein shake. "You're part of the crew, Mason, so don't worry about it. I'd be happy to meet your granddaughter."

He didn't have that many preparations to make without more detailed information, so a generalized loadout would have to do. And that wouldn't take particularly long at all. More than enough time to simply hang out and relax before the big mission. Damn, but did he miss that. After years of the whole..cyborg thing, the last time he'd gotten to just chill with the guys was probably back when he was just a PMC grunt. And before that was high school. Damn, but that was depressing. Back to the matter at hand.

"Karaoke and dinner sound good to me. Divey crap diner sounds even better, too. If we can't get the real deal in Shanhu, there's always Denny's International House of Waffles. I know everyone over the age of forty complains that it's worse than it was before the double buyout and triple merger, but it's still an option if we want a crappy diner."

“Hmm, well. I don’t want to jump to conclusions or downplay the situation, but aside from a very angry beast destroying everything it sees in the region, could there have been a severe radioactive event? Would explain a lot,” she suggested, before immediately frowning and dismissing her hypothesis. “Wait, no, a satellite would have picked that up the instant it happened. Forget what I said.” Shaking her head, she finished off her drink before nodding at John. “Sounds agreeable. As infuriating as the London matter is, I don’t think it’s world-ending,” she chuckled.

Iphigenia pulled out her phone after he left, tapping away on her screen to send a few texts and rearrange her schedule for the immediate future. With 24 hours’ notice, it looked like she would be saved from a few boring meetings, not the greatest loss in the world.

Before she rose to leave, it seemed Mason had one last request. Iphie wasn't the best with kids, but granting the time for Mason's star struck granddaughter was leaps and bounds better than being hounded by the obnoxious superfans of the Final Five that had turned up after their victory. “Dinner? Sure. We’ve a lot to catch up on, after all,” she nodded at Tian-Gui. “I’m sure five plus one’s no big deal for anybody here, right?” She gave Mason a smile before turning back to Tian-Gui. “We can do karaoke, but you don’t want to terrify the poor girl, don’t we?” Although Kyouko was supposedly supposed to be become an idol, Iphie didn’t have a very high opinion of anybody’s singing here. Herself included.

“Honestly, hanging out here with the kiddo and getting takeout sounds the best. No offense to the diners or Waffle Houses, they still have their place for sure.”

Mason let out a gentle laugh, and shook his head at Iphigenia.

"My granddaughter is quite the tough one, even for her child-like excitement to meet you all. I'd be careful calling her a 'kiddo'! After all, she's no younger than Kyouko or Runa here," he said, gesturing to the two youngest Final Five. "I truly feel like an old man when I wish for only the best for her to eat, but I'm not senile yet either, and I've got my eyes still, so I know that she loves that DIHOP." Mason began to type something into his phone, googling the location of somewhere he'd had in memory.

"I believe there is one not too far from this complex," he began, "By what John had said though, you may not all have time for karaoke. I'm sure Victoria would be happy to be spared from singing, to be quite honest!" Mason laughed again. "I'll let her know where to meet you all," he said, sending a quick ping with his phone to relay the location of the DIHOP. Several stories down, and a mile away. Easily accessible by pedestrian bridges if the Final Five felt like getting cardio rather than calling a shuttle.



Ultimately, the Final Five would depart by whatever means, heading into the more middling levels of the city, and into an equally massive tower packed to bursting with commercial storefronts. Things were busy here in one of the spaces where countless residential complexes converged, as it served as a hub for just about anything anyone could need within a several mile radius. Their designated 'Denny's International House of Pancakes' had a decent amount of patronage at their dinner time, but most knew it was when the hour struck midnight that the place usually became its most full, assaulted by the oddities of the city for their late-night munchies. Thanks to robotics, the establishment could send its tired employees home whilst still maintaining a 24/7 schedule for the restaurant.

After being seated, for those who chose not to arrive in disguise, the group was themselves assaulted by curious stares. For the time being, they were spared requests for autographs, though the mumbling of citizens debating if they should was plain to anyone who listened in. A server, likely themselves withholding their own excitement to maintain a professional composure, approached the table.

"Welcome to DIHOP! What can I get you all?" the young woman asked cheerily, holding her tablet at the ready to record orders. Mason's granddaughter had yet to arrive, it seemed, looking around.

"Please, Iphie," Tian-Gui laughed. "Karaoke's not about how good your singing is. It's just about the hype!"

Though between his own lung capacity, Jin-Sun's robot speakers, and Runa's mutant vocal cords, perhaps karaoke with the Final Five might be too much for a first time excursion after all. Oh well, there was always the New Years Party to drink copious amounts of alcohol in order to convince others that they're finally witnessing a drunk Tian-Gui. With Mason having sent the address to the rest of them and the time for their arrival set as well, Tian-Gui spent the rest of the day with his own preparations for the upcoming mission.

Namely, downloading his super sentai backlog onto his phone and prepping enough meals to last him two weeks. Who knew how long they'd be in Russia for, after all.

As the sun dipped into the horizon, the raven-haired man called up the others and took the scenic route down to DIHOW. The nightlife of Shanhu, replete with gondolas, personal flying devices, and drones, as well as the stream of more standard automobile lacing beneath or beside pedestrian bridges, created a dizzying display of lights that never quite got old for him. Sure, the air was about as bad as always, and the light pollution was terrible enough that the stars that one saw in Shanhu were a hoax that served as subliminal advertising for the megacorps, but the city of science and academia remained as lively as always. Perhaps even a bit livelier than usual; the Christmas fever was hitting, and Kyouko's new single was playing in more than just a few department stores. The newest member of the Final Five definitely looked to be getting places in terms of fame, wasn't she? By the time DIHOW came into view, Tian-Gui couldn't help but grin at the two-story high neon sign that featured a Kyouko Hiruma modelling for a youth fashion label.

Certainly was going to be just a little awkward, eating while in clear view of your own ad, hm? Made one wonder how Iphie felt about coming across Courtlandt Group's social media.

By the time the others had arrived and seating positions were figured out (Tian-Gui sat at the front end of the table to avoid taking up anyone else's elbow space) and the waitress came to take their order, the man already knew what he wanted. "I'll take your salmon steak combo set with Meyer sauce, extra veggies. Side order of your chicken tenders as well, no sauce, and your strawberry black forest waffle tower for dessert." A slight pause; he drummed his fingers against the table as he thought of it. "Oh, right, and is your collab with Perfect Gray Rainbow still on?"

For a moment, Jin-Sun considered the merits of showing up to DIHOW in disguise. And then immediately shelved that idea, given how none of the rest of them were incognito. It wasn't worth burning a potential future identity to hide behind just for a few minutes of peace and quiet. Not that it'd work either, considering people would wonder who the literal who hanging out with the remainder of the Five was.

That didn't mean he didn't arrive stealthily, though. He went through most of the commute under a hologram disguise before stepping into a public restroom inside the tower as he neared the house of waffles. The stall door locked behind him, and he disengaged the Illusion Drive and activated his cloak instead, making the rest of the walk completely invisible.

He only bothered to uncloak when he found the table the others were at, sliding into the first available seat before disengaging his stealth.

"Yo. Thanks for saving me a spot." He gave a jaunty wave, pulling his phone out to pass the time, though not without glancing incredulously out the window at the sign of Kyouko modeling. Seriously, what the hell was she wearing? Was that what high schoolers were into these days? Christ...

When the waitress came, Jin-Sun spoke up right after Tian-Gui, already having decided on his order.

"Yeah, lemme get uhhh...an orange juice and the chicken and waffles, with the chicken in the extra spicy buffalo sauce, please. Oh, and another PGR skin code too, if you've got any left." He side-eyed Tian-Gui once his order was done.

"You never mentioned you played too. Figured you for Jogomon Go exclusively. How's your pull luck with that last banner?"