War of Terror

Tokyo’s Minister of Infrastructure was a good man all around. Good at his job, loyal, had a nice wife and two beautiful kids. This man was strewn out dead on the floor before Souji Okita.

He had been shot several times outside of a gentleman’s club he would frequent. The perpetrator had gotten away.

This was no ordinary attack, however. None of his belongings had been stolen, so this wasn’t about money. It was a targeted attack against the man who was responsible for overseeing the maintenance and construction of Tokyo’s infrastructure. Such a loss didn’t bode well for the city.

It wasn’t just him, either. Other officials had been assassinated as well. Not to mention, there was a rise in all kinds of ‘accidents’ too.

Okita knew that something reeked.

“Sir!” One of Okita’s men had arrived.

“What is it?”

“I have received a report from your, uh, ‘friends.’” Okita maintained connections with the Yakuza. In times like these, it certainly came in handy. “They’ve figured out who’s behind these incidents.”

“They have? What are you waiting for? Spit it out!”

The man gulped. “It’s the Kkangpae. Korean mafia.”

***

Even in Kosma, Tokyo still relied on their advanced public transport system. A vast network of trains brought people wherever they needed to be.

The unsung heroes of this system were the drivers. However, this particular train’s driver was currently dead, stripped down, and stuffed into a closet. Yet the train was still running. This impostor who was now controlling the train wore the uniform, but his goal was not to safely transport passengers.

While the ride had been smooth so far, his target had finally entered his vision. An especially tight turn, located in a densely populated area. With a smile, he pushed all the down on the accelerator.

The train started moving faster and faster. At first, people found it strange, but panic started setting in as soon as they realized what was ahead. Several tried hitting the emergency break, but it didn’t work. The cries for help and screams of terror became deafening, but these only fueled the current driver’s sick delight.

As the train hit the turn at top speed, it derailed, launching directly towards a building.

***

Many things operated differently in Kosma, but the days of the week were the same, and today was Sunday, so that meant…

“Yes! We got it!” Toko triumphantly held up this week’s issue of Shonen Jam.

“I can’t believe it. Somehow getting sent to an alternate universe doesn’t stop the publication of First Peace.” Keitaro threw up his hands. “That mangaka is something else.”

Keitaro and Toko were currently in Akihabara. It was mostly the same, albeit somehow even more otaku-esque.

“I’ve been waiting for this! It’s the finale of the Red Ocean arc!” She beamed as she gazed upon the cover.

“I have no idea how you can get so excited over that garbage.”

“Garbage!? You’ve never read the manga or even watched the anime!”

“Don’t need to, and I watched the first four episodes.”

“Come on, you need to at least get past episode fifty. It gets crazy after that!”

“I don’t have time to watch fifty episodes of trash just to watch a thousand more episodes of trash!”

“You watched four hundred episodes of Bunny Girl Wars!”

“T-that’s completely different!”

Even though they were still in a crowded area, Toko’s social anxiety had practically disappeared as she got wrapped up talking with her brother about their interests.

However, they hadn’t come to Akihabara alone.

“Keitaro, Toko.” Musashi abruptly interrupted them. “Don’t you think there are more important things you should be doing than reading manga?”

“Nonsense! Times of strife are when we should be reading manga! When the world is on fire, manga is where we can find order in the chaos! We can escape into fantasy! See new perspectives! Become inspired by great heroes!”

Tomoe was a bit impressed by Keitaro’s speech, but Musashi certainly wasn’t. “You’re really good at justifying your own laziness, aren’t you?”

It was a critical hit, even if Keitaro didn’t show it.

“Even if you must read manga, was it really necessary to come here and buy it in person? You could have easily requested a servant to buy it for you.”

“This girl hasn’t missed a single issue of Shonen Jam for as long as I’ve known her. She’s not about to trust some yahoo who can’t tell a manga from a hole in the ground.”

Musashi sighed. There just wasn’t negotiating with these two. “Well, you’ve got your manga, it’s time we head back. We need to prepare for tomorrow’s visit.”

“Yes…” Keitaro had been trying to keep his mind off of that.

Yesterday, they had received a letter from Jack Butler, the White Knight and ruler of New York. It was a request for a diplomatic visit, offering a Truce for the occasion. A Truce is an agreement that makes two parties temporarily unable to harm each other, at least according to Nulla. Keitaro didn’t really like the idea, but at Musashi and Tokugawa’s behest, he gave in.

“Do we really have to do this?” Keitaro asked.

“Alliances will be necessary in this game.”

“But isn’t this a zero-sum game? If only one city can win then alliances only last until somebody inevitably turns traitor.”

“Yes, but this isn't a normal battle royale. This is also a game of politics. If you make yourself a pariah, you’ll just be an easy target.”

Keitaro mulled over it. “Yeah, I guess it’s necessary in this kind of game. But still, I don’t want to jump the gun and ally with the first punk who offers.”

“That’s why we’re testing the waters with the Americans.”

The group kept walking. Their car was just outside Akihabara, but Keitaro couldn’t help but notice something on the way.

“What the hell happened there?”

A train had gone off the tracks and into the building. The cars had been mangled and crushed, and the building looked like it had been hit by a missile.

“There was a train derailment. I told you about it yesterday.”

Keitaro thought back. He did remember hearing Musashi mention something like that when he was half asleep yesterday morning.

Musashi continued, “Around one hundred people died.”

“A hundred!? That was an almost unprecedented disaster. “What the hell happened!?”

“We don't know the details. Souji Okita is currently handling the investigation. However…” He looked down slightly. “We currently believe it to be foreign terrorism…”

Keitaro looked at the carnage before him. His stomach dropped. This wasn’t just a game. For the first time, it really hit him. This was life or death.