As the others filed into the conference room, Captain Infinite read and re-read the list Colonel Sato had given him.

    He had requested it shortly after the JSDF had agreed to help Atria – a list of everyone injured during that first engagement in the alleyway.  There were fifty-seven names on it.

    “What is that?” Alice asked, sitting down beside him.  On his other side, Atria was quietly talking with Stella.

    “Everybody I turned into collateral damage,” Cap said.  “Once this is done, I have a lot of people to make amends to.”

    “I’m sure they’ll understand,” Alice stated.

    Cap gave her a sad smile.  “Will they?  Some of them had to be rescued from buildings that I collapsed.  In my world, the buildings were always empty by the time a fight reached them.  But my world is an escapist fantasy.  Nobody has to worry about collateral damage.”

    Alice gave his hand a squeeze.  “You had no way of knowing this world was different.”

    “I doubt that would comfort the children of the parents who are still in the hospital.”

    Atria cleared her throat.  “It’s time to begin,” she said.

    Cap nodded to her and started to translate.

    “There’s nobody new here, so I won’t waste any time talking about languages,” Atria said.  “Yesterday, The Destroyer and his followers attacked Samurai Filmworks.  One hundred and forty-three people were killed.  There were no survivors.  Written in blood on one of the walls was the word ‘liberation’ in both Japanese and English.  This is now a war, and he is waging it against creators.”

    A solemn silence fell across the table as Cap finished translating.

    “There’s something everybody needs to know before we say anything further,” Akari Soto said.  “One of The Destroyer’s powers is to use a scrying spell to see all of the intentions and plans of his enemies.  So, he will know everything we say in this meeting, and once we knows that we are in opposition to him, he will not waste time making his own plans and attacking.”

    “So how long would we have to prepare?” Colonel Sato asked.

    “No more than two days,” Akari replied.  “But, if I had to guess, the only day we’ll have to prepare is today.”

    “So we’re in battle tomorrow,” Atria said.  “What are this devil king’s combat capabilities?”

    “The English phrase ‘one man army’ would be accurate.  He has the powers of a god.”

    Colonel Sato pulled out his phone and began quietly issuing orders.

    Atria took a deep breath.  “I wish I had Volandpanzer here.”

    “If we had Daiki Yamato that could be arranged,” Akari said.  “That sword can do a lot more than he thinks.”

    “And if we elaborate on what it can do, The Destroyer knows,” Atria said.  “What maddening circumstances under which to formulate a strategy.  Anyway, moving on, the CCTV footage revealed some changes in his group.  Please pass out the photo.”

    Cap heard Alice take a deep breath.  “Did Jenny Calhoun...did she...”

    “The CCTV footage shows her killing at least thirty people,” Atria said.  “I’m sorry, Alice.”

    Alice buried her head in her hands.  “Oh Jenny, what have you done?”

    Cap gave her shoulder a soft squeeze.  Then he heard a sharp intake of breath from Akari.

    “Not her,” Akari said, going pale.  “Anybody but her!”

    “You recognize this new person?”

    “It’s Saline,” Akari said.  “She’s the main villain from my light novels.  She’s a murderous psychopath.  In the story she’s the one who frames Daiki Yamato for theft, and she’s the one who keeps trying to destroy his life.  But when nobody is looking and she can get away with it, she likes murdering people and playing with them as they die.”

    “That sounds horrifying,” Mark Gable said after Cap had translated.  “Wait, her name is ‘Saline’, seriously?”

    Akari nodded.  “What’s wrong with that?”

    “Nothing,” Mark replied.  “I just imagine she’s a bit salty about it, that’s all.”

    “I speak English,” Akari said in heavily accented English.  “There is nothing wrong with that name.”

    “It definitely gives your story some seasoning,” Mark quipped.

    “If we can get back to business,” Atria interjected.  “Jack Death is not in these pictures.  He did not participate in this attack.  We have not been able to locate him.”

    “He was looking pretty rattled when he left Adam’s hospital room after talking to me,” Stella said.  “He might have parted ways with them.”

    “Either way, until we account for his whereabouts, we can’t assume he won’t be involved in an attack on this facility,” Atria stated.  “Colonel Sato and I will have to put our heads together and figure out a way to plan a defence without the Destroyer discovering every detail.  In the meantime, this is the location where we can best protect all of you, so you’re staying here.  For the time being, anything you want to raise that would normally be at this meeting should be raised quietly in private with Colonel Sato or myself.  I suppose we can pass notes around.  I don’t know how much that will help us against The Destroyer’s scrying power, but we’ve got to try something.  Meeting adjourned.”

    Cap watched Mark Gable get up and walk out of the room.  He sighed.

    “He still won’t talk to you?” Alice said.

    “He avoids me,” Cap replied.  “The only time I see him is in these meetings.”

    “You can’t just wait for him,” Alice stated.  “If you want him to talk to you, you’re going to need to force the issue.”

    Cap grimaced.  “Yeah.  You’re right.”  Then he stood up and strode out of the room.

    Mark Gable hadn’t gotten far.  Cap rushed down the hallway to catch up.  “Mark, I need to talk to you,” he said.

    “Good for you,” Mark said.  “I’m busy.”

    “No!” Cap roared, stopping Mark in his tracks.  “You will talk to me!  Everybody else gets to have some time with their creator, but not me, and that’s not right!  You don’t have to like me if you don’t want to, and I know that you didn’t create me back in the 1930s, but you’re writing my stories right now, and you will answer me!”

    “Fine,” Mark said.  “What do you want to know, Captain Infinite?”

    “Why is my life so empty?” Cap demanded.  “Why does everybody else get to have friends and comrades and a life outside of fighting supervillains, but I don’t?”

    “Because you’re Captain Infinite, and that’s how I was told to write you!” Mark snarled.  “Whether you like it or not, you’re just a job to me.  You’re a product owned by the company and used to sell comics and toys to kids.  This year I’m writing Captain Infinite.  Next year I’ll be writing somebody else.  My boss tells me that I need to write stories about supervillains and superpowers and Captain Infinite being heroic, so that’s what I write.  Then I turn in my manuscript, get my paycheque, and pay my rent.  That’s all there is to it.”

    Behind him, Cap heard Alice Matson mutter something.

    “And you couldn’t have done more?” Cap asked.  “Written a sub-plot or two?”

    “Oh, I tried that once,” Mark said.  “Back in the 1990s, when I was first getting started, I came up with this wonderful, complex story and handed the pitch to my editor.  He tore it up in front of me, and then he told me that the characters weren’t mine, and if I wanted to keep working in this industry, I’d write what I was told to write.  I learned my lesson, and I like paying my rent.  And if you’re not happy with that, go take it up with Superhero Comics Inc.  We done now?”

    Cap just stared at him.

    “Good,” Mark said, and left.

    “He’s not your real creator,” Alice said behind him.  “Your real creator cared.  You wouldn’t have had Janey and the others in your life if he hadn’t.”

    Cap leaned against the wall and nodded, a tear trickling down his cheek.  “I know.  I just wish...I wish I could have met him.  I think I would have thanked him for all those good times I had, back at the beginning.  I just wish I could have thanked him.”

    Alice wrapped her arms around Cap and gave him a hug.  Cap sagged against her shoulders and wept.

“In the meantime, this is the location where we can best protect all of you, so you’re staying here,” Atria stated.  “For the time being, anything you want to raise that would normally be at this meeting should be raised quietly in private with Colonel Sato or myself.  I suppose we can pass notes around.  I don’t know how much that will help us against The Destroyer’s scrying power, but we’ve got to try something.  Meeting adjourned.”

    Atria took a deep breath as she watched people get up and leave the table.  The mood in the room was somber, and she could understand why.  With the exception of Kaguyama, who had been in the military, none of the creators could have ever known what it was like to have somebody trying to kill them.  And it was her job to keep them safe.

    She just needed to figure out how.

    The problem was the orb.  They needed to get it away from The Destroyer and dispose of it.  The magic shield around The Destroyer seemed to work against small objects but not against large ones, so Cap could get him away from the power source.  But then they needed to get it to a place where it could be disposed of without vapourizing part of Tokyo in the process.  And they had to do that while dealing with Jenny Calhoun and this Saline person – and the only creations with any powers or abilities on their side were her and Cap.  Whether the JDSF could take on The Destroyer or any of his followers was an open question.

    She noticed Akari staring at her across the table.  Other than her and Stella, the others had left.

    “Do you have a plan?” Akari asked.

    “The beginnings of one,” Atria lied.  She felt Stella squeeze her hand.

    “I’ll help however I can,” Stella said in English.

    “You should get out of here while you can and be with Adam,” Atria said.  “He’s not a creator, so they won’t come after him.”

    “He’s safe,” Stella said.  “You and the rest of my friends here are not.  I’ll stay and help.”

    Atria nodded.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a junior officer enter the room and clear his throat, a lieutenant, by the looks of it.

    “There’s somebody here to see Ms. Soto,” the lieutenant said in Japanese.  “He says his name is Daiki Yamato.  He is very insistent.”

    “Bring him in,” Atria said.

    As she watched, Daiki Yamato, dressed in a leather jacket, jeans, and holding a duffel bag by the bag instead of the handles, stepped into the room and took stock.  She rose.

    “Greetings,” she said.  “I’m Major Atria Silversword.  This is Stella, who I believe you have met.  And I understand that you have met Ms. Soto, who created you.”

    “I understand you need my help,” Daiki said.  “Before I agree, I want a full and honest report of the situation.”

    Atria nodded, noticing Akari write something on a piece of paper out of the corner of her eye.  “The situation has escalated.  Our opponent, who is known as The Destroyer, has begun a war against creators – he attacked and killed everybody in an anime studio yesterday.  We are, at this time, his only organized opposition.  We expect him to attack here sometime tomorrow.  He can also listen to anything we say through some sort of scrye spell, so we are having to discuss matters with great delicacy.”

    “So if I help you, I’m probably fighting a battle tomorrow.”

    “Yes.”

    Daiki pointed to Akari.  “Last time she and I spoke, she said that she can get me home.  Is that true?”

    “I don’t know,” Atria replied.  “Is it, Ms. Soto?”

    Akari nodded.  “Yes.  I know how to do that.”

    Atria’s eyes narrowed as she scrutinized Akari.  She was telling the truth.

    “Mr. Yamato, I was written to be very good at reading people,” Atria said.  “From what I have been told, you have had to develop this skill as well.  I believe that Ms. Soto is telling the truth.”

    “Can you win this fight without me? Daiki asked.

    “I don’t know.  Possibly not.”

    “And if you lose, my creator dies.”

    “Almost certainly, yes.”

    “I’ll join you, but I have a condition,” Daiki stated, turning to Akari.  “Once this battle is over and I go back to my world, my light novel series ends on whatever volume you are writing right now.  I face and beat the devil king, I get to go home with Athena at my side, and we live the rest of our lives together in my Japan.  And those lives are to be long, happy, and without complication from her being a wolf demi-human.”

    “Agreed,” Akari said.

    “I’ll need that in writing,” Daiki stated.

    “We’ll have a contract drawn up,” Atria said.

    Akari stood up and handed Daiki the paper she had been writing on.  “I’m sorry I drew the series out.  Anime studios like to adapt active book series, and that’s why I did it, but that doesn’t make it right.  If I had known that you would be a real person suffering because of it, I wouldn’t have drawn the story out.”

    “But you still would have written it in the first place,” Daiki said.  “I’d still be ripped away from my world and family.”

    “Yes.”

    “I’ll fight for you, and then you send me back and end my story, that’s the deal,” Daiki said, looking at the paper he had been handed.  His eyes widened, and then narrowed again as he looked back at her.  “Now, when we last met you said that if I agreed to come in and help you would tell me what you know about how I can get home.  Keep your promise, creator.”

    “It’s your sword,” Akari said.  “The Black Sword can open a gateway between worlds.  It can even bring things back from them.  You’ve always had the ability to go home.”

    Daiki stiffened.  “When was I going to find out about this?”

    “It was going to be revealed in the final volume,” Akari stated.  “But there were hints in earlier books.”

    “Sorry,” Atria said.  “You can bring Volandpanzer here?  And send people back to their worlds?”

    Akari nodded.  “The Black Sword can do those things, yes.”

    Despite the glare Daiki gave her, Atria smiled.  They might just have a chance after all.

NEXT: “Scramble”