The Red Hand

Chapter 451.5 – The Initiative

Bluedog: WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK WAS THAT @everyone! Is the world going to turn into one of those bad Korean novels now?!? Will dungeons start popping up around the world?!?Because that would be fucking cool! Woop! Now I can level up an get handsome!

Blackbox: Bold move to use the everyone ping, but probably not an unwarranted use given the situation. And also, no matter how many levels you get, you will never be handsome my dude.

Bluedog: My chin will be SOOOOOOOOOOOO pointy! And all the babes will soon over my perfectly chiseled abs!

Minazawa: You're definitely the random guy killed off during the first episode to show the MC that this whole dungeon thing is no game.

Bluedog: MOM! I'm gonna be famous!

Hishya: What a god dammed... Never mind, he's just as bad as Akagi. Don't react...

Blackbox: I'm still going to, since it's funny.

Bluedog: MUHAHAHAHA! Dance my puppets! Dance!

Blackbox: But in all seriousness, Hishya, what's going on? And why did Kana end up fighting that monster?

Excelsior: That's something I and every single major world government wants answers to.

Mixu: Yeah, we all just got an ass-chewing by the PM over that worm. It killed far too many people.

Superbia: Aoi had it even worse. Glad I have the excuse of being contracted by the Demon Lord to explain why I didn't handle it.

Minazawa: Lucky bastard.

Excelsior: An odd timeline it is to consider her lucky in this situation...

Hishya: Kana was the only one around. A certain group of idiots who were normally in or around Kyoto weren't around during this exact moment...

Blackbox: Where were you? Can't you like instant move at a bazillion miles per hour?

Hishya: I'm fast, but I'm not that fast. Crossing the Pacific still took me about thirty minutes since I didn't want to risk obliterating any poor ship I happened to fly over. I wasn't even informed of the attack until after it was over, anyway. (I got chewed out by Akagi and was told to remain in Japan until she gets done with the Enoris saga.) (And no, I don't want to recount THAT fucking conversation.)

Bluedog: Was that actually Akagi's sister who killed that worm? I saw a video online of it. She ran up it like an anime character!

Hishya: Yes, she did. I was honestly surprised. I knew Kana had gotten stronger since she started training, but I never thought she'd be able to do something like that. At least not yet.

Minazawa: That kind of growth is... Unnatural. If I'm being entirely honest.

Excelsior: Considering she went from a normal high school girl to casting magic and taking down a monster that was likely equal to a mini boss in power in less than a year, I'd say that's an understatement.

Eris: I told y'all to watch out for the Demon Princess ; )

Blackbox: I can't imagine Akagi was thrilled with her kid sister fighting a giant monster worm.

Hishya: She was not... At least not without someone around to bail her out in case things went sideways.

Mixu: Question I have, and so does fucking everyone else, is how it got here? Earth has no monsters, and that wasn't a creature from FWO. At least that I'm aware of.

Bluedog: Maybe it came from that Enoris place?

Hishya: That correct. Those Heroes transported between here and there, and Akagi figured that the Gods might try it again. The worm was sent here, likely as a prelude to something more.

Mixu: Poor Aoi...

Minazawa: So now you're telling me that we're going to have to fight monsters on Earth?

Eris: They're not too bad. We've been fighting them over there when we've liberated Spirits. Most are low-level trash. That worm went down easy by the looks of it.

Excelsior: Low-level trash to us, but I don't think local law enforcement can handle those kinds of things.

Bluedog: It's okay! Magical Girl Star Guardian will save us with the power of friendship!

Mixu: We'll need to stay vigilant for more. If they start popping up across the country, we need to be ready to move quickly.

Superbia: I'll be right here to provide moral support!

*eats snacks while watching movies*

Blackbox: Our tax dollars, ladies and gentlemen.

Superbia: Don't blame me, I was forcefully conscripted by the kitty :)

Excelsior: All memes aside, we don't have the numbers to handle a large incursion. With Superbia conscripted, that leaves me, Shimari, Mixu, and Minazawa as active RRT members. Four people can't cover all of Japan.

Hishya: Throw me, Eris, and Ayame in, and that brings us to seven, but you're still right. We're all quite fast, but Japan isn't exactly small.

Blackbox: Can't we get some of the others to jump in to help? There are still dozens of other Returnees.

Bluedog: Yeah! You're telling me that out of a hundred people with superpowers, we can't scrape together more than a dozen! Try harder, you lazy bastards!

Minazawa: I nominate him as worm bait. All agreed?

Hishya: Yep

Superbia: Plus one for me

Munechika: His sacrifice will be remembered. Or maybe not.

Excelsior: It will be for the greater good if nothing else.

Eris: Do you even need to ask?

Mixu: Death to the idiot.

Blackbox: I vote no only because we might lose the funny meme man.

Bluedog: Do I get a vote?

Hishya: No.

Bluedog: I didn't think so... Oh well! FEAR ME, MIGHTY WORM! FOR I SHALL DESTROY YOU WITH MY WEAPONIZED CRINGE!

Minazawa: Unironically he might be the most powerful person alive if he could find out how to weaponize that stuff.

Hishya: Akagi is more cringe.

Aoi: You all... I just caught up to this conversation... Hishya... Why must you keep making my life worse...

Hishya: Blame Akagi, not me. She's the one gallivanting in another world, killing Gods, making friend and having an extra special kitty adventure.

Blackbox: That is a sentence.

Bluedog: The image of Catkagi just mewing away a God makes me laugh.

Hishya: Oh, I'm sure she's gonna try it...

Hishya: Aoi, good thing you're here, actually. Akagi has a proposal for the government that she wants me to pass along. This actually involves @everyone too.

Bluedog: I'm busy that day.

Minazawa: You didn't even hear what it was yet.

Bluedog: I'm preemptively booking my calendar anyway.

Superbia: What if it pays well?

Bluedog: ... Okay, I'll listen, but no promises. My incredible power is in high demand the world over!

Mixu: I'm okay if we don't invite him to whatever this is.

Blackbox: Wait, wait, wait. Hear me out, the funny.

Aoi: Why do I have a feeling that whatever this plan is will require a combination of liquor and caffeine to handle?

Hishya: See attachment

Earth Defense Force.pdf

Hishya: Akagi wanted to call it something else, but I told her that name was copyrighted so she reluctantly backed off. Also it was cringe.

Bluedog: And EDF isn't?!?

Hishya: It's too generic of a name.

Blackbox: The Demon Lord respects copyright?

Aoi: Jesus, how many pages is this...

Hishya: A lot

Blackbox: THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY?!? The fuck is this thing?!?

Minazawa: Shorter than I would've imagined from the walking computer that is the Catkagi.

Aoi: I'm not getting sleep this week...

Eris: Oh, come on, it can't be that bad.

Bluedog: Hey! Why does part three seem to call out me specifically?

Mixu: If you read yourself into the part about doing stupid stuff with powers, then that's on you.

Excelsior: My God... Is Akagi really planning on...

Hishya: She is.

Minazawa: The world can barely cope with a hundred of us. How is it going to handle a thousand people with their powers?

Blackbox: Holy hell...

Bluedog: Aight. My schedule just got free.

Hishya: Akagi said she wants us to handle things back on Earth going forward. She refuses to play savior of the world. If we want to make sure nothing stupid happens to the Human race, then we've got to do it ourselves. That was the message she wanted me to pass along.

Aoi: Can she actually... Can she really do all this?

Hishya: Do you really think Akagi would put this together if she couldn'talready do it?

Aoi: Good point... The brass is going to freak about this...

Birdy: I told the Prez, and she just screamed into her desk. LOL

Mixu: Nice of you to finally join us.

Birdy: I was busy having tea with my friend.

Eris: Casually calling the U.S. President your tea friend is something else.

Birdy: She takes everything too seriously. It's funny XD.

Excelsior: That's quite literally her job.

Birdy: XD

Hishya: Birdy, you've been temporarily recalled per Akagi. Get back here immediately.

Birdy: Aww...

Minazawa: It's kinda cute how Hishya is acting like Akagi's little second in command.

Mixu: She's wagging her lizard tail good. Woof! Woof!

Birdy: Awoooo!

Hishya: Hey, you'd do what you were told if you just got threatened to join Armalthy.

Superbia: F

Eris: That's a threat.

Hishya: I'm not going to try my luck again. If Akagi tells me to do something, it's going to get done. So right now I'm relaying her instructions, which include cueing you in to her plans and getting our feathered friend back from the States.

Blackbox: How long will this project even take?

Hishya: Several years at least. Akagi needs to wrap up Enoris first, then she'll move into soul manipulation. The first step will involve a mass calling up of every single Returnee we can find to Kyoto.

Minazawa: It sounds like she's expecting us to fight an army based on the title of that first part.

Hishya: That's because she does, and we will.