Francis and I look over the whole of Los Angeles as we stand at the edge of the hills at Griffith Park.

We hold hands and kiss each other passionately.

I could embrace this man, my great love, for the rest of my life if it were so possible. His warmth, even in the already-hot sun of summer in California, captures me so perfectly I can’t imagine being anywhere else.

A loud cough.

Beside us, Delta is looking over the hill as well and drinking a beer.

“I’m all for PDA,” she says, “but PDA is also gross and weird.”

We break off our kiss and Francis’s face goes flush. “Yeah, like you don’t make out with your wife in public all the time?”

“I don’t,” she says.

Francis puts his finger to his chin. “Ah, yeah, I guess not.”

It’s just the three of us this afternoon. Enjoying each other’s company like we haven’t been able to do for a long time.

“I’m glad I was hit by a carriage, in the end,” I tell Francis and Delta. “It started a chain reaction that nearly destroyed both our home worlds, but I was able to meet you and befriend you. That, more than anything, has made my life complete.”

“Aw.” Francis squeezes my hand.

“Why are you talking like the end of a Saturday morning cartoon series?” Delta asks.

“Ah, like your Earth classic Avatar: The Last Airbender? I quite like that one; Francis has been making me watch it lately. I have not finished yet, but I am very much engaged with the romance that the fire prince and the water girl seem to be cultivating.”

“...”

“I do not recall any pithy remarks about the power of friendship, though, if your sarcastic remarks are intended to point in that direction.”

“You know what, I really thought your accent would decrease a lot more by now than it has,” Delta says. “It was awful at first, then I got used to it, but now I feel like it’s somehow reverted and I hate it again.”

“Your words cut me.”

“Talk normal.”

“I refuse to heed your nonsense,” I say. “I speak with the traditional dialect of North Spire, and I refuse to smooth the speech down to fit your tastes.”

“Yeah, I’m just messing with you,” she says in a flat enough tone that I can’t tell whether or not she’s messing with me NOW. What a confusing woman.

“Speaking of North Spire,” Francis butts in, “Guess who got made raptor captain?”

“My daughter?” Delta asks.

“Well... Yeah! But that’s not fair! She’s literally amazing at everything she tries. No, I mean me. I’m so good at sky raptor flying now that I get to lead my own squadron now!”

“Cool,” she says.

“Congratulations!” I exclaim. “I was already aware of this, but congratulations nonetheless.”

“I’m glad I’m a captain in peacetime,” he says. “I’m definitely not cut out for war or whatever, I gotta say. That shit sucks.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Delta says. “I think we were the two most useless members of the entire Systemless Squad, in the end.”

“You were both invaluable team members,” I say. “If not in combat prowess, certainly in leadership.”

“Nah.”

“Not really.”

“Oh, fine. You’re my best friends, and that’s all that mattered to me at the time.”

“Okay, yeah.”

“Fine.”

“And, as skilled as I was, I have a great distaste for war myself. If not for the fact that combat allows such improvement for those with the Destiny Deck System, I would lay down my arms for good.”

“But you don’t even need to fight anymore, right?” Francis tilts his head to the side.

“Well, actually...”

I don’t know how to put it to them, but I will do my best.

“Yeah?”

“I did some digging in the Deity Domain, and... the Destiny Deck System was based off a template, as we suspected.”

“Duh. The Goddess can’t design systems for shit,” he says.

“True. But I also discovered a file in the template that caught me off-guard.”

“Yeah?”

“It mentioned the S-Ranks.”

“What’s so interesting about--” Francis cuts himself off. “RankS. Like plural.”

“It would appear my journey may only be at its beginning.”

Delta sighs extremely audibly. “Of course it is. Time to get to SS+ Rank and show everyone who’s boss.”

“I don’t know the nature of the ranks,” I say. “So I do not know if there is anything like SS+ Rank. But I do know that I am eager to--”

A giant capital ship enters Earth’s atmosphere, exiting hyperspace right in the sky. Behind it, dozens more large spaceships emerge.

Alarms all over Los Angeles blare. Other people in Griffith Park scream and scramble to safety in the observatory.

We get in battle position and look up into the sky with fierce eyes.

A giant hologram of a grotesque creature appears in the sky. It shouts to all the world:

“ATTENTION EARTH. YOU ARE NOW UNDER THE DOMINION OF THE GALACTIC IMPERIUM. SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY AND WE WILL TRANSPORT AT LEAST FIVE PERCENT OF YOUR POPULATION TO ONE OF OUR OFF-WORLD SANCTUARIES. RESIST, AND YOU WILL BE WIPED FROM HISTORY.”

Francis, Delta, and I trade glances.

“Go get’em, dude,” Francis says.

Delta gives a single nod of encouragement.

“Alright.” I give the most confident smile I possibly can. “Have no worries. This’ll be over by Tuesday.”

終わり