A/N: Once again, I cannot make any excuses regarding the delayed release of this chapter. However, there couldn't be a better time to get the ball rolling again on this story, as the anime adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul:re has been released and new chapters of the Tokyo Ghoul:re manga have proven very enlightening as to the true extent of the ghouls' abilities.

All of that aside, the Kakuja Crisis Arc has been concluded, and the final preparations for Seras's endgame – as well as the CCG's response – are now underway.

But there are a few days still left before the third act, and so there is more than enough time left to unveil origins, reveal secrets, and redraw lines.

To change your destiny is to trade one tragedy for you to another for someone else and with no guarantee that you will avoid another tragedy altogether…

phone/speaker

Chapter 14: Killing Time While There's Still Time to Kill - Captive Audience Arc: Part 1

Tsuneyoshi POV

"…And that's the full damage report," Yoshitoki said, putting down the hastily typed and printed file.

For a brief moment, there was silence in the conference room, as Tsuneyoshi took the measure of each of the men seated around the table, each one trying to remain impersonal, but each betraying emotion in some way.

Amon's clenched fists, Kuroiwa's furrowed eyebrows and Marude's signature scowl hinted at deep fury, sorrow, and frustration. The looks in Kureo Mado and Chuu Hachikawa's eyes reflected the madness they held within. Renji Fujikawa, sitting beside Marude, was tapping his fingers on his table, showing not only worry, but also impatience. Shinohara's face differed from the others by doing nothing to hide his sadness, but didn't shed tears because he had already done so. Houji and Rin Yuki's faces were dispassionate, and Arima's was unreadably blank.

It was Matsuzaka who couldn't contain himself, as he slammed his fist on the table, exclaiming "DAMMIT!"

All attention was focused on him as he continued ranting: "What the hell are we doing just sitting here and reading shitty reports that don't change a damn thing that happened?! Hundreds of our brothers and sisters are dead, and that bitch is still out there waltzing around like she owns this town!"

Renji tried to placate him. "Please, Matsuzaka-san. We're all trying our best to catch her-"

Akumo shot up to his feet, leaning over the table to glare directly at Renji. "THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE WE SITTING ON OUR ASSES INSTEAD OF POUNDING THE STREETS AND DOING OUR JOBS?"

"Stop it!" "Get a hold of yourself." Kuroiwa and Shinohara got up from either side of him to grab and pull him back, as he continued to lunge forward at him.

"WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU DO YOUR JOB THAT TIME AND HELP DAISUKE? HUH?"

Renji stumbled back in fear at the mention of Investigator Nakadai, who was the first CCG casualty of Seras Victoria. Although Renji had come out of the incident in one piece, Nakadai had been reduced to a quivering shell of his former self, and despite all of the top-notch care given to him, no progress had been made whatsoever. There wasn't a single member of the CCG top brass that hadn't visited him in some effort to either give comfort, garner information, or both, all to no avail.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING YOU LITTLE SHIT WHEN THAT MONSTER FUCKED WITH MY FRIEND'S HEAD?"

"That's enough, Associate Investigator Matsuzaka," Tsuneyoshi finally spoke up, which got Akumo to shut up. "There is no one here who is not determined to capture and kill the No-Life Queen, and who doesn't balk at the loss of so many comrades. Contain yourself, or you will be thrown out of this meeting and demoted."

Akumo grit his teeth, continued to stare a hole through Renji's head, but quieted down, shrugged off Shinohara and Kuroiwa, and sat down.

Tsuneyoshi groaned. "Yoshitoki," he addressed him. "I should not have to discipline your men for you, and nor should you allow a crisis to get so out of hand that I must step in to aid in resolving it myself."

Yoshitoki bowed his head. "I apologize Chairman, and you are correct." He raised his head again. "Unfortunately, Seras Victoria poses the greatest threat the CCG has ever faced, and this includes the attacks by the One-Eyed Owl. She has an army of kakuja ghouls at her disposal, and lieutenants that could pose a danger to even Arima as individuals."

The last bit piqued Tsuneyoshi's interest, in more ways than one. "And what do we know about these… lieutenants?"

"I fought one during the recent battle," Arima said. "In fact, I believe she was the same girl that greeted Shinohara outside a high school at the very onset of the battle."

"I remember her," Shinohara said, opening a file he had brought with him. "She even introduced herself to me and Juuzou, saying her name was Haruka Tsukino. I ran the name and what I kenw about her profile through a police database, and I found that this little girl was the daughter of Gai Tsukino, who was arrested less than a month ago for killing his wife and daughter, but while the wife's body was found, Haruka's wasn't."

"And she wasn't the only lieutenant in that battle either," Mado spoke. "I and my partner, Amon, faced off against another one alongside Shinohara and Juuzou. You said that she was Chiasa Hara, the girl whose body you were at that school to begin with, yes?"

"Yes," Shinohara said, closing the first file and pulling out several more. "Her name was Chiasa Hara, the daughter of Mikado Hara, the Diet member."

"Great," Matsuzaka groaned. "As if politicians weren't annoying enough already. If Haruka's anything to go by, where's Hara's body?"

"Gone," Shinohara replied. "The coroner's car transporting her body was attacked along the way. There's almost nothing left of the vehicle, the men driving it are torn to pieces, and the body's nowhere to be found."

"Let's not forget Katsuo Ishikawa," Amon butted in. "He was the one who delivered Seras's video to us, and no one we've been able to contact that we know he has connections to, has seen him for weeks now."

Mado continued. "Ishikawa and Hara are also both known for being friends with another missing student from their school, Masahiko Himura. And all three had increased contact with Michi Matsuzaka, who we all know the No-Life Queen had… taken a keen interest in."

Akumo's ire visibly rose from his increased breath, but he controlled himself. "You should watch yourself, Mado. Unlike the other four, we have Michi's body, she gave it back to us herself, to make a mockery of me and the CCG."

Mado's eyes narrowed at him. "And you should do the same, Matsuzaka. We lost everyone stationed at the 7th Academy to Seras's army, and my daughter was one of them. Who knows what happened there? They could be dead for all we know."

Tsuneyoshi noticed a slight cringe from Renji.

"So what you men are saying," Marude said. "Is that Seras is capable of turning humans into ghouls?"

"More than that," Mado continued. "During our fight with Chiasa Hara, her loose lips revealed to us that Seras may well have been human at one time herself."

Marude's face contorted in a weird mix of discovery and revulsion. "As fascinating as that is, we only have three days left before Seras's deadline. We won't have time to study her origins until we have her corpse on a dissection table."

"We have something far more worrying we must handle, I'm afraid," Arima stated.

Everyone's attention turned to him, and Tsuneyoshi mused on how Arima wasn't usually one for speaking up.

"When I was fighting the Little Princess – which is how I dubbed Haruka Tsukino during it – she let slip that she had been told I was coming by 'Mr. Dove.' In light of the No-Life Queen's ability to manipulate public perception of herself and her ability to infiltrate our most secure facilities and stretch our resources to their limits, I have reason to believe that she has planted moles within our organization."

This drew gasps and exclamations from all around, not the least of which being Yoshitoki and Tsuneyoshi themselves. The two shared a quick glance, where they wordlessly carried the same sentiment to one another. During such a witch hunt, all it would take is one eagle-eyed individual catching wind of the wrong scrap of information at the wrong time and their whole charade would fall to pieces.

Tsuneyoshi drew in a deep breath to steady himself, and then seized control of the situation. "SILENCE!"

There was, and all eyes on him.

"I understand that we have a grave crisis on our hands. Indeed, it is the most dire position we have ever faced. For this reason, I have contacted Matsuri in Germany and ordered him to return to Japan."

"Matsuri?" Marude wondered. "Chairman, with all due respect to the man's skills and results from his time there, what can he bring to resolve this situation with the No-Life Queen that we don't have already?"

"It's less about bringing him home, as it is him activating another agent we have on standby."

Everyone perked up at this, even Yoshitoki. "Chairman, this agent… who is he? Do you think he knows something about Seras?"

"No. But he is stronger than even Arima."

Everyone at the table gaped or gasped at the revelation, and even Arima showed some surprise.

"If this agent is even stronger than I am," Arima mused, "and he is in your employ, then why isn't he here now?"

Tsuneyoshi sighed as he directed his attention to Arima. "Because he is insane. If I were to compare the two of you, you are like a katana in the hands of a skilled warrior. Refined, graceful, durable, obedient, and sharp and sure in your killing blow. He on the other hand is a bomb. You throw or set him in the midst of your enemies, and then run away to escape from the blast radius.

"His madness drives him to kill anything in his path, be they friend or foe. His only loyalty aside from himself is to the Washuu clan, and that loyalty is tenuous at the best of times. He is a well-kept secret, to be reserved for only the most desperate of times."

"How long until he arrives?" Matsuzaka asked.

Tsuneyoshi replied, "I ordered Matsuri to collect him last night, so it should be one or two days from now before they arrive."

"That's cutting it awfully close," Amon said.

"But it means we will finally get this shit show over with," Hachikawa finally pitched in.

"But before any of that, what's the situation on the ground right now?" Houji asked. "Everyone in Tokyo already knows about the battle we waged yesterday, humans and ghouls alike. How have the ghouls responded to all this?"

"I've been getting word from patrols since yesterday, and I have to say it scares me," Marude said.

"How active are the ghouls?" Tsuneyoshi asked him.

"They're almost as silent as the grave," Marude rested his head in his hands. "Usually, when a big operation is underway in another part of Tokyo, ghoul activity tends to spike in other wards for a while. But ever since the battle, ghoul activity all over Tokyo has fallen through the floor. Almost all of the patrols saw no ghoul activity at all."

"Any reason why?" Mado asked.

"I think the No-Life Queen has most of the ghouls of Tokyo in a vise. One patrol reported a ghoul actually lead them into an alley only to prostrate itself in front of them and beg to be taken away. Before they could ask why, something spooked it and it ran away. When the patrol found it again, they found a kakuja swallowing the bottom half of its body. Before they could call for backup, it simply ran away."

"So basically," Shinohara weighed in. "The No-Life Queen is now effectively in control of the entire ghoul underworld?"

Marude nodded gravely. "She is the queen of Tokyo's ghouls. And I don't think she's going to be stopping anytime soon."

Tsuneyoshi merely hung his head, before speaking again. "Now you see why I am bringing in Agent Alpha. Seras believes that she can not only conquer the ghouls of Tokyo, but its humans as well. Should she even attempt this, there will be chaos across the world. She must be crushed as soon as possible, before this can happen. Prepare yourselves and your men. I have done all I can to give aid. You are all dismissed."

Everyone stood up and bowed, and each of them dispersed, until Tsuneyoshi was left alone.

You did a good job, familiar, for not revealing the truth about 'Agent Alpha' or our Mistress's insiders, his master communicated to him.

"What else do you expect me to do?" he replied. "The moment the Progenitor arrives, it won't matter. I don't care if I or even my clan falls now. It will be satisfying enough to see you and every other vampire purged from this earth."

Seiichi Nakagawa's laughter could be heard through the indirect mental link forged with the medium of the JSDF soldier that had bound Tsuneyoshi as a familiar. It won't matter what happens then. His coming is the whole point of everything our Mistress has done up to now, and when he arrives, the whole world will know the truth of everything.

Renji POV

With the conference finally over, Renji decided to head to his office to get some 'work' done. Along the way, his mind was a swirl of emotions from the meeting. Annoyance at being forced by Marude to attend for reasons never made known to him. Fury at Haruka for letting slip the fact that he was in the CCG, even if she never dropped his name. And a feeling of being slighted by Matsuzaka for blowing up at him like he had and forcing him to strain his cover act of being meek and mild.

He had to control himself as he arrived at his door, being careful as he opened it to not his emotions get the better of him and cause him to crush the doorknob. Walking in-

Renji, a voice came to his head.

He instantly perked up at the telepathic message, and nearly stumbled into a filing cabinet.

A little warning next time, Rin, he almost conveyed a growl in his response.

I want to talk to you.

About what? He sat down, turned on his computer, and began reviewing case files.

About how we're going to handle the CCG scouring their ranks for us, she said.

With the way things were going with Seras, it was inevitable that the CCG would start looking for moles.

That's part of why I made Investigator Houji my familiar. He's still human, but completely under my sway, so I have an impenetrable alibi.

Smart move, he said. I probably should've done something similar, but I never found a right time to do it.

And because you were there with Nakadai when Seras inserted that youkai into him, I'm willing to bet the reason that Marude keeps you around so much lately is because he suspects you of being one of Seras's collaborators.

The thought struck him like a bolt of lightning, and suddenly the attitude of all of the Investigators toward him of late made sense. All he could do was sigh, as Seras had warned him of this possibility happening a while back.

If I hadn't beaten her to a pulp once before, I probably would have asked her permission for when everything went south, he said.

He could already imagine Rin's cocked eyebrow at the statement. Okay… how did you pull that off, provided you're not bullshitting me?

Well, it's actually a simple story…

Flashback Begins

Renji groaned in pain as his head finally stopped ringing after Ripper had caught him off guard. Rolling onto his chest, he found himself at the top of the stairs he had been facing only a few minutes before. Looking down them, he saw his superior spread-eagled on the floor, and a blank, terrified look frozen on his face.

Suddenly, Renji felt something pin his arms down, and, himself feeling rather frightened, looked up to see Ripper leaning over him, her scarlet eyes seemingly gazing into his soul. He writhed about, trying to find some way to free himself, but the monster's arms were like steel, and would not be moved.

"Why struggle, when you know the end has arrived?" she asked, with a crocodile grin across her face.

Renji refused to stop fighting, and he locked eyes with her, refusing to look away. That seemed to only make her grin wider.

"You have definitely got balls, looking me in the eye like that. Now if only you could actually fight back, everything would be a lot better for me."

Her face leaned in uncomfortably close to his, their noses almost touching, and some of her bangs falling in his face. "How are you going to do it? Do you have any fight left at all?"

He responded by snapping his head forward and biting her lips, banging against her head at the same time and rattling both of their teeth.

"YOW!" she yelled in pain and surprise, letting go of Renji's arms out of reflex to cover her face. Renji seized the moment to swing his fist and land a very satisfying haymaker on her face. The blow knocked her away from him, and he took the opportunity to get on top of her and throw even more punches at her head, getting her blood splattered, bones broken and teeth flying out.

But her physical prowess still won out, as her fist flew in from nowhere and into his gut, sending him into the air before falling flat on his back. He gasped for air and struggled to stand, but watched in disbelief as the disparate smithereens of the Ripper's face flew back to their point of origin and undid all of his work before his eyes.

She smiled again, and a very genuine one at that. "That was very good. There's someone I know who I would have loved to beat the shit out of the moment I met him. He made me what I am today."

He froze, as she stepped forward and her left arm dissolved into writhing shadows that slithered out and wrapped around him to hold him securely. Her right arm stretched forward to gently caress his cheek, as she leaned forward.

"There's a little bit of you that's like me. So I will make you even more like me."

Then her head snapped forward and sank fangs into his neck.

Flashback Ends

Are you sure you're not bullshitting me? Rin asked.

I may be a little hazy remembering what she actually said, he admitted. He then noticed A notification that popped up in the bottom left-hand corner of his computer screen. But that was pretty much it. Although adjusting to being a vampire afterwards was a real wake-up call.

Oh don't I know it, she said, a clear sense of remembrance in her 'voice.' Putting up with the Sun every day is a huge pain, but it's worth it for the superpowers.

Renji clicked on the notification to find a link to a news article online. You know, I 've wondered. How did Seras turn you? I know that she couldn't have done it herself because she's a girl.

Funny story, it was actually Seiichi that turned me. Seras apparently wanted another CCG Investigator turned, but didn't want you to do it because someone might have found out, so she used the old geezer who she had randomly come across and turned to find one, and he knew that I lived literally across the street from him. So Seras approached me, made me an offer that I couldn't refuse, and then brought me over to Seiichi to get turned.

Nice story, he said, just as he was getting into the meat of the article he was reading. Although I should tell you I just came across something a little more concerning right now.

What's that?

Oh, just a small article that alleges that Seras is trying to build a ghoul army to take over the city of Tokyo to instigate a global ghoul revolution.

There was a moment of silence on the other end. That could be a problem…

Renji looked as the comment section for the article immediately began exploding with notifications of new entries, and the live reader counter was jumping thousands of readers higher every second. No, it IS a problem.

Hisao POV

*Ring-a-ling Ring-a-ling-Ring-a-ling*

"Come on, pick up the phone, pick up the phone, dangit," Renji growled, as he paced like a caged tiger.

Everything was going to Hell around him. No. Everything had already gone to Hell long ago and it was only lately that he had truly appreciated the full extent of the chaos around him. He had made an obsession wall on the side of his room, where he tacked on everything that he could possibly gather on Michi Matsuzaka.

*Ring-a-ling Ring-a-ling Ring-a-ling*

Internet sites where she frequented and had built elaborate profiles. Online forum threads about the No-Life Queen. Strange rumors floating everywhere about everything from demons roaming the subways to the yakuza acting weird. Local newspaper clippings for her accomplishments in a computer fair and a chess competition. CCG public statements about her father, Akumo Matsuzaka. A picture of her sister, Mika, as part of a graduating class of CCG cadets. Pictures of her friends she's associated with since her attack: Touka Kirishima, Yoriko Kosaka, Chiasa Hara, Katsuo Ishikawa, Masahiko Himura, and Nanami Iseri, who he was trying to call up at the moment.

*Ring-a-ling Ring-a-li-* Hello?

"Nanami!" he cried out. "Oh, thank goodness I called you."

He had kicked himself for not talking to the girl at any point before today. He needed more information about Michi Matsuzaka in order to find her, and who knew her better than her best friend? Unfortunately, he had no social life whatsoever, so the idea never occurred to him before today, when school had been closed due to the kakuja invasion the day before.

U-uh-um… Who's this?

I'm probably gonna sound like a creepy stalker, he realized, his face blushing at his mistake. "I- I'm Hisao Nonaka. I'm your classmate. I just wanted to ask you about-"

Nanami! A voice yelled in the background from Nanami's phone. Have you packed your things?

Yes Dad! she called back.

Then come on! We've wasted enough time as it is! Let's go!

Sorry. *Click.*

Hisao simply stood there for a moment. It seems Nanami's family's also been spooked by the article, he mused.

He chucked the phone into his bed, causing it to both to floor with a clatter. "Fffffff-" he grabbed his head in his hands and nearly screamed in frustration. He held himself back from doing so, as it would have attracted the undue attention of his mother, who was actually home from work for a change.

It would have ruined all of the fun he was having.

Touka POV

"Thanks for coming to the library with me, Touka" Yoriko beamed at her.

"It's no problem," Touka replied, returning her smile.

Because school had been closed unexpectedly on a test day, the two had decided to take the day to spend time together as well as get in some extra studying. Although the sky had been cloudy and threatening rain all day, nothing could stop Touka from enjoying the time she spent with Yoriko, as they walked along the gray sidewalk.

But Touka could see that Yoriko's smile was just a little too bright, and she was clenching her bag just a little too tightly.

"Hey, uh, are you doing alright?" Touka worried. "I mean yesterday was pretty shocking for you."

Yoriko's face faded a little at that, and her grip tightened. "Yeah, it still is. Even now, I can barely believe everything that happened."

Touka felt a weight settle in her gut. One of things she loved about Yoriko was how, for just a little while, she could pretend to be human, do and be something everyone called normal, and leave the worries of her daily life behind. Even if she had to put up with the smell of human food that she carried around like a wet blanket.

"I've only ever seen ghouls on the news, you know? They're like so many other things you read about in books and see on TV. They're real, but they exist somewhere else, and it's never your problem."

The topic of ghouls almost never came up when talking with her, but she always felt a twinge a pain. She wished that either she was human, or that she could share her secret with Yoriko.

"I guess I always thought that it would never happen to me."

She knew deep down that would never get either granted.

Touka stepped in front of Yoriko, grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Listen. I know things are bad right now-"

"Hey there, girlies!" a voice called out.

The two turned to see a large man dressed like a janitor approaching them with a bucket in one hand, a greeting in the other, and a flu mask on his face.

"I saw you two walking alone, and I have to tell you, it's a little dangerous this time of year."

Touka looked at Yoriko and saw that the girl was suspicious. A suspicion that Touka's smell confirmed.

"Thank you for your generous offer," Touka started pulling Yoriko away.

He was a ghoul.

"But I think we can take care of ourselves just fine, thank you." Touka turned and moved to help Yoriko run away.

Another ghoul stepped out from the alleyway ahead of them and charges at them.

"Oh please! I don't think you can!" he slobbered and reached out, preparing to tackle them.

Touka lets go of Yoriko's hand and runs in front of her at the man. Just as he gets within reach, she twirls like a top and slams her heel into the side of his side of his head, knocking him unconscious and to the side.

Yoriko catches up, and she has a look of amazement in her eyes. Touka takes a look at the other guy, and he has paused in his pursuit. In fact, now he looks terrified.

"You're one of hers…" he whispers, but Touka's enhanced hearing picks it up. He then turns and runs away.

Touka lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Wow, Touka!" Yoriko exclaims, throwing her arms around her friend in a surprise hug. "That was so amazing! I didn't know you did martial arts!"

Touka chuckled nervously. "It's not all that much, really."

Just glad those guys were so weak. If what that guy said before he ran meant what I think it did, then Seras must really be making things difficult for guys like this.

"We should probably get out of here," Touka said.

"Don't you think we should call the police?" Yoriko asked.

Needless to say, Touka did not want to get involved with the police. "Maybe l-"

A dart punctured Yoriko's neck.

One punched through Touka's neck at the same time.

Both girls slapped a hand to their necks, and both of their eyes grew in horror.

Touka was barely able to process how the tranquilizer dart that hit her was tailor-made for ghouls just as she passed out before hitting the ground.

Amon POV

The entire day had been a mess. The meeting with the other Investigators in the morning had not been very informative beyond the fact that the enemy appeared to be able to turn humans into ghouls and there might be traitors in the CCG, both thoughts sticking in his head like dog poop on a shoe. Then, when he went on patrol with Kureo Mado, the man's mood was unusually dour with his daughter having gone missing in action from the surprise attack on CCG Academy 7 during the Kakuja Invasion. Their patrols also yielded nothing, without them even seeing the backside of a ghoul at all.

The two returned to the CCG offices without having accomplished anything.

"Hard to believe that the ghouls could be this quiet, huh sir?" he asked his partner as he was finishing typing up his report.

"Yes," Mado replied. "They are all afraid of the No-Life Queen, and the army she has at her beck and call. They can also sense the coming storm, and are waiting for it to blow over. None but the truly desperate are going to be out and about at this time."

"Indeed," Amon agreed. "Have you read that article online that has everyone in a panic?"

"Yes. But I think it's rubbish."

"Why is that?"

"I can't explain," Mado said, leaning back in his chair. "It's something about that woman's actions. I can tell that she has a reason for everything she's doing, but for the life of me I can't tell what."

"What do you mean, sir?" Amon asked.

"Well, I can tell you for certain that her aim is not conquest, like that article insinuates. If that was really her goal, she would have used that army of ghouls to ambush every single CCG branch office in the city at once. She has more than enough power to launch a crippling blow to our organization, but she's holding back and I can't figure it out for the life of me."

Amon digested these new thoughts for a moment. "Why would you go through all the trouble of building an army strong enough to destroy your mortal enemy but then reveal it to them and hold yourself back from killing them entirely?"

The door to their office burst open to allow a breathless Shinohara to rush in, startling Amon and Mado to their feet. "Amon! Mado! Get to the conference room! Now!"

"What's happened, sir?" Amon asked.

"We just received a video message from the No-Life Queen! We know where the missing cadets and officers from Academy 7 are!"

Akira POV

As Akira Mado regained consciousness, she was surprised that she wasn't suffering from a blistering headache, considering that she was currently resting upon a cold stone floor. As she got up, she looked herself over, only to find herself in the same outfit she had been wearing the other day when the CCG Academy had been attacked.

Wait, did he-? She patted her neck, looking for bite marks. For a moment she seemed relieved, but then discovered her skin was a lot colder than it should be. After putting her fingers to her artery, she suddenly realized that she felt no pulse. A moment later, she found that she wasn't breathing either.

He did. I'm a vampire now.

Her world came crashing down around her, as it sank in that she was now not only clinically dead, but also now transformed into a monster that wasn't supposed to be real and was regarded as one of the most terrifying ever imagined. The faces of everyone she knew and loved flitted through her mind, leaving her at a loss as to how she was going to explain herself to any of them if they found her.

Then she remembered that she knew who had done the deed to her, and she knew who he was working for.

She repressed her fear and forced herself to calm down. She then began looking at her surroundings to try to discern what was going on.

There was one flickering bulb hanging from the ceiling, a vent near the ceiling to circulate air that was far too small to fit through, four stone walls, and a single door that appeared to be missing its handle.

The voices she was hearing around her told her she wasn't alone, as she found four more people in the room.

"What's going on? Who are these people? What are we going to do?"

Two of them were schoolgirls, judging by their uniforms, with one of them having a curious head of purple hair, who was being clutched to like a life preserver by her orange-haired friend.

"Oh my God, this can't be happening. What have they done to them? Where are Goro? Yui? Chiasa?"

Another was an older woman with a bob of brown hair, who looked to be in her mid-thirties, who wore a casual pink sweater over a white blouse and red maxi-skirt.

"No signal, no way to contact the outside. What is that demon planning?"

And finally there was another young man dressed in sharp business attire, with a quinque suitcase next to him. Looking to her own side, she found that she had one as well.

As she got to her feet, the other people noticed her, with the apparent CCG officer reacting first.

"Ma'am! You're awake! Are you alright?" He reached a hand out to help steady her.

She gracefully brushed it away. "I'm fine, thank you. I am First Rank Investigator Akira Mado. Who are you?"

The young man snapped a salute. "Cadet Yuno Sugimoto."

Akira sighed, disappointed that he was only a cadet. She turned to the others. "What about the rest of you?"

The orange-head spoke first. "I-I'm Yoriko Kosaka. And this is my friend, Touka Kirishima."

The purple-haired girl's face grimaced slightly, and then she nodded. "Hi."

The woman was last, and she bowed slightly in greeting. "I'm Sakura Hara. It's good to meet you."

Very nice, you're all awake, came a voice from all around them, startling each of them.

It was then that Akira belatedly noticed that there were four speakers set in the walls just below the ceiling.

To all 50 of my unwilling contestants, I've got some news for you.

"Fifty of us? There's more people?" said the orange-head.

I've taken the whole lot of ya and split you into ten groups and scattered you to every corner of the Tokyo underground. And when I say underground, I don't mean like the British subway system, I mean all over the whole 24th Ward. Your job is to get back home alive and well. And the job of the monsters crawling through every nook and cranny down there is to make shish kebab out of your internal organs.

The door then opened on its own, revealing a dark and ominous corridor.

Luckily for you peeps, however, there is nothing you aren't allow to do. You can either split up and all gun for the surface as fast as humanly possible or join up with the other groups and go dungeon crawling for loot. You can stay down there as long as you like, and you can use anything you get your sweaty fingers on. This is survival of the fittest at its finest, and the greatest form of entertainment ever imagined! So go out and explore the wild bl- black yonder! Wow, that does not roll off the tongue at all.

Each of the five people in the room looked at one another, uncertain of what to do. Akira decided to take the lead, by stepping forward to the entrance first.

Oh yeah, there's one more tiny little detail you peeps should know about. There's a ghoul in each of your groups. Have fun!

Everyone froze stiff from fear. Even Akira.

A/N: I think I may be losing my touch with this story. Thank you again for reading, and please leave honest reviews!