Despair's last gambit

Chapter 1- The future darkens

The future foundation leadership were once again being brought together in one place , only this time the subject matter was more hopeful. Even so there was still an undercurrent of tension, security had been increased just in case and there were whispers of dissension among the divisional  leaders about the priorities of the foundation. The foundation was divided into sixteen major leaders with Aiko Hakiyama, the scouted Super High School level mediator at its head. The ultimate fighter Shinsuke Omega was head of the fifth division, the ultimate archer Mieko Anami was head of the second division, Blake Forenel, who was the ultimate weaponist was head of the sixth division, and the ultimate strategist Nizey Izanami who was the vice chairman of the foundation and head of the first division . Yuko Hamasaki, or as she preferred Yukako Nyannyan was the ultimate maid-cat and head of the thirteenth division. The ultimate perfectionist Lily Tamajii was head of the eighth division, the ultimate volleyball player Ciara Johnson was head of the twelfth. Ken Hisakawa ,the ultimate tailor, had founded the fifteenth division in charge of civilian provisions. The ultimate scene musician Kazuo Zemakari was head of third vision. Kichiro Fujioka, the ultimate hockey player, was head of ninth division. The ultimate farmer Juvi Van Ommeren was head of the eleventh division. The head of the fourteenth division was the ultimate rock artist Cadence Cerene. Brooke Hopper the ultimate prankster was head of the seventh division . Sayuri Sassada, the ultimate actress was head of the tenth divison. Ayako Higoshi the ultimate surgeon was the head of the fourth division.

The divisional leaders had traveled in groups of two to maximise their safety; travelling individually meant they were vulnerable alone but travelling together would have made them an easy target. Except for Shinsuke and Yuko who travelled together and Blake who made the journey alone , the rest of the leaders had paired up with the division immediately following their own. Blake had insisted he be the odd member since he was both capable of defending himself but also not a prime target for ultimate despair. Shinsuke had insisted he and Yukako arrive to the meeting early so he could make sure it was safe. As the rest of the leaders began to arrive he was looking out at the sea through the window, Yuko entered quietly. "Shinsuke- chan, daijoubu nyan?" she said softly. Shinsuke sighed before turning to her, " it's been so long Yukako, i can't remember what normal life was like anymore; I don't think I can adjust to life after the foundation." he said solemnly as he turned back towards the sea watching as the helicopters moved closer and sighing once more. Silently Yuko approached his back and hugged him, Shinsuke smirked before turning around and hugging her in return. " You've survived everything despair threw at meyouw and you saved my life every time I was in trouble ." she said moved deeper into the embrace, " and what of the time I was captured and you managed to convince them to release me?" Shinsuke said in return; " There's no doubt they would have killed me if you hadn't come to rescue me." he said while absent-mindedly playing with her long pink hair. " I'd be lost without you" he said before stammering out " well.. my life would.. be... harder I mean.. if you were not here." Yuko merely looked at him and smiled, as she looked away she saw the first helicopter touch down and took Shinsuke by the hand for them to greet the arrivals.

The leaders assembled into a board room and almost instantly the meeting was embroiled in controversy. Nizey insisted that the foundation throw all its might against what remained of the despair and wipe it out permanently whereas Shinsuke was adamant that they should focus on consolidating what had already been recovered. Aside from military matters Aiko had done as much as she could to enforce order but every time the subject changed another point of contention arose and the foundation was once more divided. Aiko eventually stood up " We have to agree on a plan of action soon or else we'll just be wasting our time, we all want despair to be vanquished as soon as possible and to do that we need to be united!" it was rare for Aiko to raise her voice like this; in most cases she simply sat down and listened without giving even the slightest hint of emotion, which made her rare outbursts even more effective and ensured everyone would listen to her. At the sound of these words everyone else went silent and waited for her to make her proposal; she was briefly silent, measuring her words before she said them; but just as she was ready to speak an explosion rocked the side of the building. Most of the leaders were taken aback but Mieko, Nizey and Shinsuke quickly sprung into action; with the final killing game still in their minds they had drafted an evacuation protocol in the eventuality of an attack: they would arm themselves with weapons hidden in the boardroom and engage the attackers whilst the rest of the foundation descended into the basement and evacuated in miniature submarines; the submarines were pre-programmed to scatter across Japan so that the attackers would not be able to capture the entire foundation; the security detail who stayed back would remain as long as necessary to ensure the escape of the other leaders before making their own escape via a hidden train tunnel under the sea.