[2.1] We have a problem [NETWORK]

[Azazel]

Whether or not what Neku was doing at the time in Veil was important, could be vigorously contested. What was important however was when three bloodied, bruised and cut Scarves stumbled into the place, clutching on to one another for support and each looking more injured than the last, each gripping a hand to a wound that showed severe damage. One of them barely seemed conscious as her two comrades dragged her over towards Neku, showing absolutely no concern for what the others in Veil saw, whether they were Network or not. Finally finding Neku, the two conscious Scarves held their comrade up, the yellow dyed red.

"N-Neku!" One of them cried, their voice nearly breaking from some kind of pain. "Listen, we'd go to Seifer, but... He'd give us a beating if he knew what had been going on... We were on the outskirts, going up against The Blades..." He looked around, clearly feeling uncomfortable with how many eyes were staring at them. His other conscious comrade decided to continue the message.

"And some... some people appeared, but I think we should talk somewhere more private..." He jerked his head in the direction of the backroom.

[Neku Sakuraba]

I sighed. This is why most people didn't know who the heck I was. Unfortunately, Seifer drills my identity into any Scarf that reaches a certain rank.

"I'm n vacation, talk to Lea. I'm nt the Head right now. Anyway, you guys should probably get into the backroom anyway since you look pretty badly beaten up, so I'll help you out. But I'm on vacation."

I sighed, closed my book (Namine had kicked me out of the house because she and Shiki were having a 'girls' day in') and stood up, threading an arm under the Scarves' shoulders, using a combination of now-superior strength and telekinetic bracing to help them into the back room. Where I helped them into seats, called for Lea, and then sat back down, pulling my book back out of my bag.

[Azazel]

"It was horrible, man..." One of the Scarves muttered, their eyes focused completely into nothingness, their mind still reliving the events of what had happened only moments earlier. They suddenly gave a short shudder, their blood chilling with the thought of those ice-cold, blue eyes that seemed to gaze straight into his soul... Turning his blood to ice.

"Some of them... Some of them were just horrible... I watched the big guy swat people away with just one hand, taking some of our strongest attacks as if they were nothing... Then there was the one who moved so fast, I couldn't even see where she was... The flamboyant one, who just... He just danced around us and The Blades, there was the other girl as well, I didn't know what she was doing... People just fell down around her... And then there was him."

His gaze lifted, locking onto Neku, as if willing to get his attention from somewhere.

"He was the worst. Those cold eyes just bore straight through my flesh..."

[Neku Sakuraba]

I paused. Put down my book. Lea would be in any moment, but...

"Who were they?" I asked.

People like that, invading my city... I had a seriously bad feeling about this. And the feeling that they weren't just here to swat around a couple of gang members.

"Did they say what they were here for? Where did they come from?"

[Azazel]

"I-" The Scarf scratched at his head slightly, almost as if he was embarrassed by the question, or rather, by his answer. "Well, it sounds stupid, but... They said that they were angels and they they were here to deliver 'judgement' or some crap like that, I'm not entirely sure..." Their other conscious comrade nodded slowly.

"I mean, is that even possible?! We've got the Otherworld and the Demons, I mean that's pretty explainable though! We've faced them, we've fought them for years! But now... Angels..? If the situation were different, I'd just call them a bunch of punks like those damn Blades who are just picking up some self-righteous tagline... I really, really wish that I could just call them that but... With the strength that they were wielding..." This second Scarf also looked up to Neku, gulping.

"I'm scared to admit, that they felt like the real deal..."

[Lea]

"Angels, huh...?"

Lea had been standing in the doorway, warily eying the Scarf. Monitoring him for the signs that he might be aggressive toward the newly-reborn leader of the Network, or that he was causing trouble or any of those other things that Lea, as a top-notch second-in-command (despite his denial of that position), had been looking out for for years.

"And you think they're for real? We've never really had contact from On High before. Not that I've ever heard of." He sent a questioning glance Neku's way.

Neku shook his head.

"Mr. H mentioned once that they existed - but we've never had any intel or info on them. Izaya once teased me with info about them but, I didn't take the bait. We're flying blind."

Both teens frowned. Finally, Lea spoke up.

"Too risky to ignore something like this. We could go to Izaya for information, or we could try to find some other source..."

"We'll start setting up patrols. If they're trying to cleanse the city of demonic influence, they may be willing to contact us, but they may also see us as 'misguided' and go after us," Neku mused to himself. "Set them up so that it's mostly pure Otherborn so we don't have any misunderstandings. Call a meeting. I'll contact Seifer, and some of the other non-Network friendlies."

He sighed to himself.

"And I hope to God we don't have any serious trouble with the forces of Heaven... we've already got enough from the forces of Hell."

[Kyoshiro Ayanokōji]

"Well, then you'll be wanting all the help that you can get, will you not?"

Kyoshiro Ayanokōji stepped into the room, brisk, clipped and with an air of an almost military authority. Beside him stood Minato Namikaze, in his long white jacket. Between them, they seemed to brim with authority. Kyoshiro appeared to be carrying a brief case which was not only handcuffed to his wrist, but locked with two number codes and what appeared to be a finger print scanner. The material it was made of was a dark black, almost like carbon, and seemed like it could take a fair few heavy hits. The purple-haired Jōto agent smirked slightly as he glanced from Neku, to Lea, to the injured Scarves and then finally to his comrade. He motioned to the blonde, and then across to Neku.

"Minato Namikaze, this is Neku Sakuraba, head of the Network..." He looked across to Lea. "Or rather, not at the moment... Neku Sakuraba, this is Minato Namikaze, a special agent within Jōto. I think you'll find that in this current engagement, his skills will be most useful."

Minato took a step forwards and bowed shortly, before holding his hand out to Neku to shake.

"It's an honour."

[Neku Sakuraba]

I took a deep breath, watched Lea leave, head to the Veil phone as he started calling up lower-tier members, setting up patrols.

I pulled up my phone, sending a mass text to everyone in or affiliated with the Network.

Network meeting at Veil. Do not hesitate to bring anyone aware of the Otherworld who isn't an official member yet. Halfers on the fringe are of special concern.

Be prepared for battle. Urbadelphia is in danger again. Details to be explained at meeting.

-The Head

I sighed, closing my eyes.

Then, I began several new messages.

The first, I sent to Sora.

Sora.

You've been missing for a while. And we haven't talked in a lot longer. We got the whole Ascension thing sorted out for you - we're hoping for you to come home again. I've got a big problem brewing, and I could really use your advice.

And Sora... Shiki might be in danger.

-Neku

I felt a little guilty pulling the 'Shiki' card, but if anyoen knew anything about the forces of Heaven, Sora did.

Seifer -

Want to fight the strong-ass jackhats who messed up your crew? Network meeting tonight. Bring friends.

-N

That would get his attention.

AnxiousImpulsivity

Hey kid. It's Neku; I know you're not official yet, but we need all the help we can get. If you can make it, come to the backroom of Veil tonight; there's a big Network meeting. Urbadelphia's not safe right now, and, like I said - we need every Otherborn we can get.

Head_Phones

Chuckle. THat only left a few more...

Haraken

I know you know about the demons.... your info isn't exactly complete, though. You're in over your head, but if you want to jump in the deep end, come to Veil tonight. Everyone's in danger, and we might need your skills before the end of it all. I'll tell you whatever you want to know.

-Neku

Then, finally, I sent a message to the one who mattered the most to me.

Namine,

Hey.... Remember how I just went on vacation? How we were going to have so much extra time to spend together because I finally was going to get a day off?

Um. Angels are attacking the city. If you want to help, I'd be grateful; otherwise, just relax at home. You should be fine - other than the odd incident with the scales and stuff, you're pureblood Otherborn, so they'll have no argument with you. You've been pretty tired lately, so I hope you can get some rest.

-Neku

PS: No, I know you're probably not going to sit back and relax whatever I say, but I can try, right? Love you.

I flipped the phoen closed, sat back, and waited.

I didn't have to wait long; the purple-haired man walked in, talking about Joto - so, he was one of them, huh?

I stood up, shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Minato. Trust me, we'll need all the help we can get. If you'll check your phones, a message was sent to the Network line just a few seconds ago; this is an emergency."

I sighed.

"I'm supposed to be on vacation," I complained. "Guess a leader's work is never done. If you'll sit down, I can get you something if you need anything? SInce Lea's busy at the moment."

[Namine Joy LeBeau]

Having gotten my barrings, payed the hospital bills and was about to go and think things over with a tub of ice cream when my phone goes off. Its the text sound with the song "Bad Boy". Jumping I pull it out and check it, then swear.

"Tired... Forget that... I've got stress to burn," And then begin the brisk walk to Veil. On the way there I send back a quick message:

:P On my way boss! I'll let Dar know too!

And then send her a quick message, telling her its urgent Otherborn business and to get there quickly.

---

[Darla]

Pausing in the middle of walking in through the front door I shrug, then head for the backroom. That's gotta be where everything is gonna be going down after all, taking a seat I wave, "Well... I'll just wait for the stampede to arrive."

[Sora Shimomura]

Sora had a lot to himself lately, struggling with himself, finding himself...the Ghost Rider came with a lot of baggage, Zarathos was an entity that wanted to do things its own way, it was a constant struggle for will and control, with that he spent some time away. Never left Urbadelphia, just stayed within his place until he could find...some way to control the Rider.

Control, sadly he did not have...but he did find a way to restrict the Rider from going after everybody with every little sin while he was human. He could also exert that control during Rider form, but it was easy to lose that control if he wasn't careful. He was in the process of meditating, focusing on keeping control when his phone went off. Pausing he went to go check, seeing it was from Neku he was surprised. Opening it he found something more surprising, he was asking for advice...not that it wasn't unusual, but things were strained between them. Still, seemed important, he should go check it out.

Also the Shiki bit did concern him.

He walked to his bike, put on his jacket and zoomed off to the bar. Knowing the city as well as he did he got their in less time than usually expected, parking his bike in the bar he paused before he walked in.

You can do this...you can do this...

He sighed and stepped in the bar, as he made his way to the backroom he flinched when he passed someone...but the Rider did not react. It really did work, he had control...some control anyway.

He tapped on the door twice before walking into the backroom.

"Alright, you texted me. Whats the situation?"

[Aqua]

[Sini]

My phone vibrates and I pull it out, seeing the message my eyes narrow. Looking over my shoulder back towards the city I sigh and grab my gym bag, swinging it over my shoulder. I'm to the North of the city, guess I'm heading South now, right into the center of Hell once more. All well, training is done for the day.

Falling into a comfortable jog I head back into the city, hit a side street that leads to the one that twists into the one Veil is on. My feet hit the pavement shortly and I make my way towards to meeting, but I stop suddenly, gasping and then sending a text to Teacher for good measure... They said to only bug them if its life or death... My judgement is good, this probably is...

- - -

[Aqua]

She had just gotten home after a good shopping trip, the milk had just made it into the fridge and ice cream into the freezer when her phone begins to jingle in her pocket. Frowning she pulls it out, she sees a message there, opening it she glares before throwing what remains of perishables into the fridge. She then changes quickly before slipping on her boots and dashing for Veil. Her fingers ready to snap and summon her weapons to her....

- - -

[Midori]

Yeah know what's an awesome thing to do? Hang out with friends... And if Sini were here he'd add "especially female friends" to that, not that's I don't agree with him...

But Lily is just more than some random female friend, she's... nice...

My phone, actually, Sini's phone, goes off. At first I ignore it, but when the annoying song doesn't stop and instead gets louder I check it. Seeing a message I check it and am about to exit when I see what it really says. Frowning I stand, "Sorry, Lil, gotta cut this short... Gotta make sure my family is safe." Then I head for the door, only stopping a moment to ask if she wants to come. When she confirms, we exit together, urgency licking at our heels.

[Kenji Setou]

Kenji received a text on his phone as he was having a small cup of tea with Avi. A change of pace if you will. He flipped open his phone and read the text quickly, re-reading it a second time to make sure he had read correctly.

'A mass text.......well....if he's pulling out all of the stops, something big had to have happened....Damn....I had a bit of work to do today.....but this sounds serious.....Alright then...only one thing to do.'

He stands up and gives a deep sigh as he begins to put on his coat.

"Avi, it seems we have a slight problem in the city. Neku sent out a massive text....I'm going to meet up with him. If you want to come along, feel free, I won't stop you."

He walks through the hall to find Dracula.

"Dracula, it seems I have a few things to take care of. It just came up, would you mind finishing up my work for me? I'll be sure to pay you back for it...I promise."

Dracula simply nods, as Kenji walks out of his home and begins to walk to the Veil.

------

Finally making it to his destination, he simply finds his way inside and walks towards the back room. Upon entering, he sees the people there and finds himself a nice corner to stand in, out of anyone's way. He holds off on any questions and simply nods at Neku, figuring that he'll know what this is about shortly.

[Namine Joy LeBeau]

The doctor nods, having received a text of their own.

I will come. This concerns me as well.

Then follows Kenji.

----

The doctor walks in, pushes up their glasses and looks around. Smirking at Darla [whom gives them a healthy glare] they wave and go to stand next to Kenji. They know their place here and besides, why make things tenser than they already are, Avidity is MUCH smarter than this...

[Shizuo Heiwajima]

"Alright, what's going down..?"

Shizuo ducked into the backroom before loitering at the back of the group with his arms crossed against his chest. He'd been in the process of enjoy a nice little walk around the streets when he'd received the message and decided that he may as well show up, Hell, could these guys get anything done with him? He gave himself a small chuckle, and a mental pat on the back as he leaned against a nearby wall, looking at both familiar and unfamiliar faces...

"Must be something big for so many people."

He gave an especial nod towards Sora. He hadn't seen him for a while.

[Sora Shimomura]

"Must be." Sora nodded back at Shizuo, "Especially if Neku's getting a hold of people outside the Network. "

Shizuo clearly didn't know what was going on, he was apparently just summoned like Sora. So he submersed whatever happened just went down recently.