Δ your choice is made.

[Δ] > delta was all but scowling now, though he wasn’t by any means an expressive person. “ i seem to recall, albeit indirectly, ” he muttered, “ that the… rabbit you programmed fancied itself the third, so that begs the question of whom you were leaving out of the sequence. ” personally, he didn’t count her as the first one either, but she was certainly the first one who knew what she was doing. “ and as to where we could go, i’m afraid i don’t have much in the way of ideas. do you ? ”

           Imagine the ear-shattering noise one of those red and annoying buzzers makes when a hypothetical participant of a hypothetical TV show committs an error– much like a blasting alarm signal, yet not so much like the nuisance of an alarm clock’s sleep disrupting buzzing. Bzzzzzzzzt! It was exactly  t h a t  noise that Akane attempted to imitate.

           “Oh no, no– You’ve got your facts wrong this time.” Undeniably, the opportunity to correct Delta of all people was much more pleasant than any other theory explaining she could do. She found bliss in elucidating another’s confusions, her personal salvation, though, seemed to be those brief moments of superiority in Delta’s and her battle of wits.

           Ah, why was she so competitive in this man’s presence?

           “It wasn’t me per se who programmed  the AI– Lagomorph was primarily Dr. Klim’s work, although I did pull a few strings.” Unsurprisingly, her lips formed into a pleased smile, which she accompanied by closing her eyes and throwing her head back just a tiiiiny bit in amusement.

           “I also took care of the design– did you like it?”

“You!” 

K: When your fist bounces off the armour and your bones shatter into a million fragments, you realise that you would not win in a fistfight.

Clover: She’s still the unbridled force of rage that she was in 999, but now she’s been professionally trained. All you see is a pink blur before she breaks all your limbs and then stomps you into oblivion. You would not win in a fistfight.

Tenmyouji: Another returnee from 999, we beat him then and expect to beat him now. Just watch out for the sneaky kick he’s picked up since then.

Quark: He’s ten-years-old and unconscious. Go ahead and win in a fistfight. You monster.

Luna: She is three-laws-compliant and therefore you would win in a fistfight provided no other humans are threatened with harm as she wouldn’t fight back. Given your progress down this list so far, however, I suspect she would find some way to restrain you and stop you from challenging everyone you meet to a fistfight.

Dio: Who knows? In theory, he’s the top agent of a world-ending terrorist organisation, but his form has been incredibly inconsistent. Allow him even the slightest chance to start monologuing rather than pay attention, and you would win in a fistfight.

Alice: Remember how Clover thrashed us? Alice trained Clover. You would not win in a fistfight.

Phi: She’s small and slight, so you’d think you would have an easy time. However, the moment you win she would shift to another timeline. All she needs is one chance to land one of her devastating low-gravity-high-kicks (which she can somehow do even in normal gravity) and it would be game over. You would not win in a fistfight.

Carlos: you wouldnt win, this man is trained to pick people up and run. hed maybe let you win if it wasnt a fight w/malicious intent bc hes just that nice. 

Eric: he’s easily angered if ur fighitng him at dcom and that could give him an advantage. but do you really want to beat him? he just sells ice cream. either way, it’s a toss-up re:who wins.

Phi: see above. unless youre in a timeline where she got nerfed in which case you win by default, unfortunately.

Q: this kid will wipe the floor with your limp lifeless body in seconds flat. but look at them theyre barely over 4 ft tall. theyre the nicest kid in the planet. why would you do this to them. youre gonna lose anyway

Junpei: he’s pissed at the world and in top physical shape, but he can stand to be taken down a peg or two. so even though you should do it for everyone’s sake, theres very slight chance youll win this fist fight

Akane: she’s got her time goddess powers AND somethign about dcom makes her erratic and dangerous. she can shift. akane’s got this one in the bag

Diana: listen. listen why would you want to fistfight diana. that being said, she’s also got a lot of pent up anger, can EASILY knock you out in a fist fight.

Mira: we all saw when she ripped eric’s chest open with her bare hands right. dotn fistfight mira because you will loose And die, no two ways about it.

Sigma: this dude knows what hes doing. he’s wise and Buff, and ready to protect everything. he’ll win in no time. 

It had been a few weeks since the end of the decision game, and things were starting to return to (somewhat) normal for Junpei. He’d gone with Aoi to work at Crashkeys, and he was meeting fairly regularly with everyone else while looking for that terrorist (that Junpei still wasn’t 100% convinced actually existed). All in all, it was at least a much better life than he’d had the year before- however, there was one person he very much did not want to see again.

But, because life seemed to hate Junpei, of course he’d run into this asshole again.

> life, however, is simply unfair. he’d have to make the best of it.

[Δ] > in the days following that ever-so-unfortunate radical-6 incident, delta had taken to regularly wearing a gas mask. he knew he would have to make it a habit; mira’s actions in the shelter had determined the future of his timeline, and unlike s o m e people he knew, he was stuck there, so it’d be best for him in the long run not to waste his antidote preserve.

> he imagined – well, as a mind-hacker, he knew – that he must have seemed a bit intimidating, or odd at the very least. there he was, some six-foot-tall old man in a military-grade gas mask, traveling to and fro during a time of such great panic; if he’d have seen something like that, it would have taken him by surprise too. now, however, there weren’t too many people around to be shocked by him anymore. the death toll was finally nearing the end of its increase. it wouldn’t be long before he would have his little meeting with akane and move on to the next stage of his elaborate scheme. honestly, he couldn’t say he looked forward to it. he just wanted to get it over with. feeling the terror of the people, constantly reading their troubled thoughts… it wore him out. he could say with confidence that he’d never been more tired in his life.

> still, he forced himself to go out and walk. he had to stare down the consequences of his decisions. he had to face them, just like everyone else; he wouldn’t have made it this far if that was beyond his ability, and he knew it. once a week, he made himself practice. it would come in handy to harden his shell. he happened to be taking one of those solemn strolls, through the remains of a small shopping district that had recently gone down in flames, when he saw another survivor.

> a survivor? in this town? that was a rare sight. he looked strangely familiar even from a distance, and as the space between the two narrowed, delta felt an indescribable chill crawl at a snail’s pace down his spine. he was hesitant to read the stranger’s mind, though that was a precaution he normally took without a second thought; it was almost as if he was afraid of what he’d see, but that would just be ridiculous. him? afraid?

> “ hello there. ”

> drat. he wished he’d kept his mouth shut, but there wasn’t much he could do now.

> for once in his life, delta was lost for words. he simply couldn’t comprehend how anyone could care this much about him, even this apparition, this ghost of his own mind. he didn’t deserve it. he didn’t deserve any pity. that much was plain to see. why, then, was his brother persisting? it was a long time before any sound escaped his throat.

> “ you must. you must let me go, left. there’s no way you could fully understand… any of this… this mess that i’ve… ” he wiped his eyes behind the thick shield of his glasses. “ that i am. i am a paradox, a plague. i’m not meant to… to be, but i am, and now i and the rest of the world have to suffer the consequences. you are no longer alive; you can’t... help me anymore like you used to. i’m grown now. i can handle it, really. stop being so... so stubborn. please. ”

[Δ] > he chuckled. “ grandpa ? well, all right. i’m just a bit concerned is all; it’s in my nature. who's… ”

> hmm… wait. oh! he recognized this child’s face now. this was quark, from the ambidex game. funny how they just happened to run into each other like this.

> “ … never mind. when you see your grandpa again, though, please tell him i wish him the best of luck. ” he meant that, too. after everything he’d been through, junpei could use it. “ have you two been living on earth your whole lives ? ”

“Huh? Uh.. okay, Mister.” Why was this guy telling him to wish Grandpa luck? He hadn’t even recognized Quark, so it wasn’t like he could know him. Maybe he just meant in general?

[Δ] > in the days following that ever-so-unfortunate radical-6 incident, delta had taken to regularly wearing a gas mask. he knew he would have to make it a habit; mira’s actions in the shelter had determined the future of his timeline, and unlike s o m e people he knew, he was stuck there, so it’d be best for him in the long run not to waste his antidote preserve.

> he imagined – well, as a mind-hacker, he knew – that he must have seemed a bit intimidating, or odd at the very least. there he was, some six-foot-tall old man in a military-grade gas mask, traveling to and fro during a time of such great panic; if he’d have seen something like that, it would have taken him by surprise too. now, however, there weren’t too many people around to be shocked by him anymore. the death toll was finally nearing the end of its increase. it wouldn’t be long before he would have his little meeting with akane and move on to the next stage of his elaborate scheme. honestly, he couldn’t say he looked forward to it. he just wanted to get it over with. feeling the terror of the people, constantly reading their troubled thoughts… it wore him out. he could say with confidence that he’d never been more tired in his life.

> still, he forced himself to go out and walk. he had to stare down the consequences of his decisions. he had to face them, just like everyone else; he wouldn’t have made it this far if that was beyond his ability, and he knew it. once a week, he made himself practice. it would come in handy to harden his shell. he happened to be taking one of those solemn strolls, through the remains of a small shopping district that had recently gone down in flames, when he saw another survivor.

> a survivor? in this town? that was a rare sight. he looked strangely familiar even from a distance, and as the space between the two narrowed, delta felt an indescribable chill crawl at a snail’s pace down his spine. he was hesitant to read the stranger’s mind, though that was a precaution he normally took without a second thought; it was almost as if he was afraid of what he’d see, but that would just be ridiculous. him? afraid?

> “ hello there. ”

> drat. he wished he’d kept his mouth shut, but there wasn’t much he could do now.

Delta probably didn’t want to know that, he didn’t want to know that he had seen everything. When he had been a “presence” he couldn’t process his emotions, and now he knew it was not the time to be scared or shocked. He had to help his brother not to lose his composure. It was hard enough already for him.

He slightly nodded. It was a second, but Left’s image flickered. “I’m… Always by your side. So don’t feel alone, ok?”

> he paused to let out the air he’d been holding tight. he had to steady himself. get a goddamn grip, delta.

More than an hundred years suffering, burdened with this torture, listening to humanity’s most deep and evil thoughts… Committing crime after crime, just to save everyone. And this because…

“It’s not right.” His lips were shaking a bit, but he looked his brother right in the eye, with what looked like the most serious expression he had. “You’re… You’re human, Delta. You… I can’t read your thoughts like you do, but I know this is… Hard. Really hard. You’re tired, and… And…”

> he took another deep breath in and let it out again, pressing his mask tighter against his face.

> “ you've always been the selfless one, you know that ? i know you would never be able to hurt people like i have. ”

> a gust of wind swept through the ruins. delta shivered, not from the cold but from the emotion he was fighting to keep down. (okay, maybe it was also a little bit cold.) he wouldn't be able to shake this hallucination, would he?