Deadlox walked up to the booth that Jerome and Husky had set up, munching on some of the Chipotle that he had leftover from earlier. He smiled at the two, and silently noticed that only Jerome smiled back, and even then the action was worried.

Alright, so the recruiting wasn't going as well as it could be going.

"How many new recruits?" He asked, keeping his tone cheerful, but he had a feeling that he already knew.

"None." Husky muttered gruffly, glaring at Deadlox slightly, as if he blamed him for their misfortune here in the city. But Deadlox only brushed it off, used to glares and blame being placed on him when he knew it wasn't even his fault. He knew that Husky didn't mean it, whether he would be sorry or not, Deadlox didn't care. He sat on the edge of the table, talking to them, trying to see what they were doing wrong.

But they weren't doing anything wrong, aside from the fact that they weren't going out and talking to people to try and get them to their side. He frowned as he mentioned that, but he only got a hopeless shrug from Jerome and an eye roll from Husky. He stared at them, before he looked down at one of the pamphlets that they had had printed months ago. He narrowed his eyes, then picked the stack up. He threw his wrapper from his Chipotle into the nearest wastebasket, standing from the edge of the table. "If you're not going to do it," He claimed, pushing himself up onto the table, standing in the middle instead. "Then I will!"

Husky quickly grabbed his water before he could cause it to fall, glaring at him as Jerome stared at him, opened mouthed. "What-?!"

But by then, Deadlox was already shouting.

"HEY! HAVEN'T YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT CAUSED THE ATTACK ON NEW MINE CITY?! DO YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE THE GOVERNMENT WHEN THEY CLAIM THAT IT WAS HUMAN TERRORISTS, WHEN PICTURES AND VIDEOS OF THE ATTACKERS SAY OTHERWISE?!"

Jerome and Husky stared with wide eyed shock. They had thought of bringing up New Mine City, sure, but they thought it would be too insensitive to what had happened. Deadlox didn't seem to care about that. Already, people were stopping in their tracks, looking over, beginning to slowly drift over, as if they were curious about what in the hell this male was talking about. A few even glared, but that didn't make Deadlox falter, not even for a second.

"COME ON!" He shouted instead. "I KNOW THE TRUTH! YOU DO TOO, YOU JUST REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT!"

That caught people's attention.

"Well, who was it then?" Someone shouted rudely, mockingly, and Deadlox's kept his face straight and his head held up high as he answered.

"Squids."

A few seconds passed, before people began to laugh and jeer at them.

"What, some eight tentacled water breathing sea creatures attacked us?!"

"What a joke!"

"It's not a funny one! People died!"

"Yeah! Who do you think you are?!"

"Jerk!"

Something was thrown, and Husky and Jerome both stepped forward, going to grab Deadlox and yank him down.

But Deadlox caught it.

It was a tomato, and he caught it without even turning his head towards it. He glanced at it, studying it with distaste, before he turned his head and bit into it without even flinching. He swallowed the piece of fruit after a few chews, looking back at the crowd that had been stunned into silence.

"Quite a ripe one. Don't you think it was a waste to throw it?" He asked. "Being a child gets you nowhere."

That really shut them up.

"This is the kind of childish attitude that has allowed the squids to begin attacking us again!" He shouted, and a few mutters rippled through the crowd. Some were defending themselves, while others were confused about the use of the world again. "Oh, come on! What are they all teaching you in school?!" Deadlox shouted, which was ironic, since he was younger than most of the people in the crowd. But, he had never been to school, so it explained plenty too.

Husky was going to have to ask how the male knew how to speak Spanish, then.

Deadlox took another bite from his tomato, chewing and swallowing once before he tossed it into the wastebasket with disinterest.

"I, a street rat, know better than to just brush this aside when my home city is attacked!" He shouted, walking to one side of the table. "Yes, I said home! New Mine City is my home! It was from the moment I was born, and it will be until the day I die!" He placed his hands on his hips. "I know the feeling of loss, because I lost my gang!" He looked down at the floor, briefly. "They were good people... I found our base after the fight, and found it ransacked, empty, blown up and destroyed!... I can only imagine that none of them made it out alive." He raised his eyes back to the crowd, who were surprised to hear such a personal thing come from a man that had been ridiculed by them.

"And I wasn't the only one to lose someone! People lost mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, sons, daughters, grandmothers, grandfathers, cousins! They lost coworkers, teachers, friends, mentors! They lost bosses, pets, and so much more than we can even imagine!" He opened his arms. "And here we are, walking around, asking as if it never even happened! As if more than two thousand humans weren't buried because of that attack! Be it in the rubble, or in graveyards!" He walked to the other side of the table, his voice carrying across the entire silent marketplace. "How do you think the ones who have lost feel?! How do you think they sleep at night, knowing nothing is being done?! With no one believing them when they speak of the attackers but other victims and survivors?! How would you feel, in their positions?!"

Deadlox fell silent for a few moments, allowing that to settle in, before he spoke once more. "My friends and I, the friends I have come to call brothers in the few months I have known them, are creating an army! And it's being lead by a strong, powerful, fair man!" He opened his arms once more, having lowered them before. "But no one believes us! People have laughed in our face, kicked us out, spat on us, thrown things like you have! They won't give us funding! They won't even give us a respectful 'no thank you' when we ask if they wish to join!" He lowered his arms. "I'm not here to give you a 'I have a dream' speech, or to terrify you about the war that is bound to come! I am here, on my hands and knees, begging, pleading for you to help us! Whether it be through funding, or to sign up as a soldier, or even a few words of encouragement... Every bit helps!"

He fell silent for a few more moments, before he spoke once more. "My friends here, Jerome and Husky, have faced nothing but disrespect these past few months as they hopped from city to city! They only have fifteen recruits! Fifteen young kids, who are willing to put their life on the line!"

"What if we can't fight?" A quiet voice fell from the front, and Deadlox glanced down to see a woman with glasses. She was skinny, and looked shy and quiet. She held many books in her arms that she had bought from the nearby bookstore.

"You don't have to fight."

The voice was not Deadlox, and everyone, including Deadlox, Jerome, and Husky turned their heads. True walked up beside the table, staring at the woman with a kind gaze.

"You don't have to fight." He spoke once more. "You don't have to know your way around a sword, or know how to handle a shield." He smiled slightly. "I am the leader of the Stars. I'm in charge of inventing, of diplomats, of planning. You could join me, young lady." He bowed his head. "I can teach you how to craft things that will help the army, how to fix weapons, how to restore them to their former glory. Or, I can teach you how to turn the tables of an argument on the other, to make offers no one can refuse, to create treaties that will help us in more ways than you could imagine." He raised his head again. "And I am not your only choice!"

"You could be a healer." Seto said gently as he stepped up on the other side of the table, Husky's side. The Mudkip and Sorcerer glanced at each other, Seto smiling gently before he looked back out at the crowd. "If you wish to heal instead of hurt, I can help you." He opened his arms, and his hands began to glow. "If you are a sorcerer, or a magist, as I am, I can teach you how to harness your power to help the army." He smiled. "You could call yourself a Magician, or a Saint when you're on the battlefield."

Jerome stepped around the table, standing beside True. "If you are all muscle, come to me." He smiled. "I lead the Tanks. We specialize in rough training, in axes and broadswords and shields."

"And there are the Archers."

Jerome's head snapped around, and Deadlox grinned. Jerome stared at Mitch with wide eyes, who stood beside Seto. The brown haired male looked at Jerome and smiled happily at his friend, before he looked back at the crowd. "If you wish to be in the back, as a second line of defense, I can teach you the ways of the bow." He said. "I can help her speak to you and understand you. I can help you understand her." He smiled wider. "Or he. Whichever you believe your bow is."

"There are the Assassins!" Deadlox claimed, pointing to a nearby roof, and every looked to see a male in a white and red uniform sitting on the edge of it, staring at them with his hood pulled up. Ian. Jerome couldn't help but feel so relieved. Mitch and Ian had survived the mission Sky had sent them on together. "If you are a sneaky one, Ian can teach the way of the shadows and the art of silent killing! It won't be easy, but you will find Ian to be a good mentor." He stepped forward, leaping off of the table, standing in front of it.

"And then there's me! I am the leader of the Dead Army! We will be flexible, fast, strong, and throwing daggers in the blink of an eye!" He looked at them. "We will be the toughest, strongest division next to the Tanks! We will be trained to go long distances and still be ready to fight." He crossed his arms. "But I will warn you. I am a tough mentor." His eyes flashed. "And I will not take quitters."

"We are your options." Husky spoke, deciding not to speak of his division, not when everything was going so well. "Fighting is not the only way you could help us. Joining us isn't the only option. We will gladly take people who are feeling to support us, who are feeling to work over a few dollars every month to pay for our recruits' food and the equipment."

Deadlox noticed someone in the crowd, and he smiled.

"And our Commander will be proud of you, no matter what division you chose."

Sky stepped out of the crowd, standing by himself where everyone could see him, staring at Deadlox with an unreadable expression. Deadlox stared back, his red eyes glowing with certainty and loyalty, as he had meant every single word he spoke; especially when it came to Sky.

"Because he is that kind of man." Deadlox's voice lowered slightly. "Because he is that kind of hero..."

Silence followed, before the crowd began to cheer and clap. Sky smiled, just slightly.

Dead's spirit glowed beside Sky, though Sky was the only one who knew he was there.

"He's just like you." He whispered as Deadlox grinned widely at the crowd, beginning to pass around the pamphlets with the help of Husky and Jerome, people already beginning to step forward and sign up, others speaking to the other males of the group. Dead looked at Sky, and he smiled softly before he disappeared, a flurry of autumn leaves brushing against Sky and going over the crowd, leaving the center and the city, retreating into the nearby forest.

The fourteen year old that Sky had encountered before looked up as the leaves spun around her, her eyes widening slightly before she giggled. Green eyes that were hidden from her peered at her knowingly from behind the leaves, as if they knew she would play a much bigger role in all of this, before he left.

And Caroline "Bee" Sting was left, staring after the leaves, smiling as she studied the beauty of them.