"Just like that?" Keijiro blinked at him. "Well, I'm not surprised, you are pretty smart."

"Help me get back down to the lobby," Arisu said and Usagi and Keijiro each held his side and began to move.

Michael and Ousuke led the way while Asahi and Tatta followed behind in the back. When they all arrived at the lobby they now saw Aguni and the rest of the militants aiming their guns at the residents who were still alive.

Keijiro let Tatta take over in helping Arisu stand then walked over to Michael and Ousuke

"Let's go find Inori and Saeko," Keijiro said then glanced to Arisu who was now speaking to Aguni, "Arisu's got this now."

The two guys nodded then followed Keijiro away from the crowd. They began to search through each and every hotel room hoping the two found a safe place.

All of the doors were unlocked and some were already half open but Keijiro approached one door that was locked. He got a hopeful feeling and banged on the door.

Keijiro heard shuffling inside and pressed his ear to the door. He then heard a familiar sound he's used before.

The sound of a gun loading.

"Get down!" Keijiro called out and ducked along with Michael and Ousuke who fell to the ground, covering their heads.

Two gunshots went off and the bullets flew through the door, hitting the one across from it.

"Did I kill it?" Keijiro heard a voice say then the door opened.

Keijiro looked up and saw Inori holding a shotgun. He jumped to his feet.

"You almost killed us," Keijiro told her.

"Oops."

"Oops?" Ousuke said, getting up as well, "where did you even get a gun from?"

"I took it off of a dead militant's body," Inori responded and the little girl that hid behind her came into view.

"Keijiro!" Saeko ran towards the guy and wrapped her small arms around him. "What's going on?"

"Is it over now?" Inori asked them.

Keijiro shook his head. "No, I don't think it is. Let's just head back down."

"What?!" Inori held her gun closer. "Have you forgotten about the raging lunatics murdering all those residents?"

"I think that's stopped for now," Michael said, "Arisu thinks he figured out who the witch is."

"Judging from what I saw I'm assuming it's really Aguni," Ousuke added.

Inori huffed. "Of course, it is. I wish this game would hurry up."

"Well, we have less than thirty minutes now so it better," Keijiro said.

The group made their way back to the first floor where the crowds of people still were.

When Keijiro heard a familiar voice cry out he pushed his way to the front to see Usagi crouching over Arisu who was bleeding worse than he already was. Aguni was shouting at him but Arisu kept approaching, trying to get through to the man.

"Uh, how is this going to help us?" Inori said, watching the scene, "he's just getting beat. We should all be helping him throw Aguni into the fire."

Saeko looked up at Keijiro. "Isn't that Pablo?"

Keijiro observed Aguni's face throughout the whole ordeal and his eyes widened. He'd never seen this expression on the man before but he knew what it was. It was the same look Keijiro had when he lost Fuji. It was the same look Arisu had when they found him lying in the street.

Aguni grabbed Arisu by his shirt collar, ready to attack again, but Arisu kept speaking.

"I know what it feels like to see your friends die," Arisu said, "you killed your friend. I can see it in your eyes."

"Wait, Aguni killed his friend?" Inori whispered, "what does that have to do with this game?"

Keijiro sighed. "Hatter..." Aguni always got tense when Keijiro referred to Hatter as his friend. At first he was mostly joking but turns out he was right.

"Hatter and Aguni were friends?" Michael asked in confusion.

Arisu continued to speak to Aguni. "And now you want to kill everyone here because they were the ones who made your friend crazy. The game master is using all of your feelings against you."

"That's why it's a hearts game." Arisu coughed from the blood. "Don't you get that?"

"Shut up!" Aguni shouted and kicked Arisu away from him.

Usagi and Tatta ran to Arisu's side. Keijiro wanted to do the same but Michael held him back from getting involved.

"If that's all true..." one of the Beach residents spoke. "Then Aguni wanted to kill everyone here no matter what the game was."

Another resident turned to the militants. "And he had you do it."

One militant looked sick. "We said nothing and just went along with it."

"Yeah, like idiots!" Inori called out and Ousuke put a hand over her mouth.

"So, who is the witch then?" Another militant asked.

"I know who the real witch is," Arisu stated and struggled to sit up. "In a game of hearts, the game master usually makes a fool out of everyone."

Keijiro remembered how pathetic and foolish he felt, thinking he could save Fujitaka in the end of his hearts game.

"It might be that..." Arisu breathed heavily. "There was really a way to end the game without anyone getting killed."

"But that's impossible," a female resident said, "we have to hunt down the witch and burn them in the Fire of Judgment, right"

"No," Arisu responded as Usagi and Tatta helped him stand, "because... it's Momoka." He raised a hand and pointed to the girl's dead body which was still there. "She was the witch all along."

Keijiro's eyes widened and he hit Michael's shoulder. "Didn't I say we should've burned the already dead body?"

The crowd gasped and murmured to themselves.

"So, she stabbed herself in the chest?" One resident asked.

Keijiro looked over at Asahi and saw her shocked and pained expression. He then turned back to see Aguni kick Arisu once again.

"I'm the witch!" Aguni tried to convince the people. "You want to kill me, right?" He ran to the nearest resident and attacked them causing everyone else to gang up on him.

"He's trying to take everyone else down with him," Ousuke said.

Saeko hid behind Keijiro so she couldn't see.

Keijiro frowned at Aguni who was being restrained by the crowd of people. "He wants to die..."

"The Beach made him crazy!" Aguni cried out, "you guys made him crazy!" He mustered enough strength to escape their grasps and fight them off. "I'm the witch! So kill me!"

"This is madness," Michael said.

Keijiro looked over at Arisu then walked over with the rest of his group.

"Is he dead?" Saeko asked with her hands covering her eyes.

"He's fine," Keijiro assured her.

Inori observed Arisu's bloody face. "He doesn't look fine."

Asahi then bent down and looked at all of them. "Listen, I know how to stop Aguni, trust me!"

Keijiro stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"If those residents can't stop Aguni then what makes you think you can?" Inori asked her.

Asahi still looked determined. "I'll get his attention so hurry and burn Momoka in the Fire of Judgement." She looked only Arisu in the eye this time. "Arisu, this whole thing has to end now, okay?"

Asahi then stood up and ran away from them.

"Asahi!" Usagi called out to her.

"What's she doing?!" Michael asked as the girl went to go stand in the middle of the lobby.

"Everyone!" Asahi shouted which actually stopped the chaos to their surprise.

"I'm the dealer of this game!"

Just then, a red laser came down and zapped the girl straight through her head. Her body fell with a thud and silence followed after.

Keijiro stared at the scene in shock. "What... just happened?"

No one had an answer for that but a voice did speak to all of them.

"It was a reverse grip."

Keijiro looked over at Kuina who was helping Ann walk.

Ann held up the knife in her hand with a cloth. "I found fingerprints with a reverse grip on the knife."

"But why would she do that?" One resident asked what everyone was thinking.

"Was Momoka the game master?" Another asked.

One guy pointed to Asahi's body. "That girl said she was the dealer. Were they just toying with us the whole time?"

"So, there was no higher power controlling all of this," Tatta said, standing up, "it was just humans."

Usagi began to think to herself. "But there still is a possibility that they could've been controlled by somebody else."

Keijiro looked around and noticed that the fire was getting closer. "Is no one going to monitor that? This whole place is going to burn down."

Arisu winced in pain as he began to talk again. "Aguni, we have to end this game. No more innocent people have to die. We've already loss too many." He managed to push himself to a stand without any help this time. "I know what it's like to kill your friends but we can't take it out on people who are still living!"

"We are all still alive!" Arisu said, "we're in this together and we have to fight to the end of it all!" He cried out. "I don't want anybody else to die!"

More silence followed after Arisu's empowering words. It looked like he had gotten through to everyone but one resident turned around and shouted.

"The fire is spreading!"

Keijiro looked to see that the fire was indeed getting closer. "Are you serious?"

The crowd began to disperse in a panic and smoke filled the air.

"Hurry and put Momoka's body in the Fire of Judgement!" Kuina ordered, still holding onto Ann.

Some residents listened and tried to do so but the ones who got too close to the body were instantly shot.

Keijiro held Saeko closer to him and his group ducked. He tried to see where the bullets were coming from and saw a figure holding a torch emerging from the fire.

"That hurt..." the figure spoke in a strained voice. "I'll use the Fire of Judgement to burn this whole place down... And that will make me the winner!"

The figure then threw the torch into the crowd which made the fire spread faster. They then began to shoot at the crowd again and Keijiro got a closer look at the person's burnt clothes, recognizing who it was.

Niragi.

Once again, the residents tried to flee from the gunfire and out of the burning building.

Keijiro turned to Ousuke. "Get Inori and Saeko out of this place and head to the Royal Serenity, okay?"

Ousuke's eyes widened. "What about you two?"

Michael grinned at Ousuke and put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be fine. Don't worry."

Ousuke was still unsure but followed orders and dragged the two girls away. Saeko still tried to reach out to Keijiro like she did before but Ousuke's grip was tight and they soon disappeared from view.

Keijiro held up his own gun, aiming for Niragi's head, but Usagi ran towards the guy which Keijiro did not expect. He couldn't take the shot now because the girl would also be caught in the crossfire.

Usagi ran around Niragi's side then jumped onto him and wrapped her small arms around his neck. Arisu tried to help by grabbing ahold of Niragi's gun but he was kicked away and fell back.

Keijiro was the next to try and assist by running towards the two since he couldn't shoot. He was prepared to snap the guy's neck but Niragi had taken ahold of Usagi and threw her entire body towards Keijiro.

Usagi crashed into Keijiro which caused them both to fall back onto Arisu. They all struggled to sit up and saw Niragi aiming his gun at them.

Arisu put himself in front of Usagi to protect her but Keijiro put himself in front of Arisu.

"What are you doing?!" Arisu asked him.

Keijiro kept his eyes on Niragi, never wavering. "I won't fail this time."

"You are dead." Niragi glared at him. "I'll kill you all!" 

Keijiro shut his eyes and braced himself but the pain never came although he heard the gunfire. He opened his eyes and saw that someone had stepped in front of him, running towards Niragi.

Aguni.

Aguni kept charging towards the guy even though Niragi kept firing at him. The man then screamed as he grabbed Niragi's body, lifting him off the ground, and ran into the smoke and fire behind them.

Then more gunshots.

Keijiro, Arisu, and Usagi stared at the smoke from what just happened.

"Why..." Keijiro finally spoke. "Why'd he do that?"

"Aguni..." Arisu breathed heavily.

3 minutes remaining

"We need to hurry!" Kuina called out.

Usagi and a few other residents, including Michael, ran over to pick up Momoka's body. Keijiro then stood up along with Arisu who was now staring at something near Asahi's body.

It was a white phone but not the ones the game gave them.

Keijiro left Arisu to it and managed to leave the building safely and headed to where the bonfire was. Michael and the others were standing around it and Arisu soon joined them.

"I knew this place would be its own downfall," Keijiro said as the automated voice confirmed a game cleared.

Michael sighed. "What about all these people?"

"What about them? They'll have to survive out there now like we did." Keijiro observed the crestfallen crowd who looked lost. Some were even crying but the ones who appeared the most broken were the militants.

Usagi was observing the same people and began to march over to them but Arisu stopped her.

"Let me go!" Usagi said.

Arisu still held her arm. "You can't."

"But they... they killed them all! I can't just let that go!"

Keijiro then watched as one of the militant's fell to their knees and tried shooting himself in the head but the only sound it made was a click. They were out of bullets.

Keijiro was glad that person would now have to live with that guilt then saw one person slipping away.

"Always up to something," Keijiro said as he witnessed Kuina sneaking back into the burning building.

"What's that about?" Michael asked and Keijiro followed the girl with Michael right behind him.

Keijiro and Michael covered their mouths as they entered the building and made their was back to the lobby. There, they saw Kuina and one other person approaching the white table that once held the phones that were given to them for the game.

Chishiya grinned as he picked up something from the table and Keijiro saw that it was a playing card.

Ten of Hearts.

"You never quit, do you?" Kuina said to him.

"I agree," Keijiro said and came into view.

Chishiya turned to him and Michael. "This is getting old. Why do you keep following us?"

Keijiro ignored him and turned to Kuina. "So, how was your day?"

"Pretty good, thanks!" Kuina smiled then coughed from the smoke.

Chishiya's eye twitched and he turned back to the card. "I was starting to think collecting the cards was pointless."

"And what do you think now?" Michael asked him.

"I'm thinking that we still haven't seen any face cards yet."

Michael glanced at Keijiro. "He's right, you know. Is this really over?"

"It's just beginning," Chishiya said with a grin.

***

Some time has passed since the Beach burned down. Keijiro and Michael sort of got separated from the rest of their group and continued to follow Chishiya and Kuina. It was daytime now and Chishiya said he was bringing them somewhere he should've gone sooner.

Keijiro wasn't too worried about Saeko since he knew Ousuke and Inori were very much capable of protecting her themselves. He was now wondering what would happen next since this was apparently the last card they needed.

"Can you tell us exactly where we're going?" Michael asked Chishiya.

Kuina turned to Michael. "I can tell you right now, you won't get a straight answer."

Michael groaned. "Just great."

Chishiya instead looked over at Keijiro. "Still, keeping up the silent treatment?"

Keijiro kept his eyes on the road ahead of them. "Can someone feed the cat so it can stop meowing."

"You seemed to forgive Kuina pretty easily," Chishiya said, "so what's your problem?"

"Kuina's a sweetheart and you're... you."

"Why would I want to be anyone else?"

Kuina sighed at their banter. "If we're all going to be friends then you two need to make up."

"I never said anything about friendship," Keijiro said, "we already have a group anyways." He then finally looked at Chishiya. "I suppose I could've let it slide but then I saw Arisu's state. He looked horrible when we found him."

Kuina's eyes fell to the ground. "Jeez... I should've checked up on him or at least apologized."

"He was a sacrifice I was willing to make," Chishiya said.

Keijiro began to load his gun. "I'm gonna kill him."

Chishiya stopped walking then turned around to face him. "How long have you known him?"

"I don't know." Keijiro shrugged. "We played one game together but—"

"Exactly. You've played one game with this person but yet you're defending him like your life depends on it."

"It's called being human, you robot."

Chishiya put his hands in his pockets. "I've played a game with Arisu as well. He still had his friends at that time; they were both pretty useful."

"Wow, so he helped you in a game and you still betrayed him." Keijiro scoffed.

"Like I said it was a sacri—" Chishiya stopped mid sentence when he felt the barrel of a gun against his forehead.

Michael's eyes widened and he tried to pull his friend's finger away from the trigger but Keijiro wouldn't budge.

"You're softer than you look, you know." Chishiya wasn't panicked although there was a gun in his face. "You didn't seem like the type to get easily attached."

"It's not about getting attached," Keijiro told him, "it's called compassion. I'd advise you find some somewhere because you'll need allies in this world." He nodded to Kuina. "Don't think she'll always be by your side cause soon enough even she'll get sick of your shit."

Keijiro expected a lecture or even insults to be thrown at him but Chishiya fell silent. The man then turned around and kept walking.

"Great, now you made it awkward," Michael whispered to him.

"Someone had to do it. I did tell Arisu I'd give him a beating but that would be animal cruelty." Keijiro put his gun down.

The group continued to walk again and Keijiro saw Michael and Kuina now conversing with each other. He glanced back at Chishiya who was by himself and narrowed his eyes.

"They're leaving me alone with him on purpose," Keijiro muttered to himself.

To his surprise, Chishiya actually slowed down a bit so that they were now side by side.

"What was the nickname?"

Keijiro blinked at him. "What? That's not how you start a conversation."

"Last time, you mentioned you had a new nickname for me but you were too deep in your feelings at the time."

Keijiro laughed. "In my feelings? Oh please. Why do you even want to know? You said you didn't like my nicknames."

"I don't. I'm just curious."

Keijiro grinned.

"Little meow meow."

Chishiya sighed. "Just as I expected. Stupid."

Keijiro frowned. "I worked really hard on that one, little meow meow."

"Don't call me that."

"Okay, Chitchat." Keijiro said then stretched, "I guess I can put this whole Arisu betrayal thing behind us since I know what it really was now..."

Chishiya's eyebrows furrowed. "What it really was?"

"Jealousy."

Chishiya fastened his pace but Keijiro jogged to keep up with him.

"You were jealous that I just met Arisu and we instantly became besties. You yourself probably felt betrayed since I've known you and Kuina longer."

"That's not what this was but whatever makes you feel better," Chishiya said.

"With some time I'm sure you'll become a better person and we can become besties too."

"I decline."

Keijiro laughed then looked up to see they were now approaching a subway station. "Yeah, no. That looks haunted."

Chishiya smirked. "Scared of the dark?"

Keijiro rolled his eyes and they descended down the stairs. It was pitch black but Chishiya pulled out a flashlight to guide them.

Michael looked at him. "What don't you have in your pockets?"

The four made their way down the tunnel and Chishiya soon stopped at a secret door that seemed to be already open.

Chishiya chuckled. "Of course."

"Of course what?" Keijiro asked then raised his gun, "if there are already people in there then we need to be on guard."

Chishiya ignored that and stepped inside while the others followed. Keijiro's eyes widened at the room they had entered.

The room had several monitors and computers that looked like they were used to observe the games. There were also multiple desks and chairs where dead people were slumped over in.

"How did they die?" Michael asked and the sound of other voices could be heard coming across from them.

Keijiro held up his gun on instinct and saw two people through the darkness. When he got a good look at them he laughed and lowered his weapon.

"So, you actually found this place," Chishiya said first.

"How did you find it?" Arisu asked.

Usagi was glad to see Keijiro, Michael, and Kuina but she glared at Chishiya. Keijiro was also glad to see that Arisu looked better now and some of his wounds had begun to heal.

Chishiya took a piece of paper out of his pocket. "It took me a while but I figured out what this actually was."

Keijiro peered over at it. "A bunch of scribbles?"

Chishiya side eyed him. "It's a map that I took off of a tagger's body from a game I played before."

"So, what happens now that we've beaten all the games?" Michael asked.

Chishiya looked up at the monitors. "I was hoping coming to this place might provide an answer."

Keijiro continued to observe the dead bodies in the chairs. "I don't think these were the game masters."

"They weren't." Arisu agreed. "I took the phone Asahi used as a dealer and this was their base. All of these people bet on each game, whether the participants would survive or not. If the participants survived then it's game over but if the participants lose the game then the dealers get days added to their visas."

It made Keijiro's blood boil at the fact these people could've been betting on the seven of hearts game he and Fujitaka had to play. If that were the case, then he was glad that he won and all of those people who bet on him died.

"So, these dealers were part of the game too," Kuina said, "but who controls all of this?"

Right as she said those words, the screens all lit up with a bright white glow.

"That can't be good," Michael said.

The screens were blank for a moment before words appeared as well as the symbols of spades, diamonds, clubs, and hearts.

SPECIAL URGENT BROADCAST
♠️ ♦️ ♣️ ♥️

Fanfare music began to play and a blurry figure came into view on the screen.

"Congratulations to all players," a voice spoke to them.

The group stepped closer so they could fully see what they were witnessing.

"Huh?" Kuina spoke.

Then they all watched as the figure of the person became clearer and clearer...

Keijiro's eyes widened and he nudged Michael. "It's the goth chick!"

Michal raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Mira," Arisu said, "she was an executive."

"Except for the face cards," Mira began, "you've all completed the numbered games and emerged victorious. And the prize of these sweet victories was the sacrifice of many lives."

"This is so freaky," Keijiro murmured.

"I wonder..." Mira sat in a chair that seemed to be her throne. "Just how many of your close friend have died?"

Keijiro grit his teeth at that and saw Arisu tense next to him.

"Do you remember the ones who were shot in the head?" Mira went on and various videos of different games popped up on the screens. "That girl you burned alive, the ones struck down by lasers or the ones who fell to their deaths?"

Keijiro took a step back as he saw one of the videos showed him locked in a chair and Fujitaka standing in front of him, bleeding. It felt so weird seeing the boy's face now that he was gone.

Keijiro looked over at Arisu who was staring at one screen where a guy's neck exploded and a person, who he assumed was Arisu, fell to his knees.

"All that despair you felt," Mira said, "those gruesome scenes you'll never forget." She sobbed dramatically. "That... really touches me."

Mira grinned and held up her hands. "To all surviving players, we just wanted to give you a present."

"We?" Keijiro questioned.

Michael glanced at him. "That means it isn't just her behind this."

"Can we go back to our world?" Kuina asked out loud.

Mira gasped in delighted excitement and placed her hands together.

"There will be new games!"

"What?" Michael said. "That's... that's not fair!"

Keijiro looked over to Chishiya. "I thought if we collected all the cards we could go home."

"Let's all play and this time with the face cards!" Mira announced.

"I don't hate the idea," Chishiya said.

Michael glared at him. "Unlike you, we have people we want to get back to."

"We've got so many more wonderful and thrilling games in store for you all!" Mira said, "so be prepared."

"Is she the game master?" Usagi asked, "or at least one of them?"

"I think I'd rather it be aliens behind this." Kuina sighed.

Mira continued. "The next stage starts tomorrow, when the clock strikes noon." She held her arms out. "Let's have some fun, all together."

"So this really isn't over," Keijiro said.

Usagi bawled her fists. "We have to fight once again."

"Yeah," Arisu said, "but there's one difference. Now we know what our target looks like."

.......
.............
....................

Arisu, Usagi, Chishiya, Kuina, Keijiro and Michael all now stood in the main road where all of this begun.

Fireworks erupted from the sky as if this were something to celebrate and the screen that was lit up on the tall building in front of them displayed the words, Next Stage.

Keijiro then looked to the sky. "What's that?"

Everyone looked up as well to see huge blimps, each carrying a face card, hovering above them and all around the area for everyone to see.

KING OF SPADES ♠️

KING OF HEARTS ♥️

KING OF DIAMONDS ♦️

KING OF CLUBS ♣️

QUEEN OF SPADES ♠️

QUEEN OF HEARTS ♥️

QUEEN OF DIAMONDS ♦️

QUEEN OF CLUBS ♣️

JACK OF SPADES ♠️

JACK OF HEARTS ♥️

JACK OF DIAMONDS ♦️

JACK OF CLUBS ♣️

"This is where we'll find our answer," Arisu said with determination.

Keijiro grinned and held up his gun. "Let's do this."

Too many people have died for them to just stop now so Keijiro didn't care how many more games he had to play or how many more people he had to kill. He was going to make sure Michael and everyone else he cared about here would make it out alive.

"It's always a hassle staying by your side." Michael joked. "Guess I have no choice now."

"You never had a choice, Mikey." Keijiro put his hands on his hips. "So, are you with me?"

"What do you think?"

Keijiro laughed and looked to the sky filled of blimps and fireworks.

"Alright then, let's play."