"Hey, how is everything?"

"Oh!  Boss!  Yea, I found a new assignment!  You're going to love this!"

She was... going to love it?  Haha, that would be nice...

The rest of the hunters were inside the tavern, ahead.  Which one did they designate this as?  Their fifth meeting spot?  Juni forgot, but it didn't matter.  The location was unimportant.  One could give all the details... country, time, date, location... none of that was what Juni was seeking, anyway.

"The pay for this one isn't very high, but hey, it's all in good fun, right?  We'll get a nice reward at the end for ourselves, anyway."  Terrance smirked.  "Ya know, Avelle would always love it when I found assignments like this.  For me, it's like... a big reminder on why I became a hunter and such.  You know, to enjoy life?  To see all the world has to offer?  That's not why Avelle took it up, but the basic premise was the same.  Here, we can run away to our own reality!  To be free of those chains of the past and all, really."

"Haha... it... it sounds like fun."  Juni smiled a little, her eyes drooping a tad.  What was this feeling?  Was it what Juli felt?  Juli told her about dreaming of a time when she could finally be with all of those she cared about in the past.  It was nice, but deep down, Juli knew that was just a dream.

This wasn't a dream.  But the basic premise was the same.  She was going to run away to her own reality.  She was going to be free of those chains of the past.  But only briefly.

The sun shone brightly in the distance.  There were various houses around the tavern, too, of a bit more modern yet still rural style.  Apparently one of the more developed locations in Africa.  Ah.  So that was where it was going to end.  But... location really didn't matter.

Looking down at the ground, Juni sighed.

"T... Terrance, I... um... it's that... I didn't think this would be so hard to say..."

"Huh?  What's wrong?  And what's with the 'n' in the name?"

"You know what's with it," she replied, her eyes still to the ground.  If there were going to be tears in them, she preferred that he not see it.  "You should keep it.  Terrance is a much cooler name than Terrace is..."

"Is that all?"  Crossing his arms, Terrance leaned back and grinned.  "Nah, it's okay.  I promised Avelle.  Terrance... I don't like that name, anymore.  It's a reminder of how I screwed up in the past.  How I let Avelle die thanks to my blundering.  But she let me change it, because she understood."

"That's not just all...  It's... it's... one shouldn't have to hide from their past like that.  You can like... um... learn things... or stuff... and still have a clean slate at the same time," Juni stuttered a bit, before looking up at him.  What was she supposed to say?

She really did look at him.

Terrance... Wilheilm?  She learned the name from Avelle's journal tapes.  He never told her it, himself.  So this would be her first and last chance to really know him.  He kept his short brown hair combed upwards a little, spreading out from the center.  Unlike the other hunters, Terrance dressed perhaps the most casually out of all of them.  Regular loose-fitting dark brown jeans, a gray shirt, and a red jacket... it looked so normal.  The red jacket used to be just normal attire, too, but Avelle decided to designate it as a sign.  As a badge.  A uniform.

Was Terrance the one responsible for Avelle becoming a hunter?  The journal tapes seemed to indicate it.  It was thanks to him that Juni became one, too.  Those were some of the funnest moments in Juni's life.  But she couldn't...

"Hey Juni, is something wrong?  Erm... you seem to have a little water in your eyes."

She had to...

"Terrance,"  Juni began, bowing her head down a little but this time, still keeping her eyes on him. "I'm sorry, but... this will be my last hunter mission."

"You're... what?"

She would tell him why she had to give it up.  A choice... it was a choice, and Juni had already made it.  She had to go one-hundred percent in one direction.  She couldn't hold onto the loose ends.  There would be no wavering and no hesitation.  The hunters were part of the ghost of the past.  A ghost which Juni had to give up.  And so she was going to do it, now.

Terrance would try to stop her.  He told her to just try this last mission and maybe it'd make her change her mind.  It was a plea, of course.  It reminded Juni about just how strongly he felt that way.  Already in the past, when she was off to perhaps go to die by Juli's hand as the new Avelle, he tried to convince her to stop.  He told her they needed her.  That to be one of the Avelle hunting group, she would have what she wanted.  Freedom, power, a different type of fame, to be a great and admired leader..

She held on, and she almost paid the ultimate price for it.  She didn't tell Terrance what she was thinking, though.  She decided to play along with it.  She probably shouldn't have told him in the first place that she'd be leaving after this.  She wanted to leave knowing they were happy.  But then... she also wanted them to know why she had to leave.  She wasn't abandoning them on purpose.  And they had a right to know.

She wasn't going to change her mind.  But she wanted one last adventure.  Just one last time...

"Come on, Juni.  I swear!  You'll love this!  Really!  You don't have to go back.  You can run away, now.  Talk about it, think about it..."

"Haha..."  Juni gave Terrance a tired smile.  "Yea... okay.  Of course.  Come on, let's get the others."

"I must say, is this thing working?"

The young albino previously known as Fokken tapped the camera.  Behind him, one could see the quaint studio room that he was in.  He was on the Baxter-Net airwaves.  The regular public wouldn't be receiving this film, of course, but that was okay.  This was mainly just for memento purposes for the others.

He was wearing the same red jacket as Terrance was, though underneath it was a more formal-style gray blazer and white shirt, and light gray formal pants.

"So, shall we begin?"  Looking at the camera, he shrugged.  "They all decided to let me start this thing off.  I don't know why, exactly.  Probably because I decided to skip that special mission of theirs.  But they know why I did that, so it can be excused, I believe.  If you really must know, there isn't any reason for me to stick around, anymore.  They all know that all I was was Avelle's lapdog, anyway."

He looked over his shoulder and pulled on the red jacket he was wearing.

"Oh free ruffian... she made me wear your jacket.  I'll be giving it back, of course.  You should keep it for yourself.  I'm going to let go of my own ghost here, too.  I hope you understand.  Me leaving won't hurt you all too much, I assume.  It's Lady June, herself, really.  I hope you understand why she has to do this."

Removing the jacket, he put it on a chair behind him.

"I'm putting this in terms I hope everyone can understand.  Avelle wanted to follow her own path.  She found it necessary for herself.  It was a path that I ended up following, too, even if it wasn't my own.  It was by my own choice.  This choice existed for Lady June, herself, but she never really made it.  She was also following Avelle's path, and realized that it wasn't her own.  This is my realization.  What we must do now is live life to its fullest, but before you can even do that, you have to realize what a full life for you, is.  The lady has already discovered that.  Sometimes I worry that it might be too late for me, and that the opportunity was lost, but I suppose staying with Avelle's group long after Avelle is gone won't fix that."

Making one last tipping salute gesture, Folken picked the coat off the chair and proceeded to leave.  He gave one last look at the camera and nodded.

"If we perhaps meet again, you may call me Folken Saragorn once more.  You may see this as taking up the slate of the past, or starting a new one again.  It's okay that I miss this mission.  I do believe I'll be seeing the lady, again, anyways.  I wish you luck in all your endeavors.  As for me, I must find my own role elsewhere, now."

The gateway to dreams.

Terrance had decided that he was going to show her the world.  The other hunters (with the exception of Folken, as always) had agreed to this.

Heh, the great Wilheilm family.  Or maybe not.  Common thieves, or great treasure hunters?  Really, it wasn't that hard, but there were some hazards.  But ancient ruins and treasures are quite rare in the world.  You don't find them too often.  That's why Terrance went and became a hunter instead when Avelle came along.  The Wilheilm list of secrets and treasure filled ruins was finite, but the world itself was endless.  Avelle showed this to Terrance a long time ago, discovering things that even Terrance didn't know could exist.  A walking encyclopedia... no, more experienced than any encyclopedia could be, and all she had was a year to do it!  And now, it was Terrance's turn to show this vast endlessness to Avelle's successor.

They were in a small forested tunnel.  There wasn't much here.  At least... not yet.  Wearing a dark blue hard hat with a flashlight embedded in it (though mostly just for effect, because it wasn't that dark), Juni was leading the way, though Terrance stayed close to her side.

"Well, admittingly, the mission isn't going to be very hard or dangerous, but I thought it suited things."  Terrance shrugged, then perked up a bit.  "Hey, come on!  You'll love it."

She stared in confusion for a bit then took out a piece of paper with the mission description.  "Not very dangerous?  Are you sure?  Ancient ruins?  Aren't those things booby trapped?"

"Heh, nah, it's probably harmless.  Hey, these ruins are ancient, so what do you expect?  Every once in a while, you'll come across some ancient guys who make you wonder 'How did they do that!?'  But the truth is, it's not like every ancient tribe in the world has the technology and this magical ability to construct deadly magic traps everywhere to protect their treasures as well as make a robot army horde that's so powerful it could defeat Darkstalkers and also discovered how to travel in SPACE, the final frontier, and..."

Chuckling a little, Juni smiled.  "Okay, okay, I get your point."

"Well, there might be a Darkstalker around..." Scuffling his foot along the grass on the floor a bit, Terrance made his remark contain quite a bit of indication that it was probably true.  Juni wasn't phased at all, though.

"Oh, that won't be a problem."  She beamed.  "Though I'm pretty sure Baxter Corp would have picked it up if that were the case."

The other hunters behind them were talking about various irrelevant things, really.  They wouldn't be discussing the plan where Juni could hear them, after all.  Even in this simple enclosed forest walkway, the scenery was great.  Looking over at his boss, Terrance knew that Juni figured she was probably going to really like this.  And she seemed to realize that was probably his intent.  It seemed like it was working, but there seemed to be an uncertainty about her.  Well, this was only the tip of the iceberg, after all, and it was time to break out the ice pick!

"Here, come on, take a look at this."  Parting the foliage that was in the way, Terrance revealed the location that they would be exploring today.

Juni stared wide-eyed at the huge tropical garden before her.  The canopy high above created a ceiling of plants and trees, and the meadow of flowers and gardens of all sorts of variety of color from purple to violet to blue laid throughout the floor.  It was a hanging garden, and Juni was taken aback by the site.

"Wow, I never realize that being a hunter involved going to places like this..."  Juni remarked, stunned.

"Juni, this isn't just about being a hunter.  The world is full of all sorts of places like this," Terrance responded.  "This is only a small sample!  You might think it's dead, but adventure still exists out there in droves.  If only you knew the places where we all went with Avelle..."

"Avelle did talk a lot about these in her journal tapes," remarked the girl.  "I always wanted to see all of this.  That was a part of the reason why I started here, but... hey!"

Grabbing her hand, Terrance led her onward into the future, the other hunters following behind.  Glancing back, he thought he saw someone else following them too, but it quickly disappeared.  Hmm... that was odd.  Nah, there couldn't be anyone else there besides Juni and her hunters.  The ruins were abandoned long long ago.  Documents and preliminary expeditions proved this.  The only other possible truly intelligent being here didn't come until the end, anyways.

"Hey there!  Is it my turn yet?"

The rather large man with the spiked brown hair waved to the camera.  His attire consisted of shoulder pads underneath a white and green sweater.

"Nice to meet ya, random viewer!  Hmm... well, guess I should introduce myself, though I'm really not too important to the grand scheme of things.  My name's Roberto, well... Rob for short.  If anyone really cares.  But hey, I don't mind.  I'm not supposed to stand out too much.  I guess I should feel lucky that I get to be distinguished enough to be here instead of several of the other Springtime Avelle hunters, but it don't matter too much either way."

Rob took a huge gulp of water from a cup nearby, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"Yea, so, I guess that's what I'm going to talk about, now.  Me?  I'm just happy with the good life.  I'm not going to give my life story of why I ended up with the rest of these hunters, but I'll tell you that one of the reasons I enjoy it is because I enjoy this life and that's about it, really.  Some do it for money, some do it for fame, hey, I'm just having a good time, really.  That's why there's not much to me, and why you shouldn't really care about me that much.  Heck, I wouldn't even have been on this tape but Juni insisted."

Rubbing his forehead trying to think of what to say, Rob proceeded to take another drink before looking up and suddenly getting a revelation.

"Oh, right!  Yea, that's it.  Since I'm not the most interesting of fellows, I guess I should be talking about the ones that are, huh?  Well, speaking of Juni... she and her predecessor, Avelle, are really good examples of someone to actually care about.  Destined for greatness, Avelle was.  I felt that Juni was the same way.  That's why I decided to go along with her when she asked a long time ago at a certain bar.  Figured I'd enjoy the ride, which I did.  But I guess I'm rambling.  Getting back to the point, greatness was something Avelle always hoped to achieve, and she probably could have got it eventually, if she didn't, already.  Sure, we hunters aren't publicly known, but hey, she was moving up and you never know, really.  Someday, despite Baxter Corp's efforts, the whole world could find out about Darkstalkers and then we'd be at the forefront to help them out."

Rob shrugged.

"Juni told us about Shadowlaw.  We knew Avelle was connected to it, too.  I guess you could call it evil or whatever, but Juni doesn't see it that way.  She, like Avelle, could be destined for greatness, too.  As her hunter, I could see the drive and the ambition in her, and even though it sometimes didn't look like it on the outside at first, she has the ability and the smarts to do it, just like Avelle.  In her case, it would be Shadowlaw rising it up and accomplishing whatever ideal she was looking for.  Eh, I don't really care either way but it's something to think about."

Rob let out one final sigh, then glanced towards a stop watch on the chair.

"Well, is my time up yet?  I guess that's all I have to say, really.  I'd be happy so long as I had my leader to follow, since I never was much for directing myself, what with me being a guy who doesn't have any direction and all.  Could be worse.  I could be like Terrance, who sometimes would talk about how he had a direction but never the ability to go into it.  But that's why Juni's so lucky, I suppose.  She has her direction and the power to pursue it.  I can just feel it.  I think I tend to have a knack for realizing these things.  At least, I'm one for one so far with Avelle.  If Juni just chose to do so, I'd be two for two with her included, too..."

An exit from the cavern passage they were in revealed yet another open area before them, this one even more massive than the last.  Juni gasped as she stared at the immense waterfall in front of her, the running water resounding throughout the area as it splashed to the rivers below.  It almost played like open air music, the blue sky above stretching out beyond the light forest green canyon.  The view was marvelous.  And despite it all, this was only a mere part of it.  This was only a mere sample of how they could make their dreams come true.

Did she know?  They would give up their lives for this.  In fact, there was a chance they probably would, but they entrusted Juni to be their leader for a reason, so that was pretty doubtful.  In fact, this was meant to show her...

Juni stuttered, trying to find words to describe what she was seeing.  "This... this is... I remember seeing sights like this with you guys, but it didn't come close to this..."

"That's because we haven't even started yet!"  Motioning towards the waterfall as the other hunters behind their leader smiled, Terrance proceeded to explain.  "Do you remember why you wanted to become a hunter like Avelle?"

"I wanted to be great," Juni remarked.  "I wanted to see that I finally could be able to choose my own destiny, like Avelle did.  But... now I realize.  Even if I give up this, I can still do all that."

"Hey!"  Terrance raised his arms, trying to cheer her up a bit.  "Give that up?  Come on, Juni, why give up a great thing?  You can have the whole world.  Don't you see?  This is just the beginning!  We're here to follow you to see this through to the end!  Come on!"

Crossing a wooden bridge with the waterfall running along besides it, Juni soon found herself on a cavernous ledge behind a smaller part of the running downpour.  She put her hand out and let some of the water run over it and flow through her fingers.

"I... don't know.  I shouldn't just leave everyone else behind..." she remarked as she pulled her hand back.

"Everyone else?  What about us?"

"But..."

"See, Juni?  It's holding you back!"  Terrance tugged her a bit to get the girl to face him.  "Here, you can run away!  You can make your own reality!  Don't you see how beautiful this is?"

With that statement, he continued to lead Juni onwards into an opening in the cliff.  As the rest of the hunters caught up, the two took one last look behind them at the water running past.  For a moment, Terrance thought he saw something... pink behind the water where they used to be moving towards them, but nothing was there when he tried to take a closer look.  He didn't have much time to think on it because Juni made her own comment about the scene in general that they were looking at.

"Terrance, you're right... this is beautiful..."

She sounded a bit depressed when she said that.  She still wasn't convinced?  Well, it was no matter.  They had the whole world before them.

"Yea, well, I guess the novices could always use some schooling or so.  Best to do it now before they learn the hard way, because the hard way involves getting killed and then whatever they learned becomes rather useless to them."

A significantly skinnier man than the last one, Jonas had rather light brown short hair and a loose tan shirt with light blue corduroy pants.  He had his arms crossed, and a frown on his face, but overall it was more a frown towards the watcher than towards being forced to be in front of the camera in general.  Shaking his head, he continued.

"Why does Terrace seem like such a bonehead?  Why did Borrah seem like he mostly cares about food more than his job?  We can act this way because we are fully confident in our abilities.  I wouldn't recommend trying it unless you truly were an expert.  Some say that in order to do this job, one has to even be inherently not human.  Course, I think I'm pretty human.  And you, assuming you're a fellow Baxter Corp hunter, who are watching this video right now, are probably pretty human, huh?  It's the same crazy rumor they spread about the assassins of Darkside, and those guys seem to be darn human too, if you ask me.  Perhaps some advantages are in fact needed, but the main crux of the matter is, you got to keep your head screwed on straight.  And I guess that's why I'm here."

Picking up a shotgun, Jonas took the opportunity to inspect it a little, before turning back to the camera.

"I believe our life is in fact a lot harder than pointing the gun and pulling the trigger, though Avelle generally had a different outlook on things.  Her view on life was one of magic where one can run away and forge their own reality, which is where I'm at, now.  I'm kinda an outlier, here, though.  Honestly, there were times when I wondered why I bothered with everyone else.  While I go for the highest paycheck possible, it's only to make up for the opportunity cost of my life, which I value a bit higher than most people would value theirs.  I don't really value money over nearly everything else in the world.  That would be Kerikov's job.  So why did I join the others on that mission?  It wasn't just for the scenery.  I might be practical, but I too see the need for a good leader.  So I did my part to show her our side of things, as well as the fact that this 'endless world' existed.  People like Juni and Avelle... they're so good at things like this that to them it is just a game."

Putting his hand to his chin, he thought for a moment before taking one last look at the camera.

"Leave it to Avelle to take something so serious and make it into a just a game.  But I figured that someone had to keep the other guys in line and focused, so I stuck around.  Remember, in the end, no matter how good you are at this, this is not a game.  Those other hunters?  Maybe they lost track of things a bit.  You should be careful about listening to them.  It was important that Juni be able to make her own decision.  Yea, I know, it might not be what's best for us, but it would be what's best for her.  Avelle was forced from us without the choice at all, and with no warning whatsoever.  This time we have a warning, and instead of trying to stick to an impossible reality that you can't create, you should prepare for the one that currently exists.  At least Juni's being honest about it.  For her, this is a choice between two worlds.  If you want to know my opinion, I think she should stick with the rest of us hunters, though.  As for what will happen to us?  Who knows?  Even I can't think that far ahead."

A long time ago, Terrance had a friend.  This friend told him to stop goofing around.  To settle down.  To finally get back to earth and stop this futile pursuit of an impossible goal.  Terrance's goal was never ending, but life should be lived to the fullest.  Even Jonas understood that.  Even more so, Juni's goal was actually tangible.  Her reality was actually a possibility.  She shouldn't hold back just because someone told her to.

Well, they were in the main building of the ruins.  On one of the outdoor walkways of the sandstone cliffside complex, they could still here the waterfall in the distance.  They could still see the sun in the sky, shining brightly.  They could still look down upon the lush flora below.

Was this enough?  Terrance made Juni stop for a bit to enjoy the view.

"Hey, Juni, how is it?"

"I... I think it's really cool, Terrance."  She smiled weakly at him, but then closed her eyes.  "It... it makes me want to stay.  But I realize... Juli would have especially loved being there.  She just seems like the type that would especially appreciate something like this.  And I feel a bit guilty that she couldn't come along for this trip."

Normally, Terrance would have said with a grin, "Why not?  There's always room for another lady."  But he paused at this.  He knew why Juni wouldn't be able to tell him 'why not'.  That was the same girl who denied coming with Avelle.  Juli tended to freak Terrance out, anyway.  She just reminded him too much of Avelle's killer, Bess.

Damn!  She did want to stay.  But she couldn't be convinced.  Not with that thought in mind.  Well, there was still one more thing.  Letting herself be held back by that just a few other people... that was ridiculous!  There were days when Avelle seemed to do that, too.  There were times when she seemed depressed for no reason, and Terrance was pretty sure it was because of that brunette.  One of the worst moments of Avelle's depression attacks was right before the day when Bess got to her.  But Avelle did get over Juli.  She didn't choose staying with her friend over reaching her true potential!  And Juni shouldn't have had to worry about something like that, either!

Way in the back, the still trench-coat wearing Kerikov called out to the rest of the hunters.  "Hey!  Did you guys see that?"

"What?"

"I thought I saw someone following us!"

A couple hunters ran back to check but found nothing.  Psh.  Was that a joke?  No matter.  They were coming to the end of the trip, and if whatever was following them was the only thing Terrance thought it could be, Juni would be realizing her own true potential soon enough.

"I guess you can see this as my last plea to you.  Or... well, at least, this recording was made before you made your decision.  Otherwise, I guess you can just see this as another documentary, like everyone elses' recordings.  So... um... hey there."

Terrance waved at the camera a bit.

"Our tradition of having a female leader started a while back, actually.  Only a couple years ago, a lot of us were just a bunch of goof-offs for the most part lacking any direction until Avelle came along and gave us some.  It almost started as a joke with us following her just because she was really good looking.  I guess since it's finally time to admit that Avelle is gone forever, I can go out and admit this.  Really, most of the guys thought that Juli, her brown-haired friend that followed her in, later that day, was prettier, and thus most of them actually just followed Avelle joking that maybe doing so would give them a better chance with that brown-haired girl if Juli ever came back.  I think Jettaron was one of the few people who found Avelle to be more 'beautiful', taking into account that looks aren't everything, of course.  But hey, that's why we were just a bunch of fun loving guys.  Skin deep might not be very deep, but what did you expect from a group that, back then, was just a bunch of directionless goof-offs?"

The man took a small pocket picture of Avelle with him and Folken in it from his pocket, and looked at it.

"Yea, well, we weren't directionless goof-offs after Avelle came along.  Instead we became goof-offs who actually DID have a direction.  And let me tell you, the difference was incredible.  Using her underground knowledge that she had with her, she managed to get us all a profession of hunters for Baxter Corp, and suddenly the world became open to all of us.  Including herself.  Breaking off from the bonds of being a member of an organization like Shadowlaw, and instead just becoming a loose affiliate with Baxter Corp, freedom was hers and the world became hers for the taking.  She didn't just sit back.  She went and created her own reality.  Her life was perfect until that fateful day where it was literally taken away.  And after that, we were left in ruins.  I don't think Avelle had a choice in that matter.  Otherwise, she would have told us.  That's how close we were and how perfect our life had become."

He put the picture back into his pocket.

"I'll keep this short.  Live life to its fullest.  That's what I did.  Maybe I'm too dependent, but I'm not a leader.  My path is here.  So I'm staying.  Juni, I wish you'd stay, too.  But I can understand if it's not your path, but I'm still going to try to convince you otherwise.  It's too bad, huh?  Avelle... I think it really was Avelle's calling, but then she had to. I... I still don't know why she did.  I still don't know why she had to die.  Maybe someday I can find the answers.  Until then, I'll keep living my life.  This was my last plea, though.  I wanted my life to continue on like this.  So I wished that she would stay.  I wish that you could stay.  Talk about it; think about.  Here, we could run away to our own reality forever..."

Things had quieted down.  They had entered a large single room with various pillars and columns holding it up, as well as a shallow pool with a pedestal in the center of it.  The waterfall couldn't be heard anymore.  The sky couldn't be seen.  While the walls were a beautiful shining and reflective dark blue color, no plants were within the room.

Juni could hear water dripping in several places, but that was it.  The rest of the hunters were behind her as she stepped into the water, and the water splashed slightly as she walked up to the small pedestal and looked at it.  Otherwise, the air continued to be silent.  A shining diamond necklace lay alone on top of it.

She reached for it, then stopped.

A voice whispered to her.

"It's not trapped.  Go ahead and take it in your hand."

"Is... is this it?" she asked back to the voice.

"Not all people in ancient times were that rich.  But this necklace is worth a lot, I believe.  I am sure you want it.  That's why you came here."

She grabbed it.

The lake began to swirl and the gushing sounds of fast flowing water began to echo around the room.  The other hunters looked around, trying to find the source, as several of them prepared their firearms.  The running water wasn't really powerful enough to make Juni lose her balance, though, despite her standing in the middle of the lake.  She actually thought the effect was pretty cool, herself.

Collecting together, the water splashed up at the other end of the lake in a fountain.  When the fountain dispersed, standing there was a large spike-finned... dark blue fishman of sorts.  Ah, a Darkstalker.  This would apparently be one of those merman types, able to manipulate water waves and swim up to speeds of... well, really fast speeds (Juni didn't really care much for those particular numbers).  Baxter Corp documentary marked them as so rare that they felt the species might even have gone extinct.  At least, judging by how many of them were on Earth.  The rumoured-to-exist Makai could have tons of them, but of course Baxter Corp wouldn't be able to figure out whether or not that was true.  Juni wondered how long this particular Dark stalker had been in these not-so-ruined ruins.

He looked pretty neat.  The dark blue and green color of his skin (if there were scales, which there probably were, they were too smooth to be able to notice them) reflected with the reflecting walls for quite a pretty effect.  Well, time to pop the question.

"Oooo, are you the last of your ancient race that created this?"  Juni beamed.

"Huh?  Do you not understand?  I, Mukurlo, am the one that KILLED the ancient race that created this!"  Opening his arms to show that the whole empty ruins were his doing, a grin appeared across the fishman's face as Juni realized the threat.  She quickly entered her battle stance as the merman crossed his arms in a diagonal cross across his chest.  "And I'll do the same to you, just like I did to all the other explorers that came across this place.  This paradise is mine.  You stupid humans.  You are such weaklings!  After only sixty years... one hundred tops, you wither up and die from old age!  You can't even withstand the passage of time.  How do you think you can withstand me?"

The door behind everyone slammed shut.

Wait.  But Terrance said he knew everything about this place.  If lots of explorers came here first, then he had to have known about this guardian guy here, too.  What was going on!?  Suddenly, Juni really wished she hadn't thrown Avelle's gun away.  The merman held his arms up in the air and the water began to gather again in that neat swirling effect, but Juni couldn't afford to be entranced by it, this time.  Then the fountain of water that rose up came crashing down, sending the water flying every where.

When the water had dissipated, the battle had begun.

"GET BACK!"

All of the hunters as well as a certain newcomer that no one noticed before immediately dove behind the closest pillar to them as a huge tidal wave formed and crashed across the room.  Crashing against the blue reflective walls, the water flew up into the air before splashing down again.  Fishhead (Mukorwhathisname) immediately began looking around for where Juni disappeared off to after the tsunami, but his question was soon answered with physical force as Juni, who had used her mach slide to dash through the wave, grabbed him from the back and flipped into the air with him, slamming him to the ground with an earth direct slam and kneeing him heavily in the chest on the way down.  Rebounding back to the other side of the room, she noticed that the fishman was completely ignoring the hunters behind him as he charged for Juni once again, weaving back and forth at an extremely rapid pace.

Realizing that the other hunters probably wouldn't be able to shoot at him while he was moving so fast, especially when Juni was at the other end of the room and thus a possible unintended recipient of friendly fire, the blonde quickly channeled some psycho power into her gloves which she put up to defend against a fast slash by Mojokojo (or whatever his name was).  Ducking, she blocked another swipe from the dark blue fishman then stood up to block against an overhead swipe.  Not holding still for long, the Darkstalker weaved to the side of Juni and was about to slash her from there when there was a loud clanging sound.

Terrance's ridiculously big-ass sword was stuck in the monster's arm.  It had only penetrated the scales slightly, but Juni could tell from the slight trickle of red blood coming out that it damaged the creature.

Mukuluku drew back his arm in pain as Terrance yanked his sword out at the same time, then dived into the water and dashed out of sight.  Juni took the brief moment of reprieve to glare at the man next to her.

"You... you KNEW about this?  You're making me go up against this!?  He said that he defeated a lot of explorers before, but only Baxter Corp generally knows about this place, so those must have been hunters he killed!  How powerful is this guy!?"

"This one?  Baxter Corp classifies him as B+.  Nothing that we've never handled before."  Terrance grinned, but Juni knew that he knew that this was a lot more serious than he was pretending it was.

"It's nothing YOU'VE never handled before!" she snapped.  "Terrance!  I've never fought a REAL Darkstalker of B+ class with you guys, yet!  I don't know how to handle this!  ...CRAP!"

Juni dove behind the pillar to her right while Terrance ducked behind the one to her left while another tidal wave formed from the water poured through the room.

"Your measly assistance that you brought along can't even touch me here!"  Mermokop shouted as he sprung out of the water right next to the blonde with an upward fist, knocking her back.  "You seem different from the rest of them, but you're still a pathetic human to me!"

Juni realized that she didn't have any other option but to fight.  The creature moved too fast even in the shallow water for anyone to use any projectile attacks, and the only hunter, besides Juni, whose up-close fighting style had a chance of even getting near the creature was Terrance.  Leaping into the air, she slammed into Mukurlo's elbows that he brought up to defend against the attack.  Her boot clanged against the scales to no effect, and Juni bounced back from the rebounding force, landing next to Terrance again.  Mukurlo immediately made a dash for her but a quick cannon spike knocked him back.  Upon hitting the ground, he immediately dove through the water and out of sight, again.

"HEY!  What did you think you were doing!?" Juni yelled at Terrance.  "I... I can't handle this!!"

"What are you talking about!?"  Terrance shouted as he ran to the side just in time to get out of the way of the merman torpedoing through the water.  Juni cannon drilled through the pool, causing water to fly up as she did, and her feet spinning into the fishman's side.  The impact sent him off course and slamming into a nearby pillar.  "You're doing fine!  Don't you see?  You can win this!"

"Why are you doing this to me!?" Juni cried back after getting up from her attack.  The merman had gotten up, himself, and had ducked down ready to slam into Juni from the water, but the blonde had anticipated and brought her boot up then crashing down on his head in a falling arc overhead kick.

By now, several of the other hunters had got into a better position.  Rob, taking advantage of the moment Mukurlo was stunned by Juni's kick, immediately grabbed the humanoid fish and slammed him into the nearby pillar again, grinding his armored shoulder pad against him.  Terrance brought his sword up again, but Mukurlo had managed to squirm free and dove off again.

"This is it," Terrance shouted towards the girl who was their leader.  "Those of us with the power... we don't deserve to be held back!  You can really accomplish anything when you try!  Whoever is making you do this, you should just forget about it!"

"But I..."  Juni didn't have time to finish her protest, as Mukurlo had sprung out of the water right next to her once more.  He was about to hit her with another uppercut from below when a cannon spike to his back sent him flying over the blonde.  Looking ahead, Juni saw a certain fluffy pink-haired girl standing in front of her.

"Serina!?  What are you doing here?"

"Juuuuni, I was wondering the same thing because this is so confusing and what not," Serina piped.  "But Janet wanted me to look after you and Juli felt you could get into lots of trouble if you went after one of the grand darkstalker ones just for a chance to get a last great finale so everyone got really worried so I came after you!"

Juni blinked as behind her, Mukurlo dashed out of the way of the fire from Jonas' shotgun, who almost managed to get a clear shot.

"They... cared about me?"

Suddenly, Terrance's voice came from behind her.  "If they really cared about you, they wouldn't be making you do this!  Don't you get it!?  She... She's..."

"What, Terrance!?"  Juni turned around, a look of extreme anger on her face.  "Just because Serina is 'a lady' too, you shouldn't be tip toe-ing around like this!"

"DON'T YOU SEE!?  She's holding you back, Juni!!!" Terrance's retaliation was filled with just as much emotion as Juni's.  But... Juni didn't really feel like she was being held back, anymore!  In fact, after she had come to terms with herself, she felt more free than ever!  She made this choice, herself.  No one forced it on her!  Yes, she could maybe have been a great leader, but Juni wasn't even sure if that was what she really wanted, anymore.  All she wanted was a nice fun life.  She had her ideals and her goals, but they were only secondary to being able to have a good time with everyone else and all her friends that she had finally begun to make.  She wasn't being held back at all!  Even with all that, she could still be great!

"You annoying pest!"  The merman shouted.  "Don't you realize?  Even with all of your helpers, you can't even penetrate my armored scales.  I don't know how you managed to get through my first attack, but this will finish you!"

The water had gathered together again, and Mukurlo had set up one final tidal wave as Juni felt Serina hand her something.  It was... some C4?  COOL!

No one even saw the blur as Juni passed through the title wave.  This time she landed right in front of the merman, who was shocked as he realized how Juni's mach slide enabled her to dash through his wave attacks.  But it was too late.  She grabbed him and flipped into the air once again for another earth direct slam.  However, this time as they spun through the air, she made sure to leave a present strapped right on him.

After they crashed to the floor, a bright flash occurred and a loud bang filled the room as Juni used the impact to bounce away, right in time to avoid the explosion that was occurring.

"I had the time of my life."

She... she really loved it.  It was really nice.  Looking at the camera, Juni smiled as she continued.

"Still, I'm sure that even after this, I'll be having even more good times now, too.  But it was nice.  It was nice to do this, one last time.  So I'm glad.  I'm glad that I was able to have a true mission with you guys.  I'm glad for everything you did for me.  And I'm glad that you really thought I was good enough for you to call your leader.  I don't know how I can ever really thank you, now.  I want to thank you for believing in me.  For making me realize I could believe in myself."

The camera panned to a photograph of Juni with the rest of the hunters behind her, before panning back to Juni, again.

"I came to you guys wanting to be like Avelle, and you let me.  I know from her journal tape that it was the time of her life.  That her life was perfect.  The attention, the fame, being great within the group and pretty famous throughout Baxter Corp...  Avelle really had something, huh?  But... I don't think she ever told you this, but the truth is, she missed Juli and Cammy a lot.  She missed her friends back home.  I wonder if Avelle had to make the same choice I did.  I think she did.  She made that choice to go create a new reality for herself, and for her, things turned out to be great.  And after being with you guys, I can see why.  We went on adventures and we traveled the world.  We fought together and achieved a status beyond anything I thought I could ever reach.  And I'll never forget that."

Her hands behind her back, she kneeled her head down, but only for a moment.

"I... I'm still sorry for having to do this.  But that's just it.  Now I realize that I CAN believe in myself.  I don't have to imitate Avelle to be good.  I can just live my own life, and be myself, and everything will be great!  And I wish all of you good luck.  I really do.  I really hope you can continue to enjoy many more Springtimes in your life.  Please, keep on going, even without me.  I'm sure that's what Avelle would have wanted.  And thank you all, for understanding what I'm doing here.  I'm glad that you felt this way, and I'm glad I was able to tell you all about it.  It makes things easier to move on for.  Avelle...  I wish she didn't have to leave so quickly.  It must have made things difficult to get over for all of you, since she wasn't even able to really leave a final message besides that name thing for Terrance and Folken.  But I'm leaving this message to you, now."

She beamed, while holding the diamond necklace she had acquired from the ruins.

"Live life to the fullest, guys.  Find your own reality, and embrace it.  I know I will.  That's what I'm doing, now.  I suppose it might still be hard for some of you to understand, but it's true.  I realized that you don't have to be a great grand powerful leader or force your ideals on someone to make a difference in someone's life.  Of course, it's good to dream, but sometimes you should just take things one step at a time. Guys, thanks for making a difference in my life.  It's been fun.  But don't see this as my final message.  Maybe we'll see each other again.  I think I'd like that.  Until then, good luck, everyone.  And thank you.  Thank you for everything!"

The movie on the monitor finished.  Closing his browser window, Terrance leaned back and sighed.  On his desk next to the mouse was the diamond necklace they got from the ruins.

"You're watching that video of your hunting group on the Springtime Avelle webpage, again?"  Crossing her arms, Chika Imawano shook her head.  "You are a strange strange gaijin man."

Chika was just one of the many young female Baxter Corp employees that Terrance got to know over the years.  But recently, he's been talking to her a bit more.  He got to know her a bit better after he met one of her friends, who was apparently on the run from a certain evil underground organization.

"Some memories are just so good that you'd just like to keep living them, Chika."  Terrance turned off the monitor.

Baxter Corp's network... normal people wouldn't see it, but a Baxter Corp affiliate like him would be able to see it again and again.  It would be a permanent memory.  He'd save it to his hard drive if he had a home, but it looked like it was always the traveling life for him.  Right now, he was in one of Baxter Corp's main buildings.  This one was the Europe branch.  It looked like Chika was relocated here along with her friend, since that guy had to constantly be on the move or else Shadowlaw would eventually track him down and kill him.  Whatever.

Terrance shrugged, just for effect.  Chika frowned at his apathy.

"I never understood how you always needed a female leader.  You guys are weird."

"Hey," he replied with a grin.  "You know that I can't refuse a lady.  What would I say to her, if she couldn't be our new leader because some random guy had the job?  Look, I'm... I'm really sorry.  Can we not talk about this?  Hey, how's your friend doing?"

"Oh?  Bremare?"  Sighing, Chika looked off to the side.  "He found out something... very unsettling."

"What's that?"

"Well, he keeps on rambling about how he's now realized that one of his friends back in Shadowlaw... no, not Ferishi, another one... he found out that she was 'one of them.'"  Shaking her head, Chika frowned some more.  It was too bad.  Terrance always thought that a lady looked better with a smile.  "I don't understand his obsession with those Dolls.  I don't see how they can be so similar to Darkstalkers or 'ubers' or so powerful that they become a threat to the public safety and the public sanity.  But I suppose it's not like I ever experienced it first hand."

"Well, it's no problem, I'm sure."  Terrance grinned again.  Chika needed to cheer up!  "Hey, now that you're here, you don't have to worry about him getting ganked by assassins at least, right?"

Hooboy, bad mood.  It was obvious that Chika was annoyed at how Terrance wasn't taking things seriously enough.

"He thinks Shadowlaw will get him eventually.  Might take a year or two.  They actually found him at Baxter HQ in America.  I suppose it's to be expected since our security there was designed by products of American educational system," Chika remarked.  "Still, I don't think this location is much safer.  But that won't be a factor for long.  We'll be moving to a branch in Japan, soon."

"Ah..."  Even Terrance found it hard to put up with Chika, sometimes.  She was a Japan fangirl to the extreme, if Terrance ever saw one.  He didn't even realize they existed until he met Chika one day.  Not being Japanese, himself, Terrance realized it could be quite aggravating, sometimes.

"Now about you," Chika continued.  "I think I know about a new leader for you.  Perhaps that other girl you met?  She seems skilled with fire arms.  And she's Japanese.  She probably has a very good sense of commitment, so you won't have to worry about her leaving you all."

"Huh?  Carrey?  Yea, okay, I'll think about it."  Hmm... not a bad idea.  Terrance figured he could ask, but that Carrey that he met recently needed to cheer up even more than Chika did.

"Wow, even I don't believe it..."  Terrace muttered, absolutely astounded by Juni's ability.

Jonas echoed his thoughts with his speech.  "She fights..."

"Just like Avelle does."  Rob finished the sentence as Juni knocked her opponent back with a cannon spike.

They really were impressed by her.  Here, she was truly great.
 
 

After they arrived back at Mrigranka, Serina had run off with Marzche to go get some ice cream.  Juni decided to take a short nap while she waited for Juli to get back from her trip.  Juli said that Folken was taking her to a Darkside meeting.  That was nice.  Juni was glad.  She heard about Darkside.  Some sort of professional assassins organization which Juli seemed to admire a lot.  She hoped that Juli had a good time there.
 
 

"I believe that it's time for us to leave the hotel ballroom finally."  Juni was having just too much fun with her Avelle imitation.  "Who will be a dear and take care of the bill?"

Rob clumsily fiddled through his wallet for a moment before noticing that it was notoriously empty, whereupon Folken opened up his own wallet and took some money out of it.  "Allow me, m'lady.  Anything to be of service, even."

Wasn't it the coolest?  To have so many people who liked you so much that they'd do anything you asked?
 
 

Lying down on her bed, her head on her pillow, Juni closed her eyes with a smile, and drifted off to dreamland, if only for a moment.  Reminiscing about the past, Juni beamed.
 
 

You see, you're lucky," Rob remarked to Terrance. "You get to be the hero that saves the day and gets the girl!"

The ever-silent Jonas coughed repeatedly, mumbling the word "Jailbait!"

"But I'm not the leaderly manly 'save the day' hero guy!  Juni's our leader, not me." Terrance ignored Jonas's commentary and answered the other hunter's comment.  His statement got Juni to begin paying attention to the conversation.

"Wait," she remarked.  "Did you just call me manly?"

Inwardly, she laughed as several of the other hunters did the same.  It was fun.
 
 

She would miss it.  Of course she would.  But she was still happy.  Life was good.  When Juli had arrived back, Juni was there to greet her.  Running up to her, she caught the brunette off guard with a hug.

"Juli!!!"

"Hey!"  Juli smiled downwards at her partner.  "I take it you had a really good time?"

"Yea!"  Beaming, the blonde backed up a bit.  "It was great!  I wish you were there!  This really COOL thing happened where I took down an entire Darkstalker and Serina helped and it was neat!  Ooo, how was your trip?"

"Really?  It sounds interesting.  You should tell me all about it.  I'd like to hear some more," Juli sincerely remarked.  "Me?  Oh, of course, the most amazing thing happened while I was there.  And I really have GOT to tell you about how some of those Darkside members dressed and what kind of clothes they wore.  You know that I generally don't pay attention to that kind of stuff too often, but it was really just something else!"

Live life to the fullest, and enjoy it with a friend.  As the two sister agents headed back to their room to swap stories, Juni knew that life was great.  Life was great, indeed!
 
 

On a bridge overlooking the large vast city, a couple was watching the sunrise.  A beautiful canvas of yellow, orange, and red was painted across the sky.

"It's... wonderful!"  One of Terrance's girlfriends, Celine cried, some tears forming in her eyes.

"Heh, yea."  Terrance replied, continuing to look at the sky.  He glanced over at Juni.  "So, what do you think?"

There was only a little more time left until Juni would have to really go back to Shadowlaw, and in the end she didn't mind since she did miss her partner, but that wouldn't stop her from enjoying every possible moment of this other life until then.

The blonde agent returned a smile to Terrance, then looked back up at the sky.  "It's more beautiful than anything I've ever seen."