Misaki-chan

"Come this way," someone told her and the others that were injured, pointing towards a room. They compliantly followed, leaving the uninjured to wait for them while they got treated. The room was simple, with several beds semi-surrounded by curtains and boxes scattered around the edges. Misaki laid down on the bed closest to the door before slinging her uninjured arm over her eyes and letting out a sigh. Today has been so crazy. "Hey, do you mind sitting up so I can check you out?" "Mm?" she murmured as she moved her arm to see a Japanese woman looking back at her. "Yeah, sure." As she moved to sit up, the woman asked, "So where do you need attention?" "Well," Misaki said, "My left arm has been throbbing a bit and my ears had been ringing a lot since I was where the explosion happened, but that's mostly subsided by now. But for the most part I think I'm just scratched up." "Well let me take a look to make sure," she said as she turned to close the curtains to give them privacy. "I'm Fujisaki Ayano by the way. Nice to meet you Mimori-san." "How did you-" "I was told. Now do you mind lifting your shirt up a bit so I can see if there's any bruising?" "Ok. And please, call me Misaki." "Then call me Ayano." After a checkup, which didn't result in anything more than some disinfectant and bandages, Ayano left the singer to change into the clothes that they had provided for her (seeing as how her current clothes were bloodied and torn). Now donning a plaid button-up with a pair of jeans, she decided to grab a quick nap. Might as well. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when I'm needed?" she asked Ayano as she passed by. When she gave a nod, the singer thanked her with a smile and laid down. Thank god my job has taught me to fall asleep quickly.

Before Tsukiko could answer, the building lurched back and forth. Was it the other bombs? I thought we stopped them! Misaki grabbed onto the stairway railing that was by her, flinching a bit when she realized she had done it with the arm that was in pain. Regardless, she swallowed the feeling down and said, "Come on. We have to get out of here." The singer grabbed the blonde and supported her as they made their way down the stairs. It wouldn't be safe to take the elevator, not with the building feeling like it was about to collapse. It took them some time, since Tsukiko couldn't go fast due to her leg and Misaki being worn out from the mix of the already exhausting day and feeling a tad dizzy from bloodloss, but eventually they made their way out. It was a good thing too, since as they made their way to their group (who they saw in the distance), the building began to collapse on itself, unable to hold itself together after the bombs. Misaki picked up the pace, and managed to make it to the group when Building 109 collapsed fully and was no more. When she saw the others bloodied up as well, she said, "Well I see a trip to a hospital is needed for a lot of us."

"Thanks. That'd be lovely," Tsukiko smiled. After the black box was stashed away in the other girl's shoulderbag, Misaki wrapped an arm to support the blonde around her waist while she put her arm on the singer's shoulder. They hurried the stairs up before Misaki opened the door. Suddenly, a loud boom happened, ringing in her ears as a shock wave blew them into each other and into the wall. Somehow they didn't fall down the stairs. As the dust settled, she could still hear the ringing in her ears, drowning out all other sound. She could see Tsukiko saying something, but couldn't make out the words. "Wha- What did you say?!" she asked, almost slipping back into Japanese. The ringing had by then subsided a bit, making it easier to hear what the blonde was saying. However, the ringing was still there. "I said: what the hell happened?!" Misaki looked at herself, seeing of there was any noticeable damage. She saw that her left arm was scratched up a bit, bleeding, as well as her cheek when she touched it to make sure. Ugh, this ringing is giving me a headache... Wait-! She quickly checked her ears for blood or anything really to tell her whether or not she had ruptured her eardrums. Oh please don't rupture please please please I need my ears I'm a singer for christ's sake I need them I have a job don't be ruptured oh god oh god oh god. When she didn't feel anything wrong with her ears, she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god... Nothing bad it looks like..." she muttered to herself. "I'll definitely need to go to the hospital though..." When the singer noticed Tsukiko staring, she codeswitched back to English and said, "I am fine. Are you? We should get to a hospital."

"M-... Misaki, right?" Tsukiko asked, looking unsure of her name. "Yeah..." Misaki nodded, flipping back to english. "Going up with me?" "I can yeah..." Looking closer at the black box Tsukiko had, it seemed similar to the one she had found earlier. "What are you going to do with that one?" the singer asked. "I don't know yet. I'm not even sure what this is. But if this ends up being dangerous, I can throw this away from the roof." "To the streets full of people!?" As the elevator doors close, the blonde replied, "No, it'll do whatever it'll do in midair." Misaki watched the numbers rise on the screen as she heard Tsukiko mutter, "I should probably tell Alek that I'm going up rather than down..." The elevator did not take long to rise to the floor below the roof. The girls stepped out, hurrying as fast as they could up to the flight of stairs that would take them to the roof since time was running out. "Do you need help?" she asked the blonde as they made their way up the stairs. "You do have a hurt leg after all..."

(sorry I've been inactive, I've had to work a lot) God, what have I gotten myself into?! This was way too much for Misaki. She should have known it was a bad idea from the start, joining a group of people she barely knew to stop something she barely knew anything about. Because now she had to help stop bombs from blowing up. They were also down a person because Elle was taken by the skeleton man for "safe keeping" as he put it. I am so out of my depth right now. Everyone around her was talking, someone saying something about how they know how to defuse a bomb (thank god), some yelling about KID and how much of a jerk he was (agreed), how they should split up to look for the bombs (good idea) to just a mess of words mixed with the screaming of the shoppers running away from the building. Following everyone else, she weaved through the crowds while keeping her head down in hopes no one would look hard enough to notice her face. Where to go, where to go, where to go... Getting into the building was one thing, a very easy thing actually. How they didn't get caught, especially considering the foreigners stuck out like a sore thumb, she may never know. But finding the bombs and getting rid of all of them in time was another thing. This store is way too big for us to find and disable the bombs in time... Is there an easier way? Even if there was an easier way, there wasn't time to think of it right now. As she split apart from the group, she quickly stopped to look at a map of the building. OK, so where would there be the most damage? What would cause the building to collapse easily? Structure beams I suppose, or whatever they're called. Probably lower on the building too since if destroying the base can cause the entire building to fall. With that in mind, Misaki ran throughout the first floor, hoping to find a way to the basement (assuming there was one) or a support beam or something. Suddenly, she noticed a small black box taped to a beam and skidded to a stop. I found one! She grabbed her phone to contact someone from the group to tell them that she found one only to remember that she never actually got anyone's contact information. Of course. Trying not to panic (and only somewhat succeeding), she studied the bomb, looking to see if there was a switch or anything. Nothing on the outside. Maybe the inside...? It was a gamble, but she really had no other choice. There was no time to look for someone. After carefully removing it from the wall, she got out a coin and used it as a makeshift screwdriver to unscrew the top before peering inside. The set up was simple, almost too simple for a bomb. Could it be fake? It would make sense to have fake ones I suppose, especially if KID assumed people would try to disarm them. She saw an off switch, off to the side and quickly turned it off. OK, time to go look for another one. I kinda doubt that was a real one, considering how easy it was to turn off. Maybe I'll run into someone and I can join them. After running up the stairs to a different floor, she resumed her search for a bomb. As she looked, she noticed someone else on the floor, holding a black box and limping a bit. Is that...? "Tsukiko-san?" she yelled out.

"Just call me L," the redhead said apathetically. Elle, huh? That won't be fun to say, though I supposed it's easier than some people's names here... "Um..." Misaki said, gathering the attention of the rest of the group, "Do you think we should... um, break up and look at the building or stay together?" "Do you mean split up?" "Yes, yes!" she replied, nodding. "It might be good to split up because it would be easier to look around without attracting too much attention. So? What do you think?"

As people discussed what they were doing, Misaki looked towards Building 109. What is there for the KID impostor to steal anyway? Nearby, she heard Aleksander say, "I'll go and get my car. So we can use it if needed." A few minutes later he came back, driving a rather nice car. One of the boys (did he say his name was Warren or something?) said, "I don't think all of us could fit here... Hm. Maybe someone who knows the locations of places here in Shibuya could enlighten us as to where this 109 is? We probably won't even need a car..." A girl, Chopper she said to call her, pointed at the large building close to the Shibuya station with the bright lights illuminating the digits 109. "It's just right there..." she replied. "Well if you think Tsukiko is able to walk there, then it suits to me. But I think it's easier for her. And takes less time." Aleksander added. "We should use the car," Misaki said. "It would be more helpful for Tsukiko-san since she is hurt." The others seemed to agree with her since just a second later they started making their way to Aleksander's car. "Hey, wait for me!" Chopper yelled. Suddenly she heard a shriek and turned around to see Banana Man (what are with these strange names?) behind Chopper. "The ice would have melted before I'd have gotten my chance and I kicked Ren-kun today once already. Don't worry, I prank everyone. Equality and stuff, you know?" He said with a stoic face, trying not to laugh. "Come on, let's go." Once everyone was inside, they made their way to the building. It didn't take long, due to the park being close by. Once out in front of the building, she let her thoughts consume her just for a second. She couldn't afford to have her head in the clouds when lives could be at stake. Well here it is. Let's hope nothing bad happens. "What is it we've come here for?" the redhead girl (who's name she never did find out) asked, gazing over the group while plucking her earbud headphones out and stuffed them, unraveled, into the pocket. "Are we looking for something? Or someone?" "I believe we came to look at the place?" Misaki said, not quite sure why herself but had an idea. "So we know where things are? And also, what is your name? I do not believe I know it."

Misaki chatted with a few of the group members, talking about what they could do and catching the names of everyone while doing so. Apparently mentioning that she was a singer by trade made some people think she was famous, but that was hardly the case. She hadn't had her big break yet, but she was on the rise and hopefully could become big someday. Suddenly, the blonde girl (did she say her name was Tsukiko?) said, "Right, four hours to go. If we assume that we need an hour or two to get inside the building and set up what ever we need to do, it leaves us two to three hours to plan and prepare. But first things first: What are you good at? Do you have any useful skill that could help us in our objective? Because I bet we are going to need any help we can get. I for example can throw things quite accurately and I'm relatively good at planning." "I can drive car," said Aleksander, "because if we need to escape or chase something, we need good driver. And I race in Super Formula and I'm 4th in points after three races. Also, I got good physics in long distance running." "As for me," the singer added, "I could pull a thread or two if we need to due to my job, though not big things." "Do you mean string?" someone asked. "Um, yes, I think? And I believe I am also good at... distracting? Is that the word? Like, keeping attention away from something?" Someone nodded and so she continued. "I am bendable too, so I can do what needs to be done." "Flexible." "Thank you."

Misaki honestly didn't know how she ended up in the park with the group of foreigners. One minute she was eating her ramen peacefully, the next she was here. "Excuse me...hello. Good morning." She turned to the skeleton-like man, framed by the setting sun. He looked at it for a second before saying, "Oh, it's...more like afternoon. Good afternoon, then." Looking around the group, she noted there was a tension rising, though she had no clue why. The man rose a hand and said, "Please don't make any commotion. Nobody but me can hear your screams anyway." As she scanned the passerbys, it did seem to be true. For some reason they just walked by, acting as if there wasn't a large group of foreigners standing around. Not even the group of children, who normally would point and loudly talk about foreigners, looked their way. Suddenly, a few of the people from the group lunged to attack the skeleton man. Misaki watched in shock as the man effortlessly dodged every attack you. What sort of people are they?! I mean, I know foreigners can be strange but this is over the top! "Ah," he sighed as the attacking finally stopped. "That was a waste of effort. I just wanted to tell you a few things you might want to know. First, I do apologize for that attack," he said dully. What attack? "Second, there will be an attack on the 109 Building tonight by the KID. If you don't stop the attack or otherwise interfere, people will die during this particular attack." He paused. "Don't ask me how I know. I know everything. Naturally, I know that this entire group is comprised of people that frequent the same forum. You all are very interesting for that and other reasons. I guess...that's why I've been watching you this entire time, as well." Wait, so we have to stop an attack? By the KID impersonator? And what forum is he talking about exactly? As quickly as he came, he turned around before looking back at them. "The attack won't occur until midnight. Well, good luck, then. I wish you good luck...from the smallest portion of my heart." And with that he disappeared. "Um... I have a question," Misaki asked after a moment of silence. Seeing the mostly blank faces at her, she realized none of them probably spoke japanese. They were foreigners after all and Japan was pretty nice in terms of being able to get around even if you don't know the native language. Guess I need to codeswitch. God, it's been a while since I've spoken english. "I... have a question?" she repeated, this time getting faces that made it clear they understood. The words felt heavy, twisting unnaturally in her mouth, but if it made things easier she would have to make do. "Wait, who are you anyway?" one of them asked. "Oh!" she said. "I am Misaki." "So your question...?" another one of them said. "What forum was he talking about?" Misaki asked. "Detective Conan World." "DCW?" the singer squeaked, suddenly remembering the forum. She had joined a few years prior, back when she was just starting out in her career and had spent hours on there before eventually just... stopped. "Are you telling me I'm in this mess because of a damn forum?" she muttered, suddenly switching back to japanese. "What am I going to do..." Should she help? Did she have to help? After all, people would die if they didn't stop it but at the same time she can't cause too much of a stir lest she hurt her budding career and how did they even know if the man was telling the truth? What if he just wanted to trouble a bunch of foreigners and her? But the people ignoring us as they walked by... Maybe it was for the best to help. If people die because I didn't help... "OK," she said, talking a deep breath to calm herself before switching back to english, "so what are we going to do?

By the time her hour was up, Misaki had learned far more than she needed to about the Kaito KID impostor. Well, at least it was an interesting read... Though it does remind me I need to catch up on the manga. Once she was out of the cafe, she began to walk straight, not particularly caring where she went so long as she was going somewhere. She liked it, this aimless wandering. It was nice. As she turned a corner, she heard someone say, "Hey! Are you two alright?" English? Misaki turned towards the general area of where the voice was coming from to see three girls talking, with the blonde girl leaning against her friend. I wonder why she's leaning against her friend. Is she hurt? She walked by them, intending to see if something was wrong without actually talking to them (she didn't really want to interact with them if it was avoidable). While she couldn't see what exactly was wrong with the blonde girl, she did look in pain. They were talking to a girl wearing a green cap who looked like she was giving them directions. Oh, it looks like they're ok then. Probably getting directions to a hospital, seeing how blondie looks in pain and all. There is one nearby here after all. So she walked past, not paying them any attention seeing as how they were already getting help. After a few more minutes of wandering about, she decided to head to a 7-11 that she knew carried Forte, a music magazine that was featuring Chris Aeigo in this month's issue. Once she was inside, she made a beeline to the magazine rack and grabbed one of the issues available before scanning the other magazines for something that looked interesting. She noticed the newest volume of Shonen Sunday and decided to indulge herself by grabbing that too. As she walked out the door, she flipped through Forte, mostly to see what was in it. She noticed an ad for a ramen place, one that happened to be nearby where she was. She considered going there, not sure whether or not she should, but her stomach growling convinced her. Ramen it is then. It didn't take her long to get to the shop, only about five minutes. She gave a quick bow to the owners as she took a seat. It was a small place, very homey. The tatami flooring was a nice touch. The place obviously didn't get much business, considering the size and the slightly worn down look it had (probably why they had put the ad in the magazine). But there was a group there, a bunch of foreigners considering that none of them looked Japanese. In fact... Isn't that that blonde girl in pain earlier? Well this was worrisome. She was in pain and yet she came to eat ramen instead of going to the hospital? Foreigners. They're such a strange bunch. But I don't know if she even wants to go to a hospital or if she was ever really in pain. I'll just... keep an eye of them. See what happens. If anything happens, I'll help. If not, then no harm done.

Misaki walked through the heart of Shibya-ku, glad to be back in Tokyo after a month tour around southern Japan. She had missed the engulfing crowds that gave her a sense of anonymity and the melody they produced, from the beeping horns to the chatter about boyfriends, work, thieves, idols, scho- Wait, thieves? She drifted closer to the teenage girls talking about thieves. "Hey, did you hear?" one of them said. "Someone's impersonating Kaito KID and stealing a bunch of stuff!" Kaito KID impersonator? Wow. Someone's taking their manga a little too seriously. "No way!" the other one gasped. "Do you think he's hot?" "Oh my god Gumi, of course you would ask that!" the not-Gumi girl laughed. As the two girls turned the corner, the singer kept going straight until she hit an internet cafe. She paid for an hour, ordered a cup of tea and quickly googled "Kaito KID impersonator burgularies". Clicking on a few links, she began to skim the articles. Well, it wouldn't hurt to catch up on the news. It's not like I care or anything. After all, it's the police's problem, not mine.

"Okay, since that bitch are send some shadows, I have two plan to silenced Aero for life. The easy way, some of you need to take care of the Shadows while the other facing Aero head-on. The hard way is we distracted Aero while I planted some nice 'suprise' on her back. While you clear from her, just say the word and boom. Both of the plan was very risky but it's worth it," he said. "Because Aero just wrecked my guns, why don't we use explosive charges to end this madness and her arrogance?" While Misaki wasn't quite sure what his plans were entailing, she said, "Well, considering we lack other options, I'm open to the plan." Hesh looked at his wounds before looking at the others. "Did anyone have medicine here? We do this plan, or we died by these souless creatures and a mind-less Aero. It's your choice." "Oh!" the armored girl said, quickly moving to grab something from her bag. "I do have some bandages, if those help..." She passed them out to the group. Looking through her bag a bit more, she found some herbs and liquids. "While I'm not quite sure what these are due to lack of memory, they might be medicine. I suppose it's worth giving them a try, no?"

With three of them taunting her, Aero was now slightly shaking with anger. She once again slammed her mechanical hand on the white surface of the Rift. Darkness formed around the impact site, and Shadows came out. It was a grain of sand compared to the army they had fought before, but now they were weaponless. The group slowly backed away as the shades started approaching. Aero's ever-changing eyes were sending a message: You're all words. I don't have time for you. I'll let these Shadows handle you. Hesh looked at his bleeding arms. "S***. No time to attack... But I would redeem my harsh behavior with kill Aero. Even it'll cost my life! I'll use ego to gave Aero a messy demise..." He then looked a broken weapon. "Listen up, comrades. I have a plan to take out Aero..." Suddenly, Misaki remembered she still had her sling and ammo in her bag. Quickly, she rummaged through her bags to find it in pieces. She swore under her breath as she tried to find anything else that could help. "Okay, what is it?" Iyana asked.

"Did she just..!?" Prem said, not finishing his sentence. "You b*tch..!" He started running towards Aero, aiming the arrow and shooting it at the Jaeger. Aero stopped it easily, followed by a bright small light and the arrow followed back its trajectory towards the boy. "Prem!" Misaki yelled out, unable to get to the boy in time to get him out of the way of the arrow. He managed to dodge it on his own, but gained a gash on his arm in the process. Prem got up quickly, but Aero's punch slammed into his stomach and sent him back 20 meters. The armored girl made her way over to him as fast as possible. "Are you ok?" she asked, helping him up. He nodded. As they made their way back to the group, Hesh glared at the Jaeger and said, "You're worst than a dishonorable scum. Worst than my companion there. Well, action have consequences... You hit me, and I'll hit you back for that..." "Well, your words won't help me survive, or feed me. But that's what you don't want, right?" Iyana said suddenly. "As a survivalist, I don't care about objects that don't help me survive. And that includes your words." She crossed her arms. "Deafeating Moto means something. Only one of us defeated him. But there are seven of us. Ah, the things that we could do!" "Seven... they used to say it was a lucky number," Tasmin added, clutching her left arm, "But with us it's more about how all of us together are more powerful than you. Human spirits are strange things; they have fears, needs, and humility, but also courage, compassion, and strength. Seven humans, and only one Jaeger? Your odds are cut for every one of us." "Swine, huh?" Iyana then said, her arms crossed. "Well, swine couldn't have defeated SAISEi, right? So certainly these swine can defeat you, a lesser being." This was enough to prompt the Jaeger into attack. Aero whacked her mechanical hand in the floor and releasing a spray of metal pellets-like objects. Misaki moved out of the way, a few piercing her armor and embedding themselves into her left arm but avoiding the rest. The wounds throbbed in pain but it wasn't the worse she'd been through. So she just gritted her teeth and got on her feet. Iyana stood up shakily, obviously in pain. She pointed at Aero. "Stop toying with us! This won't end up unhappily like last time!" Last time? The thought came and went as she focused on the important issue and said, "We're a team after all! And a bundle of sticks won't break as easily as one." (OK super sorry about not posting, I couldn't get onto the site till now.)

"With pleasure..." said Prem, already ready with his bow and arrow. He shot it, but as the arrow came close to reaching Aero, she raised her mechanical hand and stopped the Arrow with just her finger. "Pretty much as expected.. We cant play solo on her, we will have to attack together..!" he said. "Together, eh?" Iyana said. "Fine, let's go." Hesh menacingly laughed, "This is the moment I have waiting for!" He pulled out one of his strange contraptions before saying, "Well let's tear this bitch to pieces, dawg..." All of the sudden Alice leaped, kicking the ground, twisting her right fist from beneath her left elbow and used the back of her hand to strike Aero. The Jaeger didn't budge, her mechanical arm halting as it blocked Alice's blow, the clear sound of bones crushing heard by everyone. As Alice pulled away, ripples in air could be seen. Cursing under her breath, the girl said, "This is going to be tough." "So, anyone have an idea?" Hesh asked. Tamsin raised her wooden stick and frowned. "I say we fight this b**** all together and give it our all." Twirling her weapon in her hand, she drew the folding knife from her left pocket. "Despite who we were before all this, now it's our job to take care of this. For Alita, and for those Saisei would destroy..." "I concur with Tasmin," Misaki said. "We should fight and give it our all." Hesh retorted, "Forget it! I already know! Even Alta's death didn't make me feel nothing." He aimed his weapon at Aero. "Do you have a last wish? 'Cause this gun can tore your organ. Even your mechanical arm protects you, you're f***ed up for life..." "Aw, that makes me feel angry. Human swine like you have no right to look down on me like that!" Aero's mechanical arm began to twist upward, then what appeared to be a fist clenched. When she clenched her fist, a yellow energy wave emitted throughout the Rift. Misaki watched in shock as her sword broke into unusable pieces when the waves hit it. Tears almost started to form from seeing her beloved weapon from Beth crumbled away as if it was fragile glass, but she willed them in. Now wasn't the time to cry. "Tear my organs? Huh?!" In a nearly untraceable move, Aero suddenly appeared right in front of Hesh and used her mechanical arm and slammed into him, sending him flying. Her mechanical arm then drove into the ground, causing metal spires to come up from the ground. The armored girl leaped out of the way and managed to only get away with a gash. As quickly as they came, the spikes vanished, only leaving behind the wounds some people in the group suffered. Aero pulled her arm out of the ground. "Is that all you got?! Just because you beat Moto doesn't mean s**t! I am nothing like Moto! I'm no cheap rabbit-hat magician! I'm the embodiment of chaos itself!" The Jaeger pointed at Joshua with her regular arm. "Look at him! Always hiding behind weak humans and taking all the glory of their labor! Don't you realize what's going on?! The angels are all corrupt, all high and mighty. Why bother helping him, he's leaving you to die!" No one moved as she jumped into the sky. Her mechanical arm pointing straight downward, she laid a devastating blow on Joshua. When she landed and her fist returned to her side, Joshua disappeared. "Psych. I'm not like SAISEI. I can't manipulate people as easy as he does. But that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Hesh shook his head. "All f***ed up. As usual... I'll put a led on Alice for this disgrace..." "I never could get anything right." Alice said. "I'm sure I knew that I knew I had to do something after the Jaeger dies." She turned to the group. "I am just as confused as you are. And the mind-crush was actually a favor to you, hate it or like me, your choice." she said. Alice went over to Joshua and smacked his shoulder lightly. "Come on, it's two against one. If you pee your pants now, Saisei will only get harder to defeat." "Does anyone want to ask anything, besides the whole 'Why'd You Screw Our Minds?' thing?" Alice asked. "Screw the questions Alice, I dont know about the others, but I unwillingly believe you.. Besides that i guess we don't have anymore time for questions too." "Okay class-" Prem whipped his head at the girl, obviously frightened by the term. "Does anyone else has a question?" Iyana raised her hand. "Explanation, please?" At the same time, Hesh scowled, "Well, we beat this so-called SAISEI and get out from this place. Hope we didn't meet again for life..." Then someone asked, "Joshua, how do you plan to end this..?" "Get out? There is no longer a way out," Joshua commented. "What?" Misaki said, staring wide eyed at the angel. "The last exit out of the Rift has been closed for good with the rise of SAISEI. The World's Gate has closed." He raised a single hand and despite appearing shaken by the turn of events, still gave off a leadership presence. "The World's Gate - a passageway originally used by the One back when all existence was still unified. Now that SAISEI has risen once more, he has likely collapsed the World's Gate to prevent any of us from escaping. There is no longer any other escape route we can use to leave the Rift." "My original plan was merely to take you through the World's Gate. However, the World's Gate had a toll that must be paid to enter. Like how entering the Rift results in the loss of your memories, the World's Gate takes away your memories. It was the least I could do to protect humans from the Rift. And memories of the Rift - that's a dangerous possession. It would be best if you lost those anyway." Hesh looked at Joshua. "Okay, who's responsible for this?" he asked angrily. Tamsin sighed and shook her head, frowning. "I knew we'd have to lose our memories of this place..." "So, we're stuck here forever 'till SAISEI destroys us or we die, whichever comes first?" Iyana said, obviously unhappy. The blue hair girl looked at Joshua and asked, "Has Saisei sealed the Worlds Gate? And could there be a way to defeat him or unlock it if he has? Don't say there's no chance just because we're weak little humans. If Saisei's got something to do with this war, and tries to unify the one for some insidious purpose, I think it's only fair that those of us stuck in the rift should try to take him down." Joshua shook his head. "The only way to reopen the World's Gate after collapsing it is to summon the One, from all three personalities, and utilize its power to force a new path from the Gate. Which is, of course, impossible. Not just for humans, but for angels as well. And I'm pretty sure SAISEI couldn't open it back up either if he wanted to. So we're stuck here." "Well, that's sad, now isn't it?" It was Aero, with a wide smirk on her face. "What are you doing here?" Joshua asked, not allowing any emotions to come through his neutral expression. Aero shrugged. "Bored out of my mind. SAISEI took all the armies and led them into the various worlds. Once the rest of humanity is crushed, we'll move onto the angels. But right now, I have nothing to do, you know? Since the universe is coming to an end soon, why don't you all try to fight me?" Her metal arm began to whir and spin. "Hey, did you know? I can open up holes in the Rift that lead to the outside world. So...if you beat me, I'll let you leave this place, not that you'll stop SAISEI anyway." She can do that? Misaki wanted oh so badly to fight the Jaeger. She had killed Alita. She needed to be slain. "Ah! You're all ready. Show me what you all got, swine." Her eyes closed and she began to chant a series of words that seemed to hold significant weight. "I am Aero, Curse of the Twelve, Born from Chaos, and the Signal of the End!" The armored girl stared as with each word Aero seemed to grow more powerful and began to glow. Her metal arm began to turn from a rusty gray to a shining gold. Joshua showed little reaction from her power surge, only noting, "You expect me to reveal my title in return? That won't be necessary. These humans will deal with you without me needing to interfere." Misaki looked at the group. "Shall we?" she asked, readying her sword.

Misaki slowly walked, the hand not on her sword shakily feeling around, trying to find anything that could tell her where she was. Feels like a cave wall... God I hope I find some light soon.... The dark never boded well with the girl. At least, not the dark where she couldn't see a thing. Even a little bit of light made her feel better. At least she knew then that it wouldn't be there. Her breathing sped up just at the thought of it. Stay calm... They're so rare.... You won't see one... The darkness flickered, revealing Alice covered in blood. "What's wrong?" she asked, her eyes innocently changing to blue. Then purple. Then red. Misaki stared, not knowing what to make of the situation. "Ah," the girl breathed in deeply Suddenly the cave was back, but a spot was lit up. The dew on the surrounding area glittered as she saw a woman, faced away from her standing a little ways away. She recognized them immediately from their tight bun and straight posture. "Beth!" she said, quickly making her way over to the girl, so happy to see her the strangeness of the situation was ignored for a second. For a second. Wait... Isn't Beth...? The woman turned around, nothing more than a face she never wanted to see again. The face of the beast that had taken her as a child. She froze, feeling afraid for the first time in years. She didn't know what to do. Beth was dead and wasn't here to save her this time. The spotlight left and the cave was plunged back into darkness. The armored girl could smell the strong scent of spilled blood from its previous victims as it attacked, their sharp claws just barely touching her cheek. As a thin stream of blood trickled down her face, she dropped her sword and crouched down, holding her hands over her head as tears started to form. Someone save me... Someone help.... "You're so strong and so brave, far more than the rest of them. I know you can do it Misaki!" Beth's last words before she died on a mission echoes in her head. I'm brave. I'm strong. I can defeat this! Grabbing her sword, she stood up and listened. According to Beth they made a certain sound before they attack. A clicking sound. They always go for the cheek first to scare, then the legs to make it hard for the person to flee. Click click click click Misaki tightened her grip on her sword and swung, hearing a loud howl as the monster's claw dropped on her foot. She kept swinging, hacking away at anything she could hit with her sword. Eventually there was silence except for the panting coming from her. She defeated it. She defeated the beast that had scared her for so long. Suddenly the darkness flickered. The Rift appeared slowly, now not the white it was but a deep blood maroon, then royal purple, then became completely dark. Am I back in the Rift or back in the cave? It was impossible to see, but the presence of an immensely powerful adversary was in the air. FINALLY. The ground shook with the sheer vibration of the words. FINALLY. It came again. She turned around, trying to track the source of the sound. It was impossible. It was as if it was coming from everywhere. BURNING EARTH. SMOLDERING CAULDRON. FATE AND FORTUNE. HOPE AND DESPAIR. I AM ALL. The voice paused between every odd statement, growing louder as the darkness grew more thick and the ground shook harder. What is happening?! AND SO IT SHALL BE. A YOUNG GIRL, CONSUMED BY HER ID, EMERGES TO SERVE. A young girl? Does he mean Alice? Misaki could hear Joshua quietly moan, "Hopeless, hopeless, hopeless..." IN THE BEGINNING, CONSCIOUSNESS WAS ONE, EMBODIED BY THREE PORTIONS. THE ID, THE EGO, AND THE SUPEREGO. THE TURMOIL SPLIT THE ONE INTO THREE PARTS. "The id became you, the superego became me, and the ego became man's ancestor." Joshua seemed to have regained his composure, but in the darkness, she couldn't tell for sure. But id, ego, and superego? What are these? Will it help us get back home? MAN AND THE ANGELS DEFEATED ME IN TIMES LONG PAST, BUT I SWORE I WOULD RETURN. I CREATED AERO TO LEAD MY ARMIES INTO THE MANY WORLDS, IN SEARCH FOR THE INDIVIDUAL THAT WOULD FINALLY FREE ME FROM MY PRISON. "I should have realized that was your plan. Why else would you throw so many humans into the Rift, then continue to throw Alice in after she escaped every time?" BUT YOU FAILED TO UNDERSTAND. AND MY SEARCH DREW TO ITS TARGET. AS ALICE ENTERED THE RIFT OVER AND OVER, HER EGO BECAME CORRODED AND INCREASINGLY INFLUENCED BY THE ID OF THE RIFT. Joshua didn't respond, but she could hear his shaky breathing. AS AN INDIVIDUAL THAT REPRESENTED EGO, HER ACT OF SUCCUMBING TO ID WAS ENOUGH TO SHATTER THE BALANCE OF THE WORLD. HER TRANSFORMATION INTO THE VERY JAEGER SHE SOUGHT TO DEFEAT PROVIDED THE NECESSARY ENERGY FOR ME TO BREAK MY BONDS. THE GIRL HAS SERVED HER PURPOSE. NOW I CAN LEAVE THE RIFT AND CONSUME THE WORLDS OF THE HUMANS THAT SEALED ME IN THE PAST. I WILL BRING ALL INTO ONE ENTITY, ONE PERSONALITY. The voice and the darkness faded though the feeling of the voice's powerful presence lingered. The Rift reverted back to its original color, but no longer did it feel comforting. It didn't seem that harsh before... The group turned to Joshua. His facial expression was taught, and he was sweating visibly. "SAISEI. He has come back into the world."

Misaki and Alice had charged ahead of the others, working together to fight off the enemy. As she took out a Shadow, she caught a glimpse of something at the back of the army. At first its eyes were a blood red, then it became blue, then brown. Her eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and strangely, fear. A Jaeger. "Everyone, head for the coffee shop!" Alice yelled. The Jaeger gestured to the large army, which quickly surrounded the group. The army then waited, as if waiting for an order to charge. As the Jaeger got closer, Misaki's grip on her sword tightened. She had to be ready to fight at any moment. "Humans? Here? Aero's been going overboard with throwing humans from the invaded worlds," the Jaeger said, frowning. "Coffee shop? That's the first I've heard of a coffee shop. Is it, by some chance, called the Twelve Kirin Cafe?" How does he know the name? The Jaeger continued, "Of course. Your expressions tell me. So, Joshua is here as well, huh?" As if in response to that statement, several beams of light came through the circle of Shadows and incinerated every Shadow it touched. The armored girl watched as one of the beams of light came towards the Jaeger, who dodged it easily. When the beams of light faded, Joshua could be seen from the hole he created in the circle. "Moto, huh?" he asked, referring to the Jaeger. Joshua put his device away and turned his attention to the group. "Sorry I'm late. I had other business to take care of. But my, what a big mess you've landed in. An army of Shadows and a Jaeger. Honestly, you humans never stay out of trouble." "It's a honor to meet you, then," Moto said, bowing mockingly to Joshua. "Did you come here to save these humans?" Joshua didn't answer, but she could tell he was getting angry. "It's because of these humans that Alita died. She put her life on the line to give these humans a chance to escape." He paused. "Humans are damned foolish. But I gave them a chance to prove themselves, and their fighting spirit showed through. I began to see why Alita thought the need to sacrifice herself for them. Therefore," he said, expanding his arms out, "I feel that I should probably reevaluate my opinion of humans. Or these humans, at least." He took a step forward, which resonated across the entire Rift, and his whole body began to glow. He turned to the group. "I'll fight with you. I'll get you out of the Rift." Hundreds of beams of light came down from the sky, cutting down large parts of the Shadow army into dust. When each beam of light cleared, a golem made entirely of light, holding a large shield and sword appeared, and began engaging the Shadow army. "Alita probably told you all not to engage a Jaeger, right? And yeah, if you did back then, you'd probably die. I get this feeling, though, that you're worth more than you look. Why don't you take that Jaeger down? I'll keep this army busy." Shall we?" asked Tasmin. "Of course!" Misaki said. "Yeah, let's turn Moto-Moto to dust!" agreed Prem, notching an arrow. Misaki started to charge at the Jaeger when suddenly the Rift was gone. Replacing it was darkness. Where am I?

The clanking of swords echoed as Misaki and a Reaper dueled, now putting all of their body weight into their sword and trying to not be the one who gave up and caught off guard. It was good, far better than the Shadows that she had been defeating by the hundreds. But years of training weren't for nothing, and the girl suddenly pulled back, causing the Reaper to stumble just a tad. It was a good enough opening for the girl as she quickly lunged at it before stabbing it with her knife and pulling upward. She then quickly pulled it out before stabbing it again and again, hitting anywhere she could. The onslaught of damage eventually became too much for the Reaper and it soon fell. Her attention went back to the Shadows, who she had ignored while she battled the Reaper. And they did not seem to happy about seeing one of their higher ups fall. They attacked all at once, endlessly trying to kill her. When one was gone, another quickly took its place. Nonetheless, the girl didn't call for help but instead fought them all, slaying as many as she could. Suddenly, she heard a cackle echo into the nothing of the Rift. In a blink of an eye, the army was gone. Confusion struck the group as they slowly came together. What just happened? The ground began to rumble as a huge army of Shadows and Reapers emerged from the ground. There were millions of them, probably too many for them to take on. But Misaki didn't run. She never ran. She would rather fight to her last breath then run and see another day. "If that idiot didnt take away the explosives, then I'll blast their lifeless crew..." Hesh said. "Then why don't we take a shot to learn these idiots a lesson. Tamsin, whack these fools while I prepare some surprise for them... Dont get flanked!" He opened his bag and took out some strange thing, presumably a weapon. He then began to do do something that seemed to make it go "BANG BANG BANG" rapidly at the oncoming army. The girl jumped, unsure of what to think of the weapon. "I won't retreat. I won't let a bunch of soulless creatures who feed on the memories of people like us scare me away; we are so much more than that," the newest female member of their group then said, looking tall and brave. Guys," Alice said, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "We might want to use these." In her hand was some crystals, their crystals, glowing yellow. Misaki took hers and looked at it for a second before deciding to pocket it away. They couldn't do anything with them without Joshua so there really was no other choice. "Alice, was it?" the new girl asked. Misaki watched as the girl took her crystal, and put it in her bag. "I'm Aquilas. Nice to meet you, Alice." As she turned to face the army, she said, "Someone needs to call Joshua. We'll need some help over here." "I agree, we can't run away like cowards... But I don't see any harm in calling Joshua, moreover he is more experienced... Even if he can't fight with us, at least he can tell us the way out of this never ending maze I guess... " Misaki did want to know what was in her memory crystal, so she added, "I agree. At the very least he can tell us how to access our crystals."

Once they had left the coffee shop and entered The Rift, Misaki had blocked all unnecessary talk out. Since she had never gone against that they could face here, she needed to be ready for anything and everything. Her hand was on the handle of her sword, ready to use if something came by them. But looking around, she could see nothing. No monsters, no people, no anything. Even the Rift itself felt like it wasn't there, with its never ending white. But something felt wrong in the air, she could feel it. She had felt it before. It was the feeling of a large battle. Suddenly, an army of Shadows and Reapers could be seen, being led by a skeleton with a bow in hand as they marched closer. The group froze. Her grip on her sword tightened before drawing her sword and falling into a familiar stance. Tasmin said, "Be careful. Only fight with the weapons given or prepared by Joshua and Alita. Shoot or strike to kill. And as we're always told, don't die." "If you need help, call for me. I'll be by your side in a heartbeat," Misaki added. She wasn't about to let anyone here die. The group then charged, ready to fight the massive army. The armored girl swung her sword with fluid, precise movement, taking out one monster after another. It felt good to be able to swing her sword. It felt normal. Like home. Misaki pushed the sudden homesickness down as she looked over at the others, who seemed to be doing a good job defending themselves. At least, that what she could see through the smoke that had surrounded her. It seemed that killing the beasts had them die in a poof of smoke. So she kept slashing and killing, thinning out the army. Maybe if she was lucky, she'd find someone's crystal.

Alita sighed. "The reason we gave you those weapons in the first place is so you could hopefully take out a few parts of the enemy. Now...this will get me in pretty serious trouble," she began, and then mumbled under her breath "I'm really going to be boiled, you know", and then continued, "But my superior really doesn't feel like you humans are worth saving. It's why he treated your sword and weapons, but not your armor...he doesn't care about your survival in the slightest." An outrage amongst the group occured but Alita quickly shushed them before continuing to explain, "Watch your mouth. Don't insult Joshua. He's not a mere angel, you know, like I am." The girl fell silent until they reached the impact site. Misaki rushed over to the two people lying on the ground. "Are you ok?" she asked. "How you all still alive, huh?" The armored girl whipped around to find the source of the unknown voice. It came from a hooded figure, with the only two distinguishing figures being eyes that would constantly change color and a large, misformed mechanical right arm with gears and pistons jutting out of it like spikes. The figure sneered. "And I went to all the trouble of throwing you all in here, too. You just won't die, human swine. Though I suppose the only reason you survived is because Kitty girl and God complex didn't let you guys die." She got ready to fight, putting her hand on her sword before noticing that Alita was moving her right hand onto the scar on her neck. Only a single sentence escaped her lips: "Aero...why her?" Unlike her other words, this time, fear emanated from Alita. She clenched her shaking fists and clattering teeth, and shouted out, "Go to the shop! Take those two with you! I'll buy you time!" Aero cackled, a harsh sound that resonated through the nothing of the Rift. "That's right! Run, human swine! The Jaegers will get you, just like they did the rest of your lot!" "Just go!" Misaki wanted to stay, to fight, but there was no way the group could carry both people without her, so she took one of the bodies and, with the help of Tasmin, carried them back to the cafe. Iyana had grabbed her hand, trying to get her to hurry since the armor did slow her down. She refused to look back at the battle between Aero and Alita for she knew she wouldn't be able to handle seeing the sight. The group rushed into the cafe, crashing into the cafe seats, before placing the two unconscious people in chairs. While things seemed to buzz around her, she headed off into a corner and closed her eyes, fingers weaving through her short hair. She had never taken to losing anyone very well, and when it did happen she needed to given time to breathe and process it in her own way. She sacrificed herself for us... You can't save everyone Misaki, you know it's not possible. You were told this! Focus on how you saved people, how you helped someone... She noticed that Tasmin said her name, but she just needed to think and be left alone. She didn't tune back in until she heard Joshua say, "You really all don't learn, do you?" As Misaki turned to face him, he closed the door behind him, a pack slung over his shoulder. He threw the pack at the boy's feet. "I took out all the explosives," he noted, then added, "What the hell are you?" It wasn't a question to be answered, and his tone made it absolutely clear. "As a group, you're barely capable of taking on the creatures, and now you want to split up? Do you humans even think?" With that steely remark, silence fell over the group. "Apparently you don't," Joshua finally commented. "Not only were you planning to split into smaller groups unable to defend themselves, but you were about to lead Hesh out into the Rift, where the poison was going to kill him." Joshua mumbled something under his breath before clearing his throat. "Knowing Alita, she told you that I distrust humans. Well, here's the reason why. You humans are damned foolish." He took a chair and quickly sat down. He grabbed two cups, somehow filled with the same black mixture, and slid them across the table. "After you get those two ready, then you can move out. As a group. It would be best to hurry." His expression tightened. "Aero's arrival means that the Rift army will be returning eventually. You don't have much more time to recover your memories and get out of here." After the newest members of the group had drank the mixture and taken some weapons, they headed out. As the group began heading out, Joshua put a few more words in. "Show me what you got. The strength of the ego will be the your way out of the Rift."

Joshua nodded. "Iyana, that's a pretty passable summary. The only issue with your summary is that the person who threw you in here didn't take away your memories. That is a result of the characteristics of the Rift. The entry fee into the Rift is your memories. But other than that, it's a decent summary." "Now then, let's get onto more business. Misaki, you're the only one with an actual weapon here, but it's not going to do you much good, so," he said, gesturing to Alita, who was suddenly behind her. The girl took out Misaki's sword in one swift motion and threw it to Joshua, who caught it by the hilt and dropped in into one of the boiling coffee pots beside him. "What are you doing to my sword?!" she yelled, trying to get it back but was held back by Alita. He took another pot and dumped its contents, a collection of weapons, all over the table. The weapons in the pot were varied, from bows to knives to a hammer to weapons she had never seen before, but they were all similar in they had a yellow tint. When Joshua finally took out Misaki's sword from the pot, it had the same yellow tint, and he handed the sword to Misaki. She quickly put it back in its scabbard, the slight unease that had come with not having her sword going away. "These should fare pretty well against your opposition. They've all been boiled in the same mixture you drank, and forged by my faction. They should be able to harm your enemies." Joshua paused, waiting for everyone to take a few weapons. She looked at the choices on hand before taking one of the longer knives and a sling with its ammo. As she tucked those away, Joshua continued, "I realized I haven't explained who, or what, I should explain, these enemies are. This will take some time." He gestured to Alita and said, "So, Alita, you do the explaining. I need to do something important for a moment." He then pulled out a device, one she had never seen before, pressed something and disappeared in a burst of light. Alita sighed, then stood up. "Sometimes I don't understand my boss. I told him...we don't have the resources to do this, but..." Alita trailed off, dropping the subject and went on to tell the group what they needed to know. "Anyways...the Rift is home to an army of vicious creatures. For example, the Shadows. They resemble dark, thin, silhouettes. They have claws, and they move in large hordes. They feed on these yellow crystals that house memories, but they aren't hesistant to tear you apart limb by limb." The girl looked rather uncomfortable, as if she wasn't used to the attention. "The Shadows form the base of the army, and next up are the field commanders, the Reapers. Reapers take the appearance of skeletons. They're armed with skeletal swords, bows, and shields. If you see them, they'll often be leading groups of Shadows. It's best to take them out to cause the group of Shadows to panic." "Finally, the Jaegers. The Jaegers are the generals of the army, and they take on humanoid appearances, though they are far from human. You can distinguish a Jaeger from a person from their eyes - their eyes constantly change color. If you ever see a Jaeger, you run. You don't fight them." She turned around to reveal a large, pulsing scar on her neck. "This scar was dealt to me by one of them. I still haven't recovered fully from my recent battle with one. If I find dealing with one difficult, you have no chance. You're lucky that most of the Jaegers are off in the war..." Suddenly Alita turned around and pursed her lips before gesturing to the group to exit the cafe. As they exited the building, Misaki's thoughts went back to what Alita had said about the Jaegers being at war. I wonder why she wouldn't want us to know about that... Is there something bad about knowing that our largest threat it busy? "Look...forget what I just said. Anyway, find these crystals, take down any Shadows and Reapers you find, and run away from any Jaegers if you're unfortunate enough to find one." She took a look at each member of your group, then sighed. She closed the door behind them and put a closed sign on the doorknob. "Actually...I probably should watch you guys, huh? I'll follow your group, just in case anyone has more questions." All of a sudden two bright flashes of light came from the sky. From these flashes, two objects with burning tails sailed into the air and crashed into ground far away from your group. Alita's eyes widened. "That is how you entered. The Jaeger that threw you in, Aero, has just claimed more victims. Hurry, let's go!" She began running towards the impact site. "Woah..!" Prem exclaimed. "You guys, pick something up before you head out!" Alice yelled, running after Alita with a knife and a strange L-shaped weapon in hand. "Do me a favor all you girls, just DON'T DIE..." he smirked as the group ran to the crash site. Now Misaki had dealt with this kind of behavior before due to Protectors being mostly males and them feeling they had to protect the females in the group despite them being perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. She was quite used to it. But she couldn't keep the twinge of annoyance from seeping into her accent as she said, "I am quite capable of not dying Prem. I have several years of experience going up against fearsome beasts and staying alive after all." She could see Tasmin pat him on the shoulder and add, "You're probably the most worrisome bastard of the group, kid." But thinking about staying alive... Would my armor work here? They had to treat my sword after all for it to be effective so it would make sense if my armor had to be treated to it wouldn't be easily penetrable... Misaki ran faster to catch up with Alita and asked, "Alita, I was wondering, would I need to treat my armor with whatever you used on my sword?" As she got closer to the crash site, the smoke from the objects on the crash site were subsiding. From where she was, she could see two bodies, alive. She hurried up, kneeling by the people like a few others were doing. "Are you ok?" she asked the two, a boy and a girl.

"No... " Prem said, his mouth turned up in a smile. "It's a place... Umm a place..? Yeah I guess, that's the term I can come up with to describe it... Anyways, people interact there through some 'chat' kind of thing." "Don't try too hard on yourself Prem." Alice said, slapping the boy's back with a light force she would have liked to call as gentle. Would have. Prem's face nearly collided with the table. Alice slapped her forehead, not know what to say. Misaki still didn't get was this Facebook thing was, but that all left her mind when she saw Prem's head almost hit the table. "Are you alright?" she asked, quickly looking over him to see if there was anything wrong. He gave a nod as someone said, "Leave Facebook.. We've got bigger problems at the moment.. What do you folks remember..? " Suddenly, Alice looked overcame by pain. Immediately Misaki rushed over to her to see what she could do to help the pain, but when she got over to the girl she had seemed to recover from her spell. "Are you okay? You feeling alright?" the armored-clad girl asked. "What she said," Prem quipped. "I thought you were going to blow a vein with the expression you had on your face." Alice smiled, before moving her body, doing a strange walk across the smooth floor of the Kirrin cafe. "Oh yeah!" She said, twirling on her heels before stopping perfectly, her face in their direction. "I'm a myth-freak and a dancer," she announced. "And this Rift is something I know about she said." Misaki's face perked up, ready to learn more about where they were. "The Rift," the dancer said. "Each thing here is infinite, and from here you can look at any point in the universe, in any universe. Get what I mean?" Alice casually slipped a hand in her hip-pocket as Misaki took in the new info. A place where all worlds can meet? I can't believe such a thing exists! "The to imagine a ball of yarn. Now, in its center there is a hollow space around which the thread is wrapped around. You can make the ball as big as you want or as small, but the space exists, if only merely, and the threads which go round it are all vast dimensions, and each thread consists of several strands, presenting an alternate reality for each of the universes. The rest- uh I'm not really sure, I'm not so smart...I think even my given explanation is flawed but the point is, we've somehow ended up here and they-" She pointed to Alita and Joshua. "Were kind enough to let us live and now we have to help them get whoever threw us here in the first place, right?" As Iyana was twisting her hair around her finger, she asked the beings, "Did you drink the poison too?" Tasmin placed her hand on the other girl's shoulder before saying, "I'm not sure what my memories mean, or what kind of person I was, but if we have a common enemy in the one who brought us here, I'll help... How do we gather our memories and find this person?" "We had you drink that to ensure you survive, but we both have another way to adapt to the toxins in the environment. Alita over there has the ability to manipulate precedence, so she simply sets her precedence above the poison." Joshua explained. Alita nodded. "The reason I can't save you all this way...is because I can only manipulate two objects at a time." Joshua continued. "So as you can see, we don't need to drink the poison. In fact, what you all drank wasn't really poison, but a liquid that alters your precedence on the existence scale. I'll spare you the complex theory and explanation: the liquid is basically clouding you from the Rift." The group fell silent for a second. "I'm not sure what my memories mean, or what kind of person I was, but if we have a common enemy in the one who brought us here, I'll help... How do we gather our memories and find this person? It can't be a coincidence, with a dozen of people out there, only 5 of us get to live... And why are they lying, on one hand they tell us that there is probably 'no way out' and then they tell us about the person who put us here... Are they trying to convince us for something, are we here because of our destiny..?" Prim said while taking off his hat. Who knows... But I swear by my honor that I will return these good people to their homes, even if it results in my demise. Even if I am not in my world, I have to follow the Code. Joshua raised his eyebrows at Prem's remark. "There are things I can't tell you. Some because you won't understand, and others," he started "...because it's confidental information," Alita finished. "Nevertheless, assure yourselves that we are both on your side as long as our interests meet. And that brings me to Tamsin's question." He clapped his hands together and continued. "Leave the perpertrator to us for now. Focus on gaining your memories. I mentioned before that your memories were shattered upon entry into the Rift. When memories exit your mind, they take a form like a yellow crystal like so," he said, holding up a glowing yellow crystal. "The larger the crystal the more memories contained. The brighter, more significant. How you can tell if the memories belong to you, you will feel a sensation. Bring these crystals to me when you find them. And I advise you watch yourselves out there. There are things...that are out for these very crystals. If they get to them before you do, you lose those memories forever. Any other questions?"

As she handed the jerky to Alice and Tasmin, she noticed the girl with the strange blue hair give it to Iyana. Misaki smiled at the gestured. She loved people who helped others. From her left, Prim asked, "Misaki, where did you get that tail from..?" "Tail?" asked Iyana, staring at her. "Hm?" she said before looking down at her bags, where the tail she had found was hanging out. After tucking it back into her bag, she answered, "Ah, that. I'm afraid I'm unaware of its origins at the moment due to the loss of memory though if I remember I will be sure to tell you." "Argh!!" Iyana suddenly screamed, sounding terribly frustrated. Misaki turned and looked at her, quickly assessing to see if there was anyway she could help. The girl's cheeks turned red, and she bowed her head down in embarrassment, fiddling with her bag. "Soo, any thoughts about the whole splitting-up idea?" "I also think sticking together is the best idea..." said Tasmin. "There could be dangers around, and if someone gets lost, we'll have a problem pulling together..." As the blue haired girl turned away from the group, Misaki added, "I agree with Tasmin. We remain unaware of the dangers in this area so to wander off on our own would be ill-advised. If we were to remain together, we'd have a better chance of defeating whatever we face." Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a small shop appeared in the distance. "What is that?" she asked, pointing to the building. "Let's go and find out," someone said. As the group got closer, the name on the sign - "Twelve Kirin Cafe" - became easier to read. What is a cafe? She glanced at the others, who looked uneasy despite herself feeling fine, before opening the double doors into the shop. The inside of the store was mostly empty, with the exception of a single large round table with chairs around it. On the table there were five cups, enough for everyone, full of a dark liquid. A short red haired teenager was sitting at the table, talking to the silver haired one behind the counter at the back of the room. "It's cruel, you know, even for that guy to turn him into alphabet soup," the girl said. Immediately this had Misaki getting ready to draw her sword. A cruel being! I need to defeat him. But not yet... I need to know how to defeat him before charging into battle. She kept her hand near her sword as the other one shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I guess it's a cruel and unusual punishment. That's why it fits him." Suddenly the silvered hair boy turned to the group and gestured to the table. "It's ready for you." Misaki quickly glanced over at the others who were taking a seat at the table. She followed, only because she didn't want to look suspicious and raise the guard of the beings. For a moment, everyone is silent, then the girl spoke up, "You should probably drink that before it gets too cold." She looked at the cup, where a black, steaming liquid awaits. Misaki quickly took a small sip before everyone else, testing it in case it proved fatal and so she could stop the others from drinking it. The second the drink went down her throat a jolt went through her head, causing her to drop her cup and clutch her head. She can barely see or talk from the extreme bitterness overwhelming her sense. After a minute, she recovered and noticed the cup is empty. The silver-headed one went around the table collecting cups. "What you drank right now was a kind of poison. In larger doses it would've killed you. Luckily, none of you decided to down the whole cup, though I imagine you will all be a bit nauseous for a while," the silver-headed one explained. Poison?! How- "Fight poison with poison. The Rift, where you are right now, is poisonous. Stay too long and you melt, you know." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Right now you should be fine." The silver-headed one stacked all the paper cups before throwing them away. He then turned to look at the group. "I don't know why you're here, but until we can get you out, we have to make sure you stay alive." He paused, then continued. "I'm sure you want an explanation for recent events." "Someone threw you into this world. We've been trying to find this individual...but she's an elusive one," the red-haired one explained. "Yes, and you should feel lucky we managed to get to you before you all died. I think this is a good time for introductions. I go by Joshua and the girl there is Alita. I'm just a simple coffee shop owner." The last part was obviously a lie. She hated liars. "And right now, you're in the Rift, a place between worlds, with no known way out. As for your memories, they've been scattered upon entry in the Rift. I managed to collect a few pieces and slip them in what you drank, so you should start remembering some things about yourself. Before you can leave, you need to gather your memories." Joshua had not lied about starting to remember. She could see flashes of her childhood, from a glimpse of her parents to seconds from various trips. "Lucky?! We are stuck in a place which is nowhere, and filled with poison and some of the thing I can remember is my Facebook password and my favourite underwear and by feeding us on poison you want to state us as lucky..?" Prem said, his voice going higher and softer with each word. "I don't see a way to believe you guys, I know what it is..! It's a dream..! I'll just pinch myself and I'll be off this suffocating 'nowhere' place..." As the boy pinched himself, Alice said, "Calm down Prem, don't try to hard on yourself..." "Do not worry Prem, I am sure we will get out of this situation," Misaki said, looking confident. However, that confidence was lost to confusion as she asked, "But what exactly is a... Facebook? Is it a book full of pictures?"

One of the girls scratched her head. "I'm afraid not. My name's Iyana. These are Prem, Alice and Tasmin. You know your name, right?" Misaki nodded. "Misaki," she replied. One of the others, Alice, looked around and yawned, covering her mouth before sitting on the floor, cross-legged and looking rather bored. "We know our names, we don't know where we are or why. And I'm hungry," she said to her companions. "So, what do those bags contain?" Alice asked Misaki nicely, her hand traveling to her neck. "Ah, I have food, here." She quickly dug through her bag before she pulled out some jerky and handed it to the girl. "Would anyone else like some?" she asked.