Before anyone comments/asks: Yes, this came out late, if only slightly, and yes it is short. I decided to separate the intro chapter from the actual Chapter 1, which will hopefully come out tomorrow. Hopefully being the key word here. Anyway, hope you all enjoy!

"Okay, what the hell just happened? And where are my bags?" The speaker was Coco Adel, who was quite unhappy with her current situation. The teenage girl looked around in an attempt to figure out where on Remnant she was with little success. She was sitting in a comfortable, fabric-covered recliner in the middle of what appeared to be a rather cozy living room setup. Her chair and another were positioned on either end and slightly in front of an equally comfy looking couch, all of which surrounded a coffee table in the middle of the room. All the seating was angled toward a large flatscreen television, 60" if she had to estimate. There was a closed door in the wall behind her and off to one side. On the floor was a rather plush carpeting, looked pretty expensive.

The last thing Coco remembered was shopping in the middle of Vale. Just because Beacon and half of the city had been destroyed didn't mean she wasn't coming around every so often. After all, that's where all of her favorite boutiques were, and she just wouldn't be Coco if she weren't keeping her wardrobe up to date. Then, while she was browsing a shoe sale, she had appeared here. It wasn't like there was a blank spot in her memory or she'd been moved forcibly. One second she was there, now she was here.

A few moments after Coco became aware of her surroundings, a light impact was heard from her right, in the other chair. Sitting there now was her friend and teammate, Fox Alistair. The blind, dark-skinned young man was looking wildly around, disoriented by the sudden change in location. Unlike Coco, however, he didn't have any ability to gauge the surroundings.

"Fox, calm down a bit." She was speaking to let him know she was there, otherwise he would probably attack her as soon as she moved. Though lacking eyesight, let it be known that his sense of hearing was superb. And if a blind warrior heard movement while on high-alert, it was a fair guess as to what his reaction might be.

"Coco? Where are we?"

"No clue. I was just doing some shopping, before I knew what was going on I found myself here. . . wherever 'here' might be. Also, why aren't you wearing shoes?" Fox's bare feet were nothing new, considering how long they'd shared a room together as a team, but it was kind of weird that he came otherwise fully clothed.

"No idea; I had them on a moment ago." Coco's face contorted into a deeper frown than before. Looking down at herself, she noticed that she was in her normal attire (minus all the machine gun bullets she normally wore) but that her boots were missing. Her bag and Fox's blades were also noticeably absent.

"This is pretty damn weird."

"What, the fact that we've been transported somewhere that we can't identify, without our weapons? Or that our shoes are gone?" Fox quipped.

"Love you too, Fox." As she spoke there were two thumps on the couch. Sitting there now was the remaining half of Team CFVY, Velvet Scarlatina and Yatsuhashi Daichi, who were seemingly just as confused as the first pair. Addressing the newcomers, Coco asked "So, doubt the two of you know what's going on either, do you?" Both shook their heads, proving her assumption. Her irritation was growing. "Can SOMEBODY tell me what the fuck is going on?"

"Certainly!"

All four teens jumped out of their seats, turning fully around to face the speaker. Standing behind the couch was a young man of about their own age, his hands stuffed into his pockets and eyes half lidded. He had a mop of curly brown hair, pale skin, and glasses. He was short for his age, standing at 5'8" or 5'9". He was dressed in a plain T-shirt and blue jeans, and like all of them he wasn't wearing any shoes. A lazy grin played across his face.

"Who are you, pipsqueak?" Coco asked, still quite on edge from the surprise appearance.

"What kind of a greeting is that? I guess I kind of deserve it for springing this on you guys, though. Anyway, you want answers, don't you? I owe you just a bit, so feel free to ask away."

"What is this place, and who might you be?" The question came from their quiet giant, Yatsuhashi, his uncharacteristic outspokenness showing just how concerned he was about this situation.

"Straight to the point, huh? Well, the easiest thing to equate this place to would be a pocket dimension. A kind of artificial space designed for an express purpose. I have a lot of fun with these, great for holding things you want to keep safe, or for sending annoying guests to when they get on your nerves. As for me, well you can think of me sort of like a god. Not your god, mind you, that's somebody else. I prefer to go by the title of Author, though."

That was a. . . strange introduction. "A god?" Velvet asked, too stunned to believe what she was hearing.

"Kind of. I only have power in certain dimensions, like this one. In my own world, I'm not all that special. Here though?" He snapped his fingers. Without even the smallest amount of delay, five cups appeared on the table in the room's center. "I can do pretty much whatever I want. I have a couple other worlds I take care of as well, much bigger ones. But I'm getting off track. As I'm sure you've pieced together by now, I'm the one who brought you here. I also took away your weapons, mostly because I didn't want to deal with fixing the place up if you attacked on sight."

"And my boots?" Coco asked, irritated that her stuff had been tampered with.

"Yeah, those too. Didn't want the carpet getting dirty, so everyone's barefoot until they leave. I'll give you back your weapons then, too." Mid-sentence, he had walked around the four visitors and reached for the cup farthest away from them. He took a long, deep drink before sighing contentedly. "Good stuff. Hard to find good tea for a reasonable price; I should think about coming in here more often just to eat and drink. Would save me the trouble of cooking so often. But none of you care about that, do you? You're all wondering what in Oum's name I brought you here for, aren't you?" Receiving nods from the two males of the group and narrowed eyes from Coco, he moved on to addressing the proverbial elephant in the room.

"It's pretty simple, really. Someone wanted you all to have some fun by sneaking a peek at his handiwork. Another Author, just like me, though considerably more diversified in his work. I had some time in my hands, so I thought I'd oblige him. Therefore," he waved his hand, and between his index and middle fingers appeared a thin case, "I cordially invite you to experience one of his realms through the eyes of an observer."

"And if we politely refuse?" Fox bit back, a bit angry at being jerked around. Hell, he couldn't even see what was going to be shown, so what was even the point of him being here?

"Then you're still stuck here until I say otherwise." The copper-haired student exploded at this, throwing a quick and powerful punch straight toward the self-proclaimed god. Rather than feeling the strike connect, however, there was a sensation of being constricted. The next thing to register was that he was in a sitting position, back in the chair he'd landed in at the beginning.

The others were surprised, to say the least. Fox was the fastest of them, and yet nobody had seen how the figure move to counter. One moment Fox was in motion, the next he was strapped into the chair with thick leather belts.

"The pen is mightier than the sword, they say. Fortunately for me, that's more than just a figure of speech in here." The speaker's hand opened up to reveal a small, well-used fountain pen. From behind his back he pulled a notebook, and he began writing in it. Suddenly, the entire room restructured itself, the entire wall to his right turning into a window. Outside was a verdant forest, complete with deer and other wildlife. "For something small, I can just wish it in, but complex things have a tendency to get out of control if I let my mind wander." He struck through what he'd just written, returning the room to normal. In addition, Fox's bindings came loose.

"Now, all of you ought to sit down and enjoy the show. Oh, and there's narration for you, Fox, so you can enjoy it too. Just think of it like one of those e-books you can download off your Scroll." Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a cushioned earpiece and threw it toward the blind man, who caught it with astounding accuracy. Everyone else sat down, accepting that they'd have to stick around until they had an opportunity to escape, or until the mad "god" in front of them was done with them.

"Cool. Now, let's get started, shall we?" So saying, he created a DVD player and attached it to the TV, before opening up the case to insert the disk he was provided by FTDS.