Prologue

The Arctic. A freezing, desolate and blustery wasteland of continuous blizzards twenty-four/seven.

Resolute Island, for instance, was a rare spark of habitation in the godforsaken stretch of land. The Island was comprised of mostly Inuits, and even the toughest nail-biting kind were well convinced that they will never know what it's like to be properly warm in their entire lives. Beyond that, no one else could adapt to the regions further north.

So it seemed.

The Arctic. A place of spellbound mystery and ice. There's always something hiding there, where the world least expects it.

And an unexplored region, with multiple physical barriers, makes a perfect refuge...

"Commander! The magnetic containment field! It's destabalizing!"

"Well what does it look like to ya up here? Take over for me while I get to the bottom of this!"

"Roger."

The sergeant hurriedly clambered off the side rails and into the secluded perimeter below, where the entire maintenance job took place. Inside, teams of aeronautical engineers and systems operators were seated in front of rows of consoles; they madly typed away on their control pads while the scene of trouble played out in front of them.

A hardon collider, several hundred feet in length and packed into several ginormous metallic rings, lead to the biggest ring of all. The center of which flashed many neon-colored lights that illumintated every corner of the dome-sized lab. The entire contraption's beams of light flickered wildly while it sucked parts of the lab, right and left, into its interior. The metallic platforms on which the contraption was supported swayed under the weight and creaked ominously, the noise mixing in with the deafening sucking from the ring of unstable light. Outside the secluded permieter, units of soldiers were scattering hither, away from chunks of flying debris while the lieutenant shouted commands to them over the ongoing rush. Only the commander, a small group of officers and several other scientists stood at the edge of the dock, trying to figure out the cause of the disruption despite the rush of chaos around them.

The sergeant knew that that the contraption - the portal, to be more exact - wasn't the only thing at stake.

"Move!" He rudely shoved a systems operator off his seat, then switched on the monitor while tuning in to his communicator in his earpiece. "Commander! Status report!"

"No contact, sir!" was the answer from the other end.

"Anything at all from the pilot?"

"No sir! Radar's breaking up! All systems failing! I repeat, no contact!"

"Dagnabbit!" The hotheaded sergeant slammed his palm against the table. "I anticipated this. Stupid portal's broke!"

"Wait, sir! There's still time! The team's still got time for clearing up the ruptures in the field!"

"Well, let's hurry them up 'fore the thing's gonna explode! I'll check the data for any further signs of the pilot." He typed in access to the network; several elaborate virtual displays popped up on the screen. All showed moving images of the physics at work within the portal, but the commander was really looking for one that should show signs of any life in the portal. He checked all the data. Nothing.

The sergeant threw his cap down in frustration. Great. The general and his crew have agreed to assist this intelligence agency - the Giri - into administering and activating this portal. From the clues he heard, they were searching for something within the portal. The object of interest, however, was classified for the while. But now, they lost contact, and to top it all, they had a self-destructing portal to deal with. The neighboring tech gurus must've checked a thousand times over by now, and still no sign of life.

The sergeant's eyes darkened. It wasn't the same as working for that self-conceited moron Krei...but this? This was the Giri they were talking about now, for goodness' sakes. Whole different story. If neither Krei Tech nor anyone else could develop a portal to an alternate universe or wherever it led, then the Giri would be the first to innovate it. There was a saying in the Giri: Always ahead. Either the portal worked, or the entire idea stayed science fiction.

"Uh, sir?"

The sergeant briskly turned in his chair to face another shaken engineer standing at his side. "What?" he barked.

The scientist looked intimidated by the commander's lack of patience, but he remained determined. "Sir, if I could borrow the monitor just for a minute...I've checked in with the innovators near the portal and they just found signs of life! I just have to pinpoint the location of the pilot's whereabouts," he hastily added.

The sergeant hesitated. Similar false alarms as this have been going on for the past several hours. He didn't want any further problems with the general just because he allowed some confident techy to mess up the lab even further, when all it took was for the commander on his part to shut the portal down, evade the problem altogether and call it a day. But then, why did that scrawny guy look more confident despite the current bleak circumstances?

The sergeant grudgingly allowed the scientist a seat, while the latter delved into further displays on the computer. He turned on the speaker at his ear. " Commander, I think I found our target!"

"Where?!"

"Mixed in with the other contents of the portal, but in motion!"

"Hurry up and give us the best estimate of the location!" the commander shouted over the intercom.

"It's headed our way, to the portal!"

"But the portal is breaking down! It doesn't have enough energy for access to work!"

"Sir, I think I know how to open the portal wide enough for the shuttle to return to us? Have you considered the voltage? I mean..."

The sergeant, who was standing nearby, heard fragments of the conversation from both sides. He yanked the speaker off the engineer's head and jammed them onto his own. "Commander, this is the sergeant speaking! I'm going to command the tech team here to raise the voltage on the portal!"

"Don't! The generator's going to blow if we raise it any higher!"

"It will only take a few seconds, commander - just enough for the shuttle to come through."

"It could cause an explosion and render us all in danger..."

"But it could work!"

The commander paused for a moment. Finally:

"Well, blasted thing's flopped on us b'fore. Ok, but only for a few seconds! But if pilot still hasn't made it by that time..."

The sergeant didn't hear any more. He threw down the speakers and strode in among the rows of scientists.

"Ok, men!" he barked to everyone. "Commander says to raise the voltage for a few seconds! But only a few seconds, not more! If we can't fix it now, we will never fix this again! Let's go, go, GO!"

Multiple cries of doubt and protests ensued from the teams of scientists.

"But sir-"

"We can't-"

"What if-"

"NOW!" the sergeant bellowed. Everyone else instantly complied as they changed the settings on their console; the sound instantly became rent with bleeps and humming motors from the consoles.

A half-minute later, the sergeant spun around. The sucking and whooshing suddenly turned into a roar. More debris scattered all over the vast lab floor and in the air, crashing into the construction around, as the sucking became stronger, more compelling, more ominous. The commander heard cries of fear from every side as he witnessed the flying parts leave mass destruction everywhere in their wake, but he stood his ground, peering hard at the nearly out-of-control portal. Just a few seconds longer...

Just a few more...

Just a few more...

It came with a loud clap of electric bolts, followed by the loudest explosion yet. Just as a massive object soared out of the swirling circle and into view, the portal exploded. The countless stands used to support it collapsed, taking the countless other metallic structures down with it, while the portal's remnants flew into various directions of the large lab. Everyone in the lab took cover while the rest of the framework around them fell and smashed whatever got in their path.

A few more minutes of demolished portal remains tumbling on top of each other; then, all was still. The remaining teams of scientists and soldiers who didn't get struck looked up over the debris and peered through the dusty smoke and haze that was the aftermath of the destruction.

Everything - ruined. Nothing left. Except-

"Look - the shuttle! It's here! It's here!" a cry came up somewhere from the pile of debris. When everyone caught on to the news, a massive cheer rent the air from all sides. Officers and soldiers threw their dusty caps in the air in joy and relief, while everyone else immediately scrambled over to check the shuttle.

The shuttle was as battered from its trip to another dimension as it could get, but at least it remained intact. The pilot inside the cockpit looked barely alive as he was slumped limply over the pilot's seat.

The commander, who at that moment arrived to inspect the damage, switched on his earpiece. "Mission accomplished, General. The pilot returned."

"Did he return with anything else? Chief here wants to know if he collected any cargo."

"I'll go check, sir."

The commander strode over to the beaten-up shuttle, where some of his men were unloading a certain capsule from within. Grinning, he connected to the general again.

"We found a capsule, sir."

"Bring it in, commander."

Minutes later, the commander and several more of his troops hauled behind them the capsule, which floated on airborne cushions. They entered through the airlock, which slid open; an entire team of paramedics flooded past them to assist the injured soldiers back in the lab. The troops passed through a dim hall, its hallway longer yet just as vast as the lab. He and his men turned a corner, where several more units of armed soldiers, engineers and shinobi alike, clad in silvery fighter suits, turned their attention at the arrivals. The general was talking to a middle-aged man with the wildest, thickest silvery mop of hair, when the latter looked up.

"Ah, look! The commander brought us a little present with him! And on his first trial, too! My top scientists didn't give you too much much of a hard time, did they? I told you I have only the most brilliant minds around here to assist you!" The mop-haired man - the "Chief", that is - approached the commander with a rather unpleasant grin, revealing a set of bright white teeth. He meant for it to be an inviting gesture, but it only made him look all the more treacherous. Well, that was Katsuro Tokushima for you.

The commander was about to continue when suddenly,

"Katsuro, if you had any dignity, you would stop trying to act like someone you're not!" A voice floated from of the back of the crowd.

The crowd parted to reveal the speaker approach them, her stiletto heels clicking against the shiny hard floor. Everything she wore - suit jacket, pleated skirt, heels and all - was black, except for her crisp white blouse. She had the mature dignity of an professional, yet a certain ethereal beauty radiated from her. Her complexion would have completed her ideal beauty if she wasn't wearing an impatient scowl.

"Out of my way," she snapped. She passed the commander and Katsuro, who looked dumbfounded by the girl's caustic remark; nevertheless, he retained his cocky self.

"Er, my daughter, Dehlia Tokushima," he carelessly gestured his hand to her. "Perhaps you know her."

No, the commander didn't. Though he couldn't help glancing at her way more than once.

Dehlia Tokushima, meanwhile, keyed in the passcode in the capsule; the top slid open with a pneumatic hiss. A wave of dry ice rolled out, but Dehlia deftly waved it away. Both the general and Katsuro came to her side as they scrutinized the capsule's inner contents.

The top half looked like a deflated blob of a vinyl substance. It looked like it may have been white at some point, but now, no amount of washing could ever wipe away the dusty grit smeared all over it. The bottom half was encased in hard, rusty armor.

"Dehlia, m'dear. Is this what you were looking for?" Katsuro inquired of his daughter. "All I see is-"

Dehlia held up one hand to cut him off. She took a pair of glasses out of her breast pocket and put them on.

"If my sources are correct..." she murmured. The glasses must have been some type of scanner, because a stream of light poured out of the rim and passed over the unidentified object. Dehlia was probably satisfied with her search, because she turned to her father and stated with determination, "Yes, Katsuro, we found it."

She made no explanation of what "it" she was talking about.

Katsuro threw back his head and let out a shrill, wild laughter of glee that never failed to make the weak-hearted cringe.

"You've done it again, pureshasu*!" he shrieked. " That's my little genius! Atta girl!"

His daughter, on the other hand, displayed no such signs of stereotypical "mad scientist" behavior. She simply nodded and turned to the troops.

"Alright, boys, get ready. I think we may have what we were looking for," she announced. Her eyebrows surreptitiously furrowed, and the corner of her lips displayed a hint of a smirk. Her plans were coming along well. If they involved some probing via torture, well, did it really matter? In the end, the goals always justify the means...right?

"Next stop - San Fransokyo."

- So. Everyone. I probably wouldn't have ever posted this up had my bbff(best beta friend forever) raved, plead, and beseeched and finally made me write all this down. Not like it would have helped to keep my fanfic ideas in my head anyways. For months this story has been cooking in my head to the point of explosion, even though I was so hesitant to write this at first!

- Either way, hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading! Meanwhile, KoolKat here is gonna creep into a corner and try to find her Kool again (pun intended) before she starts overreacting about the entire fanfiction thing. O.O

-*Pureshasu: 'Precious' in Japanese.