I have a question, one that's been nagging at me for a while now.

If you were able to be in a favourite TV show, movie, book, or game universe instead of the one you're currently in, would you give everything up at the drop of a hat?

It seems simple right? No? It doesn't? Okay, good… it's good to know I'm not the only one who thinks that…

Allow me to ask, if you did do such a thing that is, would you think back on what your loved ones would think? Would you even care? Would the temptation to leave all of the pain behind be worth it? Or would said pain be replaced by a newfound regret?

I'm not normally this sentimental, but I've had a lot on my mind. I'm normally light hearted, people who know me would agree that i'm distracted easily and not really very emotional, tending to close myself off a fair amount, only letting out mild negative emotions as well as the more upbeat ones people know me for.

Those who know me better understand that I also have a serious side, one that doesn't come out unless necessary.

...I should get to the point. I'm a fanfiction author, but… you probably know that if you've read my stories. And… well, I'm… not exactly somewhere I would think physically possible. Hell, I would question if I was in a coma, but after what had happened… I doubt it.

I'll start at the beginning… when I got sandwiched in between the two forces known as Cause and Effect.

Time Update: Some time in the past

It was 2:40 EST, school had ended for the day and I was currently grabbing my bag from my chair, wanting nothing more than to get out of my English class and go home.

I walked out of the classroom, before feeling my phone vibrate in my back pocket. Pulling out said device delivered the knowledge that my mom was driving back home from Toronto, and wouldn't be able to make it in time to pick me up.

I was walking home today.

Now let's move over to this question of Cause and Effect, and how I ended up in my current situation.

See… you can't have Effect, without Cause, and but you can have Cause, without effect. But the notion of time for that isn't a possibility. While an Effect needs a Cause, A Cause can occur, and then an Effect occurs as if all one fluid motion.

Now I bring up the question. What happens when you get stuck in that eventuality that is the connecting space between the two?

Nothing.

And by nothing, I mean NOTHING happens.

That was how things were when I took that first step out of the school, because as soon as my foot connected with the asphalt, everything around me seemed to just stop, and then shutter back a second.

My vision turned grey, as the colour slowly drained from everything. It grew deathly quiet, as I attempted to move.

The key word in this situation Is attempted.

I was stuck, I couldn't move, I couldn't turn to look anywhere else, my eyes stayed glued to the spot in front of me. I tried to breath, but found that I couldn't. It wasn't my lack of movement, but it was also the fact that the air seemed to have been frozen in place.

It was like I was encased in stone, with the air around me being my cage.

I felt my lungs ache, and my body ached just trying to ache from the lack of oxygen in my system. I couldn't even tense my body up due to the fact that I COULDN'T!

And then suddenly… I heard a crack.

It wasn't the normal kind of crack you hear, it was the kind of crack that you hear when you're experimenting with something basically world ending and the containment chamber had gained a crack.

It was the sound of what I could only describe as the most terrifying thing I've ever heard.

Then, one after another, I heard more and more cracks. At first, nothing happened, before something crumbled away from my right eyes, as what seemed to be a very bright dot of light poked my exposed eye.

More and more my vision started to clear, before the air around my nose crumbled, as I took a deep breath, and then everything crashed.

I was immediately dropped to the ground, as I felt my body ache in both pain and relief. I rolled onto my back, just taking in as much air as humanly possible after almost dying via Asphyxiation.

I slowly sat up, before looking around me. I wasn't at my school, that is for damn sure. I pulled out my Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo, before checking if I had service.

Sure enough, I wasn't that lucky. I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I seemed to be in some kind of heavily forested area, judging by the trees. It wasn't overgrown, but it was more green than expected.

I sighed, this wasn't getting me anywhere. At this rate, I would be more likely to drive myself into the dirt than find any source of salvation. I wasn't prepared for such a thing anyways. I was a 16 year old kid who's body was equipped with a spare tire. I wasn't fat, mind you, but my stomach could do with not being as big as it was.

I put my headphones on, running my hand along the play button of the Koteon Each Bluetooth headphones that adorned my head now.

I let the music talent that was Nathan Sharp fill my ears, as I calmed myself down enough to start walking in whatever direction.

This is going nowhere… fast.

I had been walking for the better half of 3 hours now. At least… I think it's been 3 hours, I've lost track.

I sighed, slouching up against a nearby tree. I needed a breather, as it felt like my lungs were trying to kill me.

After taking a few minutes to get myself together, I found the fatigue I suffered was a bit much, as I slowly passed out.

...I awoke to the feeling of being licked. I snapped my eyes open, finding 3 slime looking doggos on my chest.

I immediately shot my hands across my chest, removing the slimes from my form, as I took a precautionary step back.

I stopped, before looking around me, finding I was surrounded by a small group of the Slimes, about 8 of them, including the 3 on my chest.

"...What the f*ck…" I said aloud. These slimes… I've seen these kind before… But where again…

"Dogoo!"

...Oh…. Ah…. Well… that clears things up.

I looked around in a panic, finding that there was no convenient weapon around me.

"Dammit! Why the hell is there never any convenient steel pipes that basically appear whenever it's convenient for me!?" I questioned the universe, thinking back to one sailor moon fic I ran across while bored one day.

"Dogoo!"

It appears that the dogoos around me were done with my feeble attempts at life, as they started to close in.

"Welp, this was a fun life… no matter how screwed up it got." I said to myself. "...Never realized that I would probably just die instantly due to Dogoos if I ended up here…"

I stopped, before thinking for a second.

"You know… with a bit of hindsight, I'm pretty sure EVERY OC would have died this way if logic actually worked in fanfiction…" I stopped, realizing that I was no longer in danger.

"...Where the f*ck did all the slimes go?" I asked myself, looking around. True to my word, they were gone.

"So it seems you're done having an internal monologue." Said a voice, as I turned to see a girl with fox ears and a tail, at least, I assumed they were fox based. Her outfit was a white and green top that reveals her midriff, and a black top the same length underneath that. She wears green and white shorts with an orange belt and green buckle with what I only could assume was her logo on it as well.

"...Yeah, I guess I am." I said, letting out a nervous *gulp*. "...Uh… thanks for saving my skin there…"

"No problem!" Said the girl. "My name's CyberConnect2, but just call me Cybercon."

"Sure." I said. "Bryce. Bryce Bridged." I held my hand out, as my saviour shook my hand. "...Where exactly am I?"

"You don't know?" CyberConnect2 asked, to which I nodded, albeit a bit sheepishly. "You're in Virtua Forest right now. Speaking of, why are you here anyways? You said you didn't know where you were, but being in one of these dungeons isn't exactly someone just gets lost in."

"...Would you believe me if I said that I honestly don't know?" I said, crossing my arms.

"I'd be inclined not to… but seeing as it seems you honestly don't got a clue… I'll accept it." CyberConnect2 Said. "Since you probably don't want to be here, I can escort you out of here and take you to Planeptune, if you want."

I mulled this proposition over in my head, before my brain remembered that I do things without thinking first.

"That'd be nice, thanks." I said. "It's better than ending up as a slimy residue…"

I shuttered, I haven't had the displeasure that the females of this universe have probably had dealing with Dogoos, but I feel I got pretty close to that and I do NOT want to experience that sh*t.

CyberConnect2 motioned for me to follow her, which I did, because at this current moment, I'd be more likely to end up dead if I didn't accept her help.

Location Updated: Planeptune

"Hey, thanks for the help." I said to CyberConnect2. "Maybe I'll see you around Cybercon."

"Maybe." She said, before we parted to go on our separate ways.

"...Now what the hell do I do?" I asked myself, looking around.

It had at this moment come to my attention that I currently had no place of residence, no money, and no weapon in which to defend myself with, in case I try working for the guild, which in normal Fanfic circumstance, I probably would have went there by now.

"...Well, I can see if the Guild would be willing to loan a weapon, or at least use the payment I get from a quest to buy said weapon I would have been using…" I mumbled to myself. "...Then there's the question of what kind of weapon… I'm not trained in swords, not going down that route, no thanks… Maybe a gun? That could work… Then again, nerf guns aren't really firearms... so my experience is again lacking…"

I stopped and looked up. My eyes landed on what I could only assume to be NPC's, as they seemed to be just an outline of a generic character shaded either blue or pink for gender, and there was a LOT more pink than blue. I sighed, realizing how much of a sore thumb I must be right now. Doesn't help that I'm male myself, this will just make things uncomfortable. I was already socially awkward, this is going to make things suck a lot more now.

I kept walking towards the Guild, my train of thought returning to the empty discussion about the kind of weapon I would use that was going on in my head a few minutes ago. As I reached the building, I felt strangely claustrophobic for a split second, which, after what had just happened, made me feel all kinds of uneasy.

"...I have a bad feeling about this…" I said to myself, as I walked into the guild.

The first thing I notice is how busy the whole place is. Fanfics don't really do a good job of showing you how busy these places are, and the games themselves don't show you the bunch of people moving around due to them focusing on the main characters. So it's safe to say it was a shock to me when I had to squeeze my way to the front desk.

As I approached the desk, I turned to my left to see an area of the guild that was… surprisingly not as busy. It looked the same as the area I was currently in, but still. I took a step towards there, but that same feeling of claustrophobic-ness recurred, and I took a step back.

"...That's unnerving." I said to myself, before trying to get a better look. To my surprise, I found 2 characters standing in front of a terminal, picking out a quest that was probably above my level right now.

...Do I even have a level? That's concerning if I don't…

Part of me wanted to try to make conversation with the two standing weirdly all alone, however that was a small part. In reality, I don't think now is a… great time to see if I can befriend those two…

If you're wondering who I'm referring to…

...Hmm… no fourth wall breaks… strange.

Anyways, they happen to be Neptune and Nepgear.

As I start to turn around, I catch a glimpse of Neptune turning around. I don't know if she saw me or not, but I honestly don't know what side of that would be worse.

I decided that it was probably a good idea to actually do what I came here to do.

However… I stopped myself, remembering I'm not good with talking to people.

"I can't do this, I can't do this…" I muttered to myself, hastily making my way out of the Guild.

As I exited the building, I let out a sigh.

"Dammit… This isn't some damn job interview… What the hell am I freaking out over…?" I asked myself. "Well… it sorta is… and my livelihood sorta depends on some intake of currency…"

I sighed again. "...I need to take a walk for a second…"

"Okay… as much as I like the idea of being in this place, I need to get home." I said to myself. "However, I need to actually live long enough to do anything note worthy."

As I was monologuing, I didn't notice the sound of angry guards, I did however, notice the impact of someone running into me. I fell onto my back, feeling a weight on my chest.

"Ow! Dammit…" Said a female voice. I opened my eyes to find a grey-ish purple skinned girl with green hair in a black mouse hoodie outfit pushing off me.

"Yeah, that works…" I said, rolling over, pushing myself off the ground,

"She went this way!" Shouted what I assumed to be Guards.

"Ah crap! Listen, I need you to hide me!" Said the Girl.

"Wait what!?" I asked.

"Just do it!" She shouted, running behind a crate. I sighed, before turning to see 2 guards run up to me. They wore Planeptune garb, so no doubt about their allegiance.

"Excuse me, did you happen to see a girl with green hair run by?" Asked one of the Guards.

"Uh yeah…" I said, pointing away from me. "She went that way. She slammed into me, so I think she should be slowed down a bit."

"Thanks for your help!" Guard 1 said. It was at this moment that their eyes were closed. I raised an eyebrow, but I don't think they saw it.

As the Guards left my field of view, I let out a sigh I didn't know I was holding in.

"Okay, you're good… I think." I said, turning around to face the girl I had just hid.

"You worried me for a second, but thanks for the help." She said, standing up.

"So… what the hell was that about?" I asked.

"I don't think that's any of your business." She responded.

"Well, considering the fact I just saved your *ss, I think I'm entitled to know." I said, leaning back against the wall behind me.

"...I… may have tried breaking into the Basilicom." She said.

"Yeah, that would do it…" I said, before walking over to her, my hand extended in greeting. "I'm Bryce."

She looked at it for a second. "...Linda." She answered, but not taking my hand.

I looked at her for a second before retracting my hand. "So you did this for your own personal gain or…?"

"Why the sudden interest?" She asked. "I don't think I need to explain everything some random dude."

"...just humor me." I said, sighing.

"I'm the most *sskickingest soldier in the Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime!" She said, a smirk on her face.

"...So you're an underling then." I deadpanned, causing her to lose her composure.

"Don't talk down to me, dumb*ss!" Linda said, as I raised my hands in a defensive manner.

"I'm not trying to!" I responded. "...You said you were apart of a Syndicate?"

"Yeah… why?" She asked.

"...I'm… kinda out of a job and not exactly got a place to sleep…" I answered.

"...So you're asking if I can get you a job?" She asked.

"Basically, yeah." I answered.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd tell you to screw off, but since you saved my skin… I'll see what I can do." She said, extending her hand. "Welcome to ASIC."

"...This is going to bite me in the ass isn't it?" I asked.

"Probably." She said, as I took her hand and shook it.