"Aha!" Angel shouted, landing a perfect hit on the Painsaw. "See, Flora? I'm a perfect shot." She blasted another shot in the air for dramatic effect before putting her gun on the ground and collapsing on the soil.

"Hey, you shouldn't do that!" I said, sitting down next to her. I reached over and grabbed her gun, then threw it back into her hands.

"You're too paranoid, y'know that?" she laughed, grabbing her black cape and pulling it tighter over her shoulders. "It's not like they respawn that fast."

I had to suppress the urge to drag her back to the Cul De Sac. Ever since she showed up again since the original time travel accident, Angel Nightwalker has done nothing but grab attention and praise from everybody. And while she is a better fighter that most of the new people, that doesn't give her permission to throw herself in danger. Not when there's so much riding on her life.

I then leaned over and ruffled her blue hair before picking up my flimsy sword. Glaring at the terrafuser, I said, "Let's head over to Estates and see if anyone needs anything there."

"Oh, yeah." she said, snapping her fingers. "Are there harder monsters there?"

"Yup. That's why I never go alone."

"Sweet, then wait here and I'll be back." she gloated, then took off.

"Hey, wait!" I cried, chasing after her. "Numbuh 5 said I had to look after you, so stop running off!"

I would've been able to keep up with her if I hadn't tripped and nearly fallen into the fusion matter sea beneath the bridges. Thank god for those SACT Agents. By the time I got to the estates, she was long gone.

In desperation, I approached the first person I saw.

"What do you want?" Mandark snapped. "Can't you see I'm busy?" He then continued to argue with some poor sap holding a glowing object.

Scratch that. I approached the second person I saw.

"Jaaack!" I screamed, nearly collapsing in front of him. "Have you seen someone with short blue twintails, a stylish blue jacket, and even more stylish pants? No skirt! Pants!"

He gave me that look. The 'I'm really concerned but I don't know where to even start' look. He glanced briefly in the direction of Goat's Junkyard, which was all I needed.

I took off again, ignoring his calls to stop.

"Ahhh! Ouch! Yeesh!" I cried, stumbling over the deteriorating bridge. I jumped straight onto the warp pad and shook the robot until it teleported me inside.

Once in, I had to fight through a crowd of motor raptors, slicing them into pieces. I didn't even bother trying to use the platforms, trudging through the infected ground and climbing over the broken cars. I then spotted Angel in the distance, trying to fend off a group of Toxic Spawns and failing. Before she could be overwhelmed, I jumped in and stabbed my sword through the most ferocious one, then made quick work of the rest. Angel collapsed to her knees, and this time I really did force her back up and dragged her out of the infected zone.

"What were you thinking!?" I snapped. She sat, cross legged and fuming.

"...I totally had it handled back there." she pouted.

"No you didn't! What would've happened if you died?"

"The green portal thingy would've brought me back anyway."

She's impossible. "How many times do I have to tell you, you can't rely on that! Grim's been missing for months, it's a miracle those things still exist! That's why I'm here, so you can stay out of danger while trying to fix the time machine, so can you at least try and make my job easier?"

She squeezed her eyes shut for a few moments. Then, she stood up and patted me on the shoulder. "Sure, whatever. But hey, you're really good with that sword. Teach me some moves before I leave."

I smacked her with my sword. "Were you even listening!?"

She took off running. "Of course I was! Hey, put that sword down!"

"Oh no, you don't!" I screamed, chasing her around the junkyard for what felt like hours.