Ah, I always have fun with Mizuki's stories. I always try to make them humorous…at most.

I rub the back of my head while I pat the sand for the gem everyone calls 'the Chaos Emerald.'

"That asshole." He took the Chaos Emerald away from me-Leather Jacket Guy. Where's my phone so that I can get the police on him, oh that's right, all my stuff that was on me probably fell in the water when I was on that ship. I sigh depressingly and hang my head up to the evening sky limply. Selling that Chaos Emerald was probably going to make me so rich. "Auuuuugh-huh?"

Next to me is a white envelope which probably slipped out of my hand while I searched for my phone and the Chaos Emerald. I walk over to a nearby street lamp and read the note.

To whom it may concern,

I know that you have traveled far and wide to get here. Meet me by the lawyer's attorney office on Coffee Boulevard. You'll see it when you arrive, tonight at 8.I will do my best to explain your current situation and give you the option of employment for supporting yourselves while you are here. I look forward to being introduced to you.

"It's about seven fifty now, I think I saw Coffee Boulevard on the way here," I ponder aloud to myself.

"Wait," someone says in a hushed tone. My eyes jut open as I follow the sound of the voice, getting closer to the water. I swear, I bet it's another prick who wants the Chaos Emerald as much as Spandex Girl and Leather Jacket.

"Listen, the stupid Chaos Emerald is gone, so give it up. I've been slapped around like a bitch all day and I'm tired of it," I exclaim fiercely, hopefully scaring the crap out of whoever is coming. When he steps closer under the light of the street light, I'm flustered like a gay guy living in a homophobic community. He looks very similar to Sonic, with the exception of his tangerine fur, downward spikes, and sapphire eyes.

"You're not…my imagination?" I ask without expecting much of an answer.

"Wow," he gawks with his mouth in a big O. Ok, so maybe he doesn't want my Chaos Emerald but I feel urked by his prescence.

"What?"

He shakes head and brushes his spikes back nervously. "I don't want your Chaos Emerald. Besides, Abaddon took it."

"Who's Abaddon?"

"The guy that hit you."

"Ooh, Leather Jacket Guy. Wait, so you were watching us, creeper?" I mumble the second part of the sentence indiscreetly. He nods with a cheery hum.

"Yeah he took your Chaos Emerald and then it kinda exploded and I think some of its energy went inside you."

"Oh my God!" I rip off my shirt and examine my chest for weird markings. Damn…I'll always be a B cup. Too bad this hedgehog is here, or else I would have really done that.

"So what's the deal with Leather Jacket Guy and the Chaos Emerald?" I scratch my upper chest frantically as if there's an obvious mole there.

"A Chaos Emerald is supposed to be a really powerful jewel that everyone wants to get their hands on. From what I hear, you can do whatever you want with that gem, which is why Abaddon wanted it. Rumors have it he's an evil assistant of a mad scientist," explains the orange hedgehog, clearly knowing everything about what goes on.

"Huh."

"But I heard him say your Chaos Emerald was fake."

"A phony? No way!" I probably wouldn't have pawned much money off it. Huh, I don't feel so shitty anymore. "Well thanks for telling me all this…uh, your name?"

"Oh yeah, Aqua."

"Mizuki's mine. Oh boy, I'm gonna be late for that thing! Nice talking to you Aqua!" I get half-way up the steps until my curiosity stops me. "Oh and do you happen to know a Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"Yeah, everyone knows him, he helps out the humans all the time!" he effuses while running toward the seawater. Why am I always meeting the non-humans? What kind of a world is this?

'

"Good evening, miss. Seems you're on time," says a man wearing a stereotypical detective outfit. I enter the shabby room, with the dim lights hanging over us and creaky floors. I shake hands with the detective dude, keeping it cool.

"I'm a punctual person, what can I say?" I shrug as I take a seat on the stool. "What's this about exactly?"

"I'd rather not repeat myself three times, so I'll wait for at least one other person. Besides that, how has your stay been in this world?"

"How do you know I'm from another world?" my insides hop ten feet up into my esophagus.

The man smiles. "That will be explained when someone else comes in."

We wait three minutes without conversation, until the door flies open. A girl wearing a traditional green kimono equipped with a hood that hides her face runs up to the desk, taking a deep breath.

"I am sorry for my tardiness," she mutters nearly inaudibly. The man assures her that it's all good and gestures for her to take a seat.

"I guess the others won't be joining us," says the man nonchalantly. "I'll begin now-last night, you two traveled from other worlds and landed here. I know this because you two and another fell from the sky like shooting stars, which means that your own homes have disappeared-"

"Woah, woah, woah, what do you mean 'disappeared'?" I ask in disbelief. Obviously, this guy's just exaggerating a little-Tokyo can't be gone just like that. "Are you outta your mind? All that happened was that I fell off a ship and went into some black and red orb thingy."

"I had a similar fate," Hoodie says stolidly. "I was running with a friend of mine away from a dark sphere, surrounded by black creatures with yellow eyes and then I ended up on An-here."

The man nods understandingly. "The red sphere you both describe is like a vacuum that absorbed everything in your worlds."

"You expect me to believe this?"

"I know that this is hard for you two to take in, but do you have another theory of why you're not in your homes?"

"Maybe-!" I start, but then realize I have nothing to back up whatever I'm going to say. "What if-"

"There is no use concocting an unreliable theory of why this occurred," Hoodie says as if she's some smarty-pants know-it-all. "So far, it sounds very believable."

"Did either of you see a black door in your worlds?"

Does he mean that black door that I saw on the cruise ship? I nod.

"The black door means that your world has been 'marked' by the Heartless. They are monsters of darkness that feed off the hearts of every living thing in different worlds and the reason why you're both here. See, when the black door is opened, the Heartless have a way of entering. Only someone with vile Darkness can open the door."

At the same time, the door behind us opens. I turn around and see a girl in a long blue dress walking into the room.

"Good evening, ma'am, were you aware of the time?" says the man leniently, as if nothing in the world ever bothered him.

"No, I wasn't. I apologize for coming so late, I can't excuse my lateness," replies Blue Girl tiredly. So I'm not the only one who's been going through this?

"I'm sorry, I can't hear it again," I interrupt before he tells everything he told me and Hoodie. Hearing all of this is too much to take in again. "May I be excused?"

Hastily, I exit the small-enclosed room and stand outside the building. After taking in a deep breath, I break down in tears, covering my face from the world. Why am I here? Why did the goddamn Heartless have to eat up everything in my world? So it wouldn't have mattered if I was on the ship…that really sucks.

"Ok Mizuki, suck it up," I say to myself as I wipe my cheeks. "Everything's gonna be fine." I reenter the building, mutter "Sorry," and sit back down. He goes on.

"Rest assured, for at the moment, they cannot enter this world. Now, to business-you girls can do certain tasks that require some physical power and mental powers for the sake of others. When you traveled, you were tagged with the ability to locate hidden gateways to other worlds. Therefore, you can move about different worlds, but not without feeling some side effects like nausea, dizziness, etcetera. By doing these tasks, you can get paid money to do whatever you want."

Getting a job means I'll be here long time. I can't believe that I actually believe this hoot.

"How do you know all this?" I do my best to suppress my cracking voice.

"You said it requires some physical strength?" Hoodie's interest piques up.

"I know all this because we have shared the same experiences. Yes, for most of these tasks, you'll need to know how to defend for yourselves. Otherwise, you will die out there. Anymore questions ladies?"

"You're positive there's no way of getting back home?" I push my hair back.

"At the moment, no."

My frown deepens. What if Haruki and Mom were still in Japan, they can be-

"If you have more questions, come back here and I'll give your tasks. Now before you girls leave, you should introduce yourselves," the detective-dress guy suggests while getting ready to head out. I turn to the most pleasant looking girl in the room and exchange handshakes with her, forcing a smile.

"Hi, I'm Mizuki."

"I'm Mia," says Blue Girl.

'

If I do decide to work for this "Erick McGraw", then I can go to other worlds without the whole Heartless-devour-my-world shit. And if I can do that, that means Mom and Haruki could be any of these worlds, not just in Japan. Yeah, it's definitely worth looking into this employment tomorrow morning. Aw yeah, I got this!