Chapter 1

Compared to his closest friend Ringo Andou, who was terrified of ANYTHING you couldn't poke with a stick or concoct a liable explanation on what it was, in other words: ghosts; Maguro Sasaki didn't scare easily.

An understatement. He didn't scare at all. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he was genuinely terrified of something- unless you count the time he mistook that walking disco fish... Sukamamamdo- Sukadooro- oh, whatever, it was a fish anyhow. He thought it was his cousin from a distance. That was mortifying.

(For the record, Maguro says it should be a common mistake for someone who can barely see through his hair.)

I digress.

So he wasn't scared of anything, or so he thought. However, one incredibly fateful, normal day, that all changed.

It started with a lab experiment, obviously.

At Suzuran High School, the bell had just tolled to signal the end of another long, boring, repetitive, uninformative, dull school day. Maguro groaned and peeled himself off the desk he'd been ever-so-sneakily sleeping on, (hair covering your eyes does have its benefits), and zipped up his bag. Everyone had already left the classroom ages ago, it seemed, and the teacher was giving him an odd look.

"Sasaki? Do you need something?"

Maguro cringed and whipped out the old smooth-talker with a false smile. "Nope, teach, I'm just on my way out. Sorry, lot on my mind and all. You know how it is, mid-semester, that's when we really have to up our game with the academics. Speaking of which, I loved the lesson. Real inspiring. It was as riveting as your dress today⭐."

The ice immediately melted and his Japanese History teacher smiled warmly. "Why, thank you, young man. Be sure to not get too caught up in your schedule."

"Absolutely. I'll bid you ado, then⭐." Maguro stepped out of the room with an enthusiastic wave and immediately deflated. He was so dang tired today- it's all thanks to Risukuma, who wanted to pull an all-nighter on the new horror game he bought yesterday.

"It'll be an enlightening experience, he said! We'll see if you're truly resistant to terror, he said!" Maguro muttered. "Enlightening experience, resistant to terror, my butt. Who even talks like that? Only thing he's discovered is I'm NOT resistant to zero sleep."

All his mumblings and grumblings brought him to the chemistry room. This was where he, Ris, and Ringo hung out after school- granted it was just him and Ringo watching Ris do cool explosions and junk, but he felt involved.

He reached for the handle and immediately flinched back as the door was flung open. Out in front of him tumbled a big furry blob, a flash of white, and a trail of dangerous sickly smoke.

The bundle of limbs in front of him splayed out on the floor, groaning. Maguro grinned and poked his friend Ris's nose.

Oh yeah. One minor detail. His friend was a bear. And a squirrel.

Don't even try to ask.

Immediately Ris shot a paw up at his mouth and clamped it shut, exhaling a breathy "Don't breathe."

"Dude, come again?" Or at least, that was what Maguro wanted to say. In truth, all he got out was a muffled grunt behind the big furry fluffyness gagging him.

Instead of responding to his completely audible question like a respectable squirrel-bear, Risukuma waved a paw at the outline of a familiar red-head that Maguro knew like the back of his hand.

Ringo stepped out of the smoke, wearing a gas mask and donning some sort of vacuum on her back. She switched it on, and immediately a whirring and a sucking sound swept up the air around them. The fatal smoke sucked into the vaccuum with a clean swoop and Maguro could feel the tension in the atmosphere dying down.

"I think that's all of it," Ringo's voice crackled through the mask. "Might want to give it a few, though, just to be safe."

Unfortunately for Maguro, he couldn't 'give it a few' as he only just got to hear the first part of that sentence before the lack of air suffocated him and black spots danced over his eyes.

He actually thought he could see a light through his bangs when suddenly his lungs decided to work again and his throat tasted freedom. Falling to his knees, he gasped and gulped in sweet, hopefully non-contaminated air. His mouth tingled from the absence of the paw and his head was spinning. Vaguely, out of the corner of his eyes he could tell Ringo had knelt down beside him.

"Uh, Ris, I think you broke him."

"Oh dear... I only meant to save him from breathing in that foul smoke. A whiff of that, and his lungs would probably deteriate slowly from the acid and-"

"Yeah, got it."

"De-deteriate slowly, huh?" Maguro coughed. "Guess I'll take being smothered to death rather than that⭐."

Ris helped the boy up with the same paw he gagged him with. "Glad you understand. The experiment I was just recently working on would have purified the air around us and separated the H2O with other particles to create an instead infinite supply of water, an important factor while adventuring, especially for you two."

"But...?"

Ringo laughed sheepishly. "Well... turns out I powered the machine too high and..." she splayed her fingers and made a blowing sound with her lips.

"It blew up." Maguro concluded. "Not like that's a first or anything⭐."

Ringo pouted at him, unnecessarily cutely. "Hey, I can't help it if Risu-flippin-kuma can't give directions properly! Just be glad you weren't here skipping last hour to help. I'm never playing assistant to Ris ever again."

"Be glad? To not skip school? Helloooo?" Maguro waved a palm across her face. "Did you breathe in some of that smoke after all?"

"Oh shut up." Ringo's face turned as red as her hair. "I just saved your sorry hide."

"Hm... you did? Cuz I remember you saying you started the whole thing in the first place⭐." Maguro flashed her a cheeky grin before Ringo shoved him.

She walked away with a huff. Maguro smirked and follow after, knowing that she wasn't really annoyed with him, just being overly dramatic. A day without seeing your best friend can truly remind you how much you despise and love them at the same time. Ris followed shakily and sighed after seeing the mess the explosion caused.

Scratching his head, he grabbed a broom. "Boy, oh boy... Another failure. The third one in a week. What in Puyo am I doing wrong... Maybe I should start pursuing a different career... Like plumbing. I've heard that's quite the sophisticated job..."

Okay, time to intervene. I'm sure the Mario bros don't need any competition. Maguro turned and patted his older friend's shoulder. "Hey, hey, whoah. I'm sure you'll get it the next time. Ya know, when Wattson tried to make the lightbulb-"

"Edison?"

"Yeah, him. When Edison tried to make the lightbulb, he failed thousands of times, ya know⭐? But when the press asked him about it, he said-"

"I didn't fail. I found a thousand ways how not to make a lightbulb." Ris sighed and muttered. "I understand, though..."

"Come on, pal. Since when do squirrel-bears give up?"

Ris gave him a forlorn glance, appeared to be lost in thought, before straightening up and saying. "Since never...?"

"Exactly."

"Blrrighingmsf..." Ris spaced out before shrugging. "Anywho, that makes me feel a little better. Many thanks, Maguro."

His friend gave him a wide, million-dollar-smile: one of his trademarks. "Here to help, man- er, Ris. It's what I do⭐."

"If you two are done..." Ringo stood dangerously close behind Maguro and glared at the two guys. "There's kind of a big problem."

A big problem. Considering all of the excitement of the past few months, what with traveling to other worlds, meeting strangely clad humans, ghosts, and acorn-frogs, and playing a rather strange game called Puyo Puyo, a big problem could mean anything.

Maguro peered over Ringo's shoulder. On the nearest table, a strange object was levitating. "What is that?"

Ringo walked over to it, tapping her chin. "Hmm... I don't know. It's most certainly not a Puyo, so we didn't accidentally teleport to Amitie's world again..."

Maguro followed suite, Ris in tow. The said object was a floating orb, crackling and sizzling with blue energy. It closely resembled electricity, but it didn't radiate any heat when Maguro passed his hand above it. In fact, it appeared to be more like a pit of energy. The molecules in the air sucked into the sphere.

"Do you reckon it's a tiny black hole?" Ris asked. "That sucks in... air?"

Ringo giggled. "Don't be ridiculous. A black hole that size would still cause the gravity to warp, folding us and everything within the next hundred miles. Naw, it looks like some kind of magic source."

Maguro rolled his eyes. Not that anyone would have saw. "Does everything you say have to be snarky?"

"Shh." Ringo ignored the question, as she often does when she's being called out. Maguro gave Ris a shrug and knelt down to further examine the orb.

"...Did we make this?" Maguro finally asked.

"It appears so. Or, rather, we brought it here from another dimension." Ris propped his elbow on the table. "We should wait and test it to see if its-"

Ringo had reached out her hand and proceeded to touch the orb, her trademark curiosity getting the better of her. "Wait!" Maguro exclaimed, but it was too late. As soon as she touched the orb, it sprang up and bounced across the room, as if suddenly jolted awake.

"-dangerous." Ris finished with a sigh. "No one ever listens to the guy in the lab coat."

The trio sprang into action. Maguro grabbed his kendama and a bowl to trap it in. Ringo, after giving Ris a sheepish grin of apology, snatched a small fly swatter. Ris carefully took one of his glass jars and stood watch by the door.

"Duck!" Ringo called as she climbed up on a table and jumped over Maguro's head, barely missing the sparky thing. Maguro obeyed, and slid over to the other side of the room where the orb was currently headed.

As the orb approached him, he feinted a grab with his kendama, than prepared to swing his bowl from behind. The orb went between his legs and straight at Ringo. Ringo skidded to a halt as the orb flew past her hair. It zoomed straight for the door, where Ris was waiting.

"Ris, get it!" exclaimed Ringo with a gasp.

Ris bared himself and shoved the lid of the jar into the flying orb. The orb sailed in the same direction and was caught in the jar. Quickly, Ris screwed on the lid.

Maguro sighed with relief and took the moment to realize the utter mess they had made catching it. Papers were scattered everywhere and vials were tipped over.

"Whew! That was close." Ringo said as she headed by Ris' side. She gave the jar one look and then sighed, her eyes cast downward. "...Sorry, Ris... Again. I'm just screwing things up today."

Ris considered her crestfallen face and then shrugged before handing the jar over to her. "Kids will be kids. As for the mess-"

Ringo's face lit up and she swiftly took the jar. "I'll help! I'll make sure this whole place is spotless."
"I'll help too." Maguro offered. "Only if you let me see that, that is⭐."

Ringo handed the jar over to him. "Of course. I'm sorry too, Maguro, for dragging you into this. This wasn't your doing." she winced and then started fiddling with her hair like she does when she's nervous. "And for... you know... being so snappish today. Sorry. I was just mad at myself for letting this stuff happen."

"No harm done." Maguro grinned and patted her shoulder. "Except for this, though. What are we going to do with it?"

"I'd like to run some tests on it." Ris rumbled from behind. "Make sure it isn't radioactive. And, quite possibly, see if its from another world."

Ringo cleared her throat awkwardly. "A-Actually, Ris..."

"You want to study it instead?" Maguro gave her a curious tilt of his head. "Why?"
"Well, because..." Ringo's apple-green eyes stared at the orb long and hard. "I've seen this pattern before, somewhere. If it is what I think it is, then..."

"I understand." Ris broke in.

The red-head blinked. "You do?"

Ris nodded. "You keep it. Take it home with you. See if you can remember where you've seen it before, and then let me know. Cool?"

Ringo smiled widely. "Cool! Thanks Ris! I won't let you down!"

"In that case..." Ris checked his watch. "I'll be taking my leave now. Good luck, you two."

"Bye, Ris⭐!" Maguro waved as he left.

"Yeah, buh-bye- wait, Ris! You left us with cleaning up!" Ringo complained, long after Ris was gone. Taking one good look around the room, she sighed. "I'll take the left, you take the right?"

"Sure⭐."