Derek spewed gravel everywhere as he came to a skidding stop on his bike. He left it behind the warehouse, lying on it's side. His hometown had become increasingly dangerous for him and his gang ever since his old leader had died in a drive-by. His gang was strong armed into joining with their rivals or they would be annihilated. Derek still held some hope that they'd be able to turn members of the rival gang into their own members and stage a coup against their new leader. So far he hadn't had much luck. As second in command of the old gang, he stayed in the warehouse with the new leader and his second command. Both were sleazy characters, not straying away from murder, blackmail, thievery, and kidnapping. Neither were very kind to the opposite gender, either.

He shook his head and entered the building, stomping his feet to shake loose the mud in his boots. Seth, the power-hungry second in command, smirked at him and set down his pop can.

"Where've you been? The Boss is pretty ticked that you ditched him this morning. Wouldn't want to be in your shoes when he sees you. You know he's looking for any excuse to rid this gang of any...unnecessary people."

"Then you should thank your lucky stars that you're still here, cause..." Derek tilted his head mockingly towards Seth.

Seth spat on the floor and turned away, throwing the can over his shoulder.

Derek headed towards the 'main office' of the Boss. He could hear someone yelling, and someone whimpering softly. He threw open the door without knocking, a big no-no in this place. He was all ready in trouble, how much worse could it be? He stopped cold, seeing the Boss dragging a girl across the floor by her hair. She was scratching at his clammy arm, raking it hard enough to leave trails of blood up his arm. Her lips were swollen, and Derek could see a welt on her cheek all ready forming.

He bounded across the room while he still had the element of surprise on the Boss and punched him in the jaw. He was satisfied to hear a resounding crack of bone. The Boss's head hit the wall and he moaned, grasping at his face. Derek pulled the girl to her feet and pointed her towards the door. She nodded and escaped while Derek watched to make sure Seth didn't see her and try to stop her. He turned in disgust to the man he was supposed to obey. At least the old Boss had morals, and his fellow gang members were more family to him. He had people to watch his back. Here, he was watching out for his old crew, himself, and whoever the Boss set his sights on to torment.

Still, he'd better leave before the Boss is able to decide how to kill him. He glanced at the writhing man and estimated that he'd have about half an hour to hide away. He set off at a brisk pace to his bike. Maybe now would be a good time to visit those relatives across the continent. He pedaled as speedily as he could, keeping to well-lighted streets with few people. He biked for two hours until he came to an old bridge. He slipped under the ledge, found a dry corner near the end of the bridge, and settled in to sleep.

He woke to the sound of rushing water. The water had risen during the night, not terribly so, but enough to make him leave his refuge. He twitched in surprise when his cell went off. It seemed too loud in this deserted area. He answered it with a gruff, "Hello."

"Yo, Derek? Where you at, man?" It was one of his buddies from the old gang."

"Hidin' out for a bit. I punched the Boss in the jaw. Kinda broke it. Why?"

"Well, Seth was gloating about his 'amazing seeking skills."

"So?"

"So, he found this chick, all beat up. Didn't think anything of it till they started saying something about bait for a traitor. What's going on, man?"

"Damn."
"What?"

"I'll be there. Are they staying put, or are they headed somewhere?"

"Looks like they're headed down by the river. Y'know, the one by the burned down farm house?"

"I'll be there."

"I'd say be careful, but I know you don't care. If it helps, us old member's have been blackmailed into staying put. You're on your own, man. Good luck."

"Great," Derek said sarcastically. "I appreciate it."

"Anytime." He hung up.

He tossed his bike alongside the road and hopped on, pedalling faster than he had when he was escaping. He made it to the riverside in less than half the time it'd taken him to get to the bridge.

He peered over the edge of the top of the hill. Seth and some of his posse had the girl's wrists and ankles bound, and they were tormenting her. Her shirt was torn in multiple places and she had knife marks all over her arms, legs, chest, and neck. Her face was puffy from unshed tears. Derek's blood boiled. Seth spotted him and waved him over, like they were old friends.

"Aw, hey! Look who showed up! My dear friend, Derek! Hey, look who I found. Isn't she lovely?" He mocked, ruffling the girl's hair. His face hardened. "Alex, I leave the girl and the traitor to you. See you back at the Office later." He slipped into the shadows of the early morning, flicking a signal to the rest of the members to follow.

Derek spat in Seth's direction and turned his attention back towards Alex and the mystery girl. Alex was holding her upright by her neck and smirking at Derek.

"What's up, bro? Cute chick, huh?" He slid his knife across her cheek, drawing a fine line of blood. He licked the knife, and smiled. "Mmm. I bet she tastes good elsewhere, too."

He drew a slow circle with the knife where her shirt met her jeans, laughing as a single tear dripped down the girl's face. She looked up at Derek pleadingly. He couldn't take it anymore. He tore down the hill, churning up clumps of soil behind him. His fist plowed into Alex's forehead, but he didn't budge.

"You suck. That was weak, you idiot. Come at me like you're serious, or I'll kill the girl before I kill you."

Derek realized he was being baited, but he reacted anyway. He pounded away at Alex, but he kept being deflected or dodged. Finally, one connected into Alex's neck. His neck snapped back momentarily and he stumbled, giving Derek the chance to snap Alex's finger's off of the girl. Alex howled and cracked his fingers back into place. He grinned again, muttering under his breath.

"Better, amateur." He twirled his knife and jabbed at Derek, scoring a hit in his forearm. Derek winced as Alex yanked his knife free of his arm. Derek grabbed Alex's neck and twisted, but Alex uppercut Derek's jaw. Derek stuck out his feet and flipped Alex onto his back, hitting his head on a rock. He dashed towards the girl with Alex's fallen knife. He slit the bonds, and the girl slumped back, rubbing her wrists and ankles to get feeling back into them.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

"Your baddie buddy is back up," she nodded towards Alex.

Derek sighed.

"Two versus one is better odds," she stated.

"Um, no? For one you're a girl, for two..."

"I've been on the streets for most of the last decade. Today is simply a more vibrant day than most. I'm Sarah, by the way." The girl grabbed a branch from the ground and cracked it like a whip.

Alex growled in annoyance and jumped around Sarah, heading for Derek. Derek met him head on, the two trading a series of blows. The girl managed to kick Alex in the head a few times, as well as lash his back and neck with the branch. This continued for about two minutes. Alex somehow continued having the upper hand, since he had no partner to worry about. All motion froze as a hideous crunching sound came from the road above. All heads turned towards the noise, freezing at the sight of a semi flipping end over end towards the combatants. Derek dove for Sarah, ready to try to shield her from the crash. When no one screamed, they opened their eyes. The truck was frozen in midair, hanging like it was suspended from wires.

"What the hell?" Alex muttered.

Derek scrambled off of Sarah, only to come face to face with two non-human beings.

"Can't we get killed without mythical creatures invading Earth?" Sarah chaffed.

"I'd answer the implied question, but it would insult your small brain capacity for such things," one of the shinigami retorted.

"Now," she continued, "To business. Guess what? You three are about to die. Congratulations. Y'all must be some of the unluckiest people in this world. Your only spark of luck is that our kind takes pity on a group of humans every few years. So, two of you get to come with us, and, since we're feeling generous, one of you gets to live, and not be crushed by the semi."

"If you guys are so awesome, why can't you just rewind time and wake up the trucker so he can see where he's going? Or at least have it avoid all of us?" Sarah quipped.

Derek, who'd been sitting quietly this whole time, spoke up. "Why do you need us?"

"Vecause vee vant to suck your vlood!" The other shinigami cackled. "MUAHAHAHA-"

"Shut up, Brianna," snapped the other shinigami. She turned towards the teens. "Seriously, we want you guys to come play our game in our realm. It's like a...a demon version of the Olympics. But, just like in the Olympics, you could still die, anyway. So, choose two of you guys before we do it ourselves. And I'm only slightly more patient than Brianna."

Derek thought quickly.

"If I stay, Alex can terrorize Sarah wherever they go. If Alex stays, this type of thing could happen again. The only way this could work is if Alex and I go. There. Decided."

"Hey, now. You and I are going to have serious issues if you just decide stuff like that!" Sarah protested. Derek explained his reasoning to her and she sighed, slowly excepting it.

"I'm fine with that. Your world promises to be more interesting than this one," Alex assented.

"Yeah, and there'll be cute chicks there, too. I've seen some of the other gamers. Dang, man!" Brianna smirked at Alex and Derek. The first shinigami turned to Sarah and began explaining something to her.

"Since you've seen us and you aren't coming with us, you're going to live somewhere between our world and yours. You'll live in periods of both. You'll live a full, happy life, okay? Also, you'll be able to help out the gamers while they're trying to survive."

"That's fine with me. I wasn't planning on staying in this city for more than a week anyway," she assured her.

"Then it's settled. You, duck down," the shinigami instructed her. She nodded and did as she was told, looking up at Derek.

"Thanks for saving me."
"Anytime. Good luck, wherever you are."

"I'm not the one who needs it. Hey! If you get the chance, kill that bastard for me, okay?"

"I'd like to see that," Alex growled, arms crossed in front of his chest lazily.

Derek and Alex felt themselves being yanked from their bodies as time unfroze and their bodies were crushed under the tumbling semi. Sarah ducked, covering her head as the truck skimmed over her; missing her head by a mere millimeter. She stood up and brushed herself off. She looked pointedly away from the boys' bloodied carcasses. Waving to Derek, she nodded to the shinigami and disappeared. The boys stared at their bodies with a mix of disgust and morbid interest."

"All right. Time to go. Say your goodbyes to the solid world, dearies."