Chapter 4

"In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here."

This is crazy… I'm losing precious sleep time just to check some urban legend? Souji thought as he glanced out his window, then at the TV, and then at the clock. 11:59… it's almost time. He began to stare at the TV intently, and as the seconds ticked by he could almost feel his eyes bugging out from lack of sleep or blinking. He then stood up and walked closer to the TV, determined to not miss a thing if there really was anything to the rumor. The screen stayed black and empty for what seemed like forever, but just as he turned around to go to bed suddenly the TV lit up. When he turned back to look, he saw white noise, but he could also see snapshot-type images of something or someone standing in front of a store lit up by its inside lights, and he could have sworn he heard screaming. Before he could really register it, though, he heard a ringing noise followed by a deep voice.

I am thou. Thou art I. Thou art the one who opens the door…

Souji could barely keep steady as intense pressure built up inside his head and only the crash of thunder from a lightning strike outside brought him back to reality as he found himself kneeling on the floor. The clock read 12:01 and the screen was empty again. He was tempted by shock and some amount of fear to simply go back to bed and forget the whole thing, but as he stood up again curiosity began to work its way through his mind. I wonder… he thought as he walked over to the TV again. Ignoring every thread of common sense, he lifted his hand and touched the screen with his index finger. As soon as the finger made contact, the screen began to ripple as if it were a bowl of water that had a pebble dropped into it. What in…? he thought as he pushed his hand, rather easily it seemed, through the screen. Suddenly something grabbed at him and yanked, pulling his arm and head into the screen; the only thing saving him from being pulled into the TV completely was that his TV was a small travel-size model, too small to fit even his slender body into it. He couldn't see what had him, but he struggled hard to get away anyway, ignoring the blankness of the place as he concentrated on getting loose. He struggled so hard, in fact, that when he broke away he fell backward and slammed his head onto his table. "OWW!" he reflexively shouted.

"Are you okay?" a small voice called out from beyond the door.

Great, I woke Nanako up… hope I didn't wake Uncle Dojima, too. "Yeah, I'm alright," Souji replied, rubbing his head to stop the pain.

"Okay, well, good night" Nanako replied, and the pitter-patter of her small feet quickly trailed off.

I am not going to be coherent at school… Morooka is going to have my head. He shook his head and crawled into his futon, determined to get some sleep. Maybe the others will get a good laugh out of my story…

The next day, Souji kept as low a profile as he possibly could. Fortunately, Mr. Morooka was not in that day, so their history teacher, Ms. Sofue, took his place as their homeroom teacher. The morning was spent with introductions, followed by a simple history lesson. Souji tried to not make eye contact as he tried to will away the massive headache that threatened to explode out of his skull, but he heard his name called and reflexively stood up.

"Mr. Seta, when did A.D. – that is, Anno Domini – begin?" Ms. Sofue asked.

"… When Jesus was born," Souji replied. Well, at least she's taking it easy…

Ms. Sofue smiled approvingly and said, "Good, you seem to understand this well." As he sat down, she asked, "Does anyone know what B.C. stands for?" No hands were raised, so she said, "Ah, well, I'll tell you. Before Christ, or the years before Christ was born. This, of course, is how we count our years today, but it wasn't adopted in Western Europe until the Fifteenth century." She chuckled and continued. "This was a time when many religious wars and power shifts were occurring. Anyhow, the world's beliefs have been in an ever-flowing tide since humanity began to emphasize religion. Most holidays are related to religion, you know. If you do some research, you may find some interesting facts. But regardless of the culture or the tradition, the tide determines who will survive in the present and in the future. And those survivors will ensure that their will is passed down to the next generation…" Glancing down at the papers on her desk, she said, "… But now it's time to start at the beginning. Let's take a look at the origins of civilization…"

By the time the classes were over, Souji could feel the pain receding, but he knew he'd gone through the whole day without so much as writing one single note. I need to find someone to copy today's notes from, he thought to himself as he began packing up his books and papers. As he did so, the usual gossip girls that sat to his right were chatting again.

"What's up with the body being hung upside-down? That's so freaky…," one girl exclaimed.

The other girl nodded in agreement and said, "Is it supposed to, like, be mimicking an execution? It's messed up…"

"My senpai told me that it was a third-year named Saki found the body," the first girl said.

As Souji listened, he could feel someone standing to his left, so he turned and saw a hesitant Yosuke, who said, "S-so, uh… It's, uh… it's not really that important, but… Yesterday, on TV, I…" After a second, he shook his head and said, "Uhh, never mind. Look, I'll tell you later. Ahaha…"

A couple of seconds later, Chie walked up and said, "Yosuke, did you hear the rumor? Saki-senpai's supposedly the one who discovered the body."

"I wonder if that's why she looked so down… She doesn't seem to be in today, either," Yosuke replied.

Sudden movement to Souji's right, however, drew their attention as Yukiko stood up. "Huh? Hey, Yukiko, are you helping out at the inn today, too?"

Yukiko looked exhausted as she turned her head and said, "Things are really out of hand lately… I'm sorry." With that, she walked out of the room, leaving the three to their musings.

Yosuke frowned and said, "Is it just me, or does Yukiko-san seem way stressed out today?"

"I guess they're running her ragged," Chie affirmed. Her face lit up after a second and she asked, "By the way, did you see… it… last night?"

Yosuke seemed distracted as he replied. "Oh? Well, uh… how about you?"

"I did!" Chie replied. "I seriously saw a girl. But… my soul-mate is a girl? What's that supposed to mean? I didn't see the face, but it was a girl for sure. Her hair was brown, about shoulder length. She was wearing our school uniform, and…"

"Hey," Yosuke said, "I think that's the same person I saw! I couldn't make out that much detail, though… the image I saw was much blurrier."

Chie looked shocked. "Wait, so you saw it too?! And we saw the same girl…? Does that mean that we have the same soul-mate…?"

"How should I know?" Yosuke retorted. "Anyway, Souji, did you see it, too?"

"I think so," Souji replied. "I only saw a few bits in between the white noise, but after hearing Chie describe her I think that's also who I saw. That's not all, though; after the screen went blank, I heard a voice say something about opening a door and when I touched the TV I got sucked into it. Thankfully I got stuck because my shoulders wouldn't fit through the small screen." Not going to tell them about hitting my head; they already look suspicious as it is, he thought.

Yosuke blinked and said, "Well, it sounds like we all saw the same person. But weird voices aside, though, what was that about getting sucked into your TV…? Were you that tired last night? You must've fallen asleep in front of your TV."

"But I was in my futon when I woke up this morning," Souji replied, "and I distinctly remember crawling into it because I was trying to lay down on the side that wasn't hurting."

Chie looked relieved. "That would be one interesting dream, though. I like the part where you got stuck 'cause your TV was too small. That's pretty realistic. If it had been bigger, then-

Oh, that reminds me!" Chie exclaimed as her mind jumped to a new track of thought. "Our family's been talking about buying a bigger TV."

Yosuke smiled and said, "Oh, yeah? Well, flatscreen TVs are definitely in these days. Want to go check them out? We're beefing up our electronics department this month."

"Oh, definitely," Chie replied. "My parents don't know anything about electronics, and I've just gotta see my kung-fu movies on the big screen!" She did a classic karate stance as her blood pressure spiked from excitement, shouting "Hwa-taaa!"

Yosuke simply looked at her with a blank expression before turning to Souji and saying, "We've got some pretty big ones in stock. I'd bet they're big enough for you to fit into. Hehe."

Yup, they don't believe me… not that I blame them; I don't really believe it, either, Souji thought to himself. Maybe I'll just show them… if it wasn't a dream, anyway.

Duo shivered as a fierce wind blew through the ruins of the church. "Damn, if I stay out here much longer I'm going to catch a cold," he muttered as he stood up and wiped his face with his cloak as he turned around to leave. Hours had passed since he had walked from the spaceport to the abandoned section of the colony, as his watch indicated. "It's almost midnight. I spent a lot more time out here than I thought I would. Guess I'll find a motel to sleep in for the night…"

As he walked through the torn-down neighborhood, Duo couldn't help but notice a lot of bulldozers and other construction equipment that seemed to be in use during the day. Many lots were now empty of debris and seemed ready to be rebuilt, though there were still many other lots that were totally trashed. Duo felt himself relieved to know that people were finally moving on yet disturbed to think that in a year or so he wouldn't be able to find his way around that area again. "It's probably just as well," he told himself. "I don't plan on coming back here again…" His eyes wandered until they rested on one house whose whole front got blasted inward, no doubt by an explosive shell from a Tragos. Inside it much of the stuff that whoever had lived there had accumulated was half-rotted or ripped to shreds, but something seemed to stand out: a lone television set sitting in a corner, seemingly undamaged. Curiosity carried Duo from the street and into the ruin, and as he leaned over to examine the TV it suddenly shone to life just as his watch began beeping the twelve-o'clock chime. At first it showed just white noise, but he could see someone in the screen, and it looked like they were being attacked. "What in the heck?" Duo breathed as he looked over at the wall, expecting to see it plugged in but shocked as he realized that it was not plugged in. Suddenly, a deep voice rang out from what seemed like everywhere. It said,

I am thou. Thou art I. Thou art the one who opens the door…

"Gah…!" Duo grunted as a massive headache came on. He gripped his head and fell on his backside as he waited for the pain to subside, which happened after a minute. When he opened his eyes, the screen was as blank as would be expected from an unplugged TV and the pain was as gone as quickly as it had come on. "… Okay, I REALLY need to get some sleep." As he ran off, a part of him wanted to call Hilde, but he shrugged it off, saying to himself that she would never believe him anyway.

The electronics department of Junes looked like a ghost town to Souji compared to the rest of the store. Almost no one was there; not even a Junes employee loitered about this section. Yosuke was showing Chie the stock of TVs being displayed, mostly the largest flat-screen that Souji had ever seen. "Wow, this is huge!" Chie was saying. "And… holy crap, it's expensive! Who buys something like this?"

"I dunno… Rich folks?" Yosuke replied. "Honestly, not many people shop for TVs here. That's why we don't have clerks here."

"Ah, well, not worth trying, I guess. Ah well, at least looking's free," Chie replied before the both of them turned to look at Souji and then walked up to the TV and placed their hands on the screen. Souji stared at them as they leaned away and smiled at each other.

"Nope, can't get in. Figures," Yosuke commented.

Chie chuckled and said, "This proves it. It was all just a dream."

Yosuke nodded. "Besides, these flat-screen TVs are so thin you'd just end up on the other side… Gah, what am I saying?" Shaking off his irritation with himself, he asked, "So, Chie, what kind of TV are you guys in the market for?"

"O-Oh, they said they wanted one that's cheap," Chie replied, eyeing the large flat-screen with disdain. "You got any suggestions?"

Yosuke smiled and led Chie further down the wall and motioned to one of the smaller models, saying in a faux-salesman voice, "Well, Miss, might I suggest this one over here? It's the newest model, just released this spring."

Chie took one look at the price tag and exclaimed, "Wha- that's not cheap at all! There are WAY too many zeroes!"

"I should've asked what you meant by 'cheap' right off the bat," Yosuke replied.

"You've got connections, right?" Chie asked. "C'mon, hook me up!"

Yosuke managed to keep the urge to facepalm suppressed and replied, "You know I can't do that." He walked a little further and pointed out one of the other TVs, saying, "How about this one? It's a display unit and it's a little old, but…"

Souji turned his attention from his two classmates and stared at the large TV. You know, maybe I can get in through here… wait, what am I saying? The nagging feeling in his gut wouldn't go away, and he found himself putting his hand against the screen and shocking himself as his hand seemed to melt through the glass, which began to ripple. Oh no, it wasn't a dream! … Curious…

Meanwhile, Yosuke and Chie were still talking about TVs. Realizing that he'd been ignoring his friend, Yosuke looked over and said, "Oh yeah, Souji, what kind of TV are you-"

Chie watched Yosuke's expression move from neutral to shocked. "Huh? Something wrong, Yosuke?" She looked at Yosuke's eyes and followed his line of sight. What she saw made her face mimic Yosuke's.

"I-Is his arm… in the TV…?" Yosuke breathed, hardly daring to trust his voice from jumping several decibels.

"Whoa… Uh, is that some kinda… new model? L-Like, with a new function?" Chie asked.

"Hell no!" Yosuke replied as they ran over to Souji and stared at his arm, which was just past the wrist into the TV.

Chie's mouth dropped and she said, "You gotta be kidding me… Did you really stick your hand through the screen?"

"Oh man," Yosuke commented, "this is for real. That's some magic trick, man!" His voice was almost squeaky from near-panic at what he was seeing. "So, how does it work!? What's the magician's secret!?"

Souji looked over and replied, "If I come across one, I'll let you know." Looking back at the TV, he decided to try sticking his head in. Quickly, his head disappeared through the screen and produced larger ripples across the screen.

Yosuke's eyes nearly bugged out as he said, "H-Hey, don't do that! What're you doing!?"

"Oh my God…" Chie whispered, clearly unable to say anything else.

Souji had to stifle a smile as he looked around. "It's just empty space in here… it's all white."

"Wh-What do you mean, 'inside'?!" Yosuke echoed.

"Wh-What do you mean, 'empty space'!?" Chie asked.

"Yeah, it's actually very spacious," Souji said, trying very hard not to laugh as he imagined his friends' faces.

"Wh-What do you mean, 'spacious'!?" Yosuke asked.

Chie shook his head and asked, "I mean, what is going on!?"

Meanwhile, Yosuke's face suddenly paled. "Holy crap… I-I think this is all too much for my bladder…"

"Wh-What the… are you going to pee your pants!?" Chie asked, momentarily distracted from their apparently-headless friend.

"I've been holding it in all day," Yosuke replied. "I-I haven't had a chance to go…" He began to dance as he muttered, "Ah… can't… hold it in… anymore…" and dashed off out of the department, only to turn back around and run back to Chie and Souji. "Shit! Customers! They're coming!"

"What!?" Chie shouted. "But we've got a guy half stuck in a TV here! What're we gonna do!?" The two of them began to run around in a panic, but their panic was cut off as they collided with each other, fell onto Souji, and fell with him through the TV. "WHOA!"

"Man, I can't believe I forgot to get Hilde a present!" Duo exclaimed as he ran through the shop. When he woke up that morning, he had instinctively picked up his ledger to find out what was on the day's schedule. Opening it up to the previous day, he had written in large red letters, 'BUY HILDE A BIRTHDAY PRESENT BEFORE YOU FORGET!' and gone into panic mode. Man, the last time I forgot something like that she was so upset for a whole week… I need to hurry so I make the next shuttle to the L4 cluster! So he found himself wandering through a mall trying to remember what Hilde liked, but with the time pressure combined with making it to the upcoming funeral he could not even think. "She is SO gonna kill me… at this rate I'll end up looking like I forgot about BOTH events! Man, being a Gundam pilot was so much easier…" he muttered to himself as he wandered into the electronics department and found himself in front of a large wall-mounted flat-screen TV. It was as if time had stopped as he stared into his reflection and remembered what had happened last night. "It's impossible… stuff like that does not happen. Not in reality and definitely not to me." Shaking his head, Duo turned to walk away, but he had failed to notice a 'Wet Floor' sign and slipped on the slick water-and-soap-covered floor. His arms flailed as he headed right toward the TV, but instead of the pain and blood that he expected, he was swallowed up in white, shouting as he fell for what seemed like hours.

WHUMP! THUD! CRACK! Sounds echoed through the strange place as the three teenagers landed in various positions on the ground. "Ow… I think I landed on my wallet," Yosuke muttered as he pulled himself up.

"Man, where the heck are we…?" Chie asked as she got up onto her knees and looked around. "What is this place? Somewhere in Junes?"

"Hell no, it isn't!" Yosuke replied. "I mean, we just fell through a TV!" Looking around, he added, "Actually, uh… what IS going on here?" Souji, for his part, looked on with astonishment, not really sure what to say.

After a few more seconds of silence, which had begun to weigh on their minds, Chie asked, "Haa… So… uh… We're still alive, right?"

"Seems so," Souji replied as he rubbed his sore backside. "Are you guys alright?"

"I think my butt's cracked now…" Yosuke muttered.

"Of course it is!" Chie replied, realizing that they all felt the same way.

Yosuke looked up as he looked around. What he saw surprised him. "Whoa!"

"Wh-What now? Did you pee your pants?" Chie asked as Souji wondered how she could talk about that so easily.

"Of course not, stupid!" Yosuke answered. "Look around!" Despite the heavy smoke, they could see lights hanging on metal scaffolding surrounding the platform that they stood on, as well as lights that sat on the border of the stage.

"Is this… a studio?" Chie asked. "And all this fog… or is it smoke? There's no place like this in Inaba, is there…?"

Yosuke shook his head and said, "Hell no. But man, this place is huge…"

Chie then looked at Souji, who hadn't said much yet, and asked, "What are we gonna do…?"

"… Let's go home," Souji replied. "I don't like the looks of this place…" Unlike the other two, he had been looking down and saw all the weird people-shapes on the ground. Looks way too much like chalk marks for murder investigations…

"G-Good plan…" Chie replied. "We need to get home, and…" It finally hit her that they had no idea where they even came in at as she looked around. "Wait a minute… Which way did we come in from? I don't see a way in… or out."

"What? That can't be right! H-How can that be!?" Yosuke exclaimed.

"I don't know!" Chie replied, growing more hysterical by the second. "Don't ask me! I can't take this anymore! I wanna go home!" And with that, she started bawling.

"Okay, so how!?" Yosuke demanded.

As odd as it sounds, Chie looks cute when she cries… Souji thought as he handed her a tissue. "Look, let's calm down and look for a way out."

"Y-Yeah, an exit! We need to find one!" Yosuke said as his voice began to settle back to its normal octave and volume. "Let's calm down and think about this." After taking a few deep breaths, he said, mostly to himself, "So we need to find a way out of here."

Chie did not look nearly as relaxed as either of the boys did, however. "Is there really a way outta here?"

"We got in…" Yosuke replied, "So we must be able to get out somehow."

"Th-That's true, but…" Chie started.

"If there's no exit, we're trapped, so let's cross our fingers and look around," Yosuke said. All of a sudden, however, someone else appeared out of nowhere, landing on Souji and knocking him back onto the ground. Yosuke was surprised enough to remain still for a few seconds, but then knelt down to help Souji up. "Hey, Souji, you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I think so," Souji replied as he rolled out from under the newcomer and got up.

"Stupid store clerks," the stranger muttered as he sat up. "They always use too much soap when they mop."

Souji did a double-take and said, "You!"

The stranger blinked and saw the familiar silver hair. "You!" he exclaimed. "… Souji, right?"

"Yeah, and you're… Duo?" Souji asked.

"Yeah! What're you doing here!? Wait, before you answer that, where are we?" Duo said as he looked around. "Doesn't look like any place on any of the colonies…"

Yosuke and Chie looked at each other, surprise clear on their faces, and then looked at Souji and Duo. "Uh, Souji… who is this guy?"

"Oh, he's Duo. No idea who he is beyond that," Souji replied. "Duo, these are my new friends, Yosuke Hanamura and Chie Satonaka."

"Heya!" Duo said as he waved. "The name's Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie. That's me in a nutshell."

"Uh… It's nice to meet you," Chie replied. "So… How do you know Souji?"

"Saw him in a dream a couple of days ago," Duo replied before turning to Souji. "Weirdest dream ever, but if you're real then that person in the fog might have been real."

"Agreed, but right now we have to figure out a way to get out of here," Souji stated. Behind Duo he could see a catwalk extending into the fog. "Let's go that way." Without any better ideas, the other three decided to follow him.

Several minutes later, they found themselves in a balcony hallway of some sort, though there was little they could see in the fog. Chie couldn't help but feel like she was in familiar surroundings as she said, "What is this place…? It feels different from where we were before…"

"It looks like we're in some kind of building, but…" Yosuke replied. "Damn, this fog's so thick I can hardly see."

"Are you sure we're not wandering farther away?" Chie asked worriedly.

Yosuke frowned, not willing to share his own worry, and replied, "I can't be positive, but we have to trust our instincts a little."

Duo knelt to the ground, muttering as he felt the ground, "No one has been this way in awhile, or ever as far as I can tell. No footsteps, not even indents from use. There's no way this is natural…"

"You think it's a trap or something?" Souji asked.

Duo shook his head. "I don't think so. This is too elaborate for a trap. It may be some kind of set." He tried to open one of the sliding doors on their right, but it seemed bolted shut. "Well, looks like we gotta keep going forward until we find an open door."

An open door soon appeared, though the red swirls worried them, but they appeared to be nothing to worry about after all as they walked through with ease. Beyond it they saw a bedroom with a comfortable-looking bed, complete with a plush down-filled comforter. A bookshelf above the bed was sparsely filled, and light seemed to filter in through a full-length window, though there had been no sign of any external light source such as the sun when they had been in the hallway. Yosuke was the first to speak up, saying, "Hey, is it just me or is the fog lighter here?"

"Nope, it's not just you…" Duo replied.

Souji flipped open his phone and frowned. "No service here, either."

"What a surprise," Yosuke deadpanned. "So, uh… Duo, right? What did you mean by 'colonies'? Are you from the Pacific Islands that still belong to the U.S. or England?"

"Uh, those nations don't exist anymore," Duo replied, his disbelief evident in his expression. "What rock have you been hiding under for the past two hundred years?"

"Two hundred years?" Souji nearly shouted. "What happened?"

"Well, the first space colony was launched and the United Earth-sphere Alliance was formed," Duo replied. "Wait… what year is it?"

"Two thousand eleven," Yosuke replied.

Duo nearly fell backward from the shock, saying, "Wait, you're still going by that calendar?! We changed the calendar back when the colony was launched… and two thousand… man, this place is really weird. It must be outside time or something, because my calendar year is After Colony One Nine Six, two hundred years after the first colony was launched and another hundred after your time…"

"You have to be kidding me…" Yosuke replied. "Do they have cars that hover and things like that?"

Duo groaned as he put his head into his hand. "No. We still have population and environmental problems, which is why the space colonies were created in the first place. There's no use for hovering cars or anything like that, anyway."

"Can't you guys slow down a little?" Chie shouted as she walked into the room behind them. "It's hard enough to see where you're going…" After seeing the shocked expressions on their faces as they turned to look at her, she turned around as well and her expression quickly mirrored theirs. "Huh!? What the…!?" On the wall behind them were dozens of pictures, varying in size and practically covering the whole wall from corner to corner, with some on the wall to the left as well. "It's a dead end! There's no exit!"

… This girl is more of a ditz than Relena… Duo thought.

"It keeps getting creepier and creepier the further we go…" Yosuke muttered before his whole body went rigid. "Argh… I can't hold it anymore… My bladder's gonna explode!" he gritted out before running over to one of the walls.

"… Are these two always like this?" Duo whispered to Souji.

"… Probably…" Souji whispered back.

Meanwhile, Chie was shouting, "Yosuke, what are you doing!?"

"I gotta go before I piss my pants!" Yosuke replied.

"You're going here!?" Chie exclaimed. "Oh, you have got to be kidding…"

Yosuke could feel three pairs of eyes staring at him with varying levels of incredulity. "T-turn around! I can't go if everyone's watching!" He waited a few moments before zipping his pants back up and muttering, "Ugh… I can't do it! It's your fault if my bladder bursts!"

"Like I care," Chie retorted before turning her attention to the room. "Anyway, what's with this room? Check out these posters… the faces are all cut out…" She shivered and added, "Someone must really hate this person…"

Yosuke's attention, however, was drawn to something just behind Chie. His face had gotten very pale as he stared at it and whispered, "Dude… this chair and rope… That kind of arrangement is never good…" A rope had been hung above and just in front of a chair, and had been tied to resemble a noose. "Wait… is that a scarf?"

"Who ties a scarf into a noose?" Duo asked, mostly to himself. "Aren't most scarves made of loose fabrics and easily ripped?"

Chie stared and replied, "Heheh… C'mon, let's go back to where we came from and look somewhere else for an exit…" Silently agreeing, the four quickly walked out of the room, eager to forget what they had just seen.

As he passed through the door, Yosuke got a closer look at one of the posters and said, "Hey… I think I've seen that poster before…"

"Who CARES!?" Chie shouted. "Let's get out of here! I'm sick of this place!" Closing her eyes for a moment, she muttered, "And… I'm not feeling so good…"

"Now that you mention it, me too…" Yosuke replied.

Me too… Souji thought. There's something about this place…

"We'd better go…" Duo echoed.

Yosuke nodded and said, "Yeah, let's get back… I'm seriously starting to feel sick."

Back in the area where they had fallen, the dense fog had not lifted and they could all feel their bodies getting even heavier. "Whew… we finally made it back here," Chie said between heavy breaths as she leaned on her knees with her arms for a moment, trying to catch her breath. As she looked up, she blinked and said, "Wait… what's that…?"

"Th-there's something over there!" Yosuke exclaimed as the figure slowly made its way closer to them. When it got close enough, they could see a silly-looking tear-shaped costume that looked like a bear that tried to get into a circus costume.

"What is that thing? A monkey? A bear?" Chie asked.

"What in the world…?" Yosuke muttered as well.

"That's what I want to know," a voice replied, seeming to come from the costume. "Who are you guys?"

Chie gasped and the guys looked on with shocked expressions as she said, "Whoa, it talked! Uh… what are you? You wanna fight!?"

The costume backpedaled and cowered, saying, "D-don't yell at me like that…"

Souji took the opportunity to speak up this time. "Could you tell me what this place is?" he asked gently so as to avoid scaring the costumed creature.

It looked up at him and replied, "This place is what it is. It doesn't have a name. It's where I live."

"You… live here?" Yosuke echoed, not sure if he believed his ears.

"If I was you guys, I'd hurry back to the other side," the creature continued. "Someone's been throwing people in here. It's a big headache."

"Huh?" Duo replied. "Throwing people in? What are you talking about?"

The creature growled with frustration, as if he hadn't heard Duo, and continued, saying, "I don't know who's doing it; I just want them to think before they go do things like that!"

"Hey, what's your problem?" Chie shouted, making the creature cower again. "What gives you the right to yell at us like that? What ARE you? Where are we!? What the heck is going on here!?"

The creature surprised everyone by running over to Souji and hiding behind him. "I already told you… Anyway, you should be heading back."

Yosuke was clearly getting annoyed, something, Duo noted, seemed to come easily to him, as he replied, "What it comes down to is, you want us to get outta here, right? Well, so do we! We just don't know how, dammit!"

The creature growled in annoyance and shouted, "That's why I'm saying I'll let you out!"

"Like we said, we don't know where the frickin' exit-" Yosuke replied before his mind caught up with his mouth and he said, "Wait… what?" Without warning, a stack of old-fashioned TVs popped up in front of Souji. "What the hell!" Yosuke shouted.

"Wh-where did these TVs come from!?" Chie exclaimed.

Without warning, the creature herded the four teenagers to stand in front of the TV and began pushing them, saying, "Okay, now, go, go, get out of here. I'm a busy bear!" All four of them shouted objections, but could not avoid getting shoved into the screens and found themselves falling through the same white abyss that they had fallen through earlier.

AN: I apologize for the massive lateness in getting this out. I've had many troubles over the past 5 years, which have taken a long time to resolve (with some still yet to be so) but I am still committed to finishing this story. I can't put up a timetable yet, but I will definitely be taking a more active role in working on it, as part of my practice in self-discipline. Thank you for your patience.