Hey again, everybody.

I own nothing.


Celty slowed down at a corner and came to a halt. She felt as though she was being followed.

"E-Excuse me? Miss?"

Celty jumped and turned around.

A tall, blonde man with green eyes and thick eyebrows, wearing a dark green sweatshirt, jeans and loafers, was behind her.

"[Who are you and what do you want with me?]" Celty asked.

"I'm Arthur Kirkland, and…to be honest, when I saw you, I thought I was the only one who could see you," the man admitted.

"[See me? What are you talking about?]" Celty typed out.

"Well…you're free to call me weird for this, but…normally, with my friends, I'm the only one who can see supernatural creatures," Arthur responded.

Celty began shaking, overcome by amusement.

"M-Miss! Are you okay?" Arthur asked.

"[I'm fine! It's just that I've never heard of someone who can see supernatural creatures when they don't let other people see them!]" Celty managed to type out.

"Well, that explains a lot. So you allow yourself to be seen by others?" Arthur asked.

"[Well, no. I'm a Dullahan, and we don't have too much control over who sees us or not.]" Celty admitted.

"A Dullahan! Are you Celty?" Arthur suddenly asked.

"[It depends on who's asking.]" Celty typed.

Before Arthur could explain further, Celty's phone rang with a new text.

Celty quickly checked.

[CELTY! Big news! I got info that the Slasher is planning to roam the streets tonight! We have to stop the Slasher before it attacks anyone!] read the text from Izaya.

Celty froze.

"Miss?" Arthur asked.

"[Sorry, Kirkland, but I just got a job. Catch you later, and stay off the streets tonight!]" Celty advised before driving off.

*~*~*

Night had fallen when Celty decided to stop at the park. A glimpse of silver in a tree caught her attention.

Walking up to the tree, she typed, "[Gilbert, get down from there. You're as plain as day with your hair and eye color.]"

A moment later, Gilbert climbed down the tree.

"[What do you think you're doing? Didn't Izaya or Shinra tell you there's a Slasher in Ikebukuro?]" Celty asked.

"I got bored hanging around that apartment. Besides, I doubt the Slasher could take me down," Gilbert boasted.

Celty slapped Gilbert, then typed, "[You are an idiot! This is not your normal unintelligent murderer! This is a monster beyond common sense!]"

"I don't care! I was abandoned by those I thought of as friends long ago! I'd gladly fight the Slasher!" Gilbert shouted.

A sudden chill filled the area. Gilbert looked around him.

"What was that?" he asked.

Celty shuddered. What was going on?

Rapidly, she texted Izaya, [Izaya, check the chat rooms! NOW!]

*~*~*

Izaya paced around the room, nervously.

His phone rang, and Izaya answered it. A text from Celty.

Izaya muttered the words of the text, then ran over to his computer to enter the chat room for the Dollars.

To his relief, only Taro Tanaka was on.

Rapidly, Izaya asked on the computer, [Has that troll come yet?]

Taro responded with, [No. Why?]

[I heard the Slasher is going to strike tonight, and I want to be sure,] Izaya admitted.

[Really? The Slasher?]

Izaya rolled his eyes.

[No, the magic fairy of Arbor Day. YES, the Slasher!]

[Sorry, just wanted to be sure. Rumors have been flying around for a while.]

At once, the user that Izaya had dreaded coming online appeared.

Saika.

Izaya hissed something under his breath, then texted Celty, [Saika just came on! Careful!]

*~*~*

Izaya's text came a second too late.

Hundreds of Saika wielders flooded into the park, unarmed.

"Who are these people?" Gilbert questioned Celty.

Celty gave the silver-haired man a warning gesture, then drew her scythe.

"Holy…" Gilbert gasped.

A dark-haired woman approached Celty.

"[What do you want? One of your members stabbed me and I wasn't turned into your puppet, so what do you want?]" Celty typed.

The woman's face forced itself into a sneer.

"Nation…Prussia…kill…" she hissed.

Celty glanced over at Gilbert.

Gilbert guiltily looked away.

"[You're the only one else here that's neutral in Ikebukuro, Gilbert. Or, should I say, Prussia?]" Celty asked.

Gilbert snorted.

"My land was made part of Germany's long ago. I am not Prussia, not without my land," he retorted.

"[So you are one of those "Nations" I heard about. How about you show me what you can do on the battlefield?]" Celty typed, readying her scythe.

Gilbert nodded, reading a knife he borrowed/stole from Izaya.

*~*~*

Meanwhile, France had decided to go to Ikebukuro, worried about China and England.

"Like we said to the other two, do not reveal you are a nation. And if worse comes to worse, we'll find a new France in your place," America had decided, much to Germany's chagrin and annoyance.

"I hope those two are okay," France muttered.

A high school-aged boy suddenly rushed past France.

"What the…" France began.

"Sorry, sir! Gotta help a friend!" the boy called over his shoulder.

France sighed.

"Japan should have warned me there were such rude children in his country," he muttered.

*~*~*

With China, he was growing weary of going around Ikebukuro on false leads.

"Aiyahh! Whatever they're planning to do with him, it had better be worth the trouble I'm going through!" he complained.

His phone suddenly rang, and he answered.

"Nihao, this is Yao Wang," he greeted.

"China! I found out something terrible is about to happen! Go and try to find Prussia quickly!" England called.

"I've been looking for him all day!" China protested.

"Just hurry!" England shouted before hanging up.

China frowned and hurried off into the night.


Nothing much to say here except...I regret not spending more time on this.