【37 - Down the Rabbit Hole and Out...!? META Portal Closes! Revenge of the Spunky Lieutenant!】


Talking animals, giant furniture and magic – it truly seemed that they were in a dream world.

"Heidi, stop pinching yourself!" Amira whispered at the dinner table.

"What if this is because Abzo Dolba unhinged my mind?" she hissed back "Or traces left over from the diodrethemine, it can take days for drugs to leave your system!"

"You went up against Abzo Dolba? Well I don't think I can be dreaming if you tell me something I don't already know…"

"Of course you're not dreaming because I am!"

The girls cut their talk short after realizing the others at the table had gone quiet. Neither were used to the cleanliness, having grown accustomed to the dirt and grime that festered everywhere in the coal province. Michael and Jonathan brought in a creamy fish pasta that was so delicious they shoveled it in. The others had stopped to stare. Heidi didn't even like fish, but to eat good food again… she couldn't seem to stop herself. Then her stomach couldn't take it, as small as it had shrunk in the past month. She threw up in her mouth and had to turn away, arm over her lips as she tried to not lose more of the delicious food.

"You two sure were hungry, huh?" the wavy-haired Jukka remarked. CJ forked in a mouthful and chewed without comment.

Fukurokuju, their owl-being host with the unusual name Heidi couldn't seem to remember, had prepared human-sized tables, sofas and beds for them. Since time wasn't passing on their world the girls didn't mind staying for as long as it took. If anything this was like a well-needed break from the stress of everything, and if they were to be imparted with whatever wisdom they asked for then this was the best thing that could've happened. The best thing they didn't even know could happen.

The bedrooms prepared for them were simple but luxurious, and the girls were so comfortable it put them to sleep immediately. Heidi slept long and when she woke up there was no muscle-strains, no neck-kinks or aches. She could get used to this.

After closing the wooden door to her bedroom she walked back to the bookshelves, they reached enormously high. She looked around as she paced, staring at tomes with magical symbols and languages on their spines. Heidi turned around a bend and bumped into something giant, then jumped back with a start.

"Ah! I know you! Another creature, you're Fighter Dual Fang!" It was a nature creature she'd battled many times when playing duels with her sisters.

The four-armed beast folk looked down "oh, hello."

"…hi."

"Heidi?" CJ was standing in the palm of the creature's hand, he'd been looking at books on the higher shelves. The beast lowered his arm so they could see each other "this is my buddy, Tsume."

"O-oh…"

"We're just looking through books. I'm not much of a reader but no video games here, you know? You better run along and find Fukurokuju or you'll get last choice of today's chores."

"R-right. See ya…" Heidi moved around the huge beast folk and continued off. She watched the teen focus back on what he was doing, pulling out another book while Tsume held him.

Soon Heidi left the bookshelves into an open space. The great youkai of knowledge turned his owl-head at her approach "Here she is now."

"Morning guys, girls and… other" Heidi pulled out a chair beside Amira and sat down.

"I was just listing off the remaining activities. Today I need someone to go swimming in the lake of nothingness beyond the palace, there are alcohol bottles of mine at the bottom from centuries ago. I'd always meant to retrieve them one day and that will be today."

"I'll go," Amira raised her hand "…so long as there's no monsters in it."

"No, and you will not be harmed." The owl nodded with omniscient certainty.

"Well what about me?" Heidi raised her hand to ask.

"The only remaining activity is herb picking with Michael. You will be acquiring more stock of wolfsbane."

"That sounds so much more boring than looking for giant bottles in a lake!" Heidi complained. "Unless I can turn it into a game somehow…"

"Mr Fukurokuju… why have you brought chosen duelists together from other dimensions just to do chores for you?" Amira asked.

"As a being of near-omniscience, perhaps I already know you will become involved with each other in the future? Perhaps, it pleases me greatly to weave the strands of your destiny in this way, involving myself in what's to come and setting up the first of your meetings with everyone here, to be remembered by you at a later date?" The owl leaned back to his full height and the two girls stared at each other. "Off you go, girls."

Amira stretched with a yawn. Heidi walked over to the black-haired Michael as he leaned against the edge of a bookshelf.

"When do you want to go?" she asked.

"Perhaps we can start after some breakfast?" he proposed and Heidi's eyes lit up. "Just remember not to eat it so fast."

Heidi became upbeat and had more energy than she was used to. A balanced diet and optimism was working wonders for her. For the next several days they learned more about the others, different kinds of magic and the Twilight Kingdom. Talks about their separate worlds were fascinating, and stranger than Heidi could've imagined. The only person Heidi didn't get closer to was the demon-lion youkai, Shishima. He remained just as intimidating as when they met, eying the mortals with those red-black eyes at a distant corner whenever he was in the palace. Even the plush-creature Borof was talkative, though frequently snarky, but he cooked enormous feasts when Michael and Jonathan weren't tending to meal duties. Borof and the lioness-youkai Nekohana went hunting for imps and other strange animals that resided in the mystical forests around the lake. The meat was peculiar but the meals were tasty.

Michael had humoured Heidi on their first job, agreeing to make a race out of who could pick the most flowers. The flame of her competitiveness overtook her, she pushed herself and managed to barely win. It was a victory she tiredly celebrated upon their return. She didn't want to consider that Michael had let her win. Him and Jonathan were the oldest, being in their early twenties, they also conveyed a startling amount of understanding and maturity. From little tidbits in conversations it became evident they'd also experienced tragedies back in their dimension of Gensokyou. Michael had commented on how Heidi's enthusiasm reminded him of both Jonathan and himself when they were her age. After delivering their sacks of herbs mid-afternoon, a modicum provision, Fukurokuju scooped them away with his bird-claw.

The rest of that day was spent talking and immersing themselves in table-top duels. As expected the game mechanics were advanced beyond what the girls had ever seen. CJ also scratched his head in confusion at some of the terms, so at least Aurellia wasn't the only universe lagging behind.

The next day Heidi was also last to choose her job and it was an odd one at that.

"…which is unusual for a chosen duelist!" Borof's squawk could be heard before Heidi even cleared the bookshelves to the tables where they typically gathered. Michael and Jonathan were together as normal, but had unhappy scowls on their faces. The lion Shishima looked terrible and threatening, but Fukurokuju had assured them they were under his mysterious protection. The plushie Borof turned at the appearance of Heidi "and you, woman! You might've liked the chosen fire duelist from our dimension. Too bad I cut him into pieces with a chainsaw!"

"Huh? …really?"

"Oh yes, we've killed all the chosens from our world!"

"Including this guy," Shishima suddenly shrunk to a human form, just like Nekohana had done. He stepped over to them as a teenage boy with black hair, though his red-black evil eyes remained. "He was your friend, right?" It was obviously some kind of sadistic taunt toward Michael and Jonathan.

Even though the pair frowned they kept composure, the lack of outrage must've meant it happened long ago. That and they seemed to have expected this kind of behavior as Shishima's regular antics.

Then with the timeliness of the omniscient, Fukurokuju emerged from his private chamber down the hall. Once more with Jukka shuffling out after him with hands in the pockets of his skinny-jeans. Jukka was the quirkiest of the guys here and sometimes annoyed Heidi with his condescending remarks. Still she knew the least about him, didn't even know what his home planet was like. If he was just a normal human like them why was he having so many private conversations with Fukurokuju? The owl's beak turned to Amira and she cried out, almost falling off her chair.

"Please stop psychically replying to my thoughts like that, it freaks me out!"

"My apologies," the giant owl looked at the fire duelist "it seems Heidi is now awake. Your job will be accommodating Shishima and Borof on their journey to the youkai kingdom. Somebody has to keep an eye on them."

"What!?" she exclaimed. "I mean… it's not as boring as picking herbs, but I'm pretty sure those two are homicidal maniacs!"

"Oh they most definitely are," Jukka sidled up beside her.

"Shut up, Jukka! What job are you doing? Trade!"

"Nup."

"Jukka will be dusting, the motes here are quite ravenous" the wise owl explained "Michael will be accommodating Nekohana to the forest. Jonathan will be mowing the lawn, while CJ is polishing the artefacts in my planetarium."

"I opted for picking magical herbs this time," Amira whispered and Heidi glared at the traitor.

"Worry not Heidi, no harm will befall you" Fukurokuju said.

"O-okay, I'll do it…" As people began to separately discuss other matters she made her way over to the plushie Borof and the teenage-disguised youkai. She tried to make her voice firm "No funny business alright, guys!"

"Do not proceed to command us, woman!" Borof snapped, holding that scythe over his shoulder with a boxing glove.

Shishima turned away with a smirk "I can sense emotions, so you can't fool me. Now that it's confirmed Heidi will be coming with us we can leave." He started walking and changed once more, growing to the enormous size of his purple-lion form.

"No breakfast first?" Heidi complained "why are we even going to this youkai kingdom?"

"That's our business! Shishima-sama is the prince but he isn't supposed to be in this realm so we're going to sneak in!" A giant paw closed around Heidi before she could respond and she was lifted to the lion's back, crying out before clinging to his purple fur. Soon Borof was beside her "better hold on! We're going to fly there!"

She gave him a look of astonishment, the giant lion bounded around and raced for the exit. Muscles and sinew rippled beneath his shiny coat, at this proximity the lion smelt like death. Once they could see the open, red sky those bat-wings unfurled and they took off. Heidi's jaw dropped in amazement as they soared higher, wind blowing through her hair. Soon the treetops, lake and Fukurokuju's palace were far below them.

"This is amazing! Youkai are so cool!"

"Hmph. I like this human, milord" Borof stated.

"Heidi… your emotions fascinate me." Shishima confessed.

"Oh… well, I suppose I was going through a depression for a while. I'm meant to be a hero of Aurellia but there was no hope. The chosens aren't even united on my world! Friends died, my relationship failed and it all seemed lost. But now that I'm here things could be different! Fukurokuju can tell us what we're supposed to do and we'll have a fighting chance!"

"Aurellia huh?" Shishima's body rumbled with his voice "sounds like a nice place to conquer."

"Don't you dare!"

"Listen, woman!" Borof squawked "when we infiltrate the castle you'll need to use that potion Fukurokuju gave us to stay hidden."

Heidi sighed, she didn't mind being referred to as 'woman' – it was a nice change from 'girlie' and at least made her feel grown-up. Later when the castle was in view it boggled her mind. It was an entire city shaped like a layered building the size of a continent. Her epic fantasy continued.

Meanwhile after Amira finished plucking a satisfactory amount of herbs she dusted off the dirt and let out a sigh. She didn't go far beyond the forest-line, distrustful of the twisted trees that grew in these parts. They were alien and as big as the youkai beings she'd met. Over the hill was the white-haired Jonathan finishing up with his mowing. Amira wasn't usually a social person, but seeing as they were all stuck in this situation she figured it best to get to know the others some more. She heaved the burlap sack over her shoulder and trekked toward him. When she reached him the Asian man had finished, shutting off the mower.

"Looks like you did a good job here," Amira stated.

"Thanks" he turned "Took a couple of hours, but that's another day's work done."

Amira nodded "Jonathan… about that place you come from, Gensokyo, you said there's youkai there too right?"

"Yes. It's protected by a barrier from the rest of the world, meaning there's not much in the way of technological advancement. But it's peaceful and content, every so often there are incidents but me and Michael deal with them, among some others."

"Sounds incredible."

"You could come back with us, if you like."

Amira was blown away by the proposal. She shook her head and tried to process her thoughts "would I be allowed to?"

"When we're done here, I think so. I don't see why Fukurokuju wouldn't allow it."

"That's- wow. Okay, wow. Um…" she blinked at the ground before looking up again. "You see, Aurellia is doomed, even if Heidi doesn't want to accept that yet. Our only chance of surviving it would be to leave. I would definitely go with you, but Heidi… I don't think she would."

"You have time to think it over," Jonathan said kindly.

"My answer is definitely yes! But Heidi, I don't want to tell her until we go. Though… she might need to know sooner. She'll blow up of course - it'll be huge - but when she has the time to think it over and realizes it's our only chance she might come round..."Amira put her focus back on the man in front of her "can this conversation stay between us for now? Please, Jonathan."

"As you wish."

"Thank you," she sighed in relief.

"I think you both would like Gensokyo-" Jonathan was interrupted by a glowing portal opening beside them. Nekohana and Michael emerged from it.

"We'll talk more about this later…" Amira murmured and Michael shot a questioning look at his companion.

"Ready to head back guys?" Nekohana asked with a smile. "Let's go!"

The remainder of their stay would be wiped from their memories, not to return until much later. A blurry and gradual recollection, like droplets filling a bowl. It seemed that for some weeks they were at Fukuroju's palace before it was time for their return, many other strange and wonderful events took place.

"Your planet's name is Earth?" Heidi had mocked CJ during one of their talks. She made her voice sound dumb on the word for emphasis "What kind of name is Earth? Sounds like a Duel Masters creature!"

One night the drinking of sake and other kinds of alcohol took place. Heidi was hesitant to try then found she didn't enjoy the taste, even when the tiniest amounts were mixed with soft-drink. She'd reasoned beforehand that after already getting high on drugs, how much harm could alcohol do? Nekohana had stripped out of her blue kimono to go skinny-dipping in the lake and then returned to regale them with stories of past sexual experiences she'd had as a geisha in ancient times. The inexperienced teens had all blushed hard while listening to her drunken tales.

"Nekohana… I'm a virgin! I've only dated one guy!" Heidi exclaimed when asked.

"I've also only dated one guy!" Amira agreed. "To be honest… I don't think I'm a relationship type of girl anyway."

Amira had surprised everyone by drinking hard and fast, even though she'd also never had alcohol before. When Heidi didn't like her first drink Amira had snatched it and chugged the whole glass. The end result was a catastrophe: Amira cried and screamed and cursed everybody before finally passing out. The next day she was horribly embarrassed and vowed never to drink again.

At one point an argument took place between Jukka and Shishima. The lion-demon declared that he wouldn't accept such disrespect from a human so parted, taking his loyal Borof and the concerned Nekohana with him. The memory here was especially blurry, but Heidi remembered chasing them down on that day and challenging Shishima to a duel. She could see him for the villain he was and felt conflicted due to the strange camaraderie she'd formed with everyone. They dueled and Heidi lost, but with clarity she remembered his parting words and the way he'd read her mind.

"Is this how you planned to save Aurellia, with this level of power? Pathetic. I know you desire power… and if you swore your allegiance to me I could give it to you. Become a spawn of Shishima…"

His offer lingered in her heart, even on their last day when she joined Fukurokuju in his private chamber for the first time. Beyond the doorway were no walls, instead there were galaxies with comets flying past. She stepped over to where the giant owl stood waiting. So this is where Jukka and him had all their mysterious talks?

"It is time for your departure, Heidi Hirazumi. I've been able to psychically commune with your chosen phoenixes and the five of you must all be present now on Aurellia. Tell me the knowledge you seek and I'll be sure it finds its way to you there."

"Enough with the mystical evasiveness! You know what I want the answers to!"

"Such information will not be to your liking."

"Tell me how to stop the Gatekeepers!" Heidi demanded.

He lowered his bird-face, enunciated clearly so it would need no repeating "You can't."

"…you're lying!"

"Heidi, I can see all possible timelines of your universe and they all end in the same result. I'm sorry."

"I spoke to Michael! He said Gensokyo was also a doomed universe once but someone rewrote its Akashic Records and saved it!"

"The Gatekeepers exist beyond your dimension's individual Records" the owl explained wisely.

"But surely they could be sealed? Or persuaded?"

"There is no prison comparable to their size, only the galaxies they consume. They do not waver in their decisions. These are not the questions you should be asking, Heidi."

She gave a slow nod in understanding as her eyes filled with tears "…how do we survive?"


「...no more yielding but a dream.


Heidi and Amira awoke that morning in separate rooms of the shoddy building they took residence in. They each rubbed their eyes and tried to recall strange visions of monster lions and talking owls. Heidi slow-blinked at the ceiling; Amira turned on her side and stared vacantly at the wall. A ruckus in the shop made both girls get up and start their day: it turned out Simon and Lisa were missing.

The dust from the collapsed building was beginning to settle and civilians left their burrows to investigate the street. Stray beams and parts were scattered about. A shiny mobster car was speeding toward them; Lisa felt frightened but Simon was still too injured to move. She tried to get him to stand but he yelled in pain and told her to leave him.

"We might get killed Simon-"

"Then go! I'm the one who wanted to do this. At least if Heidi or Amira face a lieutenant again they won't have to worry about Destirio. It's all I could manage but it's something. Go!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Lisa insisted and by then it was too late.

The car slid to the side and popped open. Pello Junior stared over the roof of the car "Lisa…?" he ran around so he could stare at her "Lisa, what happened to you? After the trade deal fell apart you disappeared? I had all my men looking for you."

The other passenger door opened and Kurushi hopped out. Evidently the Knife gang base was somewhere nearby, the Lolita vampire was strident as she stormed over to them both. Her pink eyes flickered to the rubble and she saw Destirio crushed under a few tons of metal. Her fangs barred as she shot a glare full of hate.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find good help these days? Destirio made me smoothies! He was able to carry me on his shoulder!"

"…I-"

"You're dead, Lisa!" Kurushi went to take another step.

"Wait!" Pello shouted then looked back at her "Lisa… your home is with us. You were raised by the Knife gang."

"I was raised by criminals and forced to help criminals recover!" Lisa snapped with surprising emotion. "My father was a criminal! But no more! I'm free now Pello, and I'm not going back!"

The suited man was surprised.

Kurushi pulled out her deck, her hand glowing with sinister purple "I want revenge! You may have beaten a champion of the underground circuit, but you can't beat future cards! Kettou da!"

"Yoshi," Lisa replied and her voice shook.

"What are you doing!" Simon yelled "You can still run!"

"You duel or you die, it's that simple!" Kurushi walked over to the building wreckage to give them space; Lisa's hand burned white and she stepped away from Simon so he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. Their tables faded into view and they got their decks and shields ready. "I'm going to make sure your demise is humiliating!"

"I thought vampires were supposed to burn up in the sun?" Lisa tried a jibe to hide her fear.

"It's called roleplaying! Derr you humans are so dumb!"

They began by charging mana for a few turns, Lisa added her Lunar Charger spell then summoned "Kanesil, the Explorer!" The warship blocker swerved into play on 4000.

Kurushi added her fourth mana "I play Charmilia, the Enticer!" the elegant snow faerie held her staff aloft, sitting cross-legged on a snowflake.

Lisa decided on using Warlord Ailzonius for mana to go in for a quick strike "Punch Trooper Bronks! He automatically takes out Charmilia!" A purple robot advanced with whirring steps, it caught blue lightning that concentrated at its fist. It launched and punched the snow faerie apart.

"Yes! Go Lisa!" Simon was trying to slowly stand.

"Grr. I summon Tensei, Byakko God!" A jaguar in green armour stalked forth, riding it was a four-armed shogun. The 5000 nature divine flash-spun its swords, making the teens tense.

Lisa drew and charged "Punch Trooper Bronks, ike!" The 3000 robot charged up before punching a blue shield into pieces.

Kurushi looked at her new card and snickered. She drew and started "This is one of my new upgrades, want to see it?" she teased.

"No."

"Original Heart, Ancient Blackmoon Fortress!" six mana cards tapped themselves as she fortified a shield. It was a purple castle attached to the fleshy arteries of a giant heart. At its edges was a soft blue glow reminiscent of the electricity from God linking. "Every time I attack the top card of my deck is revealed! If it's a God it gets played for free, otherwise it goes to the bottom of my deck!"

"It's like Genjin's…" Lisa murmured, remembering the magician's Original Heart, the New Moon Pulses.

"Tensei attack her dumb robot!" the girl pointed.

"Kanesil blocks!" Yellow lit up beneath Lisa as she tapped her card. The warship flew at the lunging jaguar and was slashed apart. It dropped and exploded. Kurushi revealed a Terror Pit then slipped it to the bottom of her deck.

"Oh well, soon enough you'll be facing my linked Gods…"

"Yuliana, Channeler of Suns!" The butterfly-shaped blocker jettisoned onto the field on 3000. "Punch Trooper Bronks, destroy her castle's shield!" At Lisa's command the battle-droid leapt to action once more. Kurushi laughed and they saw a different shield move to intercept, breaking against Bronks's fist. "What!?"

"Blackmoon Fortress lets me choose which shields get broken!" Kurushi jeered "Now it's my turn!"

Simon blinked "that castle gives her great traction for pulling out the Gods she fills her deck with…"

"I summon Lear, King of the Gods!" An incompatible God appeared next to Tensei, it snapped its avian beak. "Now I cast Dimension Gate and bring Garyou, Suzaku God to my hand!" A portal opened and the flaming counterpart to her first God emerged before vanishing into Kurushi's hand. "Tensei attack Bronks!"

"Yuliana blocks!" Once more Lisa's blocker swerved in to protect her robot, breaking into pieces.

This time however Kurushi revealed her top-deck and it was "Macbeth, King of the Gods enters play! I God link, and now I have a double-breaker on 8000!" A green angel with six wings merged with the avian. Blue lightning streaked out and scared off the surrounding people. Pello ducked back with a grunt and the car shook as it was struck. Kurushi added a top-deck card to her mana and then "Go for her shields this time, ike!" It thrusted a spear that shone with green energy, clearing two panels from play. They both now had three shields each.

"I play Smash Warrior Stagrandu!" a red armoloid on 1000 joined her other one. "I also play Petrova, Channeler of Suns and give its power bonus to armoloids!" The bright mecha stretched its shining wing-strips. I have to get rid of that castle! "Bronks ike!" An electric punch charged up before the robot lunged between the Gods, breaking another shield.

Kurushi laughed "no blockers this time? With your friend injured and you about to lose, I'll show your mangled bodies to the chosens! It'll teach you all what happens when you mess with my men! We have our own blood feud now!" She added her ninth mana "I summon Garyou, Suzaku God and Othello, King of the Gods! Tensei and Garyou, God link! Othello join the others, triple God link!" The ground began to split, cracks opening and spilling blue light as two separate God links took place at once. An electric charge filled the air and it stunk of ozone, when the blue light faded Kurushi's two creatures looked like the imaginings of an ancient gnostic. Mutant god-beings with multiple heads and limbs.

The brunette pointed "King of the Gods, triple-break her shields!" Fire and green energy ejected in a pulsating pillar. Lisa cried out as her defenses vaporized. From the fine dust a single trigger reformed.

"I activate Protective Force! Now Stagrandu is a blocker on 9000 until the end of the turn!"

Those pink eyes scanned the field for a new target "Tensei Garyou attack Punch Trooper Bronks!" Her jaguar now had red wings and a trident, it flew and stabbed the purple armoloid which shook then exploded. The two cards Kurushi revealed with Blackmoon were Tigermite, Bomb Devil and Turtle Horn, the Imposing. Both went to the bottom of her deck but now it was more likely she'd draw another God soon. "I look forward to seeing you beg for your life! Stupid-head! Moron!" The sadistic brunette continued her cackling.

"I use Nexus Charger to replenish a shield!" Lisa announced, a cybernetic pyramid rose up and she gained another shield. "Now I'm going to attack you! When Stagrandu battles a creature over 6000 it gets an extra 9000, and thanks to Petrova's increase my armoloid gets boosted to 14,000!" The red droid beeped before surging with power. "Ike, attack King of the Gods!"

"…I remove Othello." The fire part of the triple-God dislodged and was smashed by the robot's arm-mallet. Kurushi shook her head "my Gods need to be attacked at least twice before you can do significant damage, was that it Lisa? Then it's my turn and this game is finished."

"We're gonna die…" Simon murmured.

Both of Kurushi's Gods were on 10,000 while Stagrandu decreased back to 5000. Kurushi pointed "Tensei Garyou break her last shield!" Blackmoon revealed a Dimension Gate and it vanished from sight.

Lisa grunted as the sleeves of her jumper got cut by glass, she revealed the trigger she planted "Bonds of Justice! You may have upgraded your deck, but I've played some practice duels with friends this past week. I don't have many extra cards but they convinced me to add in more shield triggers, like this one! Taps all creatures that aren't blockers!" Silvery appendages unraveled with a flourish, tangling all untapped creatures until their cards turned sideways.

"Tch! So what, you get one extra turn!"

"Bazagazeal Dragon!" A grey-blue dragon emerged with blue laser-swords, it was an 8000 speed attacker.

"That card returns to your hand afterwards…?" Kurushi examined the field and her eyes widened. "You're going to try and win this turn with a rush!? I still have two shields you know!"

"Well let's give it a shot!" Lisa yelled. She didn't have any other choice. "Stagrandu ike!" A beep and it rolled out, firing its mallet through a shield that popped off the table: Titus, King of the Gods. "Petrova ike!" Her shining mecha soared forth, shattering another shield that turned out to be: Othello, King of the Gods. The other two pieces of her four-part God.

"Wait! No triggers! I got no triggers this whole game!?"

"Sometimes it be like that," Lisa shrugged "Bazagazeal todomeda!" At her order the giant dragon glided forth. Kurushi's eyes widened, then she turned and tried to run. The dragon kicked her and she flew, hitting a beam still standing in the wreckage. After falling to the dirt the thirteen-year-old's head was back-to-front.

Kurushi Glimmer's corpse lay a few metres from where Destirio was buried in metal.

The creatures and tables faded, Lisa fell to her knees in utter shock. She couldn't believe they survived. She was a normal girl from the coal province and she actually defeated a lieutenant. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Simon. He was wincing and sore, but smiling. Lisa smiled back and her eyes glistened.

At the sound of footsteps their faces whipped forward. The suited Pello casually approached, flanked by half-a-dozen gangsters armed with guns.

"Well, this is interesting…"


AN: Dag nabbit! Here I am trying to keep the word-count low enough to keep arcs within their individual 100,000 word zones. Maybe I'll chip off some of the next arc, you guys won't even notice! And yes this META incident is now closed! Please let me know what you think about it, especially my fellow authors who own the characters I was using. We're back on track with the entirely canonical events of my second arc, how will it conclude?