STORY TIME

"For those who know, welcome back to Babylon." Hibiki said back to her companions while looking down at the collection of half-submerged buildings beneath them. For those who did know, they felt the hair on their back straighten at the name of the area. Not long ago this was the favorite roving ground of the mysterious musician, I-no. Dizzy and May had a stronger dislike to this area more than anybody else. In the same place was the battleground and living place of the psychic Jeremy Colt, who also baited the pirates again, and had a death match against the innocent Gear, which nearly ended up with both their deaths. In fact, it was the idea that Jeremy might still be here which was the point of May's annoyed outburst.

"Here!? How is this place any better than any other place in the world, that psycho will just follow us here as well!" The pirate whined.

Hibiki did not answer the question but pointed to a certain patch of water, "Land there."

"But that's just water!"

"There is a long building completely underwater there, but close enough to the surface to land. Trust me."

She did give a rather odd stare, but May gave the landing orders nonetheless. Not surprisingly, the large airship crashed into the water, but was abruptly stopped its descent by some unseen structure underwater. There was a silence while the noise of engines began to wane. Hibiki then faced her companions.

"For those who want answers to the current situation, I suggest you follow me." The answer was obvious as all of the people who had their run-in with the man followed after Hibki as she went down the hallways to an access hatch. Ignoring the water that soaked their clothing up to their ankles as they hopped down from the Mayship unto the roof of the submerged building, they walked closely behind the young woman carrying her sheathed blade. Reaching a large metal door that sat just above the water level, Hibiki grabbed the rusted handle and easily, pulling open the barrier and revealing a series of steps that disappeared down into the darkness. The swordswoman turned back to face the crowd, but more specifically, two people within it.

"Dizzy, May." Hibiki calmly replied. The two pirates let their attention be caught. Hibiki then continued. "I know of the history of this place to you two. You need not fear the psychic who lived here, as he is long gone. Babylon is also an area considered practically sacred to Person-san, therefore he would never dream of approaching this place."

"How do you know all this? How can you be sure?" Ky (who was also familiar with the psychic) asked.

Hibiki again didn't respond but instead passed through the door and down the steps, only looking back once to speak, "I promise I will tell all of you once we are settled inside. Please follow."

They passed through halls and roofs, an uncountable number of them. Again, the memories of the place were stirred, but they tried to ignore it the best they could. Eventually they entered a chamber. Here a fireplace was ashy and dead, and the furniture were turned over like unceremoniously, and countless papers were thrown everywhere. Several corpses foreign to the party were also strewn around, but these corpses did not rot. Jam immediately identified the bodies.

"Hey! Its those robo-freaks!" Indeed the bodies were all dressed in the same uniform as Jam's crush, and metal frowning faces was the testimony of their service before their untimely destruction. Most of them were cut cleanly in two, as if a sheet of paper had been the blade that destroyed them.

"So… what happened here?" Bridget, being the least informed of the group, decided it was best he asked.

Hibiki spoke while searching one of the drawers for an item unknown. "Shortly after Dizzy and May escaped Babylon after the fiasco with Colt, a battalion of Robo-Ky's ambushed the city, hoping to catch the psychic. He barely escaped here, but he knows better than to return here, which is why we are safe from him." Finding what she was looking for, Hibiki pulled the box of matches out of the wrecked drawer, and struck on alight and tossed it into the fireplace where, with some prodding, a fire soon grew to maturity. Hibiki then faced the crowd standing around the flames, and asked them all to be seated. After righting the overturned chairs and pulling some broken Robo-Ky torsos over to use as stools, the swordswoman spoke again.

"I assume you have questions."

"Yeah, who's this creep?" May asked first.

"In order to understand that completely, you must understand some other things first."

"Like what?" Bridget asked again.

"Like the fact that you are not alone in this universe." Hibki responded. There was a hush of surprise, then Ky spoke.

"Explain yourself."

"Have you ever heard of the multi-universe concept?" Hibki asked. Some nods.

"As you know, it is theorized that there are multiple versions of planet Earth, but you should know that that is no theory. That is truth."

"Do you expect us to believe that shit?" Sol snorted from his Robo-Ky cushion.

"Yes. For that man who hunts you now is actually from another universe."

A hush of silence.

"So then, what's the crazy guy's story?" Axl quipped from the back. Hibiki drew in a deep breath.

When the universes dawned, Fate was able to govern it easily, her powers capable with dealing with such a vast area. But as time passed, man's technology had grown powerful, and humanity greedy. In their lust and selfishness, they often made things happen before their time was to come, and before Fate was ready to let it happen, and bent the rules of the universe to achieve sick desires. Wars started before they where meant to. Worlds died, and people died. Fate needed to solve this problem.

Thus the Authors were born. Living in a pocket dimension of their own, they watch over specific universes charged to them and ensure when something happens, it happens when it is meant to, and to correct mistakes that happen. You cannot comprehend the number of famines, plagues, Armageddons, and plans for world domination that had been destroyed by these people. They work behind the scenes, around it, under it, and about every possible direction, all the while as they try to directly stay out of it.

To achieve such tasks, they were gifted with far-advanced technology beyond imagination, and special powers to aid them. No one knows the exact beginnings of Authors, only that they are here to ensure the smooth flow of destiny. Some authors work from hidden places, others in groups, and some take the matters into their hands personally.

When an author is inducted into their world, they must do two things: Give themselves a title, and forget their previous name, then after receive the power known as The Will and The Word.

The Will and the Word… This power, along with their title is the basis on which their unique power is based. By The Will and The Word, does the Author by his sheer strength of heart alone, have the powers to govern each system tasked to them.

The Authors. They are the Keepers of the Systems…

There was silence. Then Sol spoke. "How does this guy fit into all of this?"

Hibiki again had an answer. "The man you face now is an Author, whose title 'The Person With Many Aliases'. With The Will and The Word, the title now gives him a very special ability. You can easily guess."

"He can shape shift…" Ky mused to himself.

"So how does this Will Word thing work anyways?" Axl asked.

The Will and The Word allows one to alter reality to the way the user see fits. What he wants to happen will happen."

Gasps of shock reverberated throughout the room, realizing the depths of power this man had.

"But before you start collapsing in fear, I think it's best if you let me finish my explanation." That statement easily caught the attention of the rest of the crowd. Hibiki continued again.

"The ability to will things to happen though, asks inhumane amounts of power, often beyond what the user can give. Most Authors have limited skill with this ability. Person-san has practiced with this power, but he can only proficiently will things to change shape, and even that only with the help of his machinery and if he remains in near proximity to it. I have seen him able to create some things, but this was only on occasion, and for limited periods of time. Among the Authors, only one man has fully mastered the ability, and he was The Will and The Word's inventor himself.

"Your Authors… could they have prevented the Holy War?" Ky asked, absorbing the information. Hibiki shook her head.

"No, the war was an inevitable event, like the discovery of Magic. We at most, could only manage the events, and ensure things happened as they should."

"So… what does this Person want from me? He keeps mentioning things about us being illogical." Dizzy hesitantly asked. She was afraid of the answer though.

Hibiki sighed at the thought of the Author saying such things "Among the duties of an author, he has to maintain the 'programming' of the universe, and ensure everything remains logically possible, and eliminate possible natural exceptions from occurring. For if one minor thing is allowed to be impossible, what is to stop other more serious things to become impossible as well, say… the very air around us can be poisonous if it wanted to?"

"So what does this have to do with me?" Dizzy asked.

"Person-san thinks you are illogical. He thinks that because you are human, that it is impossible and therefore destroyed."

"What?!"

"That's crazy! The guy's a lunatic to say something like that!" May defended. Hibiki only nodded understandingly.

"Exactly."

The young Captain gave a strange look, "What?"

"Just a year ago, Person-san had suffered from an accident. While he recovered, he began to periodically lapse into fits of utter insanity. For such a man to become such a condition in such an important role is lethal, and therefore we took steps to protect him from the worlds he looked over."

"How?" Bridget questioned, wondering how such a powerful force he knew could possible be controlled.

"We locked him in his room." Hibiki replied.

An air of silence. An odd air of silence.

"Unfortunately, just a few days ago, he managed to break free and escape. His intents were revealed to continue his job, but in his mind, he took everything too seriously, and too literally. Therefore that is why he hunts all now, for he considers you all impossible, despite the exceptions that Magic technology enables, and defiantly despite his own powers."

"So how do we stop this guy?" The older Englishman, Axl, pointed out the most important question again.

"You can't. Because of his powers, no matter how many times you strike him, he can never be injured. At this point, only another Author can stop an Author. But currently, none are here."

"What are they waiting around for then? Why are they just letting him run around?" May shouted, angry at the hopelessness of the situation.

"Do you think we already have not tried? Somehow Person-san has tampered with the Warpgate he used to get here so that no other authors can pass through after him." Hibiki replied fiercely.

"Then, what about you? Aren't you an Author yourself?" Ky asked confused.

"I never said I was one." Hibiki answered, with a gentle smile.

"Then what are you?" Ky again inquired.

"Merely an assistant to an Author." Hibiki looked at the confused faces of her audience. "What? Even with all their powers, an Author is still only human."

"How did you get here then, if the Person said authors can't come through?" Sol's gruff voice came from the back.

"Because he only thought about authors coming to stop him, and not their assistants. While I can at most only stun him, I can still aid you."

"How?" Dizzy now asked.

"Like telling you how you can stop him."

"But you said only an author can stop an author, so how do we stop him?"

Hibiki looked back into the fireplace, and poked the logs a bit with the metal poker standing against one side of the burning pit. "While he is powerful, he couldn't have blocked passage into here by himself." Hibiki turned back to face the Daredevils, "He is using your magic to seal the Warp tunnel that leads here. Once we find a way to dispel the magic he is using, then I can call authors here to help us. The only problem is that I don't know what sort of magic he is using to seal the passage. That is why I need your help in the mean time. Two is always better than one, for the Person can still best me in battle."

May suddenly thought back to an earlier memory, and cried out, "That creep turned Johnny into a doll! I can't leave him like that!"

"Don't worry, as soon as the other authors come to stop Person-san, then we can then help your friend who's soul is chained by him."

"Another thing, how much does this Person With Many Aliases know about us?" Sol asked. The turd knows I'm a Gear…

"A great deal about everything about some of you, but not everything." Hibiki replied.

"I'm sorry I asked." Sol retorted at the thought.

"So what do we do next?" Bridget asked.

"Rest, then fly to Romania. There is an archive of magic there that most likely explains the spell Person-san used, and that is what I need to know. So rest here until then." Hibiki then moved to a corner of the room to sit in. Others followed the example and settled themselves where they wished.

"So, just wondering. Is there a guy that owns the archive or anything?" Axl asked, while leaning against a shattered desk.

Hibiki gave another knowing smile of hers, "Yes, the archive is actually in his home. In fact, some of you already know of this man. He is known as Slayer."