"I have finished the artifact" Marie proudly announced, running back to get the bracelet. "I haven't tested it yet, but if it works it can be VERY useful"
"Oh?" May asked, "Is it sliced bread?" She snickered. Marie answered "Not exactly" having no sense of sarcasm, and shown her the artifact, a leather strap and circular gems, one red, one yellow, and one blue. May's curiosity got the best of her again as she reached out to touch it with her ungloved finger. "What is it...?
"Well, I haven't given a name to it yet" she explained "but if it works, then it can transport you to places using portals much like mine. Rubbing the red gem creates a portal to Mobius, the yellow gem bring you to Phantomile..." May looked up from the bracelet. "...What's the blue one do?"
"It brings you where I am" Marie said "Or around my vicinity in case if we get separated during lessons."
"Oh, cool." She thought, poking the blue stone. "So we can never get lost." Klonoa however, was completely oblivious to Marie's lessons 'till this point.
"Yup" she answered "That would be bad, and we shall test the artifact straight away in our next lesson. Let's see if the bracelet brings you to Mobius. If it does, then I shall follow after you"
"...Okay" May gently rubbed the red gem until it glowed and shrouded her in a vortex. She blinked, on Mobius again, in the same place where they left, a warehouse filled with clones, all exact copies of herself.
"Ugh..." she shuddered, "This place really creeps me out
Marie followed after, portal appearing close to May. Before cloaking herself in ghost form though, she was spotted among the clones. She knew there were too many soulless dolls to cloak around, and using her sixth sense to mentally tell May to leave, she would soon follow.
"...hmm..." the ghost received her message and began on her way out the building, but got an odd feeling from one of the dolls. It pulled her in, like a magnet it kept her attention. "...you're calling for me... why?" She asked it, hoping for a response from the lifeless toy. She got it in the form of a single action... the lifeless clone opened its eyes suddenly, scaring May slightly. It then began to tear up as she stepped further away from it. "...I...I have to go..." she passed through the door, the sight of herself crying stuck in her mind. Marie crept around the clone room, knowing someone else was there. Peeking from behind a tube, she saw a shadow cast by a hedgehog on the dim, steel wall.
"Hey, you there!" he called out to Marie as he ran closer to get a better view. "What're you doing in here? Get back to your district, you...you... What the heck are you?" The hedgehog stood before her puzzled at her long ears. The tag on his shirt read, 'Dave'
"Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" she paused "ummm a Klonian?" It was probably unwise to give him the name of an alien species.
"... Yeah, whatever." Dave said to her as he fetched some advanced form of handcuffs and his radio. "Chanthy...We've got an intruder in the labs... claims to be Klingon or something... send a capture unit..."
"Yeah right, like I'd help you after you broke my mug!" He got as a response, "Do it yourself..."
"..." Marie paused, trying to get her distance.
"Darn" she thought "I can't become a ghost here, and I can't let them find out about the portals..."
He stayed occupied arguing over this radio. "I told you, I did NOT break it. I wasn't even in the dang room!"
"Excuses Dave! No more! I know how you like to play!"
"Hey what th-- Get back here! HEY!" Dave shouted for Marie, actually expecting her to come back. But as he saw that she would do no such thing, he said to himself, "...darn..."
"What was that Dave?"
"IT GOT AWAY! No thanks to you little Ms. Coffee mug!"
She sprinted quite fast, yet all the hallways seemed the same to her. Unknowingly, she made no progress running in circles.
"...what's taking her so long...?" May asked herself as she floated around the warehouse. She was beginning to think that something bad had happened. Why else would Marie tell her to leave so suddenly? "I hope she's okay..."
Marie lost her train of thought, never realizing she was far enough to go ghost again. But she soon found an exit, a window. Jumping through it, she went crashing out of the building, only to find that it didn't lead outdoors. "Oh... pickles" she cursed, seeing a very bright lab room. Within the room, despite its brightness, she could see many, many sharp objects, each and every one made for dissecting different parts of the body. On the table she saw a Kitsune that looked like May. It could've been a clone, but unlike them it didn't have that soulless feeling to it.
"Dude, what is that...?" One of the lab coats in the room asked.
"I dunno... but I bet we'll get raises if we study it..."
They both started slowly closing in on Marie with dissecting tools still in hand. She turned around, gasping.
"That's May! You cut her up!" Marie pointed at them accusingly "And now you intend to hurt me?"
The lab coats stuttered, unsure of how to explain.
"I won't let that happen!" she yelled. She focused her energy and heart into one portion of her body, the wrist. It began to glow, a pulsating sapphire aura, as two swords, one on each arm. She got into a stance, glaring at the scientist, a glowing rage in her eyes.
"That's who…?" They turned back at the creature they were dissecting. To them, it was just another paycheck. Find out what makes this Kitsune tick, and get paid for it. "I'm sorry, but we don't know who we dissect" The first slowly turned around. "We're just doing our--whoa where'd you get those!"
"They're my own life force" she grunted at them "and you'll find them very painful, you terrible, terrible people! Have you no respect for the dead?"
The two faced each other puzzled, and began to laugh hysterically. "...What, are you kidding me?" the second asked her. "No one cares about the Kitsunes. They're the lowest form of life in the city. Haven't you seen the news?" The first stopped laughing to say, "Yeah... once we're done with this one, Kresant'll probably scorn us for not spitting on its grave."
"Grrrrrr" the two were clueless on how agitated she was. Leaping at them, she struck, sending a surging, but nonfatal pain. She slashed again before they hit the floor several times, as they fell; she spat on them, and said "You deserved that for disrespecting my friend!"
Outside, May heard a thud from within a nearby wall.
"Huh...?" she said as she phased through to find two scientists on the floor and Marie with her sabers out. "...Marie? What's going on... what'd you do to them?"
"Don't worry, I didn't kill 'em" Marie said "But maybe they'll think twice before-" A strange thud cut her off; someone whacked her hard in the back of her head, possibly with a gun. She gasped, eyes dialating as she fell.
"Oh my ga—Marie!" May yelled as her captor stood above her.
"So you're the cause of this entire ruckus..." He said, his face partially covered from the room's shadow. "...Looks like it's time to teach you a lesson about interfering with Hedgehog affairs, Dream traveler..." As he lifted her onto his shoulders, May could see his face. She was paralyzed from the sight and could barely make out the one word that came to her mind, "...Kresant..."