A/N: Hello, hello! Long time, no see! It's been a while since I last updated. I've had to put up with some roadblocks, namely personal stuff, plus I decided to start this chapter over from scratch to try and improve it. I hope to start releasing chapters on a more consistent basis. Hopefully.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy my latest chapter.

The darkness. Once again, I find myself floating through this desolate void.

I look at my hands and….. I'm glowing? I open and close my hands to make sure that nothing weird is happening to me right now.

Well, I seem to be alright physically, but I'm not really sure. I looked down. There was nothing to see except my exposed flesh- Wait what?!

I quickly wiped my eyes and looked back down.

Oh my god…. OH MY GOD!

"OH SHIT!" I yelled in astonishment.

I'm naked! I'M FUCKING NAKED! Almost immediately I covered my private parts. Has it always been that way for me whenever I come here?

I gritted my teeth. It's bad enough that I'm floating helplessly in this place, but I have to be naked as well?! What the-

*BZZZZZTT*

What the-

*BZZZZZTT*

The static again. Why is this always happening to-

"Gah!"

Before I could even finish that thought, that accursed gleam of light appeared once more. And before I knew it, I was engulfed once again.

-x-

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" I yelled as I suddenly awoke, catapulting myself to an upright position.

I was clutching my chest with my left hand, breathing heavily as I did so. For the next few minutes, I sat there, attempting to calm myself down. It wasn't long until my breathing returned to a more normal rhythm.

But not long afterwards, my stomach started to gurgle in a weird way. I moved my hand down to my stomach and clutched it. For some reason my throat felt icky as well.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" I groaned. My stomach continued to gurgle and I clutched it even harder. I feel like I've been put through a Tilt-a-Whirl 50 times.

Oh god….. don't tell me that I'm about to-

Just then, I felt something shoot up through my throat. I quickly threw myself to my hands and knees and…. well, let's just say I gave the ground a fresh coat of paint.

It took a few minutes before I completely expelled the contents of my stomach. Ugh! Could I have asked for an even ruder awakening? You know what, forget I said that. Man, I could really use a drink of water right about now. Or maybe some ginger ale. Wiping my mouth of the leftover saliva, I reached behind me to grab my backpack and- Wait, what happened to my backpack?

I patted myself down and looked all around, but I couldn't find it. Just where the hell is it?! Where-

Suddenly, I snapped my fingers in realization. Shit, that's right! I left my backpack behind while I was running away from that terrorist attack. But wait a minute, if that's gone, what about the stuff I brought with me? Immediately, I started checking my pockets, pulling out the contents from within. I breathed a sigh of relief as I found my phone, my wallet, the leftover coins, the cash that Misaka gave me, and my language guide. And only a few feet away from me were my bat, including the strap, and my cap. I guess they fell off when I landed here.

I'm glad that I still have my stuff and all, but I still have some unanswered questions. One, where the hell am I now? And two, why is it so fucking hot right now?

I slowly got up on my feet and-

"WHOA!" I stumbled and almost fell down, but I managed to regain my balance. Why does everything feel so…. slanted?

I looked around to get a bearing on my current location. I was in a big room, illuminated by the sunlight. Everything looked old and in disrepair. There was rubble, broken windows, and what appeared to be the remains of a broken pillar in the center of the room. The walls, ceiling, and floor were made of stone, and the floor itself was riddled with cracks, holes, and dirt. This seems to be a condemned building.

After grabbing my bat and putting my cap back on, I walked over to one of the broken windows to look outside. The sun was shining bright there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and…. there was a desert.

I had to do a double take before looking out the window again. I was in a desert.

I! AM IN! A FUCKING! DESERT!

And not just any desert either. There were other ruined buildings in the distance. There were chunks of stone and other pieces of debris down below... way, way down below. Holy shit! Just how high up am I? I've got to be close to the top floor at the very least. In any case, I couldn't really make out the debris from this height.

This definitely wasn't Academy City, let alone the world of Index. I'm in some kind of post-apocalyptic world, and stuck in the middle of nowhere on top of that. I continued looking out into the horizon, just trying to process everything. Man, of all the places I could end up, why did I wind up here? Why is this happening to me? And when will this all end?

I don't know... I just don't know.

Before I could sink deeper in my own self-pity, I slapped myself in the face. Damn it, there's no point in complaining about this now. I'm in a new world whether I like it or not, and I'm not gonna get anywhere by staying here. With a sigh, I tightened up my strap, pulled down my cap, and began to make my exit.

-x-

Time: Sometime in the afternoon

Location: Desert

It took me about 10 minutes or so before I made my way out of the building. Once I got outside, I took a few steps away from the building and took in just how dilapidated it really was. Jeez man, with how it was leaning, I'm surprised it didn't topple over while I was inside. Count my lucky stars that it didn't come to that. Next, I looked up at the sun itself. If I had to guess, it was the middle of the afternoon right now. I also heard some cawing, and shadows of….. something flying up above. Were those vultures? I couldn't tell, but that didn't detract from the fact that it was FUCKING HOT OUT HERE!

I knew deserts were hot, but this is ridiculous. I used to push carts at Walmart in the hot summer weather. At the time, I thought it couldn't get worse than that, but alas, my current situation makes that shitty time in my life seem like a joke. And at the very least, I had access to cold water and ice there. Here? I don't even have a drop to spare. Damn it all! If I knew I was gonna get dropped off here, I would've brought my water bottle with me and filled it up beforehand.

I shook my head, bringing an end to my internal griping. No. There's no point in complaining about it now. I'm not in control of my trips between worlds, or which worlds I land in for that matter. Nothing I can do about it.

Letting out a sigh, I looked around for anything resembling a town. There was nothing but rocks, ruins, and a sea of sand that stretched for miles. This was a veritable post-apocalyptic world alright.

Damn it! I can't give up here! There has to be a town somewhere. There's always a town in a post-apocalyptic world! I just have to walk for a while and eventually I'll find civilization!

With a sudden surge of determination, my journey through the desert began.

-x-

Time: still noon

Location: middle of the desert

Time elapsed since departure: fuck if I know

"Hot….. hot….. so fucking hot…." I said to myself for the umpteenth time. How long has it been since I started walking? Half an hour? An hour? More than that? I was so focused on walking, that in all honesty, I wasn't keeping track. If I had to guess though, not a whole lot of time has passed. Every now and then I looked up at the sun, but it looked like it hadn't moved much, if at all.

Regardless, the heat was overwhelming. The baseball cap kept my head cool, as well as keeping the sun out of my eyes, but it could do so much. And wearing long pants out here didn't help either. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I scanned my current surroundings.

To my surprise, my seemingly endless trek has led me to a very peculiar area. I wasn't standing on the sand currently. Beneath my feet I felt something hard and sturdy, almost like concrete. Looking down, I confirmed that it wasn't any old slab of concrete; I was standing on a road. It stretched for quite a long way too, but the road itself was worn down, broken up and filled with numerous cracks and potholes, as well as heavily discolored, most likely from long-term exposure to the sand and sun. Also, the ground seemed relatively unstable, with parts of the road sinking into the sand or jutting upwards.

Surrounding me were a series of ruined skyscrapers; each of them with varying degrees of damage and destruction. Some were leaning to the side like the skyscraper I was in earlier, some had completely fallen over, and others either had huge, truck-sized holes in the walls or the upper parts were just gone altogether. Aside from that, I recognized some vague structures and objects, such as the warped and rusted remains of what appeared to be guard rails, some broken and bent streetlights, and crushed or overturned cars.

This appears to be the ruins of a city street.

"Hello?!" I called out. My voice echoed throughout the area, but otherwise, no one answered me. "HELL-ACK!" I tried to call out louder, but my yell abruptly turned into a choke. I erupted into a coughing fit that lasted for a few seconds. My throat right now is so dry and scratchy that I couldn't yell anymore, even if I wanted to. That's what happens when you throw up AND walk in the heat for so long.

Speaking of which, I can't take this fucking heat anymore. Without hesitation, I quickly shuffled into a nearby building. The doorway was blocked, so I had to climb over a broken window to get inside. Once I did, I took in the details of the room I was in. There were all kinds of furniture in here. There were some booths, but the upholstery for the cushioning was ripped and torn up, with some holes that had springs popping out of them. Toward the back, there was a bar counter that was old and worn down, but surprisingly intact, and behind it was a cabinet with shelves that were bent and cracked, with the shattered remains of broken beer bottles and shot glasses scattered about. There were broken barstools near the counter, as well as a large table in the center of the room that was broken in half. The floor itself was covered in sand, broken glass, and other debris. And as for the ceiling, there were some small cracks, as well as a gaping hole in the corner with some sunlight shining through. Of all the places I'd take refuge in, it had to be a bar. though given the circumstances, am I really in any position to complain?

I plopped myself down on one of the booths. Thankfully there was a decent amount of the cushion still intact. I looked at my arms; they were deep shades of red. I put my finger to my left arm and in return I felt a small tinge of pain. Yeah, because that's what I needed right now: fucking sunburn! Letting out a long sigh, I took off my shoes and started rubbing my feet. Walking through such uneven terrain for so long did a number on them. My soles were covered in blisters and calluses, and I had grains of sand in between my toes. Well, this should come as no surprise since sneakers were not made for traversing through sand. The rest of my clothes weren't any better for wear. There wasn't a single dry spot to be found. I mean it, they were practically drenched in sweat. It almost felt like they just came out of the wash, except you know, they smelled awful. I pulled on my shirt and-

"Yeow!" I yelped. Damn, it stuck to me real good.

God I feel like shit. I haven't been feeling right since my rude awakening from earlier, and it's not just because of the scorching heat either. Just why the hell did I get so sick? Food poisoning? Nah, that can't be it. I didn't eat that much yesterday….. or was it today? Damn it! With all these "transits" I've been making so far, my sense of time's being thrown off! My transits…. Wait a minute, what about my transits?

When I woke up in the world of Slime, I didn't feel sick, and the same thing happened when I arrived in Index. Why were those two times different than this time? Was it because I didn't eat anything at the time of my exits? Or was it because of something different? To be honest, I didn't feel like sitting here debating this right now. Just how much further do I have to go before I find a town?

I've walked a great deal, but I haven't seen anything remotely resembling civilization. As far as I was concerned, I was the only soul for miles around. I have no food, water, supplies, or survival skills, and with how sore, sick, and exhausted I am right now, I'm not gonna be able to last much longer. If I can just find a town, then all my problems will be solved.

If only it were that easy.

As I continued to ponder, I suddenly felt something being poured on my head. I reached up to grab whatever it was, before bringing it to eye level. Sand? I looked up and saw a bunch of small cracks in the ceiling that were directly above my resting place. I quickly brushed as much sand off my head as I could. Damn it! First, sand in my shoes, and now sand on my head? Just how can things-

*BAP!*

"Ow!" I immediately brought my hand to my head, rubbing the area that got hit. What the hell was that? That was definitely not sand just now. A rock, maybe? I looked back up at the ceiling again and- Oh shit, the ceiling! Directly above me, the cracks suddenly got bigger, causing sand and some rocks to fall through. Toward the center, I noticed a very peculiar hole that had... something protruding out of it. I put my shoes back on and walked toward the hole to see it up close. It looks like a big metal... thing. What the hell-

*CRACK CRACK CRACK*

"OH SHIT!" I yelled. I immediately quashed my thought, making a mad dash back outside. A few seconds later, the entire ceiling collapsed, throwing sand into the air. I put a hand to my chest, breathing in and out to try and calm myself. Thank god I made it out just in time. Once the cloud of sand finally cleared, I approached the building again to see just what the hell could've caused the ceiling to collapse. But the moment I got a good look at it, my curiosity quickly turned to shock.

"What. The. Fuck?!" If my mouth could drop to the fucking floor, it would've done so by now. I was expecting something a little….. I don't know, ordinary, but this? What even is this thing, a military vehicle? Wait no, that's not right. It doesn't even look like a vehicle in the first place. It looks like some….. big robotic spider/tank hybrid. It had a futuristic design, with the main body looking pretty sleek and thin, but it looked old and worn down, with some visible rust and discoloration here and there. The armor plating was bent and cracked, mostly around the thicker parts of the legs that served as... I don't know, leg guards maybe. Its "head" – if you can even call it that – was a long apparatus of some kind, attached to a series of wires and a thicker "neck" that looked more like a spinal cord than anything, as well as a broken lens – its eye I assume – on the front of it.

I don't even know what to say about this. This is the kind of shit I'd expect to find in Academy City; not a post-apocalyptic world. I just don't see how this is possible… unless, maybe this world takes place in the future? That's certainly a possibility, but I currently have no way of knowing how far in the future I am. After a moment of pondering, I decided to get back on track. I walked around the spider tank, taking in every detail. Maybe I can salvage something useful from this thing. Seeing how everything else is buried beneath a thick blanket of sand and debris, it wouldn't hurt to take a look.

I climbed up onto the spider tank, inspecting it closely and feeling around for anything useful. I looked up and down and all around, combing through loose wires and parts, attempting to pry open compartments; basically checking every nook and cranny that I could find. After spending more than a few minutes searching, I climbed down the spider tank, completely empty-handed. If there was a junk shop around here, all of these parts would fetch a pretty penny... or was it yen? Is this even Japan? Fuck it, who cares right now? The point I'm trying to make here is that there wasn't anything useful on that thing. No food, no water, not even supplies. I pretty much just wasted my fucking time.

"Damn it!" I kicked the spider tank in frustration, though all I managed to accomplish was hurting my foot in the process. Regardless of the pain, I was fuming. Damn it! I don't want to die out here! How much longer do I have to-

*WHIR-WHIR!*

"Whoa!" I jumped in surprise at the sudden noise. What the hell was- Wait… could it be? I looked closely at the spider tank and-

*WHIRRRRRR!*

"Gah!" It's moving! The spider tank is moving!

I looked on in awe, watching the formerly inactive tank slowly spring back to life. It rumbled and shook as its legs started making slow, but clunky, movements. After a few minutes of struggling, it managed to stand on its own four legs.

"T-T-T-Testament, Serial N-Number: #10182003 act-act-activated. Prime direc-rec-rective: search and extermination of enemy hos-hostiles. Initiating area scan."

Holy shit, it spoke too! And wait, hold on just a moment. Did the tank just say "extermination of enemy hostiles?" Slowly, I began to back away, but before I had the chance to get away, I tripped over some rubble and fell on my ass.

Suddenly, the tank's eye glowed a bright green. A grid-like laser shot out of it, with the head guiding it from left to right to scan the surrounding area. It wasn't long before I was caught in its "scanning beam." The tank stopped moving. I was completely frozen, unable to do anything but look the tank in the eye. After a moment, the laser turned from green to red. And what I heard next, it caused my blood to run cold.

"In-In-Intruder detected! Identified-fied as a N-N-Needless!"

"Need…..less?" I uttered under my breath. What on Earth is that thing talking about?

"Initiating exter-extermination protocol!"

And just as it said that, the tank opened up a series of compartments from its thick leg guards, releasing something in the process. At that very moment, I tried to scurry away as quickly as I could, especially once I saw the kind of weapon that just emerged.

Those were machine guns! Fucking machine guns! Are you kidding me right now?!

*CHCK-CHCK!*

The guns cocked, ready to be fired at any time. My whole body was shaking like a leaf. My teeth were chattering without end. And I felt like that I could piss myself any moment now. All I could do was cover my eyes with my arms, completely at the mercy of this futuristic war machine.

I'm fucked I'm fucked I'm fucked I'm fucked I'm fucked I'm fucked I'm fucked!

I'M FUCKED!

*CHCK-CHCK-CHCK-CHCK-CHCK*

Is it over yet?

*CHCK-CHCK-CHCK-CHCK-CHCK*

Wait, what's going on?

Cautiously, I snuck a peek at the tank, before bringing my arms down entirely. I looked at the guns on its legs. To my surprise, and delight, the guns themselves were also in a state of disrepair. The tank could do nothing but repeatedly attempt to fire its armaments, only to be met with failure each time.

"Error! Error! M-Main weapon sys-systems malfunctioning! Initiating secondary-dary weapon system!"

Wait! Secondary?!

Almost immediately, another compartment on the tank's back opened up… or rather, attempted to open up. The opening appeared to be jammed, and no matter how many times it tried, the tank just couldn't pry it open as it continued to whirr. For a moment, I saw what appeared to be some kind of tube beneath the compartment attempting to come out...oh god. Oh God! Please tell me that's not what I think it is!

"Error! Error! Sec-Secondary weapon system-tem malfunction!"

Okay, I think now's as good a time as any to split. Immediately, I tried to stand back up, but my legs had lost all feeling. Damn it Slater! Get up! Move if you want to NOT DIE! Without regard to consequence, I smacked my legs, mentally told them to go fuck themselves, and shot back up as quickly as I could. Then, I started to hightail it out of there.

Hopefully, I could get away from that thing without much hassle. Once I felt I was a suitable distance away from the tank, I looked behind me and-

Oh shit! The tank's following me now!

*WHIR-WHIR-WHIR* "In-Intruder attempting t-to escape. M-Must pursue and ex-exterminate Needless-less!" *WHIR-WHIR-WHIR*

And so began my desperate attempt to run for my life, pursued by a walking death machine. Just the two of us.

Why is this shit happening to me?!