Sayaka woke up the next day, she got looked around her, finding that she's still in the clinic. She then looked at the Gundam Pilot; he's still in bed, recovering from last night. Sayaka then sighed.
"Had a good rest, Sayaka?" Mami then entered the room with Kyoko.
Sayaka has been sleeping on a chair, and she's felt her back ache a bit. Her hair is a bit messy, so it didn't take a while to fix her hair. She nods to Mami. The soul gems was still in her hand, but she places it on a nightstand nearby so that she can fix her hair.
"How's our guest?" Mami looked at the Gundam Pilot.
"Still out cold, but I think he's recovering fine." Sayaka gets up to stretch.
"You didn't have trouble when watching over him, did you?" Mami asked.
"No way, it was so easy. Levi should've just picked someone else to do it." Sayaka made no lock of hair was sticking up.
"You know... after they brought him here, Peacock and I were thinking..." Kyoko smiled in a teasingly way. She walked over to give Sayaka a pat on the back. "Do you think he your type?"
The question felt so sudden to Sayaka. She shook her head and moves away from Kyoko. She then folds her arms.
"I don't know." Sayaka looked away.
"Come on, there's reason Levi chose you to look after him." Kyoko steps close and nudges he arm.
"He probably just chose me because I was only one present and not doing anything." Sayaka blushed slightly. "There's no way he would have put me in this position just because the pilot is cute."
"Is he cute?" Kyoko questioned.
"What? No... Okay a bit," Sayaka admitted, embarrassed.
"Kyoko, I think you should stop." Mami found this funny but knew Sayaka wanted it to stop.
"Anyway... what is everyone else doing this morning?" Sayaka wondered.
"Madoka and Peacock are with Princess Parasoul and Levi," Mami answered, "They're planning out the next route to the Tower."
"As for Eren and his friends, they're with Hange and Molly," Kyoko added, "They prepping convoys for the next trip."
"And I guess the Gundam in already picked up?" Sayaka asked.
"You're correct," Mami replied.
"Alright, so what do they have so far on our next move?" Sayaka sits back down.
Kyoko leans near a window and looks out.
Mami was at the meeting earlier, but left it to Madoka to remember some of the information. "They found a few maps that were interpreted by Molly, narrowing the decisions down to three options: A mountain pass, a riverside, and a ravine. All of them lead out of the mountains the fastest and into a plain."
"And that's it?" Sayaka raised an eyebrow.
"They lead to an abandoned city on a hill," Mami explained, "It's the closest point to the tower."
Sayaka then wondered. "Wait, if there are maps, then that means there's a name for this world."
"Most of the maps contained a common name," Mami replied, "Molly translated it as, The Fabric."
"The Fabric..." Sayaka found the name strange.
The Gundam Pilot awoke, groaning a bit in pain with a severe headache. He was wearing his cobalt blue shirt and gray boxer shorts at the moment; His jacket and slacks were on a nightstand next him, folded.
"What happened?" The Pilot mumbled, half-asleep.
Kyoko walked over. "Wakey, wakey, Blue-eyes. You're with us."
"You're in a clinic," Mami explained, "We found you in that Gundam, unconscious, and brought you here to recover."
"But what exactly happened?" The Pilot rubbed his eyes.
"Your Gundam is what happened." Kyoko exclaimed. "It crashed nearby as if you had no control over it! We had to get you out of that heap of junk!"
"Wait, recover? You left my gundam where it was?" The Pilot is now fully awake.
"Someone picked it up," Mami assured.
"For repairs," Kyoko replied, "It took a bit of a punch to the chest, but I'm sure those Egrets on that airship know how to fix that dent. Other than that, its batteries need to be recharged."
The Pilot soon tries to get out of bed and grabbed his jacket and pants. "Then they'll need me to help get it running."
Sayaka stops him right where he is, and he has him sit down on the bed. "Woah there, you're still recovering, and I got orders to watch over you. You just woke up, don't you think you should take it slow? And I have questions to ask about you, the Gundam, and where you came from."
"I'm not letting some school girl tell me what to do." The Pilot was a bit rude. "And I don't have time to answer questions."
"Well, I think it would be useful if you tell us your name and where you're from!" Sayaka pointed out.
"You take care of him, Sayaka. Make sure he doesn't escape." Kyoko leaves while trying to hold in a bit a laughter. "Catch you two around."
Once Mami and Kyoko both leave the clinic, it was only Sayaka and the Gundam Pilot. The two stared at each other, and Sayaka made sure he didn't make an attempt to leave the room until she gets some information out of him. It would be better if someone else came to interrogate instead of her, but she thought she had to do this herself.
"Can you remember where you were before the crash?" Sayaka questioned.
The Pilot only glared before he gave a sigh.
"I was with the forces of the Earth Sphere and the Colonies, united against some enemy." The Pilot lies back. "They were dealing with some guy name Pryus who is demanding the end of nations or something like that. That and he was leading an armada against Earth and the Colonies."
"Wait, hold up... Colonies and Earth Sphere?" Sayaka is a bit confused.
The pilot rolls his eyes. "Long story short, Earth is trying to handle conflicts on Mars or something like that. I've taken part in an operation with my father and his 'friends'."
"How did you end up crashing here?" Sayaka shakes her head at the pilot's explanation.
The Pilot took a while to recall the events. "Well... you can say I found the Gundam when my other one got shot down. And the last thing I remember was getting flung far from Mars."
"I see... we'll The Black Egrets, the Survey Corps, and the Holy Quintet has crossed paths with Pryus as well." Sayaka rubs her arm. "We kind of going after him, and it led us to this world. The map we found here call it The Fabric."
"You don't say..." The Pilot got up again. "Well if you guys are going after him, I'm going after him to give him an ass-kicking."
"All by yourself?" Sayaka is not amused. "Come on, you'll need some allies. I say you come with us."
"You guys?" The Pilot then got up to put on his pants and his jacket. "Alright, convince me. Why should I join you guys?"
"For real?" Sayaka got up, still making sure he didn't try to escape. "You can't expect me to give a reason."
"If there's no reason, I'll just go on my way." The Pilot smiled at her.
"Why you... if Pryus is everyone's problem that day he came to each of our worlds!" Sayaka ranted. "We have a common enemy, why not join forces to even the odds of kicking his ass!"
The pilot then laughed and sound like he's messing with her. "Alright, alright, I guess that's enough to convince me. And where are my manners?" He offers a handshake. "The name's Duo Maxwell, after my dad."
"Sayaka Miki." Sayaka shakes his hand, still finding him rude.
Medics can be heard starting to pack up and get out of the clinic. Armin soon barges into the room.
"Sayaka! We need to get out of here!" Armin warned.
"What's going on?" Sayaka Looked at Armin.
"It's a surprise attack! Levi and Parasoul hastily decided to split up the convoys into three and escape through the three routes! They expect to regroup once we escape."
"Let's not waste time now!" Sayaka ran over to retrieve her soul gem. She then looked to Duo. "You're with me!" She follows Armin out of the clinic.
"Uhhh... right!" Duo followed her and Armin.
Outside, the settlement is already set ablaze. Egrets Troops and Survey Corp soldiers were already getting into the convoys and leaving. The Egret Airship is also leaving while locating and shooting down whatever was causing the surprise attack. Armin was already with the Survey Corp Convoy.
The convoy for the Holy Quintet was demolished from the beginning of the surprise attack.
Trebuchets can be seen on parts of the mountains, delivering flaming projectiles on the city. They can barely be seen as they were hidden behind several trees; it was only when they fired that they end up exposing their hiding place. The Black Egrets and The Survey Crop responded with brief artillery fire before loading those up into the convoy.
Sayaka meets up with the Holy Quintet at the demolished convoy. Peacock and Avery were also present.
"Glad to see that the Gundam Pilot is able to walk." Mami welcomed.
"Geez, there's goes our transportation," Kyoko complained, "Anyone got a better idea to escape other than going on foot?"
"We have to get out of here first!" Madoka reminded.
"Right!" Peacock agreed.
The Holy Quintet and Peacock started leaving the settlement through one of the gates to head to the riverside route. Duo stops.
"I have to get my Gundam! You said it's on the airship!" Duo turns to go with the Black Egrets.
"Duo! Wait!" Sayaka looked to her friend. "You guys go on! I'll catch up once I get Duo!"
"Are you crazy?!" Kyoko glared at her. "If he really wants to risk reaching the Gundam, he's dead meat already!"
"We just found him, and you know that!" Sayaka argued.
Sayaka turned back to go after Duo. She would find him at the gate, being attacked by a brute.
The brute is like that of a Frankenstein's monster: green skin, stitch marks all over his body, and large metal pins to conduct electricity. He has a bulky appearance with an exposed heart and white eyes. His mask was a simple skull, and his armor consisted of greaves and leather. In addition to the armor is the crystal infection that protrudes all over his body.
Duo was moving back in shock.
The brute raised his massive battle ax, prepared to deliver a finishing blow that could kill Duo. But as he swung downward, the ax clashed with the blade of a cutlass. Sayaka intervened with her crystal infection going into overdrive again, yet this was different. She pushed the ax away and slashed the brute away and into a collapsing building, She then pulls Duo up from the ground.
"No time for thank you, let's get out of here!" Sayaka demanded. "There's no point in getting the Gundam now!"
Sayaka leads Duo away from the settlement while her crystal infection return to its benign state. She was able to catch up with the Holy Quintet and Peacock who were hiding behind some bushes. Kyoko was using binoculars to search for Parasoul's and Levi's convoys. Duo leaned again a tree, panting from running so much.
"Do you see Parasoul and Levi?" Sayaka asked. "Did they escape?"
"Parasoul is taking the ravine. The airship should be with them." Mami looked at Duo. "I believe he'll have a hard time getting it back after what just happened."
Duo grumbled in annoyance.
"As for Levi?" Sayaka stood beside Kyoko.
"Found them, and they're taking the mountain pass... and it seems Eren got wounded." Kyoko puts down the binoculars. "I guess we'll be taking the riverside."
"Once we get out of the mountains, we'll be able to regroup with them as planned." Mami changes into her Magical girl form.
"Woah... Do you all have that?" Duo is new to the Magical Girl thing.
"Not me," Peacock replied, "Besides, magic ain't my thing."
"Anyway... I believe that surprise attack is ordered by Pryus?" Duo wondered. Everyone had that kind of idea. Duo nods. "Then damn that guy, he's going to throw crap like this at us on the way to who-knows-where."