Alice woke up to the pain again. Wondering how long she slept, she looked at her cat clock. The moon was already on the rise. Panicked, she jumped off her bed, took pain pills, and took a bus to the Extreme Arcade. Rage and Emi were playing DDR X while Yuni and Akira talked at the Snack Bar.

"Alice," a deep voice called. "There you are." A man with silver hair and dark eyes approached her. His coat had white and pink faux fur. His black jeans were tucked in his combat boots, giving him a punk-rock look.

"Hi, Zero." she greeted politely, but cringed at the slight pain.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm okay, I'm okay."

"You... look like you're in pain." There was concern in his expression. "Are you sick or something?"

"It's nothing. I'm just a little tired."

When Rage and Emi stepped away from the machine, Alice and Yuni hopped on the stage and chose Ghetto Blast Deluxe. Yuni was not missing a single arrow. Alice on the other hand, missed a handful of steps and nearly fell while holding down a freeze arrow. Her whole body was throbbing inside and out.

"Alice, are you okay?" Emi asked, horrified. "You look like you're hurting."

"I am!" she cried out, getting half of the arcade's attention. "Make it stop!"

The group of dancers took her outside to prevent a commotion. Zero pulled out his emergency medical bag from his fancy car. Emi and Yuni held onto Alice.

"Okay, can you look into the light?" Zero asked calmly. When he pointed the tiny light in Alice's sapphire eyes, she screamed as the light hit her.

"That hurts!" she cried. "I wanna go to the Emergency Room! I've been in pain all day!"

"Okay," Yuni said. "Akira and I will-"

"No, I'll take her!" Zero spoke up. His voice returned to it's normal, calm tone. "I can check her out at the hospital with my team. I'll call you all later to let you know what I've found out."

Yuni hesitated, not sure on letting a stranger she barely knows take Alice. When it came to her friends, she gets worried. All that she and the others know that Zero is a surgeon.

"Well, okay." Yuni finally said. She handed Zero a piece of paper. "Here's my cell phone number. Call me if you know anything."

He nodded. "I will."

Rage helped Alice into the shiny, silver mustang. When Alice started to cry, Zero sped off towards the hospital. The first thing when they got there, two female nurses took Alice down to a few labs to run blood tests, a cat scan, and anitbiotics to simmer the pain.

The results came back thirty minutes later, and they were not looking too good. Zero and Disco were sitting in a suite with Alice. She was dressed in a hospital gown and hooked up to an IV machine. A nurse called for Zero. He and the nurse walked to the X-Ray Room.

"We have the results back, and look right here." she said, pointing towards her hip. "Her appendix is about to blow up. She needs an emergency operation."

Zero nodded. "I'll go talk to Disco right away and see what he thinks." He walked back into the suite and explained Disco the situation. They looked back at Alice. Her eyes read fear from Zero's point of view.

"I don't know," Alice said. "I'm really scared! I can't do this!"

"Alice, kiddo, you need this." Disco said to her, trying to calm her down. "Zero's one of the best around here. Him and his team will take care of you."

"No!"

Zero came to her and held her hand. "Don't be afraid, Alice. It'll be okay."

She looked into his eyes. While they were filled with darkness when he was around her and her friends, his eyes read comfort and promise. She was still afraid, but she knew Zero well enough that she could trust him.

"Okay..." she finally said. "Let's do it."

He suddenly smiled. "Okay, I'll be right back in a few minutes."

Zero's team of surgeons were making preperations for the operation room while his nurses prescribed Alice some anesthesia. She began to lose consiousness as the medicine made her fall asleep. Finally, Zero and his team were ready to operate.