Author Notes: This section is very deprived of Touhou references, it being a "back to the real world" arc. I assure you, however, that this is temporary, but necessary to the story.
If you know which game this references, please leave reviews. All readers are encouraged to review because I'd like to know how you think of my story, heheheh.

Author's Request: I would like to have a Beta-Reader for my story. If you are interested in Beta-Reading for an on-off writer, please PM me. Thank you very much!

"""""""

"Whoa… whoa… WHOA!"

The swirling caused by the teleporting did get a bit nausea-inducing, but at last everything settled from technocolor. When it did, I realized that I ended up in the back alley of my home-base Nordoff Fight Club, in the afternoon. Pretty cooling for an autumn's breeze, I thought.

Save for my clothing (which I didn't think was necessary to take along), I have all my belongings with me. At least, once I get back home I figured I could have everything up in order.

"…hey, T.J., check that out. Isn't that our big guy?"
"Uhh… well… yea! Why is he back here?"

I turned around only to be glomped by Jack real hard, down onto a back-alley floor no less. When I stood up, I was real glad to see the muscleman and T.J., our resident idiot.

"Pas dude! Where'd you been man? You had us worried sick!"

"…Heh, I'm sorry guys. I, uh, had a bit of trouble getting back here."
Of course, that was just putting it very mildly, but I did have trouble getting back home.

"A bit? The whole fuckin' fuzz is lookin' for ya! Says you laundered money from your fights and now they want to arrest you bad! That bastard Anselmo, if I have my hands on his neck I'll have it broken!"

I could feel the slight tremble in Jack's voice, which immediately made me realise how I missed the camaraderie. But business was business, and I have to set it right in ten days… whatever I do.

"You mean Asshole Anselmo? That's new," I blurted, all the while knowing exactly what transpired.

"I caught that asshole talkin' to Zachary at the police station the other day. Now we can't find that kid, or his mother. Then days later we hear you getting yourself into match-fixing shit, and knowin' you well enough, you ain't that hard up."

"Is that why I couldn't access my own email? I've been wondering why I got locked out." I stress here that I know everything already, but I cannot make it too obvious to anybody else.

"No wonder we couldn't find you. I remembered we had a pact to hide at each other's houses if the headwind got too strong, but you showed up here instead."

Actually, I totally forgot about that pact.

"Never mind man, how about getting us all outta here and into the club?"
"…" Both men went silent. I feared the worst.
"Hey, what's the matter now?"
"Uhh… bro… the fight club's taken over by Anselmo's goons. The bulldozer is coming tomorrow at noon."
"What? NO!" Exasperated, I let out a shocked cry only to cover my mouth quickly. "How'd they…"

"Old Sire's title deed to the place got transferred over to Anselmo, somehow," sighed Jack, referencing Andrew Jennings, Zachary's grandfather. "While the Old Sire's trying to figure out how to take the deed back, I don't think we ain't got enough time to stop their goons."
"How the heck'd you transfer a deed without someone's knowledge?"
"The only way I could think of is by hacking some kinda government records thing, eh, so Zachary's most likely it again."
"I ain't know no computer shit, but if I see that kid," breathed T.J., "I'm going to wallop him until he throws up everything he knows."
"Easy now, big guy," I mouthed. "That's why I'm back in here to right everything."

Up till now, it's clear Zachary's the key to the conundrum. I couldn't help but wonder about the watch.

"Let's think through this at my home then. I'm sure no one's gotten in yet."

""""""

"Home shweeeeeeeet home," said I, happy that everything at home is, at least, still intact and untouched. Too bad about the emails and stuff, I guess.

"Turn the dang TV on, you guys. I'm going to give myself some time on the treadmill."
"Alright, chum."

I let the guys have their time in my living room – they probably need it – while I quickly scooted over to the basement and start tinkering with the device. Lunarian technology is really dang freakin' awesome, it even gives me a tutorial on rules of usage.

"Let's see… teleportation… teleportation… there!"
'Teleportation is divided in two areas – the outer area and the Gensokyo area. There's a time limit of ten days when used in between Gensokyo and the outside world. But in the outside world, there are less limits; parameters can be set according to known locations or known acquaintances and friends of the user. The user is limited to a maximum of five per ten-day frame. The limit will be displayed on the watch's 'five-count' section.'

That's interesting. I guess, to set things right I'll be using my first teleportation on Zachary.
Zachary… Zachary… Zachary…

""""""

"WHOA!"

I still can't get over the surprise of the teleportation, but at least now I have a better sense of my surroundings when the technocolor fades. I teleported to a suburb of single-storey houses, and this time I landed right beside a chute, which sure stank like five weeks worth of unwashed socks.

"Ugh, he's had to hide into worse places?"

Then I took a good look around the neighbourhood; in mocking contrast to the chute, the whole place seemed pretty serene and peaceful compared to the hustle and bustle around Nordoff, with roads lined by tall oaks and the likes. Although, of course, 'serene' and 'peaceful' being used in the outside world context means peanuts compared to the one I've witnessed in Gensokyo.

I bided my time; if I were teleported here, one of these houses should be Zachary's. I snooped around the patio of the houses – easy since all four houses in the surrounding are linked by paved walkways – and I quickly found Zachary's mother, tended to by someone who seemed like a nurse, while staying incognito along the roadside, as though one of the cars belonged to me. I have no idea if the nurse is someone related to Anselmo, so I bided my time and waited until the nurse left the patio.

"Hi, Madam Jennings! I'm Pasonia, you remember? Zachary's friend!"

"Pasonia… oh, why hello! What brought you here all the way to Maryland?"
Maryland? They sure ran pretty far from L.A.!

"Ah, I have to, uh, look for Zachary for some business. I believe he's in, right?"
"You bet! Want me to make some coffee for everyone? They have some of the best home-grounded coffees in this neighborhood!"
"No, no, it's fine Madam."
"Really?" She seemed quite sad.
"No, really, I'll be leaving quite quickly – you know how busy I could get!" I winked apologetically.

With the Madam's blessings, I made my way into the house. Taking care not to alarm anybody, I slowed down and trotted my way down the living room. Then I ran into the unaware nurse at close range and I nearly fell out of shock – stealth's so not me. Luckily, I was able to duck into the toilet before she realized there was someone else.

After a short moment of making sure no one saw me, I turned the knob from outside, then snuck into the room and slowly clicked it shut. Of course, that brought me Zachary's attention as he snapped back to look – presumably in horror.

"P-p-p-pasonia! How the heck'd you get here? That's it, I'm callin' the fuzz – this is fuckin' trespass!"

I held him by the collar before he could reach for his cell phone.
Thinking of no better way to interrogate him, I simply asked: "Why?"

"Why? Because my ma is sick! I've phoned you in at least three times and each time I did, you said you'll help! I got sick and tired of your empty promises, but Anselmo promised me he'd give me what I want as long as you get into trouble. Suits me fine – I don't love you much anymore, like bro love, ya got it? He helped me when I needed it the most, and you? What the fuck have you done?"

"Wait a minute there, you said you freakin' called me, right? Where's the proof?"

"It's all in the cell phone."

I picked up the cell phone from the table, keeping one hand on his collar. Indeed, he has called me multiple times, and indeed the records showed I never picked any of his calls up.

"Hey, wait a minute…"

I checked the dates that he called, and promptly realized that he called me during the days I was stuck inside Gensokyo. It would be fair to assume I was not even contactable then, but he clearly said I 'responded to his calls'. I dialed myself, just to see what's going on, and then I heard another mobile phone ring from the living room – my phone has been redirected!

"Huh?" At this time, even Zachary was surprised. I bet it didn't occur to him that it was an elaborate scam, simple-minded as this fool is.

"Hey, this is Pasonia here," said the voice, which sounded totally like mine. "I thought I told you I wouldn't pay you a dime even if you asked, fool? Stop bothering me!"

It has to be the nurse, I realized; I swore I heard the same voice from the living room. Zachary realized he's been fooled, so I assumed it was safe to put him back down on the chair – he wouldn't do anything bad to me unless he's manipulated, this gullible fellow.

"I'd have lent you the cash if you needed it badly, but I had been stuck in my own business in the time you called," I explained, avoiding referencing any of my misadventures flying about Gensokyo. "The me you'd been calling was an impostor, and he happens to be very good at cheating… I guess."

"… Well… The damage's done and all. I hacked your account, caused you trouble and all."
"That's not so much a biggie anymore. I just need you to return everything back to what they were before I left for Japan."
"… I'm sorry, Pasonia," blurted Zachary. "I was fooled into thinking you don't care anymore. I'm so sorry."

I believed Zachary was just gullible, so I decided I'd just walk back out the way I came in, happily ever after.

That was when I heard a loud "BANG!" from behind my back, and a sharp pain piercing my upper right thigh almost immediately after. Unable to bear the pain, I let out a yelp and crashed to the floor. It was then that Zachary rose from his chair again, but this time his attitude flipped one-eighty.

I'd been such a fool, dammit! I should've known better!

"You think I am this easily fooled, EH? You think it's as easy as 'oh, it'll be fine once Zachary's convinced', right? That ain't workin' anymore, buddy. I just wanted you out, you'd been the big timer for too long. Now it's my turn."

He emptied the burning bullet casing on my left hand, and I couldn't help but yelp again – it's hotter than a freakin' kettle!

"You guys took my silence for granted far too long. I want you to pay the price for your treatment of me," he mouthed, before firing a second time.

I honestly thought, "Oh gosh, this is game over."

""""""

When I snapped awake a while later, expecting to see something like a purgatory, I found myself still inside the same room, instead.

And the bullet, which was apparently directed at my head, was still spinning slowly in mid-flight.

I'd just stopped time? Dang amazing! But thinking carefully, I probably didn't actually stop time, just slowed it. I imagined if time had been stopped, the bullet wouldn't have moved at all.

"Ouch, ouch," I yelped, struck by the pain in my thigh as I rolled out. But now that I'm out of harm's way, I decided to get me some payback. I pried his fingers free of his own pistol, and then released the chamber for it to reload a second round. As I did so, time suddenly went back to normal and, for a while it was quite disconcerting to know that had I still been there, I'd really have been dead.

"Huh? How'd you move that fast?"

This time, with my right shoulder leaning against the wall for support, I fired one shot off his recently-relieved pistol. Unfortunately for him, I jolted because of pain; my aim went from his right thigh to his crotch, where his family jewels were.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrgh! Oh god, my p***s, you shot my god-damn p***s! What the f**k's wrong with you, jackass?"

"Shut the hell up," I retorted. "If I ain't makin' a ruckus while you shot me in the thigh, you'd do better to just shut it." I held my leg while limping my way to his computer, which he had left untouched since I got in. Not surprisingly, I found lots of damning evidence that pointed to Zachary being the bogeyman.

"Money laundering, scandals, illegal betting, rigged game rumors… seems like you already had a plan to play me out of the game of life," I blurted. "You'd rather eliminate me than see my success. Some friend you are."

"…" For the first time, he kept his trap shut.

"But dincha know the old man whom you stole Nordoff from, is your grandpappy? As in, your ma's father, you savvy? Really, now, I couldn't see you ruining your grandpappy's business could I?"
"Why's my gramps involved in this? It's just you and me, you massive jerk."

I turned to him, looking at him straight.
"Whatever involves Nordoff, involves your grandpappy and everyone else. I don't have the power to just give a damn about me alone, Nordoff's a collective responsibility. Since it all began because of me, it must end by me."

"As for you, though… Have you been jealous?" I taunted, now that our roles are reversed.
"Have I been jealous? No, you're not worth it, fool." I'm not going to say I knew Zachary that much – he disproved everything I knew of him when he fired that shot – but that certainly sounded like a denial.

"Nah, of course I am worth every bit of your jealousy," I retorted, "because my life seems on the up and up, right? Like, I've got a girlfriend and then I've got money, I've got property, I've got enough to live out a comfortable existence. I don't know what led you into this trickery business, or why you're doing this to me-"

"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW THE LEAST OF WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE AS PATHETIC AS ME!"

I shoved him into the nearby wall. "Listen, kid, and listen good. You don't get to where I am by whining and cheating your way -"

I was cut mid-sentence as several public loudhailers began to go off simultaneously. I limped out towards the room window and suddenly found the skies awash with black dots. I looked up and the whole sky is full of men – but they're all wearing non-American army uniforms!

"Holy smokes, what the hell's goin' on here?"

Before long, I heard men shouting in a language that evaded me worse than Japanese did. Deciding that the bullet lodged in my thigh is going to be in the way, I just picked up the nearest tool nearby and forced it out of my flesh, which surprisingly didn't hurt me as much as I would have imagined although the pain was quite another matter. Soon after, I found small blue waves of visible static running across where the injury was, and it felt like I'd been given local anesthesia or something.

"Okay, whatever works. I'm going to need this gun... and for you to shut up."

I decided to scoot off before anything horrid happens. All it took was to press a button on my watch while no one was looking.

""""""

"Hey, Pas, you all right in there? Hey? HEY! Don't be trippin' the pills now dude!"

I opened the basement door in slight amusement, though the pain in my thigh and the need to walk normally chewed into my facial expression. "I ain't junkin' man, I went in there to get some stuff, dude, like, this pistol. What's up?"

"Hey, where'd you get that burn from?" T.J. remarked, referring to the burn mark I got not so long ago."
"Uhh… it's nothing. Someone's hot charcoal hit me a while ago," I lied.
"Really? That looks pretty recent. It seems wet, too!"
"You think too much. Anyway, what's that panic in your voice for?"

T.J. sounded totally flustered and uptight about something, I thought.

"Okay, I need you to calm down a little first."
"I thought you're the one being antsy here, dude."
"Shut it, man, Private T.J.'s talkin' and no one be interruptin', yo!"
"Alright, alright, what is it army boy?" Looks like T.J.'s really the one being more flustered.
"Look, uh, I've been recalled."
"Cool. And then?"
"That's bad news, because this means we're getting hauled ass by another country! But the hella shit is we don't know WHO!"
"Uh, it's all over the TV now dudes!" blurted Jack. "It's the Russian Army comin' in hot!"

So that's the same guys who stormed through Maryland?

"Seems like it was related to that massacre at the Russian International Airport," remarked Jack. "But that's totally irrelevant to this; TV says the Russians are having an air party right above us now. The White House is going to be so screwed, man!"

"Damned, I thought Army sucked and that's why I bailed, but now I have to go all the way back to Fort Bragg and fight to defend this freakin' hellhole? What the heck?"

It was then that we all looked up; the air was once again filled with the same kind of bombers that I saw back at Maryland, and they were really dropping men by the truckloads. I could hear what sounded like cannon shots from way off the coast, and my guess was there were more coming in from the port area.

"What do we do now, boss? This shit's gettin' too crazy!"
"Then let's just follow in on the craziness," I mouthed. There was literally nothing that could be done with the sudden change of objectives – on hindsight, everything that's happening to Nordoff and my property is peanuts compared to this invasion business.

I'm supposed to survive this war for ten frickin' days, eh? Now Gensokyo looks more and more like a viable permanent residence.

""""""

We all fled in my Mini Cooper, which basically meant that it was a really tight squeeze… once again, I am mildly putting it.

It wasn't long before most radio stations we were tuning in to had their broadcasts shut down to mere static – after all, the air boys could only do so much to get their aircraft up to intercept the Russians in such short notice. Every man on the street, tourist or otherwise, all grabbed whatever firearms they could find and did their best to retaliate against the invaders, though it was near hopeless.

After T.J. spotted anti-vehicle weapons, the three of us decided to stop driving and go on foot; it was best to keep running and gunning while the crazy Russians hauled ass behind and around us shouting like madmen.

"Jesus Christ, what the hell is this man?"
"You're asking me a great question professor; bad news is, I don't have a freakin' clue!" I retorted in half-jest, trying to keep our spirits up amid the hail of loud gunfire. Since T.J.'s our only trained-to-shoot gunman (and secretly I had to try to minimize exposure to too many people), we have to use him as a "point man", as he calls it, and he's always in front of us with covering fire while the Russians attack everywhere with intense ferocity – us being mere flies.

"God damnit, those bastards just made us a question out of the Sign man!"

We were, by my estimation, nearing the Hollywood sign at Canyon Lake, where we were instructed by a nearby makeshift sign to get on the evac bus to the Army Center; it was there that we noticed that the Hollywood Sign now spelt "HOW" with everything else either broken or missing.

"How? We just kick their asses and get ourselves outta here—AUUUUGH damn!"
"T.J.! Hell, he's been shot!" cried Jack in alarm. I swung around and saw blood seeping in on the long pants T.J. had been wearing, along with a rather nasty-looking expose of his flesh.

We were mere meters to the military evacuation vehicle and stuck at the intersection – it was literally waiting for us with the army boys hurrying us to get on it ASAP, but their hands were just as tied fighting off the Russians. The Russians soon discovered our position and I was forced to fight back with T.J.'s rifle, although my aim was probably as good as a drunk soldier's and I had to bail when the bullets flew my way.

"Dammit! We ain't gonna get there at all!"
"It's… okay, guys… just let me go and run for your own lives. We'll see each other again in future, alright?"

T.J. then suddenly rose from the ground, grabbed his gun back from me while pushing me and Jack away, and began firing off wild buck shots to draw attention to himself. Jack and I ran and ran while he covered us, but I couldn't stand having a friend lose his life saving our skin.

I cannot watch my friend die. I ain't gonna let him die on me!

It was that thought, I remember, that suddenly whirred everything down, once again, to super-slow-motion, sweat flying in mid-air and all over the place; even explosions have stopped exploding, so to speak. Once again, time has slowed around me, but this time it was even more surreal with all the chaos in the vicinity.

Since I now have much more autonomy with the immediate situation, I ran back towards T.J. and, though somewhat tedious, I managed to relief every Russian soldier within thirty meters of T.J. of their rifle, so they can't shoot T.J. I then tried to fire using one of their rifles at close range (the "no one can miss" range), but it would only click.

Thinking the rifle to be broken, I threw the gun aside; that was when I noticed then that a bullet was in the air where the rifle was. I assumed that the bullet was travelling in-flight, just like how the one directed at my head was, so I quickly took up the rest of the rifles and clicked once per rifle at close range. There were some I couldn't shoot out of so I just threw them away, and they end up getting stuck in mid-flight anyway!

I fired the last shot just in time as time suddenly 'started' again, and it was rather unreal for us three; T.J.'s got blood splattered all over him when he expected to be splattering some out of his own guts, Jack noticed I just disappeared, and the Russians that got close to T.J. realized in alarm that they suddenly had no rifles on their hands. I ran up to the stragglers and punched two of them hard enough to crack their jaws, before the pain from the earlier shot to my thigh suddenly came back. T.J. repaid the favor by shooting any Russian that got close, until the area had a breathable respite free of blood-hungry monsters.

"…what the hell just happened? I thought I was a goner there," exclaimed an incredulous T.J.
"You sure as hell are going to be a goner," I deadpanned. "Let's get out of here before more of 'em Russians show up!"
"H-hurry guys! The bus is leaving dang soon!" Jack shouted from the bus window.

"C'mon now, dude!" T.J. heaved me off the floor as we all scrambled towards the bus, now crammed to double its original capacity. The guarding soldiers stared at me with a bewildered expression – I think they noticed how I managed to simply disappear from sight – but I would not have anyone question me as we scrambled to get on the evac vehicle.

If you ask me, this shit of late is getting worse. I'm already starting to miss Gensokyo, dangit, and it wasn't supposed to turn out like this!