Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Ditto. In fact, if you really want to use Ditto in something, feel free to. I only do this for fun, lulz, and to take over the world.

Updates two days in a row?! Well, to be fair, the wait for the next part may be a little longer. You'll see why soon enough.

Okay, I assumed that the deflector (as seen in Smash Bros) is capable of both deflecting and the ghost dash (or whatever it's called). I could be wrong, but it makes for a better story.

And Comrade, in case you didn't see the edit last chapter, the sniper in Sani's story doesn't show up on day 2. Remember, Relics is going against that sniper with both Falco and Bill helping him. And he only has a knife. (If Ditto's in that situation, he'll SO TOTALLY grab the wrist-blade.)

I sat in silence in the passenger seat of Jake's car as he drove me back to the school. As I practiced using the deflector, he had gotten me to open up more about what had happened. I'd had to lie to him, though, or else he would've found out the whole truth. I just told him someone had texted me, and I'd accidentally deleted the text. But I wasn't sure he'd completely believed me.

Even so, he'd decided to drive me close to the school, before giving me both my gun and the deflector to use. He also used my translator to set up a panic button; I could call him on a moment's notice, and nothing short of the device's destruction could shut off its location transmitter until Jake got there.

The deflector itself was very cool. Its clip was magnetic and detachable; when I took it off and pushed the main button, it would open up a hexagonal shield that could apparently reflect anything from swords to lasers to bombs, as long as the force didn't exceed a certain amount. And if the clip was attached when I pressed the button, it enveloped me in a skin-tight field of energy, so I could move almost too fast to see. I thought that it lasted for a few seconds each time, but to everyone else, it only lasted an instant. I assumed it worked just like in the Smash Bros. games, but since I hadn't been put into any of those, I could only guess. He didn't mention whether it had a boomerang function like Falco used in the game, which admittedly upset me. I clipped it to my right hip, so it would always be within reach.

What concerned me was the fact that he'd never seen or heard of the type of gun I was holding before. He remarked on how similar it was to some old-fashioned human weapons, but he was also certain that it wasn't in common use anywhere he'd been before. It made sense to me; Sharp probably wouldn't be using any ordinary rifle. Back at the house, I'd shaken the gun and heard what sounded like little metal BB's in the ammo cartridge, which was slotted on the top of the gun. My angry outburst was overshadowed by my own awe, though, when I shot a three inch-wide hole in the brick wall behind Jake's house without any sort of report from the gun itself. He made me agree not to mention the hole to Joanne. I also noticed, for the first time, that the gun had a switch that was set to "stealth mode", but I didn't get to test "assault mode".

"Hello?" he asked, snapping his fingers in front of my face a few times. I shook myself and sat up straight, looking around. "We're here."

"Huh?" I asked. "This isn't the school."

"No, it isn't," he said, nodding slowly. "But you said these guys told you to come alone."

"Yeah," I agreed, reaching for the door. They also won't tell me to come, and they won't even tell Relics for a few hours, I thought. "Thanks for everything you're doing."

"I'm not doing it for no reason. I know you've got something to tell me."

I lowered my head. "I..." I tried, looking toward him. He wasn't angry or disappointed, but he looked sincere. It had actually taken me that long to realize that he was trustworthy. "Tonight," I said, nodding. He nodded back. For a few seconds, neither of us said anything.

"You'd better get going," he said quietly. I opened the door and stepped out of the car, but I didn't feel right just walking away. He apparently didn't just want to leave me alone, though, when he turned off the car and just sat there.

"Suddenly I wish I was the guy Eli thinks I am," I muttered, turning toward the school. I didn't have skills, I didn't have experience. I mean, sure, I'd been Navi and the guy from Castlevania (I still hardly knew anything about the game, even after living it repeatedly), but I hadn't been in any FPS games yet. I would just have to hope that the deflector and APIR would be enough to keep me safe while I saved Krystal. But perhaps the biggest fear I had was that everything was changing; I didn't know how long my limited knowledge would be able to help me if I kept changing the story.

Jake had only parked a block from the school, so I was there almost before I knew it. I glanced around the front, and noticed nobody at all. Still a couple hours before anything goes down, I remembered. Still, I didn't really feel safe, and I had no idea where to wait, so I rushed around the side of the A building. I crept slowly to the corner, and leaned out to look around.

"Hey, Ditto!" someone called behind me. I flinched and looked toward the voice.

"Damn it, Falco," I said, looking back around the corner.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, walking toward me. "And why are you stalking around here?" I turned toward him, revealing the APIR, and he stepped back in surprise. "Holy shit!"

"Keep it down," I said, before looking around the corner again. I didn't see a single person.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm looking for someone, Falco. Now leave."

"Ditto, why'd you bring a gun to school?"

"What's it matter to you? Why are you even here?"

"Lost my phone in fourth period. But seriously, what's going on?"

"There are still staff here?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"Yeah. Janitors stay 'till, like, six."

"Oh," I said, before moving toward the B building. Falco grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

"You're gonna tell me what's up," he said.

"And if I don't?" I asked.

"Maybe I'll keep you here myself."

Rather than ditching him, which I could easily do with the deflector, I sighed and decided to test the waters. "How much can I trust you?" I asked.

"I'm always there for my friends."

I was a little surprised that he considered me a friend, but I wasn't quite satisfied. "You can't tell anyone. Not Fox, not Relics, not Katt."

"I can't...Ditto, you're in some deep shit, aren't you?"

"What tipped you off first?" I asked.

"Seriously, what's going on?"

"You won't tell anyone?"

"Of course not," he said, annoyed. "Now tell me already!"

"Fine! Some thugs took Krystal, okay?"

"What?" he asked. He looked around angrily. "Where are they?"

"Apparently not here yet," I said.

"Yet?" he asked.

"Oh, we don't have time for this! Look, you want to know the truth – the whole truth – then help me find her."

He took a step back, and then looked down in thought. During that time, I took another glance around. No matter how hard I looked, though, I still couldn't see a single person.

"I think you been lyin' to us. I'll come with you for now, but it's just to hear the truth."

"That's good enough."

"So, where do you think they'd be?" he asked. I shrugged.

"They wouldn't take them away from the school, because that'd be wasting effort. But the A building, where they'll be soon, is still full of people, and the B building was full just an hour ago. I'd bet my left arm they're in or near the C building."

"Then let's get moving," Falco said, running ahead of me. At least he was smart enough not to run straight toward the building, taking a less visible detour around the B building. I followed, wondering why he wasn't concerned about being unarmed.

"I don't suppose you have a plan," I said.

"You're the one who's armed to the teeth," he countered.

"Of course. Well, first thing's first; find the girls without getting spotted."

"Girls?" he asked. "More than one?"

"Yes," I said. He looked back at me questioningly, but I ignored him.

"Well...the cafeteria's got a sunroof..."

"Perfect," I said as we came around the corner and headed for the back of the C building. I was already starting to pant. By the time we got there, we still hadn't seen anyone, so I was starting to wonder if I'd been wrong.

"Up there," Falco said, pointing to an access ladder on the back of the building. A cylindrical gating circled the entire ladder past about ten feet off of the ground, and a metal door blocked the base of the ladder. "Shoot, it's locked. Lemme see that gun of yours."

"You're not going to shoot the lock," I told him.

"Well, then how do we open the door?"

"We're in high school," I said with a smirk, flipping the gun onto my back. "Locks mean nothing." Pulling the same trick I had in sixth period, I ran a step up the wall and grabbed the safety fence around the ladder. It only took me a few seconds to grab the ladder itself and haul myself up into the fence.

"You coming?" I asked as I climbed.

"Show off," he said. I heard a few clangs, but no curses, so I looked down to notice Falco climbing up after me, on the outside of the fence. I laughed at his tactic, and somewhat wished I'd thought of it first. I made it to the top of the shortest building in the school quickly, and I grabbed the gun off of my back before creeping toward the glass dome. Falco made it up a few seconds after me.

"What do you see?" he asked, before taking a look for himself. I saw at least a dozen people, not much older than me, walking or sitting around idly. Most of them had a weapon of some sort. I could only name a few; Panther was looking out the front door cautiously, and Leon was sitting aloof from everyone else. I spotted Wolf, with a bandage on his face, and felt my lip curl up in anger. I brought up the gun and aimed, when Falco shook my shoulder slightly.

"There they are," he said, pointing. I followed his hand and saw them both. Krystal and Lana were lying on a lunch table toward the back of the cafeteria, unconscious. Just seeing her like that, I felt my hands clenching in rage, and I took an abrupt step toward the ladder.

"Where are you going?" Falco asked, grabbing my arm.

"To help," I said simply, pulling my arm free.

"Ditto, don't be stupid! They'll tear you apart!"

"I won't just sit here and do nothing!" I shouted. The gun in my hands had an untested assault mode, and for all I knew, it would be more than enough to send the people below running.

"Just keep your head. Believe me; I want these bastards to pay just as much as you do. But we can't just go down there without a plan."

"Falco, if they...I swear, if they hurt Krystal..."

"Then I'll just let Miyu have 'em," he said with a chuckle. I would normally have found it funny, but I was clenching my free hand into a fist hard enough to make my fingernails dig into my palm painfully, so I only hoped that she would find them and do her worst.

"They'll be lucky if there's anything left for her to mutilate," I said darkly.

"You...wouldn't just kill them, would you?" he asked. "I mean, sure, if they shot at you first, but..."

"They'd kill me if they got the chance. I don't think I'll feel remorse for removing these bastards from the planet."

"Ditto, you're not thinking straight," he warned.

"Maybe," I said, letting my hands fall to my sides. If Relics didn't need to rescue Lana, I wouldn't have hesitated. But as I thought of the need to protect the storyline, I thought of the marks on my wrist. It would only take one, I thought. But after a full minute of thought, I shook my head. It's probably a good idea, but I only have two more before I'm at four. I know she'll be safe for a while longer, so at the very least, I'll wait.

I waited the next couple of hours unmoving, watching anyone who dared to approach Krystal closely. I tried to stay out of sight, in case anyone looked up, but if I didn't make sure the girls were safe, I felt unusually nervous. Falco wasn't exactly nervous, but he was pacing the length of the roof, either in thought or in anticipation. The sun was slowly going down, but I hardly noticed in my apprehension. After what seemed like an eternity, Wolf himself held up his blaster and called something out, making everyone else rise and make their way to the front doors. One person went back for Lana, while Leon approached Wolf.

"We need to get down there," I said, moving quickly to the ladder. Falco didn't object for once, and we went to the ground without a word. I crept carefully to the front corner of the building, and leaned out just as Wolf, Leon, and the avian carrying Lana exited.

"So...what were...to ask?" I heard Wolf asking faintly.

"I was thinking about the blue one," Leon said, a little louder.

"You can't kill her!" Wolf growled, grabbing Leon by his shirt and lifting him off of the ground. "We need her to make it look like an accident."

"I didn't want to kill her," Leon said, which made Wolf put him down. Leon rubbed his throat. "I just wanted...a few minutes."

I felt my anger returning, and barely managed to stop myself before challenging the pair. Wolf appeared to think it over for a little bit.

"She'll be dead soon anyway..." Wolf began.

"It seems like such a waste. Such beauty..."

"Fine. You've got thirty minutes."

"Son of a..." I began under my breath. Wolf followed the rest of his small army to the A building, while Leon cackled to himself and reentered the C building.

"Looks like we got lucky," Falco whispered. "We went from twenty to one."

"If he touches her," I began.

"I know, I know, 'fire and brimstone'," he said. Before everyone had even entered the A building, I sprinted for the doors.

"Hold on," Falco whispered loudly, "we have the element of surprise."

"He's a goddamned chameleon. He's always got the element of surprise," I said, looking in the door. The lizard was just walking around her, inspecting her like some kind of feast. But I did at least take Falco's advice, and only opened the door slightly when he was turned away. He followed me after a few seconds, and we ducked behind a table, hopefully out of sight.

"What's he doing?" Falco asked.

"I'm fairly certain he's going to rape her if we don't do something."

"Then let's go," he said, sneaking toward Leon. I followed, watching the reptile closely. He still wasn't approaching her, but he had a twisted smile on his face. Before we got half of the way, he stopped circling her, and took a slow step toward her.

I managed not to let out a battle cry, but I did hit the button on the deflector before sprinting toward him. A half-second delay occurred when I hit the button, but after that, a clear curtain of white was put over everything as it took effect. I still didn't manage to reach him before the whiteness disappeared with a loud high-pitched ringing, so I hit the button again. Leon heard the ringing, and spun toward me with his gun drawn. But the deflector took effect again, and I made it to him, punching him right in the face before he could react. His head didn't snap back until the deflector stopped, but when it did, he flew back much farther than I thought he would. Before he could get to his feet, I was aiming the gun at his face.

"Don't touch her," I said. He pushed himself up on his elbows and shook his head, before abruptly grabbing his blaster and firing at me. His first shot barely missed my left ear, and I flinched, grabbing the deflector and holding it in front of me. Another shot rang out, I hit the button, and the bluish shield appeared, deflecting Leon's shot back at him. It hit the high-tech gun and apparently shorted it out, because Leon cursed and discarded it like it was suddenly too hot to touch. He finally crawled to his feet, and watched me carefully as Falco showed up behind me.

"Who are you?" he asked with his scratchy voice.

"We've got the gun. We ask the questions," Falco said, before making sure Krystal was alright.

"Ke he," he cackled. "But you can't pull the trigger. You've never killed a man, have you?"

I saw him begin to turn invisible, from either a special device or a natural ability, so I aimed down and fired. I heard a loud shout in pain, and Leon reappeared, clutching his injured leg. He still had two feet, so I must've just grazed his leg.

"No," I admitted as he rolled around in pain. "But I don't mind crippling you."

"She's okay," Falco said. I sighed in relief, but didn't take my eye off of Leon.

"You can't stop Wolf by yourselves," Leon said.

"If I wanted to, Wolf wouldn't stand a chance."

"If you wanted to?" Falco asked. "Aren't we going after Lana?"

"We can't," I told him. He bristled.

"How can you say that?"

"Falco, do you trust me or not?"

"Trust?! What's this have to do with trust? You got so scared when something happened to your girlfriend, but what about Relics? You don't think he wants Lana safe too?"

"She is safe."

"Safe?" Falco scoffed. "Why don't you tell Wolf that? Or maybe we should've left Krystal, too."

I turned toward him abruptly. "Don't you dare go there."

"See? You selfish asshole! You don't give a shit about Relics, or Lana, or anyone! You just care about yourself, and your nice little piece of ass!"

"Don't you fucking dare say that!" I shouted, aiming the gun at him to shut him up. His feathers immediately smoothed themselves, and he leaned back in surprise.

"What are you gonna do? Shoot me?" he asked. I hesitated, then lowered the gun.

"Of course not," I growled through clenched teeth. I turned back toward Leon, glad that he was still in too much pain to make more trouble. "But don't you ever call her that again."

"Then what are we going to do?" he asked. I knew what he meant; he expected me to rescue Lana myself. But Relics, who turned out to be a total beast, had trouble when he had Fara, Fox, Miyu, Falco, Slippy, and Bill all helping him. The APIR and deflector were the only things that made me able to help Krystal, and I wasn't sure I could really rescue Lana. And even if I could, the number of casualties would be higher than zero, which could seriously affect the storyline.

"First, we take care of him," I said, gesturing toward Leon with the gun.

"How?"

"I-I won't make any trouble!" Leon pleaded.

"Yeah, right. And maybe Wolf will become a dancer. Well, Falco, do you know how to knock people out?" I asked. Leon's eyes widened, and he started to drag himself away.

"What do you mean? Just hit him in the head."

"Well, I hadn't wanted to just whack him in the head until he stops moving," I explained.

"Then I'll do it," Falco said, moving toward him. I chuckled and ignored Leon's panicked shouts as I went over to see Krystal for myself. Falco hadn't lied; she looked fine. Her face wasn't bruised, I couldn't see anything clearly broken, and she didn't seem to be bleeding. She still had all of her clothes on, which is a large part of the reason Leon was still alive. I ignored the dull thuds from nearby as I moved my arms under her still form and lifted her off of the table. She was much lighter than I expected, and when I first lifted her, she let out a soft whine.

"It's okay," I whispered. "You're safe now."

"Ditto?" she asked silently. Whatever they'd done to knock her out was apparently just starting to wear off.

"Yeah. I'm here."

"Lana..."

"Krystal...I can't. There are too many of them."

"Lana...they'll kill...Lana..."

"No, they won't."

"We ready to get out of here?" Falco asked, massaging his knuckles.

"Yeah. Jake should be waiting nearby."

"Jake?" Falco asked as I headed for the doors.

"My temporary father."

"Your dad let you do all this?"

"More or less."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I say we don't ask questions until all three of us are safe."

Falco looked at me with his beak open for a few seconds, before closing it with a snap and looking forward again.

"Fine."

"Good," I said as we opened the doors. Nobody was standing around outside, which made me kick myself for forgetting to check. "Now, how do we get away from the guys who want us dead?"

"We could just leave," Falco suggested.

"They've got someone patrolling the front of the school, dummy."

"You don't know that."

"Just trust me on this one," I said, making by way behind the B building anyway.

"Lana..." Krystal thought again. "Shuttle..."

That's it, I thought. "There might not be someone there after all."

"Then what're we waiting for?" he asked, even though I was already moving as fast as I could. I wondered whether the deflector's dash function would work for both of us, but I decided against testing it right then. Falco made it to the corner first, and peeked around it.

"Looks clear," he said, waving me forward. I didn't take two steps before he held up a hand. "Shoot, no, not clear."

"Who's there?" I asked.

"I don't know. Some black panther. Same one was watching the door before."

"Great," I said under my breath. "Distract him."

"What? Me?"

"Just throw a rock or something."

"How's that gonna work?"

"I don't know. But we need to figure something out, fast."

"Lemme handle it," Falco said, apparently getting an idea. He waited for a few seconds, before dashing toward the panther.

"That's it; he's completely crazy."

"Ditto?" Krystal asked. I felt her trying to move, but apparently she was still too lethargic to raise her head.

"Yeah?"

"What happened?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"I don't know. I...we were just walking...and then Lana shouted something...and someone grabbed me...how's Lana?"

"She'll be safe."

"Alright," Falco said, appearing suddenly from around the corner and making me jump. "He's out, let's go."

"What's happening?"

"We're still trying to save you."

"Save me...?" she asked, before slowly fading out of consciousness again.

What did they do to her? I wondered. I noticed Panther lying in a heap on the floor, but didn't even think to ask Falco what he'd done.

Once we got off of school grounds, Falco decided to let me lead. I didn't slow down until I could see Jake's car again, and even then only because I was nearly exhausted. The car's lights came on, and it pulled toward us.

"You're okay," Jake said once he stopped near us. He didn't even give Falco a second glance. "Here, I'll take her."

"No," I said, nodding toward the door. "Just open the door for me."

"Alright," he said, doing just that. I stepped in, careful not to hit her head on anything as I took the middle seat.

"So, you're really not going back?" Falco asked.

"Back?" Jake asked. "Why would he go back?"

"To help Lana."

"What?! There's another one?"

"Yeah," I said. I didn't really care what they'd thought, even though I still hadn't made up my mind.

"Then what're you doing here? Why aren't you helping her?" Jake asked.

I looked at him soberly, weighing my options once again. I still hadn't even decided whether to help her. I'd already told myself all of the reasons why it was a bad idea, but I didn't know if I'd be able to look myself in the mirror if I didn't at least try. I looked down at Krystal again, trying to figure out what would be the best course of action. "I can't," I told him.

Jake sighed. "I sure hope you know what you're doing."

"What?!" Falco exploded. "You agree with him?"

"I can't force him to do anything," Jake said.

"But...Lana's a friend. She's in trouble, and –"

"She's not in trouble," I repeated.

"You can't know that," Falco said.

"Look," Jake said. I looked up at him. "I don't know what's happening here...but I trust you. Whatever you decide, I'll help. It's up to you."

A/N: Alright, sorry about that cliffhanger there. But I have good reason: I still have no idea what to do next. I guess I'd like to ask what you think he ought to do. I know comrade will comment, because he always does, but what does anyone else think? Should Ditto say "screw the storyline" and charge in gun blazing until Lana's safe? Or should he take it easy, secure in the knowledge that Relics is capable of saving Lana? Consider everything (Sins, casualties, Sani's story, hoverboards, the arwing, et cetera), and lemme know what you think will/should happen.

And in case anyone thinks that I just violated the rules...I didn't ask for ideas, I asked for opinions. That's the entire concept behind reviews, after all.

Oh, right; the APIR. I probably won't get a chance to dissect it in-story, so I'd like to explain it. It can shoot anything magnetic, ranging in size from an iron shaving to an ordinary bullet (hence the "Improvised Round" in the name). First, a force field arcs behind the object, before straightening itself and sending the object forward much faster than an ordinary bullet. Then, it depends on the mode (hence the "All-Purpose" in the name). In the semi-automatic stealth mode, a series of magnets and suppressors straighten and silence the shot. In the fully-automatic assault mode, the magnets accelerate it to easily double speed. So a metal BB making a three inch-wide hole in a cinder block is only the beginning. It could've easily taken Leon's leg off, and it was only in stealth mode. Also, if it runs out of ammo, it can work as an ordinary blaster, but it's a lot weaker than most.

Yes, I like to design fictional weaponry. I've got some more ideas (including an anti-tank sniper rifle), so we'll see if those make an appearance.