Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, settings, or representations in this story. That being said, if you want to sue me for any other reason, please do not. Just...read on at your own risk.

Oh, and the last chapter was one of the more exciting ones, so...yeah. I like trying to make funny stories, but it turns out, I'm not very great at that. I'll probably speed this story's ending up (hopefully without ruining it), so I can make a more serious story. Maybe that'll turn out better. People seem to like DotU more anyway.

"She'd say 'Good afternoon', not 'Good morning'," Relics corrected, oblivious to the message on the holographic screen. I continued to stare at my arm for a while longer, fighting the dizziness and lightheadedness that I suddenly felt. Relics stopped walking after a few seconds of silence and turned toward be, before concern clouded his features. "Something wrong?"

"N-no," I squeaked unconvincingly, reading the message again and again. I didn't need a hint as to who the "she" was; if, by some stroke of luck, it wasn't Krystal in danger this time, there still wasn't a question in my mind about trying to save the girl.

"Okay, what is it?" Relics asked.

"I don't know," I said, turning toward the nearest exit. "But I need to go."

"Whoa, whoa, hang on a second," he said, blocking my path. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Nowhere," I replied, trying to sidestep him. He stepped in my path once again, and I knew I didn't have a chance of getting out until he let me. I quickly stopped trying, looking him uncertainly in the eyes as I decided if it was a good idea to ask for his help.

"What's going on?" he eventually asked.

"I don't know," I said again, "but...okay, someone's in trouble."

"What?" he asked, eyes widening. "Who?"

"I don't know," I repeated. He squinted at me in disbelief, until I brought the translator up again. The message was still displayed; I'd forgotten to close it in my awe. "Here," I said, holding it up for him to see.

"Hmm..." he hummed quietly as he turned away.

"That's it?" I asked angrily, whipping the device to my side again.

"Well," he began, before stopping. "What am I supposed to say?"

"Nothing," I said sternly. "Unless you want to help, too."

He looked down for a moment. "Do you think they're dangerous?"

"No, Relics," I said sarcastically. "They threatened to kill her with kindness."

He gave a single laugh; sarcastic was how he knew me, after all. But concern clouded his features quickly.

"Well, then why would they tell you to go to the school? Why you? I mean, do you know what they want?"

"How should I know?" I asked, starting toward the exit.

"You're already ready to go to the school?" he asked, following.

"No," I replied. "I need to get some things from home first."

"Well, that was a waste of time," I commented as we headed toward the school on foot. Relics had followed me home, both of us riding our respective boards, only to find that Jake wasn't home. Even if I could've found the APIR and reflector, it would be suspicious if I suddenly left for the school so heavily armed. It wasn't an easy choice, but I could only hope that Relics' presence could make up for being unarmed. After all, he'd already fought unarmed through a school full of thugs to get to his girlfriend.

"So, let me get this straight," Relics abruptly said. "We're going to the school to rescue a girl, who we may not know and who may not be there, almost certainly walking into a trap, and you don't even know why you're being targeted?"

I merely shook my head.

"Hmm. So...what's the part you're not telling me?" he asked.

"What?"

"You've got to know either who took her, or why they took her," he said. "Otherwise, it could just be a prank."

"It isn't a prank," I assured him.

"Exactly," he said. "But how do you know that?"

"Because of all the crap that's already happened," I said, raising my voice slightly. I brought it back down and continued, "Look, Krystal's already been kidnapped twice. I've been taken once. And I think we've been taken together once, too. I think it would be weird if there was a day where nothing went wrong."

Relics cursed under his breath. "What did you do to tick so many people off?" he asked.

"I dunno. Maybe it's what I get for trying to date Krystal."

"Wait, how many of those kidnappings were your fault?"

"Hmm...there was..." I began, thinking aloud. "...all but one," I eventually said.

"Ditto...are you serious?"

"I know," I said. "You don't have to say it. I'm putting her in danger. But she can handle it. She's tougher than you think."

"No, Ditto. Even if she is, it can't be worth it. Even if she's..." he shuddered, "...crazy in the –"

"No, no, no! It isn't like that. We haven't done anything like that. And we wouldn't."

"Then let her go," he said. The words felt like a knife to my heart, and I wanted to fight them immediately, but he continued. "Your relationship is putting her in danger. You have to leave her, before she gets hurt."

"It isn't that easy," I said, but the words felt empty. "Relics, you can't ask me to do that."

"Why? You love her too much? Then let her live her life. If it's always your fault that –"

"What if it was Lana?!" I asked. "If I was asking you to leave Lana because you were putting her in harm's way, what would you do?"

"Lana isn't...I mean, she's not my...whatever, this isn't about us, it's about you and Krystal."

"Exactly," I said. "And I want to keep it that way."

"And what if she dies because of you?" he asked.

I hadn't seriously considered that. In this universe, it seemed that I wasn't even protected. And if she died...she would be gone, and there would be nothing I could do for her. I knew she wouldn't like it if I listened to Relics, but it was starting to look like I'd have to make a choice. If the choice was between living alone while she lived her life and living alone with regret about her death, it'd be easier, but it wasn't so simple. Deep down, I'd wanted to believe that she was as invincible as I thought I was. I thought nothing could hurt us, or our relationship. And now, Relics had me questioning everything.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I can't just leave her."

"I get it," he said. We walked in silence for a few moments, before he said, "How much easier it would've been if Krystal and Lana were humans, right?"

"Or we were Cornerians," I added, without thinking it through. I glanced at my arm, where a sleeve covered the three Sins, and wondered about that idea. I still had one left to safely use.

"Well, then I wouldn't be here. Hard to be a Human ambassador that's Cornerian."

I chuckled, despite myself. I lowered my arm, but I couldn't get the last thought out of my head. Of course, I would be hard-pressed to explain it to anyone else, but if I did try using the last Sin to make myself a Cornerian, Krystal would be safe. Nobody would know I was human but her. Nobody would know I wasn't from Corneria. The thoughts were certainly attractive.

"Here we go," Relics said under his breath. I glanced up, and saw the school ahead. It felt like it loomed taller than usual, but even this feeling wasn't unfamiliar. Last time I felt like this, I'd chosen to leave Relics' girlfriend behind. This time, we wouldn't be leaving anyone.

"You aren't worried?" I asked.

"I don't see anything dangerous, yet," he said.

"So, would they actually want to talk? Without trying to kill us?" I asked. "Is it really not a trap?"

"I don't know. You haven't said who it is, or why they took her."

"Relics, you know about as much as I do right now," I lied. We kept silent as we crossed the empty street toward the school, and as we stepped up on the curb, Relics reached out an arm to stop me.

"Hang on," he said quietly. He tilted his head slightly for a moment, but then shook it. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" I whispered.

"I don't know. It sounded like someone called me, but…forget it," he replied, continuing forward.

"Maybe we should be careful?" I asked. "I mean, you've got really good hearing, so why not –"

"I don't hear anything," he said. "It was probably just my imagination."

"Really?" I asked, looking around at the buildings of the school. I half expected to see a sniper on the roof of the A building, but I couldn't see anything amiss. I tried to keep up my vigil, but I couldn't get too much of a view from where we were.

"Around back?" he asked. I nodded. He turned toward the side of the building, but I lagged behind, shaking my head to rid myself of a dizzy spell.

"Hang on," he began, ignoring my lateness, "doesn't Krystal have that mind-reading power or something?"

"Yeah, but she's not..." I began, fighting a sudden memory loss. "I mean, she might not be the one we're here to find."

"You okay?" he asked. I took a deep breath, and felt the fog in my head clear.

"Yeah," I said. He looked around once more, and sniffed the air carefully. "What?" I asked sarcastically. "Is it too quiet?"

"Something like that," he said. "I just don't like this."

"Well, we're probably being watched," I said. "So that explains that."

"Still think it isn't a trap?" he asked. We rounded the corner to the back of the school, and I searched carefully for anything that was out of place. It wasn't a long search.

"Oh! You're early," a feminine voice crooned from nearby.

"Miranda?!" Relics shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"Why am I not surprised?" I asked under my breath when the woman appeared as if out of thin air. Her camouflage suit highlighted her feminine features, but something else distracted me. A breeze blew by, giving me just a taste of sickly-sweet air, but it was gone before I knew it.

"Me?" she asked innocently. "I'm here on orders."

"Whose?" Relics asked. Anger spiced his words, but to me, they sounded slightly warped. The scent returned for a few seconds, but disappeared again immediately after. Relics noticed, and sniffed it, too, before chuckling.

"You took Krystal, didn't you?" he asked. "And wanted to get Ditto, too, for some reason."

"What?" she asked. "What makes you say that?"

"Really?" he asked. "Why not just come out and say it?"

"You haven't figured that out yet?" she asked, her words sounding like they came through water.

"What?"

"Oh, Relics, I had to stall you for at least a few seconds," she said, but her words were lost on me. Something was making me sleepy, but I couldn't even feel panic with how muddled my thoughts were.

"For what?" he asked, before taking another deep breath. "This stuff is cheap; it doesn't even work on us."

"Not us, no," she said. "But it worked on him," she finished, pointing at me. I tried taking another deep breath as Relics turned toward me, but more of the sweet air assaulted my nose, and I remembered no more.

A/N: Dang. Two "cliffhangers" in a row. Maybe the next few chapters will be...erm...good? I'm still not sure just how good I am at writing; I mean, Sani seems to think I'm good enough to notice, but he says I should stop this one ASAP and do my own ideas. I think that's a cover for him wanting me to stop mooching off of his ideas, which is reasonable, but he wouldn't just come out and say that. So, I'll try to get out a new story once this one's done; look for "Darkness Shines", set in the Skyrim universe, to appear then.

Oh, right, and please leave a review, no matter how kind/helpful/true it is.