Snuggling deeper under the covers, getting up wasn't my first priority. But I couldn't be late for school on the first day. Pushing myself into a sitting position, I stretched and looked around my room. Which apparently, wasn't my room. This room also seemed to come with a kid, a rather nice looking boy reading a newspaper. Wait, I remember him, that's Kory. This must be his room, what the hell was I doing in his room. He didn't seem to notice me yet, so I got up and began to creep my way over to the door. With one hand on the door I turned to see what he was doing. His head was still buried behind a newspaper with a title that had me a little taken aback; GOBBLER KING FUNDS LARGEST SNACK SHOP. Oh man, tabloids were so over reaching these days. Turning back to the door, I slowly began to open...

"What are you doing?"

I felt my heart leap into my throat as I let out a scream. I also felt my nose jam into my skull when I slammed the door into it. Now, unfortunately, I was yelling out of pain rather than fear.

"Don't worry," Kory's voice came up from behind me, "You're not in pain, your body won't allow it for something as minor as that. You just scared yourself." Letting go of my "injured" nose, I realized that he was right. The pain, as it turns out, really was just me panicking. I wasn't sure what I should do at that point, so I just settled for standing awkwardly and looking stupid. It took me a few moments to snap back into reality.

"What do you mean, I scared myself? You're the one who kidnapped me! Why the hell am I in your room anyway?" I demanded with hands on hips in my Superman pose.

It was a little unsettling when he started laughing, "Kidnapped you? Don't worry, that wasn't my intention. I was only planning on borrowing you for awhile." Yeah, that was convincing. He continued, "If you want to return home, you'll have every right to. You'll just have to clear it up with my boss. Oh and by the way, if you decide to stay, this is your room not mine." I looked at him in disbelief, weren't answers supposed to make things less confusing?

"My room? Your boss? What on Earth are talking about?" I could tell I was just wasting my time by even talking to this guy, I had get home. Storming over to the door, I opened it with the intention of leaving.

"Wait," I stopped when I heard him speak again, "You won't be able to leave until you clear it up with my boss."

"Yeah, I will," I stepped through the opening, "Ever hear of the bus?" Slamming the door shut behind me, I promptly froze when I saw what was on the outside. With all the old fashioned houses and what looked like a castle tower, it looked like a medieval renaissance fair. While the medieval theme was a bit strange, it was the people who I found quite unsettling. Well, some of them anyway. The fact that most people were dressed like a rainbow vomited all over said renaissance fair was generally hilarious, but some of the people were less than amusing if not flat out creepy. A few of the knights of the rainbow-unicorn table seemed to be moving very little, and it was hard to describe but they seemed... Out of place, if you will. In fact, I could almost swear that they were transparent. No, that's stupid; I quickly shook the thought away. But just to be sure... I stepped cautiously over to one of the off-looking ones. "Uh, sir? Are you o-"

"He can't hear you, ya know, " I jerked up slightly when I finally noticed Kory's presence. "They're not on our plane of existance," he stepped in front of the man and raised his hand above his head, before swinging it down with emphasis. I choked down a yell of protest when Kory's hand passed straight through the man's head. Cautiouslly, I placed one of my own hands through the man's chest. A strange feeling swept through my fingers, it was warm and thick, a bit like a stew.

"H-he's not, um, well... Is he-?"

"Dead?" Kory's abruptness of the matter was a bit startling, "No, as I said before, he's not on the same plane as us." Probably sensing my confusion, he continued, "We live in the Between."

Such a simple statement, yet for some "odd" reason it only made things even more confusing. "In between what?" The edge in my voice was apparent, my patience quickly wearing thin.

He shrugged calmly, "Everything, I guess. It's why or skin is so tough, if it wasn't we would be crushed under the pressure of this place." Kory paused, suddenly looking a bit distant, "Any human who tried to enter here would be killed instantly." He turned in a quick motion toward me, my heart skipping a beat as he fixed a cold gaze on me, "Have you ever seen a person implode and explode at the the same time?"

Seen it? I could barely picture it in my mind, for both logical and emotional reasons. I meekly shook my head. "Let's hope you never do," he stated quietly.

A smile appeared on his face as quickly as the dark mood before had. "Well anyway, let's go see my boss. He can tell you what's going on." Kory grabbed my wrist and I half expected that he was planning to drag me somewhere. My mouth barely opened to protest before I realized we were in a completely different. I looked around in confusion, how in the hell did we end up here? "We transported to my team base. It's where the squad I, and maybe you, work in." At least this answer made a lot more sense than the last one.

I looked around, judging by the doors and hallway, this was probably the size of a small house. Hell, I think it is a small house. I followed Kory into a small room and gaped in shock. Holy crap. I take back my comment of this being a small room. This place was miniscule, slightly smaller than the size of a cubicle. The stacks of books and files crowded around the desk that was obviously to big for the room really didn't help either. But the person sitting behind the desk was even stranger to look at. He was wearing a hood which completely obscured his face, though judging by the glinting coming from within the shadows of it, he was probably wearing glasses. Personally, I wasn't entirely sure he was a guy with the hood and all. But it wasn't the way he looked that was so unsettling, it was what he was doing. Swaying his hand back and forth, he hummed along to some unknown music. A perfectly normal pastime, but there was something off about him. Something distant. Something... Absent. "Hey Sponge!" Kory's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, "Calamity's here." Oh thank goodness, finally someone can... Wait, did he just call that guy Sponge? Better question, what did he just call me?

"Uh, what did you just call-"

"Ah! Calamity Lotusdreamer, I'm so glad to finally meet you," this so called Sponge waved at me. His voice was as airy as his wave. What did he just call me?

"Calamity Lotusdreamer?" I raised an eyebrow in question.

"We already asked you for your name. Remember?" He passed it off casually, "It's so hard to understand someone who's half conscious. That is your name, isn't it?"

"Actually it's-"

"You're probably wondering why you're here!" Sponge interjected.

"Well, yes. But as I was saying, my name-"

"We live in a place that's in between all other realms, a place we know as the Between," He continued, showing know signs that he heard me.

"Kory already told me that part. About my name?"

"On the outside of the between, people battle for both sport and defense. In the process, the battlefield can get damaged beyond belief."

"You're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you?" I glanced over at Kory, who shrugged sheepishly.

"It is our job as Janitors to fix the damage the battles cause. However, the people on the outside don't exactly know we exist and shouldn't know as well. A big reason as to why we live here is so they don't know of our existence. This place keeps us invisible to those on the outside and the Between's time is faster than normal time, which allows us to fix the damage as soon as it happens."

"Yes, yes, that's all very interesting," I waved him off dismissively, "But when can I go home?"

The confusion was evident in Sponge's voice, "Home?" Kory suddenly looked incredibly uncomfortable.

"Yes, home! I don't care about whatever you're blathering on about, I just want to go home!" What was with that look on his face? Kory already said that she could go home if she wanted to.

"You're from Earth," Sponge stated simply, as if it would explain everything. Kory looked about ready to run out the door.

"And you're point," my patience was thinning and fear growing.

"Didn't you tell her?" Sponge looked over at Kory.

"Tell me what?" I snarled.

Kory was white as a sheet, nervously fiddling with his hands, "Well, I was going to tell you. But I wasn't sure how." I really didn't like where this was going. "You see, Earth has very limited, if any, magic resources. This type of thing makes it incredibly difficult for magical beings to get there." I really didn't like where this was going. "Only those with special abilities like me can go to Earth, and even then I wan't technically on Earth. So what I'm trying to say is that you can't, um, well..."

"What exactly, " My fists were clenched tightly, "I can't what?"

"You can't go home."