The night came and went, Serena sleeping comfortably. Well, as comfortably as one could get on a hard prison mattress and with a bulky bomb collar locked to your neck. Couldn't they make it something easier to live with, like a tasteful necklace? Apparently not. Serena was stuck with it. She fell asleep, snoring her usual snores that kept Fei up most of the night. He rolled over to look at her, since she was on the other side of the room. He felt there was something else about her, besides what she'd told them. Ever since Nisan, when she had her emotional break down. And sometimes, Fei couldn't help but get the feeling he'd been around that same Chi she gave off before. A long, long time ago…

"So anyway, we all had this big party in the end, and I got some GREAT shots of Terra!" Serena squealed happily, pulling the dreaded photo album out of its hiding place. She expected a cringe of fear from Gohan, knowing she would show the photo of when Rini decided to play dress up with him when they had their ages switched. But this time was different. He just looked confused.

"Who's Terra?" He asked, scratching the back of his head. Serena stared at him.

"Son Gohan, you know full well who Terra is! Come on, remember, she went to school with us for a while before she went off and died? Like, right after Chibi Chibi showed her self?" She asked. The look of blank confusion remained on his face. He genuinely had no idea as to WHAT she was talking about. This confused her. "Terra. Gohan, she lived in Elysion with Helios and the Shrine Maidens. She exists in Mirai's world as well as one of the Androids."

"What are you talking about?" Serena dove her hands into the photo album, looking for the one large group shot taken right at the end of their party, before their memories were all sealed away. She found it, finally, and looked at it. To her horror, she noticed something terribly wrong.

Terra, and Chibi Terra, had vanished….

"Terra!" Serena yelled, sitting straight up in bed, bouncing slightly, causing her blonde head to smack into the bed above hers. "OW!" She shouted, cursing under her breath. She looked at the clock, it read '6:00 a.m.' Who invented this ungodly hour anyway? With a groan of annoyance, knowing she'd never get herself back to sleep now, Serena sat up and stretched, listening to her neck pop with a satisfying 'CRACK!'. It felt so much better now. She sighed and put her hand on the bomb collar around her neck. She had the urge to just shred it off, like wet tissue paper, but was still afraid to. Besides, she had other problems to worry about today.

Today, she would be piloting a Gear for the first time.

Serena was not looking forward to this. But, if it got her and her friends out of jail, she would be more than willing to try. She fished around her little bag for some clothes to change in to and groaned in annoyance to find them missing. She got up to steal some of Citan's when she noticed a small clothes line strung from one top bunk to another, her unweighted clothes hung up on them to dry. She walked over and pulled them off, noticing how clean they looked.

"Citan must have washed them last night…" She whispered. In a blur, she changed as fast as she could, in case Fei woke up, and snuck out of the room, pulling her boots on once outside. She looked up at the sky, noticing that blood red moon again. It amazed her that the Moon was always this color. The only time her moon was this shade was when Mars was nearby. Even then, it was only a red-orange. No, this was blood red. Crayola red, even. It scared her somewhat. But she felt this Moon had seen its share of secrets. Did it hold the secret of where Terra was?

"I feel her Ki… I know she's here. I wonder, though, where is she?" Serena said, half in a whisper to herself, half to the moon. "It's moving, it's always moving. It won't sit still in one place for any good period. Terra, where are you?"

"…and that is how it is done." Citan said, finishing his long, complicated instruction of piloting a Gear. Serena sat on the bed, a notepad and pencil in her hands. She'd started taking notes at first, but after a while, she ended up sitting in stunned silence. Fei blinked and peered over her shoulder. Her handwriting was a little messy, but he could see she'd given up early on. Written under the half-done instructions was a little line, reading 'We're all doomed'. He sighed.

"Look, if we're lucky, you'll get an automatic adjusting one. A prototype maybe. After all, they're starting to mass-produce." Fei said, trying to sound re-assuring. That didn't make Serena feel any better.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just tinker with the bomb collars and let us all die now?" She asked. Fei and Citan laughed, though a little uneasily. Serena had no confidence in her own skills with machinery, she was absolutely certain that she would make it blow up somehow. Citan tried to reassure her, saying he would be waiting with a med kit if something happened, while Fei joked that he'd have the fire extinguisher and, if all else failed, if he could have the stuff in her backpack. He thought it was funny, and he was sure Serena did too, even if she didn't show it.

"There is no need to worry, Serena. I have full confidence in you!" Citan said, smiling. Serena just grumbled and got up to walk out the door.

"At least one of us does…"

It was a little while before they got to the arena area, and Hammer ran on ahead to register Serena. Serena was tugging at her bomb collar, almost hoping to set it off so she wouldn't die in a bigger explosion that she KNEW was going to happen. Citan put his hand on hers to pull it was from the collar and led her inside. It didn't look like much, two caged rooms and a small door at the other end of the hall. Not impressive. Not really. She looked around, fiddling with the collar again, only to have Citan remove her hand again.

"Do not worry, Serena, I have the utmost confidence in your abilities." He assured her. She just nervously smiled and went through the doors with the others. Inside a small lounge, they looked to see what Gear Serena would be getting. It was surprising that they would see Weltall standing there.

"…Normally, I'd say I'm shocked, but right now, I'd be expecting anything…" Serena admitted, putting her hands behind her head.

"Doc, why'd they give her Weltall…?"

"I think they were perhaps expecting you to be the pilot, Fei. Word must not have reached the committee yet that it is our friend, Serena, here." Citan explained. Serena wasn't listening closely, but had heard enough.

'No… doc… I don't think so… this feels… wholly different from a coincidence… this is…' An alarm went off, signaling that Serena should climb in and head out. She jumped into the cockpit and tried to remember Citan's instructions on how to operate a Gear. Carefully, she reached her hand out and pressed a few buttons, watching the panels flicker to life. So far so good… no explosions, no horrible fiery deaths… not yet, at least. She watched as characters popped up onto the screen, the language of this planet. Then it began to adjust.

Language Modifiers Set

Pilot Identified

()BUNNY

Piloting Experience

MEDIUM

Adjusting to pilot's normal reflex time…COMPLETE!

Serena's eye twitched.

"What the…?!" She demanded, not understanding this. She didn't have long to try and make sense of it… she had to go out. She found Weltall easy to control. It really WAS adjusted to her reflex time, making it somewhat fast. Due to its size, Weltall wouldn't be SUPER fast, but it was enough. She was going up against another gear and began fighting. She was surprised at how well Weltall responded to her commands and was having fun, really. Serena didn't get why Fei was so against Gears, this was AWESOME!

"It's so easy!" She said to herself, taking out her opponent. But then, she got a sickening feeling in her stomach. This guy -- Leonardo, was it? -- had stopped fighting and stood there. Then Serena realized that this feeling was her reflexes kicking in, slowing time down to her mind. She watched in horror as an explosion ripped through the cockpit, so loud that she couldn't hear it. She felt an intense pain in her face and arms and then, her world went black…

"…nded that she even survived the night…" Serena heard Citan's familiar voice in the small room as she opened her blue eyes and sat up. She felt bandages on her face and arms and coughed a little, dislodging soot from her lungs. Citan heard this and went back into the room, stopping in the doorway as her saw her.

"Ah, you are well." He mentioned, going over to change the bandages again. Serena looked disoriented pretty badly.

"You have an angel watching over you, Serena," Citan began "When the committee sent their men in to rescue you, they swear that a woman was shielding you from the flames in Weltall. But, of course, it was probably an illusion caused by the heat." He said. Serena wasn't paying any attention to his words. Citan frowned and gently pushed her down so she was on her back again, covered her up, and walked out.

"She seems to be traumatized from the events, Fei. Would you be so kind as to sit with her?" He asked. Fei nodded and went into the room as Citan went out to request medicines for her.

"You'll be okay, Serena." Fei said to her, putting a hand to her forehead. She didn't focus her gaze on him, she stared off into space, blinking every so often. She was dazed, it seemed like the explosion had knocked her senseless for the time being. Fei didn't seem to care if she could hear him or not, he spoke to her anyway. Maybe she could listen.

"I'm glad you're okay, Serena. It seems like Weltall is bent on destroying things around me. I guess that's silly," he started, looking at the wall as he spoke. "Gears don't act of their own will, but, I dunno if you've been told, but I was piloting that thing when an attack on my village happened and I wiped it and almost everyone in it out." He said. It felt good to be able to talk about it, it got all of the anxiety he was feeling over it out into the open.

"But then there was the explosion with you in it, and if you'd been anyone else, Serena, you would've died. I don't think anyone could've survived that blast. I dunno, maybe you're not all human?" He wondered, looking down at her. Then he laughed. That was crazy. As if anything could live out in space!

"Hn… what happened…" Came Serena's voice as her sight began to focus. She held her head and sat up, wincing slightly. Fei smiled a little, glad she was coming to.

"Hey there." He greeted. Serena just waved a little bit and continued to hold her head.

"Here, I think I've got something for that." Fei said, digging through his things, before handing her an Omegasol. Serena took it uncertainly and looked at it, then to him. She had an expression on her face that said 'What the heck?' Fei laughed.

"Drink it. It's like those things you have, you said they heal you of anything, well, these do too." He explained. Serena nodded in understanding and drank it down. The pain in her head evaporated, as did the pain from her broken ribs. Despite being in such a horrid explosion, she was remarkably unscathed.

"What happened?" She asked, looking over to Fei. She'd passed out after the initial blast and couldn't remember a thing from it.

"They sent in a body retrieval team after you. Everyone was sure you'd died, that explosion took out almost the entire cockpit. But you were alive, sitting in the chair, just unconscious." Fei said, recalling what he'd been told by Citan. "Something about you must've saved you." He mused. Serena blinked a little. She remembered bits and pieces… just feelings mostly, mostly the intense pain from the blast.

"But you're okay now. They're doing a full inspection on Weltall right now, to see what caused the blast."

"I'm pretty sure it was me who did, Fei." Serena reasoned. Fei just smiled.

"Nah. It'd take more than blind luck, I'm sure!"

The rest of the night passed without incident and by the next morning, Serena was back on her feet, metaphorically. Actually, she was being carried over Fei's shoulder at Citan's request that she continue in the Battling Tournament. She was yelping and demanding he put her down, though wasn't trying to free herself. She feared she'd end up hurting him if she punched or kicked too much.

"Serena, this is our only hope of freedom, so if you would be so kind as to cooperate." Citan reminded her as gently as he could.

"Do you NOT REMEMBER what HAPPENED?!" She demanded, her right eye twitching as she yelled at him. "Because I do! Put me down Fei!"

"Sure." Fei said, setting her down. Serena crossed her arms in triumph for only a brief moment, before she noticed that they were in the reception room. She just whined and went off to sulk. Citan went up to the desk.

"Please forgive her. Fei still suffers his ailment and she is a little gun-shy. Allow me to register her for the day, please." He requested. The receptionist nodded and handed him the paperwork.

"Due to mechanical trouble, her competitor for yesterday, Leonardo Sniper, has had to drop out... Heinrich Clive has also had mechanical problems and has had pulled out." She informed. Serena looked up at that and walked over.

"This means you, Serena, win by default and can compete in day two's bouts! If you win two matches today, the second day of the games, you can progress on to the third set of bouts. Do you want to enter the bouts for day two?" She asked. Serena blinked and looked at Citan.

"Yes, Serena. You do." He said in a tone you'd use to speak to a small child. Then he grinned. Serena sighed, signed her name to the list, and went to get back into Weltall, who had been repaired after what had happened. She looked above her head, where a small bloodstain remained, to small for it to be considered distracting in combat. She reached her hand up and touched it. The alarm went off, signaling that she was to go back out to fight. With a sigh, she booted Weltall up once more and went out for the next bout of fighting.

No explosions this time, much to Serena's relief. After docking him for the night, she went back to the clinic with Citan and Fei to get some sleep. She was tired and hungry. More tired than hungry, though, so without even stopping for dinner, she went straight to sleep. During the night, she had a strange dream she couldn't make any sense of, something about being caught… having to run… then--

"You snore." Fei stated as he watched Serena sit up and yawn. Luckily, he'd just finished dressing as he looked over to her. Serena looked at him.

"Do not. I've never heard myself snore." She defended. Oh sure, she knew she did snore, but she didn't want to ADMIT to it.

"You sound like someone cutting down a tree made from a boulder." He said as she sat up and promptly turned around so she could dress.

"Prove it." She insisted.

"I'll get the tape recorder when you're done." He warned. They weren't arguing, both of them could tell, they were just picking on each other, Fei accusing Serena of snoring like a jet engine, Serena calling Fei a liar. Both were a little groggy and were trying to wake up. Fei could feel footsteps coming down the stairs, and his initial thought was Hammer. He hoped Serena was finished.

"Fei." Came the strangely familiar voice. Judging from Serena's very loud shriek, the sound of a pillow hitting a face, and the door to the office slamming shut, she hadn't and Rico had just walked in on her.

"Rico? What are you doing here?" Fei asked, standing and trying to not grin when he saw the force of the pillow hitting him had knocked down the powerful looking man. It seemed like nearly anything in Serena's hands could become a deadly bludgeoning object at will.

"Oof. If you think I've come to fight, you're wrong. I need to talk to you." Rico insisted as Citan moved out of the office, his face red as Serena had run in, half dressed. Doing the polite thing, he'd covered his eyes until she'd gotten behind something and went to leave as soon as she was sufficiently covered.

"Fei, what has happened? Serena is in a state of- oh." Citan said, seeing Rico there, holding a pillow. He derived a conclusion and realized what must have happened. "Well, what is the Battling Champion doing here? Surely there must be a reason that you would grace us with your presence?" He wondered, before moving to get a change of his own clothes for Serena. He couldn't lift her Gi, and her normal clothes weren't clean enough for her to wear. No proper lady would go in unclean clothing, and he wouldn't subject her to something like that.

"Yeah. I came in regards to the incident of the explosion during the first round of the tournament." Rico explained, still puzzled as to how that girl had flung a pillow hard enough to knock him back.

"The explosion incident? Oh! The one that almost killed my friend!" Fei said, wondering why Rico was here now over it.

"Has this something to do with you?" Citan asked, cracking the office door to hand Serena the pants to the outfit. They were hurriedly yanked away; Citan shoved back, and the door shut.

"I'm sorry. That 'accident' was set up by one of my subordinates, Leonardo." Rico explained. "They thought Fei was competing and weren't happy over his Baptismal Ceremony." So, Serena had been an unintended victim.

"And so they made it appear an accident, but it was meant to kill Fei… and nearly killed a woman with no connection to this feud… but why tell us now?" Serena hand reached through the door and Citan handed her the top. It, too, was yanked away; Citan shoved back, and the door closed.

"Why tell us now? Have they come clean?" The doctor asked once more. He was worried Serena might try to retaliate against them. He highly doubted that she would, but he wanted to be safe. The girl seemed to forget how strong she really was, she could do real damage to someone, possibly even kill them if she wasn't careful!

"They're no longer with us!" Rico said at once. That hit Serena. She felt around at once for the Ki of the man she fought in the first round and realized it wasn't there at all. It was gone, as though it'd never existed in the first place. "You're the doctor, don't you know what's been happening? What's going on here in the Imperial capital's D Block?" He demanded of Citan.

"You mean the mysterious murders in the sewers?" Citan asked as he handed Serena the sash. The sash was yanked, Citan shoved, the door closed.

"Yes. A line of skilled Battlers have been murdered, one after the other. All of the victims that have been killed were my subordinates. Kid… I mean, Fei… they were the ones who set that trap to kill you." Rico warned. That news shocked the three.

"So what are you trying to say? That their deaths are somehow connected to me?!" Fei demanded. Citan stepped in.

"Not you. Serena. She was the one caught in the explosion. When Serena comes into this knowledge, in her anger, she sets out for revenge and kills all her would-be killers!" Citan said with a gasp.

"They think I'm the killer?" Serena demanded through the door, trying to figure out how to get the sash tied still. She wasn't coming out until she was finished. Rico blinked and looked at the door.

"Exactly! This morning, they found the fifth! Now it's not unusual for people to die in the sewers, it's providence. You become weak, you die!" Those words had a hint of familiarity to Serena for some reason, like she'd known it her whole life. "But five of the strongest people in a row… it's so unprecedented, that it's why you're the suspect." Rico explained.

"I see…" Citan said. The office door opened at that time, and Serena walked out, dressed in Citan's clothing.

"I wanted to warn you of this. I'm going into the sewers to find the cause of these deaths and prove your innocence." Rico stated as he went to walk out.

"No." Serena told him. "You made a mistake. You MEANT to say 'WE'RE going into the sewers'." She pointed out. Sitting down, she pulled her own shoes on. Citan's clothes might've just barely fit her, but his shoes were too big for her.

"I'm proving my innocence too. No one smears MY name!" She said, fire in her eyes.

"…fine, then. Just remember to watch your own back."

It wasn't a long trek to the sewers, and it wasn't hard to get in either. Rico gave orders to the guard watching the entrance to let no one else in, unless he was personally with them. And since that would be impossible, no one else was getting in. Serena held her hand to her face, using the sleeve to cover her nose and mouth. It STANK down there! And she got the feeling she was being watched…

"Where the heck are we?" Fei wondered, looking around. Serena stuck close to him, whimpering all the while over how disgusting it was.

"Let's look around for it. We'll talk more if we really find it." Rico said. Serena felt like he really DID doubt her innocence. Maybe he just wanted to get her down here to provoke her to try to kill him in his mind and prove her guilt. Well, HA! She had no guilt to hide, so THERE!

"Shh. Serena. That detecting ability you have, could you please use it? Is there something here?" Citan asked. Serena nodded as she extended her Ki around her to feel around in the dark. Her eyes went wide as she looked behind them, but nothing was there to be seen. Maybe she'd imagined it, she was so distracted with how disgusting this place was, after all…

"Serena?" Fei asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing… must've imagined it." She said, shaking her head. The group walked on until they came across a large pool of blood and… dismembered limbs. Part of Serena wasn't surprised at this, the other part… well, it won, and Serena was glad she was in a sewer. Saved her the trouble of flushing it. Citan was on his knees next to her, rubbing her back. He'd only seen her vulnerable looking once before, in Nisan. With Citan helping Serena, Fei went to look at the site.

"This is one of the places." Rico needlessly pointed out.

"Look at this slimy stuff… I don't think a person could've made this, unless they had really bad allergies." Fei said, grinning at his poor joke. Once Serena stopped vomiting, she stood back up and kept her eyes on the ceiling, not wanting to look at the crime scene. Citan led her around it and spotted something.

"Look at this pipe. More of the same slime. Perhaps left by a monster of some sort? I daresay this could go to proving Serena's innocence." Citan said. Once beyond the crime scene, Serena was able to focus on walking.

"You gonna be okay?" Fei asked. Serena nodded, putting the sleeve back up to her mouth and nose to stifle the smell. It wasn't long before they found another crime scene and, much to Serena's relief, no body parts. Just more slime. As the men went to investigate the slime, Serena saw something on the wall.

"Hey, look!" She pointed out. They got up to move over to it. Serena was looking at it, though she had trouble reading the language of this planet. "What's it say?" She asked.

"Looks like… 'Red… Monster'." Citan said after a few moments, the blood was smeared and hard to make out. "These must be his dying words, written in his own blood. A red monster with a taste for blood. Interesting."

"I did NOT need to hear that…" Serena said, coughing a little as she felt like her gut was threatening to retch again. She didn't, though, and walked on. "But I guess it means something's down here that's been killing people. Something that isn't me."

They moved down a ladder and Serena made a questioning noise, looking off down the sewer. Motioning with her hand for her companions to keep quiet, she listened for a moment before charging a quick blast and hurling it down the tunnel. It struck the opposite wall. Citan and Fei, having seen her so that before weren't as shocked as Rico, who had no idea the girl had that kind of power.

"Serena?" Fei asked, a little uncertainly. With a sheepish grin, Serena turned around.

"Thought I heard something down that way. I was hoping to hit it quick." She admitted, bowing in her apology.

"Actually, I believe I heard something as well. A bell." Citan confessed.

"You know, there's a rumor of a ringing bell in here." Rico confirmed as he walked on. He brushed past Serena. She wondered if he still doubted her innocence, or if it was just because the walkway was so narrow. She didn't bother asking, she followed behind the man. She stayed behind Fei and held onto his hand, still disgusted, and slightly afraid. Being here was a new experience for the young woman; she'd always had her Scouts to help her when the going got rough. But now, she had to rely on people she'd only known a few days. She would have to remedy this. She'd have to be brave on her own! …not now, though. It was creepy down here!

It wasn't long before Rico stopped once again and went to investigate something. Citan followed and knelt down as well to see what it was, and it was obvious that Fei wanted to see as well, but Serena was holding firm and wouldn't let him go. Seeing how much he wanted to, though, she relented and let him go, walking over with him and peering over Citan's shoulder. It looked strange. Like one of those Roomba robots being sold in America. They were vacuum cleaners, so she assumed that that's kind of what this thing was.

"It's a rat sweeper. We call 'em 'Cat less Rat Removers'." Rico explained to Citan. It was still whirring, but it wasn't moving.

"It's got something stuck in it." Serena said at once, reaching to pick it up and flipped it over. Rico stood back up to look in it. Indeed, stuck in the gears were a set of keys. Rico couldn't pull them out, so Serena did.

"How'd you…?!" He demanded. Serena didn't answer him; she just looked at the keys funny.

"So… how'd these get stuck in that thing?" She asked, holding them out to show Citan and Fei. Growling, Rico snatched them from her and held them to his face to examine them. He seemed to recognize them.

"These belonged to Vargas. They were his pass keys to the Sewage Treatment Plant, where all the waste ends up." He confirmed. Serena vaguely wondered if Vargas was the owner of the dismembered limbs they'd found earlier. She went green again and rushed off.

"Serena!" Fei shouted, following her.

Okay, I finished half a chapter. I didn't really wanna do this in two seperate parts, but it's over 7 or 8 pages as it stands now. I have some secrets in this chapter I'm not giving out. Actually, some won't be discovered until the whole thing ends or so.

SORRY I WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LATE!!!!!!

...flames will be used for weenie roasts...