Reality and Fiction

by TsubameSutaa

Fictional characters, both the good and the bad, are appearing all over Wands & Worlds County; now they'll have to band together with the local residents to fight off the bad characters and survive. Co-written with a friend. K-plus to be safe.

15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

POV: Spirithunter

"Starry-chan!" Fai cried, and he ran full speed towards her. Lilacheart looked horrified and stood up to help, but Syaoran held her back. Soundstorm had been about to go get her, but Fai had beaten her to it. Since the hall was only narrow enough for one person, Fell had to hold Amaterasu back. The goddess looked like she wanted to...I couldn't tell what she wanted to do. Did she want to kill me? Did she want to save me?

"Ridiculous," the Yeerk sighed, scooping Starsight up off the floor by the collar. "Stop, mage. I'm not afraid to kill her."

Please, no! I begged. I'll do anything! Please, don't kill anyone!

I knew it was no good. This had been the plan, hadn't it? I was here to kill them all. No, no, no...

[Why do you even ask?] the Yeerk taunted, holding the brush to my friend's neck. "Try to attack me now. I dare you."

"You coward!" Syaoran yelled. I could see they were all desperate to do something. Anything. I felt the same, but what could I do? I'd tried so hard already...

The Yeerk spoke to me as he spoke to everyone else. "So, what method do you want me to use? I could kill her quickly with a Power Slash. Slowly with vines. I could electrocute her again, freeze her, burn her to death."

Fai, who had stopped, made a motion forward, and my arm moved, placing a drop of ink on Starsight's neck with the brush. He froze, trying to think of something that would get her out of danger.

[Do you have a preference?] the Yeerk asked me, a sneer in his voice.

I couldn't think. If I had control over my own body, I would be choking, perhaps in tears. Please... I whispered, mentally struggling. I couldn't lose anyone. Not like this. Not at my hands. I didn't want to be a murderer. How could I let myself do this?

"No."

I nearly gasped. Had I just spoken aloud? I realized my whole body was beginning to shake. The brush faltered. I tried to throw it out of my hand, but I didn't have that much control. I could feel the Yeerk pushing me back. I tried to make my consciousness surge forward.

"No!" I screamed, using all my might to fling Starsight away from me. She dropped to the ground. "No!" I was desperate to fight the creature off. It was a surge of energy, and I took advantage of the few seconds. Still, the time was short. All I could do was drop her and stumble backwards. It was enough. Fai darted forward and picked Starsight up off the ground, quickly making his way back towards the small group he was with. I let out a choked breath. I'd meant to thank him, but my voice was slipping away from me.

"What a nuisance."

I felt my consciousness shoved back with minimal effort as my energy vanished. My limbs stopped shaking. I no longer had control. I felt exhausted.

"We'll rescue you, Spirit. Just hang in there," Soundstorm assured me.

"What an idealistic way of thinking." The Yeerk didn't approve, and I wasn't sure whether I believed her either. I had the Celestial Brush, and in their conditions, the only one who seemed to have the possibility of standing a chance was Amaterasu.

My arm drew a slash down Fai's back. Amaterasu noticed this and flung herself at him, smashing all three of them into the ground. The Power Slash caught her hind paw, but she hardly even seemed to notice as she spun around. I noticed something else out of the corner of my eye.

"Lilac!" Soundstorm gasped. Lilacheart had pulled out her bow and arrow and was pointing it right at me. The Yeerk wasn't afraid of it, and I hardly was, either.

"Are you really going to fire that arrow?" the Yeerk asked. "Do you even think it'll hit me?"

My voice made it sound like I had all the confidence in the world. I didn't care anymore. I wanted her to shoot. It would be much better if I died than if I killed all of them. However, her hand was shaking, and she looked like she was about to throw up. She had no idea what to do.

"Even if it would," the Yeerk continued, "could you really do it?" He wasn't even bothering to lift the brush. Lilacheart probably could shoot and hit if she were abrupt about it. But everyone knew with just one look at her, there was no way she'd be able to fire that arrow. She squeezed her eyes shut and murmured something, shakily lowering her weapon.

"Pathetic," the Yeerk sneered.

Lilacheart got to her feet and took a card out of her pocket. "I won't kill you, but I will stop you," she said.

"In your condition?" the Yeerk asked, almost bored.

Mentally I cringed. This was going to be quick, and I knew it.

"Ammy," she whispered. "Make this hallway a bit larger for us, please."

The goddess nodded at her. Yes.

Lilacheart took a breath, and I noticed something you don't see much before battle: She was blushing.

"A...Adeat!"

The card in her hand glowed for a brief moment, and the whole card shifted into a sword. And now Syaoran was blushing, too.

"Weren't you going to hide that in a drawer?" Soundstorm asked.

She didn't answer, instead turning to face me. "Ammy?"

Amaterasu crouched, growling in readiness.

The Yeerk snorted. "Alright, then. You're first."

I charged.

—

POV: Sheila

I restlessly paced the floor, glancing around. Where were they? They were taking a long time...maybe they'd been caught by the scientists during the rescue? Maybe we should go back for them. But what if we all got caught, too? I sighed aloud. This was all such a mess.

"Relax, Sheila..." Snuff whispered. "There's no use getting too worked up..."

"Do you want my chair?" Lostpaw asked, standing up and offering it to me.

I shook my head. "That's nice of you, but no thanks. I can't relax."

I felt a gentle tug at my pant leg, and I looked down. Kirby was looking nervously up at me. I sighed. "Everything's going to be alright, Kirby," I assured it.

It shook its head (its entire body?) and poked me.

"I think it's worried about you," Greyeyes pointed out.

I felt surprised. "We've got much more pressing matters to worry about right now." I smiled slightly. "But I appreciate your concern."

"Maybe we should look for them," Magicyop suggested. Kurogane was glancing around the area. Maybe he was worried, maybe he was angry. Probably both.

Kirby continued to pull at my pant leg until I finally looked down at it again. It let out a squeaky sound and proceeded to try and pull me down one of the underground corridors until I finally realized that it wanted to show me something. I began to follow it, and it eagerly took me around the corner. Around the corner were...drums. No, really, drums. When had these gotten here? I wondered.

"Sheila!" I heard Sevenclaws call.

I turned around. "Yes?"

"I'm going to send Absol searching. How's that, yes?"

"That sounds great. Thanks, Seven."

I turned back and looked at the drums. Kirby hopped onto one of them and began to jump, trying to find some sort of rhythm to fall into as it hopped on each one. It did this for about three minutes, before it began jumping on the red and blue one in a pattern. I'm not sure how to write it, but to try, it was a one beat, a one beat, a two beat, then a one beat.*

I blinked. One of them had to be shaken to make a noise (we figured this out when Kirby knocked it over), and the other was a deeper sound than the other two. I wasn't quite sure what to make of this, except...a new arrival. Soon. Maybe that's why the others were so far behind? Ugh...if that's what was holding them up for so long, I might have to talk to them. This was beginning to worry me sick. I was responsible for all of the Wandies of the county, and if anything were to happen to them...the loss of Kennen had been enough. I swallowed. It made me feel a little ill.

Kirby noticed the look on my face and, now able to reach my shoulder by standing on the drums, it patted my shoulder with a curious look on its face. I picked it up with a grin and put it on my shoulder, looking at the drums. I took the red and blue drums and began tapping out patterns that Kirby had been doing. Finally, I picked the red one up. I was surprised when it abruptly shrunk into a circle on my palm. Huh. I picked up the rest, and they all did the same. The blue became a square, the green a triangle, the yellow, an X. Maybe someone else could explain this to me.

Kirby grabbed my wrist and began cheerfully playing the drums on my palm. Huh. Weird day. I walked back into the room, and the sound of the drums filled the air. Everyone turned to stare at me.

"Um...Sheila?" Lakestorm began. "Why...?"

"I don't know, but I think we'll probably find out soon."

"You think so?" Allen muttered, shaking his head.

Believe me, find out we did, in the most astounding way possible. There was a loud growling sound down the hall, and above that, loud cheers, chirps, and yells. A bunch of the Wandies started to get to their feet, and I quickly took the lead, just in case it was dangerous. Absol suddenly burst into the room, with three spear wielding eyeballs on its back.

No. Seriously.

Kurogane yelled something profane, and a lot of the Wandies were preparing for battle. I raised a hand. "Not yet," I said calmly. A whole army of these things began to appear, including a few eyeballs on horseback, a few with axes, and a few with swords and shields. I wasn't quite sure what to make of this, either.

"Anyone recognize them?" I asked. No one spoke up, and I quietly crouched down in front of Absol and the three on its back. Absol looked about ready to kill everyone in the room. Sevenclaws went to its side in case it decided to try.

"Good evening," I said. "Who might you guys be?"

"We are the Patapon!" said the first one. It was clinging to Absol's ruff. "What is this thing? It's fast."

"Never mind that. You're a Patapon?"

"We're the Patapon tribe," it corrected.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"That's what we want to know!" a swords-creature demanded. "Who are you people? Where are we?"

"You're in Wands and Worlds County, and you aren't the first to arrive here without warning. Don't worry, we'll find a way to take you home. Just don't go pointing your weapons at the residents."

A Patapon holding a large, elaborate looking sign object and a Patapon in a feathered headdress approached me. I assumed they were the leaders.

"Are you missing a few residents?" the headdress Patapon asked.

My eyes widened. "Do you know anything?"

"They're fighting behind a closed-off cavern."

I blinked. "Wait. Fighting?"

"Yes. It sounded nasty."

I took a long breath. I couldn't panic, not now.

"Closed-off?" I questioned.

"Yes. A bunch of rocks have blocked off the exit path." The Patapon's...well, eye...was on my hand.

"Perhaps...we could be of assistance, Mighty One?"

"Mighty One?"

She took my palm. "Yes. These are the drums."

...Oh, so that's what those were for. Nice.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"How can there be two Mighty Ones?" one of the Patapons cried.

"Perhaps she's an imposter!" one of them considered.

"Should we attack?"

I said nothing as they all debated what to do. Finally, a voice interrupted.

"You're in a different world. There are different Mighty Ones."

I turned around. Snuff had grabbed my shoulder and was smiling brightly at the Patapon. "Sheila happens to be our leader. You can trust her."

"Could she lead us into battle? Could she lead us across deserts, across hostile terrains? Into war?"

"If you asked her to."

"I think that's a bit of a stretch," I whispered.

"You do. We don't." His face grew serious. "You've helped us more than you could imagine."

I glanced at everyone. They were all watching me.

"Has this whole group unanimously decided that she is the Mighty One?" the female Patapon leader asked.

They all seemed a bit hesitant. "Their leader," I put in.

"Our leader," all of the Wandies agreed. Even a few of the fictional characters did. I felt a bit embarrassed, but I didn't let it show.

"Mighty One might be a bit of a stretch," I said, "but I'm the decision maker."

"Then we will follow you. Out of curiosity, where did you find those drums?"

"..." Somehow, 'Kirby found them lying in the hallway' didn't seem like the right response.

"Perhaps the Mighty One lent them to you?"

"Sure."

"Then lead us well."

"Sheila?" Snuff said.

"Yes?" I asked coolly.

"You're talking to a bunch of eyeballs, and they think you received palm drums from God. This is so awesome."

"Well, let's not jump to conclusions. Some of our own might be in grave danger." I turned around to face the Wandies. "Could some of you come with me?"

"I'll come," Lostpaw agreed, standing up and slinging her chair over her shoulder. She made sure not to hit anyone with it. Kurogane stood up without a word, and so did Snuff. He pulled a knife from his pocket. That's what he'd been using in battle.

"Might we have the honour of accompanying you?" the leader asked.

"Yes. Could you show us the way?"

She nodded and signalled for me to crouch down. "To command the army, you need the drums."

I held out my palm.

"Pata pata pata pon," she said, pointing to the red drum three times and the blue one once.

I nodded, holding my palm out in front of me. I'd grown so used to strange things like this by now. "Please show us the way," I said.

I steadily tapped the drum beat I had been told to use, and with that, they took off at a steady, army-like march. I had to repeat this a few times, but since I had Lostpaw's chair visible in the side of my vision, I could follow them and keep my focus on the drums until we reached a barricaded area. The panic set in nearly immediately when someone's screamed on the other side. Someone laughed, and my breath caught in my throat.

"Spirithunter? What's going on over there?" I quickly took a few breaths, but it didn't help much.

"Pon pon pata pon," the leader said at my side. "We'll all take down the barrier if you tap that out."

I held up my hand. Under pressure, it was hard to keep a steady beat, but I did my best. I was surprised by how much damage a walking, crowned eyeball army could do to a rock wall. As it nearly collapsed, I said, "try to be quiet." They proceeded to alter their style, making the sound as quiet as possible. Finally, the rock wall gave way, and the sight was almost horrifying.

A bloodstained Spirithunter was in combat with Amaterasu, and strewn around the ground were the missing Wandies. Lilacheart had her back stuck against the jagged edge of a wall. She appeared conscious, but she couldn't pull her back away without causing significant amounts of pain. She had a sword that was just out of her reach. Syaoran was unconscious beneath a pile of rubble that had been clearly blown out of the walls of the cavern. Fell was unconscious on top of the rubble Syaoran was under. Presumably, he had been trying to dig him out before he'd suffocated. Soundstorm was defending her sister. Refusing to leave the spot where she was and attack with her sword, she had borrowed her sister's bow and arrow and was trying hit Spirithunter in the leg with it, however, her condition from being in the School made her aim a little inconsistent. Fai was holding an unconscious Starsight, and the two of them were being strangled by vines. He was doing his best to drive the vines back with his magic, mostly from Starsight, but the vines were coming towards his eye and his throat, which made him run the risk of hitting something important trying to free the both of them. The battle between Amaterasu and Spirithunter was intense, and they were both clearly quite lost in it. Amaterasu looked tired but determined, and Spirithunter...I wasn't sure. She looked...mad. And I don't quite know what sense of the word 'mad' I'm using, either. It just didn't seem like her we were watching.

"...Fetch Emily," I whispered, and Snuff nodded, taking off. I was trying to decide what to do, when Lostpaw gave up her patience and darted in.

"Wait!" I yelled. The battle between the two stopped. Spirithunter's eyes widened.

"When did—?" she began, but before she could even finish the sentence, Lostpaw had hit her as hard as she could over the head with the back of the chair. She fell. Lostpaw had this 'what did I just do!' look in her eyes. I couldn't think about that now. We were in risk of losing a few people here. My eyes stopped on Syaoran.

"Is there a drumbeat for 'unbury that kid'?" I asked the Patapon leader.

"...You're going to have to make one up."

Kurogane had already gotten straight to it, however. Amaterasu walked over to Spirithunter and evaluated the damage. Wordlessly, she took the Celestial Brush from her hand. She turned towards me, dipping her head in thanks, before momentarily trying to console Lostpaw and going to help Fai remove the vines. I glanced over at Lilacheart and Soundstorm.

"Just in time." Soundstorm was smiling in relief, right before she collapsed against the wall. Lilacheart nodded and tried once more to get the jutting stone out of her back. I silently hoped that it wasn't hitting anything important. The fact she was conscious was a good sign, though probably a bit uncomfortable. (A bit? Who am I kidding?)

"Kid!" Kurogane snapped, finally beginning to uncover the unconscious boy. One of the Patapon, then another, made their way over to the rubble, and began to pick up the stones. It made the job a lot faster. I wasn't quite sure who to help first, so I started with Fell. I picked up the wolf and brought him to the corner. Amaterasu, after freeing Fai and Starsight, went over to Spirithunter. I helped her. We dragged her to a wall, and Amaterasu used vines to bind her, though she made sure not to suffocate her.

"What happened here?" I whispered.

"She's under the control of a Yeerk," Soundstorm filled in. "You know, from Animorphs. I guess it's been that way for a while."

"...Hm." I'd done a bit of research on the series ever since Magicyop had found the blue box. I couldn't cover my concern.

What should we do? Amaterasu asked softly. She sounded worried.

"We starve the Yeerk," Lilacheart whispered. "We keep her here for three days or so, feeding her regularly, and the Yeerk dies due to lack of Kadrona rays. It was in one of the books."

"Who knew that a book could be a manual on how to kill aliens?" Lostpaw remarked dryly. She was looking at her feet. "...Did I do the right thing?"

"Yes," I assured her. "As long as you didn't cave in her skull."

"I used the back of the chair. I don't think I did any damage that Emily can't heal." She walked over to Lilacheart. "So...how did you get into this mess?"

"Blew up a few walls and then got sent across the room." She sounded like she wasn't thinking too clearly.

"Bloody," she noted.

"Yeah."

That's about the time Emily got here. She didn't have much to say, instead going straight to work. She started with Spirithunter, after I gave her the okay, and she got to Starsight next. In the meantime, Lilacheart worked her way out of the stone wall.

"I think being a +Anima gives me more blood or something. I swear, this isn't natural." She laughed dryly through her tears. It must've hurt pretty bad, but Lostpaw and Soundstorm were helping her out. Emily seemed a bit tired, but went straight to her when she was done healing Starsight.

"I don't think I can heal suffocation." She was looking at Syaoran. "Other than that...how's he holding up?"

"Fine," Kurogane noted. I wasn't so sure about that. He appeared to struggling to breathe, and this was on top of what had already happened to him at the school.

"Oh my..."

I turned around. Kitten-Chan was staring at the whole mess, eyes wide. A bunch of other Wandies had gathered in the tunnel behind her. She turned around and looked at the others with her. "Well, let's not just stand here."

With that, they got to work. After we explained the Yeerk situation, Lakestorm, Coalfang, Akiak, and Forestpelt agreed to feed her down here while the Yeerk starved, and they helped Amaterasu adjust the vines. Squirrelflight, Goldenslash, and Thunder helped Lilacheart with Soundstorm and Lostpaw. Wolf, Mistsong, Whisperheart, and Snuff got to digging Syaoran out of the wall remains. When they were done with that, Wolf proceeded to carry some of the Patapon back to the other Wandies (despite the fact that they protested and carried weapons). Silentstorm and Spottedfire, despite height difference, helped Fai back to the cavern, and Crescentmoon carried Starsight. Sevenclaws brought Fell back with him, and Cloudwind was trying to help Emily as much as she could. Adriane also came into the room and stayed by her friend's side. There were a bunch of other Wandies doing cleanup, but it would take a long time to use all their names. Aside from that, there were probably still a few back at camp, presumably looking after those who'd been captured, like Magicyop and Icestar, and making sure that no other strange characters suddenly burst into the room riding on Absol's back. (Though I must hand it to the Patapon: Way to make an entrance.)

Minou analyzed the room. "It's good to see us all working together like this, you know? After everything that's happened."

I nodded wearily. "Yeah. It is." I looked at the floor. "We need to decide how we're going to deal with the School. We can't go back and train until they're out. I suppose that's what matters the most right now."

He sighed. "You have to deal with a lot of pressure with this, Sheila. I'm impressed. But you don't need to come up with the solution for everything on your own." He grinned at me. "We can help. We have supernatural people on our team! People who can fly, people who can talk to ghosts, people who are ghosts, people who can set things on fire by snapping their fingers, who happens to be married to one of our own..." He laughed and looked like he hoped that he wouldn't die for that later. "Face it, there are a lot of things we can do."

"...How do you still remember all that?" I asked.

Minou laughed. "How could we forget?" He stopped laughing, but continued to smile. "We'll help, so just relax, okay?"

Lilacheart had finally been pulled out of the wall and had finished being healed, and those helping her went to do other things, except Soundstorm, who was talking quietly to her sister while Emily healed her, too.

"I think all of those captured will need lots of rest," I said.

Minou nodded his agreement. "It's a good thing Kurogane wasn't captured. I can't imagine being the one telling him he has to sleep."

I smirked. "I wouldn't want to be in that position either, trust me."

He stepped forward. "I'm going to help take Soundstorm and Lilacheart back, okay?"

I nodded. "Alright."

When Emily was done healing the injured, Cloudwind and Adriane took her back. She looked exhausted. She was practically falling asleep while walking. As for Syaoran, he didn't look like he was about to wake up any time soon. Everyone else slowly began to clear out, and in the end, I was left in the room with Amaterasu and Spirithunter. "You're not leaving any time soon?" I asked her.

She's my apprentice. The goddess gave a wolf-like grin. I'll stay here until I see the parasite leave.

I smiled. "Keep that brush far away, alright?"

...Can I trust you to hold onto hers? She can have it back when the Yeerk is gone.

I took the brush that Amaterasu offered. "Definitely."

I heard a knock against the cave wall. I turned around and saw Shadowmoon and Leafpool. The girl was clutching a writing notebook. Presumably, she'd found time to write her Warriors fanfiction. Why not? We were surrounded by Warrior cats, what better time to ask for advice? Though I kind of wondered how it looked so clean, or how she'd carried it so far along with her weapon. Maybe she had brought a backpack with her.

"The others wanted me to be sure you were still here. Magicyop's worried about you."

I smiled. "I'll be there soon. I'm just waiting for Spirithunter to wake up. I'd like to give her...the real her...a few reassuring words before I leave, and I think Amaterasu's going to stay here until that thing is gone."

She nodded. "Alright."

I glanced at Leafpool. "How is Jayfeather? Firestar?" I shifted my gaze to Shadowmoon. "Katara?"

"Jayfeather's holding out, and Firestar's recovering very well."

"Katara's tired, but she'll get better."

"Alright. Thank you. Tell the others not to worry. I'll be there soon."

"Okay." She turned to leave the room when Spirithunter began to stir. She hesitated, as if deciding to stay, just in case.

"Hey," I called softly to Spirithunter.

She looked up. I passed the brush to Amaterasu, who quickly took it to Shadowmoon. She was further away from Spirithunter than I was. She seemed surprised for a moment, then she gripped the brush tightly, looking uneasy.

"She can't reach you," I promised. She seemed assured, nodding slightly.

Spirithunter seemed shocked and angry (angry being an understatement) when she opened her eyes and realized she couldn't move. "Let me go!" she snapped.

"When pigs fly," I grumbled.

"Don't jinx us now," Shadowmoon said quietly.

I smirked, then forced myself to relax. "Spirithunter," I said quietly. "Don't worry, you'll be free soon, okay?"

"Shut up!" the Yeerk snapped.

I didn't react. "It'll be a few days. Amaterasu will stay with you, alright? I can't imagine how scary it is, but it'll be over soon."

The Yeerk called me a few things that I don't care to repeat. I wanted to get mad at it, but what good would that do?

"I know you're in there. We'll talk to you soon, okay?"

She glowered at me, her eyes full of rage. I just smiled and stood up.

"U-Um...get well soon, okay?" Shadowmoon said quietly. "We're all waiting for you. No hard feelings, Fai assured me."

"Go to heck," she hissed.

...Censoring issues. You know what I mean. We're not moving this to teen W&W for language, so might as well just let you know she used the more profane version. And threw in a few other words for good measure.

"You too, alien slug. Bye!" And she skipped off cheerfully, just to spite the Yeerk. Leafpool purred in amusement before quickly following her out.

"Do you need anything?" I asked Amaterasu.

She shook her head. I'm fine for now. Thank you. She settled down, just out of Spirithunter's reach. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know.

"Same with you." I gave respectful nod. "Don't take anything that Yeerk says to heart."

Why take to heart words that aren't hers? She seemed calm about it.

I stood up. "I'll be back, okay? I'm not sure when the Yeerk will try to escape, but let us know once it does."

The goddess nodded and rested her head on her paws, watching Spirithunter (who was still angry) with calm eyes and a rather peaceful wolf smile. I think she was keeping a level head for the Spirithunter that was still there.

"I saw some of the battle," I said. "Not much, but enough. You trained her well."

She gave a please swish of her tail. Thank the girl with the chair for me.

"Losty," I said, managing to laugh. I shook my head, a bit tired. "Maybe she'll let me borrow that thing to sit on, now."

I made my way quietly down the hall. I came back to the cavern into...an interesting sight. The Patapon had made a low fire and were cooking meat. I didn't even have time to wonder where they'd found the wood for that down here (maybe they had it with them at the time) before I got bombarded with greetings from the Wandies. I sat down next to Magicyop. I went over Spirithunter's situation with everyone and finished it with, "I think she'll recover in about three to four days." I looked over the county members, and saw some scattered nods from the people who'd read Animorphs.

"We need to decide what to do next with the School," I said.

"We've been talking while you were out," Minou said.

I nodded. "Have you come up with anything?"

"Nothing yet, but...none of the solutions are pretty."

Many of the Wandies seemed uncomfortable. I was pretty sure I knew what they meant.

"...The scientists probably won't leave, and we...well, I don't know how we can drive them out of the county..."

"We think they need to die."

Trust Kurogane to be the one to put that out there. There was silence for a while.

"...So be it," I sighed. "If there are no alternatives, then..." I waited for someone to suggest an alternative. Judging by the lack of responses, they'd already thought this one through. I didn't want any of these guys to have that kind of weight on their shoulders.

"...I say we make Kurogane do it," Wolf said, a blunt look on her face. "He looks like he wants to kill us all the time."

A ripple of laughter (and a few purrs, and a snort that shook the entire floor from Shardas) spread through the group. Kurogane went ahead and made a face that proved Wolf's point.

"Is there any chance we can just wait it out? Until we can send everyone home through a portal?" Frostberry sighed, looking upset.

"I doubt it. If they even find out there is a portal...well, it's probably best they don't find out they're in another world," Lilacheart muttered.

"So who does this?" Soundstorm asked. "Name anyone who might be willing to kill two to five dozen scientists."

"Maybe we should take out the Yeerk pool while we're at it." Lilacheart again. "I think we'd all be more comfortable blowing up slugs than people..."

"After what they did to Spirit? I think we all want to take them down. But what was this you said about blowing stuff up?"

She smirked dryly. "Um...during battle. I found something in the wall. Does anyone here play the Worms games? Well...I found a holy grenade."

"...A holy grenade?" Spottedfire asked.

"...It's about as weird as it sounds. It's white, jewel studded, has a cross on top, and when you throw it, a holy choir sings 'hallelujah' from it. And then it blows up. It's not activated, but perhaps we could use it for something."

It was hard for anyone to keep a straight face with that description.

"Ammy!" someone laughed. "Ammy's a goddess! Have her throw the holy grenade!"

There was more laughter. "As long as they don't find us, I don't think we need to resort to extreme measures such as...holy grenades." I found this hard to say without smiling. "That game sounds interesting, though."

"You should see the concrete donkey and the flying sheep."

I didn't ask.

"Regardless, I think we should all think it through a little more. If it does come to that, I don't want any of us to be there. There's also the matter of...not blowing up our own school."

"What about Danny?" Rabbitfoot suggested.

Danny looked up with a worried look on his face.

"He can turn our school intangible. Come on, what did you think I was going to say?" she asked dryly.

"Well, I wasn't sure. Have you seen the crazy stuff that goes on here? It could've been anything."

"He has a point," Rubystripe said, glancing between Rabbitfoot and Roy. She was silenced by a death glare. She turned her gaze to Syaoran and Lilacheart instead. Lilacheart reached for her sword.

"No hurting other Wandies," I told her.

"Stop staring at me, then," she whimpered. "Besides, it was the clone," she grumbled. Rubystripe laughed, and Cloudwind started giving her a hard time again, so we all got back to the main situation to spare her.

"First things first, the injured need to get better. Syaoran needs to wake up, the ones who were captured are probably exhausted, despite healing. Everyone's probably exhausted, actually. We need to wait for Spirit to be released, and after that, we need to start devising a plan for everyone to get back home."

"But first, you need to sit." Lostpaw offered me her chair, and I nodded thankfully, sitting down. She sat down on the ground beside Cloudwind.

"Hey..." Cooro looked up from his feet. "We don't want to kill, but we want to use this singing bomb, right?"

"Well, we don't have to, but it is awesome," Coalfang laughed.

"Well...why don't we get them all into one room, and then gas them?"

"How do we get in?" Moonglow asked.

"...You just said Danny could make things intangible. And he's a ghost, right?"

"He can become invisible, too," Rabbitfoot agreed. Danny was paying close attention now.

"And if he doesn't want the bomb, we can give someone else the bomb. He can make that person invisible, and we can get their attention with this singing bomb, after secretly putting gas thingies in the room."

"Didn't know you could think like this, Cooro," Lilacheart said, approving. Everyone seemed to like this idea much more.

"But where do we get the gas?" I asked. "We can't expect all of our answers to drop from the sky."

"We can come up with something, right, guys?" Cooro asked, looking at the fictional characters. "I'm sure there's something we can all make."

"...Hey, I have an idea," Ryoma said, a smile crossing his face.

"I don't like the sound of that," Shiki whispered.

"No one's going to get hurt?" Sakura whimpered.

"Not physically."

There was a long silence. "We're dead," Adriane growled.

"I thought dead was what we were trying to avoid," Lakestorm pointed out softly.

"Well, we'll leave you guys to it," I said with a laugh.

Everyone stared at me.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Soundstorm finally asked, voicing everyone's opinion.

"No. When can you guys start working on it?"

"Well, we'll need supplies," Ryoma said, standing up. "And a container. And probably a separate room."

"Dear god, how bad is this?" Kayla asked.

"Well, it needs to knock people out. What do you think?"

"...Point taken."

"Danny can get supplies, just tell him what you need," I said.

Ryoma drew Danny aside, and the two of them began talking. Though I couldn't hear any of the needed ingredients, I saw Danny's eyes begin to grow wider.

"Is that safe?"

"I don't know."

"How do you know about this...?"

"There was a guy who'd make us drink it on my team. I just figured it would work if we turned it into a gas and added a few things."

"...Dude, I'm so sorry."

A few more ingredients.

"You can find that in a supermarket?"

Dreamer wagged his tail. This could be fun! he said.

None of us were too sure. After a bit more discussion, Danny disappeared.

"There's another room down that way," I told all of them.

"...Honestly? The nastier you can make it, the better," Daisy suggested.

"Make them pay for what they did," Forestpelt laughed. We all seemed to agree with this.

"We'll do our best."

The Warrior cats began discussing ways to help, and the entire group started discussing 'ingredients' as they left.

"...Alright. If they ask for a guinea pig, who's going to be the brave tester?" Magicyop asked. There were no takers.

—

POV: ?

I had been wandering through these tunnels for a few days now, and I still couldn't figure out where I'd ended up all of a sudden. At first, I thought I might've been kidnapped, but now I wasn't so sure. There was nobody waiting for me down here, and I hadn't been drugged, I'd just sort of...ended up here. It hadn't been the most pleasant thing to wake up to, and I was more concerned about my grandfather and my friends than I had been about myself, but after about a day of wandering and finding no one, I supposed I was the only one here. I was beginning to get exhausted, and I was starving as well as dehydrated. I couldn't rest, however, until I found food or water, or at least any sign of humanity.

How long were these tunnels? I had no idea where I was going, and I had a feeling if I kept mindlessly wandering any longer, it would begin to get dangerous. I could starve to death down here, and the longer I stayed in these tunnels, the higher the probability. It was a bit worrisome.

I took a breath and shouted, as loud as I could manage, "Is anyone down here?" All I heard back was an echo. It was getting hard to keep down the panic. I didn't want to die here. I bumped into another wall. It was dark down here. I had run into a room full of bats and had nearly stepped on a snake, and there were also a few spiders. It was making navigating this place an unpleasant experience, if the fact I didn't know where I was hadn't already put this in that category.

I had no choice but to keep going, though. I let out a sigh and continued down the halls, and it was rather uneventful for a few hours. Eventually, I collapsed to my knees. I was so tired...

"Is anyone down here?" I had been calling that every thirty minutes or so as I walked around, or every time I heard a sound. Mostly, the sounds came from insects and the like, but it was better to make sure, especially in life or death situations like this.

"Is someone there?" I heard nearby. I looked up, trying to see who had spoken.

"Yes," I whispered.

"I knew I wasn't hearing things. I should take my headphones off more often." A spiky haired boy stepped out of the gloom and crouched down in front of me. "You alright?"

"I've been down here for a few days."

He seemed concerned. "I don't think any of us have thought of that...there could be others. Have you seen anyone?"

"No." I shook my head. "You're the first one I've found."

"Well, better underground than above ground at the moment, with those scientists running experiments all over the place. Can you stand?"

"Yes, I'm just a bit tired..."

"You look like you haven't eaten."

"I haven't."

"...That sucks." He waited for me to stand, awkwardly offering me his hand. I shook my head. I was fine.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Neku. You?"

"...My name is Naoto Shirogane," I whispered. "Um...thank you."

"No problem."

I followed the boy into a room where many others were gathered. They appeared to be making something. One of them looked up. "Hey, Neku was right!" she exclaimed. "Who's this?"

"She says her name is Naoto. These are...second thought, introductions later, or we'll be here a while. There are even more across the hall, they'll help you. Some of them might even know you."

I blinked. "Are my friends in there?"

"Well, no, but...they'll explain."

He went back to the mixture. What were they making? I hoped they weren't cooking, otherwise they were worse than my friends, and that is really saying a lot...

One man looked up at me. "Actually, while you're here, could you do us a favour?"

I turned around. "Sure, what is it?"

"Could you smell this for us?"

I blinked and walked over to it. After staring at it for a second, I quietly asked, "Are you trying to kill me?" It looked nauseating. "I hope you don't plan on serving this to your comrades...or eating it."

"No. It's got its own purposes, we just need to turn it into a gas."

"How do you—" I began, before accidentally squeaking, "Oh my God, is that a dragon?"

"Shardas," a girl with short brown hair said. "He won't hurt you."

I stared at the group for a moment. I had finally found a group weirder than mine.

"I-if you say so..." I gasped.

"We promise!" a white rabbit squeaked. "Nice hat."

I was beginning to wonder if this liquid was emitting some sort of scent that was making me hallucinate.

"...And what is that thing...?"

"Absol."

"...Excuse me, I've got a headache." I gave myself a moment to breathe, and then tried to look around the room again. There were a few things that stuck out, minus the dragon and the...bladed wolf cat. Beyond that, there were a few wolves, a large group of cats, a pink kitten, two horses, a pink puff ball with legs, a huge rat, a few dogs, and a yellow winged sphere with a plus sign on its face with a tail standing on the shoulder of a feminine boy with white hair. He noticed me staring at him, pointed to the winged creature, and brightly said, "Timcampy."

"...Right." This wasn't weird, this wasn't weird, this wasn't weird... I tried to pay attention to the humans instead. They were of all ages, men and women, and I figured that assuming they were normal was a bad idea. This was confirmed when one of the guys lit his hand on fire, and another kid pulled a feather out of his wing. I looked at the concoction they were making with growing unease. What was this meant to be?

"Would you try it for us? It's alright if you don't want to." This was requested to me by a female cat.

"First, answer me this."

They waited for a moment.

"Who are you people?"

There was a ripple of laughter. "The ones outside can explain this to all of you," a girl with light brown hair promised me. I nodded uneasily.

"And can you promise me that this stuff won't poison me?" I asked.

"As long as you don't drink it, it shouldn't," a pink haired girl with a hat promised. She was probably Neku's friend, as they were standing together. It wasn't reassuring.

"..." I was about to smell something made by a bunch of strangers. No doubt they were asking me because they didn't want to do it. Was I really this desperate to get out of here?

"I'll try," I decided. I reached a cupped hand into the container, pulled out a handful, and brought it up under my nose. I took a breath...and...well...I think it was so bad that my brain blocked it out, but I remembered someone catching me as I fell backwards. The last thing I heard before I blacked out was a kid cheerfully saying, "Success!"

—

POV: Lilacheart

I heard footsteps down the hall, and looked up sleepily. Ugh, what a day...what was it now? Neku came in, the arm of an unconscious girl around his shoulder. I knew her.

"Naoto," I said quietly. Soundstorm looked up with wide, interested eyes. I knew that Naoto was her favourite character from Persona 4, so after a day such as this, it must've come as a pleasant surprise to her.

Well, except that she was unconscious. We'd probably need to ask about that.

"What happened here?" Sheila asked, sounding weary herself.

"We found her in the halls. By the way, we don't need a tester."

"...Oh, god, poor Naoto," Soundstorm muttered.

"So, who's taking her in?" Neku asked, cutting to the chase. "She needs food, too, she hasn't eaten in days. I can ask Danny to head out. Perhaps have him pick up stuff for everyone."

"I'm not here to be your invisible grocery shopper," the ghost in question sighed, coming up behind Neku.

"It's you, or we go on a mission and risk getting captured for food," Rabbitfoot pointed out.

He opened his mouth to argue, then seemed to think better of it and slowly groaned. "Alright, does anyone want anything in particular?"

No one spoke up. There probably were things in particular, but he'd had about a rough day as any of us.

"...As long as it's not broccoli, I think we're all okay," Rabbitfoot spoke for us.

He smirked dryly. "Alright. Then I'll be back." He turned intangible and disappeared.

"So, who'll take Naoto in...?"

"I'll do it," Sunstreak offered.

Neku shook his head. "Are you sure? I'd think that you'd have had a hard enough time with me and Shiki..."

"I'll do it, then," Spottedfire said with a slight smile. "I don't mind."

"Well, then. I'll leave it to you. But since she seems to know who this girl is, we'll have her sit there for now."

He placed Naoto down beside Soundstorm, and I smiled. She seemed pretty excited. That was good.

"Well, if you excuse me. I'm going to go and finish up preparations for this...and don't be surprised if half of us pass out in the process."

"Is it good enough?"

"Neku? Shiki's out cold," Kayla remarked.

A rather irked look crossed Neku's face. "It better be good enough. And whoever made Shiki another tester had better be ready to get it." He turned around and disappeared back down the hallway.

"See? They really do like each other," Sunstreak said pleasantly. "Who knew, right?"

Neku carried Shiki back into the room, placed her down on the floor beside Sheila, and left without another word.

"Well, I think this plan will work," Sheila said. "Let's just hope none of it gets in here."

"...Dear god," I heard one of the Wandies whisper in horror.

—

We spent the next thirty minutes apprehensively waiting for something to go horribly wrong. For once, it didn't. The group was back not too long later with containers that were filled with a dark green gas.

"Finished!" Cooro chirped. He sounded pretty peppy today.

"So, when do we put the plan into action? Who does it, other than Danny?"

"I might as well," Neku decided. "I haven't done much yet. Might be nice to help."

"...I haven't done much either, so if there's anything I can do..." Will spoke quietly.

Hadn't done much? I thought. I don't think we'd heard the boy speak in at least 100 pages. Halt didn't say anything.

"Alright, so can we leave it to you three?" Sheila asked. "Anyone else who wants to help is willing to. When we knock out the scientists, we need a place to bring them, and they'll need food. We're not going to torture them like they did to us."

There were a few volunteers, and I considered offering too, but I figured I'd probably need some bed rest. I think everyone in my house needed to get some rest, actually. Everyone in the county.

"Okay, good. We should start working on this soon. For now, though, I think we'll all just have to camp out here. We'll wait for Danny to come back, and after that, we'll all get some rest. Every last one of us. And once we've done that, we can have the plan done the next day."

We all nodded. I don't think any of us were in the spirits to do this now. Even if we were, I was afraid one of the three might pass out on the job.

Danny did come back, though the determined boy actually made multiple trips. After we all ate, he was the first to crash. Naoto woke up sometime over the extended period, and Soundstorm went ahead to try and explain everything. She patiently put up with Naoto's complaints of all of this being completely illogical. After maybe the third time, she said, "I thought we'd abandoned logic when the dragon came in."

She spoke, we filled in a few gaps, and then Soundstorm was the second to crash. (Then again, this order of who fell asleep when doesn't include anyone who was already asleep or unconscious to begin with.) Syaoran didn't show any signs of waking up that night. He would occasionally cough out whatever was in his lungs, which was probably a good sign. I had him rest his head on my shoulder. (...Stop looking at me like that. My shoulder was more comfortable than the wall...) All the Wandies began to sleep, one by one. I'll admit to being the fifth to crash, right after Naoto and Absol.

Absol seemed to be in a pretty bad mood. Huh. I wonder why.

—

POV: Neku

There was something really strange about walking intangibly through the walls of a school building I was never supposed to see with two people I was never supposed to meet doing activities that were probably illegal that I never would've imagined doing, because I thought I'd already seen it all when I completed the Reapers game. No, I guess it can still get weirder...if waking up in a chimney hadn't already proved that point.

Danny's hand tightened around my wrist. "Come on, Neku, stop slowing down," he sighed. "If we break contact I can't keep you intangible anymore."

I looked up and picked up my pace. I hadn't realized that I was starting to fall behind.

So, the plan went something like this. Earlier, while everyone was still sleeping, Danny had set up the bombs inside a certain room of the building. He'd made sure this room only had one way in, so we could seal it on our way out. My job was to stick a holy hand grenade (whose idea was that...?) into the center of the empty room and proceed to the door, where Danny would keep us invisible (I can't imagine how much energy that must take the guy) until all or most of the scientists came in to check the commotion. We'd gas them after that, and Will had offered to explore the rooms and take down any of the remaining scientists. One of the Wandies—I believe it was Lightstreak—had offered to come with Will, since she likely knew her way around her own school better than he did, but Sheila had deemed it too unsafe, since we were probably better for the job, Danny being able to turn invisible, me having pins, and Will having some pretty intense combat training that he said he wanted to use to help.

Still, I had to admit that I kind of admired Danny. Walking through walls was awesome.

"We're here," he said. He sounded exhausted. Sleep wasn't as effective when you were on a stone floor as opposed to a bed.

"Good, let's make this quick," I said, taking out a lightning pin for use in case of emergency. We stopped in the center of the room.

"Also, make sure to look around for any captive characters that might've arrived and been taken while we were underground," Danny told Will, who nodded. "And Neku? ...Don't blow yourself up."

Did he really have to tell me that? As if I haven't been...well, admittedly worrying about that I might since I agreed to be the bomb holder? I swear, saying it aloud even makes me sound like an idiot. I agreed to carry a bomb! At least if I died, it was my own fault.

"You still there?"

"Huh? Yeah. I won't." I reached for the bomb in my pocket. Why was I in more danger of dying than the scientists? "Good room choice, by the way. The whole building won't catch on fire here." It appeared to be made of metal. I wondered why it'd been made that way. Perhaps the scientists had done that themselves.

"Yeah, I made sure. Come on, you were the one who said we'd make this quick."

"And it's still 'quick', I said that two minutes ago. You go get yourself into position, Will. I'll stay here and set up."

"What if a scientist comes in?"

"I'll handle it."

The two exchanged glances and decided that they could leave me to it. They took off as I went over Lilacheart's instructions in my head. Since it was a bomb from a video game, I figured it might work differently. Yeah, there was a pin, but once it was taken out, you still had to throw it, and then you had about five seconds to get away. The trap would go off as soon as we shut the door, and I would herd the scientists into the room if things got messy. And if I got captured in the process, well, someone would just have to save my butt, wouldn't they? I trusted them enough to come to our assistance if things went awry. Sure, this was a weird place, but the people were trustworthy.

"What are you doing in here...?" a voice asked.

I spun around, and before I even had time to think about it, I took out a pin and dropped a bunch of rocks on the guy's head from thin air. That did it. I felt satisfied. Felt almost as good as defeating the Noise. (For context, those are the enemies I fought during—...you know what? Just play the game.) I wondered what to do with the guy, and settled for pretty much chucking him out a nearby window. We could get him later.

Danny came back alone not too long after. "Any complications?" he asked.

"There's an unconscious guy with a few bumps on his head hidden in a bush outside the window. Nothing I couldn't handle."

He didn't seem to have a remark to make to that, so he just settled for, "...Okay, good."

"Will the scientists be able to hear?"

"I looked around, and I'm pretty sure most, if not all. At the very least, we'll be able to cut this down to a number Will can handle. Also, I've rigged the hallways, too, and I'll turn intangible and leave the area."

He left that hanging for a minute.

"I'll be left in the hallways," I said.

He gave a half-hearted smile. "Yeah, I know. Can you handle it?"

Ugh. He waited until now to ask? I could handle it, yes, but only if he agreed to let me punch him when I woke up. And I told him that. Admittedly I was surprised when he did agree, but we didn't waste too much time talking after that. He stood over by the wall and turned intangible. "Well, let's get this going."

I nodded bluntly and removed a headphone from one ear. It would be best if I actually listened to what was going on around me. It could be important. I tentatively pulled the pin out of the grenade and walked to the doorframe. I tossed the thing in a little faster than I should've, but heck, I didn't want it in my hands after the pin was out.

I guess I had nothing to worry about. Being from a video game, a counter literally appeared above it, warning when it was going to blow up. Useful. Danny grabbed my shoulder and turned me intangible while the bomb did its job.

"HALLELUJAH!"

The explosion was almost deafening. So much so that I put my headphones back over my ears to zone out as much of the noise as I could. Somehow, the fact that Danny was laughing really hard helped reduce the impact so much, but it still left my ears ringing. Then again, I was struggling to wipe the grin off my face, too. I had, somewhere in the back of my mind, thought that Lilacheart had been kidding when she said it sung like a holy choir. Nope.

A large group of scientists poured down the hall. Danny and I became visible, just for a second. One of the scientists called for backup. I grinned. Good. We darted into the metal room, now slightly charred. They took the bait. Once in the room, Danny turned us invisible again, leaving the following scientists confused. We darted back out of the room, and I slammed the door shut. I heard the sound of the gas activating inside. I heard a few people choke, and someone called out a profanity before the knock out gas...well, did its job.

"We've got about two minutes before the gas in the hallway sets off."

"I'll fight the scientists until it activates if it comes to that," I assured him. "You should go, now."

"Got it." He disappeared as a bunch more scientists headed down the hall.

"Come and get me," I growled, taking out a pin. I noted one of the scientists holding a pair of electric collars. I had to be careful. Perhaps I could break the collars if he got too close. I held the pin up in front of me and did something that probably surprised them all: I shouted. Really loudly. A pair of speakers materialized behind me and a shockwave blasted out of them, stunning the oncoming people. I put that one back in my pocket to recharge. (All pins required some recharging after use, though in this case, that pin probably required less charging than my voice did. I was out of practice, wasn't I?)

The main problem here wasn't fighting. It was fighting without taking any lives in the process. I couldn't use a pin that sent ice spikes up through the ground because I could skewer someone, I couldn't drop too many rocks on anyone's head without risk of crushing their skull, and I realized lighting was probably just as risky. I couldn't set their school building on fire...why hadn't Danny warned me about this beforehand? Maybe I could've prepared a strategy if he had!

I pulled out a whirlwind pin and sent a gust at the ones who had pulled themselves out of their paralysis. This sent them flying backwards into the ones who...well, hadn't.

When were those gas bombs going off? Those were the only two pins I had with me right now that I could actually use...them and a soda. (It was for healing.)

"Neku!"

Shiki leapt through the window and picked up her stuffed piggy, Mr. Mew. (I could almost hear Shiki yelling at me in my head, "It's a cat!") The stuffed animal threw itself at the scientists, clawing at them and knocking them to the ground. (Yes, that was Shiki's power: she fought with her stuffed animal.)

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I sent a second gust of wind at them.

"I realized I might've screwed up when I talked to Danny earlier, so I figured I might be able to help." She gave a dry smirk. "I told him that he probably shouldn't mention that you would get gassed or you might back out, and I realized that might've caused trouble."

"It won't now you're here." It might've otherwise, but hey, fighting had always been a partner thing in my world, and I wasn't ashamed to say that Shiki and I did great in combat together.

"I think the gas bombs might have glitched a little," I warned her. "It's been over two minutes."

"Then we'll just have to hold out until Danny can fix them, won't we?" she said.

I took out the voice pin again. "I guess so."

We had to hold up the defense line for about five minutes longer than had been intended. Four were spent because Danny realized there'd been a mistake and one more so he could reset it and get out without being knocked out himself. When the time came, I told Shiki she could get out before the gas went off, and I'd hold them off.

Her answer? "This is partly my fault. I'll take my share of the blame."

—

POV: Lilacheart

...And that was how we found Neku and Shiki unconscious on top of one another. Just another group of people who couldn't live it down. How come no one will ever let anything go around here? Geez...

The plan, sure enough, was a success, that little mishap aside. We managed to gather all of the scientists in the underground paths and seal them inside, with a few select people heading down to feed them. They were pretty harmless once their weapons were confiscated, and we had a week off while Sheila and the stronger grownups fixed our school. The big thing was to recover, so we said, but for all of us, I think the real big thing was to wait for Spirithunter. We were all eager to comfort her once she was free.

Everyone unconscious, including Syaoran, had woken up. Starsight and I had talked over the phone since we were both resting in bed for the most part. I usually got up to eat, but I was really tired for about two days straight. However, of course, I wouldn't be allowed to stay in bed forever. Fate made sure of that. With an explosion, of course. I woke up late the third day to a familiar sound: our door blowing up.

"Can someone else get that?" I called sleepily, not seeming to comprehend that for a moment. And then I realized our door had blown up and managed to sit up. My first thought was, Is Mokona up to something again? And I guess most of us were on the same boat, here, because I heard Kurogane walk by my room muttering about how he was going to kill that pork bun. I got out of bed to make sure that he...well...didn't.

Of course, this theory was put to rest when we saw Mokona standing on the couch arm, flailing its arms. "Mokona didn't do it!" it insisted desperately.

"Then who did?" Fai wondered.

I walked right passed him over to the door, where I saw...well, someone familiar.

"Oh my," Soundstorm said dully. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Yeah. That's Yorda from Ico."

This could cause a problem. In canon, Yorda was a quiet girl who couldn't speak in an understandable language. (Whether Mokona would fix this or not was up in the air, for now.) She could not fight for herself, and she literally had to be guided around by the main character, Ico, who held her hand throughout the entire game. While it was extremely cute, I wasn't sure we were going to be able to reproduce these results (unless Ico fell from the sky, which was unlikely).

Also, she could magically open sealed doors. Well, it explained the implosion.

"So, who's this?" Fai asked, coming up behind me.

"Her name's Yorda," I told him with a nod. "We're going to need to find her a guide. But...um...first I think we should let her in, don't you?"

She was staring at the pieces of the door in interest, as if she didn't realize that she'd done that herself.

"Come on in," Fai offered her. She tilted her head and opened her mouth, but I couldn't understand a word she said. This was the first time the translation system had failed so far in the county...

I gently waved her in, trying to use the same gesture I'd seen in the game. She seemed surprised that I knew it, but tentatively stepped inside, looking around. Syaoran came downstairs, rubbing his eyes.

"Did the door blow up again?" he asked, his voice still a bit scratchy.

"This seems to be a thing now, huh?" I said dryly. "Yeah. We'll get it fixed. For now, we'll need to find a place for her." I tilted my head. "I don't want to sound...um...'incorrect' here, but do one of you guys want to take her hand and show her around? I think it might come across the wrong way to her if I do it. In her own franchise, she was pretty helpless on her own...it is endearing, though."

The two exchanged glances. "Syaoran-kun should do it, since they're the same age," Fai suggested.

The idea seemed to fluster him a little bit. "I-I'm not sure that's a good idea..."

"Well, we can't really explain this to her," I sighed. "The translation isn't working with her language."

"...That's weird." He seemed a little confused. Yorda was staring at us all with wide eyes. She tilted her head, blinking uncertainly. She glanced around and abruptly wandered off to go look at something.

"Is there anything from her world we might have to worry about?" Fai asked as Syaoran ran to go get her.

I thought for a moment and then frowned. "There were these shadow guard creatures in Ico...that's the game's name. They opened these portals in the floor and tried to drag her through, back to the castle."

"Portals, huh...? What would happen if they appeared, and a Wandie fell through it?"

I swallowed hard. "I think they'd be stuck in the world of Ico, to be honest. The shadow guards are only after Yorda, though, so we should be okay for the most part. Besides, those portals aren't like holes, more like...fictionally portrayed quicksand. They suck you in, but you can get yourself out if you hold onto something."

I walked out after Syaoran. He still seemed uncomfortable. "Sakura won't hold it against you," I assured him.

He frowned, but I wasn't quite sure if I had his concerns right of if I was completely missing the point. "What's her name again?" he asked with a sigh.

"Yorda. If you wave your hand, she should come, and if you hold it, she should follow."

"...Alright. Do we even have room for her here?"

"No, I don't think so. We can call Sheila, and she can arrange a permanent place of residence for her."

"Can we make Kurogane-san do it?" There was a grin of amusement on his face.

I laughed. "She'd probably run from him."

He smirked and nodded. "Alright. Yorda-san."

She didn't recognize the '-san', I assumed, but she did know her name. She turned around, tilted her head, and went after him. She began checking his head.

"What's she looking for?" he asked, trying to look rather casual about it. His discomfort showed right through, however.

"Horns, I think. Ico had them."

He slowly nodded and gently grabbed her wrist. She looked at his hand for a moment and followed him in without any complaints. "Why do you think the translation doesn't work with her?" he asked.

"We'll just have to talk to Mokona, I guess." I shrugged. "I'm not sure."

He sat down on the sofa, and she sat down with him as well. She looked around at the house, analyzing it. She seemed intrigued.

"Do we have a new guest?" I heard Sakura ask, coming in.

"Yeah. Can you please get the phone? I need to call Sheila."

"Sure."

Soundstorm came back down the stairs, laptop in hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just checking something." She sat down on the other side of Yorda and went onto the internet. A few minutes later, she'd pulled up Ico's picture. When Yorda saw it, she looked almost...lonely. I felt a pang of guilt.

"I wish we could tell her that we'd get her home," I whispered.

"We'll find a way," Syaoran assured me. "For now, though, she looks tired. So do you, actually."

"I think I've spent enough time sleeping. I'm going to go around town and do a few things, okay?"

Sakura came back with the phone.

"Thanks." I took it and dialled Sheila. It rung once or twice before she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sheila, this is Lilac. Another character's dropped in. Yorda from Ico. Mokona can't seem to translate her speech, and I don't think she can stay here."

Sheila sighed. "...She can stay with me and Magicyop, then. I don't want to have to call all the Wandies, nor do I want to make you go door to door or anything." She sounded completely and totally overloaded. I felt bad for her.

"Don't overdo it," I sighed. "Take a break if you have to."

Sheila sounded weary as she sighed. "I can't. We have too many things to fix..."

"Come on...I'm sure someone can help while you rest. I'm feeling better now, maybe I can—"

"No." She sighed. "You can still hurt yourself."

"What about Kurogane-san?"

"What are you volunteering me for?" he snapped. He was in a bad mood today. I ignored him.

"I think he'd kill me for asking."

"What about Fai-san? I'm sure he'd agree with me and help."

"I—"

"I agree!" Magicyop called from the other end. There was a long pause before she sighed.

"Would you ask them for me? You can walk Yorda over here. Take them with you, and I'll let them know what I need to do today."

"I can do that," I said, feeling relieved. I really worried about Sheila, though perhaps not as much as she worried about us. "I'll see you in about...ten minutes? Maybe more?"

"Alright. I'll see you then."

I hung up and walked over to Yorda and Syaoran. "We found a place for her. Sheila and Magicyop will take her in. She was also wondering if Fai-san and Kurogane-san can help them out around town, since Fai-san recovered exceptionally fast."

Fai seemed pleased with himself. "Sure, we can help. Right?" He looked over at Kurogane.

"I've been bored anyway," he decided, standing up. He turned to face me. "...You know, you don't have to make your fear so obvious."

"He's not going to maim you," Syaoran laughed.

"It's kind of hard to remember that," I said quietly. "Please stop glaring."

He snorted and walked by without another word.

"Oh! Mokona!" I called. It looked up and hopped over to me. "Your translation isn't working on Yorda. Do you know why...?"

It seemed a little startled, and then sad. "I-it's not...?" Its ears drooped slightly, and it hopped over to Yorda. It seemed a bit determined.

"Her name is Yorda?" it asked me. I nodded. Yorda let out a cheerful squeak at the sight of Mokona and scooped it up off the ground.

"It's so cute..."

My eyes widened.

"See? It works!" Mokona said, now relieved. "Nice to meet ya!"

She looked a little shocked, and then looked in my direction.

"...Do you understand me, Yorda?" I asked cautiously.

Her eyes grew a little wider, and she nodded very slowly. "Y-Yes..."

"Perhaps Mokona needs to be in close proximity with Yorda-san for it to work?" Syaoran suggested.

I shrugged. "I-I don't know. Her language was something of an issue in the game, too."

"How do you know me?" she whispered.

Soundstorm began to cover the basics once more, the way we did with every new character. She seemed brighter than I think most people gave her credit for, as she didn't complain or ask how, or even debate how she could be fictional. She just seemed to figure "Hey, why not?" even when Soundstorm mentioned the dragon. I think she even made some stuff up to see if Yorda would protest. (Because I certainly didn't remember a yeti trying to eat Roy Mustang, nor did I remember any of the characters bringing 'sexy back', though I must admit I did laugh when she said it. Really hard.) She didn't complain even once.

"Any questions?" Soundstorm said when she was done.

"Yes. What was your door made of?"

"Wood. Anything else?"

"No, not really."

"..."

No one was quite sure what to say, except Soundstorm, who was laughing at every single one of us.

"...Okay, off to Sheila's house, then. You're going to stay with her."

"What if she needs Mokona to be understood?" Sakura asked.

"Mokona will go with her," it offered. "Perhaps it can help!" It sounded eager. It was going to be a little quieter without our signature pork bun around, but chances were that Yorda needed to be understood.

"Only if you want to," I said. Mokona nodded.

"I-it might be nice to have around." Yorda seemed to like Mokona. Mokona hopped enthusiastically onto her shoulder.

"Hey, Mokona? Step back for a second," I asked. It nodded. It whispered something into her ear and jumped off. When it did, Yorda spoke. Again, we didn't understand her. It hopped back onto her shoulder.

"Testing..." she said again.

"I guess that settles it, then," I said with a slight nod. "Alright. Let's head to Sheila's. Kurogane-san? Fai-san? You might want to come, too. Sheila wanted to see you."

"Alright, let's go then," Fai said. I took my bow and arrow from the corner and headed out. I wasn't sure we'd need it, and I was hoping we wouldn't, but nowadays, anything could happen.

I was right, too. Not far from our house was a huge mob. A shadow guard mob. They were after Yorda, no doubt. She gasped and stepped back.

"These are our enemies?" Kurogane asked dully. "What a pain."

"Are you sure we can do this?" Fai asked uneasily. "There are a lot..."

"I don't know, but we have to try. We'll be responsible if Yorda doesn't get back to where she's supposed to be." I took my bow and arrow before thinking for a moment. These creatures took about three swings of a sword to the face to knock them down. I couldn't shoot arrows that fast. Then again, some of these things flew themselves...I aimed and fired an arrow, right into the backs of one of the creatures. They all spun around.

"Yorda! Back inside," I said quickly. She nodded and ran back in, still clutching Mokona tightly. Kurogane and Fai took the lead, and I unfurled my wings, taking to the sky, analyzing the crowd. It was a large group, I noted. I hoped that we could handle it. Not only were there those shadow guardians, though...there were two Erasers. I recalled Sheila warning us earlier that they had been scattered around the county after we'd captured the scientists. Perhaps that was one of her jobs around town, I noted. Take out the stray Erasers. How many of those were there...?

The shadow creatures lunged at Fai and Kurogane. A few that could fly came after me, too, though their main priority was Yorda, so they would constantly dive for the windows, attempting to get in and take her. Syaoran was inside to protect her if we missed a few, I reassured myself as I fired another arrow. I dived underneath one of them and drew another arrow. Rather than using the bow, I drove the point into the creature's back. It shrieked and dissipated, and I removed the arrow, nocking it into the bow and firing at one of the Erasers on the ground. I would take those out while Kurogane and Fai fought the guardians. They seemed to be having a pretty easy time. They must've been easy after what we'd already had to face. It would probably be easier if I were using a sword, or had claws, I noted.

I landed behind one of the Erasers and fired an arrow into its back. It let out a shrieking cry and turned around towards me. I noticed more shadow guardians emerging from portals behind Kurogane and Fai.

"Look out!" I yelled in warning. My lapse of concentration gave the Eraser the chance to elbow me into the wall. A startled choking sound escaped my throat as I hit the brick wall. It proceeded to try and smash my head through the window...but before it did, its eyes grew wide and it collapsed. A girl with green eyes and very light brown hair tied back in pigtails pulled a scythe right out of the creature's back.

"You alright?" she asked quickly, turning to face the shadow guardians. They were rising from the ground at incredible speeds.

"Yes, but I think we could use a hand," I answered. I knew this character...what was her name?

"I think we can do that."

The voice had come from her scythe.

That was it, I thought. Soul and Maka, the weapon and meister pair from Soul Eater. Starsight would be pleased.

"Thank you. I'm going to go take out that last Eraser. In exchange for helping us, I can tell you exactly how you two got here."

"We've been wondering." She nodded her thanks and took off to go and help Kurogane and Fai.

I spun around to face the Eraser. "I'm so sick and tired of you creatures," I hissed, using my wings to hover slightly off the ground.

The Eraser laughed confidently and lunged. "I'm not about to fall at the hands of Cupid."

...What had it just called me? Cupid?

I didn't answer to it just yet. I leapt backwards from its claws and picked up a rock beside me, launching it at its eye. It caught it in its teeth and surged forward again, slashing its claws at my face. I had honestly gotten so used to Eraser attacks that I caught its wrist, though it did manage to scratch open my nose before I stopped it.

"I'm a winged archer," I snapped at it. "There's a difference."

I turned a corner and snapped its shoulder out of its socket. This one wasn't as experienced at fighting as some of the others that I'd seen, I noted. It spun around and smashed a clawed fist into my stomach. It pressed its nose into my face. I probably should've been more concerned, but again, I was getting so used to this that my number one thought was that it needed a breath mint. And again, I was pretty sure I'd thought this before.

"Really? Like what?"

"...Adeat."

It snapped at my throat, but while it had taken its time to trash talk, I had pulled out my pactio card. Wow. My first kiss had saved my life. Twice. It ran its muzzle right into my sword, and it pulled back, howling in pain. I whispered the spell that retracted the sword and took off into the sky while it was distracted, scooping my bow off the ground. I nocked an arrow and yelled, quite likely, the weirdest thing I'd ever decided to say in battle:

"I wear pants!"

And with that, I launched the arrow through its neck. Wow, weirdest last words to hear before you die ever. I landed beside Fai.

"We know you do," he said. His eyes showed that he was desperately trying to work out the context for my statement. Maka was standing back to back with Kurogane, and you know what? It looked awesome in quite likely the weirdest way possible. Kurogane was standing back to back with a little girl who owned a talking scythe.

...You know what? Despite everything trying to kill us, I absolutely love this county. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Maka leapt into the air and brought the scythe down, instantly bringing down at least five of the shadow guardians, while Kurogane unleashed one of his attacks and incinerated perhaps another five or so. I put my bow onto my back and held out my sword.

"Wasn't that kiss worth it?" Fai asked.

"Sh-shut up. ...Yes."

Before he could answer, I attacked the nearest shadow guardian. I heard Fai laughing behind me as he began to take out the surrounding ones with his magic. I heard a loud crashing inside the house. "Hoo boy," I muttered.

Mokona leapt to the shattered door. "One of those things is trying to push Syaoran out an upstairs window."

"Thanks for the warning. Would you open them for me? Make sure they don't get Yorda. Is she safe?" I asked all of this while still in combat. These things were so much easier to defeat than Hork-Bajir.

"How did he get all the way upstairs, though?" I asked.

"There was a strange creature in your back yard. It was this...giant tank."

"A tank chased him upstairs...? ...Okay."

It hopped back inside, and a few minutes later, I saw a window open. I was amazed how casual we could be during dangerous situations nowadays.

For a moment, I thought about the tank. Seriously, that had to be the weirdest, most random thing I could possibly imagine. Until I thought a little harder. Naoto. Of course. Those tanks were a type of enemy from Persona. One of the shadows. (If Naoto from Persona 4 was in our world, did that mean there was possibly a Wandie that could leap through the television screen, just like in the game? Because that would be awesome.)

At that moment, there was a large bang. I unfurled my wings and caught Syaoran as he half fell, half leapt out the window. Maybe he knew I could catch him. He actually wasn't too badly hurt. He did seem a little irritated.

"A tank? Really?" he asked.

"Just...take it easy. If it's white, I think it's weak to lightning."

Yes. I was such a nerd that I remembered that, out of hundreds of enemies, this particular one was probably weak to lightning. That was just sad. (Then again, I had a minor obsession with Persona nowadays, but...really?) Syaoran, having obviously never played Persona 3 or 4, didn't know this, therefore didn't comment.

"I was worried I'd destroy something if I used Raitei Shôrai in the house."

"As long as it's not my computer, my iPod, or my sister, I won't complain. Speaking of which, where is Soundy?"

"She was looking after Yorda while I fought off the tank." He still seemed completely confused. "A tank?" he asked me again.

"...You were unconscious when Naoto joined the county, weren't you?" I realized. "It's a new type of enemy we have to look out for. There are a bunch of them. They're called shadows. They each have weaknesses. Just experiment."

He nodded. I asked, "Do you want to go back in through the window or the front door?"

"Door's probably safer."

I landed on the ground and walked back to the doorstep.

"Thanks." He walked back in, and an explosion sounded inside. I turned around to see Kurogane, Fai, Maka, and Soul taking out the remaining shadow guardians. I managed to take out one that was sneaking up on Maka before the battle was done.

"Phew. What a day," I sighed. "So, let's get going." I went to the door.

"It's safe, now, Yorda!" I called in. She quickly hurried outside, taking Mokona from the couch as she caught up.

"Who wants lunch?" I heard Soul ask, the scythe shifting into a human form.

Maka ignored him completely. "So, you said you'd tell us why we're here?"

I nodded and began to explain through the walk. I didn't remember that I was bleeding from the stomach until Maka pointed it out mid-explanation. I shrugged. "I'll ask Sheila for some bandages. I'm alive, right?" I smiled. "This has sort of happened a lot, so I'm used to it."

Kind of. My heart was still beating a little fast. I hadn't grown used to it so much as I'd grown used to covering my fear.

"Sounds rough."

"Well, we're slowly reaching a solution. One problem at a time." I managed to smile. "Perhaps Sheila would be willing to take you in too. Or maybe you can stay with Starry." I had a hard time remembering which characters were staying with whom.

We stopped at Sheila's doorstep and knocked. She opened the door...and quite nearly dropped the bottle of water in her hands. "What happened?"

"A minor inconvenience," Kurogane said dully.

"It's her stomach, not yours," Fai pointed out.

"Can we please come in?" I asked with a sigh. "By the way, Maka and Soul need a home now, too."

"..."

"What are we, homeless puppies?" Soul asked.

"Maka Chop." She pulled a book out of hammer space (beyond the fourth wall?) and hit him with it.

"...Come in, all of you," Sheila said. She turned to face Maka. "Nice book. Can I read it?"

"Sure."

Maka handed Sheila the book as we all walked inside. Kurogane growled at Soul to stop whining as they walked in, and Fai...well, he carried me, no matter how much I protested. I swear, he was just making fun of me now. He put me down on the couch while Sheila went to get first aid. Fai and Kurogane followed her as she began to explain what she needed done. I heard her mention the stray Erasers to Kurogane, who grinned one of those slasher smiles that freaked me out so much.

Maka sat down on the sofa across from me. "So, let me get this straight. We're fictional characters from a manga called Soul Eater, and there are people in your county who could say everything about us...?"

"Yes."

"...Does Soul ever become a Death Scythe?" she asked eagerly.

Before this story needs any more spoiler tags, Sheila came back downstairs with the first aid kit.

"Here you go. We should all clear out so she can apply the bandages."

They all left, and I wrapped the bandages around the stomach injury before lying down on the couch again. So much had been going on in this county lately...I couldn't even remember when this whole journey had begun...

Oh, right. I'd found the first characters on the street. And then my door had exploded. How could I forget?

Still, I wondered when they'd all be able to get home. I loved this county and I was enjoying my time, but living in constant danger got to be a bit...draining. It wasn't just that, though. I had problems taking the lives of the Erasers. It just...bothered me. It'd been giving me nightmares for a while now...

Well, I'd have a whole new appreciation for fiction after this, I swear.

A howl broke the silence. A loud, long howl.

We had been told what this meant.

The Yeerk was leaving Spirithunter's mind.

Sheila darted downstairs. "Was that...?"

"Yeah. Come on!" I stood up. Despite my injuries, I made a dart for the nearest tunnel entrance, which happened to be in the linen closet of all places. Sheila was close behind; the fictional characters all stayed back (except Kirby, one Patapon, and Amaterasu, who had all been down there all three days).

We weren't the first ones down, and we certainly weren't the last. A rather large crowd had already started gathering by the time we got there. Sheila was allowed ahead, however, because she was...well, she was Sheila. As for me, I stayed back. Spirithunter was curled on the ground, holding her head and letting out the occasional painful cry.

"Just hang in there, Spirithunter!" someone assured her. "We're here for you!"

Sheila put a hand on her shoulder. Amaterasu was watching, tense and on edge. Brightsky was holding Kirby, who looked like it wanted to tackle-glomp poor Spirithunter. The Patapon was up in the front with Sheila. Everyone all over the room was yelling encouragement for her, and we were all the way until the Yeerk finally came into view. (And then a few people screamed. Well, it was kind of gross...) The Patapon proceeded to do what we wanted it to: It drove its spear through the Yeerk as it fell to the floor. It twitched once...then twice...then fell still.

Spirithunter shivered, then let out a choked out sob. She then proceeded to get tackle-glomp-squished by the entire county.

"Spirit!"

"We're glad to have you back!"

"We missed you!"

She was still crying, but the pain seemed to be wearing off. Amaterasu nuzzled her affectionately. She rested her head against the goddess' while we all cheered. Sheila seemed at peace, and she hugged Spirithunter, too.

"Thank you all for waiting..." she choked out.

"Always!" I said. There were loud cheers of agreement.

"Thank you," she repeated. Amaterasu wagged her tail and let out a happy squeak, something very uncommon for...you know, a goddess.

We were on our way to repairing our school. We were on our way to bringing everyone home. We were all safe.

For now, it seemed, there was peace.

—

* The rhythm can be replicated by clapping out these dashes: - / - / - - / -