When Kagami woke up in her room at the inn the next day, she found fresh clothes waiting for her. There was a light blue shirt - wool, she thought, from the sheep that they raised here, but the fabric was light and comfortable. Also a pair of jeans. Obviously there were no tags on them, these had been handmade in the Calla. It was a thoughtful gesture for them to give her these, and she'd been wanting to change into something fresh after being on the move for so long.

After changing into them, she found they fit her pretty well. The people in this village were skilled at this kind of thing, and they obviously had made everything they owned by hand. Living in urban Japan for so long, Kagami realized she'd never seen this many handmade products before. There really did seem to be something special about it.

She stood there silently for a while, wondering what was in store for today. Noticing her hair ribbons on the dresser, she considered tying up her hair... It was easy enough in this world. If she got back home and it really had turned into some sort of anime, her dexterity would take a hit. Konata had no problem with it, but Kagami's coordination just got so off. One good thing about this world, as strange everything else was - her hair wasn't purple.

Eventually Kagami decided she was just going to skip that for today. She actually was starting to think she looked more grown-up with her hair straight. Once she moved in at college, she was going to start wearing it like that every day. If she ever got there.

College. That sounded good right about now. She was in the mood to sit through a boring class and do homework reports. But she was practicing gunfighting instead of law now... How the hell had that happened?

There was a knock at the door. "Kagami, are you up yet?" She recognized Rei's voice. "Rise and shine!"

"Oh, um... Yeah. I'm up," she called. She went over and opened the door.

Rei was fully dressed, and Kagami noticed she had on her belt with the inactive beam katana hooked on to it. "We need to get ready, and quick. Andy said the Wolves are already on their way."

"Andy...?" Kagami had to think it over for a minute. She was barely awake and her thoughts were scrambled. "How did he know about this? How long do we have, anyway?"

"Not long. Come on, get your stuff ready. This is what you've been training for, isn't it?"

Sadly, Kagami realized, it was. She didn't have to say anything.

Turning around, she picked up her bag sitting there on the floor against the dresser. Nothing But Strikes At Mid-World Lanes, it read. Nothing but strikes... Let's hope so, she thought. She checked the cylinders of both revolvers in an almost automatic motion that she'd developed quickly over the past few days, and slipped in three more shots into one of them. It always felt better to keep them fully loaded... It wasn't paranoid if you really were in danger, right?

"Sure. Let's head out. So where's our position?" she said, closing the bag as she left the room. Her voice was flat, resigned.

"We'll be a ways out from the edge of town. We're not letting anyone near the town's borders," Rei said. She was trying to sound serious, but couldn't keep a grin off her face. "This is going to be so fun, it's just like me and Konata used to do together!"

"So it is. At least you're feeling good about this."

"You can just cover us from the back. You've got ranged weapons, anyway. Me and Joshua'll take the front lines."

I'm really going to do this, Kagami told herself yet again. If she had any sense, she'd be turning around right now. Leave it to the experts, this wasn't her place. But she wasn't. Do I even care what happens anymore?

Chapter 35

Beyond Our Reach, Out of Control

This kind of clean, fresh outdoor smell was something Konata was familiar with stepping into. The first time that she'd left Lucky Star to go into the mountains from Castlevania, every time she'd left the dorms in Iwatodai on a boring night to train in the open fields from that old MMO game... The thick smell of the train smoke vanished instantly and was replaced with a pure smell of a time before trains and cars were common. It was a good feeling.

She frowned. "I don't see anyone around here..."

They were in a forest somewhere. Thick tree trunks were sticking up out of some low-lying bushes. They weren't very thick, but it was hard to see where the exit was. The sun was shining down through the branches up ahead, and the light was pretty warm. Instinctively she tried to deduce what time of year it might be, and decided on late spring, maybe summer. The heat wasn't too intense. Maybe it was June.

One by one, she heard the others arrive behind her. It was quiet enough to hear faint footsteps on the grass.

Junpei let out a sigh as he looked around. "No good, then?"

"I tried..." Konata replied. How was she supposed to find anyone, any of them at all, if even total concentration didn't help her? She thought she had the perfect image of her in her mind, imagining the pure essence of who Haruhi was... "How long is this going to keep happening?"

"It's possible that Suzumiya may be elsewhere in this world. I'm feeling a faint sense..." Koizumi paused. "I can't be sure if that's really her. It's a very weak feeling."

Konata turned to look at each of them. She could see slight differences in their appearances from how they'd looked in the last world. The style of the eyes, the shapes of the hair. Maybe if she saw somebody who lived in this world she'd be able to place it, but for now nothing rang any bells.

"There's a road over there," Jason said. "Same thing we usually do, then?"

Of course. When there was a path, you followed it. Because it felt good to have some sense of direction. Konata didn't believe Haruhi was really here, because if she had managed to take them to the right place they'd probably end up standing right in front of her. Same went for Kagami or the others. They'd stepped out of the door into a quiet, peaceful, and admittedly dull forest, and that meant it was probably another wrong turn. How was she supposed to get in control of this power, anyway? It was impossible.

"Yeah. We'll follow it," Konata said. She would have been lying if she said she wasn't interested to find out where it led.

"How many more times do you think this is going to happen?" Junpei said. "It feels like forever since we were at school. I didn't think I was ever going to say this, but... I kind of want to go back, even if Mitsuru-senpai yells at us. After all this, it doesn't seem so bad."

"Without the Talismans working, there's no telling when you'll be able to go back to that world," Jason said. "Of course, there's always a very slight chance that we'd meet somebody from Eclipse that would help us out. There's still a few other people I know who would understand the situation if I explained it. If we can find them, that is... And the chances aren't good."

"Seems like a good plan," Koizumi said. "If they gave you one of those Talismans, you'd be able to use it even though you're no longer authorized by your organization, correct?"

"If we worked fast so that we weren't caught, yeah," Jason agreed. "There's no way to figure out where Haruhi and the others are, but we'd at least be able to go back to the Persona world for Junpei, and go back to Lucky Star just to explain what's going on - "

"It's a much more reliable way to get around than what I'm doing, that's for sure," Konata said. "I don't even know if - "

She stopped walking, and stared straight ahead.

"What?" Jason said, coming up behind her. "Is something wrong?"

"Up ahead. There's a building there," Konata said.

It was an old-fashioned Japanese building - several, in fact. The slanting blue-tiled roofs were all identical, as were the almost featureless white walls. Screens were on all the windows. There was a high wall around about three buildings, and there were enough trees in there to make it look like a slightly thinned-out section of the forest. And it all seemed somehow familiar...

"Interesting. Do you suppose we've entered the past? Or perhaps just an isolated area..." Koizumi said. "Do you suppose we should go in, or should we keep our low profile?"

Konata ignored him, trying to place the building in her memory. She closed her eyes, trying to recall it.

"Konata? You okay there?" Junpei said.

She replied with two words: "Rurouni Kenshin."

They had arrived in another city, but this one was much more familiar. Miyuki didn't think she'd ever been here before, but it was obviously Japanese judging by the signs on the buildings. Nobody was out on the streets this late at night, but a few lights were still on. This place was inhabited. It might even be normal. It sure was quiet, at least, but in a comforting way.

"Hm. I don't believe it," Spike said. "This doesn't look so bad. I don't quite think we made it back to your world, Miyuki, but it's a step up from Lud, that's for sure. We've averted a potential apocalypse and outwitted a loony monorail, what do you think this place has for us?"

"Hopefully nothing like that..." Miyuki said. "Maybe there's nothing here. Maybe it's just a normal world..."

"I cannot detect Suzumiya's presence in this universe," Nagato said.

Spike stretched his arms lazily and stared over at her. "Does it matter? Let's take it easy for a bit."

Miyuki liked that idea. If they'd landed somewhere safe, she would like to rest for a while before moving on. Of course, Negi's world had appeared safe at first glance, but she had a good feeling about this one. And Nagato wasn't alerting them to anything dangerous, just the fact that this world might not be what they were looking for, like the others had been.

"Very well," Alucard said. He'd taken off his goggles, and the red tint in his eyes could be seen more clearly. It was just as disquieting as those huge empty circles had been, but Miyuki at least knew she could trust him. They'd gotten through that last ordeal together. He took a look around, breathing in the cool night air. "Perhaps we should find a place to stay?"

"Yes... I agree," Miyuki said idly.

True, it was supposed to be night here, but it felt like the late afternoon. Of course, before they'd been in that last world for just barely two days they'd been in Negi-sensei's world, and the time there had been... She couldn't even remember. It was like jet lag, only worse. She couldn't even determine how many hours her internal clock was off by.

A car drove past with its brights on. It was the only one on the road. Whoever was driving probably didn't have a clue where the four people standing on the sidewalk had just come from. At a passing glance, nothing suggested anything truly odd about them. And they definitely weren't going to say anything about Blaine, or Topeka, or anything. It all sounded insane. They were just going to act like normal people... This must have been what it was like for Konata every day, Miyuki realized. Every single day from the beginning of their second year of school to the night she was murdered.

"We got any money?" Spike said all of a sudden, the thought just occuring to him. "If anywhere's open this late, I'm starving. They'd accept yen here, by the looks of it."

Miyuki remembered how much she was starving as well. "I don't have any with me... I mean, it's only pocket change, I wasn't..." She paused. She was thinking about several days ago, when she'd brought just enough money to buy lunch with Kagami and Tsukasa. That had been the last time she'd been home.

"I will be able to provide funds as you need them," Nagato said.

"Good, good..." Spike muttered. "We'll see if there's anywhere that's open. I hope they serve breakfast... but on second thought, I'm not feeling picky right now."

They wandered the streets, not engaging in much more conversation. A few hours later there was a spectacular view of the sunrise coming up over a wide river that cut through the center of town. It was an animated effect, of course. This was one of those strange worlds that took on that appearance of being hand-drawn. Still, the sight was just as impressive and beautiful as if it had been real. For just a moment, the entire world seemed to turn crimson.

They were assembled on one of the roads leading out of Calla Bryn Stugis, a long winding path that stretched into the distance. The plains were empty for as far as anyone could see, which seemed to be several miles. A few trees were scattered around, and behind them were some wheat fields.

"They'll be coming from this direction," Joshua said. "That's what Andy said, anyway."

"Right..." Kagami said. "And the kids back in the town?"

"They've been hidden. Mikuru's back there, too." Joshua stretched his arms. He took out his sword, and swung it around a few times as a warm up. "If we don't succeed here, then the Wolves are likely to just get angry, and it's safe to say they'll take it out on everyone they can find in there."

"And if we don't succeed here, it'll mean we're dead," Kagami said softly.

"Hey, but that's not going to happen, now is it?" Rei activated her beam katana. The blade glowed a light blue, shooting out from the metal handle almost an entire meter. "We'll take care of them."

"Right..." Surprisingly, Kagami found she wasn't as scared as she should have been. It actually felt like maybe she'd be able to do this. She checked both the guns, each loaded with six shots. All of which would need to make their mark. Potentially, a single well-aimed gunshot could knock off those radar dishes and completely incapacitate an enemy. In those terms, it didn't sound so hard.

Rei started to say something, but Joshua put up a hand. "Quiet, you hear that?"

There were hoofbeats in the distance. It was a low rumble, not like the horses back in town, pulling carts at a slow pace, but of many horses all charging at a full gallop.

"How many are there supposed to be?" Kagami said. Now they were coming into view, just a vague gray mass in the distance.

"Nobody's ever counted, as far as I've heard," Joshua said. "Shouldn't be too many. Are you going to take cover anywhere?"

Kagami glanced around. She did have a few options. There were trenches alongside the road, there were a few small trees... no, those wouldn't work. Or she could just count on Rei and Joshua to do a really good job and she'd just pick off whatever got through them. Yeah, right. She chose the trench on her left, getting into a position to aim. She set down the bag on the ground, open with all the remaining ammo in easy reach.

They were close enough now to distinguish all the identical gray horses and emerald cloaks of the riders.

"Aim for the tops of the cloaks," Joshua said. He stood almost completely still, different from his usual laid-back demeanor. Rei seemed suddenly more serious as well. These people... You could never guess what they were really capable of, could you?

She heard the sound of Rei's beam katana activating, and checked her guns again. They were loaded, as she already knew they would be, but she had to see all twelve of those rounds to be sure. Even so, her mind was surprisingly clear. The next sound she heard was metal striking metal, and a body hitting the packed dirt of the path. Then things seemed to slow down.

It was one of the Wolves - Joshua had knocked it down, and now he and Rei were fighting the next ones as they came. They kept on knocking them down off the horses, the two of them against countless enemies. It was like watching a video game in person. They seemed to be moving down the road, not staying in that one position. It seemed like some of them were just trying to break through while the others took care of the unexpected resistance.

If you had asked Kagami what her exact emotions were when she raised the gun - whether it was fear, confidence, anger, pure adrenaline - she wouldn't have been able to tell you. The shots rang out, one after another, six in all. Four of the green-cloaked enemies fell. Was it more than she'd expected? Maybe. She hadn't been sure what to expect, it just happened.

Rei had her blade locked with one of the Wolves now. Its face was masked, and showed a permanent scowl. Both weapons were pure light, and sparks were flying out where they met. Kagami took the gun in her right hand, her less dominant side, and had to aim it more carefully towards the top of his hood. As the cloth was torn off, she could see the tiny radar dish fall to the ground and get trampled. The figure dropped as if dead.

"Nice one," Rei said, but didn't stop even for a moment, taking down another one as soon as the first had fallen.

The flow of time was odd. Joshua was moving in slow motion at the same time as he moved faster than any regular person could possibly manage. She tore her eyes away to focus on the others, but there was some kind of odd ringing in her ears...

Joshua turned towards it, seemed to say something, maybe "Watch out!" or something along those lines.

Kagami rolled to the side just moments before the gold blur could have hit her, and it buried itself somewhere in the ground behind her. Her heart was pounding. And her weapons were empty. She looked around frantically for her bag, it had been right there, what had happened to it?

"How many of you are there? Seriously!" Rei's voice just had mild annoyance in it. She didn't even sound short of breath. Good, it wasn't too serious up there.

Moving as quickly and silently as possible, Kagami grabbed one of the black boxes of ammunition in her bag, fumbling around and nearly spilling all the rounds in the grass. She shoved them into the cylinders awkwardly, and as she did so heard another high-pitched ringing... Not another one...

It was cut off - literally. Joshua swung his sword and caught the small metallic object in midflight.

"You okay there? Come on, we could use a little support - " Out of the corner of her vision, Kagami saw him leap high into the air for a downward strike into one of the masked heads. It smashed it directly down the middle.

She was ready. They'd been pushed several meters down the path, but still nothing had broken through into the town. If even one of the Wolves made it past, what would happen? Could the townspeople even fight one of these things? Sure, Kagami could, Hiiragi Kagami, future law student from Tokyo, Japan, but she had some sort of unnatural affinity for gunfighting that she was seriously starting to wonder about.

Firing with both guns simultaneously now, she unloaded twelve shots and saw several green cloaks fall forward as the bullets struck them directly on the top of the head.

A light blue blur of Rei's sword flashed a few more times, and then it got unnaturally quiet.

It couldn't have taken more than five minutes, even though it felt like so long. All that preparation, all the anxiety of the past few days, and it all came down to five minutes. Kagami noticed she'd been holding her breath, and the sound of herself exhaling seemed loud in the silence.

A weak plume of smoke was rising a few meters away, from that thing that had been thrown at her earlier. She stood up slowly, stepped over the edge of the ditch to see what it was.

Rei called after her. "Hey, Kagami, you're okay, right? You were great, are you sure you've never used guns before?" Kagami ignored her.

She reached down for the object, pulling her fingers away at first, expecting heat. Surprisingly, it was cooled off fairly quickly. It wasn't metal either. It felt soft and rubbery, and it gave a little when her fingers closed around it. She turned it over and found an inscription.

"Huh? This is..." She stared at it. "It's some kind of joke, isn't it?"

"What is?" Rei said, coming over to see. Joshua stayed behind, counting the bodies.

"Sixty-one. Seemed like a lot more," he said.

"This... It's not for real. It's gotta be some kind of joke," Kagami repeated. She did give a nervous laugh, from the absurdity of it all.

On the strange, golden object, this label was stamped:

"SNEETCH"

HARRY POTTER MODEL

Serial # 465-11-AA HPJKR

CAUTION

EXPLOSIVE

"I don't think this thing was meant to hold four people - " Kyon tried to say.

"Of course not," Kamina said. He was in the center, gripping the controls with a fierce expression on his face. All around them, screens were displaying the street around them. "Lagann is a basic gunmen, single pilot. But you don't have any of your own, so what am I supposed to do?"

"I hate to admit this to myself, but our lives are in your hands right now," Dante said. "So please, don't screw this up by being your usual self. Is that too much to ask?"

"Not at all."

The dark purple mechs were advancing on them. Their weapons looked like regular machine guns like a person would wield, but many times the size. Who were they attacking? They looked like huge suits of armor, and something in the details around what was supposed to be the face came across as threatening. There were two of them, and they had their weapons raised.

"W-what do we do?" Tsukasa said. She was pressing herself up against the wall of the cockpit, making herself as small as possible. It was best not to be in Kamina's way while he was trying to operate it. "Are we going to - "

"Don't make them mad if there's a way to avoid it," Kyon insisted. "What kind of weapons do we have?"

Kamina's answer was simple, and his grin widened a little as he said one single word: "Drills."

"That's it...?"

They say that a drill is like an ideal for a guy...

The view in front of them now showed both of the enemy units directly in front of them, aiming their guns but remaining still. Tsukasa hadn't even noticed when they'd approached. But now they weren't even moving. It went on for a few minutes.

"What the hell are they waiting for..." Kamina muttered.

"Good, at least you're not attacking them straight out," Kyon said. He shifted a little, trying to find comfortable room in the cramped space. "What are they doing, though?"

A voice spoke out loud, with an echolike quality that you heard on a megaphone or something. "Unidentified Knightmare frame. Please identify your name and affiliation."

"What does he mean by 'nightmare?'" Tsukasa said quietly.

Kamina used one of the controls to speak out loud. "We don't know what the hell you're talking about! Get out of our way!" He turned back to speak to the others. "Once I see an opening, we're going for it, full speed."

"What?" Dante said. "You're outnumbered here. And frankly, I don't trust you in a fight where you're outnumbered. You're not the kind who can handle it."

"There's a thing we used to say back in my world. 'Kick reason to the curb and go beyond the impossible.'" Kamina surveyed the space in front of them calmly. "Ready or not, here we come."

The Lagann dashed into action - not gliding around like the others, it actually ran around using its legs. That made the ride extremely rough. Tsukasa braced herself against the sides, even though they were getting tossed around like clothes in a washing machine.

"Oh - sorry!" she said, as she was thrown aside into Kyon.

"Are we sure - this is actually - a better idea - than just getting out - on foot?" he said.

"It's the best I could do with short notice. Hang on." Kamina seemed relatively comfortable, sitting in the pilot's chair. It was becoming brutally obvious that it was designed for only one person.

Gunfire had started again. Closer than before, because it was obviously coming from those two they had left behind, and it was directed towards them. It was hard to tell if the increased jittering was from the movement of the robot or if they were getting hit.

"We're gonna need to pick up the pace..." Kamina said. The view on the screen in front of him was showing an intersection, and against Dante's attempts at protest he accelerated around the corner, behind a large white building.

"There's more up ahead," Dante observed. His voice was expressionless. He'd given up.

Sure enough, there was a formation of those purple mechs up ahead. They saw the bright red machine with its huge sunglasses and toothy grin - how could you miss it? - and quickly barricaded the road. The other two would catch up from behind in a matter of seconds, and they'd be cornered. Tsukasa didn't think of all this, though, because her attention was drawn to the bodies lying in the street.

"Th-they..." she tried to get it out. "They were... shooting innocent people here? Why would they..."

"Must be what all those numbers were about..." Kyon said. His eyes were fixed on them as well. "What did you say they were? Mostly for today, but some were for the next day. Any for two days from now?"

Tsukasa didn't want to remember that there had been a fairly wide range of numbers. Yes, most of them were today. She'd seen some as high as seven, but only on one or two occasions. Mostly they cut it off... It would be in two days, yes. They were exterminating them...

Kamina's arms were trembling as he gripped the controls. "Those bastards..."

"You're not going to do something crazy, are you?" Dante said.

Another voice, sounding like it was coming out of a megaphone. "Open your communication channels! Are you Japanese?" There were about seven of those machine guns all directed at them.

"I don't like the way he said that," Kyon said. "Shit, what are we supposed to - "

The Gurren lurched to the side, and a flash of silver appeared in front. It all happened too fast to distinguish one blurred shape from another - the high-pitched whirr of the drill, like a bigger version of what the dentist would use, and the bright orange explosions as Kamina targeted and destroyed each of the mechs faster than they could react.

The cockpit jittered as if something was hitting them - had they been shot at? Either way, they hadn't sustained heavy damage... Tsukasa readjusted herself against the wall. Once again, this was more than she could handle.

Smoking rubble was all that was left in the street, along with the bodies of the people who had been killed. Kamina surveyed it all, still enraged. "Anyone else want to come after us? I can take you on!"

Dante could only manage one word. "Shit..."

"Just..." Kyon held up a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. "Just get us out of here. Now."

Kamina swung the Gurren around, checking all directions, and headed further down the street. The shaking was almost getting tolerable now. Tsukasa was more worried about running into more enemies. Bigger ones. She knew a little bit from what Konata used to talk about with her shows, and there were always bigger robots out there.

At one point they saw three or four of those identical purple ones cross the street in front of them, but they slid past without taking notice of them.

More scattered piles of dead bodies.

"What the hell are we doing in the middle of this..." Kyon said. "It's just insane, why didn't we get out sooner?"

"Damn it, which way is out?" Kamina said. "This city's so confusing!"

"That's the one! Stay where you are!" The voice came from behind, and they didn't even need to look to know it was another of the enemies. Whatever their allegiance was, whether this was the Japanese military from this world, or the Brittanians, didn't matter.

Kamina set them off running again. He made sharp turns at random, zigzagging through the metropolis trying to get out.

"Why don't you just go straight? We could be going in circles! I can't even keep track!" Kyon said.

"No, if they were able to predict where we were going like that, we'd just get cornered..." Dante said. "At least, I think that's what your logic is."

Kyon suddenly yelled out. "Stop! Goddamnit, slow down, at least! I thought I saw..."

Everything was such a blur, Tsukasa wondered what he possibly could have seen. Kamina made an abrupt stop and whirled them around in a sharp one-eighty that threw them to the right side of the cockpit.

"Who is it? Their leader?" Kamina said, pivoting the Gurren frantically trying to get it in view.

"No. Thank God, no. It's..." Kyon was looking around for whatever he'd just seen.

Dante noticed it first. "Holy shit, it's the door. It's just sitting there."

It was on the sidewalk in front of a building. The store behind it had been riddled with massive bullet holes, the front windows shattered. It was made out of the same dark wood as the others, looking out of place in the sleek futuristic aesthetic of the Tokyo settlement.

The only problem seemed to be actually getting through. As uncomfortable as it was, getting out of the Gurren seemed like a bad idea. And those guys were bound to catch up any minute now...

"How do we get out of this? It won't fit through the door..." Tsukasa said. It looked so small in front of them, several meters below their current eye level.

"Well, I think your tactic from last time worked pretty well. Once we hit the ground, you make a run for it as fast as you can," Kamina said. "Got it?"

"Hit the ground? Why did you put it like - " Kyon's suspicions were confirmed as Kamina placed his hand on the wall of the cockpit in front of him and the entire thing vanished in a flash of light. They plummeted the rest of the way to the ground.

It all happened so fast it was hard to tell what was going on - apparently, the enemy forces had arrived just in time to see their target vanish and its four passengers fall to the ground. Tsukasa wondered if her legs were broken, but they could still move. A little. She heard someone's voice, she thought it was Dante but couldn't be sure - "Get up! Move!" and someone pulled her from behind. A few long seconds later, the city disappeared and she was aware of an earthy smell and thick plant life.

Kagami was exhausted as they arrived back in the village. Already the events of the day seemed like they couldn't have happened. They were even less real than Silent Hill had been. And the Harry Potter reference? No. Just no. Where had that even come from?

"Mikuru stayed at the inn, I think a lot of families were taking shelter there. We should start out there," Joshua said.

"Fine. We'll get Mikuru, maybe have some lunch, then I want to get out of here. I'm done with this," Kagami said.

Rei smiled. "You were done with this from the beginning, weren't you? Lighten up. You did a good job out there. And you've still got some ammo left?"

"Yeah. Plenty."

"Good."

"I'm never doing that again... It's not even legal to own a gun in Japan. There's no way I should be able to..." Her voice trailed off. "Nevermind."

The village looked empty, totally quiet, as the plan had been. If the Wolves had been able to make it this far, they might not have found anyone... Kagami knew how much bullshit that idea was, though. Those things hadn't been human, they were going to stop at nothing at their goal. Take one child from each pair of twins, of which there were plenty in the Calla... And what did they plan to do once they had taken them away? It didn't matter, really. The idea just made her sick. Sure, maybe she was feeling a little proud she'd been able to help stop them...

"Kagami...?" The voice coming from behind was feeble, but still audible in the stillness. "All of you... You're okay..."

Mikuru ran towards them at full speed, tears in her eyes. For some reason Kagami couldn't help but fear the worst when she saw them.

"Mikuru... What happened to the others? Is everyone okay? What happened?"

"Nothing, nothing happened... I saw you come back and I knew it must be okay, you really got rid of those things... I'm so glad you didn't get..."

"Those guys were pushovers. We had nothing to worry about," Rei said.

Really, all this place had needed were some people to come in and defend them. That wasn't available everywhere, especially an isolated place like this. They had needed someone to come in from outside and help them, otherwise the Wolves would have...

"Kagami? Are you okay?" Mikuru said.

"Oh, man. You should've seen her out there. Where did you learn to shoot like that?" Rei said.

"I don't know. Let's just get out of here, alright? We're done. We need to get moving," Kagami insisted.

"Someone's in a hurry. Don't you at least want to stop and have some lunch before we hit the road again?" Joshua said. "You've gotta love the feeling you get after finishing a job. You just want to kick back for a bit, take it easy. I'm sure we'll have another chance for some action before long. I'd put my money on that."

"We should go back to the inn..." Mikuru said. She turned her head for a moment, looking back in the direction she'd come from. "They weren't sure if it was over yet... It was so quick..."

Kagami disagreed, it had felt like she'd been out there for hours. And this whole quest thing Konata had sent them on seemed to have stretched out for years. Regular everyday life was beginning to seem like the fantasy world.

"Sure. We'll clear everything up, but then we really need to concentrate on getting out of this universe," Kagami said. "I'm just getting... tired. I don't know what I want right now."

They followed Mikuru back through the empty storefronts, the town meeting hall, all the way to the edge of town where Traveler's Rest stood waiting. But in front of it, standing there as real as anything else, was a solid wood door. It seemed to stare back at them passively, challenging them to approach it. And of course, Kagami did.

"That wasn't there before," Mikuru said. "When I left, there wasn't anything there."

"There is now," Kagami said. She held the doorknob, taking a final deep breath. "And it's about time. I may regret this later, but - "

She opened it, stepping through. She heard Joshua yell at her, telling her to wait, but she acted as if she hadn't heard. It seemed like the door could be gone as soon as it had appeared, and she wasn't going to pass it by. This time she kept her eyes open as she went into the blackness, welcoming whatever it had to offer. And she saw it change. Her hair, hanging down over one shoulder, changed from hundreds of individual strands of dark brown into a single, spiky lavender shape like a character from one of Konata's manga.