Chapter 1

Story written by both myself and Akull-Vista

She remembered the town being firebombed.

"It's them…they must've found us!"

She remembered seeing people dying left and right…

"Is…it everyone alright?"

"It's ok, sweety, everything's gonna be just fine…"

She remembered…bodies…left and right…blood pooling everywhere…

"I…I need to get to her! Zi…Ziga…"

"A…Atlia…"

…

"AAAUUUUGH!"

A black haired, slightly built seemingly young woman shot out of bed, breathing heavily. She clutched her chest, looking around the room.

Just a dream…

She shook her head, putting her face in her hands.

The same dream…

The same nightmare…

All these years later…

Taking a moment to collect herself, she got out of bed, passing by a family photo and some sleeping pills on a desk.

Brushing her hair behind her ears after finishing up with a shower and getting dressed, she walked through the hallways of what seemed to be some sort of advanced business building, large glowing multicolored technolines along the walls which were totally important, we swear.

The walls were also multicolored, changing every so often as she walked through the hallway, rubbing her head as she tried to wake herself up-

"Owch!"

Before she bumped foreheads with another person.

"Sorry!" Both said, looking up, and seeing each other.

"..."

"..."

The 2 recognized each other…just as they recognized the looks on the other's faces.

The woman, dressed in a black business suit, white undershirt, pants, shoes, black hair tied up into a ponytail.

The woman she bumped into, a yellow skinned humanoid mantis woman with, fittingly, 4 arms, in a dark grey shirt, pants, and boots.

One thing they shared in common right then, as they recognized, were the bags under their eyes…and marks of dry tears on their faces.

A look of understanding passed between them before they started heading the way the human woman was walking.

"Was about to get you." The mantis woman said, adjusting her own shirt.

"Thanks. Just…yeah…" The human replied.

"...Just another day at home base, right?" The mantis asked, a small smile.

The human couldn't help but return it, the 2 giving each other a side hug as they walked.

"...we won't let it happen again…" The mantis told her quietly, crossing her lower arms.

"...I know…" The human replied, her right hand and the mantis's upper left brushing against each other, their pinkies intertwining.

"So….progress on Project: RyuMushi?" The mantis asked.

"All the candidates have been chosen, and last I checked, ranger tech and everything was in its final testings." The human answered.

"Good.." The manis said. "..."

"What's wrong, Zi?" The human asked.

"...we're coming up on the day we'll need all this." Zi told her. "...It just…doesn't feel real, you know?"

Her friend nodded. "...yeah…I know what you mean…but we have a whole organization of talented people here…we've got this…"

Zi nodded. "We got this."

"Ziga! Amy!" A voice called out.

The 2 looked, seeing a slightly shorter woman with black flowing hair, glasses, a white ruffled undershirt, black coat, skirt, and shoes, the woman stopping before them, resting with her hands on her knees, panting.

"...Something…wrong, Shizuka?" Amy asked.

"Oh…nothing…just tired…if anything, it's the opposite of wrong!" Shizuka told the 2 of them. "Tests are complete and I can say with confidence…everything's ready."

Amy and Ziga looked to each other before back to Shizuka.

"You're sure?" Amy asked.

"How many years have you known me now?" Shizuka smirked.

"..." The human and bug woman smiled.

"Well I know who I'm treating to breakfast today." Amy told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she and ZIga led her down the hallway.

"Wait, Amy, I have my own money-"

"And good work deserves compensation, now shush!"

Shizuka blushed, scratching the back of her head.

"You really didn't need to do this…" Shizuka chuckled nervously as she sat down in front of butter covered waffles at a table, Ziga and Amy on the other side with their own meals, pancakes and donuts.

"I wanted to." Amy told her with a smile. "A good boss has to pay her employees decently, after all."

"This is far more than decent…" Shizuka sweat dropped (Toku is live action anime, she can get away with this).

"Well shush, it's the least I can do." Amy told her. "Your work here's gonna save tons of lives."

Shizuka blushed. "I-I wouldn't say MY work, I was-"

"The designer, the planner, most of the time the builder, too." Ziga listed off with her upper right hand while eating her pancakes with her left.

Shizuka's cheeks turned pinker.

"Anyways, it's a good thing they are ready…because we're coming up on that day." Amy told her.

Shizuka nodded. "Yeah. Almost forgot that, heheh…was a bit busy…"

"And your kind of dedication to your work is admirable, valuable, but also probably unhealthy." Ziga told her. "Hence your breakfast."

"Heheh…so…the dimensional barrier is weakening?"

Amy nodded. "In one year's time…the portal'll open, and they'll be able to come through."

"..."

"You ok?"

"Just…been here for years, and it's…all a bit much…interdimensional organization fighting and otherdimensional empire…"

"True…but this world and ours have always been a bit…strange, so to speak."

"True…So…now that everything's ready, there is uh…something on my mind…" Shizuka said.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"...are you sure about these candidates?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've looked through their files…interestingly…they all seem to share something with the two of you."

Amy and Ziga looked to each other before turning back to Shizuka.

"And that is?" Amy asked.

"Each of them seems to have a…well, not a clean or pleasant past, so to speak."

"...They were chosen for more than just sympathy, Shizuka. I chose them because, like with you, like with a good portion of people here, I see potential. Potential to move beyond their past and do greater things."

"And red?"

"...She's done bad things, but they were never of her own volition. I think…if anyone needs this, it's her."

Shizuka looked into Amy's eyes for a bit…before leaning back, taking a bite of her waffles. "Very well-...this is very good."

Amy brightened up. "You can thank some certain bakers for that."

"Wafil and Capan?" Shizuka asked, eyes widening.

"Yep!"

"...you're the best boss ever, I take back every bad or negative thought or thing I've said about you and I will worship you as the new messiah."

…

All 3 of them laughed.

Amy and Ziga looked to their own plates.

"Looks like we're done." Amy said, wiping her hands with a napkin.

"Indeed." Ziga agreed, reaching and grabbing her own plate, reaching for Amy's.

"No, I'll take em both-" Amy told her, reaching for Ziga's plate.

"You don't have to bother, I will-"

"You've had a rough night, I can handle this-"

"So have you, I can handle this-"

As the 2 women started arguing, Shizuka rested her cheek on her hand, deadpan expression on her face as she rolled her eyes, taking another bite of her waffles.

Stupid stupid stupid! Amy silently berated herself as she walked through the hallways alongside Ziga.

Stupid stupid stupid! Ziga groaned to herself, putting her face in her upper hands.

The 2 tried several times to look at each other, to say something…only to fail miserably.

Amy rubbed her arm, looking away, Ziga crossing both sets of arms, looking away.

Just when they were about to speak, they heard a voice.

"Amy. Ziga."

The 2 turned around, seeing Shizuka, now carrying a tablet.

"What? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" Amy asked her, noticing Shizuka's pale expression.

"You mentioned before…to us…how there's 1 more year till the portal opens?" Shizuka asked.

A wave of unease went through Amy and Ziga.

"...why?"

"...Change 1 year….to 1 week."

Amy and Ziga looked to each other in shock.

"...are you sure?" Amy asked her.

Shizuka nodded, adjusting her glasses, showing her tablet, the screen showing various bits of data.

"We've been monitoring the place where the seal was made…it's almost broken."

"...but how…" Amy muttered.

"...then we have no time to waste…" Ziga said.

Amy recomposed herself, getting a serious expression. "Right."

The 3 stood around a table in a room, Shizuka laying down a briefcase before opening it, revealing 5 silver rectangular-oval-ish devices with a black screen on them and a slot for something rectangular. Next to each was a rectangular SD Card/Data Key-like object with images of what appeared to be…hybrids of dragons and insects.

"Time to bring them in…" Amy said.

In a quarry, somewhere…there was nothing…

Nothing but an ocean nearby, rocky formations scattered everywhere, a shore leading into the ocean…

And a crack in reality was there. Bright and glowing…slowly spreading…

And in it…if one looked closely enough…they could see 8 red eyes through there.

END