In another time, in another place. The ruins of a once great...a once okay city casually dressed the landscape. There were random indistinguishable organs and splattered blood here and there but there was total stillness. No life, no sound. Just the ambience of desolation. It looked like the aftermath of a terrible tornado.

The sound of a massive building crumbling echoed across the city for miles. Followed by the howling of lightning. On one side of the city, a middle school girl with short brown hair, a beige blazer, and a gray skirt heavily panted. It didn't help that her brown dress shoes didn't provide the necessary foot support for running. But just about every part of her body, even down her black socks, was covered in red and purple scraps and gashes.

She jogged around the corner of a long empty business building, she stopped and groaned. She fell to the wall on her left and squeezed her lower abdomen, but that did nothing to stop the bleeding or the pain. She writhed while sweat spilled down her forehead. Despite this, the sound of something being ripped from the ground caught her attention. She swung her head around and saw an unrooted tree flying in a straight line at some 40 kilometers per hour.

The middle school girl whipped her right arm diagonally and a thick line of electricity altered its course. The upper half of tree was lit and spun several times as it crashed into another building. Blue sparks crackled around her bangs. She noticed a dark spot on the ground about three feet in front of her. Her pupils dilated for a moment and she swung her head up.

*FWISH!* *FWISH!* *FWISH!*

Several cars that were dyed a teal light dropped from the sky like meteors. All around her, they crashed into the street and lit the scene in an orange display of fireworks. Yet by the time the smoke cleared, she was already just over 700 meters away, wrapped in the arms of a petite pigtailed girl who wore the same uniform. They both panted for a few seconds but the next moment, they disappeared from sight before a billboard destroyed the top of the building they previously stood.

The girls teleported from apartment to street light to evade their predator. However, as soon as they stepped on top of a telephone pole, it suddenly rose, which sent the two in tailspin towards the sidewalk three meters below. As short haired one hugged her friend tightly with her right arm, she swung her left at the brick apartment in front of her. Blue sparks protruded from it and dragged it. She put a foot out to cushion the impact and bent her leg as she magnetically stuck to the wall.

She noticed an even larger shadow casted over her so she looked up. The bright blue sky and the brilliant sun were not covered by clouds. Instead, several cars, fragmented buildings, restaurant signs, and any and every piece of the city scenery dangled several miles overhead them, covered in a teal hue. She could barely make it out, but in the center was a tiny body in crucifix like position that immited the same color.

It swung an arm and launched a red car at speed so fast, it caused a shockwave. The school girls teleported to another building in front of them, then several meters into the air at a diagonal angle. They teleported to another rooftop and continued to move forward in random directions. During one interval, Short Hair cupped a silver game token between her thumb and index finger. She aimed her arm at the sky and flicked the coin.

Sparks surrounded her person as the worthless currency was engulfed in an orange light and propelled and five times the speed of sound. It ripped through the air and penetrated an orange sports car next to the short teal figure. It turned to the side and let out a light gasp before being surrounded by a black and orange cloud. That first explosion set off a chain reaction as every other car that floated nearby also exploded. In a fantastic and loud displayed, the sky roared several times with a nearby skyscraper caught in the crossfire.

The dynamic duo continued their irregular path.

"Kuroko," said Short Hair. "We can't keep this up. We're both at the end of our ropes. We have to regroup with the others and work out some sort of strategy."

"That's a negative Sissy," Kuroko replied. "They have their own battles to attend to. And if you of all people ended up this badly injured, bringing that monster over to them will surely end badly for all of us. We'd be lucky if-"

A car crashed just a few meters away from Kuroko and her aly. The shockwave from the explosion undid their grip and the two spun through the air in opposite directions. Kuroko landed somewhere covered by a thick cloud of dust. Her tiny body slammed against the street face first, which raised her lower abdomen and legs and put her in a shape similar to a scorpion's stinger in attack mode. She slid about two feet against the scratchy street and her knees hit the ground with a crack.

Despite that, through sheer will power, she steadily pushed herself up and used a nearby street light to help herself stand. She opened her mouth to scream but stopped herself. Instead Kuroko turned around and imagined the direction where her friend was launched.

*FWISH!* *FWISH!* *FWISH!*

She teleported to where she visualized where her dear friend landed and her eyes desperately darted in their sockets. Then finally, about 180 meters away, she spotted those familiar brown bangs slowly pushing herself up. Kuroko teleported once but upon the second interval between her second jump, she hear the shattering of stone from afar. She looked over to her right and saw the top of some sort of business building blown to bits. In the next interval, she noticed a massive skyscraper with a pointy tip raised into the air. She shifted her focus back to her struggling friend.

(A smokescreen?!) she thought.

Anticipating what to come, her heartbeat raised tenfold. With every jump, she teleported to the upper limits of her range. And just when she was within reach of her dear friend, she suddenly stopped. Something seemingly pulled her to the ground and she fell on her cheek.

"What the…?" she whispered to herself. She got up on her right foot but her left leg seemed to be stuck in place. "...No...nonononononononono…" As she repeated her chant, she turned around as much as she didn't want. She wanted desperately for it to not be true but that was simply beyond her power. From the ankle down, her foot was stuck inside the street.

She found herself unable to think properly. She tugged on her leg with both arms as the tears poured down her cheeks. Her nails dug so deep into her slender thigh, it bled a little. Once more she looked back at her dear friend. And at the same time, she returned the glance.

"Sissy!" Kuroko yelled.

She did not reply to the nickname she had affectionately accepted. All she did was smile. It was the sort of wholesome smile you gave someone who's done you many a favor and always stood by your side. It was the sort of smile you gave a dear friend you'd never see again.

The skyscraper parted the dust clouds.

Words were not needed.

With her face alone, the short haired girl said…

"...Thank you. For everything."

With a lump in her throat, Kuroko futility reached out her right hand, and blocked her own vision.

"MISAKAAAAAAA-"

But despite her cries, her friend disappeared in gray fog of destruction.

The roar of the explosion lasted about thirty seconds, but to Kuroko Shirai, lasted an eternity. Her hand went limp and fell.

"...No...nononono." Her voice cracked as she she fell to her palms. Her head hung low in utter defeat. "Nonononononononoooooooooo..."

CONTINUED IN VOLUME 2

OUT NOW