NOTE: Welcome back to a new chapter. Hopefully, you guys enjoy this one as well and the Persona elements I'm sure you've been waiting to see.
Enjoy and Review!
Chapter 53: Regrets (2)
Yukiko stared at her phone. The heiress' fingers were hovering over Yu's phone number, something she found to be a repeated behavior since last year. He was such a strong pillar for her to rely on whenever the situation seemed hopeless. Their ex-leader always held a strong front and never seemed to fear or worry about anything. But that was ignorant thinking, because he was just as human as the rest of them. Only two of the team members have ever seen Yu break down from his emotions.
One was herself, who had spent a week with him after the incident with Nanako and his uncle. The ex-leader was such a wreck that she had to convince him to get up for school or else he would've spent the entire time alone with his negative thoughts.
The other person was Yosuke, his partner and second-in-command of their team. That was the most mature she had ever seen Yosuke act since meeting him. It made her see him in a new light and appreciate him for being such a great friend.
All of these reasons were why she was hesitating on calling him and their friends. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that they'd all jump headfirst into danger to help save Max, but the risks of involving them in these matters were greater. The team had always entered through the electronics section of Junes, fearing that going through a different entry point would leave them stranded somewhere else. She and her friends were scattered and not all together in Inaba, which meant involving them would be a mistake.
This was also a personal matter and she wanted this to be resolved by herself and her cousins. And that meant she needed to be strong…stronger than she ever was before. Her little cousins needed her to be that pillar that can keep them reassured that everything was fine. Especially during the previous night, where she had to keep Ben from charging headfirst into the television. There was no way he was going to sit still while his grandfather was in danger of losing his life, so Yukiko kept the boy wrapped in her arms all night to ensure it.
"Yukiko!"
Leaving her thoughts, the heiress saw that Ben and Gwen had finished eating their breakfast, having ordered something to eat using Max's credit card. The two were standing in front of her, their faces doing all the speaking needed. Standing up from the sofa, Yukiko put away her phone, standing up to her full height. "You two ready?"
"Obviously!"
"Of course!"
"Good. Then, let's do this." Yukiko said, walking over to the TV. She knew they should prepare, but she would like to at least get a layout of Max's dungeon. It was a bit risky, but it's not like she planned to go through the entire dungeon today. Just the first floor to get a good handle on what to expect going forward. Placing a hand on the television, Yukiko turned to her cousins. "Just follow my lead, you two." And with that, Yukiko's body disappeared into the TV as if she was being swallowed by water.
Gwen was next, carefully allowing her body to get pulled into the world beyond. A soft squeak left her throat from the cold feeling that swept through her body.
The last one was Ben, who mimicked his cousins' actions. The water-like feeling that enveloped his body sent a shiver down his spine. His vision was overtaken by black and white lights as a rectangular shaped tunnel pushed him forward at quick speeds. No longer did Ben feel like he was entering a pool and was now free-falling down the tunnel. "AAAHHHHH!"
OP: More Than Like by Bish
The spell we're under is the real deal, I'm watching closely
Oh, I wonder if we can change this shattered world
Ben and Yukiko stood back-to-back in a grassy field, the heiress and hero stared up into the bright sky above them. Ben's eyes were filled with determination as the camera turned to Yukiko, who had a single tear running down her face.
Let's keep on journeying and picking up the pieces, every last one
The Tennyson kids were seen gearing themselves up. Yukiko finished tying her hair into a ponytail and whipped out her fan. Gwen closed her spellbook, allowing the mana to swirl between her fingertips. The last one was Ben, who was holding a glowing blue object in his hands.
Oh, if we can reach beyond the shattered tears
A single picture frame sat on top of a dresser. The image contained 5 people, but one of the faces had been cut out.
You think other people are impossible to understand
I'm gonna take away that sad notion
(Oh yeah! Oh yeah!)
Let's begin
Naoto was seen ducking out of the way of a blazing sword swipe. The weapon belonged to a woman white hair, who was dressed in a black and orange jumpsuit. She jumped back before unleashing a vortex of flames at the detective.
Yu raised his blade that was coated in lighting to block the gauntlet covered fist. The attacker was a large man with dark skin, black and white hair, and he was dressed in a similar jumpsuit as the woman.
Kenji was seen talking to a young boy around Ben's age with black and white hair. The boy has dark skin and black colored eyes. He's dressed in an orange shirt and yellow sweatpants. In his hands was an orange staff.
I just can't let it go, because it's just too sad
A man resembling Max Tennyson stood on top of a pillar. His malicious yellow eyes glowed in the night as power erupted around his body, transforming him into an unknown entity.
Your words, more than anyone else's
Yukiko is seen smashing her tarot card, Sumeo-Okami coming to life and torching everything around her.
Your answers, more than anything else
Are what I want to know
Gwen's eyes turned bright blue as her magic surged to life. Behind her a glowing silhouette could be seen.
I want to keep shaking them up
Even if now isn't the time
Ben struggled to his feet, his body littered with scratches and bruises. He activated the Omnitrix, the device sparking with green energy.
My words, more than anyone else's
My answers, more than anything else
A 10-year-old Max Tennyson ran through the empty field, in his hands was a toy spaceship that he pretended to fly. He then turned into a young adult, dressed in a spacesuit as he prepared to take off into space. Then finally, his present self stood across from three young boys and a woman. Their eyes conveyed no emotions as they stared at him.
Are what I want to give
So hear them and know
The scene transitioned to Ben and the Max lookalike standing inside of a spaceship graveyard. Ben charged the lookalike with a green electrical surge surrounding the Omnitrix and punched out at the clone, creating a massive explosion.
I want to see the same things as you
The final shot was of Max and his grandkids sleeping by a tree. Ben was leaning on the old man's shoulder, drooling on his shirt. Yukiko leaned on his other shoulder as Gwen's head rested on her lap. Max smiled softly as the warmth of his grandkids surrounded him.
"AAAAHHHH!" Ben flew out of the black and white portal, landing face-first onto the ground. He groaned, rubbing his face at the stinging pain from the collision. He got off the ground and took in the sight of this new world.
He didn't know what to expect initially, but this was different from any idea he could've possibly had. The sky above was dark red, almost reminding him of the Null Void, with not a single cloud in the sky to boot. Looking down, Ben saw that he was standing on scarred ground, as if something had been tearing through it. Surrounding him were broken ships, boats, planes, and other types of machines. "Woah…what is this place?"
"Ben!"
Turning around, Ben saw Yukiko and Gwen coming towards him. He also noticed the pair of red glasses that Yukiko was wearing, and couldn't help but notice that she looked pretty with them on. Not that he'd ever tell her that to her face.
"What's with the glasses?" Ben asked.
"These are what Teddie made for us to help us see through the fog that used to envelop the TV World and see the Shadows that might attack." Yukiko explained.
"Then shouldn't we have our own?" Gwen asked, a bit nervous.
"You guys could see our Personas pretty fine outside of the TV World. I don't think you'll need them." Yukiko answered.
Ben continued gazing around their location. "So, this is the TV World, huh? Didn't think it would remind me so much of the Null Void."
Yukiko shook her head. "This is just one of many different sections of the TV World. In fact, after we defeated Izanami and the fog cleared, this world was a beautiful sight to see."
"Then, why is it so…unsettling?" Gwen asked.
"Probably because…" Yukiko turned around, causing the younger two to follow her gaze. Down the scarred path was none other than Max's dungeon, which was emitting a nightmarish pulse that sent a slight shiver down their spines. "Grandpa…"
"So, Grandpa's in there?" Gwen gulped.
"Along with his Shadow, which has him trapped." Yukiko responded.
"Then what's the plan?"
"The idea was to scope out the first floor a bit for today. We don't have Rise-chan here, so trying to understand the layout and possible threats of the dungeon will be difficult. Not that we can't do it, but we need to be careful about this." Yukiko explained. After hearing that, Gwen's attention turned to her spell book for a moment.
Ben crossed his arms, huffing loudly. "We don't have time to be taking it slow! Grandpa's gonna die!"
"We still have time, Ben. This won't be like our usual adventures, we never finished getting to the end of a dungeon in a day." Yukiko said.
"Yeah, well, you guys didn't have me with you." Ben declared, popping up the dial of the watch. "XLR8 will find Grandpa before you could even blink!" Before he could slam the core down, Yukiko grabbed his wrist, holding the boy in place.
"Ben! I get that you want to save Grandpa as fast as possible, so do I, but you have no idea what this world is like. I'd feel much better if you two followed my lead and listened to me." Yukiko said.
"I can handle myself just fine! I'm not saying that I can do all of this on my own, but we're wasting time going the slow route!" Ben argued.
Yukiko pinched the bridge of her nose. "This is the last thing we need right now. Please, Ben, just promise me that you'll follow my lead." She knelt down, looking him straight in the eyes. "We'll save Grandpa, I promise you that."
Their stare down continued for a few more seconds until Ben broke away, turning his head to the side. "Fine." When Yukiko turned her back to make sure that Gwen understood the same thing as well, Ben stared at the entrance of the dungeon. His grandpa was in there, trapped and alone with several creatures that would like nothing more than to tear him apart. Is this how his grandfather felt when he had gotten stuck in the Null Void with Vilgax and Kevin? There was no telling what could happen and Yukiko wanted to take it slow? No way!
FLASH!
Yukiko spun around to see XLR8 standing in Ben's place. Her heart dropped into her stomach as she realized that Ben was going against her once again. "BEN-" She made a reach for him, but the boy was gone before she could grab him. The black and blue blur entered the dungeon, leaving the girls alone outside.
Gwen felt another shiver go down her spine as she saw Yukiko's hand ball up into a tight fist.
FIRST FLOOR:
XLR8 zoomed through the dirty white metallic hallways, noticing the torn walls and floor. Several portraits of unrecognizable people and aliens lined the walls as well. The transforming hero found it odd that he had yet to find a clue to where his grandfather was. "I'm just going around in circles at this point! Why does everything look the same in this freaking place!?"
SQUISH!
"Hm?" XLR8 stopped in his tracks as something slithered across the floor. Taking a closer look, he saw that the thing was a large black figure with a white mask on its face. The creature's long arms wiggled weirdly in the air as it moved across the metal floor. "The heck is that? Is that what a Shadow is supposed to be?" XLR8 observed the creature for a few more seconds before bursting out in laughter. "Pfft! Is that what Yukiko was always warning us about!? I can beat this thing with my eyes closed!"
"!"
Much to his surprise, the creature turned around without hesitation, whipping out its arm to attack him. XLR8 managed to dodge the attack before it could hit him and watched in shock as the Shadow's body melted into black liquid. The liquid split into three balls of black goo before taking shape.
The first one transformed into some sort of green slime with large red eyes, it wiggled disgustingly on the ground as it glared at him. The next one was a weird humanoid creature with a moon shaped head, carrying a large sack over its shoulder. The last one was round like a ball with a large open mouth.
"Woah! Guess, the freakshow rolled into town, huh? If Shadows are just meant to look like you guys, then this shouldn't be much of an issue!" XLR8's visor came down and he bolted towards his three opponents. His legs kicked out with rapid speeds at the moon-head, who responded by blasting a gust of wind at him. His kicks were redirected by the wind, pushing him back a few inches. Though, it wasn't enough to stop the speedy hero at all. He pushed forward and unleashed a blindingly fast strike at its face, sending the moon head barreling into the wall.
The ball-shaped Shadow attempted to wrap the hero up with its tongue, but he dodged the attack before it could reach. He zipped around it and planted an axe kick down from above, pushing the Shadow into the floor. XLR8 quickly caught sight of a purple gas heading for him and dodged out of the way. He could see that the slime was the one who tried to nail him with it. "Sorry, slime-ball! You losers are way too slow to catch me!" XLR8 figured it was time to finish these guys off and began speeding around in a circle, creating a gust tornado that sucked up the three Shadows. With all three in his grasp, XLR8 bounced off the walls, striking all three repeatedly with pinpoint accuracy. The hero finished his attack with a dramatic pose as the Shadows dissipated into nothing behind him. "And that's how a hero rolls!" He was about to continue down the hallway till he noticed something on the floor.
"What the…?" XLR8 picked up the coin. "Wait…is this money!? Sweet! Yukiko never said these guys dropped money! It's just like an RPG!" So focused on this new discovery, XLR8 didn't notice the smaller Shadow creeping up behind him until it was too late.
POW!
"GAH!" XLR8 tumbled down the hallway from the surprise attack. Groaning from the hit, XLR8 looked up to see the Shadow that had struck him. The creature turned into black liquid before reforming itself into a lion-like creature with ice spikes protruding from its back, the lion's claws freezing the ground with just a touch. It growled with a chilling breath that had even XLR8 shivering from the cold. Though, just like always, the hero stood with zero fear. "C'mon, freezy cat! I've already beaten three, let's make you number four!"
XLR8 bolted towards the lion like a bullet train, however the Shadow simply stood its ground against him. Opening its mouth, a blast of freezing energy encased the floor in a glass of ice, causing the hero's speed to be to his detriment. XLR8 slipped on the ice, leaving himself open for the lion's paw to slam into his body.
"GYAH!" The Kineceleran crashed into the ground in a messy heap. He tried to get up, but that lion had knocked the air out of him with that hit. Not only that, but a very familiar beeping sound echoed through the hall.
FLASH!
"Oh, come on!" Ben complained at the Omnitrix. The boy saw the lion slowly approaching its prey, and backed up slightly. "Uhh…time out for 10 minutes?" Unfortunately for him the lion didn't seem to care for what the soon-to-be-dead human had to say. It charged up another ice beam and fired at Ben, who wasn't fast enough to dodge the attack.
"Contego!"
A blue shield materialized in front of Ben, protecting him from the ice beam. Ben blinked in surprise from the shield before smiling at the growing temperature in the hallway. The ice that was encasing the room began to melt, drawing the lion to turn around. Slowly walking towards it was Yukiko, who didn't look happy in the slightest. In fact, Ben felt that her anger was more so directed at him rather than the lion that was about to kill him.
"Agidyne." Yukiko muttered. Her Persona materialized behind her, unleashing a tornado-like blast of fire that enveloped the entire hallway along with the lion. The creature cried out as it was being burned to death by the intense heat produced by Yukiko. It tried to fire back with its own breath of ice, but several bolts of magic kept it from retaliating. Thus, the creature was left to burn into nothing but ash.
Ben, seeing that the threat was handled, stood up and brushed off his pants. "Whew! Thanks, guys! I totally would've been fine had the watch not timed out on me like that-"
PINCH!
Ben felt a familiar sting not unlike one of Aunt Vera's pinches as Yukiko's fingers pulled at his left cheek. He yelped in pain as Yukiko glared down at him. "You broke another promise." Was all she said, then she brought him in for a hug before he could say anything else. Gwen stood to the side, feeling a tiny bit awkward.
Ben stood in her embrace for a moment before returning the hug. "I'm sorry."
"I know you are."
"I'm just scared… I don't want to lose Grandpa." Ben muttered. Yukiko pulled them apart, then knelt down to be at Ben's level.
"I know that, Ben. I'm scared and Gwen is scared too, but that's why I'm saying that we need to be careful about all of this. Grandpa's life is at stake, and we can't afford to make any mistakes, because the last thing I want is to lose you and Gwen as well." Yukiko's words struck a chord with Ben. Helping him realize that Yukiko must be under a lot of pressure at the moment since she can't rely on her friends in this situation. At the moment, her team isn't the Investigation Team, but just him and Gwen.
"I'm sorry for being a reckless jerk again." Ben muttered.
"I wouldn't say 'reckless' jerk, but a 'reckless' doofus." Gwen smirked. She then decided to be nice for once and join in. "We'll bring Grandpa home, Ben. Together." She stuck out her hand for the other two.
"Together." Yukiko stuck her hand on top.
Ben smiled softly at the two of them and put his hand on top. "Together!" That was when the Omnitrix popped up green, eliciting a cry of joy from Ben. "Cool! Is it fine if we keep going!?" He asked Yukiko.
The heiress hummed, thinking the question over. "Well… I don't think it would hurt to keep searching for the entrance to the next floor. The only problem is not knowing which way to go in. The only reason we found you so fast is because we heard you fighting. But without some sort of scanning ability, it would be even more difficult to find it."
Gwen smirked, puffing out her chest a bit. "I don't think that'll be too much of an issue."
"Eh? How come?" Ben asked.
Gwen pulled out her spell book and a torn piece of Max's shirt. She flipped through the pages of the book, leaving her cousins confused. "Uh, Gwen? What are you doing with a piece of Grandpa's shirt?" Ben asked.
"Yes, I don't think Grandpa will appreciate you tearing his clothes apart." Yukiko gave the girl a light glare.
"I don't think he'll mind once it helps us save him." Gwen replied. "Ha! There!" Gwen grinned excitedly once she found the necessary spell. After reading it over quickly to memorize it, she closed the book and concentrated on the cloth. Her eyes glowed blue along with the cloth, the piece floating into the air in front of her.
"Are you going to explain?" Ben asked impatiently.
"It's a tracking spell, doofus. As long as I have something with Grandpa's traces on it I should be able to find him." Gwen explained, gaining a gasp of shock from her cousins. "I was planning to use it to find Grandpa before finding out he got stuck in here."
Yukiko was ecstatic, perhaps this mission will go smoother than she thought. "It's kinda just like with Rise-chan! Except, you can actually contribute in more than one way!"
"I feel like you've said that to her before…" Gwen sweat dropped. "Regardless, I should have a pretty good idea on where Grandpa is now."
"So, where is he?"
"Down."
"Down?"
"I mean, he's below us, doofus. Like, far below us." Gwen clarified.
"So, Grandpa's on a lower level. Got it! In that case, lead us to the next floor, Gwen!" Yukiko exclaimed.
"Right!"
ENTRANCE TO 2ND FLOOR:
Right in front of the Tennysons was a large elevator that was stationed in a rectangular computer room. Yukiko clapped her hands, glad that Gwen's tracking powers worked. "Now we know what to look for when it comes to getting to and from different floors."
Ben stepped inside of the elevator, noticing the small panel inside. "Woah! It's just like a real elevator! It had buttons that tell us which floor we want to go to." His cousins joined him inside to see what he was talking about.
"Looks like this one only says the first and second floor." Gwen said.
"Which means if we ever need to go back to previous floors for anything, we just need to find previous elevators or the next ones." Yukiko hummed.
Ben shrugged. "Welp, better get moving." And before his cousins could say anything, Ben pressed the button, sending them down to the next floor.
2ND FLOOR:
Greeting the Tennysons on the next floor was the exact same hallway from the first floor. Ben wasted no time in complaining. "What!? It looks the exact same as the first floor! Did we really change floors?"
"Yes, don't expect the scenery to change much, Ben. Dungeons are unpredictable and thus the layout of it can change after we leave." Yukiko said.
"Which means that when we come back, we might end up at a different starting point?" Gwen asked.
"Exactly."
"So, what now? Do we have to walk back through the first floor again?" Ben asked. He really didn't want to try and search for the exit in this confusing place.
Yukiko smiled at them, pulling out something from her purse. "Nope! We'll just use a Goho-M!"
"Goho-M?"
"Just watch." Yukiko clenched the item, enveloping the three of them in a bright light. When the light vanished, the Tennysons had vanished from the hallway.
Ben and Gwen blinked owlishly, realizing they had just teleported outside the dungeon. "WHAT WAS THAT!?" They exclaimed at Yukiko.
"A Goho-M! An item that allows us to immediately leave the dungeon whenever we want!" Yukiko enjoyed the looks on their faces.
"Where did you find that!?" Ben exclaimed.
"From a chest."
"That's what you were doing when you entered that room!?" Gwen gasped, thinking back to when she and Yukiko were searching for Ben.
Ben whistled, looking back at the dungeon. "Man…this place really is like a video game." He then took out the money from his pockets. "The enemies even drop money! Easy way to get rich!"
Gwen looked at the currency in his hands, noticing a very important detail. "Uh… Ben?"
"What?"
"This is Japanese currency."
"WHAT!?" Ben exclaimed. He took a closer look at the money and realized that Gwen was right. "Oh man!"
Yukiko giggled and took the money from Ben. "Oh, I'm sure there's a bank in town that we can have this converted into US dollars."
"Sweet!" Ben's excited face brought a bright swell to the heiress' heart.
"Speaking of returning to town… How do we get home?" Gwen asked. Her question brought their attention back to where they arrived, where there was no black and white portal to take them home.
Yukiko sighed. "I was hoping that there would be something to help us, but perhaps we'll have to search for the team's base. Maybe, it'll be able to connect us to the Rustbucket's TV."
"And if it doesn't?"
"We'll be stuck in Japan." Yukiko answered, much to Gwen's displeasure.
Ben searched around for something that could possibly help them get home until he saw a blue door floating over to the side of the dungeon's entrance. "Uh…guys?"
"What, Ben?" Yukiko asked.
"Do you see that door?" Ben pointed at it.
Gwen and Yukiko didn't see it. "What door, doofus? Maybe, this place is actually messing with your brain." Gwen said.
"Is not! There's a glowing blue door right over there!" Ben exclaimed.
"Glowing blue door…" Yukiko muttered, gaining their attention. "But that's…oh." Yukiko realized what Ben must be seeing. She looked down at Ben. "Ben, do you know what the Velvet Room is?"
"Yeah, why are you asking?" Ben answered.
"How do you know what that room is?"
"Had some dreams about it. A weird guy with a long nose and a real grouchy lady gave me a key for some reason." Ben answered, confused as to why Yukiko looked so exasperated.
"Of course, he had these weird dreams and never said anything about it." Yukiko pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ben, go to the door and use the key. Our help is right inside of there."
"Why?"
"Just go!"
"Fine! But I totally don't have that key on me!" Ben said before feeling something appear in his pockets. He reached in and found the Velvet Room key that magically appeared. "Of course, it did." He held the key up to the door and watched as it opened up, transporting him inside of the room.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room."
"Is that what you say whenever someone enters this place?" Ben asked.
"Seems you remembered to use the key, even if you had to be pushed into the right direction." Margaret said, smiling at him.
"I would've figured it out eventually." Ben huffed. "What's with you guys being in this TV World anyway?"
"Remember how we explained that our purpose is to help our guests reach their destination?" Ben nodded his head to answer. "Each of our guests are given a key, thus they are able to access the Velvet Room to enhance their abilities. By either fusing Personas together, upgrading them, or regaining old ones." Margaret explained.
"Fusing? Like, when my aliens fused together?"
"Yes, but without the unnecessary drawbacks."
Ben hummed in thought. "So, does this mean you guys can fuse my aliens together? Or I can get my own Personas!?" He started to get excited at the thought of getting some cool new forms.
"No. That would be impossible." Igor interrupted, bringing Ben's attention to him.
"Huh!? How come!?"
"As said before, young Benjamin, you are a special case here. You lack the ability of a Wild Card and certain aspects about you would prevent a Persona from manifesting."
"Like what?"
"The Omnitrix is a peculiar device, one that we do not fully understand ourselves. If you were to acquire a Persona there is a high chance that your watch will interfere with its powers and harm you in the process." Igor explained.
Ben crossed his arms, pouting. "Lame."
"Though, there is a way that we can assist you on this journey." A deck of cards materialized into Margaret's hand, then sent them over to Ben. "These cards each contain a certain ability, some may be more powerful than others, so please try to use them with care. Each card can only be used once, so do not waste them-"
"Sweet! Oh, what does this one do!?" Ben activated one of the cards without hesitation. A ball of wind blasted itself out of the card and straight at Margaret. The woman hadn't expected it and took the hit directly to her face, making a mess of her hair, and leaving her sprawled out on the seat.
Igor sat undisturbed as if he had seen this coming.
Ben gulped loudly as Margaret slowly sat up on the couch, her eyes stared at Ben with murderous intent. He put the cards into his leg pocket and smiled nervously at her.
"Hehe…my bad?"
"Why is he just standing there?" Gwen asked as she and Yukiko stared at Ben's unresponsive body.
"That's what happened to Yu-kun last year as well. Your mind is what enters the Velvet Room, not you physically." Yukiko explained.
"I see-"
BONK!
"GAH!"
The girls recoiled from Ben's sudden cry, turning back to him, they saw Ben on the ground holding his head in pain. Standing over him was Margaret, the woman having hit him over the head with the large book. Yukiko was surprised to see the woman appear out of the room for once. "Margaret-san!"
The woman looked at the girls and smiled warmly. "Hello again, Amagi, and nice to meet you for the first time, Gwendolyn."
"Uh…yeah. Who are you and why did you hit Ben? Not that I'm upset about it or anything." Gwen added.
"Nice to see that you care!" Ben cried.
"To answer your first question, I am Margaret, an attendant of the Velvet Room. Our purpose is to assist our guests in reaching the end of their journey. To answer your second question, it's because he's a pain in the ass."
"True." The girls shrugged.
"You can at least try and disagree!" Ben yelled at them.
"Moving past that, I am here to help you three get home." Margaret said.
"How will you do that?" Yukiko asked.
"This." She extended her hand outwards; a bright light illuminated the dark space. Right in between them the light spawned in a TV. "There's your exit back to your motorhome."
"Great! I was getting tired of this creepy place for one day." Gwen complained. The young girl wasted no time in pushing herself through the TV.
Yukiko bowed respectfully at Margaret. "Thank you, for helping us."
The attendant shook her head. "Think nothing of it. I am sorry that you had to be dragged back into this situation again. May you three be successful in your journey."
Yukiko appreciated the thoughtful words from the older woman. "I never gave up before and I won't give up here. I'll also tell Yu-kun you said hello." Yukiko turned before she could see the grateful smile on Margaret's face. The heiress entered the television next, leaving Ben the last one to do so.
Ben scratched the back of his head. It was a bit awkward, and he felt it would be pretty bad to just leave without saying anything. "Thanks for helping us save our Grandpa."
"You don't need to thank me. You're a guest, so it's my responsibility to help you." She responded.
"R-right…yeah." Ben nodded his head at the awkward tension.
"Just go." The attendant sighed.
"Don't tell me what to do-" He was pushed through the portal by Margaret, who shook her head at the television. Though, a small smile did make its way to her face. Those three will surely make things interesting once again, that's for sure.
Unknown to her, another person had been watching them the entire time. They smiled mischievously at the prospect of meeting the three young souls that decided to mess around in this dungeon. These next few days really were going to be fun to experience! "I can't wait… kids."
Chapter End
NOTE: I wonder who this mysterious person is...maybe you'll find out soon enough. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the RPG elements that I'm trying to make sense.
Ben is not being arrogant or anything. He's just scared, because his grandpa could die at any moment.
Those cards given to Ben are to help with certain types that either his aliens, Yukiko, or Gwen cannot deal with.
Gwen learns her tracking spell earlier, so she's the support here to guide them through the dungeon towards Max.
Have a great day!
