Half an hour after the storm, and having sought shelter beneath the trees, the group sat a distance away from the stream, sitting in silence after the dreadful event had taken place earlier. Not a word was said between anyone, but they only watched pitifully as Link remained kneeling near the stream, not once having moved.

In remembrance of his deceased fairy companion, Link had erected a small cross over a mound of dirt, with her name engraved on the wooden surface.

Flash back

Realizing there was no possible way to return home to Hyrule, and because he had witnessed a terrible destruction fall upon the land, Link left the town. He couldn't bring himself to look back. The door beneath the Clock Tower had closed on him, and even if he didn't want to admit it, he knew he was trapped.

The tears he shed beneath that tower were dried, and his thoughts continually conjured up images of his deceased friends left in that forgotten land. In all honesty, Link didn't know what to do. He had failed to save his people, wasting his childhood to save a land that would only suffer in the end. Why had the Goddesses caused him so much grief? What did he have left?

A commotion near the entrance to Romani's Ranch shifted him away from his depressing thoughts and to the disruption near the gated entry way. A couple of young boys, a few years older than himself, possibly thirteen years of age, were gathered next to a small clear container, tossing it up and rolling it around on the ground. They were obviously getting much amusement and joy from it, but Link only turned away uninterested.

"Help! Great Fairy, somebody help!"

Link paused before turning to stare over his shoulder. A high pitched voice had called out for help, a voice somewhat similar to a fairy he once knew. Turning around, he noticed something inside the bottle the youths were throwing around, and he realized it was a small pink fairy.

"The damned thing is so whiney!" Complained the tallest boy with freckles decorating his tanned face.

"Bet we could get some money off this one, what do you think?"

The pink fairy gasped. "Let me go you hooligans! You'll be sorry! The Great Fairy will punish you for this!"

"Eh? Shut up you stupid fairy!" The freckled face boy shouted before throwing the bottle in the air again, causing the fairy to shriek in fright. "Not so tough now, are y—" Before he could finish his sentence, he was rewarded with a sharp hit to the head by a rock, and he angrily turned on the individual responsible. "Hey!"

Link glared. "Let her go!"

Freckled face boy only scrutinized the ten year old garbed in green before snorting. "And what if I don't? What's a pipsqueak like you going to do about it?"

The fairy in the bottle, feeling slightly dizzy from being tossed around, stared at the little boy wearing a shield and sword upon his back. Did the kid seriously think he had a chance against these brutes? Well whatever the case, she was rooting for him to save her. "Help! These idiots are trying to sell me off!"

The boys only shared a look before snickering to themselves. It seemed the kid was willing to put up a fight to save a measly fairy.

End Flash back

Lowering his head, Link couldn't help but think back on that first moment he met Serena. He'd rescued her quite easily from her captors, and she, in return, stuck close to him ever since. They'd been inseparable, and for a time, he didn't feel so alone, as long as she was there by his side.

Link absentmindedly ran his fingers over the wooden cross he'd kept with him since his journey in Hyrule. When he felt a hand press against his shoulder, he glanced over his shoulder and into the eyes of a monk kneeling beside him.

Miroku turned his attention to the small grave. "Losing someone you love is not easy," He explained, but Link only remained silent. "I lost my father at a young age…No doubt; we've all lost someone important in our lives, Link. Only with time will our wounds heal, my friend."

He nodded at this.

Offering a small prayer, Miroku regained his footing before returning back to the others awaiting his return. Once he returned, he sighed and shook his head. "Well, he's handling it better than most," he explained. There was so much intensity and feelings inscribed within Link eyes, he thought. He wondered if his words of comfort reached him.

Sitting off to the side with everyone else, Kagome frowned as she looked back at Link. It wasn't fair that he kept losing the ones he loved. Link didn't deserve that, no one did. It felt strange now…almost empty.

"Is Link going to be okay?" Shippo asked despondently from Kagome's lap.

Nobody answered him. In fact, nobody knew what to say at this moment. Instead, Kagome brought the small child close to her in a warm embrace, feeling the tears prickling her eyes.

OOO

After saying their farewells and offering flowers to Serena's grave, the group ventured out of the forest and into the open field of Termina. The skies over head were dark and a chilling wind swept by them as they viewed the town in the distance. They expected nothing unusual as they returned from their adventure in the swamp, but from what they witnessed ahead was startling.

Thick, massive black walls encompassed the entirety of Clock Town in the distance, seeming to protrude from the ground itself. Overlapping the impenetrable walls was what appeared to be a golden diamond–like barrier, and it certainly left an impression on the gang.

"What's that?!" Kagome gasped.

Not wasting a minute to find out, Inuyasha snarled before unsheathing his sword. "That bastard!" He seethed, and noticing Kirara was well ahead of him, the two took to the skies toward the town ahead. Inuyasha wasn't an idiot; he knew for certain that the bastard responsible for causing so much grief and destruction in Termina was there, hiding in the town.

In an instant, Link chased after the flying feline and half demon, ignoring the calls of his friends behind him as they followed after. His thoughts were the same as Inuyasha's. Using the town as a shield only proved how cowardly this main antagonist was, and he knew that hiding behind the innocent citizens of Clock Town would put them at a disadvantage.

"What's going on?!" Sango questioned as she followed behind her friends.

Miroku glared. "It would seem we are drawing close to unveiling the enemy here," He replied before rushing up the small hill leading to the town. He saw Inuyasha above circling the exterior of the strange barrier before unleashing the power of his sword onto it. "Inuyasha! Stop!"

Halting the repetitive blows to the indestructible barrier, Inuyasha only growled from the skies. "What for? That bastard is in there!" He could sense it! Something ominous was happening on the other side. Even the hairs on Kirara's back were standing on end.

"You might hurt the townspeople!" Sango shouted from below with everyone else around her nodding.

Placing a hand against the wall, Link was rewarded with an electrifying shock before pulling away with a displeased look. A tingling sensation emitted beneath his bandages where the emblem of the Triforce rested, and he realized that without even looking, the symbol seemed to burn, but for whatever purpose, it was unknown to him. "We can't get through this way…" He turned his attention to the half demon in the sky. "Attacking the barrier could place the innocent in danger."

After landing before his friends, Inuyasha narrowed his gaze at the young swordsman. "You got any better ideas?"

The youth only nodded before his stare turned eastward, away from the town. Across the grassy field, his gaze locked onto a familiar dome shaped structure with a large telescopic lens pointed at the town straight on. That was the only way he knew. "I suggest we take a different route."

"A different route?" Kagome asked. "There's another way inside the town?"

When they realized Link was staring away from them, they turned their eyes in the direction to which they thought he was looking. Honestly, they had no clue what he was staring at, and they only hoped whatever it was, it would lead them inside the town quickly.

"Follow me."

OOO

Seated against one of the crates in the multicolored room, poking an iron cage with a small stick, a small child, wearing a yellow bandanna silently pestered a small Cuccu while sighing in absolute boredom. There hadn't been much to do since the strange occurrence had transpired the other night, and he could already feel his stomach rumbling, deprived from his home-cooked meals offered to him by his mother.

Besides him and gramps occupying the two story room, there were a few others resting in their secret base; they were the only ones Jim and the others had managed to safely bring down into the tunnels. Everyone else had completely disappeared, locked themselves in their homes, or evacuated the town to some distant place already, so it was just them now, or so he thought.

Just the other day when he thought things couldn't get worse, things escalated to a whole new level. The grounds shook with a tremendous force, knocking over a few dozen houses and shops; the entire town was in utter chaos. The adults crowded the streets, pushing and shoving anyone who got in their paths, many were even stepped over. His friends thankfully had been gathered together during the turmoil, watching the event from the sewers.

The Gormon Troupe had successfully fled from town, along with the Twin Dancers and Honey and Darling. The little boy wasn't sure who else managed to escape, but he knew for certain that all the soldiers in town had remained, despite that.

The head carpenter, Mutoh, who was seated on one of the crates near the little boy, merely scowled indifferently, his arms crossed and his face contorted into that of great displeasure. "Leave it to my men to run right when the going gets too much for them! If the town is going to fall, then fall already!"

Captain Viscen, a guard of Mayor Dotour, frowned at the older man before shaking his head disapprovingly. Though it was true that his men had up and fled from the town right after the earthquake, he wasn't surprised that Mutoh had remained, in fact, nothing seemed to frighten the old man. "Don't say that," He pleaded.

"Don't say…Don't say that?! Look at this town, you fool!" Mutoh shouted, causing the captain to flinch from the tone. "It might as well crumble for all the good it is! Bury us all alive, it should!"

"Mutoh, please!" He berated. "Don't start this now!"

The small Bomber placed a hand to his ears in hopes of drowning out Mutoh and Viscen's loud bickering, and when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, he stood up and darted up the large rainbow colored stairs.

Once he was at the second floor, he propped himself up on the large platform where Professor Shikashi, a wise old man, casually devoted his days staring into the lens of his giant telescope. In truth, he owned this building, the Astra Observatory; the Bombers only used it as a means to escape the watchful and stern eyes of the adults in town, and it worked well as a secret base because no one else ever came up there.

Because the old man was hard of hearing and didn't mind seeing the youngsters' day in and day out frolic around him during his research, he didn't notice the little boy climb the ladder to reach the roof above.

Turning the handle, the young Bomber pushed open the door with a thud before pulling himself from the ladder entirely to join his five, fellow buddies keeping watch from their positions. Jim, their leader, was situated at the highest peak of the roof, quietly flipping through a small book while he scouts kept lookout.

The oldest of the scouts, Aaron, who was standing near the ledge of the roof, lowered his binoculars to stare to look back at his friend. "So…how are things down there?"

"I swear adults argue more than we do!" Noah replied as he sat down beside his buddies all wearing the same identical red bandanna. "So far there haven't been any signs of anyone in town," He shrugged.

One of the boys with the number four painted on the back of his white shirt sighed. "I can't believe this is really happening…"

Number two on his left nodded. "Yeah…and it all started with that earthquake a couple days ago."

Aaron arched a brow. "No man, it all started with that moon! You know the one that was headed straight for us a few years back. Remember?"

The third boy looked up. "The moon?" The youngest scout questioned.

He nodded. "Yeah! And the adults were all in denial about it too! They were saying, oh nothing's wrong."

It dawned on the youth. "Oh yeah, I remember now."

"I think it was a sign," Admitted the first boy, this one who had his legs dangling off the ledge of the roof as he peered through his small telescope searching the field for any signs of movement before turning back to his buddies. "First the moon came right at us and then poof!" He exclaimed as he flailed his arms in emphasis. "It was back up in the sky again! It's gotta mean something."

"How is that a sign?" Inquired number four of the Bombers.

"Well…it was obviously warning of us of this day," He explained. "This has to be the prophesized Doom's Day everyone has been talking about!"

The boys merely blinked before sweat dropping.

Aaron, the fifth, rubbed his brow. "I think you've been spending too much time with Professor Shikashi lately…" He didn't believe in the whole idea of a 'Doom's Day.' They were still alive; even after all the crazy happenings that transpired in their lifetime.

"Yeah!" Replied another. "The world ain't gonna end, you idiot!"

"Who're you calling an idiot?! For all we know, we could burst into flames or something!"

Overhearing the loud bickering from the lowest level of the roof, Jim pointed a finger at his friends. "Why are you all talking instead of keeping watch?" To his satisfaction, they all quieted. Pleased, he leaned back against the enormous telescope before resuming his reading.

"You know…I think that stuff only happens to people who do bad things," One of the Bombers whispered suddenly as he continued the conversation Jim had cut short.

"If that's so, then how come that petty thief is still around? Answer that!"

The boy didn't reply back, and instead scratched his head questionably. "Are you sure? We haven't seen him for a while."

Another agreed with him. "You're right. Maybe he ran away like everyone else?"

Aaron paused to consider this. "I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. If he did run away, I'd feel bad for the people he crosses paths with."

For a moment, nobody said anything, but after a few minutes of awkward silence, one of the Bombers leaned back on his hands before staring up at the sky overhead. "I think pretty soon, we're all going to meet our maker…regardless if we're good or bad."

"Dude…why you always gotta be so negative?" Replied the youngest.

"Yeah, can't you look on the bright side, for a change?" Noah asked.

The youngest gave them a look. "Bright side? Look at our town. It's engulfed in some kind of dark magic, and if you even try to touch it, you get shocked," He explained.

Aaron turned on him reprimandingly. "What were you doing touching it? If Jim finds out—"

"Old man Darrell touched it and hasn't woken up yet," The youngest admitted with a scowl. In fact, the older man was still lodging somewhere in town resting after the ordeal.

"Alright you two, that's enough. Stop quarrelling and get back to your job!" Jim reproached.

Grumbling, Aaron resumed looking out onto Termina through his binoculars, but what he hadn't intended on seeing were shapes moving out some short distance away. No, it wasn't a Redead; they didn't walk that fast. "Hey…I got someone coming up from the South!"

Everyone turned their attention to him before standing up and squinting ahead. To their astonishment, there was someone or someone's approaching and fast.

"Who is it?"

Aaron shrugged. "I don't know but that person in red sticks out like a sore thumb," He replied before adjusting his lenses. "Wait…I think I see someone in green…"

"Who's in green?"

"I hope it's not that idiot…Tingle!" One complained, and at this his friends paled at the thought.

"My mom says I shouldn't be near him or something…" Replied the third child.

"Move! I can't see!" The fourth bomber pushed the second, attempting to claim his telescope. Before either one knew it, they were fighting over the object, until Jim interfered.

"What's going on now?" The leader complained, and when they all pointed away from the Observatory, he bent down and squinted before pulling out his binoculars to investigate the commotion.

Aaron moved to stand next to his boss. "Hey Jim, I think that's Link."

"Link?!" The Bombers excitedly replied in unison.

At this, Jim nodded. "You're right! It's brother Link! I almost didn't recognize him without his hat."

The youngest only scratched his chin thoughtfully. He hadn't a clue as to who the others were with them, seeing as how they were mainly older adults. "But who's he with?"

"Looks like Link's hanging with the big kids now," Noah sighed.

Turning the lenses to each individual, Aaron replied back. "I'm not sure…but there are some girls with him," He replied as he allowed his sight to focus in on the long legs of a young raven haired beauty in a white and green sailor uniform. "Damn…those are some nice legs…"

The leader wanted to roll his eyes at that comment.

"Who else?" Another asked.

Looking away from the priestess and after examining the large bust on the slayer, Aaron focused his attention on the third person of the group, this one is a rather long, purple or black dress and with short dark hair. "Ew…"

His friends only stared. "What?" They asked, and from Aaron's appalled expression, they turned back to stare at the group closing in on them from below.

"The third one looks like a dude!" He replied as he stuck out his tongue in disgust.

Jim smacked his shoulder with a disappointed expression marring his face. "It is a dude, you idiot!" Because the group was close enough to see without the use of lenses, Jim and his friends gathered around the edge of the roof. "Brother Link! Brother Shippo!" He hollered.

Taken off guard, the group turned their attention away from the broken fence surrounding the structure and to the roof; they instantly spotted a group of five children, each wearing blue bandannas, except two who wore a yellow and red one, were waving at them. From their point of view, they seemed entirely identical, and they were a little baffled and concerned as to why they were up there in the first place.

At the sight of small Shippo, looking up at them in awe, just as the rest of the group, one of the bombers looked at his buddy beside him. "Didn't he miss our last meeting?" He was referring to the red head with the tail.

"It's okay. Jim said that he was out there helping people with their problems," His friend replied.

Kagome blinked, her hand raised to her mouth in worry as she watched the children on the roof open a small hatch before descending back into the building hurriedly. "Why are they all the way up there?"

Before anyone could answer that question, the door to the Astral Observatory opened, revealing the small children smiling at them elatedly, others with curious expressions.

Inuyasha and his companions climbed over the fallen gate that had originally surrounded the oval shaped blue building, which was probably the result of the last earthquake.

"What a surprise! So you finally decided to visit the hideout, eh Shippo?" Jim teased with a toothy grin. Of course he wasn't expecting him to arrive at this place outside of town, but neither did he expect a strange shadow to fall over Clock Town.

At the mentioning of his name, the small kid, standing beside his adoptive mother and Link looked up. "Hideout? You mean this place?" Shippo asked in awe. But how was that possible? He remembered Jim explaining to him that the hideout was through a narrow space in town, but the actual place was all the way out in Termina field.

Jim grinned cheekily. "Yep! Wait until you see the inside." The leader turned to Link. "How's it hanging, Link? You taking care of our buddy here?" He asked, and Link silently nodded. That was good to know. Turning to acknowledge the rest of Link and Shippo's friends, Jim gave each adult a once over. Well, they all certainly looked different and a little strange in their attire, but hey, who was he to judge? "These your friends?"

Shippo nodded.

Curious, one of the Bombers couldn't help but look around the group inquisitively before planting his hands on his hips in front of Shippo. "Hey, where's that girlfriend of yours?"

"Yeah, did you leave her behind so you could see the other one?" Another asked teasingly before snickering with his friends in remembrance of their meeting with Pamela. They were still curious as to who the other girl had been. What was her name? Charlene?

One of them nudged the other playfully. "Yeah, he's such a sly fox!"

At this they laughed again, and Shippo blushed in embarrassment before Jim silenced them with a look.

"Okay, just who the heck are you brats?" Inuyasha, who was annoyed by the constant chattering, coming from the identical pipsqueaks, asked, but they only chose to ignore him as they found their attention shifted to the women of the group.

"Dude…" One of the Bombers pulled the sleeves of the one next to him before ogling his eyes at the raven haired chic. "Look at her!" He whispered.

Hearts were literally popping from Aaron's eyes as he ran his eyes up and down the petite form of the priestess. "Gee she's a babe…"

"Forget babe! She's hot!" Another whistled, and at this, the priestess couldn't help but flush under their stares as her hands folded across her arms awkwardly.

Shippo stepped in front of her with a little indignation rising in his throat. He didn't like the way his 'friends' were eyeing and openly talking about his mother. "Hey!"

Kagome, forcing a smile, looked down at the fox at her feet. "Are these your friends, Shippo?"

Before he could even get the chance to say yes, two of the Bombers cozied themselves up beside the young raven haired girl, literally pushing Shippo aside as they blushed under her questionable gaze.

"Hey beautiful, why don't you and I take our time getting to know each other?" One tried to smoothly ask.

Noah, with a face full of freckles and with an air of coolness, approached the slayer. He saw that she cozied up beside the monk innocent enough, and he took her hand in his own, much to Sango's confusion, but she said nothing, only smiling at the child. "Hey, how about you and I have a quiet evening here at the observatory?" He winked, and his buddies beside Kagome laughed.

Sweat dropping, Sango removed her hand from the child. "I think you're a little too young for me…but thank you."

But this made no difference to the small Bomber. "Give me ten years…I'll be ready!" With that said, Noah sent the monk a glare before strutting away as his friends patted his back enthusiastically.

While his friend was attempting to put the moves on the priestess, the other boy sidled himself next to the monk, who in turn looked away from the boy who had given him a dirty look and to the one standing beside him. "Yeah, this one is definitely a man…" Well bummer…

"But why is he wearing a dress?" Someone asked.

Miroku blinked before narrowingly glaring at the children now ogling his attire. At the sound of Inuyasha snickering from beside him, he cast the half demon a glare before clearing his throat.

"Forget the dude in the dress…check out the weirdo in bright red!" One openly exclaimed, and it was no surprise that Inuyasha immediately realized they were talking about him now.

"Excuse me?" He growled.

The Bombers openly stared.

"I wonder what kind of attention he's trying to get," Aaron asked aloud, and at this, his friends only shrugged; they hadn't a clue.

"Talk about terrible fashion sense! And what's up with those fake ears?" Another asked pointedly.

The half demon could literally feel his eye twitch at the rude remarks, and it took everything not to lash out at them. He had been trying to restrain himself from acting out brashly toward others ever since last night when he caused quite a stir among his comrades, but the annoying little brats were making it difficult for him.

Kagome placed a hand to her mouth as she whispered 'oh my' under her breath when she realized Inuyasha was getting a little irritated from being singled out and for having bad fashion taste.

"Yeah, he's dressed almost as weird as Tingle!"

For a moment, everyone paused before a shudder passed threw them and they openly cringed at the mere thought of the old, paunchy short guy who always flew around town in his small, red balloon.

Jim shook his head at the mere thought. "No, I think the latter beats this guy any day," He replied and at this they all shook their heads in silent agreement.

"Hey! Just what the hell is wrong with my clothes?!"

Jim shrugged. "Hey, if you like them, wear them."

"Now, now Inuyasha…they don't mean any harm," Miroku explained with a large sweat drop forming on the back of his head. Though he hadn't approved of the way the kids were openly criticizing his choice of clothing or that fact that they had thought of him at first as a women, Miroku didn't feel the need to blame their curiosity; they were, however, just children.

Annoyed by the delay, Jim brought two fingers to his lips before a loud whistle silenced the boys, who in turn immediately returned to their place beside their leader. "That's enough," He scolded before turning his attention to the group who seemed anything but comfortable. "Sorry about that…" He apologized with an awkward laugh before ushering them inside with a wave of his hand. "Come on inside."

Geometric, colorful designs of purple, pink and yellow diamonds decorated the flooring in bright colors; the walls and ceilings on the other hand were tiled in dark blue and black colors and from its glossy finishing, their reflection was easily seen on the surface as they sauntered inside.

A raised platform sat directly in the center of the multicolored room; its edges were decorated with silver stars. From the looks of it, an old man, dressed in flowing blue and white robes, with a long gray mane of hair brushed neatly down his back, a beard as well, stood hunched over with his hands folded neatly behind him as he stared into a massive apparatus. Once or twice, he would adjust one of the knobs on the enormous contraption before peering intently throught the lens; he didn't appear to notice his visitors, but Jim only waved the gang to follow them around the platform to a colorful, spiral staircase leading downstairs into what they guessed was the basement.

"What was that?" Sango curiously asked as she looked back at the strange object the old man was looking through, but the monk beside her only offered her a shrug. To enhance their confusion, Kagome made a comment about the object to Link, to which he understood much to her surprise, and soon enough the two had fallen into a short conversation about its mechanics; Link however offered the most detailed explanations that he knew of which of course astounded the priestess immensely.

The booming voice of Mutoh from downstairs was enough to elicit several quizzical glances from the group but before they could descend down the spiral staircase of glowing steps, Jim stopped and turned around.

"So let me guess," Jim began as he leaned against the railing of the stairs, eyeing the group passively. "You want in town, correct?"

Inuyasha folded his hands inside his sleeves before narrowing his gaze at the boy. "You're pretty smart for a kid."

Jim scoffed. "Watch it, stranger. This is our turf, so be mindful of your mouth."

Did the little punk seriously threaten him just now? A little kid actually had the nerve to … Why he ought to smack him right upside the head. "What was that?" He growled, but he held back when Kagome pinched his arm.

Jim continued from where he left off. "Listen if you want inside town, you're gonna have to use the tunnels," He explained. "We Bombers know this place inside and out, but don't expect us to waltz right in town with you all."

"So you're all going to hide out here?" Shippo questioned, and at this they all nodded dismally and some half bored.

Jim shrugged. "What else can we do? With the way things are now, this place seems safest."

Well this seemed a hell of a lot easier than he had expected it to be. "And just why are you so willing to help us out?" Inuyasha asked, and at this, Link merely rolled his eyes. They were probably wanting something.

"Helping others is what the Bombers are all about!" Jim exclaimed with a clenched fist. They make it a mission to do all sorts of things in order to carry out their missions, and this would be a piece of cake. "You saying you don't want our help or what?"

"No, that's not it at all," Kagome hurriedly explained. "I guess we're just a little tired from traveling, and after seeing the town as it is now, we can't help but feel a little cautious…"

Jim nodded. "I understand. Well hurry up then."