Randal straightened up after catching his breath. He took one step and swung a haymaker at Genzo, who dropped like a sack of dead mice. Gezno was inspecting his menu and never had a chance to notice.

“Sweet, I unlocked Unarmed Combat,” announced Randal. “It just flashed in front of my eyes! So, how was it we opened the menu again?”

“Status screen,” said Ikko blankly.

“Ok, let me accept the idea that we got magically transported to another world. What do you mean no way home? If we got here, there must be some way back.

Not everyone who gets taken comes back. We’re not sure why. Maybe they prefer the new world. Maybe they don’t have the skills to get back home. Or maybe… Ikko gulped, “they get killed.”

We do know it is common with larger summoning’s to have several not survive to make it back home. I’m not sure if we would fall into that category…

“Screw that. Unless this is some dream, delusion, or afterlife I’m going home.” Tim said with a firm determination. Yvonne was live and running on the QF6. There would be no telling what kind of damages would be done if he wasn’t there to monitor her progress. And after three years her data would be purged. Years of work and a small fortune wasted without the chance to download the results.

For a moment the chamber was quiet. Everything at this point was speculation, no one really knew any more than the others. Hope and fear comingled in their hearts. The serious, life and death gravity of the situation enveloped them. Except for Randal, who never knew how to read a room.

“Woah. Says here I’m a Champion!” Randal pointed at the air as if everyone else could see his status. “I got tens in Wisdom, Intelligence, and Dexterity, but 13 Charisma and 18 in Strength and Constitution. Is that any good? Just the one skill and no available skill points.” Randal trailed off. “I’m down to 17 hit points from that bastard on the floor, but I still have all 5 MP. Anyone knows how to use magic?”

“Magic? Well, then we know we're not in MOBO.”

Yuma Takeuchi walked over to Genzo and wiped his hair back from his head before looking up at everyone. “Introductions then? I’m Yuma Takeuchi, seventeen, and I am a Tempest Priestess.” She announced herself like she was at a job interview. It wasn’t that she didn’t know the people who were summoned with her. It was more like she felt like she wasn’t the same person she was when she woke up that morning. “Um, my strengths are Charisma and Wisdom and I have a lot of magic; 20 MP! And… And I think I can heal him.”

She looked back down at Genzo and reached her fingers out of her oversized white jacket. Then Yuma lightly laid her hands on him and started to concentrate. Her sleepy eyes made it hard to tell if they were closed or not. A warm white light began to grow from her hands and spread down into Genzo. The light pulsed through him and when he opened his eyes Yuma smiled and stood up.

“I got the spell ‘Cure Light Wounds’” she said.

Genzo sat up and looked around.

“How did you do that?”

“Not sure, I just felt like I could do it.”

Then the young Hayata Kinoshita started bouncing on his heels. “I’m a Lancer!” he said loudly and with pride, but followed it up with “anyone knows what that is?”

“Um,” replied Tim, “I think that’s someone who fights with a spear or a lance.”

“Really? Cool! So my strengths are of course Strength and Dexterity, and my constitution is good too. Oh and my name is Hayata Kinoshita, and I’m twelve. Please take good care of me!” He bowed playfully.

“You already know, but I’m Captain Ikko Inoue, and I’m eighteen.” The handsome young man stated. “I’m a Paladin, and all my stats are pretty good, but Charisma is my highest. I look forward to working with you.” He looked down at Genzo who was still sitting indigently on the floor.

“Berserker” mumbled Genzo as he stood up. He was about to continue when a small stream of flames shot from Katsuki’s hand and flew across the room.

“This is friggin’ sweet” roared Katsuki. He summoned another ball of fire to his hand and started tossing it back and forth. “Katsuki Nakamura, age fifteen, and I. Am. An. ELEMENTALIST!” His flames surged and danced with his emotion. Then he fell back exhausted. “Oops, looks like I used a little too much mana.” He chuckled.

A moment of silence passed before McKenzie popped out from behind Randal with surprise. “Hi, I’m McKenzie Carter, Assassin extraordinaire.” She gave a Cheshire grin and swept back her platinum hair.

“I knew you were a deviant” retorted Emi.

“If you’re so special then let’s hear it,” replied McKenzie. “Otherwise shut it, bitch.”

“Fine,” she sighed, “I’m Emi Ito, seventeen and I think I will keep my information to myself for now.” Cold gazes crept at Emi from across the room. “And all of you would be wise keep things a little more secret. We don’t know where we are or what will happen to us. We might be forced to betray our friends or fight against each other. There is simply too much unknown, so we all must focus on protecting ourselves first.” She looked down on everyone else with a prim haughtiness as if to say her way of thinking was the only correct one.

“Screw that divisive bullshit,” Tim said flatly after a moment of indignation. “I trust Randal and Mac with my life.” He glanced at his friends. “And since we are all stuck in this together I am extending that trust to all of you. I think Yuma was correct when we had a better chance of surviving when we work together. We need to share information and grow our knowledge of this place, and ourselves. I am Timothy Nelson. Call me Tim. I’m an Enchanter. My stats are kind of average, but my intelligence is 22 and I have 90 MP.”

“Woah, that’s like triple what I got,” said Katsuki in surprise. “Can you cast any spells?”

“I don’t think so,” Replied Tim, who looked kind of crestfallen.

“Ok, smart guy,” interrupted Genzo, “we’re all one happy frigging family. Now what?”

Tim looked around the room. “How about trying to find a way out of here?”

“Oh, the doorway is over there.” Emi pointed to a nondescript section of wall.

After some convincing Randal, Ikko and Genzo started to push on the wall. Slowly, the stone cracked open and fresh air wafted in. After a few minutes, they struggled the door open wide enough to squeeze through.

Tim stood beside the group in what looked like an ancient temple. A huge vaulted ceiling loomed high above dressed with delectate frescos. Massive marble columns rose up to meet the ceiling. Each was carved meticulously and depicted glorious beings battling across the cosmos. A stone altar decorated with gilded angles was on a platform in the middle of the room. Early afternoon sunlight streamed in from a massive hole in the wall across from them. Black char marks stretched down from the hole and ate into the door below. A dozen corpses lay scorched and blackened about the room. Several were still smoldering.