Allisa left the home via the third entrance which leads out behind the mall in an out of the way empty lot. With Dale at the shop, she wanted to make sure no one she knew saw her leaving the home.

She'll be fine. The rabbits with her and she's got something to do She won't be leaving. Allisa thought to herself as the wall behind her closed off. Pushing it to the back of her mind, Allisa ran back into the sidewalk, avoiding colliding with one of the townsfolk, apologizing before running forwards towards the mall, stopping when she saw a reflection of herself In a store window.

Since she had forgotten all about today she hadn't really thought about what she would wear and just threw on her usual parka and jeans combo. ".... Hope this is ok?"

"Oh, Allisa, there you are." Lucy walked up to her with a wave. "What're you doing down here? Thought you'd be at the mall with the others?"

"Oh, uh..." Allisa remembered this road was the route Lucy would take to go from her house to the mall. "J-Just walking off nerves you know," she lied quickly.

"Hm hm, I bet," Lucy said with a sly grin.

"Cut it out," Allisa said as she began to walk towards the mall.

"Aw, come on. I know how your mind works," Lucy said walking at her side. "Aston's gonna be there after all and you always act giddily round the guys you like,"

"I-I do not!" Allisa snapped. "..... most of the time,"

Lucy chuckled at her response. Allisa couldn't help but smile back at her. Given all that had happened to her just this morning, it was refreshing to be alongside her tie to this world.

"...." The lingering guilt returned, clawing at her stomach. She turned, looking back down the street. The ally that leads to the home was still in sight, as was Ion. Was she right to just abandon her?

... No, I haven't abandoned her! I'm gonna go back when I'm finished.

"Allisa?"

Allisa's mind snapped back to reality, noticing Lucy staring at her. "You ok? You look troubled."

"Oh, it's nothing."

".... Say, how did it go with your cousin last night?"

"Huh?"

"You sounded pretty frustrated on the phone when I talked to you."

"Oh... well, same old same old," Allisa replied quickly. She remembered Lucy had called her last night to confirm the details and she had mistaken her for Mirage or Cliff. "Yeah, Madison hasn't changed one bit.... Unfortunately."

"Right...?" Lucy mumbled. ".... Say, who was-?"

"Hey, guys!"

Whatever Lucy was about to say was drowned out when the two finally reached the mall, spying Lucy's fellow science club friends Gina and Gabriela, Gina's boyfriend Troy, and right by them was Aston.

Allisa could latterly feel her heart leap, her stomach filling with butterflies, her feet stopping short. Lucy smiled and took Allisa's hand, dragging her towards the group. "Hey! Sorry for the wait!"

"Wha-! Lucy?!"

Lucy dragged her closer and closer to the mall before finally letting her go, stopping short of the small group. "Sorry for the wait. I got held up at home."

"Uh... H-hi." Allisa gave a small awkward wave.

"Hey Allisa," Aston greeted her and Allisa immediately flustered, turning away from Lucy as she knew the cheeky grin she had on her face.

"Yo. Long time no see, Allisa." Gina walked up to her tapping her on the shoulder. "Feels like forever since we last saw you."

"Yeah, I guess so." Allisa nodded.

"Hey, we're gonna go grab some sets!" Troy yelled as he and Aston walked into the mall's entrance.

"Grab some good ones's babe!" Gina called back as the two disappeared through the electronic doors.

"Happy sweet sixteen girl," Gabriela said, pulling out a card and handing it to Allisa with the logo of the local boutique. "That's from all of us. We all chipped in so you could get something, god knows you need to upgrade your wardrobe, girl."

"Uh thanks..." Allisa narrowed her eyes on Lucy who looked away whistling as innocent as possible. "I would have guessed it was your idea," She said with a small grin. "Seriously, thanks."

"All of us have chipped in for that, for today," Gina said. "Even Francesca put something towards it."

"Wha- Francesca?" There was little reason to believe that Francesca would ever put money towards a birthday present for her. The two had hated each other since elementary school with Francesca doing everything in her power to make her life miserable. Or at least... she used to. After the Alchemist incident, Francesca had been actively avoiding her. In fact, she hadn't to her once since that fateful night.

"Crazy right," Gabriela said. "We were just talking about it to the rest of the club when she walked by and overhead us. Then she just threw a twenty between us and just said 'it's for her. Make sure she doesn't pick out something on her own.' We were gonna why but she just walked off without saying anything else."

"Really...?"

"You know... she's been acting pretty weird lately," Gina said. "I mean, anything's an improvement on deva Francesca but... this one's a bit much."

"I heard she's started avoiding her own friends lately," Gabriela said, folding her arms. "Heck, she even dumped Dan for no apparent reason. And I do mean no reason, he came up to her and she blew him off saying 'were threw.'"

"I've heard she's started going into counseling,"

"Oh come on, that's just a rumor,"

"No seriously. I sit next to Rebeca in biology. She let slip that at a sleepover she woke up screaming 'he's after me! He's after me!' Allisa? What's wrong?"

Allisa found herself snapping back at the mention of her name.

"H-Hey come on! We have a shopping spree slash date, remember," Lucy intervened, stepping in front of Allisa. "Come on. Those guys must have picked a seat by now."

"Y-Yeah, right."

"Uh... sorry Allisa. Didn't mean to make you sad or anything." Both Gina and Gabriela walked into the mall, leaving Allisa alone with Lucy. When she was sure they were out of earshot Lucy turned around to Allisa with concern.

"Are you alright?" She asked gently.

"Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Lucy touched her right eye. Allisa did the same, and to her surprise, her eye felt damp. A small tear was trickling down her cheek. "Oh! S-Sorry. Ha ha, wow where did that come from?" She said quickly, rubbing her eyes.

".... Something did happen, did it?" Lucy pressed. She didn't face Allisa directly, turning on her feet facing the ground. "You’re... hiding something...." Her last words seemed naught but a whisper that it took a while for Allisa to pick up what she said. Before she could ask, Lucy shook her head, took in a deep breath and smiled. "S-Sorry. Didn't mean to get weird there!"

"Lucy..."

"Come on! We can't keep them waiting forever can we!" Lucy took Allisa's hand, walking into the mall.

"H-Hey Lucy! I can walk you know."

Lucy chuckled, laughing out loud. Yet Allisa could tell there was no humor or joy to it. Only.... a deep sadness.

****

The mall was busy, as typical of a Sunday afternoon, and particularly on this bright autumn day. Despite the chill in the air the mall felt warm due to the central heating of the complex and the crowds of people swarmed the local stores. Allisa and Lucy passed them by, making their way to the food court to join their friends. As they walked, Allisa spied in the corner of her eye men in black leaking around in the background. The sight was enough to make Allisa nervous.

As through sensing Allisa's unease, Lucy looked in the direction of the men in black. "I've been seeing them more and more. They're even lurking in the skater park and public walkways."

"I-Is that right?"

"Yeah, they've been getting so out of hand people have begun partitioning the mayor. I do not wanna be that guy, I'll tell you that."

"....." Allisa couldn't reply, as she knew she was part of the reason why they were in town in the first place.

"Does make you think what they could want, huh Allisa?" Lucy suddenly asked. "Allisa? Hello."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Does make you wonder, ha ha..." Allisa said quickly. Lucy, however, didn't respond, instead of looking away from her, instead of leading her through the crowd in uncomfortable silence.

The diner they were walking towards was located on the mall's second floor, the same one Allisa and Lucy met in yesterday, and where she had her run-in with Dan Wilson. That thought alone was enough to make Allisa's skin crawl. Even as they walked through the doors Allisa couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, scanning around for any signs of the man in question.

"Huh? I don't see them?" Lucy suddenly said.

"They're not?" Allisa scanned the dinner (still with one eye open) and could see no sign of the others.

"Maybe they went to the Burger joint on the south side," Lucy said walking past Allisa. "Wait here. If they come by, text me."

"Uh ok."

Lucy left her alone, passing through the electronic doors. Allisa leaned against a nearby support pillar, scanning the dinner once again to see if she had missed them by accident.

"Allisa?"

She jumped from her concentration, seeing Aston walking up to her.

"Oh, hey."

"Uh... am I early?" He asked, scanning the tables at the diner.

"Huh?"

"Gina said we're meeting here before she took off with Troy and Gabriela."

"They... did?" Allisa's phone buzzed with a text message. It was from Lucy, containing a winking emoji symbol. "Oh, I see," Now it dawned on her the set-up Lucy was talking about to get the two of them alone had just happened.

"Well, should we wait?"

"It'll probably make us stand out too much," Allisa said, seeing her one chance she had longed for. "Um... the arcade's not far. Why don't we kill some time there?"

"Oh, didn't take you for an arcade person," Aston said, showing an interest.

"Ha ha, well I wouldn't say I'm a video game gal, but I've had some experience there with Lucy," Allisa said grabbing his hand before dragging him along. "Come on, let's go."

"Whoa, aha! Ok, lead on."

Allisa dragged Aston out of the diner before walking ahead to the arcade located on the same floor. "So, have you tried all the games there?" Aston asked her as they meandered through the crowds.

"Hmm... I think I played most of them." Allisa replied. "There was this new zombie one that was added just before summer. Been meaning to check it out but never managed to find the time."

"Oh, I know the one you mean." Aston said, "Well, what do you say? Wanna try that one first?"

"You're on,"

The arcade was just in front of them. As expected for a Sunday it was crowded. Making their way through the ales Allisa spotted the machine in question, the zombie game with the large banners on top of it.

"Ah, that's the one," Allisa said grabbing the toy machine guns and handed one to Aston. The boy chuckled as he grabbed it from him.

"Think I got to the last level last time,"

"Well, by your lead."

The game booted up with both unloading rounds into the hoard of virtual zombies. After much time had passed, they hit a brick wall against one of the game's bosses before they lost.

"Aw, that was so close!"

"Ha ha! That was pretty close. So wanna play again."

"Uhh... Oh! Hold on!" Allisa abandoned the game walking over to the toy crane, spying the new plushies at the base.

"You like those?" Aston said walking up to her. "I'd get you one but... this machine isn't really my specialty."

"Thanks, but," Allisa winked with a quarter between her fingers. She inserted the coin, handled the controls, picked up the doll and dropped it into the receiver. "I've been getting Lucy stuff from this since elementary school," She said triumphantly.

After four more games, the two finally exited the arcade. With still no word from Lucy or any of the others, they sat on the bench close to the arcade.

"Didn't think anyone could do better at a motorbike race than me."

"Well, I've had a lot of practice," Allisa grinned clicking her fingers as Aston took a seat next to her. "I think I came here a bit too much when I was little. My dad was always at work so I hung around here a lot."

"You didn't hang out with your friends?" Aston asked, relaxing on the bench.

"You've seen me at school." Allisa sighed. "Though... I guess my dad being chief of police had something to do with it." she gazed blankly to the canopy, "I just felt really out of place here, you know."

"... Yeah, I think I get it." Aston said gazing upwards. "But it's not like you're all alone all the time."

"Yeah," Allisa nodded, feeling a warmth radiating inside her. "Yeah, now I do have some irreplaceable friends. They can be... a bit of a nuisance at times, but honestly... I don't see how I could have made it this far without them."

And they're all fighting while I'm.... The pang of guilt began to ring in her chest, dampening her mood. She knew she couldn't have gone with them even if she didn't have the date with Aston. But Ion....

"You know... you seem pretty different."

"Different?"

"Yeah. Donno how to describe it but... you just seem pretty different from before. I mean, when I use to walk up to you at school you could barely say two words."

Allisa chuckled lightly. "Well.... A lot's happened."

"I kinda like this new you."

"Uh...?" The blood rushed to her cheeks almost immediately. Embarrassed Allisa looked away, trying to quell the beating of her heart. "Th-Thanks... uh..."

"Allisa?"

"I-It's nothing!" Allisa stuttered, taking in a deep breath. "Just uh... wasn't expecting that from you." Her breathing began to steady. This is my chance...

"Hey... Aston," She looked directly at the boy. "Um... I was wondering-"

BEEP BEEP.

Her phone suddenly buzzed. "Great timing..." Mumbling she pulled out her phone.

"You were wondering...?"

"Hold on. I think that's from Lucy- ?!!" Allisa stared blankly at her phone's screen with shock.

"Allisa?" Aston moved in closer to look but before he could, Allisa jumped off the bench, walking backward with her phone clutched in her hand.

"I... I gotta go." She said breathlessly. "..... Sorry."

"Wh- Allisa hold on?!"

Blanking out the calls of her long time crush Allisa ran away, barging through shoppers in her mad dash.

"Why? Why now of all times?"

Her hand clutched her phone with the message she had just received by someone with no number, and a message that brought the peaceful life Allisa had long cherished crashing around her.

'Goddess Chosen.

Meet me in the parking garage 2nd floor.

Or I'll kill all your friends in this world.'

****

"Oh no!"

"Whaa! I can't watch!"

Ion wrestled with the controls, watching in vain as her virtual mini car slid off the road into the endless void.

"Aw, I fell off again," Ion moaned as her racer reset. "This is harder than it looks,"

"What do you expect from such a primitive hunk of junk," Berken said, floating over to the gaming console laying on the floor. "I have more processing power than this,"

"Aw, I think it's quite cute," Ion said as she began the game again.

"And don't get me started on these things," Berken picked up one of the plastic cases examining the CD inside. "External compact devices to store information?"

"Remember, this world cannot benefit from the systems and power provided by Sora. And yet this world has thrived given the limitations of nature. Ha ha, it's like the holograms of the old worlds."

On the screen, Ion's care plummeted off the turning once again. With a pout, Ion raised her controller close to her face. "Ok. I will make it past that turn!"

Slamming her finger on the right trigger, her virtual car roared into life, barreling towards the same turn she had missed on no less than five occasions. Ion let up, hitting another button allowing the car to drift, gritting her teeth as the car kissed the turn-

"I did it!"

"Yeah," Berken watched as her car fell down the next bend turn. "But you still feel down."

"Ha ha, But I still did it!" Ion picked up the controller, "...." then put it down again. ".... Is this really ok?"

"Of course it's not!" Berken said floating to her side. "The object of the game is to reach the other side of the course! I think all the other AI's have finished!"

"Not that..." Ion shook her head pressing the pause button and folding her legs.

"Ion?"

"Is it ok for me to be enjoying myself at a time like this..." She said, feeling the sting as she said it.

"We can't really do anything else," Berken said. "Got Markus and those other guys off to save Larek and Otto while fighting off Altosk, and the spy doing Ekon knows what behind our backs."

"Right... everyone's fighting.... Because of me..." her grip tightened on the controller. "It's so frustrating. No matter what I do, everyone around me just... they just end up suffering...."

"Oh Ion, that's just who you are," Berken responded, in a rather cold tone.

".... Berken?" Glancing at her she could immediately tell something was wrong. Berken was floating in place but barely moved a single limb. His eyes as well were blinking dimly as though the lights were about to go out.

"And the more you try to deny it," His voice became that much colder filled with static no longer sounding like her treasured companion. "The more victims you drag into a mess of your own making."

".... Felt," Ion jumped to her feet, backing away from Berken. She knew what had happened, and it was something that she did not wish to happen here and now. Berken had been hacked, and there was only one person she knew who could do such a thing.

The Altosk Lieutenant, Felt.

"Good to see you again Ion." Felt continued speaking through Berken. "You've caused quite the commotion back at Altosk, what with that little disappearing act. In fact, we had to come all this way just to find and bring you back home."

"Well, you've wasted your time!" Ion snapped. "I... I won't go back to Altosk! I'm... I'm changing my allegiance!"

"Yes yes, we know all about your plan to go to Marina."

"H-How do you know?"

"We're Altosk, remember. And we have you under 30-hour surveillance. We know you're here with that borgo Cyborg Markus. We also have a pretty good idea that bastard Bec came up with this escape plan."

"...."

"But to think you'd stoop so low as to bite the hand that feeds you. It would break poor Leo's heart to hear that, especially since he's come all this way just to find you."

A cold pit dropped in Ion. "Leo....? He's here?" Her grin tightened on her borrowed dress.

"You of all people should know the protector of the Star Singer must never leave her side at all costs."

"....."

"Now then. You know by now that Aralius's forces are assaulting the military installation as we speak. That would lure not just Markus but those new friends of yours. That means the way is open for us to come and collect you, by force if necessary."

"Force? You- You wouldn't dare go that far!" Ion snapped at Felt but knew that what she said was true, especially if Leo was there.

"The choice is yours Ion. Either way, you're coming back with us. The only question is how many bodies we'll have to leave in your wake." Berken's lights flickered before turning on brightly. "Huh? What's wrong Ion."

To Ion's relief, Berken was back. Felt had cut the connection freeing her longtime companion.

"Is it that primitive junk again?"

"...."

"If that's the case," Berken flew over to the console, "Looks simple enough but I bet I can hack into its systems to-

"Hey, Berken. Can you come over here?"

"Uh, sure," Berken flew to Ion, who gripped him gently around his bronze frame. "If you want to perform a diagnostic on-"

"Code Iola: Deactivate."

Berken suddenly jolted and went limp. The lights of his eyes turned off as all sounds emitted from his complex machinery shut down. Ion walked over to the couch and set him down before turning away. Walking out the door Allisa had and walking up the stairs to the brick wall, Ion placed a hand on it, channeling her eather like she had seen Allisa do before. The passage opened up. Ion stepped out into the ally way, taking in a deep breath.

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Markus... Allisa..... I'm sorry."

But this is a fight you cannot win.