When I woke up I was looking at the ceiling, a fan buzzed to my left, it felt awkward knowing that back on earth is was in the middle of winter, and here on Eaxura, it was blazing hot. I sat up from my bed and yawned, it's been awhile since anyone has gotten some good sleep, so it was nice to rest for awhile.

I got up from my bed and took a look out the window, children were walking around with bags...I never recalled there being a school in Eaxura, either that or it slipped my mind. I sat near the window at a desk I put there and thought about yesterday for a while and all the stuff that was talked about. Of course, I was there for most of what was talked about, and yet, i felt like some things were lied about, but i guess I just had to be trusting. I looked over to my left and looked at my Bass just sitting there, I may have not been here long, but i have yet to hear anything about festivals, i guess Eaxura really isn't into music...

After I finished thinking, I did the essentials for a good morning, and yet, before I could eat anything, someone was already knocking on the door, great. I exited the kitchen and went to the door, I took a deep breath, and let it out, opening the door afterwards. At the door was...surprisingly Nicholai.

"Heya Nicholai! What brings you over here?" I spoke with a smile on my face.

"Nothing really, just walking around and realized you were nearby" Her voice was as usual, mostly deadpan.

"But, that's not much of a reason to knock is it?" Taking a better look, her outift wasn't what it normally would be, It was more sofis...so....sophisticated, there, that was the word. "What's with the look?"

"Well, since I'm already here, Raymond is already sending a few of us on our next mission, it's some party in a far corner of Eaxura, supposedly there's double agents, though I don't know why he's sending us instead of going himself" She moved her arms around a lot while she talked, making different gestures. "Though, since we're all a team, you could tag along, you can eat a better breakfast than what you were gonna have here"

"hehe, I guess so, though, if i don't get a good meal you'll owe me one."

"Yeah, i already owe you more than one though that's for sure" She scratched her head "Anyways, I'll be going in a bit, so I'm not gonna be waiting." She began walking, probably to where that place she was on about, well, at least it inspired me on what outift I should wear today. It wouldn't be much but a nice dress goes some ways. While heading back upstairs I noticed the gang in a TTS call, so I decided to join in.

"Okay so who knows how to actually drive"-Nicholai

"Hehe, as a mercenary you have to know everything"-Kyle

"Sure...I still recall everything i learned during the apocalypse, so i think it's better for me to drive"-Lee

"What about Sam?"-Nicholai

"Umm...I've never really driven a car before" -Sam

"Well, there you go, I'm driving."-Lee

"...alright, just don't drive into anything"-Kyle

"I'll do my best!"-Lee

"Alright, we'll all meet near the partner-link thing, you know, where Lee and Sam got their link."-Nicholai

"Already on the way"-Kyle

"See you guys soon!"-Sam

"Right"-Lee

After the TTS disconnected, and i finished getting dressed, I went to the meeting area where Lee was waiting in a fancy looking car while Kyle leaned on one of the doors. The two seemed to be chatting.

"You're staining the glass!" Lee seemed to be scolding him...thinking on it now, i started to question where this stuff came from...even the outfits everyone had on...kinda creepy...then again the outfits i had were stuff i had worn before...and the house is based on what i wanted...when did Kyle and Lee ever wear a suit though? It's kinda unsettling, though they did look good in them. Lee was wearing a white colored suit to compliment his hair, while Kyle was wearing the opposite...to also match is hair.

"Damnit, I didn't expect to be last" I heard Nicholai behind me, when I turned to look at her she had a suit on too but with a matching leggings on the bottom of it. "Lee with a suit, Kyle with a suit, and Sam with a dress...seems right"

"Isn't that embarrassing, you called the meeting spot and you're the last to get here" Kyle taunted her, while he was still getting yelled at by Lee to get off the glass.

"Yes, too bad I didn't have a car" She straightened herself and put a hand on my shoulder "Now, let's get going, we got a party to catch and some spys to expose"

"If there are any" Lee cut in. He seemed amped to drive.

"Yes, if there are any...well, we won't get anything done by staying here" After Nicholai finished talking, Kyle got off the car and opened the rear doors for Nicholai. "I can't tell if this is meant to be you being polite or if something is wrong with you"

"Take a guess" He spoke in a sarcastic voice. I however sat in the passenger seat near Lee like we did last time. After we were all in the car Lee began the drive, turning on the radio after a minute or two

"Today marks the 500th ever Tourney to becoming a full fledged DT Operative, this time we have way more groups than ever in our history, and thus some rules have changed, instead of the last two teams, the winners will be the last five, meaning that at the very minimum, twenty people will be graduating" The guy's voice sounded obnoxious...is that i sound?...i hope not

"You know that radio got me thinking" Kyle was leaning on his seat without a care. "You two are from a different timeline right?"

"Yeah?" I answered while Lee drove.

"Just wondering what differences there were, cause it seemed like you're guy's trials went in a different manner." Kyle looked out the window

"From what I see not much is different, though, I guess in our timeline, i didn't see as much children then as I've seen here" Lee answered while waving his free hand around before resting it on the wheel again after he finished speaking. Now that I was closer to Lee I felt like he looked exhausted out of his mind.

"Huh...well, i assume you haven't been in either timeline for long, so it'd make sense you can't tell the difference" Nicholai made sense, as she usual does.

"I guess so" I responded quietly, the radio had changed to some talk show while classical music played in the background of it.

Eventually we made it to the supposed party, a bunch of cars were parked around this house in the farthest corner. Many trees covered the area and it made the place somewhat uneasy.

"Well, here we are. Let's get this over with, I'm not the best at social gatherings" Nicholai got out of the car, closing the door after she did, the rest of us followed suit.

"Hold on..." Lee seemed confused as he was straightening everything. "Wouldn't they know we're on a mission? I don't think we were invited..."

"Ahh...well, i don't think there were invites, I just think it's whoever knows of it can come over, so we shouldn't be found out unless we make a fool of ourselves" Nicholai explained while she looked around us.

"Alright! So we should be able to handle it just fine" I cheered us on.

"Exactly, now, let's do this" Lee took the keys and got out the car after he parked it, Kyle left next, then me, then Nicholai.

"Our first real party!" It felt sort-of energizing, yet, reminded me that I missed a good few years of my life in a hospital

"Well, I'm sure we've been to others, maybe some after school activities...maybe" Lee spoke in an unsure manner, causing Nicholai to respond.

"I can't imagine you going to any school events considering how much you hated it"

"I'm sure Lee didn't hate it that much" I responded to Nicholai's comment. She only responded with a shrug as we got closer to what looks like a gathering of people.

"Making sure, we're not walking into a cult right?"

"Leave it to Lee to start mentioning cults first" Kyle spoke behind us. We stopped talking as we reached everyone, they wore formal outfits like we did.

"So, what's first?" I began whispering to the others "We shouldn't get looking for info yet since we just got here, and we probably have someone staring us down"

"You're right, for now I say get accustomed to the party, listen in on convos, look for any hidden areas, maybe some documents." Lee gave a few options on what to do.

"So we're splitting up then, each one of us can tackle something"

"I guess you're right Kyle, I got it, Kyle can look for hidden spaces, maybe some hidden passage ways or rooms, Nicholai is also already accustomed to decoding documents so she can handle that, and Sam can listen in on people since she's known for being unnoticeable when needed."

"I think I disagree with that last statement, but alright...hang on, what're you doing then"

"Well Nicholai, I'll be doing something too, no point in mentioning it considering I was going to do it no matter what, but still, I'll also be ready to assist any one of you if my help is needed so consider me on standby, well, get to it you guys" He walking into the crowd, blending in shortly after, it wasn't hard to do considering no one here had normal colored hair...well, I guess if you exclude some people here... The others already began to go elsewhere, so I guess it's time to eavesdrop on people.

I walked around for a bit, people for the most part were talking about really boring things, what's the point of a party if you make it about work and such...it's not even interesting work too like the jobs that we have, just general things. After getting to the edge of the crowd I noticed a food and drinks table...it tempted me a little bit ...yet I didn't know if it had anything dangerous in it, I made sure to keep listening to everyone's conversations while I thought about it, technically, it would help me blend in considering everyone has drinks...

"It's not drugged if that's what you're concerned about" I turned around and saw someone who sounded familiar, yet someone I couldn't recall standing there holding a cup. "Though, from the taste they're really cheap...hopefully they are traitors so it could explain their horrific choice in drinks" He must've realized I couldn't remember him. "I was one of your teachers in high school" ..."Friends with Kai?"..."Messed with Kyle?"..."...Ruco...it's Ruco"

"Oh!...w-wait...you died?"

"Yup, my mission to find help didn't end so well, some masked guy caught me of guard and then bang!" He motioned his hand up like a gun going off "I was dead, and ended up in Eaxura...though if you're here, I guess none of us made it out"

"We got killed by the same masked guy"

"Hmm...maybe it's something to look into then, though I know the higher ups already have info on him, with how dangerous he is" He poured himself more of the drink "Oh and please don't drink this, it may contradict what I'm doing but alcohol really isn't good for people your age"

"I didn't even know it was alcohol"

"Exactly, you gotta be careful" I felt like he was lying and just wanted the drink to himself, it would explain why he called it trash yet continues to drink it. "So, where are the others? I doubt you just died"

"They're...doing stuff"

"Comeon, I know I'm not the most trustworthy but I was brought here on the same mission"

"I know...but I can't say I understand what they're doing" Of course I do, but I can't exactly trust everyone, that other Madoka already taught me that lesson.

"Well, knowing them they probably made it sound more complicated and convoluted then needed, hehe, it feels like just yesterday you guys were in my classroom...being...yourselves I guess" It was silent for a few seconds, it was getting kinda awkward "W-well, I better get going, I'm meant to be looking for something" He drank the rest of his drink and left, going wherever his mission required him to be I assume. I looked back at the drink...a little couldn't hurt, I got a cup and poured in a very small amount, and after very little thought, I took a drink and at first it was fine, the taste was strong but soon I began to cough, eventually I was hacking while my throat felt like it was burning, eventually it subsided but my throat still hurt...

"Are you alright Ma'am?" My idiocy drew attention. I turned over to the woman talking to me.

"Y-yeah, just, not used to it." She laughed a little before walking away. At least it wasn't a dragging conversation. I looked back over at the drink with disdain...never again...

I continued my main job and eavesdropped on the partygoers, one conversation caught my interest.

"The delivery should be arriving shortly, please be careful with it alright?" I walked over holding my empty cup and continued to listen.

"Of course" The person ran off, going towards where everyone parked. I decided to stay put, the crowd doesn't go over to the parking lot, so I'd be easily noticed...as if I already haven't been noticed...I looked over towards the person who was telling the guy what to do, but they were already gone. Before I could think about it, TTS activated.

"Found something!"-Kyle

"Alright! see, i got the right person for the job"-Lee

"Yeah, whatever, So, what is it?" Nicholai

"I wanna know too, I doubt it was an easy fine, and if it's hidden there must be something important"-Sam

"And you're right, it's like some storage system down here, which is why I need Nicholai, most of these are documents in some encryption, hopefully you found something for it Nicholai" Kyle

"I'm sure I have something for it, and if not I'll figure it out"-Nicholai

"Why did you use TTS though?"-Sam

"Well, I mainly wanted to know what you two were doing, because it seems like the house is on higher alert then when I first entered"-Kyle

"Ahh...that may have be-"-Sam

"Maybe me? I tried brute forcing a password, though it didn't notify anything, so I didn't realize"-Lee

"Oh...what, why're you in the house too?"-Sam

"I just wanted to see if I could find extra info, which I did, this computer has some good stuff on it"-Lee

"I thought you brute forced it? I doubt it took you such little time to get it"-Nicholai

"Cause he had me"-Kenneth

"How, exactly?"-Kyle

"I just gave him instructions, so instead of getting the password I got him to trick the absolutely horrendous software to think he was already signed in"-Kenneth

"Horrible drinks and horrible software"-Sam

"W...wait did you have one of the drinks?"-Lee

"N-No...I met up with Ruco just a few seconds ago, he said it was terrible"-Sam

"So he's here...wonder if he'll mention what i did in class"-Kyle

"You know how long it took to fix Lee up right?"-Nicholai

"I didn't think he was that weak"-Kyle

"Right, enough with that, let's get back to it and see if we can find anything about them being traitors"-Lee

"Oh actually! Someone said a delivery was coming in soon, and some guy went to the parking lot, maybe that could be related"-Sam

"Good find Sam, go investigate, if you need help lemme know, and remember, if you need a quick outfit change Dave can assist"-Lee

"Alright! I'll get some info for everyone"-Sam

And like that TTS was off, I looked around for a bit, making sure no one would see me go into the tree line, after I was in the middle of the trees I waited for Dave to come over...it was just a guess he would come over, but I was right. I went into my hud and picked the DT outfit, this was a mission after all...afterwards I remembered that Dave wasn't needed for this...waste of time...I walked through the trees looking out into the parking lot until I noticed the guy from earlier carrying a box, I heard Dave behind me make some noise. I looked over at em and noticed he wa holding some cartridge with a lightning symbol. I grabbed it and summoned my sniper, I unloaded it and put in the electric rounds, i assumed they were non-lethal, which made sense, if they are innocent I wouldn't want to kill anyone if they were actually good people...though it wouldn't explain why they're out in the middle of nowhere holding a hidden party with this very old building in the woods...

i thought for a bit though...this wouldn't silence the shot, and i don't got enough MP to suppress the noise long enough for the entire mission, i had an idea...I assumed the bullets were electrified from magic so I took out one of the bullets with one hand, and took out my daggers with the other one, i would look stupid if it didn't work but I slashed at the bullet with my dagger which caused a decently painful shock to rumble through my fingers, I almost dropped the casing due to that but held on barley, I looked into the casing and noticed a very small gem in it, I took it out and the electricity surrounding the casing vanished.

"I guess the gem can give weapons elemental stuff..." I mumbled to myself, this couldn't fit in my weapon anyways, I was stuck thinking, i didn't have forever as the guy would make it back to the crowd sooner or later.

"I shall provide aid" Dave flew past me before I could even think about what he was going to do. The drone(Dave) flew over to the guy holding the box.

"The fuck are yo-" Before he could finish his sentence Dave shocked him until they passed out on the floor, dropping the box beside himself.

"There you go Ms Calstianos" Dave flew behind me, seemingly going elsewhere after his mission was accomplished. I ran over to the box and grabbed it, heading back into the forest. I put the box on a log and opened it.

"Oh...oh no..." In the box were a massive amount of documents, binders and binders worth. None of it was encrypted either, it was just about finances. I read through a few of them to make sure I was right.

"Hey guys!"-Sam. I turned on TTS to tell everyone

"Yeahhhh?"-Lee

"This box had nothing in it, just papers about finances"-Sam

"W-well, look more, maybe there's weapons and what not, maybe they have some hidden purchases on there."-Lee

"I dunno Lee, so far I don't see anything in here either"-Kyle

"And I've been decoding almost everything in here"-Nicholai

"...that doesn't seem right...then again, we were told that it's not 100%...Sorry, i should've thought ahead, Sam, for now, I'll regroup with you, then we'll catch up to Kyle and Nicholai at the building."-Lee

"I'll keep a lookout for you two"-Kyle

"I'll keep at...this"-Nicholai

"Hey!" I was going to respond and ask who said that, until I realized that wasn't TTS. I looked up from the box and noticed the guy from before with two others, the main guy had a pistol in a holster nearly hidden by his coat.

"Yeah I'll do my best to get there!"-Sam

I darted back to the tree line. I heard a click which I assumed was the holster opening...would you really need a holster if you could summon weapons though? Maybe they weren't traitors but humans, or DTs with no powers, either that, or people who go old school. I keep my head low but after a clinging noise and a bang I lost my balance from the noise and fell onto the dirt, I resummoned my daggers and changed them to pistols, the minute they changed I did a 180 and aimed at the clanging before noticing a hand extended.

"Told ya we would regroup" Lee stood there ready to help me up, I noticed the two people running towards us while the last one was reloading, his gun seemingly only holding a single round. I moved to Lee's side and changed one of my guns into its normal dagger form threw it, swinging around both the people's legs, unfortunately, it only tripped one while the other jumped over it. However, while they were in the middle of jumping, an arrow flew by and hit the standing person's shoulder, knocking them down in the end anyways. I raised my remaining pistol and fired towards the reloading man, he ran behind cover and shouted something I couldn't understand. A loud thud sounded behind the two of us so I flicked over and prepared to shoot before Lee grabbed my arm and jolted it down before i could do anything.

"That's the greeting I get? You need to work on that trigger finger" Kenneth stood there with his bow around his back.

"You can't blame me! When did you get here?" While asking my question we all ducked down behind the trees for cover. Kenneth pointed to our far left near the building. I noticed Ruco and My sis Alice there, with Alice aiming something towards the guy who shot at us.

"Alice gave us the heads up" Lee began crouch walking along the treeline as he talked, we all began to follow him, i also remembered how tiring and painful crouch walking is, and that's without much gear...

"We should get going, the guy already shot, the partygoers probably already know we're here."

"Maybe we should explain ourselves, they don't seem like bad people" I tried suggesting after Kenneth's comment.

"They shot at you!?" Lee sounded confused

"Cause I got Dave to knock one of them out!" Lee began to consider something after I finished talking.

"Well, at least you guys are faster than you were in school!" Ruco taunted us as we caught up with him and Alice.

"You're trying to find anything from our school days to mess with us aren't you?" Kenneth desummoned his bow while standing up to relax his legs, we all did the same, with the exception of desummoning our weapons.

"Ken, They don't know you're with us yet, so could you take a look and listen to the partygoers and see how they're reacting?" Lee gave Kenneth a direction to follow.

"Right, I'll get to it." Kenneth ran out of sight.

"Oh? And what about us?" Ruco talked to Lee.

"I'm not your leader now am I?" Lee opened up his menu while talking, looking to see where everyone is.

"Well, technically we could join...Bravo Team was it?" The two started going back and forth at each other.

"I doubt you'd wanna follow a child's order"

"Can't learn if you don't have an instructor, and to be fair, you're reacting to all this DT and time travel stuff well, all things considered."

"How would you know about me time traveling!?"

"It's my job to look after my students no?"

"Oi Lee, the hell are you guys!?"-Nicholai

"We're going now"-Lee

Lee put away his things I already knew he was going to start heading for the building so I led the run.

"Nicholai! It's been awhile hasn't it?"-Ruco

"Shut up teach, we're being serious right now"-Nicholai

"...Well...I understand"-Ruco

"Naw fuck that, how'd you get in this channel? That's a privacy concern no?"-Kyle

"You guys are in the TTS that's shared between Kai's team and your guy's team, I would've thought it was obvious I'm with Kai considering we taught you all together"-Ruco

"I see you guys!"-Kyle

I saw Kyle waving behind the building, I slowed slightly when I remembered the partygoers, they seemed passive, as if nothing happened.

"Lee, something's off, everyone is acting like the shot never went off"-Kenneth

"So we run through, it'll just seem like we're in a panic, nevermind our outfits, to hell with formality" Lee ran past me and into the crows.

"See you two on the other side of the wave!" Ruco dashed past next

"See ya Ken!" Then me. I started pushing through the crowd one at a time, I couldn't really hear much until shouting broke any conversation that was audible, once again it was in the language I couldn't understand, but it seemed to rile up the crowd. Slowly everyone's once understandable words changed to nonsense, regardless, I pushed through it all and made it to the back of the building without anyone calling me out, i think at least.

"So, am I the only one who thinks they're brain dead?" I heard Kyle speak as I rested on the wall.

"I thought it was mind control" Lee stood to my right, every now and again he'd check around the corner.

"Actually" I thought of something and decided to agree with Lee "I think you're right...think about how they've acted, they didn't react to the gunshot, they speak some unknown language, they got riled up from some guy talking and not the gunshot"

"And has anyone actually heard a comprehensible sentence from anyone?" Ruco pointed it out

"Well, from that one guy, then also the guy Sam tazed"

"But Lee, the guy who shot at us was talking to them, so maybe they were still mind controlled" I explained to Lee.

"One last thing" Nicholai held a folder, reading through it while talking "These are also finances, and from looking at it, this is an insane amount of supplies, even for the people here"

"So this guy intended to get more people under his control" Kenneth had brought his spear back and stood on the other side of the building, making it a bit harder to hear him from the distance.

"Being serious here" Ruco spoke up again "Maybe this could be a cult, I already told Sam but the drinks were terrible, not only that but they felt genuinely painful to drink, for all i know I'm falling under the cult's spell"

"We should head back to mainland Eaxura, tell Raymond, I already got Dave to record most of the events here, so we'll know every single person who was here, including the guy, the real question is if this is mind control or a cult"

"Let's use my car" Almost immediately after Kenneth finished talking, Ruco spoke up again. "They most likely already know which car was yours" He pointed to the four of us. "So it'd be best if we head to mine"

"That makes sense, though we'd have to go through the woods fir-"

"Tsk tsk" Ruco cut me off. "One of my powers allow me to make the people around me invisible, it'll be straining sure, but considering you guys are still teens it should be easy enough to get us across"

"So do it then" I remarked back. Ruco pricked his finger a small amount, I looked away has a blood drop hit the floor, as it did this nearly see-through circle appeared around us, it didn't seem like it did anything yet it was most likely just a one sided thing, I at least hoped it was

"Let's get to it then" Alice popped up and led the way, i happily followed her with the others behind us.

"Say, how close can they exactly get before noticing us?" We were out of cover and could easily be seen if it didn't work, hence Kyle's skepticism.

"I'd give it a good...ten feet maybe?" It took a second, but Ruco answered.

"So they'd have to be relatively close, but it's still a good distance to see us" Lee had his hud up, it made me remember how i never really checked it often, then again, it hasn't been that long. "Hey Ruco, you've been a DT for awhile now right?"

"...why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just, i never really seen a need for the whole level up system...nor am i yet to hear someone refer to it besides us"

"...Strange, you'd have to ask Raymond or Kai about it" After Ruco's answer it seemed we, as in, me, Lee, Kenneth, Nicholai, took note of what he said, while Lee acted on it.

"Why Kai? I thought Raymond was the main DT guy or whatever" Lee continued his press while a thought in my head came by.

"Eaxura has a large history behind it, that also includes the DTs, the library in Eaxura has a lot of info about it, though a decent few of the books were burned" Is what Ruco responded with, yet going off topic, i asked my question.

"Ruco, they can't hear us right?" I first thought of it when we got away from the main building, i started looking at the people and they seemed to be eyeing us even though we were meant to be invisible.

"They can't"

"And why's that?" Nicholai asked in response to Ruco's answer.

"Why's what?"

"It makes us invisible, that's what you said, how does that effect if we can be heard?"

"Think of it like erasing us from existence, i just tried explaining it in simple terms, no offense" It seemed we all took that for an answer.

"Don't worry about it, if they could hear us right now we'd be fighting them, either that or we'd just teleport away" Alice reassured us. "Hey sis, there's actually a great photoshoot location we should get to after this...you...still take pictures right?: Ah! I guess i haven't really been using my camera have I?

"I-it's been awhile, but yeah, i still do" Alice smiled at me and carried on, i kinda pity the others, they don't really have family with them...but I consider Bravo Team to be a family so...I took a look back at the crowd of people, they were still eying us down, hell it was obvious they were tracking us as we walked, no way this was working, but then, why won't they attack us?

"Hey guys!" Nicholai noticed it as well.

"I've noticed, just act like we haven't caught on" Ruco spoke.

"How about you explain why it didn't work" Lee's tone got more annoyed

"Magic isn't 100% reliable you know" Ruco also began to get annoyed.

"I doubt they'll let us just walk out" Kyle started getting his axe out.

"We get as far as possible, these people are innocent" We were more than half way to the cars.

"Just making sure, the car does have enough for all of us right?" Kenneth was more or less still calm

"It's a tight squeeze but we'll be fine" I was so used to my time as a human that it took me forever to realize.

"Hold on! Why isn't teleporting an option!?" I spoke aloud and everyone stopped in their tracks except Ruco, though he stopped when he realized we did

"Sam has a point, why can't we?" Nicholai's voice has some attitude in it, i assumed she was getting tired of all the stupid magic stuff.

"Well, i doubt we'd all teleport to the same area, after all, it's a possibility that some of you guys don't have strong throwing arms, and even then, we'd easily be seen if we just warped, then they'd use a MEMP, then we'd be killed easily"

"I dunno, to me it looks like we're being looked at" I spoke out

"Just a coincidence" Ruco was getting sketicher.

"Ruco, where are we really going?" After Lee finished speaking Ruco sighed

"To. the. car" He sounded like he was getting pissed off. "And if you all wanna keep thinking I'm some traitor then feel free to drive"

"Well, i'd be happy too" Lee walked past Ruco, we were close enough where we could all see the parking lot, after getting close enough Lee started to enter the car we brought.

"I thought we were taking mine?" Ruco questioned

"Why would we, it feels like we're gonna get shot any second...and i'd rather not have that happen" I mumbled the last part but after that I walked past Ruco too and went in the passenger seat beside Lee. After i buckled up i looked out the windshield, it seemed everyone had something to say.

"It really feels like everyone is out to get us" Lee spoke as i looked out.

"It really does...that entire time i had a thought" I took off the jacket from the DT Uniform, it wasn't needed and it was getting hotter than normal...though do i know what normal is here?

"Which was?"

"You know how you had that urge to fight Kai? Well, what if it was really Ruco instead?" I heard Lee lean back on his seat after turning on the engine.

"It's possible...Raymond, Kai, Ruco...the sketchy trio" Even though last time i checked Nicholai was arguing with Ruco, Sis was the next to enter the car and sat behind me.

"So what're we on about? I saw you two chatting!" Sure, Alice was with them, but at least she acted the same as she always has been.

"About how sketchy your group is" Lee spoke directly, if they were as bad as we thought i feel we would be detained...though if I'm thinking that than we would be right wouldn't we...

"Well, if you got any questions ask away, maybe i could help" Alice leaned on my head rest, making me shift a bit forward.

"I got one" I looked back at Alice, and she looked back at me with a smile, making me smile too, before i remembered where we were, and continued my question. "The whole XP thing, the levels HP, MP, is that actually real? I never seen any one refer to it." Alice seemed a bit guilty.

"That was my mistake, i remember you guys playing games all the time so i created that system for you and a few other groups that loved video games. It is an actual system though, just workin out some quirks so it may have had some issues" Kenneth came in the car after the explanation, Alice was going to repeat herself before Kenneth began talking.

"I heard, i was right outside" He sat in the middle "I'll relay it to the others when we get back, so no need for you to repeat it"

"That was kinda a let down" Lee continued inspecting the car, making sure no error lights were on and all mirrors were in the right spot. "I expected some mystery to that system, or i dunno... that it wasn't made by my friends sister, no offense of course just...you know"

"I find it neat, knowing my sis has a high enough position to where she can make nearly global magical systems for people" Alice had moved back so i leaned on the head rest again.

"That would imply Raymond, Ruco, and Kai also can make those systems, meaning if our suspicions are right, they could destroy us, since the system effects our vision as well" Kenneth had his menu open. "I also guess this menu isn't just from our system considering I've seen others with this menu"

"Right in both regards" Alice responded simply.

"Makes sense" I saw Lee looking in the corner of his eye, i assume looking at the HP, MP, and the other stuff. "If this is already in my vision what else could appear?" Kyle entered the car next, seeming ticked sitting to the left of Kenneth, taking the rest of the seats in the middle row

"The fucker hasn't changed one bit, just as much as a prick as he was in high school!"

"As, as, as, as" Lee taunted Kyle

"Oh shut up Lee, you repeat words just as much as i do with your ramblings!" Kyle crossed his arms and looked out the window..."Sorry..." He said it just loud enough for us to hear.

"It's alright, it's not like it was that bad" Lee tapped the stearing wheel as he held it, getting impatient, i assume due to the fact hundreds were staring at us.

"Right? Kyle i think you forget other stuff you've done, this is nothing!" I said in response to Lee.

"I guess you're right, still, an apology is needed otherwise i'd become some prick...like Ruco" Kyle uncrossed his arms, but continued looking outside. Everyone else who hasn't gotten in eventually got into the back row, it was clear we still had questions, but none of us were asking them with Ruco in the car. No one knows what was up with the weird cult people...well, anyone who would be willing to share info. Regardless, the ride home was mostly quiet, besides for some small talk, no one bothered, and even then, half the time it was Alice and I talking about photography.

"Here we are, back in mainland Eaxura and away from the cult...or brainwashing." Lee parked at his house, obviously, and killed the engine. It got really late all of a sudden, though i never bothered to ask how time worked here, and whether or not it had the same hours of day as earth

"Well it's pretty late isn't it?" I spoke my thoughts aloud while resting my head on the door.

"Ain't...it?" Kyle yawned halfway through his two words.

"Way too tired to use magic as well" Kenneth slouched over.

"If you're all trying to find an excuse to stay over then just say it" Lee had unbuckled himself and adjusted his leader hat, though i heard something hit the mat in between his legs.

"Well if ya say so" Kyle spoke with a tone in his voice.

"I'll just go home, it isn't far anyways" Ruco got out the car and began walking off.

"I should get going to, you all enjoy your time off, I'm gonna go grab a drink" Alice got out the car next and waved me and Lee goodbye, though right as she was walking she did a 180 and called out to me "It's non-alcoholic so don't worry!" I wasn't really think that, but it was good to know she thought about it incase i did. She walked away after saying that.

"Welp, I'll get the door you lazy people" Lee got out the car and headed for his front door to the left of us. I was in the middle of unbuckling before i noticed Lee dropped his hat, i guess he moved it too much, i leaned over and grabbed it while the others got out, and after i got out too. We all walked over to Lee while he was opening the door and i held out his hat in front of him. "What's with this?" I was confused, then i noticed Lee still had his hat on. "I appreciate another hat Sam, but, i feel this one has m-

"No, you dropped your hat...i mean, i thought you did too" Kenneth spoke up, interrupting Lee

"...Nope, as you can see i still have it on" Lee flicked the tip of his hat to show it was there.

"I think we see that...could it be a result of time travel? Maybe it was in the car from the start?" Nicholai started coming up with ideas before i started speaking.

"But i heard something hit the mat earlier" We started to think before Lee spoke up again.

"I'll keep a note of it, maybe it could be other Lee's trying to communicate with me, it's happened before, though before it was more obvious"

"Has that happened?" Kenneth seemed confused.

"O-oh, maybe that was what i forgot to mention, well yeah, I've had other Lee's talk with me before...but, we should get to sleep and think about it tomorrow" Lee stepped inside and we all followed after him. "Welcome to the Anck household, a lonely abyss" The house seemed like Lee decorated it alright, it seemed like a normal home, it had aspects from everyone's home actually...kinda made me feel bad, knowing he can't base this house off his old one.

"The living room looks comfy, i call the couch" Nicholai sat down on said couch, it was one of those L shape couches.

"Right, the twins can get the couch and Kyle, Sam, and I'll sleep on the floor, i got some blankets give me a sec" I dunno when Lee had the time to get blankets but he went looking in a storage room...i assumed it was one.

"Guess Lee intends to have parties or something, this place is spacious, yet there's a lot of seating" Kenneth plopped on the couch as well. "Nice TV too, then again we can make anything in our houses so..."

"Even the carpet is nice, i guess it makes sense for Lee" Kyle was sat down on the carpet, making himself comfortable, I sat down on the other end, leaving room for Lee in the middle of us.

"Here we are, nice puffy blankets for winter" Lee came back, it looked like he was some blanket monster with only his legs and arms being visible. "Take your color" Each blanket was our color, only Kenneth and Nicholai's looked the same considering they share a hair color it made sense. I grabbed mine and i could practically be wrapped in it, it felt warm and fuzzy too. I began to flap it a bit so it could be straighter and easier to wrap myself in, everyone seemed to be doing it too.

"Damn Lee, you couldn't just imagine some air mattress for each of us or something?" Kyle was mostly done and said screw it, wrapping himself in after finishing his sentence.

"I already had these...i like comfy blankets okay?" Lee laid down in the middle, clearly weirded out by all of us being here. Soon we all were wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket, laying down in a dark room, yet, at least my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, letting me see everyone's tired face.

"You know, this reminds me of when we were in middle school" I started reminiscing.

"How so?" I heard Nicholai's voice behind me while i stared at the ceiling.

"Lee had no where to live so he just house hopped between us all, we even made a rotation chart remember?" Kyle wasn't a part of that chart, as he wasn't really a part of the group if at all.

"Right, i recall now...I also recall how terrifying your guy's parents were" Lee propped up using his elbow as he looked over at Kenneth and Nicholai.

"They weren't that bad...just...very focused on making us succeed." Kenneth said jokingly, clearly not meaning it.

"Then we got Sam's parents, best parents I've ever met, if not a pair of teasers." Nicholai slouched on the couch, dangling her right arm off it.

"I just hope they're alright..." I began thinking about earth again, this is a different timeline too, then the first i was in, of course, for now things seem about the same except for Lee's ranking, but otherwise...i hope they're alive.

"We'll check tomorrow, we've put it off long enough" Lee laid back down and rested his left hand on his forehead while using his right hand to place his hat on his chest "Now get to sleep, I've had enough sleepless nights about a year ago."

"Right, night weirdos" I heard Kyle shift as the rest of everyone made themselves comfortable. I kept my ponytail up while trying to sleep, so i just slept on my side. Soon after everyone had stopped shifting around and after i had started to relax more, the only thing i could hear was a very quiet fan blowing while i fell asleep.