[Disclaimer] I don't own DGM or Ao No Exorcist~!

[A\N] Many thanks for reading this prologue! The beginning is a bit slow, I terribly apologise~

[Unwinding Of Time: Unexpected Arrival]

"Changing the past… could very well result in us killing ourselves, present or future."

A vending machine.

A pair of calm, collected gray eyes scanned the first row, finding the snack that it was looking for. There was the sound of buttons being pushed, then a beep, and a few seconds later, a pack of potato chips were successfully dispensed out of the machine.

Seeing this, the gray eyes brightened and beamed with happiness. Yes, Allen Walker was feeling ridiculously pleased at the moment.

"Wow..." he said, now watching a chocolate bar falling out of its slot and landing in the retrieval section. He grabbed it, and with a gleeful smile added, "Komui actually created something that's operable and useful for once!"

Maybe he should do something nice for Komui. It wasn't a bad idea, right? Allen often didn't do courteous things for his Supervisor, but he couldn't deny that this vending machine just had to be one of Komui's best inventions ever.

Because it was a vending snack machine. Snacks were food, and everyone in the Order knew that food topped everything on Allen's Paradise list. Obviously, according to Allen Walker, food was paradise.

Very delighted at this beneficial creation, it wasn't long before the Exorcist's arms were loaded with snacks. Still deciding on what he should do to thank Komui, he made his way down the corridors towards his bedroom, not noticing a particular bright-haired figure in the same black-and-white uniform waving at him down from the other side of the hallway.

They bumped into each other, sending Allen's mountainous supply of food to fly in every direction, much to his displeasure. Two thick, chocolate bars hit Allen on the head before he let out a scowl, looking up at the person he'd just collided with.

"Lavi, please watch where you're going, you just knocked down all my snacks!"

"I'm surprised those all didn't fall off from the wind," replied the taller boy, his amused voice very different from Allen's as he extended a hand to help his still scowling comrade. "Seriously, I couldn't even see your face. Where'd you get all that?"

"Komui's new vending machine. You'd be surprised though, it's actually workable this time." Allen smiled, his irritation easily fading away as he began picking up his fallen packages.

He heard a snicker, and turned around to see Lavi trying to hide a wave of laughter, obviously failing as a second later the redhead grabbed at his stomach and flat-out tongue-rolled, cracking up.

"D-dude," Lavi began, his breathing uneven, no doubt from the new wave of guffaws that were surely about to come, "you can't just buy everything off the machine!"

"What are you talking about? I didn't buy every single item," said Allen, feeling offended.

"Uh-huh." Lavi wasn't convinced. Now straightening up and grinning, he said, "Allen, you're really a greedy ol'lil guy, aren't cha?" he snickered mischievously, now seeing the completed pile of snacks back in its owner's arms.

"Excuse me?"

Did he hear that right? Greedy? Who did Lavi think he was talking to? Oh, he dared…

Allen chose to ignore the redhead, and continued down the hallway. He was amazing at ignoring certain people, and when it came to ignoring certain people, Allen would definitely have the time of his life informing anyone that Lavi should no doubt be at the top of a list called Annoying-People-That-Need-To-Be-Ignored-For-Unexplained-Reasons.

Allen Walker was not greedy, thank you very much. He was just a tiny bit overprotective when it came to food. It was a flaw of his, he'll admit, but greedy wasn't the right word to describe it.

"Allen! Don't leave your dear friend behind!" He could hear Lavi's melodramatic cry and rolled his eyes.

"And for your information, I was short of guineas and couldn't buy the last two items," said Allen grudgingly, turning away before Lavi broke into another fresh wave of laughter.

"That's just as bad! Come on, Allen, admit that I'm right!"

The two resumed their bickering, Allen finally stopping the conversation when he came to a halt in front of his bedroom door. Promising Lavi that he'd pay for this later, Allen waved the cheerful redhead away, and turned the doorknob, entering his room.

The snacks dropped from his hands once again, but he was too distracted to even notice, and anyone could argue that it actually took a lot to make Allen distracted from food.

And Komui Lee was the very definition of "took a lot."

"Supervisor Komui, what in the world are you doing!?"

Usually, Allen wouldn't mind Komui being in his room because he was well, the Supervisor. But seeing how Komui was standing in front of this atrocious-looking device, obviously trying to hide whatever it was that he was hiding, and not to mention having that crap-I've-been-caught smile on his face, instantly told him that Komui was up to no good.

"Allen!" Komui greeted him brightly, scooting over to hide the rest of what Allen assumed to be his latest new invention.

"Supervisor Komui," Allen began calmly, "how did you get in my room? What is that thing?"

"Now, now, Allen," said the Chinese Head nervously, waving his hands around innocently, shrinking into a corner with his ugly creation.

Allen blinked. He could've sworn he just saw Komui take out something from his pockets. He groaned. Komui had just finished building the vending machine! He mentally shook his head; that's it, Komui Lee was officially obsessed with building things, and Allen could see why anyone, specifically Reever Wenhamm, would be driven insane.

So Allen stepped up his man game, and he was going to do it. He was going to tell Komui that whatever the hell that thing was, it most definitely did not belong in his room, and if Komui wanted to toy around with junk, he'd better do it elsewhere.

But before he could even open his mouth, there was a sharp breeze in the air like something being thrown. The white-haired Exorcist dodged out of the way just in time to see a dart smashing into his wall.

"I can't believe you!" he yelled, as another dart went zooming past and nearly missed his ear.

"Don't you escape from my Komudarts, Allen!" Komui shouted, now throwing his darts like a madman. "I can't let you go out and tell everyone!"

"To think I actually wanted to do something nice for you!" Allen screeched, activating his Innocence, causing his Supervisor to squeak in terror.

"W-wait, Allen!" Komui surrendered, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat. "Let's think about this rationally, yes? No, don't hurt my Komutiny!" he bellowed, forgetting any sense of rationality he had in mind as Allen advanced on them.

Allen paused, deactivating his Innocence, much to his Supervisor's intense relief.

Komutiny.

Komutiny.

Komutiny?

"Supervisor Komui, could you at least be creative with your names?"

"Look, Allen, Komutiny here is not just any ordinary machine!" Komui happily threw his hands forward to show off Komutiny, which as Allen could now see, was a very misfortunate mismatched robot. The tiny poor thing had knobs for eyes, and Allen didn't even want to know why, in General Cross' name, was there a big hole in the center of its head.

"This," Komui went on, being oblivious to Allen who was shooting Komutiny pitiful stares, "is a time machine!"

"A time machine?" Allen paused from looking at the robot to now looking at his crazy Supervisor. "You mean, this thing can actually time-travel?"

"Don't call it a thing; it's Komutiny!" Komui pushed his glasses further up his nose. "And yes, I haven't tested it out yet, though."

"Why would you need to build a time machine?" Allen asked, preparing himself for the ridiculous answer.

He mentally groaned as he saw the maniac glint that swam in Komui's orbs. The Chinese man chuckled, very creepily at that if Allen were to be honest, and claimed, "You see, young Allen, when you get older, you'd find that particular measures are hard to avoid, such as paperwork, and of course, being the very busy man that I am"—Komui didn't even see Allen grimacing—"I decided that, with a little tweak, I could go back in time to make sure that I, uh, don't get any paperwork, then fast-forward to present day and voilà!" Komui drew himself to his full height and seemed to radiate.

With ridiculousness, if Allen could speak his mind. A time machine built just for this trivial purpose? He sighed, wondering why he expected much more from Komui.

"Supervisor Komui, you can't just build something like this just because you're lazy–I mean occupied," Allen said sensibly, trying not to offend his superior. "I understand that you are busy, but with all due respect, sir, this creation is sort of, well… Unhelpful," he finished, hoping he said the right word.

"But look here!" Komui darted forwards toward the tiny machine. Was it even alive? Allen couldn't even be sure. There was no sign of life flowing around it, and the young Exorcist found that alarming.

"These two knobs are process adjustments; one leads to the past, and this one, the future! Amazing, don't you think? And not only that, Komutiny even speaks! If I press a button here"—there was a beeping noise—"it comes to life!"

"What?!"

"Hello," Komutiny spoke in a robotic, horribly familiar voice that Allen had no trouble recognizing, "you must be A-A-A-A-A"—Komui gave a sudden whack on its head—"–llen Walker."

"Sorry about that! Malfunctions, you know. But it seems to recognize you!" said a beaming Komui.

"You made it sound like Lenalee?!" Allen shrieked, putting his hands around his head in horror as the time machine, also known as Komutiny, and now also known as Ugly Robot Lenalee, moved around in the background jovially.

"Why not?!" Komui argued back. "I don't see my dear sister as much anymore! This is the least I can do to ease my aching heart!"

"You mean ease your unbelievable sister complex!"

"But this is a great invention, is it not?!"

"I suppose so…" Allen said slowly. Maybe this wasn't such a ridiculous idea. A machine that could go back in time, or forward to the future… His heart actually skipped several beats. If he could go back in time, then Mana…

"If you went back in time, you can change the present and the future, right?" he asked the European Head, careful to maintain his tone so he did not sound suspicious.

Sudden understanding seemed to vibrate in Komui's eyes.

"Allen," he sounded much more serious and brisk, "I understand where you're coming from, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea. Certain events should not be tampered with."

"I wholeheartedly understand," Allen broke in hastily, "I was just—"

"Changing the past… could very well result in us killing ourselves, present or future." Komui glanced at his Komutiny with a sad expression. "So, get rid of any ideas that you may have pertaining to this! I will not let anyone use it for such purposes."

"But you'll use it for yourself."Allen deadpanned, breaking the serious mood.

"That's because it's paperwo—" A loud, shrilling sound suddenly cut off Komui's words, catching them off guard.

The alarm in the Black Order went off, and the entire building seemed to respond with chaos. Screams abruptly echoed from above and below, and there was a loud rumble that seemed to rattle from the floors. Just what was going on?

Allen's mind seemed to be going a mile a minute, and together with Komui, they burst out of the room, Komutiny hot on their trail. The hallways were basked in red lights from the sirens that had just gone off, and it was full of yelling Order members, all of them scrambling in every direction towards a nearby exit.

Komui had taken out his golem and was sending instructions over the intercom, hurriedly ordering everyone in the building to evacuate.

The white-haired Exorcist was panting a bit too fast for his liking, trying to maintain his balance as he ran; this was not good, definitely not good. He had to find Lavi and the others soon…

In the midst of the commotion, there was something lingering outside of the windows of the hallways that caught Allen's attention, and it seemed to block the sunlight. He waited for several seconds just to make sure, and then, his left eye activated, and his worst fear was confirmed.

Akumas.

His very first thought was the Noah Family, and with a panic-stricken gasp, he opened one of the windows and glanced outside.

The day had turned into night, with the sky no longer clear and blue, but filled with thousands of Akumas of every shape and size imaginable, all of them joining together to create a towering, massive labyrinth. With a sickening feeling in the depths of his stomach, Allen realised that most of them were Level Twos and Threes. This was terrible. Just a handful of Level Threes would have most of the Order's hands full! And if they came across the Noahs... Allen didn't even want to think about it. He quickly withdrew from the window before he could be seen, and continued down the chaotic corridor.

"Supervisor Komui!" he bellowed, running as fast as he could to reach Komui in time. "Akumas are attacking us! There's a mass outside!"

He briefly saw Komui's horrified eyes meet his activated one before the intercom went on again, and Komui yelled.

"All Exorcists are to ma—"

"Supervisor Komui!" Allen's heart nearly stopped as the glass panes of the windows shattered, a sea of Level Twos swarming their way in through their explosive attacks. Komui was lost in the explosion and smoke—

"Fire Stamp: Hellfire and Ash!" The hallway chandeliers came crashing down as familiar flames of fire zoomed past Allen, colliding into the Level Twos with a loud, resounding bang.

"Lavi!" Allen let out a gasp, dodging out of the way and seeing the redhead riding on top of his fire-snake, steering it around towards the Akumas.

"What are you doing?! Hurry up and help!" Lavi yelled, as one Level Two Akuma gave a sinister laugh and attempted to throw Lavi off of his snake by shooting beams of hot, boiling rocks.

"But—Supervisor!"A huge weight was lifted off of Allen's shoulders as he suddenly saw Komui crouched on the battered floor, injured but thankfully alive.

"A…llen?" There was a loud thud and Komui's head landed on the floor with the rest of his body. He was completely unconscious.

"Master! Master!" Allen spun around in time to find Komui's machine wheeling towards its beloved creator.

"What the—Lenalee?!" Lavi, who had successfully trapped another Level Two, lost his balance on his snake, causing the Akuma to break free. It let out a screech of "Die, Exorcists!" and sent out rockets of purple beams, one of them aiming right for—

"Komutiny!" Allen screeched, running towards the machine with every bit of life left in him. Why he was even sacrificing himself for Komui's stupid machine, Allen had absolutely no idea. If General Cross saw him at this very moment, there was no doubt that he'd dying of laughter at Allen's stupidity.

The white-haired boy failed to protect the machine in time, and with terror-stricken eyes, watched as Komutiny became engulfed in purple flames. Allen cringed, hearing the machine's cries, which sounded horribly like Lenalee's.

"Allen!" Lavi's scream was heard over the chaos.

"It's a false alarm! It's not really Lenalee!" Allen assured his comrade, tripping sideways and doing a cartwheel as the Akuma advanced towards him.

"That's not it! Behind you!"

Allen, utterly bewildered, looked over his shoulder and squawked.

Years ago, if strangers told him that machines could grow bigger than the size of rockets, Allen would laugh obnoxiously. Machines couldn't grow! They weren't even living! How stupid these people were!

But of course, that was years ago.

Today, Allen Walker officially learned his lesson.

"KOMUTINYYY?!" Allen let out a hair-raising shriek as the machine, now half the size of the entire Black Order building, began to grow like a plant magically sprouting to life.

"Komutiny my ass! More like Komugiant!" Lavi was rooted to the spot, hammer in hand, an incredulous look on his face.

Komutiny's head grew taller and taller, wrecking the rooftops of the Order. The ceilings came smashing down from the impact, and as Allen looked up at what used to be the ceiling, he saw the labyrinth of Akumas waiting above.

"This is not good," he murmured as Lavi gasped.

The machine, now high up in the sky, suddenly opened its mouth wide.

Allen, not liking whatever was coming next, kicked an incoming Akuma out of the way and yelled to Lavi, "Head down! Duck and cover!"

An odd noise was happening from above. Allen heard the screams and wails of the Akumas, and there was a disgusting sucking sound. Then, wind started to pick up at an alarming rate, forming a cyclone, causing debris and building remains to twirl around. He saw a broken door spinning rapidly in the air and hitting Lavi right in the face. He cried out to Lavi, but his ears felt deaf; his chest started to feel tight, and his eyes stopped working. He felt himself being lifted off his feet, spinning in a blur…flying away…

Something rough and harsh grabbed onto the sleeve of his jacket, and he let out a yelp of pain. Whatever it was that was holding onto him was not human, and sure enough, when Allen opened his blistering eyes, a Level Three was wailing right in his very ears.

Allen gasped, trying to tear the Akuma off of him, but then he realised that he was being sucked into Komutiny's gigantic hole, and joining him were hundreds of Akumas. A rapid vibration could be heard inside the hole and somewhere from outside, Komutiny made an awful sound.

Then, in the midst of all this, bright light abruptly came out of nowhere. The moment he was basked in the light, Allen screamed, for his flesh started to burn, the pain extremely excruciating that he felt as if he was being baked right down to his very bones. The Level Three that was holding onto him decomposed instantly, dying from the heat.

And just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, the gears inside of the hole started to fall apart. Komutiny was malfunctioning, on the verge of becoming destroyed, and he, Allen, was still inside, surrounded by armies of Akumas.

Vivid images started to flash before Allen, and he had the sensation that he was flying forwards.

The only next thing he knew was that, in the middle of all this hell, he had passed out.

In his dream, Allen met Mana again, but this time, Mana wasn't dressed in his usual top hat and suit. A clown wig adorned his head instead, and his kind smile was masked behind the red and white makeup. It was the Mana that Allen had met for the first time.

How odd…

He was dreaming, but he was dreaming a memory.

Allen woke up with a start, as if he'd been electrocuted. His nerves started to function normally again, and he took several deep breaths to get his airflow running. He touched his face gingerly, and noticed that his left eye was back to normal. He blinked. The first thing he remembered was—

"Komutiny… Akumas… Labyrinth…"

The white-haired Exorcist sighed in relief. He thankfully did not lose his memory after all. Speaking of Akumas, where were the massive thousands that had joined him? He'd better find them fast…

Allen got up, bit weakly to his disappointment, but he was pleased to know he didn't suffer any big injuries. In the meantime, he now had to figure out where, in the name of Cross Marian, he was. The only thing he could confirm was that wherever he was, it was dark, and unless he was in some creepy Wonderland which he terribly hoped he wasn't, it must be nearing night time. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he got rid of any fuzziness, and finally surveyed his surroundings.

His jaw dropped open.

Whoa, whoa, whoa… He couldn't believe it.

There, standing just inches away from him, was a vending machine.

He gasped softly. Could it be? Could it possibly be…?

After taking a few steps closer, Allen let out a triumph hurrah.

A vending snack machine.

"The heavens have answered my prayers," he said gleefully to himself, and like a little boy, he now watched with fascination at the snacks that were waiting for him. Completely forgetting about his situation, he tapped the window of the machine with delight. So happy was Allen by this divine discovery that it took five minutes for him to realise how very odd this all was.

"Huh?" There were several strange, very strange words on the packaging of the snacks. There were words like, "No artificial flavour added!" or "Based off the candy just like in the anime!" Or worst of all, there was a very disturbing one labelled,"***** ***** **? *******! :D"

Allen yelped, scurrying away from the machine in mortification. He had also realised that the vending machine was completely different from the one Komui invented. This one looked very... new? It had neon lights flashing around it with upbeat music blaring from speakers, and funny money signs he'd never seen before were placed underneath the slots.

Allen peered in closer, focusing on one particular snack.

120 yen for a saltwater popsicle.

120 yen for a popsicle.

120 yen.

120.

Yen.

Yen?!

"Hey, don't do that, Teacher will kill you!" A girl's laughing voice from afar distracted the Exorcist, and he turned around in bewilderment. From the lights of the streetlamps, Allen saw two teenagers, one girl and a boy, walking down a sidewalk, talking together.

"Huh?" he said again, watching them. They were both dressed in what he assumed was a uniform, a very fancy one at that actually, and Allen couldn't help but gawk in awe as the teens passed. Official-looking black jackets lined with silver buttons, with those nice white-collared shirts… Fancy neckties… Even their pants looked as if it were consisted of some premium, high-quality material. Were these people part of an organization?

"If so, they must be a very stylish one," he said sadly, looking down at his own attire. "I wish Komui could've upgraded our uniforms to something like that, too…"

His own very mention of Komui suddenly shook him out of his shock, and he was brought back to earth, remembering his situation. Allen threw his hands over his head in horror.

That's right! The Black Order! Ambushed by Akumas! He remembered everything now; he had been fighting the Akumas, and then somehow, he was inside Komutiny… and then…

Allen's hands slowly dropped to his side. What did happened after he was inside the machine? Why wasn't he in Headquarters? Why was he here? No… how did he get here, whatever this place was?

"Get out of the way, kid!" An incoming honk made him start, and the Exorcist, realising that he was standing in the middle of a road, saw a strange vehicle—what was that thing called again? A car?— zooming towards him. He scurried out of the way onto a sidewalk, the driver giving him an angry look as he passed. Allen sworn he heard the guy mutter something like, "Stupid old geezers."

"What is this place?" Allen murmured quietly. "Everything looks so… updated."

Updated…

Komutiny… Akumas… Labyrinth…

"Wait." Allen shook his head and tried again.

Updated…

Komutiny…

Komui…

Updated…

Machine…

Time machine…

Time.

Komui's words echoed in his head.

"These two knobs are process adjustments; one leads to the past, and this one, the future!"

Allen's eyes were so wide he wouldn't be surprised if his eyeballs could fall off. He smacked his forehead with his gloved palm, wondering why it took his stupid self so long to figure it all out.

"Ah... I time-traveled, didn't I?"