At long last, it is here!

Yes people, we are moving forward once more! I was hoping to get this out once Finals were done...buuuut a few factors prevented that from happening as soon as I would've preferred. But better late than never! Now I have less things to do!

When we last left off, our heroes had fought an insane playboy and an evil anime harem that may or may not have something to do with Xanadu! Will those questions be answered here?

Or will this just be another long chapter of setting things up?

You make the call!

Disclaimer is on the first page

Garage Kids

File 6.1 – Planning Out the Weekend

"...You look tense? Is there a reason for that? Also I heard you went up against the Black Knight of Asimov, could you tell us about her, also-"

Tamiya quickly slapped a hand over Milly's mouth, looking up at Odd sheepishly. "Ah-ha...sorry about that, we just didn't expect that you'd be helping Ulrich and Yumi out." she apologized.

"Trust me, I wasn't planning on it...but let's just say that the day was full of surprises." Odd sighed in exhaustion.

"It's good that you did help though." Yumi said, nodding in approval. "Thank you."

Ulrich grunted what Odd took for a 'thank you'.

The trip back to Kadic had been uneventful, which was good, because Odd was still reeling from the parade of visions he had been hit by earlier. Despite his hopes that the day would be a chance to truly wind down and settle into town...the exact opposite had happened. In the space of a few hours, Odd had suffered a set of visions far more detailed than anything he had seen so far...and he was way too exhausted to share the details with the others right now, though he figured Jeremie would probably try prying it out of him at some point...which, considering how tomorrow's mission was, well...Tomorrow, would probably end up being sooner rather than later. Not only that, but while all that was going on, Odd had encountered Asimov's best skater...only to get on the bad side of her and her gang thanks to reminding them of a serial rapist, who, as it turned out, was ALSO the resident district flirt and whose harem had attempted to brainwash Yumi into becoming one of them. The fight that had ensued to stop them had gotten Odd's stomach slammed with a hammer. Not only that, but the quick development had brought Sebastian into the fold, and of course the fellow filmmaker had posited a number of paranoid, panicked theories/suspicions about Xanadu and the Factory that put Odd on edge, especially concerning said recent visions.

The cherry on top of the mess? It wasn't even evening or afternoon yet. It was just past noon, so who knew what other horrors awaited the spiky-haired boy next?

So, for right now, Odd was just sitting down on one of Kadic's courtyard benches, with Milly and Tamiya right next to him, pestering the cat-boy about his 'adventure' while Matthias Burrel, who was apparently an associate of Sebastian, stood next to Ulrich and Yumi, his arms folded in thought, though he looked nowhere near as creepy as Jeremie when the computer genius did it.

"You're sure Jeremie can't just whip up a cure for that nano-tech poison?" Matthias asked.

Yumi sighed in defeat. "Jeremie said that he's going to need time to study it. Of course, since we've pretty much defanged William's operations, he'll have plenty of it."

"Depends on how long it takes William to restock...though, admittedly, I don't know who his supplier is." Matthias grumbled.

"Regardless, he's not going to be a threat for a while now." Yumi said firmly. "But don't worry, if he causes trouble again, we'll stop him. Count on it."

Matthias looked around the courtyard, catching the sight of a girl with long brown hair, glasses, and a red-shirt, who was currently preoccupied with her cell phone as she walked back into the dormitories. He closed his eyes and let out a breath. "Well, I guess that means today counts as a victory then." He turned back to Yumi and Ulrich. "I said I'd give you free drinks until the semester ends, so I might as well get you guys your first shipment. Let's head back to my shop, clean the place up, and I'll give it to you."

Yumi and Ulrich glanced at each other, and then at Odd, who looked at them with a very tired look in his eyes.

"You two go on ahead, I think I'll stay here. Besides, I'm not built for heavy-lifting like that anyways."

"Because you're really scrawny?" Matthias asked innocently.

"SVELTE!" Odd protested.

"Let's just get going okay?" Ulrich grumbled. "I want to get the day over and done with."

"Agreed." Yumi sighed.

So with that, the three left, leaving Odd alone with the press and his dog, who slept on the ground, also tuckered out from the day's escapade. Odd slouched in his seat, taking a breath of relief and closing his eyes, even though Milly and Tamiya were chatting amongst themselves, both of them planning. Coming to an agreement amidst their muttering, Tamiya tapped Odd on the shoulder. The spiky-haired boy opened one eye and looked at the dark-skinned girl with a tired look. Tamiya now had her camera in hand, while Milly stayed a few steps back, holding her notebook and looking quite determined.

"...Uhhh…" Odd tried, but Tamiya interrupted.

"Well, we promised Matthias and Sebastian that we wouldn't report on anything on the streets since it might get the Principal angry...but we kind of, sort of, really need an article, so hyping up the Inter-school competition is our best bet." she explained.

"...And what makes you guys think I'm the best candidate?" Odd questioned. "I mean, I'm not AGAINST being interviewed to show off my better side, but considering that you two printed that story about me going 'crazy' all over the hallways a few days ago, I'm just more than a liiitle bit suspicious."

"Well, you have a skateboard." Milly said, pointing to Odd's board and helmet, which lay against a nearby tree. "And they're still accepting entries. Kadic still doesn't have anyone signed up for the skating event."

Odd remembered Sam's offer to have a proper rematch, and cracked his neck in response. "Well...okay, yeah, you got me there. I've been meaning to sign up for it anyways."

"So you WERE planning on it?" Tamiya asked.

"Not at first...buuut let's just say that after all...THAT happened," Odd replied, waving his hands as if trying to grasp all of the crazy events of the morning while not wanting to explain all of it to gossiping reporters. "Sam and I are due for a rematch. Just don't go telling anyone about today, okay? I don't know what to know if Delmas can go 'The Hulk' on us."

"You have our word as responsible journalists!" Milly promised.

"PFFTTT!" Odd spat, covering up his mouth to stifle his laughter. He knew fully well that what Milly said was a gigantic paradox. Even Kiwi snorted at hearing the contradictory claim. "I-I'm sorry, really, I am." Odd coughed, seeing the annoyed looks on the junior reporters' faces. "I'll take the interview, don't worry."

"Great!" Milly said, brightening up, while Tamiya still gave Odd a look.

Odd breathed. At least he could now try to get his mind off of the trials of the day and the promise of more the next. So, he picked up his board, whistled to Kiwi, let Milly and Tamiya guide him to where he needed to sign up, and on the way, began answering their questions, relaxing more and more as the interview continued.

A shame that this relief was small and temporary amidst the tragedy that had recently befallen him…

"So, even though you have access to a factory full of old machinery and mad scientist doomsday devices...you still need me to get you robot parts?" Sebastian asked in bewilderment as he stared at the blueprint of the robot Jeremie was planning to build.

"Well, it would help me save time to obtain pre-built legs instead of constructing them from scratch or adapting the mechanisms in the Factory." Jeremie clarified. "Hence why I based it off of Odd's dog for simplicity's sake. It'll give me more time to work with the supercomputer's files."

"You don't have to tell me it's based off of Della Robbia's dog, I'm not blind like you are." Sebastian muttered, looking at the near identical robotic replica of Kiwi that Jeremie had drawn up, creatively titled 'Kiwi 2'. "That being said, yeah, I know a place where you can get pre-made parts easily."

"Excellent." Jeremie smiled as he rolled up the diagram and replaced it with Sebastian's map. "Now then, onto the mission."

"i.e. The moment I regret digging too deep into this mess." Sebastian grumbled. "First let me mark the place in the Tek District where we can get you the parts for your robot dog." Once the Street Kid had done so, the Computer Genius took over, and circled the general areas that overlapped with the locations that had been marked in the 1994 map with blue ink. Sebastian took a long hard look at the blue-encircled territory, before he glared at Jeremie. "You can't be serious...we have to go there?"

"You know what it is?" Jeremie asked innocently.

Sebastian scowled. "You've been doing 'research' haven't you?" he Then you should know that that's the town's Cult Zone! It's where some of the craziest people in the city's underground market make their living! A good chunk of our town's urban legends started in that horrible place, and a lot of conspiracy nutjobs, i.e. some of the biggest wastes of oxygen on the planet, hang out in that place! And that's not even going into the actual cults that meet there!" He took a breath before continuing to rant. "And guessing from your so-called 'plans', you're gonna want us to take a trip there!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Jeremie asked, a cold, harsh tone overtaking his voice. "We don't have any other leads to go on, meaning that this is the only real option we have. I can accept you not trusting the Scanners, since Odd seems to be getting the hang of his powers." The computer genius then looked Sebastian square in the eyes, a hard, piercing glare that sent a shiver of fear down Sebastian's spine. "But we still need just a little bit of risk to make progress, don't you think?"

Sebastian had known Jeremie for about a year. In that time, while Jeremie never really seemed like the type of person who stood out at first, a closer glance would reveal something...not exactly normal in his demeanor. Being calm, dissonant, and ignorant of basic social conventions at times, while off-putting, were still qualities that plenty of people in the world shared, so that wasn't what was abnormal. It was the occasional...glint in Jeremie's eyes that sometimes frightened Sebastian and made everyone at Kadic stay clear of the genius. That was the sign that the boy had ideas in his head...ideas that he planned to make real.

Yet now that glint, that look...was one of command. Instead of Sebastian feeling the fear of merely being caught in an experiment...it felt more like the fear of disobeying your commander...the Fear of Punishment. The Street Kid couldn't help but sweat nervously, he never would've thought that Jeremie was capable of maintaining such a presence before...or perhaps none of them had ever gotten in a situation where Jeremie would've had to assume such a persona.

"I mean, it'd be a bad idea to just waltz in of course, don't get me wrong, but trying to avoid every danger along the way isn't really going to be practical." Jeremie anecdoted casually, returning to his non-threatening demeanor. "So, let's figure out how we're going to do this!" he finished with what sounded like genuine encouragement.

"Uh, yeah...sure." Sebastian coughed. "W-well, first things first, let's try to clear up a few things. How much did you read up on the religion called Shangri-La?"

Jeremie scratched his chin. "Well, I did read about them being some kind of pleasure group promoting love and unity. Honestly, the name was more interesting than what they're selling."

"Dunbar is a 'follower' of that religion." Sebastian revealed. "That alone should tell you what their ideal vision of the world is."

"...Hmm...well, they did prove to be...unique foes." Jeremie nodded, though his mind was still working. "...But...that does bring up an interesting thought…"

"Belpois, the only interesting thing about this mess is how much money I'm going to have to put into the bomb shelter I need to build in order to survive Armageddon when it comes." Sebastian deadpanned.

"You might not think that when you see this." Jeremie retorted as he pulled out his laptop, flicked his fingers along the trackpad, and then placed the laptop on top of the table, so that the screen faced Sebastian, revealing the very symbol Odd had seen in his most recent dream-vision positioned side-by-side with Xanadu's silhouette. "Honestly, I think this resemblance is quite fascinating. After all, we might be getting somewhere with this information."

Sebastian's eyes widened with dread as he looked at the stylized Xanadu symbol on the computer screen, realizing the similarities it shared with Xanadu's unfiltered shadow. "Y-you've got to be kidding me." he stuttered in fear. "Shangri-La's emblem is the same as whatever that is?"

"It looks a lot like it." Jeremie admitted. "To be honest, I first saw this symbol earlier this morning when Odd drew it up."

"...And how did Della Robbia know how to draw this? Please tell me he just saw it while surfing around Google Images."

"Nope, he saw it in a dream."

Sebastian looked at Jeremie as if he had spoken nonsense, especially since he had just claimed that this computer-ghost business was NOT supernatural.

"...What?"

And so Jeremie gave Sebastian the run-down about Odd's abilities in more detail: How Anticipation worked, the random activation patterns that continued to persist, Odd's difficulties in controlling the power, and of course, what the visions could mean for the exploration into Xanadu, specifically the strange enigmatic being that continued to appear in Odd's dreams, whose picture he provided to Sebastian, and how the last one involved the symbol of Xanadu, which was strangely shared by William's so-called religion.

"So, if you're still following, it looks more and more like we'll have to go into the 'Cult Zone' if we want to progress in our investigation." Jeremie explained. "If the Professor's work spread to that area, and that area became a hotbed for crazy people after the Panic...well, it doesn't seem too crazy to start our investigation there now doesn't it?"

"No…it doesn't." Sebastian whispered, shuddering as he looked at the Grim Reaper, whose picture had been arranged above the silhouette and potential-symbol of Xanadu.

Jeremie saw the Street Kid look down at the floor. "Something wrong?"

Sebastian sighed. "Well, you and I have beating around the bush too much, so yeah, there is something wrong. Let's get this mess straightened out. I've got my own story to tell you anyways...and I figure you still have stuff to explain."

Jeremie's eyes lit up. "You figured right."

The next few hours were spent explaining, planning, and speculating. Sebastian either confirming or disproving Jeremie's research in regards to the town history, both Jeremie and Sebastian sharing their own theories over what they might find, as well as whatever Odd had seen in his visions and what they might or might not mean. Both went over maps and routes, discussing routes and times. Sebastian did not desire to stay too long in such a volatile place, a risk that Jeremie thankfully acknowledged.

Finally, Jeremie wiped his glasses on his shirt, and looked over the document he had created to explain the plan to the other Warriors (With Sebastian having provided edits to make sure no-one got lost reading it).

"That should do it." he said, emailing the document. "That leaves only a few loose ends to tie up for today."

"I just don't want to get killed tomorrow." Sebastian mourned.

"So long as we play our cards right, I doubt that will be a problem." Jeremie comforted.

Of course, both of them knew that even the best-laid plans could collapse, so Sebastian wasn't really comforted. That a small unforeseen factor could cause everything to go awry. Whether the problem was internal or external, anything was capable of going wrong. Of course, the ability to improvise when needed was what was used to help maintain such plans endure these factors, and that was an ability no-one in their group lacked.

Of course, while that would prove useful against the obstacles of tomorrow…

It would not be so useful against another threat not too far away.

Alright, that should do it." Tamiya confirmed. "Thank you for your time."

"For once, I can say it was my pleasure!" Odd beamed, entering his and Ulrich's room...before crashing onto the bed groaning in exhaustion.

Kiwi whimpered, and crawled up to his owner, a worried look evident on the little dog's eyes.

"Yeah...I'd like to say I'm alright Kiwi, but...I'm not feeling the flow right now." Odd sighed.

He looked at the time: 1:13 PM. It was still several hours before dinnertime...Odd had planned for an exciting day out...but a little more than halfway in and all he'd accomplished was getting himself in trouble with some gangs and an interview. And, admittedly, a chance to see Sam again. All in all, he was...tired...a nap would be...welcome. Plus, it would...kill...some...time...And with that, Odd began snoring, entrusting himself to slumber.

They kneeled down, entrusting themselves to their God. Before, they had all been a disparate rabble of hooligans, each convinced that their small fragment of the truth was all that there was to the universe. Oh, how wrong they all had been! How limited their vision was! Well, that was about to change. They now knew what the Will of the World truly dictated. The time had come at last.

Lights danced all around them, and music filled the air. Soon, they too joined in on the festivities. God had judged them. They had been deemed worthy to help God bring about the New Era. And God, being so generous, had gifted them with a wondrous luxury. A radiant show of energy before the calm blanket of darkness was allowed to envelop everything in its soft bosom.

So they danced and drank, a grand moment indeed, as the black smothered the light, only for the black to shift, churning into a variety of many other colors as the light refused to die. The two then worked in harmony, and so did everyone lose themselves in the chaos and bliss…

Odd's eyes shot open. He blinked once, then twice, then looked at the time again: 2:34 PM.

"Ugh…" he groaned weakly. "First bed-time, and now my naps…Can't I have sleep without any dreams here?"

There was no way he could rest again after watching that scene. Thankfully, it didn't seem too important, nor did the context seem directly related to him and the others for once. Odd got up, and looked around the room, wondering what to do now that he had at least gotten some of his energy back.

"Video games?" Odd asked himself.

But just as he thought about which game to put into his handheld, the thought of Xanadu shot into his mind.

"...No video games." Odd grumbled to himself, causing Kiwi to grunt as the dog tried to stay asleep.

"Ugh, there's gotta be something to do…" Odd muttered to himself, before a thought that he NEVER would have had back home came to mind: Doing his homework.

Grunting a few swear words, Odd pulled out the assignments that had been given to him: For Science, Miss Hertz had assigned a packet with problems concerning photosynthesis, along with several textbook questions concerning plant life in general. From Math, Mrs. Meyer had assigned around twenty or so algebra problems, while in History, Mr. Fumet had assigned reading from the textbook concerning the Yuan Dynasty for a quick quiz on Monday. Miss Kensington had requested reading three poems: Kubla Klan, Christabel, and The Pains of Sleep, all of which would be discussed throughout English for the next week. Concerning Italian, Mr Fumet had simply assigned a worksheet due on Monday, and for Art, there were no assignments immediately due...though of course, there was the long-running project that was both a semester project AND the final exam for the class, as Mr Chardin had clarified on Wednesday.

In short, there was a LOT of stuff to do, with a much higher workload than Odd had had to deal with at his old school in Palermo.

"Yeesh...boarding schools give out a lot more work, huh Kiwi?" Odd asked.

The little dog just grunted again, cuddling up against Odd's pillow.

With nothing else left to do, Odd decided to try his hand at the homework. To be blunt...he really wasn't getting anywhere with several subjects. He got the Italian worksheet done quickly, but found himself getting bored reading through the section in his History textbook concerning Kublai Klan's conquest of China, nor did he find the three poems by Samuel Coolridge interesting (At least in the case of Christabel and The Pains of Sleep, the instant he saw the word 'Xandu' written in Kubla Klan, Odd flipped through the packet to skip the poem without a second thought, wanting to avoid a potential vision of the virtual world named after that city). He made barely any progress on the math problems, which was to say, none whatsoever, while he did a little better with the science problems before giving up on those as well.

That just left the animation project...leaving a major question: What would Odd's subject be? He felt like he should be going through his art binder to grab some ideas...but all his mind could think about on that topic was the hectic madness of the past week: Being recruited to help keep a demonic virtual world program at bay, adapting to having the superpower of precognition, and learning just how crazy his new neighborhood really was.

He couldn't help it, he started to sketch out his thoughts, and what came to his mind.

The lush scenery of Xanadu: Trees, lakes, mountaintops, and the massive towers. In particular, he remembered his training session on Tuesday, and how he and Yumi had been stopped by the Specters, leaving the tower's deactivation to Ulrich. The angle of the rocky outcrop that he had seen stuck out to him, and he began to draw that specific landmark. Perhaps it would make a good background? Odd was so engrossed in his drawing, he lost track of time.

He sat back, admiring what he had created, feeling that he had let out a bit of his stress doing so. He glanced at the clock: 4:32 PM.

"Huh...time sure flies by…" Odd said, stretching.

"Ah, there you are." a voice that Odd was hoping not to hear for at least another hour said.

Odd turned around to see Jeremie at the door.

"Oh...it's you…" Odd muttered, not in the mood to talk with/be subjected to interrogation by the computer genius.

"I just want to have you answer a few questions." Jeremie said, not noticing, or just ignoring, Odd's discomfort.

"Can't it wait?" Odd asked. "I've, uh, got a LOT of homework to deal with."

"Really now?" Jeremie asked, walking into the room, seemingly forgetting his intended inquiry. "Which classes?"

To say that Odd felt awkward as Jeremie strode past him and looked at the strewn papers and books with intense focus was an understatement. He really couldn't get a read on Jeremie besides him being an enigmatic kook...which REALLY didn't tell a person anything about another person except to expect the unexpected from them.

Odd wet his lips. "Uh, Math and Science mainly. History and poetry are just, boring, y'know?"

"I'll admit I always thought History to be a bit dull." Jeremie replied. "Same with English. Nothing difficult about them, it's just that there are more interesting things to study."

Because of course Einstein considering a subject boring was only because there was ANOTHER subject out there to study.

"That being said, considering the...thematic naming that seems to have gone on in Xanadu...I've found researching these topics and identifying connections to be quite fascinating." the computer genius put in, pulling out the packet of poems that Odd suspected had been assigned to him solely because the universe wanted to make clear that there was no escaping his new double life.

As a side-note; of course there would be some kind of horrifying angle to make those topics a lure for Jeremie. Why wouldn't there be?

"Yeah...I'm not really in the mood to talk about Xanadu AND homework. That's like combining boiled brussel sprouts with boiled fish." Odd said. "Just one or the other, okay? I don't want to deal with both."

Jeremie took one look down on Odd's desk, specifically at the pictures of Xanadu. "You don't seem to have a problem drawing it." he noted. "Looks nice."

"It's just our project for Art, okay?" Odd tried to defend. "I needed something to draw!"

"Well, if that's the case, I see no reason why we can't discuss both Xanadu and our homework." Jeremie said. "I'll even help you out with your Math and Science homework!"

Odd desperately wanted Future Flash to activate so he could find some way out of this mess, but just like before when Jeremie had prepared his 'Get-out-of-class boiler explosion', it didn't. With no other option, all the cat-boy did was back away towards Kiwi, staring at Jeremie as if he was some kind of home invader rather than just another kid his age, before sitting on his bed, but with his back straight and eyes alert.

There was no getting out of it then.

"Fire your questions away, Einstein." Odd sighed in defeat.

"What visions did you have today after breakfast?" Jeremie asked.

"A lot." Odd grumbled. "Most just telling me where to go through town, or not get run over by a truck because of some weirdo who really wants to beat you in a robotics competition-"

"Ah, Herb?" Jeremie interrupted. "He's harmless."

"What part of him nearly getting me run over by a truck because of a robot he was testing did you not understand?" Odd asked in bewilderment.

"...Point taken." Jeremie admitted. "Anything else?"

"More visions telling me what to do during things like my skate-off with Sam...and...also a vision of what Yumi and Ulrich were doing! Helped me figure out what was going on when Yumi called." Odd said, not wanting to go back over what had actually happened in that particular vision.

If Jeremie noticed the dodge, he didn't seem to let it show. He had a much better poker face than Odd did at the moment. "That's everything before you saw the symbol painted in William's territory?" he probed.

"Y-yes!" Odd said, not wanting to remember the samurai and geisha clashing while their queen looked on, petting her tiger.

Odd blinked, gritting his teeth. Nope, nope, nope. Not that, anything but that. Even though he had to deal with the asswipe that was Jeremie, probing away, Odd would NOT let himself remember that particular scene. It was like that one chore you never wanted to do, and put off as much as possible. It wasn't important. No, no...don't remember it…

"Now then," Jeremie continued, ignoring the clear strain that was evident on Odd's face, "I've become aware of what's either a new factor to your power, or just a detail we've overlooked."

"...And...What. Is. That?" Odd asked, grinding his teeth.

"Something's up with your eyes." Jeremie answered. "I've just noticed that whenever your power seems to activate, they turn orange and slitted, like a cat. No clue if that's always happened or I'm just noticing it now."

Kiwi's ears seemed to rise up at the mention of cats, but quickly fell back down.

"Congratulations, Sam beat you to learning about it." Odd grumbled.

"She knows about Xanadu?!" Jeremie gasped, terrified of a security breach right when they'd started to widen their circle. "Why would you tell her about it?"

And the dam holding back Odd's frustrations and stress broke.

"I didn't tell her anything!" Odd growled, voice raising an octave as anger seeped into his voice. "All that happened was that I had some big vision and crashed like some guy getting high!"

"Phew-" Jeremie sighed in relief, but before he could actually say 'That's a relief', Odd interrupted.

"All I wanted today was a chance to kick back, and take a break! Is that so hard? NO! It shouldn't be this hard! For once, seeing into the future is actually useful to me, but JUUUUSSSST when I'm getting into the swing of things, having skate-offs with other kids, y'know, normal stuff, I end up getting hit with some mega-vision, crash, and then everyone thinks I'm a junkie!"

"I don't particularly think you're-" Jeremie tried to get a word in edgewise, but Odd clearly was having none of it as he got up from the bed and began pacing around the room, jolting Kiwi awake, though the mutt, instead of barking, merely observed the humans' argument.

"And then I learn that my big plans basically reminded possibly the coolest girl I've ever met of some creepy rapist, and, oh wait, turns out he's the Big Man at this place's rival school! And then I get hit in the stomach with a fucking hammer!"

"Alright, alright!" Jeremie shot back. "I get it, your day's sucked, but we still need to get this done!"

"Screw off!" Odd yelled. "I just wanted a relaxing Saturday before having all of my Sunday get taken up by some kind of field trip into ANOTHER weird place in town, but I didn't even get that! Instead I get homework, and an interview from a computer geek who can't tell when to back off!"

"I'm trying to cover our bases here!" Jeremie protested, internally cursing how the situation had suddenly devolved to a point where he couldn't do that.

"You should've already gotten your 'bases' covered after talking with that Sebastian guy already!" Odd shot back. "You don't need anything else! I am tired, exhausted, and have a LOT more baggage than I would like to deal with right now, so you can take your questions, shove them into some file on your desktop or whatever, and get the hell out of my room!"

The purple-shirted boy panted for breath, glaring daggers at his blue-shirted opposite. Kiwi, likewise, growled at Jeremie, clearly not happy with the computer whiz's presence.

Jeremie didn't quite have Ulrich's or Yumi's senses for battle, nor Odd's own apparent unique brand of feeling danger, but he could tell that he was not exactly welcome in this room right now. This wasn't the same Odd who had been awkwardly introduced into the group dynamic, but the Odd who had seen enough that he wouldn't be taking any kind of, well, to pardon the crass phrase, bullshit. Odd also clearly didn't have any of Sebastian's nerves that had enabled Jeremie to get the Street Kid on task-he was much too furious for that. Jeremie still hadn't found the nugget of information that he'd truly desired from Odd, i.e. Further information on the Grim Reaper figure that seemed to be the key to solving the mystery of Xanadu, and much to his regret, it looked like he had no chance of getting any more information right now.

Silence, aside from Kiwi, now fell in the room as Jeremie silently pondered his next move. Odd continued to maintain a glare at him, to which Jeremie responded by having his face shift back into the unfathomable and hard-to-read expression that was just one of many things that made the computer genius seem distrustful and creepy to Odd.

At last, Jeremie just sighed. "Forget my questions at this point then. They're redundant and not really necessary for tomorrow, considering what I already asked. Instead, why don't I just help you with Math and Science like I said I would. In exchange, you can help me with Italian, okay? Truce?"

"...Wait what? Seriously? You don't want to know anything else for once?" Odd asked, looking out the window to see if pigs were flying. Even Kiwi's growls subsided as the tension suddenly seemed to vanish.

"Sebastian and I, were, in fact, able to come up with a plan." Jeremie answered. "At dinnertime, I'll send it out. For now, let's just get our schoolwork done. You never know when we might get the time for it again in the future...well...I know you would know, but that's not really important right now, and as much as I would-"

"Alright, alright, I get it Einstein, I get it!" Odd interrupted. "Let's just get this over with. I wanna eat with as little stress as possible tonight! At least then I'd get something positive out of today."

Nodding, Jeremie pulled up a chair, and began teaching Odd the wonders of a plant cell and completing the square...while also pulling up his Italian homework because that really was a subject he had trouble with.

As they reviewed their schoolwork to mixed success, Odd continued to feel perplexed about Jeremie. While Yumi and Ulrich were both the stoic, quiet-type, albeit fitting different places on that spectrum, Odd honestly felt something of a bond of camaraderie with them, undeveloped as it was since he'd only known them for a week, but still. They were willing to talk with him about matters not related to Xanadu, and overall, despite their gruff demeanors, Odd at least felt some connection with them as friends. Not so with Jeremie. Maybe it was because one was all about science and the other was all about art, maybe it was because Odd was an extrovert and Jeremie an introvert, or maybe they were just those people who just didn't 'click' with each other.

Or maybe it was just because (And considering the Elephant in the Room, that was probably the answer, barring the other little reasons building atop each other) of how they dealt with Xanadu. For Jeremie, operating over Xanadu, a virtual world that bled into reality was probably something close to whatever dreams he had as a mad scientist? Odd? Not so much, and it wasn't simply because he looked like a dork whenever he went there, or got stuck with a power that went to guys in horror movies or chicks in JRPGs, but because, well...he'd come to Boulogne Billancourt to escape his troubles, not jump into a set of new ones that were so completely out-of-depth to Odd that he barely felt that he'd even gotten away from his old ones!

Baring that in mind, Odd endured Jeremie's very long-winded explanations on the homework topics, since for once they could at least pass as normal school-boys.

But, from the perspective of one who could've seen both of their lives, that individual would have seen two factors that would've muddied Odd's perspective of Jeremie a bit more. First, while yes, there was a part of Jeremie that was absolutely enthralled with the wonders of the supercomputer...had he known of its sordid history, he would've used his skills on that fateful day to call the ones who had, ironically enough, created the mistake that threatened to plunge the world into oblivion. Second, and this was more personal, Jeremie too, had come to Kadic Academy to escape from an unbearable situation.

But while Odd would learn of this in time...a person suffering from great tragedy tends to not be receptive to philosophical observations about the characters and personal histories of others

"Ugh…what a mess." Matthias sighed as he returned to his store with the martial arts duo.

"Doesn't look too bad." Ulrich muttered. He wasn't wrong. The only real obstruction came from the fallen shelf, while only a few other miscellaneous items were scattered on the floor.

"Still...lifting up that shelf's going to be a pain." Matthias grumbled, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "That thing was here when I got this place from a Kadic Graduate named Thomas, and all of the shelves that were installed when he was around are heavy as hell."

"You're really sure about that?" Yumi asked as she almost effortlessly lifted the shelf up on her own, causing Matthias' eyes to widen.

"...Probably a good time to mention that I'm kind of weak." Matthias squeaked, making a note to not make Yumi mad.

If Ulrich was that kind of person, he might've chuckled at the scene, but he wasn't that kind of person, nor did he ever plan to be, and so he just picked up the goods that had been knocked down in the earlier struggle. Meanwhile, Matthias made a beeline for the back, and emerged with two cases of eight-pack lemonade cans that he sat down on the floor.

"I still don't get why they packaged them into cans…" Yumi grumbled. "They're supposed to be in bottles."

"Y'know what they say, aluminum has the smaller carbon footprint." Matthias shrugged. "Go complain to the genius who came up with the idea."

Yumi grunted, and picked up a case, with Ulrich dashing over to pick up the second. Without another word, they left Matthias' store, leaving the shopkeeper to walk over to his chair, and crumple down to take a nap.

The trip back to the factory was uneventful, and with the still semi-pleasant weather, somewhat semi-pleasant. But neither Ulrich nor Yumi spoke. This wasn't unusual for the two, but while most of the time that quiet was serene for them, right now, it was uncomfortable, and both knew that it had to do with the events of the morning. For Ulrich, he still remembered the fear in Yumi's eyes once she informed him of the consequences of failing to stop the gang of crazy people (because any other description besides 'rapists' would be far too kind), but for Yumi, all kinds of terrible memories that stayed with her everyday were coming back in full-force.

"Mrs. Fair, where's Hiroki? He was supposed to be home by now!"

"I don't know! He and Johnny went outside four hours ago! I don't know where they are!"

Yumi grit her teeth. She didn't want to remember what happened next. The desperate search for her little brother and his friend, one of the few people who didn't seem to view Yumi and her family as some kind of unfamiliar vermin, with the local police force being no help whatsoever. How night had fallen, with that time being when Yumi had found Hiroko's Tamaguchi, which he had custom-colored with two shades of blue, and picked up on Hiroki's trail…

And how...how...

But just before that memory could arise, Ulrich broke the silence.

"We're here."

And indeed, they had arrived at the Factory. Just as they finished crossing the bridge, Yumi narrowed her eyes at the factory's double doors, and pried them open with Telekinesis. She then proceeded to walk briskly into the Factory, opened the fridge, and slid the eight cans of lemonade in before heading towards the interface.

Ulrich had wisely decided to keep his distance from the dark-haired girl, who now merely stood on the rug next to the stairs leading up to the scanners, seemingly staring up at the ceiling. He debated on leaving Yumi along with her thoughts, or doing...something, anything that might bring her out of whatever funk she was currently in, helpfully brought upon thanks to William Dunbar.

Ulrich made a mental note to punch the guy when he saw him again.

Quietly, Ulrich made his way to Yumi, who still seemed lost in thought. The martial artist slowly got into the tiger stance, breathing in and out as he edged closer to Yumi, whose body had begun to subtly tense. Ulrich prided himself for noticing that detail. A stiffness in the shoulders followed by slight bending of the knees, indicating that Yumi was on guard. Good. When Ulrich was just over a meter away, he stayed perfectly still, waiting for the right moment...then…

Silence.

Except for the slamming of arm against leg as Yumi turned 'round like a viper, and blocked Ulrich's punch with a kick. Ulrich recovered and made an attempt to strike, but found his movements halted by an invisible force, as if a giant hand had grasped hold of him. Yumi was already in a new offensive stance, and prepared to strike at Ulrich's Solar Plexus. There was only one way to get out of this. Ulrich summoned as much of his strength as he could, and with that burst of energy, broke out of the invisible grip and sped several feet back.

Of course, the 'invisible force' was merely Yumi's telekinesis, and the burst of strength was merely Ulrich's way of forcing himself into Super-Sprint and gambling that the sudden change in speed would break Yumi's focus and enable him to speed out of range of her attack.

"Super-Sprint? Really?" Yumi drawled.

"I could say the same to you." Ulrich replied, face remaining in his signature frown. "I'd say that using Telekinesis counts as cheating."

"There's no witnesses here." Yumi countered.

"Yeah, but Jeremie probably won't like it if we wreck the factory." Ulrich pointed out. "That, and the whole 'Destroying the supercomputer destroys the world' bit."

There was no reply after that. Even with the afternoon sun, the factory was still a dimly-lit labyrinth of wires and metal, and with the monitors off, Ulrich couldn't make out what Yumi's face looked like from the distance he was at. He could tell that she was still there from her silhouette however.

Finally, a response. "Is this you trying to be comforting?" she asked, evidently not impressed.

Ulrich's response to that was speeding up into a punch that Yumi barely blocked...before she slammed her palm into Ulrich's chest and blasted him back with telekinesis. The brown-haired boy slammed his hands down on the floor, trying to halt his movement, before he found his movement arrested by the very force that had pushed him back...which then began to lift him up into the air.

Ulrich struggled to break out of Yumi's telekinetic grip, but found that being stuck in the air without anything to bounce off of made countering it with the shock of Super-Sprint near impossible.

"You're not doing that great a job." Yumi hissed. "If I bring you back down, you're not going to do something stupid, are you?"

Ulrich 'replied' by continuing his struggle to escape Yumi's hold, clearly intending to continue the fight.

"I'll take that as a 'no'." Yumi deadpanned. "The trick you used to get yourself out of telekinesis isn't going to work this time anyways."

Finally, Ulrich stopping squirming. "Alright, I surrender."

"No cheap-shots." Yumi commanded.

"No cheap-shots." Ulrich confirmed.

So the telekinetic let the speedster down, and true to his word, he made no further attempts to attack Yumi. The two stood opposite of each other, not speaking to one another.

"...I've never told you much about my life before I came here, did I?" Yumi asked at last.

"No." Ulrich nodded.

"...I've met...very...special people, let's call them." she continued. "All of them treating me and my family like we were some kind of alien invader. Some just stuck to insults and name-calling while others got physical...but there was one group of people in particular…"

Her voice trailed off, the full scene of the memory that had tried rise now playing in head on repeat.

"If anyone ever tries treating you like that, I'll have your back." Ulrich said before yet more quiet could settle in.

Yumi heard, and was grateful that the factory was too dark for Ulrich to see the light tint of red on her face. But...in regards to that night...She didn't feel ready yet. Her voice caught itself. Part of her wanted to tell him so badly...but the part of her that had been raised on traditional values demanded that she keep that matter private.

So her only response was: "Thanks Ulrich."

Her shoulders relaxed, and without saying another word, (Of the very few words that the two tended to speak as whole), the two Warriors left the factory, albeit now there was a dilemma.

"So, now what?" Ulrich asked.

"Let's head back to your place." Yumi said, referring to the space in their film group's territory. "That trick you did with Super-Sprint was clever."

"And your telekinesis is getting stronger." Ulrich grimaced, shaking out the knots that had formed in his bones.

The dark-haired girl smirked, which the brown-haired boy returned. True, words between them were kept to a minimum, but that unspoken bond was something that they were used to, and something that they cherished with one another. True, there was always a...certain question, but that would require them to cross an unsteady bridge, one that may very well shred that bond. They were comfortable where they were at for now, and were content to cement their friendship through their fists.

After all...while they may have broken the secret of Xanadu...personal secrets were another matter entirely.

Sebastian walked carefully to Arendse and the Abels' room. He had sent Amare a text asking when Jim would be done tor-ahem-training him and Hugo, and the response was 5:00. Sebastian had taken that time to mull over what he would discuss with the dark-skinned baseball player, and hopefully make sure that the overprotective step-sibling didn't get out of control.

"If you want to stay in there and stink the room up with sweat, be my guest!" Hugo grumbled as he stomped out and toward the shower room. He turned to see Sebastian walking up to him. "So, you figure anything out?"

"I figured out that Belpois wants to use the Alleyways to get robot parts instead of building them himself." Sebastian grumbled. "Nothing else besides that."

Hugo growled. "He's covering his tracks really well then."

"I suppose he is." Sebastian shrugged. "But I have all of tomorrow to get him to squeal."

"Lucky you, we have more of Jim's boot-camp." Hugo grumbled. "C'mon Charlie!"

"Okay!" the young boy called back, running out of the room ahead of his older sibling. "It really stinks in there! You stink too!"

And with that, Hugo was stuck running after the orange-haired boy. "Damn it, Charlie, not now!" he panted.

Sebastian watched as the two ran out of sight and held his nose as he walked into the room, seeing Amare sitting on his bed, draining a bottle of water. The room that the dark-skinned boy shared with the Abels had the same configuration as most two-person rooms, though with a bunk bed on one side. A few sports posters were plastered to the walls, and a pile of sweaty uniforms lay in one corner.

Amare noticed Sebastian, and raised a finger so he could finish his drink. Once he was done, Amare took a deep breath, and motioned for Sebastian to sit down. "So...you said you wanted to talk to me?" he asked.

Sebastian sighed. "Well, your guess ended up being right, Belpois, Ishiyama, Stern, and Della-Robbia ARE trying to keep us safe from the 'mysterious threat'." He accentuated the last two words with air-quotes.

"Whoo! Score 1 for Arendse, then!" Amare cheered half-heartedly.

"You ain't going to have anything to laugh about once you hear what the threat is." Sebastian growled. And he quickly gave Amare as quick of a summary as he could give in case Hugo forgot something and rushed back, along with some of the suspicions that had earlier been voiced to the 'Xanadu Warriors', as Sebastian supposed what their group was now called.

"...If it wasn't for the fact that Teddy was easily the weirdest thing out there next to my grandma's attempt at baking a chicken-pot pie, I'd say that you were crazy, buuut I'm the guy who told Teddy his whole backstory was scientifically impossible, so I'll accept that explanation." Amare said after digesting the information.

"Why are you going along with that name?" Sebastian groaned.

"What? That's what Milly called him." Amare shrugged.

Sebastian hung his face in his hands before he looked at Amare square in the face. "Still though, now that you know, what are you gonna do?"

"Before that, how 'bout you tell me what you're gonna do?" Amare asked. "You just told me you didn't want to go into those Scanners, but here you are helping Jeremie find out more about that Factory. Kind of sounds...I don't know, contradictory?"

Sebastian scowled. "I don't trust those Scanners at all, but that doesn't mean I can't help but try to stop the end of the world. To me, it feels like a Catch-22: Either you don't go into those scanners and then die because of the monsters...or you do go in and get stuck with some freaky superpower."

"Wonder what would happen if I went in there?" Amare asked thoughtfully.

"Considering how Della Robbia's having visions of the world ending 24/7, I don't think I would want to know what could happen if those things scanned your mind and turned you into some super-version of Babe Ruth." Sebastian scowled.

"Babe Ruth, eh?" Amare mulled. "Now I'm tempted…"

"Dude, don't." Sebastian warned. "Even Belpois is cautious about those Scanners, and if he's being careful, you know something's up with them. Besides, with Della Robbia in, he's not looking for more fighters right now."

"Shame." Amare shrugged. "So, we're basically going to be the team Normies making sure that their secret stays safe and doesn't drag in any unwanted attention?"

"Yup." Sebastian sighed, scratching his head.

"I can get behind that." Amare grinned mischievously. "I'm going to guess we're not going to tell Hugo?"

"Hell, no. If we tell him, he'll try to get the Men in Black or some other kind of weird government agency down here and put everyone on the operating table. I'm not keen on being dissected or experimented on." Sebastian replied. "Because you know there's probably some mad scientist out there who'll try to throw us into those Scanners and do God-knows-what to us."

"Yeah...Can't play baseball if my skin's being cut off to be put on a scientist's slide." Amare sighed.

"Thank you for the nightmare, jackass." Sebastian grumbled.

"I do my best." Amare chuckled.

Sebastian huffed and got up, preparing to leave. "I'll be sure to keep you updated tomorrow. Hopefully, working together, we'll be able to win this."

"BWAHA!" Amare laughed. "I never expected YOU of all people to say something that cliche!"

Sebastian scowled, blushing in embarrassment, before storming out the room. Amare, for his part, kept on laughing for a solid minute, before taking a deep breath to calm himself. He was pleasantly surprised to learn that his hunch had been correct...but now that he knew the full story, well...much as he was being sarcastic about the Scanners, Amare couldn't help but share Sebastian's suspicions about them, and he wondered what the three students who had used them were feeling right now, having the weight of their lives and the world on their shoulders.

Getting up from his bed and stretching, the dark-skinned boy picked up a towel and left his room. He'd had enough of his B.O. for now.

Reviewing prior activity. Preparing to resume evolutionary functions.

Size variation semi-effective during the 09/10/01 activity, as was mass Manifestation Procedure during the 07/10/01 activity due to oversight from Avatar. Methods starting from initiation of Code: Kaiping proven ineffective. Attempting to access records from before Code: Kaiping…

Error, data not found. Reviewing memory of Manifestations…

Will of the World...searching...given command executed…

Reviewing data from Network...searching…

Diversification of forms recommended. Analyze new activity upon achieving of evolution.

Within the depths of the virtual world, autonomous commands silently churned in the dark void. The discordant voices, no higher than whispers, were a stark contrast with the cold, singular commands that caused them all to speak in the same voice. To achieve what their overall command and function desired required new tactics, regardless of the obstacles that had appeared before them. Their current combat forms had been ineffective, only bolstered through sheer numbers or size variation...but…

Preparing diversification of forms for security…

Recommended counters: Long-range attacks to counter new Avatar during 07/10/01 activity, shape-shifting during overall activity recommended for more offensive purposes. Defensive methods recommended for upgrade in both methods. Analyzing...engaging diversification.

Two black phantoms squirmed, hidden from view by the trees, if one had chosen to visit Xanadu that day and view them of course. Both groaned as their forms began to alter, as new functions became available to them. Both of their forms changed from a gaseous, yet tangible state, to a liquid-like one, and both squirmed as they adjusted to the new form. Then, in this malleable state, both began shifting shape once again, but the forms that resulted were different.

One blob of black goo thickened, growing in girth and sprouting eight stubby limbs, each topped off with long, sharp, metallic claws, as the goo began to solidify, becoming stiffer, yet flexible all the same. At one end of the rough, barrel-shaped creature was a small tubular mouth full of sharp metal teeth. With these basic features, more of the body's details began to form. Three segments formed in the middle, each with a pair of thick, stubby legs, while the somewhat longer posterior section held the last pair. Slowly, the black color began to vary in shades, with grey appearing to define more of the creature's form, until a monochrome beast now stood, ready to attack.

The second blob began to take on a new shape, extending parts of its body out like noodles. The creature attempted to maintain these extensions, but failed, shifting back to a simple blob. However, a light began to pulse within the creature...or rather, its pure black coloration began to lighten. Unlike its fellow however, this was not a true color change, for in actuality, the creature's outer surface was becoming transparent, revealing a black core in the center of the almost-translucent blob. The creature extended its body parts once again, and just as it seemed that the black core would be exposed, it hollowed itself out, and shifted into a gray-colored ring of metal. It was then that color returned to the almost clear liquid, as it now assumed a more defined form. When the transformation was complete, a series of purple-tinted tentacles emerged from the ring's top, with several smaller tentacles emerging from the ring's bottom to support the new creature.

The two monsters growled, with the tentacled creature brushing one of its appendages against a tree, which began to smoke as its leaves dissolved from the acid that was now dropping from the upper tendrils of the creature. Likewise, the barrel-shaped beast growled, before firing a ball of energy that exploded on impact with another tree, blasting a hole into its trunk that slowly caused the tree to fall.

Testing successful with diversification. Uploading forms into database. Preparing for new activity

"...It's horrifying…" Hugo muttered in disgust.

"Ugh…" Yumi groaned, feeling like she was going to lose her appetite.

"How can anyone enjoy that, let alone survive it?" Amare asked no-one in particular.

Odd gulped his food down and took a deep breath. "I can hear you guys you know!" he complained.

"I'm pretty certain that was the point." Ulrich snarked.

It was dinnertime in the Kadic cafeteria, and while it had once been a...somewhat orderly affair, Odd's introduction now meant that the students had a wonderful view of who was essentially a bottomless stomach. Of course, no-one who actually took a look, such as the ones who knew Odd, considered it 'wonderful' in the slightest. Especially since he was already on his third helping.

"I'm still surprised he can take Rosa's Shepherd's Pie." Amare grumbled, choking down a bite. "It's either eat this or starve for me."

"You don't like this?" Odd asked, mouth now full of food once again.

"...Can you please close your mouth while you eat?" Yumi asked, hiding her face in disgust of Odd's (lack of) table manners.

"Look, today was busier than I thought it would be, and I didn't even get to eat lunch!" Odd shot back. "I'll take whatever I can get!" He accentuated the point by opening a cup of chocolate pudding and consuming it.

"Isn't that your fourth one?" Jeremie asked at last.

"Yeah, so?" Odd asked.

"...Never mind." Jeremie sighed.

Ulrich took a quick glance at the other tables, with Hugo sulking, Amare trying to choke down the meal, Charlie eating obliviously, Milly and Tamiya focusing on their article, only taking quick bites of food when needed, and Sebastian eating his food normally. All the way closer to the back of the cafeteria was Matthias sitting with his own group, not caring a bit about what was going on, though Ulrich suspected the shopkeeper just didn't want to view Odd wolfing down food like a black hole. The Street Kid noticed Ulrich's glance, and with a subtle nod, brought Hugo and Amare into a conversation about their baseball practice, getting rid of the only set of eyes willing to eavesdrop on their table.

Jeremie likewise, noticed Ulrich's movement, and quickly pulled out his phone, sending a text message to the three virtual fighters, whose phones vibrated upon receiving the news.

"Study the information I sent you." Jeremie said in a hushed voice. "We're heading into the Alleyways first thing tomorrow. Read up."

And with that, the boy left, leaving his tray of mostly uneaten food behind.

"Um, you gonna finish that Einstein?" Odd called.

"As thanks for helping me out with Italian, you can have it!" Jeremie called back.

"And now I don't need to walk for fourths!" Odd snickered, bringing the tray with its meat pie, pudding, and potato wedges to his side.

Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other, sighed, and tried their best to finish their meals without listening to Odd's lips smacking as he devoured his food. When dinner was finally over (Odd having eaten five helpings of food, prompting Ulrich to snark about Odd having as many stomachs as a cow), everyone immediately set to retire for the night. Showers were uneventful besides Odd catching a glimpse of dread on Sebastian's face, which to be fair, wasn't unjustified, and soon, Odd was in his pajamas ready to go to bed, except…

"You gonna read what Jeremie sent?" Ulrich asked gruffly, having pulled out his phone to read over the dossier.

"...I had to spend a few hours with him and my homework." Odd grumbled. "I think I'm going to stay away from Einstein's writings for now. I'll look at it in the morning."

Ulrich strode over to Odd's bed, and then slapped him for being so blatantly reckless. Then he punched the cat-boy in the stomach for good measure before whacking him upside the head.

And blinking the orange out of his eyes, Odd sighed in defeat. "All right, alright, I'll read it over. Seriously dude, you don't need to go that far…"

Ulrich had already brought his arms up, ready to punch the living daylights out of Odd, but now lowered them and returned to reading.

Odd looked over the game-plan that was tomorrow. He was relieved when Jeremie said that the hope was to be out of the Alleyways by 2:00 PM at the latest. They would be taking a route unfamiliar to Odd however, as they would not be using the manhole cover in the woods, instead entering the sewers through a doorway located in the school's boiler room. While this door was normally locked, Sebastian had obtained the key to open it, which would take them to a new area in town. This area would eventually lead them to the Parisian Catacombs, which apparently had received an expansion ever since the Billancourt Panic, and could now be accessed from the storm sewer system. This would take them near the town's so-called 'Tek District', where they would obtain supplies from a cafe located in a Neutral Zone situated between the more…'adult' areas that dealt with drugs, along with the town's Industrial center. It would be here that Jeremie would obtain the parts for his robot dog, appropriately named: Kiwi 2.

Odd wasn't sure how to feel that Jeremie would be building a robotic version of Kiwi...but at least Kiwi himself wouldn't be turned into a cyborg. The cat-boy shuddered at the idea.

But once Jeremie had the parts for Kiwi 2, which he would store at the cafe, that would be where things would become difficult. From the Tek District, they would move on to more Neutral Areas...until they reached the Cult Zone (Because of course they couldn't go to the Happy-Friendly Fun Zone). It was here that the most difficult part of the mission would occur. Jeremie had heard of a...gathering of sorts, concerning several of the technology-worshipping religions. Apparently it was their equivalent of a peace conference, whereupon they shared their data and beliefs. From the Encrypted Programs within the supercomputer, Jeremie was planning to hack into the convention's data exchange, and with the encryption, locate wherever the Professor had planted the programs that would enable the Xanadu Warriors to access new areas of Xanadu and the supercomputer.

Unfortunately, because Jeremie wasn't satisfied with inflitrating one meeting of crazy people, he had asked to personally preview the religions located in the Cult Zone, and perhaps snag some new hardware or software along the way, with Sebastian having suggested the best route for questioning and scavenging before the meeting was due to begin. And of course this included that 'Shangri-la' cult that shared Xanadu's symbol.

Of course, when Odd heard Ulrich grit his teeth, he suspected that Ulrich's disdain for them came from a very different place (And he decided to ask Milly and Tamiya if the betting pool for Ulrich/Yumi was still open, because he appreciated whatever levity he could find right now).

The deadline to leave the Cult Zone would be 1:30, and the goal was to be out of there by 2:00. At least that part was reasonable. Everyone was to be on their guard, and to be careful about using their superpowers, just in case someone noticed. Nothing specific had been posted, but Odd made a mental note to get a lot of ice for himself at that cafe. He had a feeling he was going to need it.

"You done?" Ulrich asked.

Odd failed to suppress a yawn. "Yup. Good night."

And with that he flopped onto the bed and began snoring. Ulrich sighed, put on his earplugs and noseplug, and drifted off as well.

The samurai blocked the gigantic blade held by the dark warrior, parrying with his katana before rushing in with his wakizashi, only to be stopped by a blast of darkness. Likewise, the shinobi launched a fan that nearly made contact, only for the demonic soldier's wings to deflect the spinning disk. The Cheshire Cat fired a volley of arrows, but was forced to rely on defending with his energy shield as the powerful enemy turned to smoke to avoid the attacks, before launching a fissure of energy at him, causing the Lost Boy to jump back as he tried to keep his distance and analyze their foe.

This foe was powerful. No question about it. Even more so because of how lithe her figure was, which was something of a surprise to Odd, since while their foe was covered in armor that hid her face, it didn't hide her curvy hourglass figure, and it let out her long, smooth black tail. Then again, it wasn't like she was the first horrendously powerful woman that they had fought against (And ignoring present company of course)

But just before they could continue, the scene shifted. Before, they had fought in a room made up of blocks, altering the alien terrain however their opponent pleased...but now...they fought in a dark world, where the sky was open, monotone, and endless, over ground made of giant cables and tentacles, making it hard to move as static completely consumed-

Black.

Black

Peaceful black. He could return to sleep, letting the details out of his mind.

Odd stretched, scratching his back. He sighed, preparing to remember his dreams but…

He blinked. He then pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. A huge grin came over Odd's face. "WOO-HOOO!"

Odd jumped out of bed and began dancing, flipping things over with joy. Including Ulrich's sheets. Odd's dance of happy celebration was interrupted by Ulrich flying out of bed, and holding Odd by the collar of his pajama shirt. Odd paused at the murderous glare in Ulrich's face. The brown-haired boy removed his plugs and narrowed his eyes at Odd.

"Give me one reason why you did that." he growled.

Odd grinned again. "No dreams! You can beat me up all you like Ulrich, but for once, I had a good night's sleep! That's more than enough reason to celebrate!"

"...You're sure?" Ulrich asked, still not letting go.

"Nope!" Odd beamed.

Ulrich stared for a few seconds, and grimaced at the sunlight breaking through the blinds. "Ugh, fine. Let's get going."

Odd was still whistling throughout the morning, and cheerfully began eating his oatmeal as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"...Did something happen?" Yumi asked as she took her seat.

"He didn't have any weird dreams last night." Ulrich grumbled.

"You're serious?" Jeremie asked. "...That's…"

Odd stopped whistling. "Look, can I please enjoy not having any traumatizing visions of doom and destruction? Or creepy chicks? Or people getting high? Please? For once while we deal with that...thing?"

Jeremie was about to take a spoonful of oatmeal, but paused. "When did you have a vision like that?"

"Breakfast first!" Odd said, returning to his oatmeal.

Jeremie sighed. Odd was still sore about yesterday afternoon. He decided to ask about whatever significance the vision had when the group was on the move. Meanwhile, a new person came up to their table.

"Please tell me I'm not wanted." Sebastian begged.

"You sure Hugo and Amare aren't going to care?" Jeremie asked.

Sebastian in response, pointed to his usual table, where Amare was joking to Hugo, who was trying to throw glances of hope towards Sebastian, with Charlie stubbornly refusing to eat his oatmeal. Hugo was clearly trying to listen in, but Amare kept distracting him.

"Arendse's on board." Sebastian whispered, taking a seat next to Jeremie. "Now let's get this over with so I can sit at my usual spot again. Sitting here feels alien and wrong."

It certainly felt weird to Odd. He'd only sat at this table for a week, but it already seemed weird and awkward that Sebastian was sitting at the same table next to them. Yumi and Ulrich clearly felt weirded out, since they were obviously used to his usual seating arrangements. The only one who didn't seem to care was Jeremie, who had probably told Sebastian to sit with them to discuss any last-minute changes or issues with the plan.

"So, Amare's going to keep Hugo busy?" Jeremie asked.

"I swear, he's the most nonchalant person in the universe." Sebastian grumbled. "I call the whole mess a Catch-22, and he's just joking about becoming Super-Babe Ruth."

"...So what, he'd have a super baseball bat or something?" Odd joked.

Ulrich and Yumi did not find the joke funny, and Sebastian gave Odd a look showing that he also did not find it funny. Jeremie seemed deep in thought about it however, but shook his head to get back to business.

"So, no-one has a problem with today's plan?" Jeremie asked.

"...If we end up finding William again…" Yumi grumbled.

"Then we'll just get out of there, no fuss, no must." Jeremie finished, looking at Ulrich, who clearly did not prefer a peaceful, seemingly cowardly approach.

"I know a few retreat routes." Sebastian put in. "And if he follows, then I'm fairly certain you can beat him up."

"Are we going to have any weapons like before?" Yumi asked.

"I have a...few things stored at the cafe we're going to." Sebastian shrugged. "We can use those."

"Why didn't you use those yesterday?" Odd asked, mouth so full of oatmeal Sebastian could barely make out the words.

"...Because I was captured by Dunbar's crazy harem and a few miles away from said cafe?" Sebastian asked rhetorically.

Odd shrugged in response and went back to consuming his breakfast.

"So, if we're all good, we'll head out as soon as we're done eating." Jeremie said.

"Mhmm…" Odd nodded, sucking up oatmeal.

"Also, if we want to get this done, you'll have to live with one serving." Sebastian put in.

Odd gulped the rest of his bowl. "What? Oh come on!"

"Just let us try to get some food in, okay?" Yumi asked, trying to get back to her own meal.

"True." Sebastian said, before he sniffed the oatmeal and cringed. "Once I get some cinnamon in this."

"Can't I just go back in line?" Odd asked.

"Completely full. I wouldn't recommend it." Jeremie said. "There might be something at the cafe though."

Odd sighed in defeat. "Okay, much as I don't want to, I have to go and get Kiwi. I can't let him stay cooped up."

"Just as long as he doesn't mess up my bed." Ulrich nodded.

And so, Odd left to retrieve his dog, who clearly would've preferred sleeping in a bit more instead of going on another cockamamy 'adventure' so soon after the last one, but he didn't put up much resistance as Odd collared him. Odd let Kiwi do his business on a tree, and by the time he had picked up the second number and thrown it away, everyone else was done and prepared to go. Everyone put on a backpack, and whatever else they personally deemed necessary, and made their way across campus to sneak into the boiler room.

The door was located at the very back, and was colored with rust. Sebastian pulled out the key, and opened the door.

"Abandon hope all ye who enter he." the Street Kid muttered, and with that, the five children set off.

Yes, I know, another set-up File. I never expected it to get this big, TBH. But, perhaps it is for the best...

Next time, our heroes enter the dark underbelly of town...What awaits them in this place? What will try to get them first? Xanadu, or the people within?

You'll have to stay tuned to find out!

-Epsilon Tarantula-