Spiral: Hiyas! Again! It's Spiral, and, so yeah. This one might be short, might be long. I don't usually stay up too long, especially on Sundays because I still have summer school to go to, and I gotta get up by 7:45 to get to the place…

Disclaimer: Still don't own either show. D. Gray-Man goes to Hoshino Katsura and Gakuen Alice goes to…uh…(looks back at last chapter) oh, right! Tachibana-san.

Chapter 3

"Come on, Cherries. Keep up," said Natsume, annoyed. They were just lugging around a dead weight. Honestly, couldn't Komui had picked a better team? Natsume was willing to go with Lavi, or even Kanda, but certainly not the idiot that had just figured out that she had Innocence. He knew the reason why he couldn't get mad though, not too mad anyways. He was still in love with her.

"That's easy for you to say, Natsume!" said Mikan, panting. "You have your Innocence!"

"She's right, Natsume-kun!" said Allen, calling up to his friend who was riding high above them. The snow-haired boy pulled Mikan up to the top of the ridge while Natsume went farther ahead.

"I'm going to go see if anyone noticed anything. Allen, you make sure there aren't any Akuma around," said Natsume, pushing ahead.

Yes, that's right. The shackles around Natsume's wrist form something like a skateboard. The shackles themselves formed an oval and generated a platform for him to stand on. It was also his weapon.

"Natsume!" said Allen, pulling the boy out of his thoughts. "Watch out!" Natsume looked back, and then forward to find Akuma staring him straight in the face.

"And I thought this mission was going to be boring!" said Natsume, gliding lower to the ground as so to jump off. The landing went smoothly and he brought his Innocence down. The minute he brought it down, it grow spikes all around the edges, making it a deadly projectile.

"Mikan! Stay here," said Allen, activating his own Innocence. "Innocence, hatsudo (1)!" The Crown Clown took on its form, it's full form. The twin hands, the belt, everything. "You still have no idea what your Innocence does. Please, just stay here." He looked at her with such remorse that Mikan felt herself compelled to obey.

"H-hai, Allen-kun," said Mikan, blushing a little.

"Oi! Allen!" yelled Natsume, catching his Innocence after he'd thrown it for the 3rd time. "Are you reinforcements or what? Get your ass over here and help!" Natsume jumped onto the board again, deciding that there were too many to handle just my throwing it. Allen jumped into the action, destroying one of the Level 2's with just a scratch.

"Natsume, what are you doing?" shouted Allen, destroying yet another Level 3.

"Whatever I don't get, you can have them!" shouted back Natsume. His crimson eyes widened, almost with pain, as he poured his Alice into the board. "Hellfire…kai (2)!"

"N-natsume," said Mikan, somewhat surprised by the sudden attack that Natsume had generated. The board heated up, throwing all of the stored Fire Alice out, onto the battlefield. It surrounded a majority of the Akuma who burned on contact, bursting into flames, leaving Allen looking around, bewildered.

"The rest are yours," said Natsume, panting. He really should stop with that attack. It would be his death.

"Chotto…" said Allen, remembering Mikan. "Mikan-san! Come on over!" Mikan looked over at a grinning Allen and a glaring Natsume in the middle of the valley.

"Hai!" she said, sliding down the rest of the way.

"Do you think you can get your Innocence to invocate?" said Allen, destroying another Akuma; the rest kept coming.

"I-I can try…" said Mikan, trailing off to focus. All that training with Persona was paying off. She focused, trying to remember what she had done last time. Dang. Last time Hevlaska was with her, pretty much helping her along the way. You can do this, Mikan. Just invocate, she told herself, trying to feel the sensation from before. "Innocence, hatsudo!"

The glowing light appeared again, seemingly paralyzing the Akuma, even for a second. The trail of crosses began to appear, skin color at first, but slowly gaining color. They all turned a sort of green-ish color and Mikan felt the power of the Innocence, like from before, only stronger.

"Try to attack!" yelled Allen, before once again being sucked back into the battle. The girl looked to Natsume for support, but Natsume had his own crop of Akuma to destroy. That glow…if Mikan could generate enough power and heat behind it…yes…that just might work…

"Haiyaku (3), Cherries!" shouted Natsume, throwing his board out at the Akuma. The Level 1's had learned by then and managed to dodge before closing back in on Mikan. "Dammit, I wish Komui had let us bring Krory. I don't like having to use my Alice." The Level 1's were closing in on him as he poured more energy back into the board. Mikan turned around, only to see Natsume preparing to release the energy.

"Iie, Natsume!" she shouted, pushing him out of the way.

"M-mikan!" he said, somewhat dumbfounded. She had taken the bullets instead of him. She would be dead, and it was because she thought that he couldn't defend himself.

"Natsume!" said Allen, destroying the last of his share. "Natsume, she's alright."

"No she's not!" he said, somewhat in shock. Bullets were flying everywhere, obscuring his view. Neither of the boys could see what was happening.

"Natsume, she'll be alright," said Allen, standing up, pulling Natsume with him. "Parasitic types don't succumb to the Akuma virus."

"Y-you don't?" he said. Natsume had been a part of the Chaos Branch for nearly 2 years already, but then again, there weren't really any Parasitic types around save Krory, but he was…special…

"Not at all," said Allen, dusting himself off. Natsume hadn't noticed before, but Allen's eye had changed, with gears surrounding it. He was about to ask Allen, but the other boy stopped him. "My eye, right? Well…that's a different story for a different time. Later, alright? Let's help Mikan right now." He ran head-first into the mist, brandishing his left arm menacingly. Natsume, finally getting over the shock, plunged in head-first as well.

Akuma could be heard from all over, Natsume often having to use his board in a split-second before the bullets could hit him. Many wails seemed to be coming from all over, and all Natsume could do was pray and hope that they all would come out of the ordeal safely. Or at the very least intact, with all their fingers and limbs, alive.

"Natsume! Natsume!" yelled someone. He could hear the voice clearly, and he presumed it was Mikan. The Akuma seemed to stop, the wailing and the gears permanently ended. "Where are you?"

"Mikan! Allen!" he shouted back, hoping to get out of the smoke soon. It was really starting to irritate him. It was the poisonous kind, but it was just getting to him. He finally stepped out into the sun, and straight into Mikan.

"Natsume, yogata ne (4)," said Mikan, sighing. She hugged him for all he was worth, not even caring that Allen was still nearby.

"M-mikan…" said Natsume, blushing. "Did you figure out your Innocence?"

"Hai!" said a grinning Mikan, finally releasing Natsume.

"It's really cool, Natsume," said Allen. "By the way, who is that Krory guy you mentioned?"

"He's another one of the Exorcists back at the HQ. He's a Parasitic type. Really intimidating. Lot like a vampire," said Natsume, roughly summing Krory up as best as he could. "But he can suck the Akuma virus out of a person, and then he uses it for energy to destroy other Akuma, but he's handy if you're not a Parasitic type." He shot a mini death-glare at Allen. Mikan simply sweat-dropped. She was getting used to the two arguing all the time.

"Should we be getting to the village now?" she said, trying to liven up the atmosphere between the two. "I see. Ne, Natsume-kun, what did Komui say was happening?"

"The town was repeating itself or something...?" said Natsume, still glaring at Allen.

"Yosh (5), Ikuzo!" said Mikan, pulling both boys along.

-X-

"Doesn't look like there's anything wrong," said Allen, taking in the small village's appearance. It was quaint, surrounded by a wall. There was no one in sight, or that they could see anyways. "Do we go in?"

"If you aren't, then I am," said Natsume, entering through the gate. He seemed to melt into the backdrop, and neither Allen nor Mikan could see him inside.

"Natsume-kun!" she said, chasing after the boy.

"M-mikan-chan! Natsume-san!" said Allen, chasing after the two as well. He plunged into the place head-first, feeling something similar to an electric shock, but he felt the place ripple around him, like reality was changing itself. "Mikan-chan? Natsume-san?" He sighed, obviously figuring out that it'd take awhile to find them. He looked around, trying to find someone who might be able to help him. He finally came across a girl, probably around Lavi and Kanda's age, who looked like she could help him.

"S-sumimasen (6)," said Allen, tapping her on the shoulder lightly. The girl screamed, practically running away from him. "G-gomen nasai…" He searched around for a few more minutes before deciding to go into a seemingly empty store. It was a clothing shop, and that girl from before was in there as well!

"You!" she said, pointing to Allen. "You're that white-haired boy from before!"

"And you're that girl that ran off after I tapped you on the shoulder," said Allen, confused. "Why'd you just run off like that?"

"Y-you frightened me," said the girl, coming out from behind the mannequin. "My name is Miranda Lotto. You're not from around here, are you?"

"No," said Allen, holding out his hand. She shook it. "My name is Allen Walker. Me and my friends came here looking for something. Have you seen anything…unusual maybe? Like has anything abnormal been happening around here?"

"Y-yes," said Miranda, walking out of the shop with Allen. "But maybe I can tell you later. Where are your friends?"

"T-that's the thing. I kind of lost them at the entrance," said Allen, sweat-dropping a little. "One's a tall raven-haired guy, red eyes, looks like he's in a foul mood. The other's a somewhat tall brunette, probably with the raven-haired guy."

"You mean like them?" said Miranda, pointing across the street.

"Arigato, Miranda-chan!" said Allen, grinning. "Natsume! Mikan! Over here! I found someone who can help us!" Natsume looked over at Allen's direction, who was waving madly, and tugged Mikan's arm.

'He's over there," said Natsume, pulling her along.

"Allen-kun!" said Mikan, waving as well.

"T-these are your friends?" said Miranda, hiding behind Allen.

"They shouldn't bite, at least not Mikan," said Allen, with shifty eyes. "Natsume…well…I can't vouch for. Anyways, minna, I found someone who can help us find the Innocence. So, Miranda-chan, do you know what's been going on around here recently If you do, it'd really help us."

"Follow me," said Miranda, walking along the street hastily. As they walked, there were many times when they got close to being splashed by the gutter water, and then there were one or two times when Miranda really was splashed with water…"Here's my house."

"Would your parents mind?" said Mikan, looking up at the house.

"They don't really care who I bring home," said Miranda, showing them to her room. The first thing Allen noticed, definitely, was the clock on the far side of the room. It was a large old grandfather clock, the type that always rang every hour. "Were you looking at the clock?"

"S-sorry," said Allen, watching Natsume sweat-drop a tiny bit. "But it's just so…well…prominent. It looks really nice, though. I like it."

"Arigato, Allen-kun," said Miranda.

"So do you know what's happening here or not?" said Natsume, annoyed. He did not come all this way just to talk. "Or did we just come here for nothing."

"Chotto, Natsume-kun," said Miranda, sitting down on the bed. "Everyday, this town replays the same day, over and over and over. Nothing ever changes, and whenever I go and ask someone about it, they look at me like I'm crazy. Nothing new ever happens, until you guys showed up that is."

"Souka," said Natsume, going all serious. "Do you know why it's doing that?"

"I have no idea," said Miranda, truthfully. "It just kind of restarts the same day everyday and I'm the only one that ever notices."

"Excuse us for a minute, Miranda," said Natsume, pulling Allen and Mikan out the room with him. "The Innocence has to be around here somewhere, and I think it's responding to Miranda."

"Miranda-chan?" said Mikan, confused. She'd heard all that Miranda had said, but it didn't exactly make sense to her…

"She's the only one that ever notices these changes happening, or rather lack thereof," said Natsume. "And no one else does. There's got to be an Innocence fragment around here somewhere."

"Time doesn't pass here, but everywhere else it does," said Allen, thinking out loud.

"Maybe a clock of some sort?" suggested Mikan, thinking back to the large pendulum that the grandfather clock in Miranda's room.

"That's it!" both boys shouted at the same time. "The grandfather clock! She's compatible with the Innocence!"

"That was freaky…" said Mikan, looking between the two.

"But why did it respond to her like this?" said Natsume. All three of them turned around when they heard Miranda scream from the room. Maybe that was a bad move, leaving her alone in there like that.

"Miranda-chan!" said Allen, barging in. The room was empty, the window open, the clock gone, and a message on the wall, in blood. Not getting it back, you damn Exorcists!

(1) Hatsudo: Activate/Invocate

(2) Kai: Release, also Natsume's word to let the stored Alice go.

(3) Haiyaku (probably spelled wrong): Hurry up/Hurry

(4) Yogata (ne): Thank God (ne is opt.)

(5) Yosh: Just something you say, it's like say alright! Or let's go!

(6) Sumimasen: In the way Allen just used it, it means excuse me. It can also mean sorry/pardon.

Spiral: Sorry! It's really short! (bows continuously) And excuse the language…Natsume gets cranky. Now then, it's similar to the rewinding town arc, but I shortened it a heck of a lot, didn't I? And not only that, Miranda gets to be 18 again! Yay! Everyone wins! You know the drill. Review, alert this story, tell your friends, whatever! And sorry for the cliffy, but they are fun to write! Stay tuned! Another battle scene coming up and…who's that there?