"Kishin... AWAKE!"

Those words. Those awful words. Then all went black.

When I awoke, I was in an alleyway. Obviously not in Death City... but definitely a city. I stumbled out to see... something I'd never seen before. This city was much, much bigger than Death City. I wasn't sure where the hell I was. Then I saw something I definitely had never seen. A teen, wearing red and blue swung past me on... a rope? It looked like a rope. Either way, I passed out from seeing it. I'd never seen anything like it.

Now? I'm walking around, exploring. There's a newspaper over here. It might say where I am. Let me see... New York City. That's at the other end of the country. Why am I in New York? "Maybe, deep down, you know." Did someone just read my thoughts? There's someone behind me. It's... "Phoenix! What are you-" "Ssshh! Scream out my secret identity to John Q. Public, why don't you?" What on... I have no idea who that it is. "I don't believe I know the gentleman." Why is she banging her head on a lamppost? She's... oh, great. She's giving me the Excalibur Look. "Come on. I'll get you a coffee." "I've never really had a coffee before." "It's good. You'll like it." She's heading for that building over there. The "Coffee Bean." I'll check it out.

Nice place. I'm guessing I just wait in line here, then. Oh, someone's coming over. Why does she look so familiar? "Welcome to the Coffee Bean. May I- what the hell are you doing here?" That's odd. She's generally not one to curse. But I'd recognize that long blonde hair anywhere. "Good to see you too, Liz. Can I get a caramel macchiato?" "You like those? I think they taste like crap." Something's definitely wrong. Liz never curses unless she's peeved. "You okay?" "I... ug. I'll catch up with you on break." Well, I'll just sit down and wait for Phoenix.

"It's official. I love coffee." Phoenix is smiling (Good sign.). Liz looks mad (Bad sign.). "So, Liz. Have you seen Maka, Black*Star, or anyone else?" "I think I saw Black*Star. He was standing on this pole thing and yelling random crap like he always does. Then these guys in blue pulled him down and put him in their car. The blue guys were saying stuff like, 'You have the right to remain silent.'" I think I may cry. I'm so- "ARGH!" "Yikes, Soul, are you okay?" Liz is smirking. "I told you, PUT A LID ON YOUR DAMN COFFEE." Great. I now have coffee on my crotch. How could this get worse?