---

Victoria was both relieved and disappointed that no monster suddenly popped out from the trees and attacked them on their way to the port town. She thought in a magical fantasy world like this, monsters lied in wait at every corner, just ambushing any adventurers that passed through their territory. Yes, she considered herself and Youmu adventurers now. Eccentric appearance, eccentric powers, and possibly eccentric personalities, as least as far as her own personality was considered; they would make a good pair of adventurers indeed.

The port town was certainly busier than she had expected. She had imagined it to be a smaller port town, not as crowded and busy as this. She looked around as her curiosity overtook her. So many people, and all of them wearing different clothing that she never saw before. So many merchants too, selling both normal things like fishes to magical trinkets and accessories. She only knew they were magical thanks to the loud shouting they made to attract any potential customers.

When she passed through the alley, she felt pity at the poor man. Just like back in her world, not everyone could have a fortunate life, it seemed. She gave him a kind smile and a nod when their eyes met out of respect.

Suddenly, her attention was directed to a loud neighing of a horse. It seemed they had blocked the way of a carriage from passing through. And sure enough, the passenger of said carriage wasn't too happy about that.

Youmu apologized first, though she could sense that she was annoyed at the way that person was talking. Well, she had to agree with her. She felt annoyed too at her rudeness. She felt she was the kind of person who loved to lord her superiority over others.

She called them a foreigner and a noble though. She realized that she was wearing a fancy dress, so that probably made her think she had noble blood. And she certainly looked like someone not from around here also. She wondered if she thought Youmu was her bodyguard, seeing how she was the one with the sword.

"Yes, we apologize. Please pardon us and move on along," she responded with a smile. Here, she used one of the classic tricks she often employed to her naughty students. Her threatening smile. She could keep being polite while egging the opponent on.

@PaulHaynek

-@VitaVitaAR (YMU) & @Hammerman-

"... I am sorry, but aren't you taking more time to stop and complain rather then letting us know and then continuing on your way?"

"Yes, we apologize. Please pardon us and move on along,"

Undaunted by the replies and the looks hurled at her, the woman smirked. "You know what? You're right, I should just be going..."

"Hsup!"

With that strange word, suddenly you were blown to the side and into the alley. The invisible force felt like some sort of shockwave or explosion yet neither of you noticed it coming as if it just appeared out of nowhere. "Now then, are you going to practice what you preach or am I going to witness some hypocrisy?" The woman sported a dark smile, clearly taunting you to retaliate. "Come on now, I don't have all day!" You both could feel power emanating from the woman. She was likely readying for a fight.

But then, the bandaged man approached the two of you. You could see now that the bandages completely covered any skin that should be visible. His head was also wrapped in bandages and you would be forgiven to wonder how he was seeing past the white covering. "I wouldn't fight back if I were you." He said, his voice only loud enough for only you to hear. "If you cause trouble, the local guards might see you as the instigator."

"Hey! Buzz off mummy man! This has nothing to do with you!"

-@ACHTUNG-

"Standard set of questions then Mr. Entertainer... Why, What, Who, and Where... That is... Why us? What for? by Who? and Where to?"

"Whoa, what a bombardment of questions." The Entertainer remarked in a jovial tone. "Hehe, get it? 'Bombard'? With you guys being ships and all?" He laughed a little at his own corny joke.

Suddenly, a couple of men dressed in black military gear came dragging a person with a black sack hood over his head. "Oh, who might this be?" The soldiers remove the black sack and revealed a young, brown-haired male.

-@ZeroL-

While you were out doing everyday activities, your vision suddenly went black and you felt moving across... something. Your senses do not do you any good in this brief but strange moment. In a second or so, your vision returned and you found yourself staring at a ceiling lit up by a bright lightbulb. Two figures suddenly appear in your vision and before you could do anything, they grab hold of you and your vision once again blackens thanks to the black sack they put over your head.

You were violently raised up and dragged away. You were too disoriented to fight back but the trip was short and the black hood was removed from your head. With your vision restored once more, hopefully permanently this time, you see two girls with you along with a person with a strange, disturbing face. "Oh, I know you. You drive large robots, am I right?"

-@ACHTUNG & @ZeroL-

"Okay! Now that we're all here, let me answer the questions Miss Twintails over there asked." The Entertainer announced.

"Once again, I'm The Entertainer and you're in IDEC. IDEC stands for InterDimensional Enforcer Corps. Because you see, we live in the Multiverse. You know, the plural form for 'universe' which means you and I come from different universes. If you are aware or at least familiar with the concept of 'alterante dimensions', then it's kinda like that. IDEC exists to keep the peach and harmony of the Multiverse. You all got that? Okay, hopefully that answers 'Who'."

"For 'Why' and 'What', I summoned you here because in IDEC, we have people called Agents. They're our most elite operatives and probably knows every inch of IDEC." He explained. "Some of these Agents have gone rogue recently and decided to oppose IDEC. Now if you have been listening, you know that is a huge problem for us in IDEC. So that's why I brought you, outsiders, to deal with this problem. Those rogue Agents may know IDEC but they don't know you."

"In exchange, you all get one wish. One wish. Anything you want." He offered the reward for this not-so-small request. "That, and not having your world torn asunder by this multiversal conflict. Not that your worlds are in any tip top shape, hehe." He giggled a bit before resuming. "...Oh the wish comes within reason of course. We don't want them biting you in the ass, do we?"

"Oh and, I never got your names. I'm familiar with who you are but I never really got into the specifics." The Entertainer added. "So, if you guys mind?"

Her small frame lifted and thrown by the force that suddenly erupted outwards, Youmu still managed to land on her feet, thrusting one hand downward to balance herself as she slid along the cobblestones.

She'd just been attacked.

There was only one response to this.

Youmu's right hand was placed on Roukanken's hilt. Smoothly, she drew the gleaming yokai-forged katana from its sheath, the folded steel glittering in the midday sunlight. The warning about the guards went completely unheeded, as the small girl straightened. Just as smoothly, Hakuroken was drawn from its sheath, and with both katana in hand she strode back towards the belligerent woman and the carriage. The half-phantom's blue gaze raised to lock on what she now considered to be her opponent.

This had nothing to do with Youmu's mission, but she could not and would not allow it to stand. It was simply how someone from Gensokyo would handle these things.

"I cannot deny that we may have obstructed your path," Youmu began, raising Roukanken to point directly towards the woman, "But regardless! Your insults, and your actions, and this attack cannot go unnoticed! On the honor of the Konpaku family, I will not simply remain idle after being attacked without cause!"

No matter how polite Youmu could be, being a resident of Gensokyo had quite colored her response to this kind of situation. It was now unlikely she would back down unless provided a very good argument for doing so. The unprovoked attack had not only been a literal challenge, but it had also been an attack on a number of things. The honor of Youmu's position as Yuyuko-sama's guardian and gardener, and the honor of her family. Even if it was impossible for the woman to know these that was the case, that did not stop Youmu from considering it to be so.

There was also the simple fact that the woman's behavior had made Youmu rather angry. A swift duel would certainly allow her to release this anger, especially since the half-phantom girl felt very confident in the sword techniques of the Konpaku.

"I, Konpaku Youmu, will defeat you!"

@PaulHaynek@Hammerman

He nodded and handed the soldier his rifle. It was much too long to conceal and would draw far too much attention. For most purposed his dueling pistols would be more than enough. The only thing that would be a threat from the kind of distance a rifle would warrent would be another powder mage.

"I think that we may be done here then."

He started off along the beach towards the academy. Tamas never held much stock in gods and the idea of entering a temple was not appealing in the least.

"Ah... Say again, now?" the young man asked at the group's destination, which... More or less seemed to be a nexus of portal-generating devices? As far as he knew, such technology didn't exist in his world, so the fact that they existed in and of themselves was more shocking than anything thus far. Othinus was, of course, unfazed by the matter; it didn't take long to rationalize such things for her, given how the current trajectory of events meant that there was only so much logical distance one could cover. Especially with the explanation prior, the mission that the entire group was given was... Actually far more mundane than she had expected.

"...Really? Just to find a base?" Othinus muttered to herself as she slowly took in the small descriptions of each world and began to process them. Touma, of course, was still slightly in shock at somewhere conceivably being more advanced than Academy City, but that shock soon dispersed and he began to think about which world to head to.

Satori, on the other hand, was far from pleased with what little information she had managed to whittle out of that unreliable host of theirs, and was no less amused when directed into a room to pick a room to travel to. While the Konpaku girl (and the rest of the group) dispersed, she remained within the chamber, half in defiance and half in contemplation. It wasn't soon after, though, that she was one of the only ones left in the room alongside the black-haired boy with what seemed to be a tiny fairy or something on his shoulder and the blonde doll that the two seemed to have been speaking to earlier.

Maybe now would be a good time to begin to make herself acquainted with people.

"Excuse me," she asked, walking over to the small group of people still lost in thought at the situation. "But since that... Thing has left, can I assume we should be left to our own devices for the moment?"

"...Eh? Oh, uh, yeah, I guess we are, aren't we?" Touma asked, shaken out of his rare moment of deep thought by the appearance of the pink-haired girl. He could at least tell that she was the one who was badgering the guy to send people who wanted to go home... Well, home, so he had to at least give her some respect for that. It took a lot to stand up to power far beyond one's own; he should know, considering everything he had gone through in life thus far.

"That's a relief. Oh, and thank you for the compli-"

Satori's eyes widened in momentary realization before closing her mouth in a panic. Crap. Crapcrapcrap. She had already slipped so soon after. Would it take only a moment to take a fool's errand alone for the sake of her family?

"...Oh, uh... You're welcome, I guess? Though I don't think I said anything like that..." Touma responded in turn, a nervous laugh weakly escaping his lips as Satori let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh good, he's either a fool or just slow." she comforted herself before she caught wind of the fairy's own thoughts... And what speed at those thoughts came! At risk to herself, Satori steeled herself (though she herself showed no trace of it externally) and dove into the being's mind...

Only to be ejected in a matter of seconds. The so-called fairy's eyes snapped open and she glared at Satori, her lips clasped in a tight frown.

"Rude, aren't you? Letting my mental defenses down is no invitation for you to peer into my mind!" Othinus snapped, sending a slight shiver down Satori's spine. The youkai shook her head for a moment after recovering from that moment of shock before she stared back in return.

"You're no fairy or anything of the sort... The title of 'fallen god' would be more appropriate, would it not? Well, I can understand you hiding your identity from that man and the rest of the group, considering he didn't seem to recognize you but did your companion."

"That is... Correct. My name is Othinus, and this is Kamijou Touma, a rather... Hardheaded student. Given how suspicious you are of this entire situation, would I be wise in suggesting we work together? I cannot say I trust that man either, since his motivations and mentality escapes my grasp on understanding, and since you are one of the few people willing to confront his methodology rather than quietly accept it like many others here have--" she began, glaring at Touma for a moment before continuing, "I would much prefer your aid. Blind obedience is a danger, after all."

At this, Satori was shocked. Rather than be rejected after her abilities came to light, this Othinus person was actually... Inviting her? That was more a shock than anything else, and it left the youkai girl speechless for a moment before nodding.

"...Certainly. So. Have you decided where to go?"

"...Possibly. But first... I want to talk with you... And that Goldibanne doll as well, considering we are the only ones left here. I would like us all to discuss our capabilities in combat. Touma here is less brains than he is pure luckiness and unluckiness fused into a single being--"

"Hey, I resent that comment! Though, uh... I really can't deny it..."

"It is true, is it not? Anyways, a dialogue between us should be fine; it isn't as if the world is ending or anything at this very moment, is it?"

---

The conversation between the four people panned out for a while, with each giving the others insight into their own worlds and abilities (Satori was far less surprised at the living doll and had taken a great interest in Touma's Imagine Breaker, while Touma himself was just happy to know he didn't have to treat Satori like a hot stove with right hand) with seldom (if any) intervention from their 'host'. It was a moment of "peace" for Satori, at least compared to the last hour or so. But at least now they were more prepared in knowing what to expect from one another for the mission to come.

With that settled, Othinus directed the group towards the third portal--the one that no group had decided to enter. Satori and Touma had no objections to the suggestion, and so they walked forward, with... Mixed feelings at the end of everything.

Technically it might have been faster to discuss this en-route, but that would also give the possibility of being attacked if the world was hostile... And thus cause them to lose track of their conversation. That on its own wasn't something either side wanted, though for inherently different reasons altogether.

---

She didn't know whether it was her threatening smile that did it, but the rude lady did end up being provoked to attack them. She caught the strange phase she uttered before she was suddenly thrown onto the alley wall by some strong force that suddenly came out from the lady's direction. A spell, she thought. This just confirmed that this world was really a fantasy world.

The lady then taunted them, egging them on to attack her. Well, she would happily comply with her wishes if not for her desire not to make a ruckus. The bandaged man she saw before certainly agreed with her thought, as he interrupted their conversation by telling them not to fight back so that they wouldn't alert the guards.

Unfortunately, it was quite late for that as Youmu already drew her blades from their sheats, fully intending to attack back at the lady's provocation. Knowing her type, she wouldn't listen even if she told her to stop.

Well, she simply had to end this fight as quickly and silently as she could then.

She quickly turned her entire body into water, before leaping towards the arrogant lady. She was an Undine, so such techniques weren't unfamiliar for her kind. She was also capable of shaping water into soild things, as the clothes she wore was made out of water as well. If she had wore an actual dress, it would've fallen off her body when she transformed into her water form. It would be really bothersome to put it on back afterwards.

She made sure most of her body mass was heading towards her, while she sent off a little part of herself to the sides, unnoticeable by the lady. She expected her to cast the same spell she cast before to repel her. Her true attack came afterwards, with the little bit of water latching onto her right when she wouldn't expect it. She intended to quickly cover her mouth, stopping her from screaming for help from the guards while simultaneously asphyxiating her. Of course, she didn't intend to kill her, only to teach her a lesson she wouldn't forget.

@PaulHaynek

"Goldibanne's very glad to know so much more about all of you~" Goldibanne declared, cheerfully. It was all... quite interesting information. For one, any contact with Touma's right arm seemed like an incredibly terrible idea. On another note, she still very much wanted to play dressup with Othinus. Frilly dresses, hats, tiny swimsuits, ahhh, so many ideas she had... On yet another note, that Satori girl... she wasn't unlike the satori of Goldibanne's home universe. As for herself, Goldibanne simply explained her own nature and some things about her 'sisters'. Of course, they weren't actually sisters, as no blood lay between them. Dolls, after all, didn't have any sort of blood relations. But they had been all created by the same person, and Goldibanne thought it was fun to get Amarylls to refer to her as 'onee-sama'.

It was a very enlightening and interesting conversation. Perhaps Goldibanne had gotten a little too into explaining how she could burn and slice apart an enemy with her molten gold blood, but she didn't think that was much of an issue at all. In the end, she rather cheerfully followed Touma, Othinus, and Satori into the third portal.

@PKMNB0Y

@PaulHaynek

Suzaku blinked. He did not recognize this person, and was strongly disconcerted about the sudden explanation of a... multiverse!? He had heard of the concept, but the idea that it was real was incredible. He got over his bewilderment as best he could, and answered the questions posed to him.

"I drive Knightmare Frames, yes. And my name is Suzaku Kururugi."

He awkwardly extended his hand.

Then it hit him. A wish; any wish he wanted. He could see Euphie again. Have her name cleared, and her Geass cured. "I'll absolutely help you with the rogues," he declared, with a sudden burst of confidence and determination.

This wish would be his, no matter what he had to do.

---

"For a person to have access to the infrastructure necessary to transport matter across different planes if reality and yet not have the most basic of intelligence gathering abilities is statistically improbable. In the case that is indeed true then this is my sister ship Kirishima and I am Haruna, any more than that would take too much time to relay such information through speech."

"Continuing... if your rogue agents are indeed your most elite and very likely have access to the same equipment you already posses and pose a threat to our home reality... What course of thinking leads you to believe that individuals such as him and us would be a problem for them to deal with"

Haruna moves to mention the new arrival giving him a quick nod...

"Furthermore if they have access to equipment that presumably could send unsavory things to our home reality, what would prevent them from just throwing us out into some random space out in the vastness of the cosmos? If you would recall you were able to send us here without us knowing and without anything physically being anywhere reasonably close to us..."

"Of note however is that as we are now, Kirishima and I are nowhere near our maximum capabilities."

And then something out of the norm from Haruna, she smirks... then adds...

"Well you did ask to be questioned... Now please... Entertain us..."

This actually earned her a questioning look from her sister...

---

@ZeroL
@PaulHaynek

---

-@VitaVitaAR (YMU) & @Hammerman-

"I, Konpaku Youmu, will defeat you!"

"Hell yeah! Hey Annabelle, we've got a--"

However, Victoria's sudden transformation into liquid caught the magician woman's attention. With her hands, the stone ground quickly rose into a wall to block the water mass that was supposed to be Victoria. But the discreet small amount of water had successfully latched onto the magician's mouth. "Mmmph!" Her hands quickly tried to get the liquid off but her fingers only passed through the water.

After realizing her hands will not do, the magician exhaled a great gust of wind from her mouth managed to expel the asphyxiating water. She coughed a couple of times and inhaled to regain her breath, leaving her open to attack.

"Oh my, whatever's happening here, Rielle?" Another woman emerged from the carriage. A woman who might be or at least resemble someone Youmu might know. Judging from her words though, it appeared that she knew the magician woman who was still regaining her breath.

-@PKMNB0Y (STRI and TMA) & @VitaVitaAR (GLD)-

You found yourselves emerging into a large chamber similar to the IDEC hangar where you came from. A soldier immediately approached you with a black box on his hand. "Oh, you must be the 'help' the boss was talking about. Here's the wavelength recorder." He handed a black box to Touma. "You know how to use that, right? If not, you can just come back to us once you find a portal gate."

"Follow me." The soldier lead you outside of the chamber into a corridor then to a pair of elevators. Ascending to the top on one of them, you emerge into a rocky cave. A fresh breeze of wind washes upon your face as the soldier continued to lead you.

Soon you emerge into a beautiful clearing in the middle of the day. On your left was a quite large river and in the distance was a city. "Welcome to Gamindustri, guys." The soldier said. "That city over there is Lastation. North of here should be the city of Lowee. On the opposite side of here should be Planeptune. While south of here is Leanbox but there's a sea you have to cross so you have to either fly with your abilities or take a ship from Lastation." He gave the lay of the land.

"So, good luck. If you need anything, fell free to come to the outpost at any time." The soldier said. "Oh and, please don't cause too much of a ruckus or reveal our existence, okay? Don't be afraid to ask the locals questions too. Just don't be blatant or suspicious about it." He added. "Also, I advise splitting up to cover more ground. Then again, it's better to be together when s*** hits the fan."

-@ACHTUNG & @ZeroL-

"For a person to have access to the infrastructure necessary to transport matter across different planes if reality and yet not have the most basic of intelligence gathering abilities is statistically improbable. In the case that is indeed true then this is my sister ship Kirishima and I am Haruna, any more than that would take too much time to relay such information through speech."

"Hey now, just because I can do anything doesn't mean I know everything." The Entertainer retorted. "Besides, IDEC is good at covering their tracks so the same should be expected of these rogue Agents."

"Continuing... if your rogue agents are indeed your most elite and very likely have access to the same equipment you already posses and pose a threat to our home reality... What course of thinking leads you to believe that individuals such as him and us would be a problem for them to deal with"

"Okay one, they are indeed elite but they don't have access to IDEC's resources. It's not like they spirited away all of IDEC's tanks and jets and power suits when they went rogue." The Entertainer answered. "And because of that, I fully expect them to try and recruit help from the locals of some universes. So yeah, keep that in mind and report to me or to any IDEC personnel if you encounter any such people."

"And two, again they don't know you and that makes you objectively better than any IDEC asset I can throw at them."

"Furthermore if they have access to equipment that presumably could send unsavory things to our home reality, what would prevent them from just throwing us out into some random space out in the vastness of the cosmos? If you would recall you were able to send us here without us knowing and without anything physically being anywhere reasonably close to us..."

"Ah, well... let's save that question for later." The Entertainer answered. "It's better to have visual aids when explaining, am I right?"

"I drive Knightmare Frames, yes. And my name is Suzaku Kururugi. I'll absolutely help you with the rogues,"

"Now that's what I like to hear!" The Entertainer reacted positively to your answer. "Keep that up and maybe I'll throw in a little extra just for you."

"Well you did ask to be questioned... Now please... Entertain us..."

"All right, follow me." The Entertainer began walking towards the rising hangar door that lead into an equally-sized hangar only this time, this area was filled with machines, people and two pairs of tall, steel arches on the hangar's walls. "You see, only I can instantly transport people anywhere in the Multiverse. For everyone else, they're going to need those." He pointed to the arches.

"Those are called portal gates. These can lead to all the universes in the Multiverse." You now notice that his voice was not coming from him but rather, from inside your heads. It was the reason why you could clearly hear him despite the ambient machine noises and the random chatter of the personnel around you. "Each universe has a combination of wavelengths that designate that universe. Those wavelengths are needed by a portal gate to enter that universe from another. However, an extra wavelength is needed to link two portal gates together so that travel can be safe. Otherwise, you might get deposited into an area not to your liking like say, in outer space or inside a wall."

The white mass of light in the center of the arches shone brightly, indicating they were currently in operation. "So, you guys in or not?" Since Suzaku had already given his answer, the question was directed more at Haruna and Kirishima. "You are completely free to decline and ignore these threats to your homeworld by the way."

"Also, don't hesitate to ask any lingering questions you have."

---

Haruna smiles at that...

"It would be prudent to accept this since even though the statistical chance that our reality would be duly affected by a conflict perpetrated by a finite amount of individuals given the possibly infinite amount of other realities that exist is conceptually nil... I'd have peace of mind as humans call it, that what we will do might keep Makie safe..."

"That... and we get to see new places... See new things and meet more people..."

Kirishima displays her excitement about this prospect with a wide grin on her face, a fact she's thankful for since she has spent way too long as Youtarou...

"Speaking of which... Hey Suzaku-san... What's a Nightmare Frame?"

And she displays a trait becoming more and more prevalent with those of the Fog which has mental models... Curiosity...

"As for lingering questions, you would note that there is two missing, and that is... How and When... How are we going to be of help to you and when are we expected to provide said help?"

Haruna adds...

---

@PaulHaynek
@ZeroL

---

The incredibly quick run-down of the groups' current location caught Touma off guard, slightly moreso after being handed a black box. The fact that he was going to obtain one upon entry caused him to blankly stare at the object for a few moments before turning back to the soldier who had handed it off.

"E-eh? Er, right, right," Touma responded, nodding his head yes almost out of pure instinct as he walked forward, looking around the area in curiosity before Satori stepped forward with a sigh.

"How convenient it is that we were given no place to start. I would assume our only lead for the moment is that city over there... Though I know of none like it. Maybe the architecture is more familiar to you?" she asked, calmly walking forward with a relatively unreadable expression on her face. "All the buildings where I live are made of wood and stone, not..."

"Steel. It looks kinda... I dunno, it gives off a really heavy post-modern vibe? The place is jet-black, though. Place must become seriously hot in the summer without some preventative measures in place. Color aside, the place feels... Kinda familiar enough from a distance? Ah, whatever, we'll figure out more stuff once we get there," Touma waved nonchalantly as he turned his head back towards Goldibanne. "I mean, might as well check whatever's closest, right?"

When the surge of water latched onto her opponent, Youmu's eyes widened. While she absolutely had intended to fight the magician, it had been a straightforward duel she planned. Not an attempt to drown her!

"Luxemberg-san, what are you doing?!" the short girl cried, lowering her katana. She didn't want to kill the insulting magician, just defeat her in a battle! Moments later, however, the water had been quickly expelled by a blast of air, and another girl appeared from inside the carriage. After a moment, when it seemed everything had mildly calmed down at least, she slowly raised Roukanken again.

"... Are you well?" she asked the first magician, first, before quickly transitioning to explaining herself to the second girl who had appeared. "I wish to challenge your friend, Rielle-san, to a duel."

@PaulHaynek@Hammerman

---

"Fufufu, this is all so very abrupt," Golidbanne replied as she followed along, "Goldibanne hasn't had a chance to adjust at all~ Isn't that just cruel?"

For the most part, she simply observed the current goings-on. This was a very strange place, with a very strange name, and some very strange traits. So, naturally, the only way to tackle such an unusual location was to avoid taking things so seriously and just going with the flow. After all, didn't that only make sense? The living doll certainly believed that to be the case, stretching her arms over and above her head and winking.

"I'll go wherever you choose, Touma-san, Goldibanne isn't picky~" she replied, "In a strange place like this, Goldibanne thinks you can only go with the flow, trying to forge a path against the river is only to be met with confusion and failure~"

@PKMNB0Y

---

Victoria lunged forward in her water form towards the arrogant lady. A stone wall suddenly appeared between them, no doubt another magic cast by her. However, the wall wasn't entirely solid as she could see little cracks that her liquid body could slip through. It seemed she hadn't really mastered her magic yet.

And so she did, and she quickly took her chance to latch on the lady's mouth like she had planned before. Her hands futilely tried to pry the water off but everyone knew you couldn't really grab water.

"Luxemberg-san, what are you doing?!"

Hmm, was that Youmu's voice she just heard, she wondered. Oh my, could she think that she was aiming to kill her? Oh, she should've told her her plan before. She simply wanted to teach the arrogant lady a little lesson with fear. Fear of drowning was one of the most common fears everyone had after all. This, she knew instinctively as an undine ever since she was born.

However, the lady didn't give up so easily, as she breathed a strong gust of wind that blew her off her mouth. Tcth, she thought she wouldn't be capable of casting spells without a chant.

She gathered her liquid self, reforming into her human form once more. She then saw another person stepping out of the carriage, asking whether or not the lady was alright.

"... Are you well?" Youmu asked the first magician, first, before quickly transitioning to explaining herself to the second girl who had appeared. "I wish to challenge your friend, Rielle-san, to a duel."

"Hmm, it seemed you want to do this the honorable way, Youmu-chan," she said to her partner with a smile. "I am no warrior like you so I prefer to end the fight right away. That's why I tried to drown the good lady like that. I didn't plan to kill her of course, only to scare her a little. I am an undine so I know very well the fear of drowning all land creatures possess."

"Very well, it's your turn now, Youmu-chan. Go show them what you can do. I'll just stand here and watch," she continued, still smiling. She was curious on what the little swordswoman could do.

@VitaVitaAR@PaulHaynek

-@TheFake-

You make your way towards the Academy the IDEC soldier had said, moving away from the beach and into civilization. However, 'civilization' included vehicles moving very quickly, buildings as high as towers and people wearing very strange clothing. Said people by the way, gave some very curious looks at your direction but did not speak a word about it.

After hearing a bell toll, you spot a stream of young people heading inside the grounds of a school of sorts. It was probably the Academy the soldier was talking about considering that the young people looked like students. "Ahem! Excuse me." Your attention was called to a young girl with long, flowing blue hair.

"You have been staring at the students for a while now? Are you a teacher here? I don't recognize you." She began asking before looking at your attire. "You look like a foreigner and also wear strange clothing. Who are you?"

-@Hammerman-

After letting out one last cough, Rielle quickly looked at you. Her face fierce and full of rage. "YOU LITTLE S***!" She yelled before hurling a skull burning with a sickly green fire at you.

Regardless of what happened, Rielle would then close your eyes and assume a soft expression before uttering a short incantation and making a movement of her hands. It appeared it was a spell of sorts as her position was soon surrounded by a glowing, green line of magical energy.

Meanwhile, you spot Youmu fighting the blonde girl who had emerged from the carriage but you had more pressing matters to deal with.

-@VitaVitaAR (YMU)-

"I wish to challenge your friend, Rielle-san, to a duel."

Before the girl could respond, Rielle yelled at your companion Victoria. "YOU LITTLE S***!" The magician girl then hurled a burning skull at the undine.

"Oh my, it seems Rielle wants to duel your friend instead." The girl remarked. "Tell you what, I'll play with you instead."

The girl then disappeared in a purple flash of light before reappearing behind you and taking a horizontal swing at you with a dagger. Fortunately, you had enough combat prowess to easily evade the sneak attack. "A warrior from Zipangu, are you? Looks like I'm having exotic for lunch." The girl pulled out a second dagger and gave it a lick and assumed a combat pose.

It appeared she gave you the first move but it would not hurt to think she has a counterattack ready. Meanwhile, Rielle had a circle of green magic on the ground surrounding her.

-@PKMNB0Y (STRI and TMA) & @VitaVitaAR (GLD)-

You arrive at your destination, the city of Lastation. The place most definitely gave off the atmosphere of industry, the black colors reinforcing that feeling. Most of the buildings you saw were factories and towers of sorts. Machinery was rampant, you could even see a giant satellite dish. Despite the atmosphere though, the air was surprisingly clean to breath and there was some degree of cleanliness in the area.

Meanwhile, the citizens did not pay you much attention once you arrived but some eyebrows were raised. Crossing a bridge heading towards the giant satellite dish, you spot a green-haired girl running towards you. "Hey! Out of the way, morons!" She tried to push between you but ended up tackling Goldibanne to the ground and dropping the backpack that was in her hands. "Ow. Hey, didn't I tell you to get out of the way?!"

Moments later, a purple-haired girl came running. "Heeeey! Come back! Those are mine!" She cried as she ran towards you, though her gaze was focused on the green-haired girl. "That backpack's mine, Underling! Give it back!"

The one referred to Underling quickly stood up while also bringing up Goldibanne. "Back off, Nepgear! Or she gets it!" Underling placed a knife on Goldibanne's throat.

-@ACHTUNG-

"As for lingering questions, you would note that there is two missing, and that is... How and When... How are we going to be of help to you and when are we expected to provide said help?"

"I'm glad you asked those questions, Twintails!" The Entertainer replied.

"For 'How', I expect you to find the main base of operations of these rogue Agents. At the very least, find out which universe it is located in. I can handle things from there." The Entertainer said before producing a black box from behind him and holding it out for you to see. "To do that, you'll have to snoop around some universes and find the rogue Agents' portal gates. This black box can record the wavelengths of the three past universes a portal gate has lead to. With that, we can pinpoint the universe where their base is located." He then continued. "To use this, simply connect this to the computer of the portal gate and it'll do the rest."

"Of course, you can just manually input the wavelength into the box should you get ahold of such information." The Entertainer added before pressing some buttons on the black box to show you how that was done. "You'll only probably get such info if someone affiliated with the rogue Agents spills it to you but I wouldn't count on it."

"For 'When', you can start right now!" The Entertainer stretched his arms sideward. "We already have four universes where there are reports of rogue Agent activity."

-------









--------

"I have one more thing to add." The Entertainer quickly interjected. "I have... well, let's call them my 'children'. These guys can be a big help to you and they'll most likely do if you just ask them." He then sighed. "But they don't like me or IDEC very much. It's a long story. Anyway, if you encounter them, just keep me and IDEC and the Agents out of the conversation as much as possible. But if that fails, just tell them that Mister Peculiar is also in on this. In fact, just tell them you are acting under Mister Peculiar should they ask."

"What do they look like, you ask?" He paused to think for a bit before answering. "Their appearances vary but you'll know them once you see them. They usually stick out in the worlds they're staying at."

Calling her by her given name, using such a familiar honorific... the small pale-haired girl felt uncomfortable about it, but now was hardly the time to bring it up.

Youmu's reaction was instant. In a flash, she had put enough distance between herself and her attacker that Roukanken's blade could easily reach her opponent, but a dagger could not so easily reach her. In this single motion, she had also drawn Hakuroken, holding both her katana in her hands. The blades glittered in the sunlight, as she stood ready. This was not the opponent she had anticipated, but she was ready to fight her nonetheless. At this close range, patterns were inadvisable, especially in a densely populated area. Granted, not even her sword strikes would be lethal due to her use of danmaku rules, but she hardly wanted to hit anyone who wasn't involved with the fight.

In the blink of an eye, her phantom half trailing behind her, Youmu immediately slashed with Roukanken, the long blade flashing, before swiftly following up with Hakuroken in a double-slashing attack intended to overwhelm defenses and cut off escape routes.

---

Someone had knocked her over. And the grabbed her. And then pulled her back up... and... pressed a knife to her neck? How rude... Threatening to kill her, too... Goldibanne let out a sigh. This girl had no idea what she was getting into, did she? She didn't. There was no way she did. And so the living doll decided to helpfully educate her on her folly.

Goldibanne grinned. Slowly, she looked back over her shoulder, her head turning just slightly too far, that little extra distance that a human would not have been capable of due to their spinal column. She put on her best piercing stare, as well, to go with the wide grin. Who could say that Goldibanne didn't take every opportunity to have fun in all forms? She always did, no matter what kind of fun it would prove itself to be.

"Goldibanne will get it?" she asked, her tone almost innocent, "Oh, do you intend to kill Goldibanne if that girl doesn't back away? Fufufu~ You've made a terrible, wonderful, horrible, delicious mistake, Underling-chaaaaaan~"

Her grin widened further.

"Goldibanne wonders if you'll let go before you make another mistake~ Oh, well, it doesn't matter~ I'll get to have fun either way~"

@Hammerman@PKMNB0Y@PaulHaynek

"Hm... Yeah, this place is definitely feeling less advanced than Academy City," Touma remarked as the group neared the city in question, nodding his head in false sagacity. "They look like they're just starting to transition out of widespread fossil fuel usage or something, which is... A start, I guess? Though I don't think it feels all that bad in comparison, though..."

"Hm... Well, Old Hell was always full of smoke of some form or another, so I guess fresh air of sorts is a fair change of pace," Satori responded, glancing halfheartedly at Touma as he made his remark before the sudden appearance of a thief caught the two of them off guard. While the young student was still in mild confusion about the entire ordeal, the youkai girl had her gaze trained upon the pickpocket...

Who seemed to be threatening Goldibanne's life with a knife.

Oh, what a terrible mistake that would turn out to be for them.

"Really, now, I swear manners are just a lie at this point," she bemoaned, eliciting a silent glare from Othinus that seemed to scream "hypocrite" in turn. "In any case, I recommend you drop the weapon and leave whatever you stole where it is. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee your safety... Or your sanity."

With a glare, the third eye hanging around Satori's neck glared at the assailant, almost as if looking deep into their soul. It was, of course, attempting to dig through whatever memories they had to pull up whatever traumatic incident of their past that could be of use. Be it an attack or be it blackmail, the result would likely be the same. After all, anything like that would probably be better than being melted alive by molten gold spewing out of a doll. Which in and of itself was a bit of a creepy image when taken out of context, but details.

---

Haruna examines the black box for a few moments before coming up with an idea of where to store it...

"Kirishima, stop bothering that man and come over here..."

She said as she waves over Kirishima over as the latter complies with a curious expression...

"Hmm!?"

She hummed...

"Would you mind keeping this?"

Haruna asked as she hands over the black box to her sister ship...

"Alright... So any particular choice of portal to enter?"

Agreed Kirishima as she stuffs the box into her coat pocket...

"I would go for the third one... Curiosity about seemingly anti-gravitic landmasses..."

"Well what are we waiting for then!?

"Just one thing..."

As Haruna says that a glowing flow of nanomaterials from her person pools up beside her before forming a miniature child sized version of her in a dress with accompanying slight decrease in her height...

"Mr. Entertainer, We will leave this little one in your care to provide instant and direct communications with you"

Haruna followed with a bow before joining her sister at the portal...

"Well here it goes~"

Kirishima exclaims as the both of them step into the portal, both pre-emptively putting more calculating power in their klein fields and sensors just in case...

---

@PaulHaynek

---

This was a strange world for sure, but recently Tamas had come up against everything from those twisted creations of the Kez to living gods. He kept an open mind and took things as they came. Until he was confronted by one of the students. Tamas squared his shoulders and clasped his hands behind his back.

"Not a teacher, no. I'm an investigator from overseas looking into a criminal organization that might be operating in the area. Maybe you've heard something that might be useful to me."

That was pretty good, maybe even something inspector Adamat would have come up with.

_@PaulHaynek

---

Victoria noticed right away the skull burning with a green fire sent by her by the now-pissed off lady. Green fire was certainly something peculiar, as normal flames were usually red or blue if they were hot enough. So she decided not to show off by dousing it. Instead, she shattered herself into multiple puddles of water once more, letting the skull through harmlessly. The wall behind her however became the victim, as it melted and crumbled once the skull made contact with it.

Victoria noticed Youmu having her own battle with the lady's companion. She wanted to help her but it seemed the ghost girl was the type of person who wouldn't appreciate her duels being interrupted by outside help. Besides, she had her own fight to pay attention too, as the lady was now chanting another incantation. A glowing green line appeared where she stood.

A barrier? Or maybe an attack spell instead? Victoria didn't know as she had no idea how the magic of this world worked. So the only thing she could do was staying in her liquid form, ready to scatter if the lady sent another spell at her. She should observe her first until she saw an opening she could exploit.

@PaulHaynek