"Hey... umm... Skulryk... if this is one of those major T.V. event things, do I get some of the profit for being your assistant?"
"Ok... here's five bucks!"
"Yay!"
RG watched Cyan talk to everyone, not having a clue what was going on.
"Do you know who I am?" he queried.
"Oh you, you're RG right? Of course you are. I remember you, you were that loner kid that everybody hated!"
"Dang! I've been telling you Skulryk, these things always have to happen to me. Me!" he screamed aloud as everyone started to stare at him.
"Ok fine, I'll shut up!" he said timidly, but firmly.
RG started to turn the events that had just happened over in his head. Mike, guns, sealed walls, police, news reporters, a strange man from another dimension, and two girls who just wouldn't, or couldn't, stop talking.
"So I'm like, WHATEVER! And then he said, she said, I said..." were some of the things they were saying.
RG had no idea what was going on, but he was with Skulryk. He was sure Skulryk had more of an idea of what was going on than him.

Raltise had guided Jackie Boruhesu across town to the Fourside Department Store. Once there, they had found a seat in the food court, where Raltise had provided the frail man with a few Double Hamburgers and a couple of Bags of Fries, along with a Cup of Fruit Juice. As the starved man ravenously consumed this offering, Raltise simply sat there, his hands clasped, leaning forward on the table, his head resting on his hands.
Jackie finished, and blew a satisfied burp. It was then that Raltise began to speak. "Well, Mr. Boruhesu, it appears you were in quite a predicament. Tell me, what did you see in that storeroom?" Jackie shuddered, adjusted his eyepatch, and cleared his throat.
"All I know is that it was horrible...I could feel the evil, Mr..Mr...say, what is your name?"
The unearthly one grinned. "Mr. Raltise, at your service, sir." His voice was like thunder. "Now, please continue." Raltise reached across the table and handed Jackie a can of soda. Jackie immediately cracked the can open and gulped the refreshing liquid down in a matter of seconds. He smacked his lips in satisfaction and continued.
"Well, all I really remember is this eerie golden glow...it really freaked me out. I remember a few lumps of what appeared to be solid gold on the ground. I thought I was rich! But I went to grab it and then everything is fuzzy since then. Then I just remember waking up and finding the storeroom sealed off...funny..."
Raltise raised an eyebrow. "What is that, sir?" Jackie stroked his moustache in reflection. His brow furrowed.
"The thing is, I don't even remember calling to have that storeroom sealed up. Everything is a blur...of course, I remember George and Gerardo Montague being at my Café, and I even remember talking with them and overseeing them as they sealed up the wall...but before that, I just can't remember even calling them to do it, or even why I would want it done. I mean, that storeroom is important for business, I need the extra room."
"As I thought..." Raltise murmured to himself. He looked Jackie squarely in the eye, which happened to be the only eye Jackie had. "Excuse me, sir...but your sister said that your office is now being used to store your goods and supplies." Raltise visibly saw Jackie draw back in a mixture of confusion and surprise. "Is...something the matter, Mr. Boruhesu?"
"Uh...Mr. Raltise...I have no sister." Jackie stammered. A grin slowly formed on one side of Raltise's face, then quickly spread to the other.
"My my, Mr. Boruhesu...that is interesting."

Mike had followed after Jackie and Raltse. When he saw that they had gone into the Fourside Department Store, Mike became invisible. He then proceeded inside to the food courts.
Mike spotted Jackie and Raltise sitting at a table, eating. He became visible again and was greeted by a glare from the unearthly one. Mike glared back.
Once at the table, Mike sat down.
"You, sir, are not welcome here. Now leave." Raltise continued to glare at him.
"Just wait a minute, sir. I wish to speak with Jackie. I mean no harm." Mike continued to glare at him. He then looked at Jackie. "So, you were trapped behind the wall. Do you happen to remember how you were stuck there?"
"No. As I just told Raltise here, I don't remember much."
"I see."
"I DO remember that the Montague brothers were working to seal up the store room."
"Hmm... Montague brothers, eh?" Mike pulled out a pad of paper and started to write.
"Yes, that's what he said. Are you hard of hearing?" Raltise continued to glare at Mike.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Now, that's all that I needed to know. Since you did let me sit here, I'll let you know what I know." Mike once again pulled out the papers from his briefcase. He laid them out on the table.
Raltise looked the documents over. "So... there are more."
"More what?" Mike examined Raltise's face.
"Don't worry about it... yet."
"Very well." Mike packed up his papers and got up. "Thank you for letting me sit here." He then left the food court expeditiously.

Kyle just went along with the confusion. Then, after some people seemed to be getting riled up, he decided to watch what went on from a distance. From a distance he was able to watch what went on and think at the same time. He figured that something was definately weird with how that whole bunch of people managed to gather at the same place for reasons that seemed to be connected somehow. Kyle had little luck probing the minds of the lot of them for what they knew. Then again, Kyle wasn't at all a skilled telepath. The mind probing was hopeless to begin with, but Kyle was determined to figure out what was really going on. He knew it had little to do with Mr.Jackie himself.
For once, Kyle was actually interested in what was going on around him. He wanted to do what he could to find out more information. But all he could do right now was try to probe people's minds for answers to his questions. Again, the probing was unsuccessful...

Dan, Harsemhin and Cirra walked down the crowded Fourside streets toward the mall.
"Y'know, Harsy, it's a good thing we're in the streets. People are too distracted by the REALLY weird people to notice you've been frozen in diamonds for the last thousand years!"
"Stop calling me Harsy."
Dan backpedaled away from the angry ancient. "Eh, eh, touchy touchy, Harsy...mhin."
The three entered the mall a few minutes later.
Cirra thought aloud, "Where in a mall would I be if I were a strange looking, enigmatic, potentially homicidal quasi-human?" "Buying a gun from the illegal arms dealer upstairs," Dan answered. Cirra gasped. "Guns! Dreadful, horrible, murderous things!" she said, adding after taking a look around "Do you know where Harsemhin is?"
"I'll go check," Dan replied, "You continue upstairs, the dealer's hideout is pretty easy to find."
"Well, if it's so easy to find why don't the police arrest him?"
Dan laughed. "Oh, the police know where it is," he answered matter-of-factly, and headed off to look for Harsemhin.
He headed for the place where he himself would most likely be found...

After entering Nerds-R-Us, he quickly saw Harsemhin in the CD section. "What are you doing, Harsy?" he called from a few yards away.
Harsemhin quickly threw the headphones he had been listening to down. "Nothing! Just...just..." Dan grabbed the headphones and took a listen.
"What the...You're listening to Duran Duran!?" Dan broke down laughing. "That's...pretty strange for...an ancient guy to listen to...y'know!?" He fell down on his hands and knees. Harsemhin quickly hit him with a sandled foot. "ha...ha."
"Okay...I...I think I've regained partial composure. Anyway, hehehe, We need to meet Rita upstairs. Let's go."

Meanwhile, Cirra had walked, completely by accident, into the dealer's "store."
"Hey there..." he began. "Care for a firearm?"

An orange column of light shone down from the black night sky. It touched down in a Fourside alley. A sound like children giggling was heard, and the column receded back into the heavens. Standing where it had landed was TsuramiSea.
The boy took off his glasses, and scraped the lens with his nail. Replacing the glasses, he thought about his first action. Okay, I have to find Ness. Obviously, Detect Person or Peek would be best for the job. I think I'll use Peek.
TsuramiSea chanted in a mysterious language, etching a rectangle in the air in front of him. He chanted for forty-five seconds. While he was still speaking, he felt a sharp pain in his mouth. Tsurami immediately stopped the incantation and screamed in pain. A thick substance coated the inside of his mouth. He swept his finger through his mouth, only to find it coated with blood.
"What is this?!" he screamed.

"Tut tut tut. We can't have that. How irritating - I wasn't expecting anyone to follow Ness."

TsuramiSea realized that something was prohibiting him from using his spell to locate Ness. He stepped out of the alley and headed in a random direction, hoping to find a clue as to Ness's location.
Clouds had been drifting overhead since his arrival, which Tsurami had only slightly noticed. In the blink of an eye, rain poured down in sheets from the clouds.
"Oh MAN!" moaned Tsurami. He dashed frantically around in search of ANY building open at that time of night.

Matt was wandering around in the department store. The others don't seem to be paying much attention. I wanted to ask that guy in the old clothing how he knew there was an evil power here, too. Well, maybe I can find them again. He climbed onto an escalator, hoping to run into one of the other three travelers.
At the same time, Kyle was lingering outsie the door of the department store. I couldn't figure out anything from them.... why did I come here? I feel like there's a reason - besides the obvious one of course - and they must have something to do with it. They rushed off in a hurry. Well, I'll intercept them when they come out.
Clouds had been passing overhead the whole time that he had been outside. Now, the clouds released a great burden of rain.
"Darnit," hissed Kyle. He swung open one of the store's doors and lunged inside.

Cirra looked at the man, disgusted. "Firearms are weapons of destruction, sir. I think the world has enough of that without people like you."
The firearms salesman, Chaz, sighed. It was easier to peddle guns in more carefree universes...
"Ah, comeon, just try and fire one! You'll love it!"
He opened up a crate he had in the corner, and dozens of guns came spilling out. "Here, try this. It's a pop gun; perfect for a lady like yourself."
He handed the gun to Cirra, and she held it in her hand. "I don't want any guns!"
She aimed the trigger, and squeezed. A cap hit the arms salesmen right between the eyes. His eyebrows arched, and he backed up a single step.
"Here..you might wanna go with something stronger. These are new; don't ask where I got them."
He handed her a pile of guns, and then pointed to one. "Here; this is your type." He handed it to her, and she grabbed it with a slight distaste. "What is it?"
"An M16."
She lifted the gun slightly, and aimed it again. With a short spray of bullets, she decimated a crate. Money came spilling out. "Hey, that's my cashbox!"
Cirra sweatdropped, and sighed. "Alright, I'll take the gun."
"On the house," Chaz said. "Just don't come near me with that thing."
Cirra slipped the gun under her dress, into a neat little pocket, and walked into the stores.

Mike wandered around the foodcourt. He was thinking about how these events all started because some guy took his money. At that thought, Joe ran up, out of breath.
"At last, I caught up to you! Hey, can you help me with something?"
Mike looked at him.
"I need to find Paula. I don't remember if I told you that or not. We should head to the bridge and start looking."
Mike shrugged. "Very well. But before we go, we have to get some weapons. I don't like the fact that Pirkle's got his men after me." He then wandered around the mall and went into a room near the back of the mall. Cirra was walking by him. She looked him over quickly and continued on.
Ah yes, I remember seeing her at the cafe. She looks like she's not from around here. Perhaps... there's something more to her. Mike shrugged then looked around the room. He shouted.
"Hey Chaz, where you at man? Rog in Threed told me you can hook me up with some weapons." Chaz emerged from behind a pile of crates.
"You know Rog? Cool. I can hook you up. What are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for something strong, light, yet able to repulse an entire batallion of Marines."
"Whoa man, I don't have anything that strong. All I have are M-16s, among other things."
"No, I don't want an M-16. Do you have any SAWs?"
"Yeah. I can hook you up with one." Chaz walked to the back of the room and rummaged around in a crate. He pulled out a rifle with a bipod attached to the front. It was an M-60 squad support weapon. "This going to help you out?"
"Yes. I guess that I'll take an M-16 and a couple of socoms. Ammo, too."
"Right. How you goin' to be payin' for this, anyway?"
Mike produced a card.
"Ah yes, platinum. I see you're hooked up in a mercenary network. You're well off, I take it."
"Yeah. Thanks for the weapons."
"No prob. Come back anytime. Tell Rog I said hi. ... Oh yeah, if anybody asks, just say you never saw me."
"Okay." With that, Mike left the room. Joe was waiting outside. He tossed Joe a socom and an M-16, as well as a couple clips. "Hang on to these. We may need them."
Joe blinked. "Okay. Let's go to the bridge." After concealing their weapons, they departed from the department store. Little did they know that they were being watched by a person clad in black from afar.
"Hmm hmm hmm... excellent. Lock and load, boys. We got us a target." The person clad in black had shiny sunglasses. He jumped off of the building and started to make a break for the bridge. A couple others similarly dressed followed.

As the conversation went on, RG got very bored. He didn’t like the fact that this man, Cyan, was acting like he knew everyone in the bar.
All of a sudden, two men ran past the café window, but were being followed by other men in shiny black suits.
“Hey Skulryk, your big story just ran past the window!”
The two quickly ran outside and began chasing the others. It looked as though they were heading for the bridge. The two men were Mike and someone else RG didn’t seem to recognize.
Skulryk took his camera out of its case and began filming the scene as they were running. It is actually very dangerous to film while running, since things appear to be farther away through the camera.
BOOM! Shots had been fired. The two groups began exchanging fire.
“Duck!” screamed Skulryk as he pushed RG out of the way.
“What do they think there doing?” RG asked.
The two watched as the groups just kept exchanging fire, never hitting once. RG decided it was time he joined in.
He quickly pulled out two Uzis, tossing one to Skulryk, and keeping the other for himself.
RG joined in the shooting, (He’s a gangsta) but Skulryk was hesitant, and refused to join in. But Skulryk, as guns always do, picked up his gun and started blasting to. In the distance RG could hear a cop car. He looked over at Mike and Joe, but they were nowhere to be found. Skulryk cursed under his breath.

Mike and Joe suddenly appeared behind RG and Skulryk.
“Let’s go!” he frantically whispered.
There was some force that they could all feel around them, a source that felt of power mixed between confusion. It felt very strange, and RG couldn’t seem to shake the feeling off.
“What are you doing?” screamed Skulryk.
“I’ll explain later!” hissed Mike.
After a while, they finally stopped back at the bridge, for the cops had finally left the scene.
“That was wild," said the woozy RG.
Mike explained how he had turned them all invisible, and that’s why no one could see them.
“This story will go down in history! It just fell right into my lap! I’ll get a promotion! I may even become the manager!” screamed Skulryk excitedly.
“So why were you guys headed here in the first place?”

Matt was standing by the entrance to the department store. He leaned against the wall, whistling a strange tune he had heard long ago.
I might miss them if I keep wandering around...I'm just going to wait here and catch them on the way out...
The thought had just left his mind when a figure lunged through the doors, knocking him down. He scrambled to his feet and drew his sword.
"An attacker!" he cried. "Could you be this dark presence I've been seeking!" He brought himself into a fighting pose.
Kyle leaped backwards in shock.
"WHOAH!!! Calm down man!" he shouted, backing away from Matt's sword. "I just came in to dry off. The rain started pretty quick and I was in a hurry!"
Matt, obviously embarassed, sheathed his sword.
"Well, um, terribly sorry..." he stuttered. He looked around him. All the shoppers were staring at the two, wide-eyed.
"Nothing to see here!" exclaimed Matt. "Just a...demonstation of the equipment that will be provided at the new store...uh...Swords 'R Us!" The crowd, used to seeing bizarre things around Fourside, seemed to accept this and carried on with their normal business.
"What's with you?" exclaimed Kyle, shocked by the whole incident. "Drawing a sword in public! You have to be more careful!"
Matt, obviously ashamed, apologized.
"Um...sorry about that...uh..."
"Kyle," he responded quickly.
"Yes, Kyle," Matt responded. "I thought you were someone, or something else. I've been feeling a dark presence here in Fourside, and for a second I thought it was you..."
"Dark presence?" responded Kyle, curiously. He recalled the people at the cafe discussing similar things.
"You wouldn't happen to be with the guys that were in the cafe, would you?" he asked.
"No, but I've been looking for them. They seem to know a bit about what's going one," he replied.
"Hey, me too," added Kyle. "As long as were looking for the same people, how bout we stick together...uh."
"Matt."
"Yeah, Matt," he finished.
"I was justing waiting by the exit for them," said Matt, pointing towards the doors. "I figured I could catch them on the way out."
Kyle sat down and leaned against the wall. "Sounds like a plan to me..."

Siris and Cyan had continued talking about what was going on while doing their best to ignore the commotion around them.
"Is life always this interesting?" asked Siris.
"Re-introducing myself to Anthadd every time I wind up somewhere new is getting old," commented Cyan.
"Have you found him yet, this time?" queried Siris.
"No, and speaking of which, I'm going to go look for him now ... you coming?" asked Cyan as he pulled a device off of his belt and began fiddling with it. "I wonder if I'll be able to get this thing to track him again," muttered Cyan to himself before he got an answer from Siris.

"I'm not sure," Siris responded, "that you will be able to find Anthadd."
"Why not?" Cyan asked. "I've always found him before."
"Yes, you have," Siris agreed. "But I feel that if you haven't found him already, that you don't have a very good chance to."
Cyan raised an eyebrow. "What are you getting at?"
"I don't know," Siris admitted. "But I will say one thing: I think that strange guy-"
"Harsemhin Aberfydd?" Cyan interrupted.
"Yes. I think that he is going to play a significant role here. I can feel familiar power from his aura, and I am led to believe that he has abilities very similar to Anthadd's."
"Sugemo?" Cyan asked nobody in particular. "Stellar?"
"Probably..." Siris trailed off, and turned around to address Luna once again. He smiled nervously, then asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"You can TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!" shouted Luna, causing Siris to clap his hands over his ears in pain. "Why did you call me here?!"
"Well...." Siris began nervously. "I called you here to meet you, but all this stuff has happened now, and now Cyan wants me to come with him."
"We've met. Are you satisfied?"
"But I haven't gotten to know you yet!"
"HEY!" roared Rockwell. "If you're going to paralyze me, then you could at least attend to me! What's wrong with you people!"
The guard glared at Rockwell. "Shut up, assassin!" Then he addressed the othes. "You've got to help me kill him! He murdered the prince of Dalaam!"
Siris's eyes were bloodshot. He walked over to the two stunned nutcases. "Okay, look. You two obviously have some kind of problem. But we're busy, so we can't help you solve it." He eyed the guard's rapier, and Rockwell's two swords. "I'm sure you can talk it out. But just to make sure you don't go rushing around trying to impale people again, we'll take these." He lifted the rapier and swords.
"NO!" cried the guard. "That's the only weapon I have!"
"HEY!" shouted Rockwell at the same time. "Those are my swords you're stealing!"
Siris smiled mockingly, and then turned to the other three. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"You said it," said Cyan. He walked out the door, with Siris in tow. Luna, no more enlightened than before, decided to just go with the flow of events. She walked after the rest. Siris cancelled the paralysis as he left.

The guard had already rushed out of the café. Rockwell was still lying on the floor, stunned. Once he had overcome his shock, he burst into a roar. "I can't believe it! How could that guy just steal my swords? First that guy tries to kill me, claiming that I killed some prince, and now that jerk steals my swords!" He raised his gaze to the ceiling. "Why is everyone getting on my case today?" The bar patrons were staring at him, but he didn't take notice. He got up, and rushed for the exit. "Never mind, I'm getting my swords back!!"

Ha ha ha ha ha
Ness sped down the streets of Fourside, following the feelings he was receiving. He would destroy the Mani Mani once and for all. He didn't care what happend so long as the Mani Mani's evil spirit was killed, in revenge for the deaths of his friends. In his run, he failed to notice the sky, the road, the buildings, all turn black. Or the outlines of buildings and trees light up in gaudy neon colors. All he could sense was his blind anger, no, RAGE at Mani Mani. It would pay with its life for what it had done.

Kyle was getting bored waiting.
It was no wonder that he would have been mistaken for a dark presence. He wore generally black clothes, his hair was black, he was wearing his circular sunglasses. Besides that, his PSI was mostly of the dark element.
Kyle decided to, while waiting for others to leave the place, readjust to his own fighting methods. He pulled a small sphere fromhis pocket and opened it. He took a black hole out of it and reached in th black hole to pull out a stick. His one and only weapon. The stick' shape made it resemble a katana, except for the fact that it was wooden and had no curve. Kyle put the black hole back in the container and put the container back in his pocket. Then he held his stick and concentrated. The stick color changed to shades of blue making what looked like wave patterns on the stick. Kyle concentrated again and the stick's colors changed from blues to black. The stick now had a dark-purple aura. Kyle then changed it back to blue, then to black, and continued thins until he was able to change them without much concentration at all.
After a while, Matt started to watch Kyle's stick. He wached for a while and finally asked, "What are you doing?"
Kyle looked at Matt. "Well, I'm practicing. I can make my weapon have the elemental atributes of either water or dark. I don't know anyone else who can do it. When the stick has either attribute, it's alot more powerful, but I normally make it water because most enemies aren't affected by a dark attack." Kyle went back to practicing. Blue, black, blue, black... Eventually he regained his knack for it and reverted it back to its wood-state. Then he went back to trying to intrude into people's minds. He figured he'd get the hang of it eventually.

Going back to fiddling with the device, Cyan continued searching for the configuration he'd used before.
"Now why can't I find that blasted configuration..." he muttered to himself while continuing to walk, oblivious tom the world around him. The others followed for lack of anything better to do.
"What are you trying to do?" asked Siris. "And what is that, anyway?"
"It's a multiuse miniature personal digital device," Cyan replied, sounding overly scientific. "I'm still trying to configure it's tracker to locate Anthadd." He pulled somthing out of a pouch on his belt and replaced the device.
"And what's that?" asked Siris.
"Just a miniature computer terminal," Cyan explained absently, again. "Terminal. Scan frequencies. Range: Thought waves. Class: Stellar, Sugemo." Cyan ran the list off in clear commands.
"Scanning all detectable frequencies," the terminal intoned.
"That thing takes voice commands? Cool!" exclaimed Tsurami.