<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">INFILTRATION TEAM</span></span><br/><br/>As Kayla struggled to breathe under the pressure of a second atmosphere, she frantically tried to think of a way out of her predicament.<span style="font-style: italic">I'm still not quite sure what types of magic I know, but maybe I could...?</span>She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, this time imagining the extra atmosphere being forced out of her bubble. Slowly, she could feel the pressure begin to be relieved, though it did not completely dissipate.<span style="font-style: italic">I guess wind magic isn't my strong suit.</span><br/><br/>Though she was still under more pressure than usual, she was at least able to move. Seeing that Ephantus seemed to be distracting Jereman, she raised her sword to strike again. Just before she brought her blade down, however, she suddenly felt an intense pain within her head. She cried out, dropping her sword, then fell to her knees while clutching the sides of her head with her hands. "What's... happening... to me?!?" She screamed again as the pain became even sharper, and she could feel something forcing its way into her mind. Nearly blinded from the pain, she yelled out, "C-Cale! What's going on?!?"<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">VILLAINS</span></span><br/><br/>Sark smirked at what looked like a very half-hearted attempt on his life, and took Leske's attack full force. Many of the bullets passed all the way through him, but most became embedded within his body. His smirk turned into a full-blown grin, and he shouted, "I certainly hope that was not your best shot. Are you not the Leske I read about in the Project Midnight records? They made you out to be a mysterious and powerful entity- a 'journeyer,' as they decided to call you- but if you cannot do better than mere firearms, I will be quite disappointed." Slowly, the bullet holes began to disappear.<br/><br/>"Horror," he responded to his ally, "you asked me what I've done in my time? Ha! My time crosses millennia, and it would be impossible to list all of the deeds I have performed during my life! At any rate, is a mere plague supposed to impress me? I have hunted all living beings to the brink of of extinction more times than I can recall! Even in the short time since I have I have awoken, I have set into motion events which will make me the most powerful being in existence!"<br/><br/>He outstretched an arm towards Leske, and made a finger-gun as his<a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFPgKeYVJgk">theme</a>once again blasted forth from all directions. "And no simple<span style="font-style: italic">gun wizard</span>is going to stop me." As the last syllable left his mouth, his finger burst open, and all of the bullets that he had absorbed flew back in Leske's direction.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">INTERFERENCE TEAM</span></span><br/><br/>By the time Koko finished her most recent frying pan barrage, Cale's face was covered in purple, fish-shaped marks, some of which were beginning to drip blood. Unfazed, he ruffled the cat-lady's hair. "Don't be sad, Kokomo. Here, I think I might have a tennis ball with me..." He reached into his coat pocket, and retrieved not a ball, but a delicious-looking fish, which appeared to be fresh off the stove. With a frown he remarked sadly, "Huh. Well, this is not a ball. Sorry." He tossed the fish over his shoulder, and it flopped onto the Dayman's codpiece. He then turned to address the increasing number of beings nuzzling into him.<br/><br/>Cale began to sing, "Don't worry.... about a thing. Cause every little thing.... is gonna be alright!" He patted Fenris on the head, then kicked him and Horror's minions away. "Right, so anyway..." He turned and spotted Leske a short distance away, shooting at something farther down the street. He started his chopper, then rode up to join the gun-toting Storm Rider.<br/><br/>When Sark spotted the young Efrun, his grin grew into a full-toothed smile. "Aaaaaah, Cale! I was wondering when you were going to show up!"<br/><br/>The squid-rider cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Do... do I know you?"<br/><br/>Sark raised an eyebrow, but after a moment his expression changed to one of realization. "Ah, I see now. The process of becoming linked to the Rifts must have sealed away your memories." He vanished, then reappeared right beside Cale. "Here, allow me to help with that. If I'm right, this should automatically restore your sister's memory as well." He flicked Cale in the forehead, causing the squid-rider to stagger backwards several feet, then fall to his knees while grabbing his head in agony.<br/><br/>"AAARRRGH! WHAT DID YOU... DO TO ME?!?"<br/><br/>The vampire lord crossed his arms. "Oh, just give it a moment."<br/><br/>Cale could now feel something entering his mind. Images... sounds...<span style="font-style: italic">memories.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">FOUR DAYS EARLIER</span></span><br/><br/>"It's always so nice when the two of you come home to visit," Mrs. Efrun said happily, setting her cup of tea on the coffe table which sat between herself and her children.<br/><br/>Her daughter, Kayla, took a sip from her own beverage before responding, "I agree, and I'm really glad that Cale and I were both able to get the time off from school. I still can't believe it's been two whole years since I started studying at the Academy!"<br/><br/>"I wish you didn't have to go all the way to a different country for school, but it<span style="font-style: italic">is</span>the best place to learn magic. Or anything, for that matter."<br/><br/>Kayla's twin brother, Cale, grinned and added, "Like fighting!"<br/><br/>"I still don't understand why you picked the Colliseum," grumbled the twins' father, GOLDBEZ KLEIN EFRUN. "That country has a school for literally everything, and you<span style="font-style: italic">of course</span>decided to go to the one that just trains warriors. You're twenty years old, son. It's time you started thinking realistically about your future."<br/><br/>Cale shrugged. "Maybe I want to be like Grandpa! I<span style="font-style: italic">am</span>named after him, and since you almost never answer any questions about him, I might be able to find out more by following in his footsteps!"<br/><br/>His mother's eyes widened, and KLEIN's expression grew dark. "You will<span style="font-style: italic">NOT</span>be like my father." KLEIN growled, "Your mother and I have spent your entire lives doing everything we could to<span style="font-style: italic">prevent</span>that from happening!"<br/><br/>Before Cale could respond, Kayla suddenly stood up. "Hey Cale," she said, "why don't we go buy some groceries? I just remembered that we're out of... stuff."<br/><br/>He raised an eyebrow at her. "What? We've got plenty of stuff! Hell, we bought some on the way over he- OW OW OW!" She pulled on his spiky, silver hair to get him to stop talking.<br/><br/>"No, you're thinking of the things, not stuff. C'mon."<br/><br/>He grunted and stood up. "Guess we'll be back in a bit," he said to their parents.<br/><br/>As soon as the twins had left their home, KLEIN slammed his fist on the table that sat beside his chair. "Damn it! Can the Efrun family not escape this fate?" His wife stood, approached him, and began massaging his shoulders.<br/><br/>"Come now, dear," she soothed, "just because he<span style="font-style: italic">wants</span>to be like his grandfather doesn't mean it will actually happen. We've done everything we could to steer them away from that path, and just learning to fight isn't necessarily going to-"<br/><br/>"You don't believe that any more than I do," he interrupted. "The two of them look identical to my father. Cale's learning to fight, and Kayla... she may be learning magic to heal people, but that has combat applications as well. Don't forget, my grandparents tried to give<span style="font-style: italic">their</span>son a normal life too." He sighed and added, "And it doesn't help that those two are always armed to the teeth wherever they go."<br/><br/>"You know that can't be helped," his wife responded. "Don't forget where we live, dear. Walking outside unarmed is just asking for trouble."<br/><br/>"Trouble has a way of finding you in this place, whether you ask for it or not." He scratched the back of his head, and felt the stubs of tentacles hidden beneath his silver hair- inherited from his father, of course. "<span style="font-style: italic">Especially</span>for members of the Efrun family."<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold">&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;</span></div><br/><br/>"You really shouldn't say stuff like that around Dad," Kayla scolded her brother as they neared the local supermarket. "He hates the idea of us becoming adventurers."<br/><br/>"He doesn't have to like it- it's in our blood," Cale replied. "Or at least, I assume it is. We know only a little bit about Grandpa, but I'm willing to bet that our family history is a lot more interesting than Dad allows us to know. By the way, what sort of stuff are we buying here?"<br/><br/>She shrugged. "I'm sure we could find something to bring back."<br/><br/>"I could really go for a bagel right about n- WHOAH!"<br/><br/>When they entered the store, they simultaneously stopped to stare at the chaos within. A large crowd was gathered close to the checkout lines, staring in shock and awe at a swirling mass of darkness near the front of the building.<br/><br/>Kayla pointed at it and exclaimed, "That... is that some kind of portal?!?" Before she even finished her question, Cale was already running towards it. "Hey! Get back here!" She ran after him, and they both stopped a few feet away fromt he rift. "What do you think you're doing?"<br/><br/>Cale's response was to point at the center of the portal, where a sentence floated, composed of golden, magical letters. "Enter through here, and have your greatest desires granted...?" Kayla read out loud. "Cale, this is obviously a trap of some sort."<br/><br/>He grinned and took a step forward. "That's what I'm hoping for."<br/><br/>"Come again?"<br/><br/>"Grandpa once said that every good story starts off with a bad decision. So walking into an obvious trap must be the beginning of a great story, right?"<br/><br/>"That... that may just be the dumbest thing you've ever said. Do you even understand how dangerous this is?"<br/><br/>He shrugged. "I'm carrying enough weapons to arm an entire party. You're not exactly defenseless yourself, either." It was true. Cale had two swords at his sides, a bow on his back, a dagger strapped to his leg, and a revolver in a chest holster. Kayla, meanwhile, had several energy weapons concealed within her jacket.<br/><br/>"Think about Mom and Dad," she pleaded. "How do you think they would feel if we up and disappeared?"<br/><br/>Another shrug. "We'll just have to tell them about the amazing adventure we had when we get back." Before she could protest further, he dove headfirst into the portal and disappeared.<br/><br/>"Dammit, Cale!" She immediately jumped in after her brother, and the rift closed behind her.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">INTERFERENCE TEAM</span></span><br/><br/>Once the pain subsided, Cale smirked. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you're the one that laid the trap?"<br/><br/>Sark frowned. "Was it that obvious?" He looked back in Horror's direction. "As I was mentioning before- I devised a plan to make myself the most powerful life form in existence. You see, when I awoke from my most recent slumber, I found myself inside of that decrepit Project Midnight facility. On a whim I chose to search the remaining archives and see what meager research the project had done. To my surprise, I found something most... useful." He struck a pose and pointed one finger into the air before continuing.<br/><br/>"Really I have you to thank, Leske. You see, when you first visited this land all those years ago- though I get the feeling it wasn't nearly so long ago for you- you left behind traces of your strange magic. Project Midnight managed to collect data from these traces before they disappeared. They combined this with technology they had developed to attempt to create a magical device which would allow them to transcend the boundaries of time and space and visit other dimensions, as you do so casually. Evidently, their first experiment was a catastrophic failure. The Rift generated by the machine was unstable, and the moment someone tried to pass through it, it became a black hole of sorts, sucking all of the life energy out of the target world, leaving it completely barren." He struck another pose, looking quite triumphant.<br/><br/>"Those nearsighted fools didn't understand the implications of their creation. I did, however, so I modified the device to achieve something that those inferior life forms working for Project Midnight could not have even begun to imagine. When activated, the device created Rifts on not one, but hundreds of other worlds, all linking back here. I designed it so that, once those worlds collapse, the machine will reroute the collected energy directly to me. Of course, I still needed someone to attempt to traverse a Rift, and so I laid a trap. One which lured in young Cale here, as well as his sister. The magical energy required to transport the two of you here was not enough to tip the first domino and cause the worlds to fall, however. Instead, your life energies became connected to the void between dimensions. If you both were to die, that energy would pass back through the Rift, thereby triggering the collapse."<br/><br/>"And so..." He slowly approached Cale, and balled his hand into a fist. "<span style="font-style: italic">Die.</span>" Sark punched the squid-rider, sending him sailing backwards and into a building, then through that building and into the next, ultimately leveling the city block. "You know, Leske, without you or the twins, none of this would have been possible. I really do appreciate the help."