Their private jet landed in a small airfield in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Stepping out of the plane was a shock. It was pleasantly warm outside, perhaps 25 degrees Celsius. While Japan was still locked in the grip of winter, India was having its finest weather of the year. Kotone Miyamoto donned a pair of sunglasses and a wide-brimmed white hat to protect her skin. As a model, she couldn't really afford to laze about in the Indian sun. Though, once she'd folded into her magical girl outfit, she was doomed to bake anyway. Would sunscreen fold out when she transformed? Probably. Kotone sighed. She'd just have to put it on after she'd changed. It seemed a little embarrassing to rub on sun screen after turning her hair pink and donning winged shoes, but it couldn't be helped. It was her job to worry about things like this.

　　The city stank. It was dirty. Sewage wasn't disposed of properly. Water supplies were sporadic and rarely clean enough to bathe in. They had entered an alternate universe. Kotone held her handkerchief to her nose, then thought of a better idea and just tied it around her face like a bandit's mask.

　　"Kotone, I understand how you feel, but won't that offend them?" Masanori asked her.

　　"I'll just say I have a cold." Kotone mumbled through her handkerchief. "Cough, cough."

　　"If you say 'cough, cough,' I think your disguise will falter." Masanori grinned.

　　"I'm not taking it off." Kotone glared at her husband, but he couldn't see her eyes through her sunglasses, so the effort was wasted.

　　"Fine, fine. Everyone, gather around. We're about ten miles away from our enemy's location. We can assume he's been given a laboratory of some sort, and Aiko tells us he does have a few foreign assistants, no doubt hired by the dark wyrds for their technical expertise. As I've had more experience fighting Dead Enders than anyone else here, does anyone object to me being the captain of our punitive expeditions?"

　　"No objections, sir!" Kotone saluted sharply, and the others followed suit.

　　"Then, as my first order, take off that handkerchief, Kotone." Masanori smiled triumphantly.

　　"This and that are two different things!" Kotone objected.

　　"Mutiny is punishable by flogging." Masanori pointed out.

　　"Fine. I just have to take it off, right?" Kotone ripped off her handkerchief and stuffed it in her pocket. It had been a great idea, too.

　　"Alright. Choice Givers give off a brilliant beacon to any wyrd worth their salt, so there's no way we can sneak up on our opponents. We will simply have to beat our opponents with overwhelming force. However, to avoid disturbing the public at large, I suggest we only transform once we reach the enemy. It's inevitable we'll draw some eyes, but at least we won't be seen flying over the city in tomorrow's news." Masanori reasoned.

　　"I hear it is your policy to talk with any Dead Ender who will listen. Furthermore, we'll be trying to use angle exile to banish rather than kill this Dead Ender if we can. There's no need to do more than is needed, and really, the dark wyrds are to blame for these occurrences. Extending a little mercy to their human hosts, from that point of view, is perfectly reasonable. However, does anyone have a compelling argument they could make against a man who loves slime?"

　　Shiori looked to Rei for help, who looked at Chiharu. Kotone shifted her feet and kicked a pebble.

　　"If no one minds, I could try?" Aiko volunteered. "Since I'm an apprentice Choice Giver, it could be a good experience. . ."

　　"Very well, Aiko. You know his mind best anyway. Talk away, we'll protect you if he tries anything unfriendly." Masanori clapped her on the shoulder.

　　"I'll try my best." Aiko bowed to her commander.

　　"Everyone remember: Protect yourself first, protect your friends next, and only worry about defeating your opponents last. Rei, Chiharu and I are all experts at defensive magic. Obviously, we should all act to defend whoever we can, but I'm assigning a particular duty to each of us. Rei, you will be protecting Shiori as your highest priority after yourself."

　　"Yes." Rei Rin agreed happily. That had been her intention all along.

　　"Chiharu, you will be protecting Aiko after yourself." Masanori designated.

　　"Yes." Chiharu agreed, having planned that already.

　　"And I will protect Kotone after myself." Masanori drew his third line in the sand, showing the pairs. "Kotone and Shiori are our forwards. They will be the ones who take Abhi Durai out, if necessary. Forwards, concentrate on defeating the opponent and trust in your guards. If you see a chance to kill, take it. Don't take unnecessary risks for the sake of our opponents. Guards, focus on defense. It is your responsibility if you or your forward is hurt or killed. Don't forget to focus on self protection as well as protecting your precious person. If you die, you lose everything, including your ability to protect the girl you love. Self sacrifice is not good enough."

　　"I would like to say one more thing. If Aiko Sakai dies, it's game over. There is another Dead Ender after this one, by name of Cho Kai, with essentially the same plan as Abhi Durai. If the dark wyrds have made two world-ending contracts, they probably have plans for more as well. The only way we can learn of these schemes in advance is with Aiko's premonitionary dreams. Chiharu, I trust you to do whatever is necessary to protect your sister, who has no fighting capacity whatsoever. For the rest of us, there is no excuse for failure. But for you, failure is literally not an option. Protect Aiko no matter what. Protecting Aiko is exactly equivalent to protecting the world. Aiko's death is the exact equivalent to the end of the world. I wouldn't give you your position as Aiko's guard unless I thought you could do it. Understand?" Masanori looked Chiharu in the eyes.

　　"Yes sir." Chiharu nodded, gulping under his no-excuses stare.

　　"Alright everyone. It's six on one. Let's show them what Choice Givers are made of."

　　"Ohhh!" Everyone shot their fists into the air.

　　"Umm. Xanadu? How do you call for a taxi in Hindi?" Masanori asked his wyrd apologetically.

　　"So uncool." Kotone pursed her lips at him with delighted revenge. Their marriage was definitely on the rocks.

* * *

　　Aiko Sakai stepped out of her taxi and waved at her friends emerging from a parked taxi a little down the street from her.

　　"It's two hundred yards from here, more or less. I think he's underground. My link is pointing diagonally down." Aiko told her team.

　　"Alright. Everyone, transform." Masanori ordered.

　　"Out here in the open?" Chiharu asked.

　　"It can't be helped. You guys were transformed in the middle of Inazumu for hours, right? There's no point getting shy now." Masanori said.

　　"Yes, but we were already transformed back then. This time we'll be transforming in front of everyone." Chiharu stressed.

　　"Mutineers will be flogged. I'm not going to risk an ambush with our suits off." Masanori said.

　　"Yes sir." Chiharu gave up. "You heard the boss. Coi, Cyan!" Chiharu's body was surrounded in sparkles, her old clothes folding out, and her new suit folding in. In moments, the image cleared, and she was standing in her blue carbon power armor, with futuristic helmet visor and Laser Mark 7,000 rifle in hand. Cyan glowed brilliantly from his new location, embedded in the middle of her breastplate.

　　"Magical, miracle, Coi, Magnolia!" Kotone lifted her right hand to the sky, and her wide-brimmed hat sparkled away with the rest of her clothes. As the sparkles faded, she was wearing a white dress with a sky blue petticoat, a blue belt with a white heart shaped buckle, with a bright red ribbon over her chest. Her white dress ended soon after her shoulders, but she had two white lacy gloves that extended up past her elbows. In her right glove shined the embedded Magnolia, a brilliant pure white. She held a pink rod with a heart in a circle near the top, with white wings unfurling to either side. Her underskirt stopped at her knees, but dainty white laced boots reached well up her shins, showing only a tiny layer of skin between the two. To top everything off, her hair had turned pink, forming itself into pigtails bound by two white ribbons.

　　"Coi, Onyx!" Rei's street clothes disappeared into sparkles as she reappeared in her layered gothic black dress and a frilly white under-dress that peeked out at the neck, sleeves, and legs. She was wearing tall, mean looking black boots with tons of extra straps wrapped at various angles around her legs, stopping just short of her knees, where her white petticoat quickly took over. Her long, silky black hair was kept back by a black headband. To top it off, violet-chased black butterfly wings sprouted from the small of her back, where Onyx was embedded in her dress, large enough to frame her entire body's silhouette. The violet dots and stripes just seemed to emphasize the darkness of the rest of her faerie like wings.

　　"Coi, Xanadu!" Masanori's clothing vanished into a sea of sparkles, shortly to reemerge as a traditional kimono with a bright red sash around his waist. A silver sword appeared in a white scabbard strapped to his side, with the silver Xanadu glowing brightly in the middle of the scabbard. The overall color of the kimono was red, but it was hard to see because of all the golden roses and dragons curling around and over each other all across the red fabric underneath.

　　"Coi, Awesome!" Shiori disappeared into sparkling light, returning to view with a silver tiara across her forehead, Awesome embedded in the middle of the crown glowing a bright red like a third demonic eye. She wore brown and red gloves that stopped at her knuckles to leave her free to punch, and silver metallic boots twice the size as normal shoes that marched halfway up her shin perfect for running and kicking beyond human strength. Over a simple red t-shirt and shorts were a series of embossed thick metal plates, that covered her chest, back and thighs, but left her limbs free to twist and move as her martial arts dictated.

　　"Together, we are: Choice Givers!" Kotone lifted her knee up halfway and held out her arms at dynamic angles that framed her face.

　　The rest of the group gave her a pained look, but Kotone smiled brightly, not in the least ashamed.

　　"I always wanted to say that." Kotone explained happily, dropping out of her pose that no one else had joined in.

　　"These clothes sure are nostalgic. After this, we should take another group picture." Shiori picked approvingly at her shirt.

　　"I'm just glad they changed to still fit us." Chiharu replied.

　　Aiko looked around nervously, still in just a blue t-shirt and blue jeans, feeling like the unfashionable member of the group. A large group of shopowners and gawking kids started clapping for them, and Kotone twirled and bowed to them happily, giving them her V peace sign. Then Aiko pointed to the building they needed to descend into, and everyone put on their most serious look. It had been a long time coming, but there was no longer any way to avoid it. Aiko reminded herself that she had been the writer of Kip's courage, so she could hardly be seen falling short of it, and led the rest of the group forward into the unknown.

　　Luckily, the lights were on, but she wasn't relying on her eyes either way. Her mind was reaching out in all directions to catch the least notice that they had been discovered. Scrying wasn't as accurate as mind reading, so all Abhi Durai would know is that Choice Givers were nearby. There shouldn't be any traps ahead, because thinking through his eyes, he still never looked forward to any or hoped for any to succeed. Aiko had a dizzying moment where she didn't know which person she was anymore, and then concentrated on descending the rest of the stairs.

　　"Hello? Is anyone home? I'm Aiko Sakai, an apprentice Choice Giver. I'm here to talk. I don't think what you're doing is right." Aiko announced herself, once she was only a couple rooms away from where she knew Abhi was tinkering away at a microscope with his lab assistants. The rest of team Choice Givers fanned out to either side of her, waiting alertly with spells on their lips.

　　"Oh? So they did come." A tall blonde girl opened the door, walking out into the middle of the underground chamber.

　　"Brother, we have guests." The self-assured girl called, and two more blondes stepped into the larger warehouse-cellar area.

　　"Welcome, Choice Givers. The wyrd council said something like this might happen." The boy smiled affably.

　　"Guests? And look, they're all Japanese! Does that mean we should serve tea?" The youngest blonde girl asked her older brother.

　　"Don't think you're the only special ones." The tallest girl's eyes narrowed. "Coi, Arsenic!" Sparkles surrounded the older girl, and she emerged wielding a dark gray trident with a gray gem embedded in the haft. She wore a simple blouse and skirt of a navy blue color, but it was overflowing with golden celtic knot work marching across the breasts, legs and sleeves.

　　"I am Cecily Marne." The girl grounded her trident and stared at Aiko defiantly.

　　"Coi, Folly!" The central boy called, and sparkles surrounded him until he emerged with a violin and a tuxedo suit. Over his breast pocket, where a flower would ordinarily be kept, was his embedded hot pink gem brimming with power.

　　"I am Rhodry Marne." The boy gave a polite bow to his opponents.

　　"Coi, Thistle!" The youngest girl cried, whose eyes were green instead of the other two's blue, but her hair just as effervescent a shade of blonde. Sparkles hid her as her normal clothes faded away and new ones returned. She wielded a knife in each hand, one held forehand and the other backhand, and had a green scale mail covering everything but her joints and green eyes that made her look like a dragonkin. Holding her hair back in a clip was a purple gem so clear it was nearly white, shining a sort of halo over the short girl who was ducking yet further down in a combat stance.

　　"I am Elsie Marne." The girl announced proudly. "If you wish to see the professor, we will be your opponents."

　　"No, like I said, we just wanted to talk." Aiko gulped, looking at her equally astonished friends. Why were there four Dead Enders here? Her telepathy hadn't caught it at all! Some premonition!

　　"Ohhh?" Cecily cocked her head at the little girl standing in front. "So what have you come to tell us, apprentice Choice Giver?"

　　"Don't you think you should give it up? You know, sliming the whole world. I mean, it's slime. . . after all." Aiko looked to her left and right, but no one was stepping forward to help her.

　　"Slime? I love slime." Elsie replied with cheerful defiance. "It's slime time!"

　　"But why?" Aiko asked desperately. Was there really a giant proportion of mankind that secretly wished to drown the world in red goo? How had so many assembled behind this plan?

　　"If the whole world becomes one entity, there will be no death and no war. Things like the terrorism in Northern Ireland won't happen anymore. No one will be able to hurt anyone else, in fact, even the feeling of pain will be outside the slime vocabulary. If you think about it, it's obvious, isn't it? We're giving birth to a God, an avatar of Gaia, the spirit of the entire Earth. Why do you want to interfere?" Rhodry replied.

　　"So is that it? You three siblings are tragic orphans of terrorism in Northern Ireland, and so you turned to the dark wyrds in the hopes of stopping all future wars?" Aiko asked.

　　"What? No. We're from Ireland, not Northern Ireland. Plus the terrorism died down decades ago. We just like peace." Rhodry answered.

　　"So none of you have any tragic back story at all?" Aiko asked in desperation.

　　"My ice cream cone melted once before I could eat it." Elsie provided helpfully.

　　"Keep heart, Aiko!" Shiori cheered her on from behind.

　　"You can do it, you're doing fine!" Kotone joined in.

　　"What conversation are you two watching?" Aiko turned and stamped her feet at them. "You're the real Choice Givers. Say something wise! At this rate -- "

　　"Even we can't convince everyone, Aiko. Do you really think a trio of siblings wouldn't stick together until the bitter end? Would you turn on Chiharu or Saki if you heard a good argument to do so? We were going to fight these three from the beginning. Loyalty trumps logic. I wouldn't have it any other way." Kotone Miyamoto smiled toothily at Cecily across the room. The wyrds on both sides kept up a steady translation for everyone.

　　"That girl says some good things." Cecily lifted up her trident and stabbed it forward, her dark gray gem shining.

　　"That's right." Cecily nodded to herself, coming to a decision. "If our chat is over, it's time to fight. Whether the world is composed of slime or humans, only battle can decide." Cecily jumped forward, stabbing at the girl in front, which was Aiko, straight away.

　　She's stabbing at my right side. Aiko's mind reading went into overdrive. If I roll to my left, I'll be safe! Aiko dived away just as the trident stabbed overhead, her hands and knees scraping painfully over the concrete floor. In seconds the entire area exploded into chaos. Aiko started crawling away, ramping up her danger sense more and more, until the least possible hint of a Dead Ender aiming for her would ring in her ears. She couldn't tell what was happening anymore. There were glowing wyrd lights and yells everywhere.

　　A bell triggered in the back of her head, and she turned to see Abhi Durai emerge from the door. Or more properly, gloop through the crack in the door. Apparently his transformation was what he had loved and desired the most. He was already Slime.

　　"Everyone, watch out, Durai's here too!" She shouted into the chaos, but she couldn't tell if anyone heard.

　　"Ice javelin." Rhodry Marne announced.

　　"Counter!" Chiharu responded.

　　"Arsenic, Counter her counter!" Cecily Marne responded in turn, and suddenly Aiko's danger sense screamed a warning. Aiko didn't know what to do, so she just started rolling over and over towards the nearest wall. The shattering sound of ice hitting concrete crashed just where she'd been.

　　"Trance." Elsie Marne announced, her daggers in a vicious close combat with Shiori's gloves and boots.

　　"Aiko's dead!" Chiharu screamed, ashen faced. "Just like that! What are we going to do?"

　　"Pull yourself together!" Masanori shouted. "She's fine." Masanori slashed toward Cecily with his shining sword, but she wisely chose to run away rather than test an unknown magic with a parry.

　　"What are you talking about?" Chiharu threw her gun down and rushed to a spot on the floor, cradling air with a look of horror. "There's so much blood!"

　　"Frozen Tomb." Rhodry called out happily, and jaws of ice started growing to either side of Chiharu to snap her in twain.

　　"Eternal Zero!" Rei responded desperately, freezing the hallucinating, almost bitten Chiharu in place. "Shiori, take out Elsie! She's making us hallucinate!"

　　"Don't you think I'm trying?" Shiori shouted, her fists furiously trying to find an opening around Elsie's knives while her legs kept pushing forward a step or two, kicking to trip her opponent who continuously kicked Shiori's feet back down to stop her.

　　"Too late. You're already in my spell." Elsie smiled happily, both of her daggers plunging for the back of Shiori's neck, her true self suddenly appearing.

　　"Stasis shield!" Rei pointed towards her sister, and the daggers froze in place, no matter how much Elsie tried to pull them back out.

　　"Get that butterfly girl! She's clearly the strongest!" Rhodry ordered.

　　"Chains of Andromedae." Cecily swirled her trident, her gray gem flaring. Rei watched in horror as metal chains appeared out of both the floor and the ceiling, all heading towards her. She was already using both her shields to save someone else. There was no time to dodge! The chains swept around her, then through her, leaving no mark at all. Of course. She was ethereal.

　　"It's okay Rei!" Masanori insisted. "Keep fighting!" He flew towards Cecily again with single minded determination.

　　"Arrows of ice." Rhodry chanted from the back rank, stacking up rank upon rank of frozen death, to strike Rei in an intense flurry. How did they see through Masanori's move so soon?

　　"Sting snipe!" Kotone shouted out from above, having completely disappeared from the enemy's view. The sharp needles rained down on Rhodry, stabbing and stabbing until his mangled body was nearly staked to the concrete floor.

　　By God. If anyone let down their guard for even an instant. . .it ended like that. . .Aiko felt sick to her stomach. Wait, where had the slime gone?

　　"Shiori, jump!" Aiko screamed. Abhi Durai had already oozed in a pool beneath her.

　　Shiori didn't look to see why. Awesome glowed a brilliant red and she launched herself away in a magnificent leap. A second later the gloop had swirled upwards to devour her. No doubt it had the same dissolving effect as his dream Slime would have when the world ended.

　　"Trance." Elsie pointed up at Kotone in fury. Suddenly her flight path went askew and she rammed painfully into a concrete wall. Her unconscious body fluttered helplessly to slam once again onto the floor.

　　"Kotone!" Masanori shouted. "That does it!" His sword started to gather in more and more light. "Angle Death!" He cut a small hole between dimensions, the other universe being the heart of a burning star. Pressure and heat propelled a jet of hot plasma gas through the hole, simply vaporizing everything in its path. First Abhi disappeared into nothing, then Elsie, followed by the wall which started vaporizing into thin air behind her. Masanori closed the portal as quickly as he could, shocked by its destructive power, before the entire room heated up to unlivable temperatures.

　　"Not good enough." Elsie teased, appearing in a separate place entirely. "You only see what I want you to see. Tsk tsk tsk. And now the professor is dead too. You'll pay for that."

　　"Eternal Zero." Rei trapped Elsie's image, if that really was her, which simultaneously released Chiharu. With Rhodry dead, the ice jaws disappeared the moment time began to flow again. She was gambling that the trance had ended too when Elsie had redirected it at Kotone.

　　"How many times must I say it's not good enough?" Elsie smiled cheerfully.

　　"Firefly!" Shiori shot out a barrage of fireballs at the short dragonscale girl.

　　"Counter." Cecily protected her little sister.

　　"Counter!" Chiharu inverted Cecily's spell.

　　The fireballs passed through the afterimage of Elsie the immortal as she laughed.

　　"Counter." Chiharu pointed to an obscure corner of the room. Cyan's light didn't shine. "Counter." She pointed a meter to the side and down. Cyan's light didn't shine. "Counter." Chiharu pointed again, a meter to the side and down. Cyan's light didn't shine.

　　"What is this, a game of battleship?" Elsie appeared directly in front of Chiharu, slicing with one dagger forehanded and the other backhanded to decapitate her in a single stroke.

　　"Like I'd let you!" Masanori pointed, and the daggers passed through Chiharu painlessly.

　　Cecily lunged at the opening, her trident finally stabbing past Masanori's katana. The trident passed through him too. Masanori spun around behind Cecily, removing his body from the trident, then solidified just long enough for the back arc of his spin, his sword neatly chopping Cecily's head off at the neck.

　　"Sister!" Elsie screamed. She threw her dagger at Masanori in fury, but it just passed through him too. Chiharu used Elsie's distraction to run back and retrieve her gun.

　　"Counter." Chiharu pointed directly at Elsie. Cyan still didn't respond. Chiharu smiled. The lack of a glow meant there was nothing to dispel, which meant the Elsie in front of her was no illusion.

　　"Sorry, but that's the end." Chiharu pulled the trigger. A lance of light shot through Elsie's armor and made a black mark on the other side of the room. Elsie gave a look of fear and pain, and then her eyes became fixed into the wide eyed realization that she had lost as she slumped to the floor. Chiharu sat down beside her, and pushed her eyelids down quietly.

　　"You were splendid." Chiharu whispered to her dead opponent. Aiko wanted to cry. The room was still echoing with the sounds of battle, as though it hadn't realized the killing was over.

　　"Kotone." Shiori said in a panic, rushing to her side. Her head was bleeding from a surface scratch, and bruises had appeared wherever she had fallen. But her heart was beating. The only hits she had taken were from her own momentum.

　　"Oh thank the gods." Shiori patted Kotone's hair away from Kotone's face.

　　"How is she?" Masanori dived down next to Shiori, his sword sheathed.

　　"I think she's fine. Isn't she?" Shiori asked Masanori back worriedly.

　　"Aiko, you're alive!" Chiharu poked Aiko's face just to verify she was real this time.

　　"I'm sorry, sister. I made you worry." Aiko mumbled numbly.

　　"Don't talk nonsense. I'm so glad you're okay." Chiharu hugged her tightly. She was trembling from what she thought she had seen, which to her eternal zero'd timeframe had only been seconds before.

　　"We should check her in to a hospital. But I don't trust any hospital in India." Masanori picked Kotone up easily in his arms and pulled her up until she was riding him piggyback. "We're going back to the jet, and then we're going home."

　　"Yes sir." Shiori agreed, happy to leave the scene as soon as she could. She hadn't been any help at all. And she had almost dissolved into goo. What a horrible fight. Were they rusty? Or were their opponents just that strong this time? She couldn't tell. She was shaking with the reaction though. It was supposed to be easy now. Six on one. The dark wyrds hadn't exhausted their power at all. They were still playing to win. And they had come this close.

　　"Get it together, Shiori." Shiori Rin slapped her cheeks with her hands. "We won and they lost. It doesn't matter how close a game is at the end of the match. We won again. Just like we won every close match when we were kids. Just like we'll win every close match from here. Because we make the impossible possible." And with that, she forced herself to cheer up. The past was past. Kotone was fine. Tomorrow she'd go back to her World History class in college, and forget about all of this. And next weekend, they would tackle Cho Kai.

　　He couldn't be harder than this.

* * *

　　Kotone awoke woozily laying in a completely prone airplane seat. Since it was their private jet, their chairs could fold down, spin around to face other chairs, or do whatever they pleased. She checked to see if she could move her limbs, and one of her shoulders twinged in pain, not wanting to be lifted. She used her other hand to check her face. A model had to protect her face. . .but as she touched each piece, nothing seemed to be missing. Ears, mouth, eyes and nose were still all there.

　　The baby. Kotone thought in a panic. Both of her arms shot to cup her womb, despite her shoulder's agony. And then she laughed nervously. It was their beautiful, brilliant, baby. But as of yet it was still just a tiny unformed dot in her uterus, not big enough to even lift her stomach. There was no way to hurt her baby without running her through, as of yet. And her stomach was still in one piece. The baby was fine.

　　"Kotone? Is that you?" Masanori stirred, himself asleep until he heard her laugh, his senses all jumping back into place.

　　"Yes dear. I'm sorry. I slipped up, didn't I?" Kotone stuck out her tongue.

　　"Hush. You were brilliant. That move would have worked on anyone." Masanori cupped her hand and squeezed it painfully hard, until her bones were being squished together.

　　"Everyone's okay?" Kotone asked.

　　"No one else has a scratch." Masanori assured her.

　　"Your guard plan was brilliant. We saved each other again and again. You really are the brightest light in the stars, husband." Kotone looked into his eyes, her own swimming with love.

　　"I didn't guard the one thing I love most in the world. I'm still too weak. And, I may have overreacted a bit and nearly fried the world. . .when I saw you falling. . ." Masanori looked away a little timidly, afraid of being lectured.

　　"But you didn't. I'm sure you knew your limits." Kotone squeezed his hand back, even though hers was now an aching mass thanks to him.

　　"I'm not sure. The gods must be with us. I wasn't controlling my attack at all. All I wanted to do was kill that illusionist. I forgot about the entire world." Masanori sighed.

　　"Then let's pray at the shrine when we get home. I want to pray to the gods in thanks too." Kotone whispered.

　　"Why?" Masanori asked, catching a strange tone to her voice.

　　"Because, you're a Daddy." Kotone smiled up at him. "I didn't want to tell anyone yet. . .but you sound like you need cheering up."

　　"Oh, Kotone." Masanori picked her up out of her chair and hugged her onto his lap. Tears started to wet her shoulder. She was still in her magical girl costume, since folding her real clothes back took an act of conscious will.

　　"There, there." Kotone patted him on the back with her one good arm. She could move the other if she needed to. But this was not one of those times. "How's Aiko? This was her first fight. I remember what my first fight was like." Kotone said compassionately.

　　"Asleep. Everyone's asleep. It's just you and me." Masanori said, his hand sliding to cup her right breast.

　　"You devil. You'd take advantage of me at a time like this?" Kotone whispered, her eyes widening in mock astonishment.

　　"Stay quiet, or we'll be caught." Masanori grinned, and then they started kissing.

* * *

　　Aiko was Hank Elroy. He ran on a few radio stations based out of Georgia, and scraped out a living by being extremely frugal with the money his gig earned. He was 32, married once but divorced, because his wife had gotten tired of learning the truth about this world. Hank couldn't help talking about it. It possessed him. It woke him up every day in the morning, abuzz with thought, wondering how he could make a more entertaining show, a more persuasive argument, for his listeners. The truth was out there, but the public wouldn't listen. Even his own wife hadn't listened to him. If she had listened attentively, she would have agreed, and then she wouldn't have divorced him and left him in a trailer on his own. But no one had the time or the motivation or the courage to do that one simple thing. To make matters worse, America was going to hell in a handbasket, and vast conspiracies were afoot, all of which meant total catastrophe if the public didn't heed his warnings soon. He had to make better shows. With better shows, he would be picked up by more stations. With enough radio stations, he could change public opinion. And then a truly informed citizenry would make the right decision at the election booth. Hank Elroy for President? It could happen.

　　It was time to start the show. "Good afternoon, my fellow Americans. This is Hank Elroy, broadcasting from the fair city of Athens, Georgia. I'm glad you could join me today. Let's take a look at the daily news. Oil prices are up -- guess who predicted that? The dollar's value is down -- guess who predicted that? And we lost three more heroes from our armed services fighting the War on Terror today. When will the President take off the kid gloves and start fighting to win this war? Huh? The American people don't want or need another Cold War, Mr. President. Make it a hot war. Nuke a straight line from Morocco to Indonesia, for all I care. And throw in France while you're at it. That would be hot enough to make these Muslims think twice before they mess with the U.S. of A. But Presidents never think about solutions. They just think about getting reelected, and who paid them their campaign donations to get them there. I swear to God, if we had just one honest President in the White House, we could fix all the problems of the world in around two hours. Two hours. Mr. President, why won't you release the aliens being kept in Roswell, New Mexico? The aliens have been contacting our government for over fifty years, and not a single President is honest enough to tell the American people the truth. Maybe we wouldn't have to rely on Saudi oil if the alien technology used to fly all these UFO's floating overhead were bargained for. But then, that wouldn't serve Big Oil's interests, so it'll never happen. This is how the world works, folks. We've had a replacement for oil for half a century and nothing is ever done, because we haven't had an honest president in half a century who genuinely wanted to help the folks out."

　　"Now, I wanted to introduce my first guest of the afternoon, the esteemed scientist Malcolm Jones. He's here today with proof positive that he can create cold fusion. That's a nuclear fusion power plant run at room temperature, folks. But the government won't give him any funding. A few million dollars to build a room temperature fusion power plant, which would give the whole world infinite energy for the rest of time, but the President won't accept his grant request. It's a conspiracy, Americans, and it reaches all the way to the top. Why does the government want to keep us so dependent on foreign oil? Why are they deliberately destroying the worth of the dollar? It's all heading in the same direction. It's all approaching the same master plan. A master plan with so many facets I don't have enough time in the day to describe it all. . ."

　　When Hank's hour was done, he took a welcome swig of beer and thanked his coworkers who handled all the technical aspects of his radio show. It was time to go home, drink a bit, watch a ball game -- he didn't mind which, he just shifted sports with whatever was in season -- and feed his dog, also named Hank. He thought over the broadcast, but he still felt like he wasn't quite saying it right. He wished his thoughts weren't always so jumbled together, leading him first in one direction and then the next. He would be the first to admit it was hard to follow his train of thought, but it always arrived at the truth in the end. That was the difference. He reached the truth, but everyone else got mired in lies. Lies put out by the government and the corporations and the special interests that ruled this world. But how to articulate the truth. That was the question. If only he could rely on a friend to co-host with him, and perhaps say the same things more eloquently, and thus lighten the load. Saving the whole world was a crushing duty for a man living on a shoe string. God knows he deserved some help. Wasn't he doing the Lord's work? Hank drained the last of his beer and tossed it into the trash can. Well, he'd done his best, and that's all he could do. Tomorrow he would come back and do the same. When the good Lord was ready, he would open up a way. The Lord worked in mysterious ways, but when a man of true faith knocked, He always opened a door. It was a promise directly from the Bible. God would grant his prayers so long as he had faith. So long as he had faith that God would give him a way to save his country, God would make sure it happened. But first came the trial period. God couldn't grant everyone the prayer to reform the country -- the prayers would become mutually contradictory. Which meant he had to outlast all of his competitors, and be the most faithful servant of the Lord among the whole bunch of knockers. That was okay. Hank was patient. He had endured much worse than his current life. Whenever you're ready, God, I will run for President, and together we'll fix this shambles of a country. Thy will be done.

　　When Hank got out of his car and sat down in his extremely comfortable recliner in front of the TV, something was off, though. There was a small, dark blue, shining, floating ball waiting for him in the kitchen.

　　"Greetings, Hank. I am Zaffre, from the planet Xiboo. We are impressed by your wisdom, Hank Elroy. You were right -- there are aliens walking the world. But this isn't the only subject the government is keeping from you. We have come here to help mankind, to free them from their oppressive yokes of material want and spiritual depravity, only to find that your governments categorically refuse to cooperate, or even reveal our existence to the broader public. Your program, Hank, is correct in all things. It must be inspired by the Heavens. From our vantage point, it is clear that you are the wisest man to ever live." Zaffre spoke.

　　"Except Jesus." Hank corrected the alien.

　　"Except Jesus." Zaffre bobbed in the air apologetically. "Therefore, we have taken the only measure we could imagine left. How would you like for the two of us to cooperate? The truth as spoken by a human will be more acceptable to other humans than if we try to tell it to them directly. All you have to do is keep telling the truth to the rest of the world -- we of the wyrd council will take care of the rest."

　　"How?" Hank asked, excited at the possibilities. God had answered his prayers, it was clear, and opened a way. But he still needed guidance from above as to how best to use this miraculous opportunity for the good of the world.

　　"Our technology is far beyond yours, to the point that you would call it 'magic.' Therefore, we would like to form a partnership with you. If you say "Via tu lusches, Zaffre," the contract will be complete. Then you will be able to use our magic. Why not use it to open up the hearts and minds of your listeners? With magic, we could get people to really listen to what you have to say, in a fair and unbiased manner. The results would be magnificent, Hank. Just think, you telling the truth every day, and everyone, everyone who hears it agreeing with you -- because all of their prejudices and fears are removed ahead of time. Without any obstacles, the truth you speak could quickly become the most popular show on Earth. And then, who knows? Maybe they'll elect you President."

　　"Just so long as it only removes obstacles to the truth. I don't want to trick anyone, you know." Hank shook his finger at Zaffre.

　　"Of course. We're only removing obstacles to the listener's ears. It's of course up to them whether they'll accept the truth, once they've finally listened to it with an open mind for the first time. It's up to you to make that truth compelling. We just want to help." Zaffre promised.

　　"Well, okay. That sounds swell, Zaffre. What was it again? That contract?" Hank asked good naturedly.

　　"Via tu lusches, Zaffre." The alien repeated patiently.

　　"Via tu lusches, Zaffre." Hank Elroy repeated, and a warm glow filled his body, which proved God approved.

* * *

　　Aiko woke up with the rising sun. The plane was just rolling into the airport, and she had school in just a couple hours. The dream was still vivid enough in her head to be recalled word for word. She groaned quietly to herself. Would the dark wyrds ever run out of ammunition? A radio host that made everyone believe in mutant cow milk that would kill you if you drank it and an earthquake machine the government was deploying to encourage GDP growth. It would destroy the world to believe his siren song in short order, but in the most ridiculous way imaginable. Everyone would just be as stupid as humanly imaginable, and ruin their own lives. I guess when force doesn't work, dark wyrds have no compunction against resorting to fraud.

　　Aiko Sakai had to admit one thing though, dark wyrds were really good at scrying. To find Dead Enders this bad was an art. Hank Elroy's ideas were so stupid, they weren't even wrong.

　　Aiko would tell the others when they woke up, but it changed nothing. Their objective next weekend was Cho Kai in Korea. Hank would just have to wait until the weekend after. She hoped she didn't have more than one dream a week. That would create a massive headache with their scheduling.