"We meet again, Chris," said Vivian from behind.
Chris went to the mall a day after his training with Arielle. Back then, Klein took them to C. Bridge, a Briss restaurant that they had never been to. The food he ordered was nice, but he had plans to try out other dishes on the menu.
"Vivian?"
"Yep. Nathan's here, too."
"We had our time off, so we came together. Didn't expect to meet you here," said Nathan.
"Did you both come for some shopping?" Chris asked.
"Nah, we're just gonna have a look around. Maybe be on patrol, even while off duty."
"Sounds quite stressful."
"Oh, believe me, it's nothing stressful. Just walking around and taking down criminals on the move, you get what I mean?"
"Hey, what's happening there?" a bystander shouted and pointed to the center of the mall. A masked man with a bandana on his head planted a device on the floor, creating a portal device about the size of a normal human. He had already activated the portal when the bystander called him out.
The man looked back and quickly started running, but Vivian pointed her finger at him and shouted, "Stop right there!"
He froze in place after hearing those powerful words.
"Nathan, deactivate the portal! Chris, stay here! I'll get that guy!"
"On it!" Nathan shouted as he ran straight for the portal device. Once he got to the controls, he immediately started searching for the power button.
"Where is it, where is it... Ah, here it is!"
Having found the power symbol on a green button, he slammed it down at full force. Meanwhile, Vivian had immobilized the criminal and spotted a red button at Nathan's feet.
"Nathan, that's the wrong button!" she shouted.
"The hell?!"
"At your feet!"
He slammed the real power button at the foot of the controls, but it was already too late. A portal had already been generated and something was about to come out.
"You fools! Soon, the Lord of Death will come to kill all of you!" the criminal shouted out.
"You know that's not happening, right?" Vivian said, tightening her hold.
"It can take the form of anything. It can be a demon. It can be a pig. It can even be-"
A girl came out from the portal, and Nathan quickly caught her.
"-a girl in purple."
The girl had long pink hair and was wearing a long dress that matched the color of her purple eyes. She looked no older than 17, and she looked surprised.
After looking around, the girl asked, "Come on. You didn't bring me to Elmatar again, right?"
"I'm not sure if a place called Elmatar exists here," Nathan said.
"In that case, did you bring me here?"
"No, but someone else did."
Knowing that she shouldn't be targeted, Vivian quickly released the criminal and ran to Nathan's side. Despite all this, Chris could only watch.
The girl walked up to the criminal and asked, "Did you bring me here?"
He confidently smiled and said, "Yes, I am! I've summoned you to ask for a favor!"
"Who exactly do you work for?"
"Just because you're here, I'll say his name. Cain Johnson."
Hearing that name, the girl's eyes widened. She was taken aback at first, but her expression quickly shifted to that of anger.
"Cain... Johnson, you said?" the girl asked.
"Yes! I-"
"I thought he was dead. I saw him get shot in the head by his assistant."
"..?!"
"Even then, I still cant bring myself to forgive him. Since he's alive in this world..."
She pointed her palm at the man and charged up a plasma beam. The magenta glow outshone even the sun shining from the window above.
"I'll kill you, and then I'll find him."
"Wait, no, you can't just kill a person!" Nathan and Vivian shouted at the same time as they struggled to get to her.
"Why not? It's not like I've never committed a murder."
Meanwhile, Chris quickly ran towards the attack and barely managed to partially block it. His right hand was slowly being disintegrated, but he didn't mind. He wanted to stop the girl from killing.
"Why'd you get in my way?" she asked. "Can't you see that you let that guy live?"
"L-Look," Chris replied as a bystander helped heal his hand, "we don't do that here. Your world might allow killing, but not this world."
"You-"
"Please hold on for a second. We can talk this over lunch, alright? I'll take you to a nearby restaurant."
Not long after, the two of them sat at an empty table in C. Bridge, next to a window looking down on the streets. Vivian and Nathan couldn't follow them, since they had to apprehend the criminal first, so they let them find a seat. Taking a sip of his tea, Chris asked, "What's your name?"
"Noelle Fenon."
"A last name like yours isn't really that common here. Where did you come from?"
"Arnatal, Altan Kingdom. I used to live in an old house near the beach until I got kidnapped and taken to a facility underneath Srattle."
"...Never heard of those cities. Can you tell me what it felt like when you were being taken here?"
It seemed that he made a mistake, as Noelle started looking worried. She frowned and glanced around, like tears were preparing to stream out from her eyes.
"I was... in the midst of a war."
"Wait, what? What was it like?"
"Can you imagine a war between people without abilities?"
He thought for a moment, before saying, "That's a crazy world you live in. Were there people like you there?"
"Yes... Especially Cain Johnson. I first met him alongside a group of kids... Friends, actually. All of them had an ability, just like me."
"Wait, if she knows him, then..." Chris thought as he suddenly came up with a great idea. With a bite of his steak, he continued, "Could you please tell me more about Cain Johnson?"
"...Not sure if I will. He locked me in a cryogenic tube for a year, according to his son, Bernard."
"That's already horrible. Why would he do that?"
"He was researching the kids with abilities just to get his son to talk. That kid's a good boy, but he's been mute until we reached the exit the second time."
"What's his ability?"
"Spatial Manipulation. I'm not sure if the Cain Johnson in this world has it, but the one in my world could manipulate the space around us to the point of creating black holes."
"That's really powerful. How'd you beat him?"
"His son had the same ability as him and could overpower him. After he was defeated, we wanted to return after realizing his true intentions, but..."
"Hey, how's it going?" said Nathan, heading into the restaurant. "Wait, why's the air so grim all of a sudden?"
"His assistant shot him in the back of the head," Noelle continued, her eyes already beginning to glow purple.
"Who shot who in the head?"
"Alright, let me summarize," Chris said as Nathan and Vivian took a seat. "This is Noelle Fenon, and she's from a world where Cain Johnson existed and lots of people didn't have abilities. Based on her explanations, he can manipulate space, create black holes, and experimented on kids with abilities to get his mute son to talk again, but failed to do that before he got shot by his assistant."
"Actually, he succeeded. He didn't live to hear his son speak any more words, though," Noelle interrupted.
"That aside, you want anything?"
"I'll just get a cup of tea," Vivian said.
"Yeah, me too. I don't feel hungry," Nathan said, raising his hand.
"Can you make it 3 cups?" asked Noelle. "I'd like a drink to accompany the sandwiches."
"Who's paying, though?"
"Why don't you pay?" asked Vivian. "You're a policeman, right?"
"Ha... I forgot my wallet."
"Don't worry about it," said Chris. "I just got a little allowance from my twin sister, so I'll pay."
"Thanks."
Inside a dimly-lit room, a man sat in front of numerous monitors, each one showing numerous security camera footages in real-time. Behind him, a tall woman was reporting what happened.
"The portal summoned the wrong person," she said.
"Hm?" the man sitting down replied, his voice very deep. "Who did it summon?"
"Noelle Fenon. She's the plasma girl from your counterpart's world."
"I see. You may leave now."
The woman left, but not without getting a quick glance at her leader's sinister smile.
author's note: yes, i am throwing things from my unfinished story in here. no, they aren't part of the same universe, so there won't be a series.