Alright so for those of you who read the previous first chapter I'm sorry for throwing it out the window, but I needed to do it for a more solid foundation moving on. Basically I didn't have a plan beyond the first like, four chapters and I was going to write myself into a corner REALLY fast. (The way I have with my story BRS Online.) That and I also just finished Megadimension and figured I'd tag this story after that one in the timeline, which ALSO required some things to be re-written.

By doing this now I shouldn't have any issues keeping the story flowing.

Also re-named "myself" to "my" other name, because Will T. Yordle back to Katsuo M. Twintail because the former sounded dumb no matter how I thought about it.

Also the song for the book is the Nightcored version of the song "Battle Scars" by Paradise Fears. Happy reading!

BOOK ONE: GAIA

Chapter One: The Girl in Wet Clothes

Day 1

Date: March 19th, 2016

Location: Enumclaw, Washington

Time: 9:07pm

For a moment, there was only silence. Light flooding the room from three bulbs on an overhead fan. Tension was so thick in the air you could slice through it with a blade, so thick you could have lit it on fire with a match, so thick that it was sending droplets of sweat down the side of the only man in the room.

An internal countdown echoed in the mind of the short-haired blond eighteen year-old: five. Four. Three. Two. One. The screen he was staring intently at went from a dull gray to an explosion of color. In that exact moment furious clicking could be heard, and a grin formed. In that moment, the silence was gone.

"FOR MY PEOPLE!" A giant rock creature exploded forward with a low growl of a roar only audible to the young man, exploding into four other characters on the screen. Half of them displaying death animation from the sheer force of the attack. The other half scrambled with whatever skills they possessed to get away from the giant monolith-like creature. One massive slam of an open palm against the stone ground ended the illusion of escape, and a single announced line could be heard under the sound of maniacal laughter.

"Quadra Kill!"

"Oh my god." A voice replied in the teen's ear in a, oh my god is this really happening tone. A second, more out of breath of a similar laughter joined in, and after a deep breath the owner of the second voice spoke.

"Geez Katsuo could you delete them any harder?"

Katsuo grinned at his friend Panda's comment and leaned in further, looking for the fifth and final member of the enemy team. "I could, but that would defeat the purpose of giving them false hope!"

"I can just imagine you sitting in a room shouting 'Leroy Jenkins' and then your parents walking in on you to shut up!" Katsuo's other friend Jacob replied, the owner of the oh my god voice.

"Well it's a good thing he's got the place to himself tonight!" Panda pointed out!

"Damn right Panda! Man this character is so broken!" Katsuo cried cheerfully.

"Well you are kinda fed." The first voice pointed out.

"Jacob he's twenty-six and four, of course he's gonna hurt like a freight train!" Panda exclaimed.

Katsuo's maniacal smile faded to a small grin as he moved his character back onto the map in a hope of making one final push on the enemy base. After two months of non-stop work on the weekends, Katsuo finally got an evening where he could just sit back and relax with his friends in a late night game session. It was a lot more fun when his life was without the looming threat of apocalypse by having to wake up at three in the morning the following day.

On top of that Katsuo was spending most of his days working on fundraising for college by working extra hours or filling out dozens of scholarships. Down time was a rarity, and he knew he would regret wasting the time later on, but he wanted to celebrate having a weekend to himself. Besides, any time when he could laugh like a man gone insane meant he was having the time of-

Everything went black. The lights in the room shut off, his monitors went out, and his computer's fan stopped giving the familiar hum that he was so used to hearing. It took a moment of disbelief before Katsuo finally turned around to spot that the plug in clock on his nightstand was also blank.

"Shit!" A loud bang rang out from several dishes on the table as fists met wood, the noise echoing across the room, causing Katsuo's ears to ring for a second. As if on queue, everything sprung back to life. His clock blinked midnight, and the lights came back on. In a fit of frustration, Katsuo stood up violently, causing his wheeled chair to fly backwards to the center of the room. Whipping his head to the right, Katsuo checked the situation outside. What the hell, it isn't even raining that hard!

With a growl of defeat, Katsuo threw open the door to his room and stormed into the kitchen. He was pissed, both caused by the realization that he was low on calories and that his epic comeback had been overshadowed by some bullshit power outage that lasted two seconds. While unfortunate events like this one weren't totally uncommon for Katsuo, it didn't mean he wasn't going to be pissed off by them.

Pulling out a rather massive bag of tortillas, Katsuo prepared himself to make a small feast for which he could take his anger out on while only doing damage to the hunger pangs he was feeling. Opening the refrigerator to pull out some cheese, he was surprised to hear the familiar ding-dong of his front doorbell going off. Katsuo growled in frustration at the sudden and unwelcome interruption. He wasn't expecting anyone home this late, and if it was his brother home early he had a house key on his person. Closing the refrigerator door carefully so as not to break anything in a fit of rage, Katsuo left the kitchen, taking a small hallway right towards the entry hall and the front door.

The first thing he noticed though the glass on the door was that there was a person with red hair standing there who he'd never seen before, and he was rather hesitant to open the door in case someone was about to try and attack him. Then again most of the people who knocked on the front door were looking for his mother so they could buy something from her shop. But this late at night? Not a chance in hell. Mentally preparing himself for a fight, Katsuo quickly yanked the door open.

The instant the door was open Katsuo was surprised to find a girl with red hair tied into thin pigtails collapse into him rather than greet or punch him. She was cold, soaking, shivering, and obviously unconscious. The first thing Katsuo did without a second thought was sling one of her arms over his shoulder and close the door before half carrying half dragging the girl down the hall towards his room. He had to get this girl lying down.

Of course getting this girl onto the elevated bed ended up being a whole different kind of challenge. Never before had Katsuo dealt with an unconscious body, and he wasn't built to carry this much weight. Not to mention that the bed sat two feet off the ground, coming up to Katsuo's thigh. He ended up with this awkward situation where the girls upper body was half resting at the head of the bed with her legs still dangling over the edge. Getting under her without dropping her or seeing more than he was supposed to was a challenge until he finally managed to get her legs lifted. Man he was going to need to find a way to get that blanket dry.

When the girl was finally situated on the bed Katsuo managed to get a better look at her. The girl wore an open white jacket with an orange tie with some kind of spiral symbol near the bottom. On her hands were a pair of black fingerless gloves, her right hand with a black and orange striped sleeve that ran up halfway to her elbow. On the opposite hand was a straight black sleeve that ran all the way up her arm and into the coat, with some kind of radio device on the glove. At first Katsuo thought she was wearing some kind of mini-skirt, but upon further investigation it was actually a pair of lightish gray shorts with a thin pair of suspenders. Lastly was a pair of matching black and orange shoes with black, baggy socks with various buttons on them. Katsuo felt like he'd seen her somewhere before.

But that was a thought for another time, for now he had to get her out of those wet clothes before she caught a cold. The realization of what he was going to have to do froze him in place. This kind of thing happened a lot on television, with mixed reactions. Katsuo swallowed hard, knowing that not removing the wet clothing would only end in disaster for this girl. Reluctantly, he slowly and carefully pulled off one of the shoes, keeping an eye for any sign that the girl was waking up.

Inch by inch the shoe slowly came off. Katsuo slowly fell into a pattern of moving the shoe slightly and checking for signs of awareness. He felt a massive knot in his stomach, and also felt like a pervert for undressing a woman while she was out cold. No! Katsuo mentally slapped himself. Get a grip man, this is to save someone's life, so push those thoughts out of your mind and get this done!

Moving slightly faster, the first shoe was off in no time. A quick glance at the clock told Katsuo that over ten minutes had passed since he had gotten started.

"Well done you idiot." A feminine voice inside of him said flatly. "Keep wasting valuable time that could mean life or death for this girl."

"Oh shut up Effie!" Katsuo replied to the voice in his head sharply. "Help me out and take over for this, I can't handle this!" Katsuo could see Effie roll her eyes. With a deep breath, Katsuo closed his eyes and imagined a green energy run through his body. In a moment his mind was clear and focused only on the task in front of him.

It wasn't like there was an actual second personality in his head, he didn't have any disorders or anything. However Katsuo had a rather vivid imagination, allowing him to often talk with someone whose personality was very different than his own. By letting that imagined personality come to the forefront of his brain Katsuo could sometimes say or do things that were rather out of character for him.

Moving at a much faster pace, Katsuo managed to carefully get the remainder of the wet clothes off the mysterious girl without waking her up. The whole endeavor took another half hour, and despite his quick meditation and talking with his imaginary partner he still felt the knot in his stomach, although greatly less so than when he started.

Electing to leave the black tube top and orange undergarments untouched, Katsuo carefully brought girls pile of clothes up the stairs and into a sky blue room in the single hallway that made up the house's second floor. The room was lined with white cupboards and shelves from top to bottom, only breaking in pattern for a large white pair of washer and dryer on the left side of the room. Quickly tossing the clothes in the washer, Katsuo decided to fully clean the outfit rather than just dry it.

Katsuo crossed his legs and slumped to the ground, pulling out his smartphone from his pocket, finding that he'd received a text message from Jacob.

?

Sorry, power went out for two seconds, figured it was over so I didn't rush.

Ah.

So I'm gonna take a guess and say you didn't make the comeback.

Nope.

Darn, well I GTG, gnight!

With the final message sent, Katsuo let out a long sigh of relief. It suddenly occurred to him that he probably should have dialed 911 right away, but similar to the girls clothes, Katsuo wasn't sure what the right thing to do was.

"Oh for goodness sake! At the very least go and properly check if she actually needs an ambulance! If she's not about to die then don't worry about it. Your parents and bro are out until tomorrow evening!" Katsuo let out a long sigh and started down the stairs. Despite Effie being nothing but a conjured up voice in his head, she did provide sound advice when Katsuo was indecisive or needed a push. She was essentially the outgoing, decisive person that Katsuo wished he was.

Katsuo's reluctance to call for an ambulance stemmed from a strong personal desire to avoid causing trouble for others. The way he saw it, he didn't know anything about this girl, and even if someone was after her he was the only other person who would be involved by helping her. It wasn't exactly the most truthful of statements, but it was enough for him.

Returning to his bedroom, Katsuo checked the girl's breathing and pulse. Both seemed fairly normal for someone who was asleep. No fever either. Man is this girl lucky she didn't catch anything. The one thing Katsuo did pick up on was the vast number of injuries on her body. Scrapes, cuts, bruises, this girl had obviously been in a fight. Hope the other guy was worse off. Katsuo thought through narrowed eyes.

Figuring he had nothing to lose, Katsuo stepped out of the room and entered the first room to his right down the hall. A well light bathroom with a polished wood floor met his gaze. Gathering disinfectant and three different boxes of band-aids from the medicine cabinet, Katsuo set to work on healing. He was no doctor, but he could at least handle the cuts. In the morning the girl could let him know if anything else hurt.

Unwilling to go to sleep until the girl's clothes were ready for her, Katsuo silently exited the room and move through an empty doorway to his right, entering a large open room that was divided between a kitchen on the left and a living space complete with a television and game consoles on the right. Moving to a light colored wooden cabinet in the back of the room, Katsuo pulled out a movie and powered one of the game consoles. He was in for a longer night than expected.

Katsuo quickly decided that a girl's scream of shock and surprise was by for the worst alarm clock in existence.

Having finished washing and drying the clothes, Katsuo had hung them over his desk chair before returning to the couch in the living area to finish the movie he'd been watching. Sadly he'd fallen asleep before the ending.

Now he was wide awake, and able to hear the agonized cries through a closed door and a wall.

"W- Where the hell are my clothes!?" Katsuo swallowed hard and debated his next move. No way he was going to be able to act like he didn't hear that. So should he play it cool or attempt to explain and risk his life?

Reluctantly throwing back the bluish- green blanket, Katsuo moved towards the closed door of his room. Taking a deep breath, he knocked twice.

"You alright in there? Your clothes are hanging on the chair."

Even before he spoke, Katsuo could hear the desperate shuffling of the girl through the door. Within moments the shuffling turned to stomping and the door swung open wildly, revealing the girl's furious expression. The pair locked eyes and Katsuo swallowed hard.

"You the pervert that undressed me!?" The girl asked, her fists tense and ready to punch Katsuo, probably no matter what the answer he gave.

"...Yes and no." Katsuo replied firmly, mentally preparing himself for a fight in his own home.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean? Gimmie a straight answer dammit! Are you, or aren't you the one who took off my clothes!?" The girl's infuriated questions echoed down the hall.

"Yes I'm the one who took off your clothes-" The girl pulled back her fist, Katsuo raised his hands defensively. "But I did it so you wouldn't get sick dammit!" Katsuo closed his eyes and braced himself.

"Like hell I'll believe that ya perv!" Despite being ready for the blow and shifting his weight backward to help cushion himself, his arms stung after receiving the blow from this girl.

"For goodness sake could you calm down for just a moment and try remember passing out last night! If I didn't get you out of those clothes you would've caught a cold for sure!"

"Yeah sure… I bet you just wanted to see me naked didn't you! Just admit it already!" Katsuo let out a groan of frustration.

"Then why the hell was your underwear still on when you woke up dammit!" This actually gave the girl some pause. Finally it seemed like Katsuo was getting through to her. "Look I apologize for doing something so wrong, but it was that or risk you getting a fever or something. I invaded your privacy and I get that alright!? Sorry!"

A moment of rather awkward silence passed as the red-haired girl considered Katsuo's words.

"Yeah you're right, it would have been bad if I'd caught a cold now. I guess I owe you one."

"You're welcome I guess, but honestly it might be better if we both forgot this ever happened." The girl responded with a grin.

"Alright agreed, sorry 'bout punching you earlier."

"Don't sorry about it, the name's Katsuo Twintail!"

"I'm Uzume Tennouboshi, and it's a pleasure to meetcha Katsuo!"

Katsuo extended a hand, which Uzume wasted no time in shaking. Something about this girl's enthusiasm seemed, off. "Well now that this whole ordeal is over, how about some breakfast?"

"That'd be great! I didn't exactly get to eat a lot last night." Uzume admitted. Katsuo led her into the kitchen and pulled out a stool, inviting her to sit at a large counter in the middle of the room which his family often referred to as the 'island.'

"I figured as much." Katsuo glanced at the clock. It was half wast nine. "Seems we both slept like rocks." Katsuo had to take a moment and think about what he wanted to prepare for breakfast. Cereal was too much of a cop-out, and he was terrible at pancakes. Since Katsuo hated plain eggs that left only one option left on his menu.

"So what's on the menu this morning?" Katsuo shot a grin at Uzume as he opened one of the several drawers, pulling out a wooden-handled cheese cutter.

"My specialty breakfast burritos. No secret ingredients or methods, just scrambled eggs melted cheese and cut mini-sausage!" Pulling open the white refrigerador to the left of the row of stools, Katsuo grabbed the large bag of tortillas from the night before along with a carton of eggs, a large block of cheddar cheese, and a package of miniature sausages when another thought occurred to him, stopping him with his head halfway inside with the food in his hands. Against all logic, he had let himself get carried away in the panic of a girl collapsing at his front door, taking off her clothes, having her nearly kill him for it, and now he was serving her breakfast?

"What's wrong Katsuo?" Uzume asked. Katsuo placed the ingredients on the counter next to the stove and closed the door. He glanced at Uzume with a conflicted expression.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm serving a girl breakfast in my own home when all I know about her is her name." Katsuo thought for a moment about how he wanted to phrase his next question so it didn't sound hostile. "So, is there any chance I can humbly ask what happened to you last night?"

At once Uzume's face became shadowed by sadness, like she was reliving a painful memory. The change in facial expression wasn't that big, but Uzume's eyes told the whole story. Katsuo instantly regretted his question, and silently returned to preparing his burritos.

"Nothing too major!" Uzume explained, her explanation filled with bullshit. "I let my guard down, and got caught off guard is all!" Uzume laughed nervously, and Katsuo decided not to pry any further. Whatever had happened to this girl the night before we deeply personal and none of his business. Katsuo glanced at Uzume before turning to cut the cheese.

"Well then eat some breakfast, have some water, and take a deep breath. Whatever happened is gotta be fixable somehow!"

"..." Uzume's silence was a clue for Katsuo that this was probably something pretty major, however he didn't know Uzume or the situation well enough to have a guess to just how bad things were for her.

"Just stay positive, and if you need anything don't hesitate to give me a shout, I live for these kinds of things." Uzume smirked but shook her head.

"I appreciate the offer but this is my problem. Once I've eaten I'll get out of your hair. It's the least I can do since I've already given you enough trouble." The right side of Katsuo's mouth went upward in a smirk as he placed the first of the two cheese covered tortillas in the microwave.

"Nonsense! I don't get enough adventure in my life, besides this kind of thing is my specialty." Katsuo watched Uzume let out a small sigh of defeat.

"Why do I get the feeling you're going to be just as stubborn as Nepsy?" Uzume asked, seemingly to herself.

"Yeah I get that a lot." Katsuo replied, picking up the cheese slicer. "Mr. Tunnel Vision is the nickname that I don't really have!"

Cooking wasn't exactly Katsuo's strong point. Eggs, sandwiches, and cereal was all he could really pull off. Hell even boxed macaroni and cheese was hard for him at times. However his breakfast burritos were the one thing he could do well every single time if his life depended on it.

It didn't take longer than five minutes for Katsuo to finish microzapping the cheese and prepare the scrambled eggs and sausage mix to create a pair thickly stuffed burritos. Once his masterpiece was complete, he slid one of the plates over to Uzume, who had been watching him with an ever increasing look of hunger the whole time.

"It's not flashy, but dig in!" Katsuo invited.

"You bet! Thanks for the food!" With that, she tore right into the burrito, tortilla tearing in several places from her strong grip thanks to just how thickly it was stuffed. Katsuo couldn't help but watch and smile before reminding himself to grab a few glasses for water.

"Wow Katsy, this is fantastic!" Uzume declared. "You're a really good cook!" Katsuo raised an eyebrow, but smiled at the same time.

"You think so? This is actually really simple, and about the only thing I can make on my own. Anything else and I risk burning the house down...Wait Katsy?" The initial thrill of receiving a compliment from someone who wasn't family was quickly overshadowed by the strange nickname he had received from Uzume.

"Yeah, I mean considering how nice you've been treating me I'd be rude of me not to consider you a friend!" Katsuo felt a rush of embarrassment, man this was anything but an ordinary morning for him.

"You've known me for all of what fifteen minutes? Isn't it a bit early to be calling me a friend?"

"Hey it's not everyday you meet someone nice enough to give a pep talk and serve breakfast to a total stranger!"

Quickly finishing putting together a pair of ice waters, Katsuo opted to stand across the counter from Uzume, deciding that it would be rather awkward of him to sit right next to her.

"Just remember that I don't know how to cook anything else!" Katsuo reminded the girl.

It took several minutes for the pair to finish breakfast, and despite Uzume's offer to assist with the dishes there was really only room for him in the kitchen, not that he wanted his guest doing any of the cleanup anyhow. Katsuo took the break in worrying about Uzume and trying to figure out what kind of predicament she was in to enjoy the rising sun coming through the window.

Since the three massive windows in front of the sink faced the east, it made it easy to gaze upon the sunrise in the early morning hours of the spring and fall. Since it was past nine however, Katsuo was instead greeted by a clear blue sky and a warm, shining sun that warmed his body and spirit. Katsuo took a moment to enjoy the feeling before placing the last dish in the white dishwasher that sat open to his left.

"So what's your plan?" Katsuo asked while bending over to close the dishwasher door.

"I need to find a way to get home. Nepsy and the others are no doubt in some big trouble." The mention of Uzume's friend gave Katsuo a sense of deja vu that he just couldn't shake. The name was so familiar to him and yet he couldn't place his finger on it.

"Where do you need to go?" Katsuo asked, leaning against the back counter where he'd washed the dishes just a few moments before. There was a moment of pause as Uzume gave the question some thought. "I've got a free day so if you need a ride I've got you covered."

A moment of silence passed. Then another. Then another. "...Man this is embarrassing." Katsuo raised an eyebrow at Uzume's comment. "Grah! How am I supposed to know where to go if I don't even know where the hell I am!"

Katsuo figured the comment wasn't directed at him, based on the way Uzume's eyes were focused elsewhere and her furious rubbing of the sides of her head. Still the comment brought a smile to his lips. Just how could anyone get lost in this area? His house was miles away from any urban centers, not more than a half hour drive but still too far for anyone to walk. Man this girl was as hopeless as she was fun to interact with.

"Define 'don't know where you are.' for me." Katsuo prompted.

"Oh man I can't freaking believe this. Sorry to ask but you mind telling me the name of this dimension?" Err… what. Alright now Katsuo was starting to think this girl may have hit her head on something.

"...Dimension?" Katsuo repeated in confusion. "Could you be a little more clear for me please?"

"You know, like what's the freaking name of this world?" Uzume clarified, getting increasingly frustrated from the sound of it.

Katsuo chuckled. "Well we kind of call this planet Earth, are you feeling alright?"

"Earth? Great so I guess I really have jumped dimensions." Uzume's side comments were starting to bother Katsuo. This girl was either delusional or was leading him on, and Katsuo wasn't going to have any of it.

"Alright back up, what's all this about dimensions that you're spouting?" Uzume turned back to him with a look of sympathetic apology.

"Oh my bad, I guess I've been doing a pretty poor job of explaining things so far huh?" Uzume commented in a half apology.

"Yeah just a little." Katsuo agreed, trying to remain calm and push the growing feeling of dread in his stomach.

"Right, I'll give the quick version. You know how a nation is ruled by a CPU?" Katsuo raised an eyebrow.

"Not in this reality. The only CPU's I know of are either in my computer or exist in video games." Katsuo's comment seemed to catch his guest off guard.

"Wait are you saying your nation isn't ruled by a CPU?" Uzume asked, sounding a decent level of shocked.

"Nah, CPU's ruling over nations is Hyperdimension Neptunia, but the real… world, not so much." Finally the growing feeling of dread in his stomach mixed with the realization that he recognized this girl. To confirm his hunch, Katsuo whipped out his cell phone and headed straight to a certain subreddit. There on the front page he found fanart of a character whose name and appearance were identical to the one in front of him. Oh shit. Katsuo's first thought was that he'd been duped.

"Katsy?" Uzume asked with a somewhat worried tone. "What's up?" Still mostly speechless, Katsuo slid his phone with the picture across the counter to Uzume.

"That's a character from a game called Megadimension Neptunia." Katsuo explained slowly.

"But that's-"

"You?" Katsuo interrupted. "Yeah.." Considering this girl had just called him a friend, Katsuo was trying to make every effort to believe in his new friend, but he was also wary of the possibility that she was trying to trick him and wasn't actually his friend.

"So wait I'm a videogame character in this world? Wow that's pretty cool! But at the same time it's kinda weird."

"Yes but at the same time it does put me in a bit of an awkward position in believing your identity." Realization flashed through Uzume's eyes.

"I get it, you want me to prove that I'm the real Uzume Tennouboshi and not some cosplayer, is that it?"

Katsuo nodded and gave a thumbs-up. "That about sums it up. Sorry for putting you on the spot so suddenly."

"No no I get it!" Uzume reassured. "I'd probably be feeling the same thing in your shoes. But how can I prove to you that I'm the real deal? You want me to transform?"

"Wouldn't that be impossible without access to share energy?" Katsuo pointed out. Uzume reached behind her and pulled out a small, blue crystal with the symbol of a power button on it. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that was. Katsuo shook his head. "Nooo way. Those things are way too valuable for you to be using to prove yourself, besides the way it's shining and the positive feeling I'm getting from that is enough. Just to make sure it's not my imagination however I do have an idea." Uzume shrugged and returned the crystal to wherever she kept them, something Katsuo was going to have to ask about later.

Katsuo grabbed an empty soda can and waved for Uzume to follow. Leading her out the front door, Katsuo took a moment to enjoy the sunshine before walking across the short stony concrete porch and down the pebbly steps to the gravel driveway below. Overall the front yard was a giant mass of crazy. Vehicles of several varieties lined the driveway in front of the garage, which stood to the left of the front door. Beyond the vehicles at a forty-five degree angle to the left was a massive barn that - unlike the houses grayish blue paint job, had a light sandy color to it that made it seem more lively than the house itself. A circle of gravel around a log-protected garden made up the center of the yard, from which all the gravel roads sprung, connecting the barn to the house, the front gate, and even the massive back field of several extra acres of space that was used to grow pumpkins and raise beehives.

A glance over his shoulder told Katsuo that Uzume hadn't really been to a place like this before. "Enjoying the view?" he asked.

"Hell yeah!" Uzume answered quickly. "It's a lot easier to appreciate this place when it isn't dark and pouring down rain."

"Tell me about it." Katsuo agreed. Walking across the yard to the log-protected garden, Katsuo placed the can on top of one of the largest logs before walking back to Uzume, who had remained next to the front porch watching him.

"Alright, so from what people have told me about you, you use a megaphone to fight. Normally Megaphones can't knock cans over with sound alone, so show me what you've got!"

"So wait, all I gotta do is knock that can over? Man this'll be a piece of cake!" In a flash of blue, pixelated light, an orange and black megaphone appeared in Uzume's right hand. That by itself was enough to provoke a look of surprise on Katsuo. People didn't just do that.

Stepping within five feet of the can, Uzume stared at it for a moment before bringing the megaphone to her face, taking a deep breath, and letting out a loud battle cry. The effect was instantaneous, awe inspiring, and disastrous all at the same time. The can went flying through the tree's behind it and clanged against a small white cottage that Katsuo's father used as a workshop at least fifty feet away. But that wasn't all, four of the logs on either side of the log with the can on it, as well as that one, crashed to the ground from the force of the sound. As far as Katsuo was concerned, there wasn't any denying it.

"I owe you an apology Uzume."

CHAPTER ONE END - PROGRESS SAVED

So yeah once again sorry for changing the first chapter like this, but now I have a plan for the story from beginning to middle to mostly end. Some finer details I need to work out but hey we're getting there!

Hope you guys aren't too put off by the change, and before any of you start letting out sighs of relief about less OC's… they're all still around!

See you all next time!

In case anyone is interested, the outro I'd use if given the option would be EDEN - Nocturne (Pierce Fulton Remix)