Atria rubbed her eyes as the 4:00 AM bullet train sped towards Osaka. The JSDF had booked them an entire car, and a bleary-eyed Atria, Stella, Adam, Captain Infinite, and Alice, along with a couple of junior officers, had filed in at the station, all carrying duffel bags. Atria had wished for two things as she sat down on her seat – that her replacement uniform would have been ready, and for more coffee.

  She glanced around the car. Stella had gone back to sleep leaning against Adam, who stared out the window. Cap and Alice chatted away quietly. Atria smiled – it was good that they had finally cleared the air between them. Her mind went back to the previous day, full of the administrivia of setting her up as a liaison with the Japanese Army. The paperwork had been extensive, dull, and boring. The tour of the base by Colonel Sato, on the other hand, had been pleasant and interesting. Sato took particular pride in showing off his brigade of Type 10 tanks.

  “They are the best my country has to offer,” he had declared with a smile. “What do you think?”

  Atria had smiled back. “They look wonderful. You are right to be proud.”

  The memory brought a grin to her face. If only she had been able to show him what Volandpanzer could do.

  Cap’s voice brought her back to the present. “So, that flying you do – how does it work?” he asked in English.

  Atria blinked. “Sorry?”

  “That thing on your belt that makes things fly,” Cap said. “I was wondering how it worked.”

  “It’s just an antigrav,” Atria said. “I don’t really know how it does what it does. It can lift up to 350 pounds, and on a full charge can last about three hours at full load. What about you? How does your flying work?”

  Cap shrugged. “Don’t know. I just do it. I tried to figure it out once, while I was flying between Chicago and New York. My mind started wandering, and before I knew it, I was thinking about how flying worked.”

  “And?”

  “And, it turns out it’s sort of like flexing a muscle,” Cap said. “The more you think about flexing a muscle while you’re doing it, the less you end up doing it. After a while, it’s all thinking and no doing.”

  Atria blinked. “Meaning...”

  Cap grinned and nodded. “I hit that farmer’s field at about a hundred and fifty miles per hour. Didn’t hurt – I’m Captain Infinite, after all. But, it took me half an hour to fill in the furrow...and I think I spent about $150 to replace all that corn I wiped out. Money went further in the 1950s.”

  Atria laughed.

  “And, you know, it’s like golf,” Cap added. “Always replace your divot.”

  “What’s golf?” Atria asked.

  Cap cocked his head. “You haven’t played golf? That’s a shame. It’s a game where you use a club to hit a ball into a hole. Done right, it’s really relaxing.”

  “Sounds nice.”

  “I’ll tell you what,” Cap said. “After we’ve found this Daiki Yamato guy, we’ll get a group together and play a round of golf.”

  Atria nodded. “Okay, I’m in.”

  Cap turned to Alice. “You in?”

  Alice nodded. Cap turned to Adam.

  “I’ll play a round of golf with Captain Infinite,” Adam said with a grin.

  “And Stella is...still asleep,” Cap said. “Okay, we’ve got a group. I’ll caddy.”

  “Caddy?” Atria asked.

  “Carry the clubs for everybody else,” Adam explained, then turned to face Cap. “But why not play?”

  Cap smiled sadly. “I’m still Captain Infinite. The key to a good swing is the speed of the club head, not the force behind it. That means its not something I can control like I can other things. Any golf ball I hit is going to end up somewhere in orbit.”

  “That’s a pity,” Alice said.

  Atria looked at her. “You really don’t need to be here, Alice,” she said. “And I can’t let you out into the field once we get there.”

  “Adam’s going into the field,” Alice stated.

  “Adam is going into the field to prevent Stella from doing anything stupid,” Atria said. “And Stella has the experience needed to get both of them out of trouble if need be. Cap is bulletproof, and you’re not. So, you can stay back with the support team and help coordinate, but that’s all I can let you do.”

  Alice nodded. “Okay.”

  “Why are you here, anyway?” Atria asked.

  Alice stared at the floor. “After the way I treated Cap earlier, I figured I owed him some company on the trip.”

  Atria checked her watch. “I’ll start the briefing in about an hour. Everybody, try to get some rest. This could be a long day.”

  Atria sat back, closed her eyes, and tried to sleep. After a few minutes of trying, she opened her eyes and looked around the passenger car. Cap picked up his duffel bag and headed to the water closet, mentioning something to Alice about needing to get his work clothes on. He returned still in his street clothes, but with the duffel bag empty.

  Stella began to stir against Adam, stretching and yawning. Atria checked her watch. The time was close enough – as soon as everybody was awake, she’d begin.

  The rising sun was shining through the windows when she called the briefing to order.

  “Right, everybody,” Atria began. “Our mission is to find Daiki Yamato and bring him in. Alice will help coordinate from the Hanshin Base Corps, which we will use as our base of operations while we are here. Cap, Stella, Adam and I will be the team on the ground. We’ll start our search with the hostels in Osaka, as he will likely be spending the night at one. The lieutenant will pass out copies of the pictures of him that appeared on social media. For best results, we need to find him by 10:00 in the morning.”

  “Why’s that?” Cap asked.

  “He’s an isekai protagonist from a Japan just like this one,” Atria replied. “His period of disorientation is probably already over. By 10:00 the stores will be open, and he’ll be able to pawn some of his belongings and acquire street clothes, if he hasn’t already done so. Once that happens, all we’ll have to identify him is a sword that he can hide in a bag like I have mine, his height, and a scar on his face.”

  Cap nodded. “So after 10:00 he’ll be in the wind. That makes sense.”

  “Once somebody spots him, they should let the rest of us know using the cell phones that you’ve all been issued,” Atria continued. “All of us will gather once Yamato has been located, and Stella and Adam will take care of first contact. Then, assuming he’s willing, we bring him back to Tokyo with us.”

  “What if he’s not willing?” Stella asked.

  Atria rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know. We can’t force him. His creator is back at the barracks, so if he wants to meet her, he has to go through us, so that’s something. We’ll tell him that we’re trying to figure out how to get everybody home, which is true enough. If those doesn’t work, I guess we just give him a phone number he can reach us at if he changes his mind. I’m sorry – I wish I had something better. Usually there’s more time to prepare a mission than this.”

  Cap smiled. “We’ll manage.”

  “Right now there’s no sign that the other side is operating outside of Tokyo or knows that Yamato has appeared, so we shouldn’t have to worry about any altercations. If one does start, Cap and I will handle it, and aim to minimize casualties and property damage. Stella and Adam are to stay out of the way and not engage.”

  Atria glanced at Stella. Stella looked unhappy, but didn’t say anything.

  “We know what he’s going through, so that’s on our side,” Atria stated. “And, he’s one of us. We have an obligation to try to help him.” The train began slowing as it approached the station. “All right. Let’s get to work.”

  Adam and Stella had just left their third hostel, and already Stella’s feet were starting to hurt. At the front desk of each establishment, they had asked about a tall man with a scar, and suggested that he might be a cosplayer. Every time, they had been met with a polite denial.

  “We should start making our way towards the shopping district,” Stella said, checking her watch. It was already 9:00. “He’s probably on his way there now anyway.”

  “And you’re hungry,” Adam said, grinning.

  Stella smiled. “Something like that.”

  Adam checked his phone. “Our next hostel in that direction is about twenty minutes away.”

  Stella’s phone rang. She picked it up to hear Atria’s voice on the line. “Anything?”

  “Not yet,” Stella said. “We’re heading towards the shopping district now, and we’ll check a couple of places along the way. You?”

  “Nothing,” Atria said. “Cap reports the same. For all we know, he got street clothes yesterday, or the hostel staff are just being discreet.”

  Stella felt Adam tap her on the shoulder as they reached the intersection. He pointed down the street to the right. A tall figure in a blue cloak was halfway down the block, his head poking above the crowd.

  “Actually, I think we just found him,” Stella said. “Adam will text you the location.”

  Stella hurried through the crowd, getting closer to the tall figure. “Excuse me!” she called in Japanese. “Are you Daiki Yamato?”

  The man stopped and turned. Behind her, she heard Adam making his way through the crowd to catch up. “I am Daiki Yamato,” the man said. “Who are you, and how do you know who I am?”

  “My name is Stellaria, but everybody calls me Stella,” Stella said. “I’m from another world, like you. But, it’s more complicated than that.”

  “I’m listening,” Daiki Yamato said.

  “This may sound unbelievable, but we’re fictional characters from stories created in this world. This is the world of the people who created us.”

  Daiki chuckled. “I think somebody has been messing with you. I’m quite familiar with parallel worlds, and this isn’t my first time travelling between them. This may not be my Japan, but that just means that it’s an alternate Japan. The other two Legendary Weapon heroes in my world were also from different alternate Japans. We’re all quite real, and so are our worlds. Also, you really need to work on your pronunciation.”

  “We can prove it,” Stella said. “Your creator is with our team in Tokyo. Her name is Akari Soto. We can show you the light novels you’re from, and–”

  “And I have to go to Tokyo with you and your friends, yes?”

  Stella nodded. “We’ll do what we can to get you home, too.”

  “I’ll pass,” Daiki said. “My fiancee may have fallen into this world with me, and I need to find her if she has. I can’t do that in Tokyo. Her name is Athena, and she’s a half-wolf demi-human. If she’s here, she’s probably very frightened and confused. Her world isn’t anything like this one.”

  Stella nodded. “I know what that’s like. My world is from a fantasy video game, and I wouldn’t have survived if my fiancé hadn’t found me. We’re working with the Japanese Self-Defence Force. If you come with us, we will help you find your fiancee.”

  Daiki sighed. “Look, you seem to mean well, but I don’t know you. The fact that you know my name and who I am does suggest that you are who you say you are, but I’ve been betrayed before. I think I’d rather handle this myself.”

  “We’ve got some friends coming,” Stella said. “My best friend, Atria Silversword, is on her way, and so is our other friend, Captain Infinite. They’re both like us – She’s a mech pilot, and he’s a superhero. Would you be willing to hear them out?”

  Daiki Yamato took a deep breath and was about to speak when a new voice spoke in an American accent, saying in English, “You must be Daiki Yamato.”

  Stella turned to face a tall, well-built American with short dark hair, dressed in a black three-piece suit. The man looked at her. “And I recognize you two from my colleague’s surveillance spell.”

  “Who are you?” Stella asked in English.

  “I am a representative of the other side,” he said, and then turned to Daiki Yamato. “Did they suggest that they were the only interested party in this matter? That’s quite dishonest of them.”

  “What is he saying?” Daiki asked in Japanese.

  “Joke’s on you, pal,” Adam said in English. “He only speaks Japanese.”

  “Unfortunately, my associate and interpreter has yet to arrive, although he is on his way,” the man said, and then held up a flip phone. “You’re not the only ones with cell phones. That said, I was given one Japanese phrase should this situation arise.” He turned to Daiki and said, in accented Japanese, “Don’t trust them. Trust us instead.”

  Daiki looked at Stella with suspicion. “Who is this man? What is his part in this?”

  The man looked around. “I think we’re drawing a crowd. Let’s discuss this somewhere more private.”

  “I think we should stay right here,” Adam said in English.

  “What are you all saying?” Daiki demanded. “Somebody translate!”

  The man pulled open his jacket just far enough to display the gun holstered under his shoulder. “I disagree. And since what we fictional characters have to say to one another is not for the general crowd, I think we’ll be going with my suggestion. That alley over there seems appropriate.”

  Stella inhaled sharply. “He wants us to come with him,” she said in Japanese. “And he has a gun.”

  The man in the suit motioned to the alley. Stella swallowed and took Adam’s hand. He gave her a reassuring squeeze. Slowly the three of them walked into the alley, the man following a few feet away.

  “That’s far enough for some privacy,” the man said. “Now, precisely what is it you are offering to Mr. Yamato? Our side reserves the right to make a counter-offer, but we need to know the starting point in this negotiation.”

  Stella looked at Adam and swallowed. “We’ll try to find a way to send him home,” she said in English.

  “My associate can travel between worlds at will,” the man said. “So we can guarantee his safe journey home once this is all done. What else are you offering?”

  “Would somebody please translate?” Daiki said in Japanese.

  “To meet his creator,” Stella said in English.

  “Meeting our creators is in our plans as well,” the man said. “Our counter-offer seems better. Perhaps you should retire from this negotiation.”

  “Enough!” Daiki roared in Japanese. “I don’t know what you are arguing about, but I want nothing to do with either of you! Just tell me one thing: have any of you seen my fiancee?”

  The man glanced at Daiki and then at Stella. “What is he asking?”

  “He wants to know if you’ve seen his fiancee,” Stella replied in English. “She’s half wolf.”

  “That sounds very intriguing,” the man said. “But I’m afraid we have not. We will help him find her, however, if she can be found. Please translate this with precision. I would be very disappointed if you left something out.”

  “What did he say?” Daiki demanded.

  “He hasn’t seen her,” Stella said in Japanese, clenching her fist to stop her hand from shaking. “And he says he’ll help you look for her.”

  “If none of you have seen her, then what use are any of you?” Daiki growled. “Let me leave.”

  “What did he say?” the man said.

  “He wants to leave,” Stella said in English, and then blurted, “Please don’t hurt us.”

  The man drew his pistol and leveled it at them. “I’m afraid I am going to insist that Mr. Yamato comes with me.”

  “Please,” Stella begged, “I didn’t leave anything out, or misrepresent what you said. Please just let us all go.”

  “I’m afraid I just don’t find you very credible,” the man said, flicking the safety off his gun. “And if you’re going to stand in my way, you’re going to have to be removed.”

  Stella grabbed Adam’s hand and squeezed for dear life. And then the world exploded around her.

  NEXT: “Casualty”

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