Fluffy, and his clone in crime, ran through the fields carelessly. The suns on their backs, and the wind in their faces. It was the most fun fluffy had in a long time. His clone ran and rolled into a ball, rolling down the hill before popping back out, a little dizzy. Fluffy mimicked his clones actions, and ended up being dizzy as well. "Well that was fun" he said with little swirls in his eyes. His clone laughed and had teh same swirls in his eyes. "Your eyes are weird" he said. "Yours are weirder" Fluffy responded.

Suddenly both Phluffis looked up and perked up their ears. They could faintly hear what sounded like screams. Both phluffis began to run towards them, rushing at full speed. "You hear that rite?" Fluffy asked. "Yesh" the clone responded.In the field just ahead 2 girls were being attacked by roots. Both phluffis stood there and watched for a few minutes, just awed by the sight. "Think we should help them?" The clone asked. "Um...in a minute" Fluffy responded.

Within a few minutes, Fluffy suddenly had on a orange jumpsuit, and a headband with a happy face engraved on a metal plate on it. He put his paws together and shouted "Shadow clone jutsu!" and a bunch of phluffis appeared. They ran down the hill, and began to eat the roots. They were slurping them up like spaghetti.

It was a routine mission. That was about all Sora Celeste could think about. A simple get in, get the target and get the hell out.

How she ended up... wherever the hell this was, was anything but routine.

She had started out at midnight. The shift change was at one o'clock, and she had plenty of time to make sure that she was in place when the signal came. Paperwork in hand, she walked confidently to the guard's gate, wearing the appropriate business suit over her comfortable stretch clothes. In the briefcase she carried was nothing more than the charges she needed to set and a pair of running shoes, but she looked for all the world as if she were the young researcher she was supposed to be.

She'd been scoping the place out for some time; had even had lunch with one of the employees from the day to chat idly, and she'd easily discovered the serious lack of tight security. Certainly, they had plenty of guards and patrols for the hallways, but though some sensitive research was being held on the lower levels, it was hardly a target of interest. They had never dreamed the Resistance would find out about the place, and if it hadn't been for Sora, they wouldn't have.

So she just stood, smiling at the guard as he took her official working papers, not showing hesitance until he motioned for her to take the badge he was holding with her temporary ID number and her security access card. Thank god for big companies. They were always prepared for new employees.

"I'm sorry, sir, but could you tell me where office 32B is? I'm not really familiar with the layout." It was a blatant lie; she'd memorized the floor plan weeks ago. Gaining the trust and belief of others, however, is all in the details.

The man grinned at her and she could see his teeth were yellowing. He was older and had probably never even seen most of the inside of the building. "I'm terribly sorry Miss..." He looked at the paperwork still in front of him, "Gardner, but you'll have to check the map in the lobby. I'm not sure myself."

She smiled gently for him, her eyes scanning his more official badge. "That's alright, Buck. I think I can find it."

The man positively beamed and Sora couldn't help but chuckle to herself. It was too easy.

Once in the building, she made her way to 'her' office, knowing that the real Miss Gardner wouldn't be needing it anytime soon and slipped out of her upper layer of clothing. She changed her shoes and retrieved her charges, tucking them into various pockets on her vest. She looked up, finding the air vent she knew would be there and moved a chair to assist her climb.

Moving through an air vent is nothing like it is in the movies. You cannot just crawl wherever you want to go. In most buildings, the vents are either not big enough or cannot carry enough weight to support a full grown human being. In industrial areas, however, they tended to move a higher pressure of wind, and thus were larger and more manageable. Still, vents make all kinds of noise due to the strain, and simply crawling around on your hands and knees is not feasible without making the whole damn building aware of exactly what was happening.

So Sora began the painstakingly slow process of moving through the ventilation system. It was more worm-like than a crawl. She laid completely flat, using just her arms to pull herself forward at a snail's pace. It took a full three hours to reach the lab.

She found it abandoned and jumped down noiselessly. So far, so good. Everything was going according to plan.

The machine she was instructed to find was in the far left corner, and she approached it with some interest. It was said to have some sort of power that would threaten Earth, though the details were not of her concern. They hadn't been given and she hadn't asked. All that mattered was that it was to be destroyed along with the computers that were connected to it. She took her time setting the charges, making sure they were in the best possible position to blow apart the whole structure. Once they were set, she would have less than fifteen minutes to be out of the building and well away from the area. She hardly gave it a second thought - it was nothing less than routine.

She stepped onto the platform to set her final charge - the one that would bring all of the others exploding in unison, and set the timer. The charge stuck nicely to the center of the large contraption, and she turned to head out, but something... happened. There was a faint hum and the laboratory lit up; the machine glowing a gentle blue.

There was not time for a change in plans. It did not matter what was happening in the lab. She broke into a silent sprint, ready to make her way out through an emergency exit she had chosen just for this moment, but the light was blinding by this point and she shielded her eyes, never breaking her stride.

Then she noticed... the ground was soft under her feet. The building was not carpeted in this area. After a moment, she heard a faint rustling with each step she took. The light, while not so blinding, had dulled to a cheerful brightness.

When her sight came full back into play, she nearly fainted.

She was in a field with the sun shining on her face; a city glittering merrily in the distance. It was like nothing she had ever seen before.

She whipped around, looking for any sign of the building she had left behind. There was nothing but that faint blue glow in the air for a moment... and then nothing. It was fields as far as the eye could see.

Iris Kelendri was not at a loss for things to do. As the town Jester, he could be wherever he wanted in a matter of seconds. The town in which he lived was called Dalos, and they needed humor more than Scrooge himself. The people at Dalos would do anything for humor. Dalos was the only town in the entire realm of Humor that did not possess humor itself by default, so they were considered the scourge of the realm. Because iris Kelendri was a strange little guy, he moved purposely to Dalos, where he would give shows to the humorless scum in exchange for a living. Iris could have made a fortune from his work, but always kept the cost low so that virtually anyone in Dalos could come.

Iris had just got done enteraining an old couple. He was bored so decided to visit the king's estate. The king of Dalos had thrice offered Iris Kelendri the throne but this is what Iris said, "Bah! You know how many wars we'd get into if I were the king? Well, I don't! And I don't think you want to find out! Being the Only Humor in Dalos is fine for me!" And he said it every time. That's what people in Dalos called him: The Only Humor. One his way to the king's estate, Iris did cartwheels for the passerby and cracked small jokes. The people smiled vibrantly. For some, this was the highlight of their entire day. For the rest, they would see Iris later. There was no in between. One thing was constant in Dalos : Iris Kelendri was the highlight of your day.

Iris liked to see people smile so brightly over the smallest things, he drank the attention like a sick man would drink chicken soup. So Iris bounced over to the King's estate. The king was waiting outside. Waiting for him. That's what everybody did in Dalos : Wait for him. Of course, the children had to do their homework first, and the adults had to tend the fields. But wealthy people did nothing all day but wait for him. Or chat with others waiting for him. This was amusing to the jester, very amusing. When Iris was yet 20 feet from the king, the king shouted. "Hello Iris! Come to pay me a visit?"

Iris bounced close to the king. "A visit? What kind of currency is that? I'm afraid I have no visits on me, sir, you'll have to borrow some from the baron."

The King laughed a great deal. Such a small, simple thing could make someone from Dalos laugh for centuries. A man walked up to the right of the king. This man was not laughing. The jester did a bunch of tricks. Still no laughing. The king didn't notice, for he was rolling over on the floor dying of the thing this new man seemed not to have: The ability to laugh. "Why won't you laugh?" Asked Iris.

The man walked over to Iris and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Look into my eyes boy, and then I shall laugh."

Iris was stupid enough to do so, and felt himself drift off to... sleep?

Sleep? No. No, it was not sleep that Iris fell into. It was more of a trance. And then falling. Falling... falling... splat! Iris Kelendri fell flat on his face and his half-mask fell off. He put it back on and stood up. As he stood up, the dirt that felt so solid earlier, dripped off his hands like a liquid. Strange, he thought, as he looked at the purple sky. Since when did they have two suns?

Her mission-oriented mind didn't allow her to stand there dumbfounded, so she quickly got herself together and took a better look around. The field was just that - a field. There were two suns in the sky and she could feel the warmth on her skin.

So this was their weapon. It was a rather elaborate hallucination. She walked towards the city, feeling for invisible walls but finding none. Then she must be unconscious. But then that meant she was still in that room. She either had to find a way to wake herself in the next fifteen minutes or she would be blown to pieces with the rest of the lab.

It certainly wouldn't be the best way to end a mission.

She ran towards the sparkling city in the distance, keeping mental note of the time. She wondered if time in this hallucination was the same as real time. There was only one way to find out, and she wasn't sure she was all that eager to know.

The closer she came to the city, the more she was able to take in. It looked as if it were made out of fine gems, though where one could find enough diamonds and rubies to build an entire city out of was beyond her. Then again, being a hallucination made just about anything possible, she supposed.

There were... she wanted to say people, but she wasn't quite sure that's what they were, filling the streets, engaging in trade and moving in and out of little shops. She jumped a little when she realized what these people looked like. Bangaa's, from one of her cousin's video games.

"If you aren't buying, get the hell out of the way." She was blocking the path. Shit, so much for blending in. Everything was so elaborate; it all felt so real. But she knew that it wasn't - it couldn't - be real. She walked down the path at a slow canter, taking in all her eyes could while appearing to be a tourist. If she was stuck here for the time being, she may as well try to blend in.

She saw an inn and read the prices on the wall. 250 Gil per night, it read. Gil? Was that from that game, too? She couldn't remember. She'd only watched him play. Was her mind supplying things it had seen? In any case, she didn't have any of this 'gil', so she continued on.

Until another human ran right into her.

She helped him to his feet, taking in his clothing. It was nothing like she'd ever seen real people wear, no matter what the era. Long pants on the left and shorts on the right with a shirt that was exactly opposite with the sleeves. His hair looked like a porcupine was sleeping on top of his head and he had strange tattoos everywhere.

"I'm sorry, miss," he said cheerily; a little chagrined smirk on his lips.

"That's all right. Are you okay?"

"Yeah! I just got a little careless, that's all. The name's Murdock. And you are?" He stuck his hand out in a friendly gesture, completely sure of himself.

Sora took it just to please him. "The name's Kitara." Hallucination or not, she wasn't about to reveal her true identity to a total stranger.

He shook vigorously before finally letting her have her hand back and placing it on the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. He was going to ask for something; she just knew it.

"Do you think you could help me? I'll pay you handsomely..."

She took in the time on her internal clock. It had been ten minutes. Still, there was nothing she could do - nothing in this town seemed even advanced enough to be of any help, despite the decadence of the buildings. "I suppose I could be persuaded."

Murdock practically beamed, taking Sora's hand and dragging her along behind him.

Food... Come to think of it, Eric hadn't thought about what he would eat on his adventure. In his daydreams, he was always back in time for supper. His stomach also reminded him that dinner time had been called for when his adventure began. Eric scanned the street for some kind of food store or shop, or stand. Eric tried to remember the survival lessons his dad taught him, one of which was: Don't drink out of the toilet, but Eric thought that was just common sense.

Another thought dawned on him... once they found a place to buy food, how would they pay for it? What did they use as currency in this town, not that it mattered, since Eric had no currency of any kind on him. Eric patted his coat down for anything he could bear to give away... perhaps an object of sufficient shininess would do.

"Don't suppose you have any 'wrong way' currency?" Eric grinned at Shiela, following her gaze around to the funeral and birthday party. "Or... maybe we can go 'pay our respects' at that funeral. I could go for some rainbow colored cake..."

It was hard to tell how serious he was being, because at the same time, he was examining the contents of his pockets for things of value. He produced a piece of chewing gum, a shiny rock he had found in the fields one day, and a collection of red and black fuzz. Not exactly a bazaar of interesting things, of course Eric hadn't really been prepared to go on an adventure, one had just kind of fell into his lap, or through his door as it were.

Murdock led Sora down twisting streets, and she tried in vain to keep track of their movements. The City was quite large, and she was nearly lost by the time he skidded to a halt in front of her. She almost ran into him.

"Okay... so here's what I need you to do. See those stables back there?" Sora nodded bemusedly. "Okay, so I have a few errands to run, but I need those Dragon Knights fed by six o'clock. All you have to do is take these bags of feed back to the barn, and as each dragon yells, drop some feed for it. But be quick - they get angry if they have to wait."

"I suppose I can do that." She seemed to recall something like this from her cousin's video games as well, but she couldn't place it.

"Well, I'll be back in a couple of hours. If you do a good job, I'll give you a few thousand gil and if you do really well, I'll give you a prize!" Murdock enthused, and Sora just stared at him.

"A prize?" But he was already gone.

See looked at the bags and looked off towards the barn.

Well, it certainly was shaping up to be an interesting day.

Shiela smiled as Eric made what she supposed was a joke, though she couldn't se his face too well. He was taking junk out of his pocket. Shiela hadn't thought about currency. In the oceans, currency wasn't used. People just did whatever they could for others. The Undine were a peaceful, sharing race. At least they were ever since Relin Draseth, Shiela's father, took control. Hearing his suggestion of rainbow cake, Shiela looked over at the funeral. "Hmm.. it could work. But we got to do this right. It's all opposites after all. Normally at funerals people act sad. So we should probably be happy..." She pondered the strange ways of the strange purple men. "Lets go."

Shiela skipped gaily over to the funeral and smiled at the people there. Now... to speak in opposotes... "What lived?"

"Tom Harrison lived tomorrow where she gave a mind defense." Said a strange little man in blue shorts.

Urgh, so confusing, thought Shiela. It took her a minute to figure out that translated into "Tome harrison died yesterdat when he had a heart attack." This whole place was very confusing. Shiela would have to be quicker with her mind in order to speak correctly here.

"Oh, how great! You hated her!" She said, meaning "Oh, how horrible! I loved him!" The purple man invited her to take some cake. rainbow cake. So Shiela did. It looked good, and the frosting was begging to be eaten. So she took a bite. As she did, her eyes widened and she turned toward Eric. "It's...fish..." Shiela didn't want to eat it. The Undine do not eat fish. But she had to because it would have been rude to leave. So Shiela ate the entire thing.