"Hey, check it out," Gimped Panda called over to the armored warriors, who were then inspecting a card game a couple of guys had brought into the cafe. "I got someone online who actually seems to know what the hell this is all about. Guys? Guys!"

"Ah, a three of a kind," Brazil said, examining one player's cards. "A truly gracious hand. Miss Washu has smiled fortune upon you."

"Fold," the other player said.

"Dammit, man!" the first player said, getting up. "That was a winning hand!"

"Hey! Dare not raise your voice to me, lad, else it'll be the sharp end of my sword which will answer your foolish words."

"GUYS!!" Gimped screamed at the five onlookers.

"Enough of this," Meachy said. "Panda is calling us." the five made their way over to Gimped's computer and looked over his shoulder to see the bright monitor.

"What's happening?" Sakuya asked, coming over.

"I found this guy, Shinji Ikari, online. He seems to know something about this stuff."

"Blasphemy!" Brazil shouted. "To pose as a god such as him is blasphemy unforgivable!"

"Easy," Pat said, putting a hand on Brazil's arm to hold him back from smashing the monitor. "Blasphemer or not, he may be our ticket out of here. Ask him how did he manage to tap into this network. There're not direct links between our world and yours save that tunnel."

As the seven huddled around the screen, there was an unobserved onlooker studying them, one who was on the edge of his seat with excitement. "Well, well," the onlooker whispered. "Wouldn't it be fun if I played a number on all these guys? They want so desperately to get off this world, I wouldn't want to dissapoint them. And the old man, Grey, shall make an excellant tool."

Suddenly, a voice sounded in the observer's head: "Have you located them yet?!"

"Yes master," he whispered. "I was just about to send them off. Which world would you like them to go?"

"Be careful Justice. Do not tamper with these warriors too much. I tricked them in coming here to seperate the kingdom and make it weaker. Do not mess this up."

"Of course, master."

"Send them someplace . . . special. I'm thinking with a little lemony taste. Make them useless to their comrades. But not too close."

"Yes sir."

"And remember, Arcain. They are not to leave your sight. Send the old man along too. With his destructive personality, he'll surely tear them apart."

"But won't the time and space thrift alter his age?"

"He may age down, as they all may, yes, but I have foreseen a great conflict that he will spur. It's a small price."

"Yes sir."

"Don't fail me." And with that, the voice was gone.

"Old fool," Arcain mumbled. "Him and his little games. No matter, though. My revenge will be set soon. He'll slip. He's having too much fun not to. But, til then, I guess there's no choice but . . ."

"This guy's talking gibberish," Sakuya mumbled. "He's way too excited to even type."

"Wait a minute," Meachy said. "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Gimped asked.

"I just heard a voice. Probably nothing. It's my age. I'm getting older, you know."

"That's funny," Sakuya said. "You look pretty young to me."

"Hey," Gimped said. "He wrote something back."

On the screen, flashing, was a message: User Signed Off."

"Well, that was a big waste of-

"Then they were gone too.

(Now, it is to be said here the manner in which they came to be gone. It was not with a poof, or a flash. Nobody noticed them gone. It was instantaneous, in the blink of an eye. All six of them. No one was to remember them. If one were to say that this is not logical, he would be right. But remember this: all is not logic in magic and stupid fanfiction. Let's pin this one on magic for now.)