"Thank you, sir! Have a good one!" The gruff man waved to Vinnie before exiting the cafe, whistling as he disappeared into the night. "Alright! I'm done!" She yelled, celebrating to herself. The man in the kitchen made a noise of distaste. "Could you save the celebrating until I'm gone, at least?" He asked. "Aw, fine. But I'm adding it to all the other favors you've demanded of me." She responded, getting a groan back for a response. A call window suddenly popped up. "Erm, I'll be back Jeremy! Gotta take this." She told him, plugging a pair of earbuds into her glasses, placing a bud in her ear, and hitting except.

"Hello, Vinnie. I trust you've been doing well?"

"Yeah, I have. Don't worry, I've been given confirmation on his arriving at the detectives place."

"Oh, perfect. So, have you managed to sink into your role there?"

"Mostly. It's a weird place with all the, you know, demons. The red sky's given me the creeps, too."

"Yes, well, Alter was never really meant for humans anyway. It's only natural that it disturbs you."

"Yeah." She went quiet, staring out at the three moons, the words unconsciously sliding through her lips. "Was he really the best choice?"

"Honestly? He's our only option at the moment. I don't have enough time to look for a better candidate. We only have until the 15th. And besides, Mindy's taken a liking, of sorts, to him. Are you concerned for him?"

"Maybe a little."

"Don't be. You've only known him for a few months. We can't have you being sidetracked. Just focus on YOUR mission, and everything should pan out fine."

"Yes sir."

"Now, be patient, and have faith those two will figure it out. Goodbye, Vinnie."

"Goodbye, Ethan." She ended the call, letting her arms hang at her sides. "It will be worth it." And with that, she returned to her duties.

…

Once David entered the building, he immediately noticed how different it looked compared to the abandoned building he'd seen through the window. It actually reminded him of an office space. At the far back was a wall of filing cabinets, stretching up to the ceiling. A ladder sat against them. To his left were numerous bookshelves filled with books in a multitude of languages and made out of a variety of materials, most interestingly a book that, when he'd accidentally ripped a page in, regenerated in seconds. Right next to the bookshelves was a bench that a woman in a splendid red dress was sitting on, reading a cheap looking paperback. Finally, to his right was a desk, multiple files sitting on it. Bizarrely, there was a tower of used orange juice cartons on the desk, with multiple trinkets sitting atop the edges. He walked over to the desk, where the man had been sitting. Behind him was a wall of cork boards, filled with pictures of the woman and man standing beside people or in front of restaurants. "Travel often?" David joked. "Funny." Charles responded with a dead pane tone. "Please sit down." Charles motioned to the bench the woman was sitting on. David did as told, exchanging greetings with the woman, who introduced herself as simply V. "Um, so I was told to come here by someone." David began. "Yes, I know you were." Charles threw him a toffee out of the blue. "You were told to come here because you're gonna help in stopping the apocalypse." Charles declared, leaving David stunned before he started choking on the candy in his mouth. "I know, it

must be shocking. You see, you apparently will be beneficial to the person who will actually be stopping it. Think of it as an assistant bringing their boss coffee, except you're the coffee." David was too busy choking to react. "Now, what we require of you is that you stick with Mindy Valentine, I'm sure you've met her, and become a valuable asset to her, so that she may succeed in her quest to save the world! How does that sound?" David finally managed to swallow the candy, and responded with, "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" Charles sighed. "We need you to be Mindy's bitch. What she needs, you give it to her. You form a powerful friendship that helps stop the leader of evil. Capiche?" David seemed to be holding back a laugh. "What, did I say something weird?" David nodded his head. "Just the idea that I have any importance to this whatsoever." Charles nodded. "Well, to be honest, you were chosen because of your direct link to destiny. An ability that is important to this mission." Charles explained. "Um, I'm really sorry, but I can only tell MY future...five seconds at a time." Charles listened to David, nodded, and answered. "Well, I'm not one to question a higher power, so I say you should just do it anyway." David gulped. "Well, he could've told me that. Why are you guys?" Charles smirked, grabbed David's shoulder, and got in close. "Cause I, master class detective Charles Aseseino, am gonna be your wingman." The woman whispered David an apology.

…

Vinnie walked down the street, watching the world through her night vision she'd installed on her glasses. She gripped her backpack tight, trying to block out all of the thoughts in her head. She stopped at the pole, pointing to English Avenue, and waited. She really hadn't known him all that long. Only about 6 months, but it had been easy to become friends with him. She couldn't tell if it was his personality or merely pity, but the thought of him getting hurt wasn't an easy one to ignore. She hadn't bothered trying to get close to people here, considering that, eventually, she'd just be plucked out of this existence, only to be placed in another. She'd avoided getting close to anyone else, but why him? Why couldn't she stop worrying? Why…a message appeared on her display, telling her that he was heading home. She took a deep breath, and walked forward. "Vinnie?" She stopped, watching him walk toward her. She felt a smile forming on her lips.