This is my own version of Millie_Astral's story Confusion. All credit for making this story goes to her.

They were enjoying their day in there home world when a dimensional shift ripped through the air. They ended up in a battle field, where a black claw struck out against the gem of a sky blue spirit. The black one snarled and escaped through a portal along with two others while the injured one was hurried off to heal.

The two were in the middle of a confused mod, and held onto one another for fear of losing each other. Hiding in the crowd, they escaped to an alley, where none but a homeless being slept.

Astral and Dark Mist, inhabitants of Valkyrian, shared a confused glance. "What just happen?" Dark Mist whispered.

Astral shrugged. "I don't know, but we're stuck here for now."

Dark Mist grimaced and peeked out around the corner of the alley they were hiding in. All he could see was the scared and confused mob and a few spirits and humans walking around. The spirits had an air of authority about them that warned that others shouldn't get close. Dark Mist figured that sense these spirits were the guardians or something.

"See anything?" Astral whispered.

"Just spirits, humans, and guards."

"Guards? Well...I guess that would make sense seeing that something happened back there."

Dark Mist pulled his head back into the hiding place. "Who do you think those two were?"

"If I were to guess, I'd say they were different versions of us. Shing did tell us that if we ended up in a different dimension that there would be different versions of us."

"So they were technically us?" Dark Mist mirrored Astral's uneasy gaze. "Because if they were us, they just saw me attack you."

Astral nodded uncomfortably. "What universe are we in where we fight?"

"A shitty one."

~.The Tower.~

Eliphas tended to Astral's wound on the gem, his patient moaning in extreme pain. The golden Guardian's face was void of emotion as Number 20 watched on, worry etched into her face.

"He will be alright, won't he, Father?"

"Yes, he will, Enna. I have dealt with injuries of greater magnitude."

"And his memory?"

"Child, a broken gem does not correlate to memory loss."

"I'm just worried!"

Eliphas sighed. "I know, Enna. Listen, if you want to keep your mind off of this, then go on patrol with the other Agents. The Light Forces will appreciate every able-bodied Agent they can get."

20 sighed and nodded. "Yes Father. Tell me when he wakes up!" She then ran out of the Tower to join the other Agents.

In the quiet of the Tower, Astral's sighs and groans of pain were even louder. Eliphas put more focus into healing the gem to almost perfect shape. He wouldn't feel lingering pain like that.

~.The Town.~

Astral and Dark Mist decided to camp out in their hiding place for a while longer. Surely, the people would be scared shitless at seeing Dark Mist, and they would wonder why Astral is with him, so for now hiding was the best choice.

Out of the scraps of fabric some people had thrown away, they made a pretty fair bed for the both of them for the night. They remained awake for a while longer, past the time the last light went out, indicating that everyone in the immediate area was asleep. Dark Mist had his arms around Astral; Astral snuggled into his love's chest. They were quite comfortable that way.

"Tomorrow, I'll try to find out some information," Dark Mist whispered. "That way we're not in the dark about anything."

Astral looks into his eyes. "You'll be careful, won't you?"

"Of course. Now, it's late. Let's get to sleep."

~.The Next Day.~

While Astral was asleep, Dark Mist got up and poked his head out of the alley to make sure no one was watching. Then, he made sure that he was blended into the light shadows of the buildings and hurried out into the world.

"I can't believe that 96 did that!"

"Did they not tie him up correctly?"

"Oh, they did! I was the one who tied him, and let me tell you that those chains were the strongest we had!"

"That Dark Number!! Ugh, I can't believe they let him escape!"

"I can't believe that Number harmed one of our Agents! Struck him right in the gem! Poor thing."

Dark Mist traveled on, gathering bits of conversation, and from what he was hearing, it was about yesterday. No surprise there, but what got to him was how badly they were talking about the 96. It was as if they absolutely hated him and every single other Dark Number, which they probably did.

"What is going on in the world?" Dark Mist whispered to himself.

Suddenly, he felt a cold moving presence in his mind. He quickly shut down the doors to his mind, but the thing kept trying to probe.

"What is this?" he asked himself. "And why is it trying to get in!?"

Dark Mist crouched in the safety of the shadows and clutched his head tightly, as if that would do something to stop this attempted assault. It was as if this being wanted to kill him!

"Who is this?" the voice (voices?) asked. "You are familiar yet not."

Dark Mist shook his head, as if that would help him clear his head of the voices, but it didn't do anything.

"I can ask you the same question." Dark Mist replied to the voice. The conversation was cut off when Dark Mist heard people.

"Where do you think he ran off to?" The people asked the Agents.

"As if they should know!" A person shouted.

"Two more went with him. Will the Agents find them?"

"They've found every other dark being. I know they'll find these!"

"Exactly. Besides, they've been in their cells for so long that I highly doubt they'll know how to navigate the world on their own."

The voices tried to speak to Dark Mist again. But he just ignored the voices in his head and continued on his hunt. Soon, he came upon some sort of headquarters, and as he peeked in the windows, he noticed something strange yet fascinating.

Twenty-four spirits of all shapes and sizes stood in a V formation with their eyes closed. The formation opened up to the opposite wall; that's where all of the spirits were facing. One of them was Astral; he was at the back, the tip of the V.

Dark Mist moved to a different window to get a look at him. He had a barely noticeable scar on his face, and an even smaller crack on the gem he broke. His face was incredibly serene though, and his posture was different, holding an air of authority as he relaxed. He stood straight, shoulders back, eyes closed, mouth relaxed, opened just the slightest bit.

Reminds me of my own... he thought with a smile. So cute and serene... Dark Mist shook his head yet again, and that was when Agent 12's eyes snapped open.

"We have an intruder," he declared.