AWOKEN -UNKNOWN/OFF-

It gets quite lonely... [1]

There was nothing.

I couldn't see anything, and when I tried to open my eyes, or move at all, My body wouldn't let me. but then, a man with a cat mask appeared in front of me. He looked... familiar somehow... but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"Welcome back, Jilly. I know why you're here: you want to restore the world that you, as well as the Batter, have eradicated, don't you? That might not be easy" The masked man said. The Batter? Isn't he a game character from OFF? Wait, then that would mean..

"..Zacharie?" I quietly spoke. Zacharie gave a small nod in reply, but then kept going,

"But, because I like you, Jilly... I'll be willing to give it a try."

If I could feel my face, I'm sure it would be heating up. What kind of like did he mean?

Zacharie then faded from my mind, but his voice began to speak again,

"It gets quite lonely, all on your own."

After he stopped talking, words appeared in my head. Words that I couldn't quite explain:

"Now you have your own mission: to turn the world back on, and restore the zones to their previous state. To do this, you must destroy all the Zodiac cards. Good luck, Jilly."

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After a few more minutes, I was able to move and open my eyes once more, but what met me was a blinding white light. I had to blink a few times to get used to it but when I did, I saw that Zacharie was looking down at me. He was wearing his cat mask and his heart shirt.

"Hello there, Jilly. It is kind of you to come by!" I saw him smile under his mask as he said it.

I tried to stand, but I still felt dizzy and could only make it to where I was on my knees. When I looked around, I noticed that we were in Zone 0, but something was off. The whole zone was black and white.

"What happened to this place?" I asked as Zacharie held out a hand and helped me onto my feet.

"You don't remember? When you and the Batter purified the world, this is what happened to all of the zones. It has been quite lonely here recently. I suppose it's just you and me now," His smile faded as he said the first part.

"When I helped the Batter with his mission, I never intended for this to happen.." I murmured, regret clouding my gaze.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter now. Let's get moving, there's something I want to try," When he finished, we began walking towards the building in the distance. My energy had regained surprisingly fast, considering I was out cold a few minutes prior.

Zacharie sighed, "What a miserable sight... Let's just pray that my idea works," He held up a card and the zone began returning to it's normal yellow. "Is it working?"

I nodded and stared in amazement as the old cat that I knew and loved came out of the closest door in the building.

"Who is this, that my old feline's eyes spy?" The Judge said looking Zacharie in confusion.

"Pablo? It is I, Zacharie. Don't tell me that you don't remember your old friend?" Zacharie asked, looking right at Judge.

"I am very distraught, but I'll have to respond in the negative, dearest Zacharie..."

"So you don't remember me." I could hear a bit of pain in his voice, but it was barely noticeable, "That's okay. Just let it be known that I have come with good intentions."

"It is a pleasure to hear of this," The Judge suddenly turned and looked at me, curiosity and a hint of anger in his eyes, "Oh, and is this not our good friend, Jilly?"

"Yes, that is indeed her. She will be accompanying me."

"While I find myself unable to forgive you, Jilly, for allowing the Batter to complete his demented mission, I must say that I appreciate your willingness to undo your mistakes," His gaze softened a bit and he then turned to look at both of us, "I may not remember everything, but my memories might return in due time."

"Pablo, I have come here to seek your aid, old friend. Jilly might not remember how the art of combat works," Zacharie said, as I remained silent.

"Are you requesting my assistance, dear Zacharie?" Judge scoffed, letting out a small hiss at the end of his sentence.

"Silly Pablo... Are you hinting at that you're not going to help us redeem our ways of errors?"

"No... I will, charitably, assist you," His defiant smile that he almost always held began to change into a frown.

"Your fading grin appears to say otherwise, amigo. Do you hold a grudge against Jilly?" I frowned at the Judge, regret once again reflecting in my eyes as I remembered what had happened:

"Stop right there you imposter!" The white cat ran into the room right before the Batter was able to pull the switch, "I must say that I had the placed the blindest of confidences, the solidest of hopes and the most sincere belief in you..."

"..We can well say that I had erred to the bones. But the real betrayer is rather the one who lies beyond the eye of the cat. What have you done, Jilly?" He continued.

I stepped back a bit, wondering why he lashed out at me rather than the Batter. What have I done? Batter killed his child and I didn't even lift a finger to stop him...

Judge kept going, "Is the opaque mist of the sceneristic frame really your excuse for killing wife and child? You have not purified this place. You have destroyed, eradicated it. You have immersed it into a pristine nothingness."

"Judge, I-" I began to speak, but the Batter cut me off,

"It's better like that."

The Judge glared at the Batter for several moments before replying, "I should not have lent you my hand. I should have detected the black flame that consumed your soul from the beginning. Jilly, join me. Expiate the sins with me that we are guilty of by preventing this monster from completing his work."

"Don't do that, I need you in order to purify this world," The Batter looked at me, a pleading look in his eyes. However this pleading look was combed over with darkness. He really wanted to do this, and he was willing to kill to do it.

"The time has now come to render your final and futile judgement,"

I looked from the Judge to Batter, wondering what to do. But at the beginning of the mission, I remember what I was told, 'The Batter has an important mission. Be sure that it's accomplished,'

"The Batter and I have a job, and we're going to make sure that it gets done." My eyes darkened as I said it. I'm so sorry Judge...

"...Too bad for you, Jilly, you will die in control if your evil marionette," The Judge took a step forward, growling.

-End of Flashback-

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the memories, as the Judge replied to Zacharie's question, "No, I'm solely disappointed on how my last experience with guiding ended up. I will aid you nonetheless... If you would, please, join me atop this ladder..?"

"You won't regret it this time, " Zacharie said as the Judge pretty much flew up the ladder. He then grabbed my hand and we started running to the ladder, "C'mon Jilly! Time to learn how to fight!"