"Now, let me ask one last thing—why did you decide to live in this town?"
"..."
"Can't say?"
"Because I couldn't find my place in the human world."
"But you're human, right?"
"There's no one left on this side who treats me like a human..."
"Hee hee hee, I see."
The receptionist smiled, apparently satisfied with Scott's answer.
"Welcome! You're now in a lovely new realm."
She stamped a large seal with gold embellishments and handed the paper to Scott with a smile.
"Here you go. This is your entry permit and will serve as temporary citizenship. Please bring it to the hall within a week for formal procedures."
"Ah, thanks..."
"Oh, and by the way, you're registered as a Class B special ability user, so someone from the management bureau might approach you when you leave. They might even take you straight to headquarters, but since you seem like a good person, I'm sure you'll be fine."
"Huh?"
"Yes, that concludes our review here. Take care!"
Scott was bewildered by the receptionist's casual mention of ominous possibilities, but she just waved with a cheerful smile, oblivious to his confusion.
"..."
"Yes, next—number 1345, please—"
Scott, feeling a mix of emotions, took everything out of his basket and headed toward the Moon Gate, the dedicated portal for would-be settlers.
"Is this the way to Limbo City?"
Gripping the paper he had been handed, Scott took a step forward.
"Even if it's as rumored, it's bound to be better than where I've been..."
In front of him loomed a large black gate, radiating a gentle light like moonlight. Beyond this gate lay his new world.
The name of this new world was Limbo City—a bizarre city that suddenly appeared in this world a hundred years ago, connecting to another realm.
*****
"Brandon Bridge is down, down, down—"
"Brandon Bridge is down—"
"Ma-i, fe-a, le-dee—"
In a charming cityscape where Georgian architecture stood side by side with modern buildings, a sleek black luxury car was stuck in traffic on a grand avenue lined with buildings of muted colors.
A blonde girl wearing glasses, seated in the back, sang while gazing out the window.
"Looks like the city is bustling today. Everyone seems so happy—maybe there's a festival ahead, or maybe Brandon Bridge has fallen again—"
"Who knows? At any rate, everyone looks like they're having a great time; I'm quite envious," replied the elderly butler driving the car, tapping his index finger lightly on the steering wheel as he glared at the car in front of them.
"Hey, we're not moving at all, huh? Traffic jam?"
"Indeed, the cars ahead haven't budged since a while ago."
"Aww, this is such a pain. I'm keeping my impatient friend waiting!"
"Well, what can you do..."
"It can't be helped, I guess."
The girl grabbed her vintage brown suitcase from beside her and stepped out of the car. Stretching and looking up at the sky, she smiled brightly.
"Miss Dorothy?"
The old butler called out to the girl who suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.
"Call me President when we're outside?"
"Now, now, what are you planning to do by getting out of the car?"
"I'm flying from here on out. Just park the car somewhere."
"...Please let me know before you get out of the car next time."
"Sorry, I'll be more careful next time," she said with a smile to the old butler, then lightly kicked the suitcase on the ground.
"Time to shine, Pixie. Take me to my friend's place."
In response, the suitcase opened by itself and transformed, flipping its contents inside out. Within five seconds, it turned into a vintage motorcycle and floated gently into the air as Dorothy straddled it.
"See ya!"
Waving to the butler, she took off. The magical flying vehicle headed toward the large bank visible beyond the traffic jam.
"Really, what am I going to do with her? Despite being such a fine lady, she acts like this... She won't find a suitable partner anytime soon at this rate."
The old butler sighed softly and watched Dorothy go with a worried look, wondering how she could still be such a free spirit no matter her age...
"Um, are you Scott Orlando?"
"Yes, I am... but..."
"I apologize for approaching you so soon after your arrival. Upon hearing that a new B-class Esper had entered the city, I wanted to have a quick chat."
As soon as Scott stepped into Limbo City's District 7 through the Moon Gate, he was approached by a tall man in a distinctive black coat with gold accents.
"Uh, who exactly are you...?"
The tall man who appeared before Scott stood out among the many peculiar individuals wandering the streets, thanks to his eye-catching coat.
"Oh, sorry, I should introduce myself. My name is James, and I'm from the Anomaly Management Bureau, Sephiroth."
"A-Anomaly Management...? Um, what's that...?"
As Scott was still reeling from the sudden turn of events, a flashy white luxury car pulled up beside them.
"Let's not linger here. Why don't we have our conversation somewhere more comfortable? Please, get into that car."
"Huh? What?"
"Get into the car."
Scott complied and got into the car. James followed, shutting the door with a loud click and locking it.
"Um... who exactly are you?"
"Don't worry, I have no intention of harming you. I'm just curious about your abilities. If you really are a B-class Esper, we need to complete some formalities at headquarters."
"... well, I know you might have some complaints, but could you just bear with me for a bit?"
The car carrying the bewildered Scott drives off towards an unknown destination. Although the receptionist lady did mention he might get "taken away," he never thought it would actually happen—especially not just minutes after entering the city.
(What the hell, right after entering the city?! What's happening to my life?!)
Scott clutches his head in frustration. The receptionist's smiling face keeps popping up in his mind, and he almost wants to punch the car door, but he restrains himself. It won't make him feel better, and he'd just hurt his hand.
(Come on... calm down, just calm down. It's just a chat at headquarters, right? This is Limbo City; there must be plenty of people like me here... Yeah, they'd be cautious too.)
"Ah, sorry. We were talking about the Anomaly Management Bureau, right? The bureau I work for..."
(Calm down, calm down... don't build up stress. Otherwise, you-know-who will wake up...)
"...it's an organization that maintains order in this city and deals with things from other worlds."
(...ah, crap. I wasn't listening to this guy... but it's awkward to ask him to repeat. Ah, damn it... why does this always happen to me?!)
"...that's why we have a good reason for bringing you along. You might not understand right away, but it's all for the sake of this city."
Ah, ah! I'm so frustrated! I'm sick of this! What have I even done in this town…?
Just as Scott's stress was reaching its peak, the car's roof caved in with a loud thud.
"...Huh?"
"What? The roof..."
"...Oh no!!"
A translucent blue demonic arm sprouted from Scott's right shoulder and began to punch through the roof with a series of cracking sounds.
"Hey, isn't something coming out of your body?"
"Hey, stop it! Not now! Stop, stop...!!"
In that moment of panic, the luxurious car's impressive roof was effortlessly punctured by the demonic arm.
"Aaaaaah!"
"What the—!?"
"Whoa!?"
"I told you to stop, you idiot!!!"
The demonic arm easily tore through the luxury car's body, plunging its sharp-clawed fingers into the road. As the arm scraped against the pavement with a grinding sound, forcing the car to slow down abruptly, the confused driver lost control...
Right in the middle of a busy main street, a specially customized luxury car worth well over $500,000 flipped spectacularly.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!!"
Scott was violently thrown through the hole in the roof, screaming as he flew through the air. Just as he was about to crash headfirst through the window of a nearby cafeteria, another demonic arm sprouted from his left shoulder and wrapped tightly around him, as if trying to protect him.
"Whoa-ah-ah-ah-ah!!"
Crash!
"Huh?!"
"N-no way! Something just came crashing through the window!?"
"What, is it dead!?"
"Not again! Someone else died!?"
"...Ouch."
"Oh, thank goodness! You're alive!!"
Scott burst through the window at an incredible speed but landed mostly unscathed thanks to the giant's arms cushioning his fall. After roughly waking him up, the giant's arms vanished as if being absorbed back into its body.
"...Ah, sorry about that. Sorry for interrupting your meal."
Scott bowed apologetically to the lunchtime customers and the manager, whose thoughts had frozen after seeing the shattered window, then left the restaurant.
"Okay, let's stay calm. Calm down... It's not my fault, it's not my fault, I'm..."
Boom!
Vroom, screech, crash!
Aaaaahhh!
Crash!
Many cars collided trying to avoid a luxury car that had overturned on the main road. The subsequent vehicles swerved and hit nearby cars, eventually leading to a tanker losing control, crushing a small car, and plowing into a nearby building, causing an explosion...
...
Faced with a scene straight out of a Hollywood disaster movie, Scott turned pale and froze. His mind was already made up: he had to run.
"Aaaahhhh!"
"Bob! Get a grip, Bob!!"
"Help! Please, someone help me!!"
"Ahhhh!!"
"...I'm really sorry. Please forgive me!"
Whoosh…
As he tried to escape from the victim's cries, an unnatural wind whirled around him.
"Wait, what's with this sudden wind… huh!?"
The wind soon transformed into glowing green ropes that wrapped tightly around Scott's body.
"What the heck is this!?!"
"Ah, I see… this is definitely Class B. Quite a threat."
"Oh!"
"That girl has a keen eye. She appears tough, but she's truly impressive…"
James approached Scott, wielding a short staff that glowed green at the tip. Despite just being in a flipped car that exploded, Scott looked remarkably unscathed—aside from his singed coat and a scowl.
"Well, um… that was, uh…!!"
"Ah, it's fine. I'm not mad at all! I'm used to this kind of stuff."
"Used to it? Ouch! Stop that!!"
The ropes tightening around Scott grew tighter, and despite his earlier words, James seemed quite annoyed.
"I'm taking you to headquarters now. Until the new vehicle arrives, you're going to stay put and behave."
"Ah, who are you...!?"
"Hmm? We already did introductions. I'm James, an employee of the Abnormality Management Bureau... as you can see, I'm a magician," James said with a slightly embarrassed laugh at Scott's genuine surprise.
"The car! Hurry up and bring it over!! Or we'll kill all the hostages!!"
In the heart of Limbo City's 13th district, a man stuck his head out of a large bank's window and shouted irritably. He was one of the robbers who had burst into the bank right when it opened that morning. Masked and armed with a gun he had somehow obtained, he was demanding a getaway vehicle while firing shots indiscriminately.
"Hurry up and bring the car! It needs to be big and fast!!"
Realistically, escaping in a single car from a throng of police officers and the Special Magic Armored Unit equipped with the latest gear was impossible. The escape route was completely cut off, and there was no reason for anyone to provide the car he demanded.
Yet, that man had a firm belief that his absurd demands would be met.
"Or is it this?! Do you think you can handle us even with this!?"
As he shouted, the bank's automatic doors opened, revealing a large beast resembling a wolf, covered in red and black fur.
*Grrrrr!*
The creature was about four meters long and held a bloody chunk of meat in its mouth. After growling and taking a few steps forward, it dropped the meat, which landed on the patrol car stationed in front of the bank.