Hours after classes have ended, Mai and Hitoshi were in the school observatory having a meeting with the rest of the astronomy club including Aoi, Emiko and Taniyuki.

"Astonishing," said an enthusiastic Aoi, adjusting her spectacles. "I should've known the men in black suits were real."

"Men in black, huh?" said Taniyuki as he sat back in a soft desk chair.

"Yes," said Emiko. "Secret agents who work to keep extraterrestrial activities quiet on Earth. Why they feel the need to do so is unknown. To humans anyway."

"But you do, right?" said Taniyuki with a sneer. "You're a fifth-dimensional, aren't you?"

"I am forbidden to discuss such things with carbon-based lifeforms," replied the girl monotonously.

"That figures," said the boy impatiently as he leant back on his chair.

"S-So these agents," said Aoi, looking a little shaken, "They're here in the school right now?"

"Yes," said Emiko.

"And if they find Suzuki-san," said Aoi, looking more unsettled each time, "will they also go after us, since we're associated with her?"

"Most likely," said Emiko calmly.

Mai felt the most uneasy of them all. She felt as though this was her responsibility, and that she put her new friends in danger.

"Which is why I want you guys to go home," said Hitoshi as he rose from his seat.

"Hitoshi," said Mai, looking up at him.

"We're in this together, Mai-san," said the bespectacled boy. "If they take you, they'll just have to take me too."

"Y-You need not do that," said Mai quite timidly. "I will not allow you to endanger yourself for me."

"I won't let them take you, Mai-san," said Hitoshi as he took the girl's hand and knelt in front of her. "I'll protect you against any enemy."

"H-Hitoshi," said Mai, whose face had become slightly flustered.

Aoi, Emiko and Taniyuki looked on at them.

"It is imperative that you two head home as soon as possible, assuming that the men in black do not yet know where you live," said Emiko. "They will still be searching for you. You must hurry."

Hitoshi stood up and nodded at her.

"Alright, you guys should be going as well," he said. He then turned to Aoi. "Sugiyama-san."

"Y-Yes?" said the ever nerve-wracked bespectacled girl.

"Be safe," said Hitoshi with a small smile. "If anything happens, just text me."

"Y-Yes, Takao-san," said Aoi as she blushed slightly.

"A-Alright, Mai-san," said Hitoshi as he grabbed his bag. "Let's go."

Mai nodded, then rose from her seat as she took her bag and followed Hitoshi outside the observatory.

It was after dark so the boy was a little nervous, especially with the knowledge that two secret agents are after Mai. He took the girl's hand and started to run in the direction of the school gate.

Suddenly a male and a female appeared in front of the two and blocked their path.

"Mai Suzuki," said the girl, or woman, for she appeared younger due to her wearing a summer seifuku.

"P-Please, we were just headed home," said Hitoshi.

"I'm afraid not, kid," said the man, who wore a summer gakuran.

It was them.

"Y-You're the men in black aren't you?" said Hitoshi as his eyes widened.

"Just an urban legend, kid," said the man. "You're coming with us."

"Just what do you want with me?" said Mai, glaring at the two agents.

"We just want to ask you a few questions," said the woman. "Now come with us quietly so this will be easier."

Mai stood her ground defiantly, but Hitoshi put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's not worth it, Mai-san," said the boy. "Stand down."

"You promised me you would never let them take me," said Mai angrily.

"I know, and they won't," said Hitoshi. "But for now, let's just come quietly."

Mai looked at him with frustration before uttering a sigh and relaxing her stance.

"Smart," said the man before walking in the direction of the school gate with his partner and the two high schoolers.

They led Mai and Hitoshi to their black car which was parked outside the school. There the two students entered the vehicle before it drove off with the woman driving.

Hitoshi looked around in the car, terrified of what these two agents might do. If everything about the urban myth of the men in black were true, then he will most likely be wiped of his memory or worse.

"W-Who are you people?," he asked, but his questions went unanswered.

The woman kept driving while the man sat still as the car sped moderately through the streets.

"P-Please, we did nothing wrong," pleaded the boy. "Let us go. We won't tell anybody."

"Stacey," whispered the man to his partner. "How can you be positive that this is the alien Watanuki sent us to capture?"

"She's the girl in the file he showed us, Rockwell," replied the woman. "And why are we still wearing these disguises?"

"S-Slipped my mind," said Rockwell with an awkward smile.

"P-Please, you can't do this!" said Hitoshi, raising his voice. "We're just kids."

"Sir, please be quiet," said Stacey sternly as she continued driving.

Hitoshi just sighed deeply, powerless except to comfort Mai by holding her hand on the leather seat. Mai grasped his hand back, looking back at him most fervently.

Sometime later the car had stopped at an old warehouse.

Stacey and Rockwell exited the vehicle before opening the doors for the two high schoolers. As they stepped out, Hitoshi gulped.

It's just like in the movies, he thought. Why does it always have to be an abandoned warehouse?

He and Mai were led inside the warehouse where each were sent to separate places with an unknown distance from each other. Stacey led Mai through a dark hallway with flickering lights which made her feel uneasy. Anyone would in this situation.

The female agent had led the teenage girl into a dark room with almost no light. But Mai hardened her resolve, clenching her fists as she entered the room.

"This will end badly for you, human," said Mai as she looked back at Stacey with fire in her eyes.

Stacey did not respond and shut the door behind the disguised Ardonian. There was a sound of a door locking from the outside.

Mai, furious, then used all her power to pry the metal door open but it was futile, even with her inhuman strength. She was alone in the dark.

Or was she?

"Hello, Mai Suzuki," spoke a calm, masculine yet alluring voice emanating from the same room, causing Mai to gasp with shock.

"W-Who said that?" said the girl, looking around frantically.

"Don't be afraid, my dear," said the voice as a dim light was switched on, revealing the speaker.

It was a man with a lanky physique, very slender, with a thin angled face and pronounced cheekbones and long blond hair that tapered to a point below his waist. He wore a black suit not dissimilar to the ones the two agents wore.

"Are you one of those men in black too?" asked Mai with a glare shot right at the man.

"Oh, no, no, no," replied he, chuckling. "I am Isshin Watanuki, and I am their client."

"So you sent them to kidnap us?" said Mai, who then suddenly lunged at Watanuki with her fist.

But the mysterious man knew better. He caught the girl's fist in midair, twisted her arm behind her back and pinned her against the table in the middle of the dimly-lit room.

"Unnhh!" groaned Mai as she struggled to break free from her captor's grip.

"Feisty as always," hissed Watanuki. "I like that."

"As always...?" said Mai curiously. "Have we met before?"

"Oh, you have no idea," said Watanuki with an evil smile, "Princess."

At that Mai's eyes widened as Watanuki tore the lifeform adaptor from her arm, revealing her Ardonian form.

"A-A-Ay-Shinn...!" said the alien princess.

"Yes," replied the man as he released Mai. "You have no idea how long I've been searching for you."

Meanwhile in a more open section of the warehouse Hitoshi was seated in the middle of a more well-lit but still dimly lit area. Rockwell and Stacey stood in front of him, having changed back into their black suits.

The boy was not restrained or tied with anything. The two agents relied on his fear of the situation to keep him seated.

"Please," begged Hitoshi. "Whatever you do, don't hurt Mai-san."

"If she cooperates then she won't be harmed," said Stacey.

"She isn't human, kid," said Rockwell, arms crossed. "She's an alien fugitive."

"Tell us the whole story, Takao-san," said Stacey. "And no lies."

Hitoshi just sighed with frustration before telling them everything from the moment the UFO crashed in his backyard up to the events of today.

After that, Stacey had searched Mai's shoulder bag and found her blaster.

"Did you know she's been carrying this?" said Rockwell as he took the gun.

"W-Well, yes," said Hitoshi. "But she hasn't harmed anyone. She only used that in case of emergencies."

"Anyone that you know of," said Stacey.

"What do you mean?" said Hitoshi insistently. "I'm always with her. Just last night we... slept together."

Hitoshi turned red as he said that. Stacey and Rockwell looked at each other.

All of a sudden there was an explosion, and something like a motorcycle with flaming blue wheels emerged from the dust cloud and landed into view.

On it was a young man, but one with gray skin with tattoo-like markings and a biker getup. His eyes were jet-black with red scleras and his hair was slicked back.

"T-Taniyuki-kun...!" said Hitoshi as he rose from his seat. "What are you doing here??"

"Saving your sorry ass," said Tayyuk as he pulled out one of his chained blades.

"Another alien?" said Stacey, pulling a handgun out from her suit.

"Where the hell do these guys come from?" remarked Rockwell as he pulled out a gun as well.

With that Tayyuk threw his chained blade in the direction of the two agents and chained them both in an alien metal.

"What would you do without me?" said the Tytonian with a smirk.

Hitoshi smiled at him before changing his expression to a frantic one, looking in the opposite direction.

"Mai-san," said he.

"Where is she?" asked Tayyuk.

At that Hitoshi walked up to the two chained agents.

"Where is Mai-san?" he asked sternly. "Answer me!"

"We are not at liberty to discuss--" said Stacey before groaning as Tayyuk tightened the chain around them, "Unnhh!"

"I don't have time for this," said Hitoshi with a glare. "Where. Is. Maina-san?"

At that, Hitoshi frantically picked up Maina's blaster and aimed it at Stacey and Rockwell.

"I'd talk if I were you," said Tayyuk. "This dude's pissed."

"I'm not playing games!" yelled Hitoshi. "Tell me or I'll--"

"She is gone, Hitoshi Takao," said a monotonous voice from the shadows.

Everyone looked to where the voice came from and out stepped a high school girl with long, pigtailed silver hair and a listless expression.

"H-Hanazawa-san...?" said Hitoshi. "What do you mean she's gone??"

"Ay-Shinn took her," replied Emiko.

"Ay-Shinn?" said Rockwell. "And who the hell are you?"

"The man you work for is not what he seems," said Emiko.

"Wait, what?" said the outraged male agent. "What are you talking about? Who is he then? What is he?"

"I cannot reveal such sensitive information to you humans," said Emiko. "You meddle too much with things you do not understand."

"What do you mean??" yelled Rockwell. "Who are you anyway? Are you an alien too?"

Emiko ignored the question and walked away with Hitoshi in tow.

"Ay-Shinn? The alien conqueror?" he asked. "He found her? How?"

"When Tayyuk Hazunn was working for Ay-Shinn he told him of all the planets he had visited on his search for Maina of Ardonia," said Emiko. "Earth was the last he told him of, so he had suspected he had found her and came here."

"So he's behind everything?" said Hitoshi.

"He had orchestrated your capture by these men in black," said the girl. "They were but unwitting pawns in this elaborate scheme."

Hitoshi clenched his fists and hung his head with rage.

"Mai-san," he said as he gritted his teeth.

Hitoshi then relaxed his stance and turned to Emiko.

"Where are they now?" he asked.

"I-I cannot say--" she stuttered before Hitoshi took her by the shoulder and looked deep into her eyes.

"Enough!" he yelled. "Maina-san is out there with some evil alien overlord! I have no time for this fifth-dimensional crap! Now tell me where they are!"

For the first time Hitoshi saw Emiko express emotion. She was visibly shocked with the bespectacled boy's new show of his own emotions. But that mattered little to him.

"T-They are headed back to Ardonia," she stuttered once more. "They already left on Ay-Shinn's flagship."

Hitoshi's eyes widened.

"We have to go after them," said Hitoshi with resolve.

"It is too dangerous," said Emiko, now sounding slightly concerned.

"Yeah," remarked Tayyuk, still holding on the the chain binding Rockwell and Stacey. "And how do we get there? I'd use the wormhole generator from my Hoggh, but it's impossible for three people to go through without tearing them apart."

At that everyone fell silent.

"I have a way," said Emiko in her usual monotone.

"Y-You do?" said Hitoshi.

Emiko then held out her palm.

At first Hitoshi thought he was crazy but then he realized that there was something black and shiny materializing in the girl's palm.

"I-Is that--" said the bewildered boy.

"The ship Maina of Ardonia arrived in," said Emiko. "I was the one who took it."

"Damn," said an amazed Tayyuk, walking towards Hitoshi and Emiko while dragging the two agents behind him.

"Ow!" whined Rockwell.

"Ay-Shinn and the princess are halfway across the galaxy by now," said Emiko. "We shall use one of his ships to pursue them."

"B-But who's flying it?" asked Hitoshi.

"I'm pretty sure I'm the most experienced at space travel here," bragged Tayyuk. "Though I've never flown such a spacecraft before."

"I shall guide you," said Emiko.

"Right," said Tayyuk sarcastically. "You do everything for me. It's like you're my nanny or something."

Emiko gave him a small smile.

"Perhaps," she said.

Hitoshi smiled at them both.

"Well, let's go then," said he. "We've no time to lose."

"Wait, what about these clowns?" said Tayyuk, looking at the two chained-up agents.

"Let them go," said Emiko.

"They might shoot us," said Tayyuk.

"Wait, who are you people--" said Rockwell before being interrupted by Emiko, who touched his forehead and put him to sleep.

"W-What did you do to him?" said Stacey.

"I put him to sleep and erased his memory of the events leading up to tonight," said Emiko, "just as I will you."

"Wait," said Stacey. "So, Takao-san was telling the truth?"

"Yes," said Emiko. "Your client was an extraterrestrial warlord who intends to capture Maina of Ardonia for his own evil purposes."

After she had finished her sentence she tapped Stacey's forehead, putting her in the same state as her partner.

"Release them," said Emiko.

Tayyuk then loosened the chains that held the two agents and allowed them to fall upon the floor sleeping.

"Let's go guys," said Hitoshi.

Moments later the silhouette of the spacecraft hovered from behind the warehouse and shot into space at lightspeed.