Mani suddenly woke up, feeling lost and totally confused. He noticed that he was sitting among wet sand, but that really didn't seem to concern him at the moment.

   "I'm ALIVE!," he found himself shouting as he faced the heavens. However, he was suddenly knocked to the ground as some force pushed into him from behind.

   Quickly picking himself up and turning around, Mani found that the force came from a wave from the ocean stretched out before him.

   <Ambushed by a wave...>, he grumbled as he stepped out of the water's reach as it came crashing back to the beach. Mani looked around curiously, not recognizing where he was. He remembered being pulled through that portal, reasoning that it wasn't very likely that he was still in Second Realm. <Heck, this doesn't even look like I'm back on Earth...> Mani sighed as he looked down some, realizing that his shirt was ripped- another thought returned to his confused mind.

   "Phantom," he growled, remembering his enemy's parting shot from that last battle they were engaged in. Seeing as the black shirt was ruined, he decided to remove it and just to wear the t-shirt beneath his ruined garb. After checking his equipment, he decided that it would be best if he explored the area some- there was no telling how long he would be there, and he didn't like the idea of being caught off guard by whatever strange things that might be running about. It was still early in the day as far as he could tell, so it really didn't surprise him that there appeared to be no one else on the beach, save himself. Mani began to walk, making his way towards a cliff visible in the distance.

   It wasn't long before he saw a figure walking towards him, looking about as lost as he was.

   "You there," the man said when he was in range. "Where am I?" He was dressed in black boots, brown baggy pants, and a matching shirt and vest. His hair was going every which-way, giving him the look of some type of possessed bush. Mani shrugged.

   "Sorry, just got here myself," he informed as he stopped walking. The man seemed somewhat irritated by his response.

   "I think you're lying to me," he flatly responded.

   <Excuse me?!>

   "I think you're pretty rude," Mani answered. "But at least I have the decency to keep that thought to myself." Who was this guy?! Mani figured that it might have been a bad idea to make enemies in a world he knew nothing about, but hey, this guy had it coming.

   "Since you obviously don't know who I am, I'll let your rudeness slide this one time," the man added, casting Mani a particularly nasty glare. "I'm looking for a girl..."

   "Do I LOOK like a dating service?," Mani casually wondered. The man became very aggitated, and quickly pulled out a knife and pointed it at Mani.

   "You know, you're REALLY starting to irritate me!," he shouted.

   <Pulling a knife out on a ninja... not terribly smart...>

   "You've got two seconds to put that away before I make you eat that blade," he warned. The man decided not to take his kindly advise and charged at him. Mani quickly sidestepped. When he stopped running, the man realized that Mani had taken his knife and was now examining the blade.

   "Nice material, what is this, silver?," Mani asked.

   Overcome with fear, the man quickly began to back away, tripping in the sand. "You wouldn't be so tough if the rest of my team mates were here!," he shouted.

   "For some reason, I find it hard to believe that you actually HAVE friends," Mani responded. "Oh, by the way, here's your knife." With a flick of his wrist, Mani launched the blade from his hand. It stuck in the sand, just a few inches shy of raising the man's voice a few octaves. He quickly grabbed the blade and began to scurry away.

   "You haven't seen the last of Maxis Vandola!," he shouted when he was a good distance away. "I'm the greatest tracker alive! We WILL meet again, ninja!"

   "I look forward to it," Mani answered as he began walking once more. "The name's Mani, by the way." The man disappeared in the other direction as Mani continued his trek towards the cliff in the distance. Maybe he could find some answers there, along with an inn, and maybe even another shirt... but most importantly, he could find out where the heck he was.