I stood in place, shock covering my face having watched my only two friends in the world disappear in front of my face. One moment they were looking at me and the next there was just nothing. An empty patch of ground was all that remained.

What? Where did they go? They were right bloody there.

I panicked and started screaming their names, looking all around hoping to see them in the crowd but they weren’t there. They were gone and I was all alone. My world crashed around me and I fell to the ground, swearing under my breath while curling up into the foetal position. After a few minutes a pair of security guards were called and they lifted me back up onto my feet. They dragged me off and out of the convention hall. They dumped me on the ground and walked off after muttering warnings not to come back in until I had calmed down.

Like hell they will keep me out. I have to find my fucking friends.

I climbed to my feet again, dragging myself sluggishly back to the centres entrance. Once back inside I looked around the building, scanning every face looking for Shaun and Erica but never finding them in the mass of bodies. For hours I dragged myself from one end of the massive hall to another, searching futilely for them. When the event ended for the day I was ordered to leave, the security from before appearing again and warning me that if I didn’t leave I would be banned from future events. I didn’t care but if I left I would be able to come back and look for them again.

For the next two days I came back, searching feverishly for my best friends but never finding a single trace. Each day I went from building to building searching for Shaun and Erica and each time I failed. With my head hung in defeat I left on the final day. The events of that first day just ran through my head over and over. Running around looking at all the shops, meeting celebrities and just having fun as friends do. Then we separated, Shaun and Erica doing their own thing while I went on a merchandise hunt. Finding each other through the crowds and then right in front of my eyes they vanished without a trace.

I sat on the long train ride home realising that for the first time in years I was really truly alone. Those two had been my rock in this crazy world. No matter what happened I knew that they would have my back, when I lost my dad two years ago it was them that had stayed with me and stopped me from falling into a pit of depression. They accepted my angry nature and my curse word strewn sentences without the barest hint of annoyance. They knew I needed to act the way I do or my feelings would overwhelm me, like it used to in the past. Now I have nobody and nothing, my rock is gone.

No! I can’t fall like this! They will fucking come back even if I have to search the world for them! I’m going to go home and never stop looking. I’ll call the cops and report them missing and I’m going to come back every year until I find them.

With this thought in mind I sat resolute, knowing I would tear the world apart to find my friends. No matter how long it took.

Him? No. Her? No. Assassin? Wrong one. White jacket? No, that’s a girl. Blonde hair? Definitely not her. Another assassin? Still not Shaun.

I arrived at Supanova an hour before the event started like I had every year for the past six years. I followed the event from city to city, hoping to find my friends. Every day of every event I would watch the front entrance, the staff had given up trying to stop me from loitering three years ago and they were used to me watching everyone arrive. I was working for them as a security guard now, travelling with the event holders. Luckily I had convinced them to let me come in my Daniel Cross cosplay every time too. If Shaun and Erica were here they would recognise me easier if I was dressed how I was the last time they had seen me.

At 1400 hours I decided to take a short break for lunch, walking through the tightly packed bodies to the Domino’s stand I ordered a couple of pieces of pizza and a drink. I sat there eating my food and scanning the faces of the crowd, seeing many familiar faces from other event but still never seeing Shaun and Erica. With my food finished I started walking back to the front entrance but something distracted me. In the distance I saw a flash of white, a familiar hood passing around a corner.

I ran through the crowd, almost knocking over several people but I didn’t care. If that was Shaun I needed to get to him, no matter who got in the way. Throwing myself around the corner I saw the hood again and a pair of very familiar blue denim jeans. I grabbed the familiar figure but the moment he turned around my heart sunk. It wasn’t Shaun, just a guy in the same clothes.

“I’m sorry, you were just wearing the same cosplay as a guy that I’ve been looking for for a long time.” I told the Desmond cosplaying man.

“It’s alright dude, I get that all the time.” The man said through a layer of purple fabric that covered half of his face. “While you’re are here do you want to look through my wares? I’ve got a lot of high quality items.”

“I shouldn’t I’m working and I need to get back to my position.” I answered the man, wanting to get back to looking for my friends.

“I’m having massive sale, I won’t take up too much of your time.” The man said while indicating a large display of merchandise.

I looked over his wares with a disinterested gaze until my eyes were caught on a single object. A gun, specifically a H&K Mk23 Phase II Prototype. The exact pistol Daniel Cross used in Assassin’s Creed 3. I picked it up, feeling the weight of the metal and noting how perfect of a replica it was.

“How much for this?” I asked him.

“How about 25? I haven’t been able to sell this for a while.” He answered.

“Deal.” I said, pulling the money out of my wallet and handing it to him before taking the replica gun and putting it in the inside pocket of my jacket.

“Hey Chris.” The man said suddenly. “Have fun.”

I froze when the man said my name. “How?”

The next moment everything shifted and I entered a world of pain and bright lights.

Author's Notes:

Short chapter I know but I needed to tell this part before getting into the rest of the story.

EDIT: Just realised how badly written this chapter is. I'll fix it at some point.