Shiratori allowed herself to smile, at least for a moment, before nodding her head.

With a brief glance at her phone, she took another step forward.

"Follow me, we're going to meet up with some others who've gotten pulled over to this side," she said, "Stay close!"

With that, she broke into a sprint.

Everything looked the same, here. The same inky black buildings. The same strangely red shadows. The same gore-spattered streets. But Shiratori Nozomi knew where she was going. Even if she hadn't had any experience here before, the map provided to her from her phone would have done its job.

She wasn't at all concerned with finding her way.

Rather, it was finding her way with Nozaki in tow and without running into-

A sound like creaking wood came from an alleyway ahead.

The thing that emerged from it was spindly, shaped something like a child's idea of a spider. The lengthy, joined black limbs ended with five-fingered, grasping hands, currently being used to scuttle across the ground and suspending it in the air above both Nozaki and her own heads.

Each limb connected to a central body, a circular shape with three white masks, each sporting a simple pair of black eyesockets and a thin smile.

When it caught sight of them, a lengthy crimson tongue emerged from each of the masks, hanging, twisting in the air below it.

Damn it, in a tight place like this, with someone she had to protect...!

"Tch...! This way!"

Grasping Nozaki's hand in her own, Shiratori Nozaki immediately tugged him down the nearest alley, as the creature started to follow after them.

"Don't look back!"

@Bartimaeus

---

Unfortunately for both of the girls, it wasn't going to be so easy.

No sooner then they'd started running then the source of the slimy noise became apparent.

A black, shadowy pool of darkness on the floor, sliding along it, leaving a trail of inky goo in its wake. But it wasn't entirely featureless.

In its center was a white mask, sporting two empty sockets and a wide smile. It stopped just in front of them, the strange thick fluid that made up its body roiling for a moment before suddenly rising into a black lump, about as tall as a grown man and twice as wide, the mask suspended in its center.

A sound not unlike the giggling of a young child came from it, and the mask twisted upside-down, as numerous black hands rose from its base, suspended on long, thin arms, already reaching, grasping...

@Pitsuji@Psyker Landshark

---

The moment anyone made to peek outside, they would be greeted with what was perhaps a surprising sight.

It was a boy, a high schooler from the very same school as they were. He wasn't particularly recognizable. Maybe one of them had seen him before, maybe one of them hadn't. But he was most certainly clad in the very same school uniform as they were.

His gaze was fixed on the sky.

Or more specifically the moon.

He was shaking. Trembling with terror, backing up as if something was looking at him. His trembling breaths were loud enough to be barely audible from the store.

And then he grasped at his face, screaming, shuddering, falling to his knees as his entire body seized, spasming and twitching. Black fluid began to pour from his face, from his eyes, mouth, and nose, splattering onto the ground beneath him.

Moments later, he fell face-first into the pool of inky darkness, and no longer moved.

@AThousandCurses@hatakekuro@DarckLeon

Kazama Kosubaku

Kazama would be the first to admit that his life was very atypical for a teenage boy his age. The fact that he started working when he was 13 certainly stunted his social life, and he didn't have a lot of free time on his hands, but if you were to ask him, he would answer that he was satisfied with his lot in life, could be worse could be better, as they say. The truth was that he wasn't the only guy in existence who had it rough, and he wouldn't be the last. He even had a joyful and pleasant childhood, full of laughs at cheers. It was during this period of time that he got into anime, the 90s and 00s anime to be exact, there was something about the way it was animated that really got him. While nowadays he lost some interest in it, back then he loved it, watching every show he could on the old tv and DVD player in his room. He had his favorites, like Cowboy Bepop -Spike was THE man- and Dragon Ball, but there was one that left quite a mark on him: Neon Genesis Evangelion. Not really an anime a 12-year-old should be watching in his current opinion, yet at that time, as he gazed into the life of one Shinji Ikari and the tragedies that would befall him and the supporting cast, he was enraptured, he even begged his parents to buy him the movie. After watching it, a particular scene stayed in his mind for a while: The Third Impact and its effect on the people. He found it disturbing yet strangely captivating and wondered how would modern technology adapt it to the screen if there was ever a live-action adaptation of Evangelion, God hopes there wasn't.

Now, 5 years later, Kazama got a childhood question of him partially answered, and the result wasn't pretty. The sheer fear in the student's eyes quickly got replaced by intense pain. The gruesomeness of the process that he experienced and the last look he and Kazama shared. This was a moment that would stay with him until the day he died, he was sure of it, and, if he knew he would see this, would have done anything to not be the one who had to go take a peek outside. He slowly closed the door and walked back to the cashier's desk, his movements erratic. Once he reached the two guys who were there he said "There was someone outside. a student of our school, and he... black stuff started to come out of his mouth and eyes and he... he's dead" he finally got out, his face ashen white.

To say Kazama was shaken would be a severe understatement, he was traumatized. Never before had he experienced such a sight in real life, not even when a guy broke his arm in a construction zone he was working with.

All his previous nervousness seemed to have left him, only a cold, almost robotic indifference permeated his movements as he reached for a key next to the cash register. "This is the key for that door, if we got out we shouldn't look to the moon, that guy did that and... that happened" He left the decision in the hands of his peers, he was too tired for that.

If the situation wasn't so serious, Yuzu's shift from haughty bitch to terrified child would be almost comical. Okay, scratch that, it was still fucking funny right now. The only reason Nagi didn't crack up was because Yuzu latching onto her arm was actually annoying enough to dampen her mood.

"Get off of me, would ya?." Nagi grunted, shaking her arm out of Yuzu's grasp as they trudged along. "I can't make sure we don't die if you're latched on."

Of course, the universe chose just then to screw with her life just that tiny bit more. As the shadowy monster rose up, Nagi shoved Yuzu back with one hand. Damn. She'd fought this sort of thing before, but not with a goddamn civilian in tow!

"Get the fuck back! I got this! BELIAL!" Nagi bellowed her last word as she slammed her Awakening Drive into the side of her wrist, a crimson winged demon emerging into existence behind her with a roar. A mental nudge directed her Echo forward, claws outstretched to rip into the monster. Even as Belial charged forward, Nagi wasn't far behind, quickly reaching into her jacket pockets to slip on the other thing she kept hidden on her person, a pair of brass knuckles. Belial's claws descended upon the creature even as Nagi moved to flank it, aiming to land a haymaker into its side.

@Pitsuji

@AThousandCurses@DarckLeon

"From divine floods to this? God really decided to step up his game then," said Kauro with a chuckle at the mocking theories though he did not take it personally. How could he? Everything was completely absurd, and death was around every corner and behind every closed door. If it were not for the fact that doing so would attract whatever the hell was outside to them, Kauro would have busted his gut laughing at how preposterous it all was. Seriously, him and two other guys after figuring out they were experiencing the strange phenomena as him were pulled into a hellscape that looked like the flipside of their world. Everything about that should terrify him and yet, the ever-looming threat of death found no hold on him. He still had that same grin on his face.

Kauro patted the tall boy's back and said, "Don't worry about it. Just focus on surviving." It was all they could do given the situation.

They waited while the cashier offered to take a peek outside the building followed by a shrill screaming that did not come from him. It came from outside though it did not overstay its welcome. They were not the only ones that were pulled into the world after all. It would have been foolish to think that it was the case. What was surprising, however, was that it was another student from that was a victim. In a city as large as theirs, filled with so many people what were the odds that it was another student from their school to be pulled into this world too? No, what were the odds that it was just that kid and them to be pulled from their world into this blood-soaked hell in the general vicinity? It was a statistical anomaly.

Kauro knew that his school was facing a disproportionate amount of missing people cases because of Strange Gospel, but thought at the very least that there had to be victims outside of the school that were under reported. It would have been odd if that was not the case, but that may have very well been the case. So why target Yamamura High School students? There were too many missing puzzle pieces. They had no way of solving the mystery if they hid themselves away. No, they couldn't hide anyway.

"There's no way we could barricade the entire store by ourselves; they're too many points of entry for us to cover and too few of us to stand guard. I don't know what's out there, but if we're cornered in here then we're dead." They were in a store. There were many windows, air ventilation, and of course doorways that any unsavory creature could use to force their way inside. If anything, they would have been trapped with it.

Well, Kauro had a sense of humor. The words of jest helped Yuichi lighten up in the bizarre situation where death was an evident possibility. It was still beyond him how Kauro was still calm, but it was probably best if one of them stayed level-headed. The Cashier and himself weren't doing too well, seeing as they were sweating enough to fill buckets. Moreso, the Cashier rather than himself. It seemed like the Cashier was taking this worse than him. Maybe because he was stressed out from working at his part-time job? Yuichi had a few friends that often complained about customers at their workplace.

"Hmmm," Yuichi grunted at Kauro's reassurance. He could agree with Kauro on that sentiment.

A high pitch scream came from outside of the store. Yuichi's eyes darted toward the sound, and he raised his arm in preparation to throw the object at whatever was coming at them. Fortunately, it seems that wasn't the case. Unfortunately, a student splatted right in front of them. Yuichi paled at the sight of the now corpse. This student came from the same school as them judging by his uniform. Did that mean that they were going to end up like that as well?

The Cashier's voice snapped him out of his shock. He seemingly shared the same sentiment as well. "It'll be alright. We'll get out of this alive." Yuichi said with the strongest voice he could. The taller male placed his hand on the Cashier's shoulder to reassure him, just like Kauro had done to him earlier. They would get out of this. Dying wasn't an option.

"Then we either say here or leave." Either option didn't sound too entirely great. The Cashier at least had a key for the store, but the convenience store didn't have too many places to hide without any windows. "Then we should move, shouldn't we?" Yuichi finally stated after a moment of contemplation. "We don't know if there's anyone else who will come to help us or if this will all end eventually." Then Yuichi brought up his phone. "Maybe the app will help us? If it brought us here, maybe we can try to find a way to make it bring us back."

"All you need to know right now is it's a monster!" asserted Nozomi, immediately. On the run, there really wasn't any time to explain anything involved. Right now she had to try and get to the others as fast as possible. At the moment they didn't have anyone to spare, so the people at the convenience store were in even more danger then Nozaki was.

Hopefully they'd at least stay hidden.

They weren't that far, either. Just a little bit more, and they'd not only be there but also in a far more open area.

She could still hear that thing crawling behind them, its limbs scraping up against the sides of the alley.

There! The alleyway opened up there! Now-

Another set of lengthy limbs crawled into view from around the corner, the pale masks swinging into vision as a second of the spider-like creatures emerged, crimson tongues hanging from the white masks.

"... I guess this is it, huh?"

Nozomi took a deep breath, reaching into her bag.

"I can do this. I've got this. I can do it."

From it, she pulled something that almost looked like a boxcutter, if one wasn't to look very closely at it.

"You can do it, Nozomi," she said to herself, again, "You can do this. This time nothing's here to stop you."

She extended her right arm, spun the object around, and brought it down into her wrist. She winced, gritting her teeth as the object seemingly penetrated her skin and bit deep.

But there was no blood.

"Hecate!"

Even paying close attention, what happened next was difficult to understand. Suddenly, as if assembled from mist, a figure seemed to construct itself from thin air, floating behind Nozomi. As the dark matter that seemed to build it from nothingness faded and took on colors, a strange shape was revealed.

It resembled a young, slender girl, though in actual size it was larger then Nozomi herself. It was mostly silver, its body clad in what appeared to be a minidress of similar color to was as most likely its skin. Its arms were unattached to its body, instead floating at its sides in the form of two long, flat, ribbon-like structures hanging from a pair of spheres. Its head was mostly human-shaped, proportioned much like that of a young girl's with suitably youthful features, but its eyes were pure, bright blue. Lengthy silver hair poured down its back, past its hips, and it wore a large hat with two points projecting from the sides. Each point was adorned with a gold medallion shaped like an odd wheel.

Its ribbon-like arms raised immediately, twisting around one another and gathering light between them, which quickly coalesced into a sphere of white. From the mist pouring off of it, it was evidently quite cold, and before the first of the monsters could draw closer it was sent hurtling towards it, careening into it head-on and slamming into one of the masks. A shard of porcelain(or at least what appeared to be porcelain) was sent spiraling into the air as the creature was knocked over entirely, trailing black ooze as it hit the ground.

Without pausing, Hecate spun, wrapping one of its ribbon-arms around the other spider creature's leg and swiftly upending it, tipping it onto its back and making room for their escape.

"Let's go!"

Without pausing to explain what had just happened, Nozomi was already dragging the boy along, the drifting form of the entity she had summoned following behind them.

@Bartimaeus

---

Resistance had been the las thing the oozing, masked creature expected. Especially no this powerfully.

It wobbled, reeling black, spewing black fluids as Belial's claws tore through its body, spattering oil-like liquid onto the ground. Several of its flailing limbs were severed, spiraling off and melting as they flew, splattering onto the dark backdrop and dripping down to meet the blood already staining the ground.

The blow to its side rocked through its entire body, as well, shredding through its goo-like flesh and causing it to writhe more intensely.

It was something like a dying worm, now.

But it wasn't done yet, as more arms rose from its back, grasping at the demon-like Echo and reaching for its summoner.

@Pitsuji@Psyker Landshark

---

As the boys spoke amongst themselves, trying to figure out how to escape from this dire situation, they likely didn't notice what was happening to the body outside.

He was sinking deeper into the black puddle. More and more of his body was breaking down. First it had been his mind, almost certainly the reason for the black liquid that poured from his eyes and nose. But now his entire body was melting, liquifying, turning into more and more of that black ooze.

And it was starting to move.

As the body completely liquified, something rose from it.

It had a feminine shape, hourglass-like, its head adorned with a simplistic white mask portraying a distressed expression. From its head, the hair it appeared to possess ended into small, grasping hands.

One of these hands reached around, seeming to plunge into the creature's torso, before drawing out a spike of silvery metal.

Then it drew it back...

And hurled it towards the convenience store window.

@AThousandCurses@hatakekuro@DarckLeon

Whatever the hell was going on with Strange Gospel, it was definitely making her stronger when she was pulled over to the other side. Or maybe she just got juiced up as her Echo did. Either way, Nagi's punch certainly wouldn't have hit these monsters that hard even a month ago. Hell, it slammed back a good distance away. Not that she was going to complain about it. The piece of crap was dying. Time to move in for the kill.

Or at least Nagi would have, if the thing didn't decide to offer up some last-ditch resistance. Her first instinct was to just evade the grasping arms and weave through them to finish the fucker off, but some part of her brain remembered that Gotoh was still in the back. Fuck. If Nagi dodged, it might go for her instead. And as annoying as the girl was, Nagi really didn't want Yuzu's death on her conscience. Oh, this was going to blow.

A mental command had Belial returning to her, arms outstretched protectively in front as both of them charged forward, one behind the other. Hellfire surrounded her Echo as they made a mad dash, aiming to reach the beast before it could do too much damage to Belial. Her Echo's flames weren't that strong compared to its claws, and enough of the monster's arms grasped it to the point where Nagi was feeling a good amount of pain, but she powered through, Belial grasping the monster with its own arms and spinning it around to pin it in place.

"Eat it, shitbag!" She bellowed, leaping up onto the monster and holding on with her left hand as her right began to mercilessly pound into it. One punch. Two. Three. Before long, nothing was left of the beast besides blood and black ichor, some of it splashing on Nagi and staining her clothes as she landed back down on the ground, Belial hovering menacingly next to her. She stayed there for a moment, taking in a few gulps of air as she caught her breath and checked on her own condition. The fuckwit had gotten a few hits in at the last moment there, but she could still keep going. She'd been in worse shape after taking on those punks from across town a few months back.

"Alright," Nagi stood back up, glancing back towards her charge. "C'mon, Gotoh. We've still got somewhere to be. Get your ass in gear. And don't worry about the stains, they kinda just disappear once we're out of here." She beckoned Yuzu forward, starting to move towards her objective again afterward.

@Pitsuji

Gotoh Yuzu

Completely consumed by fear, Yuzu freaked out a little.

"GET IT AWAAAY!" She cries, all but running away from both the monster that laughed so fucking oddly and the girl who was probably going to get herself killed thinking she could fight it! She was right on the money, she had to be, no way a normal person could fight off something like that! She was going to die here, she was going to die here and now, and all she could do was cower away and cover her head with her bag in futile defense.

And then a demon showed up.

Yuzu looked back at Nagi who was suddenly spouting english at the monster and then a demon, Belial? Showed up. All muscle, wing and power, the two of them made that monster look like it had been the stupid one for even daring to approach them. She was....she could cope with the demon thing being so strong and tearing that thing apart, but how the fuck was Nagi so....supernaturally strong!? Was this how she fought them, how the people she was with fought them?

More than nauseous now, Yuzu could only watch as the monster thing fell underneath Nagi's fists, her fear mostly cleared away and somewhat redirected back to the yakuza bitch who could beat down monsters with her bare hands like nothing. Timidly, she stepped back up toward Nagi, visibly shaking in her shoes as she looked at the remains of the monster.

"H-how did you do that? How could- What even was....Is this cult!?" She suddenly accused, because truly the only thing her mind could comprehend right now was how she summoned a being known as Belial, a very well known demon in Judeo Christian cultures. Even as she complained she practically latched back onto Nagi, an approximate inch of distance away from her since she didn't wanna touch her. She was probably covered in monster residue...stuff! "Y-your not gonna make me summon a demon right? I-I'm not about to get s-sacrificed or whatever the fuck!"

@Psyker Landshark

Yuichi jumped at the sound of broken glass. The student turned to see in the corner of his eye a humanoid woman, if he could call it that, burst through the windows. Words failed to described its figure, but Yuichi could perfectly what he felt at that moment. Fear. "The backdoor." Yuichi suddenly the said. Then with a sudden surge in volume, "GET TO THE BACKDOOR, NOW!" Yuichi screamed. Whatever that that thing was, it wasn't human. They didn't know what it could do, but he had a feeling that they didn't stand a chance at fighting that thing.

Pushing Karou behind him, Yuichi brought up the nozzle of the fire extinguisher. Release the pin, aim it at the monster, and press it down. A gush of foam immediately shot out of the fire extinguisher. The convenience store's front was engulfed foam, which would act like a temporary smokescreen for them to use. "GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!" After the fire extinguinsher seemly ran out of foam, he threw the exntugisher into the foam and turned to follow classmates.

What the hell was that thing? Whatever it was definitely wasn't human. They needed to get out of the area and try to find another place to hide.

Kazama Kosubaku

Kazama nodded at the boys and their attempts at encouragement, he didn't know what he would have done if he had been alone when all of this happened but surely more of a mess than he was now. He only hoped, maybe selfishly, that this thing only affected people of a certain age, at least that way he could be sure his mom would be safe.

He nodded once again, psyching himself up, as it would seem their best course of action was leaving the store behind. He was about to turn around and head for the door when he heard the characteristic sound of glass breaking before being pushed to the ground by Yuichi using the hand already on his shoulder. He frantically looked around to see a long spike directly behind the place he was a few moments ago and quickly shifted his gaze to the front of the store, where a humanoid figure stood.

Kazama instantly recognized the black substance the thing was made of, having seen where it came from personally. The thing looked vaguely feminine and had a white mask and creepy-looking hair. It was one of the most terrifying sights in his life, and it was looking their way.

The tallest teen in the room acted rapidly, using the fire extinguisher as a weapon and reminding Kazama what he had to do. Desperately he got up and ran towards the door that would lead them to the alleyway, using his hands to get some of the foam out of his way. When he reached his destination he miraculously could control his trembling hand to open the door on the first try, using his whole body to push it open.

A small, cramped room full of boxes and other miscellaneous items welcomed them. "The exit is this way, quick!" he shouted to the boys who were following him, traversing the storage efficiently and quickly, the adrenaline coursing through his veins making him act reasonably well in spite of his fear.

Once they reached the exit, Kazama used the same key to open the door, the alley behind him was painted the same red, bloody colour as the rest of the street. They heard a strepitous crash behind them and he quickly locked the door again, hoping it would give them some time. "Now what?! Where do we go? The main street? Our houses? What if more of those things are out there, waiting for us?!" he asked, not entirely panic driven but not in the best state of mind either.

The only thing he had clear was to not, under any circumstances, shift his view upwards. He didn't know if it could happen to him, but Kazama would not risk the chance of the moon entering his sight

@DarckLeon@AThousandCurses

He felt this sensation before, a dread creeping down his spine. It was bloodlust, the intention to kill whatever came across its path. Kauro turned around a split second before the window shattered to see what he could only describe as feminine humanoid creature standing where the dead body was previously. The next thing he knew, glass shrapnel flew towards them, and the tall boy pushed him out of the way before he started hosing the creature down with the fire extinguisher.

Kauro did not put up any argument with the tall boy's command. He followed the cashier who opened the backdoor to back alley with the tall boy soon to follow. The door was locked, but it did not take a genius to realize that the door was never going to hold the monster inside. In fact, in anticipation of a metal spike piercing through the door, Kauro grabbed the boys' arms and pulled them away before they were possibly skewered.

"Just shut up and run!" He shouted not out of panic, but to get it through the cashier's head that there was no time to plan.

With Hecate trailing along behind her, the shape of the Echo peering over her shoulder briefly, Nozomi pulled the boy along, sprinting as quickly as she could manage. The sooner they reached the others, the sooner they could destroy all their attackers and escape. Not that Nozomi was lacking in confidence in Hecate, now that she'd managed to call her, but two Echoes would be far better then just one, and to be able to protect the others together would be far better then any other option.

She just had to make it.

She just had to-

Suddenly, a shadow fell over them. Hecate immediately moved to shield her, raising and interweaving her ribbon-like arms to form a barrier, but her body simply wasn't large enough.

The spiderlike shape of another of the masked creatures was descending.

Groping hands reaching.

Falling straight towards Nozaki.

"No, you...!"

And then...

@Bartimaeus

---

The wall itself rippled beside them, and a dozen arms erupted from the darkness, a white mask at their center. All of them were reaching for Yuzu, surging towards her, to surround her. To crush her.

And then...

@Pitsuji@Psyker Landshark

---

As they exited the building, an inky black shape coated in maskes was just there. Each mask stretched out, red tongues emerging from their smiling maws and lashing towards the three boys. Behind them was the feminine creature. Before them was this monstrosity.

And then...

@AThousandCurses@hatakekuro@DarckLeon

---

A sea of white stood before them.

Above was darkness, filled with the twinkling lights of stars. Below of the featureless white held what seemed to be nothing at all.

Or rather almost nothing.

A single figure sat upon a velvet red chair.

On first glance, it appeared to be a slender young girl, wearing a frilly black dress, with lengthy white hair matching the pale shade of her skin.. But closer inspection revealed unusual details. The joints in her fingers. Her legs. Her bare feet. She was like some manner of life-sized doll, clutching a teddy bear with a strange scratched-out face on her lap.

When she seemed to see them, her lips parted into a smile, as she tilted her head to the side. Her movement came with a clicking, jingling sound, almost like one would expect from a music box being wound.

"Ah, you're about to die, aren't you?" she asked. It was a nonchalant, playful tone, spoken in the voice of a little girl, "That's a shame, I suppose, but it can't be helped~"

The little doll girl giggled playfully, as if the news that they were about to die was something to find amusing rather then horrific.

"It's just too bad, isn't it? You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. You looked at something that looked right back. Those ones didn't even get a chance, you know."

Whatever she meant by 'those ones' was left unsaid.

Her blue eyes seemed almost luminescent.

"Unless... there is something you can do, isn't there~? Two of you already know what I mean, I'm sure~!"

She giggled again, holding her bear tightly to her chest.

"I think you can do it now. It's deep inside you, you'll have to pull it up. You don't have ones like they do, so it's going to hurt. You're going to cry. You're going scream your heart out. But everyone does sometimes, don't they? It's okay sometimes, isn't it? To let everything out, no matter how much it hurts?"

She leaned forward, lightly kicking her feet.

"That's what you'll do, right?"

@AThousandCurses@hatakekuro@DarckLeon@Pitsuji@Bartimaeus

"For the last time, this ain't a cult. And no, we're not gonna make you summon a demon. Or do human sacrifices. Fuck's sake, where do you even come up with this shit?" Nagi grumbled before urging Yuzu on at a faster pace.

Nearly there. Just a block left until they reached the convenience store. Nagi led the way, Belial floating along beside her as she kept a wary eye out for more masked monstrosities. This street was clear, at least. For the moment. She glanced into the alley behind her, where Yuzu was following along.

"Alright, c'mon. Move up. We're almost to the konbini. Last spurt, Gotoh, don't crap out on me now-" Arms coming out of the walls. Grabbing Yuzu and dragging her in. Nagi hissed in alarm, sending Belial forward to try to rescue her. Too late. The moment her Echo even made contact, the arms finished sucking her assigned civilian into the wall. She'd...failed. They got Yuzu.

"God DAMN it!" Nagi screamed in fury, slamming her fist into the alley wall in frustration. One job, and she'd cocked it up at the last moment. Another to end up on the missing person list in a week. The yakuza princess withdrew her hand, panting slightly as her knuckles throbbed. Damn it, damn it, damn it. This was a fuckup of epic proportions on her part. First chance she'd had to actually save someone from Strange Gospel, and then this happened. But there was still Naoko and the other civilians to consider. She'd wallow in this later. Tearing her gaze away from the wall Yuzu disappeared into, Nagi continued on, her teeth grinding into each other as she ran.

She crossed the corner at the same time Naoko did from the other side, their Echoes staring each other down. Nagi blinked. She'd finally did it. Well, good on her.

"Oh, shit. Echo awakened, huh? Congrats, Shiratori. Told ya you'd get it down sooner or later. Whaddya call her?" She said with genuine good feeling. After what happened last time she tried, Naoko could use the morale boost. Really, it hadn't been Shiratori's own fault last time anyway. She'd been interrupted. Nagi had told her as much, but it didn't seem like it had stuck.

And then came the hard part. "You come across the other civilians yet? I, uh...fucked up. Bad. They got mine. Arms came out the walls and nabbed her." Nagi looked away in shame before something occurred to her. "Wait, didn't you have one with you too?"

@VitaVitaAR

Kauro held his knife out at the approaching creatures. It really was hopeless wasn't it? The were screwed from the moment that they used that damned app. They wandered into eldritch territories, ignorant of the grander powers at play and were going to pay the price with blood. The monsters just kept getting closer and closer, and then there was nothing, but white before him.

Was he dead? He looked around his new strange surroundings, the first thing he did was look up to see if there an end to the borderless white only to see a star filled night sky above him. From his periphery, he noticed that not only the kids with him from earlier were with him, but other poor saps that he did not recognize as well, no doubt attacked by the aberrations of this world. The strangest thing though was not this place's appearance or the people he was pulled in with, but the thing that resided in the void.

Just like the rest this crap sack world, there was another humanoid creature with them. It was a young girl though with all manner of segments and crevices along her joints just like a marionette and yet had the strange uncanniness of a porcelain doll. Every movement she made was followed by a metallic clicking and jingling, very different from the monsters that they encountered earlier. Nothing about this thing was human though it sure had a sick, macabre sense of humor. It giggled and teased them for the impending doom and yet coyly vague of what it was even talking about.

And then it mentioned salvation. Of course it was just as vague, but he got the gist though with no warning an immediate wave of uncontrollable panic and dread washed over him. Fear prompted by that damned doll, but it was not of death, at least on its own. There were worst things than death. Something like that is what an edgy anime character would say and be reiterated by some fourteen year old on the internet. It was another platitude.

Living a pointless life and then dying an equally pointless death, however, was another thing entirely.

Followed was the sensation of something inside trying to get out literally. Kauro could feel something slithering inside him like cold snakes, bulging against his skin trying to escape. Black branches erupted from his back in a never ending flow. Kauro screamed as he felt like his insides were being ripped from the inside to the outside for the world to see. The end of result was a mass of black branches with a strange texture similar to wrought iron floating in the air. The mass then began to move, cracking and twisting to give itself form.

Kauro watched, exhausted and panting, until what stood behind him was a towering monstrosity, blacker than any darkness and more decrepit and foul. It was a gangling beast with long, branch like limbs and ten abnormally long humanoid fingers though had the feet of a bird. This thing had no real torso except for its visible rib cage made from those branches and the crooked, jagged spine that connected it and its head to the rest of its body. It had wings that on first glance that had feathers, but one could tell that they were not real. They looked like they were carved and welded from metal. The creature had no recognizable facial features save for its raven like beak.

It slouched and tilted its head downwards to look at the creature, opening its beak to show rows of human teeth and a sharp tongue that slid out and slouched on the side.

"How ugly," Kauro said smiling at the creature, patting its beak. He did not pretend to understand what it was though he felt a strange connection to it.

So this was it. This was how they were going to die. The grip he had on the object in his hand tightened as Yuichi stared down the monsters. In the expanse of his mind, Yuichi is what led him up to this point. Was it from quitting baseball? Did he not study hard enough? Was it because he was too cowardly to look his teammates in the face? Though before he could think more, everything changed in a blur.

White that all the eyes could be in front of him. Darkness above with glistening stars that shined brightly. In front of him was a girl sitting on a velvet chair. A smile had graced her face before she went on about the misfortune. Yuichi couldn't help but feel repulsed by every word that this girl said. It was as if she was mocking him for being unlucky. It brought him back to his thought process before everything broke down.

At the end of the day, it all came down to luck. He was lucky to be talented in baseball. Yet, he was also unlucky for getting into a car crash. He was lucky that his grades weren't unrecoverable. Yet, he was unlucky for being bad at academics. Luck. Unluck. Luck. Unlucky. The concept made him furious. An uncontrollable, unseen factor in his life that seemingly determined how he lived. He hated the word luck. It was his own efforts that he succeeded in baseball. It was the driver's fault for crashing into his parent's car. His grades were okay, to begin with. The only reason why he was bad at academics was that he neglected to hone that skill.

Something within Yuichi tore him up inside. Suddenly, Yuichi found himself crouching down and grabbing his shoulder. Something sprouted from his back. An appearance of arm ripped itself out of Yuichi's back. A black substance was sprayed everywhere as it emerged to push against Yuichi's back. And then another arm splurted out more blood before it, too, began pushing. Suddenly a head emerged from Yuichi's back. Its screams, mixed with Yuichi's own, became a cacophony of pain and rage.

Finally, it shot out of Yuichi's back. Yuichi was dry heaving before he finally took a look beside him. What stood beside him was a ghastly figure that was adorned with armor. Shadows made it hard to perceive the figure, but the creases of the armor gave an outline to what the figure looked at. At that instant, when they met eyes, Yuichi felt a connection with the unknown armored figure. It was him, and he was it. Together, they would unleash what they had kept deep down for so long.