Lisa’s eyes were fixed on the massive, floating landmass above her, and she looked on in awe. The sheer size of the place made her feel impossibly small. Lisa strained her eyes; she could see the faint outlines of buildings - towers maybe - dotting the top. Though she turned to Yoko and said,

”That’s the Kingdom?” Lisa pointed, laughing. ”It’s not what I expected at all.”

Yoko’s sigh brought Lisa back to reality, as she said, ”Yes, Turner, that is the Kingdom.”

”Why didn’t you tell us it’s floating in the sky?!” Lisa said.

Yoko didn’t respond.

”... Why didn’t you tell us it was in the sky!?”

The silence stretched uncomfortably until Yoko sighed.

”... Because I didn’t know it’d be floating, Turner,” Yoko crossed her arms. ”The Pit is home to some extraordinary things…”

”Then how do we know its our Kingdom? It could be some other Kingdom for all we know!” Lisa said.

Yoko pivoted towards Lisa, and pointed up towards the Kingdom.

”One, I was tracking Autoknight movements for ages now, it all comes from and leads to this direction,” Then Yoko pointed at the Autoknight airships coming from the Kingdom, and returning. ”And two… aren’t those the Autoknight airships.”

"If Yoko says it's the kingdom, I believe it is! And those are Autoknight ships!" Ella said cheerfully.

Saskia had finally stood up, silently backing up Lisa in her questioning by standing behind her. "... I suppose it looks right. But how do we get up there without getting caught? A giant flying spider isn't exactly inconspicuous."

”We could try bouncing off…” Lisa tried to joke, glancing at Ella’s rear, but she ended up choking. She sighed… as she wasn’t in the mood after what they had done earlier. The screams of those children as Saskia put them out of their misery. It was for the greater good, Lisa said. It was to help them, Lisa said. Because death is a better alternative to living in the Pit and getting eaten by a monster… yet, the doubts clung to Lisa. The guilt clung to her.

Would she ever escape it?

”... Never mind,” Lisa said, turning away, and Yoko just nodded.

”We have four options,” Yoko said, before she raised one finger. ”One; we use Turner’s spiders to fly up there… I’m certain if we tried, we’d get riddled with holes before we made landfall.”

Then raised another finger.

”Two, we climb up the chains; some of them are close enough to the surface that maybe we can climb from there.”

Then raised a third finger.

”Three; we either hijack or stowaway on one of their airships… Which seems easier said than done because we don’t know where they land.”

Then Yoko paused for a moment and then sighed.

”And I know my decisions have put you three in danger two times already…” Yoko raised a fourth finger before she said, ”... We let ourselves get captured and brought into the Kindom.”

Lisa glanced up at the Kingdom for a few more moments as she considered Yoko’s words and then at Yoko herself. Something about Yoko's demeanor cut through the exhaustion Lisa felt. Then Lisa spoke in a low tone…

”... Is that really our best option, Yoko?” Lisa asked, tilting her head. ”Just hand our asses over to them on a silver platter?”

Saskia nodded in agreement with what Lisa was saying, standing right behind her and watching Yoko with narrowed eyes.

”Turner…” Yoko rolled her eyes, and sighed. ”Just why are you acting like I’m suggesting we just surrender? Like I don’t have a plan?”

Yoko's tone and the way she rolled her eyes all felt too dismissive for her liking. It reminded her of the way some members of the Old Coven spoke to her.

She didn’t like that.

”Because, Yoko, ‘Let’s get captured’ and ‘Surrender’ sound the exact fucking same to me,” As Lisa spoke, her gaze went upwards towards the Kingdom, before her eyes met Yoko’s. ”Say we agree to your plan… well, what exactly is it?”

Yoko met Lisa’s gaze, and for a brief moment, they were intensely staring at each other before Yoko turned away and took a few steps. Then, she explained her plan, ”It all revolves around a spell of mine… Compact. I can teach it to the Disc- Brooks, if needed. As the name suggests, it allows you to compact an item with Orange Lux for more accessible transport. From my testing, channelers do still work as long as you are aware it’s your channeler.”

Then Yoko glanced over her shoulder at Lisa, ”So, we compact our channelers and whatever artifacts we need. Let them bring us up there, and then we catch them off guard and break free.”

Lisa’s eyes remained fixed on Yoko, absorbing the details of her plan. She wasn’t entirely sold, but at least Yoko seemed to be thinking ahead.

Then Yoko shrugged before turning back to face Lisa fully.

”But, that’s only if we all agree on it,” Yoko began, taking a few steps forward towards Lisa, and once she was close, she put a hand on her shoulder. ”Because we’re in this together, Turner. If you, Brooks, or Otten are not on board, we’ll just have to find another way.” She smiled at Lisa, and Lisa smiled back.

”... Your breath smells terrible, by the way,” Lisa noted.

”... And I’m sure it does.” Yoko answered, deadpan.

Both Ella and Saskia were silent for a moment, seeming to think. Even Ella seemed hesitant about the idea.

"I think… It's the best plan. If I learn the spell, we can probably bring all our artifacts…" Ella said eventually.

Saskia was still silent. They stepped forward, hooking their arm around Lisa’s and dragging her away from the other two. They pulled her enough away that they were still in sight of Yoko and Ella, but out of earshot.

"I don’t trust her," Saskia said quietly.

”I mean… it seems a little bit reckless… she seems reckless…” Lisa said… before the static-y voice appeared, opening with a very sarcastic snort.

...?...?...?...-pot…?...?...?...?...black.

”... I mean, what other option do we have?” Lisa just shrugged. ”I don’t trust her either - well, not completely - but I don’t have any better ideas right now. But, if you have a problem, just say something.”

"I don’t have any better ideas but…" Saskia frowned, folding her arms. "I want to make sure we’re on the same page. We do this plan, but she does anything out of line, we kill her."

Lisa was silent momentarily as the weight of Saskia’s words set in… On one hand, she was Ella’s friend and she couldn’t bring herself to hurt her. On the other, the Mother Will’s words were still fresh on her mind… Yoko didn’t care about her. Yoko didn’t care about any of them until they started being beneficial to her. She probably wouldn’t care if she was in the above world.

The Mother Will rose from the ground, yet only Lisa could perceive her - she laid her chilling hands on her shoulders and gave her a seductive whisper, “... Hatanaka is a fool. Only concerned about her family legacy.”

Lisa stood there.

“She sees the Pit, its offerings, as a proving ground. She wants to prove to not just the world but herself, that she is worthy. That she holds strength,” The Mother Will laughed. “Bah! She is using you like the others were… She only sees you as nothing more as a merit to prove herself.”

The Mother Will laughed lowly before saying,

“... You should show her what it means to have power.”

Then she disappeared.

It appeared as if Lisa was standing there saying nothing for about a minute.

”... Yes.” Lisa nodded at Saskia. Yet, there was something about that… it just didn’t sit right with her. Lisa tapped her fingertips together, ”Maybe we should talk to Yoko and the others about this.”

"... about us planning to kill her?" Saskia tilted their head, looking confused.
Took her glasses off.

Lisa facepalmed.

”Yes, let’s go full dicks out and tell Yoko we’re planning to eat her,” Lisa said, completely monotone. ”Did you have an Ella moment?”

"It's the blood loss," Saskia intoned, also completely monotone. "Fine, let's talk to her- them. Maybe she'll show her true colours, or do better. You do the talking, though."

The static-y voice appeared in their heads yet again.

… ?...?...?...means well…?...?... She wants-...?...?...?...you all.

Lisa slid her glasses back on. ”Who does- actually, I’m not in the mood right now weird voice.”

…?...?...?...Yoko. Yoko. Yoko-...?...?...?...How can…?...?... hurt her…?...?...?... biggest tiddies…?...?...?...see.

”Wait, what?” Lisa turned her head to the sky. ”Who does?”

…?...?...?... Yoko…?...?...?...-ko…?...?..?...Yoko.

”... Maybe hurting Yoko isn’t the right choice.”

Saskia tilted their head. "Yoko has the biggest tiddies? Bigger than Ella's? And she's hidden them this whole time? That's not very trustworthy…"

Saskia's gaze turned to Yoko. Then very obviously down to her chest. Then, they grabbed Lisa's hand. "Let's ask."

…?...?...? No, please-

The voice tried to plead as Saskia dragged Lisa right back over, not even waiting a beat before bluntly asking, "Yoko, are you hiding a pair of tits bigger than Ella's?"

…?...?... What have I started?

Yoko raised an eyebrow - though it was on Lisa’s mind.

Then Yoko sighed.

”... One, that is incredibly inappropriate, Otten,” Yoko started. ”Two, how can you two go from thinly veiled animosity to asking such a question?”

Yoko took a deep breath, raising a finger.

”And if it keeps you two focused, yes, I am. Wilson teased me all the time about them. Next question.”

Saskia looked at Lisa, then back at Yoko. ”It's important for trust. You-"

"They're bigger than mine?!" Ella interrupted with a shout. "Whoa- that's like, super weapons!"

”Elaborate, Disciple,” Yoko stared at Ella like she had grown a second head.

"We managed to defeat a dragon thanks to me taking my top off!" Ella elaborated.

"It's true, Ella's tits got him so excited he exploded," Saskia said, almost solemnly.

Yoko was utterly silent for a moment, tilting her head at Ella.

”... As a Hatanaka Disciple, you will be showing more dignity and respect to yourself here on in?” Yoko began. ”Yes?”

”I mean,” Lisa looked off to the side. ”It worked. That’s got to count for something, Yoko.”

”But, Ella now has a standard to uphold,” Yoko nodded her head.

However, the static-y voice spoke clearly.

...?...?...In the Pit?!

"I’m sorry, Sensei… but I can’t make any promises," Ella said solemnly, ignoring the voice. "If my friends are in danger and it’s the only way to save them… I’ll have to do it."

Yoko smiled unnaturally wide, slowly turning her head.

”... I’m honestly at a loss for words here,” Yoko started before she looked at everyone one at a time. ”Were you three always like this? Or did your resurrection… change you?”

”I mean,” Lisa shrugged. ”You all were alive for those ten years!”

"Right. Put yourself in our shoes, coming back to life ten years older," Saskia intoned. "Remembering your death. Not going through young adulthood. Really, we’re sixteen year olds in adult bodies."

"Ten years of anime I missed!" Ella wailed.

”... And the Hound threw you all straight into the Pit,” Yoko said with a sigh. ”No trainin- wait, you three had a different task, right?”

”Yeah, defeat Morningstar,” Lisa shrugged.

Yoko’s jaw dropped.

”... Was this dragon you mentioned earlier named Ignatius by chance?” Yoko asked.

"I think so? He kinda had a habit of going on and on, so I stopped listening to anything he said," Ella said, tilting her head and rubbing her chin.

"That was him." Saskia nodded. "We had to kill him twice. It was a pain in the ass."

”Hmph, small world,” Yoko laughed. ”Wilson, when she decided to save Bray from his own recklessness, ended up there and got into a huge fight with Moringstar’s Society. I saved her from getting killed by the Dragon, but we fled.”

”... Who’s Bray?” Lisa tilted her head.

”Don’t worry about it,”

"Sounds unimportant," Saskia shrugged. "But the Society’s gone now. We got rid of it."

"Yeah we killed that evil bastard and his seven slightly less evil bastard minions!" Ella declared dramatically. "Then we were thrown in here!"

”You did good,” Yoko said, ”Though, did you eliminate just Mornin-” Yoko cut herself off, before looking up at the Kingdom.

”How about we decide on a plan to get up there?” Yoko said with a sigh. ”The matters of the surface world are simply irrelevant right now.”

Then she paused momentarily, looking at Ella, Saskia, and Lisa.

”... And so is my chest.”

"... for now…" Saskia muttered ominously. She continued more loudly. "We’ll go with your plan. But I want to make it clear, outside of hiding your massive chest, we don’t trust you."

"I trust her!" Ella interjected.

"You trust anyone, Ella. Your opinion is invalid."

”... Then how do you expect for all four of us to make it through this, then?” Yoko asked Saskia, raising her chin as she maintained eye contact. ”We only have each other, Otten. Half the beings you will encounter here are monsters trying to eat you. The other half are psychopaths or people too scared to think straight.”

Yoko spoke, taking a few steps forward.

”... We only have each other.”

"Incorrect." Saskia responded. They gestured to themselves, Ella and Lisa. "We have each other. That’s all we need. So stop treating us like we don’t understand the dangers, at the very least. We’re equals here. Trust is earned."

"That’s not fair, Saskia, she’s helped us a lot," Ella said.

Yoko narrowed her eyes at Saskia.

”Then tell me…” Yoko said, ”... What exactly was your plan before I came along? Wander around and hope you find the All-Blade?”

Then turned to Ella.

”... And that is a question for Otten, and only Otten,” Yoko said as she took a few steps forward towards Saskia. ”You moan about how much you don’t trust me, Otten, yet you seemed to be perfectly fine with my plan up until now.”

Saskia's eyes narrowed slightly, but they didn't back down. "We didn't have a solid plan. But we would have figured it out- torturing residents, investigation. I gave you the benefit of the doubt - Ella likes you, and your plan sounded sensible. But then you put them in danger. You care about yourself and your brother more."

Saskia took another step forward to close the gap between them, voice lowering to a hissed whisper. ”Do you trust us? Our capabilities? Because I think you just see us as extra bodies you can order around and sacrifice."

Yoko was silent, narrowing her eyes… Yet her lips curled into a grin.

”... If I was only concerned with my brother and myself, I wouldn’t have spent the time training Ella,” Yoko spat back in a barely muted whisper. ”And yes, I do trust you all… But, you clearly have the wrong idea about me, Otten.”

Yoko paused, looking at Lisa then Ella, ”Maybe Baksh, Devola, Reed, and Stone’s band of cheerleader fuckups were like that, but not I. I legitimately care about you all and I cannot, in good conscience, simply toss you all away the second you stopped being useful like they would.”

Yoko sighed.

”Look, we can all leave with what we came for, Otten. I am willing to do anything to regain your trust.”

Saskia just stared at Yoko for a few moments, eyes narrowed.

"Saskia, come on, at least give her a chance, even if you don't trust her!" Ella pleaded, reaching out to take Saskia's hand.

Saskia looked at Ella, down at their hands, then back at Yoko with a sigh. "Fine. Take this plan as you regaining that trust. It has to work, we all make it out. With what we all want."

Yoko took a step forward and narrowed her eyes as she said,

”... If any of you don’t make it out, I don’t make it out,”

Saskia stared back for a moment before nodding. "Fine. I can accept that."

Ella cheered, throwing her hands up in the air. "Alright, alright, now teach me the shrinking objects spell!"

”What’s the rush? So you can carry more sex toys?” Yoko grinned at Ella, ”How about we find somewhere safe, take a rest, and then I can teach you that spell.”

Then Yoko paused as she said,

”... And other spells you can use to protect yourself from your uncle.”

Ella opened her mouth, then closed it and hung her head. The excitement she’d shown just moments ago was completely gone and she gave a muted nod.

Saskia raised an eyebrow. "Trying to get closer to us by making sexual jokes? Very smart. Ella brought along the dildos for Lisa more than herself, though."

”Well, we can use them for sealing,” Yoko shrugged. ”And only sealing. Nothing else. Definitely not their intended function.” Yoko rolled her eyes.

"They were very useful for sealing! Otherwise I would’ve had to use something useful!" Ella said cheerfully.

Saskia snorted, rolling their eyes. "I don’t know why you took Lisa saying to bring them seriously."

”Turner is… wait, what’s wrong with Turner?” Yoko asked, turning to Lisa.

While this conversation went on… it got increasingly muted as Lisa felt an icy chill up her spine. Her gaze was drawn to the distance, to the side of a mountain. A gigantic and nightmarish spider, an ethereal being, was looming over them. Its white, wispy limbs and glowing red eyes were fixated on her. There was something about it, but it made Lisa’s heart skip a beat. She took a few steps back, grabbed Ella’s shirt, gave it a few tugs, and then pointed at it.

Yoko’s gaze went in that direction of, then narrowed her eyes before looking at Lisa,

”Turner,” Yoko paused. ”... What’s wrong?”

”There’s an Apparition right there,” Lisa said, ”Hit it with your swooooord….”

Yoko looked in the direction again before she said,

”... There’s nothing there, Turner,”

"Are you going mad?" Saskia intoned.

Ella looked around with wide, panicked eyes. She automatically wrapped an arm around Lisa, pulling her into a tight hug against her side. "I don’t see anything? Are you alright?! Maybe- maybe something’s haunting you!"
”I… swear! Can’t you all see it?!” Lisa shouted.

...?...?...?... I…?...?...either….?...?...deep brea-...?...?... Relax….?...?... Find…?...?...?...rest. The voice began. ... Maybe…?...?...Something….?...?... I believe you.

"We can’t…" Saskia frowned, looking around.

"I believe you, Lisa!" Ella declared. She then pulled Lisa closer in, pressing her face into her… chest. "Close your eyes, everyone, maybe this will help."

Then she lifted up her free hand and it glowed brightly until it was a blinding light illuminating the area.

The spider didn’t so much as flinch…. Yoko grabbed the Yokai Killer with both hands and then unsheathed it. The Yokai Killer was utterly dim. She narrowed her eyes. ”... There are no Yokai nearby.” Yoko said it with the inflection of a robot.

Yoko slowly sheathed the Yokai Killer with a click. ”... Perhaps you just need some sleep. It’s been a lot lately.”

"That’s probably it," Saskia agreed.

"Lisa isn’t the type to make something like that up!" Ella said. She then looked down at Lisa. "... but if it’ll make you feel safer I’ll spoon you when you sleep!"

Yoko sighed as she turned away from the spider, keeping the Yokai Killer clenched tightly in her hands, ”From here on out, we’re going to be facing Autoknights from here in.”

Lisa didn’t take her eyes off the spider for a moment,

"We can handle them," Saskia said grimly, pulling out her knife.

Ella nodded. "Let's go…"

---

The red sky loomed overhead… as the four traveled from the desert mines to a new area. The dry and hot air was spontaneously replaced by the opposite, humid and cool. The area was dense with a white fog… the landscape seemed to twist and warp, with no sense of direction or logic. Towering ruins of what might have once been buildings loomed in the distance, their skeletal remains barely standing, covered in dark, twisting vines. The spider was still on Lisa’s mind as Yoko led the charge, her hand grasping the Yokai Killer, occasionally unsheathing it to examine its glow - but fortunately, it was always dim. But now and then, Lisa glanced over her shoulder to see if that spider was there.

After hours of wandering, Yoko suddenly stopped; a jagged and crumbling building stood ahead of them. The building looked simple, worn from time but sturdy, like an old outpost made of brick and metal. Its windows were cracked, and its roof was slightly sagging. Yoko walked over for a moment before unsheathing the Yokai Killer, and after seeing that it was dim, she sheathed it again with a click.

”That’ll do,” Yoko said, ”We can rest here until a monster comes to interrupt us.”

Ella nodded, pushing into the building first - she still had her hands in front of her ready to cast. Lisa was right behind her.

"I'll take first watch today," Saskia said, looking over at Yoko. "We need to share that burden."

”Very well,” Yoko said with a nod of her head, she quickly hopped on top of the building and knelt in the seiza posture. ”I will be meditating if you need me.”

The building's interior felt like a time capsule, illuminated by dim light filtering through cracked windows. Weathered brick walls were dotted with lichen, while uneven wooden planks creaked underfoot. Scattered remnants of rusted furniture and a dilapidated cabinet added to the sense of ruin. It felt like a forgotten realm, a haven amid The Pit's chaos, yet the spider's unsettling memories loomed in the back of Lisa's mind… Lisa sighed as there was nothing to sleep on.

”Let’s just…” Lisa said, ”Sleep on the floor, I guess.”

Lisa took her backpack off and then flopped down.

Ella put her backpack down too, and lay down beside Lisa, asking almost hesitantly, "want to hug while sleeping?"

---

Lisa awoke again… this time at the lair of the Old Coven. Well, it’s burned down remnants that remained there long after the Coven disbanded. Lisa looked around, confused, as she stood in the yard behind the building… a field of beautiful flowers that led up to a tree. Something was compelling Lisa over to it. She saw some strange letters, like a code on the side of it; she was perplexed by it.

“... LT GGA.” The Mother Will appeared out of thin air, her hand drifting to the mentioned code. “Does that ring a bell at all…?” The Mother Will trailed off.

Lisa knew Mother Will was a liar, but everything she said sounded right. She knew exactly what to say to push those buttons Lisa never thought would be gone. However, Lisa shook her head as a silent answer.

“That’s your name in their memorial…” The Mother Will said. “It was merely an empty gesture to ‘honor’ the toys that they disposed of.” The Mother Will laughed, tilting her head.

“You gave them EVERYTHING, and all you get in return is five letters…?”

Lisa blinked, and Mother Will was right behind her… She placed her hands on her shoulders. The being’s touch was cold, unfeeling, and unnerving, yet Lisa welcomed it like her mother’s.

“Someone like you deserves far more than that, yes?” The Mother Will began. “For a woman of your potential. Your power. Your contributions…. You deserve to be more than just a passing thought.”

Lisa played with her fingers before she asked, ”... What do I deserve to be, then?”

The Mother Will’s grip tightened on Lisa’s shoulder.

“You deserve to be remembered,” the Mother Will began. “Not as a mere footnote in their history, but as a force that shapes it. They should have feared you. Respected you… worshipped you.”

Lisa’s heart pounded in her chest as the Mother Will’s hands drifted down her shoulders onto her arms. “They never saw your potential, but we know better. You were never meant to be the pawn but the queen on the chessboard. You were meant to be so much more.”

Lisa had always believed she was meant for more, but those thoughts had been buried beneath layers of doubt and pain. Now… those thoughts were clawing their way back to the surface.

“You deserved to be the one that determined how the story ends. The one who leaves a mark on the world,” The Mother Will began. “Ashley Stone. Daisy Hunter. Auri Auclair? They’re all frauds. They took all the credit for all the hard work you put in.”

The Mother Will appeared in front of Lisa as she said, “They held onto what little power they could until they just couldn’t - and burned everything behind them.”

Lisa’s breath quickened as the Mother Will’s words dug deep into her core, like tendrils wrapping around her soul. The old wounds, the bitterness she had tried to bury, began to resurface. The familiar names—Ashley, Daisy, Auri—echoed in her head, now tainted with a growing resentment. She had once admired them, worked alongside them, and even sacrificed for them.

“... They took everything from you.” the Mother Will whispere. “Your loyalty, your devotion, your love, your energy, your passion, your kindness, your power… it meant nothing to them. They left you with scraps, convincing you it was all you were worth.”

Lisa clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms until they nearly drew blood...

“They used you, Lisa,” the Mother Will murmured, her hand brushed against Lisa’s cheek, the touch chilling. “You sacrificed for them. And for what? So they could walk away from the ashes and leave you here? Reduced to nothing more than a meaningless code carved into the bark of a rotting tree...?”

Lisa’s heart raced, and that anger she tried to suppress was dug up as she began shaking her fists. “Imagine what it would be like to take back that power? Be the one who decides who stays… and who goes?”

A dark thrill coursed through Lisa at the thought. Her heart pounded harder, her breaths coming faster. She could feel the pull, the temptation to give in to the thoughts she had once feared. The desire to make them pay, to reclaim everything they had taken from her. Still..

”I don’t kno-” Lisa tried to say before the Mother Will placed a finger to her lips.

“Shhhh…” The Mother Will said, “You don’t have to be afraid of your power anymore, Lisa. Let yourself feel it. Let yourself enjoy it. You’re not weak like them. You don’t need to control yourself for anyone’s sake..”

The Mother Will laughed.

“... It’s time, Lisa,” ”The Mother Will said. “Let go. You deserve to be remembered. You deserved to be feared. You deserve to be whatever you want here in the Pit.”

The Mother Will chuckled softly, “After all… We laud power down here. And with power, you can do whatever you want. Be whatever you want because the Pit is more than just a location. It represents the primal desire of the human soul… freedom through strength.”

The Mother Will paused.

"̵R̵e̷m̷e̵m̷b̶e̴r̸ ̷t̷h̵a̴t̵,̷ ̵L̵i̷s̵a̴ ̶T̵u̸r̸n̸e̴r̴.̴"̸

The Mother Will sunk into the ground… and Lisa was left with anger. She focused on the code—LT GGA—her hand hovering over the rough bark of the tree as her heart hammered in her chest. She closed her eyes briefly; her body trembled with the weight of her decision as she could finally feel the pull to let go. She closed her eyes briefly, and something had changed when she opened them again. The uncertainty was gone, replaced by something darker. Something fiercer.

Lisa screamed at the top of her lungs.

She slammed her hand into a fist and slammed her fist into her “name” on the tree.

The dream ended.

---

Lisa stirred, and a chill crept through her as she opened her eyes. Her heart raced as her eyes snapped open to the dim light of the building. As she adjusted to her surroundings, her gaze landed on a figure looming above her…

… It was the spider from earlier.

Lisa immediately opened her mouth and shrieked as the spider quickly backpedaled and mounted onto the wall right by the door - which was kicked open by Yoko Hatanaka, one hand on the hilt of the Yokai Killer and the other on the sheath.

”Turner?!” Yoko barked, ”Are you okay?!”

The spider quickly slinked out, and Lisa pointed at it.

”It’s right there! It’s right fucking there!”

Yoko hopped in the air, hand on the Yokai Killer, and turned around. She pulled the Yokai Killer somewhat out of its sheath, glanced down at it, and slid it back in place. She shook her head as she said,

”... Turner, please go back to sleep,” Yoko said with a straight face.

"... There was nothing there," Saskia intoned, pulling blood back into their palm - they'd reacted immediately, with blood armour and blades. "I've been keeping watch the whole time."

”Would you feel safer if we all kept watch?" Ella mumbled, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

”Disciple…” Yoko trailed off, before gesturing at Saskia, ”We still need to sleep. Turner can’t keep watch by herself. But, I will remain in here if necessary.”

"That’s true." Ella yawned, looking at Saskia. "Should we swap? You hug Lisa, I’ll keep watch."

Saskia shook their head. "I’m fine for another while. You both sleep for now."

Ella didn’t argue, lying back down and pulling Lisa down.

How could they not see it? How could it not be there? She felt Ella’s arms wrap around her again, pulling her back to the ground, but Lisa couldn't relax. Her eyes darted to each corner of the room…

”... It was right there,” Lisa whispered. ”How could it not be right there…?”

She could feel the weight of everyone’s exhaustion around her, the doubt hanging in the air, but that didn’t change what she saw. She closed her eyes, but sleep was far from her. All she could do was lie there… and wait for it to return.

Yoko crouched beside Ella, watching her sleep for a moment before gently shaking her shoulder.

”Ell- Disciple, it’s time to wake up,” Yoko began. ”It’s time for you and Turner to keep watch for a bit.”

Yoko gently nudged her again.

”Then we will train. We need as many tools as possible in the fight against the Autoknights.”

"Mm- okay," Ella mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She was still sleepy but… it was something she was having to get used to. She gently shook Lisa to wake her too. "Our turn to watch."

Lisa loudly groaned, with bags underneath her eyes, as she waved her hand at Ella. ”... Five more minutes.”

”Five minutes isn’t going to make you or break you, Turner,” Yoko said with a roll of her eyes as she simply laid her backpack on the ground and rested her head on it as if it was the most comfortable pillow in the world. It didn’t take long for Yoko to begin snoring.

"Don't get too distracted," Saskia intoned as they found a spot to lie down, curling around their backpack and closing their eyes.

"I know how to keep watch," Ella grumbled. She took her bag closer to the door, squatting down in front of it as she fully woke up. Staying perfectly still, she began to expand her senses like Yoko had taught her too. Listening out for anything out of place…

”... It’s literally in the title,” Lisa said as she rolled her eyes and walked over and placed her back against the door. She sighed as she stared into nothing for a few moments. ”... Am I starting to seem crazy? You can be honest.”

Lisa just blurted out before she shrugged.

”You should have seen it! It was a giant spider, but it was an Apparition… I would think it’s cool, but….” Lisa shook her head. ”Maybe we should ask Yoko how her sword works.”

"I don’t think you’re crazy." Ella opened her eyes, extended sense cut off as her arms were thrown up in the air. Sure, Lisa’s words had been loud enough it was almost painful with the spell Ella was casting, but that was fine! Her friend was in pain right now… or, worrying at least. "Yoko herself said there were infinite possibilities with magic, right? There’s a possibility this spider-ghost-thing has magic that gets around Yoko’s sword! But don’t worry."

Ella reached out, putting a hand on Lisa’s shoulder. "I believe you. I know you wouldn’t make something like this up!"

Lisa slowly craned her head in Ella’s direction and stared at her for a few seconds. Before she asked, ”... Do you really believe that or are you just saying that to make me feel better?”

"I do," Ella said earnestly. She genuinely did - she trusted Lisa. She trusted all of her friends not to lie to her - and why would Lisa make something like that up? Maybe she was seeing things, sure but… wasn’t magic the likelier explanation? Saskia and Yoko were just looking at things far too realistically for a place with monsters everywhere!

"Infinite possibilities, Lisa, even a giant spider that nobody else can see. But why only you can see it… I don’t know! Maybe it’s cause you like spiders?"

”... If there are infinite possibilities these- I can’t even do it right now,” Lisa said, bringing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. She sighed. ”I’ll just… ignore it next time. Pretend it’s not there.” She shrugged.

"Yeah, it doesn’t deserve your attention."

”I had an idea for a Joint-Cast we could maybe work on, just for the three of us,” Lisa began. ”Did you want to hear it?”

"Yes!" Ella turned, giving Lisa her full attention… well not quite her full attention, make like half her attention. She was still very much paying attention to keeping watch. "What is it? Tell me, we haven’t made a new joint cast in… well, ten years!"

”... I mean, from our perspective, it was like yesterday,” Lisa shrugged, ”The gist of it is if we get cornered by a group of enemies - ^{like we usually do} - we can take them out. But, not just a group of enemies, what about one big one, like that skeleton we ran into when we first got here?”

Lisa looked at Ella, ”I was thinking like… I make an underground web made out of, you know… human flesh. But this is filled with blood, corrosive blood that Saskia put into it. Then you shoot it with one of your gay bolts of lightning that causes it to explode and shoot blood everywhere and leave a crater.”

Lisa nodded her head.

”... I call it, Deathcrater.”

Ella’s expression changed throughout the description. The whole thing sounded like a great idea but it also sounded… really gross! With the human flesh and corrosive blood! But that was fine, she could do the bolt of lightning, easy!

"That- that sounds like a great idea! So long as I don’t have to see the flesh and blood and I can just zap it with lightning!" Ella grinned at Lisa. "Oh, we should try it out when Saskia wakes up!"

Lisa just shrugged.

”Sounds like a plan,” Lisa began. ”But, let’s keep our eyes peeled and hope nobody crazy happens.” She awkwardly snorted, and glanced at Saskia and Yoko.

”We still have time to think about the details, I wonder what Yoko would think about the name, tho’!” She laughed.

Some time had passed before Yoko woke up on her own… she loudly yawned as she stretched before climbing to her feet. She reached into her hip pouch and pulled out the Yokai Killer, unsheathing it a quarter of the way, giving it a look before resheathing it with a poignant click. She looked at Lisa, then Ella,

”Is everything good?” Yoko asked before turning to Lisa. ”... Did you see anything out of the ordinary, Turner?”

Lisa shook her head.

”Good,” Yoko began, ”Should we let Otten rest more?”

Ella spun on her heels to actually look at Saskia, where she was sleeping a little bit away. Their expression was tight, but they were actually asleep. "Let's. They didn't sleep at all last time and… they took a while to sleep this time."

Ella then turned to Lisa excitedly. "Tell Yoko about your spell idea!"

Lisa glanced at Yoko, nodding. She sat up straighter.

”Right so,” Lisa began. ”"I’ve got this idea for a Joint-Cast... something we could use if we get cornered again like the last three or four times. It’s called Deathcrater.” Then she paused before continuing.

”Basically, I’d make an underground web out of human flesh. Saskia fills it with acidic blood, and Ella hits it with one of her gay-flavored lightning bolts, causing everything to explode - leaves a crater.” Lisa said that incredibly casually.

Yoko stared at Lisa as she continued, tilting her head.

Then she laughed,

”Lord,” Yoko began, ”Did you by chance come up with that during your nightmare?” Yoko cracked a wry grin.

”Juuuuuuuust thinking outside the box,” Lisa shrugged. ”We’re in the Pit, after all. Might as well go full freak.”

”... And you approve of this, Brooks?” Yoko asked Ella.

"Weeelllll I don’t really like how gross it’ll be- but! Staying alive is more important!" Ella declared, a bit too cheerfully. "It’ll help us escape all the stuff we keep getting trapped by.”

Yoko facepalmed.

”… There are less grotesque ways to blow things up, Disciple,” Yoko answered, removing her hands from her face. ”But you know what? Just do you. We do not have time to waste.”

She nodded, before she added.

”That name is something, though, Turner.”

"They never want to do the less grotesque ways,” Ella grumbled.

"Agh, no!- Fuck!"

Ella spun around to find Saskia awake, sitting bolt upright with her chest heaving up and down. Their eyes were wild with panic that quickly disappeared, returning to their normal emotionless expression as they turned to look at the others.

"Saskia, are you alright, did you have a nightmare? Oh- do you want a hug?!"

"No," Saskia intoned. "The nightmare was that you had a flat ass. That’d be too triggering."

”… That’s a nightmare you live every day,” Lisa cracked a grin.

"My ass can be flat so long as Ella's isn't."

Yoko facepalmed.

”… I don’t get you three,” Yoko began. ”They’re just sacks of fat. That’s it.” She rolled her eyes.

"Oh Yoko… they're more than sacks of fat. They're what gets me through life. When I feel particularly awful, I stare at Ella's ass and think ‘ah. Life really is worth living.’" Saskia delivered a strange speech in a complete monotone.

"You can touch my ass if it'll help you understand!" Ella offered.

Yoko stared at Saskia.

Then looked at Ella.

Then back to Saskia.

Then back at Ella.

”… No thank you,”

"Your loss." Saskia intoned.

"It's okay, Yoko, I understand! I prefer animated women too!" Ella said cheerfully.

Yoko stared at all three of them for a moment, them said, ”Don’t you three have a Joint-Cast to make?”

"Joint cast?" Saskia raised their eyebrows.

"Oh yeah! Lisa came up with a really cool but also gross joint cast!" Ella grinned. Saskia was sure to love it… probably too much. Honestly she was worried if she'd be able to do her part of she could see all the gross flesh…

”Oh, sounds like my kind of spell," Saskia said, looking over at Lisa.

”Well, it goes like…” Lisa explained the Deathcrater. ”… Then it makes a wider hole than Ella’s Uncle did. I call it Deathcrater.”

"I don't want to do the spell anymore," Ella mumbled, looking down at her feet. She really wished Lisa would stop bringing up her Uncle… the more it came up, the more she remembered, and the worse she felt about it all. Like a million spiders crawling across her skin - except she'd prefer that!

"Ohhh, I like it," Saskia nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard. We can already coordinate for our blood rain, and Ella just needs to do her gay lightning like normal."

Yoko rolled her eyes, ”… I’m going to be keeping watch. You three should have plenty of room to practice.”

"You don't want to watch up close?" Saskia asked, hint of sarcasm clear in their tone.

”Long as I can look over your shoulder, Otten,” Yoko said with a wry grin.

"If you think you can handle it," Saskia shot back.

”... Let's start," Ella interrupted, snapping out of her slightly upset state after Lisa's comment. She clapped her hands together. "Should we go outside to do it?"

”No let’s just trash this nice little orgy shed- OF COURSE WE’RE GOING OUTSIDE! WE’RE NOT ANIMALS!” Lisa shouted, and Yoko raised an eyebrow. Afterward, Lisa led the two outside, where she looked to the left and right, then laid down on her knees. She pressed her hands against the ground… taking a sigh.

”... Maybe you should be closer to me, Saskia,” Lisa said with a nod of her head. ”You’re the star of the show, after all. It’s hard to piece this together, you gotta like… I don’t know.”

There was a slight disturbance, a shake that could have gone completely ignored in their conversations.

”I’m building a web. You gotta fill it with blood. Or cum. Wouldn’t that be funny? Just standing somewhere, and then cum bursts out of the ground all over you?”

Yoko loudly sighed from the rooftop.

Saskia chuckled, moving closer to Lisa - so they were standing right behind her, practically looming… if only their height really allowed it. "Oh, that might take a little work but-"

"No! I'd prefer the blood!" Ella interrupted from where she was standing a bit away.

Saskia rolled their eyes. "Fine, fine."

They crouched down beside Lisa, thinking about it then putting their hand over hers. Then they changed their mind, and put it beside hers, trying to feel the web to start filling it with blood. They furrowed their brow. "Are you making it now?"

”Yeah, it’s spreading, can you feel it?” Lisa asked, and there was a faint rumbling. ”It just needs your special touch… Get it nice and juicy. Like a blood smoothie!”

Then Lisa glanced up at Ella, ”Do we need to put some glitter in it for you?”

Ella thought about it for a moment. It would make it more palatable… still blood, but shiny blood! She could handle that better! "Can you do that?"

"No." Saskia rolled their eyes. Their fingers dug into the dirt, and their eyebrows furrowed. They started to get paler as they concentrated. ”I'm feeding blood into it… I think I've got the feeling. Let me try do it faster."

They pressed their lips into a thin line, before nodding. ”Blood smoothie delivered. Next time we can do it more in sync."

Lisa nodded her head, then turned to Ella, ”Now all you have to do is shoot it with lightning?”

"Got it!" Ella rubbed her hands together, concentrating. She put all her love towards her friends into her thoughts and then… struck roughly the centre of the area with a massive bolt of pink lightning, and the ground cracked open with a deafening roar. Saskia’s corrosive blood shot up into the air like a geyser, and Lisa shielded her face with her arm. The crater widened, and the corrosive blood sizzled as it dissolved stone and everything else unfortunate enough to be caught in its blast radius. The sinkhole collapsed inward, pulling everything into gore and debris.

Lisa just laughed, as she turned around towards Yoko on the roof.

”... Check it out!” Lisa said to her.

Yoko just shook her head.

"I thought we were adding sparkles!" Ella wailed, having closed her eyes a moment after the corrosive blood came out.

"I said we couldn't," Saskia rolled their eyes, before turning to Lisa. "That was easy-"

"Because we're all super duper close and connected!"

"- sure. Do we even need to practice more?"

”We just need to run it a few times,” Lisa grabbed her chin, before she raised a finger and said, ”Just to make sure it’s perfect and we can do it like that.” Lisa snapped her fingers.

She stood up, brushed the dirt off her hands and knees, and deviously grinned at Saskia and Ella.

”... Let’s get to work!”

They continued to practice, the sounds of explosions and the ground collapsing echoing each time the Deathcrater was unleashed. After several rounds, Lisa clapped her hands, dusted them off, and glanced at the aftermath of the last crater. She grinned at the two, giving them a thumbs up.

”Soooooooo….” Lisa began, ”... How do you feel about my joint-cast? Questions? Comments? Concerns?”

”... Call it a day, you three!” Yoko called out, sitting with her eyes crossed and smiling. ”You’re going to end up falling into one of these holes at this rate!”

...?....?...?... it’s cool. The static-y voice said.

"Thank you strange voice!" Ella shouted, stretching out her arms with a grunt. All of that lightning shooting was hard work! But they'd perfected it at least. "I don't have any concerns I think it's great! We all did great!"

"Yeah, sure, that," Saskia grunted. They'd collapsed onto the floor, somehow managing to look whiter than normal. They turned their head towards Yoko. "Anything in the area? We made a lot of noise."

Yoko paused for a moment, before she responded.

”... The area is clear,” Yoko began. ”Not for long, I bet. It would be wise to pack up and find another safe location.”

Yoko looked up at the Kingdom…

”I would rather not have the entire might of the Kingdom pouring down on top of us.”

”It would be great practice for our Joint-Cast!” Lisa shouted.

"Maybe the first group, but what do about the second, and the third?" Saskia pointed out. Then they looked at Ella. "Yoko still has to teach Ella that shrinking spell."

"Oh yeah!" Ella nodded, in the process of grabbing her bag. "We don't want captured yet! Not that I really want captured at all I'm worried what you two will try do to the Autoknights…"

...?...?...?... Oh lord. The voice said, and they could just feel the person on the other end facepalming.

”We’ll murder them, of course!” Lisa said as she went into and grabbed her bag. ”What else can we do?!”

”... I don’t think we want that question answered,” Yoko rolled her eyes.

”I know exactly what I'll be doing… it'll involved a lot of spit." Saskia intoned, before finally pushing themselves back to their feet and going to grab their bag too.

"EWWWW!" Ella's face twisted up into a look of disgust. She then looked around them all, seeing they were all bagged up. She pointed in a random direction - which was away from the Kingdom. "Let's go!"

”… Why are you going away from the Kingdom?!” Yoko shouted, facepalming before she pointed in the correct direction.

”Ella could get lost in a straight hallway,” Lisa snickered.

"... Well I thought we'd want to go somewhere safe while we fully figure out our plan!" Ella wailed.

”We’re in The Pit, no where is safe!” Yoko shouted. ”Actually, let’s just go that way then! It’s not like we don’t have a flying spider at our disposal”
Lisa tried to grin, but it faltered.

Ella's eyes widened, and she threw up her hands. "No no no, let's- let's not go in the wrong direction. I made a mistake! Don't we need all of our energy?"

Saskia narrowed their eyes, glancing at Yoko. "We're going the right direction."

”Yes, it was the wrong direction, I thought about it, and the closer we get to the Kingdom, the more Autoknights there will be,” Yoko explained, ”Thus, we should go where there are less-”

There was that low rumble in the distant, familiar to all of them…. An Autoknight airship. Yoko hissed something in Japanese as her gaze was brought to the line of the mountain, where there the sight of four airships came into view.

”... Let’s go,” Yoko said, sprinting in the direction that she had declared to be the ‘wrong way’ minutes away.

Ella brightened up a little at her plan - which was really just her lack of direction - being chosen. She followed after Yoko in a quick sprint… after grabbing Saskia and Lisa's hands to pull them along. "How far are we going to go?"

”… Enough to lose them,” Yoko shouted, looking over her shoulder. Up ahead was a downed tree, and Yoko pulled out the Yokai Killer a quarter of the way… before sheathing it as she gracefully slid behind the tree. Lisa was right behind her as she gestured for Saskia and Ella.

Saskia came in behind Lisa, immediately squatting down, while Ella just completely jumped over the tree and basically fell on her ass behind it. Then she rolled into her front… She wasn't as small as the others!

"What if we never lose them?" Ella whispered. "Like that time we were hiding and then they came with flamethrowers?"

”Then I hope you’re ready to get cooked like a thanksgiving turkey,” Lisa said.

”They won’t do all that,” Yoko shrugged. ”They’ll probably just carpet bomb every possible hiding spot and hope they get us.”

”Earth to Yoko,” Lisa began, ”There’s probably three or four hiding spots in this field!”

”So we can either hope they assume we already moved on, make a break for it, or…” Yoko’s eyes landed on Lisa. ”How fast can you make a flying spider and a few thousand spiders?”

”A few minutes…” Lisa shrugged, before turning to Saskia, ”… but with the Orange Stone, seconds.”

Saskia stared at Lisa, before shoving their hand in their pocket and pulling the Orange Stone back out. They held it out, at the same time a thin blade forming from their fingertip. "I'm cutting it out if you don't right after making the spider."

Lisa nodded, then grabbed the Orange Stone and shoved it into her palm. As commanded,, she created a monstrously giant spider armed with dragonfly wings in mere seconds.

”Okay, so the plan is to send the spider in that direction,” Yoko said, pointing back to where the Autoknights came from. ”Then we’re going to head in this direction while they are distracted by the spider. I would say make another flying spider, but that makes too much noise, Turner.”

"Make a non flying spider, that’s faster than us, and quiet," Saskia said. Ella nodded her agreement at that idea.

Lisa nodded her head, as she created a Huntsmen Spider. It skittered forward, and Lisa climbed on top of it.

“Perfect!” Yoko exclaimed, climbing on top of the spider behind Lisa, “Now, let’s get moving before they catch on.”

Saskia got on behind Yoko, then Ella got on the back, wrapping her arms around everyone she could reach in front of her.

With a nod, Lisa sent the flying spider in the direction the Autoknights came from.

Then they went in the other direction.

The trip away from the Autoknights was relatively peaceful… for Pit’s standards. Over time, the rumbling of the Autoknight airships utterly disappeared. Yet, the Kingdom loomed over head. Yoko sighed in relief.

”… So how is everyone feeling?” Yoko asked, ”Do we need time to rest before we can devise a plan?”

"I need a bit of time to recover from blood loss," Saskia said, still looking pale. They didn't feel too bad but practicing the Death Crater a couple of times had taken it out of them… they'd need to rest a bit before doing anything. "But that's physical rest. We can devise a plan while doing it."

"I'm all good!" Ella said cheerfully.

Lisa gave Yoko the thumbs up, and the latter just nodded.

”So, um…” Yoko looked around, and as far as the eye could see were plans. There is zero cover whatsoever, and everything was painfully flat except for the mountains in the distance. ”I was hoping to find some cover, but I guess we’ll have to just deal with it.” She shrugged.

The spider stopped, and Lisa stretched out her body on its back. ”... You suggested we get captured, right?”

”Yes, but it has its risks and I’m not sure if you all would be comfortable with taking them,” Yoko replied.

"Take us through the risks, then," Saskia intoned, watching Yoko carefully. They were almost unnervingly staring at them. "Aside from the obvious of ‘could be killed or never escape.’"

Yoko just shrugged.

”The only thing that comes to mind is…” Yoko began. ”... We get tortured.”

”They are into that!”

"I am," Saskia agreed, with a completely straight face. "The last people who kidnapped me didn't deliver when it came to torturing… it was disappointing. But I don't want anyone else to get tortured."

"I can handle it," Ella declared. "Is it worse than anything we've already been through? Like when I cast for ages without a Channeler, or we all got melted by Lisa's acid, or when we were so horrible drunk we were throwing up everywhere?"

Yoko stared at Ella, ”What in the world did you three get into before we met down here?”

"Well we killed loads of evil creatures and we met this stripper Lupe who showed us how to drink!" Ella explained without really explaining.

"Between fighting the Society, experiencing adult activities we hadn’t before, and getting kidnapped by a shady group… a lot," Saskia shrugged. "There was never a peaceful moment."

”Sounds like you still have a lot more to experience!” Yoko said with a smile, before it went flat. She turned towards Ella, ”Disciple, I will teach you the Compact spell, then you will compact all of our channelers and stash them on our beings. Then we will be captured by the Autoknights, and break free. From there, we’ll try to find out where they have the Wayfinders… I know it’s loose, but I’m afraid we don’t have a lot of wiggle room there.” She shrugged.

Lisa raised her hand.

”... I have a question!”

”Yes?”

”Stash them where?” Lisa asked.

”On our beings,” Yoko facepalmed. ”Like I said.”

”But what if they strip search us?” Lisa asked.

”Then I…”

”I have the perfect solution!” Lisa said. ”We have two built-in pockets, after all!”

”... I knew you were going there, Turner,” Yoko facepalmed, before her hand moved from her face. ”You know what? I want to see you try that, Turner.”

...?...?...?... Wait, Yoko-

"That could be fun, but it'll make it difficult to jump on the first Autoknight cock we see," Saskia intoned, thinking about it. While it would be a way to get through a strip search… ”I bet I could easily open up my flesh and hide them inside my skin."

"Gross, no, let's just do what Yoko suggested!" Ella shouted.

”Actually…” Yoko tilted her head as she looked at Saskia. ”... Otten might be onto something. As Wilson would say ‘Let her cook.’”

”I mean, what’s the difference between that and using our bootyholes!?” Lisa shouted.

”Because we would still have our rectal virginity… and our dignity,” Yoko then shrugged. ”Most importantly our dignity - ^{if we have any left.}”

"It won’t be difficult, just need to force my skin to open and- wait." Saskia paused, staring at Yoko. "You lost your other virginity?"

”No, Otten,” Yoko said with a sigh, ”I’m asexual. The only reason why I would ever have sex is to reproduce or to make my partner happy.”

"Ah," Saskia said, before nodding. It was difficult to tell if they’d understood or not - they did. "Then we definitely need to do the flesh hiding. How small will the spell make our Channelers?"

Yoko stuck her hand out, then commanded, ”Give me your channelers.”

With a shrug, Lisa hooked her hand underneath the necklace band that acted as her channeler—then placed it into Yoko’s hand.

"I’ll need it back to do any flesh spells," Saskia said, handing her channeler over.

"Be careful, you can’t get these anymore!" Ella practically shouted as she put hers in Yoko’s hand. Saskia rolled their eyes.

All three channelers shrunk—Lisa’s orb-shaped amber necklace lost its rope and shrunk to the size of a marble ball, Saskia’s Death Note Bracelet compacted until it was simply a metal tube, and Ella’s Sailor Moon wand became a simple pink-colored handle.

”... This answer your question, Otten?” Yoko said, handing them back. Lisa quickly snatched her back. ”You should still be able to use them.”

Before Yoko turned towards Ella.

”Also I’m sure they are plentiful in other dimensions, Disciple.”

"But they wouldn’t be the same!" Ella said as she took hers back, holding it like it was the most precious treasure.

"That’s… impressive," Saskia intoned reluctantly, taking back their now tiny tube channeler. A bone spear shoved out of their arm to test it out. It really did work. "It’d be very easy to lose this."

As the bone spear pulled back in, they held out their arm. "If I put my channeler underneath my skin I’ll still be able to use it. Maybe I can try do it for everyone… I’ve never manipulated anyone else’s flesh. Lisa can probably do her own, Ella- no, you won’t be able to."

”I mean… I can just…” Lisa tried to say.

”Please no, Turner,” Yoko sighed, before turning to Saskia. ”We are short on time, so I place my faith - and all my faith - in you and your work, Otten…”

"Last time someone placed their faith in me I died," Saskia joked - though it came off very flat, like all of their jokes. Then they nodded. It shouldn’t be too difficult. Not a spell they’d used, but it was just a variation of the way they opened up their flesh for the bone spears without the bone.

Holding their channeler, the skin on their lower arm started to pull apart to reveal the muscle below. Saskia nonchalantly put her channeler into the gaping wound into her arm, before starting the reverse process. It was a bit more difficult- they weren’t used to pushing the skin back together. But after a couple of tries, it eventually closed back up with just a slight mark. Then they turned to Ella. "You’re first."

"No thank you! I can just- AH, NO!" Ella screamed as Saskia grabbed her arm, even though nothing happened. Saskia narrowed their eyes at her.

”Disciple!” Yoko shouted, ”Steel yourself! Are you trying to attract monsters?!”

"You need to consent. Emotionally. With your magic."

Ella frowned, looking at Yoko, then back at Saskia. Finally they nodded, and let Saskia ‘in.’ Saskia’s brow furrowed as they used their green lux to sense more than just their own body. But Ella’s wasn’t any different, and carefully opening a wound in her arm wasn’t much harder than in their own. It had to be bigger to fit the pink handle in it, but not so big that it was a problem. The whole process was done in about five minutes. Ella didn’t even cry, though she looked like she wanted to.

"See, that wasn’t so hard. Who’s next?"

Yoko stepped up, ”… I should have been more clear when I implied I wanted to go first, Otten,” Yoko sighed.

"Ah. You should've said, explicitly," Saskia intoned - they really hadn't gotten that from anything Yoko said. But it didn't matter now.

Saskia took Yoko's arm, concentrating again. It was easiest if they saw the other body as an extension of their own… slowly, painfully, the flesh on Yoko's arm opened up with a large enough gap for their Channeler. "There."

Yoko didn’t so much as flinch when Saskia peeled her flesh back. She huffed out sharply, before she dug her free hand into her bra, and pulled out the antique comb. It shrunk, until it was a quarter of its size. She slid it in with a sickening squish.

With a bit more effort, Saskia forced the flesh to push back together until it covered the comb completely and was practically as good as new. They were impressed by how well Yoko took it… perhaps a mark in her favour. "Done."

Lisa then silently presented her arm.. Saskia took it, going through the same process they had with Ella and Yoko - tearing open the skin of Lisa's arm until there was a gap big enough for her Channeler. Unlike Yoko, Lisa squirmed and whined as Saskia tore her skin apart… once it was open, Lisa simply dropped the marble ball sized channeler into her flesh.

”… Plop.”

Saskia let out a quiet, snorting laugh before carefully stitching Lisa's skin back together. "Done."

"What do we do about artifacts?" Ella asked, holding up the Ice Scepter. She winced slightly as she moved the arm with her Channeler in it. "Are we leaving them? Letting them take it?!"

Yoko facepalmed.

Lisa facepalmed.

”… Yes, Ella, we went through all the effort tothem in our arms so they can take them,” Lisa said.

”We should have some dummy channelers,” Yoko suggested. ”… In the event that they are aware we are Adepts.”

"I didn't mean the Channeler I meant our other artifacts," Ella said again, waving the Ice Scepter in Lisa and Yoko's face.

”Prison wallet!” Lisa shouted.

"NO WAY!" Ella shouted back, throwing her hand up. "Can't we shrink it too and… I'd rather have it… under my skin…"

"It's pretty big," Saskia pointed out.

”We may have to part ways with it to be more convincing,” Yoko sighed.

”What if we put it in her buttcheek?” Lisa shrugged.

Saskia took a step back, looking down at Ella’s ass. There was a lot of space there… but… "No. I don’t think we’ll be able to take it if something goes wrong. I’ll lose the will to live."

”You’re a Green-Lux user!” Yoko grabbed her head, ”You. Can Just. Fix it!”

"If we let them take it then we might be able to get it back!" Ella said, clutching onto the scepter.

”I wouldn’t count on us getting it back,” Yoko said with a shrug. ”Now, is there anything else we need to go over? Do we need to train some more? Any other invasive questions on your collective minds?”

"Aren’t you sad you might lose all your swords?" Ella asked.

Yoko stared at Ella, ”… Long as I get my brother back, any price is worth it.” Then Yoko shrugged. ”I can make another Yokai Killer, and I am certain my ancestors will forgive me if I lose the Dragon’s Wisdom.”

Ella looked at Yoko for a moment, before nodding. Then, suddenly, she jumped forward and grabbed Yoko in a bone crushing hug. "You’ll get him back don’t worry!"

"Not if you kill her first," Saskia commented.

”… My SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!” Yoko screamed as her fucking spine loudly broke.

"Shit, sorry- Let me heal that!" Ella let go, Yoko hit the ground with each of her limbs pointing in a different direction, a beam of healing light shooting out of where her channeler was hiding to heal Yoko.

Saskia rolled their eyes. "Killing Yoko aside… I don’t think there’s anything else to go over. We might as well just get it over with."

”Then…”

Yoko said, withdrawing the Yokai Killer and valiantly raising it into the air.

”… To the Kingdom!”

On the way to the Kingdom, there were no spider ghosts.

Thank God for that.

They marched closer and closer to the Kingdom, and Lisa was surprised they didn’t get attacked by a monster yet. She looked around, it was just plains, rocky, rocky, plains. Same as before, but in the distance there were mountains that the chains holding the Kingdom down (?) were attached to. She could vaguely see something else in the distance, but Lisa just shrugged as she walked.

”So what else-” Lisa tried to say, before a distant buzzing cut her off. She turned her head to see a group of massive freakish insect things approaching.

”… Get ready,” Yoko said, unsheathing the Yokai Killer.

"Ew," Ella whispered, pulling out the Ice Scepter and pulling it in front of her.

Saskia rolled their eyes, slicing their hand open. Blood coated their body, crawling up to form their blood tendril. "Now would be the perfect time for some fire, Ella."

"Oh yeah!" Ella quickly formed a massive fireball in her free hand and launched it at the insect-creatures. It burned a few but didn’t make a difference in the onslaught. The Yokai Killer extended as Yoko held it behind her until they got close, and swiped it, cutting through several of them as they rotted away into nothing.

”We’re going to need more fire than that!” Yoko shouted as the Yokai Killer went back to its default length. ”Disciple! Come here! Turner, Otten! Cover me!”

There was a slight dread in Lisa, but she gave Yoko the benefit of the doubt. However, Lisa opened her mouth, aiming it at the center of the creature swarm and projectile vomitted spiders into it. They exploded, sending acid and chitin fragments in all directions.

"Cover you for what," Saskia muttered. They battered away a few of the creatures with their tendril, a fist coming up into ones face and a bone spear immediately shoving through its brain. At the same time, their wings started to push out their back.

"What do you need me to do?!" Ella shouted as she ran over to Yoko.

The Yokai Killer shrunk into the hilt, and she threw it into her hip pouch and pulled out paper scraps and a marker. ”Just hold still!” Yoko shouted as she scribbled kanji and chanted… before jamming it into Ella’s chest to boost her abstraction.

"WHY THE TITS?!" Ella shouted as her abstraction was boosted. But she didn’t pause much more before turning around. "Watch out!"

She pushed out both hands to let out a massive burst of flames towards the creatures. It spread out in front of her, continuous and much further reaching than normal. Which burned through a majority of them, while Lisa kept vomiting spiders onto them.

”Next time I’ll smack you on the ass with it!” Yoko shouted as she unsheathed the Yokai Killer, with a flick it went to full length. ”You don’t have much time! Fight!”

"What do you think I’m doing?!" Ella shouted back. The burst of flames ceased for a moment - there were less now, so she swapped to quickly shot targeted fire balls. Strong enough to engulf each creature hit in fire as she threw them at as many left as she could. Lisa begun to connect several of them together by spider webs to make the whole process easier while Yoko was extending the Yokai Killer to slice them to pieces.

As the fight raged on, the ground suddenly trembled. Lisa looked up, confused, just in time to spot a massive burning projectile soaring right. It crashed into the swarm of insects, scattering them in every direction. Chunks of dirt and insect remains flew, covering the group in a rain of debris.

“What the hell was that?!” Yoko shouted, before pausing to scan the horizon.

Before anyone could respond, another massive burning boulder hurtled toward them. It crashed down only a few meters away, sending a shockwave that nearly knocked everyone off balance. Yoko pointed towards the edge of the plains.

”Autoknights!” Yoko shouted.

"Shit- they'll kill us before they capture us!" Ella shouted, barely keeping her balance. "What do we do?"

”Pretend to fight, at least," Saskia hissed, raising a hand to shoot off a blood bullet without much care for where it went. They looked towards Yoko. "This is going great already."

Ella nodded, grabbing the Ice Scepter again. She pointed it towards the sky, planning to freeze and stop the next boulder thrown at them. It froze, but did not stop - it was sliced in half by Yoko, both bolders, carried by their momentum, landed at both sides of the group.

”At this distance, fighting them is not viable!” Yoko shouted, ”We have to go!”

”Where?!” Lisa shouted.

”Somewhere!” Yoko shouted back.

"Maybe if we lie flat they won’t see us," Saskia intoned.

"LET’S JUST GO!" Ella grabbed both Lisa and Saskia, holding them under her arms as she started to run… vaguely towards the kingdom but in a strange zig zag motion. Yoko was right behind them, however, she sheathed the Yokai Killer and pulled out the Dragon’s Wisdom.

”I have an idea!” Yoko shouted as a storm formed. ”I’m going to create a rainstorm for cover!”

"Oh, great idea- maybe I can make it a thunderstorm!" Ella shouted.

"Don’t fucking do that!" Saskia shouted back.

"... Well, is there anywhere we can hide?" Ella looked around. "Maybe I can punch a hole in the ground?!"

”Use your dumbass-” Lisa tried to say before another burning projectile landed some distance away and shook the ground - which was already saturated with rain water. Lisa looked up and saw several more bolders covered in pitch coming at them.

One was sliced in half by Yoko, and the other two landed away from them. However, the rain was making it hard to see the encampment in the distance.

"Well they can clearly still see us," Saskia hissed.

"I’ll do it! I’ll make us a hole to hide in!" Ella shouted, dropping Lisa and Saskia and starting to punch the ground with enhanced fists. Creating a small crater, which Lisa hopped into followed by Yoko, and both of them made a splash when they fell in.

The rain didn’t let up, slowly filling the crater as a few more bolders hit - shattering the earth- before abruptly stopping. Lisa looked around as the water soaked her clothes, and sighed.

”… It’s hard to tell through the rain,” Yoko said, ruining the moment of peace. ”But I believe they are coming.”

"So we just sit tight till they come, put up a bit of resistance, and get captured?" Saskia shivered beside Lisa in the hole. Ella was doing her best to scoop water out of it with her hands.

"I’ll beat their metallic asses!" she shouted, stopping scooping water out of the hole to coat her legs in light in preparation.

”It would be more convincing if we took out a few,” Yoko nodded. ”So we’re going to wait until they get close, then attack them.”

"I'll prepare my spit then," Saskia intoned, pushing wet hair off their face.

Ella poked her head up out of the hole, letting out a gasp and shooting off a strong blast of ice into the distance. "They're close!"

”Maybe- forget it!” Yoko shouted as she hopped out of the hole, and disappeared in a burst of speed, distorting the rain in the process. There was the sound of metal crashing against the earth and rain as spider legs sprouted from Lisa’s back. She climbed out, and her glasses were drenched which made it more challenging to see in the rain.

Lisa saw the silhouettes of what had to be the Autoknights. She sighed, the ground rumbled, and spiders erupted out of the ground in a sickening and macabre geyser. Mid-air, she applied Gunk-Burst and they exploded, sending gunk in all directions and hoped it wouldn’t be washed away by the rain.

Lisa couldn’t tell, but several of the Autoknights stopped moving.

Saskia came out of the hole spitting. With the difficult conditions, she had to aim for the rough silhouette's and what looked like their heads.

Ella ran out last, sprinting past Saskia and Lisa to join Yoko in the fight. Glowing legs slammed into their metal bodies, while colour coated fists went for their… sort of faces.

As the storm continued to rage overhead, Yoko moved like a shadow, her blade flashing out to sever the joints and weak points of the Autoknights surrounding them. Several of them dropped to the ground, before Yoko gathered the water and launched it like a wave. It knocked over several, they fell in a cascade, before Yoko looked over her shoulder.

”Let’s go!” Yoko shouted, as the remaining Autoknights formed together.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Saskia muttered, turning on their heel and starting to run away.

Ella forcefully stopped her momentum, spinning around to follow Saskia… only to slip and fall ass first on the mud. She quickly scrambled up. Yoko led the formation while Lisa ran in the rear with her spider legs slowly retracting into her back. Lisa looked over her shoulder as she heard the Autoknights pursue after them. Each movement would have been heavy enough to shake the ground if it hadn’t been for the mud.

”Turner! We need a distraction!” Yoko shouted, her voice barely louder than the rain and thunder.

Lisa turned around, her glasses smeared from the raindrops, ”On it!” Lisa shouted, but the rain drowned her voice. Not that she was worried at all. She put her hands out as far as they could go before slowly raising them into the air as the ground shook. The spiders burst out of the ground, sending mud that landed on Lisa in all directions, angled directly at the Autoknights. When they reached their target, Lisa activated Gunk Burst, and they exploded, sending gunk that hardened around their joints and restricted their movements during the process.

Meanwhile, Yoko turned her attention to a distant group of Autoknights, their hulking forms barely visible through the downpour. She could see their catapults firing in the distance, their operators unrelenting even as the storm should have made targeting difficult.

”Good grief! We have to cut off their sight line!” Yoko hissed, grasping the Dragon’s Wisdom with both hands as she took a deep breath. The storm clouds were drawn closer until fog blanketed through the entire battlefield. She released before shouting, ”We have more cover now!”

"But we can't see either!" Ella wailed, squinting against the fog. She waved the ice Scepter behind her, blasting the soaked ground to create a dangerous ice path between them and the pursuing Autoknights.

”Just try not to trip!” Yoko shouted as she ran with the Dragon’s Wisdom low and ready.

Another loud crash sounded as a boulder from the catapult hit the muddy ground nearby, splattering Lisa (and others) with cold, wet earth as she ran.

Lisa’s heart pounded as she struggled to make sense of the chaos through the thick fog. She could barely see Yoko, let alone the Autoknights, but she knew they were out there. Her instincts screamed at her to turn and run, but something told her Yoko had a plan, even if it wasn’t clear.

Yoko was ahead, holding the Dragon’s Wisdom tightly in both hands. Eventually, they broke through the Fog. However, the sounds of those mechanical monsters marching were overpowering. Yoko turned on her heel and held the Dragon’s Wisdom parallel to her chest, and let out a slow but deep, breath.

”They’re still pushing through the fog,” Yoko said, ”When they push through the fog, hit them hard and fast. We’re going to create distance for our actual escape.”

"I thought we were trying to get captured," Saskia muttered under their breath.

Lisa swallowed, nodding, even though Yoko probably couldn’t see her. Lisa summoned her spiders through the mud and scattered them around to wait for any Autoknights to stumble into range. Lisa held her breath as she heard their heavy footsteps grow louder.

”... Just a little closer,” Lisa muttered to herself.

Their silhouettes became visible through the fog, and on cue, the first Autoknight stepped through the mist, wielding a large, metal spear…

Ella immediately jumped forward, rainbow light coating her leg as she swung it up to try knock the metal spear aside. Saskia let of two quick spits, aiming for the joints were it’s arms met its body. All of these hit, and the spear hit the ground with a clatter. Yoko charged forward and spun on her feet, using the momentum to slash at Autoknight’s leg joints. It sliced through it and severed it, causing it to hit the ground with a loud boom. Then Yoko raised the Dragon’s Wisdom overhead and drove it into the Autoknight’s head before slamming her foot onto the Autoknight’s head and using it as a brace to pull it out.

The rain kept pouring, and Lisa was soaked, but that was the least of her worries; she could see more of them coming as the three of them were handling that Autoknight. She narrowed her eyes as she saw them steadily march fo-

Then she heard the thunderclap of one of their muskets; she could feel the musket round whirl past her, and her eyes shot wide open. Lisa looked to the left and right as she shot both of her hands forward, and the spiders she had scattered around charged forward into the fog. Just as a few more rounds of musket fire whirled past them, she knew this was just a ploy…

As the Autoknights fired, they formed together in the fog; from what she saw, they had formed three rows… The front row had been kneeling and firing, while the rows behind reloaded their weapons and took their place.

”... We should go,” Lisa said.

"Shit- get back," Saskia hissed, blood coating their body, hardening to protect them. But it wasn’t as effective as normal thanks to the rain…

"They’re going to kill us- oh fuck!" Ella shouted as the next round of musket fire went off, a round slamming right into her arm. She seemed to ignore it as she grabbed Saskia around the waist to drag her back, towards Lisa, making to run.

Even though Lisa had suggested running, there was that feeling that there was nowhere to run to. They were in a flat plain, after all! And even though the Autoknights were slow, they had guns-

Lisa glanced over her shoulder.

A lightbulb went off in her head.

Lisa wrestled out of Ella’s grip and then turned on her heel. ”Yoko! Can you distract them for just a moment?” Lisa said.

”I can but what are you cooking, Turner?” Yoko asked.

Lisa looked over her shoulder at Saskia and Ella, and said,

”... Deathcrater.”

Ella had hand pressed over the wound in her arm now, looking over at Lisa with a grim frown. Then she nodded.

"Let’s do it." Saskia pushed around Ella so they were next to Lisa, crouching down on the ground in preparation. Lisa joined her as the ground underneath the Autoknight’s feet began to shake. The web started to weave and stretch outwards; Saskia pumped it with corrosive blood. They just need more time… Lisa looked up at Yoko, who was marching towards them with her sword out. At the same time, the Autoknights were changing ranks, Yoko put herself front and center. They finished, and Yoko took a defensive position with the Dragon’s Wisdom parallel to her chest.

The musket fire barraged her, bouncing off her form, as Yoko remained steady. Lisa noticed many of them hitting her, but Yoko did not so much as flinch. However, Lisa focused on spreading this damn web far and wide as she physically could. Once it was complete, Lisa turned to Ella and nodded.

”Ella, now!”

"Yoko, get back!" Ella shouted - but she didn’t actually wait. She raised her hands, incredibly gay looking pastel pink lightning blasting the centre of the web.

Yoko grit her teeth, but did not so much as move while still barraged by the musket fire. ”... I can take it!” Yoko shouted.

The Deathcrater activated and exploded upwards in a monstrous boom. The acidic blood decimated the Autoknight formation as their remains fell into the crater that came afterward. Bits of acid sprayed outwards and hit Yoko, but she did not move as it sizzled on her clothing to the point where it exposed skin.

Lisa quickly ran over to Yoko and put her hands on her; the Healing-Spiders came from her pores and crawled onto Yoko to heal her wounds. ”... That was pretty ballsy there,” Lisa laughed. ”Surprised you survived.”

”You’ll need more than that to kill me, Turner,” Yoko nodded her head. ”Now-”

Distant humming caught their attention, Lisa knew what it was from before… She could barely see them through the storm, but it couldn’t be anything other than the Autoknight airships.

”Fuck,” Lisa said.

”... Those idiots,” Yoko laughed.

”What?”

”My storm will make it difficult for them to fly,” Yoko said, ”However, they might just be dropping off reinforcements.”

”Let’s go then,” Lisa said as she stuck her hands out and created a spider that was wrapped around in a glowing cocoon. When it grew to full size, it burst out with wings. Lisa climbed on and gave the back a few pats. Yoko leaped through the air and hopped on after her. Saskia climbed up behind them.

"Yeah, let’s get out of here!" Ella hopped on last, still bleeding but not seeming bothered about it at all.

After everyone was on board, the spider took flight.

The spider traveled far away from the chaos, and closer to the kingdom. Where the biome changed from desert plains to another destroyed city, one reminiscent of Miami (not that any of the four would know). The spider landed on the roof on the edge of the city, and the four of them got off, before it shrunk down to typical size and scurried off.

Yoko walked over to the edge of the rooftop and said, ”We’re closer to the Kingdom so we’ll be facing more Autoknights,” Yoko said, ”Disciple, now is a great time to use Focus to determine what’s around us.”

"Okay!" Ella had followed Yoko over to the edge. She crouched down, before becoming perfectly still as she began to concentrate solely on her surroundings. Listening out for the sounds of metal footsteps… eyes moving around to find each one, focusing in at distances she wouldn't be able to see normally. Patrolling Autoknights, places where they'd set up with catapults…

"They have outposts there, there, there and there," Ella said, pointing in a direction with each there. At this distance it was impossible to see the actual outposts without magic. "Each has catapults. There's some patrols too… if we're careful we can avoid them all."

”I thought the whole point was to get caught,” Lisa said with a shrug.

”That is true, but the plan is to make it look convincing,” Yoko nodded her head. ”If we throw ourselves at their feet, they will get suspicious. Also, right now, they would try and flatten us with catapult-fire.”

Then she turned her head toward the outposts, ”... We stick together, and lay low. If we catch any Autoknights, we quietly dispatch them, okay?”

"Got it! I can lay low!" Ella nodded.

"Maybe keep your voice down first," Saskia rolled their eyes.

Ella slammed her mouth shut, nodding again. The last thing she wanted was for them to get flattened by catapults. If she got close enough, she could probably take them out but… avoiding them was just better. Her voice was quieter when she kept talking. "We should go through the buildings quietly. The Autoknights seem to be mostly patrolling the streets, so unless they see or hear us… I think we can avoid them."

Yoko nodded at Ella before glancing behind her at the rooftop access structure. She walked over to it and noticed a rusty lock, which, seconds later clattered against the ground when it was slashed by the Yokai Killer. The door creaked open as she pulled it before she turned towards the rest of the group and nodded. Lisa quickly got the hint and ran over behind her. Yoko stepped down lightly, her foot not so much as to make a peep against the concrete stairs; what made a noise was Yoko slowly unsheathing the Yokai Killer - it was glowing somewhat. The air inside was stale, laced with dust and the ever-present smell of rotting bodies. Once they made it to a door, Yoko pushed it open, then cubicle after cubicle was revealed. Yoko looked over her shoulder and whispered,

”Let’s stick to the inner halls,,” Yoko whispered. ”Then, I suggest that we make it seem like we were sneaking into one of their outposts and got caught.”

Ella nodded, gulping. She held a hand over her nose in an attempt to ignore the rancid smell. It made her feel a little bit sick… but she ignored it. There wasn’t room for weakness here. If she started showing that she was scared what would the others think? She was a magical girl, after all, and magical girls were always strong!

"The closest outpost is a few buildings along," Ella whispered back, looking at the glowing Yokai Killer. "Does that pick up Autoknights, or is it something else?"

”It can detect Autoknights,” Yoko said, ”The closer they are, the brighter it glows so…”

It began glowing brighter.

”... Good grief,”

Ella’s eyes widened, and she looked around. "Maybe if we stay here… hide… there wasn’t a nearby patrol?!"

"Don’t panic," Saskia said very quietly, knife going to their hand to prepare for a possible fight. Lisa didn't speak, spiders just stretched outwards, and covered her body, the floor, and the feet of her friends.

”I’m certain it’ll just pass by-” Yoko was cut off by the roof caving in, dust and debris going in all directions. When the dust settled, a massive horse creature stepped out, growling.

With its dick out.

Ella screamed.



She shoved out her hands, blasting a fireball right at its dick. It screamed in pain as its dick was ignited, but somehow that put it on hard.

”Disciple! It's just a penis!” Yoko shouted, holding the Yokai Killer with one hand, the sheathe with the other. ”Calm down!”

”Oh, it’s a penis alright!” Lisa shouted.

The monster roared, and swung its claw forward.

"I’ll do it," Saskia intoned as they jumped in between the claw and Ella, blocking it with a blood blade of their own. They pushed back against it. "I’ll fuck it so it leaves us alone."

"NO!!!" Ella wailed, changing tactics and shooting it with electricity. It shook in pain, falling to its knees but it used its strength to push Saskia away as it climbed back up to its feet.

”Turner! Dissolve it's genitals in acid to end this foolishness!” Yoko shouted.

””But- Lisa hesitated,

”DO IT!”

”Okay.” Lisa shrugged, the fire had conveniently gone out, she commanded her spiders to wrap around it… They exploded, and it dissolved into a toxic sludge that dripped onto the floor. It screamed and thrashed around.

"Nooo, my monster fucking dreams," Saskia intoned, not sounding all that upset by it at all.

With the horrible penis gone, Ella no longer had to look everywhere but the monster. "Thank you, Lisa!"

She pushed out her hands, blasting the monster with more electricity. It thrashed, before Yoko disappeared in a burst of speed and appeared on the other side of the creature. She sheathed her sword, as a slash appeared across the creature’s chest that rotted away.

”Finish-” Yoko tried to say before they all felt a loud crash. Yoko fell over and the Yokai Killer clattered against the ground. She looked out the window.

Flaming boulders were coming towards them.

"Fuck, not again," Saskia hissed, rolling across the floor to avoid getting hit by a piece of debris.

"NO, the penis monster alerted them!" Ella shouted, grabbing the Ice Scepter and shooting a blast of ice at each of the flaming boulders. Which froze them but did little to halt their momentum as they crashed into the building. Violently shaking it, as Yoko fought her way to her feet. Spider legs erupted from Lisa’s back as she used them for balance.

Yoko walked over to the creature and jammed the Yokai Killer through its skull - pressing her boot against it to yank it free.

”Don’t waste your time, Disciple!” Yoko shouted, ”We have to get out of here!”

Ella grimaced, nodding.

Saskia pulled themselves to their feet, blood tendril forming to help throw debris out of the way and clear them a path. "This way, lets try get to the next building."

Ella sprinted towards where Saskia was - deeper into the building. If they could find some stairs they could get down and onto the street… or maybe there was a connection to another building. She didn’t know, but Yoko was right, they had to get out of here.

Without a word, they went back down the staircase they had entered as the building rumbled over and over again. Dust covered them from head to toe as they avoided broken staircases, and loose cables - making it to the ground floor just as the catapult fire stopped. Yoko ran outside…

… And met various Autoknights scattered about armed with muskets, crossbows, amd oversized spears and swords.

“... Halt!” They all shouted in unison. “Surrender and come with us quietly!”

Ella did halt, because she didn’t want to run into the massive hunks of metal and discover they were hiding some kind of massive, horrible cannon in a place she didn’t want to think about. But what was it Yoko had said earlier… they had to make it look convincing. Put up a bit of a fight.

"No way!" Ella shouted, holding her hands out in front of her and blasting them with fire she knew would be mostly ineffective.

”Wait! Disciple!” Yoko shouted as she outstretchedd a hand.

“... Open fire!” An Autoknight shouted, before they all took aim.

The spider creature that was previously only visible to Lisa appeared in front of them, body turned sideways. As the Autoknights opened fire, spectral limbs - hands, mouths, breasts, legs - that twitched unnaturally appeared to form a wall. It blocked the fire as the spider turned to Lisa and said,

“... Go.”

"Freaky spider creature?!" Ella let out a confused yelp… but it was blocking the fire! And Ella was realising she really should’ve surrendered… whoops. So to half apologise for that she did the classic scoop and run, grabbing Lisa and Saskia and lifting them up under her arms. Then they wouldn’t have to exert themselves. Immediately she started running towards another building, hoping to hide in it.

"You’re a fucking idiot," Saskia muttered.

The spider stared at them as it kept blocking gunfire. Before muttering,

“... I hope we can all be together one day.”

They could hear the distant marching of Autoknights, and the hum of airships overhead.

They were in some bedroom in an apartment complex.

”... Well that didn’t go as planned,” Yoko shrugged as she sat on the nightstand. ”Disciple, make sure that everyone is on the same page before you do something like that again.”

She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the window that had been hastily barricaded with furniture.

”... That could have gone badly.”

Lisa, who had just sat on the bed, jaw dropped out of shock, finally just came out and said, ”You all saw it, right?!” Lisa shouted, ”See?! I’m not crazy!”

”Nobody said you were, Turner,” Yoko nodded.

"Or maybe we’re all crazy," Saskia intoned. "At least we’re safe."

For now. Saskia looked over at Ella, who’d sat down on the bed and was hanging her head. If that strange spider thing hadn’t saved them they’d be dead. At least, Ella would be… And Saskia couldn’t allow that to happen. They walked over to their friend, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Let’s go over the plan properly this time. So if we have Autoknights pointing guns at us and telling us to surrender, we just surrender. If they throw burning rocks at us, we run."

”I mean, I thought we were going to do that before!” Lisa said, awkwardly laughing. ”But, Ella had to blow her load. If she had a dick, it’d be like a lil’ bukake!”

Yoko facepalmed.

”I think…” Yoko looked around, before pausing. ”... We should go soon. With the amount of artillery they have, it’s only a matter of time before they try to flatten the city.”

"You said to put up a fight," Ella said quietly, still hanging her head. "I thought we were going to fight and then surrender."

"Obviously not when they were pointing guns at us." Saskia shook their head, before looking at Yoko. "Much as I hate to admit it, I agree with Yoko. Let’s get going before they actually kill us."

Saskia still didn’t entirely trust her, and the plan still set them on edge, but this time… it had been Ella’s incredibly literal understanding of things that had fucked them over.

Yoko paused for a moment, closing her eyes as she activated Focus. Then her eyes shot open, ”... The Autoknights are clearing the city.”

”Oh, that’s good, right!?” Lisa smiled, ”Right?!”

”That means, they are probably going to begin blowing up the city,” Yoko said, ”Which also gives us the perfect opportunity to leave.”

"How, they’ll blow us up!" Ella said, jumping up.

"But they won’t be looking for people, they’ll be too busy blowing everything to shit," Saskia commented. It wasn’t a bad plan, so long as they got out quickly. Which meant leaving now. They moved over to the door of the room. "It means leaving now, and not getting caught."

”I agree, let’s-” Yoko was cut off by the massive boom that shook the entire building they were in. She was almost knocked to her feet as she looked to the left and to the right. Through the cracks of the barricaded window they could see the faint glow of distant fire. ”Damn! They’ve started.”

Yoko pushed herself to her feet, as spider legs splayed from Lisa’s back to lift her up to her feet. She looked up at Yoko, ”What’s the plan then?”

Yoko looked over her shoulder at Lisa, ”... We get the hell out of here before each of our body parts are flying in different directions, Turner.”

"Onto the streets, we take the clearest route out," Saskia said. They didn’t wait for anyone to agree, pushing the door open and hurrying out. They weren’t sticking around to get blown to pieces. Ella was right behind them, so was Yoko and Lisa.

Saskia only paused a moment before picking what seemed to be the best way out of this building. Lisa’s spider legs flexed as another explosion rocked the building.

”Stick together,” Yoko commanded.

”So when the building goes down, we’ll die together,” Lisa snipped.

”Shut up, Turner,” Yoko said with a roll of her eyes, before saying to Saskia, ”Otten, give Turner the Orange Stone.”

Saskia didn't hesitate, pulling it out and handing it over to Lisa. It was obvious what Yoko was suggesting - a quick getaway spider.

"Don't worry, Lisa, I'll protect you from any falling rocks!" Ella declared.

”They’ll bounce off your fat ass!” Lisa laughed as she took the Orange Stone - another distant explosion rocked the building, ”At this point, I might as well keep it!”

"I don't trust where you'll store it," Saskia intoned.

”Disciplex, how big of a hole can you knock through a brick wall?” Yoko asked.

"Big enough for one of Lisa's spiders if I punch a few times!" Ella said.

”Get to-” Yoko shouted, before a massive crash rocked the building and knocked her to her hands and knees. ”Hirry, Disciple!”

Ella just nodded, bright pink sapping out of her mud covered pants to coat her fists. Then she punched the wall in front of them in four places, each blasting a large hole. It left something big enough for a spider to fit.

"Lisa" Saskia said, kneeling with one hand on the ground for support. Lisa sighed, as she near-instantaneously summoned a spider and made it grow to sedan size. She hopped on, and gave the spot behind her a few pats. Yoko and the others climbed on before it flew out.

Immediately, they were treated to the sight of dozens of flaming bolders raining down on the city. Trashing the city as buildings were collapsing and reduced to rubble. Lisa just flew for the end of the biome…

Then a bullet whirled by and hit the spider. It rocked from side to side as Yoko hopped up. Two Zepplins were heading their way… Yoko hopped up, drawing the Yokai Killer.

”They are determined!”

Lisa turned to Ella, ”Crack Spiders!”

"On it!" Ella pressed her hands against the spider. She imbued it with pulsating lights, strengthening it.

"You’re just making us more of a target," Saskia muttered, closing their eyes to avoid the bright lights.

”No, I’m not. Just - WAAAAAAAATCH!” Lisa shouted as the spider disappeared in a blur of speed.

”Hey! We went in the direction of the Kingdom!” Lisa smiled. ”Isn’t that convenient1?”

The spider landed, and Lisa looked around at the weird… carnival that loomed ahead, a jumble of sagging tents as booths lined the way forward. This carnival sprawled in from all directions, as its attractions seemed alive. They were twitching, groaning, and moving as if pulled by invisible threads. The ground beneath them was uneven, a mix of slick, black cobblestones and patches of pale, rubbery flesh that squished underfoot. The smell of burnt sugar mixed with the horrid stench of decay everywhere. At the center, a massive big top loomed overhead like a hungry mouth, beckoning them closer.

”Well,” Lisa shrugged, ”This place is weird. Who wants to see the carnival?!”

”Pass, Turner,” Yoko said with a nod of her head, ”The Autoknights are likely on our trail… Though, it is strange that their presence in this area is minimal....” Yoko rubbed her chin.

Lisa shrugged again.

”... They probably don’t like fun!”

"What part of this is fun?" Ella asked, gagging a bit. She covered her mouth and nose.

"All of it. Look at that flesh floor. Delightful. I wonder if it bleeds," Saskia intoned, while looking around. "Let’s keep going… carefully."

Lisa just shrugged as she commanded the spider to march forward, ”You know, I was thinking about that horse monster and…”

”… And?” Yoko asked.

”… If it’s got a dick, then that means it reproduces. And if it reproduces, there could be a whole pack of horse dicked monsters running around!” Lisa laughed, glancing at Ella as she knew that would get under her skin.

”… Yes, I’m certain they are all thriving in the freshly bombed city,” Yoko rolled her eyes.

"Hopefully the bombs got them all!" Ella shuddered, looking even more sick at the mention of the horse dick monsters.

"Only if there’s female ones too," Saskia pointed out. "Unless the ones with dicks also get pregnant. That’d be fun. I hope we come across another one. This time I want to-"

"Nooooooo!"

Yoko just shrugged, ”We’re going to encounter more weird situations like that, Disciple.” Yoko began, ”Get over it.”

Lisa was laughing the whole time. However, as they marched, there was a figure ahead—someone kneeling with their back to them, covered by red samurai-like armor.

”... Let’s go this way!” Lisa said, commanding the spider to take a right.

"But maybe it’s frien-"

"Absolutely not," Saskia hissed. They narrowed their eyes at whoever- or whatever- it was, not looking away. Waiting. Knife moving to their hand and gently pressing in.

”Yeah, have you met a friendly samurai before?!” Lisa snorted.

Then looked at Yoko, who was silent.

”... Other than Yoko!”

"There’s loads of friendly Samurai in anime!" Ella pouted.

"And this is real life. Where everything in here is going to try kill us," Saskia rolled her eyes.

"Alright, I get it, I wasn’t suggesting we go up to it and start a conversation or anything!"

”He was minding his business,” Yoko shrugged, ”We don't necessarily need to pick fights with ever-”

There was a burst of wind… And that kneeling stranger appeared right in front of them. There was a brief suspense…

”… Anata-tachi yonin ga, Ō-sama o sonna ni sawagashiku sasete iru no ka.” The figure spoke in Japanese and Lisa didn't understand a word, his back still to the four. “Hatanaka ga Pitto ni haitta koto wa shitte ita.”

Yoko unsheathed the Yokai Killer, gleaming brighter than ever—like a star. Yoko quickly resheathed it.

”Fuhn! Kisama wa teki ka? Wareware wa yousha wa shinai, Yōkai.” Yoko narrowed her eyes. “Dakara, omae wa sono mama susumu ga yoi.”

“Ō wa omae-tachi yonin o torae, ikashite tsuretekuru you ni watashi ni meijita. Shikashi, ano ochikobore ni wa watashi o shihai suru koto wa dekinai.” the stranger replied to Yoko. As he rose to his feet, brandishing a kanabo made out of stone, he turned around to reveal his full figure to them and said (in English this time!),

“... You three should leave,” The Samurai said, “I only want Hatanaka…”

"No way! We'd never abandon our friend," Ella declared, reaching out to put a hand on Yoko's shoulder. ”You should leave."

Saskia sighed. "For once I agree with Ella. No, we're not leaving."

Yoko also sighed, ”Look, if he wants me, then I cannot put the rest of you all in danger for my sake,” She trailed off, unsheathing the Yokai Killer slightly and still barraging the four with a blinding blue light. ”This Yokai… he is powerful. Something unlike anything we have ever faced.”

"So you'll just fight him alone?" Saskia intoned. "Normally I'd be all for it but…"

"No way, I can't let you die! A magical girl never leaves anyone behind! We're stronger together!" Ella insisted.

”As if,” Yoko seethed, ”I am no ordinary Adept… I am up to the task, Disciple.

”Fuck that,” Lisa laughed, ”We're not going to let you fight this psycho on your own!”

“If you are serious,” The Samurai said, “There is nothing else in this carnival other than us… I killed them all.”

He looked to the left and right as he dropped into stance,

“Let’s begin. I tire of waiting.”

Despite it all, a smirk crept across Lisa's lips.

Well, this is about to get interesting.

Yoko’s grip on the Yokai Killer tightened as the figure before them shifted subtly…. He’s about to attack. Yoko thought to herself. Before she could shout a warning, the wind fractured. One second, the samurai was meters away, and the next, the world was spinning. Yoko couldn’t even register the impact of the stone kanabo as a loud crack sent the spider they were mounted on flying. Yoko was rolling on the ground as she could hear Turner and Brooks screaming, but she landed on her knee as she activated Focus to find this bastard.

It didn’t take her long as she found him far behind him - he didn’t have a breath or heartbeat - weapon poised. Yoko unsheathed the Yokai Killer, which felt oddly heavier in her hands. Yoko’s hand, holding the sheathe, was pointed back at the group as she said, ”Stay back!”

The samurai simply nodded at her.

This was no ordinary Yokai. This was something far worse.

And he was here for her.

"I don’t like this!" Ella wailed unnecessarily, pushing herself to her feet. Her legs started glowing and she spun around, crouching and also trying to Focus on the enemy.

"Of course not," Saskia hissed. Blood coated them in a hard armour, one hand on the ground as a bone spear grew from the back of her other hand. Watching. Waiting.

”... Kick his ass!” Lisa shouted before she jammed an elbow into Saskia’s side and whispered. ”... Let’s mob him.” A swarm of spiders came from the crevices and cracks of the carnival, and five of them were wrapped in glowing white cocoons.

"Great idea." Saskia hissed back. Flesh wings shoved through her back, the blood from the wounds moving to form a blade on the hand without a bone spear. "As soon as the spiders are ready…"

Ella, on the other hand, wasn’t in on the plan - so she seemed to take the ‘kick his ass’ literally. She sprinted towards the samurai, launching into a rainbow jump kick. Which the mysterious samurai sidestepped and let her whirl past him.

”Disciple!” Yoko shouted.

“She’s your Disciple?” The Samurai asked in Japanese. “All I see is trash!” He came in, swinging the Kanabo at her.

Ella launched herself to the side, managing to roll out of the way of it - just. "I don’t understand what he’s saying but I feel like he’s shit talking me!"

Then she shoved her hands out and blasted him with lightning. It stunned him for a moment before Yoko took the opportunity to use Flash to appear on the other side of him in a blur of motion. She was already sheathing the Yokai Killer by the time she was visible again, which she accomplished with a click - then a rotting wound formed on his chest.

“... I am calling you weak!” The Samurai said in English as he lept up into the air, with the Kanabo hoisted over his shoulder.

"That’s not very Samurai of you!" Ella shouted back, rolling across the ground to try avoid him. He landed, the kanabo cracking the ground and squirting blood in all directions. He turned his head towards Ella, ready to strike attack - before five massive spiders armed with the mandible of a Hercules beetle all mobbed him at once. He swung his Kanabo at one of them, shattering it with one swing, but the remaining spiders swelled up with a glowing yellow acid.

”Get down!” Lisa shouted as she hopped behind a booth. Yoko simply activated Block as the acid splashed onto her.

Saskia covered themselves with their wings, acid eating through some of them. Ella dropped into a defensive posture - Block activated just a little too late as acid ate through one of her arms.

It didn’t seem to deter her. She launched herself at the Samurai, hands coated in electricity shooting to slam into him. He nonchalantly dodged by stepping back before swinging his kanabo upwards at her. Ella’s leg, shining with rainbow light, came up to kick it away. However, Takashi’s strength was too much, and it managed to launch Ella away into the booths.

”Disciple!” Yoko shouted as she watched Ella get launched… Then she turned towards Saskia and Ella, ”You two, go get her! I’ll hold him off!”

”I mean if she lands on her ass-” Lisa was cut off by Yoko.

”... Go!” Yoko shouted.

Lisa wordlessly ran off, dragging Saskia along as Yoko turned her attention back to the samurai.

Yoko barely had time to breathe before the samurai moved again. As he shot forward, the ground cracked beneath him, and his stone kanabo was a motion blur. Yoko raised the Yokai Killer instinctively, blocking the first strike. Even though she had Block applied, the shockwave sent her sliding backward, her feet squishing against the ground.

He's too fast.

Before she could react, he vanished again. Yoko's instincts screamed, and she ducked just in time to avoid a horizontal swing aimed at her head. The kanabo missed by inches, slamming into a booth and shattering it. She pivoted, slashing upward with the Yokai Killer, aiming for the samurai’s exposed flank. He sidestepped with unnerving precision, the blade grazing his armor with a sharp clang. Yoko pressed her attack, launching into a flurry of strikes. Each slash of the Yokai Killer was met with a brutal parry or perfectly timed dodge.

”HOLD STILL, DAMN IT!” Yoko shouted in Japanese, sweat dripping from her brow. Yoko continued the assault with the Yokai Killer; he dodged fluidly and expertly. His kanabo deflected her next thrust with a bone-jarring clang, sending vibrations up her arms. Yoko’s next attack was met with another sidestep. Before she could recover, the samurai countered. His kanabo swept upward, aiming for her midsection. Yoko barely managed to twist away, but the weapon clipped her side, tearing through her jacket and sending her stumbling back. She grasped her ribs and felt the warm and sticky blood seep through her fingers. The Yokai Killer felt heavier than ever in her other hand…

The samurai didn’t let up. He closed the distance in a blink, his kanabo swinging down like a guillotine - but she disappeared in the blink of an eye before it could land. The brutal weapon left a massive crater on the ground as his head went over towards Yoko, standing more down towards the Big Top. She was panting, holding her wound, before her hand went back to the Yokai Killer, and she shouted in Japanese,

”... Come on, you bastard!”

“You got bite, yet…” The Samurai replied, “... The other Hatanaka I faced down here provided a far better fight.” He laughed and Yoko’s mind spiraled.

”... The other Hatanaka?” Yoko asked, as dread overwhelmed the pain. ”You are lying.”

“He wielded Murakumo,” The Samurai replied, “I’d say he almost killed me with it, before he simply fled.”

Yoko froze…. If this samurai was telling the truth, he was still alive here.

”When did you face him, you bastard!” Yoko hissed.

“Time is…” The Samurai trailed off, “Irrelevant down here. It could have been weeks ago. Days. Months. Years. Yet. I faced him. There was a fire in his soul unlike any other… he was a true Hatanaka..”

Yoko grit her teeth, ”You don’t get to speak on my family you bastard! Murakumo or not, I will tear your tongue out of your mouth!” Yoko tightened her grip on the Yokai Killer, glaring at the towering figure before her. The samurai's words fueled a storm of emotions—hope, dread, anger. Goro would still be alive if his statement about her brother were true. ”You are just another broken tool of this hell! You are nothing!”

Yoko then dropped into stance, ready for another Flash attack to ram through this bastard’s chest. ”Tell me where he went, or I’ll kill you!” Yoko hissed.

The samurai laughed, “Bold words for a dying flame…” He slammed the Kanabo into the ground with a loud crack and squish. "You don’t understand what survival means here, child. Your brother does. He’s tasted the despair of the Pit and learned to wield it. And now? He thrives in it. Unlike you."

How he spoke of Goro - like he was something other than himself - sent a chill down her spine. ”Bullshit! He would never succumb to this place!”

“Would he not?” The samurai tilted his head. “The Pit doesn’t bend to willpower or strength. It crushes it. Your brother fought me, yes, but fled not to protect himself…”

He laughed, “... But to escape what he’d become.”

Yoko bit down hard as she screamed in English, ”... BULLSHIT!” Then Yoko disappeared in a burst of speed that disrupted the dust and debris around this carnival. In the blink of an eye, she had closed the distance and rammed the Yokai Killer through his midsection. As the blade rested in his body, it caused a necrosis that rotted away at the armor and flesh…

The samurai stumbled back, gripping the blade-embedded in his torso, yet his laugh echoed louder than ever. “... If you fought like this earlier, I might have been able to take you seriously.”

Yoko twisted the blade in his flesh as she applied Extend to it, and the blade burst out of the other side of his body. ”Die!” Yoko shouted as she also applied Harden to the blade and brought it downwards. The blade sliced his body in half from the midsection downwards and reverted to its original size. Then Yoko got the blade over her shoulder and swung it with all of her might-

The Samurai grabbed her wrist and stared at her for a moment… the wounds he sustained regenerated, and his molten eyes burned brighter. “Impressive child,” The Samurai said, “But it is not enough.”

He twisted Yoko’s arm, forcing her to drop the Yokai Killer as it clattered to the ground. Yoko winced in pain, trying to pull free, but his grip was unrelenting. He raised her up into the air and slammed her onto the ground. Then grabbed onto the Kanabo and raised it high into the air…

Two blades struck the Samurai’s back simultaneously. Blood exploded from the massive wound created by the perfect blow, flooding down like a waterfall onto Yoko… which got in her mouth and she spit it out in disgust as she managed to activate Flash. She appeared some meters away, grasping her wound momentarily before she reached down into her pouch for her metal bo staff, which was merely a rod no longer than the width of her palm. Using Compact, she brought it back to its full size, then angled it so that when she activated Extend, it launched her forward.

Her target was clear: the Samurai’s center mass, where the blood from his previous wound still poured. She twisted mid-air, channeling her momentum into a strike connected with a thunderous impact. It forced the Samurai to stagger, yet otherwise barely reacted to the attack. Before Yoko could respond, his grip caught the bo staff halted her next swing midmotion and swung her to his other side into a booth.

"This bastard’s tough- we even pierced his emotional field," Saskia hissed to Lisa. At the same time, she raised a hand, shooting off a weaker-than-normal blood bullet, aiming for the wound on his back. It hit, but the wound quickly closed as he turned towards Saskia.

“That is because I am no mere man of flesh,” the samurai said. I am something beyond human, perhaps beneath human.”

He slightly twitched, and Lisa wrapped him in a net of various webs attached to the ground before all five Chitionous spears erupted from the ground and penetrated any openings in his armor, piercing out through the other end with relative ease.

”... Um! Maybe a plan’s in order!” Lisa said.

Yoko climbed out of the wreckage of the booth, and her body was screaming; the wounds that were left from the wooden scraps were searing hot and oozing red. Bruises up and down her body, yet the adrenaline kept her standing. Yoko looked down and saw that her bo staff was still on the ground. She knelt forward, picked it up, and extended it three times its length. Then, she applied Impact as she swung it in a comprehensive, vicious arc that hit the Samurai and sent him flying into another booth. Yoko panted,

”... Otten, give me the Orange Stone!” Yoko stuck her hand out for her to throw it.

Saskia didn’t hesitate. They pulled the Orange Stone out, coating the bag it was in with blood to accurately throw it right in Yoko’s hand. Mid-air, the Samurai appeared in the throw’s arc and swung his Kanabo at the Orange Stone. Launching it into the distance, and Yoko’s jaw dropped.

”Oh, that’s bullshit!” Lisa shouted, then flipped off the Samurai. ”Fuck you!”

Then the Samurai warped again in another blur of motion, this time at Lisa. When he appeared again, he was right before her and swung the Kanabo horizontally. The sickening sound of bones breaking filled the air as Yoko’s heart sank.

”... Turner!” Yoko shouted as Lisa was sent rolling.

"Shit- Lisa!" Saskia hissed. More blood flowed across her body, forming a tendril on her back, and they went to launch themselves after Lisa.

"I’ve got her!" Ella shouted, finally coming back to - she scrambled after Lisa, a beam of healing light coming from where her channeler was in her arm to hit her injured friend.

Saskia turned on the Samurai, grimacing. "You bastard."

But instead of attacking him they ran towards Yoko, blood tendril propelling them to go faster. They reached forward to grab her hand - and all their blood coating their body flowed across from them onto her. It clotted her wounds and formed a hard protective layer around her. Afterwards they were deathly pale. "It’s- not as much- but it’s something."

Yoko sighed as it covered her from head to toe. She was losing her composure, but she couldn’t break here. The Samurai was advancing again, his eyes locked onto her, and that kanabo was dragging along the ground. She placed her feet firmly against the ground and began inhaling deeply. ”Bolster.” Yoko’s voice was barely audible as she felt the surge of Orange Lux flow through her. She looked at Saskia, then Ella, and felt regretful that Turner got hurt protecting her. She sighed,

”Otten, Disciple,” Yoko said, ”Take Turner, and go. This Yokai is far above your capabilities.”

"But-"

"She’s right," Saskia hissed, leaning on one of the booths. "Grab Lisa."

Ella looked at Yoko, eyes wide, before nodding. She scooped Lisa up into her arms, still bathing her in a slowly healing light. Saskia pushed themselves off their support, pausing for just a moment to look Yoko dead in the eyes.

"Don’t die."

”No promises,” Yoko said. ”Now go! I’m not telling you again!”

The three left, and it was just her. She knew that, possibly, she was going to die here like a dog at the hands of this monster. Yet, she cracked a defiant grin as she clutched the bo-staff. I knew what I was getting into. Yoko thought to herself.

“Now that those weaklings are gone,” The Samurai said, “It’s time to see if you’re any better.”

The Samurai outstretched his hand, the kanabo dangling loosely from his grip. With an almost dismissive motion, he let it fall to the ground as it struck the cobblestone, the massive club crumbled to dust, carried away by the winds. Yoko’s brow furrowed. The Samurai’s gaze remained locked on her, cold and unflinching. Then, he shifted his stance, pressing one armored hand to the cobblestones beneath him. The Samurai rose slowly, his hand dragging upward. As he did, the cobblestones beneath him lifted and merged, twisted and fused, reshaping in his grasp. In mere moments, a massive nodachi emerged from the rubble, its blade forged from the very stone of the earth. The Samurai took the weapon in both hands and pointed the tip at Yoko.

“Show me,” He continued, pointing the Nodachi at the grounded Yokai Killer, “How good with a sword you are.”

The Bo staff compacted in her hands as she put it away. Then, calmly, she walked over to the Yokai Killer and held it in both hands. It felt oddly comforting in her hands. Rain began to fall, soaking her to the bone, but she didn’t flinch. Instead, she stepped forward, her eyes never leaving The Samurai’s. Bolster would fade soon, and she wasn’t sure if she could hold a candle to him without it. This monster was a roadblock, a test of skill. Thus far, Yoko had made easy work of everything the Pit had thrown at her, and now she was uncertain if she would survive this fight.

I have to do it for Goro. Yoko thought to herself, just as that static-y voice popped in her head, speaking oddly clearly.

...?...?...?... I was asleep, what did I mis-OH JESUS CHRIST! The voice began. Yoko… you-

Yoko cut off the voice as she activated Flash. She appeared on the other side of the Samurai, and a slash appeared on his armor. Yoko pivoted onto her heel and lunged forward, aiming to capitalize on the opening she’d created. The Yokai Killer glowed faintly with a blue light as she swung it toward the gap in The Samurai’s armor. Her strike was fast and precise, but as the blade connected, it rattled off with a loud echo.

The Samurai turned his head slightly, almost as if acknowledging the blow. Then, in a blur of motion, he swung the nodachi in a wide arc. Yoko barely had time to react, ducking just in time to feel the blade whistle past, close enough that the force sent her stumbling back a step.

Yoko steadied herself, gripping the Yokai Killer tighter. I can’t outlast him. I’ll have to outmaneuver him. Her mind raced, analyzing his movements, searching for any sign of weakness. She darted to the side, using Flash again to close the gap, her blade slicing downward with surgical precision. Another mark appeared on his armor, but it was still superficial.

The Samurai pivoted, swinging his massive sword downward in a crushing motion. Yoko leaped to the side, the ground where she’d been standing exploding in a spray of shattered cobblestones and blood. She rolled, coming up on her feet in one fluid motion, the Yokai Killer humming in her hands. Yoko felt the last dregs of bolster surge through her limbs as she swung the Yokai Killer at the Samurai, applying Sharpen mid-swing. The Samurai countered with a slash of his blade, but the Yokai Killer sliced right through it and cut his torso, embedding itself into a gap in his armor. She kept a death grip on the Yokai Killer as she applied Extend to the weapon, and it burst out through the other side. He grabbed the Yokai Killer to pry it free, but the weapon's blade retracted into its hilt in the blink of an eye, and she swung it again. She managed to cut his hand off, and it dropped to the ground.

Yoko grinned.

The Samurai took a step back, his severed hand lying on the ground, steam rising from the wound as rain hissed against the exposed flesh. Despite the grievous injury, he showed no signs of pain. His remaining hand tightened around the nodachi, which began to regenerate, fragments of stone rising from the ground to reforge the shattered blade. Yoko’s grin widened, but it was more from adrenaline than confidence. Her breathing was ragged, and Bolster had left her body, her only advantage.

Yoko lunged forward, her feet barely touching the ground as she activated Flash-Storm. The world around her blurred, and time seemed to dilate as golden light exploded from her body. She vanished from view, only to reappear a split second later at the Samurai’s side, her blade cutting into his armor. Before he could react, she was gone again - another slash landed on his back, then his shoulder, then his legs.
A storm of strikes surrounded the Samurai, each faster and more precise than the last. Sparks flew as the Yokai Killer met his armor, relentlessly carving into the stone and molten metal. Yoko’s movements were a whirlwind of light and sound, the rain sizzling as it evaporated in contact with the heat radiating from their clash. The Samurai swung his nodachi wide, trying to catch her, but his attacks struck only air. Every time he turned, she was gone, her next strike coming from an unpredictable angle.

Yoko could feel her energy waning, but she pushed forward, chaining the final Flash movements with all the precision she could muster. Almost there. Just one more.

As the storm of attacks reached its crescendo, Yoko suddenly stopped. The world seemed to hold its breath as she gripped the Yokai Killer tightly. Then she locked eyes with the Samurai, his expression unreadable. With a scream, she dove forward. The final strike cleaved through him, the force of the blow creating a shockwave that rippled through the rain-soaked battlefield. The Samurai’s nodachi shattered. Yoko landed several feet away, her knees buckling as she collapsed to the ground, clutching the Yokai Killer for support.

She looked up, panting heavily, as the Samurai stood motionless. Finally, with a crash, his massive frame crumbled to the ground, the remnants of his armor dissolving into dust. Yoko let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. But she had done it. He was defeated.
Yoko laughed.

”That’ll show you… you bastard…” Yoko said, laughing. ”I am the greatest Hatanaka… I will find my brother. I will help those three get their second chance. I will return to the surface world and kill that bastard who murdered my friend! Cut the world in half if I have to!”

Using the Yokai Killer as a brace, she forced herself to her feet - stumbling for a second and having to use the Yokai Killer to prevent herself from falling forward. She sighed as she limped towards the direction Ella took Lisa and Saskia…

The voice spoke in her head,

...?...?...?... I’m proud of you, Yoko. I knew you could do it…

Yoko didn’t even react as she kept forward.

...?...?... I love you...

Yoko’s grip tightened on the Yokai Killer. ”Love me all you want. Just let me get through this.” She muttered, her voice almost lost under the rain.

Then, a sound froze her mid-step - a resounding, resonant clang. Yoko stopped and slowly turned, her blood running cold.

Yoko saw the Samurai rising to his feet. A series of unnatural cracks echoed as he regenerated, his body forcing itself back together, including his armor. He stood tall, his molten eyes fixed on Yoko.

“... Do you think it was truly over?” He asked, voice almost sounding amused.

Yoko’s knees threatened to give out as she tightened her grip on the Yokai Killer. She stared at the Samurai, with her jaw-dropping. ”That should have killed you!” Yoko shouted.

The Samurai stepped forward before coming to a robotic stop. He reached down as his fingers dug into the cobblestone. “... I told you I was something beyond human,” he began. “Why are you surprised?” He pulled a thin blade from the ground—a tanto—and inspected the weapon as he continued.

“To me, death is not an end, but a continuation,.” He tilted his head downwards at Yoko, “I've died thousands of times now. I have known death in every shape, every form. And yet, I rise again. And again. And again...”

Yoko felt the weight of his words, yet she couldn’t breathe or move. She stared at him as the rain drenched her from head to toe, ”... What are you?”

“If I had to be honest, I could not tell you,” The Samurai replied, “I was once a man… a great man. A wise man. A famous man. A powerful man….”

He trailed off…

“... Takashi Hatanaka, master weaponsmith, protector, and hero of the people.” He said, Yoko couldn’t move as the reveal nearly broke her heart. “I fought to create, to protect, to give meaning to my life.”

Yoko felt the world around her collapse.

The rain couldn’t cleanse the revelation that hung heavy in the air.

The figure before her was no mere apparition.

The name “Takashi Hatanaka” echoed in her mind, but it felt wrong, hollow, a cruel mockery of the man she had admired from afar, the hero whose deeds had shaped history. The very essence of the Hatanaka legacy. This thing standing before her wasn’t him, could never be him, no matter how much it parroted his memories. Yoko bared teeth,

”... You are not him,” Yoko hissed.

"No, I am not him." Takashi’s voice was robotic,. "I am the spirit born from the remnants of his life. His choices, regrets, legacy... and now, failures."

Yoko’s knees wobbled, but she refused to let herself fall.

"He fought to create, to protect, to give meaning to his life," the Samurai continued, almost to himself, it seemed like. "But in the end... all that remains is me. The hollow reflection of a man who once lived to give meaning to the world... only to be forgotten, lost in the void of his destruction."

Yoko’s grip on the Yokai Killer tightened. She couldn’t let herself get lost in the tragedy of it all. No matter how much this being sounded like the man she had heard about, no matter how much he seemed to carry the weight of his actions... he was not Takashi Hatanaka. Yoko weakly raised the Yokai Killer at him as she said,

”... You are not my ancestor. You are a perversion of him, born from whatever The Hound didn’t bother to take!” Yoko’s words rang out like a challenge

The Apparition before her was no longer just a cruel imitation of the man she had read about in books, heard stories about, and even dreamed of one day becoming like. No, this was something far darker - a twisted echo of a hero long gone.

“You are mistaken,” Takashi spoke, his voice laced with amusement. "I am not a perversion. I am his legacy, his final, eternal form. A reflection of the purpose he tried to forge, the power he sought. What is a hero but an idea, after all? And I… I am the culmination of that idea."

Takashi tilted his head at her, as if it was studying her.

"Tell me, Yoko..." His voice was almost condescending, "Do you even understand what it means to embrace the Hatanaka name? To be one of the last to carry its true legacy? You and Goro are the only ones left who still embrace your magical heritage, aren’t you? The rest of your family? They’ve long forgotten what it means to be Hatanaka. They hide behind their wealth and influence, burying the legacy in business deals and power plays."

Takashi stepped forward, "What is it like, Yoko? To carry that burden - the expectations of a legacy long forgotten by your kin? The relentless pressure to prove that the Hatanaka name still means something beyond luxury and status? A name that has been reduced to a title. A name once synonymous with power and honor… now nothing more than a relic of a bygone age. How does it feel to be the last of something that has already been forgotten?"

Yoko sighed,

”Shut up… just shut up...” She hissed, ”... The world… the other Hatanakas may have forgotten. But I haven’t. And I’ll ensure that the people who come from me don’t forget either.” She shook her head, looking at the ground.

"You think you can preserve what is left of the Hatanaka legacy? You, nothing more than a pitiful scion?" Takashi scoffed. "It’s already too late. The name has lost its meaning. All you have left are memories. Echoes.."

Yoko raised her head, ”... You think I do what I do for power, fame, or even recognition? You claim to have his memories, yet you have zero idea that the Hatanakas truly stood for justice, wisdom, and a positive change in the world. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks, or if they even remember us, as long as someone is fighting for a just cause, Yokai.” Yoko hissed out the last word like an insult.

"Justice?" He repeated, his voice dripping with amusement. "That’s what you think this is about? You’re clinging to the faded image of what your bloodline once stood for, but you’ve lost touch with reality, Yoko. You’re the last of the Hatanakas, and you’ve forgotten that power is the only thing that matters. Without it, all you have is a name."

”The Mother Will has corrupted you,” Yoko seethed, ”You cannot understand that justice isn’t about power for the sake of it. But fighting for those who couldn’t fight for themselves. I didn’t understand that ten years ago, but now I embrace it with open arms...”

Yoko weakly stepped forward, her stance trembling as she raised the Yokai Killer up at the Apparition. ”... Let’s finish this, you bastard!”

“... If you insist,” Takashi said before he disappeared in a flash of motion. Yoko barely managed to dodge, the tip of the blade grazing her side, leaving a deep cut. Yoko stumbled back, her legs giving way momentarily, but she regained her balance with sheer willpower. She lifted the Yokai Killer above her head, her body shaking from its weight, and brought it down towards Takashi - who just sidestepped it, holding the pose momentarily before Yoko swung the Yokai Killer horizontally and stumbled forward onto her hands and knees. Takashi put his foot on her head as he continued to mock her.

“... You are pathetic, and above all else, unworthy,” Takashi said as the tanto fell to pieces in his hands. “... And you are not even worthy of dying by my hand. I’ll let the Autoknights or one of the other Denizens of this place finish you off, Hatanaka.”

He paused.

“... We’re done here.”

With that, Takashi disappeared in a blur of motion that even Yoko couldn’t even track. Yoko’s head spun, her vision barely holding together as Takashi’s words echoed in her ears. His mocking voice, his cold dismissal…. She was still on the ground, blood dripping from her side, breath shallow and ragged. But even as her body screamed in protest, something burned within her. She couldn’t stay down, not like this.

Takashi’s mocking declaration still rang in her mind, but the sting of his words was quickly replaced by the sharp pang of something more profound. The Disciple, Otten, and Turner. They were still fighting, still in danger. With a strained breath, Yoko pushed herself up, her hands shaking. She could barely keep her balance as she reached for the Yokai Killer, still gripped tightly in her hands, the weapon a dead weight that mirrored her own body. The thought of Takashi and how he'd quickly dismissed her seethed within her. But her friends - her family - were louder, more urgent.

“I’m not done.” Yoko’s voice was a growl that barely broke through the rain. Her body burned with every movement, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t care. There was too much at stake. Her legs gave out once, and she collapsed to one knee, but she pushed herself back up, gritting her teeth.

Through the pain and blood, through the fog of exhaustion and fading strength, Yoko pushed forward.

For them.

For the first time in a long time, Ella felt despair.

She ran as fast as she could with Lisa’s broken body in her arms. Exhausted as she was, her healing was slow - keeping her alive, at least. Constant downpour made it difficult to see. She was soaked to the bone, freezing cold, and felt empty. They’d had to abandon Yoko. Ella had never abandoned anyone before.

It made her feel useless.

"We need to find shelter," Saskia grunted, panting heavily as they leaned on Ella. She winced, pain searing from her acid eaten arm. "Heal Lisa properly."

Ella nodded. It was difficult to see - where they were going, where there might be safety. Was anywhere safe here? She didn’t think so.

"I healed her enough she should wake up soon," she said, the healing light connecting her arm and Lisa’s body the only light in their otherwise dull and grey surroundings. It was draining her too, but she didn’t let it show. She had to be the strong one. Saskia was suffering from blood loss, and Lisa wasn’t even conscious… she had to stay strong for them. She had to protect them.

She couldn’t falter here.

They were far enough away from the Samurai that Ella could drop her pace from a run to a walk. Just keep going. Walk until Lisa was healed enough to wake up, until they found shelter to rest for just a moment. Then they could go back for Yoko.

If she was still alive.

"Stop, just a moment," Saskia coughed. Ella paused as they bent over, hands on their knees and swaying slightly. They were so pale… and it wasn’t just the rain and cold. Ella knelt down to more comfortably cradle Lisa in her arms, increasing the healing going to her while they were still.

She’d wake up soon. She had to. They all had to survive this.

A metallic clanking pierced through the downpour. It was faint at first—almost drowned out by the rain—but it grew closer. Then, almost surprised, they could hear the metallic figures leveling their muskets at the three. One of the Autoknights spoke, its voice mechanical and devoid of emotion. "Surrender. Resistance will result in termination. Comply or face execution."

Ella squinted up at the Autoknights, holding Lisa close to her, face wet from the rain (and definitely not tears). "We surrender."

Saskia just silently put their arms up.

“Now come with-”

Through the rain, a blue light slowly emerged… Yoko dragged herself into view, a defiant sneer on her face as she raised the Yokai Killer.

”... I’ve come to save you, friends!” Yoko shouted…

… Then collapsed, falling directly onto her face as the Yokai Killer clattered against the ground.

"Yoko!" Ella felt her heart sink as Yoko collapsed. She was alive, but barely… and Ella couldn't carry another person! She did sort of shuffle on her knees towards Yoko's prone body.

Saskia looked at Yoko, then at the Autoknights, intoning, "she surrenders too."

The Autoknights paused momentarily as the rain continued to strike all of them…

“All individuals have surrendered,” One Autoknight casually noted. “Detain them.”

The other Autoknight stepped forward; its heavy frame made its footsteps as it approached Yoko and knelt, grabbing her and lifting her over its shoulder. Another Autoknight advanced toward Ella and Saskia. "Surrender all weapons, artifacts, and magical instruments."

He paused, “Do not resist, compliance ensures survival.”

Ella looked over at Yoko, eyes wide. What if she died from the way they were carrying her? But was there anything she could do about it? Not right now. She felt helpless.

"Here." Saskia pulled her knife out, handing it over to the Autoknight. "My Channeler. Want my bag too?"

Ella handed over the Ice Scepter with trembling hands, before taking off a silver bracelet with a heart charm that had her name engraved on it. Hopefully they'd assume that was her Channeler… did they even know what that was? She wasn't sure, but it was better to be safe. She then awkwardly shifted her backpack to the side, pulling out the strange magic orb they'd gotten.

After all of her magical items where handed over, she put her hand into Lisa's pocket and pulled out a roughly carved out wooden statue of Adora holding her. It was oddly sticky.

"That's everything."

The Autoknight grabbed them, before going from the left to the right.

“Let’s go,” The Autoknight said with a nod. “The King will judge you.”

---

The red sky loomed over them like an oppressive, all-seeing eye. They were loaded up into one of the Autoknight Airships, and brought to the Kingdom as planned. However, they were handcuffed and chained together, stripped of all weapons and artifacts. They were marched through the streets of the Kingdom, a chaotic amalgamation of different eras and styles. Gothic spires lined the skyline, while the neighborhoods were lined with monolithic stone blocks that leaned at impossible angles. Buildings were stacked on top of each other, some of which were completely different styles and sizes yet somehow fit perfectly. The people were misshapen, either some sort of Aberration or soul long broken by the Pit.

At the heart of the Kingdom was the King’s castle - less of a structure and more like an abomination spawned from this hell. Its jagged towers stretched unnaturally upwards, constructed from a chaotic mess of black stone, eroded metal, and hunks of stone…

Ella looked around with slightly widened eyes. This place was… strange. Horrible, with the way the people seemed. But they were in the Kingdom. Chained, but there… and Lisa and Yoko were awake. That was the plan. Get inside.

Now they just needed to get out of the chains.

She carefully moved her arms close to her body, hands twisting around. Her fingers curled inwards, a hot beam of light coming out of one and starting to cut through the chains linking the handcuffs. It was covered by her hands and body… as she did that she looked behind her at her friends - namely Lisa and Yoko. Trying to see if they were prepared to break free - and Yoko nodded back, the chains around her arms and legs began to stretch and extend.

Lisa just shrugged.

Ella looked back forward, light cutting through the chains on her arms. The ones on her legs were more of a problem… she could probably just crush them, but then she’d need to light up her eyes. But… It was now or never! Her and Yoko could totally take these Autoknights out even if Lisa and Saskia weren’t immediately free.

Her legs lit up with a rainbow light, strengthening immediately. She stomped on the chain with an enhanced foot, easily crushing it. At the same time there was a sickening crack as Saskia completely broke her wrists.

Then Ella spun around.

"Lisa, above your head!" A beam of heated light came out of her finger, aimed just above Lisa. She raised her hands and the beam burnt through the chains.

Yoko slammed the expanded chains on the ground and they shattered. An Autoknight attempted to stab her with a spear but Yoko put her handcuffs up and blocked the strike. She quickly swung the remnants of the chains at the Autoknight and it struck with an ear-piercing sound and the Autoknight hit the ground seconds later.

Yoko pointed at one up ahead, ”He has the Yokai Killer!”

"I’ll retrieve it for you!" Ella shouted back. She ran forward, launching into a jump kick at the Autoknight, hard as steel rainbow foot slamming into his side.

The Yokai Killer clattered against the ground, and Yoko appeared right over it in a burst of speed. She grinned as she grabbed it and firmly grasped it.

”They might have the rest of our artifacts! Take them out!” Yoko commanded.

"Yes Sensei!" Ella shouted. She spun around, moving onto the next nearby Autoknight - another strong kick at it, followed up by a heated beam of light slicing across its body.

Saskia just watched, holding up her hands to show them painful cracking back into place. The ground shook as spiders burst out of the ground like a geyser and went in all directions. Meanwhile Yoko was slicing them to pieces with the Yokai Killer. She paused and glanced over her shoulder at Ella,

”Lightning Rush!”

Ella nodded, eyes locking with Yoko as she said it. It was enough for them to synchronize their breathing and energy. Ella jumped forward first in a burst of speed, kicking and punching so fast it left afterimages, before she swapped out for Yoko. Who swung the Yokai Killer so fast it temporarily left before a blue blur with every swing, and Autoknights crumbled to rusted messes in seconds. Ella then swapped places with her with another series of punches and kicks, a sort of swan-like dance they replicated for a few moments before Yoko stood by Ella’s side for the finale. A final group of Autoknights hunkered together, placing their shields in front of their with their spears and swords poised to stab.

Ella locked eyes with Yoko, complete understanding between them. It was the finishing blow… the strongest attack. They launched forward together, swift enough to avoid the spears and sword and with enough power to blast through the shields. Launching them away and utterly decimating their formation. Yoko grasped the Yokai Killer…

She glanced over her shoulder, ”Find your artifacts!” Before looking up at the looking castle in the center of the Kingdom.

”... Because we are going to need them!”