”... Ugh! Are we there yet?!”
Lisa whined as she marched forward directly behind Yoko. They were still in this ramshackle farm biome. She had her hands behind her head, her legs were killing her and worse of all…
… She was bored.
”We still have a long ways to go, Turner,” Yoko concisely answered.
”Can we make a flying spider?” Lisa asked.
”The closer we get to the Kingdom, the more Autoknights we will encounter,” Yoko began. ”They will shoot us down the second they notice us. At least by walking we can have cover.”
”... My spiders can walk,” Lisa rolled her eyes - hoping a monster would finally attack them.
”See, you should've gone on all those runs I invited you to before we died!" Ella said, having taken up position at the back. She didn't seem bothered by the long march at all, looking around with a mixture of interest and alertness.
”The ones you and Aaron would take where you'd shout out stupid embarrassing stuff? Pass, those were lame," Saskia intoned, looking a little pale.
”They weren't lame! The shouting was for motivation, and look! I'm much fitter than both of you!"
”... Because you had to run from your Uncle all the time,” Lisa rolled her eyes.
"... You'd make sure you could run away if you'd gone through that too," Ella mumbled, uncharacteristically quiet. She pouted, kicking a rock out of the way.
”We've got all the muscle in our brain," Saskia said, yawning as they looked around. "You think we'll find any dead bodies on the way?"
”What? So you can hump it, Otten?” Yoko rolled her eyes.
"You'd like watching that, wouldn't you?" Saskia shot back with a slight smile. ”I want to see if they're different… Does this place change anatomy? I'd love to dissect that guy who shot us…"
”I’m not sure, Otten,” Yoko shrugged, before coming to a stop . ”I’m not sure if this place changes you or if you are already a monster by the time you fall in.”
”... Does this place give you a huge cock?” Lisa asked.
”If we find a body and dissect it we'd know," Saskia said, starting to look around the ground as if they'd just trip over one. "Or, we could at least start to figure it out… we'll need a larger sample size for the large dick investigation, in case the first one was just born with it."
”Yeah! Born with one straight out the womb!” Lisa laughed.
”Infinite possibilities, Turner, infinite possibilities," Saskia sniggered.
”Except Ella letting us go give head, apparently,” Lisa looking over her shoulder at Ella.
"It was one time, I made it up to you both," Ella wailed, looking up to pout at Lisa.
"So you won't get in the way again?" Saskia asked.
Ella was silent.
”Good grief you three…” Yoko said, shaking her head with a smile. ”Never a dull moment! Hahahaha!”
Ella brightened up a bit at that. She grinned at Yoko. "We are loads of fun! Helps us stay positive… y’know Lupe thought the same… I think. I miss Lupe."
"We can visit her when we get back," Saskia intoned. "If we get back."
”Don’t think like that, Otten,” Yoko said. ”We’re four skilled Adepts. And we have a plan. We got this.” She smiled at Saskia.
"It was a joke," Saskia said.
”Joke about something else, anything else,” Yoko said.
"Jokes are meant to be funny!" Ella shouted. "Yoko's right, we'll make it out… we've already handled everything this place has thrown at us!"
”... So far,” Yoko answered. ”We should not get cocky, Disciple. There are beings here that are powerful. Perhaps not as strong as the Serpent, but far stronger than we can reasonably handle.”
"Stronger than the devil himself? And all his evil minions?" Ella asked back.
Yoko nodded her head.
”What I’m saying is be vigilant and be careful.”
"We're always vigilant! Don't worry, we plan to get outta this alive. We already avoided a bunch of these massive monsters earlier!"
"After we almost got stepped on," Saskia pointed out.
The group shuffled forward, leaving behind the decayed farm biome with its twisted crops and eerily quiet atmosphere. The sky above them was a bright red, casting long shadows as they approached the ruined city on the horizon.
The transition from the farm to the city was gradual. The fields became overgrown with strange, mutated plants, and soon, broken asphalt replaced the dirt paths. The remnants of old roads stretched out before them, cracked and overgrown with weeds. In the distance, the jagged silhouettes of crumbling buildings loomed, some half-collapsed, others leaning precariously.
”Be careful,” Yoko said, ”We’ll have far more cover, but they will be able to ambush us far easier.”
"I'll stay alert, Sensei!" Ella said enthusiastically, looking around. "I'll use what you taught me, don't worry."
Saskia rolled their eyes. "So long as you can stay quiet too… what are we expecting? Monsters, humans, both?"
”Anything,” Yoko said as the group entered the city. ”And I mean anything.”
Lisa dramatically gasped, ”... Even a naked clown on a unicycle?!”
”... I wouldn’t be surprised at this point, Turner,” Yoko rolled her eyes.
As the group moved deeper into the ruined city, the remnants of civilization loomed around them—crumbling buildings, shattered windows, and rusting vehicles littered the streets. Eerie silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by the occasional creak of metal or distant echo of debris shifting in the wind.
Suddenly, a low rumble vibrated through the air. It started as a distant hum but quickly grew louder and deeper until the very ground beneath their feet seemed to shake. A massive silhouette loomed overhead.
Lisa was the first to look up. ”.. The fuck is that?!”
Above them, a steel zeppelin loomed, its metallic surface smooth but thick with armor plating. Massive propellers churned the air at the rear, and below the zeppelin, several spotlights swiveled, scanning the city streets for any signs of movement.
Yoko grinned, looking over her shoulder at the group, ”... I forgot to mention they have those.”
"They, as in that Kingdom thing or whatever?" Saskia squinted their eyes up at it. "I don't have enough spit to take that down."
"Shouldn't we take cover?!" Ella asked, looking around for a building they could get into.
”Yes! Move!”Yoko grabbed Lisa by the arm and shoved her into an alleyway. She gestured for Ella and Saskia to follow. ”Let’s just hope it's passing through…”
She panted, ”Then again they are looking for me.”
"Why, you piss them off?" Saskia intoned, pressing up against the wall of the alley. Ella was right behind them, looking up at the sky with wide eyes.
”Yes. Killing a few dozen Autoknights tends to do that,” Yoko said. ”Let’s just wait for them to pass by-”
The spotlights on the zeppelin shined down the alleyway, putting them on full blast… Cannons deployed out of the sides of the flying behemoth, and primed on them.
”... Run!” Yoko shouted as the cannons began barraging their general vicinity.
Ella screamed, magical girl transforming as she ran. Then her legs started glowing and she picked up the pace. Saskia grimaced, going from a sluggish pace to very quick as their bones lightened. Spider legs erupted from Lisa’s back, yet she didn't crawl on them and elected her regulars.
"There!" they said, pointing to a door into the building next to them… except it was a floor up, with a rickety ladder going up to it. Lisa climbed up using her spider legs, and Yoko hopped up - Lisa stopped at the edge only to get pushed in as Yoko reached down to grab Saskia or Ella’s hand. Ella grabbed Saskia and threw her up, before jumping up to grab hold of Yoko’s hand - who hoisted them both up before they ran inside.
Lisa flipped off the Zepplin before she went inside.
The door closed.
The building was a highschool… though it hardly resembled one anymore. The halls were eerily silent, faded banners hung from the walls, lockers that were ajar or torn off lined the halls, and the air was thick with dust and mold. Yoko pulled the Yokai Killer out and it glowed faintly.
”... More Airships are likely on the way,” Yoko said, ”They will likely level the city. We need a plan.”
Lisa had an idea, she raised her hand,
”What if you and Ella distract it, and meanwhile me and Saskia-” Lisa wrapped her arms around Saskia’s waist. ”... take it out with Blood Rain?”
"Ooo, I like this plan," Saskia said, arm slinging over Lisa’s shoulder.
"That’s fine for this one, but what about the others?" Ella asked. "I don’t want blown up! How do we get out after?"
"Spiders," Saskia shrugged.
”We just need to eliminate the one, Disciple,” Yoko began, ”If we are quick, we will avoid the other Airships.”
Ella’s face scrunched up as she thought for a moment, before nodding. "Alright! We’ll be the distraction, that’s easy, but you two better be ready with the Blood Rain!"
Lisa loudly snorted, ”What do you think we’re just going to sit here and bang?!”
”I can never know with the three of you, Turner,” Yoko said with a wry grin, as she somewhat unsheathed the Yokai Killer. ”Come, Disciple, we have many enemies and little time to capitalize on it all.” Yoko quickly dipped down the hallway, and Lisa turned to Saskia.
”We need to get in view of the Zepplin.” Lisa said as she gestured for Saskia to come along. ”Let’s hope they don’t make them shoot at us!”
That when Lisa began moving, and she moved quickly, the tiles crunching underneath her dirtied boots. Her mind raced as she navigated through the maze of corridors, eyes scanning for any possible way to get a clear line of sight to the zeppelin. The Blood Rain would need to be precise, and Lisa knew they couldn’t afford to fuck this up. The spider legs on her back twitched… she reached a set of double doors, and she saw the red light of the Pit peek from underneath.
Lisa’s smile lit up….
Until a creature burst through it, and Lisa stopped; the beast loudly screamed. Its five heads were scraping the ceiling and screaming as its long limbs crashed into the walls and dug into them - creating a horrific metallic screech as it squeezed lockers, and Lisa’s ears felt like they were going to bleed. It growled as it took steps towards Lisa and Saskia…
”... Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me!”
"Things were going too easily," Saskia grimaced. Their blood tendril reformed at their back, ripping out a locker and throwing it in front of them at the creature. "We need to finish it quick- should we use the stone?"
”... WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING, NINJA!” Lisa shouted, grabbing both sides of her head as the creature charged at her, swiping a mighty hand. Lisa tackled Saskia to the ground, and she could feel the power behind the swing from just above her. Lisa flipped over, and her spider legs attached her to the ceiling.
Then she flipped off the monster.
"Helpful!" Saskia grimaced, shoving her hand into her pocket and pulling out the orange stone. It immediately embedded in her hand, and with a surge of power multiple blood tendrils came out of her back, all slamming into the creature. At the same time they held out the hand with the stone embedded in it towards Lisa, who quickly grabbed it. The tendrils didn’t do much, but Lisa opened her mouth and unleashed a monstrous wave of spiders at the creature… and applied the acid burst spell in mid-air so the second the spiders hit the creature, they exploded into acid and chitin.
The monster screamed as it raised a hand - that quickly dissolved into nothing - and stepped backward as the acid began to dissolve its body. What was left of its arm fell and hit the ground… Intestines and organs began hitting the ground as the creature still stood but backpedaled towards the door.
"Die already," Saskia hissed, bone spears shoving out her skin with the momentum propelling them towards what was left of the creature. It pierced through one of the creature’s screaming skulls… yet it still kept going. Once Lisa raised her hand, a series of Chitionious Spears erupted from the ground and impaled the beast. They slowly retracted, and blood spewed in all directions as the creature fell over, limp. Lisa held her hand out for Saskia to take the Orange Stone.
Thin blood tendrils came out of Saskia’s hand, cutting away at Lisa’s flesh to pull the orange stone from it. They immediately pocketed it. They immediately started going to the door, not even caring as they stepped through blood and guts. "Let’s go before they get themselves killed."
Blood was dripping down Lisa’s hand as she felt red-hot pain searing through her flesh. Lisa sighed as she flicked the blood away and pushed through the double doors… ending up outside on the other side of the building. The Zeppelin was opening fire on another position, which Lisa thought was the position of Yoko and Ella… and without a second thought, Lisa summoned the blood-filled spiders up into the sky.
Saskia immediately held up her hands to start expanding the spiders’ blood sacks as they went towards the Zeppelin. As soon as they were close enough she did the last bit, causing them to explode in acidic blood all over it. It created a massive hole in the roof of the zeppelin, and it immediately began to descend towards the ground. The Autoknights quickly fell off… and exploded once it hit the ground.
Lisa hopped up and down, and began clapping. Moments later, Yoko and Ella returned… and Yoko said, ”... That will not go unnoticed.” Yoko walked past Lisa. ”Let’s go.”
Lisa shrugged and followed after Yoko...