You’re back here again.
Yoko practically heard the voice in her head, she doubted it was an external source but came from within. Her own inadequacy coming from the ugly recesses of her soul and projecting itself outward. Yoko sighed, she knelt down before the tree with that ugly reminder. Eventually she would have the strength to be comfortably here.
Today wasn’t that day.
The breeze of St. Portwell’s summer was a near constant reminder of ten years ago. Yoko was hoping that Serenelight’s advice on how to brave the pain would help. Yoko sighed again, glancing up at Commander Sirus.
Any minute now…
”Yes.”
“Waiting on me,” Lynn said as she walked around the corner. She wore a white cutoff shirt, a yellow miniskirt with horizontal black lines, tattered tights, and a pair of black boots. She took a few more steps towards Yoko before stopping, smiling gently.
”Yes, I wanted you to extrapolate on the vision,” Yoko began, looking up at Commander Sirus. ”But, first, my robotic friend here had some questions.”
Lynn raised an eyebrow as she looked at the robot. She was not sure how to react when a grown woman called a robot a friend. Was it sentient? Did it have feelings? Did it dream of electric sheep? Lynn shifted her weight to the side, popping her hip out ever so, as she crossed her arms. “Alright, Mr. Roboto, what questions can I help with,” Lynn looked at the robot with a curious expression.
”Lynn Serenelight, do you remember me?” The metal man asked. ”It has been years, but we were both Sycamore, once.”
Lynn leaned in and squinted her eyes. At first they could not discern any regonizable feature that sparked a memory. And then it hit, and her eyes flew open in recognition, “Siri” Lynn asked before she shook her head, “Sirus, you’re Sirus!”
He nodded and took a step forward, clapping Lynn over the shoulder with a sturdy hand. ”The very same, how has the Sycamore’s resident augur been all these years?”
Drunk and depressed. “Surviving, how about you?”
”Surviving. Connor and I have made it far in the past nine years. He is discussing battle plans with Yoko and Selena at the moment. He says hello.”
Connor did not, in fact, say hello.
“Well tell Connor I said,” FUCK YOU, “I hope he is well. Battle plans? What for?”
”Now that you are done with your touching reunion…” Yoko rolled her eyes. ”… I need more details on my brother. Anything.”
Lynn raised an eyebrow before a soft smile crept across her face. “Of course, Yoko, I remember the paths back to the future well. I can see if I can gather anything more. Has anything changed?”
”No, but Wilson brought up a good point,” Yoko said, ”New York is a big place and I need anything that can narrow it down.”
“Okay,” Lynn paused as she adjusted her footing. Her skirt was short so she pondered what would be the best way for her to sit down, her eyes scanning the nearby area for any stray chair or ledge to sit down on, eventually realizing she would need to sit down on the ground. She would need to do this because she knew she was already drunk and she would for sure fall if she tried to stand and go to the future. Lynn awkwardly sat down on the ground on her shins and made sure to pull her skirt down to give her the most modesty. “This will take longer than before, Yoko, and there will be some variance in what I can see so far away. Do you follow?”
”I have nothing but time,” Yoko paused to reconsider, ”… Yes.”
“Protect me with your lives dear friends. Until we see each other again,” Lynn used her left hand to give them a salute before her eyes flickered green and she was off to the future. An hour came and passed and Lynn remained in her future trance. She remained motionless, like a statue, until suddenly she jolted back to the present. She took a big breath of air, nearly gaping as she did, and her vision darted around for a few seconds before finding Yoko.
“Lesbian Vampire Mafia in New York,” Lynn blushed as she spoke, using her left hand to fan her face. “Yoko’s path runs through a Lesbian Vampire Mafia in New York.”
Sirus looked at Lynn, then at Yoko. Then at Lynn, and then at Yoko.
”...Them?”
“Karnstein Mafia,” Lynn added their name finally as she rose to her feet, pulling her skirt back down and brushing the dirt and bugs from her as she did. Her face was still red but her normal color had started to return.
Yoko stared at her for a few seconds, ”Now I am hoping you are joking when you describe them in that manner.” Then sighed, ”… Wilson will have a field day if not.”
“I assure you,” Lynn averted her eyes as she blushed once again, “I am not. Do you need some help dealing with them? I proved quite…useful in those futures.”
”I’d rather not put you in the line of danger, Serenelight,” Yoko said.
“My loss,” Lynn chuckled as she looked towards Yoko, “He’s looking for the Aberration Killer Yoko.”
”A strong weapon, if I remember correctly,” Sirus noted.
”Murakumo,” Yoko corrected, before rubbing her chin and musing to herself, ”It makes sense for him to go for Murakumo…”
Then turned to Lynn, ”You can come, but if you get hurt; I’m not taking any responsibility for it.”
“I might just get in your way,” Lynn sighed as she rubbed her neck. “Besides, I checked the futures where you go without me and it seems you’ll do just as well,” Lynn paused as she smirked, “I have to get back to Chicago sooner rather than later,” Lynn smiled widely, “but I am a phone call away if you need any more predictions.”
”Noted, thank you for your help again, Serenelight,” Yoko expressed gratitude, before turning to Sirus. ”Come, we have to find Phoenix and Bray.”
Lynn smiled wide. “You’re welcome, Yoko, it’s good to feel useful,” Lynn paused as she turned to leave.
“Actually on second thought…. tell Connor he can go fuck himself.”
Yoko smiled.
”... I will.”
”Bray, Serenelight said to go fuck yourself.” Yoko began the conversation.
”Well, good for her.” Connor sat at a table, looking over the Black Anvil and touching up the components in the chamber. It was a hefty grenade launcher burned black by years of use, and his fingers smoked as they made contact with the weapon.
”What’s the plan?” He asked, without looking up at her.
”According to Serenelight, my brother went after a Mafia in New York for Murakumo,” Yoko nodded. ”The Karnstein Family, I know little about them however.”
Connor looked up at her, unamsued. ”Vampires. They’re fucking annoying. I’ve been up there a few times.”
”I have little experience in dealing with vampires, so I trust you can lead the way?” Yoko began, ”With the Wall of Defiance, they should be little issue.”
”Yeah. Vampires die like anything else.” He snapped the Black Anvil shut and held it up. ”Burn the bodies. Hit them in the skull or the heart, treat them like Abberations. That’s if they’re stupid enough to attack us.”
”You know they are,” Yoko smirked, ”But in any event, let’s go while it's still daylight.”
”Sure. But when we are over there, what’s your plan?” He asked. ”If you want to talk with them, ask Sirus. He’s the diplomat, not me.”
”I have a feeling they will not be cordial with us,” Yoko said. ”But, I am certain we have ways to get them to talk…”
Yoko deviously grinned.
”Well what are they? I’m not stupid. I’m not killing them unless they just don’t talk.”
”Serenelight just described them as a ‘vampire lesbian mafia,” Yoko began, ”I don't know much more beyond that but I am certain we will find out.”
” I’m not building another machine just to seduce them, Hatanaka.”
Yoko facepalmed.
”... We have Phoenix for that.”
”We have me for what?” Selena walked down the stairs, hearing her name.
”Nothing, nothing! Nothing at all!” Yoko smiled at her. ”We are going to fight Vampires in New York. Are you up to the task?”
Selena blinked. ”Vampires? Why?”
”Because they hurt my feelings,” Yoko rolled her eyes, ”We have a lead on my brother, and it leads to them.”
”Do I want to know what Goro is doing around vampires?”
”They have Murakumo,” Yoko then shrugged. ”Or had it.”
Selena sighed. ”Well… As long as you have a plan, I’m sure the four of us can make it work.”
”Unlikely.”
”What?” She turned on Connor.
”They’re vampires, and they’re a mafia. You think they’d just turn over an artifact like that? You saw what happens when someone steals one of mine.”
”The priority is my brother, not Murakumo,” Yoko said, ”We can always get it later.”
”So what if he’s not there? How long have you been looking for him?”
Yoko sneered, barely turning in Connor’s direction.
”... Then we’ll look somewhere else,” Yoko said, ”I have been looking for a week, and I will keep looking for him until I find him.”
She paused,
”Clear?”
”If you say so.”
”If you’re ready to leave, I am,” Selena said.
Yoko unfurled the Swift Scroll.
”Let’s go,”
Yoko said as she recited the chant, and the wind carried them away.
The Swift Scroll carried them from St. Portwell to New York, and Yoko blinked as the world came into focus. Yoko took a moment to reorient herself, steadying herself on the rooftop they had landed on, high above the streets of New York City. However, the light reflecting off the skyscrapers was blinding, and she had to turn away and shield her eyes. Despite it all, she took a deep breath, letting the city's energy fill her lungs. It’s still afternoon She thought with relief. They had some time before the Karnstein Family would be at full strength if they could work quickly enough. Turning around, she saw Selena, Sirus and Connor steadying themselves from the teleport.
”Alright,” Yoko said, ”We have a few hours before sunset… I suggest we get a lay of the land before entering their den.”
”Sirus and I’ve been here once or twice.” Connor didn’t bring much, and neither did Sirus. They had enough weapons under their clothes without bringing their full armory.
”Their “den,” is that way.” Sirus pointed south. ”The East River and the Hudson River are behind us, and they live a fair distance away.”
”Then let’s go,” Yoko said, as she held the Wall of Defiance in one hand. Before she came to a stop and looked at it, ”Aw, damn it!”
”What?”
”Should we risk walking around with this?” Yoko asked, referring to the Wall of Defiance. ”I’m not sure if it’d be invisible to the Blinds or not… I wish I had a spell that made this smaller!” It was a dead give away if anyone Paranormal - or even slightly aware - was watching.
A big Neon sign that says ‘I’m here to fuck your day up.’
”Doesn’t your clan have literally hundreds of spells?” Connor asked. ”I thought you knew what you were doing bringing that thing.”
”They do, but-” Yoko rolled her eyes, ”Let’s just keep moving; someone walking around with a shield is probably the least weird thing to happen in New York.” She rolled her eyes as they proceeded down the side streets and alleys - Going through the main roads would just be stupid. - staying out of the crowded streets of New York. It smelled horrible. The Americans could learn a thing or two from Japan.
The Karnstein Family's lair - or one of their outposts, at least - was in the maze of old buildings ahead. She glanced at the Wall of Defiance again, cursing under her breath. The shield felt like an anchor in her hands, a constant weight dragging her down. Doesn’t your clan have literally hundreds of spells? Briefly rang through her head. I could have, but we are racing against time here for my brother. Yoko thought to herself.
Still, she couldn’t deny he had a point. The shield was a risk… yet, she couldn’t ignore the power of it or leave it behind. Yoko pushed her doubts aside, scanning their surroundings. The streets were quieter here, the sounds of honking horns and shouting pedestrians muffled by the thick brick walls of the buildings. The Karnsteins. While Yoko knew that she could handle them, they wouldn’t be accessible if they could stake their claim in a city like this.
The pulse of magic grew stronger as they approached an old, unassuming warehouse. Yoko squinted at the building. It looked abandoned, with weathered bricks, boarded-up windows, and rusted metal doors. But she could feel the faint buzz of protective wards hidden beneath layers of illusion. Yoko stopped, holding up a hand to signal the others.
”We’re here,” Yoko said, glancing over her shoulder, ”I’ll be right back. I’m going to grab their leader and threaten to drag them into the sunlight if they don’t tell me what happened to my brother.”
”There’s a non-zero chance they won’t give a shit.” Connor crossed his arms, staring at the building. ”There are usually two types of vampires. The ones who care about the sun and the ones who don’t. Any number of each can be in there. You want to negotiate? Walk out alive? Sirus, go with her.”
”Certainly. I have been told I have a way with words,” The machine bragged, with a bit of humor.
”Okay…” Yoko sighed, taking in a deep breath. ”... Let’s go.”
Yoko marched inside.
A few minutes later, Yoko came out, dragging one of the Karnstein Family members - a pale, short girl with black hair - out by their leg. Yoko panted as she tried to make it look too easy, only to fail. The Vampire hissed and snarled, more out of reflex than actual resistance, as her face contorted into annoyance as Yoko dragged her into the spot of the alleyway where the sunlight beamed down.
Yoko looked at the Vampire.
The Vampire looked at Yoko.
Yoko looked at Connor.
The Vampire looked at Sirus.
Yoko looked at Sirus.
The Vampire looked at Yoko again.
Yoko looked at Selena.
The Vampire was still staring at Yoko.
Then Yoko locked eyes with the Vampire…
”... Shouldn’t you be melting?” Yoko tilted her head.
“Sunlight isn’t exactly the big bad for all of us, darling. Some of us have evolved past the fairy tales. Guess you didn’t get the memo.” The Vampire shrugged.
”Damn it,”
”What did I fucking tell you, give fucking minutes ago?” Connor asked, fucking exasperated. ”Sirus…”
”In my defense, I tried to reason with her. But that was useless.”
”Are you fucking stupid, Yoko?”
Yoko sneered at him, then muttered in Japanese, ”Wilson might be if she thinks you are going to be such help… This is why I wanted to work alone,” Her grip tightened on the Vampire’s ankle…
“... I’m starting to like you, human. The drama is almost worth this indignity.” The Vampire mocked.
”Shut up!” Yoko shouted, before turning to Connor, ”Bray, you take the lead then since you know what you are doing?” She rolled her eyes.
”Good lord.” Selena facepalmed.
”Yeah…” Connor took a step forward and bent down in front of the vampire, on one knee. ”Is your matriarch in today?”
“Yes, you tryna get sucked, love?” The Vampire chuckled.
Connor sighed, and withdrew his Forge Blaster. Then, he pressed the barrel against the vampire’s forehead. The pistol was always warm to the touch, like the hood of a running car.
”Ask me that again.”
”We traded favors for information once, with these people,” Sirus explained to Yoko. ”Fighting for directions to a great beast.”
”Why do I get the feeling Kari made a mistake introducing us to you two…”
”If Wilson trusts them, I trust them…” Yoko’s voice turned into a hushed whisper, ”... But that doesn't mean that I like them.” Or any of you.
The Vampire didn't flinch, “... Ah, you’re on that timing I see. The Matriarch is in an important meeting with one of our affiliates from Miami… You best wait for her to be free. She’ll probably be hungry.” She laughed.
”We can wait.”
Yoko scowled as she looked at Sirus, then back at Connor, ”Your Automaton needs an update,” Yoko quietly laughed to herself, ”We don’t have time to wait. My brother could be in danger…”
She narrowed at them, then gave the Vampire the side eye who awkwardly smiled.
”... And I don’t want to be just seconds too late because some Yokai wasted our time.”
”The time you spend making an ass out of yourself is time you could spend looking for him, so shut the fuck up about that for a second.”
”He does have a point, Yoko,” Selena admitted.
Yoko narrowed her eyes, raising the Wall of Defiance at Connor, ”Now Bray, I understand your point, but you will not speak to me in any way you please like I am some common American Whore.”
”I’ll speak to you however the fuck I want if you’re going to act like that. And put that damn shield down before you do something stupid,” He warned, keeping his pistol pointed at the vampire. ”I will fucking skin you alive if you so much as think about picking a fight with me, do you understand?”
”Connor, please.”
For a brief moment, a yellow light surrounded the edges of the Wall of Defiance, ”... Make me, you insect.”
”We’re in public, you two…” Selena sighed.
”That is enough.” Sirus stepped in between both of them. ”This helps no one, except for whoever may or may not be holding your brother hostage. He may be in danger or he may simply be missing, but we do not answer that question by killing each other.”
There was that urge in Yoko’s head to continue, yet she sighed as she remembered Serenelight’s words (embody the best qualities of Ella in your actions.) and lowered the shield. ”Bray,” Yoko almost said his name like an insult, ”We will do things your way, if it doesn't work out…”
Yoko jammed a thumb into her chest, ”We do things my way.”
”Fine.”
Then there was awkward silence.
”...There is a meeting? How much longer will it last?” Selena asked the vampire.
The Vampire just shrugged. “Who knows? The Matriarch is arranging a big sale.”
Yoko stared at her.
”... Know any good ramen spots?”
Dusk had settled.
”Ah! That ramen tasted like piss,” Yoko whined, crossing her arms with the Wall of Defiance around her chest. She looked down at the neon streets from the rooftops. ”... I wonder if that Yokai was just stalling until night time.”
”They’re vampires, not Yokai,” Selena remarked.
”And they were. You think they’d just let you walk in when most of them are likely asleep?” Connor sat with his back against an AC unit.
”Vampires are- Actually,” Yoko shrugged. ”It doesn't matter, we can handle them either way.”
”Yoko…” Selena signed. ”I don’t want to “handle” them. Sirus offered to handle discussions with the Karnsteins, it’d be easier than fighting them.”
Yoko glared at Selena, ”... And think I want to either, but look at the writing on the wall, Phoenix.” Yoko then rolled her eyes.
”They stalled us until they were at their strongest. They are not going to try and negotiate.”
”They will, or we’ll burn the place to the ground. It’s that simple. Now, are we going or what?” Connor asked.
Yoko’s eyes scanned the neon-lit streets before she sighed, ”... Yeah, let’s get a move on already,” Yoko then climbed down the fire escape back onto the streets of New York. She didn’t care about the unwanted attention the Wall of Defiance would bring anymore. However, she did put it into a readied position. The shield’s weight against her arm was grounding and infuriating, a constant reminder of how much she hated relying on borrowed power.
The Karnstein lair loomed in the distance.
“...Don’t let them trick you into thinking this is a negotiation,” Yoko said over her shoulder, “If they wanted to talk, they wouldn’t have wasted an entire day jerking us around.”
Yoko didn’t wait for a response as she continued. Yoko stepped up to the imposing double doors of the Karnstein lair, her grip tightening on the Wall of Defiance as she shoved them open with more force than necessary. The dimly lit interior stretched into the main hall, its walls adorned with tapestries depicting scenes of battles, feasts, and endless nights. The glow of flickering candles cast long, eerie shadows across the room. Still, their light barely illuminated the faces of several figures seated at an elongated table in the center of the room. Yoko’s gaze locked on the apparent leader, sitting at the far end. Yoko noted that she looked oddly young, probably because she was a vampire. The leader took a guzzle of blood from a wine glass, before facing Yoko.
“Ah, you four must be the lot harassing us,” the leader said. “Well, have a seat. We have much to discuss, don’t we?”
Yoko glanced at Sirus.
”Yes, we do.” Sirus took a seat across from her, as did Selena and Connor. ”Thank you for taking the time to meet us, firstly. It’s been some time since Connor and I were here, but we were hoping you could help us solve a mystery.”
“Well,” The Matriarch said, “If it gets you four out of my hair… Just get to the point.”
”Goro Hatanaka,” Selena sat up in her seat. ”He’s been missing for a considerable amount of time, and his last known location was here in New York. Have you heard from him, or do you know where he may have gone?”
The Matriarch dragged her claws against the surface of the table, “Yes, I may have heard of him.” She hissed, before she pushed herself up to her feet, “... That bastard stole the Aberration Killer when we were going to make the deal of a lifetime!”
”Stole? I thought your family created it,” She glanced at Yoko.
Yoko facepalmed.
”We made it but some other assholes stole it.”
”I see…” Sirus leaned forward in his seat. ”How long ago did this occur?”
Yoko shrugged, ”Long before I was born.”
“The fact of the matter is that it left your hands, Hatanaka!” The Matriarch hissed. “We found it! It was ours!”
”Aberrations cannot even touch Murakumo,” Yoko narrowed her eyes at her. ”How did you even manage to bring it here?!”
The Matriarch shrugged.
“… We paid someone.”
”How long has it been since he took the sword?” Sirus asked. ”We are trying to find him.”
“A few months ago, back in January,” She replied.
”You still didn’t know where he was at that time, didn’t you, Yoko?” Selena asked.
Yoko sighed, ”... No,” Before turning to the Matriarch,”Where is my brother? I don’t care about all of this.”
The Matriarch sighed, “... If you must know, Goro escaped through a portal. A rift in space, created by some Paranormal artifact he either found or stole. We had him cornered - he should have been ours - but the bastard slipped away before we could even lay a finger on him.”
Yoko’s eyes narrowed, her hands tightening into fists. “A portal? Where did it lead?”
The Matriarch just shrugged, “... Does it look like I know? it wasn’t anywhere in this city - possibly not even in this world. He left us nothing but the trace of the portal’s magic, which disappeared within minutes.”
Yoko aimed the Wall of Defiance at her, ”... You expect me to believe you just stood there gawking while he escaped?!” Yoko tilted her head. ”I’m not that stupid.”
Sirus shot his hand out and sat it on the rim of the shield. His robotic strength kept it pointed low, and he didn’t break eye contact with the Matriarch. ”What exactly did this rift look like? Most artifacts that perform such a feat have their own distinct appearances.”
“Distinct is an understatement,” the Matriarch laughed. “It wasn’t a clean portal; I could [i]feel[/u] the desperation when he ripped it open. The edges were black, jagged, less like a portal and more like a wound in reality.”
”Hmph, that doesn’t sound like a Swift Scroll,” Yoko turned to Selena, ”... Then again, it leaves you open.”
”Does it sound like any other Hatanaka artifact?” Selena asked. ”It might have been too long ago, but if you know an abstraction-enhancing spell that works with white Lux spells, I could use one of mine to determine if his or someone else’s Lux was involved in that artifact. It might narrow something down…”
”The only teleporting artifact that I know of are the Swift Scrolls,” Yoko nodded her head. ”It is entirely within the realm of possibility that Goro got another artifact.”
”From who? That doesn’t tell us anything.” Connor couldn’t think of an artifact that fit the description off the top of his head, either. ”Or… Did he make one? That your family didn’t know about?”
”Make one I didn’t know about,” Yoko rolled her eyes. ”I’m not sure. My brother was always moving, and didn’t always tell me everything sadly.”
Yoko then shrugged as she lowered the Wall of Defiance, ”What I’m saying is that it’s possible he found an artifact. They practically grow on trees!”
”So now what? Do we ask Kari?”
Yoko paused momentarily, glancing at the Matriarch before returning to Connor. ”No, not yet,” Yoko began, ”We are going to Serenelight. After all, we wouldn’t have found this lead if it wasn’t for her.”
”Sure.”
”Well…” Sirus stood from his seat. ”That is all we needed to know. Thank you for your time. We’ll see ourselves out.”
”Someone else will hopefully extinguish you all,” Yoko pointed at the Matriarch as she marched out of the room.
She only gave them the finger wag.
The cars passed by.
The sounds of the city blared in the background.
Yet that was irrelevant to Yoko as she stood in the street not too far away from their lair - she wasn’t worried about them, because if they were going to do anything they would have done so when they had the home-field advantage. She placed her hands on her hips tapped her foot on the ground, and looked at her companions.
”I’m going to give Serenelight a call,” Yoko began, ”.. And what a strange last name she has.”
Without another word, Yoko called Lynn.
The phone rang for several seconds before it connected. The first sound Yoko would hear was the phone dropping and hitting the floor, followed by an audible groan of annoyance. The phone was rustled on the floor for a second before Lynn managed to grab it and bring it up to her face.
“You’re five minutes early with the call” Lynn groaned as she pulled herself out of bed and walked towards the window. She was wearing a sports bra and black boxers and she rested her arm on the window and her head on the arm. “How are you today Yoko,” Lynn asked with a small smile.
”Are you free?” Yoko asked, ”We have a lead, they say that he went through some type of portal.”
Lynn looked back to her bed and at the two twinks who were both still asleep. “I got time for you. What do you need me to look for,” Lynn asked as she turned her attention back outside..
”Goro, anything you can on him,” Yoko said.
“You’re lucky I looked ahead already,” Lynn chuckled as she looked back to ensure the two men were still asleep. “in the future I saw two possibilities. Either he went to a place called Dazzle, a bit more magical place than Shimmer or he went to a place called Sparkle. More than likely the portal took him to the latter but there’s a solid chance for the former,” Lynn paused as she yawned. “I can narrow it down a little more if you would like.”
”... Please do,” Yoko said.
“Give me two seconds to get ready and I’ll look ahead,” Lynn paused as she went to hit the mute microphone button but missed. “Alright, you two. Wake up,” Lynn spoke in a loud voice. color=F08080]“I told you earlier I’d need some alone time today. That time is now let’s go,”[/color] Lynn paused as she tossed the two men their clothes and ushered them towards the door and out. Once the door closed Lynn engaged all the locks and returned back to her phone and went to unmute but realized she left the microphone on.
“Alright, I’m going forward. Protect me with your life, Yoko,” Lynn paused as her eyes went green and she departed for the future.
Yoko’s jaw dropped in astonishment as she grasped the phone both hands. ”... I’m in New York!” Yoko shouted, ”... How?!”
The line fell silent as Lynn was already in the future. She spent the next five minutes dancing through the eventualities before she returned with a big gasp of air. “Thanks you for your protective services, I survived. Sparkle is more likely, I wasn’t able to discern what he’s there for but it looks like he went there with a purpose,” Lynn smiled as she stood up and walked to the fridge. Her apartment was a small, studio style unit with only a standalone room for the toilet which meant it only took a minute for her to get to it. She grabbed a premade margarita bottle from the fridge and closed the door.
”Thank you, Serenelight,” Yoko said, ”But where in Sparkle if you could be specific…?”
“Where else,” Lynn paused as she yawned, “Sparkles version of St. Portwell.”
Yoko facepalmed.
”... Does every universe have a version of America’s magical anus?!” Yoko groaned. ”Thank you, Serenelight. We may go dark as I doubt cellphones have extradimensional capabilities.”
Yoko looked at her comrades.
”... Are you three ready?”
They were. So they all left for Sparkle.
Yoko, Selena, Sirus and Connor stepped through the doorway between the two worlds, and landed on solid ground. This version of St Portwell was one that the Sycamore Tree Coven- specifically, the version in Shimmer- Never made contact with. They hopped into many worlds back in the day on a search for the Apparition Killer, but even their best never got around to visiting Sparkle. Or, if they did, no one stopped to ask which world this was.
It was foggy here, on this street. A thick haze of smog hung over the city, so dense that Selena couldn’t even see more than maybe a hundred feet away. None of them could make out whether or not it was midnight or noon, because while it was silent like the grave here, there was some light shining through the mist.
”The hell is this…” Connor turned around trying to get a sense of things, but it was just fog and more fog. He looked at the ground and saw not a sidewalk, not a road, but rubble. Thick chunks of asphalt or concrete, maybe both, clumping together like gravel. There was a smell like ozone, mixed with burning hair.
”I can’t see any Lux, this must be something else. Does anyone feel… Off?”
Just standing here was doing something to them.
”Serenight neglected to mention this…” Yoko shook her head, not noticing anything wrong. With the Wall of Defiance in hand, she gestured for them to come along. ”Let’s go, if this information is faulty, I am sticking the Wall of Defiance between Serenelight’s buttocks.-”
A metallic groan escaped Sirus. ”Something is wrong, in this place,” The machine whispered. He usually didn’t feel many things, but now he felt weak.
”I feel that too… We shouldn’t be here long, whatever it-“
A steak of something red arced over their heads against the sky. What, they didn’t know. And right as it did, the ground shook.
”Stay on him!”
The silence had been broken by someone shouting off in the distance behind them. And then by something screaming across the city. It was loud, in a way that most things weren’t. Sirus was reminded of air raid sirens, only this was more jagged, more angry.
Everyone felt something rumbling in them, as the sound reverberated and cut right through them. It was so forceful that all the fog was forced backwards. And it was then that they saw Sparkle’s St. Portwell for what it was.
Or, rather, what remained.
As far as they could see, St. Portwell was in ruin. The tallest buildings in the sky were nothing but amputated monoliths of something that might never recover. Clouds of smoke had been pushed back by the roar, showing just how much was falling to pieces. Bodies lie buried in rubble, a few dozen feet above their heads, out of the trench they were apparently standing in.
And over the rotting buildings, out of that trench, there was something standing on the horizon.
A thousand feet tall, a monster made of flesh and steel, cloaked in mist and sickly yellow light. In bygone days, it was worshipped as a god that unmade the earth. A savior who brought baptism by fire to the unworthy, and a quick end to the few who deserved it.
The Dreadnaught.
”No… Not here. That thing, it was supposed to never rise again.” Sirus stared up and felt fear for the first time in years.
”What the fuck!? Here?!”
Yoko didn’t so much as flinch as she narrowed her eyes at it, ”What is this creature??”
”That, Yoko, is the Dreadnaught.” Sirus shifted his weight to one leg. ”First of the Calamities, the Drowned Angel… They are things that would make the Stygian Snake cower like a scared animal. And this one has come to destroy this place.”
The jaws of the Dreadnaught opened wide, and a yellow glow snaked out from behind its teeth.
”GET DOWN!”
Connor and Sirus hit the dirt, and Selena after that. She pulled Yoko down right as a beam of blinding energy shot forth, leaving a crater miles behind them.
Another red flash flew over their head, this time more clear. Enough that it looked humanoid, like a ghost. Two more soared over, in a cluster to attack the creature. They were heading towards the Calamity. Not fleeing.
”Aw! Good grief!” Yoko shouted as she pushed herself to her feet and looked at the Calamity, then the direction those blasts were going. She began walking that way, ”Let’s go you three,”
”Yoko- If Goro was here, he definitely isn’t now. Where are we going?!”
They started running. The trench that one of the creature’s lasers carved into the land tapered off enough that they could climb out when they walked far enough.
Yoko stopped and looked over her shoulder.
”... To find someone who can explain the hell is going on!”