It did not help that Johnny’s warning was looming over his head, as well.
“Err on the side of caution,” but also get closer? It was the most contradictory statement that had come out of Johnny’s mouth. How was he supposed to be careful, while getting closer to Krystalyn? The closer you got to someone, the more vulnerable you ended up leaving yourself. And who the hell was he to tell him to get closer to her? That was something that Karrel needed to decide for himself. He felt frustration rising inside of him as he thought more and more upon Johnny’s words.
“Hey!” a voice came from down the hall. Krystalyn had a hand up, waving a greeting.
Karrel stopped in his tracks. At the end of the hall, Krystalyn was approaching his position. She was wearing one of her standard sleeveless t-shirts, though it was shorter than usual, and her hair was waving freely, though there had been a noticeable effort to keep it organized.
Karrel felt his temper calm down, even though his thoughts were still on Johnny’s conversation. Maybe he was overreacting. His yellow-eyed friend hadn’t necessarily commanded any of them to do anything. He just did what he always did. Suggested a plan and waited for everyone to agree with him. Besides, Krystalyn had put herself forward during Karrel’s time of need. Though, calling a hole in his chest a “time of need” was a little bit of an understatement… Then again, she could have been doing it for selfish reasons. He was her “lunchbox” as she so loved to call him. Was the pet-name a good or bad sign? Aaaah! Karrel mentally roared as his mind raced through a thousand details.
Krystalyn was still approaching Karrel, though she had a confused expression on her face as he had greeted her response with a blank stare. She had finally closed the distance, and was about to ask what was wrong, when Karrel had made up his mind.
Screw it, he thought to himself. What’s the worst that could happen? Before Krystalyn could open her mouth, Karrel wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close so that their bodies rested together. He looked into her eyes for a single moment, hypnotized by their allure, before leaning in and planting his lips upon hers. Krystalyn instinctually resisted for a brief moment before she realized his intentions, and willingly surrendered herself to the kiss.
Karrel immediately began to feel his strength drain. His knees felt weak, and due to the fact that his body was still recovering from his recent injury, he almost collapsed to the floor. However, through sheer force of will, he maintained his poise. From head to toe, and beginning to glow, the heat emanating from Krystalyn’s body intensified, as she slowly ran her hand along Karrel’s back.
Pulling ever so slightly away from Karrel, Krystalyn glanced down at herself. “I knew this outfit was revealing, but I didn’t expect it to have this much of an effect,” she smiled.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Karrel smirked, “were you wearing something new? I hadn’t noticed.”
Krystalyn broke free from Karrel, still maintaining her happy expression, and slugged him in the shoulder playfully. “So, what did I do to deserve that brief, yet romantic dinner?”
“I’m just getting this out of the way,” Karrel joked. “I don’t want to go to bed with the fear of some demon-girl knocking on my door in the middle of the night.”
Krystalyn pulled back, her grin switching to a coy smile. “It had nothing to do with me taking care of your ass these past couple of days?”
“That might have had something to do with it… A small something.”
“Uh huh, I bet.” Krystalyn nodded her head sarcastically. “Well, don’t press your luck. After not being able to eat for a few days, I might have to swing by and grab a late-night snack.”
Karrel felt a warm, gentle heat roll up his spine. In the corner of his eye he saw Krystalyn’s long, smooth, pointed black tail maneuvering itself around his back, and he knew what the sensation was.
“So… is this a thing we have going on now?” Krystalyn stepped closer to Karrel.
“What are you talking about?” Karrel teased. “There’s no thing between us.” Reaching behind him, he felt the smooth tail that was sneaking up the back of his shirt. Quickly, Krystalyn pulled it back, and dangled it in front of Karrel, playfully waving it back and forth as though she was shaking a finger at him.
Something felt off as Karrel had reached up his back, though. He did not remember his shirt feeling as tight as it did. He normally favored the looser of his clothes. He glanced down at his current attire. The shirt and pants he was wearing were definitely his, but they were apparel that he never usually combined together. Even his undergarments were matching. It felt strange having them on together, but Karrel had to admit that the outfit combination was rather dashing. This set off another red flag for him, however. This was not the same outfit that he had worn into the superdome mission.
“Wait a second,” Karrel continued to observe himself, “Did someone dress me?”
Krystalyn’s eyes went wide, and her playful demeanor elevated, covering her mouth with a hand, and attempting to hide the shy smirk that was forming behind it. Unfortunately, she could not mask her giggles. “Yeah, sure…” she snickered, “someone dressed you.”
“Kristie…” Karrel awkwardly fiddled with his shirt, “What aren’t you telling me?”
Krystalyn brought her other hand up, still concealing her joyful grin, and ruffled Karrel’s already messy hair. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about it, my little lunchbox.” She then began to hurry off down the corridor.
“Kristie!” Karrel projected his voice, but Krystalyn had already made it halfway down the hallway.
“Sorry,” Krystalyn giggled, “I can’t stick around! Things to do! See you tonight!” And with a twirling toodaloo, Krystalyn disappeared around the corner.
Karrel stood, gawking at the now empty hallway, mouth wide open and ready to speak, but words failing to form. He felt as though that whole string of events could have gone over infinitely better, but still, he remained satisfied with his actions. Karrel decided that, at least for now, Krystalyn and her sisters were trustworthy. Learning more about his powers and hanging around with them would most likely go hand in hand. Besides, this strategy allowed an excuse to spend more time with Krystalyn. He cursed Johnny for once again being correct.
Still feeling a bit restless, Karrel decided to head to the warehouse. He was stuck on deciding what he was going to do when he got there. Some light exercise might jumpstart his recovery. Or, he could spend time looking into the new variable he had discovered, and why it was currently blue, instead of red and ready to use. He decided on the latter, and pulled out his green book, flipping through the pages as he walked down the hallway leading to the warehouse.
A few seconds of page-turning and Karrel located the variable he was looking for. The symbols and runes that held the meaning “Lich” shone brightly to him within the book. However, to his surprise, the symbols were no longer glowing with an azure hue. The runic letters had become red. Stopping in his tracks, Karrel stared at the vibrant writings. Usually, the letters being blue meant that the variable was on its cooldown period, and unable to be utilized until he got some rest or recouped some of his energy. That only ever happened once Karrel had reached the absolute maximum of his ability to use them, however. They would only switch back to red when he was physically ready to begin wielding them again. The runic symbols were now red, and he was curious.
With no idea as to what the new variable would do, Karrel was happy he had decided to head toward the warehouse. It was a massive chamber and had a training area for just these occasions. He felt safe testing his new abilities there.
Traveling what Karrel still considered was a ridiculous distance to the warehouse facility of the underground base, he finally arrived. With a quick climb down the ladder, and another aggravatingly long walk, he found himself in the training area. The walls had been reinforced in this region, however multiple scars marked each of the walls. Gashes were strung along the middle of each barrier, from Angel’s attempts at “sharpening” hi
s condensed smoke. Puck had blown several holes in the metal shielding, leaving the frayed girders as mementos of his hard work. The smaller, cleaner puncture marks belonged to Johnny’s handiwork, or more accurately, his MAIT’s handiwork. There were even a few target dummies that had been severed into pieces by what seemed like a pair of sharp claws, which was interesting because Karrel had never witnessed any of the girls honing their skills.
“Here goes nothing,” Karrel dropped his green book, letting it levitate at eye level. He brought both of his hands up and placed his palms on the red symbols representing the variable “Lich.” With a deep breath, he concentrated on the inscriptions. The copy of the text began to lift from the paper and encase themselves around Karrel’s wrists. Then, to his surprise, the red symbols began to snake up and around his arms, slowly moving to the rest of his body. He watched in amazement as the runic letters wrapped themselves along his torso, slowly rotating around him. As quickly as they had appeared though, the symbols dispersed. They rapidly scattered away from him, leaving Karrel confused. He had not stopped concentrating on the variable, yet it acted as though he had actively used it. Taking a gander around him, Karrel could not notice any differences in the room. He inspected himself, also finding nothing new. Maybe he had used it wrong? However, upon a quick inspection, Karrel found himself staring at the “Lich” variable, once more an azure, blue color.
Scratching his head, Karrel grabbed his book out of the air. “They only turn blue once I’ve pushed my limits…” he thought aloud to himself. “Maybe I can’t use this one yet?” That train of thought didn’t make any sense to Karrel, though. The variables had always remained black until they had been defined to him, and he had always been able to use the red variables. It was a perplexing puzzle.
“Having some trouble, are we?” a voice came from behind Karrel.
Turning around, Karrel saw Johnny walking toward him, staring at his wrist and fiddling with a few of the lights there upon it. To his surprise, something was accompanying his friend. Three head-sized masses of grey and silver metal were floating behind Johnny. The meshes of metal seemed almost liquid as they bobbed up and down through the air. Cylindrical chunks of chrome would extend outward from their bodies, which then immediately collapsed inward upon themselves. This pattern repeated continuously. It was as though they were constantly attempting to form themselves into a perfect sphere but could not.
“Friends of yours?” Karrel asked, pointing at the globs of fluid medal.
Johnny met Karrel’s gaze and beamed. “I figured out how to make them fly!” he announced.
“Your MAITs?”
“Indeed,” Johnny replied. “Before, I could only get them to hover, but I figured out how to program my microscopic bots to construct their own propulsion system, and a variety of wings, which can sustain the necessary forces needed to remain airborne. It’s a beautiful combination between modern avionics and an anatomical analysis of western dragonflies.”
“Cool,” Karrel blankly responded. “So like, what? Flying guns now?”
Johnny’s smile vanished, and his shoulders dropped an inch. He touched his palm to his face. “Yes,” he sighed, “flying guns… Among all of the other amazing tasks my MAIT’s can perform now, I suppose you can expect to see flying guns as a part of them.”
“I meant no disrespect,” Karrel laughed. “I’m just not used to seeing big floating blobs of… whatever those are. I didn’t really know what to say.”
“It’s fine,” Johnny exhaled. “I’m still working out a few kinks in the design, anyways. You have no idea how hard it is to keep millions of tiny robots flying in formation like this.” Johnny looked up from his wrist console and at Karrel. “Besides, I have a surprise for you.”
Johnny had caught Karrel’s attention, as he had never been the secretive type. “Surprise?” Karrel inquired.
“Do you remember, when you first got here, Angel let it slip that we had been to the demon’s homeworld?” Johnny answered the question with one of his own.
“Sure,” Karrel was getting excited. “I’ve been meaning to ask about that. Where exactly is their homeworld?”
“Well, it’s more like a different dimensional plane, than a different world. So, it’s a little difficult to give you exact coordinates. Regardless, do you remember what Angel told you?”
Karrel’s excitement continued to rise. “Yes. He said if I was lucky that I would get to go there.”
Johnny laughed. “I wouldn’t exactly call you lucky. I just hope you’re prepared.”
“No way…” Karrel whispered under his breath.
“I have tested the fusion energy cores we had successfully retrieved during our trip to the UWP superdome.” Johnny pulled one of the cylindrical power cores from his pack. “They’re all in perfect working order. This means that we have everything we need to take our first real step against the demons that are attacking our world. I’ll explain it a little more in detail later, but the short version is that we are going to need to prepare for an extended stay off of Earth.”
“We’re going to be staying there?” Karrel’s excitement turned to worry.
“A bit of a problem occurs when I use the portal to transport us to another dimension. I’m sure you can understand…” Johnny paused. “Well, maybe not. You’ll figure it out tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? We’re leaving tomorrow?” Karrel asked.
“Like I said,” Johnny smiled. “I hope you’re prepared.” He began to walk off toward the ladder that lead out of the warehouse. He called back to Karrel. “We leave in the morning, so get some rest!”
Amazing. The past few years Karrel had spent his life running away from the demonic creatures that now inhabited Earth. If he could tell his younger self that in a short few months he would be travelling to their world to hunt them down, he would not have believed it.
Karrel stared at the severed target dummies that lay motionless on the floor. He remembered the hundreds of practice sessions he had undergone to build up his strength. One thing was for sure. No matter what troubles were ahead, no matter what task was needed to be done, no matter what manner of monsters he was about to face, he was not prepared.
Chapter 23
Uncovering Worlds
The familiar hum of the portal charging up deafened the room and rendered speech pointless. Karrel stood silently next to his friends as they all readied themselves for the next leg of the journey. The rest of the group had already visited their destination once before, but for Karrel, it would be his first time. Terror and excitement often went hand-in-hand, but he had never felt this kind of raw frisson before. Patting his leg pocket and feeling the familiar lump that was his green book, Karrel could not help but wish that he had spent a lot more time training and studying with the bundle of strange literature.
Karrel remembered the first time he had stepped in front of the large, elliptical portal structure. The idea of that kind of technology existing had been pure fiction to him at that point. Yet as of late, this machine had become a familiar face. That feeling had disappeared. This was different. Now, the omnipotent door would not be taking him across the lands. It would be taking him across dimensions, thrusting him into an unknown world. It was strange to stand before a machine he had been using regularly and look upon it as though it was his first time.
Johnny had said that it was just an introductory visit. Fighting was not on the menu, and the purpose of the mission was to get Karrel used to the new territory. It had reassured him only slightly. Both Angel and Puck had also admitted that it had been a while since they had been to the demon’s world, and that they may need some time to adjust. The girls obviously opted out of visiting their home-plane of existence, claiming that it would be “the most feeble-minded decision they had ever made” to return to the world they were running from.
The consistent humming began to die down, and the portal crackled with energy. To Karrel’s surprise, the usual rainbow-colored gel that filled the hollowed-out
space of the portal did not appear. Instead, a fiery orange color sizzled and sparked from end to end, in between the elliptical sides of the portal’s structure. He had seen this sort of thing before. The towering contraption was mimicking the energies of the orange tears in space that the demons used. The similarities were so distinct that Karrel felt himself reaching for his book, expecting a pyretiff or a zweichar to walk through the orange light.
Feeling a bump on his shoulder, Karrel turned to face Angel. “Any last words?” Angel joked.
“Funny,” Karrel tried to hide his anxiety, but failed. “Now’s as good a time as any, I suppose.”
Angel gestured to Johnny and Puck. They both nodded their heads, grabbed their gear, and headed up the ramp to the portal. Angel gave a final reassuring nod to Karrel, before grabbing his things and following suit.
A few deep breaths later, Karrel summoned his courage. He flipped his backpack behind him and headed toward his friends. One-by-one, he watched his companions disappear into the structure’s glowing light. The portal’s energies crackled with power, and it was like watching a storm of orange lightning consume each of their bodies as they walked through. There was no point in hesitating now. Karrel reached the face of the portal and walked through.
A familiar feeling of nothingness washed over his entire body as Karrel’s vision blurred. However, the transportation was different from all of his previous trips. Usually, it was like walking through a door, and he came out of the other side in an instant. This time, Karrel felt as though he was trudging through a long corridor. The orange streaks of lightning had surrounded him, and he could no longer see a path ahead. Still, he continued forward, pushing through the cyclone of energy in front of him. What was only a few seconds, felt like an eternity, before he spotted the opening directly ahead of him. With a fake calm, he stepped through the eye of the storm.
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