Chapter 3- First Day: Cinderella
Taylor, Howl, and Chow stood out front a booth that had a map of New York City on it.
Howl pursed her lips as she looked at the list of places next to the map. "I don't see Cinderella anywhere," she said while Chow groaned.
"It must be a small business then. Maybe with like one or two stores," he said and Taylor nodded.
"Maybe we should ask around," she said before her two friends nodded in unison.
"Cinderella? The fairy tale? Oh, a café? Never heard of it."
"Oh, I loved that story growing up. But now it's so old. Who would name a café after it?"
"You young ones are so busy with your fairy tales. Why, when I was a boy…"
The three sat down on a park bench completely exhausted as the sun started to set. "We'd better hurry and find it. The mail said 6 o'clock. It's almost 5:30," Howl said and Chow gritted his teeth bitterly.
"Damn it! Where in the world is it?" He snapped and Taylor watched the people walking by.
"It doesn't seem like we're in a lockdown, does it?" Howl asked and Chow frowned sadly.
"Probably cause the power's still on. The mail mentions a blackout that'll happen soon. If that were to happen, people might panic," he stated and Howl shrugged slightly.
"No power, huh?" She whispered and then looked towards Taylor.
"Hey, Taylor? Do these people have Death Clocks too?" Howl asked and Taylor glanced around before nodding.
"I see mainly 6s. There are some 4s as well," she stated before closing her eyes. Howl sighed sadly while Chow got to his feet and looked around.
"We'd better keep looking. We can't stay sitting around," he said and Taylor nodded before standing up as well.
Howl groaned as she slumped forward walking very slowly. "Come on, Howl." Chow called back and Howl sighed in exhaustion.
"But we've been walking so much! Can't we take a break?" She asked and Chow glanced at his watch before clenching his teeth tightly.
"Damn it! It's almost 6!" He said and Howl's eyes widened before straightening up.
"Then let's hurry up already!" She snapped back and Taylor giggled quietly at Howl's reaction.
Taylor and Chow watched Howl run past them, and they grinned when Howl turned back and waved to them to hurry up.
"Hey, Chow. There's still 20 minutes left. Did you do that to get her moving?" Taylor asked with a smile and Chow chuckled playfully.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Taylor." He said before the two ran to catch up with Howl.
"No… more… running…" Taylor panted while she, Howl, and Chow were slumped against a building.
Chow looked at his watch and groaned. "5 more minutes…" He muttered under his breath while Howl whined about being all sweaty.
"Where is this stupid café?" Taylor asked irritated as a door next to where they were panting opened a man walked out with an apron on.
"Excuse me?" Howl piped up, and the man turned to the three. "Oh, sorry. We're closing," he said and Howl smiled slightly.
"Could you at least tell us where the café Cinderella is?" She asked before the man laughed lightly. "You're standing right next to it." He said before opening the door and going inside while the three stared where the man had been silently.
"We were…"
"In front of it…"
"The whole time…"
The three slumped back against the building and Chow glanced at his watch again.
"1 minute left," he said as the street lamps went on in the creeping darkness of night.
The three looked around the darkened area until without warning every light went out at the same time.
Taylor heard a couple dogs barking while a couple voices shouted in the distance. "I can hardly see!" Howl said in surprise while turning her head in every which direction.
"Damn it, how are we supposed to find this Kit Gato person like this?" Chow snapped and Taylor shrugged but then remembered that he probably couldn't see her.
The three kids perked up as they heard a car's motor getting louder.
"Car crashes…" Chow muttered and Howl grimaced. "This is terrible! How are we supposed to save someone if we can't see?" She asked until the three froze from the noise of heavy breathing above.
The three looked up before freezing in place as a pair of ruby red eyes sliced through the darkness looking straight at them.
"Move!" Chow snapped just in time as the thing jumped down onto the ground between them.
Taylor could barely see the outline of a very large beast standing between her and her friends.
Taylor slowly reached for her COMP until her eyes widened at the sight of a 0 hanging in the darkness as clear as day.
"That's it!" She muttered under her breath before shouting to Chow and Howl.
"Behind you! There's someone crossing over!" Taylor shouted and noticed the 0 stop to her voice.
The beast heard as well as its eyes flashed towards the 0.
Chow gritted his teeth as he felt the beast rush past him. "Oh no, you don't! Let's go, Garm! Devil Speed!" Chow shouted as he flipped his COMP open and a flash of red lightning crashed onto the crash and Garm's yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness.
Chow bent his legs before springing forward. He felt the beast next to him as he zoomed past it towards its target. "HUMAN TO YOUR RIGHT!" Garm growled while clawing at the beast.
Chow extended an arm and hooked it around the first thing he felt. He heard a yelp as he skidded onto the grass on the other side of the street.
"Off me!" The beast shouted and Garm went flying next to Chow. Taylor and Howl braced themselves as the beast's outline rose till it looked like the beast was standing on two legs.
"Wendigo smash you all!" The demon shouted as it raised an arm towards Taylor.
"Halt there." A voice from behind Taylor said calmly. Taylor's eyes widened as something whizzed past her head and struck the Wendigo dead on before exploding.
The Wendigo roared with its red eyes blazing around before they mysteriously disappeared.
"He got away, huh?" The voice said and Taylor turned quickly, but saw nobody behind her.
"Thank you so much for that." The person said after they had found a park lit by moonlight. "No problem. Are you Kit Gato?" Taylor asked and the girl nodded with a smile.
"Yes, but how did you know?" She asked while Taylor grinned nervously.
"Umm… Anyway, glad to see you're fine," she said quickly to change the subject and Kit didn't object to the change.
"Yes, so am I. What was that thing?" She asked and Chow shrugged coolly.
"No idea." He lied and Kit frowned sadly.
"Well, regardless of that. I'm very grateful for your help. I would have died for sure if you weren't around." Kit said happily and Taylor perked up as the 0 floating above Kit's head suddenly warped into a 2.
"It's no problem. Be safe getting home!" Howl said cheerfully and Kit smiled back. "Will do!"
Taylor, Chow, and Howl sat in the park some more while looking out at the dark city.
"Man, I'm beat. That Devil Speed really takes a lot out of me." Chow said with a tired sigh. Taylor and Howl bobbed their heads in tired agreement.
"But… the mail came true! That demon was going to kill Kit! It might have just looked like a car crash to normal people if we weren't around!" Howl stated frightfully and Chow stared down at his COMP silently.
"If this mail is true. Then we have to head over to Central Park now!" He said urgently and Howl groaned.
"There was more to the mail, right?" She asked and Taylor nodded.
"It said beasts in Central Park with that man Kevin and a Rose Coldhart person dead at 7. We have about half an hour to get there! Let's hurry!"
"Why are we always running?" Howl asked while sprinting alongside Chow who had his teeth gritted. "How else are we going to get there fast enough?" He asked resentfully and Howl scowled quietly.
"H-How are you doing, Taylor?" She asked to her right to Taylor, but paused in surprise as Taylor wasn't there.
"Hey, you two!" Chow and Howl looked ahead to see Taylor waving back at them from on a bike.
"HEY, THAT'S NOT FAIR!" They shouted after her as she laughed happily.
Chow and Howl fell to the ground in exhaustion while Taylor leaned the bike up against a nearby tree in Central Park.
"We made it," she said cheerfully before looking behind her to the two exhausted friends.
"You… cheater…" Chow muttered and Taylor stuck her tongue out playfully.
"Not my fault you didn't see the bikes there." She stated and Chow was about to snap back until a scream pierced the air.
The three jerked before turning to see some demons crossing the park towards an outdoors stage.
"Damn it, demons!" Kevin said through gritted teeth as he held his ground on the stage while a girl was huddled behind him.
Both of them had 0s hanging over their heads. One of the demons rose into the air and landed in front of Kevin with a grin spread across its beak.
"Fresh humans for the taking! Dig in!" The purple bird demon screeched happily and the other demons with it cheered excitedly.
Kevin took a step back and glared at the purple bird demon. "Damn it all… I messed up…" He muttered angrily while the girl huddled behind him trembled.
"Go away…" She muttered while crying and Kevin gritted his teeth tighter.
"You human with the hat. Move aside so I can eat the girl! Girl meat is so tender!" The purple bird demon said and Kevin rolled his hands into fists.
"As if, you talking turkey!" He snapped and the demon huffed back at him.
"Fine. You can be eaten first!" It cried and Kevin braced himself before one of the demons behind the bird went flying into the air before dissolving with a bang.
The purple bird demon turned to see Chow with his fist raised and a glare in his eyes.
"More humans for Fallen Gagyson, eh? Perfect!" The bird demon shouted before raising its clawed hand.
"Kill them!" It shouted before turning back to Kevin. Gagyson raised its hand with a smile before slamming its clawed hand into Kevin's head.
Kevin's eyes widened as Gagyson cawed in shock.
Kevin raised a hand to the small bruise on his cheek while Gagyson looked at its claw in confusion.
Chow gritted his teeth in pain as he pounded a Kobold in the head. "Charm!" Howl shouted while pointing at Chow and Jack Frost chuckled happily.
Chow glanced at his arm that was devoid of pain and he looked back at Howl in amazement. Howl giggled playfully while making a peace sign along with Jack Frost.
Chow grinned before returning to beating the demons in front of him.
"He's so crazy…" Jack Frost said quietly and Howl nodded in agreement while pointing at a frozen demon.
"How come you're still alive?" Gagyson cried in shock and the bird twitched before Taylor slammed her fist along with her Kobold's club into the back of the bird demon.
Gagyson hit the stage floor and smashed through it while Kevin quickly got the girl away.
"That's enough outta you, birdie." Taylor said while wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
From the hole in the stage, blue glitter rose up and was absorbed my Taylor's COMP.
The other demons had run away after Gagyson's defeat and Chow looked out at the park in case more showed up. "Thank you so much for helping us." Kevin said and the girl with him smiled happily as the 0s over their head became 2s.
"You were super cool! That bird monster was so scary, but you showed up and blew it to bits!" She said cheerfully and Taylor smiled calmly.
"It's just a good thing we made it in time." She said and the girl giggled while Kevin sighed sadly.
"You can say that again. I thought I was lucky to find her, but then that turkey showed up. Some luck I have," he said while grimacing and Howl frowned sadly.
"But at least she's safe, right?" Howl asked and Kevin was silent before smiling.
"Yeah, you're right. Oh yeah, I haven't introduced you yet." Kevin said and the girl giggled.
"Silly Kevin!" She said happily and Kevin sighed quietly before the girl continued. "I'm Rose Coldhart! I hope you've heard some of my songs, but if not that's fine too!" She said with a wide smile and Howl nodded with the same smile.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Howl Wolfe! The macho guy over there is Chow." Howl said and Chow didn't respond as he continued to watch the park.
"And I'm Taylor." Taylor said and Rose giggled. "Taylor, Howl, and Chow! Okay, I remembered!" She said joyfully and Kevin smiled somewhat.
"Anyway, we should get going before more of those things show up." Kevin said and Howl pursed her lips lightly.
"Good point. We should find some shelter too. I don't want to go walking again for a while!" Howl said and Rose giggled at Howl's statement.
"Same here!" She said while fixing the small rose hairpin in her black hair.
"Why don't you three come with us? There should be enough spare in Lolita Records for all of us to stay the night. Plus, I have some food there in case you're hungry." Kevin stated and Howl cheered happily.
"Yay! Food! You bet your food we'll come, right, Taylor?" She asked and Taylor nodded while Chow chuckled quietly.
The five of them headed out the park and after a while reached the Records building before calling it a day.
Subject: OMG!
Sender: WOOF-WOOF
Like I was so amazed when those demons appeared and were all like trying to eat us!
Oh yeah, I saw your name under my COMP's email thingy! If you hadn't guessed, it's me, Howl! (oxo)
Those demons were cool when we were going bam-bam-bam on that giant floating head thingy! We kicked that thing's butt if it had one! (b^.')b
I wonder if this blackout will last much longer. I totally need a shower after this entire running around thing!
Though it was worth it since we met some awesome people! I wonder where I can find that hairpin Rose had.
I should ask her tomorrow morning! (^o^)/
Subject: We did well.
Sender: CHAOS-360
Hey, Taylor. Chow here. I guess this weird COMP lets us email each other at night. I tried earlier today, but it didn't do anything.
Today was hectic but I'm glad we were able to save some people. I hope we get to keep saving people tomorrow.
These demons are pretty awesome. Today, I felt like I was invincible going at that speed!
It's pretty amazing what these demons can do. But that doesn't mean what they do is right.
By the way, any thought on who is SHAZZAR guy is? I have my guesses, but I could be wrong.
That Shadow guy crossed my mind when I thought about it.
You said you didn't see any Death Clock, but you would have noticed if there was a number hanging over his head, right?
Oh well. I'm going to get some sleep now. Let's look forward to tomorrow without worrying about this stupid number over our heads.
Subject: HI~!
Sender: THORNZ
You're that Taylor girl that saved me today, right? I looked on my COMP and saw your email there for some reason.
Thanks so much for saving me again! I know I already told you, but I'd feel better knowing you know.
You were so cool when you fought those monsters too! You definitely have a fan with me!
Kevin was so protective while you fought, but I knew you'd save us. Though Kevin was pretty cool too!
I hope I get to see you again soon! I'd hate to say it but I don't think we're getting out of this easily.
I just have this weird feeling something big is going to happen. Make sure to take care of yourself.
Subject: Hello.
Sender: KEVRYD
Who might this be? I found this thing called a COMP in the park and it had this email. My name's Kevin Ryder.
I don't know why but it seems I know who you are already. Must be my imagination though.
Have you seen any of those weird creatures? They were truly frightening when they had us cornered, but thankfully these three kids showed up and saved us.
Ha, I'm talking to you like I actually know you. I'm sorry to take up your time. Make sure to keep alive, whoever you are.
Subject: Thank you so much.
Sender: KITKAT
You're Taylor, right? I'm really grateful for you rescuing me. It's really weird though what happened. It was like a dream almost.
I was given this COMP earlier today by someone wearing orange who called herself a Shomonkai Maiden.
Pretty weird people, huh? I decided to keep it though cause I didn't want to make her mad.
I heard that this Shomonkai are a cult from Japan. What could they be doing here in NYC?
I hope they aren't planning anything with these demons around.
Speaking of the Shomonkai, I saw the Shomonkai Maiden talking to this cool-looking dude with black and orange hair.
The Maiden girl sure didn't look happy at what he was saying.
Subject: You're still kicking?
Sender: SHAZZAR
Congrats on surviving your first day. This must be hard for you, but this is all just a test sent by the Almighty.
Try asking the Shomonkai more tomorrow. They should know a few things that you might want to know.
Though whether or not you go, I don't care. They are usually seen in parks so in case you're interested.
Tokyo must be a real mess right now. But I'd imagine that he would be having fun watching the worms run around.
Anyway, be sure to make a grand show of all of this. After all, you die the day after tomorrow.
Wasn't there a movie called that too? Pretty funny lot you all are.
That's the end of the First Day! XD
