Alone in Hell
Mission 1:
The Broken Souls
In the ever-shifting void of nothingness and everything, a lone figure sat on a floating rock, looking at the vast world around him. It was an anthropomorphic cat-like figure wearing a dark red robe and other red articles of clothing, with the only thing of note being his long and thick necklace with strange symbols unknown to man or any living being. It was a male cat with red fur and a hint of white on his nose and between his eye. His eyes were yellow like gold, and he had a scar on his left ear that showed a missing piece of flesh. The six-foot creature appeared to be contemplating things, but people could not tell with his unmoving body and lack of blinking – he seemed dead yet alive.
Suddenly, he started to blink, and his ear flicked back and forth. His whole body animated, and he seemed awake like a statue breaking free. He gasped and grabbed his chest as he struggled to breathe. He tried standing up, but the cat stumbled to the rocky ground landing on his belly. He quickly curled himself into a ball, trying to control his breathing.
The stranger kept breathing rapidly and gasping for air to enter his lungs. For a while, this kept going, but soon he started to pace his breath, and he finally uncurled himself from his ball and turned his body to face the sky above. His expression was blank, and his eyes scanned his surrounding area for answers. He sighed and closed his eyes for a bit before opening them. He raised his paws before him and investigated them before putting them down.
Lifting himself from the floor, the stranger walked to the edge of the floating rock and looked downwards to see more emptiness. He put his paw on his chin and thought about how he came to be here. Finally, the first words came out of him.
"Hmm… I seem to be back in my realm. Odd, I swore I was with that wizard. Did the little fool perish? No, that can be it. I would have felt it. That's strange… I don't remember…" the stranger muttered before realizing that he did not know his name or anything but a specific pact he had made with the said wizard.
The stranger snarled at his memory loss and could not explain his predicament. His hands glowed a purple cosmic color, and he threw a projectile out of his hand, breaking the rock he was sitting on. His shocked expression showed he did not mean to do that, and he looked at his hands in confusion. A thought struck him, quickly giving him an answer.
"Of course! I'm a supreme being that uses chaos magic, and my name is…." the cat trailed off as he realized he did not know his name. All his memories are a blur, besides things related to the wizard. He got annoyed at his predicament.
"Where's that little-" he muttered before his ears twitched to a sound nearby. He looks to his immediate right and sees a ray of light approaching him.
Suddenly the light stopped in front of him, and the ball soon expanded to an oval shape big enough to fit him. At first, only a shiny beam of light could be seen before slowly revealing a floating castle in the vastness of nothingness. The stranger looked on as the portal's view zoomed to the court, reached the tallest point where it went through a mirror, and finally peered down at a small figure.
A dark smile creeped out of the stranger as he realized he had found his missing wizard. Without a second thought, the stranger pushed his body toward the portal, which quickly sucked him in. Behind him, the portal started to close, and he soon left his previous setting.
Only silence can be heard in the vast space of nothingness.
...&...
In another dimension and plain of existence existed the human world far away from the stranger's world.
Focusing on a city called Finford, named after the founder of this city a long time ago, people were going about their day trying to get by as much as possible. The motto of this city was 'prosperity and equality for all' though that was farther from the truth. The city's socio-economics was terrible as the rich lived in the city's center, with the range of wealth-getting smaller and smaller as you approached the outer rim. A good majority lived in the many projects surrounding the city's outskirts. Everything was expected in the city's inner circle, with many jobs, stores, buildings, and multiple high rises. However, the outskirts, the outer rim, was riddled with crime and chaos, only a few souls dared to help the outskirts folk, and there was little police activity in that area. The only positive of the outskirts was that it was dirt cheap and a great place to hide criminal operations.
Finford's center was typical, but it wasn't crime-free as a thirteen-year-old bumped into a pair walking towards his opposite side. He apologized quickly and scurried toward the corner of a backstreet, unknown to the couple that they had just got robbed. The kid pulled out the wallet, grabbed the cash, and grinned at an older teen eagerly waiting near a dumpster.
The pickpocket thief was named Esmond 'Ethan' Marson, a curly-haired boy with dark eyes and hair, light brown skin color, and a red neckerchief around his neck. Ethan was the name he usually followed as most people butcher his first name, just like the teen near him. The other boy, his friend, was named Toby and was a bit older by a couple of years, being sixteen, scrawny, and with the appearance of a junkie and torn clothing.
Ethan handed some cash to his friend, who did not hesitate to grab it from his hand and started to count it. Ethan's smile fell a bit, annoyed that the other boy did not congratulate him or do anything other than focus on the money he stole. However, he turned the smile back on as the other boy looked at him, hiding his disappointment to not alarm the other boy.
Toby sighed and waved the cash at him, "Damn it, why can't these bastards carry any more cash with them. Like, hello, we need money," he said as he shoved the money in his pockets. He strolled to the corner and watched Finford's citizens walk to wherever they were going.
"I mean, it's less likely for people to carry cash with them, and it is not going to work for us to play guess the number," Ethan spoke up and looked at the wallet again to inspect the multiple credit cards, seeing something poke out in the corner. Ethan pulled it to see a picture of the couple with their kid, and they seemed happy. Ethan grasps the photo tighter, and his eyes show a hint of jealousy. A hand appeared and snatched the picture from Ethan's hand.
"What's this? Oh, just some trash," Toby sighed as he casually threw the photo on the ground. "So… I was thinking… we should do a job for the Young Bastards. I already talked to one of them, and if we do this job, we can get paid a good amount. Not this shit," he said as he grabbed the wallet and tossed it behind him.
Ethan kept his attention on the photo on the ground until Toby's foot stepped on it. He sighed and looked at his twitchy friend, "Again with this? Toby… I'm not doing a job for them. You know they force you to join their gang once you work for them, right?" he said, trying to convince his friend to drop it before it continued.
Toby got agitated and grabbed Ethan's neckerchief, pulling him close to his face, "So? Do you want to keep getting scraps, or do you want to step up and grow some balls?" he snapped, shoving Ethan away.
"I don't want to catch a bullet or get arrested. So, I'm going to pass. Sorry," Ethan said, which only got Toby to kick a nearby trash can in anger.
"Fuck you, you know what? I'm going to do it, so stand there while I get paid," Toby said and started to head towards the street.
"Hey, where are you going? Arcade today, remember? You promised to go with me!"
"What? I don't care. Go by yourself!"
"Hey!"
Ethan reached out to stop him but stopped himself as, in the back of his head, he felt that Toby would back out. He already saw that the older boy would come back and apologize the next day, telling Ethan they are a team and shouldn't let petty squabbles ruin their friendship. The young boy timidly smiled, thinking he should just let Toby have his tantrum and head home for the day. There was no way that Toby would follow through with the Young Bastards.
The Young Bastards were a gang made up of outskirts kids, led by two brothers who are adults in their twenties, they started the gang when they were young, and petty theft became murder when one of the brothers killed a well-known gang leader. A power vacuum occurred in their area, and the brothers quickly took control. Their crew was also young as them when they started, and they always initiated younger kids as they were harder to prosecute in the eyes of the law. Ethan heard that the brothers were eccentric and did not hesitate to kill anyone who looked at them funny.
The idea of Toby joining the gang was ludicrous to Ethan, and the older boy's jumpy nature would quickly discourage him from doing anything rash. All Ethan had to do was wait till he came back and apologize. Ethan was annoyed that his friend ditched him when they were supposed to go where Ethan wanted to go today….which was the norm. The boy wonders why he was friends with him. However, the boy knows that Toby is his only friend and is not the greatest at making new friends. He knelt and picked up the photo that Toby stepped on, covered with Toby's footprint.
Ethan stared at the photo again, looking at it with mixed feelings as he tried to replace the other kid in his head. He sighed and gently placed the picture on the nearby window before approaching the corner out of the backstreet.
Knowing he had nothing to do and arcade day was ruined, Ethan looked around and headed toward the nearest bus stop. Ethan jumped in and paid his fee, sitting with the other folks wherever possible. People from different standings and backgrounds huddle on the bus, some going to work, some going home, and some just trying to get somewhere.
It was only a short time until the bus started to move, making stops here and there where people got out and in. Not long later, only the poorest individuals were on the bus. The bus left the city's inner circle and went to the outskirts. The high rises slowly dwindled, and the cleanliness of streets started to be less clean, replaced by broken roads and buildings.
Afterwhile, they made it out of the city and entered the outskirts, where many project buildings could be seen surrounding them by the hundreds. There were some shops, from cheap food to your typical liquor stores.
Ethan kept to himself during that time but would occasionally look out the window and, in one of his looks, would see police arresting someone and quickly leaving before they got surrounded by the angry outskirts folk. It appeared to be a typical search and snatch – the usual tactic that the police force did when an outskirt did something in the inner city. Police never stayed long, and based on the number of police cars, it was not a severe crime because chopper and armored cars meant murder against a citizen from the inner circle.
The young boy's mind drifted to something else, the idea of going home at this hour was risky, and his worthless father might be awake. Ethan pulled out a pocket knife from the back pocket of his worn-out jeans. The pocket knife was worn, the blade was broken in half, the handle was made from wooden material and had blue marks around it, and it had a custom marking that read 'Z' in black. Distant and sad memories came to the boy, making him wish to be able to return to that time. Ethan gripped his neckerchief and tightly held the knife close, waiting for the bus to drop him off at his destination.
After some time, Ethan arrived at his stop and made his way towards his building which was not any different from the other nearby buildings except for it being one of the few with a kid's playground at the front. However, this playground was a bit run down, but the kids living there did not mind and worked with the area as best they could. The only other thing to note was the yellow and black gang signs that tagged the side of the building.
Ethan continued inside the building, with lights flickering in the main hall. He did not stay long, hurried towards the elevator, avoiding the one that said under maintenance, hitting the seventh floor, and watching the doors close. His body tensed, and he took a deep breath, praying for the elevator not to break. It took a bit as he could hear the motors above him trying to take him to his floor. He took a mental note to take the stairs next time as he did not want to get stuck there one day and wait forever for someone to help.
As soon as the doors opened, Ethan turned left, walking a few doors down. He made it to the door at the end of the hallway. This was his apartment which he shared with his father.
However, before he could turn the knob, an older lady popped her head from her apartment. The old lady noticed Ethan and scowled at the boy, closing the door as she exited her apartment and locked it behind her. She was around her 60s, chubby, wearing an awful dress covered in pink flowers and a sunflower hat. Ethan knew her as his pesky neighbor Agatha.
Agatha turned back to look at the boy, "Great, starting my day with you. I bet you did something today! I can't believe your father hasn't gotten rid of you. He should send your ass to juvie before you cause him and everyone in this building grief," she barked to the boy, who seemed bored as he expected this response.
Ethan eternally screamed inside and wanted to shout at her but knew that was what she wanted. His father was many things but good. However, his father was good at getting people to sympathize with him and tended to create stories that others believed, such as being a struggling father to a delinquent. Ethan knew he was a thief but kept his crimes far from where he lived. That did not stop the older Marson as he quickly told people that he was a wounded vet, lost his wife in an accident, and Ethan treated him like garbage. People ate it up, and soon Ethan's neighbors viewed the boy as the troublemaker on the seventh floor, which made it impossible for him to make friends with the younger kids in this building.
Ethan recalled a memory where his father pushed him in one of his drunken states, resulting in a broken arm. It was like clockwork. The older Marson started to spin tales of Ethan falling down the building's stairs after ignoring his old man's pleas not to play radically around the area. Thanks to the previous stories of Ethan's uncontrollable nature and lack of respect for his father made it believable to all that heard. Agatha was the biggest fan in those stories and occasionally talked severely about her kids, who did not visit her even though she was strict with them out of love. Ethan called bullshit on both these people, spinning stories and thinking they were the victims.
Not feeling like having a conversation, the boy gave a big smile to the nasty woman. Ethan opened the door. He went inside, "I'm sorry you feel that way," Ethan said, closing the door before Agatha could say anything behind him.
Ethan stayed near the door and waited for Agatha to leave, hearing the older woman say something incoherent except for her usual chimes of how the boy would end up in jail or a gang within a year. The boy created a fist and wanted to punch the door and tell the old bat how he felt. However, he stopped and thought his father might hear him unless he was already drunk off his ass.
Speaking off, Ethan turned to face the hallway. On his left was his room, to the right was his father's room, and down the path was the small kitchen and the little living room. His father usually spent his time on the couch watching their small T.V. The boy was curious, started to make his way to the living room area silently, and poked his head at the corner. His eyes were greeted by a man sleepily drunk with beer bottles near him and the T.V. showing static as the connection for it got lost. The man was wearing a worn-down mechanic jumpsuit that was covered in grease, a dirty white tank top that poked from the zip that reached his belly where his big beer belly was, a leg brace on his left leg, and one work boot with the other showing his torn socks with his big toe showing. The man was a lighter skin color than Ethan, with only their hair and eyes being the same.
Ethan relaxed when he noticed the number of beers near the man but grumbled as he saw the light flicker above him. He could not believe that this piece of human flesh was related to him or that he was a mechanic. The man was one of the building's fixers, but this one mostly drank and only went to work when someone was complaining enough.
Having enough of the man, Ethan returned to his room and walked less cautiously. The small hallway was barren of pictures, flowers, or decorations other than the holes and damaged walls. Ethan wondered if that couple's home was likable and had things an average family had, like those commercials he saw. Even as he reached his room and went inside, he kept wondering if there was any hope in life and if his father would act like his father. Still, deep down, he knew neither seemed possible as he stared at his empty room with the few things he owned and the worn-down bed.
"This sucks," he muttered and closed the door behind him.
...&...
In a world where humans did not exist, the dominant species were anthropomorphic cats known as kats.
A vast city is known as Megakat City – a pinnacle of their kat society and where the resources were plentiful, which has helped grow this city quickly over the many years. However, the city's vast number of resources comes with a price, as the city is plagued by dastardly villains known as omegas, criminal empires, and corrupt politicians. Megakat City's average citizens went about their lives in this chaotic environment, it was part of their daily life, and it was the norm to expect everything. This part of the world was unique for its diverse ecosystem and justice system where the Enforcers, a mix of police and military, protect its citizens.
A maximum-security prison on an island away from the city stood where the worst criminals were housed. At the moment, a disturbance was happening in the courtyard where a couple of kats surrounded another kat. It was a yellow tabby kat with distinctive orange stripe markings on his arms, 35 years of age, an old scar on his head that went down and nearly missed his left eye, and wearing an orange jumpsuit which was the standard inmate clothing. His name was Chance Furlong, and he was winning this brawl, as apparent with the couple of unconscious kats he beat still lying on the ground. His face showed fury, but he kept calm when dealing with the incoming attacks.
After an argument with Chance and a gang about the workout machines, a fight broke out. In all honesty, Chance would have let it go and been on his way until someone commented about his past activities and involvement with Dark Kat, an omega threat. It infuriated the tom, which caused him to drive his fist to the commentator's face.
A kat approached from behind with a metal pipe. He swung quickly but missed as Chance moved out of the way and drove his fist to the assailant's skull. The tom fell back by force and lost consciousness immediately as yellow tabby towered over him.
Chance snatched the pipe from the air and looked at it, for a second thinking of using it to bash the other kats' skulls but deciding against the idea. He looked at the other inmates and threw the pipe to one's feet. He pointed at the tube and signaled the scared kat to pick it up.
"You're going to need this more than me," he stated with a cold stare. "Come on! You bunch of tail swipers! Let's keep this going!" he snarled, waving his hand towards him. However, he got annoyed when he noticed most of the toms were scared or lost faith in continuing this fight. He was pissed and wanted to let out the frustration still in him.
With his claws out, Chance began to head to them until the facility's alarm blasted on. He got more pissed off as that was the official sound that the fight had ended, but he soon relaxed and slowly lay on the ground like the other inmates started to do. His face was on the floor, and he put his paws on his head, waiting for what came next.
"STOP ALL FIGHTING! GET ON THE GROUND AND LAY ON YOUR STOMACH! HANDS ON YOUR HEAD! ANY INMATE NOT FOLLOWING THIS WILL BE SHOT! I REPEAT-" a bunch of speakers blared as kats with riot gear started to flood the courtyard.
Chance paid no attention and shifted his head toward the sky above. A bird flew above the courtyard and spun briefly before finally heading toward the city. The tabby's mind drifted to other things and was jealous of the bird's freedom in the sky. He remembered when he had his wings flying over the city with another tom on a jet they built. However, that was a distant memory, and years have passed by – the only thing he has is his name.
That's a lie.
Chance had another thought. He would break a couple of kat's bones when he got out of solitary confinement.
...&...
Some time had passed, and it was already nighttime. Clouds surrounded the city of Finford, and soft rain was coming down. It was picking up with every passing hour, and it would be a cold night for the residents of Finford, especially for the outskirts.
Ethan had fallen asleep in his room, curled under his bed with his thin blankets, until a loud banging woke him up. The boy was startled as he shot up, and his eyes darted around as he thought his father was in one of his bad moods. He was alarmed and frightened until he did not hear the usual shouting and the sound of the walls getting a new hole. He was confused why his father had not said anything as he would usually go to whoever was knocking and confront them. Moments passed, and nobody was responding to the knocks, meaning his father was not home.
"Shit," Ethan said as he pushed the bedding off him and went towards the hallway, believing a tenant was pissed off with his father's shoddy work and was going to get yelled at for him, "Hold on, I'm coming. I said hold on!" the boy screamed as he grabbed the door handle.
There was a moment when his body screamed not to open it, an imaginary voice that told him not to open it as he would regret it. Ethan paused, thinking it was strange that someone would come this late to complain and that whoever was on the other side of the door had not said anything. The boy wished his door had a keyhole to see who it was, but there was none.
Another hard knock came, and Ethan shoved his bad feeling down, turning the door and opening it to see his friend Toby. The boy felt relief that it was his friend but soon realized the older boy seemed roughed up and was shaking from the rain outside. He could barely say anything till Toby raised one hand and pointed at Ethan.
"That's him. He's the one that jack your shit," Toby said, wincing as his body was given a good trashing, making breathing hard.
Ethan finally noticed the other adults that were standing near Toby. They wore street clothes representing their gang and wore blue bandanas around one hand. They were twins, the only difference being that one was bald and the other had a ponytail. The one with a bald head approached Ethan and pulled him out of the doorway.
Ethan had a wave of emotions ranging from confusion to anger, he finally tried fighting off the one grabbing his hand, which got him a quick fist to the gut, and he fell to his knees.
"Don't make this harder than it has to be," the bald man said, grabbing Ethan's hair and harshly pulling him back to his feet.
Ethan winced and tried saying something, but he was still trying to get his air back from the punch. He felt the bald man grab his arm and pull him down the hallway, all heading towards the elevator. The boy weakly spotted a tattoo under the bald man's hand, which read "Y.B.," which made the boy look at Toby in confusion. However, Toby looked away and held his stomach in pain as the other adult pushed him.
Wondering what occurred with Toby and getting pointed at by him, Ethan hoped it was not a big deal and they would rough them up after they were done until he saw something silver. A gun poking from the bald man's waist told him otherwise, making Ethan fearfully shiver and look around for anyone to help him. Nobody was in sight, and the neighbors would ignore him even if they saw what was happening before them.
A ding was heard, and one of the elevator doors opened, which made Ethan hopeful, and he looked towards the area to see someone exit. His father had returned from a trip to the liquor store, using one hand to hold the bag and the other to take a swing at his open beer can. For once, the boy felt relieved and thought the man would help him.
Ethan's father noticed the situation and stopped.
"Want something?" the bald man said when he noticed the drunk, letting go of Ethan, approaching and showing his piece to the older Marson.
Ethan's father lazily looked at the bald man and then at his child before taking a swing at his beer, "Nope, just going to my apartment," he flatly said, now ignoring his child and waiting for the bald man to let him go.
Ethan's eyes were wide in shock, mixed emotions swirling inside and cursing his father. But deep inside, the boy knew he was hoping for someone that did not want him to begin with. The older Marson was collecting additional money from the government. The boy was just a nice bonus check for his drinking habits. It was hard for the boy to recall if he ever had a tender moment with his father and felt he was a means to an end.
The boy glanced around the room, noticing everyone was watching the two men. Toby and the ponytail man were ahead of him, almost having their backs turned toward him. Ethan glanced to his side, saw the door leading to the stairs nearby been opened, and quietly approached it. For once, he was thankful he was small to be unnoticeable to people and quietly went through the opening, exiting the area.
"I thought so," the bald man arrogantly said, satisfied that the older Marson was backing down, before looking towards the area he had left the boy. His smug grin disappeared and was replaced with confusion, "What the fuck? Where did he go!" he said.
...&...
Back in the world of nothingness and everything, in the empty floating castle, a red skeleton dwarf was shambling through multiple books and piles of papers, looking for something. His name was the Pastmaster, one of the omega threats to kats in Megakat City, who had terrorized the citizens till his sudden disappearance. For the kats, it was a sigh of relief as they did not have to deal with the Pastmaster's attacks with creatures of different periods. He was a magical wizard that used his spell book and golden watch to achieve these feats. However, unknown to them, the Pastmaster had been busy in the past – helping a certain queen throughout her sickness and ultimate death.
The omega had a change of heart, spending his time assisting the queen in the shadows and secretly trying to find a cure for the disease. Though it was futile, the disease did not seem curable and was almost like a curse that could not be lifted. The queen noticed his presence at one point but did not push him away and instead thanked him for his help during the difficult period in her kingdom. It was fun for them both. Initially, they were enemies, with the Pastmaster bent on making the queen his bride, then slowly they became friends, with the queen accepting him as her husband in her last moments. The wizard was ecstatic about her receiving him and getting what he always wanted to bitter heartbreak when her time approached.
The queen gave the Pastmaster a last task before she expired, to help her city grow and to watch over it – helping those that need it most. The wizard agreed to do it, but as soon as the queen died, he lost sight of his goal and was in deep anguish. He was driven mad, and he isolated himself from the rest of the world in the past for days which became years and then centuries. After a long time, he finally snapped from his madness now that the kingdom was gone and replaced with Megakat City. However, he saw a broken city with too many problems to solve and multiple strong omegas that were too powerful to deal with. There was so much pain and regret that the wizard felt that he almost gave up again until a few words rang out in his head.
Chaos Reset.
The wizard needed to remember what it did, so he was looking for that spell book that mentioned those words. He looked at magical books around him that he had found throughout his time outside this world. His search had yet to be fruitful as he was in the last couple of pages of the book of his collection.
"Blast it all!" he roared, throwing the book against the wall. He began to pace back and forth, trying to remember where the book was, but it all came blank. He knew it existed but could not remember its appearance or how he came by it.
"Damn it all!" he pushed the nearby bookshelf, which fell and broke a nearby bench.
Unknown to the wizard, a floating figure watched him above as he kept pacing around. A wicked smile crept from the stranger as he watched the wizard-like prey, ready to pounce on him when least expected.
"Chaos reset," the wizard mumbled, "Chaos reset….chaos reset," the wizard continued in an attempt to bring forth memories.
The stranger froze as those words sprang into his head. He grabbed his chin and stroked his fur as he briefly collected the lost memories. A book, a forbidden one that no mere soul should ever wield since the price is always the same – destruction, corruption, and even death to the user. However, the stranger smiled at the idea of chaos being released and put his paw before him.
"Forbidden Laws – Book!" the stranger said, which conjured a book from nothing and fell to the wizard below him.
The book landed with a heavy thud near the Pastmaster, who grabbed his watch and pointed toward the sound, ready to blast whoever was near him. After scanning the area and seeing nothing but a new book in the middle of the room, he turned his attention to the above.
"Hi there, it's been a while!" the stranger laughed at the skittish wizard. However, his amusement ended when the wizard ignored him and scanned the area behind him. "Hey! Don't ignore me, you little peasant!" the stranger growled, getting close and attempting to grab the wizard by the neck. The stranger's eyes grew in bewilderment when his paw entered the wizard's face.
The Pastmaster was unaware of the other's presence and slowly made his way toward the book that fell, oblivious to the dumbfounded stranger he passed through like a ghost. Once he felt no other kat nearby, he put his watch away and calmly picked up the book. The book in question was odd, with its cover shifting cosmic colors and words moving around as if they were swimming.
"This is… " the Pastmaster's only eye grew as a minor memory shook his head. It was brief and like a missing puzzle piece that finally appeared before him. This was the book that he was searching for. He quickly attempted to open the book, but it did not budge. "Why won't you open!" he shouted, now both hands trying to open the book.
During that time, the stranger had made his way to the bench nearby and sat, watching the Pastmaster attempt to open the book. He grew amused again as the other continued to pry it open with his skeleton arms. The stranger watched as the Pastmaster struggled to the point where he threw the book and summoned some energy to blast it open. The energy blast bounced off the book and broke a nearby wall revealing the outside.
"Pathetic. Open it so we can start the show!" the stranger shouted, even though the wizard could not hear him. The stranger watched as the wizard shot another ball of energy which bounced near where the stranger was sitting. The stranger was unfazed and continued to keep an eye on the wizard.
The Pastmaster was lost and bitter at the circumstance, knowing he was almost to his goal and finally able to keep his promise. He approached the book and picked it up from the ground, looking it over again and noticing his magic did not affect it. He growled at his failed attempts and meditated silently to think about how to approach this. He could not open it like an ordinary book or blast it open, so he had to do it another way which is where he attempted to think about how he opened it last time. That memory was muddy, hard to recall for the wizard as if it was a past stripped away from him.
The Pastmaster's eye softened, and he flipped the book the other way, hoping to see something on the other side. The same things appeared in the back and front of the text, the same cosmic color and moving letters.
The wizard headed to the nearby desk, placed the book on it, sitting on the bench close by. He thought his madness was finally taking over, and he was on the verge of losing his sanity. He wanted his wife back and to have more time with her, but he knew it wouldn't be the same if he went back in time. Additionally, his powers were limited, so he would be blocked from returning to the time he had already been. The laws of time are tricky, and messing with the past too many times will have a negative effect. He had the present and future to worry about now, but living without the queen was not worth living.
The Pastmaster pulled his hoody down, revealing his entire face, a red kat skull with a white mark on his head. He clasped both hands and put his head near them, praying to whoever would hear his plea.
"Please book. I need your powers to help me fix a city. I need to change the balance of the world and change the very foundation to something new. I will give you anything you want. My life, my powers, my memories, and anything you wish. I beg you to help me in my time of need," he whispered to the book.
At first, it seemed nothing new would happen until the book started to rattle on the desk, doing this for a few moments before the book stopped. The wizard watched with hope as the book finally responded to him. The book's front cover opened quickly, revealing empty pages that glowed white. The pages started to turn soon, searching for something until they arrived at certain pages that showed the same white pages. However, the two pages started to form content, forming a spell.
The Pastmaster cautiously grabbed the book when it finished writing itself, reading the contents of the pages, and finding 'chaos reset' text in the explanation. The spell was called Pendulum Breaker, which summoned a creature that did not belong in this world and would cause chaos to the world's balance. The magic was random on what it will call, and there was no guarantee on how it will affect Kat kind.
The Pastmaster grimaced at the thought of causing more problems to the city, but he felt he was running out of options. His eyes scanned the end of the spell, which read that it would require his life in exchange for using the spell. For a moment, he had the idea to not go through with the spell and look for another way, but his commitment to his queen kept him going.
The wizard grabbed his watch and pointed it to the nearby space, summoning a portal to show Megakat City. It changed its image every minute, offering different things occurring in the city. The wizard watched as the many new and old omegas planned something separately, criminal empires trying to gain control of the city, corruption, loss, and civilians trying their best with what they got. It reminded him of his failure to watch over the city, and it pained him that he stood by and let it happen.
The wizard closed his eyes and meditated in silence. Memories of his queen flooded him, the most prominent being her smiling at him when she accepted him as his husband. A false memory started forming in his mind, him as a normal kat sitting on a wooden chair near a bed where the queen was holding his kitten. It brought the wizard joy at the idea of him having that be his situation. He opened his eyes, revealing that he was alone and the queen was no longer with him.
The Pastmaster sighed, ready himself, put the watch in front of the book and began chanting the spell.
…
Ethan was shaking and breathing heavily, he wanted to escape his current predicament in any way possible, but he was stuck in the elevator. He had escaped the thugs and had run down the lower levels, quickly picking a floor when he heard them entering the stair area. He had found himself on an abandoned floor and hid in the broken elevator's cracked opening in a panic, thinking to wait it out till the next day before he could leave, but the elevator moved when he jumped down, which moved it downward, blocking his only way out on the top. Only a sliver of light can be seen from where he entered, getting smaller and smaller with every second.
"No, no, no," he cried, the last of the light disappearing, and he was now in complete darkness. The boy's leg felt like jelly, and he started panicking, curling into a ball on the elevator floor. Fear of the dark and the intimate space made the boy shudder, and he grabbed his handkerchief for comfort.
Ethan cursed his stupidity and wished he had picked somewhere else to hide. It would take days for someone to get him out as the mechanics of this building were focusing on other stuff. The boy was trying to devise a solution, but fear kept him from coming up with a plan, and he just thought about how he would die alone.
Another thought came to the boy. His friend or ex-friend, at this point, had betrayed him. It hurt the kid as it was just a list of people who had disappointed him so far, and now another person was added to it. He wanted to hate Toby with all his might but wished he had never met him. He thought about his father, the family photo he saw today, and the only adult that cared for him.
The boy's mind remembered when he ran away from home and met a professional thief in the streets of Finford's center. She tried to shoo him out, but he kept persisting in letting him become her apprentice after seeing her ability to pickpocket strangers. She angrily accepted him when he made too much commotion and brought him to her trailer. He was seven then and spent two good years with her until it happened.
The boy started to cry when he remembered the day he lost her and pushed that memory away, returning to his dark situation.
"Please, anyone, get me out of here. I don't want to be here anymore. I want to be somewhere else!" Ethan sobbed.
The elevator lights turned on and started moving downwards as if something had answered his call. The boy quickly stood up and watched the elevator's level marker change to lower numbers till he hit the lobby area. The boy wiped his tears and was excited to leave the elevator, glad somebody had decided to fix this deathtrap.
The elevator doors did not open and kept going down, much to the kid's surprise, as there was no lower level than the lobby. His smile dropped, and he watched as the numbers started to sporadically switch numbers till they glitched out, giving up on trying to tell him where he was going. Down and down the boy kept going, seeming like he was going to hell itself, until a ding came on, marking that he had arrived at his destination, and the doors opened to darkness.
Ethan could not see anything or make sense of what he was looking at, timidly heading towards the edge of the elevator's floor and peering out, seeing more darkness. He wondered where he was and took a step forward, expecting to touch the ground, but his foot just kept going, and soon his whole body. Ethan was alarmed and desperately tried to reach back but lost his balance and had no time to grab anything.
Ethan managed to turn his body to face the elevator, which started to close and disappear from his very eyes. Soon, he was back in the darkness and falling fast into the void. That was when he suddenly felt something as if his body broke through a wall, leading him to cosmic lights quickly replacing the darkness—the rush of falling kept increasing, becoming a blur to the boy's eyes.
The boy closed his eyes temporarily and reopened them when his body entered a body of water. He gasped in horror and was shocked that he did not die from the impact though there was no splash, and he just appeared underneath the water. It was salty when it entered his mouth, and the boy desperately looked around for an exit, seeing some light above him.
Ethan struggled to swim up as he never swam before and managed to paddle himself upward, breaking through and gasping for air when surfacing, only to be struck with a wave of water that pushed him in a direction and brought him back down. The boy attempted again to resurface and kept being pushed along until his body landed on the wet sandy beach. The boy was on his knees and tried desperately to gather himself, shaking violently and gasping for air as the softer waves touched his shoes.
…..
The spell book burst into flames the moment the spell was completed. The Pastmaster watched as it destroyed itself and burned to ash on the desk. As it finished, he realized the spell was completed, and his sacrifice had been made.
A thud could be heard as the Pastmaster looked to the side of him where his left arm was supposed to be, only now on the floor and breaking down to dust. His feet gave way, and he was on his side on the floor. He has no regrets for what he has done and only hopes that whoever comes aids the broken city.
A cackle nearby broke his thoughts, and the Pastmaster weakly looked in the direction of where it came from. He was surprised to see the ashes of the book start to flow towards the bench, which slowly formed into the stranger sitting with crossed legs on the bench.
Pastmaster tried lifting himself with his only hand till it gave way and began to dust like his other hand. Now his face was on the floor, and he watched the stranger with his only good eye in fear.
With fear and anger, the wizard demanded answers, "Who are you?" he growled as he did not expect this.
The stranger looked at the falling wizard with a smile, "So you can finally see me? Great to be heard and seen finally. I would give a paw, but it seems both of yours are gone!" the kat laughed at the pitiful state of the other one. The stranger stood up and approached the wizard, squatting closer to the kat and sticking one of his claws to tap on the wooden floor.
"Now that I have your undivided attention and minimal time….tell me, what is my name?" the stranger asked while intimidating the other with his prominent figure.
The wizard's eyes showed confusion, "I don't know you. What are you doing here?" he said as he felt his feet disappearing.
The stranger had a look of annoyance, and he swiftly grabbed the pocket watch from the wizard, putting it near Pastmaster's face, "I gave this watch to you. We made a deal a long time ago. Now I need you to quickly run through that head of yours and tell me what my name is!" he barked.
The Pastmaster gave the stranger another confused look, not understanding what the stranger was asking and the sudden claim that the kat gave him this watch. Suddenly, his eyes grew as a sudden realization hit the wizard, and a wave of lost memories started returning to the wizard.
The Pastmaster was a normal kat at one point in his life and was close to the queen since childhood. Tragedy struck the pair as the wizard council, which aided the queen's family and affairs with neighboring kingdoms, felt that the queen would make a mistake marrying someone from an unroyal family. The Pastmaster was killed due to political motivations, and the queen's memories were erased of him. The kat was in limbo, dealing with the stranger before him, who promised power for revenge against the council. This individual brought him back, and he got powerful, but it corrupted him, and his dead body morphed into what he is now.
With weakness and sadness in his voice, "You?" the Pastmaster said as he felt his body disappear with only his head remaining.
The stranger's ears perked as he realized the wizard remembered something. He got closer to the kat, "What is my name?" he asked excitedly.
The Pastmaster was about to say it till his face went blank, his glowing eye went dark, his head started to break apart, and all that remained was dust that blew away. Nothing remained of the wizard except for what he was wearing.
The stranger watched in silence as the piece to solve his riddle blew away from him, the eerie silence followed but soon erupted in a roar, and he slammed his fist to the ground where the wizard died, breaking the wooden surface with such force that it echoed in the castle. He was like a wild animal, and he soon started throwing balls of energy in every direction. The stranger began to glow from himself and emitted a large wave outward, breaking the surrounding area.
The room was gone, and only the floor below remained. Only the stranger stood ominously in the room, fur standing and all claws extended. If there were kats around him, it would not have brought him any sense of peace or joy, even if he killed all of them.
The stranger would have continued his rampage on the castle till he felt a sudden wave of tiredness. He growled in annoyance and stood firm as he thought if he closed his eyes, it would be like last time, and he was not sure he wanted to wait another long period to wake up. His anger quickly changed to calm thinking, wondering how to prevent his long slumber and if he could escape it.
A portal began to open near him as if he instinctively summoned it like last time. He peered over the doorway to see a beach with a strange creature lying on the sandy beach face down. The stranger was curious and realized it was a portal to the kat world, specifically Megakat City's beaches. However, he wonders why the portal would show him this creature till he smelled something delectable emanating from the being.
The stranger took a long whiff, and it caused him to shiver in excitement, "Oh AH! That smell that just makes you want to stay awake. That imbalance in the world! Aren't you an interesting thing!" he exclaimed as he hurriedly went through the portal and went towards the human that smelled like chaos.
…..
On the beaches of Megakat city, during the early morning when the sun was barely coming up, few kats could be seen in the area. Two tom kats were running down an asphalt road as they were having a little competition. Both wore workout gear, with the smaller one wearing a grey hoodie and the bigger one wearing looser clothing. The smaller one with brown fur was losing to the other tom with cream and white color fur that bolted farther ahead. The smaller tom finally gave out, and he grabbed his knee to catch his breath.
The brown tom raised his head and yelled for the other tom, "C'mon Dex, slow down," he said, continuing to try to get oxygen back.
Dex turned back and waved at the other tom with a sheepish smile, "Simon, you need to lay off those donuts. They are messing with you big time," he laughed as he walked back to Simon.
Simon waved his hand in annoyance, "No, I think you having the fastest time during our time in the academy is the reason you will always win with anything to do with cardio," he groaned as he felt his knees giving up on him. He looked towards the beach and watched the beautiful ocean before him.
Dex was doing his victory walk, "I'm bigger than you and faster than you! You should easily beat me in these races with your small frame, bud. Now, what's the score, 5-2? You wanna do the usual and-" the tom stopped as he noticed his friend keeping his attention to the beach with a rugged look. Dex quickly looked at the area Simon was looking at, and he saw a worrying site, a small figure lying on the beach, and it seemed like a kit.
"Hey, kit! You good?" Simon said as he walked and paced himself when no response was heard. He could listen to his pal behind him as they headed towards the beach where the tiny figure was.
The kats reached the spot and readied themselves to find a dead kit. Simon was the first to approach and kneeled to check on the kit. The kit covered his face with his hand, and as soon as Simon moved it, his fur stood up, and he quickly jumped back.
"Crud, that's no kit!" he said excitedly.
Dex also jumped when he saw the face of the creature, it had the features of a kit, but it was not kat but something else.
"The hell is that!" Dex said while taking a defensive stance, readying for the creature to attack.
After a moment and nothing happened, Simon mustered enough bravery to move towards the thing. His friend looked on in horror and worried for Simon's safety. Soon, Simon was at arm's length of the creature, and he quickly nudged it, which only provided a groan. Simon got more confident and closer, poking it a few more times to see what it would do.
Dex was sweating bullets, "Hey, if you are done fucking with it, let's call it… preferably a safe distance," he said.
"Come on, where's your sense of adventure… I didn't peg you as a scaredy kat," Simon said as he touched the creature's forehead. "Damn, he either is a very hot creature or running a fever," he said, searching the alien.
"Stop touching him, and let's call it!" Dex growled, but the other tom ignored him.
Simon inspected the alien from top to bottom, musing to himself when no tail was located and wondering what sex it was. He looked at his friend, who was giving him a stern look.
"All right! I'm done. Don't get your tail stuck and call it," Simon said, standing up and moving a foot away from the creature.
Dex was still annoyed but glad Simon had moved away from it. He pulled out his phone and began to dial the number for the emergency line till the creature started to move. He and his friend froze as it weakly got on its knees and tumbled to the side. It would have been funny if it was a kat drunk on his ass, but it was a creature unknown to them and moving. They watched it now facing the sky above and slowly raising itself to a sitting position.
The sunlight started to show, and the creature groaned as the bright light attacked his eyes. It looked at the sunlight in puzzlement and turned its head to scan the area. Simon got worried when it looked at him but could tell the creature could barely see what was occurring. It looked back toward where the sun came from.
"Huh… I'm…. at the beach," it said weakly before collapsing. It fell asleep, and it started muttering unintelligible words.
Simon looked at his scared friend. "I think it's asleep," he said with a shaky smile.
Dex snapped out of it and continued to dial the number, "No shit, genius! Control this is off-duty Enforcer Dex Meoto, badge 97901, and Enforcer Simon Gester, badge 97900. We have a code…AI-02 in Megakat City Beach, the nearest marker is Life Guard Station 50. Also, notify Commander Feral about the situation," he said while watching the creature.
Both kats cautiously stood near the thing and waited for the enforcers to arrive on the scene. It was not the morning they were expecting to have, but for Simon, it was exciting to see an alien up close, and for Dex, he wondered if they would be all right. The sound of a familiar helicopter eased Dex as he waited patiently for what came next.
It was only a short time until the scene was swarmed by enforcers and its special divisions focused on alien invasion, the location was secured, and security was set up. Hence, no civilians wander near the large established perimeter. In a flash, temporary tents and buildings were set up in the area. The two kats that came close to the creature were sent to a large quarantine tent, and kats in full medical gear picked up the alien and cautiously moved it to a large room built from mobile transport.
The emotions of fear, anger, curiosity, and excitement filled the area as everyone involved was unsure of what to expect from their new visitor. The enforcers were ready for anything, but for some, they hoped it was not another invasion that they would barely manage like the other times. Aliens have visited this world before, and all have caused tragedy to Megakat City.