"ROCK!"

Petra hit the rock and groaned.

"Ow..."

She then hit another rock.

"DAMMIT NINA! Can you just LISTEN when I say there's a rock? How many damn times am I gonna have to tell you..."

Nina mockingly chirped.

Petra rolled her eyes.

"Where are we even going? You just dragged me out here without explaining anything..."

Nina kept chirping, oblivious to the fact nothing could be understood.

"Just use pictures or something! Like you did... before?"

Petra tried to recall Nina carving pictures of what she was trying to convey.

"Wait... did you use pictures? Eh, who cares."

Nina kept trudging down the street, the street lamps flickering as swarms of bugs manifested around them.

After a few minutes of silence, Petra spoke up.

"Rock."

Petra hit the rock.

"I don't even care anymore..."

A few more minutes passed and Petra had stopped calling out rocks, she just let them hit her. Nina remained quiet.

"Say... we've been walking for a while. It feels like we haven't gotten anywhere."

Nina stops for a second and looks around. She then chirps to Petra. Petra simply widened her eyes and gave a look of disappointment. Nina huffed and etched a picture of Yuro on the asphalt.

"Yuro? He did run off before. Probably tripped and fell somewhere, not like I care."

Petra looked at Nina as she pouted. Petra's eyes flickered with sadness, having to watch such a cute creature act so depressed.

"But if you need help finding him I'll try to aid in any way I can."

Nina's attitude switched to happiness.

"Ahem... YURO GET OUT HERE YOU OLD SHIT!"

Petra screamed down the street, her voice echoing down to the furthest building.

"Hopefully he heard that."

"Oh no, he wouldn't have heard that."

Petra and Nina looked up to see a man in a yellow raincoat sitting atop a streetlamp. He played a soft note on a violin.

"No one heard that scream here."

Petra raised an eyebrow.

"And you are?"

The man hopped down.

"Junior Detective Archie."

Archie bowed gracefully.

Petra scoffed.

"You're a quirky one..."

Archie looked up and smirked.

"Speak for yourself. A talking head... rather gruesome no?"

Archie approached but Nina hissed at him.

"Oh, a baby bat. The child of that Vampire I presume? You're rather small though."

Archie picked Nina up.

"I guess it just adds to your cuteness-"

Nina bit Archie as he yelped. He dropped Nina and clutched his wounded hand.

"Ow ow ow... Th-That's fine. That's fine. It's fine."

Archie's gaze began to twitch as his pupils dilated for a second. Petra began to get a sinking feeling in her non-existent stomach.

"Uh... Nina..."

Archie quickly recovered and stood up straight.

"No matter. I have a job anyway... mommy probably wouldn't like me playing with my food."

Nina backed away as Petra sensed a great danger coming from Archie.

"Nina... we should leave."

Archie massaged his wrist.

"You're looking for your friend, right? Yuro? I'm sorry to ruin such a calm night but I'll have to stop you."

Archie pulled out an umbrella and unfolded it.

"A storm's coming. It would be best to find shelter."

Petra looked up and saw a shiny glint fall from the sky. It landed right in front of her, a stiff silver dagger stabbed into the concrete, Petra's reflection staring back at her in the blade.

"NINA!"

With haste, Nina began to roll Petra away as a barrage of daggers and wooden stakes fell from the sky. The hailstorm collapsed around them, every direction they tried to run was blocked off. In a panic, Nina lifted Petra over her so she could be used as a shield from the ever-imminent danger.

Petra screamed in agony as blood was spurt everywhere. Every orifice of her face was impaled.

"NINA YOU STUPID BAT! PUT ME DOWN!"

Petra hadn't felt pain like this since her battle with Century.

Nina kept running through the storm and towards a couple of houses in the distance. Archie grinned as he was completely protected by his umbrella.

"Running around like a headless chicken... how fun."

Archie snickered.

"Or should I say... a chickenless head. Pfft."

Archie laughed at his own joke. The quiet street growing quieter the more he laughed.

Nina ran through the empty street, passing empty houses. Soon the hail of daggers and stakes stopped so Nina flopped over exhausted. Petra gave muffled screams alerting Nina who then saw the tarnished face of Petra. Nina ripped each blade out, they poofed into smoke once they were removed.

Once Petra was free from her torment she looked spent.

"What the hell was that!? Some weather..."

Petra coughed as a dagger was launched from her mouth.

"Leftovers it seems."

Nina looked around cautiously before chirping, her voice shaking.

"You feel that too? Something's off about this place... for a town this large you'd expect to see any sign of life but..."

Petra looked around, all the houses were quiet, and no lights were on in any of them. A few houses even had their front doors wide open. Petra's imaginary spine shrivelled.

"Where even are we!?"

The soft tune of a violin could be heard echoing down the street. Petra and Nina looked down to see Archie skipping toward them.

"This is mommy's second command. An exact replica of the town, trapped in an endless night for us to explore. We had managed to lead you two astray for the whole duration of the first command. Rewind. While that boy and the other Vampire were fighting we put you two in an endless loop, roaming around the town in circles. To much of my and mommy's dismay... Rewind was broken through. Now you come to face our second trick. Parade."

Archie clicked his fingers as a horde of people ran out of their houses. Their bodies jerked in unnatural ways, their eyes a creamy white, and their skin a sickly blue.

"Our little hell away from home."

With another snap of Archie's fingers, the horde of zombie-like people rushed forward. Nina made a mad dash.

Petra's face contorted in horror.

"DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIND!"

Petra began to roll away from the horde, catching up to Nina.

"You stupid bat! If you're just gonna leave me behind and use me as a meat shield WHY BOTHER BRINGING ME HERE?!"

Nina squawked at at Petra.

"DON'T YELL AT ME! YOU'RE THE ONE WITH AN ACTUAL BODY!"

Nina mimicked Petra mockingly.

"OH HAHA! Just because I can't understand you exactly doesn't mean I can't call you a BITCH!"

Nina was enraged and tackled Petra. They tumbled across the ground, picking up speed rapidly. Nina scratched Petra's eyes causing her to scream. Petra spat on Nina and blew snot on her. Nina bit Petra all over her face, flailing her wings around. Their speed picked up oddly fast but it was too late before they noticed that they were going down a steep hill. Upon closer inspection however Nina soon realized they weren't going downhill, instead, the whole world's axis was tilting causing them to fall.

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Nina chirped trying to alert Petra.

"Huh? What did I scare you that much? HA!"

Petra then noticed the entire world flip as they fell toward the sky. Both Nina and Petra squealed, the horde falling after them.

Nina flapped her wings but the intense air resistance smashing against them threw her off. As the horde reached their hands out, closing the distance between them and Nina, Petra chomped down on their fingers.

"They're... zombies!"

Petra's teeth easily ripped away their rotting flesh. With this new information, she began to chomp down all of the zombies. It was a futile effort however as having no stomach meant she could barely take a few bites before throwing up all the zombie remains.

"Scratch that plan... eating without a stomach is so weird. I feel the food just sitting in my throat..."

As they continued to fall everyone's attention was captured by the sudden appearance of a dark looming figure. From the background, Archie appeared but he had grown a lot since the last time they saw him. He stood hundreds of feet tall, but the true size of him couldn't be seen. He put his hand out, catching everyone.

With a bellowing voice he looked down at the specs of dust he caught.

"Lookie what the cat dragged in."

Petra and Nina looked terrified as he grinned widely. The horde got to their feet and quickly ran towards them.

"I'm feeling lucky today..."

Archie cupped both of his hands together and shook them, mimicking the motion of rolling dice. He tossed everyone out as they spread across a giant board game.

"Your turn."

The giant Archie turned to another giant Archie sitting across from him.

"Thank you. I'll draw a card..."

Petra and Nina barely managed to get their bearings before hulking figurines crashed down around them. They looked around to see the game pieces hopping around the board. Giant dice were tumbling around and the horde was spread around the whole board.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!?"

Petra screams as Nina begins to push her away from incoming dice and game pieces.

Around the board, a few of the zombies were squashed by the game pieces but the rest quickly gathered into a large group and chased after Petra and Nina. Archie watched with delight as Petra and Nina ran around aimlessly. In their lunacy, Nina ran over a red square labelled 'Jail'.

Archie scooped them up.

"Looks like you got caught. That's too bad but do you know what happens to criminals in this world?"

Archie smirked.

"We send them to war!"

Archie tossed Nina and Petra onto another board game. This time they were on a giant chess board. All around them the chess pieces charged toward each other, clashing in the centre. The pawns swung their swords, slicing through the opposition's pawns. The knights barrelled toward openings in the opposition formation as the queen was piercing through the battlefield. Archie came running forward, dressed like a squire.

"White strikes first!"

Archie held his sword up and brought it down in a quick slashing motion. Nina dodged as Petra was split apart, quickly reforming after.

"Your move."

The battle raged around them, the screeching of metal scrapping against metal shot through everyone's eardrums and distant cannon fire boomed.

Petra looked at Nina.

"Our move!? What are we supposed to do?"

Nina looked around analyzing the situation. This world seemed to bend to Archie's will, he wanted to play with his victims so he put them through games. Whatever he desired became real but as much as this world bent a knee to him he stated that this wasn't his power, instead it was this mysterious mommy's power. Nina's mind began to think. How much of this world was truly dictated by Archie?

Archie stood there waiting for their move.

"Please do attempt. If you were to give up I'd have conjured this world up for nothing!"

Nina began to think hard, her brain straining.

Petra looked concerned.

"Are you okay!? Don't burst a blood vessel."

Suddenly, Nina burst into a cloud of smoke. Petra coughed violently as the smoke cleared. From it, a new Nina stood. Covered head to toe in shiny metallic armour, a human Nina stood with a sword in hand.

Petra's eyes almost burst from their socket.

"EXCUSE ME!?"

Nina looked at her new body and smiled.

"Squeak squeak!"

Petra groaned.

"Despite looking human I still can't understand anything you're saying."

Archie nodded his head.

"Impressive. So you've figured out my trick. Though that tongue you speak in... it is an interesting one. I haven't heard that language in years. No wonder you two seem to be so clumsy. The talking head can't speak Serinin!"

Petra looked confused.

"I can't what?"

Archie crossed his arms.

"Serinin. The ancient Vampire language, before humans found us we spoke in our own language but when our race was almost entirely wiped out many Vampires learned human languages in order to blend in. Due to this, Serinin was lost to time. Only a few Vampires can speak it and only a few Vampires can understand it."

Petra raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about? Yuro speaks to these bat freaks all the time."

Archie's eyes narrow.

"Exactly."

Before Archie could speak anymore, Nina lunged at him and clashed blades. A determined scowl sprawled across her face as she swung her sword violently at Archie. He grinned, feeling the rush of a true battle. Knights charged past and rooks came crumbling down as the battle's scale increased. The chessboard began to crack beneath the weight of the battle. Nina's strikes were sharp and Archie had no choice but to defend.

"You've certainly gotten the gist of my powers by now, Nina. But I doubt you know them as well as I do."

Archie sprouted 2 extra arms, each adorned with their own swords.

"This is my world. I'll have the final say."

Nina was pushed back as Archie unleashed a devastating barrage of swings onto her. She could only block so many before the grip on her sword grew weak. Archie's attacks dulled her blade as he hammered against it over and over again. Nina looked worried as she tried to hold firm but one wrong placement of her foot cost her the duel. She fell and Archie aimed the points of his swords at her. With one violent thrust, he sent them toward her.

"Not even close."

Petra stepped in the way, her head reattached to her body as she blocked the attack with her two daggers.

"If there's one thing I hate... it's lame-ass people who end fights in dumb ways!"

Petra side-stepped Archie and thrust her daggers into him.

"Century beat me so long ago but ever since then... I've wanted nothing more than to kill her."

Petra swung her legs around, kicking Archie back and ripping her daggers from him.

"Trapping my body in a box and hiding it away... what a loser!"

Petra stabbed Archie over and over again.

"And with the help of a HERO! What a hypocrite!"

Petra stabbed Archie in the neck and blood flooded out of him.

"When I get my body back... I'll rip that cockroach to shreds... for Raphael and Lycon!"

Petra pushed Archie away as he collapsed, choking on his blood.

Nina ran up to Petra and looked amazed at how strong she was. The world began to crumble, and as the last pawn collapsed dead the chess board broke apart. Archie's body slid off the side as they began to fall. Petra and Nina braced themselves as they came crashing back into the real world. Although they were just laying on the ground it had felt like falling from a skyscraper. Nina sat up and looked at her body to see she was a bat once more.

"WHY COULDN'T IT HAVE LASTED LONGER!"

Petra rolled around on the floor in anger. She was once again... just a head.

Archie came limping out.

"Heh... guess that's what I get for playing with my food. Sorry mommy..."

Archie collapsed, he wasn't dead but he was severely injured.

Petra grinned.

"Thank god that's over... that world made my head spin..."

Nina then heard running from the distance. She turned her head to see Rina running toward them, she was carrying the unconscious Eliowen and Crux along with the rest of her children. Nina jumped around, ecstatic to see her mother. Rina scooped Nina up and held her close, softly rubbing Nina lovingly.

"Those two look rough..."

Petra stared at the burnt Crux and the passed-out Eliowen.

Rina sighed. This had been a long night.

"So where's Yuro? He with you?"

Rina shook her head but in the distance, she could make out a faint silhouette. Rina pointed and picked Petra up as well, carrying everyone toward what she thought was Yuro. As they approached, Rina began to feel an intense aura surrounding them. The silhouette from before was standing still but blocking their way was a woman covered in bandages sitting in a wheelchair. Not a single part of her real body could be seen, she was like a mummy.

Petra's eyes widened.

"Is that..."

Despite not saying it, everyone knew who was standing before them.

Mommy.

Before anyone could do anything, Rina collapsed. She fell unconscious and all her babies soon followed. Petra rolled along the ground, the will to keep her eyes open shrinking as a voice rang through their heads.

"Witness."

Mildry - 16FTE

Yuro sat behind his desk, his feet kicked up. He had a hat tipped over his face, hiding his sleeping expression beneath it.

"Ahem!"

Yuro shot up, almost falling from his chair.

"I'm up!"

He looked around to see a nun and a man in a yellow raincoat standing before him.

"Oh, it's just you two..."

The nun squinted her eyes.

"We have a new report. Another report of Limbo southeast edge of town. Do your job and investigate it. Please."

Yuro stood up, stretching and cracking his back.

"Will do. C'mon Archie."

Archie nodded.

"Coming, sir!"

Yuro and Archie both departed from the agency's office. The nun watched them walk down the street through the window. They began to walk in the opposite direction of where they were told to go, instead of going southeast to the report they went north... toward the bar.

The nun sighed.

"Idiots..."