Narration: Riz
The tikbalang in battle nod to me from the top of the building, as we are driving by. He switches calls to inform the others about the plan as he uses his hooved foot to step on a zombie’s face.
Finn gets on top of the roof of the Jeepney and aims his spear at the building. He throws it as far as he possibly can.
One of the tikbalang ports close to where the spear is, grabs it, and throws it further at the building before porting out. More tikbalang seeing the spear close to them do the same as well...until—-it lands on the side of the building near where the sniper is. I hope that it stays there.
Fei prepares herself as Finn gets his phone ready. “You are telling me she is going through what?”
Fei tries to assure me, “Trust us. I have done this before, just not with such a small screen.”
Finn gives her a thumbs up. “Good luck lass, don’t do anything too reckless. Think with your head.”
She nods, “I’ll try not to screw up.”
“More like DO NOT screw up.” I say this as I make a sharp turn to a different street.
Fei looks deep at Finn’s phone and then touches the screen. Her body starts contorting in a bizarre way to the point where she can fit through the smartphone until she completely enters through it.
I simply say, “That’s really weird.”
“She is used to it. Makes me wonder what it is like traversing through a phone.”
“Yeah, now that I think of it...wait why is this street so empty?” We realize we entered a street with no one in it save a group of kneeling cyber undead and a strange monster sitting cross-legged in the middle of the road. His eyes open and his gaze turns to the Jeepney.
“Oh shite...he’s really ugly, isn’t he?”
I take a closer look at the beast. He definitely looks like one of the bosses I saw through the fly drone. “I assume that’s the leader?”
The headless monster stands up along with his minions. He takes his staff from his neck stump and slams it on the ground creating a shockwave of green energy rocking nearby objects back. The sky around the area warps and twists like this street is phasing to another plane of existence.
“This sob must have been anticipating us. Fei should not take too long to traverse. She’s not the type to faff about. I’ll recall my spear soon.”
“Just make sure this fight doesn’t spill outside this street. It’ll turn into a bloodbath quickly.”
Finn shakes his head. “It won’t. The spell he’s using takes us to an alternate reality cut from the real world. Maybe he wants to be thorough with us and make sure that we won’t get aid.”
“So you have seen this spell before."
Finn nods, “Yeah, from a different foe.”
He must be Herodotus. He stares down the Jeepney and then calls his minions. “You like that I meet you in an empty street? As much as I would like collateral damage to happen among the civilian population, I’d rather not be interrupted as I have my fun.
We stare back, not showing fear. Necromancers are cowards, no matter who they are.
He roars, “MY CHILDREN! Feast.”
The undead howl and charge at the vehicle. I counter the charge by flooring the pedal in an attempt to ram at Herodotus running over many undead. Herodotus manages to jump over the Jeepney on its roof denting it with his landing. Finn climbs on the roof and engages the monster.
I take a quick glance at Herodotus as he opens his mouth wide and green fire starts igniting from his throat and then breathes it out in a fiery blast. Finn dodges it in time by sidestepping to the right side while holding on the window of the Jeepney’s side. Hearing the fire, I hit the brake pedal disrupting Herodotus’ channeling.
The zombies swarm the vehicle at me. I am quick to transform and port out. I attack the zombies with my batons, while Finn climbs back on the roof while kicking Herodotus’ left shoulder causing him to stumble and drop his staff.
Herodotus regains his stance, and with his hands and feet igniting in green flame, he attacks Finn with burning kicks and then a salvo of burning punches. Finn attempts to block the flurry of attacks but the sleeves of his coat burn from the touch of the maneater’s attacks. He removes his coat and counterattacks with his own kicks and punches at the maneater.
Meanwhile, I continue to fight off the zombies who try to attack me with maws, claws, and the lasers coming from their eyes. I block and dodge most of them but still receive cuts, slashes, and bite marks. I set my stance and attack more aggressively, hitting as many as I can while I port multiple times all over the mob. I take one and port myself and the undead out into the air. We fall but I port out just as we land, while the zombie gets splattered by the landing.
I port to Finn trying to strike at Herodotus with my batons. The maneater reaches for his staff and blocks the attack. Suddenly, the monster ports out in a green light as well and reappears from inside a zombie causing it to explode. Herodotus then takes another zombie and eats it whole. His whole body then ignites itself in green flame.
I notice Finn’s burnt bruises.
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He says, “Yeah, fighting him like this isn’t going to work.”
“Do you have any great suggestions? Now’s the time.”
“Give Fei more time, and then I’ll get my spear so I can engage him more easily.”
Herodotus breathes out more green fire at us while the horde of undead charge at us.
I remark, “Yeah, This is going to fucking suck.”
Narration: Fei
Flying infinitely into the abyssal static, this is always my experience every time I enter this realm. The chaos of image and sound of the black and white void can make it very disorienting to navigate. I can see different channels and shows in floating screens as well as lost souls swimming in the nether unable to leave the realm. I look around finding my way out. In the midst of the white noise, I could see my phone screen from a certain distance. I fly towards my destination until I reach my portal out of the static sea.
I come out of the screen in a warped and contorted way, as I notice there is a disembodied pair of legs trying to dislodge the spear. I vomit on the legs, causing it to stagger and fall until it manages to grasp a flagpole jutting out of the building.
I see that my phone is busted from my entrance but I can worry about that later. Too much is at stake. I continue to climb up the building.
I look down and I see the legs manage to find its footing. A grappling hook shoots out from the side of its hip and wraps around one of my legs.
I grunt as I try to hold on to the ledge, while the legs try to pull me down.
The legs’ knees open up and shoot lasers at me. I narrowly dodge both of them.
Then, I see the sniper aiming at me point blank. No time to think. Gotta....dodge! The bullet misses me and hits the cable that was dragging me down. With it severed, her lower half goes off-balance and falls down from the building crashing to the ground.
The sniper yells out, “Shit.”
As she reels back in pain, I kick the rifle from her hands then go into a stance ready to fight the sniper. Then, I realize this must be the aswang crime boss that Riz mentioned before, Ate Dalisay. She is the same sniper from the warehouse. I can tell from her voice. Her body is completely bisected but she looks like she is hovering above the ground probably from some enchantment. Riz did mention to me back in his uncle’s place that she was one of the more dangerous aswang. Recovering, Dalisay uses her wings to stand up in a way that makes her look very tall, as a way to intimidate me. Her claws elongate like knives.
“You! From the warehouse. You should have just minded your own business.” Dalisay attempts to slash me multiple times, but they were easy to dodge.
“It’s hard to ignore someone trying to blow up a city to make zombies.” I narrowly avoid an arcing swipe from her.
“Not my plan. That ugly bastard’s.”
“Even so, you know the entire country would take notice and try to hunt you and your kind down if you pull this off.”
She scoffs, “I won’t have to worry. But you should worry about yourself.” She tries to flank me but somersault underneath and try stab her with my knife. Dalisay deflects it with her left claw, and tries to jab me with her right one. I duck her strike and kick her back to maintain distance.
“Is it worth it though? To let thousands if not millions die? To make the aswang known and vilified further?”
“You do not understand us.” The flurries from Dalisay continue as I try to appeal to whatever nature she has that doesn’t want to do this.
“I know the government and those aware of your kind want you all dead. In fact, I am an exile as my homeland considers me unnatural. We are both unwanted by our homes.”
Dalisay stops for a moment.
I continue, “If what you are doing is an act of revenge against humanity, I...can understand that. I tried to commit revenge on all those that wronged me in life. But....it isn't worth it.”
“For you, sure. So why are you trying to stop me?”
“Because...why prove these people right about us? That we are monsters?”
She retorts back, “We are monsters. We exist to make them live in fear. To make them know their place in a hostile world.”
She draws her claws and I duck again just as she scrapes the walls leaving large gashes.
“I may have never wanted to be what I am now, but who says we have to live for that? That is not who I am."
“I know it is what I am and if you remain my way, I’ll shred you like the rest.” Dalisay pounces and slams me to the ground. “No more debate. I don’t know why you thought talking to me would work.”
I struggle from her grip. “So you are doing this for revenge, for yourself or someone important to you?”
Dalisay pauses for a moment. She seems to be lost in thought. Her silence infers something, and I think I understand.
“Would they want you to do all of this?”
She lashes back. “Don’t presume.”
“I am not. That is why I am asking you.”
Thinking carefully about what is going to come next, Dalisay considers her options.
“I am not even asking you to change your ways. Just know this whole plan is not worth it to everyone involved.”
She narrows her eyes. “You know if I decide to listen to you, it is not going to change what is happening in the eyes of the authorities. Or my people. It won’t make sense to turn back now.”
“I know that Herodotus’ bombs are Pinnacle technology and so are his thralls’ implants.”
“That much is obvious.” Ate still holds me down, but if I can get through to her....Just need to say the right things.
“And I can prove that to you. Manifest 64 has the term Legazpi M-1565 in its schematics.”
“Hmm...you think I don’t know that? I had a feeling about it. The tech is something I am not proud of using.”
I take out the USB drive from my pocket. “I have the manifest from the warehouse.”
Ate Dalisay raises a brow in surprise. “Hmph...what do you expect me to do with that drive?”
“I am giving it to you. Please, we couldn’t access the full information from the drive. I think you can access it. It has a cipher from your people.”
I hand over the drive, which only adds to her expression of confusion. She slowly stops pinning me down and rises up to look at the drive. “What are—”
“Please....just take a look at it.” I'm taking a big risk. If it goes south, it's gonna be Brazil again if not far worse. However, though it seems silly to most, I still have a gut feeling about things, and maybe...a little bit of faith in people. And if that makes me a fool....well....even a foolish old man can move a mountains.
Dalisay raises a brow and plugs the drive on an extension of her communicator. She enters the code without issue. The screen gives a bunch of data that she scrolls down. She gives an expression showing shock.
“What have you discovered?”
“I am...such an idiot. I helped him. If those bombs detonate—”
She gives me the communicator and I read on the screen. The data reveals the bombs would not only turn humans into undead. The effect of the spores will kill all other life on the island of Cebu, including aswang.
“So I guess, now you have a reason.”
“The Luzon gangs betrayed me. There’s much they have to answer for. The data was right under my nose in the very warehouse I secured. Is this why the Kuyas said there wasn’t nothing worthwhile in the manifest other than what I already know?”
“So you’ll help me?”
“I wonder why the drive had an aswang cipher. It’s Pinnacle property, like someone on the inside wanted me to know.”
I take a risk and walk over to Dalisay and lower her claws. “We can worry about it later. Let’s make sure Herodotus doesn’t get his way. You have the power to turn the tide and make things right.”
“Like calling for peace? Not possible.”
“I doubt we can heal the rift between the aswang and Cebu but we can at least stop things from escalating further.”
Ate Dalisay sighs. She beckons me to grab onto her. She spreads her wings.
“Hang on. We can reach Herodotus. We need to take him down to disorient the undead.”
“Let’s go then.”
Dalisay flies with soaring speed to the direction where Herodotus is knowing where he is positioned.