The Mothman looked at me with a curious expression.

"What's your most favorite disaster film of all time?" I asked.

"The Day After Tomorrow," Iogann said without hesitation. "Climate disaster genre. Absolutely perfect blend of scientific speculation and pure, unadulterated chaos."

"Interesting choice," I nodded, already pulling out my phone. "Want to test it?"

"Don't encourage him," Katherine sighed at both of us, throwing more sushi passengers into her mouth.

But Iogann was already leaning forward. "How would we test it?"

I pulled up a high-resolution clip of the movie's most dramatic scene - the massive tsunami hitting New York City. I showed him the clip.

"See this scene playing on my phone as a looped clip? Open the gate to where my phone is," I grinned.

Iogann nodded, pulling out his harmonica. His gray eyes focused intently on the phone screen, watching the tsunami scene.

I slid the phone under the table. "And go," I ordered.

Iogann closed his eyes, bringing the harmonica to his lips. A low, haunting note emerged, unlike any musical sound I'd ever heard. The note seemed to vibrate with potential energy, resonating at a frequency that made the air feel thick and heavy.

His antennae began to pulse with a soft, silvery light.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, beneath and above the table, two thin, wavering lines of darkness began to form. It looked like a crack in reality, no wider than a pencil line at first, but slowly expanding.

"Holy shit," Katherine muttered. "You opened a gate... in local reality?! To a specific location?! No friggin way."

Iogann's harmonica continued its haunting melody, the two connected gates expanding incrementally.

"Great job!" I grinned at the Mothman.

Iogann's harmonica slipped from his trembling fingers, clattering onto the cafeteria table. The dark circles froze mid-expansion, then began to rapidly contract. I slipped a pencil in between the two seeing if the gateway would slice it in half when it closed.

"I... I've never done that before," he stammered with dark, wide eyes. "I... always opened gates to some distant elsewhere, wherever the song of doomsday was strongest."

"Hum," Katherine leaned forward examining the gates above and below the table. "You actually opened a targeted gate. To a specific location from a digital representation. And nobody died. Consider me impressed, Jan.”

Iogann's face turned a deep shade of gray. "I can't believe I just... I mean, I've watched that movie like a hundred times and never thought to... open a gate to it. That's brilliant!"

"Uh-huh," I nodded with a smug look.

The gate closed and my pencil snapped in half. I waved the pencil remnant at the half-siblings like a maestro.

"This... this changes everything," Iogann muttered, his voice growing more confident with each syllable. "I can... I can open gates to my favorite movie! I have to tell Em! We can change up the program! We can..."

"Hate to burst your bubble, Jan," Katherine interrupted. "You think just because you opened a tiny gate to this idiot's phone, you're suddenly going to revolutionize your troupe's performance?"

Iogann's excited momentum deflated slightly. "But... didn't you see? I targeted a specific location! That's never happened before!"

"And?" Katherine raised an eyebrow.

"I... well... I don't know exactly, but it's something! It's a targeted gate, Kat! Maybe we can go into an actual dungeon and gate out of it to a movie screen and..."

"Em is too stupid and too stubborn to permit changes," Katherine cut him down ruthlessly. "I bet she's got her entire performance mapped out to the I'. You really think she'll listen to some random idea you cooked up with this halfwit halfkin four hours before the show begins?" She jerked a thumb at me.

"Halfwit?" I tsked. "I prefer 'innovative disruptive element'."

Both siblings ignored me.

"I have to try to..." Iogann said.

"Good luck dying horribly," Katherine waved him off.

"I'm going to go to the guys in the auditorium and propose this idea right now!"

"Suit yourself," Katherine shrugged, taking another swig from her flask. "Don't come crying to me when she rips your wings off."

As Iogann hurried away, Katherine turned to me. "So. You and Cinder are a thing or something?"

"A thing?" I nearly choked on my sushi piece.

"An item? A couple?" She pressed. "Not that I give a shit, just curious. Didn't take her for a halfkin appreciator. How are you not covered in bruises? Isn't she like fifty times stronger than you?"

"We're not a thing!" I sputtered, my face heating up. "She did kick my van a lot and threatened to break my spine. The usual first-date stuff."

"Oh? She kicked your van? And you're... what? Charmed by this?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Absolutely," I grinned. "Nothing says 'I'm interested' like potential vehicular assault, right?"

"You're obviously somehow fucked in the head," Katherine muttered, taking another swig from her flask. "Completely and totally unhinged.”

"So I've been told," I shrugged. "Multiple times in fact. By multiple people. Mostly Cinder."

Katherine studied me for a long moment.

"You do realize that Cass is completely mental, right? And that Em is going to murder you. In fact she's going to murder my brother right now. Damn it. Ughhh. Really didn't want to get involved in this shit. Way to go. Way to encourage the troupe of idiots, idiot."

Katherine dumped the rest of the sushi boat into her mouth like some kind of anime hamster, her cheeks puffing out comically. She swallowed it all in one gulp like a snake and rolled away from the table without another word, heading for the elevator.

I followed her, wheeling alongside. "So... we're going to save your brother from certain doom?"

"No," she growled back. "I'm going to watch Em murder him and then tell him 'I told you so' after I incarnate his ass. Also, why are you following me?"

"Um," I considered. "I appreciate a good murder-viewing party?"

"Just so you know I'm not incarnating your ass when Em or one of her minions snaps your spine in half."

"Noted."

...

The elevator ride was long, with our two wheelchairs taking up most of the space. Katherine fixed me with a piercing glare of dark lenses.

"So," she said as the transparent elevator began to move sideways, her tail lashing slightly in the confined space. "You really got a thing for Quetzalcoatl tail? I can see why Jan chose to talk to you today, a Quetzi and halfkin relationship sounds like a disaster.”

"I don't have a 'thing' for Quetzalcoatls," I protested. "I have only met one Quetzi so far. She's rawd and we are not a disaster. We're..."

"Uh-huh. Sure," she interrupted my train of thought. "And I'm just a totally normal, well-adjusted artist who definitely doesn't drink high-grade alcohol during lunch."

"Fair," I conceded. "We're both masters of healthy coping mechanisms. Also, wheee... sideways elevator."

The elevator glided left across a multitude of halls. In another minute its transparent one-way mirror walls revealed a breathtaking Art Nouveau style auditorium that looked more like a living, breathing organism than a performance space. Organic curves dominated the architecture, with sweeping lines that mimicked feathered wings and intricate metalwork curving around massive arches.

The walls within the arch hollows were a living canvas of bioluminescent plants - alien flora with translucent petals that shifted colors like mood rings. Tendrils of soft green and blue light wove between ornate brass fixtures, creating an ethereal atmosphere that seemed to breathe and pulse with its own rhythm.

Katherine and I disembarked the shiny elevator as the doors slid open on the second floor of the auditorium, a red carpet leading to a dim balcony space almost directly above the stage.

We rolled towards the edge of the balcony and I looked down.

Iogann stood center stage, his skull-capped wings twitching with nervous energy as he addressed the four girls - Cinder, Emerald, Vespera, and Solace. His wide-brimmed hat was slightly askew, and he was gesticulating wildly with his hands.

"...change everything about our performance!" he insisted, pulling out his phone to show them the video clip from The Day After Tomorrow. "I can target gates now! Specifically! To this movie clip!”

Emerald Stratos, the Rubicund Lindworm, stood with her arms crossed, her ruby scales catching the stage lights and casting sharp, crimson reflections across the floor. Her gold-orange eyes narrowed dangerously as she listened to Iogann's excited explanation.

"And?" She demanded when he finished.

"I need time," Iogann repeated. "Just a few weeks. Maybe a month. To practice these targeted gates. We should change the date of the show to..."

"A month?!" Emerald's red-orange tail lashed dangerously. "We're performing TONIGHT! Everything's ready! Quincy already sorted everything out with the Vice Principal! Some other beerch-knobs might have the hall booked in a month!"

"Em, please! As it stands, our show is a looming disaster for everyone involved," the Mothman insisted. "You smell like..."

"Like what?" Emerald's gold-orange eyes narrowed.

"Like death," Iogann swallowed. "You're going to die or someone close to you is going to die tonight."

"Well no duh, moron," Emerald rolled her eyes. "We're killing a big monster that Cinder's gonna attract. Death is a given."

"No, you don't understand," Iogann pressed on, his voice taking on a desperate edge. "The disaster energy around this stage is... overwhelming. We need to postpone, to practice with targeted gates. If I can control where the gates open..."

Emerald's scales flashed with irritation. She snapped her fingers, the sound echoing through the auditorium like a gunshot, dragonfire sparks raining down.

Vespera unfolded from where she'd been lounging on a bean bag, her wigs crackling as she hefted an oversized medieval iron mace.

"Soooo, Io," Emerald's voice dripped with false sweetness as Vespera approached with the mace. "How would you prefer it? Quick and messy, or slow and painful? Because those are your only options if you keep suggesting we delay MY show."

"Em," Cinder stepped forward, her wings flaring protectively. "He's just trying to help. Maybe we should at least hear him out..."

"I heard him already! He's obviously chickening out just 'cus he learned some new gate trick! Stay out of this, Ci," Emerald snapped, her ruby scales catching the light like fresh blood. "You're already on thin ice after missing practice."

"I..."

"Yeah, you. YOU are far too preoccupied with chasing that damn nullie around. Why is that?" Emerald demanded.

"That's none of your business," Cinder's wings shifted through defensive shades of gray and red.

"Everything about this troupe is my business," Emerald growled. "I'm the leader. I make the decisions. And right now, I'm deciding that both you and Io are being incredibly annoying."

"Em," Cinder began.

"Shut your yap before you throw off my chill," Emerald snapped. "I've had just about enough of you two spineless musicants questioning my vision. The show goes on tonight. As planned. No changes. The wards and amplifiers are already set up. Next person to suggest changing things last minute is going to get their kneecaps broken. Neither of you needs to have intact knees to make musical noises!"

"Em!" Iogann tried one last time, his antennae drooping. "Please. I can feel it. Something terrible is going to happen to you tonight. We need to..."

"You NEED to shut the efF up and do your job," Emerald cut him off. "Open the gate when I tell you to. That's it. That's your only purpose here. You're not the Slayer star, you're not the decision maker, you're just the Gate! Got it?"

"But… What if everyone in attendance dies?” Io pressed.

"So what?!" Emerald barked. "You want to stay in this troupe? Everyone has their place in life. Everyone gets XP from the operation. It doesn't matter if everyone in the audience croaks! When more knobtwats die, we benefit. We get stronger. Eff the audience! This is about us gaining levels ten times faster than those delver dorks with their dumb-ass rules and regulations. Do you want to be weak, pathetic… prey again? Well, do you?!”

“No,” Iogann deflated, wings dropping.

“That's right, beerch.” Emerald grinned with sharp chompers. “'Cus you know what happens to prey in this school.”

She inhaled deep.

“Wait,” her eyes ignited red from within. “Why do I smell prey nearby? Vee! Check the gallery, make sure there's no rats up there trying to spy on our prep!”

Vespera’s black and white wings unfurled with a crackle of thunder. She rose into the air heading straight up towards us.

Brilliant electrical currents arched across the medieval mace in her right claws, making it look like a Tesla coil.

Yep. This is how I was going to die. An electrified mace to the noggin.

Hello darkness my old friend.