I landed on my back in a dreary place. The sky above me is gray and thick smoke hangs in the sky. It almost looks like we fell from there. Shadows lurk around every place, they even move. Maybe this is where my dark marble came from? Lory helped me up and I looked around me. “We are in Brickton, but it is as if the color is faded. Gray, black and a tinge of white is all I can see. However, upon closer inspection, there are some brown patches.”
Funk came closer, “That was a rough landing. It looks as if we are in Brickton.”
I sighed, “More as if we are in the evil version of Brickton.”
Lory just kept looking around, “I feel very uneasy in this place. I can barely catch a scent, and do you notice, there is no living thing nearby?”
After a short inspection, I shook my head, “There are enough living things in this place, just, not the things we expect to be alive.”
Khione yelled out inside of me, “Behind you!” I charged ice magic and turned around, but there was nothing.
“Khione?”
“I am sorry, I could swear, for a moment when I looked in the corner of your vision I saw something.”
The shadows behind me were gone. “Something was here, Khione, but it seems to have vanished into smoke.”
Funk poked me, “I am not sure if the smoke is evil in this place, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all.”
Lory nodded, “If we are going to sleep for a night, we need a barrier. Paul said that the first gem that we need to fix is in Sector 07, your home Funk.”
He nodded, “Be careful of every step you take.”
I did one step forward and an arm came out of the shadows, and it grabbed my by my leg, before anyone could react, it slammed me down, and I got dragged over the road. I tried to spawn my sword as I got dragged towards a water pool. Khione spoke up, “Aim for the pool of water!”
I raised my hand and stretched it towards the water, Khione sent ice energy through me, it froze the water and I slid over the ice. I sighed in relief, “Thanks, Khione.”
Thanos spoke up, “Scepter bomb!”
I left the scepter and jumped aside as some kind of giant fish broke through the ice and ate the scepter. Then the fish exploded with grand fashion. I panted, “Thanks, guys.” The exploded fish started gathering as smoke filled it.
Agent spawned Infinity in my hands, “That monster is not dead yet. Finish it off.”
I raised my gun and started firing infused bullets. They went through the smoke monster.
Rose spoke up, “Are you keeping my body intact?”
Slowly I got up, “No worries, Rose, just a few scrapes and bruises. Believe me, I am surprised, but you are quite sturdy, or we got lucky.” I looked back and in the distance I saw Lory and Funk coming my way, the smoke monster started speaking as it took a human form.
“Steve?”
“What?” The monster took the form of the sister I had in my void dream, Carly.
“Steve?”
It stretched her hand, “I have missed you. Come with me, take my hand.”
I did a step forward, “This can’t be real, you are a smoke monster.”
She did a step backwards, “Help me, this creature is keeping me hostage!” The smoke started retreating into the forest, it went the wrong way, but I started walking in that direction.
My mind got filled with voices, Eris’s boomed through, “Steve, don’t let yourself get fooled by that monster, it is just a smoke mirror.”
The smoke image of Carly came running my way and stretched her arms. I opened my arms, but I kept one arm lowered. As she came closer, I jammed a sword right through her ribs. “Sorry, monster thing, I am not falling for your bait.” I infused the sword with energy and the smoke blew apart into tiny pieces.
Shadow glob splattered over the walls at the edge of Brickton. After a few moments, Lory and Funk caught up with me. “Steve?”
“Lory?”
She walked over, “Damn, what happened to you?”
“You are bruised already.”
I smiled, “Only bruised this time, though. The shadows wanted to fool me after almost making fish food out of me. It wanted me to believe Carly was here.”
Lory nodded and hugged me, “That is a mindfuck, we should be careful of what this place uses to fight us, it can probably read our emotions and desires.”
Funk sighed, “That will be a problem for all of us. And there is this weird feeling I keep having.”
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Lory looked at him, “You too? As if something is watching you, you can almost see it in the corner of your eyes, but your whole body is screaming, don’t look?”
Funk nodded, “Exactly!”
They both looked at me. I nodded, “I think Khione almost saw it. But something is lurking in this place, something we are not supposed to look at.” I gasped, “Funk!? The spider.”
He sighed, “Don’t remind me of the fucking spider, man.”
“No seriously Funk, it talked about monsters in the dark, monsters you should not look at.” “Something in the corner of your eye.”
Funk looked up, “I will be damned, the spider knew about this place. And Bella knows what it is.”
In my mind I felt Khione pacing back and forth, Eris started joining her. “Look guys, we have some serious problems, but we need to get to Sector 07. We have to head south, towards the Brick Road.”
Lory and Funk nodded. While we started walking south, I went into my mind space. “Alright, who knows something about this creepy place?”
Thanos and Captain raised their hands. Then Eris and Khione also did so. “Alright, and who is willing to share this information?”
“All hands went down.”
“Is there a good reason for that?” They all nodded. “Okay, I am going to trust you on that.”
Thanos smiled, “You better, I have an awful gut feeling about this place.”
Captain nodded, “This is no place to be unaware of your surroundings. You will face enemies and people you have faced before, and you will be tempted to look in the corner of your eye. Just, ignore or stab the illusions and don’t look in the corner of your eye, whatever you do, don’t ever, look.”
“Alright, thanks for the creepy advice, does anyone want to share some more information?”
Eris nodded, “Things from our past might also show up. All of our memories.”
J crossed his arms, “God, I hope not my past.”
Angel nodded, “You and me both, brother.”
Agent smiled as he spawned a shotgun, he threw it to me, “This thing is going to drain your energy like a hippie drinking the Kool-Aid at a ritual sacrifice.”
I caught it and stared at him, “All of you need to work on better metaphors. But, thanks Agent.”
Rose brought some coffee, “Is anyone thirsty.”
“Oh yeah, I need a moment, Eris, could you take over for a moment? I will be in the command center.”
“Alright, Steve,” I walked over to the command center and looked at the screen.
Eris loaded the shotgun, “Eris here, Steve is trying to find out what in god’s name is going on around here.”
Funk looked at her, “And he gives you a shotgun?”
“No, that was Agent, and he had the creepiest metaphor.”
Lory snickered, “Eris with a shotgun, that looks intimidating.”
Funk shook his head, “Don’t encourage him to switch with people, or to give control to other people.”
Lory looked at him, “Why not?” “They are all just Steve, just different.”
Funk sighed, “Yes, you are true, but why can he do this? What if he hurts someone we know?”
Lory laughed, “Eris or Steve hurting me? Or Haley? I don’t think so.” Eris fired the shotgun and a goose crashed down right in front of Lory.
Eris smiled, “Evil goose, it attacked you.”
Lory scratched her nose, “Well, I will be damned, the geese are even evil in this place.”
Funk and Eris looked at the dead goose, Funk smiled, “No, they are always evil.”
“Eris, let me take over,” we switched places, “What is wrong Funk?”
He looked at me, “Steve?”
“Yeah, you look sad.”
“It is just, I miss Abby.”
I hugged him, “She is probably following Haley to find her sister.”
Funk nodded, “I can understand that.”
Lory pointed somewhere, “How much can that shotgun of yours handle, Steve?”
I looked at it and then at the dark geese coming towards us, “Not enough unless I drink the Kool-Aid.”
Funk laughed, “I know what that means, what is even going on in your brain?”
I looked at him, “You don’t want to know, people are talking currently about the best way to stage a Kool-Aid ritual sacrifice.”
Lory looked at me, “What the fuck, you weren’t joking? A ritual sacrifice?”
“Yeah, Captain said, we should first get everyone to believe some bull crap, then tell them they get whatever they want if they drink the Kool-Aid, but then, they realize it is poisoned.”
Lory scratched the back of her head, “Steve?”
“Yes?”
“You, and all versions of you, are motherfucking crazy, now please tell me, your shotgun has enough power to take down that giant goose that is leading the small geese towards us.”
Both Funk and I gasped, I screamed, “Oh fuck no, it is Harry! He is back from the dead to take revenge.”
Funk nodded, “Part 2, Harry has come back from hell.”