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Primordial Chaos

Eda always considered himself a heroic type of individual. Whenever evil reared its ugly head, he was a first respondent in that department. As his choice of weapon, he had a sword made of stone known as the Purge Blade. He also had two revolvers, for good measure. They were always useful, except for the need for ammo. The first was a 9mm luger and the second was a Colt 1911. For his mental defense, he carried with him a Walkman. It had been passed from generation to generation. He always took care to put it on before any battle. The reason was to avoid listening to the curses. His targets would curse him from time to time. As long as he did not listen to the curse, he was impervious to it. The nature of the curses varied from demon to demon.

Tonight was a busy night. The city was crawling with demons. The curses of the archdemons had caused the humans who had listened to it to turn into demons. Eda had been swinging his sword for so long, that his shoulder was starting to get strained. He muscled through it, till he arrived at the first point of origin. Surrounded by very nasty looking Cherokee roses, was a demon maiden. A carving in the body of the sword appeared. It read the name of the enemy, Humbaba. When she saw him, she started to curse his name, and to send a lot of plant related attack. The sword made mincemeat of all the flowery attacks. The only problem was that it felt to Eda that he was mauling his way through a jungle.

He had to keep his eye on all the oncoming attacks. He relied on the motion of the wind to predict the attacks his eyes could not follow. He was a strong fellow, but he did not have eyes in the back of his head. His stone sword was also not reflective at all. When he finally struck down the demon, she gave a sigh of relief and became purified. She then ascended to the heavens.

The Purge Blade then said to Eda, “Humbaba was a forest angel. She was tasked with protecting this woods. One day, the humans started to burn the woods, and she grew angry. Today, the last tree belonging to her forest has been chopped down.”

“Good to know, my friend,” said Eda rubbing the sweat off his brow. He sat down for a moment and drank some warm Kiwi juice from a small thermos he carried with him.

He stretched his limbs a bit, before sprouting dragonfly like wings. In the air, he met up with the grim reaper. At least, his enemy resembled what most people thought the grim reaper should look like. It had the black robes, the death scythe and the skeleton body. It had a mane of bushy hair, and a top hat with spikes. Its skull eyes had blue makeup. His robes and hands had chains and he was surrounded by will-o'-wisp. With a stroke of the scythe, Eda heard a sound like the whirring of an electric guitar. He heard it through the slight pause between a song. From the heavens it started raining fire, and with the fire came the pungent smell of rotten eggs. Eda could protect himself from sound, but the smell was a different matter. He quickly searched through his pockets and found a pink, scented handkerchief. He tied it over his nose to drown out some of the smell.

Eda struck the thing with the sword, and pushed it further up into the sky, away from the fog of terrible smells. Every so often, he had to parry with his sword the slashing of the scythe, but all the while he did he pushed the creature upwards. When there was barely any air, the fire around the grim reaper looking fellow settled down, becoming small blue flames. It was then when the armor of the enemy was weakest and Eda was able to strike it down. As it cracked and purified, it grew back flesh and a beautiful face, that was soon hidden behind two delicate wings, whose color scheme reminded Eda of the wings of a scarlet macaw.

The sword told Eda a similar story to the one of the forest angel. The former grim reaper was a tad annoyed by air pollution. From this high vantage point, Eda took aim and sprang back down with sword pointed downwards. As he flew, he gathered friction, and the Purge Blade acquired a color scheme similar to scorching magma. Eda crashed into an army of demons. At its center there was a chariot, with angry looking wheel angels, and a blue demon sitting on a ruby throne. Its robes and face where bleeding.

The crash made mincemeat of the blue demon, and all the humans turned back to normal. This fallen angel was angry because the earth had been tainted by wars. The ground was oversaturated with human blood. The last drop that had overflowed the goblet was a hit and run that had occurred five days ago. It had been all over the news. An old lady had crossed the street to go shopping. On the way back to her home, she was ran over by a bastard. They still had not found the fellow, but there was a good chance the fallen angels might have gotten to him in the midst of all this chaos.

Eda thought, People in the States just do not respect pedestrians.

Despite purifying the blue demon, there was a good number of humans remaining that were too far gone. They were like zombies, seeking death and not finding it. While they walked, they moaned curses. They were slowly tainting one another. For this target, the best solution was for them to shed their human flesh. He gave them all a mercy killing, in the form of a bullet to the head. Eda was not particularly fond of killing humans, but at times there was just no other choice. He burned their bodies with a spell, and the fire removed all the outside impurities. In about 7 to 49 days, their spirits would reincarnate, go to hell, purgatory, heaven or turn into a ghost. Eda usually had the most problems with the latter, but that is another story for another time.

The final angel was inside a murky lake. It had turned even more disgusting because of a runoff from a nearby construction site. Inside the water, there was a familiar eerie sound of muffled curses. There was a strange bubbling too, and a foul smell. A large beautiful fish peers its head, and starts cursing at Eda before descending. The fish had elegant, golden chariot wheels and a crown. As it sank, it acquired a grotesque appearance; like the one typically shared by rotting fish in a harbor. Eda entered the water to drag the stupid fish angel out. The moment he entered the water, his hands and feet started to burn. To make things easier, Eda tried shooting at the fish to goat it to surface, but it did not help. The water caused his Walkman to become water logged.

Eda was finally able to listen to the curses of the fish. Aside from cursing humanity as a whole, the fish was blaspheming. She regretted having set foot upon planet earth. The sword started vibrating, and holding it alone felt painful to Eda. It painted on its surface the name Leviathan. To summon it to the surface, Eda started calling out for it. Instead of rising, the fish sank even deeper. Taking a deep breath, Eda swam bellow the water to drag the fish out through pure grit. His clothing started to melt, and even the gun too. Eda did not dare to open his eyes. In the end, Eda swam back outside dejected and feeling particularly defeated. His skin burned, and felt like a second degree burns. He grimly pondered on the possibility of getting a skin disease for swimming in such poor quality water.

He then heard a different voice chanting. The chant caused chains to appear and the fish was taken outside the water. The Leviathan flapped around a bit very angry, as it tried to return to the water it had been tasked to keep purified. When Leviathan finally made peace with the world and its situation, it turned into a small white, goldfish with a long golden tail. It entered inside a nearby fish bowl held by a lady in green robes. Her name was Myra, and she would aid Eda from time to time, depending on the situation. It had been quite a busy night indeed, and it gave both Eda and Myra plenty to think about. Eda returned to his one bedroom apartment in the Bronx, while Myra drove back to Pine Valley.

The Fairy Garden

Eda was not the type of fellow to travel about much. He felt strong roots to the city which he inhabited. Still, once a year he felt like traveling a bit. After saving up plenty of money, Eda was able to go to Japan with a large group of people he did not known. It was common for travel agencies to book a lot people together, for discounts and protection and whatnot. His guide had booked a tour to Kobe Ijinkan Kitano-cho. This historical location was filled with Western inspired mansions and homes. The main place they were to explore was a placed called Uroko House. It served as a rental type of place and a museum as well.

The tour began in the garden. The tour guide said that the mansion itself was nothing special. What was interesting was the garden. Each rose bush was a grave marker. A statue of a fairy was placed in the center, to watch over the dead.

“According to local legend, there had been a large battle. The only survivor was a Western Knight who was fighting for the local feudal Lord. When the battle concluded, he buried all the dead there. Each soldier was buried with a rosehip on top of his heart. Over the course of a couple of years, each rose hip became a rosebush. When the Feudal Lord saw the beautiful garden, he had the knight killed and buried there. He marked the knight’s grave with a fairy statue. He did so because he did not want the garden to be replicated. This is known to be truth, because recent excavations have shown that indeed there is a knight buried beneath the statue of the fairy. We can tell he is a knight because of the chainmail, combined with Japanese armor and of course the ever popular claymore,” explained the tour guide.

Eda was skeptical of all this. He followed the tour guide into the Museum portion of the mansion. On the way in, he noticed that a little girl had stayed behind. The girl in her dainty yellow summer dress was staring at the fairy. The Eda saw the fairy statue turn to look at the little girl. He returned to the gardens to hide behind a bush, to eavesdrop on the conversation.

The fairy told the little girl, “What that woman said is not the real truth. The Feudal Lord loved the Knight. After the war, the Lord arrange to have a Portuguese ship take the knight back to his home with enough silver so that the knight would live the rest of his life in comfort. A day after his departure a storm came. The poor Sir had survived countless battles, but a simple storm was all it took to kill him. Two days later, his bloated corpse returned to the shores of Japan. The Lord arranged to have for him a Christian funeral, and all the Samurais of the Feudal guided his coffin to his final resting place. He was buried here with the rest of his unit. The sword I gave him is also down here as well. And till this day, I watch over him to make certain that he has a peaceful rest.”

“What was the knight’s name?” asked the little girl.

“His name was Michael Smith,” said the Fairy.

The Parable of the Beautiful Moth

James Saito was not the type of man to believe in aliens or angels. He had read about them both in books. Sometimes they even showed up in silly movies and whatnot. One day, James awoke to find something different. He felt his sides and even pinched his cheeks to make certain he was truly awake. After bruising his cheeks a bit, James realized that it did not matter too much. In a previous dream, he remember feeling a lot of physical pain when he was trying to sew his own leg. Pain did not symbolize that you were truly awake.

Awake or asleep, James tried to put on a brave face. He was tied to something that resembled a chair. Standing before him where two Grey Aliens. One wore red robes, and a yellow rooster like crown hat. The second was dressed in plain white robes, with a white doctor’s mask.

The one in white said, “We come in peace. Now that we got that cliché out of the way. I wanted to show you something.”

A third fellow came dressed in white robes, with a green tunic over the top. The tunic had a fish, and on top of the fish the letter P. This Grey Alien brought on top of a dissection table a moth and an owl. The moth was the largest bug James had ever seen. It was like a meter tall.

The Grey in red said, “Show James the Owl.”

The Grey in green brought forth the owl. It hooted and made a motion to peck James’ clothing.

The Grey in white said, “Show him the Moth.”

The Grey in green brought the moth. At this James remember his bug phobia and said, “Get that thing out of my face.”

Instead of putting it away. They brought the moth closer to James’ face. The moth started vibrating and making weird, continuous clicking sounds by striking its forelegs together. James did not blink all the while. When his perception of his surroundings returned, he saw that the moth was sitting on the table.

“Behold. This is the most beautiful Moth found on planet Earth!” said the white Grey.

“Well. It certainly has a nice wing color combination. I like how it changes color depending on how it beats its wing,” said James not desiring to antagonize any further his other worldly captors.

“Did you notice when it tried to hypnotize you?” asked the green Grey.

“Nope,” said James.

“Then, it means it worked,” said the white Grey.

“Where did you find it?” asked James.

“In a small, island in the Pacific,” said the white Grey.

“And the owl?” asked James.

“We took it from the Miami Metro Zoo,” said the white Grey.

“Ah,” said James flatly.

“You people call this owl Asio Otus or Long eared owl,” explained the Grey in red after reading through his notes on a little flat, transparent disk that seemed to have nothing written on it.

The Grey in red took the owl and then made it face the moth. The moth made its strange sounds. The Grey then explained, “It is common for this moth to hypnotize animals when it feels threatened. Now this owl thinks that it is a moth. Now, what does it take for the owl to truly become a moth?”

The Grey in green said, “First it needs to get some sticky mucus.”

The Greys bring out a mucus basin and the owl goes and takes a nasty dip. When it looks pretty sticky looking, the Grey in white says, “The next thing it has to do is squint its eyes.”

Right on cue, the owl starts squinting its eyes to mimic the look of the moth.

The Grey in red then adds, “The next thing that the owl needs is to grow antennas.”

To aid the owl. The Grey in red sticks two fake antennas on top of the sticky head of the owl. The Grey in white adds, “Last, but not least, the owl needs to vibrate and try to make weird sounds like the moth.”

The owl tries this, but I could not mimic the sound being made by the moth. The Grey in green takes the owl away and leaves the moth behind. The Grey in red turning to James ask, “Now, tell me. What does a moth have to do to become a moth?”

“Absolutely nothing,” answered James.

“Good,” said the Grey in red smiling, “And now you know the parable of the beautiful moth.”

The following morning. James awakes home in his bed. He bathes, eats breakfast and then prepares to take the bus to school. When he stares at the driver, for some reason he cannot help, but feel that it is actually an alien who has hypnotized everyone into thinking he is a human.

The Honorable Thing

For the last 2 years, Camilla and her people have been busy fighting the cloud creatures. The cloud creatures take many forms, but their methods of attack do not alter much. They shoot you from the clouds, and if not careful you get disintegrated. As far as technology goes, the army has managed to salvage a couple of fallen ships. At least the gun technology has been recreated. With this, the shields can easily be destroyed.  During a standard mission, Camilla and her team get noticed. Her party hides behind a rock to avoid enemy fire. It was then when she saw it. A nearby building is rippling. Camilla takes out a spool of string, and she ties it to the nearby rock. The string is invisible.

Her team follow it by touch, and the moment they pass through the ripples, they appear in a different location. Camilla had read of this strange effect, but she had not seen it. Based on their surroundings, Camilla surmises that they were in a type of school. There were the lockers and when she looked out the window she saw the teenagers exercising. To blend in, her people break open a locker and they put on some uniforms.

The portal back is still rippling. If they cross through that same threshold, they will return to their original location and they might get intercepted by the cloud creatures. Camilla blinks once, and then she notes some jocks passing through the hallway. They note her precedence, but say nothing because of the other people next to her. The portal ripples and starts moving. Slowly, the line, with the invisible string, starts stretching. Camilla fears that it might stop. The portal eventually stops at the official entrance of the school. It then stays there, rooted on the spot. It was a wonder why or how it had done so. A couple of hours pass and Camilla goes to lunch with her companions.

The cafeteria food being offer there was much better than the grub Camilla was already used to. She smiled as she ate the piece of burnt bacon. It had been ages since she had eaten pork. While sitting there roosting, some school officers come and start questioning her mates.

After much questioning, her men were told to leave the premises. The soldiers instead of obeying each fled in a different direction. Camilla pondered on the best course of action while she sipped her juice bag. While she was alone, a girl sat beside her. She said, “Here.”

Camilla received the item. It was an ID of a student who resembled her. The only difference was that Camilla had blue hair, and yellow eyes, while the other student her black hair and black eyes. Suspicious, Camilla asked, “Who is this?”

The girl answered, “Nobody. She ran away from the campus a few months ago. Nobody has heard from her since, then. You can be her on the mean time.”

“Thank you, I guess. Do you have one for the others?” asked Camilla.

“No,” said the girl. She added, “Who are they to you?”

“Just some foot soldiers, barely know them,” said Camilla in earnest.

“My name is Tabita! Pleased to meet you, Jenifer,” said Tabita.

“It’s Camilla,” corrected Camilla.

“It is now Jenifer. So, you better get used to your new name,” said Tabita.

Camilla came to stand by the window. She saw as each one of her men was captured. They were then dragged outside together. The moment they stepped through the portal, they disappeared much to the bewilderment of the officers. Tabita alarmed asked, “What happened to them?”

“Who knows. Maybe they returned to their home planet,” said Camilla.

“Surely you jest,” said Tabita laughing.

“I don’t,” said Camilla, “But I don’t expect you to believe me.”  

After lunch, Camilla went to classes and sat on the back. She took that time to catch up with her sleep. When Tabita awoke her, the pair went to their shared dormitory. When night fell, Camilla followed the invisible string back to the other side of the portal. She was shocked to note that her entire unit had been killed the moment they had sat foot outside, on the other side of the portal. Camilla saw the sky rumbled as weird lights stretched behind the storm clouds. Camilla took the communicator from a dead body before returning to school. When she returned it was still nighttime. She silently made her way back to her dorm. Tabita awoke with a start when she saw Camilla there.

Shocked she asked, “Where were you?”

“Out,” said Camilla.

“For a whole month!” asked Tabita.

“Seems like it,” said Camilla nonchalantly.

The months rolled rather slowly for Camilla. For reasons that she did not understand, there was a time difference between both worlds. Her only ties to her old world was the invisible string. The nature and properties of it where unknown. Only the effects had been studied. Even if the gateway closed, as long as she was bounded to the string she could return. From time to time, she would communicate with her captain. The words she spoke were heard on the other side too quickly. While the captain’s words entered at a slug’s pace. It seemed to Camilla that she would have to linger in that strange world for longer than she had anticipated.

Despite her natural looks, Camilla could still pass for a human being. There were some otherworldly oddities that she was forced to mask. One day, Tabita sees Camilla creating fire with her hands. A gimmick that anyone could do, back in her world. To the childlike eyes of Tabita, it seemed to her that Camilla was a witch. Tabita having an affinity for magic decided to invite Camilla to her magic club. Camilla having nothing better to do till the stupid cloud monster passed by decided to join. Camilla had a practical way of thinking. IF this so called magic could be used against the Cloud monsters, it was a skill worth acquiring.

Two years pass, and the maidens in the magic club were showing real progress. They were still no match for Camilla’s natural skills. She had to be made of sterner stuff to deal with the cloud monsters. One day, Camilla gets a very slow message from her captain.

“The Cloud Monsters are dead. Come Home,” said her captain to her.

Camilla breathed in a sigh of relief. As she was going to her dorm to pick up her things, she overheard something disturbing. Tabita and the girls had a half-baked taking over the world scheme. Camilla smiles silently and she enters the room. She reaches into her backpack and offers Tabita a sword.

Tabita, confused asks, “What do you want me to do with this?”

“The honorable thing,” said Camilla calmly.

“I don’t…” started saying Tabita.

She was unable to finish her sentence because the blade had levitated and passed through her heart. Her peers were killed in a similar fashion. Putting the sword back in its sheath, Camilla said, “I am not a big fan of telepathy, but in a pinch, it is subtle and quick enough to get the job done.”

After concluding her gruesome work, Camilla made her way towards the entrance of the school. Once she passed through that gate, the power of the invisible string returned her to her home world. She pondered on the two types of lives she had known. The first was dangerous and frightening. The other was boring and soul crushing.

Pacific Dream

It has been two years since QB had returned home. The technology there was certainly advanced indeed. There were many strange wonders, with the tall buildings, the holograms, and the robots. There was one thing that was missing from this city. It was the absence of cars. The people in this city with their diverse dresses and attires walked everywhere. They just did not seemed to be in a hurry to get anywhere. Sure, from time to time some would sprint, and be there in literally matters of seconds. Since his arrival, QB had met his true family. In this city, everyone was everyone’s family. At the moment, QB was living with a group of masked people. They wore bulbous dresses that were knee long, and veils that were attached to the dress and mask. They wore gloves on their hands, and  high heel boots. The main difference among them were in the small details, and the mask decorations.

Camilla wore a peacock’s mask. On the forehead, there was a heart shaped jewel. From it a single long ostrich feather grew. Camilla liked ostriches and she had a couple she was raising in the back garden. While helping her hand feed one, Camilla said to QB, “It has been ages since I have been outside.”

“I suppose,” said QB.

“We should go on a vacation,” said Camilla.

“I don’t know,” said QB.

“Just ask the Fat Lady From the Office, for some time. I am certain they will give it to you,” said Camilla.

“I don’t know. I just got my job and it seems in poor form to go on vacation,” said QB.

“She will understand,” said Camilla.

“I don’t know,” said QB while the ostrich pocked him on the hair and the arms. The silly bird was biting on everything, except for the food that QB was handing it.

The following day Camilla awoke him at 2 a.m. She said to him, “You should start getting your bags ready let’s we miss the boat.”

“What boat?” asked QB getting up.

“The one that is going to take us to the Underwater Islands,” said Camilla.

“What of my job?” asked QB.

“Well, I called the Fat Lady and I said, QB will be back later,” explained Camilla.

“What did Lady say?” asked QB.

“She asked the date when she could expect you back, and nothing else,” said Camilla.

“That’s it?” asked QB.

“Yep, that is it, cause that is how we roll, except where there is war afoot, but things have been quiet for almost 20 years,” said Camilla.

“I wouldn’t know about that,” said QB.

He languidly got up and placed inside a bag the first thing that fell out of his closet. Camilla was already packed. She carried with her a little wheeled luggage the shape of a ladybug. Once outside, she placed her knee on the top part. With her other leg, she got a bit of impulse. She was soon making quite the headway while QB ran behind her. The pair reached the docks after 10 minutes. The boat ride was quite pleasant. In part because it hovered a meter over the water. It wasn’t so much a boat ride as a plane ride. It had been designed by a silly girl who wanted to experience being in a boat, without having to deal with the pesky surf. Whatever motion the waves would have did not affect the boat. At a certain spot, the boat made a weird circle turn towards the left. It was a bit dizzy, but not so much as the driver walking around the steering wheel in the opposite direction.

Camilla explained, “This islands is a little bit different as all. To get to it, you have to turn right, as you go left. The easiest way to simulate this effect is by turning the boat left, while you turn right.”

“That makes perfect sense,” said QB incredulous.

After the maneuver ended, the guide said, “It is common for Pacific Islands to appear from time to time. However, it is rare for one to come and go over the course of one day. The tides here are quite extreme this time of the year. So just watch.”

QB looked over to the side of the boat. He saw one of those floating, glowing orb things drop downwards. The driver maneuvered back a bit as a small island rose to the surface of the water. Despite being underwater, the island had all its vegetation in one piece. After docking, the morning was spent doing typical island things. There was the dancing, the swimming and the sunbathing. For reasons that QB did not understand, a lot of people did not bathed with what he considered a bathing suit. Some did not even bother to change. They just jumped right in with whatever they happened to be wearing.

Underwater, the island was surrounded by a reef. There was a lot of reef sharks just waiting for night to fall. QB was alarmed at first when he saw them. He calmed down a bit when Camilla waved to one. The shark nodded in response before returning to napping.

Back on the other world, QB had seen some old shark movies. They were always painted as bloodthirsty monsters. The ones in this world were quite mild manner or maybe it was Camilla’s nonchalant attitude that helped QB not be afraid. Aside from sharks, QB saw Butterfly fishes, some Gobies, a Cod and a school of Parrot fishes. After swimming for a bit the pair went to eat a restaurant. QB ate Spinach ravioli with a chopped salad. For dessert, he ate a Strawberry Napoleon. As for Camilla, she had cheese quesadillas with pico de gallo. For dessert, she had key lime pie. For drinks, they had milkshakes.

Close to dusk, the pair along with everyone on the island went to see the sunset. Over the horizon, QB saw a giant wave. Somewhat alarmed he said, “Wait a minute. Isn’t this island supposed to be submerged when the tide goes up?”

“Seems like it,” said Camilla.

The waves crashed against the shore, but did not travel too far island. Rather a shield kept the island from flooding. Eventually, the entire island was completely submerged. The shield was transparent and round. It allowed for the visitors to see the fishes swimming above them. During dinner, Camilla asked QB, “Aren’t you glad we played hooky?”

“I suppose it is an interesting and pleasant experience,” said QB.

“What’s the matter? Still thinking about your folks?” asked Camilla.

“A little,” said QB.

“Some things cannot be helped as all. You can’t devote your entire life to helping others. There is nothing wrong with unwinding every once in a while,” said Camilla.

“I don’t know,” said QB.

“Well, when you do know come dance with me,” said Camilla getting up.

Camilla was not much of a dancer. She was uncoordinated and at times it seemed like she was dancing something that had nothing to do with the music being played. After seeing her make a fool of herself, QB got up and went to join her.

The Ballad of Cupcake

Cupcake started his life like any other cat. His birthmother lived in a butcher shop. One day, the pound came and rounded up all of Cupcake’s siblings and his mother as well. Cupcake had wandered off a little bit. At several weeks old, he could barely open his eyes. He had fallen behind a sack of potatoes when the humans came. After all was set and done, Cupcake was alone and hungry. Night came, and with it hunger pains. He started meowing. A drifter that had snuck into the butcher shop heard its cries. The man picked up the little kitty and examined it.

He smiled when he noted that the kitten was unharmed. His eyes wandered over Cupcake’s blue eyes and white fur with overlapping patches of black and orange hair. The drifter took the kitten with him and he named it Cupcake. After four months with the fellow, the cat had grown into a hardly little devil. While most cats his age ate cereal and fancy feast, Cupcake ate old ham, chicken and ice cream from time to time.

Cupcake did not know the name of the human that took care of him. The other humans passed by the drifter and only took notice of the man whenever Cupcake was around. One day, a fellow came to see the man. Cupcake got a bad feeling about the visitor and thus kept at a distance. From time to time, he would come closer with its back arched, and feet tucked underneath.  Cupcake still did not have a full grasp of the human language. As such, he did not understand even the gist of the conversation. His caretaker whistled a couple of times, and after the fifth call Cupcake eventually came.

One of the strays hanging inside a dump said to Cupcake, “Your human is a killer.”

“I haven’t seen him kill anyone,” remarked Cupcake.

His caretaker chuckled as he heard the two cats meowing to each other. The following day his caretaker gets inside a taxi and together they go to a different part of the city. The pair end up staying in an apartment. Based on the musty smell, it seemed to Cupcake that nobody had lived there in quite a long time. Cupcake’s human spent the day cleaning up the place. Meanwhile, Cupcake spent his time anxiously looking about. He was just not used to living indoors.

Eventually, Cupcake found the window. He sat there looking outside. From time to time, he would see another stray cat making its rounds. He hissed at a familiar face who responded in turn. Cupcake thought, I can’t have that knave claiming my apartment. I must let everyone know that this is my home now.

Following his natural impulse, Cupcake scent marked a couple of spots of the house, much to the annoyance of his human. Night came, and his human went to sleep on the floor. There was a fine looking bed, but Cupcake’s human did not seem to want to use it. Since the human was not taking it, Cupcake decided to sleep on it. He found a spot between two pillows and then he simmered down inside.

While Cupcake slept, he had a faint memory of warmth and purring. For some reason, it felt nostalgic. A slight sound was heard, and Cupcake’s ears perked up. Thinking that his human was awake, Cupcake got up and went to hug his leg to scratch and bite it. For reasons Cupcake did not understand his human brought out a gun. The man checked the bullets, and even took a few shots with the empty magazine to make certain the gun was working correctly. The man got up and left the apartment. Cupcake followed behind.

It was early morning, and the air felt crisp. Cupcake’s human huddled beneath his trench coat. The man stood outside a high school and waited. He did the same thing the following day around the same time. During one of those stakeouts Cupcake saw the familiar face.

It was his third cousin, twice removed. The humans had dubbed the fellow Zombie Bart. Bart was a the only Donskoy cat in town. His hairless skin was pale, and wrinkly. His most striking feature was his disdainful green, yellow eyes. His narrow eyes were always filled with a look of disdain and loathing. His current age was a subject of much speculation. There were sightings of the cat as far back as 50 years ago, but none of the humans were keen to believe such rumors. Cupcake did know the truth, however.

Bart rubbed his head against Cupcake as salutation. Cupcake did not return the gesture, but simply licked his paw and rubbed it against his own forehead.

Bart asked, “What are you doing?”

“Dunno, just waiting for something, I suppose,” said Cupcake.

“You still with that killer?” asked Bart.

“He hasn’t killed anyone yet,” said Cupcake.

“But he is going to. Just give it a couple of days,” said Bart.   

“You are the second mate to say this. Just what do you know of this man?” asked Cupcake.

“Nothing much, since the affairs of humans rarely interest me. Still, I find it entertaining whenever the humans get into their little turf wars, like we do from time to time. It is at least something that we have in common with them. In this case, some of the human cubs from that yonder school have been seen in places they should not be, doing stuff they should not be doing. And so, your man has been tasked to hunt them down,” explained Bart.

Cupcake was thoughtful for a second. He then asked, “How many lives do humans typically have?”

“The same amount of lives as any other creature. Just one,” said Bart.

“But I was told cats have 9 lives,” commented Cupcake pouting.

“One is more than enough, if lived properly, thought I suppose if you want another you might want to ask the elephant God for another chance,” said Bart.

“Elephant? God?” asked Cupcake not understanding either of those two words.

“You will understand when you are older,” said Bart departing.

I am already pretty old, thought Cupcake.

The following day the drifter awakes earlier than usual. He enters into the bathroom and showers. It was the first time Cupcake had seen his human make an effort to groom himself. Most of the time, Cupcake felt it was his duty to clean the human to the best of his abilities. When his human got out of the shower, he seemed like a completely different person. The look was completed after a shave and a change in attire. The  man dressed himself in an elegant tuxedo, and he combed his hair back with a brush. Cupcake rubbed against the man’s legs, as he usually did whenever he was hungry. In answer to his pleas, Cupcake was given his usual meal in a bowl. The man gave Cupcake this time some tuna from a can. It was the expensive type of tuna. The one that was usually worth 10 bucks a can.

He petted Cupcake on the head and said something before departing. Cupcake found it odd that the man had left him outside the apartment. This did not inspired Cupcake much confidence. However, he being a young, inexperienced cat; Cupcake decided not to follow till he had finished his meal.

A day passed and his master did not return. Cupcake still waited patiently. A little girl feeling sorry for the cat passed by. She petted it, and she fed him some chicken nuggets. They were not great, but they were not bad all things considered. Cupcake was hungry, and so he ate the nuggets with gusto. After the second day, Cupcake left the apartment complex. He left specifically at 5:10 a.m. Around that time, Zombie Bart’s patrol route would take him by this place. Cupcake came to sit before Bart with a dour look on his face.

He said, “I have been abandoned.”

“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” said Bart snickering.

“You think this is funny?” hissed Cupcake.

“To me, perhaps, but I am one not to depend on the charity of others,” said Bart.

“Do you know where my human is at?” asked Cupcake.

“He is in the morgue,” said Bart flatly.

“What is a morgue?” asked Cupcake.

“It is a place where they keep dead humans,” said Bart.

“Why is my human there?” asked Cupcake.

“Because he is dead,” said Bart flatly.

“Oh,” said Cupcake, “I see. How did he die?”

“Your human went to that school to fight with those kids I told you about. He got all of them, but the mate of one of them stabbed him a couple of times. You see that puddle over there by the garbage?” said Bart.

Cupcake looked in that direction. Bart then continued, “Well, he bled out there. He was taken away just this morning. Sorry you missed him.”  

Cupcake was at a loss for words and thoughts. He did not know what to make of it, or even if he should be feeling anything. The only thing he was aware was of the hunger pawns that were slowly creeping inside of him. Without realizing it, his endless wanderings led him to the school his owner had stalked just a few days before. Cupcake waited and waited, but his human did not return. From time to time, some of the students made motions to pet Cupcake. A couple even threw rocks at him, but Cupcake easily avoided them.

Eventually, he felt a familiar scent. It was faint, but there was a girl among the students who smelled like his human. Cupcake rubbed his leg against the girl’s leg, who screamed, startled. She smiled when she noted the kitty cat. Following her first impulse, the girl takes Cupcake with her. Cupcake did not resist sensing that the girl meant her no ill will. When the girl enters inside her home, her mother says a lot of angry words, to which the girl responds without any intonation.

Afterwards, the girl goes with the cat to her room. She takes with her a violin case. She leaves it in the music room, alone with Cupcake. Since Cupcake was alone for a moment, he took his chance to mark his territory in the corner. He did not know if he was going to stay there forever, and his new surroundings were making him nervous. When the girl returned, she had a can of fancy feast for him. Cupcake ate a piece, before throwing it up. The girl stared somewhat disappointed and confused left. She smelled the cat food over the top, before grimacing. Moments later she returned with a piece of ham. This Cupcake ate with gusto. While he ate, the girl’s mother entered the room. The two spoke a bit, and then the girl took out her violin case. The girl started to play her song, but she would stop whenever her mother spoke.   

Eventually, the girl starts laughing, and her laugher degenerates into a sob. She then picked up Cupcake and petted him. Cupcake could tell there was something wrong with his new companion, but he did not care. Since he was still frightened of her, he resisted the urge to bite and scratch her hand has he usually did whenever he was being pet a little bit too much for his taste.

The Oblique Armor

Adrian was about 14 years old, when his life took a dramatic turn. Standing at 5’01, with amber eyes and blonde hair, and his Victorian attire, he could easily pass for a flaneur. Though, those who looked closer could see the patchwork, and the worn, scratched leather. Since it was Sunday, Adrian was at the train station waiting. He looked up at the clock and noted the time. Right on cue, the noon a clock train arrived bearing an army of passengers. Adrian pushed through the army of people and made his way towards the cargo hold. Passengers were busy, looking for their luggage.

Adrian came to the officer and said, “Smith.”

The officer looked through the manifested and he handed Adrian a luggage that was not his own. It was a large silver, trolley case with a standard combination lock. Adrian made his way behind a column and opened it. He noted the lady clothing, and a strange gift box. He took this item, before closing the luggage and leaving it there. After taking a bit of distance, he noted the owner had tracked down her possession. She was a stout lady, with flaming hair, freckles and mocha colored skin. Seeing that the trolley was locked, she assumed that it had not been opened. Adrian had learned from experience that all modern luggage of this make had trackers. After acquiring this small loot, Adrian performed a bit of pickpocketing before departing. Before leaving the train station, he was stopped by a bunch of cops. The maiden with the flaming hair came running at him.

He said to her to defuse the situation, “Hey, cops. I was just looking for your guys. I found this item in the floor.”

It was then when Adrian noted the round shape of the box, with the symbols. The maiden annoyed said, “You stole it from me, you cretin!”

“Do I look like the type of person who needs to steal,” said Adrian between his teeth.

It was then when Sasha came to his aid. He was 3 years his senior, and a bit of a poultry fellow. Carrying an empty luggage, he always had on him, he said to Adrian, “There you are young master. It is dangerous to wander off on your own.”

“I wasn’t wandering off, I was looking for the owner of this box, and it has been found,” said Adrian.

After some roundaboutness, Sasha was able to convince the cops that Adrian was a nobleman acting upon his good intentions. When the pair left the train station, both breathed in a sigh of relief.

Sasha was the first to speak, “That was a close one.”

“You said it,” said Adrian.

“I think we are getting a little bit too old for the game,” commented Sasha.

“It is not as if anyone is hiring at the moment, and we haven’t any goods to sell on the market, and we do not have any particular skills,” said Adrian sadly.

“Well, you are good at sewing,” chuckled Sasha pointing at his shirt.

“That is a woman’s work. Nobody is going to trust a dude with their finery,” said Adrian.

“Excuses, excuses. And if that’s woman’s work, then what does that make you?” asked Sasha.

In response, Adrian punched Sasha’s shoulder. Adrian did not flinched, since he knew it would cost him a second punch, as per the established rules. Along the way home, it started snowing. They passed by a pawnshop where they unloaded the day’s catch. The items that usually fetched the best price were the pocket watches and compact mirrors. They were luxury items that were valuable, but also pretty common. With coins in their pockets, Adrian and Sasha performed the weekly grocery shopping, prioritizing the meat products like bacon, and rabbit.

The city they inhabited looked far ancient that what it actually was. Most of the buildings were from the Victorian, and Medieval Era. The newer buildings kept up with that ancient style, thus making certain that the city of London retained its identity. Over the millenniums, the city had been destroyed and rebuilt countless of times. Adrian and Sasha lived in one of the old, musty concrete buildings from that old forgotten era. The windows were clear, and impact resistant. Despite its exterior ornamentation, the flat that served as an orphanage had a simple interior. Indoors, there was a group of 20 orphans all huddled together before the dimming fireplace.  

They opened the door, after knocking a couple of times. It was bolted on many places, in part because the door nob’s keyhole was broken.

Frowning, Sasha said, “I thought you were going to fix that.”

“There aren’t any of the parts to make the repair,” explained Adrian. 

“Yes, there are. I know, because I bought them,” said Sasha.

“Oh, so I forgot. I have a lot of things on my mind,” said Adrian putting the food on the table.

A group of children crowded around the bags, and like ravenous animals they devoured everything in sight.

Sasha then added, after munching on a piece of bread, “Well, you should get that fixed. Don’t forget what happened last time!”

“I know, I am sorry, sheesh! Can’t I just eat first,” said Adrian.

“No, if I left you eat first, I am going to forget, and then you are going to forget. Do it now, like right now!” insisted Sasha.

“Fine! Jesus!” said Adrian.

He went to the second floor, and looked through the items inside a box at the foot of his cot. He found there the bolts, the new doorknob and a screw driver. Adrian opened the front door to fix it. He stopped when he noticed a lot of people running and yelling. He closed the door and he ran up to the third floor. Sasha too had noticed the noise and he was already upstairs. There was a crowd of people rioting by the nearby factory. Manifestations had been occurring over the past couple of months. Still, this was the first time it had gotten this frenzied. The moment that Adrian heard shots fired he mobilized the children in the orphanage. They all left the orphanage and scatter to the 4 winds. They were schedule to meet in the abandoned church in the outskirts of the city.

Adrian was the last person to attempt to leave the orphanage. When everyone was gone, he lifted a floor tile, to check upon his hidden stash. After securing his tiny box on his person, he started running out. A swarm of hysterical people passed through him and even over him at times. He was carried along with the frenzy straight through the main alley. Since he was small, he was not able to see well the cause of the alarm. It was when shots were fire, and half the people behind him suddenly dropped dead that he was able to see the huge behemoth. It was like a moving armor, only two stories tall. As it walked, its claw feed made heavy thumping sounds on the ground, which combined with the clanking created by each movement of the armor. After this, some of the more cowardly folks did the rational thing and crawled on all fours begging for their lives. The armor threw a steel net over them and continued its crowd control mission.

Adrian slipped past the people, and into an alleyway to get away from the mechanical creature. He eventually arrives to the slums. There he saw two more of those armored giants. The one crafted with ornate silver and gold was making strange motions. Eventually, the chest plate opened and a human maiden climbed out. It was the ebony lady from before. She kicked the leg of her suit, and yelled, “Piece of junk!”

The so called piece of junk was indeed an interesting piece of hardware. With a slimmer frame, and a sword instead of a gun. This one instead of being two stories, was only 6 meters tall. For one as small as Adrian, the robot still seemed like a mountain to him. While the other armored giant stoically watched, the lady brought out a small computer and plugged it to the leg of the armor. She was in the process of debugging the darn thing. A group of rioters just then comes from the side, and start shooting up the armors. Her companion leaves her alone to pursue the rioters.

During the skirmish, she gets shot in the arm. Not used to sudden bursts of pain, the lady faints and starts bleeding out. Adrian did the gentlemanly thing, and got her out of the street and into one of the nearby shacks. An hour after bandaging her wound, the lady awoke in a pretty foul mood. Taking out a gun, she says, “You! You are the little thieving bastard from the train station!”

“As I said before, I haven’t any need to steal anything,” said Adrian calmly.

He starts making his way out when he hears the clicking of the gun. Adrian sneered in response as he dropped one by one, the ammo he had taken from the gun. The lady made a motion to stand, but she was weak from the blood loss. She fell down on the floor, breathing heavily.

When Adrian went outdoors, he saw that the second armor had already returned. Not certain what to do, he tiptoed slowly out, while the armors followed his movements with their heads. Adrian stopped and returned to stand before them.

Pretty confused, Adrian asked, “You are not going to attack me?”

“We only respond to hostiles. Since you haven’t a weapon, and you show a kind disposition helping an officer of the law, we have no reason to show you any animosity,” explained the second armor. While the first was made of silver, the second was composed of brass and copper.

“Well, thank you officers? I am just doing my civic duties, he, heh! Bye,” said Adrian starting to walk away.

He flinched when he heard the two pairs of giant footsteps following behind. Adrian turned around and asked, “Can I help you officers?”

“It is best that we escort you for the time being. The city is under siege by terrorists, and you have a duty to attend to. You best come inside,” said the silver armor kneeling down and extending its hand.

“Ok… I guess,” said Adrian taking its hand and getting inside.

When he was inside the cushioned seat, the chest plate of the silver armor closed. He read on a small screen this instruction, “Put on the glasses!”

When he did, Adrian was able to see through the armor’s eyes. He noted the motion of his hands. He then said, “Well, this is different.”

“How so? Don’t tell me it is your first time inside an Oblique Armor?” asked the silver armor.

“Yes,” said Adrian meekly.

“I was under the impression the subject matter had been covered in the Academy Officer, Adrian,” said the silver armor.

Officer, thought Adrian even more confused.

“Yes, no, but I came very late into the officer program you see. Parents of influence and all that boring nonsense,” said Adrian.

“I see,” said the armor flatly.

His partner then said, “Well, allow me to explain this briefly. We are automatons, under the direct guidance of the London police. This is the first time we have been deployed. We were designed to work with and follow the directions of a single operator. See that round sphere before you. It is biometric. The moment a person touches it, we are imprinted upon them, sort of speak, for now and forever. So, what is our mission… Officer Adrian.”

Adrian was silent for a while, taking this all in. Eventually he said, “There are some orphans in the outskirts of town.”

The brass armor then said starting to run, “Let’s go arrest them, shall we.”  

Adrian running after the brass armor said, “No! We are going there to protect them!”

The silver armor then said, “He knows what you meant. He is only messing with you.”

When the pair of armors arrived to the church, there was a lot of screaming and yelling. Adrian got out the cabin, and said, “Guys, it’s me! I brought some back up!”

Sasha was the first to speak, “What are they?”

“They and me, we are good cops. You are now under the London police witness protection,” explained Adrian.

The silver armor gave a sideways look and asked, “They are?”

“Yes!” yelled Adrian. He used sign language to say to Sasha, “Just go with it!”

Sasha nodded and said, “Yes, we know the identity of the terrorist leader, and we need protection.”

Adrian narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. He could deal with his suspicions later. For the time being, all that mattered was getting as far away from London as it was possible.