heart rate increases he’s barely able to restrain himself.
Goto stares down at his weapon, the metallic surface glowing red-hot, inexplicably beginning to bend. The barrel sags, dripping and melting into shiny globs on the pavement below.
Paige stands by a dumpster at the edge of the parking lot, focusing intently, her eyes aflame. A faint purple pulse spirals around her extended fingers.
Discarding the melted remains of his weapon with a frustrated grunt, Goto reaches out towards Paige, twisting his hand in the air. It’s the motion Cole had seen before; eyes focused, arm extended, fingers twisting an invisible valve. A heartbeat passes and Paige clutches her head, eyes rolling to whites. She drops to her knees, screaming, convulsing, arching her back as spikes of agony pierce her brain.
Dia and Cole run to her aid, dropping to their knees at her side, but there’s nothing they can do. The damage has been done. Paige coughs and rolls to her side, spattering the pavement with crimson.
Amid the distraction, Goto tears a small metallic device from his jacket no larger than a pocket watch. He pulls a tab from each side and extends the device into a large flexible hoop. He tosses it at the ground by his feet. It hums with power. The hoop rattles, shakes, and then bursts forth with a beam of energy that extends into the sky, stretching into the clouds like a high-powered floodlight, casting an oval of light onto the dark clouds overhead. He throws himself into the opening and disappears with a wild electric buzz.
As the light begins to fade Cole sprints towards the opening. He abandons all sense of reason; he came to the warehouse to rescue his friend, but now, somehow, this simple mission has become a deeply personal vendetta. He wants Goto to pay the same way that Heinreich did. He wants to see him battered, lying in a pool of his own blood.
Cole jumps into the glowing light and disappears.
Dia screams his name but it’s too late.
Paige looks up at her sister, eyes half closed. “I’m all right,” she whispers painfully; it’s all she can manage. “Just go.”
Dia quickly nods, and without a word she dashes towards the flickering light, pulling a knife from her belt as she runs. With the flick of her wrist the blade saws through her leather wraps, slicing her tender skin beneath. She dives in to the portal head-first. The light dies with the pop of a flash bulb, and then sizzles out of existence. All that remains are charred lengths of metal and a large black circle where the portal closed, scorching the pavement and turning the surrounding area to charcoal.
Multicolored streaks bend and sway, curling into the mouth of a pulsing funnel. Dia and Cole find themselves tumbling downward – or upward, it’s impossible to tell – spinning out of control like helpless children caught in a powerful undertow. Nearly a minute passes and they emerge from an opening in the sky, landing face-first into warm, white sand. It feels like they’ve fallen for several miles, but their landing was soft, almost controlled.
They slowly regain their footing and dust off their clothes. They find themselves standing in a vast desert, perfectly flat and never-ending, stretching forever in every direction. Everything is hazy and surreal; sharp fragments of a memory half-forgotten from a bad dream the night before. A few random trees, cracked and lifeless, dot the surrounding landscape, and tumbleweeds bounce gently along the sand. A crisp light pours from all directions, bathing the landscape in a perpetual brightness that eliminates every shadow. This entire world is bright and overexposed, like a yellowed photograph left to bake in the sun.
“Why did you follow me down here?” Cole asks, continuing to dust the sand off the front of his shirt with both hands.
“I don’t know,” Dia moans. “I was just asking myself that same question.” She brushes the platinum locks from her face. The bright yellow light is nearly
Goto stares down at his weapon, the metallic surface glowing red-hot, inexplicably beginning to bend. The barrel sags, dripping and melting into shiny globs on the pavement below.
Paige stands by a dumpster at the edge of the parking lot, focusing intently, her eyes aflame. A faint purple pulse spirals around her extended fingers.
Discarding the melted remains of his weapon with a frustrated grunt, Goto reaches out towards Paige, twisting his hand in the air. It’s the motion Cole had seen before; eyes focused, arm extended, fingers twisting an invisible valve. A heartbeat passes and Paige clutches her head, eyes rolling to whites. She drops to her knees, screaming, convulsing, arching her back as spikes of agony pierce her brain.
Dia and Cole run to her aid, dropping to their knees at her side, but there’s nothing they can do. The damage has been done. Paige coughs and rolls to her side, spattering the pavement with crimson.
Amid the distraction, Goto tears a small metallic device from his jacket no larger than a pocket watch. He pulls a tab from each side and extends the device into a large flexible hoop. He tosses it at the ground by his feet. It hums with power. The hoop rattles, shakes, and then bursts forth with a beam of energy that extends into the sky, stretching into the clouds like a high-powered floodlight, casting an oval of light onto the dark clouds overhead. He throws himself into the opening and disappears with a wild electric buzz.
As the light begins to fade Cole sprints towards the opening. He abandons all sense of reason; he came to the warehouse to rescue his friend, but now, somehow, this simple mission has become a deeply personal vendetta. He wants Goto to pay the same way that Heinreich did. He wants to see him battered, lying in a pool of his own blood.
Cole jumps into the glowing light and disappears.
Dia screams his name but it’s too late.
Paige looks up at her sister, eyes half closed. “I’m all right,” she whispers painfully; it’s all she can manage. “Just go.”
Dia quickly nods, and without a word she dashes towards the flickering light, pulling a knife from her belt as she runs. With the flick of her wrist the blade saws through her leather wraps, slicing her tender skin beneath. She dives in to the portal head-first. The light dies with the pop of a flash bulb, and then sizzles out of existence. All that remains are charred lengths of metal and a large black circle where the portal closed, scorching the pavement and turning the surrounding area to charcoal.
Multicolored streaks bend and sway, curling into the mouth of a pulsing funnel. Dia and Cole find themselves tumbling downward – or upward, it’s impossible to tell – spinning out of control like helpless children caught in a powerful undertow. Nearly a minute passes and they emerge from an opening in the sky, landing face-first into warm, white sand. It feels like they’ve fallen for several miles, but their landing was soft, almost controlled.
They slowly regain their footing and dust off their clothes. They find themselves standing in a vast desert, perfectly flat and never-ending, stretching forever in every direction. Everything is hazy and surreal; sharp fragments of a memory half-forgotten from a bad dream the night before. A few random trees, cracked and lifeless, dot the surrounding landscape, and tumbleweeds bounce gently along the sand. A crisp light pours from all directions, bathing the landscape in a perpetual brightness that eliminates every shadow. This entire world is bright and overexposed, like a yellowed photograph left to bake in the sun.
“Why did you follow me down here?” Cole asks, continuing to dust the sand off the front of his shirt with both hands.
“I don’t know,” Dia moans. “I was just asking myself that same question.” She brushes the platinum locks from her face. The bright yellow light is nearly
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