About an hour before midnight, a guy in a white wolf costume walked up to the docks of Turtle Island. He asked the Dock Foreman a question.
"Nobody's going to the Uber Marshes any more." The Dock Foreman answered. He was an awkward, skinny guy with a brush of hair, work overalls, and a safety helmet that sat lopsided on his head. "Everybody's scared of the Frenzieds."
"Why?" the guy in a white wolf costume wanted to know.
"I hear the Destroyer took control of them." The dock foreman said conspirationally. "People last night saw him there, and they say his eyes turned red!"
"Is that so…?" He glanced to the side. "What's going on around here anyway? There's that group of knights over there, but they don't seem to be doing anything in particular... and I heard rumors of trouble here."
"Wasn't here. Was the Uber Marshes." The Foreman said.
"Is it possible the island might sink or something?" wolfy guy said.
The Dock Foreman scoffed. "What, you think this place is on the back of a giant turtle or something? This island was named for the turtle Wilds on the beaches. That's all it is."
The guy in the costume took off the helmet and wiped sweat off his face. "Whew... say, is there somewhere I can buy normal clothes around here?"
"Market Street is that way." The Foreman pointed.
The guy in the wolfy costume went for it like a shot. The Dock Foreman watched him go and shook his head. "Nutcase walking around in furs in this weather. Where does he think he is, the Continent of Eternal Winter?"
And then he made a call.
"J-Knights Hotline? Yes. I'd like to report a Most Wanted sighting. You're still offering a reward for those, right? Yes, I just saw Colin the Destroyer on Turtle Island. He's headed to the Market Street."
***
{There's no danger of anything here. And this suit is unbearably hot!} Colin thought grumpily as he walked into Market Street looking for decent clothes. For some reason, his entire inventory was inaccessible right now. Maybe going to the Lower Plane did something, but try as he might, Colin couldn't warp in his normal gear.
[Colin?] the thought came from above and quite a way to the north.
[Alicia?] Colin sent back, still looking for a clothing shop.
[They've found you! The Dock Foreman at Turtle Island reported a sighting!] Alicia sent. [Get out of there, quick!]
[What? But Rita said...]
[I just spoke with Abby. She called me to tell me that someone else might start stealing the bounty I've been so successful at collecting if I didn't act fast. She also said Rita was behaving badly, acting all high-and-mighty with her new coordinator position. Henry and Katrin are planning a scouting mission with the Wind Knights. They're just going to keep an eye on what they think is the Cult's Command Saucer. They're in no real danger - they've already been caught and released. But you...]
Alicia was getting nearer at an amazing pace, but she was still very, very far away. Colin had to stop and wonder just how far a range their think-speak was capable of reaching. He felt sure that he hadn't been able to talk to Lynn at this kind of distance. This was several times that maximum range.
[Why would Rita call me, then? She used something called Trans-Planar comms...]
[Abby used that to call me too. It costs about 100cr a minute. Basically it uses comms relays in the Higher Planes, the kind of satellites that enables ships to talk to other ships in other star systems. It even allows people to call other people from Plane to Plane. That's why it's called Trans-Planar and that's why people in the Middle Plane can use it too. It's using a cannon to kill a housefly, but it works and it works reliably. Speaking of which, I hear Nakama World uses the Orbital Space Station for its usual comms traffic. Somehow, the Cult got control of that and now only their people can use comms normally on Nakama World. The rest of us need comms towers or Trans-Planar.]
[Great. But what does that have to do with Rita's call for help?]
[Rita seems to think their scouting mission was extremely dangerous.]
Colin paused, finding a reasonable looking shop. It sold clothes, leather gear, and light armor. [Well, I guess it is. Kinda.]
[They've already been caught and released, remember? What else do they have to lose? They've already lost all their Comrades and most of their gear. Well, except Katrin. She got a handsome compensation. You know how that goes. Three high class Comrades, money and items...]
[Lost their gear...] Colin froze. [Was that what happened to me? When I died in the Lower Plane... and then...]
[What are you talking about?]
[I can't warp in my clothes. I can't even access my inventory.]
[Hahaha! Colin's lost his clothes!] Alicia burst out laughing.
[Hey! Whatever happened to not hurting me?] Colin grouched, but it wasn't a harsh thought. He wasn't actually hurt or anything, and Alicia knew it (and she knew he knew she knew it). He just felt... sheepish.
[Let me guess. You're looking for new clothes.]
[Pretty much, yeah.]
[Well, the Foreman said you were in a white fur costume, so I think changing clothes is actually a good idea. I'll be there soon. Nighwind sends his regards.]
Colin entered the shop and glanced over the clothing nearby. [How did your secret training go?]
[Easy as pie. All I really needed to do was issue commands and learn the conditions of use. The difficult part was knowing the secret technique combo existed and fulfilling the requirements for using it. Once I knew that, well, the next thing Nightwind taught me was the Seven Winds Vector technique.]
[What's that?] Colin asked as he picked up some jeans, a blue pair, a brown pair and one that was dark gray.
[Basically it's a combination of the Tailwind technique and the Wing Fury, except we use that power for speed instead of attack. It's meant for long range travel. It also uses formations and vector techniques. Apparently birds fly faster in V-formation, did you know?]
[That sounds really useful.] Colin picked out a white shirt, a gray t-shirt, and a black turtleneck.
[It gobbles up MP like crazy.] Alicia grimaced. [Or maybe my Comrades just aren't high-level enough to use it easily. I had to make two stops to feed them already, and I'm barely going to make it there as it is. On top of that, my birds are too full to eat again any time soon.]
[That's coming a long way with a lot of effort just to find me.]
[Oh, not just to find you. I came here to kill you. Bounty-collecting policy, you understand.] Alicia's thoughts held humor. [So please don't let anyone else kill you.]
[You came all the way here like this just to kill me so we can respawn right back at the Heart of the Forest?] Colin grimaced.
Alicia paused. She was nearly there. [Okay, maybe not. I did spend all that effort getting here, after all. Maybe we can evade the knights and get to the Uber Marshes if we're careful. But you have to lay low.]
[I like that idea better. I'm about to buy new clothes and I don't want to lose it all again so soon by dying.] Colin picked up a brown leather vest from the armor section and went to the counter to pay.
"Oho! The Destroyer's looking to put down his furs?" the guy at the counter mentioned. "Don't you want something to cover your head as well?"
{Can EVERYONE recognize me so easily?!}
"Well..." Colin looked at the man suspiciously, but the guy was a salesman, after all, and Colin was buying, so... "What do you have in mind?"
"Cowboy hat? It's got a targeting assistance system for those who want to use Adventura Imports." He offered. "Lina Visor? Beanie? It's thermo-regulated, so it won't get too hot."
"Any straw hats?"
"Sorry, no. We only offer protective headgear."
A straw hat seemed protective enough to Colin, but lacking that, a Lina Visor and Beanie would do. A cowboy hat stood out a little too much. Colin picked one that was gray with a black stripe around the rim.
He put on the black turtleneck, the leather vest, and dark gray jeans, the beanie and the gray Lina Visor, then stuffed everything else into a new backpack. The guy at the counter charged him 2000cr, with discretion guaranteed. Colin paid without arguing. If that was the price to keep the salesman from telling everyone about his new look, it was worth it.
{But still... I can't believe I lost all my gear so easily. Is dying in the Lower Plane really THAT bad?}
Probably. Actually, it was more like he got off easy. Colin seemed to remember that dying in the Lower Plane actually had more severe consequences. {Was that really the Lower Plane? Or was it the Ancient Ways? Or somewhere in between?}
And why in all Dreamworlds did he end up in a white fur costume?
[Colin! Run!]
[What?] Colin half-froze, tried to turn around casually to see what spooked her.
[They've spotted you! RUN!] Alicia screamed mentally.
Colin leapt away and started running even before he asked, [Who?!]
Alicia sent him an image; himself, running toward an alley while a girl with a huge red crescent of a pole-arm landed at the spot he'd been at a moment ago. A guy with a tall curved red scimitar lunged in from the side.
{The Twins of the Red Moon. Two of the J-Knights Seven Champions are after me.} Colin gulped, hopping aside to dodge a fire hydrant and changed directions in mid-hop. He abandoned the idea of running through the alley, instead dashing down the street to the yells of the sparse passer-by. {If they chase me into an alley, I'm as good as caught. I have to lose them in a crowd.}
Alicia was stunned. [That's… true. I didn't even think of that. Since when did you start thinking like that?]
Colin redoubled his speed as the Twins of the Red Moon closed in on him, relying more on Alicia's distant view of the situation than his own eyes. [I don't know when, or how, or why… but I know it's true. The J-Knights won't risk harming innocents. If they were the Cult, the alley would be the way to go. But this…]
[Cult ahead!] Alicia barked another warning, her gaze shifting forward. Colin stumbled, losing his distant viewpoint, forced to rely on his own eyes to guide his steps once more, but he saw what she meant. Just down the road were a squad of four Green Men carrying big guns and one priest guy in robes.
Behind him, the Twins of the Red Moon raised their weapons.
Colin was caught smack dab in between both groups.
***
{How annoying can Rita get?} Katrin groaned as she greeted the J-Knights' newest coordinator and Tomoe at the Turtle Island airport arrivals station. "You didn't have to come all this way, you know."
"I had to! You weren't listening to me!" Rita began.
But right then, a whole lot of shouting started up. It sounded like...
Katrin jumped. "Colin? Where?!"
Henry pointed. There was Colin, scrambling like a madman as the Twins of the Red Moon chased him down the street, scattering Boo-Pigeons and almost crashing into a hot-dog cart as he ran.
"Wait! Not that way!" Rita, too, had seen him now, and was screaming a warning. "The Cult…!"
Katrin saw them too. "What? Since when did…?!"
Rita reacted instantly. "Code Red! Cultists down Dockside Street! Emergency scramble! Take them out, NOW!"
"But what about catching Colin…" Henry began.
"Stop the Cult first!" Rita snapped.
Colin skidded to a halt when he saw the Green Men. He spun to face the Twins of the Red Moon. The Green Men saw him too. They raised their guns.
"Get down!" Katrin shouted. "Colin, get DOWN!"
But he didn't hear her. He was looking around frantically trying to find a third option, a way out…
"Shinji!" Katrin turned to look for him, but he wasn't there. The only other Wind Knight around was Swift, who was lounging around on his feathery Comrade, watching the whole scene with amusement. "Swift! Help!"
"Why?" Swift asked, curious.
"Emergency Evacuation job!" Katrin called. "Two thousand to get him to safety!"
"Nah." Swift yawned. "I wanna watch this."
Colin finally came to his senses and made his decision. The J-Knights simply wanted to kill him. The Cult wanted to do worse. He ran toward the Twins of the Red Moon, clearly resigned to getting killed and respawning somewhere safe rather than risk capture by the Cult.
It was too late. The Green Men acted first. They started firing and both Twins of the Red Moon vanished in flashes of red light.
"Red!" Rita gasped. "They've put up a barrier! Emergency Alert! Barrier around Turtle Island! I repeat; the Cult has raised a barrier around Turtle Island! Anyone dying will be forced to respawn here!"
"How did they even get here?!" Henry asked.
Katrin didn't know how to answer. Rita and Henry were just about the only people left around Katrin. Everyone else had gone charging in to attack the Green Men. Colin himself was warping in Comrades. There was Kirin, Eclipse, Cour and Foxie…
{Where's Shiro?} Katrin wondered. {And Raiki?}
Guns were firing. Cour went down and then faded away. Eclipse soared high, Foxie went left, Kirin sped right with Colin under her wing. Some of the J-Knights were closing in on Colin, Alicia among the foremost of them…
The Cult Priest touched a spot on his chest hidden by his robe, and spoke. In a flash, a six-headed Hydra appeared.
"He warped in a Comrade!" Katrin stared. "He's a Traveler too?!"
Only then did she take a good look at his face and realized something else. Henry said it for her. "That Priest… he's not much older than I am. He's a kid."
"A kid with the funding of the Cult of Gaia to back him up?!" Rita gasped. "That's it, isn't it? They're now sending in their own kids and giving them outrageous advantages."
"Outrageous, but legal." Katrin said grimly.
"How come?" Henry asked.
"All they needed was Clira." Katrin told him, vexed. "I thought it was almost over! I thought they were running out of time..."
"Why so?" Henry blinked.
Katrin froze, but Rita had a ready answer. "Since last night, we finally got the attention of Dreamworlds Admin. They're keeping an eye on us now. But with this... the fact that this guy is here at all is proof that the Cult believes the authorities would allow it." Rita tapped her badge and started warping in Comrades.
"It makes sense." Henry admitted, and tapped his badge too.
Meanwhile, the Hydra struck. Foxie skidded aside and Eclipse dodged but Kirin vanished. Colin went tumbling onto the road pavement.
"That's some serious power!" Henry marveled. "A Storm Swan taken out with one hit..."
Rita gave up warping in her new Comrades and barked into her comms. "We have to evacuate the dockside! Everyone, be careful!"
Too late. The Hydra turned on the incoming knights and unleashed fire-breath attacks, six heads sent six streams of fire in a combined spread all across the square. People vanished in flashes of red even as they began to warp in Comrades.
The Cult Priest-boy warped in a second Hydra. And a third. And then a Hex Bat. The Cult Zealots fired guns. Five Knights and all their Comrades vanished.
"Not good!" Rita hissed. "All forces, we can't run! Full-scale assault! Don't hold back!"
Full battle was joined.
***
{This wasn't supposed to happen.} Colin gritted his teeth.
Crouched down behind a donut cart, Colin racked his brains for a way out of here without drawing even more attention than he already had. Beside him, Foxie was working on interception duty, shooting down stray shots that came this way. There were a lot of those; Colin half-suspected that the Knights and the Cultists were still trying to kill him even while fighting each other.
{Where's Shiro and Raiki when you need them?} Colin half-groaned. Shiro, especially, would be really useful right about now. As Lord of the White Wolfcats, he could probably summon his entire clan of powerful Wilds. He could field an entire army in an instant, and settle everything in a quick overwhelming sweep…
But he wasn't answering Colin's calls. Neither was Raiki. {Really, the pair of them! After meeting their relatives at the Continent of Eternal Winter, they've gotten much too independent…}
A particularly loud explosion blew up the donut cart. Colin had a moment to see it sailing high in the air overhead dripping donuts over his head before Foxie shoved him aside. It took another moment to realize that he, too, was sailing in mid-air, having been sent flying by the blast. Foxie was trying to get him away, trying to…
There was gunfire, and Foxie disappeared in a flash of red. Colin tumbled to the ground completely out of control. He looked up in time to see Eclipse throw herself in the way of a stream of fire and vanish as well.
{There go the last of my Comrades.} Colin rolled to one side, falling into the gutter quite deliberately. {Not much cover, but I'll take all I can get.}
For a moment, he contemplated suicide. If he died, he and Alicia would just respawn back in the Forest of Legends…
[Barrier!] Alicia warned him. [Forced respawns at Turtle Island Town Square! The Cult are probably waiting right there!]
Colin felt rather vexed about that. His favorite escape route was gone. [What?! How?! Why didn't the Knights do anything about this?]
[They didn't know the Cult was here. There were no Saucers overhead, nothing to indicate they were around… the fact that they showed up on that road coming this way has to mean that…]
[They've already taken control of the town and were moving to take the knights. Kill them here, capture them when they respawn at the town center.] Colin figured with a grimace. [Rita was right. Katrin and Henry really were in trouble. Big time.]
[Great. All the way here and now...] Alicia seethed. [What are the authorities doing? The cultists are using GUNS!]
But even as she thought that, the gunfire ceased. Colin spun to see the knights closing in on the Gaian Priest, but he couldn't see the Zealots. [Where…?]
[They disappeared. They just…] Alicia's thoughts carried shock.
"YAHOO!!" the yell came from a guy on a super-sized swallow-like bird.
"Swift!" the knights cheered for his success.
The Hydras whacked him out of the sky, but it was too late. The damage was already done. The Zealots were out.
Chased as he was, Colin couldn't help smiling. Now they had a level playing field and the Knights's Comrades outnumbered the Priest's by about twenty to one. Hydras vanished in short order, and then the priest himself went.
"Yeah!" cheers rose up among the knights.
But Rita called, "Evacuate! Relocate base! Send scouts to locate the barrier generator! Find out what's going on!"
Knights scrambled. Colin took this as his cue to leave, but just then, two people jumped in his way, their Comrades ready to fry him if he moved.
Rita and Henry. They did not look pleased to see him.
"You're under arrest." Rita said.