Masafumi suddenly stopped in his tracks, eyes wide with alarm. "Owen," he said, his voice tense, "do you feel that?"
Owen blinked and tried to sense whatever it was Masafumi felt. "Feel what?" he asked.
"The air... it's thick with negative energy. It's like nothing I've felt before," Masafumi replied, his gaze darting around, trying to pinpoint the source of the disturbance. "It's…"
"Like ghostly energy? Here?" Owen was skeptical but knew better than to doubt Masafumi's instincts.
"Something is nearby—and it's moving fast. We need to move, now!" Masafumi didn't waste time and hopped on his bike.
Owen joined in and Masafumi turned the engine over. The roar of the motorcycle cut through their ears as they sped through the city streets.
"Where are we going?" Owen shouted over the wind.
"The amusement park!" Masafumi yelled back. "It's already there!"
The ride was a blur of lights and sound, and in fifteen minutes, they found themselves at the gates of the amusement park. The place was alive with the sounds of laughter and joy, an odd contrast to the urgency they felt. They quickly bought tickets and made their way inside.
Owen and Masafumi burst through the entrance of the amusement park, their eyes scanning for any sign of the danger.
"There it is!" Masafumi shouted, pointing toward a dark figure darting on the roofs of the booths. "A demon o-or something!"
Without hesitation, they bolted after it, weaving through crowds of startled park-goers. Owen's long strides covered ground quickly, but the creature moved with an almost supernatural speed, jumping several feet at a time. Masafumi struggled to keep up and Owen soon lost him.
But the demon itself? He kept a lock on him.
The chase led him through a maze of attractions. He dashed past the carousel, narrowly avoiding colliding with prancing horses. "Sorry!" The demon was on top of the carousel and he could hear its loud steps.
Owen got off the carousel and then saw the humanoid demon leaping twenty feet. A black cloak whipped behind it as it soared and for a moment Owen wondered if that was a human.
It wasn't. The demon's head turned and revealed fire-red eyes, a top-hat, and super long legs that were unproportional to the upper half of his humanoid body. The demon set itself onto the roof of a booth and kept going.
'Where in the world is it going?'
Owen tore through a game booth, sending plush toys flying as they leaped over counters and dodged the startled vendor's shouts. Time slowed at one point and he grabbed a SNaF bear plushie, tossed it at a nearby eight-year old girl, and flashed a smile without losing too much speed.
"Owen!" Masafumi had found him and nearly bumped into him.
"Keep your eyes on it!" Owen yelled over his shoulder, dodging a group of kids holding cotton candy.
"I'm trying!" Masafumi panted, his eyes locked on the leaping shadow ahead.
While heading toward the roller coast, leaping across three or four booths at a time, the humanoid leaper disappeared. Owen and Masafumi skidded to a halt as the towering structure loomed before them, the roar of the coaster cars and the screams of the riders filling the air.
"He must have turned. Which way now?" Owen asked, scanning the area frantically. "Use your senses or whatever."
"There!" Masafumi walked back, alert, and pointed to a narrow alley between two food stalls. They took off again, their feet pounding against the pavement as they chased the elusive creature.
The alley opened up into a courtyard with a dazzling fountain at its center. The humanoid leaper was atop of the mountain, unaffected by the water, its glowing red eyes fixed on the Ferris Wheel in the distance. Owen and Masafumi slowed down, catching their breath as they closed in on their target.
"The physical realm isn't affecting it," Masafumi observed. "It's not freshly summoned, it's horribly summoned."
Then the demon jumped and they chased again.
They sprinted across the courtyard, closing the gap between them and the Ferris Wheel. The creature moved with a renewed burst of speed, but Owen and Masafumi were right on its heels.
As they approached the towering ride, the creature flung itself on the roof of the cabin, leaving them standing at the ground floor.
"We need to get up there," Masafumi said.
"But the line-up…" Owen's eyes suddenly caught something. There was the normal line-up that soaked up all the attention and made lining up daunting.
But there was also a super-pass line. Owen ran with Masafumi wordlessly following. At the end of the line were three women. They were just about to get on the ride until a name was called.
"Dr. Belle!"
The brown-haired doctor in question turned. "Owen?" She was eating ice cream, confused. Two women were with her too.
"That's Vittoria & Valentina," Masafumi whispered in his ear.
Alas, they didn't have time. "Sorry, could we go ahead and use your super pass? We need it."
"Huuuh? Who the hell are you?" Vittoria asked.
"Who is this, Grace?"
The twin Instagram models had similar voices yet opposing fashion senses. Vittoria wore oversized silhouettes while Valentina was in shiro lolita–pure white. Juxtaposed outfits and juxtaposed attitudes. One brash, one eerily calm.
Dr. Belle was in jeans, white shirt, blue jacket, and a white hat. Her outfit, while normal, was a far cry from her doctor's cloak.
Owen didn't think to care. He knew she wasn't a doctor right now but he didn't have time. "Remember that gash mark on my chest you kept asking about? I'll tell the truth about it."
But even though Belle wasn't a doctor right now, that didn't mean the switch couldn't be flipped. "What?"
"Too wide for any wolf or dog. Too deep for any animal, really. So what was it?"
"...hm."
"Grace?' Vittoria asked. "Have you lost your mind? Is he some patient that—"
"Here." Dr. Belle ignored her half-sisters and handed her pass to him.
"Thank you! I'll call you later!" He beamed at her and went ahead.
They boarded one of the Ferris Wheel's carts, and as it began to rise, Owen could see the park spreading out below them, a sea of bright lights and movement. 'Mary would have loved this.'
He was at the apex of the Ferris Wheel. Meaning, they had the high-ground.
Masafumi got up and slammed his elbow into the glass window. Before, they had been below the leaping creature but right here, at the top of the Ferris Wheel, they were the ones gazing down.
The two climbed out and went uptop, the wind whipping around them. Even standing, it was nerve-wracking. Owen had done a lot of crazy shit in his life. However, standing two hundred feet in the air with no support or fences was definitely up there.
Owen's heart pounded as he balanced himself. He peered and saw it—a clawed humanoid figure perched on the cart unit ahead of them. Red eyes, a top hat, a suit that was loose and wavy, and its boots equipped with long heels.
"You see it, right?" Masafumi whispered.
"Yeah," Owen replied, his voice low. "What is that thing?"
"Something we need to deal with," Masafumi said grimly. "And we need to act fast."
They inched closer to the edge of the cabin, the Ferris Wheel's slow rotation giving them a chance to take their time. As the unit stopped to linger at the top, the world seemed to hold its breath. Owen took one last look at Masafumi, who nodded.
Owen's muscles tensed as he prepared to jump. The Ferris Wheel was about to descend, and with a deep breath, Owen launched himself toward the cart unit ahead. The wind rushed past him, and time seemed to slow as he soared through the air.