Twisted Wonderland

Twisted Wonderland

Halo Zero: End of Days:

Kitano hit record on his tape player.

“The trouble with playing this game for so long is that the bigger it gets, the more people get involved.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“Other parties either want to stop you or they want in on the action. Either option for me does not play in our favor. As predicted, a couple of groups have come into the picture. The other day, one of my interns was approached by a man in dressed in a business suit. Rumi said that he approached her and told her to give me a message. I didn’t think much about it at first. That was until she said that he had a French accent.

“This is not good. I should have known this was coming. I’m surprised it actually took so long this time. What tipped them off this time? I should expect to hear from Mademoiselle shortly. She and her cult are not the other people that I have to deal with.

“Last night, I got a message from another cult from South Korea. Their name escapes me at the moment, but they mean business. Both sides want in on our game. Vozrozhdeniye and Mam will not accept this. However, it’s not up to them. Still, I have to wonder why they always came to me. I don’t know if they see me as the weakest link or the smartest link. How many times have I encountered them?” Kitano looked up at the ceiling.

“I can either join up or they will cause everything to derail to the point that we have to start over. We’ve come so close this time. I can taste the end coming. The Woman in Red will rise again.

“The stage is set for the final act to begin. Some of the actors may try and stop us, but it is already too late. The End of Days is already here. We are not going to Hell. We are in Hell!”

January first of 2016 was going to be the last day for normalcy as Ikebukuro knew it. The people couldn’t see it for themselves. Some could feel it coming, but others were still blind to it. But which one was worse? Both paths will lead to the same results.

The following is a record of everything that led to Ikebukuro’s demise. A demise that would spread throughout the world. There was so much going on that everything will be told out of order. Some details might not be clear. There might even be some that are still missing. Please bear with me as I try to recall everything to the best of my ability.

It started with the visions. No, those have always been around. They have just been getting worse. It didn’t help that those who kept Ikebukuro safe were scattered out through Japan, trying to plug up the holes that kept bursting. Whenever they managed to plug up one hole, another one popped up. It didn’t help that they all kept appearing at a faster rate.

As a matter of fact, there was yet another hole popping up in the wall right now.

Sonomi opened her eyes to the low hum in her ears. Something about standing in the middle of the streets of Tokyo filled her with a strange sense of ease. No matter where she ended up, coming back here in the early hours of the morning calmed her down. Just being in there out in the empty streets when the sun hadn’t come up yet but the light started creeping out made her calm down and shut up the panic deep down inside her soul. Sonomi could see that light breaking through the thick clouds. She wished that she could just stay here in that moment forever.

Still, Sonomi knew that she had work to do.

She placed her hands to her chest. In her mind, the knot started tightening again.

“The Tower of Waste will rise again,” she said to herself. Sonomi could hear the faint screams in the distance. What she can’t see is that she is the one who is drawing the Tower to the city. She carried the suffering on her back. Sonomi was nothing but a pawn to this show of the Wasteland.

Suddenly, the girl turned her head.

There was that feeling again. How long have they been following her? Sonomi thought that she was being so careful this time. What gave her away this time?

“No, no, no,” she muttered to herself. They couldn’t take her yet.

“I still have so much to do. They can’t take me back. They can’t! I won’t let them!” Sonomi cried. A flash of pain shot through her brain. Another vision clouded her eyes.

Sonomi felt the waves of heat choking her body. Her feet burned from the black rocky surface she stood on. Through the steam, she could see cloaked figures walking toward a gate made of black iron. So many of them had their heads down as they walked. Sonomi tried to scream out to them but her voice got swallowed up by the heat. It felt like her throat was on fire. She coughed as she staggered backward.

Sonomi stumbled into two figures behind her. When she turned around, they were cloaked in cloaks the color of blood. They too had their heads down. One of them wore a crown of dead leaves on their head. She could recognize him. He was mumbling something to himself. Sonomi could only make out one word.

“Agony.”

Suddenly, one of the figures below stopped and turned their head. Sonomi’s eyes widened in panic as their face was charred black like a mask. The eyes glowed a dull red as sulfur flowed from the mouth. It looked like they wanted to say something.

Sonomi didn’t get a chance to hear it. For she was snatched out of that place and pulled back into reality. She didn’t go back to the streets.

When Sonomi vanished again, she vanished to parts unknown within Japan.

Nobody knows when the fog started rolling in. Subtle at first. Some people thought it looked cool with the snow. Those who knew felt so uneasy as they watched the fog roll by.

Shingo shivered as he drew the curtain closed.

“Please be careful tonight,” he heard behind him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Shinra talking to Celty at the door. The dullahan typed on her PDA. Shingo pressed his lips together.

“Hey!” the tech tadpole spoke up. He turned to see the couple looking at him. Shingo looked pale as he paused.

“Please… Please, be careful out there. The fog. It’s… It’s…” he said as he pointed to the window behind him.

"It’s okay," Celty said with her shadows on the ceiling. The tadpole closed his mouth. Celty wrote someone on her PDA directed to Shinra and headed out the door. The doctor turned to the wide-eyed tech tadpole.

“What’s the matter with you?” he asked. He didn’t need to ask. Though Shinra wouldn’t admit it, he too could feel that something was wrong with that fog out there.

She opened her eyes and found herself on the train. She didn’t remember how or when she got in. The train appeared to be taking her into Ikebukuro. This woman tried to retrace what happened to her up to this point. She was in her apartment in Odaiba and now she was here.

The woman buried her head in her hands. She looked through the cracks in her hands. There was no one else around on this train. Maybe the woman could call someone? But then she remembered what everyone kept telling her about how that part of Tokyo became a dead zone. Did anyone even know where she was?

She froze when she felt like someone was sitting next to her, breathing heavily. Against her better judgment, she looked out of the corner of her eye. There was nobody there. The poor woman shivered.

Am I losing my mind?

Ghostly fingers ran along the nape of her neck. The woman froze where she sat. The hairs on her neck stood up. She didn’t get a chance to respond before she heard the next few words.

You’re mine now!

Her body went stiff. Her hands dropped to her lap. The woman sat up straight as the entity moved closer. She looked out of the corner of her eye. Fingertips sank into her neck. The grip seized her throat. Its prey didn’t know what to do. She found herself unable to move. The invisible hands around her neck gradually grew tighter. Its prey started to gag. When she looked in the window, two glowing gold eyes stared back at her over her shoulder. Her heart started racing up to her throat.

Everything happened in violent flashes.

The entity forced her to the floor. Her sweater violently ripped away. Jeans forced down to her ankles. Underwear was torn at with such force that it cut her pale skin. She tried to crawl away. Two invisible knees dug into her lower back. Hands pinned her wrists to the floor. Screaming for help would’ve been useless. Words were spoken to keep her quiet. Tears ran down her cheeks as she felt the pain of something forcing itself into her body.

Stop resisting! You are mine! Even if they kill me, you are still mine!

What else could she do? This entity was the one in control. Who knows what it could do to her if she didn’t comply? She closed her eyes.

Please don’t hurt me.

The woman sat in her seat, fully clothed and staring off into space as the train carried the passengers to their destination.

Celty rode around through the fog. It wasn’t as bad as it was yesterday morning. The dullahan looked around at the snow-covered streets. She could ignore the feeling of unease in her gut. Shingen sent her an email yesterday morning. At first, Celty didn’t know what she was looking at. It appeared the scientist was asking her to pick up a package from an abandoned train station. Even Shinra didn’t understand the message.

“[Did he tell you anything about this?]” his lover typed on the PDA.

“No,” Shinra said, shaking his head. He turned to his fiancée. Both of them had a crawling sense of dread. To say that Shingen had become more erratic since Emilia’s death was an understatement. The higher-ups started talking to Shinra more about the tadpole project. The doctor himself wasn’t handling it so well.

“[Have you decided to take the position?]” Celty typed on Christmas.

“I don’t think I have a choice at this rate,” Shinra said with a sigh. He rolled over and went to sleep.

Celty looked around in the rolling fog. She wasn’t given many details about this package. All that she knew was that this would “turn the tide” in this war. Shingen didn’t make it any clearer than that.

The dullahan could’ve sworn she saw a decaying deer walking around in the darkness. This wasn’t the first time she had seen her. Still, Celty couldn’t help but wonder about the significance of that dying creature. Was that deer an omen of death and destruction? Even Shooter trembled at the sight of that blackened and rotting deer.

However, something else caught Celty’s attention.

The dullahan paused when she heard cackling in the distance. Four figures stood in the middle of the street. No, wait. There were five of them. Before she knew it, Celty was pulling in for a closer look. Five women stood around in a circle, laughing and talking loudly. She couldn’t make out what they were saying. That didn’t matter. The more that Celty looked at these women, the more she became unsettled.

They all wore black dresses that looked like they came from the West in the Victorian age. The women held glasses of some clear liquid. Their skin was covered in blood. So much blood spilled from the cuts and gashes on their skin. One woman threw back her head loud enough to crack her neck. Tiny flakes of snow filled her wide-open mouth. Celty shivered as she rode away.

That wasn’t going to be the last unsettling image that she would see that morning.

Celty made her way down to the abandoned train station without incident. As soon as she pulled up, the dullahan found that she wasn’t alone.

A disheveled-looking woman stood around the entryway. She kept her eyes to the ground as she paced around where she stood. Celty was confused. She approached the woman with caution. The dullahan pushed on her shoulder. The woman didn’t budge. She kept staring at her feet. Celty kept shaking on her shoulder.

Hello? Hello?

Celty didn’t know what to do. Should she go and get help? But there was nobody else around tonight. Plus, cell phones still didn’t work around the city. On top of that, there were no callboxes around. Maybe this could be a trap. Was this woman even human?

Suddenly, the woman’s head snapped upward. Celty staggered backward when she said her dark, empty eyes.

“They lied to you! They have been lying to us!” the woman said in a deep, raspy voice. She sounded like a demon growling at her. Celty tried to back away to Shooter but the deranged woman grabbed her by the wrists.

“He’s not the villain! He was the warning!” she screamed. Shooter rode forward and knocked the woman down. Celty hopped on and rode further into the station.

“Don’t believe the lies they are telling you!” the woman shouted after her. Celty rode away shivering.

Celty found the package at the discontinued ticket booth and got the hell out of there. She didn’t look back until she returned to her apartment. What was that back there? Celty shook her non-existent head. She didn’t want to think about that for the rest of the morning. The dullahan just wanted to get back inside and collapse onto her bed.

Celty had just pushed the up button on the elevator when a corner of white on top of the box caught her attention. Against her better judgment, she looked down at what it was. The title stood out to her in big, bold letters. As soon as Celty read it, a cold chill ran through her body.

“The Real Reason Satan Rebelled.”

In downtown Ikebukuro, Danni sat in the passenger seat of the van. She and Saburo sat there in awkward silence. It didn’t help that the language barrier was larger than the Pacific Ocean. Google Translate was hit or miss at times. Lately, cell phones have been acting weird in the city.

Danni bit down on her lower lip. She looked out the window for a second as she got lost in her thoughts. There was something about Saburo that she couldn’t put her finger on. They started to run into each other more often around the city. It was like fate was pushing them together somehow. Neither one of them could explain why.

“Um…” she said. He didn’t look over at her. Danni bit down on her lower lip. She and he didn’t know each other that well. Still, they were drawn to each other.

“How are you doing?” Danni asked. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. The scientist froze for a second. Why was this so hard to do? Danni shifted in her seat and sat up straight.

“Uh…” she said. This kept getting harder by the second. Saburo didn’t even say a single word. She couldn’t read the expression on his face. Heck, he didn’t bother to look at her.

It was funny how they ended up here in the first place. Once again, Danni got lost on the way to where she was supposed to be working. How did this keep happening? She hadn’t expected to run into Saburo driving along again. But here they were again.

Danni cleared her throat.

“Thank you,” she said. He looked out of the corner of his eye at her. She wasn’t sure if he understood what she was saying or if he was just looking at her as she made sounds with her mouth. Somehow, it didn’t matter at this point.

“I don’t know how we keep running into each other like this,” Danni mumbled more to herself than to anyone with her. She looked out the window again. She hadn’t gotten used to seeing so many people walking around in the streets. Work in the lab kept her from being social outside of her work circle. In truth, Saburo was one of the few people she got to talk to. Well, “talking” was used rather loosely.

Danni leaned back in her seat and sighed. How long have they been sitting here? Something told her that it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like anyone was going to scold her for being late. She would be the only one coming into the lab today. Why was she the only one coming? Danni didn’t have an answer herself. Married to the work, she supposed.

“I’m the only one who’s going to be working at the lab today,” she said. “I know what sounds a bit weird. But I’m helping out with a secret project. I can’t tell you anything other than that. They didn’t give us much to go on either. My branch just shipped me here to Japan with the USB and the emails.” Danni nervously bit on her lower lip.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this,” she said. “I mean, it’s top secret. But they didn’t really tell me much of anything. So it should be okay, right?” Saburo didn’t answer. Danni drew her mouth closed.

This was another painfully awkward moment. Still, these two kept running into each other. Neither one wanted to stop this. How long will this keep going before something changes?

What they don’t know is that Saburo and Danni will eventually become key figures in saving the world. For now, the two will stay awkward and unable to communicate with each other.

Osamu sat in the café near the table station. Why the hell was he here? He stared at the older man sitting across from him at the table. He got a call on the landline in his sleeping quarters.

“What is it?” the man grumbled. The interns knew better than to call so early in the morning. Not if they still wanted their heads on their shoulders.

“Um… Myojin-san…” the receptionist said in a hesitant voice. Osamu sat up in bed when he heard what came next.

“What did you say?!” he shouted.

“Your brother is here in the lobby,” she whispered. Osamu cursed himself. How did that bastard find him here?

“What does he want?” Osamu asked.

“He said that he needed to talk to you,” the poor receptionist said with a nervous laugh.

“Can’t you just make him go away?” he asked.

“He won’t listen to me,” she whispered. “He was insistent on talking to you.” Osamu rolled his eyes.

“I’ll be right down,” he said. The man groaned as he hung up the phone. Like he needed the headache to deal with.

So now, here they were. The man across from him had tattoos all over his arms. The black t-shirt and matching jeans looked so nice compared to what he usually wore. Osamu focused on the tattoo on his brother’s neck.

“I thought you were in prison,” he said.

“I was,” the older man said.

“So why are you here?” Osamu asked. He found himself sneering at the multiple piercings in his ears and the two necklaces around his neck.

“Can’t I just see my little brother because I love him?” the other man asked.

“No,” the younger man said in a deadpan tone. His brother threw up his hands.

“Whatever,” he muttered. Osamu folded his arms across his chest.

“I don’t have time for this, Takashi,” he said. The other man raised his eyebrow.

“What happened to ‘Aniki’?” he asked.

“Look, if you don’t tell me what you want, I’m going to get up and leave,” Osamu said. “I don’t have time for this.” Takashi sneered at him. He had a cold look on his face.

“Ma’s in the hospital.”

“And?”

“They said that she has liver cirrhosis. They put her on a transplant list, but they aren’t sure how long she’s going to last.”

Osamu sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. “That’s a shock. So who’s going to look after her this time?” Neither brother said a word.

It was Marin’s idea.

Mikado blinked at her. “You want to do what now?”

“I want you to give me a baby.” She sounded so serious. The tadpole shrugged to speak.

“Why?”

Marin got up and sat on his lap. She kept her focus on him. They had this conversation before. He knew what the outcome was going to be.

“It’s for my protection, isn’t it?” he asked. Marin nodded once. Despite knowing the outcome, there was still some hesitation. Mikado already condemned one woman to death through his offspring. Marin could survive having a child, but still…

She gently put her finger to his lips.

“It’s alright,” Marin said in a whisper.

“But Marin, I don’t think you know what you are asking of me,” Mikado said.

“I do,” she said. “You don’t have to answer right now. Just think about it.” He started to argue, but she shook her head.

“Just think on it,” Marin said again. Her words lingered in his head. She made it sound like it was the most practical thing to do. They were going to need all of the help they were going to get in this war. But still…

“Is something wrong?”

“Huh?” Mikado turned his head. Michiko frowned as she stared at him. The tadpole waved her off.

“Nothing. It’s nothing,” he lied. Before Michiko could press him for more, Yasuke came back with a plate of grilled shrimp for Mikado.

“Here you are,” he said. The tadpole nodded his head and took the plate.

“I will partake in this meal,” he said. Michiko took another bite of her squid as Mikado dug into the fresh shrimp.

By now, the sun was starting to rise. Everyone in Ikebukuro was getting ready for the day. This was probably after Kaori got her horse back. Maybe a bit earlier.

The fog was still sitting dense and heavy in the city. Despite the people walking around, Ikebukuro had grown quiet. It’s like they could tell that something or someone was watching them. They might as well have been the inmates in a prison. Where was the warden? Who was the warden? No one wanted to answer that question. There were still some who had the feeling that something worse was coming.

There was that sinking feeling that if someone made one wrong move, everything would go collapsing into the pit of despair. Or were they already falling and they just didn’t know it? Who or what was going to make the first move?

Celty and Shinra looked down at the box.

“What do you think is in there?” the doctor asked. The dullahan shrugged and shook her head. It felt wrong to open it somehow. What was worth running into a crazy woman in the early hours of the morning at an abandoned train station?

Celty used her shadows to cut the tape. Shinra opened the box. The couple looked confused.

“Uh… what is that?” the doctor asked. Celty didn’t have an answer to give. She reached down and pulled out what looked like a manuscript of an untitled book. She thought back to the pamphlet the crazy woman had slipped her. Speaking of which…

“Celty,” Shinra spoke up. “What is this pamphlet, ‘The Real Reason Satan Rebelled’?” The dullahan turned to see him holding up the paper in his hand. Her shadows snatched it out of his hand and balled it up.

“Celty?” Shinra asked. She began typing feverishly on her PDA.

“[Nothing! Nothing at all! Just forget it!” she wrote. The dullahan turned and stormed away down the hall, leaving Shinra standing there so confused.

Meanwhile, Kathy had her own problems. She was in her room looking over her notes when she heard footsteps walking up to her doorway.

“No, I’m not hungry right now,” she said, turning her head. The girl froze. A boy about her age, maybe a little bit older, stood in the doorway. The black trench coat, boots, and scarf gave him a strange and somber look that made Kathy so confused.

“Uh… hi?” she asked. The boy didn’t answer at first. Kathy cocked her head to the side.

“Can I help you?” she asked. The boy still didn’t answer. His gaze stayed locked on her. It looked like he was holding onto something in his pocket. Kathy bit down on her lower lip as her eyes wandered around the room for a way to defend herself.

She froze when she heard him say something.

“What did you say?” Kathy asked.

“I have been sent here to kill you,” the boy said. Her eyes widened in panic.

“What?!” she shouted. The boy pulled out a giant knife. Kathy put up her hands as she backed up to the desk.

“Somebody hired me to kill you,” he said. “Nothing personal, really.”

“Why would you want to kill me?!” she cried. Kathy didn’t know what to do. It didn’t look like there was any way for her to escape. The boy started walking up to her with his knife pointed out. Kathy had many thoughts running through her brain. There was still so much she needed to do. Who was this boy? Who did she piss off?

“Kathy? Kathy, are you okay up there?” someone asked down the hall. The would-be victim and assassin looked up to see Erika walking up to the doorway. She paused in her tracks.

“Oh,” she said. The fujoshi reached into her bag just as the assassin boy clicked his tongue. He raced forward to attack but Erika hit him in the face with her bag. All of the manga inside was heavy enough to do some damage to the boy’s face. He stumbled backward, the knife knocked out of his hand.

“Fuck!” he shouted.

“Stay down!” Erika shouted with a taser in her hand. She was ready to attack if she had to. The boy clicked his tongue.

“This isn’t over yet!” he snapped. The would-be assassin reached into his bag and threw black sand into the air. The little crystals exploded in the air like tiny firecrackers. Kathy and Erika had to cover their mouths. When the dust cleared, the boy was gone. The fujoshi stood there quietly for a moment.

“What was that about?” she asked. Kathy trembled before she ran over to Erika and hugged her in tears.

“Hey, hey. Are you okay? What happened?” she asked. The girl held on as she sobbed and trembled. Erika just patted her on the back and shushed her.

There’s so much unfolding around the people of Ikebukuro. Ever since Kaori got her horse back, the End of Days had arrived. No one saw it at first, but now it’s starting to make its presence known. Now, the question is, what now? There were only two options left: surrender or fight back. No matter what everyone chooses, they will have to do something fast. Because they don’t have much time left.

“We are not going to Hell. We are in Hell!”

Kitano hit stop on his recorder.h