Phantasia…

As Jackie was about to put her first foot over the borderline, a dark purple vortex appeared on the other side, blocking the girl’s way back to Earth. This was one of Sumire’s wormholes! …No. Sumire was dead. And even if she wasn’t, she’d have no reason now to prevent Jackie from going home. Of course, this was the work of…

“Luna Wolfe,” Jackie scowled, turning around to face her adversary.

“Really, Jackie,” Luna sighed, “you’re really helping these two defeat me, after everything they’ve put you through?”

“They’re my friends, Luna,” Jackie frowned. “And they’re your friends too.”

“Not anymore!” Luna cheered, spinning around on the spot on her tiptoes. “…What happened to Shakespeare?” the tengu growled, her face completely shifting from the faux-smile she was displaying just a second ago.

“She’s dead,” Katherine bluntly stated, her expression completely blank.

“I know that, you idiot!” Luna snarled, “How did she die? Blood loss from our last encounter?”

“M.S. Webber went to the human realm,” Jackie replied. “You had nothing to do with it. You were never strong enough to kill Sumire Shakespeare.”

“Pfft!” Luna spat. “Don’t make me laugh!” she paused. “I’ll show you… I’m the strongest demon in all Phantasia!”

Jackie, Katherine and Noh stared down at Luna’s right hand as her red sword materialized in her palm. This was it. This was the final battle. Noh stared up at the Moon, its form still full from Kitty’s psychic intervention. His hands morphed into big furry paws as ears popped up from under his hair. Jackie stood behind Katherine, peeking her head out to watch the two lupine demons fight.

“What about you, Kat,” Jackie asked, “don’t you have some magic power that can help us?”

“Katherine… can’t,” the nekomata sighed, “if Katherine uses her power, Luna will just copy it!”

“You betcha!” Luna smiled, swinging her blade in Noh’s direction. “But you shouldn’t be surprised, Jacks! You’re the one who created me, after all! You gave me the ability to copy things, didn’t you? Because you wanted your character to be the most powerful being in Phantasia! You wanted me to be the most powerful being in Phantasia!”

“But things were different back then,” Jackie yelled, “I didn’t know Phantasia was real! I just wanted… I just wanted to write a dumb story and have fun!”

“Uh, Miss, uh…” Noh sweated, dodging another of Luna’s swings, and turning to Katherine, “I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

“Katherine is called Katherine,” the French maid smiled.

“Miss Katherine,” Noh yelped, “are you sure you can’t use your power?”

“Yeah,” Luna jeered. “Go ahead! Show me what you can do!”

“Luna, please,” Jackie cried out, “you don’t have to fight us!”

“So you’ll join me in ruling over Phantasia?” Luna asked.

Katherine gently pushed Jackie aside and slowly walked toward Luna, as the tengu held out her arms and summoned a downpour.

“Oh, so you’re approaching me?” Luna taunted, “Instead of running away, you’re coming towards me? Why?”

“Katherine can’t beat the shit out of you, without coming closer,” the maid replied, stopping in her tracks.

“Oho!” Luna chuckled, “Then come as close as you like!”

Suddenly the rain stopped and Luna’s sword disappeared, as did the vortex on the borderline. The Moon slowly went back to its normal position, causing Noh to regain his more human-like appearance.

“What?!” Luna barked, “What is the meaning of this?!”

“Jackie, run,” Katherine commanded, “get across the borderline. Go!”

Luna narrowed her eyes and forcefully pushed Noh to a side, running past Katherine and catching up to Jackie faster than she could cross over to Earth. Luna grabbed the back of Jackie’s shirt collar with one hand, and raised the other to her mouth imitating a yawn.

“So,” Luna began, turning her head back towards Katherine and Noh, “you have the power to disable everyone else’s magic?” she asked the nekomata.

“Only for a few minutes…” Katherine sighed.

“And you really thought that would be long enough to let Jackie escape?” Luna asked. “No matter. With the ability to negate all other witches’ and demons’ powers, no one will be able to stop me now!” the tengu cackled.

“No!” Jackie screamed.

“…You called?” Noh genuinely asked.

“And once your little spell wears off, Kat…” Luna began, “I think I’ll try using that ability to kill all of you!”

Jackie stared at Luna blankly. Then she smiled. And then she laughed.

“What’s so funny?!” the wolf tengu demanded.

“You can’t kill me,” Jackie stated matter-of-factly. “If a summoner dies or leaves Phantasia, their kinkind vanishes along with them.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Luna growled, as her body glowed bright purple and the Moon overhead became full again. “Time’s up…” the tengu leered, leaping high into the air and inside of a vortex she had opened up above Katherine and Noh as chains shot up from the puddles which had formed beneath Jackie’s feet, preventing the girl from crossing the border.

“Where’d she go?” Noh asked.

“Be ready for anything that comes out of that vortex…” Katherine shuddered.

As Katherine spoke, the purple-tinted Luna reemerged from within the vortex, levitating a steamroller which was glowing the exact same shade of purple as the tengu herself above her head.

“It’s a road roller!” Luna shrieked, pointing to Katherine and Noh as the psychically-lifted steamroller came crashing down on the two demons. “Resistance is futile, futile, futile, futile, futile, futile, futile, futile, futile! FUTILE!”

Noh looked up to the Moon, reassuming his wolf form and trying to push the construction vehicle off of his and Katherine’s bodies.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Luna jeered, as the Moon went back to its natural position causing Noh to change back.

“That’s… Katherine’s power…” Katherine groaned, trying her best to shift the heavy machine from on top of her body.

Luna put her hands behind her back and triumphantly, slowly walked back over to the shackled Jackie.

“You lose,” she growled, wrapping her fingers around the human’s neck and gripping down tightly. “Game over!”

“JACKIE!” Katherine and Noh cried out in unison.

Luna held her head back and let out an evil laugh. The watery shackles receded back into the puddles on the ground as Luna lifted her summoner into the air.

“L-Luna…” Jackie gagged, “P-Please… Stop this… Either you use Miss Shakespeare’s portals to take me back to the Unconscious Zone and then freely let me have my body back… or you kill me and we both die! We can die together or we can live together as one again! It’s… your choice…” she said.

“…

……

………

Two beings, or not two beings?”