Noel put his phone back in his pocket.

     "Is everyone all right?" Trevor asked. 

     "Sure. She didn't elaborate, but, yeah, they're fine.  This mission is all blown to hell so far, but we expected a certain amount of chaos."

     "And what exactly..."

​     "No. I'm sorry Trevor., but first you have to describe to me exactly where we are. Remember, I'm blind." 

​     Trevor adjusted his glasses. He'd worn them since he was nine. They were big and thick, and the rims were black, and one of Trevor's talents was that, no matter what, he could always keep his glasses on his face. For instance, he'd just fallen from the edge of space to blast through a sidewalk to land on a steel girder. His glasses never left the bridge of his nose. His glasses fit his face really, really well. He didn't even have to adjust his glasses right then. He did it as kind of a nervous habit. 

     "How high up are we, Trevor?" Noel asked.

     "I don't know. I don't really know distances all that...a hundred feet? Two hundred? Five stories?' 

     "I hear voices."

     "They're soldiers."

     "They're wearing uniforms?" 

     "Yeah."

     "What color? What color are their uniforms?" 

     "Black. Blacker than black." 

     "They're algren."

​     "Algren?"

     "Interspace and time mercenaries. Very tough. Very competent. Very expensive. The Fours must be really going out on this one."

     "Going out..." 

     "The Fours intends to enter and devour this universe, but, before it can, certain preparations have to be made. A device has to be built, and that device, to build from scratch, is very expensive, like billions and billions of dollars expensive."​

​     "So The Fours needs money."

     "This device he needs is as big as a city, so, yeah, it needs money, so it spent a fortune on this...this...what...amusement park? It's a scam of some kind is what it is. And it's fashioned a portal to Domitika for energy." Noel shook his head. 

     "It's not going to cost anybody anything today," Trevor said. "Today everything's free."

​     "Nothing's every free," Noel said. "If someone tells you something is free, you are being conned." 

​     "I know that." Trevor looked down. "You know, I can't think of any possible way those algren can get to us unless they build some kind of scaffolding."

     "Oh no, they can..."

​     CRACK! CRACK!

​     "That's them shooting at us, I imagine," Noel said. 

​     "Yeah, and they're good, too. I already caught a couple bullets."

​     "Me too."

​     "But they can't get to us unless they can fly, so..."

     "They're algren. They're from beyond time and space. Of course they can fly if..."

     "Here they come."

     There were twenty of them. They crowded around where Trevor and Noel sat, weapons drawn. There were all dressed, head to toe, in black. They wore helmets and visors so that their facial features were completely hidden. 

     The one closest to them became the spokesperson. 

     "YOU MUST COME WITH US!" she bellowed. "IMMEDIATELY!" 

     "No, I'm sorry, but I'm not that easy," Noel replied. "We're going to have to get to know each other a little better first." 

     Nothing more from the spokesperson. In the next instant, both Noel and Trevor found themselves being tugged at from dozens of grasping arms. Whatever. They couldn't be budged. 

     After about five minutes of that futile first effort, the algren, like bees, flew away as one from Noel and Trevor to regroup in a pack a few yards away from the girder. 

     Then, they surrounded Noel and Trevor a second time. And they fired.

​     They used weapons that fired force blasts not unlike Brock's azure blasts, only the rays these weapons emitted glowed lightning white. For a full minute, that part of the cavern glowed. That much destructive energy focused on a single point? It was like a bomb blast. The girder Trevor and Noel sat on buckled. It all but broke free to go crashing to the floor. 

     Which caused the ceiling to begin to collapse. 

     And this all happened right beneath the amusement park itself, remember. Above, on ground level, thousands of people crossed a square that led to another half dozen exhibits. The asphalt cracked and started to sink. A man with a walker fell and smacked his knee hard. He let out a yowl, and that started the screaming, followed by scrambling and pushing as people fought to get to safety just in case the sidewalk completely gave way. 

​     The algren stopped firing. Once again, they huddled in a group. Trevor heard the murmur of their quiet conversation. Then, off they flew.

​     "Idiots," Noel muttered. 

     "Uh..."

​     "Trevor, are you okay?"

​     "I, uh..."

​     "You still with me, Trevor? Getting blasted like that's no fun, I know, but were never in any real..." 

     "No no, it's not that. It''s..."

     "What?'

​     "I just, I..."

​     "What?"

​     "This basement's so huge, Noel."

​     "So..."

​     "It's got this thing in it, on the other side of the basement away from us. It's...oh my God, I..."

     "Trevor!" 

     "It's a cauldron, Noel. I mean, it's not either, but...it's like this machine too, but..."

     "Oh man." 

​     "It's spitting out demons, Noel, like these glittering silver demons, silver like that woman who blasted us out of the sky was silver. This machine, this cauldron, it's..."​ 

     "Oh man." Noel pulled his phone back out of his pocket.  "Estelle's got to know about this. Oh man. Oh man. Oh man."

CONTINUE