The House of Teeth

[Katrielle Layton]

Continued from You Have to Let it Go.

Mei sighed and glanced out the window, cracking a smile. How long had it been since she last had partners to travel with? Sure, Yuuka seemed sort of disenchanted about the whole thing, but her old science buddies were serious too. It wasn't really something she needed to get used to. Even better, if what Omni said was true, they wouldn't die; she wouldn't have to be alone again. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she'd find her old co-workers somewhere in this universe.

No. They had been confirmed dead. As far as she was aware, there had been no reports of dead bodies suddenly disappearing. She wouldn't  be able to find them. Not now, anyway. It wasn't like that sort of thing was impossible here-- after all, she had been rescued by Omni from death. Who knows?

She listened attentively as Fury explained his history, trying to take her mind off of her fallen comrades. So he was part of the police force? "You sound like a person Overwatch would hire," she chimed in. It took her a moment to realize that he lived in 1985. ...What?

Before she could get confused by it too much, Yuuka began to speak. Mei couldn't help but be enthralled-- it was quite literally a world of fairy tales! She had to wonder how it worked though. It was a shame that she couldn't visit it, but... maybe it was for the best. From the sound of it, Gensokyo was like a sanctuary for the forgotten. She knew better than to trespass there.

"Why wouldn't anything be able to leave?" she asked, turning her hair to stare out the front window. She waited a few moments for Yuuka's answer before speaking again.

"Anyway, I work for Overwatch. It's a group that was formed 30 years ago during the Omnic Crisis in order to keep the peace." She paused, realizing that the two probably didn't know what an Omnic was. "Omnics are kind of like robots." With a glance at Yuuka, she figured that the Youkai didn't know what a robot was either. "Think of a robot as a human made out of metal. It can be a little difficult to explain, but that's the gist of it. The Omnic Crisis further damaged the ecosystem, and they set up watchpoints all over the world for some climatologists to use so they could try and fix things. I happened to be one of them, and I worked in Watchpoint: Antarctica."

Before she could say anything else, they passed through the gate.

The most alarming thing was that the Lamborghini was no longer a Lamborghini. Instead, the trio now rode in a carriage drawn by a pair of majestic white stallions, which were carrying the group away from the gate at a speed that the climatologist thought impossible. The fog outside blocked most of their view, but this was apparently the Pale Moors.

Mei held her blaster out the window and tried to see if anything was outside, but the only thing she could make out was a shadow wavering in and out of the distance.

Suddenly, she wasn't so keen on exploring this place.

[Jacket]

Kung Fury hears Yuuka's story and he is familiar with some historic things since he has time traveled before to stop one of the worst criminals, Adolf Hitler. Where the Yokai lady came from though Kung Fury never heard of it before but was curious why she wasn't aloud to go outside of the barrier. Maybe it was for her own safety since humans might mistreat her due to what kind of creature she is or it might be something even more sinister. The appearance of yuuka doesn't look like she is a fighter but her style appears to be proper and fancy with her dress. He's pretty impressed how old Yuuka is and can still hold beauty. Kung Fury tried to get his mind off from judging back to focusing on the conversation. When Mei told Kung Fury that he is the type of person for Overwatch, he never heard any law enforcement program called that before or didn't know one that existing for world wide. He heard Mei's part and fighting robots for him is quite familiar due to the fact he took on a rampaging arcade machine that almost destroyed Miami's downtown. It did make since to him now why Mei wore that equipment especially having the futuristic equipment. Maybe her and him are from the same world but in different timelines.

His train of thought gets interrupted when they entered the gateway. Now his rich and clean Lamborghini turned into a old carriage that looks worn out with horses. The Pale Moors was filled with darkness and it did looked to be night time but Kung Fury has loss track of time since being in the Nexus for a long time. This is what the experienced travelers meant about the Pale Moors back on Coruscant but this gave him the feeling that there might be some danger lurking around them in the dark forest. The road was also rough with carriage shaking it a bit back and forth which made Kung Fury wonder if this old piece of junk would hold long enough from the roughness. From the noise of hearing a sport engine that held lots of horsepower to creaking wooden wheels and clopping of hooves, this made Kung Fury fully alert and kinda irritated what happened to his car.

"What the hell just happened to my ride?" said Kung Fury in his usual serious tone. "Ah, I don't really care anymore now since I know that my wheels will be fine due to the Omnillium." said Kung Fury then notices Mei looking out the window with her weapon as if she feels uneasy. "What do you see Mei?" said Kung Fury curious if they might be in danger. Before she could answer, Kung Fury grabs his gun from his holster under the leather jacket which was fully loaded and pulls the slide back on his amt hardballer. "Tip number one, always be ready because any verse can host surprises. That's what the sergeant told me back in Coruscant." said Kung Fury having his gun in his right hand pointing up.

[PepsiYuuka]

Talking was at least keeping Yuuka’s mind off of the ungodly speed they were going. Mei’s questions gave her a bit of an excuse to keep talking, so she took it. “Because the Outside World isn’t prepared for things like youkai, vampires, or ghosts anymore.” She glanced between both Fury and Mei as she spoke. “In Gensokyo, there are laws and rules for people that can be enforced by those powerful enough that said rules actually matter. Letting a youkai outside would be like asking a fox to be governed by the laws of chickens, if that makes sense.” It was an apt metaphor, at least to Yuuka. Sure, there would be some who would be capable of resisting temptation. But they weren’t her, now were they?

She sat back and listened as Mei told her story. Yeah, she was certainly from the outside world- though perhaps an even further along outside world than the one parallel to Gensokyo. “Robots? I know a little. There was a large balloon shaped like one a couple years back, though I can’t say it seemed particularly interesting at the time.” It was an advertisement, really- not worth Yuuka’s precious time and energy to check out. Those Outside World gods sure had some wild ideas as to what would interest Gensokyo’s citizens.

The story was abruptly cut off with their entrance into the new realm. The chariot they were now being pulled by was still far too fast, though- no rest for the floral, it seemed. Adding to this still uncomfortable situation was the fog. While Yuuka had nothing against the fog, she appreciated having distance vision as much as the next girl. The whole place was… bleak. Her internal senses told her that there wasn’t even much blooming around here, flower-wise. It wasn’t the place most flowers really thrived, and this curtailed her interest in this realm quite a bit. 

What she did notice, however, was the fact the others were immediately on guard. Yuuka shifted a bit in her seat to sit more upright to look out the windows. She saw a vague shape, but not much more. It seemed too far in the distance to make that much of a stink about at the moment, though. “More importantly than arming ourselves, do either of you have experience with horses? I’d prefer it if we had a way other than jumping out of this thing to stop.” Though she was still smiling on the outside, she was actually quite serious. She didn’t want to get her only set of clothes dirty this soon into her trip.

[Katrielle Layton]

"So it's meant more for keeping the outsiders safe? I see," she replied, still staring out the window. Wilted trees rolled past, fading into the fog. Somewhere in the distance, a shadow came into view. From this far, there wasn't much she could determine from it. It was large, yes, but it was stationary-- it shouldn't have remained in view for as long as it did. If Mei had to guess from the amorphous shape, it was some sort of building.

"I think I see a house," she answered Fury's question before sliding back into her seat with Yuuka. "Nothing to worry about, I hope."

They rode on in silence for a while before the Youkai raised another question; would the kung-fu cop even be able to guide the horses? Considering his reaction to the unexpected transformation, he probably couldn't. Mei gave the woman a halfhearted shrug. "It's been a while since I've studied horses, so no." Then Fury mentioned that the wheels were made of Omnilium. "I'm guessing you summoned this. If it's still technically your vehicle, maybe the Omnilium will make it easier to steer?"

At that very moment, the horses skidded to a stop, whinnying and trotting in place like something was bothering them. Funny, since there appeared to be nothing in front of them. However, the area ahead was trampled under foot, as if a horde of creatures had recently passed through. An eerie moment passed before one of the horses yelped and bucked free of the reins. As it fled, dozens of wicked claw marks appeared on its silky white coat without warning. It collapsed just out of view, but its shadow deteriorated, vanishing into nothing.

Mei could only watch in horror as the other horse, unable to escape the reins, succumbed to the same fate. The creatures could not be seen, not even when blood should've stained their claws. Flesh and bone were yanked aside, disappearing into thin air until nothing was left. What sort of abominations were these? She had never seen such a ruthless hunter in all her life! Nothing could compare to the invisible beasts in terms of ferocity, and it froze her to her seat.

She snapped out of her stupor, however, when the side window burst into pieces. Glass scattered everywhere and cut into her skin, and on instinct, she poked the gun out of the hole and proceeded to spray whatever was outside with liquid nitrogen. A thin layer of frost coated the creature, revealing it to be humanoid in nature. With a snarl, it backed up from the door just enough for the climatologist to slam the door into its form.

"Okay," she said, trying to undo the seat belt with one hand, the other wrapped around the blaster, "time to go."

[Jacket]

Kung Fury looks back at them and responds to the question "I rode a T-rex once when I went back in time but I think it wouldn't be a different experience trying to ride a horse." For a second, Kung Fury gets out his mobile dataverse device that ringed with a notification and starts typing away on it responding to someone. He sends the message and puts away his device when the carriage came to a complete stop. The cop was thinking the same thing that Mei was questioning about the horses and their fear. This made Kung Fury raise his gun up and ready for action again as if he was ready to bust some criminals up. He watches the horses get slaughtered by the creatures but the cop saw that the corpses disappeared into thin air. Kung Fury turns his head back to the others and responds "We better do something fast before those monsters get angry noticing their meal was just a tease!" said Kung Fury in serious tone and face. Having no time to react fast, the creature attacks the carriage bursting Mei's window open reaching for her but she fought back with her endothermic blaster. The creature snarled in frustration from the freezing that Mei was doing to the humanoid beast. Kung Fury sees her slam the door open into the beast and nods at her response in agreement. She steps out of the carriage with the blaster in her hands.

Kung Fury jumps out of the Carriage into the dark and foggy woods hearing the noises of those monsters. He raises his gun up holding it with both of his hands and looks around seeing that they become surrounded with glowing red eyes that belongs to the humanoid beasts. The eyes illuminating in the dark, helped Kung Fury to aim and know where they are at. Bang bang bang! The loud noise that can be heard miles through the woods from Kung Fury's weapon. The muzzle was lighting up his face after each shot he fired at the creatures. He finishes the clip in his gun and tries to reload it fast but right when he finishes putting a clip in his pistol, one of the humanoid creatures leaped out of the darkness to strike Kung Fury. When the beast was in reaching range for Kung Fury, the cop blocks it from his Kung Fu roundhouse kick holding his gun in his right hand. This knocked the beast making it stumbled a bit but gets finished off by one shot between the eyes from Kung Fury.

Hissing noises can be heard all around him that the humanoids made after when he killed one of them which made the cop put his gun away and get in Kung Fu like pose. More came from the shadow to strike Kung Fury as well but he fought back using some of his Kung Fu powers involving him spinning and flipping with punches even kicks. One by one some creatures dropped to ground beaten by the cop and some fled away whimpering in fear. He looks back seeing Mei fighting them off near the carriage but can't see where Yuuka is at and makes him think maybe she is still in the carriage. While Mei was defending herself, More of those hideous creatures flank Mei which made Kung Fury cried out "Mei!" Kung Fury starts sprinting back to the carriage towards the group creatures that were about to ambush her. She couldn't really hear what Kung Fury yelled due to all the fighting but the creatures behind her were just a few feet away from her ambushing her. The cop leaps in the air with a flying kick towards the group and strikes one of them with a kick making the creature airbone but knocks the group back too involving one of them bumping into each other. Kung Fury lands behind Mei's back and stands in a kung fu pose waiting for more to strike. "We probably shouldn't stay here long. There's no telling how many of them." said Kung Fury behind Mei looking back at her. Another one tries to strike at Kung Fury but receives multiple round kicks from Kung Fury spinning.

[PepsiYuuka]

Oh, well that was no good.

Watching the horses get killed and eaten inspired nothing in Yuuka. But fighting something would be mildly more entertaining than sitting here. With a bit of effort, Yuuka followed Mei out of the car to investigate the goings on outside. She could see the one Mei was working on, and she could hear a couple more on Fury’s side. Or, at least, she could hear him firing at something and the scattered light of muzzle flares, which she took to mean more. This fog was only making this “not seeing things” bit even more potent.

She floated gently away from Mei, figuring they’d be best not to get in each other’s way. Being together just made them a bigger target for… Whatever these invisible things were. Humanoids of some sort, from what she’d seen earlier from Mei’s blaster. Unfortunately, her senses seemed notably duller here, likely the result of her divorce from her source of power. Whatever. Perhaps she could train them back to normal later.

So, as it happened, Yuuka was caught off guard when one of the things actually had the nerve to strike at her, let alone with an attack that actually injured her. A set of rough, bleeding claw marks appeared without warning on her right cheek, narrowly missing her eye. She was so used to things in Gensokyo being so nonlethal, nonviolent, and sporty she had almost forgotten how much fun it was to be in danger. It was a rush of emotions, really. She could finally go at full power, and even kill people, and she wouldn't have to feel guilty about it- at least, assuming they all followed the reviving rules. Not to mention, if she followed the reviving rules, there were no real consequences to her actions, were there? That was a bit of a slippery slope, wasn't it? She was impressed this universe even had any semblance of law enforcement that hadn't been killed by anyone strong enough to do so.

It took her a moment of processing to remember that ah, yes, she was in a fight. And that hurt, disgusting creature.

Once Yuuka had noticed that she was absolutely livid, she made short work of the monster that had the nerve to take a swing at her. She thrust her parasol forward much in the way one would a rapier, metal point first. Though once it had pierced its target, she switched to both hands to twist it in a little harder. Mean and unnecessarily forceful? Yes. Gratifying? Oh, it absolutely was. In her mind it was a deserved punishment for the impudent fool- anyone unwise enough to toy with nature deserved to learn the consequences the hard way. Though perhaps this was a bit too literal of a beating to convey that in a meaningful manner.

Whatever. She was still mad.

That done, she yanked the parasol out by shoving the now very dead... thing to the ground with her foot. As she finished this motion, she felt another set of claws (this one two handed, one down her right shoulder and another down the left) dig into her back. Ugh, curse her abysmal luck with dodging or defending. Grumbling to herself, the Youkai turned to aim a blind punch where she figured the being would be. Feeling said hit connect, and especially connect hard at a seemingly sensitive spot on the opponent, was almost exhilarating to the Youkai. She never got to land hits anymore with the current priority on speed. "Ooh, was that a nose? I think that was its nose." Probably not. She was guessing at best and lying outright at worst.

Still, at the pace she was moving, Yuuka would have taken far too much time to deal with an unknown number of these... things. Not to mention, being swarmed wasn't fun to deal with or see. An annoying at best strategy. The youkai drifted back over to join her newly winded "friends". Her smile had, since her initial snapping at the thing that injured her face. The kung fu cop human, Fury, who seemed to be the more experienced of the two, suggested they beat a retreat somewhere.

"I agree," Yuuka replied, sticking close to the other two now that it seemed the best choice, "weaklings are still weak no matter how many gather. This only slows and wears us down." Granted, she should have no say in calling anything else slow, considering the hypocrisy involved. Though Yuuka's first thought was to head to the door inwards again, she figured these enemies should have that blocked off. So she went with the more dangerous and possibly more fun plan. "Why don't we head for that building we saw earlier? Perhaps it will serve as livable shelter until we have an effective way to solve this issue."