The sun was dipping low over the streets, draping the city in orange and gold, when Ephraim, Rika, Johnny, Mr. White, and Mr. Black strolled down the cracked stone road.
Johnny broke the silence first, his accent warm and teasing.
Johnny: "So, Papi… tell us more about this killer you been goin' on about."
Rika snorted, glancing at Ephraim from the corner of her eye.
Rika: "Yeah, Boichi—start spilling the beans. I still think you're lying about this whole 'killer' thing."
Ephraim slowed his steps. The easy smirk he'd been wearing all day vanished.
Ephraim: "I got sent a DVD… of the killer. He murdered the old man I saved and… and I know this killer. He's coming for everyone I've befriended or helped."
Rika stopped dead in her tracks, her tone spiking.
Rika: "WELL FOR FUCK'S SAKE—WHO IS IT? STOP BEATING AROUND THE BUSH I COULD BE IN DANGER?!"
Ephraim sighed heavily, shoulders rising and falling, then finally said it.
Ephraim: "…Homicide."
The name hit like a dropped blade. Mr. Black and Mr. White stiffened instantly, the faintest crack of tension showing through their normally icy expressions.
Rika blinked.
Rika: "I have no idea who that is."
Johnny, however, had gone pale. His playful grin melted into disbelief.
Johnny: "…You… you kid, Papi. Ha… ha… You're not kidding, are you? Oh my gods."
Ephraim: "Yeah. See why I've been so fuckin' on edge? We need to get you guys off this island."
Rika waved a hand.
Rika: "I still have no clue who that is."
Ephraim: "Okkk, Rika—he's the most dangerous and wanted man in the observable universe."
Rika: "No way. I'd have heard about him—so you're lyin'."
Ephraim: "No, deadass. I'm serious. He's so dangerous the Celestial Courts hide his existence from the general public. If people knew the kind of maniac out there, there'd be chaos in the streets. And he's got his own secret cult—if word got out, they'd emerge and probably blow up half the system."
Rika narrowed her eyes.
Rika: "How do you know all this about him?"
Ephraim hesitated.
Ephraim: "…Old acquaintances."
Johnny leaned in, trying to lighten the mood.
Johnny: "Ohhh, right, Papi, I been meanin' to ask—where's your little princesa? If this killer is bolas spider, would she not be tiny bug?"
Ephraim's face hardened.
Ephraim: "Don't wanna talk about her right now, Johnny. Maybe lat—"
A sudden roar of wind cut him off. Three Celestial Guards on gleaming hovercrafts shot overhead, chasing a lone figure riding on top of a slim sword.
The man's outfit was deep navy, almost black, cut like a sharp kamishimo with a wide, high collar that rose above the bridge of his nose. A zipper ran down from the mask to mid-chest. His dark dreadlocks were tied in a high tail, a few strands spilling forward.
Ephraim: "ELIYAH—holy shit, I forgot he existed!"
Johnny and Rika exchanged looks.
Both: "Who's that?"
Ephraim: "He's a Boichi—4th branch, I think. OUR COUSIN! Well… not you, Rika, but me and Johnny—he's blood!"
Johnny's grin returned.
Johnny: "OHHH no way, Papi! Small world, small world! We must help our BLOOD! WE GO!"
Napalm ignited at Johnny's feet, propelling him into the air in a streak of heat.
Ephraim turned to Rika.
Ephraim: "CHUCK ME!"
Rika: "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU CRAZY?—THOSE ARE CELESTIAL GUARDS!"
Ephraim's grin widened.
Ephraim: "Maybe. Why don't we find out?"
Rika groaned, inflating her arm. She grabbed Ephraim, stretched back, and slingshotted him forward. Midair, Ephraim used his magnetism to whip her after him like a slingshot stone. The three streaked through the city like comets.
They tore down the city's length, Johnny streaking fire and Ephraim and Rika riding raw momentum,
The guards barely had time to turn before—
BAM! Ephraim drop-kicked the first one clean off his craft, the shockwave rattling the leaves.
WHIP! Rika's elastic arms snared another, yanking him from the sky and slamming him into the dirt.
Johnny came in last, spear-tackling the third straight into the shadowed treeline.
The hovercrafts spun out, clattering into the undergrowth. Silence fell… for half a second.
Eliyah banked his sword in a sharp arc and dropped to meet them. His voice was calm, but the look in his eyes was all heat.
Eliyah: "Hm, Ephraim Boichi we meet again."
The Forest of the Lost
The first guard to stir from the crash groaned, pushing himself up from a mess of leaves and broken branches. His helm was dented from the impact, but the holy sigil across his breastplate pulsed faintly.
He planted one knee into the soil, bowed his head, and began muttering rapid prayer.
Guard: "Lux aeterna, lumen cordis…"
With each word, thin threads of light coiled around his hands, tightening until they became blinding cords. His voice grew louder, faster, until he thrust both palms forward.
The cords snapped into a javelin of pure radiance, shrieking through the air toward Ephraim.
Ephraim shifted his weight just enough to feel the heat skim past his cheek. His magnetism flared in his legs, compressing and releasing like a spring. He pivoted hard on his lead foot, letting the energy in his muscles sling him in a half-circle around the guard.
The guard swung a backhanded strike, but Ephraim's movement was already two beats ahead—his left foot anchored, hips twisting as his right fist came down in a short, brutal arc. The blow cracked into the guard's jaw, snapping his head sideways and driving him back two steps.
The second guard lunged for Rika, a flash of gold spilling from the sigils etched on his forearms. Rika exhaled sharply, her body compressing like a drawn bow. She whipped her torso sideways, her elastic arm snapping out in a blur, coiling around his waist.
You could hear the air rushing past her extended limb as she yanked. The guard left his footing entirely, armor clanking in protest. He barely had time to gasp before she pivoted on her heel, dragging him through a wide, low arc. His armored frame struck a tree trunk with a wet, splintering thud. Bark exploded outward, scattering in a cloud of sharp fragments.
On the other side of the clearing, Johnny was already in motion. His boots barely kissed the ground before bursts of flame hissed into life beneath his soles. He shot forward in a zigzag, each change of direction kicking up dirt and ash.
The second guard, seeing the streak of fire, pulls himself out of the tree and slams his hands together and chants a short incantation. A dome of light flared into existence around him—translucent but solid, its edges bending the air like heat haze.
Johnny grinned. "Cute." He juked left at the last second, letting the fire at his heels carry him up and over the dome. Midair, he spun and dropped like a spear, both shoulders slamming into the top of the shield. The light buckled under the force, then collapsed entirely with a ringing snap. The two of them hit the ground hard, Johnny rolling over the man's chest before snapping a fist into his helm.
Through all of this, Eliyah moved with quiet precision. His feet barely disturbed the soil as he strode forward, sword held loosely in his right hand. A whisper of frost rolled off the blade, curling around his forearm.
With one smooth motion, he slashed diagonally. The air split, a pale-blue arc of ice magic racing outward. It collided with the light dome of the first guard Ephraim had struck, shards exploding in all directions. The guard stumbled, trying to regather his spell, but Eliyah was already on him—his sword shifting mid-swing, the frost boiling into molten orange.
The magma edge hissed against the guard's armor, each strike leaving glowing scars in the plate. The smell of scorched metal filled the clearing.
Ephraim was there in an instant, magnetism surging in his legs for extra drive as he shoulder-checked the guard into Eliyah's next strike. The combined force sent the man crashing to the ground.
Across the clearing, Rika reset her stance, shoulders rolling, her elastic arms twitching like snakes ready to strike. She and Johnny moved together without a word—she whipped a long, low trip-line around the ankles of the last conscious guard while Johnny dashed in from the front, a palmful of napalm igniting in his hand.
The guard's footing vanished, his legs yanked upward as he slammed backward into the dirt. Johnny dropped the burning palm into the man's chest blasting him with napalm, heat rippling over the armor until the sigils dimmed and went out.
The forest quieted. Two guards lay unconscious, their armor dented and scorched.
But their commander hadn't moved.
He stood at the far end of the clearing, robes immaculate, hands still clasped in silent prayer. The light gathering around him wasn't just bright—it was alive, curling like a living thing, hungry and slow.
Ephraim's chest rose and fell sharply.
Ephraim: "…We're in trouble."
The commander opened his eyes.
Every shadow in the forest was burned away in an instant.
To be continued…
Created and Written by Mateo Woodson
Written and Storyboarded by John Fallout