"Dear? What is this?"
Koharu and her children stared at the beach, their toes in the sand, as Otokami motioned towards the water. "This is the trip."
"The beach, my love?" Koharu questioned. "If this is what you wish, then alright."
She glared at her daughters. "What are you waiting for? Go!"
They all dispersed, while she lay down next to Otokami, who was lying back in a beach chair. "Koharu. Free our son."
Koharu appeared like she wanted to protest, but she got up and let Regal out of the large suitcase containing him. "Go, maggot. Before I change my mind."
"Thanks, Mom!"
Regal jumped in the water, splashing. Otokami watched his children for a moment before closing his eyes once more. Koharu leaned in to whisper to him. "Otokami, should we go explore the boardwalk? After a victory such as the one we achieved, we should treat ourselves nicely."
"I can oblige," he agreed. "Come, love."
He led her up to the boardwalk, where stunned civilians bowed and profusely greeted them. Koharu kicked one in the face. "Shut the hell up. Do not disturb us."
They immediately went silent and moved out of the way. Koharu looked toward Otokami. "What would you like to try? The ice-cream? The pizza? The sushi?"
"Funnel...cake," Otokami pointed.
"Funnel cake it is!" she stated. "Come, love!"
He wrapped his arm around her waist as she led him to the funnel cake stand. Regal watched from the water. "Well, Dad's gone. But at least he said no killing, so I can't die today!"
Radiance swam over to him. "Hey, big brother, wanna swim with me?"
"Sure!" Regal replied.
Radiance lured him deep out into the water, pretending to struggle. "Brother, help! I'm drowning!"
As Regal swam toward her, she giggled and shouted. "Rheya! Now!"
Rheya jumped out of the water like a shark and tackled Regal, forcing him deep into the water. She popped back up, while Radiance laughed.
"Did I do it right?" she asked.
"Yeah!" Radiance cheered. "That was fun!"
Regal floated up, holding his back. "Little demon..."
"Let's kill him when we get home!" Radiance suggested.
"Okay!" Rheya exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Rhinedottir, Ravena, and Ronova were just sitting around on the sand, trapping a helpless man beneath it.
"What should we do with him?" Rhinedottir asked.
"I could experiment on him," Ravena proposed. "Not like anyone will care if he goes missing."
"As long as he dies," Ronova murmured. "That face, it disgusts me."
Regal winced. "Man, those three know how to bring creepy into everything they do."
On the other side, Remedy, Royal, and Revenue were busy shopping on the boardwalk.
"Man, look at all these cute outfits!" Revenue gawked. "I must have them all! Give me one of everything!"
Royal grabbed a shopkeeper by his neck. "Me too. I mustn't look anything less than prestigious for my parents."
"Make it there," Remedy demanded. "And be quick, or I will have you all executed."
Regal shook his head. "And those three can't even go one minute without flaunting their self-importance. Now I'm stuck with these two hooligans."
Radiance tried to fake drown again, but Regal ignored her and kept swimming, enraging her. "Big Sis, get him!"
"No, no, no—-!"
Rheya dived out of the water and landed on Regal again, sending him flying into the air. "Aww man—-!"
Koharu saw the horseplay from the boardwalk, a disgusted look on her face. "Look at those imbeciles having fun. How I wish they had never been born, especially that bastard of a boy."
Her funnel cake came out, and she snatched it from the shop owner. "Let it taste bad. I'll kill you myself."
She handed it to her husband. "Honey? Do you want to try?"
His mask temporarily disappeared as he took a piece and put it in his mouth. "It tastes...fine."
"Fine?!?" she exclaimed. "Oh, hell no!"
She snapped her fingers, aging the shop owner to dust and scaring the people around. "Do you want to go somewhere else?"
Otokami didn't comment on the murder his wife committed. "Pick a new place."
"Back on Earth, burgers used to taste pretty well," she explained. "Shall we try some?"
"If that is what you want."
There was a burger shop further down the boardwalk, and she led Otokami to it. She slammed her hand on the table. "Give us two of your best burgers, now. Anything less than perfection and you die."
The owner yelped and nodded. "Yes, Queen Koharu!"
He hurried to fix the burgers as she placed a satisfied hand on her hip. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
In a few minutes, the burgers were done, and Koharu tried hers before moving. "Good. This tastes adequate. As it better."
She handed the other one to her husband. "Here you go."
They sat down nearby, facing each other. Koharu crossed her legs, looking at Otokami. "My 48th birthday will soon come. What will we do for it?"
"What did you have in mind...?" he questioned.
"How about you share more of your secrets with me?" she suggested.
He remained silent.
"My love, please? I don't know much about your past, and you know all about mine!" she stated. "May I at least know your birthday?"
"That's...not necessary."
"Then how will we celebrate you?" she pointed out. "I've had to guess, and the last party didn't even go well!"
"You killed all the female guests," he recalled.
"Because they were trying to speak with you!"
She lay back in her chair. "One secret. May you share one secret with me?"
He stayed quiet for a long while before answering. "I don't come from this realm. My siblings and I come from beyond."
"Beyond?" she wondered. "There's something beyond the multiverse?"
He nodded. "But only those of a status like mine can see it. You and the kids won't be able to go."
"What's beyond it?" she wondered. "What lies in secret?"
"A place," Otokami answered. "That birthed all places."
A faint memory played in his head of a glowing white woman, but he ignored it. "I had a sister. She came from that place. I modeled the children after her for that very reason."
"Who was this sister?"
"It's not important."
Koharu moved to the other side of the table, wrapping her arm around her husband as she sat down. "Well, we rule everything in the multiverse now. So we can do whatever we please."
"Indeed," he remarked.
"I love you, dear," she acknowledged.
"I love you as well," he said back.
As she gave him a kiss, Royal came over to them. "Mom, Dad! Do you like my new dress?"
She showed off the new black and gold dress she was wearing, and while Otokami stared for a moment, Koharu had a displeased look on her face. "Royal, leave us."
Royal sulked but pointed to the beach. "Also, Mom. Ravena, Rhinedottir, and Ronova are making monsters again. You and Dad should be careful!"
"What are you talking about—-?"
A large, three-headed creature that resembled both a dinosaur, an owl, and a human jumped onto the boardwalk, chasing people away. It turned and sniffed in the direction of Koharu and Otokami, before charging at them.
"You can't be serious," Koharu snapped.
The hybrid lunged at them, but Koharu easily used her power to age it into ash. She got up and put her foot down. "Royal! You tell your siblings they can do whatever the hell they want at home, I don't give a damn, but they are not to interrupt me and your father's free time! Do you understand?"
Royal nodded. "Yes, Mom!"
Otokami straightened a bit. "Royal...impressive dress."
Royal turned back and hugged him. "Thank you so much, Dad!"
She hurried off back to the sand. Koharu flicked her hair out of her face. "Ridiculous. Why did you want children in the first place, dear?"
"We needed a family," he explained.
"Must it have been so big? One would have already been a handful, but NINE?"
"Do you want a tenth?" he asked.
She shuddered at the thought. "My love, don't tell me that's what you want? If it is, I will do it, but please, don't tell me you are suggesting to have another of those freaks!"
Otokami patted her on the back. "Nine is enough for now."
She relaxed. "Thank goodness."
"Appreciate this free time," he said. "Soon, war will come."
"Who else would dare to attack us?" she questioned. "We are immortal, powerful!"
Otokami put his mask on. "Ontekku was but a blade. And every blade has a master."
"Master? Ontekku didn't seem the type to be under someone's thumb. Granted, he was always pretty dumb, if he thought he could challenge one such as me."
"Magatsuhi," Otokami announced. "God of Destruction. My mortal enemy."
"What a menacing name," Koharu mocked. "How do we kill him?"
"He will come to us, in time. But do not mistake him for weak. He comes from the same plane of existence I do."
"Well, we will be ready for him when the time comes. I have faith in you, love."
She planted a kiss on his mask. "How long do you plan for us to stay out here?
"A few days. I've found us a nice beach house to reside in while we stay. Come, I'll show you it."
While they left, Regal climbed out of the water, breathing hard. "Phew. I can't go anywhere with them. It's time to go try other activities."
He walked up to the boardwalk, where there was a test your strength machine. "That looks cool!"
He picked up the hammer next to it, slamming it down, but he barely made it out of the red, grazing the bottom of the yellow. "Never mind. I'm weak as hell."
He explored other avenues of the boardwalk, such as the basketball courts, the wave pools, and the carnival games, where he began throwing darts.
"This looks fun," he thought. "Let me have a go!"
He gave the man running the game 10 gold coins before picking up some darts. The man got out of the way. "Be careful, kid! Those things are sharp!"
"I will, sir!" Regal replied.
Regal pulled back and threw a dart, narrowly missing the bullseye. The man cheered him on. "You got it, kid!"
Regal launched another dart, this time overshooting. "Man, this is hard!"
As he prepared to throw another dart, a foot kicked him over, and he felt the heels of all his sisters pressing into his body. "Hey! What the—-?"
"Stupid boy," Remedy remarked. "Thinking you can have fun. How worthless."
Royal kicked him in the face. "He's lucky we can't end him."
The game manager stepped back, confused. "Stop! Leave that poor boy alone!"
Radiance threw a dart in his head, instantly killing him. "Die, old man. Don't ever order us around."
"Yep, this is how it goes," Regal thought. "Always at their mercy."
Ravena stomped through his head. "Oops. He's dead. Too bad."
Her tone was mocking, and the sisters all kicked the body before leaving. Ronova looked around. "Let's slaughter this entire boardwalk. They've been staring too long."
"I agree," Royal said.
As the sisters went off to commit mass murder, Regal got up again, holding his head. "Ugh. Dad's not gonna be happy about that one. Ahh well, at least I can play my darts in peace now!"
He noticed the shop owner was dead. "Oh, come on!"
He walked around, looking for something else to do, when a hand gripped his shoulder. "Hey, kid."
"Yeah?"
Regal turned around, and an elderly man was standing behind him. "Who are you?"
"I'm an acquaintance of your dad," he answered. "You wanna stop finding yourself under the mercy of your family's heel?"
"That would be preferable, yeah," Regal admitted.
"Then I'll do what my siblings before me have done. I offer you a bond."
"What's a bond?" Regal asked.
"Basically, I get to live inside your body. And whenever you die, I take over your body. It'll make you stronger, but be warned, I don't play as nice."
He grinned an eerie smile.
"So if I bond with you, I won't be the butt of the family anymore?"
"No, you still will, trust me," the man clarified. "But not when I'm in control. I might even let you share power, if I'm feeling generous."
"Okay...?" Regal stated. "I guess I can do that."
"Wise choice. Now hold still."
The man transformed into red particles and entered Regal's body, causing Regal to shake violently and pass out. Once Regal had awoken, he noticed his body was much more muscular...
...and he had four eyes.
—-