BEYOND 3A: BloodRed and ScaleBlack

The Seventieth Feather: Alive and Well

Now, let's switch back to Killakee. As we established a short while ago, he encountered one of the Florida Kids, specifically the male one. Killakee stepped closer toward the boy to get a clearer look, and shockingly, he was far off from what he thought he'd look like.

The simple features described to him by his leader were still there, the white hair and the white clothes, however, what was different was that, for one, he had what can only be described as bulging veins filled with some form of liquid gold under his eyes, forming three vertical lines under each one. And the other thing was he had both blood on his clothes and a severed arm held in his hand. All complimented by a very, very empty stare. He thought: "What the hell...? What's wrong with him? That can't be normal! What... unless... Did it absorb Vitamorte's energy when we were transported here? And what's up with the blood on him? There's no way he'd have the strength to kill someone, so did someone die in front of him? Did he get injured? If I'm going to approach him, I need to be careful, as if I'm traversing a floor covered in glass shards, because he might die if I surprise him. Here goes nothing."

Unsure of what was about to occur, he took a deep breath and walked up to him cutely. The boy crouched down to look closer at him and began touching him in various places. It was made clear that it was the first time the boy had ever seen a creature called a 'cat', thus, all he felt toward Killakee was curiosity and not the innocent, child-like kind of Curiosity. It had more commonality with an artificial intelligence analysing a three dimensional model of a cat.

Killakee figured that he shouldn't assume things just yet, and decided to converse with him and test whether or not his powers could work. He used telepathy to converse with him, saying: "Hello~! Do you think you can help a little guy out? I'm trying to-" but to his surprise and not to ours, the kid began looking around, unsure of where the voice came from. Killakee yelled internally: "HEY! I'm the one talking to you! The Cat! Can you pick me-"

However, those thoughts were interrupted quickly by the boy, who sent back his thoughts: "Can you help me find my sister?"

Immediately, Killakee felt a sudden and powerful clash of energies coming from him and the kid. It didn't take long for Killakee to figure out the true potential that L'étranger saw in them. By being purely artificial, their bodies can absorb any and all Beyonder energy and use them as their own, simply through any form of contact with said energy.

Thankfully, Killakee was able to overpower the clash with an added bit of strength, but still was ultimately unsuccessful at controlling him.

Killakee decided to take a different approach to the dilemma before him and started by establishing that he's not a threat to the kid. He began by slowly rubbing his body against his leg, which unsurprisingly, garnered absolutely no reaction. Killakee understood that the kid didn't perceive him as anything of interest, not an enemy, nor an ally, just a quadrupedal mound of meowing fur. "Okay, that's not too bad." Thought Killakee, before projecting his thoughts again, saying: "Follow me, little one! I'll take you to your sister!"

In a much needed change of pace, the kid seemed to be onboard with following him, but of course, Killakee was simply lying to get him to stay with him as he uncovers the whereabouts of Murmur.

Meanwhile, Yoko and Caitlyn were still searching through every nook and cranny tirelessly and yet their effort remained fruitless. This went for quite some time until the sky above them was shrouded by a thick layer of grey clouds, indicating that the weather was about to take a very drastic turn. Yoko said: "Ah crap, looks like it's about to rain and it's not going to be a quick one by the looks of it."

Caitlyn: "That won't be an issue for us, I can just... Uhh, Yoko?"

Yoko: "Yeah?"

Caitlyn: "Up there, do you see what I'm seeing?"

In the far distance above them, the clouds seemed to be swirling and forming a hurricane. However, a few seconds of further visual analysis told them that at the very centre of the spiral, there was a floating child whose arms were spread out and their head was raised to the sky.

That child was the Florida Girl.

This sight instantly sent Yoko into a panic, shouting: "G-Girl?! GIRL! GIIIIIIIRL! GET DOWN FROM THERE! GIIIRL!" but as she should've expected, the distance between them was far too great for her voice to reach without mentioning the howling, raging winds. Yoko put her hand on her head in disbelief and wondered: "What the hell is going on?! How is she even doing that?! And where's the boy?! Caitlyn! Can you get her down?!"

Caitlyn: "I can try!"

But as soon as she said that, a massive gale struck them, sending them flying into a nearby wall. Yoko exclaimed in pain: "Agh! What the hell?!"

Caitlyn: "Damn, this storm is getting stronger by the second!"

Yoko: "Just get her down already!"

Caitlyn: "RUSALKA!"

Upon summoning her Beyonder, she tried to move the clouds but she was soundly rejected by them in favour of whatever force is actually motivating their movement. In the span of seconds, the wind only became stronger and more vicious, beginning to slowly tear the surrounding buildings apart. Caitlyn shouted: "We need to seek shelter! Now!"

Yoko: "What about her?!"

Caitlyn: "I don't think you understand just how much control she has over what's happening!"

Yoko: "You're saying she's the one doing this?!"

Caitlyn: "The signs are all there! Come on!"

Hurriedly, the two of them ran away to find a place that would keep them safe from the giant rubble and debris crashing down from the sky.

Seventieth Feather:

Plucked