BEYOND 3A: BloodRed and ScaleBlack

The Seventy-Second Feather: Terrible Tornado

Meanwhile, Yoko and Caitlyn hid themselves from the chaos by going underground in the sewers. It didn't take long for the city to be completely uprooted by that point, every building as far as the eye could see was demolished and its debris was sucked into the Florida Girl's violent tornado. Caitlyn asked: "Well, I guess encountering her was inevitable, since she just finished levelling the entire city. Any ideas on how we can come out of this alive?"

Yoko: "...If you can, go find the church and escape, hopefully it's still intact."

Caitlyn: "You want to stay here and help that kid?"

Yoko: "Obviously. It's literally impossible for her to do all of this, she couldn't even stand up last time I saw her! Something must have gotten into her, maybe someone is controlling her or influencing her with some kind of Beyonder's ability."

Caitlyn: "Oh, I'm sorry, what exactly are you expecting to accomplish? I'm the one here with superpowers and even I'm helpless in this situation. You're just a regular woman!"

Yoko: "Yes, and maybe it's just a maternal instinct, but that girl is my responsibility. I am not leaving her and her brother here."

Caitlyn: "You do know you're asking for a brutal death at this point, right?"

Yoko: "I know, but sadly, I'm feeling a bit lucky."

Despite Caitlyn's protests, Yoko opened the manhole's lid and exposed herself to the danger all around her. While fighting against the gales, she removed her lab coat and rolled up her pants and sleeves, shouting: "Young lady! You will be in so much trouble once I get up there!"

And without a second to waste, the wind tossed her into a wall again. She clutched her hand around her shoulder and said: "Might wanna... Do this a little slower..." and began advancing slowly toward the spot just below the girl while holding onto whatever unmoving objects were in her way. Sadly, for every step forward she made, she was hurled back a dozen, colliding with many blunt and sharp objects and as a result, injured her quickly. She kept trying and trying, full of determination, or perhaps adrenaline-fueled stupidity, but all her efforts did was kill her slowly, piece by piece, chip by chip. In the end, she was knocked away one more time, and her arm was impaled by a bent steel rod.

She screamed loudly in pain, tears forcing themselves out of her eyes, and struggled to free herself, but it only bled more.

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, a massive block of concrete was barreling toward her, thanks to the wind. Yoko fearfully closed her eyes, bracing for her upper body to be crushed into a fine, red paste.

Then, like a miracle from God, she heard the shout of a familiar, grizzly voice:

"MARICHA!"

Then, the incoming debris froze in place. Yoko opened her eyes and saw a burly large man standing between her and death; the bartender, who was tasked with their security from the beginning. Yoko exclaimed: "I-It's you?!"

Bartender: "I have a name, y'know? That's Bartender to you."

Yoko: "How- what- why- WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!"

Bartender: "Sorry, ma'am, navigating mazes that defy the laws of space and time is not my forte. Do you need help?"

Yoko: "Oh no, don't worry about me, I'm completely fine. But I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd be so kind as to HELP ME NOT DIE!"

Bartender: "Way ahead of you. I stopped the bleeding with Maricha's ability. That's my Beyonder, by the way, it stops things in place."

After the woman slid her arm off the rod easily, she got up and told him: "Listen, I need your help. I need you to clear and then create a path for me to get up there."

Bartender: "You mean the Florida Girl? Are you sure? She looks extremely lethal right now. You do know they're essentially factory-made, right? The Boss will crank out a new one for you to take care of, I'm sure."

Yoko "Goddammit! Why can't you people understand my point of view?! This has nothing to do with risk and reward! What happened to your morals?! She may be a lab-grown human, but she's human nonetheless! She deserves a chance at life! Same with her brother and any other humans they'll make! If being the only human left with a functioning moral compass only means death for me, then fuck it! I'll die happy knowing that I've been better than all of you!"

Bartender: "Jesus! fine, no need to make a fuss about it."

And without further delay, the two of them pushed their way to her final destination.

Seventy-Second Feather:

Plucked