Omnidirectional Chapter 3 - A One Woman War

Chapter 3 – A One Woman War

Joanna wakes up in a dark room where there is no light at all. She’s chained from head to toe to a stone chair that she can’t break herself out from.

She can still talk and says, “Hello?! Why did you do this to me?! Why am I here?!””

“You’re a danger to our alliance of kingdoms.”

“Anarchy…I’m not going to do what you want. You can’t keep me here for long! The war is almost over.”

“The war is almost over yes. Almost over because a random girl showed up out of nowhere, put her hands out at our galaxies, and made them into furnaces.”

“What are you going to do to me then? Keep me down here forever? Send me to your version of Hell?”

“If I wanted to do that, I would’ve already. You’re going to do what I say-”

“Never!”

With her hands out behind her, she lights a person on fire and the wall, which lights the entire room on fire. Joanna can now see everything in the room and the leader. She’s a girl like her except with her own unique look. She has dark pink hair and a light blue dancer’s dress similar to Sarai’s, but a bit different with the same bangles. In her left eye, she has a blue tear-shaped stone and blue eye with a golden spade in it. Lastly, she has a red V-shaped choker on her neck. Even though she was a bit afraid, the queen was also impressed.

“Who are you?” Joanna says as people scramble to put out the fires she started.

“My name is Miriam. I’m the leader of the alliance called The Anarchy, but I’m sure you already knew that.”

“Let me go before I burn everything in here! I’m not afraid of burning this entire galaxy down around me.”

Everyone in the room panics and leaves the room except for Miriam as the building burns down around them.

“You might be fearless enough to do that but consider this first. Do you really think you know everything about the war? Do you think that you’re on the right side of the conflict? Sarai has you turning galaxies into furnaces and hasn’t put the fire out because we’re still at war. You already know she’s going to put all of the opposing forces in her Hell, so they might as well burn from now until eternity.”

“It still doesn’t make what you’re doing right. You’re the greater evil.”

“But we’re not as controlling as the Sovereign. If we won the war, we wouldn’t send the opposing side to our Hells. Sure, we would humiliate them for a week, but after that, you’d be free to live. This dimension gives us unlimited freedom and that means everyone should be as free as they want to. The Sovereign want to control everything here with their rules and regulations. Don’t you think they’re worse than us?”

“It’s more like you’re the devils and they’re false gods.”

“What’s the difference?”

“I’m not going to serve either of you.”

“That’s the way things should be here. No servitude, no rules.”

“But that is a rule.”

“A simple rule that no one has to follow.”

“And this is the result of that.”

“It wouldn’t be this way if the Sovereign just played kings and queens with themselves.”

“There’s no right side in this conflict. I never even wanted to be here! This dimension, this responsibility, this freedom, I never wanted any of it!”

“Of course you did. That’s why you rebelled against your parents and the world just like every single one of us did.”

“I didn’t know what I was doing. It was an accident!”

“But you still did something they didn’t want you to do. Something that you weren’t supposed to. Face it. You belong here.”

“Liar! You don’t understand!”

The building falls down around them and breaks Joanna’s chains. Miriam manages to escape. She calls her forces together to find Joanna who’s digging her way through the planet to the other side. Her body allows her to dig quickly through the center of the planet until she reaches the other side. Miriam’s troops on the other side of the planet see Joanna come out of the planet. They flee to report it to their superiors because they are fearful that they can’t put down Joanna by themselves. Joanna quickly flies out of the planet and tries to reach the exit of the galaxy, but she is cut off by Miriam’s army. They surround her and are about to take her in before Miriam gets in front of them.

She says to Joanna, “Give up Joanna. Lend us your power and we will make your life better than paradise.”

“No!” Joanna hastily says before puts her hands out and burns the entire galaxy.

Even though she is caught in the middle of the fire, she barely feels anything. She felt a little singe at the start of the fire, but now she can barely feel the heat unlike everyone else who burns in agony. Joanna flies to the exit of the galaxy as it opens for her and closes when she’s out. A revelation comes to her mind as to why she didn’t burn. She’s not like the other kings and queens in this dimension. She’s neither a riot causing rebel nor an overly controlling tyrant. The thing that separates her from the rest is that she’s pure compared to them.

Wanting to end the war her way, she goes to the other Anarchy controlled galaxies and lights them all on fire. After that, she lights all of the Sovereign galaxies as well. The Sovereign try to fight back against her, but her flames are unstoppable. Once all of the allied kingdoms are set ablaze, Joanna moves onto the independent kingdoms, which there only a few of. She thinks that these other kingdoms are also to blame for the unending war between Anarchy and the Sovereigns because they chose to do nothing. Next, she tries to get to the other universes, but the barrier cannot be broken even with her fire nor can her fire bypass it, so Joanna goes back to her kingdom and burns it as well. Now, she sits on the barrier of her kingdom wondering what to do next.

She says to herself, “How did I turn into this pyromaniac? Am I supposed to be here? Was I supposed to do this? Was it the will of God or the devil?”

The emptiness of the universe answers her back in silence, so she rests her eyes for a few moments.

“Hello!” a female says.

Joanna opens her eyes and sees a woman who looks much similar to her than any of the other people she’s seen. The young woman wears a long shoulderless green dress that seems crystal-like and long brown hair. She has a white crystal in her right eye and a normal white eye with a green heart in it.

“Who are you? I swear I burned every kingdom in this universe.”

“I’m…special, let’s say.”

“Ok special. I’m Joanna.”

“Classy dad joke. My name is Esther. It’s nice to meet another person like myself or should I say unlike?”

“Why unlike? Because you weren’t given a kingdom?”

“Let’s leave it at that for now. I’ll show you more as to why. You know when I came here I didn’t expect to find like twenty suns here.”

“They aren’t suns. They’re all kingdoms that I lit on fire.”

“Well that my quest way easier.”

“My power doesn’t bother you?”

“I knew you were supposed to be special, but I didn’t know what kind of powers this place would give you.”

“How do you know me? Do I know you?”

“I’ve been exploring these dimensions for quite a while now. There are ones that are made of crystal, ones like this except instead of galaxies there are islands, and some made of light and darkness.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Hold on. I’ve found hidden in each dimension a piece of a legend. This legend says that millions upon millions of people came together to do the one thing they can’t do in these dimensions. Create human life.”

“I’ve already learned about the birds and the bees.”

“But you can’t make children in any of these dimensions, so all of these people dedicated their lives to doing this and roping in other people to do it as well. Because God saw how many people they were corrupting, He made for them a human child, but at the cost of their souls. It is said they reside in a singular being cursed to live this way for all eternity by themselves in its own unique dimension where they can do nothing, but regret their decision, until the end of the world when they will be given a second chance. They were still young like the two of us after all.”

“Where do I come in in all of this?”

“You are that human child. Created without a human father or mother. The second Eve.”

“What? How would you know that?”

“The highlights on your hair. You were born naturally with them, right?”

“So?”

“It’s a mark to recognize you by.”

“But I actually did have a mom and dad!”

“It was a fake reality. You never lived in the real world. You only lived in a dimension like this and never in the real world.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you were supposed to grow up to be as sinless as possible until you were old enough to enter the real world. I’m guessing that you finished whatever you were supposed to do here, and my coming was timed perfectly.”

“What about all of these people that I’ve put in their own personal furnace?”

“Purgatory doesn’t last too long if you aren’t too bad of a person.”

“Then what about us?”

“I can get us out of here. Watch.”

Esther tears a hole open in the universe with her blade arm.

“Does this get us out of here and back into the real reality?”

“I hope so.”

“You hope so?”

“I can’t control where these holes go. It’s up to where you’re supposed to go. Hey, it’s better than staying here.”

“Let’s go then. You first.”

Joanna and Esther go through the tear in the universe, which closes behind them. The two are now traveling in-between space and time to an unknown destination. Their fates are controlled by the unseen force that controls all fates.

Choice and Consequence of Redemption: Fresh Blood Chapter 2 - Keeping your Demons

Chapter 2 – Keeping your Demons

It’s three at night. Nick has arrived home after being out for four hours. Sometimes he stays out longer or comes home even earlier because the police send out more officers if the criminal activity becomes high, which usually happens on full moons. He lays down on his bed with his sleeping wife. He thinks about what happened as he tries to fall asleep. His wife holds him while she’s sleeping as if part of her can feel his anxiety. Her touch puts him at peace. As he smiles and touches her face, she smiles as well before her head slowly cracks open in two. Nick quickly forces it together before going to the nearby bathroom to see that his head is completely spilt in two. His mirror image smiles at him and starts pulling out insects from his head.

The mirror version of himself says, “We have to clean out our head more often, don’t we?”

“Shut up.”

Nick then reaches into the mirror and puts the mirrored version of his head back together then goes back to sleep. As soon as he hits the bed, he wakes up holding Allison and Allison holding him. She wakes up and smiles at him, which makes him smile in return.

“Good morning sunshine,” she says before kissing him then getting up, “Are you ready for today?”

“I’m ready.”

The couple goes downstairs, and Allison begins making breakfast while Nick sets the table.

“Did you have fun last night?”

“I did. How was work?”

“It was “great” as always.”

“You could take up boxing like I do. We could go into mixed leagues together or maybe even do professional wrestling. I taught you how to defend yourself already.”

“You want us to be like your parents?”

“We aren’t going to let the fame get to our heads like them.”

“We don’t even have any kids yet and I expected them after we got married.”

“I just want to be set in life before we have our child, so we don’t need to worry about money.”

“We already don’t have to.”

“Ok, how about we do this next week when we go to Italy?”

“You better butter me up today, so that’ll sound like a good idea.”

“Do you mean literally or…”

“I will mean literally if you keep it up, mister.”

Allison makes French toast today and the two eat while watching the news. Nick likes watching it to see people recognize his work and if there are certain criminals he should look out for.

“So, if work was “great” as always, does that mean that the doctors are still being hard on you?”

“Of course, and how can you blame them? Hillside City is a hot place that always has people coming into the hospital. I have to make sure everything is correct and prepared for them so that they can treat their patients properly. I don’t mind it when they get agitated at me because I understand how they feel.”

“I mind it. They should understand your situation as well.”

“They only know me as Nick the Young Boxing Legend’s wife. They think I live an easy life and shouldn’t even have my job.”

“I don’t think you should either. You can probably do more good by getting your name out there and supporting charities like I do. It’s better than being a doctor’s assistant or nurse or whatever you call it.”

“Well I’m doing what I want, and I’ve helped dozens of people by doing it.”

“I’m not trying to say you’re not.”

“Then that’ll be the end of that discussion.”

The news talks about the Doll Factory hideout Nick went to and describes what they found.

“That’s absolutely horrible,” Allison comments.

“…I know.”

“If only we could do something about it.”

“…”

“Maybe you can talk about it on your social media accounts or during your next interviews?”

“I will,” Nick says as he spreads the news about the Doll Factory, “I just wish I could do more.”

“Like what? Challenge them to a boxing match and beat their face in?”

“Yes.”

“As much as that idea sounds appealing, you can’t always beat down evil in the face. Violence isn’t the best answer to anything in my opinion.”

What Allison says catches Nick by surprise.

He says, “Oh, but what about the vigilantes in the city like the Fist of Justice. He has a stupid name sure, but he seems to be doing a lot of good.”

“Not really. All he does is go around town and kill people. We’ll probably end up saving more lives than him even if we don’t get rid of criminals like him.”

Now Nick is completely caught off guard. He never got Allison’s opinion on his vigilantism until now because no one like the Doll Factory came into town until now.

“Are you okay babe?” Allison says to Nick who’s shocked.

“Y-yeah.”

“You’re better than that loser who’s trying to act like a hero.”

“…”

“Anyways, should we go out now?”

“Yeah.”

Nick isn’t sure what to think anymore. The person he listens to most just made him doubtful of what he likes doing the most besides being with her. He puts the thought aside so he can enjoy his day with his treasure. They go out together to the suburban part of Hillside City, which is called Hillfall Town. Allison always liked nature more than the city. There’s a clearing in a nearby forest that they like going to and where people usually go for picnics or big events. They set up a little picnic and just enjoy the nice weather. Their lives are filled with noise and they’ve already said what they’ve wanted to this morning, so it’s refreshing for them to tell each other how much they love each other in a soundless way. Allison lays down in Nick’s arms as they sit in the shade. A slight breeze makes the weather feel perfect while the chirping of birds gives the forest a nice background noise. They sit this way a little more than an hour, which results in them falling asleep.

Another hour passes and a noise in the forest wakes up Nick while Allison still sleeps. He looks around and the noise continues as it sounds like a person walking. He slowly puts down Allison on the blanket then gets up to search the area. The noise stops and starts almost randomly. No matter what direction Nick seems to go in, he can’t seem to find the source of the noise. Nick’s own shadow begins to take form. It tries to grab Nick, but he grabs it instead. The shadow takes the form of Nick, but with black scars on his body.

He says, “I was just going to give you a little scare. Nothing serious.”

“I know what you’re thinking. We’ve been through this before.”

“And I’m never going to stop unless you let go. You can’t control the powers of your nightmares for long. It will overcome you eventually.”

“Not if I can’t resist it.”

Nick lets go of the other him’s throat before continuing his search.

He says to it, “The thing in the forest wouldn’t happen to be one of my monsters, is it?”

“No. It’s probably someone who wants to enjoy the forest…or take advantage of people relaxing in it.”

“Which one do you think it is?”

“What do you think?”

The two Nicks combine to form one being made of nightmares. This usually happens to Nick without his knowledge on his killing nights. His face changes to a mask with a split face and a broken red halo on the back of his head. His hair is longer now and his back sprouts black wings. The shirt and pants on his body disappear so that his legs and hands are now made of jagged metal. Black markings hug his shoulders and sides and a red heart is exposed on his chest. Nick’s senses are now enhanced so he can hear and see better. He picks up the source of the sounds and chases after it. He sees a figure in the distance with a mask that’s like the ones that the Doll Factory have. Nick quickly runs to the mysterious individual to kill them before Allison wakes up. The mysterious individual is startled by the sound of Nick coming in their direction and unknowingly runs in the direction where is Allison. Nick quickens his pace until he can clearly see his target who can see him too. Nick appears to be the monster he is in the eyes of the mysterious individual, which only makes them run faster.

Nick eventually gets close enough so that he can tackle his target, but he tackles them in front of Allison, which wakes her up. Nick’s monstrous appearance disappears from the minds of Nick and the mystery person so that he looks normal now. Seeing that they’re in front of Allison, Nick repeatedly beats the person thinking that this was their intention all along. To find another person to kidnap and sell.

Allison separates the two then says, “What are you doing Nick?”

“This guy was sneaking around here in one of those masks that the Doll Factory have! We can’t let him escape!”

Allison turns to the person, “Tell me who you are.”

The mystery person reveals themselves to be a woman in her middle ages. She says, “I just came here to play a little prank on people. I run this web series where I scare people. It’s pretty popular right now, you might’ve heard of it.”

“Yeah, right. I don’t believe that for one second,” Nick dismissively says.

“Stop it, Nick. You can leave here miss. Just be careful next time you do something like this.”

“Thank you, and I’m sorry for intruding,” the woman says before running back into the forest.

There are a few moments of silence before Nick says, “You shouldn’t have let her go. She had one of those masks.”

“Then what would we do? It looks like you were going to kill her.”

“If she actually was one of those Doll Factory members, I probably would’ve. Those people are scum.”

“You shouldn’t think that way, Nick. You aren’t like that!”

Again, Allison criticizes Nick’s hidden killer personality. He doesn’t know what to do besides going out again tonight to get rid of the Doll Factory, so he doesn’t need to worry about them. After putting this situation behind them, they continue enjoying the rest of the day together until they go back home after watching the stars for a few hours.

At night in his sleep, he dreams of himself in a calm place with all of his monsters on a leash. Some of his monsters look like different boxers he’s fought and criminals he’s fought. Two of the monsters are his parents, which the other monsters continuously beat on. Nick is pondering on going out again tonight while his monsters try to break free from his control with more force than they usually do.

His other him sits by his side then says, “You know you want to go out there and paint the town red. What’s stopping you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is it Allison? She’s usually right when it comes to moral judgments. Maybe you shouldn’t be a vigilante after all.”

“How about this. The Doll Factory will be my last targets. Once they are dealt with and their captives free, the city will be safer, and we can live in relative peace.”

“If you think that is the right option, then go for it. You do know the consequences if you fail, right?”

“I do, but I won’t fail. Not now and not ever. I will never fail Allison.”

“It seems like you already have.”

Nick gets up from his bed, gets his mask, the Doll Factory’s mask, and goes out for one last killing spree. His body is transformed and ready for all of the carnage he is about to inflict.

Omnidirectional Chapter 2 - Waging War since Birth

Chapter 2 – Waging War since Birth

While Sarai, Joanna, and Joanna’s army travel to one of Sarai’s galaxies to plan their attack on The Anarchy, Joanna asks Sarai, “How many other galaxies are there?”

“Infinite as far as I know. There are even clusters of galaxies that are separated from us. We’ve tried to get to them and they’ve tried to get to us, but we can’t break the invisible barrier that keeps us separated. We can’t even talk to them through it.”

“Whys that?”

“Maybe it’s one of the rules of this dimension were the more technologically advanced societies can’t be with the others. One cluster of galaxies has huge black and white ships shoot light at each other that cause huge explosions.”

“So they’re from the future?”

“I guess so. I’ve also seen other cluster galaxies that have more primitive means of transportation than us.”

“That must mean we’re somewhere in the middle.”

“There are tons of cluster galaxies out there, so I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

“How did you get to this dimension?”

“I did witchcraft behind my parent’s back. A sorcerer gave me a certain spell and mixture of chemicals to use that he said would give me the freedom I wanted and here I am.”

“I’m guessing other people have done the same thing for similar reasons. Were you one of the rulers that gave Adah her unique ability?”

“I was. I was even one of the first powerful rulers in our cluster of this dimension.”

“Is her kingdom of Camelot allied with yours?”

“It’s always neutral no matter what’s going on. She’s just a girl who loves living and nothing else. I wish I could be that simple-minded. No offense to her.”

“What’s keeping you from being like her? Kingdoms like The Anarchy?”

“Exactly. People like them deserve to be kept in Hell for all eternity. Don’t you agree?”

“There’s no other way to convince them to be peaceful?”

“Not at all. The best idea that we have is to put them all into my version of Hell where they will wage an endless war. When they keep winning they will start losing and when they keep losing they’ll start winning, but sometimes they will win and lose at random so that they think they have a chance of winning their war and escaping. There will be no hope for them.”

Joanna sits in silence and thinks about what to say next, but nothing comes to mind.

“It’s okay to feel bad for them. That means you still have your conscience, but as for my allies and I, we have long since lost pity for other people who refuse to cooperate with us to keep the peace here.”

“I get it. I hope I can do something to help you, but I wonder, has anyone tried to escape from this dimension?”

“I’ve certainly heard of some people trying it, but I’ve never seen it happen. I would assume that if a person disappeared their kingdom would disappear as well or at least become vacant or without a human leader. I haven’t seen one kingdom like that. You weren’t thinking of leaving, were you? You just got here.”

“No no no! I was just wondering. I was told that I could just become a citizen of a kingdom if I didn’t want to become a ruler.”

“I’ve heard of that too, but what really happens is that you order your forces to follow the command of another ruler. You also do what the other ruler tells you to do with your kingdom. They can’t take control away from you nor can you give it to them.”

The news of no escape upsets Joanna as there’s no way to get back home. She’s worried about what her family and friends will think and the sadness they’ll feel. Nevertheless, she still keeps the hope of leaving this place in the back of her head.

“So you’re always a ruler no matter what?”

“Yes. Every leader is a great worker after all. Leaders aren’t just people who have more power than everyone. They share a responsibility with people who don’t have as much power and responsibility as them. Human citizens are much more valued than artificial ones since they offer more and can think for themselves.”

“Do you have a few in your kingdom?”

“I do. My kingdom probably has the most human citizens than the others in this universe. Speaking about it.”

Sarai and Joanna enter Sarai’s galaxy, which appears to be entirely made for royalty. The planets shine as if each of them was a sun. Once Joanna lands on the capital planet, she sees that the architecture, transportation, and the people both artificial and real all have the look of royalty and prestige.

“This place is amazing Sarai! You really know how to decorate your kingdom,” Joanna says.

“It took me days to do this. Since you should know that a day is longer than a normal one here when I say it took me days, I mean it took me a really long time,” Sarai says.

Joanna’s military force combines themselves with Sarai’s to become friends with them as they wait for their queen’s command unaffected by the beauty of Sarai’s kingdom. Sarai brings Joanna to a war room where she has six other rulers waiting for her.

“Joanna, this our alliance of kingdoms known as The Sovereigns. These are the wisest rulers from our part of the dimension who deserve the most respect.”

Each of the rulers introduces themselves to Joanna and their main functions within the alliance. Many of them share the same appearance of Sarai though they are a bit less showy. They all have the same goal and they’re putting their differences aside in making their dream a reality in order to deal with Anarchy.

“Let’s get to work,” Sarai says, “You already know your roles in this war, but Joanna has an ability here that will drastically change things up. Her unique ability is that she can instantly combust things, which include entire buildings just through her will alone. Joanna, show them, but don’t light this place on fire.”

Joanna uses her ability and combusts a piece of paper on fire. The fire burns fierce and almost burns down the table it’s on if it weren’t for a ruler who uses her ability to put out the fire.

“You can see its destructive ability. With Joanna, we can light entire planets on fire and instill a sense of fear within Anarchy. Her armies will start will a few of the lesser territories before moving on to tougher targets. What do you think?”

All of the rulers agree that Joanna should test her abilities on the lesser territories and compliment her for her ability.

“I’d like to see the faces of everyone when everything they have catches on fire,” one of them says.

“We can all have a front row seat to judge her ability. I almost wish we had a need to eat and drink, so we could further enjoy ourselves,” another adds.

“It’ll be like watching a light show. These people will get what they deserve.”

Joanna can’t help but feel bad because of how the other rulers make her seem like their personal pyromaniac.

Sarai sees this and says to her, “Don’t worry about what you’re doing. It might seem extreme, but you’re doing the right thing.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Hey, certain people can’t be reasoned with. You don’t let an active child molester or a serial killer live.”

“You’re right.”

“Remember that people don’t actually die here. Sure, they may feel pain, but they’ll never die.”

“Isn’t that worse to feel eternal pain?”

“Isn’t it justified that they do because of what they do?”

“Ok, ok. I’ll do it.”

“Then let’s get to it.”

All of the rulers and their best soldiers follow behind Joanna as she is led by Sarai and her best soldiers to a galaxy controlled by Anarchy that isn’t well defended and is a new territory for them. Since the two sides are at war that both sides agreed to wage, the entrance to the galaxy opens for them. Anarchy readies its forces while Joanna stands alone to face them. She holds her hands out at the planets. Entire planets start catching on fire until they become like the sun. All of Anarchy’s forces and their artificial soldiers and civilians are caught up in the inferno until the entire galaxy catches fire.

Sarai, Joanna, and their forces back off from the galaxy’s entrance so that it can enclose the raging fire. Everyone except Joanna cheers and clap as the destruction unfolds. What stops their victory cheer is when the barrier surrounding the galaxy starts to crack. The barrier cracks no further, but a barrier such as the ones that contain each galaxy is known to be indestructible. The alliance of kingdoms, nevertheless, continue their cheering though they might’ve just scared themselves with Joanna’s power just as much as they’ve scared the Anarchy.

They continue to burn three other galaxies allied with Anarchy until they decide to take a break in a galaxy that surrenders themselves to the Sovereign. Joanna reflects on her rampage of destruction.

She talks to herself on a rooftop garden, “What am I going to do? This can’t be the best way to go about things.”

Joanna thinks about what she can do for the people who she basically put in a furnace. Maybe the best thing she can do now is to quickly end the war so that the fires can be put out sooner rather than later. Sarai joins Joanna on the roof and sits down with her.

“You’re doing a greater job than any of the other kingdoms have done, you know?” Sarai says, “We can rule this entire universe with just you and me at the head.”

“I don’t think I want that life, Sarai. I just want a simple life where I can enjoy what I have.”

“And you can do that as long as you’re at the ready when trouble arrives.”

“I’m not sure I want to live as a living weapon.”

“You probably won’t have to. The fear you inspired in people is potent and won’t go away any time soon. Sure, there might be one or two crazy people that come after us, but their struggles won’t last long.”

Sarai seems so set in her ways that Joanna can’t think of any way to convince her to change her ways. She almost wishes that she didn’t have any kind of unique power at all.

“You should come in. Everyone inside is wondering about you. You might even find a king for yourself.”

“Give me a few more minutes. I need the fresh air.”

“You’ve had nothing but fresh air all day. Well, it’s space air, but it’s not that different. Whatever just come in soon. You’re keeping your fans anxiously waiting.”

Joanna smiles and nods while Sarai heads back inside. She looks up at the sky and can see the three galaxies she’s burned in the sky. Their light radiates like the sun and it’s almost as if she can feel the heat coming from them just by looking at them. Six shadowy people find their way unto the roof. One of the impales their arm blade through Joanna’s head. This isn’t enough to put her down as Joanna tries to fight back but is then impaled through the head twice and through the chest three times. This knocks her out, which allows the six kidnappers to take her away to the capital of The Anarchy. Sarai and the rest of her allies don’t notice what happened since they were distracted by the conversations they were having. Just as planned.

Choice and Consequence of Redemption: Fresh Blood Chapter 1 - A Killer's Night

Chapter 1 – A Killer’s Night

Tainted blood is going to be spilled tonight as Nick takes his mask, hides it in his jacket, and walks into the worst parts of Hillside City. His habits of going out every other night have gotten him used to what sounds like trouble and what doesn’t. Sometimes he runs to find two people messing with each other or forcefully enters a house to find a couple roleplaying. Now he can better determine what is and isn’t trouble, or at least he can most of the time. Besides looking for people who could be in trouble, he also keeps a list of criminals living in the city. Since Hillside City and its police force have a low tolerance for criminals, it doesn’t matter to them if these people are taken in alive or if their corpse is sent to them. Of course, Nick doesn’t need the money from the bounties on their heads, so he just lets the nearest person call it in with the promise they’ll receive a reward and the same treatment if they should become that criminal.

He’s gained a reputation for himself as a vigilante. The name that’s been given to him is The Fist of Punishment. Even though Nick could think of other names, he sticks with it as the name does have a ring to it. There have been other vigilantes who have popped up here and there inspired by his actions. Even some cops celebrate his name as Nick does what some of them want to do.

While walking the streets, he sees a drug deal taking place in a dark alley. The dealer and buyer catch sight of Nick looking at him and retreat further into the alley with their hands in their pockets to hide what they have. Nick puts on his mask and enters the alley. The two get back to their deal, but once they look back outside of the alley they see Nick fast approaching. One tries pulling out his gun, but Nick gets to him and knocks it out of his hand. He then punches the dealer in the throat then takes the seller by the head and beats his head against the wall. After that, he finishes off the seller by breaking his already broken throat. Nick then leaves the bodies in the alleyway to rot as he does with most.

Nick could get away with taking the money off the criminals he kills since he wears gloves to avoid getting his fingerprints on things, but he doesn’t unless he wants to get something extra for Allison or himself. The criminal industry is rich and a good place to find rich people in though there aren’t many rich criminals in Hillside City. Most are either middle class or poor and Nick detests taking from the poor. He doesn’t mind, however, taking away evil people from their families. He thinks to himself that he’s doing them a favor because if they really cared for their families, they wouldn’t be committing evil deeds.

Some of the older abandoned buildings are used by criminals and is usually a good place for Nick to find new prey despite him clearing them out every now then. He goes to a nearby abandoned food corner store and enters in through the alleyway door, which is already open. Nature has taken over some of the building and slowly is destroying it as vines and foliage are on the walls and in the floors. Nick watches his step while being sneaky. He can hear two people talking about combining forces to better their business within the city. From a hole in the wall, Nick can see four people with pistols and a lone guard with an automatic shotgun near the only door in. Nick finds a pebble on the ground and throws it through the hole, which makes everyone look to see where it lands.

“This place is falling apart. We shouldn’t keep meeting here,” one of them says.

“Our family used to own this place. I’d thought you’d be more sentimental.”

“I’m more sentimental about my life.”

“Don’t worry about that, nature is holding up this building for us.”

Nick manages to get to the guard and snap his neck then take his shotgun. Just because he’s proficient in using his fists doesn’t mean he isn’t good with firearms. The criminals were about to take out their pistols, but the sight of Nick’s makes them hesitate since they remember the rumors about The Fist of Punishment. This hesitation gives Nick the opportunity to blast the criminals away or at least most of their body parts. Two are dead while one is clutching the place where his left leg used to be. Nick finishes the injured man off with the last shotgun shell. The fourth one that managed to take cover is shaking from a paralyzing fear. He begs for mercy, which Nick has none of. Nick punches the man in the face then impales the man’s face on broken glass. Knowing that the police should be here soon, Nick quickly leaves the scene by going through the back alley.

While going through the alleyway, his eyes catch a fresh bloody handprint on one of the backdoors of a house. He quietly goes into the house and checks upstairs to find a single sleeping guard. He’s wearing a weird masquerade mask that appears to be horror themed with weird makeup and blood red marks on it. He has a silenced assault rifle by his side leaning on the chair. The guard appears to have been guarding this house by a sniper’s window but fell asleep. Nick easily snaps his neck and takes the man’s assault rifle just in case there are more people in here with the same weaponry. He also finds a key on the man, which he uses on the nearby bedroom doors. In them, are several other people like the guard with different masquerade masks like his. Nick finds their weapons next to them and one of them has a knife, which makes his work easier. With the guards upstairs dead, he goes downstairs to the basement. The door is locked, so he uses the key he found on the guard.

Down in the basement, he has to unlock another door to see the horrors it contains. Each of the basement rooms contains a single naked man, woman, or child who is strapped to a bed and appear to be sex slaves. Some of the slaves have one or two of their limbs cut off while some even have their eyes sewn shut or pluck out entirely. The place smelled strange when Nick entered and now he knows why. There’s a map in the basement with certain houses circled including this one. He unlocks the cell doors then uses one of the guard’s phones to call the police and notifies them of what he found before leaving the house with only the map in hand.

Not too far from the house, Nick comes across two hooded people who are wearing purple butterfly masks.

The man says, “Out on the town again on this beautiful night? It’s a wonder that we keep seeing each other.”

“Have you reconsidered our offer yet?” the woman says.

“I haven’t. I’m not going to be part of your little group so you can tell Maria to stop asking if she wants me to keep being friendly.”

“Hey, you don’t need to be like that,” the man says, “So, meet any interesting people tonight?”

“There’s some sort of sex slavery organization here in the city. I just cleared out one of their houses and freed their victims.”

“We heard rumors of them being in the city. Thanks for confirming them. They’re an international sex slavery organization called The Doll Factory. They do business with all sorts of nasty groups. I heard on the news that they even caught an army sergeant and made her into a baby maker.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry about her since she eventually broke free and got her revenge. You should worry about their current and potential victims. Join us and we’ll help you get rid of them from this city.”

“You can do your own thing, but I will let you copy of this map I found in their hideout.”

“Let’s see it.”

The two put the locations of the Doll Factory’s hideout into their GPS on their phones.

“Your help will not be forgotten. We could still use your help though.”

“I’ll help by taking out locations that you aren’t.”

“Fair enough.”

“What are you two even doing around here anyway?”

The woman answers, “We’re going to visit a man who’s a lot like you. He’s a married serial killer who needs a punishment worse than death.”

“Kill his wife. That’ll do the trick. A woman married to a serial killer can’t be that innocent.”

“We were thinking the same thing. Before we go, we have to call you by a certain name. You can’t just keep leaving us before you give us your name?”

“You want my name? As in my real name?”

“Or some sort of code name.”

“Call me Amon.”

“Call us Sirene and Caim.”

“Heh, you like that series too?”

“What series?”

“Nevermind. I need to get back home.”

“See you again, hopefully.”

“Sure.”

Nick walks away from the two and back home to Allison. He sleeps with the aching feeling that he shouldn’t wait a day before going out again to kill especially with the Doll Factory in the city. He hopes that his time with Allison tomorrow will change his mind.

Choice and Consequence of Redemption: Fresh Blood Prologue - The Beginnings of a Killer

Prologue – The Beginnings of a Killer

Many people choose what they want to be when they grow up though some are not as fortunate. Nick is one of those people. He wanted to be a boxer like his father and mother, but they didn’t allow it. They wanted to be the only ones in the family who held the fame. Like most children, Nick didn’t listen to his parents and practiced boxing behind their backs. He watched videos of them boxing and made his own style from theirs. When he got older, he contacted their trainer and told him to train him and why his parents didn’t want him to be one. The trainer sympathized with Nick and trained him behind his parents’ back. To truly test Nick’s skills, his trainer got Nick into several underground boxing tournaments. Nick ended up winning all of them, which lead to his trainer turning him into an official boxer.

His parents were left in the dark by everyone about Nick’s first real match, but they heard about it when social media started blowing up about their son beating a professional boxer without getting hit. After the match, they confronted Nick and started beating on him in public. The rage he’d held onto in his past finally exploded as he fought back against his parents. Since he’s studied their moves for years, he knew how to counter their attacks and fought against them effectively. Things went wrong once Nick had them against a wall with jagged metal sticking out. He punched them against the wall and the back of their heads hit the wall so hard that the impact kills them. Once his rage subsided, he saw what he’d done but he barely felt any regret. His trainer span this as an abused child finally being getting revenge on his parents for everything they’ve done. The trainer’s exposing of Nick’s parents saved Nick from being arrested and shamed his parent’s legacy as honorable fighters.

Now finally freed from his parent’s influence, he boxed without worry and forgot about their deaths a few weeks after it happened. His popularity rose, and his story became one told to inspire people. Eventually, he met Allison, a fan of his who he gave his number to. The two spent some time with each other and got married. They settled in their hometown of Hillside City and traveled together as Nick fought to win not only for himself now but for his treasured wife.

After fighting for three years, he got tired of doing it since it didn’t have the same excitement that killing his parents had. On one Halloween night, he created a mask for himself and went out into the streets of Hillside City. He searched for someone to fight in a city known for its crime and crazy people. Finally, he found a couple of people who were stealing from a stranger. He defended this stranger and beat the two thieves to death. The stranger thanked Nick before quickly walking away as Nick scared him. The thrill came back to him and Nick found his true passion. From then on, Nick went out every other night to find another criminal to beat to death. He particularly liked to kill child abusers. The excuse he told Allison was that he went out every other night to practice with a few of his boxing friends, which she bought since she trusted him so much.

Allison is the person Nick values most in the world. Everything he does is to help her. He’s now a killer vigilante in Hillside City so that he can create a better city for her to live in. They’re now staying in Hillside City after Nick’s recent victory in another boxing tournament. Soon, Nick’s killings will resume, something that he eagerly awaits.

Omnidirectional Chapter 1 - Experimenting with the Unknown

Chapter 1 – Experimenting with the Unknown

They say curiosity killed the cat, but alchemy is filled with nothing but curious cats who try to learn more about the world we live in. Joanna’s parents love experimenting with the many things they can find in the world and are well-known alchemists. Today, her parents are leaving for a few hours to present their latest findings to the Church. They remind Joanna not to mess with their tools and she promises them that she won’t with a reassuring smile. After their carriage leaves, Joanna immediately goes to the labs to snoop around. She finds their book open to a certain page with certain symbols that appear to be demonic alongside alchemy symbols. A lot of what’s on the page is out on the tables with the marks that show what they are. The picture in the page looks like different worlds and the text in it suggests that putting together these chemicals and saying what’s in the book will lead you to these worlds.

Since Joanna’s parents have never created anything dangerous, she decides to do what it says in the book to see what they’re talking about. Once she completes the formula and says the ritual, she is sucked into the mixture. Her body changes as she falls through a twister-like hole starting with her skin turning completely white.  Her torso, arms, and legs are separated in half and her dress changes into a shorter version of itself. A purple choker appears on her neck to match her new dress. A blue diamond takes the place of her right eye though she can still see through it. Her left eye is pink with a lighter pink iris.

Once the transformation is complete, she is hurled into space and the hole behind her closes. She is above what appears to be an earth with the moon and other planets close by. Joanna floats in space with no clue what happened and what to do. A young girl who’s her age flies to her. She has black hair, a purple gem in her right eye, and a purple left eye with a black clover iris. She wears a short purple dress with black straps on the side and a purple choker to match it all.

She introduces herself, “Hello. My name is Adah. I’m here to introduce you to our wonderful universe.”

“Do you introduce everyone in this universe?”

“I do. I love doing it since I get to relive the grand experience of living in this dimension over and over again.”

“Do people usually appear here specifically?”

“Nope. They appear in their own galaxy.”

“Their own galaxy?”

“That’s right. You own all of the planets around you.”

“What? Why?”

“Because that’s how this place works. Isn’t this amazing?”

“I guess, but I’m not sure if I’m qualified for this role.”

“You don’t have to be. Just try it out. If you don’t like it, then you can live under a ruler if you wish.”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

“Thank you. Now, let’s go down to your capital planet. You how you're floating in space? Do the same when we enter the planet so that you don’t plummet down there at high speeds. You can’t die in this dimension, but you can still feel pain.”

“Hold on a second,” Joanna says while getting used to floating, “Ok, I think I can do it.”

“Good. Let’s go then, Queen Joanna.”

The title gave Joanna a strange feeling of power. A power that she doesn’t know what to do with. Joanna and Adah fly down to Joanna’s capital planet and see the natural beauty of it. It looks like an earth untouched by humanity and death with luscious forests and flourishing life.

“What do you want to call your kingdom, queen?”

“I’ll call it…Shalom.”

“That’s an interesting name. Now, say hello to your people.”

Artificial people rise from the dust of the ground. They all kneel and bow down to Joanna.

“These subjects of yours all have personalities ready to love and serve you, but you can always change the way they act and look whenever you want. You can also not only change the way your planets act and look, but you can also change your Heaven and Hell here.”

“My Heaven and Hell?”

“Yes, the Heaven and Hell in your galaxy are different than the Heavens and Hells controlled by the other rulers. You can send people to your Heaven and Hell, but you can’t send people to other Heavens and Hells. The same goes for the other rulers as well.”

“This is all a bit too much to throw on me, don’t you think Adah?”

“It takes a bit of time for everyone to get used to. It was incredibly exciting for me my first time. I spent months in my galaxy tweaking and adjusting it to my heart’s content.”

“Who taught you?”

“Nobody. I asked some of the most powerful rulers here to give me the power to be a greeter for everyone here and they agreed. We came up with a spell that gave me the sense to know when new people entered this dimension.”

“The rulers didn’t ask you to do anything else like point people to their kingdoms or suggest to people that they should join with them?”

“Not at all. This is a dimension of freedom, unlike the one you escaped from.”

“I thought there was plenty of freedom back at home.”

“Do you? Our lives were dictated by other people. We couldn’t live a life that we could control.”

“I honestly don’t care about that as long as I have my life in the hands of someone who knows better than I do.”

“Then maybe you should live under a ruler. There are many great and benevolent ones.”

“I think I’ll tinker with my own kingdom here first before I try that. I want to see what I can do.”

“Good luck. Oh, and I love the look you were given. Your modest personality matches it. I love the pink highlights at the tips of your hair.”

Joanna looks at her reflection in a nearby stream.

“Oh, I was naturally born with these highlights though my parents tried to give me more. They were more rebellious than me.”

“You must’ve had fun parents then. Why did you run away?”

“I didn’t. I just messed around with some of the alchemy chemicals and things they had.”

“You really did have fun parents then. Well, it’s time for me to leave. If you have any more questions or a friend, then come to the kingdom of Camelot. You can see other nearby kingdoms with your Ruler Eyes.”

“Thanks for the help. It was nice meeting you.”

“Same to you. Bye!”

Adah and Joanna wave goodbye to each other as Adah flies away from the planet. Joanna then gets to work in making her kingdom. She keeps her people the way they are and gives them all nice medium sized houses to live in. With her powers, she erects several cities with large walls to protect them. In her cities, she builds necessary places for it such as restaurants, schools, churches, and a central place for her government to keep everything in check for her, so she can keep tabs on everything. Farms towns are made to give her people a source of food. Smaller towns are made as well to keep the planet varied. Many different kinds of forest areas are made as well including a forest of roses and flowers. Humongous waterfalls and flowing rivers are put into the world along with an ocean that takes up thirty percent of the planet. After only a handful of minutes, Joanna has completed her civilization on her planet. She then moves on to edit her other four planets and name them. Some are military bases and weapon manufactures in case she gets attacked while the others are like her own planet. Horse carriages fly in between the planets so that the planets can trade and so that people can move from one planet to the other.

With everything complete, Joanna tries to live among her people. Every artificial being acts in accordance with their assigned personalities. Wondering if they can stray from it, Joanna jokes around with one of them who is supposed to be serious all the time.

“My queen,” it says, “To what do I owe this honor?”

“Tell me, why do they have gates around cemeteries?” Joanna asks.

“Why?”

“Because people are dying to get in.”

Some people around her that have a sense of humor laugh, but this one doesn’t.

“I get it. Your jokes do well to entertain your citizens.”

“I got another one. Do you hear about the new restaurant I made? It’s called Karma. There isn’t anything on the menu because you get what you deserve.”

Again, the same people laugh but this one doesn’t again.

“Where did you learn all of your jokes?”

“I made them up.”

“I expect nothing less from my queen.”

“But wait! Here’s another one. How does Moses make coffee? He brews.”

People burst out laughing beside this one. So no matter what, these artificial people can’t stray from their personality at all. Joanna tries to live among them as if they were real people. She tells them to treat her like a normal person and they obey. Throughout the day, she can’t help but feel off while hanging out with this fake people. It doesn’t feel natural. Sure, she can edit their personalities off and on, so they act more human, but that isn’t something she wants to do.

Joanna figures she has to do something with her time as she appears to be stuck here for good. Fortunately for her, a carriage that has a royal design to it knocks at the gates of her galaxy. Joanna didn’t know her galaxy had a gate and plays with her new powers until she figures out that she can will the gate open like how she willed everything else into existence. The royal carriage goes to Shalom and to the small house where Joanna lives. A queen steps out of the carriage and Joanna’s artificial people bow to her. Joanna steps out of her house to meet her. The queen is about Joanna’s age though her exotic red dress makes her promiscuous and older. She has a triangle golden gem in her right eye with a normal white eye with a golden diamond shaped iris. This queen also has bangles on her arms and legs and a red and gold choker on her neck. Her blond hair is curled and hangs over her shoulder. Everything about her says she is a real queen compared to Joanna.

“I’ve seen that there’s a new galaxy in the universe. What is the name of your kingdom?”

“Shalom.”

“My kingdom is called Hydrangea. My name is Sarai.”

“My name is Joanna. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Same to you. Have you thought about spreading your influence to other galaxies and allying yourself with others? Some kingdoms aren’t as nice as yours.”

“I think I’m good where I’m at. What benefits would I have if I allied myself with you?”

“You will receive my aid if you change your mind. I have control over one of the biggest armies in the universe and I have several other kingdoms allied under me.”

“Why are you asking for my aid?”

“Because we’re up against another powerful alliance of kingdoms called The Anarchy. They aren’t as kind as we are. They will block the entrance to your galaxy, so you stay trapped with no way to escape. I can even show you what they’re doing. Here, let me touch your head.”

“Uh…ok.”

Both Joanna and Sarai’s minds come together as Sarai uses her ruler’s vision to see The Anarchy attacking and enslaving other kingdoms. The two also see battles take place in space with opposing forces clashing their armies together. Sarai then ends the vision and lets go of Joanna’s head.

With this in mind, Joanna decides, “I guess I should help you out since I have nothing better to do.”

“That’s great to hear. I’ve seen that you already made your own army, but do you know how to defend yourself?”

“Barely.”

“Here’s a trick Adah might’ve not told you. You can will your arms and legs into weapons.”

Sarai changes her two hands into axes.

“Now you try it.”

Joanna wills her arm into a weapon and it becomes a katana.

“We don’t just have this as our only defense mechanism. We also have a unique magical power that each one of us possesses. For example, I can create ice spears.”

Sarai demonstrates this by conjuring an ice spear with her will. She throws it at a nearby tree and the spear goes right through it. It then grows spikes all around its surface before shattering.

“Let’s see what you can do. Just will your magical ability that resides in your soul.”

Joanna does as Sarai says while holding out her hand. Flames begin to dance around Joanna’s fingertips as the building in front of Joanna suddenly combusts into flames. Joanna’s servants quickly move to quench the fire as the building collapses onto itself.

“That’s an amazing ability you have Joanna. I’m honestly jealous of you.”

“Don’t be. I think your special ability is great as well.”

“But not as great as instantaneous combustion!”

“I guess not.”

“Usually people are jealous of my ability, but yours is something completely different. You might be what we need in ending this war.”

“I guess we should get started then. My first day here and I’m already fighting in a war.”

“Hey, it could be worse, but at least you’re fighting on the right side.”

Joanna smiles and nods as she leaves to wage war with Sarai. Joanna’s army readies itself for battle while increasing production of weapons and supplies. While leaving her capital planet, Joanna feels an odd sense that she might be doing something wrong. She ignores it for now as she doesn’t know what else to do in this crazy dimension.