Chapter Text
Sorawo had dozed off for just two minutes, and everything had already gone to hell.
She blinked slowly, gathering her wits. The smells: fried food, alcohol, salt from the ocean, some perfume Toriko had spritzed on the moment they stepped back into the Surface World. The air: warm and humid, lightly stirred by sea breeze. An open-air bar. That’s right! They were here celebrating the success of their Otherside Endurance Expedition – two weeks in another world! But why was it so dark?
Toriko was nestled against her, snoring softly. A mysterious tangle of emotion rose into Sorawo’s throat and faded away, unexamined. That woman didn’t waste any time, did she?
The bar was eerily silent and the lamps were dim, letting rosy light in from its open storefront. Sunset? It should have been two hours out at least. And where was everyone? From her seat, Sorawo could see that there was nobody behind the bar, and most of the tables had half-finished appetizers and drinks, including their own table piled high with Toriko’s hubris. There was no noise from the street, either, except for the wind. It sounded fierce, but the thick red fog beyond the storefront only stirred gently, oozing in over the first row of tables.
Either the staff and patrons had forgotten them in their secluded booth in the back, or, more likely, the two had somehow slipped back into that off-kilter in-between space they passed through when the Otherside claimed them. What did it say that that was the more sensible option?
“Toriko,” she said thickly, swatting the blonde head on her shoulder. “Toriko. Otherside.”
“But we just got back!” Toriko whined, slumping into her chest and gripping her shirt like a child.
“It came to us.” This wouldn’t be the first time the Otherside had managed to sneak up on them while they were drunk. It was getting irritating. Would they have to give up alcohol? “Come on, get up.”
Toriko grudgingly sat up and rubbed her eyes. “We didn’t bring any weird stuff this time so why—oh no.” She shook her head rapidly and slapped herself. “Oh no, it’s still happening!”
“What’s still happening?” Sorawo asked as Toriko started hunting through her pockets. “Did you know something was going on? I saw you looking shifty earlier.”
“Yeah, something – I mean, I didn’t think we had to deal with it. Or that it would – look, it was a whole province over, and done with, besides!”
“What are you talking about?” Sorawo cast a hand towards the advancing wall of fog. “Isn’t that the Otherside?”
“No, maybe, I don’t know,” Toriko said, fumbling with her phone, and finally thrust it at Sorawo. “Look at this.”
As Sorawo accepted the phone, her partner dove into their packs, muttering urgently in English. It displayed a news alert from two hours ago – actually, a whole queue of them that Toriko had gotten the moment they emerged from the Otherside. She flicked through each story with mounting horror. Flocks of radio-wave disrupting quetzalcoatluses? Robots having harpoon duels with psychic ankylosaurs? Giant sea serpents and a monster yet more terrible that preyed upon them?
“Wait…” Sorawo said. She’d had a few beers herself, so she was a little slow on the uptake. “You found out that monsters from another dimension invaded Japan while we were away, and you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t want to—” Toriko banged her head on the table. “Merde!” Moving more carefully, she rose and offered Sorawo a N95 respirator mask. “—didn’t want to harsh our party,” she finished, subdued. “We might need goggles, too.”
“You didn’t want to—Toriko, this is important!”
“I know, I know!” Toriko said petulantly. “I’m sorry! Here are your goggles!”
“Is this why you called Kozakura right when we got back? Why didn’t she say anything?”
“Yeah, I wanted to make sure she was okay. She probably thought we didn’t know, and didn’t want to deal with us when we found out. You know how she is.”
“We didn’t!” Sorawo’s voice rose to a frantic pitch as she struggled with her goggles. “But what about everyone else? What—”
“They’re fine, they’re all fine, I’m sure of it!” Toriko insisted. She stood and took up her pack, squaring her shoulders. Suddenly, she was a confident explorer again, and only a little drunk. “C’mon, we should get indoors.”
“Aren’t we already—?” Wind rushed through the bar and the dust billowed in around them. It felt like a barrage of soft pellets – as though the hot air had become alien bubble tea. With the wind came a harsh, high-pitched cackle, swiftly fading into the distance. It wasn’t thunder, was it? Sorawo froze, eyes darting down to the phone, displaying the news service’s picture of Rodan, the ‘radio wave monster.’ It was alive.
“Unless you want to hole up in the ladies’ room, we’d better go.”
Grumbling, Sorawo shouldered her pack and nodded. “Alright, I’m ready.”
They stepped out into another hot blast of wind, staggering Sorawo. There was nothing down the street in either direction but rows of metal shutters and a few open storefronts like theirs, at least as far as they could see in the dust. An eerie hiss and crackle sounded over the rooftops, interspersed with faint barks of a woman’s voice; Fujisawa’s disaster alert system was trying to give instructions, at least.
“Okay, what now?” Toriko asked. “Do we find a house?”
“You led us out here so confidently!” Sorawo snapped. The ladies’ room was starting to sound like a better idea. “Away from the water! The article said they came from the sea!”
“You read fast!” Toriko obediently followed along and drew her Makarov.
Sorawo swallowed her objection. It made sense to arm yourself in this situation, wrong as it felt to tromp around the streets of a seaside city with a gun. Honestly, it made her even more sick and dislocated than some of the times she’d actually been yanked out of space and time.
Something swooped overhead and the dust cleared for a split second before blasting in twice as thick. Sorawo thought of the enormous birds that cruised the Otherside’s night sky, which almost made them seem manageable – but nothing like that belonged on this side! She broke into a run, but only made it a few paces until she hit an intersection and paused indecisively.
Toriko’s hand fell on her arm. “There was a hotel up that way, right? Let’s go! They shouldn’t be locked up!”
Sorawo’s reply was drowned out by another cackle, shockingly close. Toriko turned and leveled her gun, but the shadow shot into the air and dust swirled. Another cry answered, and, with a deafening metallic screech and thunderous crash, the disaster alert speakers finally gave out. Two more shadows zoomed overhead in different directions.
“What’s happening up there?” Sorawo growled, turning her blue eye skyward. She saw—a microscope slide. A million red-tinged microscope slides layered into the distance, writhing and turning like migraine auras, tiny translucent tentacles plucking and pulling at the world, everything coming apart, tearing, twisting, molding…
“Sorawo! Sorawo!” Toriko cried, shaking her. “What’s wrong? Are you okay? Is it your eye?”
Sorawo focused on not puking into her mask. “The—dust—” she groaned. “It—”
Another monster came down in the middle of the street ahead of them, with a thud that almost knocked them sprawling. Its head reared into the dusty sky above the rooftops, and its folded wings scraped along the facades to either side as it awkwardly picked its way towards them. Its flashing eyes swung back and forth, searching. For them?
Toriko lowered her gun. No way a Makarov was denting that. “Uh, Sorawo… I hate to ask, but is there anything on this guy I can shoot?”
Steeling herself, Sorawo focused again. Maybe she could tune out the dust. Sure enough, if she treated them like a migraine, she could just about make out the Rodan through a watery kaleidoscope. Its true form was exactly what they could make out through the dust, so far as she could tell, a graceful predator in the air, but an absurd bat-giraffe on the ground. Her right eye revealed an odd rubbery sheen, as if the creature were some kind of costume or disguise for something else. Ghostly, ragged images followed its motions, but they didn’t look like tears that could lead to the Otherside…
That gave Sorawo an idea. Casting her gaze wider, she could see a few glimmers and scratches in alleyways and neglected corners all around them, imperfections that they could tear open into gateways. Had there always been this many? They were usually rare, but she could see four or five from where she stood! It didn’t bear thinking about.
“Never mind him!” Sorawo said. “We can—!”
The monster lowered its head to their level and cackled. Were they going to let her finish a sentence, already?
Instead of explaining, she grabbed Toriko’s sleeve and started back the way they came, casting out a hand to trail along the storefronts. Rodan scrambled up behind, as though it realized what she was planning. Following, Toriko finally opened up with gunshots that sounded distant and flat against the wind. One, two – the third hit its eye and it recoiled with a shriek.
There! Sorawo yanked her accomplice into a narrow alley just as Rodan hit the edge. It bulled against the walls behind them, turning its long head this way and that, prying with the claws on its wings. Was it strong enough to rip through the wood and brick? They weren’t sticking around to find out.
“I’m gonna make you touch something weird again,” Sorawo said. Ahead of them, her right eye saw a cyclone of amoebae ripping at the skin of the world, and her left saw dust bouncing and swirling around an empty alley. A gleaming scratch hung in the cyclone’s eye, just the right size for Toriko’s fingers.
Toriko barked out a laugh and pulled the glove on her left hand free. “For you? Anytime.”
They collapsed onto the grass of the Otherside and caught their breath for a few seconds, then slowly rose, casting off their masks and goggles. Ever practical, Toriko immediately went to their packs to make sure everything was in order, but Sorawo just stood there, gazing to the horizon dazedly. They were at the edge of a low, scrubby forest speckled with jagged rocks, and a rusted, abandoned version of the Enoshima Sea Candle stood at a precarious angle ahead. The sky was thinly overcast, but it was a faint sparkle of unnatural ultrablue that pressed though, rather than sunlight. In the distance behind her, she could just make out the crashing sea.
No monsters were in the sight of either eye, but she still wanted to scream. All of the stress in Sorawo’s body was boiling up at once. She started to crumple again, shaking, gasping, clutching herself together.
“Hey, Sorawo? We made it!” Toriko said, taking her arm. “It’s okay, we’re safe!”
Relatively safe. As safe as they could ever be on the Otherside. As safe as they could be anywhere, ever again? Sorawo knew her brain enjoyed subjecting her to the worst possible future now and again, but that knowledge never helped her when it did. What had they left behind? Where were they going now?
“Is it being here again?” Toriko asked, concerned. “I wanted more of a break, too, but you’re a champ at handling this place! Better than me, even!”
“But that was because – we could always – come back,” Sorawo said haltingly. “Maybe we weren’t always safe at home, but it was always still there!”
“It still—” Toriko started.
“How do you know? How do you know? Why didn’t you tell me what happened? We should have made sure everything was… everything…” Sorawo could feel herself coming unglued. It was a familiar sensation, but now she couldn’t blame it on some mind-shredding monster. The pain, fear, and weakness were all a part of her. She clutched her head and fell to a crouch, struggling to keep her voice down. “Toriko, w-what do we do?”
“Aw, come on,” Toriko murmured, crouching and resting a hand on her shoulder. “Wasn’t that just like when the Otherside finds us? Like when we had that beach party, or got drunk with Hasshaku-sama’s hat? The world goes weird around us all the time! How was this so different?”
“Don’t be stupid! This—!” As she surged back to her feet, Sorawo choked on the answer. It was too big. If Toriko didn’t get it, how could she explain? “Listen! When the Otherside found us, that wasn’t the world going crazy! That was us going to the crazy world, get it? The Surface World was always there behind us after we left!”
“Except for—” Toriko started doubtfully.
“Yeah, yeah, the ninja cats, Pandora, whatever else, all kinds of bad stuff – listen!” Sorawo drew a deep breath and swallowed, suddenly terrified that she would start crying.
“Okay, I’m listening,” Toriko said. Her voice was infuriatingly gentle. Sorawo hated that she needed it so badly. “I’m listening.”
“Those Rodan things weren’t just there for us. They were there for everyone. That was – bigger than us.” Maybe it was better if Toriko couldn’t see the future that she did. Instead of a familiar, humdrum world to return to, a Martian nightmare full of rampaging monsters. No more refuge – just a choice between a red hell and a blue hell. “Do you understand how – how insane it is that we just ran to the Otherside for safety? We escaped to the Otherside! Think about that!”
“Weren’t you escaping to the Otherside when we met?”
“That was different!” Sorawo cried. “I don’t want to die anymore!”
Toriko didn’t say anything. Sorawo looked up to see that she was staring wide-eyed, frozen between expressions. She came to life when they made eye contact, flickering through a few emotions too fast to read before settling on a determined look. Almost angry.
“It’ll be okay,” Toriko said in a deep, firm voice, and pulled her into a hug.
Sorawo squirmed. Was she struggling? She didn’t even know. Eventually, she surrendered and went limp.
“It’ll be okay,” Toriko repeated, stroking her hair. “Okay? We’ll lie low and wait for the sun to rise, then we’ll head to the gate outside Kozakura’s house and drop in on her. And when we see she’s okay, we’ll call Akari and her little friend, what’s-her-name, the mechanic. We’ll call Migiwa, too, if you want. Okay?”
Sorawo snorted despite herself. Natsumi would hate being called Akari’s “little friend.”
Toriko squeezed her harder. Her warmth and scent and pressure drove the Otherside’s alien sky back. It was just the two of them.
“It’s so strange,” Sorawo said softly. “To worry about people on the Surface. To have people there who’d miss me. I thought I could just disappear out here, but…”
“You’re gonna make me cry, here,” Toriko said, laughing weakly.
“I’m back,” Sorawo finally said, squirming free. “I—thanks. I’m okay. We’ll do what you said.”
That put a full night between them and setting out, but they had a light tent in their pack. As long as they didn’t call attention to themselves, bedding down on the Otherside would be safe enough. They’d just spent two weeks proving it, after all. The work of setting up camp helped Sorawo to center herself, and after their run through the sweltering city, the cold air on this side was pleasant.
They only got one visitor – a kunekune crested the ridge above them and came winding and wiggling its nauseating way down as they were driving stakes for the tent. It could have been drawn by the sound of the hammer, or by Sorawo’s gaze as she scanned the horizon for threats. Strangely, seeing it was a relief. At least this was a monster they knew how to deal with!
“Toriko,” she said calmly, and her accomplice grunted, readying her Makarov with a sharp click.
She pinned it in place with her eye, and Toriko plugged it with a single round before it could even get a grip on her. The whole whirling, twisting mass of it collapsed into a mirrored cube and fell to the grass.
“Should we bother?” Sorawo asked as Toriko trotted over to collect it.
“Remember what Kozakura said when we called? They want more of these things, for some reason.” Toriko tossed the cube to herself and grinned. “Think of all the chicken wings this will buy us!”
Sorawo put a hand to her stomach. That only made her think of all the chicken wings she’d already put away – and, come to think of it, the wings they’d left to get buried in dust. Okay, never mind that line of thought.
In a place like the Otherside, where the deadliest predators were drawn to consciousness and perception, keeping watch was more dangerous than not. The two laid out their bedrolls and arranged the tent for a quick escape, just in case. Toriko turned the lamp low between them, but instead of settling in, she lay with her cheek propped on a hand, gazing at Sorawo with gleaming blue eyes. A natural, soft blue… like home.
“Gonna have trouble sleeping?” she asked.
“Probably not,” Sorawo replied. Her little meltdown had exhausted her. “You?”
“Sure, I’m fine.” Toriko watched her for a few seconds longer, another question hovering between her parted lips, then rolled over and dropped instantly to sleep.
It always took Sorawo a bit longer, but the eerie voices and nighttime footfalls didn’t have time to find them before she was gone, too.