"Where do I find them now?"
Technological innovation has destroyed privacy. Can't even fly through the air in peace without worrying some bored teenager will upload my picture with a dumb hashtag.
"Too much traffic down there… wait." My chest tightened. "She didn't get caught flying, right? …Shit."
The wind slammed against me as I climbed higher, Hopter blades whining. Cars blurred like toy models below, horns blaring in some chaotic symphony. None of it mattered. All I could think of was Riruru's wings catching the light as she left.
"Where could she have gone?…" I muttered. Then shook my head. "No, this is useless. I need to ask the locals."
I cut the Hopter, landing hard in an empty street. My legs moved before I could think... running, weaving through alleys until I saw the crowd outside the police station.
"Excuse me!" I grabbed at the nearest adult. "Did a tall pink-haired girl come here?"
They blinked down at me, confused. "Huh? No, kid. What's wrong? You seem distressed."
"Nothing. Thank you!"
"Hey, wait—"
But I was already gone, bolting into the side streets, pulse hammering. My words echoed back at me like a bad joke. Of course no one would've seen her. Of course the police wouldn't lift a finger for some alien pleading about an inter-species war in another dimension.
That's the kind of request they'd write off as delusion. Or worse, lock her away for.
I swallowed hard, chest burning. "Damn it, Nobita. Think. Where would she go?"
"Huh?"
A shadow cast over me. What is-
"Kaw-kaw-kaw-!"
"A crow. Wait, that's too big. No one else's reacting?"
I turned my head in a hurry. But no one seemed to care much about the crow-
"Wait. A crow?"
My eyes widened. Chest tightened. I knew this sound. From my childhood. I couldn't think, but i knew i had to follow it.
"Wait!"
I screamed like a fool in the crowd, rushing behind it. Everyone must be looking at me like I'm some joker with that face I was making while rushing. Though I didn't have time to care about that.
"OI, WAIT!"
I put my copter on, then rush to a narrow street again.
"Good thing i brought this!"
A mask. No gadget, just an oxygen mask I made last year for school project. But it should help me hide my identity for now.
I take off, flying behind him as fast as i could.
"Kaw-ka-ka. Kaw ka ka kaw!"
He's laughing. I wanna puch him in the face.
"OI, WAIT! THE FUCK YOU GOING TO?!!"
He dived in the air as we passed our school. Going to hide in the forset?
I dive in behind him, preparing my air cannon.
"Hey, come back here!"
But it was too late. He was gone.
"Shit"
I landed on ground, running into the dense forest. Apparently, the citizens had been protesting against deforestation because of the technology growth. That's why this hill was left for the trees who're now illegal to cut. Which was why it felt like walking through the amazon forest while finding a way through those branches and insects.
Also off limits.
-THUMPPPPPP-
"What?"
I quickly take cover, hiding behind a tree and glace a bit to where the sound came from.
"No good. We couldn't find something of much help here. Their species seem just as hostile according to survey head's observations."
"So we'll have to go back and fight, huh?"
Two cybernetics stood in front of a giant pool of clean water. Green. Wait, it was shining. Did the sound come from that? I guess they're metropians.
"KAW!"
It happened too soon. But the giant crow appeared from the sky, grabbing both cyborgs in his giant feet.
"GUHHHH!"
"It's an ambush! Atta-"
The crow ripped the cyborgs head from its beak and threw it aside.
"SHIT! YOU-"
I felt a sudden rush of panicking heat flowing down on me. What just happened? I couldn't say. But before I could think, my hand aimed at the crow.
"ATTAAACCCKKK!!!"
An air shot from the air canon. It should-
"Well done~"
The crow spoke in a low menacing tone. My breath got caught in my throat as i watched it simply dodge my strike.
"Human? Anyway, Help m-GUHH-!!!"
Blue liquid spilled out as the crow crushed the second cyborg with his leg.
My finger shook on the cannon's trigger.
The crow turned its beak toward me, eyes gleaming like twin lamps. "Oh… so you remember me," it said, voice crackling like iron dragged across stone."that makes me happy"
I froze. "No way. That crow? So my hunch was right . Dream world..."
Its wings stretched wide, black feathers shaking loose. "meet you on the other side"
My stomach dropped. That was just a game,no? A dream. But hearing it here, in this dark forest, my body knew better.
The crow dipped low, then dove straight into the glowing pool. Ripples spread out, silver-green, like a wound opening in the world.
I should have run. Instead, my feet locked. I stared at the water where its shadow vanished, my throat tight. All I could see was the mess: cyborg bodies twitching, blue blood pooling, that awful smell of burning metal in my nose.
And suddenly I hated myself—because this was too familiar. Someone begs for help, and I freeze. Doraemon covers for me.
But he isn't here.
My hands trembled. "Damn it. Damn it, damn it…"
I pulled the Hopter tighter and leapt.
The water swallowed me whole.
The cold punched my lungs, then the world flipped. My eyes stung—but I saw it. A city beneath the river, not sunken, not drowned, but twisted. Towers bent like wax. Roads split and tangled. The reflection world of the dreams… broken.
I surfaced, coughing, but the air here was smoke, not air.
Guess the mask was indeed genius.
The skyline burned red. Fire clawed across rooftops. Shadows of machines blotted out the stars.
And above the flames—metallic wings. Dozens of robots, fleeing, scattering like locusts.
Because something vast and mythic was chasing them.
I couldn't breathe. My Hopter sputtered. All I could do was stare as the beast from the memories, the one I thought was just fantasy, rose screaming from the fire.