A loud, wet thwump echoed through the alley as a large, purple, gelatinous mass the creature named Gelspawn slammed into a dumpster, leaving a slick, shimmering residue on the grimy bricks.
Gelspawn peeled itself from the metal bin, its single, overly large eye twitching furiously. "Don't get chummy with me! Thish ish our firsht time meeting!" the creature slurred, its voice an odd mix of rubbery texture and high-pitched annoyance.
It wobbled back into place, puffing up its enormous chest-like structure. "I am the Number One Underling of the Kaiju Lord! The name ish Gelspawn the Evil! A human like you needs to show respect towards me by calling me Master Gelspawn!"
"Sure, nice to meet you, Master Gelspawn," Ryder said breezily, flashing a grin that was entirely too wide for the situation.
"Yes, that's my boy! Now, speak up loudly and shout with your full strength! Out loud!" Gelspawn commanded, jiggling with pride.
A sharp, crimson blur intervened. "Shut up."
Scarlet delivered a casual, lightning-fast kick that connected with Gelspawn's midsection, sending the wobbly creature flying with even greater velocity, this time smashing through a flimsy wooden fence.
Scarlet didn't even spare the creature a glance. She turned her attention entirely to Ryder, her crimson eyes cold and intense. "Shut up, Gelspawn. Well, it's good that both of you idiots are getting along well," she said with potent sarcasm. She crossed her arms, her posture shifting from combat-ready to interrogation. "Let's get down to business. Tell me more about the 'future' you know about."
Ryder scratched the back of his neck, his awkward smile faltering. "So, you didn't get back your memory after the kiss, huh?"
The temperature in the alley dropped instantly.
Scarlet took one menacing step toward him, her hand instinctively hovering near the hilt of the curved blade at her hip. "Should I just kill you now?"
"Whoa, hold on!" Ryder threw his hands up in surrender, backing away quickly. "Look, the important thing is that we lose in all the future timelines I vaguely remember."
Scarlet paused, her focus snapping back to the revelation. Her eyes narrowed further, losing their heat and gaining a chilling calculation. "We lose in all of them. I guess that tracks," she mused, her voice low. "So, how many of the Kaiju Lords did 'we' kill before the final, unavoidable loss?"
Ryder stiffened, his eyes darting around the alley like a trapped animal. He let out a strained, awkward laugh that sounded completely false. "Well, what are you talking about, hahaha? I didn't say we fought a Kaiju Lord! I just said we lost!"
Scarlet's eyes went flat, entirely devoid of mercy or patience. "I should just behead you here and now and just go with what I was doing before you dropped out of the sky and landed on my roof."
"You can't blame me!" Ryder pleaded, trying to sound earnest but failing miserably. "I do have blurry memories! It's like a bad VHS tape! I can't remember everything that happened, or even what a Kaiju Lord is!"
Scarlet studied him with an intense, unsettling scrutiny that lasted several heartbeats. "Oh, girl. You are not lying," she finally admitted, the grudging confession a testament to his transparent desperation.
"I am speaking the truth! I didn't even know where to find you if not that we crossed paths by mistake! That's when I was able to recognize you as Scarlet, the Kaiju Lord Leader," Ryder insisted. He leaned forward conspiratorially. "It looks like I need a trigger to be able to get some of my memories back. Like a strong shock, or maybe a very aggressive punch."
"Oh, is that so?" Scarlet scoffed, a genuine flash of amusement crossing her features before being quickly masked. "What a less headache for you, but a real headache for me. I don't trust you, time-traveler."
"Huh? So, you don't trust me, Scar?" Ryder asked, using the shortened name on instinct.
"Nope," Scarlet replied simply.
"Please! Put your trust in me!" Ryder said, panicking now, sensing the knife edge of her decision.
Scarlet ignored his plea and pivoted the conversation again, her mind already moving on. "So, what about your powers? The ones your future-self gave you? The ones that let you jump through time?"
Ryder took a breath, his fear momentarily replaced by a deep-seated solemnity. "That worries me. My power and I are one. It's a part of me now, a connection to the timeline I barely remember."
The conversation evaporated as Gelspawn, surprisingly, returned wobbling, slightly dented, but intact. The creature was followed by three very terrified, very ordinary citizens, whimpering and cowering behind the monstrous underling.
"Ryder," Scarlet called out sharply, her voice already back to its usual commanding cadence.
"Oh, Scar, I'm done cleaning up," Ryder said, stepping away from the interrogation, his eyes immediately assessing the new arrivals.
Scarlet ignored the three humans huddling nearby. Her interest was solely focused on the immediate future and Ryder's potential. "I have a big interest in your abilities, not just your blurry memories," she stated flatly, stepping closer to him. "Because I want to use it to kill some strong enemies the strong enemies we supposedly failed to kill in all those other timelines."
Her eyes, calculating and ruthless, swept over the rescued civilians. She lowered her voice to a dangerous whisper, her crimson gaze fixed on Ryder.
"I have a plan that will help us to increase our kill count and test your limits," she said, a wicked grin stretching across her lips. She wasn't just pointing at the three people they had just saved; she was pointing at the fundamental, devastating truth of the war they were in. "These people, and the countless more we have to protect, are going to be the bait."
"I wanna go home!" a child cried, buried in the folds of his father's coat. The raw sound of panic was a stark contrast to the grim tension in the alley.
"Don't worry, we'll be home after we cross the border," the man reassured the child, his voice strained. He looked up at Ryder and Scarlet, his eyes pleading. "We just need a clear path. We make sure to step in if there is any trouble and take you home safely, sir."
Ryder watched the scene, the protective instinct of his unknown past bubbling up. He turned to Scarlet. "What are you going to do now?"