The Radio Tower

Turns out the Tower TV radio tower wasn't far away, though we had to park some distance away and walk from there. It was just within the Forest, though there was a checkpoint to get past.

A couple of guys stepped out of a small sort of gatehouse and stood in our way, asking if we had authorization to go beyond that point. They were eyeing Percy with special interest.

When we were unable to produce identification and verification of clearance, they pulled their guns and herded us toward the gatehouse. The shorter man held onto my arm with a surprisingly tight grip while he used his other hand to pull out his voice-activated phone to call someone to take us away.

My heart was pounding; I was sure the agents had caught us. In desperation, I was about to elbow the short guy in the gut and hopefully get my gun out to threaten them, but that's when the men stiffened, allowing us to slip from their grip. Their eyes watched us in terror, but they didn't move, like they were connected to strings that had gone taut.

That's when I saw that their jackets had an insignia that said SPC something-or-other. So I guess I was worrying about nothing in this case. Shady people, no doubt, but certainly not STAB. As far as I could tell, anyway.

But this confirmed that the Witch definitely wanted us here. We walked past, the men's eyes following us as we moved, tears of terror starting to flood them.

Some ways into the forest, our cell phones started acting strangely. The clouds above us grew long and dark, forming a gloomy canopy over the tower.

As we walked toward our destination on a large plain with few trees (even though it was a forest), we saw few animals. Once we saw a squirrel skittering past us. In an instant it disappeared--not ran off, disappeared. It was there one second, then blinked out of existence, then appeared at the beginning of its path again, and the same thing happened a couple more times until the squirrel vanished and didn't return.

Percy told us to be careful in this place. Any physical changes could revert to their previous state at any time and if we weren't careful, something could go wrong, like us getting trapped in the ground if we dug a hole and then it reverted. And, he made sure to add, this place doesn't allow death, which is why the Witch likes it. She can do all the torturing she wants for as long as she wants and there's no escape, not even loss of life.

As we walked further on, I began to notice we seemed to be making little to no progress. The tower never seemed to be closer. Percy shouted out that we were his "Queen's" guests and suddenly we were there.

On either side of the radio tower were two small outbuildings. Straining my eyes, I could see that on the door of at least one of them was a mark etched into the wood that looked like the handle and strings of a marionette.

We waited for whatever would happen next in silence. As we stood there anxiously, the tower briefly popped into another location, not far away. It was like one of those hologram images, where if you tilt it too far the image reverts to how you saw it in the first place. A moment later, it returned to where it was before.

This place was getting increasingly bizarre, like some demented Wonderland, so I was glad to have the distraction of someone coming over to talk with us. And boy, was it distracting.

It was a man in a loose-fitting monkey suit. Yes, it was Mikey from that abominable show Playtime with Mikey.

"Greetings!" he said. "So the Mistress invited you here, eh? You're right lucky then, aren't ya? Most who come here are nothing more than her playthings."

I asked him why Bobble the Clown wasn't here if he's the one who summoned us.

"Oh, he's busy infiltrating a, um, shall we say 'unfriendly' organization. You probably met a couple o' their folks on your way here. So the task was given to me."

"What's with your show's explicitly violent lyrics?" I knew I should be asking why we were called here and where Lina was, but my curiosity got the better of me (it was something that had been bugging me) and I accidentally blurted it out. "'Playtime...oh, crikey!/Look out he's got a gun'? And stuff about killing parents with an axe?"

"The hell are you talking about, cobber? There's nothing like that in the theme song. It's all innocuous lyrics, at least to those who take them at face value. Must've been that perception-changing fucker. In any case, you've been invited here because our dear Queen has got a proposal." There were briefly two Mikeys, then they snapped back into one. "Glad to see Percy was your guide. He's got lots of experience. Heard he led a herd of Puppets in your defense. Now, down to business. Ol' Queenie wants you."

"For what?" Fran spat.

"Look, I know my mistress isn't the most...palatable to most humans. And I know you sympathize with that damned kid. But even if we're not exactly fond of each other, cobbers, we need to work together." I was about to interrupt, but he held up a hand. "Both we on the side of the Mistress and her allies and you want the same thing: to save that sister of yours, albeit for different reasons."

"Why do you want to save my sister?" I shouted. "I've heard of some of your 'Queen's' exploits. She's nothing but cruel. She's not in the business of being a hero. So why?"

He was silent for a moment. "I cannot comment on that."


Percy spoke up. "I think you should accept. I know the Queen and all of us haven't done very good things to people, but we're powerful. More powerful than any human could expect to be. Even if you don't like us, it would be wise and logical to get help with your rescue efforts."

I sighed and looked at Fran and Larry and Torrance. They said nothing. I couldn't decide. Accepting the help of some impossibly powerful entity would be helpful, but it didn't seem right. She tortured people and made them do things against their will. But in the end I didn't have to decide.

"We accept," Torrance said suddenly.

Before the negotiations or plans could go any further, however, we were interrupted.

"Shit," Mikey said under his breath, looking past us.

We turned to see several of the cyborgs heading toward us, fast. But before they could reach us or fire at us, they started twitching and their weapons wouldn't work. After a moment or two of continuous spasming, they stood stone still.

But emerging from behind them, unaffected, was the man covered in eyes. He walked slowly but deliberately toward us, smirking. When he reached us, he said, "I am Judgment. And all of you will be punished for your sins."

"What sins?" Larry asked. "We haven't done anything wrong. If anyone's done wrong, it's those STAB guys or whatever. They beat me and tied me up!"

"You have done wrong by aligning yourselves against us. Against the One who is coming to End the world. I can see all of space and time with these eyes. I can see everything. We are all insignificant. Everything is pointless."

"Then why are you doing any of this if it's meaningless anyway?"

"Even though everything is without purpose and will soon come to an end, there is no reason not to have some fun while I still can."

"But even having fun would then be meaningless."

"At least it's a temporary pleasure."

The cyborgs came to life again and came for us, curiously not trying to shoot us anymore. Percy led us to the nearest of the outbuildings and shut us in. Judgment was just on the other side of the door, boasting that he would soon break through with the help of his soldiers.

"The Towerborn, those cyborgs out there, must have revised themselves into clockwork, since the field was effecting their circuitry," Percy explained.

As we watched through the window, unable to do anything (the building was empty), a large patch of shadow swept along the ground. Legs of several of the cyborgs fell off, having been cleanly sliced through.

Bits of the darkness crept upwards on individual cyborgs, tearing off arms and even heads (though many of these dismembered and decapitated individuals kept coming anyway). We didn't know what was going on, but we weren't complaining. Backup is always a good thing.

But then we heard noises on the other side of the building, almost like singing--the dirge of ghosts. Looking out another window, we could see people ambling toward us. Lightning flashed and it was clear that their skin was gray.

They came to the window and beat on it and the wall ceaselessly. They didn't let up even when swarms of birds attacked (similar to the one earlier in the day), ripping their flesh and burrowing inside them, and through to the other side.

Then it hit me--these were the birds from the first case I reported on! The convocation. They were on our side?

There was a splintering of wood as the door was broken through, and I looked in time to see a metal fist retracting from the jagged hole. The man who called himself Judgment reached in, undid the lock, and strode in.

"You cannot stop us, us servants of the All-Seeing Eye."

Percy dove toward the wall and somehow came away with a crossbow. He fired a few shots at Judgment, impaling some of his extra eyes. Blood spilled onto the floor. He shrieked in pain. A black substance sprayed everywhere; we were protected from its contact by Percy standing in front of us.

That's when eyes began appearing everywhere--the walls, ceiling, floor, windows. I made a point to stomp on a few as we fled back outside; feeling them pop beneath by heel was disgusting but satisfying.

The cyborgs and gray-skinned people had been giving deference to Judgment, but now that he was injured and no longer talking to us, they charged at us upon seeing that we came out without him, even as the shadows and birds continued to tear them to pieces.

Lightning struck again, and on the horizon to the left, I could see the silhouette of a man with long hair. Another bolt of light lit up his face: impossible eyes and a grotesquely large smile.

I began to feel dizzy again and stumbled. But I saw, no more than a few yards away, the...Slender Man?

I staggered back in my surprise.

I blacked out.