⇲   𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐎 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘 〉 𝐉𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐍  !
XXXX. ✿ CIRCA JUNE 2012.
𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠     𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄
I MONSTER.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

9:15 PM

Momo & "Occult boy" aka Ken couldn't be serious. They just couldn't be. The eerie glow of the moon hung low in the sky, its pale light spilling over the quiet streets of Shono City. Odette stood near the edge of the infamous tunnel, her arms crossed as she stared into the darkness.

Her striking red hair gleamed like fire under the faint glow of the nearby streetlamp, the sleek black jumpsuit clinging to her figure and exuding confidence. Yet, as confident as she looked, there was an undeniable edge of irritation simmering beneath her sharp gaze.

"There's no way y'all are serious," she muttered, shaking her head. "This is insane."

Beside her, Ken adjusted his thick-framed glasses, clearly uncomfortable. "It's not insane—it's research," he said, his voice cracking slightly. He glanced at the tunnel nervously, his hands clutching his phone as if it were a lifeline.

Odette gave him a sidelong glance. "Research? Into what? How fast we can run outta here if something actually pops out?"

Ken opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Momo's voice came through the phone speaker, interrupting him. "Hey! I can hear you guys, you know. Quit messing around—I'm taking this seriously."

Odette sighed, lifting her own phone closer to her ear. "Momo, you're the one who dragged me out here, and now you're not even in the same place. How is that fair?"

"I told you," Momo replied, her voice faintly echoing through the connection. "I'm at Nagi Hospital. Occult-kun thinks UFOs might appear here, and I'm not about to let him win this stupid bet."

Odette pinched the bridge of her nose. "Right, because proving ghosts exist isn't crazy enough—you just had to add aliens into the mix."

Ken interjected, his tone defensive. "Aliens are real! There's actual evidence, Odette. And besides, Momo agreed to prove ghosts are real, so it's only fair I do the same for UFOs."

Odette rolled her eyes. "Fair, my ass. You're both trying to drag me into your weird obsessions. I'm not a mediator, you know."

"Well, you're here, aren't you?" Momo quipped. "Which means some part of you thinks this is worth checking out."

Odette didn't respond immediately, her eyes narrowing as she gazed into the mouth of the tunnel. The shadows within seemed to shift and writhe, but she chalked it up to her imagination. "Whatever," she finally said, shaking her head. "Let's just get this over with."

—————

As they stepped closer to the tunnel entrance, Ken's hesitation became more pronounced. He kept glancing around nervously, his grip on his phone tightening. Odette noticed and arched a brow, her voice tinged with amusement. "What's wrong, Kenny? You scared?"

Ken sputtered, his face turning red. "N-no! I'm just being cautious, that's all."

"Sure you are," Odette replied, smirking. "But if you're gonna faint, at least let me know ahead of time so I can catch it on video."

Before Ken could retort, Momo's voice came through again. "Hey, Odette, you ever think about why people believe in this stuff? Like ghosts and aliens?"

The question caught Odette off guard, and she paused, considering her answer. "I mean... I guess it's because people want to believe there's more to life than what we see. Something bigger, you know?"

Momo hummed in agreement. "Yeah, that's part of it. But for me, it's different. I didn't want to believe in ghosts—I had to."

Odette frowned, sensing the shift in Momo's tone. "What do you mean?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line before Momo finally spoke again. "When I was younger, my grandmother made me perform this ritual in public. She said it was important, part of our family's duty as spirit mediums. But the boys at school... they made fun of me for it. Called me weird, creepy. Even the boy I liked joined in."

Odette felt a pang of sympathy. "Momo..."

"I hated her for it," Momo continued, her voice quiet. "I hated her for making me do something that made me a target. But later, I realized... it wasn't the ritual I hated. It was him—my crush—for mocking her. For mocking us."

Odette's grip on her phone tightened. "You were just a kid, Momo. No one expects kids to handle stuff like that perfectly. But you know what? Your grandmother wouldn't hate you for feeling that way. You should talk to her—apologize if you feel like you need to. She'd understand."

There was a soft sniffle on the other end, and Odette's heart ached for her friend. "Thanks, Odette. I... I'll think about it."

"Good," Odette said firmly. "Now, let's focus on not getting eaten by a ghost or abducted by aliens, okay?"

Momo chuckled weakly. "Deal."

As Odette and Ken navigated deeper into the dank, musty tunnel, Ken couldn't contain his excitement about the potential of encountering something otherworldly, his voice echoing around them. "They say Nagi Hospital is practically the holy land for UFOs!"

Momo, who was venturing through the neglected wards of Nagi Hospital, grumbled through the phone, "That's bullshit. If you call for a UFO from the roof, you'll definitely be abducted!" Her tone was a mix of skepticism and slight fear.

Ken, squeezing Odette's hand slightly, explained earnestly, "It means you get kidnapped by aliens and they use you for human experimentation!"

"Whoa, hold on! Have you been experimented on?" Momo's voice crackled with static and disbelief over the phone.

Ken hesitated, then mumbled something about regressive hypnosis, leading Momo to press further, "Quit dodging the question!"

As their debate intensified, Odette's curiosity got the better of her, and she wandered off a little to explore the tunnel on her own.

Her phone's flashlight cut a narrow beam through the oppressive darkness, the light reflecting off damp walls. A mix of doubt and thrill coursed through her as she considered Grandma Seiko's warnings about the overwhelming spiritual pressure in the tunnel.

"Why can Ken and I, just teenagers, one with no special powers and me just starting to tap into mine, handle this when Seiko couldn't?" Odette murmured to herself, her skepticism gnawing at her.

Suddenly, a chilling presence halted her steps. There, in the dim light of her phone, stood an elderly spirit—or yokai—known as the infamous Turbo Granny. The yokai's appearance was unsettling: reddish-brown wrinkled skin, long thick white hair, and wide eyes with a yellow sclera, fixed to the sides.

"Would you like to suckle for safety, young man?" the yokai croaked, offering Ken an eerie bargain. "In exchange, I shall gobble your dong."

The yokai's offer to Ken, grotesque and bizarre, hung in the air like a foul odor. Odette turned to Ken, her expression a mix of horror and disbelief. Ken, for his part, was pale, his body rigid with fear.

"No way," Odette whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of Momo's frantic screams coming through the phone. "This can't be real."

Ken stammered, his words tumbling out incoherently. "I—I can't believe it. Is this really happening?"

The eerie silence that followed was broken only by Momo's urgent voice. "Guys, get out of there! This is bad, really bad!"

Odette snapped to attention, her survival instincts kicking in. "We're leaving, now!" she declared, grabbing Ken's hand with a firm grip.

As they turned to flee, the yokai's laughter echoed through the tunnel, a sound that sent shivers down Odette's spine. They ran, the ghost's cackling growing louder, almost as if it were right behind them.

"Come on, Ken! Faster!" Odette urged, pulling him along as his feet stumbled over the uneven ground.

Behind them, the ghost seemed to gain ground, its spectral form gliding effortlessly over the debris and dirt of the tunnel floor. Odette's heart pounded in her chest, her breaths coming in sharp gasps as the adrenaline surged through her body.

Up ahead, the light at the end of the tunnel was a beacon of hope, growing brighter with each desperate step they took. Momo's voice was now a constant stream of warnings and worried exclamations, urging them on.

Momo's voice came through the phone, urgent and panicked. "You guys need to run! If she catches you, you're cursed!"

The reality of their situation hit them like a ton of bricks. Odette and Ken didn't need further encouragement. They sprinted toward the tunnel exit, Turbo Granny's unsettling laughter chasing them through the darkness.

Turbo Granny moved with unnatural speed, her form blurring as she lunged toward Ken. Odette, acting on instinct, grabbed Ken's arm and pulled with all her might, but the yokai's grip was surprisingly strong.

In a horrifying twist, Ken's body began to morph under the yokai's touch, his screams filling the tunnel as he was pulled away from Odette. His transformation was grotesque, his features twisting in agony.

Odette, propelled by a surge of adrenaline, fought desperately to free Ken, but Turbo Granny's power was overwhelming. As she struggled, her own fear was mirrored in Ken's tormented eyes—eyes that begged for help she couldn't give.

Back at Nagi Hospital, Momo faced her own terror. The dark figures she'd hoped were mere shadows materialized into something far more sinister. As they advanced, her retreat was cut off, their intentions unclear but undoubtedly malevolent. Trapped and outnumbered, Momo's situation seemed as dire as her friends'.

————

In the dimly lit confines of the hospital, Momo wrestled with her bindings as the shadowy figures known as the Serpos revealed their ominous intentions. Their presence was an alien threat that sent a chill down her spine, their features obscured but their intent horrifyingly clear. As one of the Serpos approached with a mechanical device aimed at her, Momo's heart raced, panic setting in.

Simultaneously, Odette, navigating the eerie darkness of the tunnel with Ken, felt a surge of adrenaline. Her phone clutched tightly in one hand, she tried to reconnect with Momo, needing to warn her about the dangers they were facing. Before she could dial, Ken, now under the sinister influence of Turbo Granny, lunged at her with a feral growl. With quick reflexes, Odette dodged, wielding a steel pole she found lying on the ground — a makeshift weapon she hoped would buy them some time.

Odette swung the pole with precision, remembering her grandmother's lessons. "Disarm first, immobilize second," she muttered, sidestepping another attack. She managed to jab the pole into Ken's midsection, knocking him back just enough to grab her cracked phone from the floor.

"Come on, come on, pick up!" she muttered, her fingers fumbling as she dialed Momo's number.

———

Strapped to the chair, Momo's mind raced as she processed the terrifying reality of the alien's intentions. Her struggle was futile against their psychokinetic abilities, which induced an overwhelming state of arousal. Just as the situation seemed to reach a point of no return, the sudden interruption of her phone ringing bought her a precious moment. Turbo Granny, bizarrely intervening, lunged forward and bit off the device in a grotesque display of savagery.

In that chaotic moment, a new, formidable figure emerged from Momo's phone, adding to the surreal nightmare. Dressed in a black hooded cloak with a fiery crimson scythe, the figure moved with lethal grace, her identity masked yet unmistakably powerful. It was Odette, her transformation a stark contrast to the girl Momo knew, her abilities manifesting in a spectacular and terrifying display.

Odette's intervention turned the tide, her scythe arcing through the air with deadly precision, its blade slicing through the tension in the room. The Serpos, caught off guard, recoiled as their mechanical devices were destroyed, their plans thwarted by the sudden counterattack.

Momo, her spirit reignited by the sight of her friend's fierce protectiveness, found strength she didn't know she had. Remembering her grandmother's teachings, she tapped into her newfound psychic abilities. The ritual she'd once resented now became her salvation, unlocking powers that surged through her, breaking her free from her restraints.

With a powerful kick, she sent the nearest Serpo reeling back, its form staggering under the force of her attack. As Odette continued her assault, Momo rushed to aid Ken, who was still under Turbo Granny's curse.

Turbo Granny, realizing her control was slipping, issued a chilling warning about the consequences of her curse, her laughter echoing ominously as she vanished into the shadows.

Odette, now back in her human form, collapsed to her knees, her scythe dissipating into embers. She looked up to see Momo standing protectively over her, her aura glowing faintly with newfound power.

Turbo Granny snarled, her form flickering as she clutched her side. "You think this is over? I still have his manhood!" she spat, her words dripping with venom.

Ken, now freed from the immediate possession, looked at her with a mix of fear and determination. "Give it back, you hag!"

The yokai laughed darkly. "If you want it, come find me in the tunnel. Let's see if you've got what it takes, you pitiful fools."

With that, she vanished into the shadows, her cackle fading into the distance.

The UFO shuddered violently, alarms blaring as the vessel began to fall apart. Odette, Momo, and Ken barely made it to the exit before the entire structure collapsed in a fiery explosion. They tumbled onto the ground outside, coughing and covered in soot.

Momo sat up first, glaring at Ken. "You have got to stop getting us into this mess."

Ken, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, muttered, "I didn't exactly plan for this..."

Odette groaned as she rolled onto her back, staring up at the night sky. Her hoodie was in tatters, her pants barely holding together, and her hair a frizzy mess. "I told you ghosts and aliens could exist," she said with a tired laugh.

Momo looked between the two of them, her expression softening. "Okay, fine. You were right. But now what do we do?"

Ken, his face serious for once, said, "I have to confront her. Alone. This is my curse, and I can't drag you two into it anymore."

"Like hell you're doing this alone," Momo snapped. "We're a team now, whether you like it or not."

Odette smirked, pushing herself to her feet despite her exhaustion. "She's right. We've come this far together. You're not ditching us now."

Ken looked at them, his eyes glistening with gratitude. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Momo crossed her arms. "Don't thank us yet. We still have to figure out how to beat that creepy old hag."

As they walked away from the wreckage, the glow of the burning UFO lighting their path, Momo suddenly paused. "Wait... what's your name again?"

Ken blinked. "Uh, Ken Takakura."

Momo's jaw dropped. "Ken Takakura?! You mean to tell me you're the idiot Odette's been talking about?!"

Odette burst out laughing, leaning against Ken for support. "Told you he was real!"

Ken, flustered, stammered, "I—uh—what?!"

Momo groaned, rubbing her temples. "Unbelievable..."

Despite the chaos of the night, the trio shared a moment of laughter, their bond strengthened by their shared ordeal. Whatever lay ahead, they knew they could face it together.