text: Monsteropolis, September 4, 2020 Yesnia St. Cloud could barely contain her excitement the higher up she and her traveling companions flew. They were just about to breach the clouds that led to her hometown, and she couldn’t wait to introduce her surface friends to her Overworld friends and family! It had been too long since the young witch had been back to visit her hometown, and she couldn’t wait to introduce her folks to her new fiance! At the ripe old age of 27, she had finally met the love of her life in Felix “Freak” Fernandez. Yesnia St. Cloud-Fernandez has a good ring to it! “So... Why is Monsteropolis high up in the clouds? The vast amount of media would have you believe that most monsters lived in Transylvania and in black lagoons and stuff like that. Earthbound, if you will.” The pint-sized gnome artificer Artia Flameborne asked the current leader of the party. The jets in her boots were working double-time to keep up with the sleek new Duskbreaker 3005 broom that Yesnia was riding with unbridled glee. Behind her was her beloved Freak, clutching her waist for dear life and trying in vain not to look back down towards the rapidly-shrinking planet beneath them. “I’ve been asking myself that since we left the ground!” he piped up with tears streaming down his face. “Isn’t there some sort of giant escalator or... What about a hot air balloon?? Something where my feet can be squarely under me?” “Oh hush, Freaklin. Artia is coming along so she can set up a high-speed teleporter at my parents’ house so we never have to do this scenic sky trip again... Unless I feel like it!” She said before releasing a cackle that pealed through the clouds like thunder. With a snap of her fingers, she had the dramatic lightning to accompany the raucous laughter. “Yesnia!! Chill with the lightning! We’re all flying types right now and not all of us can just shrug off the fury of Raijin!!” screamed Yumi Kuromori over the crackling of the lighting above them. She was usually the toughest customer in the group, but the lightning had her trembling like a leaf in the strong arms of her lover and close friend, Allegra Powers. “It’s okay, Yumes. We’re almost there. I’ll handle any lightning that comes our way!” Allegra reassured her in a loving tone. She smiled a smile so warm and bright that it instantly melted away any fears that Yumi may have had. They both leaned in for a kiss, but the attempt was abruptly interrupted. “Hey lovebirds, we’re here!” chirped a voice from behind the pair. It was Brin Monterey, holding on for dear life to the cape streaming from Allegra’s back as they finally pierced through the base layer of clouds that made up the “ground” for the Overworlders. The sign sticking out of the bottom of the clouds read: “Welcome to Monsteropolis! Population: 4,395 spooky individuals!” “Artia didn’t build you those phoenix boots to intrude on my love life, Brinny,” Allegra joked with her oldest friend in the universe as their heads started to poke through the stretchy upper layer of the stretchy ground that the Overworld was built on. She was actually a little glad Brin stepped in when she had, as she didn’t know if Yumi could catch the Halo virus, but she really didn’t want to chance it any more than she had to. “I helped design them AND your new suit there, Legs. You can’t just give all the credit to the magical gnome you met a couple of weeks ago.” The suit Brin was referring to emulated her natural powers while still preventing her from physically touching other people to spread the dreaded enhanced-targeting supervirus. “... And that’s why it was built up in the sky. Oh, we’re here! Welcome to my town, guys!! Monsteropolis!” Yesnia took a deep breath of the thin, crisp air as the group of five relative Earthlings she had brought with her were able to take in the sights of a city square whose only source of illumination other than the moon and the twinkling stars peppering the inky blackness above was the warm light of the fire burning inside a gigantic jack-o-lantern. Standing more than five stories tall and floating over a giant purple fire that smelled strongly of apples and cinnamon, each side of the gargantuan gourd was carved with the faces of the citizens of Monsteropolis. The four biggest faces on the giant pumpkin, sitting in a horizontal row on the pumpkin’s equator like a veritably monstrous Mount Rushmore were the cold, yet inviting gaze of Countess Lucinda Dracula, the awkwardly charming smile of Governor Adam Frankenstein (Formerly known as Frankenstein’s Monster), the fearsome countenance of General Lupe Alma de Lobos, and a the bandage-wrapped, mummified face of High Priest Imhotep. “Oh my gourd, that’s a big pumpkin!!” Allegra exclaimed as she carefully set Yumi down so she could get her first taste of actually walking on a cloud. A dense fog effect surrounded their feet as the “ground” stretched ever so slightly under their reduced weight. Freak, excited to finally be able to stand on his own, stretched his legs and leaped up high enough to get a better view inside of the giant pumpkin before realizing the lessened gravity meant he could easily get almost three-quarters of the way up the pumpkin with a single leap. “Oh, aces! I loooove the lack of gravity here! It’s like a giant bounce house!” “You’re not gonna join us on the cloud, Allegra?” Yumi asked with her arms crossed. Allegra had to laugh. “Nah babe, walking’s for suckers!” Everything was kosher until she felt her sorta-girlfriend’s glare piercing her soul like a thousand tiny daggers, causing her to drop to the “ground” immediately. “Juuuust kidding! Boy-oh-boy do I love walking hehe...” Bats flitted through the air, squeaking and fluttering their wings gracefully. The sound attracted the views of the group towards the closest unimpeded view of the full Harvest moon that any of them had ever seen before, excluding Allegra and Yesnia. “The moon looks so perfect up here. I can see every single crater and... Hold on, is that a colony on the moon??” Artia asked as the pair of goggles on top of her head flipped down automatically, zooming in telescopically to give her a clearer view of what she had always assumed was a barren rock in the sky. “Oh yeah, you didn’t know ‘bout the Lunarians? They tend to keep out of Earth business, but they’re super nice! I’ll take you to meet ‘em sometime.” Allegra chimed in. “Yeah, they’re our favorite neighbors! No offense, Earthlings... They invite us to their parties for different eclipses and all sorts of lunar holidays. We like to have them over for all sorts of Harvest festivals, especially Halloween! Oh, those moon kids looove candy, and their little costumes are so precious!” Yesnia’s eyes were full of stars and her orange irises glowed eerily with the brilliant light of the moon flowing through them. Freak’s hand waving in front of her face caused her to exaggeratedly snap out of her Harvest-induced stupor. She slid the handle of her broom into the handy holder strapped to her back before gesturing for the group to follow her. “Anywho, let me give you guys a brief tour on the way to the ‘rents place. I know all the coolest spots!” The party of six young adults set off into the chilly night air. It was the perfect hoodie weather, which Allegra, Yumi, Freak, and Brin were all warned of before making the 10-mile trip up to their vertical neighbors. Artia, however, was a walking radiator, giving off excess heat even in the absence of her loyal phoenix companion, Orryn. Today, her rusty red toolbox and the goggles that seemingly never left the top of her head would have to be her only aides. She was the only one bold enough to wear just a faded band t-shirt (It says “Magically Lucid”) and jeans in the chilliest environment any of them had personally been to. After a couple of minutes walking and chatting about various townsfolk that passed by on their way to living their lives, they happened upon a huge section of trees that were gnarled, withered, and almost entirely devoid of leaves. The moonlight shining through the branches cast wicked shadows over them as they approached, immediately unnerving most of the group. “Hey, what gives? Most of the other trees still have orange, red, and brown leaves up, why are these ones bare?” Freak looked upon the creepy forest that stretched for at least half an acre with apprehension, secretly hoping they wouldn’t have to go through it. “This is the Star-Crossed Woodlands!” Yesnia’s voice echoed across the thicket with incredible clarity, causing her to hush herself before continuing. “Legend has it that it was created during a bout between Dracula and a goddess of the land. When her life-giving plant-growth powers mixed with Dracula’s unholy blood, it created a single, massive weeping willow that ended up spreading its dark influence over the land around it. It stopped once it hit its current size, so we started building around it.” “You’re not worried that, like, those spooky roots could spread under your houses and roads and cause some real massive damage one of these days?” Yumi questioned as she tightened her hoodie around her face, a hard shiver running down her spine as she did so. She really couldn’t stand all this cold, but as soon as Allegra’s gloved hand grabbed hers, she was reassured everything would be okay. “Nah, we had some witches look into it and the potential to grow anymore has diminished over time. Now the only thing abnormal about this place is that it can be very tricky to get out. Looking up while you’re inside will actually show you the stars in the wrong position, constantly forcing you to travel in a spiral. More than a few people have perished from getting stuck like that. Since then, we put in a convenient trail of glowing mushrooms that show all of the available paths. Just DON’T. LOOK. UP. Got it?” Yesnia grabbed Freak’s arm and strolled casually into the spooky grove without a hint of fear. The rest followed with noticeable hesitation before seeing the blue row of glowing mushrooms on both sides of the well-worn path they were walking down. A gentle hum emanated from the fungi and it actually helped to alleviate their nerves a tad. All of their nerves besides Artia, of course. She was used to danger around every corner, especially when the world around her was trying to calm her. It felt like a trap, so she drew her sword, guarding the rear of the group and looking over her shoulder every couple of seconds. “You brought a sword??” Brin almost couldn’t believe it, but then she remembered who she was asking. “I ALWAYS have my sword. I’m surprised you didn’t,” Artia retorted. At one point, she’d been spooked by the rustling of some tree branches that turned out to be a rogue bat that was lost, even with its use of sonar. She swung at it and almost cut the poor thing in half before realizing what was going on and helping it out of the branches that had ensnared it. She ended up carrying it with them through the rest of the dreaded woods. “I think I shall call you Brana! Brana Bat. Fly free, you beautiful fool!“ Artia called out, releasing her new friend as the group finally stepped out of the Star-Crossed Woodlands. “Ah, fresh, non-haunted air,” “Artia, that forest isn’t haunted... Right Yesnia?” Freak questioned, receiving nothing but silence for a few too many seconds. “Oh no, it’s TOTALLY haunted. Like, abnormally haunted. One of the most haunted places on or around Earth. People who go missing anywhere on the planet a lot of times end up stuck there. We were being tailed by, like, 12 ghosts. I’m surprised you guys didn’t notice the humming!” The response was so nonchalant that everyone besides Freak who was being dragged along and Artia stopped dead in their tracks. “Told ya.” The half-pint wizard chimed in, sticking her tongue out as she sheathed her sword. “Listen, y’all; as soon as we get back home, I say we extort a big ol’ bottle of Curse-B-Gone from Leo. Agreed?” Allegra posited to the group in a hushed tone, taking their astonished nods as confirmation. “Oh shoot look, a rescue shelter! I should’ve taken Brana over there.” Artia pointed to a bright blue and white building with the words “Monsteropolis Rescue Center” in bold red print at the top. “Ah, don’t worry about it. Bats are like pigeons here. Besides, Brana wasn’t hurt, they just have a poor sense of direction with all the trees in the way,” Yesnia patted Artia on the shoulder, clearly sensing that she missed her Orryn. “Buuut, we do have some time to kill before we’re due at my parents’ house. Let’s check out the current residents? We get some really weird critters thanks to The Woodlands’ effect of pulling in anything that gets lost!” she said already heading over towards the building. “I’m game!” Yumi followed with a small hop in each step. “Oh, there’d better be some stuff that’ll blow my MIND!” Allegra floated behind, grabbing Yumi’s hips like it was the start of a conga line. “Absolutely!” Brin followed, ready for something less spooky to calm her nerves. “Haha what could it hurt?” Freak strolled in after the rest. Artia stayed behind for a brief moment before casting a little spell. She whispered something barely audible into her cupped hands, which started to glow with a faint light before releasing it into the night air. And with that, she turned to follow her comrades. When Artia got into the building, she was intrigued to see it almost resembled an Earthling hospital, but much smaller. She walked up to the reception desk and, with a well-placed jump, she was directed by an incredibly sweet Oni girl to the playroom. “Just follow the green line on the floor all the way to the back and you can’t miss it! Enjoy your time and consider adopting one of our misplaced cuties!” The rest of the group were already oohing and ahhing and playing around with a few incredibly strange species of animals that were unlike anything she’d ever seen before. Allegra was chuckling to herself and juggling a completely gelatinous teal creature with three eyes and no mouth that looked to be completely enjoying the experience in two eyes, although the other eye was starting to look nauseated. Yumi was crouched on all fours in a staring contest with a purple frog that she swore changed into a different animal the very second constant eye contact wasn’t kept on it. The creature bested her once more and only her shocked cry alerted Artia to the fact that the frog was now an orange hedgehog. “Oh, I’m coming back for this one! Imma call you Ryoshi!” She happily picked up the spiny orange critter and hugged it, but as soon as her eyes shut, she was holding a green mouse. Brin had her face pressed to an aquarium with a family of electric starfish whose lightning changed colors depending on the mood of the nearest creature. Currently, they were all emitting thin arcs of vividly vibrant violet electricity to reflect Brin’s awe and glee at the beautiful display going in. “How have you not been... Allegraaaa!!” “C’mon Brin, we JUST got Meo!” Allegra walked over with the semisolid creature wrapped around her neck like a feather boa. Yesnia was showing Freak a miniature shapeshifting creature that could turn into a tiny version of anything or anyone. Freak was alarmed that something so dangerous was just out and available to be played with. “Pfft, he can’t grow, Freaklin! So if he turns into you...” she held Freak’s face up close to the little dude who currently looked like the small green army man next to him on the floor. In a matter of seconds, he had completely turned into a near-perfect copy of Freak, minus the height of course. “Now how could I ever mistake him for my handsome Freakasaurus Rex?” “Y-yesniaaa!\~\~” Freak embarrassedly shielded the mini version of himself from seeing Yesnia pull him into a kiss that made Artia blush before she cleared her throat to bring the party’s attention back together. “It’s about time we headed out, it’s almost eight already!” On the way out, Brin and Yumi made plans to adopt their respective favorite pets on their way back. Allegra rolled her eyes the entire time they were signing papers, but she had to admit that she couldn’t think of much cooler pets to pick up than the two they had chosen. They headed off down the road, passing different street vendors and performers on their way towards the edge of Monsteropolis’ downtown. Once they were a few minutes past the hustle and bustle, the clouds beneath them started to ripple as a heavy wind kicked up seemingly out of nowhere. Accompanied by the near-deafening and unmistakable sound of powerful wingbeats, within seconds an imposing, shadowy figure had landed in front of them. The hulking humanoid turned, staring down the group menacingly with huge, glowing red eyes being the only facial feature they could recognize in the dark. Everyone instinctively hid behind Yesnia in fear as the creature began growling, but Allegra was beyond excited. “YOOO!!! You didn’t tell me THE Moth-Man lives here!! He’s a frickin’ legend back where I’m from!!” “Hey, Mr. Mothman! Lose the hyphen, Allegra. How’ve you been lately?” Yesnia walked up and gave the towering creature a hug as he started to clear his throat loudly before hugging her back. “Aggh, those thick clouds choke me up ev’ry time! I’m doin’ good, Yeshny! Ye’ve shertainly grown up shince I shaw ye lasht! Who are the normies? Well...” He said as he looked down to see a diminutive gnome, a girl with a frog tongue wrapped around her like a scarf, and a superhero flying towards him with an autograph book at the ready. “Moshtly normies, at leasht.” “Hi Mr. Mothman, I’m Allegra, huuuuge fan. Nobody on Earth has a solid consensus on what you look like besides your beautiful ruby eyes! But a moth head on a man’s body? That’s fascinatin’! And Scottish! I never would’ve guessed!! D’you mind signing my Book of Legends?” She held out a bundle of pens, each a different color, and a red bound leather book with gold leaf lettering with “Book o’ Legends” in a beautiful flowing script. “Alright then,” The Mothman picked up the neon pen and turned to a blank page in the middle to etch his name onto with scraggly, erratic strokes. “Anythin’ for a humie that doesn’t want to light me on fire or get me shtuffed for the ol’ mantle. Ye wee ones headed over to your folksh’ place? If so, could you drop shomethin’ off for me?” “We sure are! I’m going to introduce them to my fiancé. Freak, come say hi to Mr. Mothman!” Freak was hidden squarely behind Artia, which was impressive considering she was almost a solid meter shorter than he was even when she had her power armor on. If it weren’t for Yesnia’s keen sense of smell due to her witching heritage, he could’ve gotten away with it, but she plucked him like a daisy and presented her shivering groom-to-be to her old neighbor. “N-n-nice to m-m-meet you, sir...” The look of terror on his face was evident as he tried not to look too closely at the bulging scarlet compound eyes, the prominent feathery and slicked-back antennae, or the curled up proboscis behind the almost beak-like opening of a mouth the creature before him possessed. “... Are ye good kid? I promishe I won’t bite ye, it’s actually imposhible, I don’t have teeth!” A hearty laugh echoed out into the crisp night air as the Mothman thought his attempt at a joke would ease the tension. “Oh, don’t worry about him, he’s terrified of moths after an ‘accident’ as a kid,” Freak’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates at the mention of his accident. His mind was instantly teleported back to his 8th birthday in 1983, a day he had often tried to forget. He went completely white and grew incredibly cold and clammy as one of the worst days of his life replayed in his mind in glorious super 8mm quality. “He’ll be okay, it’s just gonna be a couple of minutes,” Yesnia sat her traumatized partner on the ground and knelt beside him, stroking his hair and holding him close to her. “What did you need me to drop off, by the way?” By this point, Allegra was gathering measurements on the Mothman, pulling his wings to get an accurate wingspan measurement, taking stock of his musculature, and even pulling out a pair of calipers to get a good head measurement. He didn’t seem to mind, treating her like most humans would an average moth flitting around them. “Ahhh, 27 centimeters. Interestin’ indeed...” She muttered, scribbling notes like mad in a different book. “Artia! Did you give her the measuring tape and calipers?” Brin questioned. “Just because I’m a scientist doesn’t mean I go handing out my equipment all willy-nilly!” the gnome retorted as she clutched her trusty rusty red toolbox. “And where are you getting all these books from??” Yumi asked as she used her tongue to snatch the tools from Allegra’s hands. “No more work, it’s bad enough you’re wearing your uniform on this little side plot.” “Wait, how did you know this was a side plot??” The utterance of the term “side plot had snapped Freak out of his dazed stupor. “I... Didn’t? It’s just a good term for a one-off adventure like this, no?” “Okay, I’ll tell them you said Happy Harvest. Bye, Mr. Mothman!! What a nice guy, eh? I can’t tell you how many times he helped me get my brooms out of the tree in our yard! That damn tree has eaten more good brooms than I can...” Yesnia turned back to the group in the middle of a weird argument about what constitutes a side plot when they noticed the disappearance of the large humanoid Lepidoptera and the fact that she was now carrying an awkwardly-shaped object that was wrapped in a sack made of silk. “What’s in the bag?” Brin asked, walking closer to get a better look at it. “Well I can’t let the proverbial cat out of the bag, but it’s gonna be really cool once everything’s set up. Anywho, my house is right down the street, let’s go!” The collective party walked until they came up to a huge 4-story gothic mansion that almost looked like a castle made of the oldest stones the Earth could provide. There was a beautiful run-down quality to the place. Multiple pointed spires topped the massive abode, stabbing the heavens themselves with crimson flags hauntingly dancing in the still night air like blood dripping from the moon’s pierced surface. The windows were alight with a ghastly golden light with flickering wispy figures phasing in and out of existence in them. Walking through the tall, dead grass of the front yard to get to the door, they could see a graveyard to the south of the house with a couple of creepy scarecrows that seemed to turn and watch them approach. “And you’re SURE this is the right house??” Yumi questioned just as Yesnia rang the doorbell. “DIIIIIING... DOOOOONG...” the doorbell sounded more like a church bell, mostly because it was. There was a giant bell in one of the spires that rang loudly to let the house, and the entire neighborhood for that matter, know when a guest had arrived. “Yep!” Yesnia said before a trap door opened up beneath them all, swallowing them all with a loud, collective scream of terror in an instant. All of them except Allegra, who was floating when the trap went off. “Heh! I told ‘em walking’s for suckers. See if I ever involuntarily fall for a trap door...” After a loud howl from what she thought had to be a werewolf, she shrugged and gently descended down after her friends. Partly to make sure they weren’t dead, but also because she definitely didn’t want to be left out here all alone.