Holy Moly, Welcome to Italy

The Time Walker pointed at the vicious Samurai. “Call him Leger. He came here to knock your wickets.”

Koushi moved his index finger, pointing at the man with the book. “And that codex-holding dude is Zed. I’m a Time Walker. As for my name, it’s Koushi Eigou.”

“Oh, a normal Time Walker? Totally normal? Right? What is seriously happening today?!” Enishi yelled in a voice strained by manic, high-pitched hysteria.

“First I got fired, then I got attacked by some delinquent street punks, and now a whooping-motherstrucking interdimensional entity type of situation? And why me? Holy moly Angelina Jolie!”

Leger took one step forward with a heavy clank. A ball of blue energy began to swirl around his arm as he started casting.

“We’ve got fifteen minutes to leave, else we all will die,” Koushi warned Enishi, who was still pinned against the convenience store wall.

Meanwhile, Zed concentrated a sphere of bright green energy and fired it at Leger’s head. The spell detonated against the helmet, scattering light across the alleyway, but it didn't leave a single scratch on the metallic surface.

“I don’t know what’s happening, and I’m going home. Thank you very much for your cooperation. See you all in the afterlife!” Enishi turned to bolt.

“Best of luck escaping him, because for your information, he came exactly for you,” Koushi replied dryly.

“Figures! I can’t take this anymore! Seriously, my gorgeous leg is screaming. Call me an ambulance or I’m going to die from this pain alone!”

“Quadrans Muralis: Bloodpact!” Zed shouted, casting a spell of the lost constellation passed down through his bloodline. The air above the alley ignited as several small meteors summoned from the void began raining down toward Leger.

Enishi, trapped between the raining fire and the samurai, yelled at Zed. “Dude, are you for real?! At this rate you’re going to take out all of us! I swear, if I survive an assassination just to be killed again!”

Leger pulled his hand toward the sky. A circular pit of light-blue aura appeared above him, acting like a vacuum. The falling meteors were sucked into the pit, leaving the Samurai untouched.

Leger then unsheathed a massive odachi. The blade looked less like metal and more like a captured void. As he aimed the long blade straight at Enishi, jagged lightning strikes began projecting from its edges. No light was able to pierce the terrifying blackness of the weapon.

“What even is that?! Tell him I’m allergic to being sliced in half!”

Koushi touched his index fingers and thumbs together, forming his signature square window hand sign. A fracture opened behind them, revealing a swirling escape route. “Playtime is over. Let’s leave.”

The three of them rushed toward the portal and teleported instantly, vanishing from the streets of Osaka.

***

Meanwhile, in another parallel universe...

[Location: EARTH 427, MILAN, ITALY]

They tumbled out of the fracture onto what appeared to be a bustling, sunny street corner. The world was loud and colorful after the drab darkness they had just left. The cheerful, rhythmic sound of a guitar and singing drifted from a nearby thrift store. It was a distinct rendition of the classic Bella Ciao.

Enishi stumbled to his feet, still clutching his throbbing thigh. He surveyed the unfamiliar scene of foreign architecture and loud, defiant music.

“This music sounds more like bad news,” Enishi muttered, looking around at the Italian sun.

Enishi stepped forward. The air here smelled sweet, like fresh lemons. The street was wide and parallel, lined with houses on both sides. Nearby, outside a cafe, a pair of buskers were at work: one was tuning the strings of his guitar while the other rehearsed a soft melody of Bella Ciao.

The sun was shining brightly. Directly in front of Enishi stood a massive thrift store with a weathered sign: L’Antica Vintage Via Nino Bixio, 34, 20129 Milano MI, Italy. As the buskers began their performance, the rhythmic vibrations traveled through the soles of Enishi’s shoes. He gripped his left leg, barely able to stand on the cracked sidewalk.

“I don’t know where we are,” Enishi said, his voice tight. “But can you both help me deal with the pain in my ankle first? It’s really painful.”

Koushi took a step forward, adjusting his sunglasses. “We are in Milan, Italy. Zed, can you help Enishi with his fractured ankle?”

Zed moved toward Enishi, pulling out his small, black, pocket-sized codex. He crossed the index and middle fingers of his left hand into an X shape.

”Alright, hold still. Ophiuchus: Synthetic Regeneration.”

The moment Zed cast the spell, Enishi’s leg began to glow. A tiny, green stem sprouted from the side of his ankle. A pink plum blossom bloomed rapidly, its fragrance cutting through the scent of lemons in the air. After a few seconds, the entire flower was absorbed back into his skin, leaving no trace that it had ever existed.

“Try to twist your ankle,” Zed said.

Enishi rotated his foot and took a few experimental steps. The pain was gone. “Thanks, no thanks. It was your fault in the first place. Also, am I hallucinating, or did a flower really just grow out of my freaking ankle?!”

“What you just saw was very real. It’s called mana manifestation, and no, you were not hallucinating,” Koushi replied. He pulled out a small, red codex and began flipping through its pages. “Alright, I need to head out for a moment. I’m needed somewhere else too. Take it from here, Zed.”

“You can’t leave this moron to me!” Zed protested. He grabbed Koushi’s shoulders and jostled him back and forth. “Do you think I’ll be able to deal with him alone?”

Koushi closed both eyes. The moment Zed and Enishi blinked, he vanished from the street. He was gone without a sound.

Enishi stared at the empty space where the Time Walker had been. He turned toward the man with the small book, his patience finally snapping. “Now, please explain everything, or I’m going to crash out for real.”

Zed started laughing, then stopped abruptly. He leaned in with a smug, taunting face. “And what if I don’t?!”