Enid Saint-Clair trusted Wednesday Addams.
Of course, this originally referred to her own Wednesday, known to others as Woe. But in general, Saint-Clair also extended that trust to the other Wednesdays in the unique and unconventional multiversal family they had forged.
“Try not to be alarmed.”
Those had been Needler's words, one of those Wednesday Addams. And trusting her, Saint-Clair really tried not to be alarmed about what happened next.
Which didn't last long when, in a matter of seconds, the mad scientist Addams pointed the Normalcy Nine's silver weapon at the resident Enid Sinclair of the universe they were in, a universe that seemed to be under the control of a strangely narcissistic entity that had partially rewritten reality to suit its whims.
Needler fired, hitting the local Enid squarely, and Saint-Clair couldn't help but feel alarmed.
“NEEDLER, WHAT THE FUCK!?”
Everything happened very quickly in the moments that followed.
Enid Sinclair fell onto the bed with a hole in her chest. There was not a single drop of blood or any signs of burns, wounds, or physical impact. Even before her head touched the comforter, her body had already begun to disintegrate, breaking apart into shards of light as if dissolving into thin air.
But even when Enid was about to disappear completely, the hole in her chest was still there, and it was growing.
That was the moment when a scream filled the air. A cry that could only have come from the throat of something gigantic.
The door to the room exploded not into splinters but into ashes, as if it had been struck by something moving so fast that the air around it caught fire.
The feeling of wrongness fell upon Saint-Clair's senses once again. All her instincts were on alert, screaming at her body to do something, but she seemed to be paralyzed. With her eyes, she saw what came through the door, but she couldn't quite describe it.
It was Mary Sue.
Or it was Mary Sue's shadow.
Or Mary Sue herself was a shadow.
A shapeless mass of darkness, thorns, and tentacles twisting around themselves around a piece of starry sky with eyes instead of suns, whose size seemed to be larger than the room could accommodate, as if space itself curved and deformed around it, as if reality were malleable clay.
Looking at that thing hurt both body and soul.
Its voice, which was only a voice in the sense that it could somehow be understood despite not having been vocalized by any throat, echoed not only throughout the room but throughout all of Nevermore, followed by a cacophony of terrified screams from the students.
“̶̦̖͈̣̒̈́̂̇N̵͖̞̘̣̍̓Į̵͔̀N̷̞̰̉̋Ï̶̡̦̊͜!̶͙̞̹̹̠̒̎̎̏͝ ̶̹̂̇́ W̴̖̜̜̞͌͋̋͝H̷̝̏̉̈̑͝Ȁ̸̰̣̟͓͐̉T̵͙͙̊̈͠ͅ ̶̘̠̯̊͋̽H̸̢͇͓̞͗̍͑̿̓A̷̩͎̣͎̒͘V̵͇͔̦͊̔͋̿̊Ę̸͂̀̓͝ ̵̡̧̹̞̩̋̽Y̵̜͖̙̰͊̏̎O̷̲͆̍̍͜U̷̹͂ ̶̨̧̤̽́̇͊̈D̶̗͍̣̞͠Ơ̶̟̳̤̯̰͛̚Ṅ̷̢͗͝È̷͎͓̘͙͈̆̄̿͂ ̵̭͛T̵̨͉̲̬̏̃͝Ȯ̶̧͇̮͈͠ ̵͇͉̬̙̣̈́̓Ṃ̴̹̪̂̉̈́ͅỲ̶̛̳̘͓̂̑̄ ̴̰͙̏̂̋̂N̵̪̹̅I̸̢̘͓̗̱̔N̴̻̘͌Ì̶̙̚!̵̝̈́̒͂̈́?̵͌̒́͂͜”̷̱͐͠
Something grabbed Saint-Clair by the torso, lifting her into the air. Beside her, Needler was also lifted, held by the neck, with an expression of restrained pain.
In bed, the hole that had once been in Enid Sinclair's chest and now seemed to simply be there, like a tear in reality itself, continued to grow.
“̴̗̗̼͌N̷̲̝͍̥̙͊Ī̸̲͚̄N̴̝̰͛̑̑́̕I̶̖͇̺̤̎̔͆̈́͋!̷̜̮̣̙͈̀̉ ̴̟̳̳̳͍̋́͠Y̴̖̤͕͈̺̑̅̓͝Ő̸̻͛͌Ǘ̸̦̜̮͋̚͘ͅ ̶̼̖͑̋̆͋K̸̳̮̰̿̿̉ Í̵̘̅͒̾ L̶̨̩̻̹̣̈́̐̌̚͝ L̷̺̞͙͇̄͠ Ḙ̸̗̱̰̒̃͝ D̷̡̘̲̘͎͌ ̸̧̼̝͌̍͠N̵̼̤̺̦̏͐̕̚ͅI̸̻͐̍N̷̨͖̯̠̟̿̽̃̉͘I̴̻̳̙̗͎̾͊͝!̸̧͕̹̼͇̀͐̆͘”̶͇̫̝̱͈͗
It's going to kill us, Saint-Clair thought. She could feel it at the base of her skull, all the killer instinct that this thing, which a few minutes earlier had been trying to look like a teenage girl, was projecting like a psychic tsunami. The werecat felt fear gripping her. The same unnatural fear that had been seizing her since they arrived.
Nid! Enid!
She felt there was no way to escape it, overcome by a growing sense of helplessness, a resolve to let herself be consumed. She felt that...
ENID SAINT-CLAIR!
Needler's voice echoed in her head like a gunshot. All of Nid's senses closed in on themselves, focusing on that voice.
Fight Saint-Clair!
I can't! Haven't you seen that thing? How do you expect me to...?
It's touching us, Saint-Clair. It doesn't matter what it is or what plane of existence it comes from. It's touching us, physically.
And how does that help us??
If she touches us, it's because she's partly flesh, Saint-Clair.
Something changed at that moment. Something clicked in Enid Saint-Clair's mind, as if a part of her that had been dormant since they arrived in this universe had awakened and begun to stretch.
The hole in the bed wasn't a hole. It was more. And it was less.
It was the Nothing.
And it was growing, beginning to consume the still catatonic Wednesday Addams of this universe, the bed she was lying on, the floor, walls, and ceiling of the room...
Meanwhile, Needler's voice continued to echo telepathically in Saint-Clair's head, even though its owner seemed to be on the verge of losing consciousness, strangled by the tentacle of shadows chained around her neck.
She is flesh, Saint-Clair.
Enid Saint-Clair's eyes glowed green.
Every muscle in her body tensed as fear vanished and the look of alarm and despair on her face gave way to a sharp-toothed smile.
A manic smile. The smile of an Addams.
Her hands, beginning to grow fur and sharp claws extending from her fingertips, grabbed the shadow tentacle that held her.
It was soft, warm.
Enid Saint-Clair clutched tightly. Her claws dug into flesh made of shadows, volition, and vileness. She felt the warmth of blood as black as pitch spilling between her fingers.
Through your veins flows the blood of the creatures who taught humanity to fear the darkness beyond the light of their first bonfires.
Saint-Clair's form exploded. A mass of muscle, fur, fangs, and claws in humanoid werecat form took her place as she tore away the tentacle that held her.
She is flesh. And you are the tiger.
Saint-Clair ripped off the appendage that held her, allowing her to fall to the floor of the room as Mary Sue's roar of anger turned into one of surprise and fear.
Flesh-tearer, slasher, biter. Devourer.
Saint-Clair roared with the same sound that ancient saber-toothed cats filled the plains of a forgotten world.
“I can hurt you, bitch!” she seemed to say, almost with animalistic glee.
She leaped forward, charging into the center of Mary Sue's mass. She ignored the tentacles, claws, and shadow spears trying to slow her down. She cut through everything in her path with dexterous and fast lashes.
Moved by unexpected panic, Mary Sue twisted around. Her mass rushed into the room, passing by the ever-growing Nothing and almost grazing it, to finally crash into the huge glass round window leading to the tower balcony, still dragging Needler behind her and with Saint-Clair clinging to her body, cutting it to pieces.
“L̶̢̢͚̻͍̈́͒E̶̛̥͋̓́̐T̶͇̹̹̆ ̵͉̭͋M̴̲̌̐̈́E̴͈̮̝̻͊͒͌̉̄ ̸̳͓̈G̴̡͍̦̬̮͐Ǒ̶͎͘!̶̛̰̩̞͋ ̸̹̳̤̳̬̒̄Ḻ̷͙̟͋̕Ę̸̦̀̀͗̃̏T̴̪̬̔̓͜ ̸̬̗̙͋́̊Ḿ̶̨͆̀͜͝Ĕ̶̲̰͍̒̐͂ ̶͉̥̜̮̋̉̽̂G̷̝͙̘̗̳͆Ỏ̴̼͎͙̆̑!̵̲̣̳͕̏ ̶̣̏̚̕͠L̶̳̻͕͛̉E̶̥̍T̴̟̃ ̸͔̽̈́M̴̧̬͆̔̓̚E̸̠̥̭̤͗ ̶͍̻͉̈́͗̾͘͝G̸̼̭̦̖͆Ò̴̡̩̩̭̅́!̶̻̥͛͋͜͝” she screamed, “Ï̷͉͕̭͂̋'̵̮̠̔̽̋̋͝L̶̯̉̐L̴̹̜̖͋͘ ̸̙̐̿D̷͎̖̜̿͋̓͆͋E̶̱̣̗̼̣̊͗V̸̨̧͇̫͈͛̂́̋̅O̶̘̪͉̬͒ͅU̴̮̹̽̎̀͗̕͜R̵̮̯͔̃́̔͝ ̶̝̄̎̿Ÿ̸̳̫́̈́̌̄͂Ō̵̘̭͚͎̑͆̔͋U̴̯͇̱̳̕Ṙ̴͎̜̝̟́̀̾͘ ̵̮̗̔͜H̶͓̳͆̋̔͝E̵̥̳̜͗͒͊̾A̶̘̱̰͉͖͆͐͠R̵͖͚̝̞̱͂͐̊T̶.̷̛̈́͒͝…!”
Mary Sue couldn't say any more. With another tiger-like roar, Saint-Clair lunged at the creature again and the two fell over the edge of the balcony.
The impact was strong enough that Mary Sue lost some control over her physical form. The tentacle holding Needler seemed to vanish in smoke and ashes, freeing the Addams.
Who was now falling too.
As luck would have it, she was still close to the tower, and the Gothic architecture was full of architectural ornaments. The situation was not ideal, but Needler was able to grab hold of one of the many gargoyles adorning the tower of Ophelia Hall as Saint-Clair and Mary Sue fell into the quad.
Meanwhile, Enid Saint-Clair and Mary Sue crashed into the quad.
Whatever the true mass of the second one was, it was greater than what had visibly materialized, judging by the huge crater formed by its fall, which flattened the central fountain. It was a miracle that no one else had been hurt, as most of the students had already fled in panic. Those few who were paralyzed by terror or unconscious had been moved by their classmates who still retained a modicum of composure and guts.
High above, the top of Ophelia Hall's tower was being consumed by the Nothing. Needler noted how the phenomenon was spreading.
There was no way to describe it in a way that could be rationalized. It was not a physical entity that could be measured or that moved in a normal way. The Nothing had begun to consume the very sky above the tower even though it should have traveled hundreds of miles and technically there was no solid surface for direct transmission.
It's as if reality itself were a photograph and it were being burned away, thought the Addams, But matter dissolves in a similar way to the disintegration caused by the Nine's weapons.
Climbing down from the gargoyle and clinging to ledges on the wall, Needler began to descend the tower's outer wall carefully but nimbly, noticing that the process of the Nothing seemed to accelerate exponentially the more matter was devoured.
In the quad, Saint-Clair was still locked in combat with Mary Sue. The creature had opted for more offensive forms, alternating between them in a matter of seconds. Masses of tentacles gave rise to a gigantic spider that glowed with a swampy green color and then mutated into a sort of winged lizard, like a grotesque parody of a dragon, trying to devour the werecat with its jaws.
Saint-Clair, for her part, moved like an enraged cat, leaping from one side to the other and never staying in the same place for more than a second, cutting everything in her path with her claws. Mary Sue could reduce her own damage by becoming incorporeal, but if she wanted to hurt the werecat, she had to touch her, and that allowed Saint-Clair to touch her back. It reminded the werecat of what the others had told her about fighting the Shadow Hyde years ago.
Needler finally reached one of the windows on the lower levels of the towers, preparing to break the glass to get inside and continue her descent more safely via the building's internal staircases, leaving the Nothing behind her as quickly as possible.
But the window suddenly flew open, almost causing her to fall. On the other side, inside, a figure wrapped in a crimson cloak pointed a silver weapon at her, smiling from ear to ear.
“Die, Wednesday Addams!”
Needler moved aside as she grabbed the attacker's outstretched forearm, pulling him away from her and causing the shot from the weapon to pass by her head without touching her. Needler then threw with all her might, the strength born of years of training carrying the coffin containing her burly younger brother on her shoulders all by herself before throwing it into the lake in countless play sessions during her childhood.
The hooded figure lost his balance, stumbling forward and falling outside with a cry of alarm and incredulous surprise. And in such an undignified manner, one of Gary Granger's variants of the Normalcy Nine met his end as his skull split open like a ripe melon against the cobblestone pavement of Nevermore.
And Needler gained another silver weapon, having caught it in midair when it slipped from her attacker's hands.
“Wrong Wednesday,” she said, looking down at the deceased several meters below with a barely perceptible raise of her eyebrow as she entered the tower.
In the quad, Mary Sue had mutated into something that could only be described as a mass of black balloons. Or perhaps they were globules or orbs, or giant imitations of microorganisms that clung to Saint-Clair, trying to hold her still and suffocate her before she could bite her way through, tearing her attacker from the inside out.
“Y̶͕̜͖̱̐ͅO̷̼̺̠͇̪̕U̵̞̮̗̭͆ ̸̞̃̉͋̚W̶̹͈̹͓̯͑͗̃͒́I̸͖͉̻̲̽̄Ľ̷̼̫͆L̶̜̊ ̵̼͓̺̤̝͋̓F̷̼͇̦̪͎̔̒̑͝A̵̘͍̔̕L̵̗̫̹̭͒͊́̕͝L̶̻͇̲̝̱͊̋̚ ̸͚͙̏͌̓͘͝Ų̴̮͕̭̙̈́̍̿N̶͔̮̗͌̀̕C̵͖̰̬͈̆̌̀̔͜O̸̢̭̦̾̉̄͝Ǹ̸̘͑̎S̴̼̭͇͉̽C̴̘̜̋̏͐Ȉ̸̲̻̞̦̄͝Ö̶̡̜͇́Ǘ̴̞̗̆͋̅S̶̘͍͖̭̤͐̄͘͝!̴͔͚̤̩̈́͗̔͜ ̷̥̘̣̮̑̒͜ Y̷͇͈̠̦̓͆̆Ȍ̶̺̼̤͊̅͗͜Ǔ̸̥̋͑̋̅ Ẁ̷̡̻̻̙̚Ǐ̶̧͜L̶͕̗̉́̿L̴̢͖̭̈ ̴͖͆́͜͝Ş̵̍̄͘̕L̶̨̖̣̕Ȅ̵̦͎̹̌ͅE̴̲͒̽̀̋͂P̵̯̝̫̈̊.̷̻͚͓͊́ ̷̗̪̂À̷͍̪̠N̶͚̬̘͔͊͒̓͛̽D̸͖̯̻͗̌͑̉̿ ̷̛̖̯̫̰͍̈́̏̌͠T̷̐̎͗ͅH̴͍̗͚̙͗̃͒͜Ë̸͙̘͔̐̂͐N̶̨̠͎͈̭͑̋̅̕͠ ̷̗͎̤͎̅̿͂I̷̭͖̘̠̠̊̄̀͘ ̸̱̎̀͑̏Ẉ̵̠̲͇̾͛́I̵̞͚̘̍̒͝L̸̩̈́̿L̵̩̲̃̆̋ ̵͈͕̒̀ D̴̻̼̺̖̬̔̓̎̏̽ Ẽ̷̥̯͐͐ V̷̛͈͚̟̗̐ O̵͔͈̹̚̕ Ṵ̵̄ R̶̹͛͗́͝͝ ̴͕̙̺͈̈́̂Y̵̲̱̻̭͎̒̒̐̑O̷̹͚̔̀̀̓̈Ų̶̠̼̰̀̾͠Ȑ̷̹͗̚ ̵̢̱̺̗͒̑͆̈́M̶͍͎̪͇͐͊͑Í̴̩̬̏̓N̷̺̺̗͆̄D̶̝͕̉͌̊̀!̸̢̛̮̟͖̈́͆ !”
There was a flash of light, and something struck a part of Mary Sue that could have been considered an extended limb, causing the entity to scream in pain it had never felt before. The creature released Saint-Clair, and the werecat immediately jumped up and leaped away. With a quick glance before refocusing her attention on Mary Sue, she saw that Needler had reached the quad and had just fired one of the silver weapons.
Mary Sue's form seemed to writhe and shrink again. The damaged part was torn away and vanished with an audible pop before it began to disintegrate, as if it had been moved to another place and suddenly air filled the unexpected vacuum. The creature reverted back to something humanoid, barely reminiscent of the teenage girl form she had used when they first met her. The only genuinely “human” thing about her was the reflection of hatred in her glowing orange eyes.
“You...” she murmured, her voice vaguely more human, her attention suddenly focused on Needler. “What is that weapon? W̷̡̠̥̓h̵͓̖̏̈́̕a̷̞͗̈́ť̶̠͍̫͠ ̶͎̬̄̕h̶̦̃á̸̮̟̘́v̷̝͛̑͘ě̵̩̃̔ ̵͖̃̇̌y̵̥̝̭͒ö̴̯́ů̷̩̱̜ ̵̥͇̾͑̕ ḓ̸̜̗͒́͒ ő̵̽ͅ n̸̙̭̕ ė̵̘̪͖̃̕??”
Needler simply pointed upward. Mary Sue looked up and her eyes widened in an expression so human that it only contributed to the unnaturalness of her form by contrast.
“Can you see that, Mary Sue?” Needler asked. “Of course you can't see it, because there's nothing to see. It's Nothing.”
The creature looked back at the Addams, inquisitive, almost as if waiting for more information, which Needler gladly provided.
“It's the end of this universe. Of all this reality. Consumed in its entirety. Your private playground no longer exists, Mary Sue. And no matter how powerful you are, if you stay, you too will cease to exist.”
Mary Sue kept her gaze fixed on Needler. And then, all the monstrosity seemed to vanish, although in reality it was only hidden by a very precisely constructed mask. Mary Sue appeared before them again in the form of the teenage girl they had known, with an almost sad smile on her face.
She looked at them, as if engraving their image in her memory.
“Oh, shoot. Anyway... One day I will make your souls ṣ̴̛̩̘̯̮̔̌̏͛̊͋̆̏́̿͑̂̑̚ c̷̡̼̝͉̙̍̒̐̂̊ ř̴̰̿̄͐̽̀́͒̋͒͝͠ ̩̝̩̰̳̜̜̩͓̞̝͇͓̹̭e̵͑̄̏͒̉̐͌̆̐́͘͠͝ ̨̡͚͎̼̝̲͚̫̱͙̩̩̌͆a̸̮̺͚͙̞̞̟̲̞̎ m̶͚̃̈́̆̐̆̓̈́̌̒̂͝. And you won't see me coming.”
And after saying that, she vanished. In the blink of an eye.
There was a moment of silence, broken only by the continuous sound of alarm cries that still flooded the Academy, the panic generated by seeing the world disappearing before their eyes.
“Well, we should...” Needler began to say before a now only partially transformed Saint-Clair grabbed her by the lapels of her lab coat and lifted her up, looking her straight in the eye with an angry look.
“WHAT THE FUCK WAS ALL THAT!?”
“Enid Saint-Clair,” Needler said coldly, “Let me down.”
The werecat did not respond verbally, but a soft growl escaped her throat as she gently set the mad scientist back down on the ground.
High above them, the Nothing continued to spread.
“In answer to your question, that was empirical verification of a theory. I shot an Enid, and it began the same process that we were led to believe only started with the death of my variants,” Needler explained.
“And for that, you had to kill one of my variants? And destroy an entire universe in the process??”
“The Enid Sinclair of this universe is not dead,” said Needler, as she checked the dimensional device on her wrist. “And this universe is not being destroyed either, at least not as we understand the concept of destruction in its material form.”
“What...?”
“We don't have time for a detailed explanation,” Needler continued, glancing up at the sky that no longer existed. The Nothingness was descending faster and faster.
“Our multiversal travel devices are now operational again,” she continued. “You must activate yours and return immediately to the dimension of our last jump, Morningstar’s headquarters, and report what has happened to those who are already back there. If no one is there, return to Weds and Enid’s dimension and wait.”
“And where are you going? What are you going to do?” asked Saint-Clair.
Needler took one last look at the Nothingness. She smiled as she adjusted her travel device, as if she knew something new, the same smile she had when a discovery was about to be revealed.
“Something kooky.”
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