Episode Vanessa: 11

From an abandoned train station in the morning, wearing a plain outfit and her natural hair color, Vanessa walked out and gazed at the ruins of an unknown city. It was early in May, and with the June Event right around the corner, Vanessa knew she needed to bring her heart to a conclusion before moving forward.

Her strides were small walking through the city. Everything was dead and decayed. After a short time, there was some growling nearby. A wolf lashed out from behind a car and chased Vanessa down the road.

She hurled and leaped past obstacles to get away from the canine. But it kept up until a dragon hovered across the air.

Just before the dragon could fixate on Vanessa, she jumped inside a broken wall and laid low until she felt safe to low crawl out of sight. It wasn't until the flapping was no longer heard that Vanessa rose up and dusted the dirt from her skirt.

There were torn pictures over the walls. Some were big and others were small. There were even blank canvases around. Statues were mostly broken. 3D puzzles were smashed across the floor. Vanessa walked away from it all and sought a safe route to get out of the misery she was in.

From one of the canvases crawled out a painted lady. Vanessa turned back in time to counter the creature's extended claw but was shoved into the staircase. She sprinted up, to better position herself for the fight. But the painted lady stayed right behind her. It was a matter of time before Vanessa had to face the creature to dodge her attacks. In every attempt to retaliate, she failed to land a single hit. Vanessa took a defensive stance to summon two fish to attack the painted lady, giving her enough time to escape through an emergency exit.

Outside, Vanessa's Isekai Phone rang nonstop until she answered, "Yes ma'am".

"Hey, how are you"?

"I'm good," Vanessa smiled, "And yourself"?

"I'm doing wonderful," the lady played along, "Do me a favor, we need you to come in ASAP. We have a lot going on".

"Uh," Vanessa looked around, "Sure? I will find it first and be there right away".

"Great," Chuckled the woman, "Don't be late".

"Bye," Vanessa hanged up, "I don't get the purpose of this theme".

It took Vanessa a bit to find the right building. But the grueling tasks imposed on her by the lady from the phone call left her unable to leave until nightfall. She'd wondered how many hours had passed and was grateful for the 50 player points she had earned.

In a matter of time, the growling was heard again and Vanessa sprinted away. The wolf was chasing her across the city again. Only this time, Vanessa climbed a gate to escape its pursuit.

From the other side, she blasted the canine with a lightning spell, sending it whimpering away. She took a step back and fell into a grave. At first, she was upset to be covered in dirt from head to toe. Then she rose up and took a look around. The headstones were large with statues on top. Gargoyles watched over the graveyard from on top of pillars. However, when Vanessa looked at the tombstone of the grave she was in, it had her name on it.

She crawled out and walked through the graveyard without much thought. She knew there was a deeper meaning to everything. But the stress on her head prevented her from making anything out. She stumbled, trying to soak in the view of the purple night shining down on the wasted land of the dead. A camera hanging on the corner of a headstone caught Vanessa's attention. But she didn't take it.

Gargoyles came alive and crawled from their pillars. Vanessa spotted a catacomb entrance and made a run for it. Like dogs, the gargoyles didn't let up. They dashed after and scratched into Vanessa's limbs. She coated herself in lightning just to keep them at bay until she ran into the catacombs and sealed its passageway shut.

It was pitch black. Vanessa tried regaining her breath until she sensed something there. She stepped away, unable to see anything. Her foot sunk a foot in water onto a hard surface. Ripples brushed against her legs.

Vanessa engulfed her sword in flames, lighting up the tunnel she was in. Skeletons from along the walls were crawling in the water and making their way toward her. They were equipped with various blades and light armor.

"Shit," Vanessa stood for a moment before slicing her way down the tunnel.

Skeletons leaped and strikes towards her. There were a few times they succeeded in hitting her flesh, but could never take her down. Vanessa implemented fireballs with her strikes to repel the dark forces chasing her until she reached the exit at the end of the tunnel.

Having hurled through and closed the door, Vanessa found herself in a rundown mall. Manikins, wearing different fashionable clothing, were tossed on the floor.

Haven already figured out what was going to happen next, Vanessa marched through and took the stairs to the next floor before the manikins rose up to attack her.

On the second floor were a bunch of arcade machines rested in the dark. They were all turned off and collecting dust. One machine, Mortal Kombat VS The Isekai Stadium caught her attention. There were images of Watson and many other fighters from the stadium as well as MK fighters. Vanessa toggled a joystick and noticed the cord was plugged out. She shrugged at the thought of playing games but was tempted to play one round.

A light flickered from behind, drawing her attention to an outlet. It shot up, tearing into a light socket to grow, and ripped across the room into another light socket.

Vanessa ran across the room, but lightning shot past her and tore her left arm. She released an ice wall from Magenta to enable herself a safe run to the stairs. But the ball of lightning got around it and chased after her. She summoned two-spirit fish for defense, but they were unable to hold out the creature for long.

Before she reached the stairway up, the lightning shot across her shins and manifested into a demon in front of her.

Vanessa swung her sword, "Ice-Prison," creating a couple of ice pillars around it and giving her enough time to escape before it squeezed through.

She lost control of her breathing and was slowly healing her injuries before walking up to the next floor. At least here things seemed better. There was nothing but anime pictures, movies, and figurines on display. Vanessa started with the legends of her youth, such as Cowboy Bepop, Sailor Moon, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Naruto. She later recognized some of the newer animes like Demon Slayer. However, most were foreign to her.

This time, there was some rolling in the distance. Vanessa rolled her eyes back and wandered off in search of the next stairway. But the rolling got closer. She could tell it was roller skates, which weren't scary.

The skating stop, and just as Vanessa turned to search for her pursuer, she was struck down by a bronze bat. It was a teenage boy with a red cap beating her down relentlessly for a minute before rolling away. Vanessa had no clue about his motives but was weakened by his assault to the extent that she could barely move.

It was the sound of his skating getting closer that she mustered the strength to get up and up the stairway. This time, she took a fair breather to get her head together. She didn't know what to make of anything. This world was dead along with any emotional feeling Vanessa had. In fact, nothing even made sense. Everywhere she turned, she was attacked to no end.

After getting over her grief, Vanessa entered the next floor. It was a maze. And to make matters worst, the door slammed shut and wouldn't open no matter how hard she tried to pry it open.

Words in multiple languages glowed across the wall with arrows directing. Vanessa was able to make out a few of them to know they were indicating what she would find in each direction. She could've retrieved her B&W Tiger Gauntlets or even her Night Vision Goggles. Instead, she walked aimlessly through the maze in search of an exit.

Lord behold, thuds of a large creature echoed through the halls. Vanessa was still lost and wasn't looking for anything signaled on the walls. Given that something huge was coming her way, she began panicking.

Its breath blew across its lips. It moo'd loud enough for Vanessa to know that it was an angry bull. She raced off in a random direction and ran through blindly in hopes of getting away from the bull.

It stampeded in what sounded like zigzags due to the maze. At an intersection, Vanessa saw it running straight towards her.

Noticing "View," written in Chinese, Vanessa ran in hopes it was a window she could use. Periodically she would blast lightning at the cow, but its speed was barely hindered. Ice pillars were easily broken.

Vanessa made a sharp turn, sprinted through the large double doors, and sealed them shut to block out the raging bull. However, when she turned around, she was stuck on a shattered balcony.

She sat down on the edge and viewed the town. It was truly rubble. Her work, the graveyard, the museum, the buildings, and even the mall she was at. After a moment of reflection, Vanessa understood that this world was hers. Everything about her life was as it was depicted in the city. It was only a matter of time before she was buried as a woman who went through the motions of life without ever living. A few feet behind her, in his all-black get-up and both eyes matching a light brown hue, Watson walked up to Vanessa.

He stood over her head and looked out to the city, "Well looks like this is the end.

For split seconds at a time, Vanessa's view of the city flashed to the end of a war in a different city. The hollow feeling in her heart was a clear indication that she was done.