Bonk. Nikolay is crushed beneath a massive weight. Their train has come to a halt. Exhaustion is gnawing at him. Shen is leaning onto Nikolay as their train has finally come to a halt. Just one more transfer and two hours of train rides until they’re home resting within their beds.


    “Last stop?” Shen asks waking from his slumber. His head just collided with Nikolay’s.


    As the last couple to leave the train they barely make it in time for their connecting train. In just two and a half hours they’ll be back home in bed shortly before midnight. They’re exhausted yet relieved. Finally crossing Elena and Hellfire off their bucket list is reassuring. Even that mysterious woman of revelations doesn’t seem like a person they need to investigate. They can find answers elsewhere. For now, rest is all they need. There’s no need for a huge adventure.


    After a few days of rest, pondering how they ought to live this year, they’re facing another demon, a final reminder of the dangers they’re about to face for the year. Someone had left them a note in their mailbox. Little is known about the demon itself only detailing immense speed and agility.


    “It’s been speeding throughout the city slaughtering rookies and unaware civilians while we were gone. On day four veterans tried to chase after it. Today they’re begging you to find it,” Shen states. It doesn’t sound particularly powerful. Perhaps he can try catching up to it.


    “Would you mind…?” Nikolay is trying to convey something rather abhorrent. Again. They’ve been here before.


    “Are you seriously asking me to be bait again?” Shen asks. “You can’t just locate it and have someone else deal with it? Or just do it yourself? You should be pretty fast!”


    “My max speed’s not even 10% of Mach 1. Pinheads speedier than yours truly couldn’t catch it,” Nikolay says. “I’ve got a foolproof plan anyway. Come on!”


    Now that they’re facing it, with his fancy gauntlets, with his diversion disgruntled, they’re staring this pitiful creature down. This creature may be small and hunched over on all fours, but it’s from is formidable. Butterfly knives replace its arms yet it still possesses hands to strike people with. With springs for legs it’s not all that hard to imagine how it managed to escape capture or death.


    Shen nods and Nikolay takes off. This domain of comically huge knives and lit cigarettes is rather dim. This demon, Masked Fool, is bouncing off of the many objects scattered throughout the domain and air. This fearless speedy creature is heading straight for Nikolay.


    “Woah!” he yells as he barely ducks in time to evade decapitation. His forehead was slashed creating a line of blood trickling down his face.


    Two knives whir past him. Blood floods his mouth. Bitter and acrid is the aftertaste of the knive. Pain has yet to curse through his body.Stolen novel; please report.


    Now he’s face to face with its hand as it slams him into ground with a massive cigarette in its other hand. Suddenly, both of its arms come off before it could burn him.


    Meanwhile Shen is just watching two figures in the distance clash and diverge again and again. With a blood spike hidden in his mouth, he’s waiting for some sort of sign or for their foe to approach them. He opens his mouth just in case anything were to go awry. Keeping it open and pointing in its general direction should be far safer for him.


    “Wasn’t I supposed to be bait? Why’s he-”


    A hand. A hand is about to make contact with his face. The projectile atop his tongue has vanished along with the beast. It has been replaced by another crystal blocking his view. Calcite is portruding out of the ground skewering the demon. A circular hole has nested itself into Masked Fool’s head.


    <hr>


    “Addressing our first priority on our bucketlist!” Nikolay is shouting with a few notes in his hand. “Those ridiculous powers of yours!”


    Shen is lying on their couch exhausted just waiting for Nikolay to quiet down. “How? Touching all kinds of stupid crystals?”


    “Yes! The more expensive, the better!”


    First and foremost is figuring out what may trigger these growths and just how limited Shen’s reserves are. His output isn’t consistent. His crystals have manifested differently each time. His trigger isn’t necessarily danger or at least not limited to it. As soon as he’s capable of using his powers, Shen can be of even greater help to Nikolay’s battles.


    “And who’s supposed to pay for that? I can’t deal with any shitty full-time jobs right now.”


    “Exactly! Ace Base! The Devil Seeds I used to trade with Ruben!” he yells a little more reserved. It’s a fresh wound he hasn’t quite processed yet.


    Both seem like proper venues worth exploring. Their Vambrances even detail how they can access that base Schmidt briefly mentioned. Apparently, it’s the main meeting space for Dream Catchers, scientists, and rich folk with their own secrets.


    Smoker used to claim many of the Devil Seeds Nikolay fought for. Somehow that arrangement paid for rent, utilities, and food.


    “And if that’s not enough? We don’t know how much these things are worth.”


    “That’s where I come in! I also have to grow stronger. Refined! The Magi seem powerful and friendly.” Yet they cannot be certain that they’d actually help them. “At least we can ask Mirage. She’s beyond creepy but also pretty smart.”


    “I guess… We’re supposed to do all that while we’re working on gods, Viatrix, demons, Z, and Dream Catchers?” Shen doubts that it can all be achieved in a year.


    “More optimism! It doesn’t have to be a year. We have the rest of our lives!”


    Their main focus should lie on their original goal, discovering the mysteries behind demons. Since there are no Dream Catchers or Z’s in the Otherworld, they should deal with them here. They’re largely intertwined to the point that Nikolay can even visualize their connection. His image of dawn represents Dream Catchers who aim for goals beyond their current reach. Dusk represents the end of a Dream Catcher turning into a demon. The return of dawn is the birth of a devil. He’s not the best at analogies so it’s the best thing he’s come up with so far.


    Gods and the like are best explored in the Otherworld. They could try figuring out why the gods in their mythology show up in the Otherworld. Viatrix however is too much of a mystery to truly be examined. They can hope that they’d stumble upon something offering them leads, but for now they’ll have to settle with what they can achieve.


    “Then let’s do it. Dream Catchers, Zs, and demons… We’ll be quite busy until we meet Fern!”


    The Magi, technobabble and hierarchial structures, demons, Zs, and Dream Catchers… A colorful year is underway.