Jackie didn’t look away this time. Her eyes fixed on the sky as the darkness bled outward like a stain, slowly consuming the shape of existence itself.
“A dark hole…” she whispered—like a name finally matching the thing in front of her.
She exhaled softly, almost in disbelief.
“So… that’s how it is.
Omo… I never thought I’d see this in my lifetime…”
Her voice dropped, quieter.
“The sisters… right next to each other…”
Airi spotted Shiori and Jackie and stepped forward.
“Jakkīi-nyan~ [ᵕ—ᴗ—] you like Myurudeponī?”
She glanced at Dick and the Author.
“But Dikku-dono and Sēji-chama don’t like it.
Look how nervous they are. [ ≖‿ ≖ ]”
Blindy, still clutching the bottle with his “grandpa” to his chest, cut her off:
“Hey—Airi… where the fuck is Zeros?
WHERE IS HE?!”
Airi just gave a small shrug.
The Author thoughtfully placed a finger on his chin.
“Hm… probably… where he usually spends his time.”
Blindy shouted.
“THE BAR!”
Phoenix said calmly through the holo-tablet.
“No, Captain. The bar is your habitat.
The First Officer is currently on a construction crane.”
Blindy snorted, turned toward the construction site—and sure enough, a tall crane towered over the district.
“Rusty, you messin’ with me?
Couldn’t—couldn’t say that earlier?!”
Phoenix replied.
“My apologies. The First Officer requested not to be disturbed.”
Blindy let out a heavy breath, turned, and started running toward the construction site, cursing the whole way.
Dick and Jackie exchanged a glance and followed.
The Author, Shiori, and Airi moved after them.
In the distance, above the city, flashes from the orbital battle still lit up the sky.
And the dark stain kept growing.
It didn’t take long before they were standing at the base of the construction crane.
At its supports, the ground had been torn open into a massive crater—one of those Zeros left behind after his favorite kind of “no-ladder descents.”
Blindy looked up…
…and immediately lost his mind at the height.
“Oh shit—oh shit—no—no, I’m fucked…
I-I’m really—REALLY fucked. Totally—like—totally fucked!”
He took a step back like the crane personally offended him.
“I-I’m gonna be climbin’ this shit till mornin’—
no—no, not even mornin’—like—next year or some shit—”
He scratched the back of his head, exhaled heavily, then shrugged.
“Ah, dammit… no time for—butthurting—
no—no, seriously—no time—
better start now than later… yeah…”
He turned to the others.
“Ooof—alright…
wish me luck… or—uh—
pray… or whatever you people do—”
Jackie stepped up to him, took off her Mega RayBanned™ Gen69 smart glasses—still connected to the stream—and carefully placed them on Blindy.
“This… uh… so you can see better…” she said, not fully thinking it through.
When her eyes met Dick’s, he gave a small approving nod and whispered:
“Good call. Now we’ll see what the hell they’re doing up there.”
The AR interface flared to life in front of Blindy’s eyes.
LIVE STREAM: ON
RADIO NEBULA—69.99 FTLMBlindy grunted. But things were way too tense to care.
The AR system began outlining everyone he looked at, tagging them with names.
First:
Jacqueline “Jackie” Rho
Then:
Dick Melody
Shiori Kanzaki
AIRI X1–RΞΛPΣR
…and—
Sage Delirienne.
Blindy froze. Blink. Another blink. Only now did he really notice the Author.
His eyes slowly widened.
“THE—THE WHEEZING BIO-DOME—?!
HOLY SHIT—NO—NO—NO—?!”
He pointed so hard his whole arm shook.
“Didn’t we—
we spaced you—
IN HYPERSPACE—?!”
He blinked again, like that might fix it.
“How the hell are you—
how are you even—
STANDIN’ HERE—?!
What—what kinda high-five dumbass reality is this—?!”
And right then, Airi grabbed his hand.
“Buraindi-kun… let me help you with the crane. [ – ᴗ •́ ]”
Blindy tensed, shot a quick glance at Jackie, then handed her the bottle with Pikaia.
“Jackie…
uh—could you—could you hold Gramps for me?”
He hesitated, then added, more serious than usual:
“I—I think I can trust you with him… yeah.”
Jackie let out a quiet giggle, took the bottle, and nodded.
Blindy stepped closer to Airi—almost too close.
“So… uh… I—uh—
do I… hug you or…?”
Airi burst out laughing. Only then did it hit him how awkward that sounded—
but he didn’t step back.
“Oh, Hamusutā-chan, tempting offer. [ ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡ ]
But you better focus on Zerosu-onī-chan. He’s definitely plotting something.”
Blindy frowned, gears turning way too slowly.
“Ah… okay…
but—uh—aren’t you gonna—
like—toss me up there or somethin’?”
He pointed at the crane arm, trying to look like he totally understood the plan.
Airi covered her mouth and giggled.
“He-he, ohhh, that’s what you meant? [˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶] .ᐟ.ᐟ“
She stepped aside and clapped her hands.
“Taichō-kun, kono baka o onī-sama no tokoro made.”
In that very moment, behind Blindy—out of the shadows—SHIRŌ-KAGE appeared.
Taichō. Who, apparently, had been standing there the whole time, hidden in active camouflage.
Blindy flinched. Didn’t even get a chance to turn around.
Taichō responded briefly:
“Hai, ane-ue!”—and grabbed Blindy by the collar.
In the next moment, he was already airborne—
leaping onto the crane tower, climbing the metal frame like a gibbon, gripping the crossbars one-handed.
With the other hand, he held Blindy.
One thousand three hundred twelve feet up.
And somewhere halfway through that insane climb, a scream tore through the air:
“OHHHH—HOLY FUCKING DEGRASSE—WHAT THE FUCK IS—?!”
While Blindy was getting express-delivered up the crane arm, Dick dropped himself onto the metal wheel of the trolley. He set the drone on the ground, angled the lens toward himself, and unfolded the holo-display of his tablet.
“Well then, dear gremlins,” he began in his smooth radio-host baritone. “Hell of a day we’re having… When we started this broadcast, I’m pretty sure none of you expected it to end in a cosmic apocalypse.”
Jackie sat down beside him, slipping into frame.
“No kidding, Dick. If someone had told me a month and a half ago—back when I was just an engineer at the lowest-rated radio station…” she let out a quiet chuckle, “I would’ve thought it was the dumbest joke ever.”
Dick nodded, pulled out a cigar, lit it, and took a slow, heavy drag. Thick smoke spread lazily through the cold air.
“Remember, Baby,” he smirked, “you said you wanted adventure. Wanted to meet someone like Zeros.
Heh. And what did I tell you? That I’d give you a hell of a run of interesting night broadcasts. Right?”
Jackie smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, Dick. You did.
And you know…” she looked up at the sky, where the inky stain was slowly devouring the stars, “funny enough—you kept your promise.”
She turned back to him.
“I’ve never had a better adventure in my life.” Then, softer:
“And honestly… I couldn’t ask for a better partner than you, you old fool.”
Dick nodded, satisfied, and exhaled another cloud of smoke. Jackie frowned just a little and added quietly:
“Would be nice if we survived it, though.”
Shiori and the Author sat on nearby crane wheels, silently watching the broadcast.
Airi stood next to Jackie, head tilted slightly.
At that moment, the stream feed showed Blindy reaching the top platform.
Without a word, Taichō released him, activated his camouflage, and began descending silently back down. Still… somehow—
they kept cracking jokes
in the middle of a cosmic apocalypse.