//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: American Fox 
// by madhat886 
//------------------------------//

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General Conner sat in the meeting room of Spookhouse, spread out on the table are the files and reports on the different events that brought out worlders from their world to this one. With him with her own files is Ms. Poppins, her files are notebooks and journals of the collective tales and events that happen in Europe. They're sharing information to try to figure out if there are any connections to when and where events happen.

"From what we can figure out. Most of the out worlders that appear in Europe are from fantasy worlds or set in a world that's like the dark ages. In Africa and India from the settlements we learn that it's mostly the same which would explain why there are so many folklore about  spirits and monsters. In Asia there are some from advance worlds with technology far beyond that we have today. While with you Americans are more of a mix of what comes out of an event," Ms. Poppins said giving her report.

"We haven't had any armored knights or anything like that appearing in large numbers. Like this report on a band of soldiers appearing in Belgium, calling themselves Band of Hawks?" Conner ask looking through the books.

"It was France, the one you're thinking of was another band of knights. They hired themselves out to whoever would pay them even learning to use the firearms that they had back then. Till Napoleon Bonaparte took power and stop the ever shifting would be parties trying to seize power. Bonaparte was a member of the French hunters and after learning of the true nature of the Band of Hawks being from another world and seeing how the leader of the band a man name Griffen could be trouble in the future. He had had them lured into a trap and slaughtered them on the field, and those who survived were quickly killed as well. Bonaparte wrote that he had dozens of cannons all firing on Griffen and his two commanders who lead the army to make sure they died first and without leaders the rest of the band quickly fell," Ms. Poppins said.

"We haven't had anything like that happen yet. Sometimes large groups do appear but they're not a army," Conner said and thought of something. “Well if you count Empress Norton with her being able to make copies of herself. She’s a one woman army.”

"The old world is riddle with things that happen like that. There was a group of elves who called themselves the Thalmor that appeared on an island off the coast in the Middle-East. It was during the holy wars and the elves were slaughtered by the Templers and other soldiers of god heading for the Middle-East. The same happen to a group of Witches lead by a woman name Delilah that appeared in a large manor. Both groups seem to had powerful magic on their side and without it they weren't as powerful as they had thought," Ms. Poppins said.

"The two Jedis we have, can feel the force as they call it. It's the closest thing to magic we have, and they think that's why magic and other things like it can't be used in our world. The force is different here then what they're use to and as they put it, putting out a field of energy that cancels out anything that isn't it. They can feel when a event happens if it's close enough to it and not when they focus themselves in their meditations," Conner said.

"Meditation like in Asia?" Ms. Poppins ask.

"It's part of being a Jedi. In their galaxy they were basically the police force," Conner said.

"Are there people here who can learn?" Ms. Poppins ask.

"They're looking but it's a rare power even in a place where there are thousands of different races and many different planets. And we're trying to keep people who shouldn't ever have that power learn to use it. There are many people from different worlds have told us how there were people who just misuse their powers and positions, with some odd reason no one ever bothered to do anything about them. We have already found enough jerk jocks as they're called to have a clear picture what would happen if any of them gain force powers," Conner said.

"Jerk Jocks?" Ms. Poppins ask.

"Mainly football players in high school who only got away with what they do because of them winning games. A Dash Baxter and a Brad Morton, both of them were well aware that their time in high school are their glory days and were milking it for all of its worth. They found themselves here and quickly learn that what made them the big man in school as they call it, doesn't apply here. Both of them prove they have no skills outside of sports and were release from Spookhouse and had to support themselves. Mr. Morton tried to get the two other kids that came with him to help him out but Arthur P. Spudinski and a Trixie Carter both having been bullied by him in their world just told us that he has no skills besides being good in sports which isn't that important. Spudinski turns out to be very good with computers and learn how to get some of the computers we been finding to work, while Ms. Carter helps him out. Both of them have been helpful in pointing out how some of the items we find both tech and magical works," Conner said.

"Lucky you. As, I said we mostly get people and object from magic worlds and from the dark ages," Ms. Poppins said. "It must be nice to only have to deal with mostly future worlds."

"It's not that green on this side of the ocean. We also get people with houses full of bodies," Conner said.

"There was a family with a house full of bodies?" Ms. Poppins ask.

"Like that Jack fellow who went on a killing rampage in London, we been getting those for years now. There was the Firefly family who were either gun down or hang when a army unit discover them. Their house was a horror show and the soldiers who found them made sure they paid for what they did. And the Sawyers in Texas whose home was covered in bodies and bones. The chainsaws that loggers are using are modeled after the one used by the man known as Leatherface because of the mask he wore made from human skin. The members who weren't killed were shot in the legs and left in their house while it burn, Leatherface among them," Conner said.

"We have those as well," Ms. Poppins said which are less then those from fantasy worlds but still pop up time to time. "Anymore?"

"A man name Freddy with a glove with blades on it was found with a young child's body and was hang. A man with a white mask was going around killing people in Illinois before he was corner and was shot to death. Then there were a man and a two women, all 3 wearing masks found in a house after killing the two people living in it. They were jailed and then hang, with the reason why they killed the people in the house was because they were there. A man name Ben who said to be a fisherman was found with the body of a young woman, who he claim she and her friends hit him with a car and left him for dead. He was found guilty and hang. At a camp called Crystal Lake a man was found with a mask on killing anyone who got close to the lake, a squad of soldiers shot him but he seem to be able to heal from gunshots till the lawmen got smart and shot his head till there was nothing left and then burn his body after cutting it to pieces," Conner said. (1)

"The man could heal?" Ms. Poppins ask.

"Yes the man from the lake seem to be able to heal after being repeatedly shot by the lawmen. So after the 3rd time gunning him down a bunch of them got in close and blasted his head till there was nothing left," Conner said. (2)

There's a Camp Rolling Hills where loggers found that a young woman name Angela had killed all the campers and other counselors there. Because they didn't measure to her high moral standards. The loggers lynch her and left her alive tied to a tree covered in blood. She was found by a bear shortly afterwards. A Norman Bates found with the body of his dead mother and had been killing women while dress as her. Johnathan Doe is possibly the most disturbing one on this list. He is a serial killer who is obsessed with sin and punishment, and models his unimaginably cruel murders after the Seven Deadly Sins. He was found and was killed when he killed a nightwalker but the local gang found him and rob him and killed him. We only learned about what he’s been doing because of the notebook he carried with him," Conner said.

"Sounds like too many people, I either know or read about," Ms. Poppins said.

"There was the southern town of Pleasant Valley who celebrated the day Union troops destroyed the town by killing yanks. They were all ghosts in their world but became alive in this one and were once again slaughtered by soldiers after word got out what happen there. As two people who escape from them ran into some union soldiers and history repeated itself. The town having appeared during the civil war," Conner said.

"They were ghosts?" Ms. Poppins ask.

"Yes as it seems that some beings who were ghosts in their world, after coming to ours are either destroyed or turn mortal," Conner said.

"That would explain some things," Ms. Poppins said as there were reports of people who claim to been dead and were suddenly alive. And if they were tormenting someone when they crossover to this world, they suddenly found themselves being on the receiving end of a beating. (3)

"Any strange events like that happen with you people?" Conner ask.

"Near Glasgow, Scotland a village called Tressock was discovered where the villagers worship the ancient Celt goddess Sulis. The cult would lure people in it where they would kill the men and preserved the women who agreed to become the local Queen of the May. A unit of soldiers quickly stamp the cult out killing all the villagers who tried to flee or fight back. The rest spent the rest of their lives in jail as it was discovered they came from a future world. Then there was an island that appeared near Hebridean island, the island was called Summerisle by the people living there. When a navy ship came to the island they discovered a Sergeant Howie a policeman being put inside a giant wicker man statue, the islanders turn out to be all part of a pagan Celtic cult and were sacrificing him for a good harvest. A well place cannon shot scared the islanders away before they could set the wicker man on fire. The island was taken over and Torchwood was called in after it was discovered the island also came from a future word. The cult has been disbanded and many of the villagers were killed and now a navy base keeps them under control," Ms. Poppins said.

"That sounds like a what happen a few years ago. An American merchant ship discovered an island off the coast of Washington State where a group of neo-pagans lives as they called themselves. They rescued a Policeman Edward Malus from being burn alive in a wicker man, from a group of women who were all shouting the 'The drone must die!'. The sailors gun down many of the women who tried to stop them and in freeing Mr. Malus from the burning wicker man they cause a out of control fire that spread all over the island burning the town and the beehives which the island depended on for their income. After the merchant ship got back to port a navy ship was sent out to the island only to find that many of the women had killed themselves. The town was destroyed by the fire and the leaders of the town got many of the townspeople to drink poison so that they wouldn't have to face punishment for all the men they killed. The remaining people are now living in their rebuilt town under watch by a nearby navy base which was built on the island, with the soldiers being on the look out for anyone trying to restart their old pagan ways. The island having appeared near a shipping lane made it a ideal spot for a port. That was about 40 years ago so many of the cult members are now dead," Conner said.

"Has anything like that had happen recently?" Ms. Poppins ask.  

"A squad of soldiers were returning from training in the field when they discover the town of Gatlin, Nebraska where all of the adults were killed by the children. A boy preacher name Isaac had formed a cult base around an Old Testament-era Canaanite god whom he calls 'He Who Walks Behind the Rows'. He tells the other children that the sinful adults are the reason for the drought, prompting them to kill everybody over the age of nineteen in town. They then establish a death cult with the prime rule that, upon reaching the age of nineteen, one must be sacrificed to the cult's God. Which turns out to be a demon and like others lost his powers in this world and was killed by the soldiers when they discover it. The children attack the soldiers but unlike the adults they killed, the soldiers didn't hold back on them just because they were children. Most of the children were killed with the others running into the corn fields disappearing but for 2 of the children who had warn the soldiers about the other children and told them what happen to the adults. The soldiers destroyed the town with fire wanting to make sure there's nothing left for the children to return to, as well as the cornfield just incase the demon they killed wasn't that dead. They did strip the town of what they could carry and even got some of the cars and trucks that are still working to load everything important. Which wasn't much as the children cultist had destroyed most of the electronics and other machines in the town. The town from what information found and what the two children remember came from the year of 1977. Both children are now in a children's home and are adjusting to our world. As for the other children who survived, every now and then someone spots one of them near the remain of Gatlin but that's it. That happen about a month ago," Conner said.

"Depending on the number who survive and how committed they are to the cult. They either fade away into the background, die without shelter and food, or somehow survive and rebuild their cult," Ms. Poppins said as there have been cases like that in Torchwood. Which they made sure the cult wouldn't be rebuilt by killing off all the people involved.

"We do things like that when it's clear there's nothing more to be done and that it would save time and money in just killing them off," Conner said. "The children are still young, there is still hope for them to change but for others. It just save time and energy to kill the one who seem to come from a horror novel."

"There is such a thing as a lost cause," Ms. Poppin said agreeing. (4)

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Japan -

The miners of a coal mine had discover something as they dug a deeper mine shaft and suddenly found an open cavern. The miners explored the cavern that's vast to the point that the light from the miners lights couldn't reach the ceiling. They found ruins of buildings that are covered in mushrooms and others that didn't need light to grow. That's when they discovered the things living down there and the ones who got away fled out of the mine and sealing the mine behind them. What the miners saw all could be learn from the shock miners were pale ghosts.

The Dark Hand was called in to handle things and after making an opening big enough they sent a small flying drone that flew like a helicopter to see what the creatures the miners discover are like. The drone is one of the rare machines found that could be maintain with the level of technology, they couldn't make a new one but could make repairs to it and power it. The drone is one of a dozen found in a plastic crate.

The drone sent a live video feed from its inbuilt camera to the Dark Hand team. The drone reach the cavern and found that the high ceiling was once a dome before some parts had caved in. And the buildings look to be from a future time and look to have fallen from a great height. The buildings are ancient showing signs of being there for thousands of years with little to show what the buildings use to look like when they were new, many of the buildings had either fallen apart or being brace up by crude stone pillars and ropes made from what looks like hair. There are some light in the cave from the glowing mushrooms. There are what look like mushroom farms and what looks like some kind of watermelon that has adapted to live underground, using the light given by the glowing mushrooms to grow which in turns help the mushrooms to grow. Which meant that the cavern has been cut off from the outside world for thousands of years for that to happen.

The drone discovered more signs of life with it's night vision camera cutting through the darkness. Then the drone discovered one of the lifeforms living underground. The drone's camera fell on the small white body of a child of about six. The controller of the drone and the people watching recoiled from the thing before them for it was hideously deformed. It was completely devoid of hair but for the top of it's head which had a tangle of blue hair, dirty, and it had rotten teeth. It was naked showing it's white skin, and while it looks like a little girl it had large eyes. The thing's big bulbous red eyes looked up at the drone and it hissed turning and scurrying off on all fours.

The controller got over his disgust at the child and sent the drone after it. On all fours, it was unbelievably fast and the drone struggled to keep up with it without bumping into anything as it ran into one of the buildings. The controller was concentrating on the thing and didn't realize the passage had widened into a large cavern until it was too late. The new cavern contains an underground lake and where many of the underground creatures lived. The cave creatures lived in primitive fashion with crude huts here and there and what looks like a farm of giant hairless rats about the size of a small dog.

The drones shined the night vision camera around the cave, the light falling on one monstrosity after another. There were about a dozen adults and many more children. All are deformed, ranging from long limbs with long fingers and toes, large ears and eyes, and many of the adults were engaged in various sex acts. But all of them seen are females, no males in sight anywhere. The women all had either blue or shades of brown to red hair. The drone also discovered the remains of the miners who were taken by the creatures. Their bones have been picked clean by the hungry horde.

The drone flew deeper and came to what looks like the remains of a command center of some kind. Which like everything else has decayed by the passing of time. But that wasn't what got the drone controllers attention. The command center was filled with many abominations all of them engaged in sex. In the center of it all the drone discovered what looks like a trio of young children around the age of 14. A young man with brown hair, a girl with long red hair and the last girl like the boy has long brown hair. All three of them had dulled eyes of madness in them as the horde of deformed females engaged in sex with them. All of them are engulfed in a mass of moving bodies, with some of the deform females leaving the mass only to be replaced by others.

The drone caught sight of a young girl with long blue hair and red eyes standing on a ledge staring at the drone. This one look like one of the blue hair creatures but unlike the others is like the two other normal girls. The girl is heavy with child and suddenly threw a rock at the drone causing it to shake from the impact. Others followed her lead and the drone was soon brought down by rocks falling to the ground. The drone controller not wanting to lose the drone activated the lights. The sudden bright light cause all the creatures to shield their eyes and darted from the drone. The drone managed to get back into the air and race back to home base.

"From there, I had the mine sealed off for good," Chiyo said to Motoko who is with her in her office. She is sharing the reports as well as what had happen since the last time they were together. After talking a bit catching up on world events and how Chiyo adjusted after Motoko had been put into cold storage. Motoko ask for the latest events found in Japan and Chiyo played the recording of the drone on one of the computers that was found and still works.

"And this happen a few days before, I was brought back online?" Motoko ask. She is now in a wheel chair and bandaged up like a mummy. So she wouldn't shock people with her metal body, which she agreed to as she didn't like how people stare at her.

"Yes as those creatures from the looks of things have been living underground for thousands of years and there is no need for us to bother with them. The miners after interviewing them was revealed that when they first discovered one of the creatures, one of them attack it causing the others to attack. So the best course of action was to just seal up the mine and let them live as they did before the miners discover them," Chiyo said.

"The old Dark Hand would had gone in and killed all of them," Motoko said.

"Not anymore, not with how the advancements from what the Americans are learning from the beings from other world are giving them. Everyone is catching up with them. Besides, I am one of the leaders of the Dark Hand now and do my best to keep them from going too far," Chiyo said. "Besides we have an underground race, if they were attacked they would flee and tunnel their way out. As for what could be found down there, I just have this feeling that, I seen that place before but can't remember it. I think it was something back before, I ended up in this world but... I can't even remember anything about what my world was like anymore. I have to read the old notes taken when we first met just to remember. I can't even remember the faces of my parents or my classmates and teachers who were with me on the day, I came to this world."

"Same problem even with my cyberbrain, my brain was never design to be able to last this long without repairs. I have lost about 50 percent of my brain at this point, and somehow thanks to the redundant systems, I'm still able to think and control what's left of my body. I have been removing old memory files long before, I met you and at this point my memory bank is full. I only have about 3 percent of my personal memories of my life in my world left," Motoko said.

"Maybe when the time comes to put you back in cold storage, the next time you are woken up might be advance enough to repair you," Chiyo said.

"It be nice to be able to move around again. The underground reminded you of something?" Motoko ask.

"Yes something that, I remember. I think its something to do with fiction like how if, I remember right some of the event you had encountered are just fiction in the world, I came from," Chiyo said.

"I remember that," Motoko said as she had saved most of her memories of Chiyo that are important.

"The place reminded me of something, of giant robots... monsters... and a red sea... I can only remember flashes," Chiyo said.

"The creatures look to be humans but if they have been cut off from the outside world for thousands of years. Then those are the descendants of the humans who became trap there. Looks like they evolved to be able to survive down there, which would make it hundreds of years for that to happen," Motoko said.

"It looks like they're like naked mole rats, with a single male to breed with the females. But it's the four normal looking ones that is strange," Chiyo said bringing up the image of the 4 on the computer. "Besides their pale skin from the lack of sunlight, they should be like the others. And it's them that is causing me to remember something but can't fully remember."

"Maybe they're the main cast," Motoko said.

"It could be... But whatever it is, what I'm remember is something best left be forgotten," Chiyo said.

"Opening it up and unleashing whatever is down there. Is something that happens in those works of fiction that some fool opens up something and unleashes the monster or something like that," Motoko said.

"Yes and it's better not to dig too deep and unleash something that would cause ruin," Chiyo said. (5)

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