Chapter 13.1: Certified Useless Driver 

A sudden chill swept down the street like a phantom wind.

Kaiser and Kai froze mid-step.

Their breath hitched. The air felt wrong—heavy, pressurized, like something massive loomed just out of sight.

Their eyes widened in unison. A cold sweat broke across their backs.

Just for a second…

Kaiser saw it again.

And for the first time—
Kai saw it too.

That presence.

A towering figure cloaked in darkness.
Knight-like armor.
Crimson eyes.
The scent of death trailing behind it.

Not fully formed.
Just a flicker.
A silhouette in the dark.

Kai’s head snapped side to side.
“W–What the hell is that…?”

Kaiser didn’t answer.

His knees buckled. He dropped, clutching his skull.
“AGGHHHHHH!”

His scream tore through the street, raw and guttural, echoing against the empty buildings.

Kai darted to him, panic flooding his usually calm face.
“Kaiser?! Hey! Talk to me! What’s happening?!”

Kaiser’s vision fractured. His breath came in short gasps. Something clawed at his mind—like fingernails scraping across his brain.

Then came the voice.
Cold. Icy. Ancient.

“My master is waiting.”
“Your arrival will be executed… soon. Be ready, child.”

Kai’s eyes widened. Blood trickled from Kaiser’s nose. His fingers dug into the pavement hard enough to leave small cracks in the stone.

And then—silence.

The pressure vanished.

Kaiser slumped forward, gasping. His limbs felt like lead. His vision swam in static.

Kai floated down beside him, expression grim.

Kaiser’s voice broke the quiet first.
“Kai… that’s what I was talking about. The knight. The voice. It’s back.”

Kai scanned the street, every shadow, every alley, as if the figure could be hiding just beyond sight.
“I felt it too this time,” he said at last. “Not like a whisper or some hallucination. It was real. Heavy.”

Kaiser wiped at the blood under his nose, still shaking.
“It said… ‘My master is waiting’ and ‘Your arrival will be executed soon.’”
He looked up, his voice trembling. “What does that even mean? Arrival where?”

Kai landed softly beside him, his gaze steady.
“I don't know either but if it’s talking about your arrival… then this isn’t random. It’s waiting for you. And that alone is creepy.”

Kaiser frowned, his chest heaving. “You think this has to do with… another world? Like actual supernatural stuff?”

Kai crossed his arms. “Honestly? I don’t know. And that freaks me out more than anything.”

They stood there in uneasy silence—the air too calm to feel natural, like the city itself was holding its breath. A car passed at the far end of the street, headlights cutting through the night, but even that felt strangely distant, unreal.

“Maybe it’s in my head,” Kaiser muttered. “Stress. The fight. I’ve got a whole checklist of reasons to be crazy.”

Kai shot him a sharp look.
“Nope. That wasn’t stress. That thing or whatever knew you. Very well.”

Kaiser pushed himself upright, still unsteady. His legs trembled like he had just run a marathon.
“So… what do we do?”

Kai smirked. “First, take a shower. You smell awful.”

“Hey! …Wait.” Kaiser sniffed his shirt. “…Okay, fair.”

“And tomorrow,” Kai continued, “we’re going to a hospital. MRI, CT scan—hell, I’ll drag you into a psychic’s basement if it helps.”

Kaiser gave a tired chuckle, half-delirious.
“You think a doctor can diagnose mysterious whispers and hallucinated knights?”

“Better than waiting around for them to show up again,” Kai said. “Unless you want your next ‘arrival’ to be in a body bag.”

Kaiser grimaced, rubbing the dried blood from his lip.
“Fine. Tomorrow. First thing get myself a victory feast, then a scooty because transportation has become an issue then them we go to a doctor.”

He glanced up at the night sky, half-expecting the crimson eyes to stare back down at him. Nothing. Just clouds rolling over the moon.

But he couldn’t shake the feeling.

Somewhere out there—
That knight or someone was waiting.