Overstepped

Overture

  The glowing orange portal opened, and Addie fell a few feet to the ground, sticking the landing. Their thoughts were a blur... As were her surroundings. Addie took a moment to breathe, looking around. The person she'd followed through the portal was nowhere to be found--but there were some interesting sights... Streetlamps illuminated a distant car that appeared to be floating... And behind her, what appeared to be a coffee bar being ran by...some kind of robot...? Obviously, Addie didn't recognize a damn thing. This was clearly not home--2023. Defeated, Addie let out a small sigh and attempted to fight back tears. "I... Think I made a mistake."

  The young adult took a few moments to steady their breathing again, not quite ready to give up yet. "No. This is fine," she began, "I just need to think. Think..." For a few moments, Addie was silent, deep in thought... "OH!" They suddenly exclaimed, "My phone! Maybe it knows where I am... Or something." Addie was satisfied with this idea--but as she pulled out her phone, it suddenly appeared to be dead. "Of course. Go figure," they mumbled, putting it away. "Just my luck, guess I actually have to ask for help." The only thing around here, in what appeared to be a park, was the aforementioned coffee bar, so they set her sights there. "Guess that's as good of a place to start as any--" Addie began, interrupted by something quickly flying passed them--narrowly missing. "--WHAT THE SHIT?!" The thrown item was now implanted in a nearby tree... And Addie could now tell that it was a shuriken. "How the FUCK. Did I dodge that," The young adult asked in disbelief. "Maybe you just got... Lucky," Another voice said from not too far away. Though Addie didn't recognize this voice, the shuriken gave her a general idea of who it belonged to. "You," they said, turning to face the direction of the voice. Perched atop what appeared to be a supplies shed, was a ninja dressed in dark colors to easily blend in with the night. He slowly pulled down the mask covering his mouth, revealing a sly smile as he spoke again, "Did you miss me?" Addie didn't wait even a minute to process what he said, they practically threw off her backpack and summoned a hydrokinetic sword as well as wings composed of an odd black dust, immediately launching upwards towards the ninja. He reacted quickly by readying his sword--it seemed like a fight was what he wanted. The two clashed on the roof of the shed, eventually progressing to both of them firing projectiles (a shuriken for the ninja, and a hydrokinetic bullet for Addie). To the surprise of both participants, Addie's hydrobullet managed to destroy the previously fired shuriken, and was now heading straight for the ninja. Thinking quickly, he vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving Addie... Flabbergasted. "Son of a bitch," They eventually said, taking a seat and pulling out a vape, and taking a long drag.

  After some time, Addie returned to the ground and reclaimed her previously discarded bag. At this point, she couldn't bear to be awake anymore... So, despite not feeling safe in this unknown location, they found a spot away from everyone (albeit, most people ran away, hearing the commotion), and fell asleep beneath a tree. When morning came, Addie was initially confused, not remembering where they were... But she remembered quickly, the events of the night before. "So. It wasn't a dream, huh," They asked themself aloud, dejected. Images flashed in her mind as she mumbled again. "No, of course it wasn't." Standing up, Addie took another look around. Daylight offered a clearer view of everything, and they could see that the coffee bar from before was now closed. There was an advertisement board on top of it, though, showing off someone named 'Ninghong'. Addie was curious about her, but there were more important things to worry about now... "Guess that means you're still out there... I'll find you. But first... Where am I?" She turned to face the street from last night, which was now empty, "When I followed you through the portal... Where did we end up?" Addie realized this was a park last night, but... "I think, maybe... We might've time traveled." She spotted a pretty blonde woman standing nearby, accompanied by some sort of... Cat-eared robot...? Maybe they were supposed to be 'hair buns'? Whatever it was, it didn't look friendly, so Addie decided to leave the two alone. She then faced the street again, spotting another floating car. "Or, maybe we're in another dimension. Whatever it is," they began, standing up, "I won't accomplish anything by just standing here." Looking passed the coffee bar, Addie spotted the distinct silhouette of city buildings. Their first course of action would be to head there, and find a place to charge her phone... And then get some food. Little did they know, however, that she was being followed...