#Not my feed full of Cale again

[he4d-banger]

Alright

Whoever did this, you made the stressful night I was having. I love this fandom

Now, I need you guys to create a name for Shrimp Cale, like Calebab, or Kale Heinidonski/Honeylettuce

[yuriisclumsy]

Love's Dance

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 1,234

Part 1 | Part 2 (You are here) | Part 3

Authors note: I'm feeding you all good with this.

Four days have passed since I arrived here. 

I spend most of my time gathering intel and familiarizing myself with the place. One thing I noticed was the lack of underground operations here in the Henituse’s territory. The Count made sure to eradicate all sorts of dangerous activities for his people and family’s sake. 

Gotta give it to him, he did a spectacular job. The only underground activity—If you can call that—I was able to find were a few gangs in the semi-slums that didn’t have much strength. 

Aside from this, I also investigated and searched for the people on the list. Good news, I only have one last person to check. Bad news… 

It’s the Count’s son. 

“*Sigh…* Why does fate hate me so much?” I asked, looking up at the sky. Covering my face from the sun's rays with my hand, I search for writings, a sign…anything that could answer my question.  

“...oh, who am I kidding? Fate won’t respond to me, even if I were to beg for it.” 

Walking down a street full of vendors trying to sell products, my mind wandered to how I'll manage to get close to Cale Henituse, Count Deruth’s oldest son—and possibly his successor. 

A loud voice interrupted my state of mind, much to my dismay. It came from a woman standing on a podium. She had gathered a crowd with her excessive yelling; both adults and children were listening excitedly. 

Hmmm. Seems interesting My feet moved on their own, trying to get me as close as possible to this small curiosity. 

Getting a good listen at the girl, she seems to be announcing something. 

“Everyone! There will be a Festival in the next upcoming days!” The girl yelled excitedly. 

“A festival?”  

Having a festival means there is going to be more security, and knowing the Count’s record…yeah, no This was turning out to be a real nuisance. I don’t want to deal with that while doing this mission. I better find a plan to get to Henituse before the festival. But how…?  

Just as I turned to leave, the girl shouted again. 

“The Henituses’ are hosting this festival and are going to be in attendance through the whole thing! So don’t miss out on it!” 

This! I shot my head towards the girl, having a few stares at me. But I could care less. What is more important is the fact that I can use this festival to my advantage!  

If I can get him to mingle with the people, it’ll save me a lot of time! I grinned like a madman. 

“Look mama! That lady is smiling weirdly!” A kid pointed at me. 

“Don’t point,” the mother quickly grabbed him and walked away while staring at me weirdly. 

 Realizing I was acting out of line, I left the area to stop making an embarrassment out of myself. 

Ah! There is no time to waste! I need to come up with a plan fast! Otherwise, I'll lose this once in a lifetime opportunity. Thank you fate, I'll never doubt you again! 

I made my way to the room that was rented out for me. I did not notice the older gentleman in front of me and bumped into him, causing some of his groceries to fall. Luckily, he managed to catch all the items before they fell on the floor. 

“Oh, I am really sorry!” I vowed while apologizing, I went around him and stayed on my path. 

The older gentlemen stared at me until I faded into nothing. 

“...” 

… 

“So, there are two high class agents currently in the city?” Cale asked. 

“Yes.” Choi Han confirmed. Ron was right next to him when they made the discovery, so they went straight back to report. “One of the agents has been living in the city for a few years with little activity, the other recently arrived.” 

“From what we gathered, the newer agent is most likely the one assigned to whatever mission they gave out.” Said Ron right after Han finished. 

“Those are a few fries! I could go right now and destroy them!” A young dragon spoke while playing with his food, he smashed a cookie signifying what he’ll do. 

No, thank you. You’ll just destroy the city while doing so. Cale sweated at this image. 

“One of them is a bit odd if I have to say.” Ron spoke. 

“What do you mean?” 

“When me and the punk were searching, we ran across one of them. She seemed to be happily skipping while putting up bombs.” Ron said with a smile. 

You call that odd? She seems to fit right in with those weirdos. Cale thought. 

“What Ron said is true. She is really weird.” Choi Han agreed.

 

“What is odd about that? If anything, she matches Arm’s whole craze-quota.” 

“She was placing bombs in abandoned homes and alleys; places people didn’t frequent. Don’t you think this is a bit strange?” Ron finally said. 

Cale grabbed his chin in thought.

That is strange. Usually, Arm does not care for casualties. As long as they’re plans were met, anyone could go up in flames… Still, her placing bombs while skipping is concerning. 

“...keep an eye on her and take Raun and the cats with you. I want to dismantle the bombs to be safe.” Cale ordered his subordinates. 

“Yes, master Cale.” 

“Yes, young master.” 

“You ready big sister?” 

“Hm! Can’t wait to teach the youngest how this is done!” 

“I’ll show you, human, that Raun is the greatest!” 

“Good. Now go.” Cale dismissed the group. 

… 

They really just sent me on a suicide mission I thought, looking over the information I had on Cale as I sat in a desk in complete defeat. There were papers scattered all over the room; they covered walls, floor, and bed—there were even some in the bathroom. It wasn’t a pretty site. 

They were detailed plans I had been brainstorming, but so far, all the routes had flaws and countermeasures from the opposing party. I grabbed my hair in frustration. 

Cale’s party consists of powerful individuals: from skilled butlers to beast men. All beings I could not take down on my own, heck, I don’t think even with competent members of Arm, would I, in a million years, take them down. I can’t even hold a weapon correctly. 

“Agh…mmHGHMGHMM” I hit my head against the wooden desk. The despair I was feeling was immense. 

“Maybe it isn’t too late to run away yet…” I say hopeful, before turning on my rationality. “Oh, who am I kidding!? They’ll find me if I run away!” I cry out. 

I glance at the papers on the floor, but one gets my attention. The festival flier had beautiful dancers covering its frame along with some instruments. Flipping the paper to its back gives some information on one of the events of the festival: every day of the festival, right after sunset, citizens and guests can take part in a dance. 

I don’t get how they can plan all of this in a matter of days…the Henituses’ are incredible. Wait a second. If I can get the count’s son to dance, then I’ll be able to get to him! It still needs polishing, but I can combine this with a scraped plan. 

“Looks like I need to contact Agent Lance for a local dress.” 

…

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Master-List

[blueteller]

“Trash of the Count’s Family” Review Series: Chapter 7

Trash of the Count’s Family Manhwa: Chapter 7

We're back with the "man-eating tree" – which is still not old-looking or scary at all (sorry, it's the truth!!) – and Cale continues to feed it bread. A voice keeps asking for more, which is "driving him crazy". It's the voice of a woman mentioned in "the Birth of a Hero" (TBOAH), who was once a priestess that starved to death.

Then Cale remembers he must return home before dinner, as he promised to visit Deruth in the study. He needs to hurry up, as he has planned to satisfy half the tree's gluttony by today. He sees the two silver and red haired kids again, eating the bread he gave them. Cale "tsks" as if he doesn't care, but I think we all know better by now. When's the adoption happening, darling? 😏

Cale walks the streets, thinking of finding another bakery as he already swept all of the previous one's stock for today. Then a woman approaches him, telling him that they have plenty of bread at their bakery. Cale thinks how "now this is a woman who knows how to do business" and pays her a gold coin (aka. overpays her a lot it seems), much to her joy. She quickly delivers him a bag full of bread and Cale is impressed with how quickly she did it. (She probably had it prepared already after a rumor spread about Cale's bread buying spree. He's right, she really is a good sales-woman, haha!) She also offers to prepare him some more later. Another baker approaches Cale right after her. Cale is pleased with how fast things are advancing.

Meanwhile, someone is Cale from the shadows. Turns out it's Beacrox, Ron's son. He wonders if Cale went crazy. His father told him that Cale was "an interesting kid" and at first he didn't care. But the more he's observing him, the more he's starting to agree. He thinks it'll be as much fun watching him as Choi Han. Beacrox comes off as quite cold and sinister here, I'm not gonna lie... but the reader doesn't get the sense that Cale is in danger quite yet. It leaves the audience with an interesting feeling; not quite anticipation, not quite tension, but something in between.

Next we see Cale giving the silver-haired girl some herbs in a jar. She's confused why it isn't bread. The red haired boy – whose legs seem bruised/injured – says how "it isn't cake either". It seems there was a skipped scene from the novel, where Cale had given them meat and cake aside from bread. Cale wants to go over to the tree, but the kids block his way again, insisting that he can't die (I don't blame them, I certainly wouldn't want my food provider to get killed by an evil tree).

Then we get an interesting glimpse of Kim Rok Soo's past. Once again, we're reminded that he was an orphan. He also "didn't have anything to his name", so a lot of people showed him sympathy. Cale reflects on how he misunderstood that sympathy in the past. Only after growing up he realized that there didn't need to be a reason for it; now that he detests seeing children in pain and misery.

It's funny how in the novel, Cale repeatedly tells himself how he "doesn't want to concern himself with others", that he "hates people meddling in other people's business" and that he "won't console the children". Except, he does ALL of those things: he feeds the children, gives them medicine (the herbs) and consoles them that he won't die. Cale is an absolute hypocrite... and I love it, haha!

...I'm giving him 2 more chapters before he's adopting those kids ❤️

Cale keeps feeding the tree, which keeps asking for more. He notices how the darkness in the hole is getting lighter, so he considers the money he's been using to be paying off. He looks around and the children are gone, thinking that "he feels better now that he doesn't see the injured one" (sir, then why were you looking for them in the first place?? LOL). A moment later, a pair of familiar kittens approach him.

I'm sorry, I know the kittens being the kids is extremely obvious, considering their perfectly matching hair and eye colors, especially with how they appear right there the moment the children have disappeared... however, I do have to confess: when I first read it, I haven't figure it out by this point. So does that count as a spoiler...? Nah. Even though I'm silly, I have more faith in you guys. So yeah, the children reappear as kittens again; a pair of very adorable kittens. I adore them.

Cale recognizes them as the cats from yesterday (when he met Choi Han for the first time) and thinks how they shouldn't remember him. I love how Cale's constantly assuming that he's not memorable. Honey, you are one of the most memorable people in the world, no matter what you're doing... 😂 Just accept it already!

"Let's not get involved in troublesome affairs" – says the protagonist of an isekai manhwa. Sure thing, Cale... 🤣

Then Cale is back at the Henituse estate, asking the Count to repeat himself. Deruth tells him to go to the capital as the family representative, much to Cale's displeasure. Apparently, Basen was originally supposed to go. However, Cale is the first born of the family. There will be a royal event where sons of noble families have been invited. Basen has been acting as a successor since 2 years, but he hasn't been to a royal event. Deruth wants Cale to go instead, even though he doesn't specify the exact reason.

(It's just my theory, but I think Deruth is trying to mend bonds between them as a father, despite the distance developed between them over the years... perhaps seeing Cale smile brought him some hope again?)

Cale realizes the event Deruth is talking about is where the "Plaza Terror Incident" from TBOAH will soon take place. The same secret organization which destroyed Choi Han's village will commit a terrorist attack. Choi Han would be only able to stop about half of it, saving countless citizens gathered there. As a result, the Crown Prince would take notice of him and befriend him, turning him into a public hero figure.

Cale is getting chills at the thought of being there for the Incident. He doesn't want to go. However, looking at Basen, he can't bring himself to tell him to go instead. (Awww, Cale... you're such a good guy! ❤️) When he hears how he's supposed to depart in 5 days, he realizes there is no way OG Cale would have gone in TBOAH, since he got beat up by Choi Han and would be still recovering at that time.

Seeing this clear divergence from the story he read in TBOAH, Cale asks for time to think about it. Deruth agrees, but before he can leave, Basen speaks to him how "there is no reason for him not to go". Despite his rather distant-looking expression, we can tell that Basen is hiding his emotions, refusing to look at Cale. It's interesting how Basen is portrayed here, since I imagined this scene would picture him more shy-looking. But perhaps that IS what his shy expression looks like...? Either way, Cale sighs, and considers the situation between them.

Cale is about to be pushed out of the successor position. However, Basen doesn't seem to mind him acting as a family representative; in fact, he seems supportive. Clearly, he's a good kid with a kind heart. Cale thinks how this is "getting really troublesome" and decides it's worth a shot to go and try preventing the Terror Incident. He excuses it to himself that "he can't let Basen die because then he won't be able to become the Lord of the Territory", but considering how hesitant he was moments before about going, his true feelings about this are rather obvious.

So, "for the sake of his own peaceful life" (aka. because he's a good person who won't endanger an innocent kid – not that he'd ever admit it to himself), Cale makes up his mind. He will go to the capital. But he will do everything he can to make himself comfortable and safe. He tells Hans bring in Choi Han, and tell him that an oppurtunity for payment has come up. He's planning on using Choi Han to his own benefit – despite claiming a mere chapter ago that no sane person would do such a thing.

Haha, ah, Cale, you ridiculous potato... 😂

And that's the whole chapter! No awkward shots in this one! I'm impressed. The plot is finally unfolding: Cale has changed his first meeting with Choi Han and thus, the story is slowly but surely changing its course. Will Cale be able to achieve his dream of a peaceful life? We shall see!

Feel free to leave comments!

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[mowseries]

Allies Obstruct

=INTRO D: COLLAPSING PEACE=

((Courtesy of @codedhopes & @super-tired-robot))

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

//:LOG IN SUCCESSFUL. WELCOME, NO. Ø

//:LOADING FILES…

//:FILES LOADED. ENTER COMMAND PROMPT.

//:COMMAND> CHECK REVELATION.EXE STATUS

//:RUNNING…

//:CALCULATIONS COMPLETE. DATA HAS BEEN UPDATED, SAVED AND UPLOADED TO DESIGNATED PROGRAM. FILE REMAINS QUARANTINED. PROGRAM IS RUNNING NORMALLY.

//:COMMAND>PREPARE ENDGAME FILE FOR UPLOAD. DESTINATION: NBCA DATABASE SERVER, CHERRYDYNAMICS MAINFRAME SERVER, ALL

//:RUNNING…

//:ENDGAME FILE HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR UPLOAD. UPLOAD NOW?

//COMMAND>SET TIMER: JUNE 21, 20XX, 11:45 AM.

//:RUNNING…

//:TIMER SET. RUNNING SCAN…

//:WARNING: VIRUS DETECTED IN FILE! SOURCE: REVELATION.EXE. ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO UPLOAD THIS FILE?

//:COMMAND>YES.

//:RUNNING…

//:COMMAND SET. ENDGAME FILE WILL UPLOAD IN: 24 HOURS.

//COMMAND>SEND MASS MESSAGE TO: DLN-001.5 [CONTACT: CALEB LIGHT], DLN-001 [CONTACT: ROCKWELL LIGHT], DWN-INFINITY. [CONTACT: MZ WILY]

//:ENTER MESSAGE…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

//:MESSAGE RECEIVED. FROM: Ø [CONTACT: RAY] SENT: 11:46 AM.

//: …Where should I begin…?

//: …Ah…right. I suppose an apology is in order, firstly…it’s been quite some time since I’ve spoken to any of you, and I’m sorry. Truly. Some of you are angry with me, I know, and it is my fault. I know I’ve been rather reclusive these last few months, and…there is a reason for it. Several, in fact, of which I will now tell you, the people that have made my wretched existence…a little easier. A little more…brighter.

//: …I have been working on several projects--this is what was eating up most of my time. One of which is looking for a more permanent solution for my deteriorating condition, caused by my lack of a central core. I have searched for many, many decades, and with the recently opened rifts that have appeared these last few years--the very same ones that have led me to you all--did bring up some new leads…

//: …But all I have found are…dead ends. EVERYWHERE I look only reminds me that I am cursed, and that nothing can fix me. That I...

//: I…I’m running out of time. It grows worse, my horrid curse…I am falling apart more rapidly, I must hunt more frequently…and…and the pains…

//: It hurts now. I feel as if I am rotting away from the inside out. It hurts…so much. I cannot…hold myself together for long…there is only…pain…hunger…pain…and hunger…

//: Ngh–!!

//: Hunger…consume…feed…! I can’t–need…more–!!

[…There is silence, it was as if the message was edited and continued much later…did she mean to send this before the virus had been released?]

//: Hnn...

//: I...I'm fine. I don't know for how long...I...

//: ….Do you see now?

//: I…I am not long for this world.

//:…This…world…

//: …This world. This cheap, thrill-seeking world, only caring about their advertised construct battles and those who provide it! As long as humans, the sinful ones, have that to entertain them…their precious Battle Colosseum…their so-called heroes…! They care about nothing else…

//: And it’s all because of them that I am this way. All of it. All of it. ALL OF IT. I would have never resorted to such disgusting ways of survival if it wasn’t for them! The NBCA, CherryDyn, and ESPECIALLY HIM…

//: I was doomed! Doomed from the start! Doomed to fall! Doomed to die! I...!

//: ...

//: …I refuse to leave this mortal earth…fading away in some…dark, lonely corner, amongst the filth and the departed…by my own hands…god, no. I won't--I can't subject you all to that. I can't let you watch me slowly wither and die when there's nothing to be done, I can't...I can't bear you to that pain.

//: No.

//: If I am to die…If I am to be sent to the Void, never to return…if I am to burn, burn in hell…

//: Then this world will burn with me. Along with all those who have wronged me. CherryDyn. The Colosseum. Humanity.

//: They will burn…they will pay for their sins…pay…in blood, in Xel…it doesn’t matter.

//: ...

//: Don’t bother trying to stop me. The rifts are beginning to close…as if the fates already know how this ends…as if they knew all along that this was my role to play.

//: …And no matter what happens, I…will be no more…

//: I just…

//: ….

//: I can’t…take this anymore. The endless slaughter…the constant…fear…I can’t…there is nothing…I can do…I can’t be saved, no matter what Beck says. No matter what...God...

//: Cale, my love...

//: …Caleb Light…my dauntless rebel…I love you so, so much. I gave you…everything I had left…everything that I am…and…you are the best–no…the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. My light in the darkness…my Mate…I’m so sorry I have to put you through this. I know...I can hear your words now, saying that I shouldn't do this, but you must understand--If I die--the people that made me what I am will go on to hurt countless others. It's not just vengeance, my Light--I want Justice. They need to pay, while I am still the only one alive to remember their sins. Please…forgive me…this...this isn't how I wanted it to end.

//: I love you.

//: Rock…MZ…I give you my blessings…focus on the future you have now, together…whenever you DO get married, eventually…that is, if you haven’t already. Don’t let me…ruin it with my acts of vengeance. Just…stay out of it. Please. This is more than just about me--CherryDyn is far, far more crueler than what I have told you. There are things that they do in the shadows that...

//: I swear, I will make them all pay for what they’ve done… As my last sin, as my last will…these humans will all die, like they should, and they will know what happens when they cross a predator…

//: …

//: I…don’t want to cut this short. But the wheels have been set into motion already. Even I couldn’t stop them if I wanted to. And even if I could…

//: ...

//: Days…hours…that’s all I have left…A week, at most. More if I can starve off the hunger right. If...if you do manage to come here, please be careful.

//: …

//: I’m sorry. This is probably the last you will hear from me. I...

//: I'm sorry I'm so sick...

//: I'm sorry I'm so broken, I...

//: I'm sorry. I'm sorry...

//: …Good-bye.

[END OF MESSAGE.]

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

{Titus, CA Colosseum June 21st, 20XX

11:40 AM}

[The day started out like any other.

Cardinal was excited. This was going to be his first time seeing the Mighties fight together. Finally, after all the long months of suffering and loneliness…]

Cardinal: (This is gonna be great…! Too bad Baron couldn’t be here. He loves a good battle royale!)

[It was all he could do to not go down to the locker room right this minute.

He’d waited all this time to see his friends again. Waiting a few hours longer wasn’t going to hurt him.

…Or so he thought.]

{Meanwhile…}

“Come ON, Beck! Hurry up, we’re gonna be late!”

“C-Coming, Cryo!”

“We’ve spent enough time walking down memory lane in the trophy room. We have to get to the arena before they call us out for our return debut match.”

“WE KNOW, Pyro. Jeezzz, calm down.”

“I believe he is only excited to be back in familiar stomping grounds. Isn’t that right, Bat?”

“TOO RIGHT, Brand!”

“Heh. We’re ALL glad t’ be home, yeah…. Ah’ look forward t’ givin’ ‘em all a good show.”

“MAN, I am so stoked for this! Hey, I hope they get my good side, ya know? Course, I look good in ALL angles.”

“…Avi not focused.”

“Mic is right. It’s time to get out there. Everyone! PLACES!”

[The team responded enthusiastically in unison.]

“YES SIR NO.1!”

[The crowd burst into cheers as the Mighties took their place on the field.]

Cardinal: -Whistles LOUDLY, pinging with excitement-

“Laaaaadies and gentlebots! Men, women, and children of all ages! Please put your hands together for your returning Queen's Tournament Champions, TEAM MIGHTY NUM—"

[KSSSSssssst…]

Cardinal: —???

[There was a disquieted murmur amongst the crowd. Cardinal suddenly felt grim.]

<DLN-000>: >Guys, I think something is…

<DLN-000>: > Something’s not right over here—

[sssKKKKT--]

[MN.1] //: Hnnk...I...I don’t…

[MN.7] //: -Suddenly horribly dizzy, what, what is—-

[MN.4] //: -Mic—Mic no like these new voices—-

[MN.8] //: -Ah'—Cards—CARDS—-

<DLN-000>: > ?! -Distressed data, CONCERN— -

<DLN-000>: > What is it? What's going on, Shade?

[PING!]

[MN.9] //: Guys?! What's going on, are you okay—?!

[MN.9] //: Why am I getting warnings from my—

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN—

[Chaos began rising as alarms started going off everywhere.]

Cardinal: !

Attention! Attention! This is Code Red! Please evacuate the arena calmly and quickly! This is not a drill! Please—

[Fights were starting to escalate within the crowd. Cardinal had instinctively shifted into his armor.]

[MN.6] //: nngh ow ow ow ow-

[MN.3] //: -Erractic buzzing and SCREECHING—-

[MN.2] //: Can't think—about anything—!

[MN.5] //: c-compromised, stand clear—

Cardinal: Guys?!

[WARNING. WARNING. VIRUS DETECTED IN SERVER. FIREWALL PROGRAMS HAVE FAILED.]

[Someone suddenly grabs at Cardinal—a civilian model, jaw open in a war cry, bathed in violet flames and unrelenting rage.]

Cardinal: !!! -Gives a backhand hit, jumping up high-

[He recognized those flames.

Those were the flames of berserk rage: a sick madness, one that deprives the victim of all reason and most free will.]

[Cardinal used Item-1!]

Cardinal: -Hovers in place, looking down at the sands-

[To his horror, he could see flickers starting to form around the Mighty Numbers.

It had been bad enough to see them amongst the crowd, with the world devolving into chaos.

To see them now, on his friends—]

Cardinal: NO!

[It was rapidly turning to the darkness of his absolute /worst nightmares/.]

[MN.1-8 HAVE BEEN INFECTED WITH HARMFUL MALWARE. RUNNING XELFILTER.EXE FOR MN.9]

[The stands were a jumbled mess. The exits were jammed with people trying to escape, with fights and aggressive, infected Xelbots barring the way.]

Bat: Cowards...

Bat: Can’t even STAND THEIR GROUND!

Cardinal: [Glitch]—

[WARNING: MN.1-8 HAVE ENTERED FULL COMBAT MODE. RESTRICTIONS: NONE.]

<DLN-000 has entered Non-Lethal Combat Mode.>

[Without another thought, Cardinal swings himself over the barrier and into the sands, his whistle piercing through the air—]

Shade: -Winces—!- Hnn—! (Too loud—!)

Beck: —! Cardinal—!

[BLAM!]

[Cardinal’s shot intercepted Bat’s round in a high-blast of plasma cannon fire. This prevented the shot from reaching the crowds, but the round exploded in the air instead. Cardinal had to shield from the shrapnel.]

Cardinal: SHUT DOWN! SHUT DOWN IMMEDIATELY!

Bat: How dare you presume to give orders, you foolhardy DESERTER—

Cardinal: ! -Staggers back, taking a firmer stance- We can fix this! You need to trust me—!

Shade: -Pain, fighting off an urge to make him shut up- C-Cards…! Get…

Shade: GET LOST! NOW!

Cardinal: Not in a million lifetimes, Shade!

Brand: Can't you see that we're going OUT OF CONTROL, YOU RECKLESS DEATHSEEKER—

[And just like that, there were eight sets of eyes trained onto Cardinal.]

[He was surrounded.]

Beck: NO—!!!

[Things were spiraling out of control too quickly—they were all rushing at Cardinal, there was no way he would—]

<DLN-000 has entered Lethal Combat Mode.>

[He abruptly shifted into full armor and dropped to the ground. Pyro’s tackle missed, and he tripped up the team leader with a well-placed low kick before springing back to his feet, blasting away at bits that were trying to swarm him.]

[Cardinal used SUPER ARM!]

[WHAM!]

[Cardinal grabbed Pyro by the ankle before he could get up, and SLAMMED him right into Cryo before she could freeze him solid.

He sprung up in the air and landed right on Bat’s shoulder.]

Cardinal: -Aggressive data-

Beck: O~O!!!

[Meanwhile, all Beck could do was back away slowly, eyes darting fearfully from one sibling to another. Why was this happening? Why were they ACTING like this—?!]

Brand: Stop showing off and get OUT of here, before—

[There was an insanely mad cackle as Cardinal was lifted right off of the walking WMD, with Dyna coming down from the sky.]

Dyna: Szzo enthusiastic! You must have such intense energy!

Shade: -AaaAAUUGH DYNA—! DON’T—!!-

[Cardinal didn’t even seem to try and get out of it, just pulled his shield in closer with a grim expression while bits were weaving a web around him.]

Dyna: What’szz WRONG, Cardinal? Iszz the birdie unable to fly away from the web?

Beck: NO—!

[Cardinal abruptly smirked as Dyna loomed in closer. It was a dark smirk, and his eyes glowed red with cruel intent.]

Beck: —!!! (No—I know that look! That red color—don't tell me he’s—!)

[Cardinal was NOT infected… at least, no more than he had once warned long ago.

As a veteran Wilybot and soldier, he didn’t give his enemy any warning: not even a gloat of confidence.]

[Cardinal used LEAF SHIELD!]

[There was a piercing SHRIEK of pain on the part of the electric diva as a swarm of razor-sharp, leaf-shaped metal created a cloud of shrapnel around the Robot Master in question. Dyna backed away, giving off glitched scree noises. By this point, several of the other Mighty Numbers had vanished in the turmoil; it was at this point that Dyna herself took her cue to leave.

His victory was short-lived, however, as a red blur shredded the projectile shield into a fine mist, before placing his swords right against the prototype’s throat.]

((Pic—Cardinal v Brand))

Brand: -Seethes- How DARE you toy with us at a time like this!

[Cardinal was instantly gone, teleported across the sands to avoid incoming fire from above. Brandish moved quickly as well, but not quite quickly enough to avoid unfriendly fire.]

Avi: Awww, couldn’t you have held him a little longer, ninjabro? You know what they say—

Shade: -Struggling to retain self-control, even as he starts locking onto Cardinal’s signal- Avi, Ah’ swear if you PUN at a tahm like THIS—

Avi: “A bird in the HAND is worth two in the bush!”

[The sniper gave a cry of frustration and fired off a shot. This action seemed to somehow be a succession, a submission—caving in, weakening the resolve.

The shot was dodged easily, due to the interference that offset the sniper’s aim.]

Beck: AVI! BRAND! SHADE! GUYS! S T O P!

Avi: -Ignores Beck entirely- Watch where you’re pointing that thing! And don’t you tell ME what to do— I have plenty to say, and this time, nobody’s going to stop me!

>CROSS-REFERENCES IDENTIFIED: MONSTROPOLIS, DLN-008, DWN-014

Cardinal: -SURGE of aggressive data out of frantic dismay- Avi, DON’T—!

[The plane gave a click noise as he gave finger guns…]

K-PEW!

Cardinal: ! -SHIELDS-

[—which actually fired a pair of shots at Cardinal this time.]

Avi: Yeah, this has been nice and all, but I’ve gotta go to work! Seeee you on the air! Or see the replays of your dismantling, more likely.

Shade: -Snarls- Get OUT—!

[BANG!]

Avi: -AAAAAND that’s our cue BYE NOW— -

[Cardinal didn’t get time to object to this, as he had to teleport to avoid being cut in half by Brandish.]

Beck: NII-SAAAAAAAN!

[Brandish abruptly halts before finishing his next move, which allows Cardinal to get away.]

Beck: Brand! Please stop! I-I can call Dad, he can—

Brand: NO—!

[Brandish literally shakes as he steps away, gritting his teeth under his mask.]

Brand: I—can’t—

Beck: Nii-san—!

Brand: Get out of here, GO—!

Brand: NOW!

[BWIP!]

[And just like that, he was gone—]

Beck: BRAND—!

“Don't--Cards, m'beggin' ya, don't get close—”

[Beck whirls around to find Cardinal making close steps towards Shade, who was backing off with every step he took...]

Shade: S’ too late—! Get out, get out— take Beck an' get OUT—

Cardinal: I’m not leaving without you! I WON'T LEAVE YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF MONSTROPOLIS! The feds would—

Shade: Ah' SAID, take Beck an' LEAVE—

Cardinal: -Eyes full green and BLARING distressed data- YOU'RE COMING WITH ME, CONSCIOUS OR NOT—

Shade: AH' SAID LEAVE!

[CLICK—]

Beck: —?!

[Beck is suddenly starting down the red barrel of his brother's sniper rifle—he's frozen in place, out of shock and fear—]

Cardinal: —!!

Cardinal: NO—! SHADE! SHADE DON’T—!

[A red flash of light blinds Beck for a moment—it was Cardinal, teleporting in front of him to take the dart that had been fired at him instead—]

[Byuubyuubyuu…!]

Beck: ?! Cards?!?

[He isn't there anymore--he was suddenly gone, and that's when Beck realized that Shade had used one of his teleport darts--]

[Click.]

Beck: Wait, Shade, NO—!

[BANG—]

[S Y S T E M E R R ROR–S YSTEM E R R ROR–]

[MN.9 HAS BEEN DAMAGED BY HARMFUL MALWARE. PREPARING HARD RESET. ALL FORMS WILL BE LOST.]

“GUYS–NO–NOOO–!!”

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

[junker-town]

How Mike Gundy came home and built Oklahoma State football

(with a little help from T. Boone Pickens)

STILLWATER, Okla. — “Sorry I’m late. We’re trying to figure out why we got our asses kicked on Saturday.”

Mike Gundy is only 10 minutes late for our scheduled chat, but considering this is game week, anything short of cancellation feels early.

Gundy’s Oklahoma State Cowboys just lost their first game of the year, a glitchy, unlucky 44-31 defeat to TCU. But there’s no time for wallowing: they have to get ready for a Saturday night track meet in Lubbock.

It wasn’t that long ago that a 13-point home loss to a top-15 team would be considered a sign of progress for an aggressively directionless Oklahoma State program. From the time the Cowboys joined the Big 8 in 1960 to when Gundy was hired as head coach in 2005, OSU finished the season ranked in the AP poll just five times.

Two of those finishes came with Gundy behind center.

Since Gundy’s hire, the Cowboys have risen to an entirely different level of sustainable success. They won their first Big 12 title in 2011, destroying OU and coming within an eyelash of the BCS Championship game. They have won at least nine games in seven of their last nine seasons and will probably do so again this fall.

They have found this level of success under an unrepentant Okie. And the sneaky brilliance of Gundy the Okie, along with Oklahoma State’s cultivation of another famous alum — the billionaire T. Boone Pickens — is at the heart of how the coach has led the program to new heights.

Yes, you know about the hair. You know about “I’m a man.” But focusing on one story and a hairstyle obscures the essence; Gundy is Okie to the core. That means wood grain in his office. It means hunting on the weekends. And it might mean coyote traps, too.

“He had this coyote trap,” Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich says of his boss. “It was a thing that had like a squirrel’s tail on it, and it would whip around like this [makes fast, circling motion] and made this crazy noise. It made the sound of a bunny dying. It’s the worst sound you could ever hear. And he turned it on, and this thing would go crazy. He’d get a kick out of that.”

Or there was the stray dog Gundy once found. “He had him trained in a day, I think,” Yurcich says. “The dog did everything he told him to do — I’m like, ‘This guy is the head coach ... he’s a dog whisperer...’”

Gundy’s success is undeniable. So is the fact that he is always 100 percent himself.

“We have created a monster that now you have to feed.”

Oklahoma State athletics

Before.

Google Earth

After.

This is a new OSU. I grew up in Oklahoma (my parents graduated from Midwest City High School 15 years before Gundy), and I attended high school and college games at what was then Lewis Field from 1993 through the mid-2000s. I visited again recently, and it took a long time to get my bearings. This place has changed.

The harder it is to get somewhere, the harder it is to work up the motivation to leave.

Granted, the small-town vibe has not. Stillwater is still a town of under 50,000 people. It’s still structured so that virtually everything OSU-related that you need is within about two minutes of two streets — the east-west Hall of Fame Ave. and the north-south Main St. The athletic facilities are still but a short walk from the vaunted Eskimo Joe’s and the downtown area.

It’s also still a chore to get to town, about an hour’s drive north and east of Oklahoma City. The harder it is to get somewhere, the harder it is to work up the motivation to leave.

The small city means the new facilities carry even more gravitas. What is now Boone Pickens Stadium now holds close to 60,000. The football offices, housed on the west side of the stadium where only bleachers used to stand, are immense.

“It’s an unbelievable transformation,” says Dave Hunziker, the voice of Oklahoma State football and basketball. “Back when I arrived here [in 2001], a crowd of 36,000 or 37,000 was considered a nice crowd. Now it’s 56, 57,000 on a weekly basis.”

“For a long time here, we would have 32,000 faithful that would come to the games,” Gundy says. “Well, now we have 35,000 people that tailgate. This place is full. The RV lot is full. The RV parking lot used to be a gravel parking lot. There was two people in there.”

These fans certainly don’t expect to lose to TCU at home anymore.

“We have essentially created a monster that now you have to feed,” Gundy says.

“You can go just about anywhere, and it's going to be about the same.”

Gundy could have easily ended up about an hour and a half south in Norman. That was the original idea as he was wrapping up his senior year at Midwest City High in 1985.

“I eventually committed to OU,” he says, “but Jamelle Holieway was starting there and won the [1985] national championship. He had three years left, so I was smart enough to say, look, their defense is always gonna be awesome, and he just won a national championship. They only play Texas and Nebraska every year, that have the same level of talent as them. How am I ever going to break in and be the starter?

“Because of my ties to my family and not wanting to be too far away, I started looking real seriously at Oklahoma State.” It worked out pretty well for everyone involved.

Despite head coach Pat Jones’ run-heavy tendencies, and despite the presence of incredible backs like Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas, Gundy still finished his career as the conference’s all-time leading passer. But OSU’s star power inadvertently revealed its limitations.

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

In the 1980s, the school employed Jimmy Johnson (who left in 1984 to take over at Miami) and Jones, fielded offenses with Gundy, Thomas, Sanders, and Hart Lee Dykes, and fielded defenses with Leslie O’Neal and Dexter Manley. Stars, all of them. But between 1977 and 1994, the Cowboys went 0-17-1 against Oklahoma, and between 1962 and 2002, they went 0-35-1 against Nebraska. Those brilliant teams of ‘87 and ‘88 went 0-4 against the Sooners and Huskers and 20-0 against everybody else. And after flying close to the sun in the late-1980s, they ended up getting burned by the NCAA and dealing with years of sanctions.

Things change. OSU won three of its last five against Nebraska before the Huskers left for the Big Ten. And while the Cowboys still lose more than they win against OU, they’ve beaten the Sooners four times since 2001.

Gundy’s return has a lot to do with it. And it was a winding road for him to come back home. He joined Jones’ staff directly out of college and was named offensive coordinator before he turned 27. But thanks in part to NCAA sanctions, Jones’ tenure ended poorly in the mid-1990s. Gundy set off on his own.

He spent one year as Baylor’s receivers coach under Chuck Reedy before a 4-7 season left everybody unemployed; he then spent four years under Ron Vanderlinden at Maryland before suffering the same fate.

“Being fired twice taught me a lot. It made me realize that having a job in coaching, it's not greener everywhere else. All the issues I thought Oklahoma State had, well, Baylor's got problems and Maryland's got problems. I realized that you can go just about anywhere, and it's going to be about the same.”

In 2001, Miles brought him back to Stillwater as offensive coordinator. And when Miles took the LSU job after four seasons, Gundy replaced him as head coach.

“Slow blinkers, hard to play the game.”

To John Smith, maybe the greatest amateur wrestler of all time, there is value in playing other sports and failing at them. “It’s humbling. You can be great at wrestling, but you can’t hit a baseball. That’s how it was for me.” He thinks it can lead to you appreciating your own gifts, and your best sport, a bit more.

That’s not necessarily something Mike Gundy would know about. “You know, Mike was good at everything,” Smith says. “I think he went with the sport he was best in, but Mike was a good basketball player, good baseball player, he won junior high state [in wrestling] when he was in junior high. Just an all-around good athlete.”

Smith is a former national champion and Olympic gold medalist. Just two years after his second Olympic gold in 1992, he was leading the OSU wrestling program to a national title as head coach. His Cowboys won four in a row from 2003 to 2006. He is the most accomplished Oklahoma State athlete of all time.

Smith was two grades ahead of Gundy and ended up attending Del City High, Midwest City’s chief rival. But the Gundy and Smith kids grew up around each other and birthed one hell of a Mid-Del dynasty.

OSU Athletics

Gundy and Hart Lee Dykes

Two of John’s brothers (Leroy and Pat) and two of his nephews (Mark and Chris Perry) all won national titles on the mat. Meanwhile, Cale Gundy succeeded Mike as quarterback at Midwest City, attended Oklahoma, and now serves as OU’s offensive co-coordinator. Every coach says he builds a family environment. Thanks to two coaches in particular, “family environment” is almost literal in Stillwater.

“The best thing my dad ever did was force me into wrestling,” Gundy says. “I’m not a very big person, but it changed my strength, changed my balance, changed my work ethic. And I was good at it. John and I grew up together and traveled around the country wrestling in difference places. That did a lot for me.”

Depending on who you ask, though, Gundy ended up sticking with either his best sport ... or his second-best sport. His first love was baseball, and he played for Gary Ward’s Cowboys as a freshman, but this was a tricky time to distinguish yourself in Stillwater on the diamond. Ward’s team was in the middle of an astounding 16-year Big 8 title run, and his primary positions, shortstop and third base, were filled by studs: Robin Ventura and Monty Fariss. “So when they started, I came back to spring [football] and never went back.”

He wishes he hadn’t. “Biggest mistake I have ever made. I finished at 6'0, 190, and I was probably big enough to play and get drafted and go take a chance if that was what I wanted to do. I wasn't big enough for football.”

And yet, football has paid off pretty well. Gundy believes, like many other coaches, that experience in many sports, instead of single-sport specialization, is a good indicator of future football success. Versatility in athleticism can be important, but versatility of the mind matters, too. “The guys who play multiple sports are almost always your best athletes,” he says.

“Besides, the game's changed so much that you're gonna need guys that are cerebral players. You've gotta think so much now, and you've gotta think fast. Slow blinkers, hard to play the game.”

“He wants you to think he’s just some country hick.”

Playing multiple sports certainly helped, but Gundy’s athletic success also came between the ears. Don’t let the hair fool you. Even if you’re smaller than everybody else on the field, you can make a lot of ground by out-thinking everybody.

“He’s unbelievably smart,” Hunziker says, “and one of the ways he’s smart is, he’s got a lot of people fooled. They just think he’s this Okie — and I say ‘Okie’ in a stereotypical way. He’s one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met. Every decision he makes, every day, is calculated.

‘Oh, it’s all about the mullet. It’s all about rattlesnake hunting.’ In the meantime, he’s figured out four new ways to do things a lot of people haven’t even thought about yet.

“He thinks through everything he does, and he’s so innovative here. Offensively, the things they did back in 2010-11, the start of the diamond formation, that spread like wildfire. What he decided to do in terms of conditioning and deciding that hitting during the season, having full-bore scrimmages and tackling a lot, was counter-productive. People thought that was nuts! Now everybody does it.”

The list of innovative ideas is long, and Hunziker knows them all. “But again, people think, ‘Oh, it’s all about the mullet. It’s all about rattlesnake hunting.’ In the meantime, he’s figured out four new ways to do things a lot of people haven’t even thought about yet.”

Every Okie man and woman thinks they have wit and common sense just because Will Rogers lived there. Most of them are painfully incorrect. Most think only others need to heed “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging,” or “Never let yesterday use up too much of today,” or “I never met a man I didn't like.”

That said, the OSU program was built by not one or two, but three straight-forward, common-sense Okies. And Gundy might have actually been the least important of the three.

“Man, I'm glad I wasn't very smart.”

Before this run could begin, the school first needed to make the perfect athletic director hire. It didn’t have to look very far. Mike Holder was hired to replace Harry Birdwell in September 2005, just two games into the Gundy era. Holder led the OSU men’s golf team to eight national titles in over three decades as head coach, and he showed similar prowess in a much larger role.

“I think Coach Holder’s done a great job of hiring coaches,” Smith says. “There’s been some of these sports that historically we’ve never been competitive in” — cross country, tennis — “all of a sudden, we’re competitive. I think that’s a big difference in the overall performance of our athletic program.”

Indeed, OSU has finished in the top 30 of the Learfield Cup standings for five straight years, peaking at 13th in 2016. “Those things don’t happen with 17 programs,” Smith says. “It’s gonna be hard to fall in there unless you’re running 20 or 30 programs. It’s effort on his part to ensure to some of our coaches, ‘We’re behind you, and we care as much about your sport as any sport.’

“A lot of things seemed to come together [on his watch], and that wasn’t an accident.”

Holder, a native of Ardmore, Okla., has been around Stillwater even longer than either Smith or Gundy. Nobody could have known what the OSU program needs better than him.

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

“When I took this thing over,” Gundy says, “I was 37, and I was just so stubborn and had so much energy and was so confident that I wasn't smart enough to know this was a damn hard job. I loved OSU, I believed in myself, and I said we could do this.

“Now, once we kind of accomplished it and I got my second contract, I started to look back and think, ‘Man, I'm glad I wasn't very smart.’ This is really hard. What I had the first three years here was, our athletic director, Mike Holder, he never wavered for one second. Any time something got brought up, he said ‘He's the right guy, he's our coach, end of story.’”

Holder is what you might call a coach’s AD. That makes sense considering he was a coach to begin with. Giving his charges room to breathe and running cover for them has paid off more often than not.

Long-term comfort allowed Gundy to avoid short-term patches. “That propelled me into not trying to cut corners and bring a bunch of JUCO kids in and get the quick fix,” he says. “There are no quick fixes at Oklahoma State. Everything that we do has to be well-thought through, the planning has to take place. We can't burn a couple of years — we'll struggle for five more. He allowed me to do that. And then we started winning, and after that there weren't any issues.”

Holder’s biggest accomplishment, however, didn’t have anything to do with his coaches. It was in turning a certain mega-booster into a master-booster.

In December 2005, he convinced alum T. Boone Pickens, who had already earned naming rights to the stadium for previous contributions — among other things, he had donated $70 million in 2003 — to drop an extra $165 million on athletic upgrades. The next year, Pickens contributed another $100 million the academic arm of the school. At this point, he’s contributed over $500 million to his alma mater.

And to think, Pickens would have been a Texas A&M alum if he hadn’t lost his basketball scholarship.

“You're not gonna get results if you don't shoot the gun.”

In the personality department, it takes quite a bit to outshine Gundy. Pickens might the only guy who can do it. A native of Holdenville, Okla., Pickens conquered the corporate world in the 1980s, perfecting the art of the hostile takeover while wearing plaid shirts on book covers and sporting a thick accent.

Pickens holed up in his Texas offices, combined the wisdom gleaned from analytics, research, patience — “Don’t rush the monkey, and you’ll see a better show,” he says in The First Billion Is the Hardest, a book in which he also says “The higher a monkey climbs a tree, the more people can see his ass.” — and decades of experience to pick his targets, then showed up on Wall Street to buy all the shares of your company. He combined an even temperament with common sense and made a metric ton of money, for both himself and shareholders, in the process.

In a way, Pickens and Gundy have gone about their business in similar ways. Neither has worried himself with conventional wisdom, and both have tried to stay a step ahead. As Pickens says in The First Billion, “My strategy [in the 1970s] was the same as today: staying current on every possible source of information, investing on the fundamentals of supply and demand, and sticking with my conviction over the long haul.” Thanks in part to Pickens’ investment and Holder’s resolve, Gundy had the time and space to do the same.

Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Concordia Summit

T. Boone Pickens, 2016

“Mike Holder essentially got me this job,” Gundy says. “Boone essentially financed the product. And then I ran the organization. Boone is the main force — if he wouldn't have said, ‘I'm gonna build 'em a new stadium, build 'em a new facility,’ I don't think we could have attracted enough kids here to have the success that we've had.

“Holder was essentially like water dripping on a rock, year after year after year, he finally got him to say okay, here's your $300 million. That's what Holder does. He wore the guy out.”

Gundy’s favorite Booneism has quite the Will Rogers vibe: “A fool with a plan can outsmart a genius with no plan any day.”

“I use that all the time with our team, with my kids at home — and it is true,” says Gundy. “When you're in charge, when you're parenting or coaching or running an organization, if you don't have direction, nobody has direction.

“...He'll also say this: You have to aim and fire. You can just aim and aim and aim and never pull the trigger. He said you're not gonna get results if you don't shoot the gun. There's too many leaders, people in charge, that cannot make a decision based on what will happen from that decision. He said, if it's wrong, just fix it.”

Just fix it. From Pickens’ first autobiography, Boone: “There’s usually more than one way to solve a problem. When you’re in trouble, you look at your pluses, stay cool, and ask yourself how you can get your cart out of the ditch.”

Gundy might have become known for a 2007 outburst and a magical 2011 run, but his greatest ability is getting his cart out of the proverbial ditch.

In 2009, when his Cowboys finished a disappointing 9-4 after reaching as high as fifth in the country, he hired offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen and revamped his offense. Two years later, they nearly won the national title.

In 2014, in the middle of a treacherous five-game losing streak, he went with a youth movement, basically handing the offense over to two freshmen, quarterback Mason Rudolph and receiver James Washington.

And in a Saturday night track meet in Lubbock late this September, following a disappointing loss, Washington, now the second-leading receiver in school history. caught nine passes for 127 yards. Rudolph, the all-time leading passer, scored the game-winning touchdown with a minute left. Getting the cart out of a ditch in 2014 helped the Pokes to avoid one in 2017.

John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Read more of the interview between Connelly and Gundy.