#alcor virus

[gnomewithalaptop]

Transcendence AU Dash Simulator GO!!!

31 notes

🌟 lesbianstellaconifer Follow

okay but actually block me if you ship mizcor -- 'hurr durr but we age stella up' -- SHUT UPPP she's literally a minor and alcor's canonically over a million years old so how about you stop being a freak

🎩 woodsmans-left-nipple Follow

Babe I hate to break this to you but Mizcor's literally one of the most famous relationships in all of post-transcendental literature

🌟 lesbianstellaconifer Follow

I could not have more obviously been talking about Mizar the Magnificent but you know what? Yeah classic Mizcor supporters can fuck off too actually.

Everybody likes to whip out Twin Souls like some kind of gotcha but have you even actually read it??? Like it's literally supporting demon worship and pedophilia -- both of which are EXTREMELY ILLEGAL btw. So yeah if I see any of my followers reblogging that shit I'm reporting you to the Occult Defense Agency idc if we're mutuals

🐟 demonologyturnedmegay Follow

*looks at my Alcorian Literature PhD* guess we better stock up on prison shivs buddy

🍃 haveyouseenmylibrary Follow

okay I'm sorry but

and Mizar the Magnificent isn't????

5k notes

📷 nature-pics-daily

Los Angeles 🏝️

#sunken city of los angeles #new california #travel #ocean #photography #lmao i almost got eaten by a kelpie trying to take this pic pls reblog it

98 notes

🧁 definitely-mizar Follow

Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that The Scepter of Vanquished Souls, the newest book in the Wanderlust Trilogy, is now available for pre order on Glamazon!

Purchasers of the hard-cover edition will also receive never-before-seen content, including a deleted scene between Princess Samia and the Shadow King!

🤷‍♂️ not-not-ian-beale Follow

Boosting because I honestly cannot recommend this book enough. Truly one of Mira's best (and I'm not just saying that because she married me!)

25k notes

⚠️ alv Follow

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

You are the 6 billionth user to log into Jumblr today!! This means you are eligible to win a FREE WACBOOK PRO!!!! Click here to claim your prize and win BIG BIG REWARDS!!

#twin souls #mizar #alcor #mizcor #twin souls: reawakened #twin souls: breaking circles #twin souls: newest moon #twinner #twincon3015 #not a scam

Based on your likes!

0 notes

🌞 azarath-metrion-zinthirst Follow

So. I had a day.

📖 stanley-pines-memorial-library Follow

Okay, but consider

🌞 azarath-metrion-zinthirst Follow

I don't remember my older brother's wedding

📖 stanley-pines-memorial-library Follow

A small price to pay for no middle school trauma

🐧 selkiebael Follow

Okay so I just read the url and--

Asfdksfjk go off you funky lil intern

📖 stanley-pines-memorial-library Follow

I'm actually the senior librarian. But thanks!

🐈 alcorphabetical Follow

Posts that have 10k notes. To me

15k notes

🔮 demonoftheday Follow

Today's demon of the day is Nxlar the Antithetical! Responsible for the Florida Springs Massacre of 3007, the body count for this purveyor of madness is estimated to be over 400 (source).

🐸 that-one-half-elf-bitch

I could fix her

41 notes

🍑 lookingformygnomequeen Follow

literally screaming crying throwing up rn I've turned off 'Based on your likes' like eight times @staff can't you just get rid of him already

2.5k notes

🎤 rosaslittleredboots Follow

#i accidentally set my alchemy textbook on fire today and i don't even care AAAAAA this is going to be amazing #northwest mansion mystery #pacifica northwest #rosa darling #im about to be so insufferable about this just you wait

616 notes

👹 sexiestdemon3015bracket Follow

🐸 that-one-half-elf-bitch

Nxlar SWEEEEEP!!!

#if you love me at all you'll vote for my lady love #LISTEN i could bring her to the light i nkow i could

37 notes

👻 sweetthingsaremadeofdeeznuts

Lmao so Nxlar the Antithetical totally turned my apartment complex into a pile of sentient sludge yesterday. I'm fine -- I was at work when it all went down, but uh... yeah, my situation obviously just became super not-great. I hate to ask, but I don't get paid til the 15th, so if some of y'all could float me some cash just so I can get a motel room for a couple nights, I'll fr owe you a life debt

Goal: 0/250

FundFriend

LenMo

#fuck demons fr #like seriously what'd i ever do to them 😭😭😭 #mutual aid #pls boost #don't tag as donation

17 notes

🏳️‍⚧️ gliesssse Follow

Important PSA

So idk if y'all have been reading the news lately, but the alcor virus has been making the rounds on the interwebs again. I feel like I shouldn't have to say this but PLEASE don't click any random links rn, ESPECIALLY if they're tagged with twin souls.

I know we twinners love to joke about it, but the alcor virus is legitimately dangerous and has been known to seriously ruin people's lives. Idk. Just like be smart and practice basic caution I guess? Jumblr's pretty much dead these days, so he might skip over us, but it's always better to be safe than sorry

⚠️ alv Follow

This is a good point! It is always better to be safe than sorry! That's why if you're smart, you'll click here for a list of ways to virus-proof your computer. Stay safe out there everybody!

Based on your likes!

4k notes

🌲 discogirl99 Follow

Anyone else just randomly crave connective tissue sometimes

🧁 sparkle-glitter-sideblog

no actually i think that might just be a you thing

#also i heard screaming on the other line when i called you earlier there better not be a mess when i get home #beloved demon brother tag

2 notes

👑 sameeya

Okay guys I might be crazy but what if the Shadow King was actually telling the truth when he said Princess Samia's brother is still alive??? Like, if you think about it, there's a tonnnn of foreshadowing in Crown of Ghosts and the author tweeted that there was gonna be a surprise twist in the new book sooo 👀👀

#i've connected the dots -- YOU DIDN'T CONNECT SHIT -- i've connected them #wanderlust trilogy #mira ramachandran #crown of ghosts #scepter of vanquished souls #princess samia #samia of cleves #shadow king #ahmed of cleves #bookblr

25 notes

🪨 professionalnatural-deactivated30141227

Reminder that you are beautiful exactly as you are and there are thousands who would sell their souls to imitate what you do naturally <3

👠 mizarsfrillypetticoat Follow

I actually really needed this today 💗

🦇 plsbytemevladdyzaddy Follow

Yo quit reblogging this op is a blatant human supremacist

🪨 professionalnatural-deactivated30141227

And? No one cares lmao

⚠️ alv Follow

Enjoy deactivation. Lmao.

🪓 wenda-was-a-lesbian-confirmed Follow

🕵🏻‍♂️ alcor-in-the-tardis Follow

#I sent screenshots of that one centaur post to her boss too #give you two guesses what species his wife is (tags by @alv)

Holy shit. Am I actually rooting for the alcor virus rn?

🍄 warioxreader Follow

maybe the real virus was the friends we made along the way <3

⚠️ alv Follow

No, the real virus is me. Don't take credit for my accomplishments.

🐲 retiredbus Follow

Heritage post

62k notes

🐔 old-friends-senior-griffin-sanctuary Follow

I just want to get dicked down again =/

[that-ghosts-art]

Finally finished my redraw of my Season Finale fanart from last year :)

Doing this I realised how messy my style has become recently, and while I’m not the happiest with how it turned out it was fun :) I especially had fun finding a way to incorporate Al-V (even if it doesn’t make the most sense, let’s just pretend he’s metaphorically sitting on Adams’ shoulders haha)

Previous versions under the cut :3

[the-real-couchrat]

IF YOU HAVEN’T READ “THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH” STOP NOW!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!! IM SERIOUS, THE ENDING ISNT NEARLY AS GREAT IF ITS SPOILED!!!

I’ve been thinking a lot more about Al-V lately, and I want to make a playlist for him bc I think it would be fun. The problem: WHAT DO I PUT IN IT?!?

I’m thinking the kind of stuff you hear in animations, techy, fast paced, and a little bit embarrassing to admit you listen to it(THIS IS A NO JUDGEMENT ZONE)

The problem arises when it comes to lyrics. His depictions vary based on what fic he’s in. In most of them, he’s a playful but harmless computer boi who loves his dad, but in The Valley of the Shadow of Death, he KILLS THREE PROPLE AND FRAMES ALCOR SO HE’LL LOSE HIS JOB AND GO CRAZY AGAIN, SO HE’L SPEND MORE TIME WITH ALVIE. So should I have songs abt robots taking over the planet? Even if they don’t fit his mood AT ALL? I think I could get away with it if I add them later on in the playlist. I know at some point in the TAU in space arc he possessed a drone, so should I put space themed music in it? Alvie’s aroace but in the rosewood affair he dates a guy named Dennis so should I include relationship songs?

Honestly, I think I’ve figured it out but I spent too much time planning this post before that for me to just abandon it, so have a list of fics that center around or include the little havoc wrecker:

Centered:

A Quirk of Programming

Alcor 2.0

The Rosewood Affair

Execve

Digital demon

My Battery is low, and it’s getting dark

Attack of the Virus

Included:

Season finale

The Valley of the Shadow of Death

They howl at night

Incandescence

I swear there’s a fic with him in a drone the “Transcendence AU in space Arc”but I can’t find it.

Please let me know if you have song suggestions, fic recommendations with him in it, or you have what fic I couldn’t find!

[thatdisastrousfangirl]

Back in 2017 I drew fanart for @flying-guinea-pig ‘s fic Season Finale and now every year starting in 2021 I’ve been redrawing it and this is this year’s attempt :D don’t really know why I never shared them before but hey here it is now ^-^

Also you can see the previous versions of this below the cut (Warning the 1st is about as far from my best work as you can get haha)

~2022~

~2021~

~2017~

[transcendence-au]

Does anyone happen to have the Al-V for blog theme code saved? I was looking for it, and I can't find it, it would be nice to add it back to my blog if it still works :''D And I'm assuming the shimeji of him that was posted before is no longer up too?

So, I can't find where the original post about the blog Alcor is, but I can tell you how to add him to your blog. You need to edit your theme (you can do this by going to your blog on desktop and clicking the paint palette icon in the top right). Then click Edit HTML in the top left. Finally, look for the text "<head>". It should be near the top. Put the following code right beneath that:

<script type="text/javascript" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/thelittleprogrammingthings/tau_interactive.js"></script>

Next: the shimeji does still exist! The main post about it is here, but two of the important links don't work anymore. Luckily I have alternative links for you!

al-vi.nar

Alvie.zip

[feferipeixes]

The Alcor Virus is the most advanced artificial intelligence in the world. For decades, it’s been used to taunt governments and mess with fanfiction authors. It was only a matter of time before someone realized the virus could be used for something else too.

Part 1 of 5(?) of a fic about Al-V having a bad time. I started writing this in 2020 and recently got inspired to work on it again.

[alvie-pines]

me getting all huffy when people call me an AL-V kinnie as if thats not exactly what i am

[sezija]

TAU fic recs (arranged in as close as i can get to chronological order)

Dipnip - Yggdrasil and its effects on Dipper (non-canon(?) past SA of Mabel) Henry&Mabel - How they met, fell in love, and got married The California Incident The Woodsman - How Henry became the Woodsman (Acacia loses her eye in chapter 6) Hank and his Supernatural Mafia The Scouring - Gideon attempts to undo the transcendence (Alcor is tortured; has a sequel) (Post-Mabel) Creation of the Circle of the Dreamer's Star Return, Rewind, Rewrite - Dipper makes a deal to become the twin of Mizar (Belle Sterling), forgetting who he is in the progress The Creation of the Alcor Virus The Rosewood Affair - The Alcor Virus inhabits a body and decides to go to school Jan Faust - A retelling of Jan Faust in the TAU universe; amazing series with much more amazing content So You Want To Be A Demonologist? - Alcor goes to college as Tyrone, a regular old human Reincarnation Blues - Bill Cipher is reincarnated as Ian Baele Toby Pines - Alcor freaks out over raising/taking care of Toby, Ian's/Bill's Reincarnation Bentley Farkas and Friends Haunted and Hunted - Alcor is forced to possess a selkie by a Government Alcor creates a new universe as the old one dies

[orangebl0ssoms]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 - nonidol!p1h x ocs

wc: 23k

cw: cursing, violence, etc.

synopsis: after the news of an invasion breaks out, Karina and Freya are sent to wreak havoc upon Plus+World, and it’s people. The two end up at the hands of the very creators who started it all.

♫: shadows - pastel ghost

( ☆ )

"BREAKING NEWS! UNEXPECTED WORMHOLES APPEAR TO BE POPPING UP ALL OVER THE CITY OF SEOUL."

The eyes of Choi Taeyang had cowered over the small T.V posted ahead of him. The man had desperately tried getting some source of a nap while the other members worked around him, that was just until his attention averted to the live broadcast.

Leaning off the leather cladded couch, he tilted his head as bright red words stretched across the television screen.

"The hell is this?" Theo muttered.

The two boys sitting on the floor stared up at him, pausing in the middle of their game. "What's up?" Intak spoke, raising a brow. Theo nodded his head up towards the T.V, Jongseob's eyes flickered to the newscaster, he placed the small Nintendo he had onto the cold wood floor. A smaller picture of the 6 men popped up on screen, the picture from many years ago when the 'almighty' P1harmony was out and saving the world.

They were what everyone called, "The world's heroes" much to their demise, but it was true. It's been 4 years since peace had settled around + world, and it had not been a good look for the boys since. After curing the virus that set the world a storm, left a huge impact on not only their city, but their heroes.

As of now, the boys have been hiding from the press. Mostly for their people's safety, because they knew that someday Alcor would come back. Possibly even worse. Due to their disappearance, they had been forgotten to the outside world. Castawayed from the media leaving them as appalled they were by the very words leaving the reporters mouth on from the news.

"Widespread panic is being reported around areas that reach beyond Daejeon." The scarlet haired male, second eldest, Keeho stood up from his chair as well as Soul who fixed his chain. The two moved to face the screen that showed live footage of the "wormholes" that were growing in size. The newscaster stopped his speech when one of the camera men moved into frame, discreetly whispering something into the man's ear. Shock unraveled on his face, his wrinkles deeper, as his eyes fixated on the screen when the male walked off. "It appears that these wormholes are portals...to another world?”

"There have been no reports on what these could contain, or what's among the 'world' inside." The next few words that left the man's mouth left the boys in disbelief.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but, where are our + heroes when you need them? P1harmony, save us all." The T.V cut off, screen turning black, reflecting the looks of utter disbelief upon all the boys faces.

"What the fu-”

(flashback)

“Today’s the day.”

Were the last words Karina heard fly out of Heloca’s mouth before she had drifted off into space. To be fair, the girl had been running on 1 hour of sleep, the lecture her group was being given was the least of her worries at the moment. Heloca noticed this while giving the speech, and Karina could tell by the small glares her teacher threw at her. The only thing keeping her awake from her lack of sleep were the bright white lights that beamed down from the corridor onto the room the small assembly was being held, but it didn’t stop her from wobbling back and forth on the heels of her feet. Heloca had announced across headquarters a new mission that was to commence. It’s a very important one considering most of the higher ups are involved. Karina would’ve cared a lot more if it weren’t to invade another reality, and it was all finally catching up to the girl. It was clear the woman needed a rest, especially to the people next to her watching her figure tilt and sway as if she were refraining herself from toppling back into them.

The small tug from the back of her top was enough to pull her from her delirious state. Her body visibly flinching by the unexpected pull, her head turned to the voice that whispered in her ear, “Pull it together, K.” Her friend, Zeko stated firmly. He threw her a raise of his brow as Karina shook her head, “Sorry. Just tired.” Her eyes peered ahead out of the window of the building they stood in. She watched as the groups of kids outside played along the sidewalks, using the specialized bright neon tech to help them run about. “Are you sure that’s the only thing?” A small huff left her lips as she turned to stare into her friend’s bright blue irises, “Listen to your senior.” She used her two index fingers to nudge his jaw back forward to look back at their leader who was speaking. He couldn’t resist the small grin that formed on his lips from the contact, but did as told.

Zeko and Karina have been colleges for a couple of years. The first time she figured out her abilities, Heloca introduced Zeko as Karina’s new trainer. Ever since then, the two have been close. He could read her like a book, her knew there was something else that was going on in her head, but she’d never share. Karina’s always been very imaginative, always wanted to see overlook what was beyond her world. The only thing that stopped her was her superior. Heloca practically raised Karina, so she never was able to experience having many friends or even romances, which she’d rarely consider. She’s always been Heloca’s apprentice, as much as she despised it.

The girl’s red and blue irises stared into a deep abyss, so deep that she didn’t notice Heloca’s icy glare digging into her forehead at the moment.

“Karina.”

Her eyes snapped over to Heloca who stared her down. “Focus.” She gave her a firm nod before swiftly fixing her posture in understanding. Heloca continued, “We find the team, destroy Plus+World, take them. A simple extraction.” Karina would’ve scoffed, but she couldn’t let herself be shunned upon by her peers. From her perspective, she knew this invasion would be just be the start of a war. Especially when this another universe they’d be invading. It was ‘justice being served’ to Heloca’s beliefs, though all it was to Karina was more redundant destruction and chaos. But she grew up being one of the ones to provoke it, and it scared her. But what scared her even further was to go against her own people. She knew better. She knew the consequences she’d endure by just one step onto the enemies ground would lead to her own downfall, and many others. So she kept her mouth shut, her cold fingers fiddled together in front of her abdomen, showcasing her ‘subtle’ nervousness.

Heloca’s words knocked her back into her senses at once. “The mission starts now.”

Wait what?

Everything happened so fast the girl couldn’t even process everyone starting to leave around her. Karina turned around to ask Zeko but was met with an empty space, her eyes threatened to roll once she heard the voice of Heloca call her. Karina turned to see the older lady motion for her to walk over. As she did, Heloca stared her figure up and down looking slightly concerned. “Is everything alright, Rina? You’re out of it today.”

“So I’ve been told.” Karina threw her a raise of her brow, running her hands through her black and pink locs, to settle them. “Well, I need you today. So maybe try not to fall asleep on the day of you’re job.” Heloca gave her a gentle pat on her shoulder before walking to the door where everyone already exited from. “No promises.” Karina joked, Heloca knew she’d keep her word. With that, the lady nodded satisfied, giving Karina one last glance before leaving through the two doors.

Once by herself, she finally let her head fall back onto her shoulders that drooped after the door shut, a resounding sigh leaving her mouth, “I’m totally gonna fall asleep.” She whined to herself, sulking.

( ☆ )

The alert on Freya’s tech bracelet went off, the bright white light and loud beeping sound made her finch violently. In return, almost dropping the bowl of cereal she held tightly in her palms. Even her own reflexes didn’t help the small bits of cereal and milk that spilled from her bowl onto the white tiles of her hideout. “Jesus!” She almost cursed, she grumbled loudly to herself as she sat her bowl down to clean the mess she accidentally created. “The hell is going on now?” She muttered, shaking her head. Looking up from the floor and at the bright green numbers rolling across the screen of her bracelet.

Freya knew this code all too familiarly, her last run ins with the higher ups almost never went as planned considering how ‘well’ she does with authority, but she worked well with them. A small smirk etched it’s way onto Freya’s lips as she stood up to set her bowl down on the coffee table.

‘Oh, i’m going…’ She thought to herself. This would be Freya’s one way trip out of what she called her own personal ‘hell’, except for the fact that she was one of the first convicted felons of her world. After having her privileges of being a higher up stripped, she went off on her own. Eventually she found hideout and has lived in a secret place since, but Freya never intended to turn to a life of crime. Until one argument with a police officer that led her to believe that all police officers are stuck up and impossible all around. Freya being herself, couldn’t help but miss the opportunity.

( ☆ )

“It’s a get in, and get out.” The team hastly followed Heloca who brought them towards the one of many ‘portals’ that had formed as gateway’s into Plus+World. “These portals close quick, so make sure everyone stays together.” Karina stared from the other side of the portal into the sky, a beautiful orange and pink hue of Plus+World meshing well together, the air blowing through her locs was crisp and held a sense of ‘peace.’ A bittersweet aspect Karina would never forget. However, the feeling made something in her gut clench tighter than before.

Her eyes shut momentarily, feeling the arms of her peers nudge against her own one by one to jump through the portal. Zeko moved forward and leant her a hand, she watched as a small smile made its way to his face. The thought of Zeko possibly enjoying this malicious act kept replaying in her head. “Let’s go, K.” He urged, reluctantly-so she slipped her hand into his, giving one look back at their leader before jumping in with him.

On the other hand, Freya hastly grabbed her jacket off the kitchen counter along with her keys. “Bye, pinky!” She yelled to the small cage that held her pet lizard. Freya slid the piece of scrap metal that acted as a door open, crouching to leave through the small space. Knocking some boxes out of her way to get to the bright purple bike that had been hidden away from the general public.

Freya hopped on her motorcycle placing her matching helmet over her head, starting the engine and driving off as quick as she could. The air flew through her blue locs, the vehicle swerved and zoomed quickly through the streets, gaining looks from many passing civilians as she made her way to the nearest gateway.

The moment Karina and Zeko dropped down is when all hell broke loose. She watched around her as her own accomplices terrorized the civilians of Plus+World with tech grenades and blasters, people fled the streets trying to drive themselves away from the scene of buildings being blown up and being shot at. Karina swallowed down the guilt and immediately snapped into action, knowing this will end quicker with her help. “Split up.” Karina ordered, getting her gadgets ready. Zeko nods and runs off on his own as Karina walked down the streets, a luminescent pink glow swirled up her arms creating her own specialized tech. The bright hue shined off the sides of the buildings she walked between them, tracking down any sort of evidence to bring her towards her destination.

A speechless Freya walked through the same street as well, watching chaos unleash all around her. She huffed out a curse once she met eyes with one of the men from alcor. While trying to back up and get away before the man could call his comrades over to get the girl, Freya caught herself from tripping over two small boys behind her, they both had tears running down their faces with distressed looks upon them. “Our brother!” The twins screamed pointing back at one of the alcor drones, ready to shoot at a smaller boy, a baby boy to be exact. Freya reacted quickly by nudging the two behind her and generating a blue tech gun at the palm of her hand. One blast at the drone had it crumbling to pieces.

Freya ran up to the boy, placing her hands under him to pick him up and ran back to the brothers. “Follow me!” She ushered, leading the three away from the scene quickly as possible. She brought them to a small nearby alleyway, though she was saving their lives it felt as if she didn’t know where to go from there. Whether to leave them or bring them with her. She placed the youngest onto his feet next to his siblings.

“Where’s your mom?” Freya asked gently, placing a hand on both their shoulders. The question made the youngest’s mouth waver and the tears began to fall, Freya’s heart felt like it fell to her stomach, just watching the sadness paint their faces made her feel guilty at the thought. “Alright, okay…” Freya gulped down the panic that eased its way up her throat, feeling as if her work just now was useless. Until she remembered seeing a small shop nearby the first time she stepped foot into the world. Freya leant down towards the three kids and pointed across the street to the small coffee shop that hadn’t been touched, one of many stores that weren’t demolished just yet.

“You guys see that store over there?” She mentioned, they all looked to where she pointed and nodded. “It’s safe over there, but we have to get over the street, can you do that?” Nothing but care and desperation flooded her features, one of the brothers studied her. The bright purple eyes and blue hair were prominent features that they all took notice of. So before the other two of his siblings could grab her hand to go with her, he stopped them by one question that had been lingering in his mind for far too long now. “Uh, ma’am?” His small voice wavered. Freya’s brows knitted together slightly, watching his fingers fiddle with each other.

“Are you one of them?” He asked, his wondering eyes finally met her eyes. It grew silent for a moment, until Freya answered simply. “No. I’m just someone here to help, alright?” She gave the boy a reassuring pat on the head, before getting off her knee. Freya picked up the youngest and leaned down to let another one get on her back, “Hop on.” She motioned, in which the child did as told. The last brother pulled his hand into hers. The four ran across the street, narrowly missing the flying debris heading for them.

Upon safely arriving, Freya immediately went to open the door, but it was locked. She peered inside to see a middle aged woman standing behind the register counter, frozen and staring back at the 4 in fear. Freya used both her fists to bang on the glass doors, “Ma’am, let us in please!” She yelled behind the glass, but the woman stood in place, unmoving. Too terrified to even open the door for the kids. Freya only lost patience, letting out an defeated sigh, especially when the boy at her feet tugged at her hand to get her attention. “Ma’am!” Freya glanced back to where he pointed at the quartet of drones starting to fly at them. Freya started to frantically bang on the doors, almost cracking them the harder and faster she did it. “I have kids out here, please!”

By the desperate pleas of the girl, the woman mustered up some courage to finally run to the door and unlock it. Freya placed the kids down and ushered them inside with the woman. Freya swiftly grabbed the door and slammed it shut, not before yelling a quick, ‘thank you’. The children and lady watched from inside the store, seeing Freya blast all the drones down with her gun and run off.

Karina found her self stuck in the middle of an alleyway by the directions of her bracelet. They glitched and sputtered across the bright screen of her band. With a sigh, she walked down the dark secluded path, the area dark and quiet amongst the chaos that was happening a couple blocks down from her. The spray painted bold pink and black letters caught her attention while passing by. The words, ‘UTOPIA’ splattered across the wood of bricks. Karina raised a brow taking note.

So this is where they are…

Karina led herself around the building to check for any sign of an entrance. The moment she turned a corner the person she bumped into almost had her off her feet and onto the ground due to the impact. Well, both of them.

“Watch where you’re going, damn.”

Karina felt her limbs tense upon recognizing the voice that shouted at her. A small groan fell apart from her lips upon being met with bright purple eyes. Ones that belonged to her younger counterpart.

Freya

The moment Freya realized who it was she immediately leaped up from the ground and without thinking, throwing herself into Karina’s arms out of relief. “Oh my god! I’m glad it’s you-”

“Get off of me.” Karina’s stern tone cut her off mid sentence. By her body language and bluntness, Freya frowned and pull away almost immediately, clearly offended. “Well ‘hello’ to you too, Karina.”

“Why are you here?” Karina clicked her tongue, impatiently. Freya tilted her head, baffled. “I should be asking you the same thing. What the hell is going on here, Karina?” Karina sighed, “Heloca’s plan. Mission 3008, remember?” Freya stared at the girl and glanced down as if recollecting all the memories starting to flood back to her. “So…this is Plus+World?” Karina hummed staring up at the tall building in front of the two. “I think this may be there hideout? i’m not sure yet.” Freya shook her head lightly, “I didn’t think the invasion would be this bad.” Her voice grim, as her eyes followed around the corner to watch the drone shoot down another civilian. Karina tried not to think to much into it, Freya took notice of how quiet it grew between them. Neither of which knowing what to say to one another. “You don’t have to do this, you know-”

“We’re not having this conversation, Freya. I can’t betray my people. Not like how you did.” Karina turned her back from her ex-companion, as if telling her to ‘go away’. That only made freya follow after her, in need of defending herself. “I did that so I wouldn’t turn out miserable trying to end innocent lives for a leader who doesn’t give a shit about us-” Freya’s rant was cut off by a gunshot sounding off in her direction. The girl yelped loudly, feeling a burning sensation of a bullet grazing the side of her arm. Freya held her arm to stop blood from gushing out of her fresh opened wound, both her and Karina whipped their heads around to see where the shot had came from. “Heloca?” Freya sputtered.

The sing-song like tone of a whistle from above diverted their attention where they saw a raven haired male, sitting on the ledge of the roof, holding a rifle in his arms with a small menacing smirk. His legs swung back and forth mockingly as if to taunt them.

Theo.

“Yeah, that’s definitely not Heloca.” Karina muttered, raising her gadget up slowly. Before they could even take out their tech, he rained fire at them with countless bullets as they hoth ran in attempt to hide. Freya turned and shot back with a solid blast from her gun, the force making Theo jolt back before it hit his body. He ducked away by her second and third attempts. Karina crouched, she snuck herself away to move behind the building only to find a door. The door was boarded up, but Karina cared less. Her tech fists smashing through the planks of wood, with ease. Unlocking the door and pushing it open, she walked in looking from side to side in the place she entered.

The bell to the door of the workshop dinged when it popped open. Karina walked around the shop observingly. The T.V on and playing the news in the background, weapons and equipment discarded as if they knew she were there. Karina sensed someone creeping up behind her shoulder. When she turned around a fist went to collide with her face, but missed once Karina moved to the side to see a dude with short black hair and a red jacket holding up his fists, as if to taunt her. A flash of blond hair had caught the corner of her eye, Karina swiftly ducked when a blast flew past her head from behind.

Intak and Jongseob

Freya looked all around for where the sharp shooter had hid on the roof, from the angle she was looking at it was harder for her to catch a glimpse of where he had gone. “Coward!” She yelled up at the rooftop with a small grin.

That grin was slowly melted off her tense features once she felt the gun she held, contract onto her arm. Freya’s hand shot down to hold her arm, she grimaced feeling the tightness become slower and more painful to bare, it felt like a clenching sensation shooting through the inside of her arm, as if the circulation to her blood got cut off. The glowing blue power wrapped in on her own skin further made her start to believe her own technology was failing on her. A whistle from the end of the alley made her head shoot up to see who it was. It was another guy, she assumed was part of their team. The tye-dyed hair gave it away.

Soul

He saluted her with a goofy-smirk watching her scowl deepen. That grin etched off his lips as he saw her rip the tech off with little to no effort, now proceeding to saunter towards him. “Over here!” Another voice shouted. This time in english, from the opposite end of the block. Freya whipped her head back to be met with the sight of taller male, this one had burgandy colored hair and wore bright and condescending smirk.

Keeho

Before she could blink, he was gone in a ‘zap!’ and so was Soul. Freya groaned aloud at their tantics, “Men are so goddamn annoying.” She huffed, following after the two.

Karina had the two men she were previously fighting, hiding behind a small couch that was half burnt in half and smoking. Karina could hear the two fumbling with something behind the couch, but she made no moves to stop them. She wore an amused expression, and cleared her throat to stop their conversation. “Are we done here?” They both loomed over the couch, watching as the pink haired woman created the same set of pink armor that dissipated from her arms before.

Both Intak and Jongseob gave one another a look, before staring up at her figure. “Yes.” They both nodded, taking glanced from behind her. Karina nodded with a small raise of a brow and moved to grab one of them. A strong force binded back both her arms, as if a magnetic clamped her forearms to one another and squeezed. A small gasp left her throat at how fast she was put into a headlock from the man behind her, Keeho. Soul walked in front of Karina who struggled in the other male arms just as Freya made her way into the complex. She raised her gun and pointed it towards the man who held Karina about to pull the trigger. But before the moment all hell could break loose, a telekinetic force compelled everyone in place. Rendering them each frozen and unmoving. At that moment, a slender male with ginger hair walked in, holding a hand up with a blue aura clouded around it. The last and final member.

Jiung.

“Who the hell are you guys?”

( ☆ )

a/n: that was the first chapter, i hope y’all like <33

[random-dragons-interest-hoarde]

Fun fact! I write a tad! chapter five out now for dreamers are out of fashion! The Alcor virus make's his appearence with Louis regretting waking up that morning. @transcendence-au

[zebra-cakes]

Alcor virus (Al-V)

[alcorian-wizard]

i found out what shimeji are about a day ago and i've been determined to make an al-v shemeji ever since

but i just HAD to share this small sprite of the boy because I honestly think it's my magnum opus

[brownsplodge]

Pencil Sketch of Alvie because I was in school when I made this.

[toothpastecanyon]

It's the end of the universe. The end of everything. The end of Al-V.

[flying-guinea-pig]

Not What He Seems ch.11

AO3 linky

Chapter 11 – Ducktective On The Case

“So what do we know,” Dipper said, clearing the whiteboard with a gesture. “A nineteen year old student of Oregon University and her parents, an elderly couple from the Circle, and an ageing Twin Souls fangirl. Fanwoman? That doesn’t sound right. Anyway! What do they have in common?”

He mindlessly chewed on the black marker, which immediately burst under his teeth and sprayed his face with ink. 

Lolonja helpfully brought him another napkin. He cleaned his face and threw the marker on the pile next to the whiteboard, which already consisted of several others. 

The Flock was spread around his thinking spot, keeping careful watch and dining on the grass-that-wasn’t-grass of his part of the Mindscape. 

“Baaa,” Groknar the Destroyer offered. “Baaa-aaa.”

“Well yes, they’re all somehow related to me, I got that,” Dipper said, and willed a new marker into existence. “That doesn’t explain why they all had my summoning circle, but I got none of their summons. Someone else did. How? And who?”

“Baaa-aaaa,” said Cupcake, apparently wanting to be a part of things. Since she was the only completely ordinary sheep in the Flock, she couldn’t add anything to the conversation. Dipper ignored her, thinking hard.

Stealing another demon's summons was possible, technically. It was one of the big no-no's in demon culture, though. Obeying niceties wasn't in their nature, but if the demon whose summons you just stole was coming to take their revenge, you quickly learned to be more mindful of the rules. It still happened, of course. But who would be suicidal enough to steal from him?

No, it had to be a mistake with the circles themselves, or he would at least have gotten a call. Stealing a circle was tricky, you had to be quicker than the original recipient of the summons. He should have noticed something if it had happened - and not just once, but three times!

At least three times, he glumly corrected himself. Maybe more often... He didn't know.

If he had a sample of that circle, maybe he'd know more. Maybe he could cajole someone into performing it so he could just grab whoever showed up - wait, no, that wouldn't work, they wouldn't steal his summons if they knew he was waiting. And a decent chunk of higher-level demons weren't limited to the Mindscape, they could hang around in the real world intangibly and observe. Like he used to, back in the beginning.

Damn, was the whole world set on reminding him of his early days? First that portal and Adams, then that horrible guest speaker… 

Dipper clenched his fist. The marker shattered. Ugh, again?

"I need to see those circles," he decided. He didn't have a picture of them, but he knew where to find it. And apparently he knew someone in the police department these days. "I'll be back, guys. Stay alert."

After Chavazikel's intrusion into his Mindscape he couldn't leave the Flock for long without worrying about them. Which was stupid, because they could take care of themselves, but - wait. 

Chavazikel.

Could he be responsible? Dipper hadn't tracked the other dream demon down yet, busy with too many other things. He’d thought he had plenty of time for that. Chavazikel wouldn't be stupid enough to try something again, and it was more fun to let him stew in his terror while Dipper waited for him to resurface from whatever hole he was hiding in, right?

Unless... unless he was responsible, somehow. Could a little dream demon like Chavazikel actually steal a summons from him? Dipper had nothing else to go on, though… he really needed to track him down.

Postponing that for an hour or more wouldn't make a difference at this point, would it? Nah, Chavazikel could wait a little while longer. Right now it was early evening in Oregon, and Dipper had an old classmate to visit.

Aside from his regular friends and Adams, he didn't have a lot of interactions with the rest of his fellow graduates. Carver gave him the occasional summons, Watson had called him once. Brennan never had, but he was the police department's resident demon consultant, so he would have access to all crime scene pictures.

Dipper made sure his Tyrone disguise was as human-like as ever, and tessered away.

He appeared in an alley nearby the main police office. This was the largest building, Brennan should have an office somewhere inside. Now the main question was, how difficult were they going to be if he just barged in asking to speak to their demonologist? Hm.

Another flicker of power rippled over him and he shook his shoulders loose under the sensation. Invisible and intangible he moved through the doors. 

A warding line surrounded the entrance, but hey, he was Alcor!

He investigated it for a moment. Tripping that sigil looked like it might set off an alarm... Oh, wait, was that an Eye of Truth interwoven with the edges? Ugh, those magitech cameras were going to pick him up, despite being invisible, weren’t they. Sheesh, paranoid much?

Whatever. He didn't have time to waste being careful, he was in a hurry here!

With a roll of his eyes, Dipper just pushed through the wards and into the building. An alarm started blaring immediately, but he ignored the confusion and rising fear as he moved past the cameras.

He spotted Brennan exiting an office, eyes wide and his hands already at his belt of demonology supplies. Dipper stopped him in his tracks with a bit of magic and pushed him back into the office. Had anyone seen it? Better lock the door behind him, to be sure. 

Brennan didn't look the slightest bit relieved when Dipper released the invisibility on himself and greeted him as Tyrone, Normal Human Boy.

"It's you," Brennan whispered, backing away. He tripped over his own desk chair and fell to the floor.

"Hi, sorry about the fuss," Dipper said, with a vague gesture towards the other side of the door, where the alarm overwhelmed all other noise. The ringing was annoying, so with a thought he soundproofed this room. "I don't really have time to do this the subtle way. Didn't mean to start a panic, though. I need those pictures you've got."

Brennan didn't ask which pictures he meant. He shook his head, trembling on the ground. "It doesn't matter," he said. "You can destroy them, but by now everyone knows. They've already spread around."

"What? I'm not here to - to cover my tracks, or whatever you're thinking," Dipper sputtered. "I just want to see them. Because whatever summoning circle is on them, it can't be mine."

“You can’t trick me, you can’t trick me, you can’t trick me…”

“I’m not trying to,” Dipper interrupted his mutterings. “Listen, Brennan. It’s just me, okay? We had class together? You don’t need to be scared.”

At least that snapped him out of it, even if it wasn’t quite the reaction Dipper had hoped for.

“I know it’s you!” Brennan said. “I know you are the Dreambender, and I inspected those circles myself! They’re yours! It’s your symbol in the centre!”

“Then someone stole the summons from me, but I know I didn’t do this,” Dipper bit back. Sighed, and dragged a hand through his hair. “Okay, I don’t want to yell at you. Just let me see the pictures myself, Brennan, and I’ll leave you alone. Deal?”

“Alone? That’s an obvious loophole,” Brennan spat back, apparently having found his courage after the initial shock. “You’re going to kill everyone in this building except me, that’s what you mean?”

“How about you don’t immediately think the worst of me,” Dipper said. “I know it looks bad, okay? But I’m not asking much. I just want to figure out what is happening. Someone is trying to frame me.”

“And I’m just supposed to believe you.”

“Okay, fine,” Dipper said, now definitely annoyed. “How about this deal then? You show me the pictures I want to see, and I won’t tesser you to a random city on the other side of the world.”

Brennan gaped at him. “You can’t do that!”

“I’m a demon outside of a binding circle, I do what I want. Do we have a deal or are you feeling like practising your Swedish today?”

Hesitation. Brennan slowly got up from the floor, keeping the sturdy desk between them. “You only want to see the pictures?”

Finally! “Yes.”

“Alright. Deal,” Brennan said, with a wary look. He sat down behind his desk and tapped on the computer. “But you may not like what you see.”

Dipper didn’t.

He was no stranger to carnage. The blood and gore didn’t rattle him anymore. They blotted out most of the summoning circles, especially the edges where the broken binding would have been. But the centre, where the symbol of the summoned demon should be…

It was his. The one eyed, winged star. Those circles should have called him. But they hadn’t.

Had they?

No. No, he was not going down that road. He knew what set off the rampages that everyone was so afraid of, and this time there was no reason. He still had friends here, ties to humanity. Even rattled by the portal he had to dismantle and the memories that kept intruding lately – he wasn’t losing himself. 

He was still Dipper, not just another demon.

-----

Long plane journeys still didn’t agree with her, but Elisabeth had to admit they were becoming easier. With all the excitement in the rest of her life, a few hours to relax and read were surprisingly welcome. Even the Alcor Virus had given in and promised not to bother her too much. It was still lounging on her phone screen, of course, but at least it had stopped hiding her reading app. Now she only had to get it to stop making comments about the story while she was reading it.

[The butler did it.]

Elisabeth rolled her eyes, typing her reply. [That makes no sense.]

[It’s always the butler. The one who has access to the house, and who is trusted. Do you know anything about detective stories?]

[I know there wouldn’t be much of a mystery if it was the butler each and every time] she replied.

The little chibi Alcor on her screen seemed to think it over, tapping a finger against its chin. [Maybe it was a secret evil twin then.]

[You’re being ridiculous.]

[It’s a classic story! Never seen Ducktective?]

She was so engrossed in her discussion with the Alcor Virus about which detective was best and no, a duck wasn’t even in the running, that she wasn’t paying much attention to the other passengers boarding the plane.

A burly man sat down in the seat next to her. Her nose crinkled. Hadn’t he ever heard of showers? This was going to be a long flight…

The man had a tattoo around his wrist, she noticed. One that looked vaguely familiar… oh, right, that was Freghnup’s symbol. She recognised it from the Safe Summons List. Huh, she didn’t even know little demons like them had worshippers. 

Well, there was no rule against being stupid, unfortunately.

She returned her attention to her phone screen, which the Alcor Virus was currently filling with little shorts from some ancient cartoon series. 

[I was reading, you know.]

[Yes, yes, I’ll let you get back to that, but first you’ve just got to watch the first episode!]

-----

His scent was long gone from Dipper’s part of the Mindscape. Still, he had to try.

Dipper kneeled down in the spot where Star had been attacked. He leaned towards the grass, breathing in deeply through his mouth. The grass, lush with his power. Traces of Star’s blood, her fear. The scent of the rest of the Flock, old and new.

There. That little tingle on his tongue. It didn’t taste like his own magic. 

Just a spark, a thread, a hint. But maybe it was enough.

He concentrated on it, this little drop of another demon’s essence, and reached out, sniffing for more traces. Then he set off.

In the end he didn’t even need to tap into his semi-omniscience to find Chavazikel. The trail led him through several distant corners of the Mindscape – the outer edges, in a way, if something that was infinite could have something like edges. The parts of it that the smallest demons claimed, far away from the realms of the stronger ones.

The trail led through several of these little domains. If he hadn’t been so focused on his hunt, Dipper might have wondered about that.

Borders meant nothing to him, of course. He was Alcor. He ignored the few nightmares he encountered, which was easy because they fled at his approach. Chavazikel’s own piece of the Mindscape was still the smoking ruin Dipper had left it.

Ah, there.

It was a cave, of a sort, only the walls weren’t stone but carved from Missed Opportunities. They whispered as Dipper entered the darkness inside, and curled little tendrils at him, like fingers reaching out but always just shy of touching him.

… should have listened to her….

… should have taken that job…

… should have kept the money…

… should have tried…

… should have…

With a flex of power Dipper silenced the whispers. The Mindscape could be annoying like this – concepts floating around, taking shape. There was a large bubbling tar pit full of Toxic Family Visits near the Organ Duck’s realm, and Dipper had gone ice-skating once or twice on the frozen lake of Postponed Plans.

Chavazikel was in the back of the cave, easy to spot now the whispers had ceased. The small dream demon met his eyes as he approached. 

He looked frightened, Dipper thought. Good.

But… he wasn’t trying to flee.

“We need to talk,” Dipper said, and closed off the escape route before Chavazikel could come to his senses. “You attacked my Flock. Why?”

Chavazikel took the appearance of a horse-headed figure with too many limbs, an ooze-like mane dripping around the edge of a yellow woolly hat. A furnace of black fire glowed inside his chest, visible through the many cracks in his skin. He bowed his head now, that same fire burning in his five eyes. “I don’t need to tell you anything, Dreambender.”

That was daring. That was almost as good as proof he was involved in all this recent trouble.

“Fine,” Dipper said, reaching out towards the other dream demon and sticking a hand straight in his chest. “Then I’ll just devour your soul and I’ll consider us even, shall I?”

The sticky charcoal of Chavazikel’s soul tingled between his fingers. He closed them, intent on pulling the whole thing out. 

That idiot wasn’t even trying to fight him –

Huh?

He tried to close his fingers again, but couldn’t. Something was stopping him. He yanked his hand out, but it came back empty, the other demon’s soul still visible between the new crack in his stone chest.

“You can’t,” Chavazikel gasped. Straightened his back, and laughed. “You can’t harm me! It ac̝̭͖̪t͎̪͍ua̰̖ll̟͍̜̱̙y ͎̖͔̞̲̬̘wo̠͈r̠̫͚̣̣ḵ̜͍͉̟̺͚e͙̬̗̰͇d͚!”

“What worked?” Dipper snapped. What the hell was going on here?

“The great and mighty Dreambender,” that weak, little dream demon laughed. “Look at you now. All confused. We don’t need to tell you anything! And y̬̻o̰̙̫̜̹̮u͚ ̙̟̠͙c̬̗̞an’̰͎̬̗͈̼̲ṭ̩͈̩ ̯̜͖̱m̙̪̹a̩̺̣̯͈̺̩k̜̪̝͙e͇̥͔̪̟ ̼̼̫͓͍u͍̝̲s͓̟̦!̘̫̠͙”

“You know what, I don’t like this,” Dipper said. He reached out with his power, shaping the cave into a prison. “I think I’ll just put you in time-out for now.”

Chavazikel was still laughing when Dipper left.

… should have killed him… the walls whispered in his passing. 

Dipper growled. “I know!”

-----

The pub was a long, narrow building wedged between a store selling suspiciously vague ‘herbal supplies’ and a hotel that had all its windows boarded up. A group of leprechauns in long leather coats were idling next to their parked motorbikes. They turned to give dark looks towards Brad as he passed their street corner.

“Hiya guys!” Maria greeted them, and one of them nodded back at her while the other two kept their glares aimed at Brad. “Come on, what are you waiting for? Don’t mind the O’Shiver boys. Come on, go inside.”

“I’d rather be murdered in a classier place,” Brad said, but against his better judgement he let Maria herd him and Eddy through the door of the pub.

The inside was slightly better than the outside. A narrow room, made cloudy by the sputtering fog machine near the ‘dance floor’ and the greasy smoke coming from the direction of the kitchen. The tables were sticky and when he sat down, he discovered the chair was as well.

There were only a few other patrons, a bunch of sallow-looking people hanging around the counter, who were quietly conversing with the bartender.

“Wow, it is dead in here,” Eddy said.

Maria shrugged. “It’s a weekday, what do you expect?”

“Isn’t this a preter bar?”

“Preternaturals have day jobs too, you know.”

“Don’t see many here,” Brad said, with a wary look around. The bartender gave him a hard stare. Brad quickly avoided his eyes again. He probably shouldn’t have worn his nice jacket to come here. The universe clearly didn’t like him to dress up and was giving hints. “So this is your new job, huh? This, uh, very cheery place.”

“Yep! I start tomorrow. But the boss invited me to have a drink here, tonight, for free. Get to know the place informally, and all that. Said I should bring my friends, so I guess that’s you two jokers.”

“It was very nice of you to invite us,” Brad said, trying to unstick his leg from where it seemed to have fused to the chair. “Too nice. Really. Next time, feel free to ask Thomas and Tyrone.”

“Thomas would rather mope around his apartment,” Maria said, with a roll of her eyes. “And with everything that’s happened I think Tyrone has other things on his plate right now. Did you hear?”

“Hear what?” Brad said. Sheesh, was he going to have to rip his pants if he wanted to get up? What exactly had spilled here? 

“Bad things, dude,” Eddy said, subdued. “There’s been some grisly demon murders, and people are blaming Alcor.”

“Seriously?” He was a terrifyingly powerful demon, of course. But he was also Tyrone, who cried at old movies and cuddled whatever wasn’t fast enough to move away when he got into the Yggdrasil. “More cult activity?”

“No,” Eddy said. “That’s the problem. According to the investigations, these people were mostly, well... Kinda innocent.”

“It was on the afternoon news,” Maria added.

He did not like that sinking feeling in his stomach he suddenly got. “I had a meeting, didn’t watch the news. But it sounds… I don’t know. Do you think he’s going bad again?”

Maria punched his shoulder. “Don’t joke about that.”

“I’m not joking. And ouch.” At least that explained one thing. “Thomas must be really torn right now. I guess that’s why he is moping?”

“No, he sounded pretty convinced that Tyrone is being framed somehow. It’s being suspended that bothers him, obviously.”

Suspended! Brad frowned. “How come I’m always the last one to hear anything?”

“Well, I live in the building across from Thomas,” Eddy shrugged.

“And I’m naturally nosy,” Maria said. “You want to stay in the loop, make some effort to do so, dude.”

“If Alcor’s going bad, I want to stay far away from that loop,” Brad said. Had Tyrone been different lately? More distant, perhaps. But Brad had blown him off a lot too, so he couldn’t really blame his demon buddy. “Are we sure the people he murdered weren’t harbouring deep dark secrets, or something?”

“A student and her parents, an elderly couple of Alcor cultists, and a writer,” Maria said, with a raised brow. “Clearly they were all horrible people who kept children in their basements and kicked puppies.”

“Well, do you know why he would do it then?” Brad argued. “I mean, his own cultists. Makes no sense.”

“Lots of demons kill their own cultists first,” Eddy said. “Easiest prey, right? Er. Not that I think Tyrone did it. Just saying.”

“At least the writer makes sense,” Maria said, and added to Brad: “She wrote books about Alcorian myth in pop culture. Was a huge Twinner in her younger days.”

Eep. “That’s no reason to kill her!”

“Better watch your step, dude. Brad? Stars, Brad, that was a joke,” Maria sighed. “This is Tyrone we’re talking about. He gave you that magical protection thingy on your forehead and everything, he’s not going to kill you.”

“You don’t know that!”

“I do know that, because he’s our friend. We know him. Thomas thinks he’s being framed and I bet that’s exactly what’s happening here.” She made a vague gesture around them. “If he was going bad, it wouldn’t happen like this, right? He’s too clever to get caught so easily.”

“That’s a really weak argument,” Brad said. He looked at Eddy, who seemed conflicted. “What do you think?”

Eddy shook his head. “I don’t know. I trust Tyrone. But, dude… maybe this is how it happens. Maybe that’s why they say he has two faces. He might not even know he’s doing it.”

“Like a literal split personality thing?” Maria frowned. “Come on, you don’t believe that.”

“I don’t know.” Brad said. “Eddy could be on to something there.”

“Ugh, I need a drink,” Maria muttered. Twitched. “Guys? I’m stuck to my seat. I can’t get up.”

“Oh, I thought it was just me,” Brad said. “These chairs need cleaning –“

“No, doofus, I’m literally stuck!”

“Same,” Eddy said. “Hey, uh, dudes? This may not be the right moment to mention it, but, er… why are all those people wearing robes suddenly?”

They looked at the group by the bar counter. 

One of those robed people moved towards the door and locked it, flipping the sign to ‘closed’ in a slow, deliberate movement. The bartender reached underneath the bar and took a long green hood, which he donned.

“Hey, Maria?”

“What is it, Brad?”

“Congratulations on your new job.”

“Ugh.”

-----

‘We,’ Chavazikel had said. ‘Us.’

He wasn’t working alone. But how was Dipper supposed to figure out who he was working with? And what the hell was going on? 

He needed to talk to other demons. Well, fine. He knew a place.

Dipper wasn’t a regular patron of the Midway Bar. Some members of the Flock liked to go there, but he’d never really seen the appeal. Other demons were annoying, fearful little things. Hanging around in the real world was much better than this fake version of it.

He’d visited once or twice, though, mostly to make a point. Today his point would be bigger and sharper. 

He threw open the door and stepped inside. The bar was nearly empty. Some assorted nightmares glanced up at his entrance and huddled over their drinks when they spotted the expression on his face. A few actual demons were present, of different ranks. A couple of them were playing a dice game of some sort. 

“Right, listen up!” Dipper drew their attention. “I want to know who is working with Chavazikel!”

“And I want to have my Bloody Mary in peace,” the jackal-like demon sitting next to the door muttered. “You’re letting a draft in.”

Dipper planted both his hands on that demon’s table. “I ̘̩͎h̼̠̘e̘̭̱a͔̙̩̘̼͉̯r̤̙d͙̮͍̭̗͓͍ ̖͉̖̹̬̱t͍̭͕̜̱h͉a̼̗̻̜̰ͅt̹.”

The jackal demon slid his chair backwards, away from him. “Wait, wait, you’re not supposed to fight here!”

“I’m not looking for a fight, I’m looking for answers,” Dipper said. “But if I don’t get the latter I might just settle for the former.”

The Bartender cleared their throat. Met Dipper’s eyes, and meaningfully tapped the little metal plate on the wall next to the counter. The Rules.

Dipper strode up to him. Little was known about the Bartender and exactly what kind of demon they were, but they had managed to enforce the Rules for millennia. They had to be pretty high level.

Dipper could take them, though. He was sure of it.

“What can I get you, Dreambender?” the Bartender asked, idly polishing a glass. Like nothing was wrong. Like there weren’t demons stealing summons from Alcor and magically immune to his revenge and ruining his reputation in the real world –

“Information,” Dipper said. “About –“

The Bartender held up their hand, motioning him to quiet. “What will you pay for it?”

Dipper was not in the mood to haggle. “What’s it worth?”

“To you?” The Bartender held their head angled, as if they were thinking about it. “How about one favour, to be cashed in at a moment of my choosing.”

“Forget it,” Dipper said. “I’ll figure it out myself.”

“Suit yourself,” the Bartender said. “Anything else?”

Something gurgled next to Dipper’s elbow. He looked aside, to where the Organ Duck was oozing. “What is it, am I standing in your way?”

Brian didn’t reply to that provocation. It just oozed meaningfully and pointed one bloody limb in the direction of an empty table in the far back.

Dipper was ready to ignore that… until he realised that the table wasn’t empty. Someone was hiding underneath.

He nodded his thanks to the Organ Duck – Brian wasn’t so bad, for a demon – and approached the table. It was a sad attempt at hiding, really.

Dipper grabbed the cluster of bloody metal scissors that peaked out underneath the edge and dragged the rest of the demon from under the table. “Hello there, Itpolec. Long time no see. I was sure someone had eaten you by now.”

“I had nothing to do with it!” Itpolec gibbered, its wooden teeth clattering against each other as it trembled. “You gotta believe me, Normal Human Tyrone!”

“Yeah, not͝ ͜t́ód̕aỳ,” Dipper said, and deposited the other demon into a chair. “You know something. T́a͚͚l͏̞͎̜̦k̫̫̪.”

“I’m not involved! I told them, I told them we couldn’t!”

“Itpolec, buddy. Look where we are.” Dipper gestured to the rest of the bar, who were obviously eavesdropping with interest. “This is the Midway Bar. No fighting here, right? Gotta obey the rules. So you and I are just going to have a little talk, all friendly-like. Does that sound good to you?”

The lime green protrusions on Itpolec’s body curled, like wilting grass. It licked its lips. “Friendly?”

“Oh yeah, sure!” Dipper said. He threw an arm around Itpolec’s shoulders. “And buddy, if I think you’re lying or leaving something out? Well, I wouldn’t want old Bartender to give me a disapproving look, of course. So then we’ll take this outside, like gentlemen.”

Itpolec quivered.

It started talking.

----

Closing up duty took longer than usual today. Elisha sighed as the last of the clients finally left. Mrs Patrick’s colouring job had been such a mess, it had been tricky to solve. Elisha had politely reminded her that those drugstore bleach kits were perhaps not such a good idea, and she should leave the hair dyeing to the professionals if she wanted a professional result. Not with those words, of course. Mrs Patrick was difficult enough to work with on the best of days, and today she had been fuming.

The unexpected dye job had meant working overtime, but they could use the money, if Thomas’s suspension turned into a dismissal.

She had already cleaned up the chemicals while Mrs Patrick was sitting under the drying hood. Now she only had to close up the till, make sure her workspace was tidy. Her colleagues had left an hour ago and it was already dark out.

Sylvi had been avoiding her today. Normally that would suit Elisha just fine, but when the noon news burst came on and the radio host talked about what they now called the Alcor Murders… Sylvi had looked at her, and she had looked back, and she had felt awful, even if nothing about this was her fault.

Neither of them had said anything.

Elisha made quick work of her remaining tasks and closed up. The Car was parked in the back, out of view from the street after a few too many complaints about how a wreck didn’t fit in the street image. Even after it got a fresh coat of paint, honestly. People were so quick to judge a book by its cover! 

She turned the corner of the building, towards the badly illuminated parking lot. A tingle ran over her back.

Was she being watched?

She subtly slid one hand inside her purse and found the mace hidden there. Sanctified mace, but it would still work just fine on ordinary human assailants.

The parking lot was so close now. She would be at The Car soon, and then –

Footsteps, right behind her. She turned around, in time to see the three robed figures grabbing for her. The closest one got an eyeful of mace before she turned back and started running.

Heels! She loved her heels, and she could walk all day on them without any issue, but running for her life was not the same!

The remaining two creeps were gaining on her. One did a little sprint and grabbed her arm, twisting her around –

An engine roared. The robed man let her go, because he and his friend were suddenly preoccupied by trying to outrun a raging vehicle. The Car chased them around the parking lot before stopping in front of Elisha, throwing open its doors and letting her crawl inside.

She pressed her back against the seat. Her arm was going to bruise, she knew. 

Deep breaths now.

In the glow of the headlights, the robes of her assailants were chartreuse yellow and turning blotchy red from their injuries as they were hanging by their arms from the fire escape, screaming whenever the Car put its front wheels on the wall and tried to edge closer.

Her hands were shaking. She took her phone and dialled the emergency line. 

With her other hand she patted the dashboard.

“Good Car.”

-----

Above, the sunset painted the world red.

“It’s time for the main event,” he said, and the fire behind him flared. “Timing will be essential. Achieve this, and you will all be rewarded.”

His worshippers were a sea of kneeling bodies in front of him. There had been mutterings about having to cooperate with lesser cults, but he’d put an end to that. Making an example of them had been amusing, but tonight? 

Tonight was going to be the cherry on top.

“Yes, my Liege,” his high priest said, bowing to him. “We are at your service.”

“You are,” he agreed, and looked at the room full of bowed heads. He tapped a finger against his chin, musing about his next step. “Now, who shall I wear for this occasion?”

----

[genius11rare]

Plz

When Alvie/Al-V/The Alcor Virus gets bored, does he go infect video games and play them from the inside?

Imagine him running around inside MMOs, either as a ‘player’ or going that much further and taking the places of various NPCs or bosses or…well, basically whatever his whim is at the time.

He has broken so many games in so many ways.

This sounds so wonderful. Fic Open Season, anyone?