#armored core highlights

[theoutofworld-blog]

Armored Core Highlights: Armored Core - Project Phantasma

Arena Battle: Brutus/Back Stab

Project Phantasma was the sequel to the original Armored Core, and its structure felt more like an early precursor to expansion/DLC than anything. Overall the game’s length is fairly short compared to the original Armored Core, and favored missions with a more complex and tactical feel than AC1’s formula of sending you into an underground military base to destroy The Objective Thing and putting a twist of the base being full of poison gas/killer robots/some asshole locking you in a seemingly sealed room (looking at you, Boss Savage). Rather, the meat of Project Phantasma’s plot is the player and a supporting character named Sumika waging a mostly two-person clandestine war against an evil secret society called the Doomsday Organization. Well, on paper the two of you have several other collaborators from within the mercenary firm Raven’s Nest, but there’s nobody else that makes any kind of meaningful on-screen appearance.

Project Phantasma’s missions tend to be along the lines of intercepting convoys, raiding enemy laboratories, disrupting shipping lanes, capturing persons of interest for interrogation, all things that feel like serious military operations instead of the back-and-forth missions from AC1 where the two major corporations would send you to inflict petty sabotage on each other and square down against whichever terrorist cell the other company backed.

The Doomsday Organization, as far as I can tell, is being used as an under-the-table think tank/research and development wing of the Crest corporation to keep up with its rival Murakumo Millennium in a technological arms race. The core of the plot revolves around the titular Project Phantasma, a program for developing a new type of war machine that’s hardwired directly to its pilot in the cockpit. This seems to be Crest’s way of keeping pace with Murakumo’s in-house Human Plus technology, which is a cybernetic enhancement procedure to turn Armored Core pilots into supersoldiers, adapted from all that pre-apocalyptic technology Murakumo spends so much time digging up. The Human Plus stuff is its own little subplot in AC1, with the player having a number of missions involving various escaped experimental subjects of Murakumo’s cyborg modification.

That aside, Project Phantasma was the first entry in the franchise to introduce the Arena in the format that players of modern Armored Core games are familiar with. Back in AC1, Raven rankings were simply a rating of overall mission performance on an at least partially arbitrary basis of various statistics. In Project Phantasma, a Raven’s ranking in Raven’s Nest was a matter of challenging the guy directly above your rank to a duel and taking his title for yourself. In the next game, Master of Arena, an extra layer of depth is added by integrating the Arena structure into the plot by having Arena participation be dependent on corporate sponsorship, like a Formula One race with killer robots. I guess that’s where the Nest gets the lion’s share of its funding.

Enter Brutus. He’s the pilot of the AC Back Stab, and the rank 30 on the 50-Raven ladder of the Arena duel minigame in PP. To get an idea of what an average Brutus fight looks like, from both the player and enemy perspective, check this video by another player:

Brutus is an aerial enemy, which in Arena parlance translates to “this motherfucker is going to spend most of the fight above you, behind you, and in your peripheral vision.” These are often a bitch to deal with in pre-PS3 era Armored Core titles because vertical targeting reticle adjustment is clunky and the enemy CPU will not run into any human errors in aiming, unlike you. Fighting against an enemy with a perfect grasp of exactly how far it needs to adjust its reticle vertically and horizontally in AC tends to feel like you’re struggling to mail your bullets to someone that’s five seconds in the future ahead of you.

In Armored Core games, a lot of the highest ranking enemy AC pilots will have an AI attack pattern of getting in and flanking you from so close it feels like they’re trying to crawl up the inside of your ass (Mobius in Silent Line), spend most of the fight actually standing on top of your AC (Ace in AC3), or hammering you to hell with grenade launcher rounds while bouncing from the floor to the ceiling like a rubber superball coated in meth (Nine Ball in AC1, Genobee in AC:Nexus).

The fight against Brutus was very frenetic, wherein the both of us danced a crackhead tango of aerial maneuvers in and out of each other’s targeting zones, both pilots shaving off their opponent’s AP with whatever rifle shots and missiles couldn’t be avoided in full. It was drawn out, but active enough that the whole thing was really exciting. In the last few minutes of the match, I came to the morbid realization that I’d completely run out of ammo and was maybe one or two good shots away from being put down altogether. I was even more surprised to find out, after noticing Brutus wasn’t exploiting this to ping me with another rifle shot, that my opponent was in the exact same situation, starved of all bullets and missiles.

The climax that ensued lit up every neuron in my primate brain like a christmas tree; my enemy and I desperately dodged and juked around, trying to bait the other out to land a direct hit with a beam saber - a single blow landed would determine the winner of the match. This pattern continued for a couple minutes, all of which felt tense as hell, until I just barely managed to get the timing right and land a saber strike on the Back Stab as he was about to draw his saber and do the same. 

Pictured above: How it feels to chew 5 Gum.

I’m extremely glad I was running the game on an emulator and streaming it to friends at the time, because I doubt any of them would’ve believed me if I tried explaining this shit to them without someone to see it with their own eyes. Even after going on to later Armored Core games and revisiting the likes of AC4 and For Answer, the duel with Back Stab sticks out as the most clutch finish to a battle I’ve had in the franchise so far.

[demilypyro]

Armored Core 6 rules, by the way.

[cos-latte]

Do you like it?

[thetrueoverlordbear]

If this game can be chill with someone like this dingo man…

[chimeracreations-art]

More armored core highlights, this time be lowing up coyotes and spaceships.

[warmuse]

armor core

ayre: raven i think we shoukd kill ourselves

walter: kitten daddys busy can you please go out in your petsuit and kill everyone whos ugly

[neproxrezi]

highlight of playing armored core for answer so far has been this delectable localisation error

this rando in the arena's profile notes that "unlike Big Mouse, he's known for choosing missions carefully"

this delighted me because i've not met big mouse yet so this feels like such a random off the cuff remark to make about someone. who is Big Mouse

well i keep on playing and can't help but notice i seem to not have found big mouse after quite a while. so i go ahead and look it up

Big Mouse does not exist. the sentence should say something like 'in spite of his big mouth, he's known for choosing missions carefully, so don't take his illustrious combat record too seriously.'

the localisation of this game invented a more proficient mech pilot called Big Mouse and he now lurks round every corner with his illustrous and more legitimate combat record. hes going to fuckig kill me

[demifiendrsa]

Secret Level - Teaser Trailer

Secret Level will premiere on Prime Video on December 10, 2024.

Each episode of Secret Level taps into worlds from beloved gaming classics and new titles. Here is a list of games who inspired the 15 stories in Season 1: ● Armored Core ● Concord ● Crossfire ● Dungeons & Dragons ● Exodus ● Honor of Kings ● Mega Man ● New World: Aeternum ● PAC-MAN ● PlayStation (Highlighting various PlayStation Studios beloved entities) ● Sifu ● Spelunky ● The Outer Worlds ● Unreal Tournament ● Warhammer 40,000

Secret Level, produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Blur Studio, is created by and executive produced by Tim Miller. Dave Wilson serves as executive producer and supervising director.

[mozziu-s]

[Pictured above is that of SkyWing General Sparrow and ex-captain Searing engaged in sparring with swords. They are highlighted by a lightning storm that rages around them.] (SFAU)

-Annual report recorded by SkyWing scribe, Secretary, to superior, Scalding, approx. 15 years after the War of SandWing Succession began-

"This war has afflicted the tribes of Pyyrhia in way no other disaster has. Every of them raked to their core fighting for the SandWings and their royal squabbles.

.

The MudWings are nearly extinct. The IceWings sealed themselves behind their borders. The SeaWings have all turned to high-seas crime and piracy. The NightWings are only alive because they've enslaved most of the RainWings. (I hear their labor is used for making that awful thick and oily armor they wear) The SandWings themselves are all starving. I wonder what guilt they feel for the war they started? Any at all? The princesses better be sorry at least. I'm happy one is already dead.

.

The SkyWings survive. Not that we dont have our own problems though. The Queen has gone absolutely mad with gladiatorial gluttony. Drunk on violence. Her generals, Sparrow, Vermillion, Bloodstone, and Peregrine have taken over in her mental absence, it seems. The rest of us train. We protect our border and fight with vicious vigor. Iron sharpens iron. Flame adds to flame. We spar to keep us in practice in the event we are attacked from a force on the outside, or within. We'll be ready nontheless. The SkyWings will not fall to this war. Not to anyone. Not even to ourselves."

-end of report-

[thescarletnargacuga]

UNSEEN FRAGMENTS

PART 3 OF THE UNSEEN SERIES: A HARLEQUIN AU FANFICTION

Harlequin AU credit: @tadc-harlequin-au @iamespecter

Shadowblade is my OC and is NOT CANON

WARNING: intense violence, mechanical gore, swearing, long read

~~~

"Fascinating, aren't they?" Thousands of small neon green-yellow butterflies swarmed the manor forest. Kingr was covered in the fluttering friends, looking like someone took a highlighter and dotted all over him. "They're migrating south, and since this is the only bastion of green for quite a ways, they all flock here for a respite. We're so fortunate the manor grounds is on their marching order." He held his butterfly covered hand close to his face.

Shadowblade laid on the grassy ground next to him, taking in the nature around them. They watched the tiny specs of color flying around in the cooling breeze. The seasons were changing, it's the first they ever noticed. Has the world done this before? They could feel the crisp air against their armor, sending a chill through their body, making the metal creak.

Shadowblade listened to Kingr as still and as quiet as possible, not wanting to scare the precious insects. Many landed on them, their butterfly light touches adding to the new experience. Shadowblade went crosseyed trying to see the ones that landed on their snoot. To see such small delicate lives exist beyond the war torn past was... comforting.

Kingr took his attention away from his hand to see Shadowblade being so attentive and a smile reached his eyes. He gently shook the butterflies from his hand and gave Shadowblade a pat on the head. "You may be a war machine, but that doesn't define who you are. Trust me, I would know."

Shadowblade rumbled against his touch, lowly vibrating the ground. It was nice to experience so many kind hands. Not just from Kingr, but Caine and even Pomni. They loved the positive attention, it made them feel...it made them feel.

"Sorry, to interrupt..." Caine joined them on the edge of the forest. "But could I borrow Shadowblade? I have something new to show them." Excitement laced his voice. His white shirt was covered in grease and smoke stains.

Kingr got one last pat in before Shadowblade stood, scattering the butterflies. Shadowblade followed Caine, who had a bit of a skip in his step, to the barn. "You're going to love this! I've been working on a few redesigns for you! You're already spectacular but there's always room for improvement! Your wings for example..." He uprighted an apparatus on the barn floor. "How would you like to be capable of actual flight!? It would mean removing all the blades except your outermost, and making some adjustments to your armor weight, but it's possible!"

Shadowblade examines the wing apparatus curiously. It was huge, they flexed their current wing-like blades in comparison.

"I know, it'll take some getting used to, but it'll be worth it! And don't worry about the amount of noise on landing, I have some improvement ideas for your paw pads too. A genius like me doesn't just think of one thing at once." He chuckled and wiped his stained glove against his shirt. "Anywho, this will take awhile, so get comfortable."

Shadowblade settled and quietly powered down. As much as they felt like they needed to see Caine work, if this was going to be as invasive as it seemed, they didn't want to be awake. They'd experience plenty of positive touch today and Caine was trustworthy, so they finally decided to take a nap instead of endure the pain.

Caine did a double take when he heard Shadowblade's systems powering down. They'd always stayed awake, no matter what sort of repairs had ever been done. He grinned and spoke softly. "You're in good hands. Rest well."

He got work right away, disassembling and rebuilding Shadowblade's entire wing structure. As he was installing the right wing, he had to take off part of the side of Shadowblade's chest. The molten gold core shined before him like a beacon, beckoning to be studied. Caine leaned over to see Shadowblade still completely off, fast asleep.

"One little peak wouldn't hurt." He carefully reached inside and felt the core for opening points. There were cracks all over the core's protective case, years of wear and tear evident of a long hard existence. His fingers found a latch and the core opened. Shattered remains of something fell out and he cursed to himself as he caught them. He checked Shadowblade again, still asleep.

Inside the core was a glowing, amber gold crystal. Fluid pumped into a chamber the crystal covered and flowed out to the body. He leaned in as close as he could, squinting to see black spidering cracks spread across the crystal. Being this close, he could feel a soft radiant hum emanating from the epicenter of the core.

"Beautiful. A crystalline core with energized fluid distribution. I've always theorized this was possible, but never seen it done practically. How was your crystal charged? How has it stayed charged?" He, very carefully, took a scraper from his pocket and shaved off a micro sample of the crystal. Shadowblade didn't even twitch, much to his relief. He closed the core's case and backed out of Shadowblade's chest to examine the bits that fell out.

Three crumbled purple stone pieces with strange markings sat in his palm. He immediately recognized them as parts of what was once a charm. He turned them over to examine all the markings, he recognized only a few. His own charm knowledge was not as extensive as Ragatha's, and would have to get her to look this over more thoroughly. He paused when he saw markings that weren't runic in nature, they were english letters. SB

"Huh...never seen someone sign their work this way. Maybe..." He trailed off and pocketed the charm shards. He could think on it later. He resumed his work on the upgrades.

~

"Hey, have you seen Caine?" Pomni inquired to Gangle as they passed in the hall.

"No, Miss Pomni. I have not seen him all day. I assume he is in his workshop?" Gangle answered in a soft voice, lowering her gaze submissively despite being much taller than the Harlequin.

"I just came from there. Fucker's probably out. Why didn't he think to take me with him? I'm bored as hell!" Pomni crossed her arms in a disappointed huff.

"I'm sure he had his reasons. Maybe it would've been dangerous and he didn't want you to get hurt."

"Bitch, please. I eat danger for breakfast. Then I top my salmon burger with it for lunch. THEN I-"

BOOM!!

The whole mansion shook. Pomni unsheathed her sword and rushed to a window. She saw no immediate threat, her eyes landing on Shadowblade. The beast leapt into the air, flapped huge wings and landed back down with another heavy boom. Caine was outside waving his arms and dancing around.

Pomni threw open the window, jumped out and put her sword away. "What the fuck is going on out here!?"

"Pomni!! You're just in time! Shadowblade has wings now! Look!! They can really fly!!" He held his hands out towards Shadowblade with pride.

Shadowblade tried to take off again, awkwardly flapped like a baby bird and fell back to earth. They vented air hard, their systems not used to the strain on their front limbs. They flexed their new wings at Pomni, Caine's excitement was infectious.

Pomni blinked, trying to process what was happening. "...uh-"

"BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING! It will take some time for Shadowblade to get the hang of it, as flying was never part of their original design, and I have no idea how to program the directive. Honestly, I would be hesitant to even try. So this will be a learning experience for the both of you. Machine learning at it's finest. Oh! And look!!" Caine pulled at one of Shadowblade's front paws, signaling them to lift. "I improved their pads too!" He squished his face against the paw the size of his torso. "They're thicker! Should help soften the landing a bit and be a bonus for stealth."

"....still shook the whole house."

"Well, yeah. We're right next to it, and Shadowblade easily weighs several tons. They're never going to be perfectly silent, but it's an improvement! So, what do you think?" He let go of Shadowblade's paw and clasped his filthy hands together.

"Uh, neat, I guess. Not super thrilled about the idea of being high off the ground."

"But you've been doing so well, I was starting to think your acrophobia-"

"IT WAS NEVER A PHOBIA!" Pomni exploded unexpectedly. She looked away and spoke quieter. "But yeah, I've been handling heights better lately."

"Progress. That's what's important." Caine sighed. "I should get cleaned up. You and Shadowblade can experiment with the wings, if you want." Before he could walk away, he felt Shadowblade's maw against his back. He pet Shadowblade as they pressed against him and rumbled their low mechanical purr. He smiled a little. "Nice to know someone around here appreciates what I do." He didn't look at Pomni as he left.

Pomni watched Caine leave without a word. Her insides twisted a bit with guilt. A chuff from Shadowblade got her attention. The beast lowered themself to the ground, offering the saddle to her. The crystal charm on her right hand glowed softly. "Yeah, I could use some fresh air." She mounted up and they took off out of the city.

~

The shower was more of a phycologcal need than a physical one, sometimes it felt good to literally wash the day off. Caine stood under the hot stream, trying to relax his mind. "Why can't anything I do just be enough?" He let his mind wander. A dangerous thing, but it needed the freedom to process his thoughts before he stamped the emotions back in place. He stayed until the hot water ran out, shots of icy water bringing him back to reality.

He wrapped himself in a towel and went through the pockets of his dirty pants before he forgot what was in there. He didn't want his tools going through the laundry again by mistake. He found the pieces of the charm he discovered inside Shadowblade as well as the core sample. "Hm...I've had suspicions since day one that Shadowblade isn't a true marionette. Maybe this is my answer." He closed his fist around the pieces and got dressed to see Ragatha.

~

Shadowblade stood on a high rocky outcropping, judging the distance to the ground and feeling the direction of the wind. They could feel Pomni's nerves through the connection. This was dangerous. Maybe, just a tiny bit, TOO dangerous. Maybe they should climb back down. Maybe they should hop along the ground some more. Maybe....they should just go for it.

Shadowblade looked over their shoulder to Pomni. "Don't look at me, I'll never be ready. Jump when you want." Her grip on the saddle left permanent indents in the leather.

Shadowblade adjusted their stance and unfolded their wings. The wind caught enough that they could stand on their hind legs. For what it was worth, the view was rather nice. They flapped and lifted from the rock. The strong wind carried them up and away. They steadied themselves in the draft, they could feel Pomni's heart racing.

"Okay, okay, okay, this is okay. We're in the air. Oh my fucking god, we're in the air." Pomni refused to look down.

Shadowblade tried to send reassuring vibes back, but they were too nervous themselves. They've never been this high up.

Then, the draft died. Shadowblade lost altitude rapidly. They tried flapping, it wasn't helping much, just made the turbulent descent all the more bumpy.

BAM!!

Shadowblade bellyflopped to the ground. They moaned as Pomni slid off and puked. She braced herself on her knees and horked up everything her system. "Ugh...this isn't going to be a fun learning curve."

Shadowblade groaned back.

~

"So, what do you think?" Caine sipped a glass of brandy as he poured over books and old maps in the library.

Ragatha cross references symbols on the charm pieces with ones in her book. "Well, I can tell you for certain that it is some sort of suppression charm. The stone itself is fluorite based, which isn't local to our area. As for the writing, I don't know. I've never seen a charm with english letters. I'm surprised doing that wouldn't interfere with the charms purpose. Unless it's part of it, but I don't know of any ritual that would use initials."

"Suppression..." Caine muttered to himself, looking at the charm around Ragatha's neck. "Why would a marionette need suppressing?"

"They wouldn't. They have no emotions or will to suppress. ...are you thinking what I am?"

"Yes, and I don't like it. I had my entire head inside their core. I didn't see a D.I.E. It doesn't make sense. They're powered by some crystal. I have to run more tests, but if I find presence of a soul... I don't even know what to think." Caine set his drink down.

"We don't know for certain. We shouldn't jump to conclusions. I said it was a type of suppression charm, it doesn't necessarily mean that it was being used to suppress free will. It could have been used to suppress the amount of power in the core. Maybe Shadowblade was too strong and... needed to be tamed."

"I'm willing to bet my last bottle that the charm broke when pomni shot Shadowblade in the chest when they first encountered each other. That's when I met them. That's when they were acting weird. That's what gave me the suspicions that they weren't normal. I should have seen it when I first gave Shadowblade the choice to stay."

"Maybe the crystal itself is a D.I.E?"

"If it is, It's the most unusual way to contain a soul."

"I mean, think about how big they are. Could a single puppet soul pilot an entire war machine without help?"

"Maybe? Maybe not? Take Z, for example. Many her size required the use of multiple souls. A lot of constructor puppets suffered that fate." Caine looks over the map on the table. "You said the stone has fluorite in it?"

"Yes, It's what gives it it's purple color."

"I think I have an idea where it came from." He pointed to a spot far east of the City of Circuits. "The City of Gears was one of the largest industrial cities in the world during the war. Fluorite is used in smelting."

"I don't think I've ever been there."

"The only thing your missing out on is a marionette infestation and bad investments."

"What..?"

"Nevermind. Pomni and Shadowblade could check it out but I want them to take backup."

"I'm not going anywhere near that place."

"I wasn't going to suggest it, I need you here. Z and Kingr are too big to ride on Shadowblade's back, and walking would make it a three day one-way trip. No, they need to fly."

"Gangle wouldn't want to go either."

"That just leaves...oh boy. Pomni's gonna kill me." Caine sighed and downed his brandy.

~

WHAM!!

Shadowblade goes headfirst into a cliff, just missing the top by feet. They dig their claws into he clifface to stop from free falling again. Pomni popped her dislocated shoulder back into place. "Fuck these stupid FUCKING winds!! Why do they keep changing??"

Shadowblade struggled against the crumbling cliff as they climbed to the top. They repositioned themselves to try again, looking back to check on Pomni.

"Just go, before I change my mind. LIKE THE WIND!!" She shouted angrily into the air.

Shadowblade dove over the edge. The momentum carries to their wings and they rose back into the air. With a smoother take off, they settled into a flight pattern around the wasteland. Shadowblade felt more comfident with every wing beat. They went even higher, to the clouds.

Pomni felt oddly at ease when she could no longer see the ground. The mist of the clouds felt cool against her face. When Shadowblade breaches the top, the vibrant colors of the waning sun were all around them. The connection felt calm and happy and excited. This was truly beautiful. The ultimate escape from the world.

Pomni raised her arms up in a shout of elation. Shadowblade roared with her as they soared across the sky.

~

Caine checked his W.A.C.K.Y watch for Shadowblade's position. They would be returning any moment. He left Ragatha to the research and found Jax on the roof.

Jax laid against the slanted roof, watching the stars slowly appear. He heard Caine's blink and internally rolled his eyes. "What is it?"

"I have a mission for you." Caine leaned against an adjacent roof section.

"Joy of joys." Jax said sarcastically. "Where am I headed?"

"The City of Gears...with Pomni and Shadowblade."

"Why-"

"Because I need you two to do some investigating. It's about Shadowblade. I'll spare you the details, but I think that's where they came from and it could lead to answers about their origin. I don't expect, nor really care, if you care about Shadowblade. All I need you to do is help Pomni. The city is swarming with marionettes. Who knows what you'll face."

"Hm...sounds dangerous."

"It will be."

"I'll need something in exchange for my services."

"That can be arranged."

"Your watch is quite fancy."

"Off the table." Caine narrowed his eyes.

Jax smirked. "Then I'll have to take a peak in your workshop, do a little...shopping."

"Off. Limits." Caine said sternly.

"Hm, then I guess Pomni's on her own." Jax shrugged.

"I can offer upgrades, charms, hell- new clothes, better accommodations...?"

"Nah, I like your fancy gadgets. They look fun to play with."

Caine grunted. "I'll see what I can come up with, but you an Pomni leave tomorrow."

"Fine. I'll go with piranha teeth to the city of whatever. What exactly are we looking for anyway?"

"....I don't know."

Jax laughed. "Seriously?"

Caine flustered a bit with embarrassment. "Like I said, I just need you to be Pomni's backup. Leave the rest of her and Shadowblade." Caine blinked away.

Jax kept chuckling to himself. "What a maroon."

~

Shadowblade glided down into the city and attempted to land on a long straight stretch of road. They came down a bit fast and stumbled. Pomni barely kept her grip as she was thrown forward ass over teakettle over the handles of the saddle. She hung awkwardly next to Shadowblade's neck until the beast stopped for her to let go.

"That wasn't the worst landing of the day. The fact we're in one piece of good enough for me." Pomni decided to walk the rest of the way to the manor.

Shadowblade was sore all over. Their armor felt overly sensitive to every cut and dent, a few spots bled. A small whine came from them as they walked.

Pomni felt the pain in the connection. "I'm sore too. I'm lucky I could hold on through most of that." She didn't realize the extent of the pain Shadowblade was in. This wasn't just them complaining about being over worked. They felt beaten and battered and bruised for the first time. They weren't used to this level of pain just from getting thrown around. Pomni shooting them and stabbing out their eye hurt less.

They go through the gate and nod to Z. "Yeesh, What happened to you two?"

"The wind." Pomni groaned.

Shadowblade grunted in agreement.

"The...wind?"

"Yes, the fucking WIND. It is an EVIL force of nature. Tossed us like a salad all over the wasteland."

Z sniggered.

Pomni went into the mansion, Shadowblade followed her through the windows. They made a habit of it. It was interesting to see the others interact in this large dollhouse. Not far inside, they see Caine appear in front of Pomni. They spoke. Pomni yelled. He looked exhausted. They half shouted more at each other. They came to an agreement. Pomni stormed away. Caine dragged his hands down the front of his face. Shadowblade had felt mixed emotions through the connection. Frustration, but not anger. Respect, but not fondness. It was interesting and confusing.

Caine caught sight of Shadowblade's golden stare through the dark windows. He waved. Shadowblade slow blinked in return. They moved on the the next floor to find Pomni. They came face to face with Gangle. She screamed. Shadowblade should've seen that coming. They moved down the side of the building.

They spied Ragatha in the library, reading and examining something on the table in from of them. Their optics zoomed in. Pieces of purple stone...markings...SB...

Shadowblade felt like they were hit by a charging drill worm. The letters burn in their mind. Flashes of unknown faces fly through their vision. Gold light. A woman's scream.

Shadowblade topples over and scrambles to their barn. They hid inside, producing a copious amount of mist. Their mind races. Their body shakes. They couldn't hear their core cracking over their hyperventilating.

Pomni would have felt the intense fear and anxiety too, if she hadn't just taken off the charm in preparation to go to bed...

~

Jax was the first out that morning. His hammer collapsed and compacted against his back for travel. He wasn't alone long, the combat harlequin was an early riser when it came to missions. He pointed to the barn. "Is your beast sleeping in or what?"

Pomni hadn't put the charm on yet. She saw black mist pouring out of every crack and crevice like it was a hot box. "...what the hell?" She put on her mask and opened the doors. "Shadowblade! Why are wasting all your mist!? Have you been doing this all night!?"

No response.

"Shadowblade?" Pomni put on the charm. She felt immediate emotional whiplash. Dread. So much dread. Bad people. Enemies. Can't fight. Hide.

Pomni walked through the darkness, finding Shadowblade trembling against the back wall. "What's gotten into you? There are no enemies. We need to go. Knock it off with the mist."

Shadowblade obeyed, finding this feeling easy to ignore under orders. The mist stopped and they followed Pomni out.

Pomni mounted up and cringed as Jax climbed aboard. "God, I can't believe he's making us do this." She grumbles and has Shadowblade start walking out of the city.

"I'm not thrilled about it either, shark tooth, but your hubby promised me something nice in return for babysitting you."

"I don't need babysitting! And he's not my husband! I can barely stand him!"

Jax extended his neck to give her a mischievous grin face to face. "That's not what I saw on my way out the door. Oh, Pomni, Do Be Safe. You'll Be Out Of Radio Range, But You Know I'll Come Running If You Need Me." He mockingly fluttered his eyes at her.

She elbowed him hard in the gut. "If you don't want me shoving you off when we get airborne, you'll shut the fuck up."

"Fine, he's smitten and you're a bitch. Is that more accurate?" Jax rubbed his abdomen.

Pomni growled and had Shadowblade take off. She does her best to ignore the ick she felt as Jax reached around her with his extendable arms to hold onto the saddle handles.

The City of Circuits became a model of itself as they flew high into the air. The winds were calmer today, making things far smoother as Shadowblade found an air current to glide due east.

Jax silently admired the view. Flying was a new experience for him too. He shuddered just a little, looking down, and gripped the saddle tighter.

Pomni mentally reaches out to Shadowblade. There was still an underlying feeling of unease in the connection. She tried to push her own battle ready calm through. Shadowblade was resistant. She out her hand on Shadowblade's back. The physical touch warmed the connection. The feeling of calm was more accepted.

Barely an hour passed before Jax needed to talk again. The splendor of flight wore off fast. "Do you know what we're looking for? Your hubby couldn't say."

"HE'S NOT MY-ugh!! I don't know either. He just said there was something significant to Shadowblade at the City of Gears."

"We're doing all of this on a hunch?"

"Pretty much."

"Tap-dancing Christ."

"Shut the hell up, it's not like you had anything better to do."

"That's not the point. If we don't know what we're doing, and the city's as large as he says, we could be there for days. Sounds boring as fuck."

"He did mention to marionette infestation..."

"So we're either going to be bored to death or be torn apart by marionettes, what fun." Jax rolled his eyes so hard, they nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Welcome to my world."

~

Caine triangulated Shadowblade's position in his watch to the map. If they minimized any stops, they would be in the City of Gears after dusk. Not the best time to be arriving, but the fastest. He pocketed his watch and looked to Ragatha, who was nose deep in a book. "They're making good progress. And it doesn't look like Pomni has left Jax anywhere, so that's a good sign that they haven't killed each other yet."

Ragatha put her book down. "How do you keep track of us..?"

"Let me put it to you this way. If I've made something, I know where it is."

"Oh..." She didn't ask further. "I've been able to decipher some of the less common symbols used on the charm. While I was correct in saying that it was a suppression charm, it's a very particular suppression charm."

"Aren't they all?"

"Yes, every charm is unique, but when I say this one is very particular, I mean that it was assigned to a particular person. Those letters, the initials, I don't think those are someone's signature. I think those are related to the person the charm was meant to control."

"You're confident in saying a person? A soul?" Caine felt his stomach drop.

"Yes. The way the symbols are assorted on the charm, it's a contract. Whoever put their initials on the charm agreed to the terms of the person who created it. Though I can't say if it was done so willingly. My....the one whom I served before...used similar methods." Ragatha shifted in her chair and looked away.

"You needn't explain." Caine reassures. He takes our the core sample and hands it to her. "Give your thoughts on this when you have a chance. I need those charm shards back." He turns to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"To test a theory."

~

Pomni focused silently ahead. If she stayed calm, Shadowblade would be calm. It would make the travel that much more bearable. Jax, on the other hand, was bored out of his mind and couldn't stand the silence.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

He waits only a second to ask again. "...how about now?" He smiled.

Pomni's grip tightened. "No."

"Are we there....yet?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"NO!!"

Jax held back a laugh. "You're too easy. Maybe that's why Caine likes you so much. Didn't take him for the type, but whatever floats his boat."

"What the FUCK are you implying??" She turned to glare at Jax.

"Wow, really gotta spell it out for you, huh? I'm calling you a wh-"

Pomni punched him so hard, he tumbled backwards off of Shadowblade. Shadowblade felt something grab their foot. They look down and back to see Jax hanging by one hand. They look back up at Pomni.

"Keep flying. If he falls, he's no longer our problem."

Shadowblade snorted, feeling Pomni's rage.

Jax extended his arms to reach up and grab into the seams of Shadowblade's armor. He hoisted himself back up to the saddle and settled behind Pomni. "I can add sensitive to the list." He called it quits for the time being, she definitely dented a few of his ribs with that hit. He took steady breaths through the pain.

~

Caine locked himself in his workshop and set the charm pieces on a small table with a sigil. He lights the half melted candles and puts both hands on symbols on either side of the sigil. He takes a deep breath and focuses.

Blue energy travels from his heart, down his arms, and to the table. The sigil lights up and the pieces of the charm hover an inch off the table. He mutters ritualisticly under his breath, willing the pieces to be whole again. The electric blue energy shocks the pieces one by one, heating and melting the jagged edges. The pieces fit together and seal the cracks. The reformed charm clatters to the table as he releases it, feeling a little light headed.

"Okay...step one wasn't too hard." He braced himself. "Now....who made you?" He focused again, using his soul energy to tap into the void. He heard faint whispers all around him. The symbols on the charm glow. One whispered voice stands out. A middle aged male voice comes from the charm.

"I....am the Master...."

Caine rolled his eyes. Of course someone who made this kind of charm would call themselves that. He has to stay focused, he could only hold this for so long. "What is the purpose of your charm?"

".... control...."

Fuck. He already knew that. Sweat rolled down his head as he concentrated. "Who is SB?"

"....my greatest creation..."

"No, WHO is SB? Is it a name?"

"...yes, the one who served me..."

"Vague bastard." Caine could barely hold the connection. "Is SB a puppet?"

"...my perfect puppet...obedient and powerful...the soul served without question..."

Caine could feel his hold on the voice slipping. He forced himself to keep going. "HOW? Where is the D.I.E??"

"...within..."

Caine vision blurred with exhaustion. "Are there...others...?"

"...yes...my traitorous son..."

"Where....where...." Caine collapsed. The Master's voice whispered as darkness took him.

"...where it all began..."

~

The sun shone its last as the City of Gears was finally in sight. Massive warehouses and factories towered over all other buildings. The city was ravaged by time and being reclaimed by nature, as the forest on the south side slowly intruded more than half the city.

Shadowblade flew low and made a better landing this time. At least they didn't fall forward on their face. Shadowblade and their passengers stayed alert as they entered the city. It was quiet. Despite being surrounded by trees, no birds sang. The wind was still. They wandered the silent streets aimlessly.

"I think Caine's info is a bit out of date. There's no one here." Jax said.

"Keep your voice down. This place shouldn't be this quiet with the amount of nature here." Pomni's whole body prickled on high alert. Her instincts told her to look up. She did just in time to see a wolf like pouncing from the second story of a broken building. She didn't have time to warn the others. She rolled and slid off Shadowblade as the wolf landed where she had been.

Jax jumped back and slid off the other side. Shadowblade felt the claws of the wolf in their back and bucked it off. More wolves attacked. Pomni dodged one and drew her blade. Jax activated his hammer and swung at a charging wolf, sending it into a wall.

They were surrounded by a dozen wolf sized and shaped marionettes snarling at them.

"Seekers!" Pomni shouted. Seekers were used to track and kill puppets. They tore their prey apart without mercy. As it was getting dark, Pomni put on her mask. Her eyes glowed with Shadowblade's as they stared down their opponents. Shadowblade roared, shaking dust from the ruined buildings. The ungraded blades on their wings and Pomni's sword glowed with energy.

The seekers weren't intimidated and attacked. Pomni put her sword through the mouth of one and she avoided another. She rolled over the back of the one she killed and kicked the next seeker that lunged. Shadowblade sliced two seekers in half with one swipe and whipped ther tail around to the ones behind them.

Jax limbo-ed under the swinging spiked tail and sprang himself into the air to bring his hammer down on one seeker, caving it's body in. He moved quickly to the next, spinning his hammer and launching a seeker into a ruined building.

Pomni got pinned by a seeker, she held it back with her sword in it's maw. It snapped and clawed wildly until Shadowblade chomped down on it's body and threw it away from her. She got to her feet and ran under Shadowblade to get to the seeks attacking on the other side by Jax. She cut through one that was about to pounce.

Jax swung around, saw Pomni and changed trajectory at the last second. He threw his hammer, crushing a seeker's face in.

Shadowblade brought their heavy tail down on one seeker and swung at another. Two jumped on Shadowblade's back and they reared.

"Shadowblade! Roll over!!" Pomni commanded.

Shadowblade did so, crushing the seekers under their bodyweight. Jax laughed, grabbed his hammer and killed another seeker. "Play dead!" He couldn't help himself.

The one remaining aimed for Pomni. It tried fainting left but Pomni was too quick. She decapitated it as it lunged. No other marionettes in sight, they caught their breath.

Jax was in a fit of giggles. "Roll over? Really?"

"What else was I going to say?? Stand there a take it!?"

Jax howled with laughter. "No...no, it isn't that. It's the basic bitch pet command shout during battle. You couldn't call it something else?"

"Like what, smartass?"

"Kill the passenger?" He really didn't have a clever retort, he just thought it was funny.

"God, you're insufferable."

Shadowblade was looking all around for any more signs of danger when they spotted a street corner with small shops. Windows ruined and signs faded, they were still recognizable as a market. Another flash. Shadowblade was short, maybe Pomni's height, walking down the street. The market was alive with people going to a fro. The scent of fresh bread and gardens flowers filled the air.

Shadowblade walked away from Pomni and Jax, following the vision. They were looking through windows at beautifully crafted jewelry and dresses but moving on. The went to a book shop on the corner. The vision fades to reveal a destroyed corner building. The books long destroyed.

"Hey...your beast is walking away."

"Huh? Shadowblade, where are you going? Get back here, we need to stick together." Pomni commanded but Shadowblade didn't obey. They kept walking down the ruins market street. "What the..?"

"Pffff, even your pet if sick of you."

"Fuck off." She moves to follow Shadowblade. "They've never ignored an order before."

Jax followed behind, keeping an eye out for more seekers. His own eyes glowed softly in the unlit city. He didn't need goggles to see in the dark.

Shadowblade looked down a desolate street past the market. A poster on the wall of a business stood out to them. It was barely legible, but it was an ad for a circus. A vision showed the poster it's full glory, they've walked by it many times. It was a landmark for their commute. Moving on, the businesses gave way to town houses and suburban homes. Once large and beautiful homes reduced to rubble.

~

A polite knock rattled Caine's workshop door. "Caine? I have some information on those crystal shards you gave me. ...Caine?"

"Oh dear, maybe he fell asleep. Here, let me help." One of Gangle's ribbons slithered under the door and reached the lock on the inside.

The ladies see Caine on his side in front of his charm table and rush to him. "Caine??" Ragatha checked his heart, he was still alive. "Caine!"

He stirred a a little. "Rag...the..." He lifted his hand to point at the charm on the table and passed back out.

"Oh my god, what did you do to yourself? Gangle?"

"On it." She wrapped her ribbons around Caine, easily lifting and carrying him out of the room.

Ragatha grabbed the charm, impressed to find it in one piece, and followed Gangle. "This must have been an incredibly powerful charm for him to use so much energy to pass out."

"Will he be okay?" Gangle asked worriedly.

"He'll be fine, he just needs rest. Take him to his room." Ragatha went back to the library to study the reformed charm in greater detail.

~

Shadowblade stopped in front of a half collapsed mansion. They stared as a vision of walking through gate entered their mind. They couldn't walk on the grass, no matter how much they wanted to feel it between their toes. They had to take the groceries to the kitchen so the cooks could ready supper for ....for someone. Someone powerful.

"Shadowblade?" Pomni asked quietly. She could feel confusion and deja vu through the connection. "Is this what we came for?" She pointed to the large ruined house.

Shadowblade didn't answer. They didn't know. They stepped over the low ruined wall and inspected the house closer. Three floors of grandeur, once upon a time, now a darkened shell. They could see the grand stairway through the huge hole in the wall, spiraling up all three floors. They went up and down those stairs many times. Lots of work to do. Always an errand. Always a chore.

Jax and Pomni climbed through the rubble to investigate the first floor. Jax aimlessly milled about for any interesting trinkets, but Pomni made a b-line for any intact rooms. She searched for evidence of who once lived here but the ravages of time and war took most everything that once existed in the homestead.

Jax stepped on a losse floorboard and fell through. Shadowblade's bright eyes found the hole he made a peered down. Pomni heard the crash and rushed over. "Hey! You alive?"

"Yes." Jax rubbed his ass. It wasn't a far fall, but it still hurt.

"Shit. I mean, good." Pomni smirked.

"Fuck you."

"Get in line. What's down there?"

"Uh...a basement? Old storage. A few wine racks. Ooh, some of them still have full bottles. Lucky day!"

"You're sharing that!"

"Then get down here and collect your own, lazy ass!"

Pomni jumped down and Shadowblade demolished the part of the house blocking them from entering. They clawed and chewed at the floor to expose a large portion of the basement. As Pomni and Jax bickered over bottles, Shadowblade focused on one corner in particular. A vision showed them being down in the basement to put away some preserved food. A figure in the dark was in the corner reaching for something in the ground. Something heavy closed shut. The figure yelled at them.

Shadowblade clawed the ground and they came in contact with something heavy and metal. They dug up a large ancient safe.

"OH SHIT! Now we're talking!" Jax excitedly examines the safe. He figures the locking mechanism is far rusted in place and the only way into it, is with a really big hammer. He brings his hammer down several times until the safe warped and the door didn't fit in the frame. Much to his disappointment, there were no treasures inside. Only papers. He goes back to the wine racks.

Pomni sifted through the papers. There was a lot of boring stuff, banknotes and contracts and deeds and bills of sale, but... There was also a journal. She opened it to find it full of gibberish. Backwards and mixed writing that made no sense.

Shadowblade could just make out the tiny writing. It didn't make sense to them either, but the journal itself looked important. They leaned their head down to press the journal towards Pomni, encouraging her to keep it.

Pomni looked up with an arched brow. "This? ...alright."

She dug around a bit more and an envelope marked "confidential" piqued her interest. Inside was a letter, addressed to no one.

Sir,

The project has proven successful.

The subject is integrated.

On your order, activation protocol Warshroud is a go.

"War shroud?" Pomni said our loud and Shadowblade froze.

Visions of being taken. Beaten. Hurt. Scared. Men talking. WARSHROUD.

Pomni felt all of it. This was the right path. There was no address but their was a symbol of a hammer and pickaxe on the stationary. She recognized that symbol from one of the factories they passed on their way in. "Hey, numbnuts, we're moving on." She climbed up Shadowblade's head and laid a comforting hand on them as Jax finished stuffing wine bottles into his bag. He extended his arm to grab shadowblade's shoulder and hoisted himself up.

Pomni steered Shadowblade to the factory. Massive bay doors laid on the ground, leaving an entrance large enough for Shadowblade. The inside was as ruined as the rest of the city. Nothing of interest remained intact.

Shadowblade spotted another set of large doors. These, they recognize. A vision of being barely conscious. Restrained. Helpless. The heavy metal doors sealed any escape. Shadowblade trembled. They didn't want to take another step.

"What is this place?" Jax asked, looking around.

"I'm not sure. Shadowblade, we're here because Caine believes there are answers to what- er, who? You are. He's a crackpot, but a smart crackpot. Can you keep going?"

Shadowblade shook in place, refusing to move.

"... alright." Pomni slid off and went to the doors herself. "Come on, Jax. We'll have a look around ourselves. Shadowblade can wait up here."

Jax left his bag hooked to the saddle and dismounted to go with Pomni. "Another dusty old basement, this place is just full of wonder." He sighed.

Down below was more destroyed than above. Hardly anything was recognizable as equipment. Giant smashed tubes held remnants of crystals of various colors. Claw marks and old burns charged the walls and floor.

"Looks like one of their projects backfired." Pomni commented as she stepped over some rubble.

"Shadowblade?"

"I don't know. There's a lot i don't know, but....looking at all of this, this isn't a normal marionette production facility. That's for damn sure."

~

Shadowblade felt a crack. A glacial popping sound from within. The crystal within their core broke further. More visions came. War was declared! Puppet uprising! A mother's touch. A handsome stranger. Debt. Famine. Disease. Death. Work in the city. Suffering. Gold light. Blinding. Obey. OBEY! Shadowblade roared in confusion and pain. Their cries echoed through the factory.

Jax and Pomni stiffened as they heard Shadowblade above. A loud mechanical whirring in the rubble beside them signaled something was powering on. Two intensely bright purple lights shone and rose high above them. In the dark, both could just make out the silhouette of a beast. A beast twice the size of Shadowblade.

Pomni and Jax bolted for the exit, sprinting back out through the facility doors. The purple lights finding them as they run. Monstrous booming announced the creature's pursuit.

Shadowblade felt the floor quake and got their senses about them as Pomni and Jax came running out, purple light right behind them.

Jax gave Pomni a boost throw onto Shadowblade and grabbed onto the saddle himself. Pomni whistled for Shadowblade to run.

Shadowblade got just a glimpse of the beast after them. A huge break-like maw snapping at them. They got outside and made for wider streets to attempt take off.

The roof to the factory exploded. Enormous silver wings lifted the beast into the air as it urgently broke free to pursue its prey. It's body gleamed in the moonlight, this beast was never meant to hide. It dove as Shadowblade finally found enough space to spread their own wings.

Without enough forward momentum to get away, Pomni whistled for Shadowblade to halt. They dropped to the ground and skidded as the silver beast landed hard in front of them, demolishing several buildings. Outside and up close they could see that this creature was also quadrupedal. It's silver steel body glowed with purple energy from every crack in the armor. The wings were on its back, giving it all four legs to fight with in the air. The head and front legs were bird-like and heavily armored, talons as long as Pomni was tall. The back end of the body was like a lion, the tail long and thin with a bladed end.

For the half second the creature was down Pomni mentally steeled herself for battle. Shadowblade, confused and scared, found comfort in Pomni's resolve. Shadowblade lunged, doing for the beast's neck. Pomni jumped from Shadowblade to the silver beast and clamped her mechanical hand onto it's face plates. Jax also jumped, going as high as he could and activating the spikes to bring his hammer down hard on the beast's head.

Shadowblade tried to hold the beast in place, clawing at it's chest and holding tight to it's neck. Jax's hammer comes down and barely makes a dent. He practically bounces off and lands hard below the brawling beasts. Pomni tried jamming her sword into the beast's eye but her sword doesn't pierce the optic at all, she just annoys it.

The beast shoves back against Shadowblade, pushing them away and shaking off Pomni. The beast's claws left deep marks in Shadowblade's shoulders. Shadowblade roared and the beast roared back. The talons and beak of the beast glowed purple, like Shadowblade's wing blades. Shadowblade was already glowing and went for the slash attack. The beast whipped it's tail, having farther reach, forcing Shadowblade to doge and abandon their attack.

Pomni's blade glowed brightly and she went for a back leg. The energy from her blade made a small cut into the heel. "JAX!! USE ENERGY!!"

Jax was way ahead of her. As the beast turned to attack Pomni, his hammer lit up with green energy. He ran up Shadowblade's tail and back to spring himself up and come down between the beast's shoulder blades. His hammer did damage this time. A lot of it. The silver armor split and broke around the wing joints. The beast roared and reared to remove Jax. Shadowblade slashed a deep cut along the side of the beast as it went up. Shadowblade kept themself between the beast and Pomni.

Pomni wasn't having that. She used her grapple to grab the beast and reel herself to it's back, where she dragged her energized sword up the beast's front leg. Shadowblade tore at the beast's throat again, removing armor by the mouthful. Jax dodged the beast's blades tail and smashed at the beast's spine.

The beast's purple eyes brightened and it tore it's claws into Shadowblade, it lifted them off the ground and suplexed the lot of them into a row of buildings. Pomni's and Jax barely got off the back in time as everything came crashing down.

Finally being free of the 3v1, the beast took off for the arial advantage. It circled around and aimed for the largest target, diving for Shadowblade's exposed belly.

Shadowblade was discombobulated. They lost track of Pomni. Their large wings were stuck under rubble. All they could do was roar in defense as the beast came down.

But the beast never came. A wall of green ice flew up out of the ground and blocked the attack. The wall crumbled but the beast was taken off guard and missed, giving Shadowblade enough time to get up.

Jax huffed against a brick wall with his hand out. He hadn't had to make something that big in a long time, it took a bit out of him. Pomni patted Jax on the shoulder as she sprinted passed to get to Shadowblade. "You owe me!!" He shouted after her.

Pomni mounted as Shadowblade righted themself. "Come on!! Let's show this mother fucker exactly who he's dealing with!!"

Shadowblade roared and took off as fast as they could. Finally airborne, they circled with the beast. Back and gold streaked across the sky opposing silver and purple. Shadowblade went on the offensive, aiming to slash at the beast as they flew by at top speed. The beast rolled and slashed them instead, with it's talons. Shadowblade want deterred. They went again, this time making the slash. Them again. And again. Being lighter and faster, Shadowblade made several successful attacks.

The beast roared with fury and opened its maw wide. Purple energy gathered between its jaws.

"What the fuck..?" Pomni muttered.

A wide beam of energy blasted out from the beast. Shadowblade narrowly escaped it hitting their body, but one of their wings was partially clipped.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?!?" Pomni steered Shadowblade away, dodging another fly by. "We need to disappear!" She pulled up and Shadowblade flew into the clouds, mist pouring from their body.

The beast followed, being blinded the moment they flew into the thick shroud. For a moment, the beast hovered in place. Then, a slicing blade cut them from the dark. Their tail fell to the city below. The beast roared and charged their energy weapon again, but before they could fire, a golden razor X flew at them and they had to abort. The beast flew above the clouds and mist, circling and searching.

Shadowblade came flying straight up, and sliced one of it's wings in half. The beast plummeted. It smacked into a factory chimney before crashing through an warehouse roof and to the ground.

Jax saw the fall and ran to catch up, his quick feet moving even faster with green energy.

Shadowblade didn't give the best the chance to get up. They came barreling down through the broken roof and slammed the beast with their powerful front claws. Purple fluid went flying. The silver beast thrashed wildly, trying to take off on one wing. Shadowblade couldn't keep it down, the larger beast kicked them off and charged. Shadowblade barely got Pomni out do the way before the beast slammed into them. Pomni was thrown, recovered and transformed their hand to fire at the open wounds on the beast's body. The gapping wounds proved to be easy targets, every shot found in opening and blew them even wider.

The beast ignores Pomni, focusing all of its hatred onto Shadowblade. It's talon's cut and slash into the armor, getting deep and breaking vital systems. Shadowblade fought back, using their tail to stab the beast, but it was unrelenting. That it opened it's maw again. A terrible buildup of purple energy formed right in front of Shadowblade's face.

"NO!!!" Pomni ran out of shots and hacked at the beast's back leg. She wasn't doing anywhere near as much damage as she wanted to, not deterring the beast in the slightest. "FUCK YOU!! OVER HERE!!" She stabbed it full on in the leg, no reaction.

As the beast was about to fire, Jax comes in out of nowhere, his hammer encased in green ice, and slams the beast right in the back of the mouth. The collision of the green and purple energy causes a massive explosion in the beast's throat.

There is a hush as the smoke clears. Everyone is down. The silver beast no longer had a head. It's body torn, purple blood soaking the floor. Pomni, the furthest from the explosion, rises first. She limps over to Shadowblade, whose eyes are inactive. "Hey...wake up. We won..." She put her hand on Shadowblade's face.

She looked around. "Jax..?" She sees him on his side, facing away from her. She limps to him and carefully rolls him on his back. She puts her hand over his heart, he's still active. A sigh of real relief escapes her.

Shadowblade stirs. Heavy damaged but alive. They slowly crawl over to the two smaller puppets and curl their big body protectively around them.

"It's okay...it's dead. You did good." Pomni gave a small smile and Shadowblade blinked slowly back.

Jax woke with a loud groan. "God...damn! This is why I hate using energy. Gives me an awful fucking headache."

Pomni slapped Jax on the chest. "You crazy bastard! You could have died!"

Jax groaned and laughed. "But it was awesome, wasn't it?"

"...yeah, it was." She checked her saddle bag for supplies and saw wine leaking from Jax's bag. She peeked inside to see only one surviving bottle. She took it and handed it to him as she performed some basic puppet first aid. "You've earned that."

Jax broke the neck of the bottle and poured some in his mouth before offering to Pomni.

Pomni accepted and saluted Jax.

Shadowblade watched as long as they could before exhaustion claimed them. As they powered down, the darkness that would normally greet them became bright and other worldy. For the first time in their mechanical life, Shadowblade dreamed.

~~~

To be continued...

[roachymochi]

The Red Queen and the One True Flame : an analysis

Preamble

The Gloam-Eyed Queen might be the most discussed mystery of Elden Ring, almost always with a bottom-up approach. "What other lore element can I link to her to flesh her out" is an enticing approach, but considering the lack of result, it may be misguided.

In this post, I will reach for understanding from a top-down view, by describing the inner working of the world and the more general context were the GEQ comes from.

This analysis goes way beyond the scope of a GEQ lore post. The character I will describe here may or may not be the Gloam-eyed Queen. She will be referred to has the Red Queen to avoid confusion.

long post ahead

The Holy Trinity

The Lands Between are built around the principles of alchemy, and the adventures of the Tarnished might be reminiscent of the Magnum Opus. Has such, many core aspects of the world are threefold. Each part of these trifecta can also be linked to parts of other trifecta. The connections will be highlighted with 🟡, ⚪ and 🔴.

Gold and its alloy : Gold🟡 and Silver⚪ are central to the game lore. Gold take various forms, with the simple gold of the Golden Order, Miquella's unalloyed, gold, and the reddish gold of the Crucible. this red tint comes from the Gold being alloyed with Copper🔴, unnamed but as important to the games world as gold and silver. IRL, silver and copper are the two metals that can alloy harmoniously with gold (other alloys exist, giving the gold a blue, green or purple color, but they are brittle and impossible to work with). In game, the main attribute of Copper is its red color and its ability to rust/become verdigris. While this is not scientifically accurate, iron🔴 will be considered interchangeable with copper in this post for thematic purposes.

The three queens : Each of these metals is connected to a mystical queen. Gold is Marika🟡, Silver is Rellana⚪, and Copper is the unknown Red Queen🔴 this analysis is about. It may be the Gloam eyed Queen, but it is uncertain.

The three mothers : Motherhood is a mystical thing in ER, with the three mothers seemingly being the single progenitor of an entire lineage. Marika🟡's kingdom is one of fertility and abundance after all, and the silver mother⚪ is said of having birthed both the albinaurics and the blue silver of their armor. The red mother🔴 is the mother of monsters. she has no identity but she is present, in spirit, all through the Lands Between. I'll come back to it later.

The parts of a day : the day is divided in three parts - day🟡, dusk🔴, and night⚪. The day is obviously linked to the Erdtree and the night is the time of the moon and the stars, therefor linked to Caria/the eternal city. Dusk is the time of the GEQ, but most importantly it is deep red and quickly changing.

The three stars : there are three finger ruins in the Land of Shadow. Each of them is speculated to be the crash site of a meteorite bearing an envoy of the Greater Will. There is the Elden Beast🟡, Metyr⚪ (prominently linked to Caria and sorceries), and a third unknown star🔴. This third star is most likely the blood star, but there is nothing to confirm it.

The three mystical attributes : Intelligence⚪, Faith🟡, and Arcane 🔴. It's noteworthy that Incantations, linked to Faith, are often themed more around 🔴 than gold mostly the Crucible and all the flames.

The structure of the Cosmos

The stars, the moon(s) and the sky are were all destiny is written. There is no proper sky map to look at, but we have something close

picture taken by user Alphagravy

Astel is a fallen star, and his body seems to be made of many stars. Each part of it correspond to a known important part of the cosmos. Starting from the tip of the tail :

The long cluster of small blue pebble is the primordial current

The two dark conjoined sphere are the two moons, confirmed to be twins in the dlc.

The three amber sphere are the three stars mentioned earlier. Amber stars are said to bear the fate of the gods, so it would make sense for them to be the Elden Beast, Metyr, and the third one (the color trifecta doesn't apply here, for clarity reasons).

The two rings of light are the Elden Rings, old and new. IRL, many alchemical texts described god as a circle with the entire creation at its center. This could be used to interpret the many outer gods as the parts of creation that was rejected by the Elden Ring : they are literally out of God's circle.

The outer gods, the flame, and the Red Queen

Here is what we can deduce from the above context : Since the Gods are born of divine amber stars, three such stars fell to earth, and outer gods are parts of creation rejected by the Elden Ring (or in other words the Greater Will scriptures), then it means all gods and demi-gods got their godhood from one of those three stars.

As such, this means every single outer gods are envoys of the forsaken red star🔴. This would explain why so many of these sinful powers have so many similarities. Especially the flames, who seems like broken fragment of an original whole.

Here i will explain what i understand to be the original, core myth surrounding the red star, the flame and the red queen, using emojis to identify each of their aspects. Then i will list all red themed thing from the game and see how many of these aspects they bear.

Their is a primordial red 🔴 power of fire 🔥 constantly reshaping the world and its lifeforms through death 💀, birth 🌱, and transformation 🦋. Its great work took place in a primordial crucible 🏺, heating and purifying all its material in a bloody🩸, violent way. Its vassal was the Red Queen, the mother 👶 of many monsters 👹, often snake-like🐍, conceived in sin 😈.

and now the list :

the Gloam-Eyed Queen : 🔴🔥💀🌱🩸👶👹🐍😈. Gloam is Red🔴, she had the flame🔥 of Destined Death, motherhood🌱👶 is a significant part of her character (Godskin swaddling cloth). Her children have snake-like qualities 👹🐍, are swaddled in the flayed skin of demigods 😈, and are made to bring death to the gods 🩸.

The Formless Mother : 🔴🔥💀🦋🏺🩸👶👹😈. Most likely linked to the blood star🔴, her blessing make the heat of the blood so extreme that it catch fire when spilled🔥. Her cult is incredibly violent and is centered about draining as much blood as possible💀 and drenching an entire region in endless blood🩸🏺. She is called a mother 👶, and her blessing help the Omens👹 reject the Grace of Gold😈.

The Scarlet Rot : 🔴🔥💀🌱🦋🏺🩸👶👹😈. Scarlet's in the name🔴. It's not technically fire, but the alchemical fire can also take the form of a stomach acid, a womb, or compost, so the Rot is thematically a fire🔥. It is deadly💀, but it also create many new lifeforms🌱🦋 in the vast lakes where it pools 🏺. The process of transformation is however definitely gory🩸. The Rod Goddess is called a mother👶 in all her forms (Malenia, Romina, the foraging brood mother too), but their children are not human👹, and this life cycle goes against the golden order😈.

The fell god of the flame : 🔴🔥🦋🏺🩸😈 (not gonna do every single flames). The giants hair and his eyes are orange-red🔴, he is THE fire god🔥 in the Lands Between. His domain is the forge🏺, a place where metals are purified and refined🦋 through the heat of the flame and the beating of the hammer🩸. Forging these raw materials into items🌱 was considered sacred by the giants. Visions of the flame is considered a cardinal sin 😈.

Mount Gelmir's serpents : 🔴🔥🌱🏺🩸👶👹🐍😈. This one is a bit all over the place. the volcano manor, the manserpents, and Daedicar's woe all have a coppery reddish hue to them🔴. the serpents come from the volcano and are immune to fire 🔥. The Serpents Crucible of transformation seems to be the primordial serpent itself, transforming the flesh of the soldiers he devour into more of himself🏺🩸. Daedicar (and to a lesser extent Tanith) were the mother👶 to monstrous children 👹🐍. Tanith opposed the Erdtree, Daedicar indulged in every form of wicked pleasure😈.

Dragon Communion : 🔥💀🌱🦋🏺🩸👶 👹🐍😈. The power of dragon communion is acquired by killing💀 and devouring🩸 the hearts of dragons. Has stated earlier, digestion is an alchemical fire 🔥 and a stomach is a sort of crucible 🏺. the dragon communion transforms 🦋 its adepts. Greyoll, the mother👶 of all🌱 dragons, gave birth to children that were considered monstrous👹 and against the order of Placidusax😈.

Conclusion

I could continue on and on but you probably get the idea. The numerous foes of the Golden Order are actually incredibly similar and seem to all work under the same core principles. Since they are outer gods, that is to say gods that were rejected by a remade Elden Ring, they must still exist under the power of one of the three divine star. Therefore they most likely were part of the ancient Elden Ring, before it was remade into an order of Gold.

Since SotE, we know that aspects of divinity can be scrapped and abandoned. Therefore, when Marika created the Golden Order, she killed the Red Queen and broke apart her divinity, scattering all her aspects outside of the Elden Ring.

This means all the flames and outer Gods we meet are just scattered remnant of this Red Queen and the powers she wielded. She may have been the Gloam Eyed Queen, But the GEQ may also just be the what was left of the RQ after her divinity was shattered. It is said, after all, that the flame of the Godskin is a mere shadow of what it used to be.

[theoutofworld-blog]

Armored Core Highlights: Armored Core 1

Been feeling for a while now like doing a recap of some of the most exciting levels/fights/whatever I’ve experienced in Armored Core up to now, so it’s time to finally put this to paper.

Mission: Destroy “Justice”

For me, the most memorable level of Armored Core 1 was Justice. By this point in the story, the rampant warfare between the shadowy megacorporations Chrome and Murakumo Millennium had come to a climax. Initial conflicts were conducted by means of proxy warfare using terrorists cells funded and equipped by each company to undermine the other’s assets. Relatively early on, it becomes apparent that the Earth Environment Restoration Committee (of your your contractors for missions) which had been exploring military facilities left behind from before the apocalyptic war of the Great Destruction was not exactly doing it for the altruistic purposes of restoring ancient technology for rebuilding civilization like that claimed. Rather, it’s eventually pieced together that they are yet another asset of Murakumo Millennium, and have been the corporation’s primary means of returning seized pre-war military assets to working order.

After tensions between the two companies erupt into open warfare, one of the game’s routes has you spearhead a number of operations backed by Chrome operatives to seize Murakumo’s lunar base, which was being used as a staging and shipping point for the restoration of “Justice.” Justice is revealed to be a colossal satellite cannon that was among the primary means of ravaging the Earth back in the Great Destruction, and its activation could potentially spell a second doomsday scenario if Murakumo is left unchecked in their ambitions to conquer Earth.

For this mission, you are dispatched to infiltrate and dismantle Justice during a state of dire emergency: Murakumo is already preparing for the initial firing sequence. Therefore your insertion method is the most direct: your ass gets sent down the barrel of the gun to destroy the firing mechanism on a time limit before the colossal laser blows you to oblivion.

The entirety of this level takes place inside the barrel, a large tube separated by ribbed sections, each ‘rib’ isolating one segment of the barrel from another with a force field. There are a number of supplementary power conduits in side tunnels of the barrel that you can disable to buy more time on the countdown, but the force fields can only be disabled by blowing them away with sustained force. Each new segment of the barrel contains more and more enemies raining hell to stop you from destroying the gun, and to make matters worse some of the side tunnels require a bit of platforming to get into. Anyone who’s beaten AC1 can probably vouch that the game’s platforming segments handle like buttered ass, but this still is a candle against the sun compared to what the game asks you to do in the later mission “Destroy Floating Mines.”

At the end of the gun’s barrel lies the glowing core of the central firing mechanism you need to beat the hell out of to complete the mission. For my first time trying this, I’d spent a lot of time bumblefucking around trying to get into the vents, so I ended up trying to ignore the enemies entirely and focus on blowing through the force fields. By the end of it, the timer was almost up and I was in a double race against both the clock and against the enemies piling on damage in an attempt to stop me from shutting the thing down.

All in all it was stressful, but it was a very fun mission in how it structured its objective and progression toward it. The setpiece of a mecha plumbing down the barrel of an orbital death ray to stop it from within is some hardcore action shit, you can’t deny how cool that is.

Some might wonder why I’d pick this over the final boss, Nine Ball. The thing is, Nine Ball in AC1 wasn’t fun in the slightest. He’s only really a fight in Master of Arena; in AC1 he’s just a one-sided massacre that exploits his Human Plus cheat ability allowing him to hammer you with a grenade launcher while moving and flying, inside an arena that’s a vertical shaft when vertical aiming and targeting in early Armored Core was frankly dogshit. And you had to do this twice, as there was a second Nine Ball in a second, virtually identical Death Star reactor shaft!

That fight left me feeling like I’d gotten a pool cue shoved up my ass, so I’m not exactly eager to fight Hustler One again anytime soon.

[demilypyro]

Message to all Armored Core haters

[laurfilijames]

Gilded In Gold

Pairing: Fili x female reader

Words: 1,327

Warnings: Rated E, 18+. Post-sex body worship of the crown prince. Nudity. Slight masturbation (M), touching ones-self. Brief oral (M receiving)

Summary: In the blissful moments following your love-making, you admire your One as he relaxes in the early morning sun.

A/N: A little The Belly and chest fur worship because how can you not? @deanobingo

---

Fili sauntered almost lazily over to the bed, allowing you a long look at the body that had just finished pleasuring you beyond the point of exhaustion, your head resting heavily on a pillow that shielded you from the cold, stone floor while your eyes followed him effortlessly from where you lay. 

His chest still heaved as he worked to catch his breath, and you smiled to yourself in appreciation of his vigorousness in the sport of love-making. 

The toned muscles in his back flexed wildly when he lifted a bulging arm up to run his fingers through his hair that stuck to his face from sweat saturating the edges, turning the wheat-coloured tresses a deeper hue than normal. He sighed as he collapsed against the mattress, the wooden headboard supporting his upper half while his legs were cradled by the furs beneath them. One bent to rest at an angle, the other remaining against the bed; the full spread of his legs displaying his manhood in too-enticing of a way. 

His torso contracted when he twisted toward the side table to retrieve his pipe, the purse of his lips something to be admired as he placed the intricately carved piece between them and worked at igniting the pipeweed. His brows knitted together when he inhaled deeply, all of his features relaxing upon his exhale, and when the plume of smoke faded away, it revealed his icy gaze at you from across the room. 

You propped yourself up on an elbow, desperate to get a better look at the glory of your One who sprawled upon your bed as though he was an ornament amongst the furs. 

His skin was tinted pink, his chest and cheeks flushed with heat and reminders of where your hands had been, and a thin sheen of sweat made him glow in the growing morning light. The soft orange beams highlighted him like the treasure he was, making the amber curls that covered his skin look as though they were plated in gold; suiting him like gleaming armor.

Taking another drag from his pipe, he rested the hand that held it on top of his raised knee, tilting his head curiously to the side as he continued to peer at you through heavy lids adorned with long, flaxen lashes. 

You couldn't help but let your eyes follow his movements, traveling down from his eyes to his hand that had held you against him firmly mere moments ago, and then further to where his flaccid cock leaned heavily against his vast inner thigh. The coarser hairs that decorated his member appeared darker; sodden and untidy from a combination of sweat, spend and slick, making your core clench in knowing he was sticky and smelling of you. 

You swallowed thickly, returning your gaze up to meet his, and like he knew what was on your mind and seeing how your body was already responding to wanting him again, Fili hooked an eyebrow high on his head. 

Licking your lips, you shifted where you lay, purposefully adjusting in order to better display yourself to him; the art of seduction quickly flourishing into a subtle competition between you. 

His belly jumped slightly as he let out a noise that was somewhere between a hum and a chuckle, giving a faint shake of his head in amusement, his wild hair gleaming like gold as the sunlight shined on it. The day-old braids were now almost unrecognizable and completely unruly from how much your fingers had torn through them, the quickly approaching day revealing how many hours of the night were dedicated to ruining his previously-neat strands. 

Dust danced in the light that beamed in through the window, spreading a warmth across his relaxed form that accentuated the dense spans of curls on his chest, and in wanting to card your hands through it, you mimicked the action on your own skin, rubbing your breasts in slow, languid strokes. 

The heat of the intense morning sun set you aflame as much as Fili's stare did, feeling his hungry eyes cast upon you, watching you like a beast about to devour their prey. 

Trying to hold his look but failing, your eyes flitted down to the apex of his spread legs, the flex of his hardening cock distracting you and making your hands grope yourself more desperately. 

Your eyelids fell closed as you proceeded to roam your body in hopes of it being him, only to cease when he spoke with a quiet surety that seemed to echo through your chambers. 

"Are you going to leave me sitting here all alone, Amrâlimê?" he asked, his voice as sultry as the look he gave you when your eyes flashed open again, a hint of mischief playing at the corners of his mouth while a blush rose up on his cheeks that matched the rise of his shaft. 

"My apologies," you purred, sitting upright. "I was simply trying to spare you from my wandering hands and salacious ideas. It seems I cannot control myself when you look the way you do right now."

His chest and belly shook with a hearty laugh, his dimples appearing in his cheeks and the lines around his eyes spreading a warmth through you that mirrored the fiery heat showing in his blue irises. 

Rising from the piles of blankets and pillows arranged in front of the hearth that had been your make-shift bed for the night, you walked slowly over to the bed, smiling when Fili nodded his head to the vacant space beside him and patted the furs to coax you more. 

You knelt on the bed, one knee at a time, your arms slowly alternating with the movement of your legs as you crawled toward him; the hunger held in his eyes as he watched you approach making you shiver with anticipation. 

Fili parted his legs further, his offering making your mouth water, and taking himself in a firm hold, he stroked up and down on his length a few times as he waited for you to settle up to him. 

You stopped just at his legs, letting a hand trail up the back of his thigh of the one that was bent, your lips gingerly kissing the top of his knee. Fili let go of his shaft, sighing as your fingers wandered down to his center and tickled near his taught sack, his head leaning back against the headboard, belly quivering to your touch. You cupped his ballocks in your palm, gently massaging them until he growled with approval, tugging on them ever so slightly until his chest rose and fell sharply. Lowering your head, you captured his cock that wagged from his squirming motions in your mouth, swirling your tongue around the tip, earning a sharp hiss from between his gritted teeth as he bucked up slightly off the bed. 

Releasing him and hovering over his impatient member, you grinned at him, flashing a devious look through your lashes. 

Before you could make any further acts of provocation, Fili grabbed onto your arms and hauled you against his front, and in one fluid motion, flipped you onto your back where you were pinned under his weight.

"It's unfair to tease me like that," he muttered, his lips ghosting on yours while his hands carded through your hair, pulling on it so you tipped your head back and exposed your neck to him. 

"Is it?" you spoke nervously, but sanguinely, anxious to see what power he would unleash on you. 

"Mhmm," he purred, licking a path up your throat before burying his face to rub his beard on your delicate skin. 

The fur on his chest brushed your sensitive nipples in the most alluring way, making you arch up off the bed to press yourself more against the silky curls, his belly laying heavily on your middle to push you back down into the furs. 

"You're in a world of trouble, Ghivashel."

---

Taglist:

Everything: 

@guardianofrivendell @midearthwritings @cassiabaggins @lilith15000 @trishthedishofreis @linasofia @unbeatablecurlgirl @the-poldarkian @lathalea @enchantzz @blairsanne @legolaslovely @middleearthpixie @i-did-not-mean-to @sketch-and-write-lover @jotink78 @medusas-hairband @feeweeeee @missihart23 @fortheloveofdurin @i-am-still-bb @roobear68 @ichoosechoasandbeingqueer @legolasbadass @spngingerbread21

[colibrie]

Meetings-Resonance, part I

As always, credit to @trilobitepunch for the phenomenal art!

Numb.

He was numb.

Leo vaguely remembered the first time he’d felt the numbness as a child. He had blurred memories of waking up crammed inside dingy cargo holds with his father and Mikey, his aching skull and freezing limbs a million miles away. The weight of his body had been an absent fact that buzzed at the edges of his consciousness but held no real meaning or importance. He had been somewhere else, somewhere quiet, and cold, where his thoughts dissolved into mist. The edges and limits of the world blurred in that place, sounds, smells, and touches inconsequential and ephemeral. He went where he was lead, stayed where he was put, a puppet on a pull string.

Splinter had been the one to explain it to him when he woke days later in an unfamiliar place, wrapped in a tattered blanket with Mikey glued to his side. A shattered sadness had sat heavy in his masters’ fathers’ eyes and voice as one paw had stroked Leo’s head, whispering how the temple had fallen, how only the three of them had escaped, how he had been hurt but everything would be okay so long as he rested. He cried for hours after that, matting his fathers’ fur as he clung to the older rat, wailing for his big brother and his twin. When the sobs had died down, he’d clumsily tried to ask about the numbness, only to be met with a shake of his father’s head.

“It will pass, Leonardo. Just give it time, and it will fade.”

It hadn’t. The numbness never went away. It became part of his life, a constant hollow that lived in his chest, nestled close to his heart. Some days the hollow was tiny, a barely noticeable shadow as he went about the day. But sometimes it would grow, a black hole in his core that would swallow him for hours, or even days at a time. It was uncomfortable, but not debilitating if he didn’t fight it. He’d learned quickly to never fight numbness. Instead, he’d learned to work around it, to move through watercolor worlds and smile brightly even when he couldn’t feel his lips. He’d taught himself how to return Mikey’s hugs and nod along to Splinters ramblings, to meter out just the right amount of jokes to keep the difficulty of speaking from becoming too obvious. He’d learned to cope, to be strong, to push through and carry on.

And yet here he stood, frozen and empty as the glare of a specter stripped him down.

“I never thought I’d see the day that silver tongue went silent, Leonardo,” Donnie noitsnothimitsnotpossible spat, venom dripping from every syllable.

Something slammed against the edges of the hollow inside of him, striking from all directions as the saber’s blade whyisitrednotredredwasraphscolor hissed through the air, crossing Donnie’s lithe body a gesture that was somehow both threatening and defensive all at once. The dark material of his armor swallowed the light, the helmet casting harsh shadows across the upper half of the specter’s face. They highlighted the burning eyes that dug into Leo, slamming against the numbness with the ferocity of a feral animal.

“Then again, you always ignored things that didn’t benefit you.”

ButnotyouneveryouIneverwould

Yournothimyoucan’tbehim…

But…the way his mouth twisted to one side to show a flash of teeth…Donnie had always done that when he was feeling frustrated or angry by something. The way his fingers clenched rhythmically around the handle of his saber…Donnie would do that when things got loud and stressful, usually while holding Leo’s hand under the cover of their robes.

Something new spiked inside of him, separate from the foreign presence still battering away at the edges of the hollow. This time the pressure was from within the black hole, a spear that gouged and surged through the numbness, expanding like a ballon until his lungs could barely pull in air. The misty silence that usually shrouded his thoughts dissolved under the frantic rush of blood through his ears as details flew at him from every direction.

The way Donnie stood; shoulders hunched forward. The creche master’s had always yelled at him to stand up straight.

It's not him.

The way Donnie spoke, words precisely and scathingly sharp, ready to cut at a moment’s notice.

It can’t be him.

The subtle details in Donnie’s expression. One’s that said he was hurt, no matter if he pretended otherwise.

Because the last time I saw him, he...

The balloon burst, obliterating the numbness, and the world along with it. The darkness that invaded his dreams draped the world in somber black, leaving only the two of them.

Or rather, the four of them.

Because over the shoulder of the armored Donnie was another. A child in torn and stained temple robes, looking over his shoulder at Leo with tear-stained cheeks and terrified eyes. He could just make out another figure to his side, just within his peripheral. A child with familiar red crescent markings on his scraped and bruised face, dressed in equally ruined robes.

The shadows slithered, twisting as they gathered to loom over both Donnie’s, bearing down in silent, deadly, threat. Donnie, both little and armored, opened his mouth in soundless screams, one of fear one of anger, as the shadows began to pounce. Something twisted inside Leo as the child next to him screamed too and threw out his arm, something that writhed and pulsed and squirmed to be set free. Something that…

The world went white as agony rushed filled the space left by the balloon, forcing his eyes to close, lest they implode with shift in pressure. Hands previously frozen as his sides flew to his head, fingers branding bruises into the soft skin of his scalp and palms clamping down at the temples to stop the seams of his skull from blowing apart.

This was the price of fighting the hollow. The price for not letting numbness have its way. Red hot knives and fridged ice picks slamming over and over into his brain. Broken glass that pierced and shredded muscles, sinew, and soul alike, painting his mouth with phantom flavors of despair and blood.

“There you are…”

“Leo?! What’s wrong?”

The words burned, and he flinched away, curling into himself as the pain gleefully dug into his sanity another inch.

“Leo!”

Voices overlapped over his name. Small voices, young voices, fearful and calling for him. For his help. But the pain had him tight between its teeth, and there was nothing he could do. No way to escape. No where he could turn…

“Come on LeeLee, talk to me man!”

LeeLee…?

Orange, brilliant and bold and fierce as the sun. Orange, loyal and warm and comforting, pressed to his side when the darkness swallowed him whole, no matter how deeply. Orange, loving and safe and…

“Mike-“

“NO!”