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xenoredux · 5 years ago

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The Legend of Silver Fang - Episode 5: The Beasts

If you haven’t read episode 4 yet, you can do so here.

As mentioned before, the major story beats and overarching plot are the same. This is written under the supposition that, in fantasy land, this is a mini series with episodes that run about 2 hours in length each.

Some things to be aware of going in:

This story is violent as shit!!! CONTENT WARNING FOR: Animal injuries, animal death, sickness via poisoning, eye trauma, weaponry, cannibalism, fire damage to property and animals, wacky cult antics, child abuse and endangerment, suicide, starvation, dogfighting, bullying, and idk probably something else terrible. Seriously don’t read if you don’t like this kind fuckery

I was trying to achieve a decent adaptation that combines the strongest elements of the anime and manga. It will not be precisely like either and will occasionally totally deviate from both

This isn’t meant to be “better” then the canon. It’s just the way I’d go about rewriting the Akakabuto arc if I had that level of ungodly power lol

Character designs made to represent several mentioned characters can be found here, here, here, here, and here. Others will be left up to the reader’s interpretation. A link to the next episode will also be provided at the end. If a link isn’t available, the next episode just hasn’t been posted yet!

I KEEP POSTING THESE SO LATE IN THE DAY AAAAAHHH

The Igas and Gin are frozen where they float. Kurojaki's teeth clack against the scythe's handle as he sadistically taunts them. This day marks the end of the Iga clan he says (though it sounds more like "Ish ey marsh he and ufh eh Uhguh clun.") Akame barks back someone along the lines of "OH YEAH?" before turning to the others.

The albino levels with them: four against, what, 40? Not good odds. But maybe if there was a diversion some of them could get away. Akame passes his share of herbs to Jinnai and says that no matter what happens the Ohu soldiers must receive these herbs. Even if it costs the remaining Igas their lives and their legacy, no innocents will die just because some mottled dickhead bamboozled them all.

With a final command for them to get moving, Akame vertical leaps outta the lake and busts Koga heads the minute he lands. The other three good guys exit stage right while the gettin's still good. Gin looks back, almost certain someone's gonna come after them, but the Kogas are all too concerned with chasing Akame in circles to care about anything else.

Shinobi slaying is easier said then done, turns out. Akame didn't become Chief Ninja Daddy without some skills to back the title up. He is eventually pinned down by several heftier dogs, but it takes a few minutes of him humiliating his opponents first. As payback one of the cannibals chomps down hard on Akame's hind leg and jerks it back at a nasty angle. Akame lets out a manly scream of pain.

Jinnai, Kirikaze, and that silver guy are still running back home unimpeded when they hear Akame's hollering. Kirikaze is especially affected by his old man's tortured yowls and he begins crying big fat tears of sorrow.

So overwhelmed is he by his progenitor's wails that he tries to double back, but Jinnai tackles him and tries to smack some sense into him. Kirikaze's gotta nut up for Akame's sake. This scolding almost works, but another scream from the chief threatens to break the rest of Kirikaze's resolve.

They have reason to be concerned. Kurojaki's started wiping the forest floor with Akame's pale ass, bruising the Kishu heavily and giving him a nice big slash across the throat. The cut on his neck isn't enough to kill Akame, but combined with his other injuries it's enough to sap his remaining strength from him. As Akame tries to gather his bearings and defend himself the scythe comes down across his neck a second time.

Another scream of agony reaches the trio. Jinnai and Kirikaze are still fighting over whether to save the army of strangers or their dad when Gin decides he can't stand moral dilemas involving family. He spits out his share of herbs and shoves them towards Kirikaze.

Gin tells the bros that he's willing to double back and help Akame so long as they can pull themselves together long enough to cure the Ohu dogs. As the Akita moves towards the marsh, Jinnai asks him if he's so insolent as to disobey the chief's orders.

"Akame isn't my chief," Gin states matter of factly, "so I can do whatever I want." And so he turns and leaves the two Kishus to collect their herbs and continue their journey. Before they go the two decide to come back and help the moment they deliver the plants.

Akame coughs up blood and falls limply to the ground. He's hurting something fierce. He tries to go all Mind Over Matter with his body, but he's having too much trouble standing up to fight anymore. Kurojaki cackles triumphantly. Maya is grinning in a nasty way while their son yips excitedly, too young to understand that Daddy's committing an atrocity.

Emboldened by the support, Kurojaki decides it's time to deliver the killing blow. He leaps towards the incapacitated albino all ready to shreddy, too busy to notice the other Kogas trying to stop a silver striped blur from slamming into him. Gin lunges through the air, grabs Kurojaki by the hind leg, and does an anti-gravity version of the worm that sends both of them flying to the ground. Gin lands elegantly on all fours, but Kurojaki is slammed face first into the dirt. The moment he makes contact with Mother Earth, the cannibal lets out an unholy screech.

Everyone is taken aback - even Akame is frightened by the noise - as Kurojaki continues vicerally screaming for a moment more. It's at this moment that Gin realizes he hadn't seen where the scythe's blade had landed. Kurojaki lifts his trembling head and turns to face Gin.

The blade has been buried deep into the black devil's right eye. Icky red squidge oozes from the wound and down his cheek as he heaves a shallow, rattled breath.

"You little motherfucker," he pants, his remaining eye bulging and rolling around wildly in his head.

The other Kogas are now a terrifying mix of horrified and pissed the fuck off, and Kurojaki's ready to take advantage of that. As Gin gapes in horror at the live demonstration of why running with sharp things is a bad idea Kurojaki commands his crew to tear the invaders limb from limb. He especially wants that little stripey shit's head on a pike.

Obedient as ever, Kurojaki's mohawked mooks spring into action. Gin leaps to Akame's side to protect him. A couple of especially speedy Kogas advance on them before the others, but Gin's entire bloodstream is full of adrenaline right now and he manages to pick them off easily.

Before the rest of the hoard can descend upon them, Gin snags Akame up by the scruff and leaps into the trees with him. The Kogas watch as the two make their getaway. This only serves to frustrate Kurojaki. As Maya is fussing over his sliced up face he screams for the cult to follow the two.

Unaware of what's gone down, Jinnai and Kirikaze continue their jog home. They've been making good time but are stopped suddenly when another dog they've yet to meet jumps out of the bushes before them. He's just as surprised to see them as they are to see him, and they all trip over each other.

The dog, a tempermental German Shepherd, barks that the two dipshits need to watch where they're going next time. The Kishus apologize before scampering off with their herbs.

To the surprise of no one this rude dog is John. The upstart has finally left the village to pursue more heroic avenues. This is nice, but he realizes it's not quite going according to plan when he notices several dogs of intederminate breed running up to him.

These three dogs have the decency to stop and ask if John's seen a couple of white guys with plants in their gobs passing by. John pulls an "I know something that you don't know" face and tells them to fuck off because he's not going to enable them to chase down a couple of geeks with weeds.

This pisses the mohawked mutts off, as does the fact that John stinks of human civilization. They go to give him a taste of Whoopass Stew (1992) before John recites the navy seal copypasta from memory and teaches them some humility via a few well aimed bites and mean names regarding their haircuts. As soon as they realize he's a capable fighter the trio runs off with their tails tucked both metaphorically and literally between their legs.

This is getting bizzare. John's just arrived in this forest and already he's seen two groups of oddballs he can't begin to understand.

Back at the Iga House Gin has brought Akame home. He sets the ninja chief down gently as the other Kishus come to greet them. The Ohu soldiers, most of who are feeling much better now, are also glad to see Gin is still kicking.

Gin's happy to see them as well. He runs over to where they're gathered to more properly say hello. Most dogs are back on their feet, but he can't see the tallest one of them all. He asks where Ben is before realizing by the look on everyone's faces that this isn't a question they want to answer.

The crowd parts to reveal Jinnai has finally gotten Ben to eat his share of antidote. Ben's a hotass mess, though; his eyes are bloodshot, his mouth is foamy with excess saliva, and his muscles are all twitching involuntarily. He looks miserable as he stares aimlessly into the woods.

Akatora comes over to him and offers a friendly nudge and a whispered, "Hey, you okay?" Ben simply responds by snapping at him. Akatora tumbles backwards, stunned that his old friend and mentor would react to him so aggresively.

Akame pads over to Akatora and tells him not to take Ben's bizarre behavior to heart. Ben's had bad shit in his blood longer then everyone else. It's gonna take him a second to come out of this haze.

Luckily the dane seems to be regaining his composure, for he has managed to stand up and steady his limbs. The soldiers seem mostly relieved at the sight, but Gin notices Akame is still staring at Ben in concern. Is there something he's not telling them?

While alla this was going down, Hyena had wandered off by himself and ended up being taken prisoner by the Kogas. Worse still, he's been trafficking the corpses of dead Igas into their slapshod fridge (i.e. a dank, chilly cave).

As he drags the icky, ewwy canine cadavers along, his captures taunt and jeer at him for being both a wuss and their munchie packmule. One particularly nasty looking sucker with no tail tells him to move his ass before they decide to add him to the every-growing pile of carcasses. Hyena just whines miserably and goes back into the body storage. He's just flopped down another lifeless Kishu when he hears a sudden commotion outside. He cowers far back in the cave.

"MORE of these assholes?" says a newcomer. "Jesus, these woods are full of lunatics."

The Kogas have turned to look at their visitor. Three of them point him out as being a direct threat. They'd run into this dickhead in the woods, and though he stinks of men he's more powerful then any housepet they've chomped on before. While the cannibals encircle John, Hyena pokes his head out of the cave just long enough to recognize the GSD as one of the dogs he'd seen at Ohu. What on Earth is HE doing here?

Back at the Iga house the Kishus have organized to face off with the Kogas. Enough is enough. They can't allow any more innocents to get swept up in this stupid war.

Ben is feeling more lucid now and he insists that the Ohu dogs aid the raid against the Kogas. They outnumber the mohawked mongrels together and lbr this has become personal for the troops. Akame worriedly tries to convince Ben not to subject himself or his bros to this, but the dane refuses to leave it alone. Akame reluctantly agrees to let them help and begins leading the way back to the marsh.

Ben is just behind the shinobi, but he's doing a shit job at keeping with the pack. Despite having scolded Gin for running off course, Ben keeps drifting farther and farther off trail. In fact, he's essentially in the treeline now, and a concerned Gin and Cross follow to ask him where he's going.

Ben freezes up. He takes a deep sniff and realizes he's not with the others. Everyone stops running, concerned. Akame attempts to be stoic, but his brow twitches intently.

Ben tells everyone it's nbd bruh, he's just gotta take a piss, it's fine it's fine it's cool it's fine. Akame grunts and tells Kirikaze to continue leading the pack while he checks up on the big guy. Kirikaze nods and directs the others to follow him.

The only stragglers are Gin and Cross. They're both too concerned about Ben to follow orders. The two of them sneak closer to where Akame and Ben are huddled and strain to listen to what they're saying.

Akame looks sadly at Ben as the dane stares blankly ahead.

"Ben," Akame says in a low voice, "look at me."

Ben pauses for a second as if focusing hard, then turns his head. He's not looking at Akame. He's not even close to meeting eyes with him.

"Akame?" he says with a tinge of fear in his voice. "What's happening to me? I can barely see."

Akame sighs and apologizes to Ben for all this. It's a side effect of the poisoning. Ben was doped up on the bad shit long enough that there was potential for it to do some damage to his senses. The eyes and ears are most suseptible to the poison's effects, and it seems like Ben's eyes are feeling the hurt.

Ben's shoulders slump as he softly shakes his head. He figured his sudden astigmatism and fading peripheral vision had been brought on by Akame's bioweapon. He just hadn't wanted to admit it.

Gin is shaken to hear this, but he's not as upset as Cross. The Saluki is trying and failing to contain her tears.

"He'll never see--" she says before running off, unable to stand it anymore. Gin only lets her go when he hears the conversation continue.

Ben asks if he'll become totally blind. Akame says yes. Ben asks if he'll be blind forever. Akame says yes again. Ben asks if he'll be able to keep up his duties as commander. Akame doesn't respond directly but instead tries to soothe the dane by saying that he owes Ben a great debt and will pay it forward by being his eyes.

Ben takes a moment to think before thanking the Kishu, but he has a request. Cross is ready to take his place as commander when he becomes totally incapacitated, but as she was his successor she'll need a right hand dog of her own. Akame figures that all Ben's soldiers are so jacked that any of them would do nicely, but Ben has his eyes (no pun intended) set on one guy in particular.

That kid Gin... he's a good fighter, sure, but he's also young and eager and empathetic. He's got a good head on his shoulders, boundless potential, and clearly has had some training before. Within a few months he'll be fully grown, and by then he'll make a great lieutenant. Gin only now realizes he's been holding his breath.

Meanwhile, John has made quick work of the lingering Kogas, adding those who didn't flee to the abnormally high count of dog bodies in the area. When he's sure it's safe to come out of hiding, Hyena slinks out of the cave to meet John.

John recognizes the little twerp from Ohu mountain, but he's still in Fight or Fight mode so instead of saying hi he just gears up to cream him. Hyena whimpers and begs for mercy, insisting that the Kogas took him as a POW and that he's still loyal to the Ohu army. John rolls his eyes and takes Hyena's word for it before turning to leave.

Hyena dares not be alone in this above-ground graveyard, so he follows John. The shepherd either doesn't realize or doesn't care that Hyena's his new little tagalong. They wander for a bit, Hyena taking every chance he can to suck up to John, before John tells him to shut the fuck up and listen.

The dogs fall quiet. The sound is faint, but they can distinctly hear a low mumbling, or, more accurately, the muffled sound of a crowd speaking amongst themselves. Someone literally barks a command and all the voices fall silent. John nudges Hyena to follow his lead and the two sneak closer to find out what's going on.

As they advance on the group they realize that it's more of the Kogas. The cannibals are having a meeting.

Kurojaki's eye socket has stopped bleeding and instead has collapsed in on itself, the tattered lids laying concave in his skull. He's sitting atop a boulder looking down at his cult as he gently strokes the babyhawk atop his infant heir's head.

As his son mouths absentmindedly at his father's paws, Kurojaki informs his people that now is the time to strike. They've killed several of the remaining Igas and they still have enough people to take on both the ninjas and any allies they bring with them. It's time to take the Iga homestead as their own and secure a glorious future for their breed. And as an added bonus, he thinks to himself, we can fuck up that guy who took my eye.

Hyena and John take a moment to spy on the hoard from afar. Hyena points out the big guy on the rock as Kurojaki, and it's clear as day that he's the leader of this band of hoodlums. John nods and, having learned nothing from his previous ass whooping at the hands of a pack leader, puffs out his chest and readies himself to attack.

John says he's gonna tear the whole lot to smitherines and singlehandedly lower the cannibal population in the area to 0%. Hyena tries to convince him that attacking a warlord in front of his entire legion of followers is a bad idea, but John's ego demands stroking. He's already taken off in a sprint.

The shepherd tears through several of the Kogas before they even realize what's happening. He rips the throat out of one particularly unfortunate bystander who proceeds to tumble to the ground. The miserable cur seizes wildly as he dies.

Everyone is caught so off guard by this development that they don't stop John when he walks up to the bottom of Kurojaki's perch and tells the merle cyclops that his reign of terror is over. Kurojaki has literally no idea what the fuck is going on, but he rolls with the punches and tells John that he'll be crushed like a bug before the group departs on their actual mission. Before any crushing can commence, a rumbling can be heard coming closer.

It's (predictably) the Iga and Ohu dogs. The Kogas have an Oh Shit moment before scrambling into battle position. They're a little wary of the fight given there's an absolute shittonne of dogs running towards them, but Kurojaki tells them not to be a buncha bedwetting babies and fight anyway. He passes his literal bedwetter baby son off to the boy's mother so he can join the brawl. John just shrugs and goes to attack the guy nearest to him.

As army meets army, the blood begins to flow. Despite how much larger the Ohu pack is, it's really anyone's game, for the cannibals' desperation to keep their cause alive pushes them forward. Still, the Ohu dogs are holding their own. Even Ben is managing to fight off his enemies. Unfortunately for Smith, the dane's poor vision throws a spanner in the works, and the Spaniel gets a couple of chomps on the ass. Don't worry about it, Ben, he's young. He'll heal.

As the battle grows more and more out of control, Kurojaki slinks past his men and into the woods in the hopes of baiting one particular target into following him. To his delight, that target falls into his trap; Gin notices him leaving and gives chase.

Gin's too caught up in the task at hand to notice Kurojaki's leading him on purpose, but lucky for him Kurojaki is too caught up in his own plan to notice he himself is being ambushed. Akame saw Gin following the cultist, and he's bolted out of the woods to save Gin's silver hide.

Akame smacks Kurojaki face first into the dirt and is about to give him an atomic noogie when Gin's all like WAIT. Gin lets the cat out of the bag and tells Akame he knows that Ben wants to scootch Gin up the platoon's pecking order. Gin wants to use this chance to wipe the forest floor with Kurojaki to prove that Ben's right to think that.

Akame is a touch offended that Gin's a filthy eavesdropper, but he understands his motivation. He just sorta shrugs and lets Gin face off with the warlord. Gin puts up his doggy dukes and gets the ball rolling with some fighting words.

Meanwhile, everyone else is fighting a Koga of their own and they're doing a good job of it. Even Hyena is making an honest, if hopeless, attempt at mauling one of the smaller guys. He's failing miserably when he's aided by Smith, who follows up his generously saving Hyena's life by mocking him for being a wussypants and asking him why he hasn't fucked off yet.

Hyena wants Smith and the others to appeal the No Hyenas Allowed rule of their club because he's decided to be a good guy now. Smith isn't sure if he believes him, but whatever, the traitor can serve as a canine shield if nothing else. The two continue snapping at their enemies.

As the fight rages on, John makes his presence known to the platoon by leaping beside a bloodied Ben. John manages to choke out a sincere word of praise for the other dogs' fighting abilities before more graciously humbling himself to Ben by proclaiming he's ready to fall in line with his commander's orders. Ben's newly-beshitted eyes are having a hard time recognizing John, but he'd know that stuck-up, twatty voice anywhere. He instantly welcomes the shepherd back into the fold.

Gin and Kurojaki are standing off in earnest now, but they're still not really getting anywhere. They're surprisingly well matched, Gin always managing to strike and Kurojaki always managing to either dodge or deflect. They've only faced off for a few minutes more when the rumble of a bazillion dog feet advances towards them.

The Ohu and Iga dogs have managed to subdue the Kogas and now they're bumbling towards the fighters. To make matters more dramatic, a storm has been brewing. As if called in as reinforcements a bolt of lightening strikes a nearby tree and catches it on fire. With a terrified, "Shit!" Kurojaki turns tail and runs, a frustrated Gin following behind.

But before Kurojaki can run very far, someone calls down to him from above. He breaks stride and looks up. It's Wilson, finally appearing onscreen again for the first time in a while. His long, white muzzle is rippled in a snarl, and he calls Kurojaki a gutless coward for abandoning his men. And it's not just his men he's abandoned. Has he really forgotten about...

...his own son? Wilson suddenly lifts a small, mottled bundle of fur into view. It's Kurojaki's infant child, and he's crying with fright. Though Kurojaki cannot see it, Maya's body is lying beside Wilson as well, her neck broken and twisted at an ugly angle.

Gin freezes and looks on in horror, as do the other soldiers who come to a stop beside him. Everyone wants to stop this but they're too stunned to speak. The sky rumbles as if angry, lightening flashing and illuminating Wilson's spiteful white face.

"T-tesshin!" Kurojaki cries in recognition. "My boy! What are you doing with my boy?!"

"Can a fucking demon like you truly feel love for a child?" Wilson wonders aloud. "You certainly didn't show any mercy towards mine. You've never understood the horror of what you did, but now you will. I'll make you see. I'll make you pay."

Wilson begins to shake Tesshin back and forth by his tiny grey scruff. A sickening chorus of wails and squeals comes from the baby. The other soldiers are appaled by Wilson's vengeance, as is a now very desperate Kurojaki. The Koga master begins climbing uphill after Wilson, his paws splayed far out in front of him as if trying to grasp for his son.

"Stop!" Kurojaki wails desperately. "Please, please stop!"

For the first (and last) time ever both the Ohu and Iga soldiers are in agreement with Kurojaki. They also call out for Wilson to put the child down. Gin feels helpless to stop this injustice. It's cut him to the quick more then any adult dog's endangerment has yet to. Ben tries to reason with Wilson to stop, but he's distracted by Cross. She's quaking with some overpowering emotion that's not exactly anger and not exactly fear.

Kurojaki nears the hilltop as Wilson's swinging quickens and he jostles Tesshin around like a ragdoll. The Koga leaps with an enraged roar at the Collie when suddenly the two of them are joined by Cross. Before any of them can acknowledge her, Kurojaki collides with Wilson without thinking to stop and sends both the collie and his son tumbling off the hill's edge.

Kuroj screams in horror as he sees both Wilson and the baby descend into the dark gorge below, and the army dogs join his yelling as Cross mounts the hill and descends down into the dark behind them.

The wind blows mournfully as Kurojaki stands mouth agape on the hill, staring into the black pit with his remaining eye. So busy was he with his child that he has only now noticed his wife's bloody corpse sprawled beside him. His eye fills with tears.

But the tears evaporate quickly as he's taken by an overpowering fury. He turns to the stunned soliders and swears at them, damns each and every one of them for bringing his wife and child into this. He will singlehandedly kill them all.

In a (half) blind rage, Kurojaki flings himself headlong into the gaping crowd. First he tears into the massive Moss. Then he slashes Akatora up the shoulder, gives John a concussion, brings Ben to his knees, bam, bam, bam.

So powerful is his rage that one would think he's about to make good on his promise of Ohu decimation, and for the first time the soldiers and their newfound allies start backing away from their foe. All except Gin, ofc, whose protagonist moral code is preventing him from faltering.

Kurojaki's all too willing to beat Gin's ass for causing just about every bad thing in his life lately, so he runs at Gin with reckless abandon. Both he and the Akita leap at each other. A shooting star's comet trail follows Gin's arch in the sky.

The symbolism of it is enough to trigger a convenient, empowering flashback in Gin's mind of his maybe-probably-mostly-confirmed-not-dead father defending baby Gin from Akakabuto. He remembers Riki's signature bear-hunting move, a hard bite to the top of the animal's muzzle. Thinking fast, Gin performs this move on the murderous merle mongrel flying towards him.

This catches Kurojaki by surprise just long enough for Gin to rabbit kick the shinobi bastard into the dirt, bloodying both it and his foe's face in the process. Gin lands back on Earth with an equally small amount of grace by spraining every ankle he's got upon landing. He plops down onto his stomach and quivers as his muscles relax, and Kurojaki has been knocked down hard enough that he's not yet making an effort to get up.

The other dogs run forward, panting congrats to Gin for being so awesome and stuff before they move to descend on their enemy.

John makes himself known to Gin a second later when he's like whoa hold up everyone lmao chill, this is Gin's battle and he should be allowed to finish the dude off himself. Gin's just now realized John's returned, but before he can say HUH WHAT John tells him to handle business before he's offered an explanation. Already feeling a bit overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation, Gin turns at a familiar female voice telling everyone to hold their horses.

It's Cross! She's holding a fussy but living Tesshin in her jaws. Beside her is a battered, humiliated looking Wilson. The Collie sways unsurely, totally unwilling to hold anyone's gaze.

While Wilson wallows in his post-attempted infanticide guilt, Cross sets the child down. Kurojaki is a total sack of shit, she says, but he's still this little guy's dad and only remaining parent. This decision can't be made lightly because it will always come back around to affect the kid.

Gin takes this as a chance to stall on his decision and runs over to Cross, overjoyed to see she's still alive. Cross, looking even more tired then you'd expect, gives him a coy wink. She's told him before she has a soft spot for kids, yeah? After all, she's always believed they have the potential to be better then their parents. As she says this she allows Tesshin to toddle up to his daddy and lick his bloody nose.

But it's still ultimately up to Gin whether or not Kurojaki lives or dies. The decision weighs heavily on the kid. Yeah, Kuro is a violent murderer, a cult leader, an advocate of genocide, and an all around assclown, but watching Tesshin lick his deadly dad's face with unconditional affection awakens something in Gin.

He can't shake the memories of his own puppyhood. He was taken too early from his mother and only ever got to be held by his father once before he was forever stripped of the chance to have a peaceful childhood. He's steadfast in his decision to be with these soldiers, but can he truly say he's comfortable subjecting another child to the loss of their innocence?

"Kurojaki," Gin starts. The cannibal king meets Gin's gaze with his single eye. "Get out of here. Take your people with you. Don't ever come back."

Kurojaki understands this is the only chance he's got to leave, so he picks his sorry ass up and leaps with a noticable decrease in elegance into the trees. All he leaves behind him is a puddle of nose blood... and his infant son. Tesshin simply sits beside his papa's nose goo and yips pitifully, too small to understand he's been ditched but having enough cognition to know neither mommy or daddy are with him and he's frightened.

"Miserable piece of shit didn't want the kid as bad as we though," Kurotora grumbles.

The others in the crowd can't help but agree. Some of them believe it's time to kill Kurojaki after all, but Gin tells them to lay off. This whole debacle has been a real fuck of a shit and more unnecessary casualties are only going to make things worse. So long as Kurojaki actually fucks off once and for all, that's all that needs to happen.

A new discussion begins about what's to be done with the baby when the Kai Bros finally take notice of Hyena. Akame thoughtfully dashes off elsewhere as the tiger-striped trio start telling the grey-haired square to get the hell outta here. John breaks up the bloodthirsty posse by explaining that Hyena's lowkey alright actually. John's elaboration on his experience in these woods and his opinion about the Weimaraner doesn't mean much to the Kais given they've never met him before, but Gin helpfully explains that John's an old friend of his who's come to join their ranks.

He gives John a warm, appreciative smile. For a moment he looks very much like the boss smiling proudly at all his troops. John's brow is furrowed as per ush, but he can't help but smile softly back.

But John quickly wipes the smile off his face and gets back to business. Yeah, sorry about leaving the pack initially and all, but he had a bit of self discovery to do. Ya see, John went and battled with the boss. Surprised at his insolence, he's now got the attention of everybody there.

Anyway, John tried to beat the leader into submission, but he failed spectacularly and for the first time he can remember. The experience taught him something he's still too proud to state clearly, but the important thing is that it motivated him to come back. Oh, btw, the big guy himself has a message to share, generously saving the audience from further elaboration on events they've seen take place:

Akakabuto's stronghold is expanding further, and, though on a forgivingly smaller scale then the Ohu dogs, he is also attempting to grow an army of followers. The sonuvabitch may be a horrifying monster, but he ain't fuckin' stupid. He is aware that a massive hoard of dogs are coming to get him, so he's setting up counter measures to stay one step ahead of them. The troops have to hurry and expand their numbers fast, for the battle is rapidly approaching. It's only a matter of time before Akakabuto and his bears begin overtaking human settlements.

This is all well and good, like thanks for the update and all, but everyone becomes distracted by the unmistakable smell of shit burnin' down. Cross is the first to notice the orange-gold light and incredible heat illuminating the woods beyond. The dogs rush over to see what exactly is happening.

It's the Iga manor. The ancient house is quickly going up in flames, much to everyone's surprise. Even more Nani? inducing is the culprit of the mansion toasting himself, Akame.

The Kishu is standing unwavering in front of the burning building. He's grasping a burning tree branch in his mouth, no doubt having gotten it from the tree that had previously been smoldering. The night sky is alight with storm and flame alike as Akame's children run up to him and ask him what the fuck he's done.

Turns out Akame's just tired of the bullshit. He's tired of constantly having to hold off the violent cannibals they have as neighbors. He's tired of living separate from those who could serve as close allies and true friends. He's tired of leading his sons and daughters into battles they cannot win.

Fuck the house, Akame's turning a new leaf. From now on he'll be dedicating his power to the Ohu army's cause and he encourages the remaining Igas to come with. At least then their ability to whoop ass will be useful beyond gang wars.

"Akame!" a ragged voice hollers from somewhere in the woods. "You little coward!"

Everyone looks. It's Kurojaki, his mottled fur caked in dry blood, his single eye bulging. He runs over to the Igas but he doesn't make as if to attack them. Instead, he just keeps yelling, his thoughts spilling like vomit from his mouth.

Akame just HAS to be this extra, doesn't he? First Kurojaki loses his wife. Then his own child is used to humiliate him. And now Akame is burning down the one solace he had left, swiftly destroying his life's mission of overtaking the manor. With one last gibbered out swear Kurojaki leaps into the burning house.

The smell of roasted kindling is quickly laced with, then overpowered by, the stench of burning hair and melting flesh. Kurojaki screams bloody murder as the flames engulf him. Gin gazes into the abyss of Kurojaki's one eye before it pops, bubbles, and oozes down his cheek, its gooey remains soon joined by his eyebrows and the last fringes of his white mohawk. Despite his agony the mongrel makes no effort to escape the flames, instead collapsing without struggle on the immolated wooden floor.

If this whole sight wasn't fucked enough, a whole chorus of desperate cries also approach the house. It's several of the remaining Kogas all hollering out to their leader. Loyalty may be a virtue, but the outpouring of devotion from the cult leads each and every one of the mohawked dogs to leap into the flames alongside their master.

Upon realizing the hoard won't stop making like they're campfire marshmallows, Gin tries to stop them. He's just shoved out of the way. The only Koga who neither leaps into the flames or runs away is baby Tesshin. Instead the child begins nestling into, oddly enough, Wilson's ankle as he watches his family burn to death.

Akame squints into the flames as the Kogas' agonized screams fade away. The cloudy night sky finally starts drip dropping rain down on the scene and working quickly to extinguish the house. Once the flames have subsided everyone gathers to stare into the wreckage.

Gin takes the first step into the charred remains of the manor. The blackened, crumbling corpses of so many canines litter the floor. Gin hasn't felt like crying this much since his first beating from Gohei, but something physically holds him back. He lip trembles as he looks from the bodies to Akame.

Despite everything the shithead put him through, Akame, with poise unmatched by anyone on Earth, respectfully wishes that Kurojaki and his people could have dedicated themselves to a cause that wasn't so heinous. He also wishes that they may now rest in peace. Many years of anguish and war have lead up to this point, but if nothing else it served to prove that Kurojaki had a lotta resolve.

Now that nobody's gonna come in the middle of the night and kill them dead the group allows themselves to settle in and get some shut eye. Everyone is curling up beside each other when Wilson awkwardly walks up to the hoard. Tiny little Tesshin follows behind him.

Wilson seems especially interested in speaking with Gin, who is nestled in between Ben and Cross. While the Collie coyly bows respectfully to Gin, Tesshin recognizes Cross and runs to her so he can tug on her ears.

Wilson apologizes for the whole almost-committing-infantacide thing. He's deeply ashamed of how low he stooped to strike back against his Kurojaki. Now that he's gotten to see him die in literally the most painful way possible, Wilson hasn't got any ill will towards any Kogas anymore, least of all the only truly innocent one. He accepts that what he did was super shitty even if he'd been blinded by immense grief. He wants to do right and contribute to something that matters, so he'd like to know if everyone - Ben, Cross, Gin - would allow him to stay with the pack.

Nobody responds for a moment, though Gin makes as if he wants to say something. Instead the first to speak is Cross. She tells Wilson that despite the immorality of his behavior she understands his pain. She takes a deep breath and places her paw over Ben's, which seems to have signaled him to lean soothingly against her. Cross begins explaining to Wilson - and Gin, just cause he's there - what her life was like before she joined the Ohu army.

Cross was, as most of the folks here were, a hunting dog. She met Akakabuto once or twice out in the wild, but it took her a while to stand off against him in earnest. Before then she had been bred to another Saluki (Ben politely doesn't say anything to this) and had a litter of puppies. She was blessed with the chance to raise and live with her children into their early adult years, but this is Ginga so her backstory wouldn't have been brought up if it'd stayed idyllic forever.

Her master brought her and her 2 year old children along on a hunt one day when the group was met with the pants-shittingly horrifying sight that is Akakabuto. The bear struck one of Cross's sons across the face, snapping his neck and killing him instantly. Cross and her other children tried to defend themselves and their owner, but one by one her kids were brutally murdered.

The only reason Cross herself survived was because when Akakabuto struck her across the back - the thing that left the scars she bears to this day - she took a fall so hard that she couldn't get up and he believed her to be dead.

All throughout this battle Cross and her kids had been looking desperately to their master for help, but he never given it. While they'd tried to defend the man with their lives, he had been running away and leaving them for dead.

Akakabuto eventually grew bored of the dead dogs and left them behind. When she felt some degree of safe, Cross had crawled over to each of her children's corpses and wept into them.

For a while Cross had nothing much to live for. She didn't care about her owner anymore - in fact, she hated just about the whole of humanity at this point sans one human child who had once fed her while she was wandering aimlessly - and her children were all dead. The only thing that kept her going was her hatred for Akakabuto, her burning desire to see him pay for what he'd done to her.

But she had never been a stray before, and despite her strength it was hard to make ends meet. She barely ate enough to fill a cavity most days and she was quickly growing weak, emaciated, and depressed. She'd felt like giving up.

It was around this point when a red and white Akita Inu had found her. At first she had been afraid of him given he was a wild-looking, battlescarred character with an unreadable face, but he'd shown her a kindness she hadn't felt for a long time. He'd lead her back to his pack, an impressively large collective of other former hunting dogs, and told them that she was their guest. They were to treat her with kindness and feed her back to health before letting her go.

The soldiers were mostly nice to her, if a bit awkward regarding her emotional state. Most of them were dudes and the chicks in the bunch were more about biting and killing then offering any TLC. There was one dog who was especially kind to her, though. His name was Ben (Ben smiles and twitches his ears at the mention of his name), and he was an extremely noble, involved dog who lead the first platoon. She and him instantly clicked, and so they became fast friends.

Cross quickly regained her lost weight and, with Ben's help, regained her lost muscle mass... and then some! So grateful was she for both Ben's kindness and the boss's generosity that she insisted she stay with the pack. She humbly requested membership to the first platoon, promising that she could keep up with the others. She even offered to train under Ben's supervision if need be.

The leader had smiled at her and responded with a gentle nod and a twinkle in his eye. The rest, as they say, is history.

So engrossed in Cross's story was Gin that he'd barely noticed when Wilson laid down beside them. He also didn't really notice when Ben told Wilson that he was welcome so long as he used violence as a means of achieving peace, not as a means of releasing his anger. Nor did he notice when Tesshin wobbled over to Moss and his son and was happily invited to spend the night tucked between the pudgy Mastiff's enormous paws.

But he does notice when Cross winks at him and tucks herself tightly against her doghusband, and he takes this as a sign that storytime is over.

Gin settles in beside his friends to sleep, now better understanding the depth of their devotion. As he dozes he imagines Riki (or, at least, the dog who looks a shittonne like Riki) offering shelter to a boney Cross, training up gentle giant Ben, and lovingly smiling down from his perch at his ever-growing pack.

He imagines the Riki Dog smiling down at him, too, and reaching out a paw to him. Before he can imagine himself touching paws with the boss he fades into a deep, dreamless sleep.

At the buttcrack of dawn the troops head out. They're now joined by John, Wilson, the remaining Igas, and even Kurojaki's little son (who Moss has begun happily carrying around in between the folds on his back). The mission to find more soldiers continues on, and all the dogs begin the journey southward to scope out more canine meatheads for their cause.

Bust out the water wings, folks, because the troops are headed to the seaside. Gin's never seen the ocean before, so he's super weirded out by so much water in one place. John considerably refrains from mocking him for not knowing what the sea is and explains that crossing the ocean is necessary to reach different countries. Given that John once lived in some mysterious land called Your Up, Gin takes his word for it.

The gang boards an abandoned ship half submerged in the ocean. Gin takes a chance to gaze over the edge and into the water below. His eyes sparkle with curiosity as the waves wash to and fro before the boat.

His gaze follow the waves as they go out and out and out further and further away, the expanse of water stretching out miles ahead. Also miles ahead is a mass of land that looks no larger then a grain of rice. Gin excitedly calls out that he's found a foreign country.

Wilson politely tells Gin that he's got a good eye, but that's not a foreign country. It's just Shikoku. Ole Willy used to travel there frequently during his circus days, and it's also where he met nomadic Mortal Enemy #2.

Before Wilson has a chance to elaborate, Ben interrupts. He closes his foggy eyes and takes in the sounds of the waves before saying that yeah, Shikoku's pretty lit. Lotsa bodybuilder types over there, dogs specifically bred and raised for battle. This fills Gin with the sort of glee that'd seem excessive in a hyperactive schoolgirl. Gin begs the dane to let him go on a field trip to Battle Dog Island.

Everything is a blurry mass of God-knows-what in Ben's eyes, but even he can tell Shikoku is a long ways away. He asks how exactly Gin plans on getting there, to which Gin responds with, "Swimming, of course." This is foolish, obviously, as doggy paddling that far through these waters would be impossible. Ben kindly but firmly tells Gin that he'll be just as much help in gathering troops here.

Ben turns with a degree of finality back into the captain's quarters, his face turning redder then normal as he bonks his muzzle into the doorframe. Despite his upset at being denied permission to abandon ship Gin follows after him in concern when Wilson calls him back.

He tells Gin that he's sorry the kid can't come, but Ben knows best. Gin disagrees - he HAS to go. It's his duty to take Ben's place on the trip, for the newly disabled dog won't make it very far in these conditions.

Several of the dogs seem confused about what this means before Gin passes around volume 3 of the manga and catches them up to speed on how Ben's poisoning has started sapping away his sight. As some of them "ohhhhhhhh" in realization, Smith chimes in with a haven't you people ever heard of not leaving the commander of a platoon behind.

John insists that Gin's a tough cookie, perfect to take Ben's place. So long as he has his immaculate bestie beside him, ofc. He'll be going with Gin, too. Not wanting to be left out, Smith also insists on going. So do the Kai Bros. So does Wilson.

Cross looks as if she wants to say something, but she restrains herself. Gin notices and asks her if she'd like to Come Along by Cosmo Sheldrake. She unconvincingly says she'd love to but she can't leave Ben alone in his condition. It's pretty obvious she's keeping something from everyone, but before they can pry she trots off to join Ben in his quarters.

Smith mutters about how he thinks Cross has been looking a little differently lately but he can't quite put his paw on how. Gin doesn't say anything. Instead he just watches her leave.

Nighttime comes right on schedule. The Ohu dogs are sprawled across the poopdeck, pooped from their travels. Most of them are asleep, but some are only pretending to snooze.

Gin is one of those fakers. He slowly and quietly gathers the other pretenders to join him towards the front of the ship. He has a moment of hesitation before leaping into the water when he sees how aggressive the waves are tonight, but he tries not to show any doubt. This has to be done.

Just before he's about to go, the ever-so-gentle scrapping of claws on wood directs his attention behind him. The gathered gang looks back and sees the Igas are also awake and eager to join them.

Akame feels it's his responsibility to lighten Ben's load in this regard. He'll be leaving the near-sighted dog in the care of Papa Moss. Besides, God only knows what the dogs in Shikoku are like, so why not bring a ninja along just in case? Finally satisfied with the group's size, everyone gathers their courage and jumps into the ocean.

Huge black and blue waves toss the dogs around as they struggle to stay afloat. Smith hesitates at the boat's edge upon realizing what sorta Jackass stunt they're pulling here, but he can't back out now. He gives a loud squeak as he cannonballs into the water.

John's rolling his eyes and mocking Smith's masculinity from the boat when he realizes that he can see a pair of eyes glimmer from nearby. Someone is awake and moving towards them! "Oh shit," John manages as he leaps gracefully in after the others.

Turns out that the nosy parker was just Cross. Upon seeing everyone abandon ship she comes trotting, then running, to the deck's edge. She can just make out the shining wet fur of the dogs in the ocean. She hopes aloud that they'll make it.

A confused, groggy voice from behind her catches her attention. She turns to see that Ben has woken up. Moss is trailing behind, a still snoozing Tesshin draped across his broad forehead. Ben asks Cross what she's doing awake. All is still. The silence speaks volumes, and Ben realizes that Gin has taken off in one of his hare-brained schemes again. Cross is about to defend the kid's decision when Ben sorta just shrugs and sighs.

Ben figures that when someone like Gin gets an idea in his head, he won't abandon it. He'll either learn his lesson the hard way or live to do them all a great service, and Gin's proven time and time again he's not likely to up and die on them. Besides, the dane admits, he kinda wanted to ask Gin to ride (swim?) shotgun anyway, but he couldn't justify asking the youngest troop to do it. Though Ben can't see the dogs swim away he still looks out towards the sea.

The dogs swim for a longass time, paddling in their namesakeway as the waves threaten to toss them into space. Shikoku both is and isn't as far away as they imagined, and this eats away at their patience while they grow more and more tired. Gin is capable of leading the charge given his childhood waterboardings but he's also losing steam.

The only thing keeping him moving is the sliver of moonlight above. When the partial moon is intercepted by the clouds, the shape it forms bears resemblance to Riki's silhouette atop his Throne Hill. Gin can't let the big man down.

After a while the dogs come across a reprieve from their struggle: a tiny island, little more then a small hunk of muddy, sandy land sticking up out the water. Shikoku isn't much further now, but the whole lot is swung out. There's just enough room on the puny isle to allow everyone refuge for the night.

The dogs all adorably snuggle up beside each other to keep warm against the cold ocean winds. As Gin rests his head across John's shoulders he takes one last peek at the moon. The Riki Clouds have vanished. He just sighs and closes his eyes.

Night turns to day and things are getting interesting in Shikoku. A nationwide dog fighting tournament is in full swing, making everyone reading this instantly a little less comfortable. In this particular fight, two Tosa dogs named Niouryu ("Nio dragon") and Musashi ("master warrior") are duking it out to a screaming crowd of weirdos who like watching dogs sumo wrestle.

Musashi's gotten the drop on Niouryu and is clearly winning via attempted strangulation. For the sake of saving Niouryu's life and so as I never have to write that name again, the fight is broken up and Musashi is declared winner.

This is very exciting news for the Musashi fans in the crowd because it means that the dude has won the Dog Wrastling championship for the 2nd year in a row. True, he's working his way up from middleweight to heavyweight, but this ain't no small potatoes. Musashi's unmatched prowess is celebrated as he is donned in traditional championship garb. The dog proudly holds his scarred head high as he gazes wistfully into the distance. His nose twitches as he detects something strange on the wind.

Musashi's trainer takes him back to his kennel alongside several other competitors. All of the dogs, Mushie Boy included, begin barking, seemingly alerted to something nearby. Musashi's trainer doesn't know what to make of this so he leaves the kennel to go snooping around in the hopes of finding the source of the dogs' intruige.

Unseen to all but the fighters' noses, the Ohu dogs reveal that they've made it to Shikoku by posing mysteriously atop the high stone wall surrounding the kennels. Gin gazes down at Musashi. They GOTTA get this guy to join the army.

The Ohu dogs climb down from the wall and disappear into the nearby woods until the sun begins to set and all the humans are gone. The kennel dogs have just settled in when the same smell from before recaptures their interest. Musashi growls but refrains from barking when he sees three synchronized silhouettes approach his cage.

"Who is it? Who's there?" Musashi says with all the confidence of a lion who's punched God to death.

The shadows whisper in low voices that that's not important right now. What is important is that Musashi agrees to come with.

Musashi doesn't feel like missing bedtime so he tells them to fuck off. One of the silhouettes, the one missing an ear, tells him that if he doesn't willingly join their canine convoy they're gonna force him to. Musashi demonstrates that this is an incredibly stupid thing to say to a fighting champion in a way that surprises the trio. He knows how to open his kennel and he's feeling cranky. He grabs the one eared dog as the stripey group tries to scatter.

Luckily for the Kai Kens the other kennel dogs are barking up a storm, all jerring and yelling FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT. This noise would serve only as an irritant if it didn't cause someone, a human, to call out in confusion. A light inside a nearby building turns on.

Moments later the circular beam of a flashlight can be seen from the other side of the yard. Musashi has an Oh Shit moment and releases the dog he's holding. He tells the three that he's impressed by their ballsiness, but if they wanna live to see another day they need to pound pavement.

The dogs seem less afraid of Musashi's threats then they do of the man with the light. As the man calls out to the dogs the three brindles scramble out of the yard, each making a beeline for the treeline. Once he's certain they've left, Musashi meekly sits down and waits for his master to come find him. The man joins him within a moment and scoffs, scolds Musashi for breaking out again, and finally leads the dog back to his kennel.

The Kai Bros (btw it was so obviously the Kai Bros who came aknocking on Musashi's door) start heading back into the forest, kicking pebbles in their path and muttering about how it sucks ass that they didn't successfully kidnap someone to fight a war with them. As Chutora and Kurotora begin detailing just how much ass the situation sucks, Akatora tells them to shut their yapholes and hide. Someone - a LOT of someones, it smells like - are following them. The brothers dive into the bushes.

An asstonne of quadrapedal silhouettes dot the hills nearby. The strangers smell unfamiliar and are poised as if they mean business so Akatora tells everyone to head back to Gin. His littermates start whining about how running away isn't very cash money of them but Akatora nips them on the backsides to move them along. By this point he wouldn't have needed to put tooth to butt. The pack has descended from their vantage point and is headed straight for them.

The trio takes off in a gallop as tens of angry looking dogs, all barking and yelling for the intruders to stop, give chase. Kurotora's got a terrible Napoleon complex going on so he gives up running and instead tries to fight some of the dogs away. This backfires phenominally badly because the pack swiftly overpowers him, then overpowers his bros when they come running to his defense. Manly, agonized screams ring out in the night.

Somewhere insultingly close by Gin and his coterie have noticed the commotion. John proposes that sending the most overzealous and tactless of them to convince a champion fighter to leave his home wasn't a great decision. Though Gin realizes he fucked up by doing this, he's too proud to show the embarassment he feels for his idea. Instead he just tells everyone they oughta go see what the screaming's for so as to make sure they're not down three soldiers.

The troops head deeper into the forest, each keeping their eyes peeled and ears open to see if they can find the disappeared brothers. The Igas try to contribute to the search by leaping through the trees and ahead of the pack. The thick smell of an unfamiliar group lingers in the air, but no one can be seen.

No, wait, there is someone there. A sliver of moon shine casts a dim spotlight over a muscular dog carrying something red and black and striped all over. It's Musashi! He's got a concerned look on his face and a busted up Akatora stretched across his back.

"I'm guessing the Kai brothers didn't convince you to come peacefully?" Smith asks, the urge to alleviate the situational tension clouding his manners.

Musashi shrugs and allows Akatora to slip from his shoulders and onto the ground. Gin quickly looks over the Kai Ken as John snaps at Musashi for doing this to their friend. Musashi's eyes grow wide and spiteful. He tells the dogs to lay off for chrissakes. Believe it or don't, he's here to help. Akatora agrees in a choked voice; Musashi rescued him when he was too injured to save his brothers.

Gin asks Musashi to explain what the shit's happening so the Fite Club veteran lays it all out. The triplets were attacked by a pack that lives in these here parts, a pack that's lead by a dastardly bastard whos exploits encourage gossip even among the most seasoned of fighting dogs. This aforementioned bastard goes by Bandit Bill, and he's a notoriously brutal brown doberman who lives in an abandoned Buddhist shrine. He's a territorial sort and was probably upset that a buncha insolent strays came piddlefarting around his domain.

Before Musashi goes on about Billy the Kid he gives a broken smile and says he'd gone to follow the obnoxious brothers upon realizing that they might have ties to the giant army of dogs that's been growing and moving across Japan. Gin gapes, somehowhaving been oblivious to how a nomadic collective of dedicated troops might catch the populace's attention.

Musashi states that he's glad the army seems real because it means he can be flattered at how they've come to recruit him. Bee tee dubbya, he's totally down to join them. He's been a fighting dog long enough for it to get dull. The old man is ready to live out the rest of his life as one big adventure.

A second later a white dog drops down from the trees. It's Akame here to say that he and the other fair furred folk have managed to locate Chutora and Kurotora. The good news is that they're still alive. The bad news is that they're in front of a weird, ancient looking monument swarming with buff-looking dogs. Musashi confirms that that's Bill's pad, though he doesn't understand why Bill would keep trespassers around instead of just killing them.

Gin immediately announces a rescue mission. Musashi tells everyone to hold their horses. He's gonna go home and bring back his posse to help sort this out. Bill isn't a bloodthirsty idiot - standing in front of him isn't a death sentence - but he needs to know these guys have backup. It'd also be easier for locals to get information outta him as opposed to new guys from across the sea. Better to talk then fight, yeah?

Musashi departs while warning the troops that it'll be a hot minute before he busts open all the kennels at home, but he swears he'll be back by morning. Given there's not much they can do til Musashi gets back, the dogs set up camp for the night. The night seemingly passes without incident, and the crowing of a rooster can be heard as the sun rises.

Wait, did I say rooster? Oopsie! I meant Smith starts shrieking to the other soldiers that OH SHIT, GIN IS MISSING. John wakes with a start at his friend's name, and as soon as he's truly concious there's no doubt in his mind as to where Gin is.

Predictably Gin has run off to solve this problem by himself. Only this time he has a moment of self reflection. He realizes aloud that he very often ends up helping, yes, but he also has the habit of tying situations in big, complicated knots by making decisions on the fly... just like he's doing right now.

And yet he can't say he feels remorse for it. He doesn't have the time to. He needs to save his friends. He needs to prove himself to Ben. He needs to do this to protect the village, the people, his family, his Daisuke.

The ancient monument, Bill's Bandit Bed-n-Breakfast, is lookin' pretty eerie in the shady woods. The only thing that makes the dark, imposing forest more intimidating is the two dog heads sticking out of the dirt smack dab in the middle of the monument's front yard. It's Chutora and Kurotora, and both are exhausted from struggling to escape their halfassed graves. A deep, slimy voice cackles triumphantly as something lithe, black, and endlessly shitty exits the building.

It's General Sniper! The bastard merrily licks his lips as he watches the Kais struggle to free themselves from the Earth's unwelcome hug. Mr. S is just about to go on about how great he is or some shit when a dog from Bill's pack, one who had totalled the Kai Bros, runs into view and tells him there's an issue. They have a visitor, someone none of Bill's crew has ever seen before. Sniper runs to the arch out front.

Gin's parked his little silver ass just in front of the arch and is refusing to explain to any of Bill's soldiers why he's here until he has council with Billiam The Bad Guy himself.

"I am a representative of the leader of Ohu," he says in the deepest voice he can muster, "and I shall tell you no more. Please allow me to speak to your boss."

"Oh, no, I don't think that's going to happen," Sniper says snidely.

Gin is surprised to see the hoodlum here, but Sniper doesn't explain himself. Instead, his brow crinkles cruelly as he repeats what Gin said: so, he's here to rep for Ohu, huh? Got himself a promotion, ey? How charming.

Sniper turns to Bill's men and explains that this stupid kid's boss is a tyrant trying to take over Shikoku's prime real estate, ignoring Gin's protests and cries of What The Hell Dude. Bill's men approach Gin to tackle him, but Gin leaps past them before they can.

Gin continues to frog-hop his way onto the front lawn where he's shocked to find two of his compadres buried alive. Little Chu and Kuro, Too yell at him to get out, it's a trap! But Gin's too stubborn to listen. He ignores their pleading begins trying to dig them out instead.

While Gin is distracted, Sniper launches himself into the Akita and sends him flying. Gin quickly rights himself, his nose bleeding, and swears aloud while telling Sniper it's unsportsmanlike to strike from behind. The little German chickenshit better be ready to fight because his treason will not go unpunished.

Sniper yells a barrage of death threats at Gin as if all of Twitter is rushing through his veins when he hears one of Bill's men call for everyone to retreat. Sniper looks up and dumbly utters a confused "Huh?". The Ohu dogs have caught up to Gin, and they're here to stop this madness!

Sniper tells Bill's troops not to puss out of a fight. They've got enough dogs to rival these suckers. The troops comply and the fur starts to fly. For a moment it seems like the Ohu dogs will be able to swiftly end this battle. Unfortunately, they lose the upper hand just as swiftly.

Sniper has made his way over to Kurotora and he's got his fangs pressed up against the black brindle's jugular. He mumbles through a mouthful of dog neck that the Ohu folks must surrender to The Bill Brigade or else he'll start killing the helpless hostages. Gin blurts out for the Ohu dogs to stop fighting without a second thought. Sniper responds by telling his ex-army not to move or else the stripey guy gets it.

Bill's fighters take this as a chance to start beating the shit outta the now motionlss soldiers. Gin's eyes fill with tears of frustration and realization at the severity of the impossible situation before them. Before anyone can die, however, someone else comes in and smacks Sniper so hard he flies back a few feet.

It's another Doberman, a brown and tan one with sunken eyes. This other pinscher says in a deep, silken voice that Sniper can kindly fuck off with this sadism. Bandit Bill can handle his own intruders, thank you very much. Besides, he doesn't believe in killing for the fun of it. If Sniper wants to be his right-hand man he needs to respect the rules of Bill's domain.

Sniper half-snarls, half-whines to Bill about how all is fair in love and war. Gin tells his cliche ass to shut up because the Ohu lads aren't here to fight. They're here to ask for help.

Before any more nonsense can go down someone calls ahoy from the arch. It's Musashi! The big man has kept true to his word and has brought tens of his fighting buds with him, many more dogs then the Ohu guys knew lived in his kennel. Indeed a small army of Tosas trail behind Musashi-sama as he steps up to greet Bill.

Mushmush asks in the voice of a gossiping old biddy if Billy has heard of these guys. They're bear hunters with good intentions, ya know. Bill says that yeah, he's heard about the bear stuff, but their former general here has a different story to tell.

Gin insists Sniper is a big fat stupid ugly liar. They're not here to steal land or dominate Shikoku or whatever, they deadass just need soldiers for their cause. Musashi interjects by saying he's not one to get involved in work place drama. To him it seems the real issue is that Gin and Sniper need to settle a beef they've been fostering. Bill appreciates the sentiment (as well as any chance he gets to watch a good fight), so he agrees. Let these two handle this shit the old fashioned way: with tooth and nail.

Gin licks the tacky, drying blood from his nose and dives at Sniper so as to get this party started. Sniper catches him off guard and sends him flying into a tree's trunk. Gin starts scrambling to his feet but he's not quick enough to dodge Sniper snagging him by the scruff of the neck. John almost rushes forward to intervene when Akame restrains him and assures him that they can save Gin if it comes to it, but they'd better hang back in case they upset Bill.

Sniper wildly moves his jaw around and leaves big bloody slashes across Gin's neck, his teeth fumbling around the kid's collar. Realizing he can't tear Gin's throat out with the big leather slab in the way, Sniper has another idea. He tells everyone to watch what happens when you fuck with Mr. S as he gives Gin's neck a hard squeeze and an even harder twist. All the dogs gape in horror as they hear a bizarre, powerful snap. Sniper releases his grip on Gin's neck and the Akita tumbles to the dirt.

John swears loudly. He wastes no time in detailing how he's gonna shove Sniper's ass down his throat when a weak cough makes everyone aware that Gin is still moving. Even Sniper is surprised as the dogs watch Gin hobble to his feet.

Blood is oozing from Gin's clearly not-broken neck. Just before one can say "wait so like what happened", Gin's leather collar slips off his shoulders and hits the ground with a small thump. A white tear in the leather ring explains the strange breaking noise.

For just a second Gin is lost in the memory of when he was given the collar. It wasn't Gohei who'd bestowed it upon him. It had been Diasuke. The boy had said that it had once been worn by Gin's dad, which may or may not have just been a cover for a convenient purchase from Pet Smart. Regardless, Gin silently thanks Daisuke for giving him protection he didn't even know he had, and he thanks God himself for giving him the massive muscles he needs to tear Sniper a new one.

And tear he does, for he begins giving this asslancing all he's got. He runs rings around Sniper, leaps down upon him from the trees, and finishes off his display of hypermasculinity by swinging the Doberman from a hind leg until the pitiful would-be dictator cries out for him to stop.

Gin does indeed stop, but not without placing a humilation cherry on this assbeating sundae. He swings the pinscher into a branch of a tree. When he lets go all can see that Sniper's dangling from the branch by his spiked collar.

"Shit! Damnit!" Sniper howls, defeated. "Let me down! Someone let me down!" But nobody comes to his aid. Either they're too stunned or, like Smith, are laughing at the ridiculous sight. Bill takes Sniper's dangling very seriously, though, and he calls up to Sniper that he's ashamed to be the same breed as him. Then he turns to Musashi with a smile. He would be giving a slow, polite clap if he had hands.

Gin relishes the moment by boldly telling Sniper to never show his ugly mug again because he's the one dog alive, the one dog in the whole world, who Gin will never forgive. The youngin gives the stuck up commander one last chance to fuck off and live peacefully elsewhere. Sniper only responds with more swearing and even more desperate pleas for help.

Gin thanks Musashi for his backup. He's about to thank Bill too when the Doberman takes a step back. Oh no, he's not getting buddy-buddy with anyone yet.

Musashi looks like he's about to roll up his non-existant sleeves and convince Bill otherwise when the dobie explains: Bill would like to meet this Ohu Boss guy himself before deciding if he's gonna join anyone else's army. He's willing to go with, but no promises on whether or not he'll be killing any bears.

Gin figures this is as good as it's gonna get, so he nods and welcomes Bill into the fold. John playfully elbows Gin in the side. This is all well and good, but it's about time to get back to Ben, yeah?

Before everyone can start planning the cruise back, Musashi stops them and gives them a tip. There's an even stronger dog who lives out here, some dude who's rumored to be the strongest in the world. The Ohu troops look intrigued. Some of them excitedly ask Gin if he'd like to meet this superdog. Of course Gin's like HELL YEAH. The dogs all depart, leaving Sniper cursing and swaying from the tree.

And so all three of the packs (the Ohu soldiers, Musashi's crew, and Bill's cronies) join together and start their trek to meet the world's strongest dog. Next stop: the city of Uwajima. Gin allows Musashi to show them the way, but he can tell by how his men fall in behind him that they're really taking his lead.

Gin can't help but feel a warm sense of pride well up inside him. He hopes he can be as good a commander as Ben. He hopes he can do right by the Ohu leader.

After another day long road trip the dogs emerge panting from the forest onto a cliff overhanging a seaside city. Seemingly having remembered all the times Ben refused to speak up about his own prospective recruits, everyone quickly asks Musashi to describe the dog they're after. Musashi's less reserved then Benny is so he settles on his haunches and launches into a story for the ages.

Benizakura ("crimson cherry blossom") is his name, and dog fighting is his game. The dude is an astoundingly tall and muscular Tosa Inu mix as well as an honored veteran in the fighting world. Legend has it he was born 10 years ago in Japan's snowiest mountain region. He was born to two village mutts of unknown ancestory and for a while he was a simple housepet. That was before he turned 2, at which point his master realized there was money to be made off of him after having seen him tear a cheeky village dog he hated he limb from limb.

By the age of 3 Benizakura had effectively dominated the dog fighting championships. He'd body slamming his way through medium, then large, then heavyweight dogs one by one. He traveled all over Japan and had made his mark on history by never losing a single fight. It came as a surprise to nobody when he finally entered the running for the nation's top canine yokozuna (highest rank in sumo wrestling.)

When he'd clawed his way to the big leagues, his greatest opponent was Japan's then-current champion yokozuna. This dog was an equally imposing purebred Tosa named Tsuna Arashi ("rope storm"). Tsuna was no spring chicken - by this point he'd been about 8 or 9 years old - but he'd spent the last 6 years of his life claiming and reclaiming his championship title. Though it was apparent upon their first meeting that Tsuna respected Benizakura's perserverance, the champ had no intention of letting the younger dog take his glory.

Musashi says that this fight was one for the books which I guess makes it highly unfortunate that dogs can't read. Hell, even the wet-behind-the-biceps kids Musashi used to train would recount it with awe.

See, the two dogs' gameness had been admirably strong. They'd never once relented in their assault of each other. Not when their muscles began to quake, not when they drooling bloody spittle, not when Benizakura's ears had been torn to ribbons. Kick, bite, snarl, tear, claw, throw, strike.

Their faces wet with blood and their muscles failing, neither dog refused to give in. And because of that the match's thirty minute time limit came to an end. No decided victor could be decided between them.

Tsuna Arashi was carted away by his master and Benizakura was left in an exhausted rage. He hadn't won. He hadn't even lost. He'd gotten nothing. Nothing at all but a face full of scars and two ragged stumps where his ears used to be.

Time passed without much incident for Benizakura as he continued his training at home. He still had the respect of his peers, and the dude was as strong as ever. His ears couldn't be saved, but they could be cropped, and so his master gave him a battle crop so low his stumpy little ear nubs were almost flush with his skull.

After a few more months of training Benizakura's owner suggested a rematch against Tsuna, but the dog's owner declined. Tsuna was an old fart by now. His eyes were riddled with cataracts, he had developed diabetes, and he was ready to retire. And so Benizakura was blue balled cruelly by fate, never managing to win himself that championship from his greatest foe.

Musashi pauses for a moment before Gin asks what happened after that. Musashi continues his tale of whoopass woe by detailing that, being a dog and not having the context to these conversations, Benizakura never stopped itching for a chance to beat Tsuna Arashi for real. He'd continued his training, continued his hoping.

Three years later just before his 6th birthday, Benizakura finally felt ready to try again. When he came to realize Tsuna would never return on his own accord, Benizakura had busted out of his kennel and gone to find Tsuna himself.

Benizakura crossed water and shore and forest to find Tsuna Arashi, and eventually he did. What he found horrified him. The blind, elderly dog was locked in a pen and being chewed up and spat out piece by piece by the next generation of fighting dogs.

Tsuna Arashi had become a miserable bait animal biding his time til one of his master's newest pupils got too overzealous and handled him just a little too roughly. The sight stopped Benizakura's blood cold. It was then that he'd realized that if he stayed in the fighting game this would be his future, too.

Enraged at the injustice of it all, Benizakura leapt into Tsuna's pen and killed the other dogs, their humans looking while the beast of an animal ripped their livelihoods apart. And this is what they would call him from now on: The Beast. A fitting name given his mauled appearance and massive stature.

But Benizakura either didn't notice the humans screaming or he didn't care. Covered in blood, he'd merely leapt out of the pen just as swiftly as he'd leapt into it, this time leaving a dazed and confused Tsuna Arashi behind.

Since then Benizakura hasn't returned to his OG master. Hell, the only evidence that he may still be alive at all is the fact that Uwajima locals catch a glimpse at him now and again. The Beast has become a sort of Japanese Bigfoot. Though the muscleman lives as a cryptid nowadays, Musashi swears by his belief that The World's Strongest Dog is still alive. The hard part will be finding him.

Meanwhile, back at the ship the Ohu dogs have claimed as a temporary home base, Cross has been left in charge because both Moss and Ben have had to take off due to pressing circumstances. Cross is pretty miffed at being left behind, but Ben had just assured her that her service is appreciated and he'd be back in a jiffy.

Problem is that several jiffies end up passing by as Cross waits and she's getting tired of leading troops on simple hunting missions. These dogs can take care of themselves without someone telling them how to hold down the fort. But what about Gin?

Gin's nearing 2 years now, but he's still so young and has so little experience. Dogs don't have cell phones or group chats so there's really no way to tell how he's doing. And so Cross nudges a subordinate named Luke, a speckled pointer mix, and tells him to take care of business while she gets the scoop on the wayward pooches.

Luke seems bashful in accepting, trying to murmur out something about how Cross might not be in the best way to brave the sea, but Cross won't be having it. She says her goodbyes and then dives into the waves. The tide has settled exponentially but the ocean still does a good job at knocking her around.

While Cross is boogie boarding, Wilson and Gin are poking around the peaceful streets of Uwajima. Most of what they see is quiet, amiable people going about their business, but there is one especially loud something happening nearby. Gin says it sounds like a lotta hooplah for boring city stuff, but Wilson disagrees.

Willy had once traveled here when his circus made its rounds in Shikoku and, if memory serves correctly, bull baiting is a common sport in the region. That's probably what they're hearing now. He assures Gin it's not worth getting involved - bulls don't fight bears - but Gin ignores him and goes to see anyway.

The two make like everyone in this damn story does and stand atop a hill overlooking the bullfight. It's a big runny-aroundy event taking place inside a wooden pen surrounded by hooting, hollering humans. Several of them are cheering for someone called "Don", and in the pen with a very pissed-off bovine stands an absolute unit of a dog.

Gin's eyes widen as he examines the pooch: massive Ginga pecs, Tosa Inu mix, ears cropped almost flat against his head. It's him. It must be him. Benizakura. Wilson tries to explain that Musashi said Benizakura is more like a sasquatch then a regular sports enthusiast, but Gin just excitedly grasps at Wilson's fluffy white chest and tells him to look, look! As the two watch, the dog, presumably the aforementioned Don, uses all his chunk to snag the immature bull by the neck and flip it over using its center of gravity against it. The crowd goes fucking nuts, and too Gin is beside himself with delight. Wilson concedes that maybe, just maybe, this dog IS the strongest in the world.

Someone in the pin comes and separates Don from the bull. As he does so a young boy comes running up to grab Don by the neck and shower him with praise. The old dog seems pretty pleased with himself, holding his head high as the onlookers cheer.

Wilson's not entirely convinced this dude is Benizakura, but he does believe that the army could use this veritable canine tank in their ranks. He asks Gin how he proposes they get the Hulk Hogan of animals to come with. Gin deadass just takes off in a run.

Wilson calls out to Gin to slow his roll, but this roll ain't stoppin' anytime soon. Gin leaps over several gawking onlookers, each one alarmed and confused. Then the Akita aims right for Don while yelling, "Forgive my rudeness, Benizakura!"

The old dog falters, confused. He poses as if ready to take a blow from Gin, but no blow comes. Instead Gin pulls the canine equivilent of a pantsing and yoinks Don's collar from around his neck.

Don's boychild seems insulted that Gin dare makey his dog nakey and demands he drop it, bad dog, spit it out. Don stands growling at the Akita and Gin stands growling back in return. Gin's worried for a split second that this dude might really just be some random guy, but his fears fade when the old dog snarls through a face full of scars, "Who are you? How do you know my real name?"

Gin smiles around the collar in his mouth as he's overcome with relief. But he doesn't get more then a moment to enjoy having found the living legend because the big guy is running towards him, scolding him for his unorthidox greeting and offering him a similar one in kind. A huge white paw lashes out at Gin's face, smacks him silly, and throws him off his feet.

Wilson watches in a panic on the hill. He wishes he had either backup or a unicycle so he could fix this mess. Benizakura Confirmed lashes a paw out at Gin's face once more, only this time Gin has the foresight to brace himself against it.

The crowd seems stunned that a dog only 2/3rds "Don's" size could stop his strike. Wilson is equally surprised. So is Benizakura.

Upon remembering that they paid to be here, several people in the crowd encourage the new Little Guy to give his all against "Don" while others encourage the sumo vet to snap the youngster over his knee. But Benizakura doesn't do anything escept look intently into Gin's eyes, staring like he means to find something.

Gin smiles his soft, goofy smile once more and tells Benizakura this is what the lawbooks call a case of Pinch, Poke, You Owe Me A Coke. He only struck Benizakura once. Benizakura has struck him twice. Big Man owes him a free hit, and he'll be coming back for it later.

Benizakura seems first confused, then insulted, then confused again by Gin's forwardness. And with nothing more then a wink and a duck, Gin leaves Benizakura behind, foot raised and jaw slack.

Gin leaps back out of the pen and joins Wilson. The crowd goes nuts once again, this time because they're all wondering what the shit they just saw. Wilson and Gin quickly depart.

The Collie scolds Gin for putting so many human eyes on them. Gin says he'll explain why he did what he did later, but for now they need to let everyone know that The Beast lives. Not only that, but he'll be expecting to see Gin again.

On a familiar shoreline, a white mass of hair is lawling miserably around the sand. The fuzzy mop turns out to be a dog, and the dog turns out to be Cross. She didn't stop and take a break like the other dogs but instead swam until she'd reached Shikoku. Her unusually wide sides heave as she coughs up sea water. She tries to settles down for a second, but her ears don't follow her lead. They perk up when she hears a commotion nearby.

Her legs are killing her, but she hobbles to her feet and sways tiredly as she follows the sound of someone - no, several someones - speaking. One of the voices is high and desperate while the other two are deeper and more threatening. As Cross slinks into a hunting crouch, she sees who's doing all the yapping.

A long dog of very small stature is being encircled by two much, much larger dogs. The short king is a Dachshund. It seems like he's trying to look tough while being harassed by the two taller bullies. The big dogs are peeved that weenie boy wandered into their territory, and now they're making like they're going to eat him.

Though she's tired enough to sleep for a week straight, Cross's unyeilding sense of justice refuses to let her rest. She leaps towards one of the dogs and cracks him upside the head. She stands over the living hotdog and snarls at the two, telling them to beat it, beat it. But neither of them wants to be defeated, so they ready themselves to fight.

That is, they ready themselves to fight until realizing that Cross is a bedraggled woman. They pause to laugh at the absurdity of what they believe is some homeless chick saving a manlet from assault before Cross sinks her teeth into one's neck and begins shaking.

These dogs are little more then overgrown puppies, maybe 2 years old at most, and though they're nasty little things they're not very good in a fight. "Hey, lady, stop! Let Beth go!" says the one Cross isn't ripping holes in. The dog in her grasp, presumably Beth, begins whining and crying, obviously not used to real fights.

"Okay, okay! We'll go, we'll go! Please stop!" Beth whimpers submissvely. Cross lets him go with a loud grunt and swears at the unruly teenagers as they make a break for it.

Cross pants as she watches them go, and suddenly she's back to feeling weak. The adrenaline has all but left her system and her righteous power has been turned to a mushy lightheaded feeling. She turns to the little dog to see he's smiling gratefully at her.

He thanks her for her help, though he assures her he definitely could've handled the delinquents himself. She smiles back at him. She asks him what he's doing out here and he responds in a way that surprises her.

The Dachshund explains that he's heard about a roaming pack of dogs playing military, running their own corps and organizing men to battle a man-eating bear. He hopes to join those dogs and prove himself just as capable as any warrior, but his training hasn't been going so well.

He sighs dreamily as he imagines aloud how wicked it'd be to be one of the cool kids. All the cool kids, they seem to get it. It being fame and glory, of course.

Cross's smile grows encouragingly as she tells the little dude to keep at it, for he's bound to contribute to a good cause someday if he keeps that attitude up. He thanks her, then tells her that it's time for him to get back to training. Maybe this time he'll stick to killing squirrels instead of chasing down bigger dogs.

She asks him for his name, and he grins a broken smile. Oliver is his name, and he's pleased to make her aquaintence. After Cross shares her own name Oliver enthusiastically lets her know that if there's ever anything he can do to repay her for her good deed, all she needs to do is give a howl.

As Oliver waddles off, Cross's smile quickly fades. She's not feeling too hot. She's been put under an unusually large amount of strain lately and hasn't allowed herself a moment of rest. Something in her stomach cramps up. She's been puking a lot lately and it looks like what little she has in her gut is coming back up. She tosses her cookies all over the forest floor as the lightheadedness comes back.

She tries to stumble away but her head is too foggy. Her legs give out under her and she rolls to her side upon realizing just how long she'd been at sea. She allows her eyes to close as she breathes in deeply. So distracted by her tiredness is she that she doesn't notice when a long, dark shadow falls over her.

Back in Ohu, the boss is facing off with not one but two oversized red-backed bears. The unusually beefy animals don't intimidate the boss, but their origin does cause some concern. These two are beary obviously assassins sent - and fathered - by Akakabuto himself, the types of visitors the Akita has gotten very used to in the past couple of months. Clearly Redhead isn't happy with an especially jacked dog keeping his troops from more human BBQs. Whatever dude, it'll take more then a couple of homicidal teddies to down this masterful bear killer.

Actually, check that: it takes a couple teddies doing something unexpected to down him. The two big-boned barbarians combine their powers to knock a goddamn tree over and roll it the boss's way. Captain Canine is able to dodge the attack, but he can't do so without leaping over a lump of debris that's blocking his path. Turns out that bear ninjas and dog ninjas have something in common, as the poor dog learns first hand that bears understand the concept of pit traps.

There's no skewers this time, but as the leader tumbles into pit the uprooted tree trunk comes rolling in after him. He gasps and tries to get out of its way, but it's too late. The trunk hits the bottom of the pit with a loud WHAM. The sound of splintering wood and a yelping dog meets the twin terrors' ears.

The assassins grin between themselves. Yes. Finally. The Ohu leader has been defeated. The army will soon crumble, and Akakabuto's reign will be unstoppable.

But enough of alla that, I know what you people really came here to see: John yelling at Gin for making a rash decision! Yes, ole Johnny Boy is annoyed that Gin plans on not only finding Benizakura alone, but wants to leave the rest of the troops hanging back while he does so. Like, Gin, dude, you have an army of walking powerhouses and you don't want their backup against The Strongest Dog In The World Trademark All Rights Reserved?? Especially after the bastard hit you in the face twice???

Various dogs begin barking their suggestions. Gin should beat the shit out of the old fart for disrespecting him (so says the Kai Bros), and Benizakura would be outnumbered and thus forced to comply if everyone ganged up on him (so says Bill.) Gin politely speaks up with a deliberate, "Be quiet," which gets everyone to settle down. Akame clears his throat and nods to Gin, clearly having something he's gotta say. Gin bows and gives the Kishu the floor.

Akame explains that given neither Ben or Cross are here, the next commander in line is Gin. He admits that Gin is young and his decisions are brash, but he can't recall any time Gin's pigheaded determination didn't end with the Ohu dogs getting what they wanted. Besides, it's probably for best that the kid doesn't wanna face this with violence. You don't convince people like Benizakura to join you through ass kicking alone, and if there's one thing Gin's proven he can do it's convince people to be cool.

Gin's face is flush with relief as he quietly thanks Akame for his support. Musashi also agrees with the white guy's elaboration. He tries explaining things from a fighting dog's perspective.

If they all go in to kick Benizakura's ass, he'll just fight them off til he can't fight anymore. They'd just be another challenger, nothing more. But no matter how good a dog is at fighting, he's still just a dog. There is always a side to him that's soft and doughy and vulnerable to what he feels is important. Suddenly becoming aware of himself, Moss peers up at the top of his head where a tiny Tesshin is curled in a ball.

Gin allows Musashi to finish what he's saying before going on to explain himself: it's childhood rules, guys. He hit Benizakura once, Benizakura hit him twice. Ergo, Gin gets one free punchy. Smith laughs and elbows Gin in the chest, guffawing about how the baby of the team would find a way to skew such simple, immature logistics to work on a hardass like Benizakura. This plan is crazy... so crazy........ that it just might work!!!

A while later Cross finds herself on the wooden floor of an old barn. She rubs her face to clear her eyes of grit. Once her vision is clear she sees that she's not alone in the room. A dark shadow of what seems to be a massive dog is sitting before her, its eyes shining as they catch the room's sparse light. The stranger asks her in a crumpled, kind voice if she's doing alright.

Cross's brain finally reactivates and she's all like OH SHIT. The dog before her is an aged Tosa mix, his jowls greying and his face smattered with scars. But that's not nearly the worst of it, she realizes, because it turns out she's been chained to the wall.

She scrambles to her feet and demands to know who this random senior citizen is and why she's stuck in her own private Hotel California. Oldie barely reacts. He just gently informs her that his owner is willing to care for her. She'll be safe here.

As Cross pries desperately at the metal stake chaining her up - no dice - the mutt explains that she's lucky to have been rescued. She'd been delirious, mumbling strange things in her sleep about bears and wars. She also mentioned something about Shikoku, which, spoiler alert, is where she is right now.

Cross finally stops fidgeting and lets this sink in. So she made it after all. She's so glad at the prospect of finding the others that she stops struggling and smiles to herself, then to the other dog.

She gingerly thanks him for saving her, like really she's super grateful and all, but would he mind letting her off this chain? She's on a mission. The dog does not offer to set her free, but he doesn't not offer it either. Instead, he just says that she needs more rest.

Besides that, he's become very curious about her circumstances. What in God's name is she doing out here? So gentle is the old dog's gaze that she heaves a sigh, sits on her haunches, and begins describing Akakabuto to him in livid detail. And then she continues to tell him about the boss, and Ben, and Gin, and the sea, and then something much more recent.

Everyone who didn't leave with Gin was just chilling out in the woods one day hunting some food and determining where they'd go next when a scout they'd sent off, a black lab named Kurobe, had returned with some pretty shitty news: all of the platoons sent up north had been killed, wiped out in one fell swoop. Speaking of being wiped out, Kurobe was also bleeding heavily from deep lacerations. She'd collapsed in a heap before Ben before her breathing had ceased. Kurobe had died soon after.

Livid over the gruesome sight, Moss told Ben that it was time to get serious about his fucky eyesight and get to either an optomitrist or a veterinarian in a nearby human village. Ben wanted to argue, but Moss pushed that there wasn't much time left before the final full moon. Something had to be done about the slain soldiers.

Besides, how was Ben to lead his platoon if he couldn't see? Cross had looked at Ben, part of her hoping he'd stay, part of her hoping he'd leave and return with his vision intact. Ben had decided to leave.

Moss and Cross had discussed what to do. They'd want a small base camp for Gin and the others to come back to, but someone would need to head north to sort out the whole mass murder thing. They decided that the dogs should be split between the two platoon commanders available, those being Great and the newly promoted Cross.

Cross had then elected to hang around the dock to regroup with Gin and welcome back Ben when he returned. Better yet, she'd take a day or two to lead Ben to a village herself. Moss had buckled at the suggestion, asking warily if she wouldn't prefer to stay with Ben at the doctor's.

Oblivious, Cross had said that'd be excessive. She could stand on her own four feet without her man, and the hubby would want someone watching over his troops. Then her face fell, her cheeks stinging with embarrassment. She'd noticed Moss looking at her distended belly.

"You should resign when you can," Moss had said sympathetically. "Take it easy til then, but resign when you can. For your family's sake."

And with that he had departed, had followed behind Great as the dane had directed half the dogs away. Cross had stood shaking from both frustration and anguish before Ben trotted up and reminded her that he had a hot date with an eye surgeon. She'd just gritted her teeth, licked his face, and led him through the woods.

The old dog had been listening very intently to Cross this whole time, and even now she could tell he was paying her mind despite his focus being outside the shed. The dog remarks that this has all accumulated in her coming to find some scruffy punk kid with tiger stripes, huh? Well, he doesn't believe in guarantees, but he can promise her that she'll be seeing that kid soon. Cross cocks an eyebrow high enough to count as a Dreamworks audition before realizing what he means.

Not 50 feet from the hut is Gin, his nose to the dirt. Cross notices him as he gets closer. She wants to call out to him, but the old dog cuts her off. He says that he understands why Gin's doing this - he'd done similar rash things when he was young - but he won't be going easy on him. If the kid wants a fight, then a fight is what he'll get.

Cross is concerned about a heavyweight champ punching the shit outta a teenager so she tells the dog to fuck off with that idea. But of course he doesn't. Instead he says that if the Akita wants to die for his cause, then he will.

As Cross struggles to free herself Gin pads lackidasically into view. He calls out to Benizakura and lets the old meathead know he's here for that second hit. Cross gives up trying to loosen her chain and tells Gin to make himself scarce before his head gets lumped in.

Gin's surprised to see her and asks what she's doing here, but she just continues to tell him to get away. By it's too late. The old dog, Benizakura, has climbed onto the roof of the shed, and now he's plummeting down towards Gin. He lands inches in front of Gin. Gin boldly tells Benizakura that he wants him to join the Ohu army. Benizakura's like dude, we've had plenty of exposition for the day. He already knows what Gin's here to do.

That said, The Beast isn't going to abandon his cushy life as a bullbaiter because someone asks him nicely. If Gin wants him as an ally, he'll have to convince him. Gin says he agrees to a fight, but on one condition: if Benizakura pummels him into an early grave, he has to promise to take Gin's place in the army.

Benizakura accepts this offer without hesitation. He shows the exact same amount of hesitation when he grabs Gin by the neck and throws him like a football. This surpises Gin so much that he can't do anything but take the L.

Cross tries to escape the shack by pawing at a wall covered in loose boards, but she can't quite seem to make them break. She looks out at the two brawlers in a panic. Benizakura continues his assault on Gin by headbutting, kicking, biting, and finally throwing him into the side of the hut.

Cross doubles back from the wall as Gin smashes through it, splintered wood flying in all directions. When the dust settles Cross can see that Gin might have met his match. He's bleeding from the face and ribcage, and his eyes are rolling around without focus.

Cross commands Gin as his superior to leave immediately. Dying like a showoff isn't going to help anybody. Gin stubbornly picks himself up, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, while Benizakura looks in through the new window he just installed.

"Get back out here!" the Tosa demands. "You think you're tough? You call yourself a man while you're in there cowering behind a pregnant woman?"

Gin never received a birds and the bees talk during his younger days so it never occured to him that Cross's rapidly growing ponch was the result of her and Ben's alone time instead of her taking seconds during meals. Cross pulls away from him as if ashamed. She says she didn't tell anyone because she was worried they'd think lesser of her for being with child. None of the other chicks in Ohu's ranks have let this happen.

Feeling awkward but sympathetic, Gin tells her that she managed to get here fulla babies so clearly she's not as weak as she's worried everyone would think she is. Before he can further reassure her, though, he remembers what he's here to do.

Gin climbs out of the wall his spine obliterated and tells Benizakura that he refuses to leave until The Beast joins him. As he nears Benizakura, Cross climbs out of the wallhole and chases after him before she's clotheslined by the chain. As Cross flops around in desperate rage, Benizakura takes a moment to look at Gin's bloodied forehead.

One of several massive scars he hadn't noticed before has split open on the kid's forehead. And yet Gin's still here, still standing before a muscleman who has broken dogs' legs like toothpicks. The kid snarls in determination as his forehead blood runs into his face.

Benizakura is distracted for only a moment before snapping out of his stupor and lunging at Gin again, but that pause was all Gin needed to plan his next attack. It should be familiar to Benizakura given he invented it. Making like he's Benizakura and Benny is a bull, Gin snags the Tosa by the flabby skin of his neck and uses his massive weight against him to fling him off his center of gravity.

The two leave the Earth behind for a nanosecond before Gin slams the dog, a monster 3 times his own size, face first into the Earth. Blood gushes from Benizakura's nose as he falls into a heap.

Cross has ceased using her words and is barking like a maniac, but nobody but the three of them is listening. Benizakura wriggles on the ground as Gin looks over his shoulder at Cross. His face says "hell yeah" but then his body goes "oh no" as Benizakura rights himself and slams as hard as he can into Gin's side. The Beast pins Gin to the ground with one massive paw on his neck and the other on his rib cage. Gin squirms violently and Benizakura stands over him panting and swaying. He seems to be... smiling?

Yes indeed, the bull of a dog is smiling ear to ear. And then he begins to laugh. His laugh grows into a bellyfull of guffaws and snorts, his eyes squeezed shut in hysterics. His laugh is as coarse as the rest of his voice, but there's no malice in it. He genuinely sounds like he's heard the funniest joke of his life.

Beizakura sits back on his haunches, still laughing, and allows Gin to get up. Gin doesn't understand if this is an insult or a mental break. Cross is so confused she quits yapping. Benizakura finally stops his chortling and wipes his eyes dry of tears.

The old dog proclaims that this was great. It's been a long time since he'd felt so alive. To think he'd almost forgotten what fighting other dogs was like! He thanks Gin for the fun and says that he'd intitially thought Gin was just some punkass kid who'd grown too big for his britches. But he understands that Gin's got real dedication.

And if he's the youngest in his army's ranks - woof! The other troops must be just as amazing. So sure, he'd be happy to live out his winter years fighting alongside the Ohu dogs. Why not?

Gin's jaw falls open in a dopey looking smile of its own. He's kinda amazed that this whole thing actually worked. While he catches his breath, Benizakura pads over to Cross.

"Benizakura, thank--" she begins, but he politely cuts her off.

"So formal, you people," he says. "Just call me Zak." And with that, he uses his powerful jaws to yank the chain from Cross's collar. The thin but sturdy metal loops snap in half.

The three are just about to head out when the door of the nearby house opens. Everyone stands surprised as the boy who was with Benizakura at the ring steps out with a large bowl of dog kibble. He seems confused and asks his dog Don what's going on. He watches as the Akita and Saluki run away, and then panickedly follows when the Tosa joins them.

"Don!" the child cries out. "Where are you going? Don't leave!"

Gin notices this mildly underwhelming goodbye become a melodramatic one as the boy trips and spills the food he was carrying. Benizakura pauses and looks back for one last time. His gaze meets the boy's, and the child begins to cry tears of confusion and hurt.

Gin's own eyes glaze over as the sight fills him with a sense of familiarity. The child's desperate face reminds him so much of Daisuke's. Is this how Diasuke felt when Gin left? Was it worse given Gin took off without saying goodbye? Gin doesn't know. All he knows is that it hurts to watch the dog give the boy a solemn smile before turning away forever.

Cross lopes up beside Gin and they wait as Zak catches up to them. The boy is still calling out and blubbers desperately. Gin's wet cheeks match Zak's. The old dog isn't so proud that he hides his pain, and he simply chokes out his desire to leave. The others nod and lead him away.

Gin lags a few feet behind as his thoughts jumble with memories of Daisuke. Gin had forgotten how much he missed his boy. He'd forgotten the last time he'd felt like a dog instead of a soldier.

The dogs slow their pace. This allows them some time to share their thoughts with each other. Zak is pretty broken up about leaving his boy. He's not so steadfast in his decision to fly the coop anymore.

Gin pauses thoughtfully before sharing his own experience with the Tosa. Gin had to leave his boy behind when he joined the army too, and it was one of the toughest decisions he'd ever had to make. Even though it hurt him in a way he's never been hurt before, he did it because...

Gin pauses as his eyes well up. The other dogs wait for him to finish his thought. Gin chokes on his words as he says them, but he still manages to spit them out.

"But I had to leave him because I knew it was the only way I could keep him safe. Because if we succeed, he'll never have to face that kind of danger again."

Everyone falls silent. Cross's eyes are wide as she takes in Gin's words, and Zak's face is stony before he nudges Gin's side encouragingly.

"Okay," is all the big guy manages to say. "I understand."

But the waterworks gradually subside and Gin's focus shifts back to the mission at hand. After running for a shorter time then you'd expect, the trio meet up with the Ohu dogs in the area.

Everyone is very impressed to see The Beast in The Flesh. He's impressed by them, too, and he quickly takes on the role of everyone's surrogate grandpa by telling them stories from the good ole days and calling them variations of "whippersnapper." The strongest dog in the world easily finds comraderie among his fellow punchy people. While he worms his way into everyone's hearts, Cross meets up with Musashi, Bill, and their comrades.

This vacay has come to an end, so everyone goes to cross the sea once more. Benizakura chauvinistically offers to help Cross carry her pregnant self across the waves, but she blows a raspberry at him and jumps in before she has to answer any questions about what he old dude said regarding pregnancy.

This will be the last bit of goofing before the journey back because oh my god there's a lot to do when they get to shore. Ben has to be retrieved, John is set to lead some of this gang to find more soldiers, Moss's crew up North needs to be checked on, and, most importantly, everything must be organized before the end of the month. That's when the war will truly begin, and everyone will have to contribute.

----------

AND SO THE SERIES CONTINUES. Just two more episodes after this one, get ready for ‘em. They should both be up before the end of the month. Also keep your eyes peeled for something else, visual stuff this time, that’ll be coming shortly too.

Episode 6: The Battle

#ginga #ginga nagareboshi gin #silver fang #hopeanuoli #yoshihiro takahashi #ginga words #rewrite #fanfic

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sealers100 · 5 years ago

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A (brief) review of every Donald Sutherland movie (so far)

I’m not coping well with quarantine at all and no one else seems to be either (which makes me feel a bit better) So what started out of boredom back over christmas break has turned into a quest to find and watch every Donald Sutherland movie ever. Probably not my best idea since a lot of them are very old and hard to find and would need to be bought online (which isn't an option right now.) Don’t ask me why, this kinda just happened and I’m not gonna fight it. So stick around for an unprofessional review of a very professional actor’s long film career.

(if anyone has any suggestions or knows where to find more hmu)

M*A*S*H*

Ah talk about a movie that didn’t age well (but neither did Holiday Inn and we still watch that) I’m not here to bash on it for being problematic because apart from the way they treated Houlihan, I genuinely loved this movie. It had be rolling the whole time just like the show and I still catch myself whistling like Hawkeye all the time. Probably still like the show better and Alan Alda’s Hawkeye (sorry Donald) but its definitely been a go to when I’m having a rough day.

Kelly’s Heroes

I think this was the first movie of his I ever saw as a little girl and I remember being very confused. (since it didn’t match my dad’s military stories at all) so this ended up being the first one I went out of my way to hunt down and watch and sorry to Clint Eastwood but Donald stole this movie from literally everyone. He’s hilarious, he’s sexy, he steals the show and it’s definitely one of his more underrated movies (the movie itself is a bit long) which is a damn shame since he (literally) died filming this one. (if you don’t know the story, look it up its wild)

Alex in Wonderland

Wow, who knew he could be such a convincing asshole! At least he becomes aware of it by the end of the film but I just felt so lost by the end. Like ,what did I watch, what happens now? Not one of my favorites but definitely interesting and a sure product of the early 70s. Overall, he does have a lot of good scene (a scene with THE Federico Fellini) that are sometimes light-hearted, dumb, cute, irritating, and just...what? The relationship between him, his wife, and children is probably the only redeeming factor since its pretty accurate for how his actions strain his relationships. I am gonna be honest though, I only watched this one to see him as a long haired hippie 😂 (sorry).

Klute

Leave it to Jane Fonda to remind me why I’m bisexual (I wish she wasn’t always a prostitute) Although there was a lot more of her and a lot less of him, even though he is John Klute. I am an absolute sucker for those old black and white noir movies and this is no different. It leaves some feelings to be desired at times (Donald apparently felt the same way) but you can really tell there’s a fascinating chemistry between him and Jane (because there actually was) Overall the story was entertaining but the character’s themselves seemed somewhat drab. I wish we got to know more about them and had more scenes with more emotion apart from just the sex and love scenes. Oh well, it was still a pretty damn good movie and I’d definitely watch it again if I got the chance.

Lady Ice

Basically Magnum before Magnum was even a thing. Now just because a movie is bad doesn’t mean it can’t be entertaining. I love the whole Miami Vice vibe I get from this and again, huge fan of private investigators, detectives and dirty schemes. His acting might not be exemplary but I don’t even care. The movie is fun and not every movie has to be deep and meaningful. Nothing wrong with just watching a movie for the hell of it. And that moustache, it’s my kryptonite. 😆

Don’t Look Now

If you haven’t seen this movie, stop reading my bs and go watch it right now. (its free on crackle) This is such a good movie I could make a whole post on it alone. Donald and Julie Christie (I’m still not over her either) put so much into every scene, giving us such a beautiful relationship that’s been fraught with tragedy. Every scene is beautiful and eerie and enchanting Iloveitsomuch!!! I don’t wanna spoil too much because the ending turns everything on its head. I’m not sure if this is meant to be a horror movie but it really walks that uncanny valley with the whole setting of Venice in it’s off season, the dark corridors, creepy premonitions. I will spoil this, I love how for once, the man is the psychic instead of the woman, which is a trope that waaaaaay over done. AND THE SCANDAL! Okay sex scenes in movie isn't exactly scandalous but this one was surprisingly realistic (no they didn’t actually have sex) so everyone in the 70s pitched a hissy fit over it and I can’t understand why. It’s by far the most realistic and beautiful sex scene I’ve ever watch, hats off to Donald and Julie. God Bless Nicholas Roeg for this masterpiece, aaaaahhh just go watch it its so good!

Fellini’s Casanova

Alright but bear with me on this. I think I had a religious experience while watching this movie. I was overly exhausted and had my eye on it for a while said ‘fuck it let’s watch something weird.’ This what actually started by quarantine marathon (how appropriate) and I can safely say, I think this is the most beautiful, most grotesque, most enchantingly beautiful and yet dark and bizarre movies I’ve ever seen. Donald makes such a convincing 18t century venetian lover and they really went all out with his appearance, acting and the scenery of the whole movie. Everyone in the film seems to genuinely enjoyed everything they’re doing (which says a lot they do some crazy shit in this one) and the whole time, everything is erriley whimsical, almost like a fever dream (which is what this film might have been I dunno). And the fact it spans the entirety of Casanova’s life, from his highest point to his absolute lowest decent into squalor just proves that Fellini holds nothing back AT ALL. Again, no spoilers (I don’t really think I can spoil this film) but there’s just copious amounts of sex and its just plain strange but if you find it in your heart to give it a try, please do. If you’re not sure about it that’s fine definitely not for everyone. However I highly recommend Fellini’s other works. (go watch La Strada)

Invasion of the Bodysnatchers

Hahaha oh man I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this movie. My friends and I in college had a horror movie night and this one seriously freaked out my roommate (i’m so sorry). I love me some sci-fi (I run a star trek blog) and this not only gave me lots of Donald but also Leonard Nimoy, (along with a very young Jeff Goldblum) so yes, this is now one of my favorite sci-fi movies (I did a film analysis on it too). I don’t recommend watching it in quarantine unless you’re into freaking yourself about a global pandemic. I will say, this movie is an anomaly since I think it might be the only movie that is not only better than its remake, but also better than the book (which I also read) This one gives us Donald (and his moustache) playing of all things, a health inspector (I’m dying) whos put into some creepy scenarios of apocalyptic proportions. This is one of those horror movies that’s fun without being funny. It’s got plenty of drama and awkwardness between to characters while also reaching it’s cult classic status. All the actors in this film manage to give such a convincing performance that you can’t help but feel like you’re right there with the characters, which makes for a fun and terrifying ride. 10/10 would scare my roommate again.

The Great Train Robbery

Donald Sutherland AND Sean Connery? Sounds like a great pair right? Well they are, sort of. Okay this movie looks like a typical british drama, buuuuut I’m not so sure about this one. Donald is pretty great in this one and so is Sean, but I’m just very confused if it’s trying to be serious or funny? The plot itself makes sense and its pretty good but the execution is just...what? Oh well, Donald and Sean make an entertaining pair with their odd “train heist” I felt this movie would have done much better if it went for either one side or the other instead of jumping all over the place, and it played out much more like a soap opera. It’s not bad though but its not a favorite of mine.

Bear Island

Okay I’ve been pretty nice so far, but this...the only real redeeming part of this movie is Donald and his beard. Which is such a shame because I feel like this could have been SUCH a good movie. The story itself is really good and enthralling but somebody somewhere dropped the ball. No, they didn’t drop it. They threw it off a cliff. Nothing about this movie makes sense, most everyone’s acting is subpar, and I don’t blame them because the script was probably the main offender of this film. Even Donald’s acting is uncharacteristically bad. I know shoot me, criticized his acting. It’s just so strange to see what could have easily been a fantastic film. Someone send this to Philip Kaufman and ask for a remake because this one needs it.

Ordinary People

Oh God, this movie. This movie means so much to me. Again, watched it with my roommate, we sobbed like children and its now a must see in our group. The fact that Donald wasn’t even nominated for an oscar for this film is a travesty. A story like this is something that in a way I’ve lived myself. Everyone’s acting in this film is superb and as someone who would know, yes, all of this is very really and very heart wrenching to watch. I don’t mean to get sappy or anything, but I have been Calvin Jarrett, I (and I’m sure others) have been that mediator who eventually is broken by the two fighting forces. Watching his eventual collapse is so surreal and wow this movie really broke me in some spots. Uhg god this movie, I wanna cry just thinking about it. I’d totally watch it but I’ll just spend the whole time wanting to hug him.

Eye of the Needle

If any of you know me personally, you’ll know I’m absolutely terrified of needles, so this might not have been the best movie for me to watch, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This whole movie is actually pretty fantastic. For once, Donald plays a bad guy, but you can almost root for him (if he wasn’t a nazi) I felt so conflicted because while yes I wanted him to take her away from her horrible husband, hes a damn dirty Nazi, and we don’t stan. Of course, Donald’s character is extremely charming but I’m left wondering if his character really did have feelings for Kate Nelligan. I have a feeling that I could really run with this story. This one is a thrilling story with a thick plot that tears its characters apart. I can’t help but love it.

Crackers

Fight me, I thought it was funny. Not really but this is one of those “entertaining but not really good” movies. Donald’s character is...well, he reminds me a lot of most of my exes. He’s just down on his luck, he’s not a bad guy. Yeah that sums up how I feel about his character. However, the movie overall is pretty damn funny. At least it knows it’s a comedy and it even has a sweet(ish) ending. I will say its not great, but there is a good scene with Donald falling flat on his ass which was so worth the whole rest of the movie. This one is still on my quarantine go to for when I just wanna forget about life for a while.

Rosary Murders

So this little gem I kinda just watched on a whim thinking it would be some campy horror movie that was very pro-catholic and woooweee was I wrong. I loved this movie so much I ended up watching it twice, two nights in a row. It really was a thrilling movie with a plot thicker than pea soup, all while throwing some (slight) shade at the catholic church. This movie goes less for the horror side of things and more for the shock and drama and it does it well. Not to mention he makes one hell of a cute priest. I loved the hell out of this one and I’m glad i decided on this one the other night. I might even watch it again who knows.

Pride and Prejudice

Everyone in this movie is neurotic as hell except for Donald Sutherland and Keira Knightly. Sorry I was never a huge Jane Austen fan but I admire her ability to write hell of a good slow burn and that exactly what this is. Hell most of you know what this movie is about so I’m not gonna talk about it too much. Its one of those movies everyone else seems to have seen and I haven’t so mom and I sat down and watched it together. She just laughed as I sat there yelling at the TV, waiting for an exasperated Donald to come on. His final scene though, so sweet. I did like how the movie showed a father daughter relationship that wasn’t toxic (not like the last one) but I was kinda over the whole song and dance after a while. I’m sure most people think its a really good movie but I just don’t get it.

The Hunger Games (All of them)

As I understand it, this movie actually means a lot to Donald, as it does to a lot of people, and that he really enjoyed working with Jennifer Lawrence, so that’s nice. Yes I’ve seen all three (four) movies, read all the books and I couldn’t think of anyone else to better play Katniss Everdeen’s antithesis than someone like Donald. I feel like this is one of those roles that was just made for him. He was such a scary and venomous villain that played so well off of the main protagonist. Uhg I really do love the Hunger Games Series, it was a huge part of my childhood, I just hate how the fans destroy people who love the main villain, like many fandoms do (looking at you star trek). I wish I could just enjoy these movies in peace without everyone being so polarized on them.

Oh wow there’s definitely gonna be a part two but as of now, this is all I got. I’ve got a long way to go and (with the way things are looking here in the U.S.) I’ve got plenty of time to do so. I really do enjoy doing these kinds of things so if you want me to watch and ramble about any other movies (no, it doesn’t have to have Donald Sutherland) I’m gonna be in quarantine for a while, so let’s at least do something fun to pass the time. 😊

#Donald Sutherland #this brings me joy #Im gonna laugh if I actually watch all his movies #mash #hunger games #pride and prejudice #ordinary people #I'm not gonna tag every movie wed be here all day

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iblue-kitzune · 5 years ago

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Of Rising Calamities Beyond the Cosmos: Chapter 3

Subtle changes in the atmosphere were far and few between these strange times, but they were there, lying in wait, churning beneath the surface, and everyone can feel it.

A big one, as slight as it appeared to be, was upon them. In the water, in the air, or under the very ground they stood upon, it didn't matter. They could truly sense it in full, feel it deep within their bones and down to their very souls.

The change was so deep and felt so ominous, from the way the wind stopped blowing in mid-gust to the storm clouds clearing away in haste as if they got spooked by something, that it put everyone on the island all on edge.

No thunder...

No lightning...

And no rain...

It all suddenly stopped.

But that’s not what made them freeze up in fear. No, it was the agonizing silence that came immediately after the change they felt seconds ago.

It was quiet...

Too quiet...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inferno’s eyes snapped open the second he heard the sound of rushing water and garbled cries for help. Now immediately on guard, the dragon-bird raised his head and looked out in the distance, past the waterfall and past tall shrubs, to see an enormous flock of different birds and winged monsters burst into the area, and before he could react, they all flew right past his resting spot without a word.

"[What the—]" he jumped to his feet, jaw dropping in disbelief at the sight of an incoming tidal wave looming over the horizon.

Hearing more cries and roars, he took a quick glance down and had to not only bite back a curse but also stop his heart from jumping straight out of his chest as he witnessed an endless amount of monsters and wild animals get swept up in the current, never to be seen or heard from again as they were now lost within the watery depths.

His heart went out to them.

'[This isn’t good...]' he slowly backed away from the approaching tidal wave, and took a quick look behind him out of the corner of his eye. ‘[I need to warn Jane and Kagome. But first...]’ a purple glow surrounded his body as he closed his eyes, drew forth his mana, ‘[I must do this!]’ and shouted in his mind vehemently.

SWWWOOOOOOOOOOO!

The spirit ignored the biting sting from the sudden huge gust of wind that ripped through the area as a large glowing red colored rune materialized in place on the ground beneath his feet...

“[Let the flames engulf you!]” Inferno started to chant, ignoring the shadow of the tidal wave looming over him and the cave as he stood to his full height of fifteen-foot-three and spread his wings wide open...

ZZZOWP!

And he ignored the sudden appearance of a new aura that just blinked into existence one thousand feet above him as his eyes snapped open.

"[Flame Ring!]" he cried out with a powerful flap of his wings.

A reddish-gold and orange circular ornament-like glyphs, in the form of hot flames, shot up from the ground right as the wave crashed right into, and blocked it.

FIIIIIZZZZZZZZZ!

The spirit gritted his teeth, holding onto his attack as the water began to dissipate bit by bit, ‘[Come on...]’ and as a result, a cloud of steam appeared before the dragon-bird and surrounded him from all sides.

‘[Damn it! I can’t see!]’ he squinted his eyes, trying to see how much water was left through the ever-growing veil of steam but to no avail.

The steam was too thick, making it not only harder for him to make out anything in the distance but it also clogged up his senses—specifically, his sense of smell and his sense of intuition.

He couldn’t smell or sense anything!

And what made things worse was that some of the steam was circling his around his spirit arte, completely blowing right past him —damn that cursed wind—, and straight into the cave!

"[Oh no...]" he looked back in horror. That will surely cause a problem for the ladies later on. He knew that for a fact—

WHOOSH!

A dark shadow interrupted his thoughts as it appeared right above him, and because of this, Inferno’s concentration of keeping Flame Ring up shattered into millions of pieces.

‘[No!]’

The flames vanished into thin air, and before the spirit could react, the unknown object plowed through the veil of steam of steam and landed right on his head, a cry of pain and shock escaping from his lips as he was knocked over.

‘[...S...Shit...]’

The last two things he saw before everything went dark was the identity of said object, which turned out to be a small dark colored griffin with a muzzle on his beak, and a small tidal wave rushing towards him.

Resigning to the fate that has fallen before him, he slowly shut his eyes closed and said his final words.

‘[...Jane...]’

The current washed over Inferno and drug both him and the griffin, who immediately latched onto his head without even realizing it, underwater.

‘[T...Take Kagome and...r...run away!]’

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Hey Auntie...”

“What?”

“Inferno is one of the Five Great Spirits on Earth, right?”

The sudden question, while it did not make her pause in the slightest as she continued walking through the dark cave with a blue colored flame lit in her left hand, confused her greatly.

“Yes,” Jane replied and looked back at the young black haired woman walking behind her. “Why do you ask? I thought you already learned this in elementary and high school?”

Kagome pursed her lips in thought. “I did...” she paused and considered her next words, “It’s just that...since you summoned him through a summoning spell instead going to his shrine domain and physically meet up with him like you or anyone else normally would, what happens to him if he gets hurt and defeated by someone?” she looked at the older woman who turned back around and faced the pathway up ahead.

At her inquiry, the older woman placed her free hand underneath her chin and rubbed it between her thumb and index finger. “Well it’s simple really. He just disappears,” Jane said with a small hum.

“Really?” she asked in astonishment.

“Yes, really,” the astrophysicist confirmed with a nod of her head.

As if she still couldn’t believe it, Kagome then asked, “Like all those who’ve been turned into summons do? They don’t die?”

“It’s a little complicated to explain, but when you create a summoning contract with any spirit, great spirit, or even a monster, they get placed in a special position. If you summon them to your side from wherever they were at, in battle or outside of battle—it doesn’t matter, and they either get knocked out or defeated from taking too much damage, they disappear and go back home. Or back to the last location they were in before they got summoned,” Jane elaborated in a teacher-like tone of voice. “It is only during this time, when you summon them, that they cannot die. They’re safe...” she said, moving her hand away from her face and dropping it to the side. “For the time being that is.”

Kagome blinked, forming an O shape with her mouth. “I guess that means if they’re not brought into the field and turned into mere summons through the contract you have with them, they will die,” she finished with a mumble, her face looking grim.

“Precisely,” Jane said solemnly. “And their names get crossed out in the contract after that. You’ll know when it happens,” she explained in a low voice.

“How?” the young miko asked with a raised brow.

“By opening up the contract and checking the name after it and the scroll glows white,” the scientist answered. “That part is not exactly common knowledge to academia institutions or all of Earth just yet, but right now, only those within the summoner community or those who’ve made a connection with the spirits or monsters have possession of that knowledge and more.”

“I see...” Kagome said nothing further and looked down at her feet with half-lidded eyes, staring absentmindedly at the different colored pebbles and crystallized rocks embedded into the floor, thinking about how sad all of that sounded.

It seemed like nothing, not even a summoning contract, could save a spirit or monster from death. It only bought them enough time to recover away from danger.

And this would prolong their lives just a little bit more.

At least, that’s what she thought. The young miko didn’t know because she never actually tried forming a contract with a spirit or monster before.

Only a handful of people—ones that she knew aside from her auntie, already did...

Like her dad, her little brother, Sango, Miroku, Lady, Nero, Kyrie, Dr. Strange, Clint, Wanda, Peter, and that one guy with black hair and amber eyes named Jude she met a few years back in Reize Maxia when she visited there, once.

“That’s strange...” Jane’s voice broke Kagome out of her thoughts. “Did I just...” the young miko looked up to see her aunt standing there near the edge of a cliff, looking deeply disturbed with her hand placed firmly on her hip.

“What’s wrong, Auntie?” a frown appeared on her face as she asked this.

Jane looked back at her and grimaced.

“I just heard Inferno’s voice right now before he poofed...” she trailed off when her golden brown-amber eyes caught sight of something moving above them, “What in the world...” and quickly threw the fireball up in the air to brighten the room up even further.

“Huh?” Kagome followed her auntie’s line of sight, and a small gasp escaped from her lips. “Oh dear, that’s not good at all.”

Tiny cracks started forming along the base of the icy colored stalagmites, that loomed high above their heads on the ceiling, and creating a zigzag-like trail until they reached the very tips. And before the two ladies could react, one of them exploded, sending millions of tiny shards everywhere.

“Aaaaahhh!” the two covered their heads as a few of the shards rained down on them, slicing up their sleeved arms and exposing their flesh to the biting chill of the damp cave, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

CRACK!

FWOOOOOOOOO!

‘Oh what now—’ the two quickly jumped away from their spots, narrowly avoiding a group of stalagmites that fell to the floor with a loud crash and shattered to pieces, staining the cave floor white.

Then all of a sudden, the fire went out and the room went completely dark.

“Shit...”

It took a few seconds for them to process what just happened, and they stared warily at the pieces of stalagmite dissolving into a puddle of water on the ground with wide eyes.

They were extremely lucky that they were able to dodge that in time; otherwise, they would’ve turned into a bloody shish kabob.

And that would have not been a pretty sight to see.

The two ladies had no desire to find out what it looks like from the other end of being stabbed through and through or find out exactly how painful the whole ordeal feels once it happens. And despite how ridiculous it sounded, the two had the Sparda Twins and Nero cover that part considering the amount of times they’ve been skewered by a deadly sharp weapon in the past...

Or stabbed through the chest without warning, and by their own weapon no less at times.

Quite terrifying when you think about it.

‘I’m starting to think that’s some twisted family tradition of sorts,’ Jane mused as she and Kagome dodged a few more fallen stalagmites in the darkness, ‘I should probably ask Dante since he’s the one who has it worse...’ then dropped down into the abyss below without hesitation, successfully avoiding the rest of them.

“Where does this lead to?!” she heard Kagome holler from somewhere above her.

“I don’t know!” Jane answered back. Then she took a peek down and noticed something very peculiar.

‘Rocky platforms?’ she narrowed her eyes in deep concentration, and sure enough, the young brown haired woman saw a couple of them sticking out of the cliff wall’s side.

‘That’ll do.’

Seconds later, however, Jane saw exactly how close she was to reaching the bottom floor.

‘Forty feet it seems,’ she estimated in her head.

And so, with that in mind, she moved towards the wall and pushed herself off its surface with a powerful kick and jumped high in the air. Then in that same momentum, she turned and flipped her body upright —with some difficulty— just in time for her feet to land on a stray platform.

Once that was done, and after taking a few deep breaths, Jane braced herself and jumped off the platform the rest of the way down.

“Oh thank god...” the young woman sighed in relief once she landed on the ground safely. “That was actually a little bit harder to perform than I thought,” she wheezed a bit, wiping the sweat she managed to work up in that little time off her forehead.

‘It’s because you’re tired...’ the Aether whispered to her. ‘You and Stark’s daughter have been running around and flying from island to island for nearly ten-and-a-half hours now. Exhaustion was bound to catch up with you sooner or later after all.’

Rolling her eyes, Jane ignored the voice of the reality gem and looked up, catching sight of Kagome’s falling form and watching how the young woman landed on the floor with a grimace.

“You make it easier than it looks, Auntie,” the young miko grumbled, dusting the invisible dirt off her clothes.

Jane shrugged, saying nothing in response to her niece’s comment, and took a look around the area they landed in. Technically, it wasn’t that different than what the upper floor of the cave looked like, just a bit more open and spacious.

And what do you know, there was some form of lighting, due to illumine purplish-blue and silver-white glow the surrounding rocks gave off, in the room.

“Well, at least it’s not pitch black to where I can’t see my own hand anymore.”

Jane laughed at her niece’s off-hand comment.

“True.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Loki didn’t know how much more he could take. Within the time he teleported in some unknown area and crash landed into that giant dragon-bird creature, who disappeared out of existence the moment the water washed over them both, the God of Mischief had been dragged under and thrown to and from every rock and wall he encountered in the cave.

He couldn’t do anything, let alone get any reprieve from the abuse his body suffered through for the past five minutes now.

And it’s not like he could just fly out of the water and save himself—not with the condition his wings were in.

Plus, the moment he was able to push himself up to the surface to get what little air can and somehow breathe through the muzzle, that had tiny holes and cracks running along the surface of the damn contraption he once thought was indestructible —well not any more it seems—, he got dragged under.

Every single damn time!

‘Gahhh! Not again—’

A muffled groan of pain escaped from him as he was forcibly dragged underwater, again, and thrown into a much bigger rock this time, which turned out to be a broken stalagmite, shattering it in the process.

Loki closed his eyes and cursed in another language in his head. ‘That was the seventh time now!’ he seethed, cracking his green eyes wide open.

And it was a good thing he did too because there was another stalagmite heading towards him at high speed.

Panic seized him, and yet he still worked his wings and limbs into overdrive and quickly yet sluggishly moved to the side, letting the sharp rock flip past him and crash into a wall somewhere behind him. Then with a bit slight difficulty, he kicked his way up to the surface and broke free with a loud gasp that got followed by a few coughs seconds after.

‘I don’t think I can take much more of this,’ he flapped his wings and body to stay afloat, splashing water everywhere as he panted through the damaged muzzle harshly.

Too bad he couldn’t use his magic in the water. If it weren’t for the fact that his magic stopped working the moment he gets dunked in a large body of large water or for the fact that he can’t—

“Do you hear that?”

“Yeah, it kind of sounds like running water.”

“But that’s...impossible.”

Loki snapped his head up the moment he heard two familiar voices, and he turned around in the water only to freeze up at the sight of an upcoming drop—

‘Huh...?’ his body broke out into shivers at the sudden feeling of some foreign energy washing over him, and it had nothing to do with the temperature of the water, which he was already immune to.

Then all of a sudden, a bluish-white light appeared and wrapped itself around his whole body.

‘What...what madness is this?!’

The God of Mischief found that he couldn’t move.

He couldn’t summon his magic...

He couldn’t counter it or teleport away out of it...

He just couldn’t break free of whatever hold he was in no matter how hard he tried.

He was trapped!

Before he knew it, the light surrounding him expanded in size until it completely engulfed him and the whole room.

When it finally died down, Loki was nowhere to been.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagome jumped at the sight of a bright blue-white light warping in place above their heads, and to her immense surprise, a familiar dripping wet griffin, covered in cuts and bruises, popped out of the glowing portal and fell forward.

“How did you...” she trailed off, her eyes straying to the side to see her aunt’s hand glowing the same exact color. “Nevermind,” the young miko said.

A small grunt escaped from the astrophysicist’s lips as she caught the small animal and held him close. “What in the world are you doing here, Little one?” she asked, looking down at the squirming griffin, who blinked three times, as if to get his bearings, then froze still in shock once he realized where he was and who he was with. “You should still be back at home recovering from your wounds,” she spoke to him softly, reaching up to pet him on the head.

And to both of their surprise, he closed eyes and started to purr, which made the young woman smile.

“I think we should worry about that later, Auntie...” she heard her niece said over the griffin’s purring, who stopped and opened his eyes the moment she dropped her hand. “Because we got something bigger coming our way that we should focus our attention on,” the young miko continued.

Ignoring the open look of confusion, wonder, and slight relief in those shocked green eyes of his, Jane turned her attention away from the griffin to Kagome and noticed the woman slowly backing up in fear.

At the sound of roaring water, she snapped her head up—nearly giving herself a whiplash in the process, and her face dropped at the sight of a big tidal wave falling from the sky.

‘So that’s what Inferno meant by “Take Kagome and run away”...’

With no time to waste, Jane shouldered the griffin in her embrace with one hand and grabbed a hold of Kagome’s arm with her other hand. “Time to go now!” she quickly yet gently hauled the young woman over to her side just as the water descended to the floor with a giant splash. “Hang on tight, Kagome!” she warned the young miko before levitating off the ground.

The young black haired woman nodded, too stunned to say anything as she wrapped her left arm around her aunt’s waist and held on tight.

Within a split second, a blue-white glow surrounded the three right as the tidal wave was upon them, and before it could come crashing down on the group, Jane took off with a great burst of speed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sudden jerk of motion surprised the god and nearly threw him out of Jane’s arms, but he latched onto the woman’s sleeves before that could happen and held on with what little strength he had left as they flew through the dimly lit cave, watching everything around them blur by with the look of resignation.

As much as he didn’t like it, Loki had no choice but to accept Jane’s assistance—not if he wanted to get out of here alive that is. He will just have to grin and bear it until they find the exit. Then he can leave the woman’s hold, and maybe her company, although he wasn’t sure about that last one there.

It was strange how calm and at ease he was right now—even stranger how it all happened in the first place, and it happened the moment he heard Jane’s voice and landed in her arms, seconds later.

The funny part about all of that was him not making a fuss or saying a single word about it to her. Technically, he wasn’t angry at her for putting him in a telekinetic hold even though the action itself almost sent him into a panic attack, which he should give her a piece of his mind for that, but he wasn’t going to. And he most definitely wasn’t angry at her about the fact that she literally teleported him to her side—how could he when it was she who saved him from a death that he would consider so degrading.

But to be fair, he had been more surprised at that discovery than anything else. And what a discovery it was! To learn that a mere mortal, a small Midgardian woman, could perform such incredible powers similar to that of his. It had been so powerful that not even he, a God, could break through it.

This Jane was something else entirely. An anomaly that he’s never encountered before.

And speaking of anomalies, he wasn’t exactly sure why he was content with being held for the ride, and so intimately at that too.

Normally, he disliked being touched by another being—couldn’t stand it actually as a matter of fact. Not since the time his life got turned upside down with the discovery of him being a Frost Giant, not since the time his so-called parents lied to him, not since the time Odin rejected him when he and Thor hung over the broken Rainbow Bridge by end of Gungir, and not since the time fell into the Void after letting go.

Point of the matter is, he didn’t like it. Didn’t like the idea of being held, hug, or touched...unless he was the one who initiated the action first.

Just him and no one else.

But somehow, and for some strange ungodly reason, a small tiny little part of him that he didn’t want to acknowledge right now—the part that he thought he’d buried long ago when he was a sweet, naive innocent young boy, didn’t mind being held by Jane.

Hugged by her even.

Compared to every other Midgardian he had the misfortune of being around with, before and after his awakening, there was just something different about Jane. Something that he couldn’t quite figure out just yet—and he was determined to.

So mysterious...

Like puzzle...

That’s it. That’s what she reminded him of, a puzzle!

And he’s solved many puzzles before. Some had been intriguing while others had been either boring or frustrating—borderline on the maddening side of things.

Where she fit along the spectrum was a mystery itself.

And lucky for Jane, Loki loves a good mystery.

“The griffin’s been oddly quiet this whole time,” he heard Kagome said in a low voice, noticing the young woman looking right at him out of the corner of her chocolate brown eyes. “I wonder what’s he thinking about?” she mumbled to herself quietly.

So the girl wanted to know what his thoughts were huh? Well that’s too bad. He wasn’t in the mood for that kind of discussion, and never will be. His thoughts were his own and no else—

“Just the usual...like every other stranger thinks when they first meet someone like me. They think I’m like some sort of interesting puzzle, an enigma, someone they can’t figure out. Pfff, as if I need to be solved by a bunch of people, animals, spirits, and monsters,” Jane said with a laugh, sounding both amused and annoyed at the same time.

“Well can you blame them, Auntie? You can, uhh, be a little hard to read at times...” Kagome pointed out. “Or talk to...sort of,” she added with a small sweat-drop.

“And you think I should make it easier for them? Jeez, I hope that’s not what you’re—”

“Implying? Goodness no! I’m not!” Kagome grinned at the other woman. “You’re just being yourself. And if that’s something people have a hard time figuring out or coming to terms with, well I’m sorry to say that —and no offense to our new furry little friend here— that’s on them,” she continued with a shrug. “Every individual is special and unique in their own way, and you’re no different, Auntie! You are...you! You’re a Half Fire and Light Wielding Spirit with cool Psychic Powers! You’re Dr. Jane Valerie Foster, Nobel Prize Winner, one of the World’s Leading Astrophysicist, Faithful Ally and Friend to the Avengers, and one of the most recognized scientific geniuses of this time! A scientific genius who also happens to be a member of the Science Bros!” she finished with a flourish, passion dripping deep from her voice.

“Is...that really how everyone views me whenever my names pops up in the conversations? That’s...I don’t know. You sure you’re not laying it pretty thick on there, Kagome? It seems a little...” Jane trailed off quietly, as if she couldn’t imagine the level of excitement people experienced in her presence before.

“Believe it, Auntie!” Kagome winked at the older woman then busted out laughing when she turned pink and looked down to avoid her smile. “Never thought I’d ever say this out loud but good lord you can be pretty oblivious when it comes to these kinds of things—”

“Did you just...”

“Oh please! Darcy and my little brother aren’t the only ones who still watches anime.”

“Why am I not surprised by that,” Jane deadpanned with a roll of her eyes. “And to think that Naruto, of all things, is still popular to this day despite that show being old—”

‘...What...’

It can’t be...

This woman was...

And just like that, the overload of information he was unknowingly presented with as well as the astonishing discovery of Jane’s identity and her full name, including those surprisingly long titles that came with it, caused Loki’s brain to short-circuit.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dead silence now enveloped the atmosphere as Jane continued to carry both Kagome and the griffin, who strangely thought himself a God—as outrageous as that sounded to her, through the air, weaving in and out of different paths that split into twos the further they went into the cave.

“I don’t hear the tidal wave anymore,” Kagome said, looking behind her. “Now that we’ve escaped from that disaster, I think we’re pretty safe in here to say the least.”

“Good...” a small hum came from Jane as she said this and turned a corner. ‘Wait a minute...’ there was something gleaming in the distance, something that looked like an opening. ‘Wow! It is one!’ a smile broke out on her face at the sight of a small white hole up ahead, shining as bright as the sun itself. “Because I can see the exit just up ahead,” she told her niece.

Kagome along with the griffin, who shook himself awake, perked up at this news.

“Oh thank Kami!” the young miko closed her eyes and let out a big sigh of relief. “I thought we would be stuck in this cave forever.”

Resisting the urge to say a sarcastic remark, or at least something back, the scientist held her tongue —for now— and sped up, flying toward the exit with every little bit of mana she had left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In a small clearing of a spacious green valley with what looks to be a weird hybrid between an extravagant city and a village, that was surrounded by snowy mountains and bright blue lakes, lurking in the far distance, various monsters and other creatures of sorts ran around the area. Some frolicked through the tall grass, hiding behind whatever boulder they could find, as if they were playing a game of hide-and-seek, while others flew through the air in loopy loops.

In the midst of their performance, they zoomed right past a figure sitting Indian style on a wide boulder that not only sat waist deep in the middle of one of the lakes, but it also towered over the majority of the boulders and stonehenges in the area.

And that figure was a blue and black bipedal jackal-like creature with a mask around its face, short spikes on the back of its forepaws and its creamy colored chest, and four black appendages that hung down behind its head.

Currently, it was mediating and focusing on expanding its energy, checking for anything out of the ordinary.

FIIIIIZZZZZZZZZ!

Like right now.

The jackal grunted before its eyes snapped open, revealing ruby red orbs that glowed a bit orange in the light from the evening sunset above.

“What is it Lucario?” five voices, three of them being feminine while the other two were masculine, called out the it from below.

“Hmm?” the jackal said, its voice deep in sound. “What is it?” he looked down and spotted a group of creatures gathered around near the water.

Up front and center was a white and light blue colored fox with a small crest on his forehead, midnight blue eyes, midnight blue rhombus markings on his back, the tip of his tail, and on the tips of his dangles hanging down from the sides of his face.

Next to him, on the right, was a bluish-black weasel-cat with three pink tail feathers, red eyes that were surrounded by black eyelash markings, and yellow oval markings on her chest and forehead while the one on the left was a white and bluish-black sphinx with ruby red eyes, a crescent moon shaped horn on the side of her head, and a scythe-like tail.

And finally, behind the three, were two dragons. The bigger one was wyvern and bat-like with a black and purple body, yellow eyes with blue-green sclerae, large wings that blue-green in the membrane area, and a long sharp tail that curled around her body while the smaller one was western-like with a blue and grey body, black eyes that had a hint of blue in them and was surrounded by red ridges that sat on top of his head, red markings over various parts of his body, and giant red wings that were shaped like fans.

“What did you sense just now?” the weasel-cat asked.

“I think Absol mentioned that she sensed something too just before we all came over here,” the fox added.

Lucario narrowed his eyes and jumped down from the rock, joining the others on land. “Just three non-hostile auras that have arrived here, Sneasel, Glaceon...” he replied then turned his attention to Absol. “What about you?” he asked her.

“What I sensed had nothing to do with the new auras. And I felt it near the cave,” she answered, and out of the corner of her eye, motioned the two dragons behind her. “Noivern and Salamence got a little bored with their game, so they found me and decided to tag along after I told them what’d happened.”

The jackal nodded.

“Okay, that should be the area you guys check out first. Meanwhile, I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things,” he suggested.

“Right!” they all said.

Lucario turned around and jumped back onto the rock while his friends took off.

#lokane #fanfic #chapter three #jane foster #half-spirit!jane #loki laufeyson #kagome higurashi #oc (original character)#marvel #mcu #dmc #tox #inuyasha #pokemon #au verse #multiple crossovers #a tale of new beginnings gallery #of rising calamities beyond the cosmos

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badchoosey · 6 years ago

Text

It Lives in the Woods. Chapter One: Old Friends

Phone: Bzzzzzzzzzzzz…

Debo: Nnnnhhh… what…

Still-half asleep, you grope around on the shelf until you find your phone…

Debo: Ugh, who’s texting me at three in the morning?

Dan - Hey, are you there? It’s Dan. I messed up. I’m so sorry…

Debo - Dan? It’s… been a while. Are you okay? What happened?

Dan - I went back into the woods. I had to be sure, I had to prove to myself that it was all in my head… But it isn’t, Debo, it’s all real. HE’S real.

Debo - Dan… are you drunk or something?

Dan - I heard him whispering, just like when we were kids.

Debo - Stop it, Dan. We made all that stuff up. Mr. Red was just a dumb kid’s game that got out of control. He doesn’t exist. He never did.

Dan - He does. He’s here with me now.

Debo - Wait… where are you?

Dan - I can hear him in the trees. I hear him whispering…

A harsh tap tap tap from the window makes you jump, dropping your phone!

Debo: AAAAHH!

A dark shape looms outside the window… Heart hammering in your chest, you fumble for the light switch. Light floods your bedroom, streaming out the window to reveal…

Debo: Dan?! What are you doing here?

Dan: Debo, can I come in?

Debo: I… I guess so. Hang on.

You move to the window and slide it open enough for Dan to climb inside.

Debo: You’ve got some explaining to do, though. First off, what the hell are you doing here? We’ve barely spoken in years… and suddenly you decide to pay me a visit at three in the morning?

Dan: I’m sorry.

Debo: Don’t apologize… just tell me what’s going on. You sounded really freaked out in your texts…

Dan: It’s nothing. I’m fine. Come on, we need to go get the others.

Debo: What others?

Dan: Our friends! Stacy, Lily, Noah, Lucas, Ava, and Andy. I’ve got something to show you, but we need to bring everyone.

Debo: Dan… I’ve barely spoken to that group since we were little kids. After what happened to Jane--

Dan: But they have to come, Debo. Everyone has to be there. That’s the rule.

Your phone buzzes again, rattling against the floorboards. Sighing, you pick it up.

Debo: Dan, I want to help you, but honestly you’re kind of freaking me out right now. We’ve got our first day of school in, like, six hours. We can talk then, okay?

Your phone buzzes again, another notification popping up on the screen. You look down…

Dan - 3:17am - Are you still there? I think I’m lost… Debo? My battery’s almost dead, please help me!

Debo: Wait…

Dan: We have to go back to the woods, Debo.

The lights in your bedroom flicker as a chill wind sweeps through your open window. Hands trembling, you slowly look up from your phone screen.

Debo: … Dan?

A smile spreads across Dan’s shadowed face… stretching wider than it should…

Dan: Debo.

You start to back away… but Dan’s hand clamps around your wrist! You try to pull free, but he clings to you with inhuman strength!

Debo: Hey!

Panic floods your body, and you can only struggle mindlessly against Dan’s hold!

Debo: (Have to get free! Have to--)

Dan throws you to the floor, pinning your back against the rough boards!

Dan: We all have to go back. Don’t you remember?

Debo: Get off me!

You claw at Dan… and his flesh crumbles beneath your fingernails! Dan leans in, his cold breath stinking of moldy dirt and blood…

Dan: Everyone plays together, Debo…

The creature’s hands tighten around your throat… Your vision begins to blur, shadows seeming to writhe and bleed in the dark room….

Debo: Hrrnnngggg…

You have no breath left to scream. You simply sink, paralyzed by terror, into a cold, black nothingness…

…

Debo: AAAAAHHH!

You jerk into wakefulness, adrenaline burning in your veins as you thrash against your attacker… until you realize that you’re alone in your room.

Debo: The hell…? What a messed up dream.

Reaching up to feel your neck… you flinch as your fingers brush the fresh bruises there…

Debo: What the--?! No way… this can’t be happening…

You grab your phone to look at the texts from last night… only to discover that the battery is dead.

Debo: Crap…

Sighing, you toss your phone into your school bag and turn to your closet.

Debo: Guess I’d better get ready for school. Need to look good for my first day of senior year…

Grabbing your school bag, you hurry downstairs… Outside, you cast a nervous glance toward the woods that border the edge of your yard…

Debo: Mr. Red… Dan couldn’t have seen him… that was all just make-believe.

As you descend the steps, a friendly voice calls out from the yard next door.

Cid: Morning, neighbor!

Debo: Oh hey, Cid. What’s up?

Cid: Just coming back from our walk. Hey, Hilda, look who it is!

A blur of black and white fur crashes out of the bushes, looking around excitedly.

Hilda: Wuff!

Hilda bounds over to you, her bushy tail waving like a flag!

Debo: Hi, girl!

Hilda: Arrrooooo!

Debo: Aww! Good to see you too, cutie!

Hilda flops on her back, wriggling happily as you rub her belly.

Cid: Your parents around? I didn’t see ‘em out and about this morning.

Debo: Yeah, they’re still overseas dealing with my great aunt’s estate or whatever. They’ll be back in a couple weeks.

Cid: Hell, that’s a long time for a kid to be by themselves, ‘specially in a big house like that.

Debo: Yeah, well I can take care of myself. I just turned eighteen, you know. I can do my own laundry and everything. I’m getting pretty good at mac and cheese, too. I’ve only set off the smoke alarm like… three times this week.

Cid: Aw, they grow up so fast.

Cid suddenly cocks his head, taking a few steps toward your house and crouching down beside a small pile of loose dirt.

Cid: Huh, wonder what this is…

Cid picks something out of the pile and holds it up… a glossy black stone carved with a strange rune.

Cid: This yours?

Debo: Weird…

The stone is surprisingly heavy in your hand. You move your thumb along the deep crack that runs through the center of the engraved rune.

Debo: I wonder where this came from… and what broke it.

Cid: Beats me. Looks like a paperweight or somethin’.

Brushing away some of the dirt from the stone, you freeze as a familiar smell wafts into your nose… cold earth and a hint of blood…

Debi: It smells like that thing that--

You stop yourself, glancing nervously at Cid.

Cid: Smells like what?

Debo: Uh… weird. It just smells kinda weird.

Cid nods, dusting off his hands.

Cid: Well, I’ll let you get to school. You just let me know if you need anything, alright? My door’s always open.

Debo: Will do. Thanks, Cid.

Cid whistles, and HIlda jumps up to follow him. Once they’re out of sight, you look down at the stone in your hand.

Debo: (If what I saw last night was real, this could be a clue… Better keep it somewhere safe.)

It takes a few tries for you to open the shed door, its rusted hinges screeching with every shove.

Debo: Jeez, when’s the last time someone was in here?

Cobwebs tickle your face as you approach the worktable, setting the cracked stone down on its dusty surface.

Debo: I bet I could fit all kinds of stuff in here…

Flicking off the light, you step back out into the yard, shutting the shed door behind you… A few minutes later, on the asphalt road that runs along the edge of the woods, you hear a car approaching from behind. Stepping to the side, you glance up, locking eyes with the driver of a black vintage Camaro.

Debo: (That guy looks familiar…)

The car slows to a stop, and the driver leans out through the open window.

???: Hey, do I know you from somewhere?

Debo: I think so. I was just wondering the same thing… do you go to Westchester High?

???: Not anymore, thank god. Left that hellhold behind a couple years ago.

Debo: Lucky you.

???: Hang in there, you’ll be out before you know it. Anyway, I’d better get to work. Catch you later.

He steps on the gas, and the car starts to pull away.

Debo: Oh! I never got your…

But he’s already too far away to hear, disappearing around a bend in the road.

Debo: ... name.

Shrugging, you continue your long walk toward school.

A thin crowd of students trickles across the front yard of your school, waving and calling out to friends as they converge on the front doors. Squeezing through the loud, crowded hall, you find a familiar girl standing at the locker next to yours…

Debo: Oh! Hey, Ava.

Ava: ‘Sup.

Debo: Not much… that hasn’t always been your locker, has it? I’ve never seen you using it before.

Ava: Got reassigned.

Ava kicks the locker shut and shrugs her bag onto her shoulder.

Ava: Oh look, it’s Lily.

Following Ava’s gaze, you see a nervous girl clutching a textbook to her chest.

Lily: Um… hi, guys.

Debo: Hi, Lily. It’s been a while. You excited for classes?

Lily: I guess… I’m a little worried about my art class.

Debo: Really? Don’t you have like… a 4.5 GPA?

Lily: But art has no objective rubric for success! How will I know if I’m doing it right?

Lily glances over furtively, lowering her voice.

Lily: There’s, um, there’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about…

Debo: Sure, what’s up?

Lily: I got some really weird texts last night. Did you…?

Lily trails off, looking over your shoulder. You turn to see a pretty girl walking by, chatting with two friends.

Britney: Oh my god, look. I’ve been ghosting this guy for like, two solid weeks, and he just asked me out for coffee again.

Ava: Oh boy. Just when you think high school might not be the sucking necrotic chest wound that you remember…

The guy next to Britney laughs, running one hand through his hair.

Cody: Yikes. Desperate is not a good look.

Jocelyn: Maybe he’s just not scared of ghosts? You could try clowns instead. Clowns are gross.

Britney: That’s not… Joss, do you even know what--

Lily: H-hi, Britney!

The group stops in their tracks, and Britney turns to give Lily an appraising look.

Britney: Wow, Lil, great sweater. I didn’t know Baby Bar had a quadruple-XL section.

Lily: I… I just wanted to say hello…

Britney: And I just wanted a red Ferrari for my birthday, but I’ll settle for not having to listen to your whiny voice anymore.

You turn your back on Britney, giving Lily a big smile.

Debo: Lily, I’m super jealous of your sweater. That fox is freakin’ adorable.

Britney: Excuse you, but nobody asked for--

You continue to ignore her, focusing on your conversation with Lily.

Debo: Lily, you wanna take me shopping sometime? I need some sweaters that aren’t from my grandma’s tacky holiday collection.

Lily: I… I’d love to!

Lily looks down at the floor, holding a small smile.

Jocelyn: Oh yeah? Well--

Ava: Shhhh… witty comebacks aren’t your strong suit, Track and Field Barbie.

Jocelyn: Cross Country.

Ava: I know. I used the wrong one on purpose to piss you off. Try to keep up.

Cody: How about you go haunt some other hallway, freak?

Ava gives Cody a long, ponderous look… then reaches up to pluck a stray hair from his shoulder.

Ava: You know, I keep meaning to try out this new curse I found on the internet. If you feel a burning sensation in your eyeballs, that’s normal.

Cody: The hell…

Waggling her fingers, Ava stalks away down the hallway.

Ava: Later, guys.

Debo: Later…

Lily: Bye, Ava.

Jocelyn: Ewwwwww, Cody! What’s gonna happen to your eyeballs?!

Britney: Chill, Jocelyn. That weirdo just reads too many vampire novels. With any luck she’ll flunk and go live in a dirty old shack like Pritch the Witch.

Jocelyn: She is just like Pritch the Witch. We should call her, uh… ‘Ava the Witch’! Hahahahahaha!

Cody: … Wow. Good one, Joss.

You shake your head, turning to grab a notebook from your locker.

Debo: Well, lovely as this has been, we should probably go--

Jocelyn: Oh. My. God. Is that a hickey?!

Jocelyn reaches up, poking the fresh bruises on the side of your neck.

Debo: Ow! Get off!

Cody: Yeah right, like anyone would want to chew on this social reject.

Debo: It’s none of your damn business.

Cody: Rawr! Someone’s crabby this morning. You on your period or something?

Debo: I think you just have that effect on people.

Britney: Whatever. Fascinating as this convo is, I need to go get ready for the pep rally.

Britney jerks her head, and the others follow. Jocelyn shoulder-checks you as she walks by, knocking you hard against a locker.

Debo: Ow!

Lily: Hey!

Jocelyn: See you around, Debo.

Wincing, you rub your shoulder where it slammed against the locker, glaring after the bullies.

Debo: This school year’s already off to a great start, huh?

Lily: Should we report them to the office, or…?

Debo: Sure, millionth time’s the charm, right? Maybe this time they’ll actually get in trouble.

Lily smiles ruefully as the two of you join the crowd of students shuffling toward the gym. Music blares over the gym speakers, and a rush of panic hits as you’re jostled by the crowd, your mind flashing back to the night before…

Lily: Debo? Are you okay?

Debo: Y-yeah. Just, uh, kinda crowded in here. You see anywhere to sit?

Lily: Not really… looks like there are a couple seats up there next to… Oh… never mind. That’s Ava’s spot.

In the top row of the bleachers, Ava sits scribbling in a worn sketchbook. As you watch, a couple of freshmen move to sit beside her…

Ava: HISSSSSSSSSSS…

The freshmen trip over themselves, scrambling to get away from Ava. She glares after them… then notices you watching her. Ava nods to the empty bench.

Debo: Is… she inviting me to sit by her?

Lily: I think she is!

Debo: (Maybe I could talk with Ava about what happened last night. She knows about all kinds of supernatural stuff… It’d be nice to tell someone who’d actually believe me…)

I… think I’d rather sit somewhere else.

Lily: Okay, um… I there there’s a spot over there by Mr. Cooper? Doesn’t look like there’s room for both of us, though.

Debo: You go ahead, I’ll find a spot somewhere.

Lily: Okay, if you’re sure… Oh, and thanks for your help earlier.

Debo: Anytime. See you later, Lily.

You keep moving, finally spotting one empty seat… right next to a familiar figure slouching in the second row…

Debo: Oh, crap… Noah…

You quickly turn around, desperately scanning the crowd for another open seat, any seat but that one… but there aren’t any. You consider trying to sneak back out the gym doors, until someone shouts at you from a few rows up.

Cody: Hey, Debo! Sit your stupid ass down, unless you wanna watch from the garbage can!

Debo: I…

Jocelyn: Hello? You’re blocking our view, and there’s a spot right there.

Wincing, you turn back around to see Noah looking right at you.

Debo: Hey, Noah. Do you mind if…?

Noah: Knock yourself out.

Noah scoots over, and you squeeze in beside him.

Debo: So… what’s been up with you? We haven’t really talked since…

Noah: Yeah… I know.

You sit, neither of you saying another word. Down on the floor of the gym, a tall, handsome guy with glasses walks up to a podium…

Lucas: How you doing, Westchester High?

The students roar in response! The bleachers rumble and shake as the crowd pounds their feet on the wood.

Debo: Whoa… When did Lucas get so popular?

Noah: Shortly after hitting six feet and discovering hair gel, shortly before getting elected student body president.

Lucas waves to the cheering crowd, flashing a smile.

Lucas: Welcome back, everyone! For anyone who doesn’t know me already, I’m Lucas Thomas, your student body president. I know everyone’s a little salty summer is over, but trust me… this is going to be one school year you’ll never forget. And on that note, let’s kick this pep rally off, Westchester Wolf style!

At Lucas’ signal, several cheerleaders jump up from the bleachers, bouncing and waving their pom poms in the air!

Stacy: You can do better than that! Let’s hear it!

Debo: Looks like Stacy’s doing pretty well too…

One by one, the cheerleaders tumble across the gym. Stacy draws thunderous cheers as she pulls off an effortless roundoff into a backflip!

Debo: Whoa! That’s incredible!

Noah: Yay. Go team.

Beaming, Stacy looks back at the rest of the cheer squad, her smile suddenly fading as she locks eyes with Britney… Stacy turns… and suddenly trips over her own feet, sprawling on her face!

Stacy: Aaahhh!

Debo: Stacy!

You jump to your feet, hurrying to help Stacy up.

Debo: Are you okay? What happened?

Stacy: Nothing… I’m just a klutz, I guess.

Debo: I think it’s kinda cute. Like a clumsy anime heroine. Everyone loves them, right?

Stacy: Right now I just feel like an embarrassment to the squad.

Jocelyn: Hahahahaha! Did you see that? She was all like, WHAM, ‘Aaaaaahhh!’

Cody: Please tell me the school news nerds got that on camera.

Blushing, Stacy rejoins the rest of the squad. You sit back down as, at the other end of the gym, Britney steps forward with a smug smile.

Britney: Check this out…

Britney takes three running steps, then flies into a no-handed cartwheel! The crowd roars as she sticks the landing!

Debo: ugh. Why do people like her so much? They’ve got to know how horrible she is.

Noah: And? She’s hot and can do flips. We can’t compete with that.

Lucas grins from the podium as the cheerleaders return to their seats.

Lucas: Well, now that the cheer squad is done totally blowing our minds… let’s give it up for the Westchester Wolves basketball team!

More applause sounds as a group of guys in basketball jerseys forms up in front of the podium.

Ben: Awooooooooooo!

Andy: Yeah! Go Wolves!

Noah: Huh, Andy actually made the team this year.

Debo: Good for him! Looks like he’s been working hard! I can’t wait to see him play!

You flinch as Cody’s voice breaks through the general applause.

Cody: Watch out, it’s the TRIPLE THREEEEAAAAAAT!

Andy’s head snaps in the direction of Cody’s voice, his face suddenly twisting with anger.

Andy: Hey! Why don’t you come down here and--

He takes one steps toward the bleachers, but stops himself as Lucas calls the team captain up to the podium.

Ben: Thanks, Lucas. What up, Westchester High?

The crowd whoops and stomps in response!

Ben: We’ve got our first game coming up in a couple days, so you guys had better be here to watch us crush it. Not gonna lie, we’ve got a couple rookies on the team this year, but I’m not gonna let that stop--

Ben pauses as the gym lights suddenly flicker!

Ben: Huh?

Debo: Oh no…

Lucas’ voice calls out over the speakers, drowning out the nervous chatter of the students.

Lucas: Everyone, stay seated! We don’t want anyone to fall from the--ksssshhhhhhkkkk!

A burst of static cuts him off, and the music stutters, fading in and out. With a loud BANG, the gym doors are blown open by a frigid gust of wind…

The lights flicker back on, and you nearly jump out of your seat as Noah suddenly grabs your arm.

Debo: Gah! What are you--

Noah: Shut up! Do you hear that?!

Debo: Hear what?

Noah: Ssssssshhhhhhhhh!

And you do hear it…. Just barely on the edge of your perception, you hear a sound that snatches all the breath from your body and leaves you cold.

Debo: No… Not here…

You look around, picking out the faces of your former friends…

Andy: What the…

Lucas: This can’t be!

Lily: N-no way…

Stacy: Oh my god…

Ava: Oh f--

The music sputters and dies as the lights shut off completely, leaving only the voice. A voice that is at once completely alien… and horrifyingly familiar.

Voice: Everyone… plays… together...

#it lives in the woods #ilitw #choices ilitw #choices #playchoices #bad choices

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pomchovis · 6 years ago

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suzuna and hiriki?

Aaaaahhh thank you for asking about my ocs!! Lemme see…

10 facts about your ocs

Nanome Suzuna (奈目涼奈）

1. Suzuna is the tallest in his household at 176cm (5′9″) versus his husband and one of his daughters at 152cm (4′11″) and his other daughter at 148cm (4′10″)!

2. Suzuna’s daughters aren’t biologically his, but they are blood-related: they’re his late sister’s. Him and his husband adopted them when she passed away with her husband; the kids were around 2 (Misaki) and 8 (Puck) at the time (both girls are half Indonesian).

3. His husband (Takashi) and him actually got married for this reason. It would ease up the adoption process and they would be able to support each other. It helps that they also love each other very much, but this all happened fairly early (they were 20 years old at the time).

4. The previous points hint at this, but Suzuna is a very family-oriented person. Once his daughters leave the house, he gets hit by the empty nest feeling pretty hard. He takes care of Takashi’s nephew’s kids sometimes (Takashi’s nephew is Hiriki, coincidentally!), together with Takashi of course.

5. Suzuna is known for making bad (dad) jokes, and the only one in his household who actually likes them is Puck, his oldest daughter.

6. He works as a journalist for an economical newspaper. He does his job well, but doesn’t like the dry tone the articles are expected to be written in.

7. Suzuna likes dogs and wouldn’t mind adopting one (also to fight the empty nest feeling…) but Takashi doesn’t want one, so he’s given up on it.

8. Suzuna is far-sighted and has been for his whole life, but takes any indication that his eyes are getting worse as a sign he’s getting old, voicing this jokingly to Takashi whenever he wants to and annoying him to no end.

9. Suzuna’s family is from Nara, but he lived in Okayama all his life until moving to Osaka to go to university there.

10. When Suzuna and Takashi moved into a bigger home to fit the expansion of their household, they became the neighbors of Fruitho and Sayo, two of my other ocs!

Hiriki Hi（日力飛）

1. In his canon universe, one based on the mcu made by a friend (I can’t really tag them since they only have a fandom blog for something completely different on here rn), he has a mutation that allows him to switch gravity for himself only. So he can walk on walls or the ceiling, or float in the air if he wants to. He works as a kind of secret agent I guess??

2. His day job (and only job in modern AUs where there’s no special powers involved) is university professor. He teaches astrophysics.

3. Hiriki can play the bass guitar and the juushichigen (a bass, 17-stringed version of the koto). He started both while he was still in elementary school but prefers the bass guitar.

4. Hiriki’s father is white and an Australian (teaching English at a high school).

5. To improve his English and because he was very tired of the school system in Japan, Hiriki decided to go to university in Sydney, studying…well, astrophysics there.

6. Hiriki was kind of neutral towards cats earlier in his life, but after adopting one himself during his time as a student abroad, he completely fell in love with them. The cat he adopted was a black cat he named Hiino.

7. One of Hiriki’s main hobbies is cooking. He doesn’t get along very well with his mother, but they do exchange recipes quite regularly. He enjoys finding new recipes and editing them to find interesting combinations or try to improve them, or just trying to experiment himself. He’s a very good cook and enjoys having others eat his cooking, even if he’s not always the most warm person himself.

8. Hiriki can do calligraphy and has very good posture partially because of that. Another old man hobby he has is shougi (similar to chess).

9. He’s married to Kaoru, an oc of another friend of mine (@/sherbetbats on here!).

10. Despite being a nerd, he also likes working out and improving his physical strength and looks, so he’s pretty strong. He also has a skin care routine and pays close attention to the nutritional value of the food he eats.

Again, thank you so much for asking!! I hope this wasn’t too all over the place dfjdgkfsds

#asamlambung #long post #hiriki #suzuna #pom answers #i figured i'd give more general facts since i've never talked about those on here before!!

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rickstexaschick · 6 years ago

Text

Rick and Harley: Chapter 4

This is a continuation of the backstory of Rick and Harley, in their years together before Rick’s Texas Chick. The original is posted on AO3 at:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16592366/chapters/38884421

Harley’s room was sparsely furnished. A huge bed with a wrought iron frame took up most of the space, two small bedside tables with lamps stood on either side.

”We’re gonna...probably need some — some kind of lube...” Rick started, hesitantly. Harley was taking off his shirt, then stopped. “Shit, you’re right. I was just so horny, I didn’t think of that...I don’t know if I have...” He went to one of the bedside tables and opened the drawer, rummaging the contents around. “Shit. Check the other one.” Rick went and opened the drawer of the other table and came up with one small tube of lubricant which was mostly empty. “Fuck.” Harley put his shirt back on and tucked himself back in his jeans, zipping and buttoning them. Rick’s hopes flagged, but he misinterpreted Harley’s actions. ”W-W-Wait — hang on just one second. Five — ten minutes, tops. I’ll be right back...” He left the room. Rick heard the sizzling whirl of the portal, indicating that Harley had left. Presumably to go get some lube. Rick was still standing in the middle of the room with his pants open, his dick growing soft. He looked down at it. ”Well, fuck...” He stripped out of his remaining clothes and went in the adjoining bathroom to take a leak. He looked at the bathtub enclosed by a plain, white shower curtain. Might as well. Diane always made him shower before they had sex, even after all their years together. It still always killed the mood a little bit for him. Like he was unclean. But this time it made sense. He cleaned himself thoroughly, then ran his soapy hands up and down his shaft, bringing his erection back, harder than ever. He was standing in the hot water, stroking himself when Harley stepped in from around the curtain. ”Man, you’re not gettin’ yourself off without me, are you?” Harley moved closer to Rick and the two men kissed. This time their kiss was immediate and aggressive, no more awkwardness or tentative exploration of the situation. They were the same height, so no bending over, straining his neck or back, like with Diane.... Rick realized he had to stop comparing everything to his wife. He reached down with a soapy hand and stroked and fondled Harley’s partially erect cock, bringing it standing to attention with full force. Harley groaned into his mouth, enjoying the slippery feel of Rick’s hand sliding up and down, gripping with just the right amount of firmness. Their cocks bumped against each other and Rick held them together, stroking them with perfect pressure and speed, rubbing his thumb across the heads. The effect was incredible and both men were groaning and gasping into each other’s mouths. Harley pulled away, and said shakily, “Fuck, I’m gonna cum all over you if you keep this up. What, uh...what do you want, man?” ”Just...wait...” Rick soaped up his hands then reached around and slid one soapy hand between Harley’s cheeks, stroking his ass. He kissed Harley, sliding his tongue

in his mouth while he applied pressure with his fingertips, circling and stroking across the puckered entrance, making Harley groan against his lips. He carefully pushed one finger in and stroked in and out. Harley shuddered, his legs buckling. He gripped Rick’s arms, squeezing tight. “Fuck...fuck me...Oh my God...” ”Now we can go. Your water’s fucking freezing, man...” Indeed, they’d been messing around in the shower for so long that they’d nearly run through all the hot water. Harley ducked under the shower head to rinse off the remaining soap. ”Aww, this is nothing, there’s still some hot water left. The cold water’s about 66 degrees year ‘round. The well’s 350 feet underground.” ”Well let’s get the fuck out, I don’t need to feel it to believe it.” Harley laughed and turned off the water. They stepped out of the tub and shared his one bath towel. ”You’re gonna need — gonna have to get more towels, dude, if...” Rick paused, looking at Harley questioningly. ”Yeah, don’t worry. I will...” Harley leaned in and kissed him on the lips. “Come on. I don't want to have gone all the way to The Citadel for nothing...I hate going to that place...” Out on the bed was a black plastic bag. Harley dumped out the contents: two large tubes of lube. No condoms. ”I’m clean, if that’s what you're wondering. But there’s a clinic on The Citadel, it’s located right across the street from the sex shop where I got the lube. They can cure every kind of social disease. Even ones you’ve never heard of, from other dimensions. And,” he laughed, “I doubt you’ll get me pregnant. So, you know...” ”Bottom’s up, huh?” Rick grinned at him. “Come on, I get the feeling you wanna catch the first pitch, right?” They lay down on the bed together. Harley lay on his back and Rick hovered over him, kissing him while he reached down to stroke and caress Harley’s thick cock. He sat back and popped open the cap on the lube and squirted out a generous amount. The few times he and Diane had tried anal intercourse he’d had to lube the crap out of her, no pun intended, and take his time stretching her open. He loved it, of course, but she could never really get into it. He took his time, stroking and caressing Harley’s puckered entrance while they continued to kiss. Then he carefully inserted one finger, pushing past the tight ring of muscle. Harley tensed up, muttering something between a groan and a curse. ”Just breathe, man...” Rick continued stroking in and out. ”Christ, I am… Oh, fuck, this feels...” Harley reached down and began to stroke his own cock. Rick curved his finger, stroking it across Harley’s prostate. Harley arched off the bed and he cried out with pleasure.

”OH, JESUS, FUCK! What is that?” Rick laughed. “That’s your prostate, you idiot. Didn’t you take high school biology?” “I dropped...dropped out...School’s a waste...Oh FUCK!” Rick had applied more lube and inserted a second finger, gently stretching out the ringed muscle. Harley’s eyes were closed and he was taking deep, shaking breaths while still stroking himself. Precum was dripping out of his cock and down his hand.

Rick inserted a third finger and slowly stroked in and out, pushing in all the way to his knuckles, then curling them and dragging across his prostate on the way back. As he pulled out, he scissored his fingers, stretching Harley as much as possible. Rick had been stroking himself with his other hand. His dick was beet red and rock hard and dripping with precum. Harley’s was curved up to his stomach, a pool of precum beneath it. Harley was groaning with pleasure. “You — you ready? I’m not gonna be able wait much longer here, before I —“ ”Fuck yeah. Do it.” Rick lubed himself up and then scooted himself between Harley’s legs. “Take a deep breath...”. He waited for Harley to breathe in and relax himself, then he slowly pushed in. He paused, looking up at Harley, who was breathing deep and gripping the sheets, his eyes closed. Then Rick pushed past that ring of muscle, groaning with how good it felt. ”Christ, you’re tight. Oh, fuck...”. He rose up on his knees, grasping Harley’s hips and pulling his legs on either side of him. He held onto his hips while he slowly stroked in and out, gradually going deeper each time. He was fighting the urge to just pound into the man beneath him. ”Ohmygod, oh fuck! Oh, yeah. Fuck me, man. Jesus...” ”You’re so tight...God, you feel incredible...” Both men were panting and gasping with pleasure, interspersed with deep groans. Rick picked up his speed until he was going at a brisk rhythm. Harley’s back was arched off the bed, and he reached up with both hands and grabbed the wrought iron headboard to keep from being slammed into it, his muscles tensing with the effort. The headboard was banging against the wall behind him. Rick was firmly gripping him around his hips, pulling him in with each thrust. He tilted his pelvis and changed his angle, searching for —- “AAAAAHHH. FUCK!” Harley went as rigid as a plank as Rick stroked across his prostate, over and over. “I’m gonna fucking cum — oh, shit, FUCK!” ”Cum for me, man. Let me see that big cock blow it’s load...” “Oh, CHRIST, fucking Jesus! FUCK... FUCK!!!” Harley’s body shuddered as his cock spewed thick, hot stripes of cum up to his chest, and he tightened spasmodically around Rick’s own thrusting cock. ”Yeah, man, fuck, fuckin’ FUCK!” Rick gave one last thrust into Harley, driving as deep as he could, gripping him by the hips to hold him place. His body trembled and shook as his orgasm ripped through him like a shock wave. His cock throbbed and emptied deep inside Harley. He stroked in and out a few more times before pulling out and collapsing onto the bed on his side, facing him. Harley’s eyes were closed and he smiled, open mouthed, as he continued to drag in air. Rick reached out and tentatively placed one hand, palm side down, on Harley’s sweaty chest, still heaving with his labored breathing and smeared with his cum. Harley laid his hand over it and gripped it tight, his eyes still closed, still smiling. ”That was...fucking incredible...I’ve never...cum so hard...in my life...” ”Me neither, man...” Rick was breathing heavily and sweating. ”Mind if I just sleep, for a bit...Then we can...switch...” Harley’s voice was thick and drowsy. He felt completely wiped out. In response, Rick sat up and reached down to where the covers had gotten shoved to the bottom of the bed. He pulled them up, covering them both, then turned and scooted up against Harley. ”Man, your house is fucking cold...” Harley rolled onto to his side and Rick spooned up behind him and wrapped one arm over his chest. Doing it as much for warmth as he was for cuddling. Harley took his hand and laced his fingers through Rick’s, then gave him a gentle squeeze. He mumbled into the pillow. “The water’s cold, the house is cold...Bitch, bitch, bitch... I just need to...go light a fire... I’ll do it...in a minute...” His deep breathing indicated that that wasn’t going to be happening anytime soon, so Rick just snuggled up tighter and was soon asleep, himself. tbc

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #OC Rick #rickcest #Harley Rick #Rick's Texas Chick #Rickdicted

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chooseywoozy · 6 years ago

Text

It Lives In the Woods, Book One: Chapter 1 - Old Friends

(NOW PLAYING AS DEMON)

Phone: Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

Demon: Nnnnnhhh… what…

Still half-asleep, you grope around on the shelf until you find your phone…

Demon: Ugh, who’s texting me at three in the morning?

Dan - Hey, are you there? It’s Dan. I messed up. I’m so sorry…

Demon - Dan? It’s… been a while. Are you okay? What happened?

Dan - I went back into the woods. I had to be sure, I had to prove to myself that it was all in my head… But it isn’t, Demon, it’s all real. HE’S real.

Demon - Dan… are you drunk or something?

Dan - I heard him whispering, just like when we were kids.

Demon - Stop it, Dan. We made all that stuff up. Mr. Red was just a dumb kid’s game that got out of control. He doesn’t exist. He never did.

Dan - He does. He’s here with me now.

Demon - Wait… where are you?

Dan - I can hear him in the trees. I hear him whispering…

A harsh tap tap tap from the window makes you jump, dropping your phone!

Demon: AAAAHH!

A dark shape looms outside the window… Heart hammering in your chest, you fumble for the light switch. Light floods your bedroom, streaming out the window to reveal…

Demon: Dan?! What are you doing here?

Dan: Demon, can I come in?

Demon: I… I guess so. Hang on.

You move to the window and slide it open enough for Dan to climb inside.

Demon: You’ve got some explaining to do, though. First off… How’d you get up to my window? ‘Cause we’re definitely on the second floor right now.

Dan: I climbed.

Demon: Uh… okay, Spiderman. You sounded really freaked out in your texts…

Dan: It’s nothing. I’m fine. Come on, we need to go get the others.

Demon: What others?

Dan: Our friends! Stacy, Lily, Noah, Lucas, Ava, and Andy. I’ve got something to show you, but we need to bring everyone.

Demon: Dan… I’ve barely spoke to any of that group since we were little kids. After what happened to Jane--

Dan: But they have to come, Demon. Everyone has to be there. That’s the rule.

Your phone buzzes again, rattling against the floorboards. Sighing, you pick it up.

Demon: Dan, I want to help you, but honestly you’re kind of freaking me out right now. We’ve got our first day of school in, like, six hours. We can talk then, okay?

Your phone buzzes again, another notification popping up on the screen. You look down…

3:17am. Dan - Are you still there? I think I’m lost… Demon? My battery’s almost dead, please help me!

Demon: Wait…

Dan: We have to go back to the woods, Demon.

The lights in your bedroom flicker as a chill wind sweeps through your open window. Hands trembling, you slowly look up from your phone screen.

Demon: ...Dan?

A smile spreads across Dan’s shadowed face… stretching wider than it should…

Dan: Demon.

You start to back away… but Dan’s hand clamps around your wrist! You try to pull free, but he clings to you with inhuman strength!

Demon: Hey!

Snatching up a heavy ceramic mug, you smash it against Dan’s head with all your might… but he barely even flinches!

Demon: What the--

Dan throws you to the floor, pinning your back against the rough floorboards!

Dan: We all have to go back. Don’t you remember?

Demon: Get off me!

You claw at Dan… and his flesh crumbles beneath your fingernails! Dan leans in, his cold breath stinking of moldy dirt and blood…

Dan: Everyone plays together, Demon…

The creature’s hands tighten around your throat… Your vision begins to blur, shadows seeming to writhe and bleed in the dark room…

Demon: Hrrnnnnnggg…

You have no breath left to scream. You simply sink, paralyzed by terror, into a cold, black nothingness…

Demon: AAAAAHHH!

You jerk into wakefulness, adrenaline burning in your veins as you thrash against your attacker… until you realise that you’re alone in your room.

Demon: The hell…? What a messed up dream.

Reaching up to feel your neck… you flinch as your fingers brush the fresh bruises there…

Demon: What the--?! No way… this can’t be happening…

You grab your phone to look at the texts from last night… only to discover that the battery is dead.

Demon: Crap…

Sighing, you toss your phone into your school bag and turn to your closet.

Demon: Guess I’d better get ready for school. Need to look good for my first day of senior year…

Grabbing your school bag, you hurry down the stairs. Outside, you cast a nervous glance towards the woods that border the edge of your yard..

Demon: Mr. Red… Dan couldn’t have seen him… that was all just make-believe.

As you descend the steps, a friendly voice calls out from the yard next door.

Cid: Morning, neighbour!

Demon: Oh hey, Cid. What’s up?

Cid: Just coming back from out walk. Hey, Hilda, look who it is!

A blur of black and white fur crashes out of the bushes, looking around excitedly.

Hilda: Wuff!

Hilda bounds over to you, her bushy tail waving like a flag!

Demon: Hi, girl!

Hilda: Arrroooo!

Demon: Aww! Good to see you too, cutie!

Hilda flops on her back, wriggling happily as you rub her belly.

Cid: Your parents around? I didn’t see ‘em out and about this morning.

Demon: Yeah, they’re still overseas dealing with my great aunt’s estate or whatever. They’ll be back in a couple weeks.

Cid: Hell, that’s a long time for a kid to be by themselves, ‘specially in a big house like that.

Demon: Yeah, well… the nightly ragers keep me occupied. Nothing like kegstands and strip poker to kick off a new school year, am I right?

Cid: You know, as someone who’s been through college, I feel obligated to tell you that kegstands are a lot less fun than they sound. I mean, unless you like the feeling of cheap beer foam all up in your sinuses.

Demon: Gross. No thank you.

Cid suddenly cocks his head, taking a few steps toward your house and crouching down beside a small pile of loose dirt.

Cid: Huh, wonder what this is…

Cid picks something out of the pile and holds it up… a glossy black stone carved with a strange rune.

Cid: This yours?

Demon: Weird…

The stone is surprisingly heavy in your hand. You move your thumb along the deep crack that runs through the centre of the engraved rune.

Demon: I wonder where this came from… and what broke it.

Cid: Beats me. Looks like a paperweight or somethin’.

Brushing away some of the dirt from the stone, you freeze as a familiar smell wafts into your nose… cold earth and a hint of blood…

Demon: It smells just like that thing that--

You stop yourself, glancing nervously at Cid.

Cid: Smells like what?

Demon: Uh… weird. It just smells kinda weird.

Cid nods, dusting off his hands.

Cid: Well, I’ll let you get to school. You just let me know if you need anything, alright? My door’s always open.

Demon: Will do. Thanks, Cid.

Cid whistles, and Hilda jumps up to follow him. Once they’re out of sight, you look down at the stone in your hand.

Demon: (If what I saw last night was real, this could be a clue… Better keep it somewhere safe.)

It take a few tries for you to open the shed door, its rusted hinges screeching with every shove.

Demon: Jeez, when’s the last time someone was in here?

Cobwebs tickle your face as you approach the worktable, setting the cracked stone down on its dusty surface.

Demon: I bet I could fit all kinds of stuff in here…

Flicking off the light, you step back out into the yard, shutting the shed door behind you. A few minutes late, on the asphalt road that runs along the edge of the woods, you hear a car approaching you from behind. Stepping to the side, you glance up, locking eyes with the driver of a black vintage Camaro.

Demon: (That guy looks familiar…)

The car slows to a stop, and the driver leans out through the open window.

???: Hey, do I know you from somewhere?

Demon: I’d sure like to know you better!

The driver laughs, cocking one eyebrow.

???: I wouldn’t say no to that. Though it looks like you’re on your way somewhere at the moment.

He nods at your schoolbag.

???: Westchester High?

Demon: Yeah. I’m a senior.

???: Almost free of that hellhole, huh? Congrats.

Demon: Thanks. I’ll, uh, see you around?

???: Probably will. It’s a small town.

He steps on the gas, and the car starts to pull away.

Demon: Oh! I never got your…

But he’s already too far away to hear, disappearing around a bend in the road.

Demon: ...name.

Shrugging, you continue your long walk toward school. A thing crowd of students trickles across the front yard of your school, waving and calling out to friends as they converge on the front doors. Squeezing through the loud, crowded hall, you find a familiar girl standing at the locker next to yours…

Demon: Oh! Hey, Ava.

Ava: ‘Sup.

Demon: Not much… that hasn’t always been your locker, has it? I’ve never seen you using it before.

Ava: Got reassigned.

Ava kicks the locker shut and shrugs her bag onto her shoulder.

Ava: Oh look, it’s Lily.

Following Ava’s gaze, you see a nervous girl clutching a textbook to her chest.

Lily: Um… hi, guys.

Demon: Hi, Lily. It’s been a while… how was your summer?

Lily: It was good… I just got back from doing a coding camp up in Portland. One of the other girls invited me to collaborate on a game she’s working on!

Demon: That’s awesome! Let me know if you ever need a playtester.

Lily glances around furtively, lowering her voice.

Lily: There’s, um, there’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about…

Demon: Sure, what’s up?

Lily: I got some really weird texts last night. Did you…?

Lily trails off, looking over her shoulder. You turn to see a pretty girl walking by, chatting with two friends.

Britney: Oh my god, look. I’ve been ghosting this guy for like, two solid weeks, and he just asked me out for coffee again.

Ava: Oh boy. Just when you think high school might not be the sucking necrotic chest wound that you remember…

The guy next to Britney laughs, running one hand through his hair.

Cody: Yikes. Desperate is not a good look.

Jocelyn: Maybe he’s just not scared of ghosts? You could try clowns instead. Clowns are gross.

Britney: That’s not… Joss, do you even know what--

Lily: H-hi, Britney!

The group stops in their tracks, and Britney turns to give Lily an appraising look.

Britney: Wow, Lil, great sweater. I didn’t know Baby Barn had a quadruple-XL section.

Lily: I… I just wanted to say hello…

Britney: And I want a red Ferrari for my birthday, but I’ll settle for not having to listen to your whiny voice anymore.

You turn you back on Britney, giving Lily a big smile.

Demon: Lily, I’m super jealous of your sweater. That fox is freakin’ adorable.

Britney: Excuse you, but nobody asked for--

You continue to ignore her, focusing on your conversation with Lily.

Demon: Lily, you wanna take me shopping sometime? I need some sweaters that aren’t from my grandma’s tacky holiday collection.

Lily: I… I’d love to!

Lily looks down at the floor, hiding a small smile.

Jocelyn: Oh yeah? Well--

Ava: Shhhh… witty comebacks aren’t your strong suit, Track and Field Barbie.

Jocelyn: Cross Country.

Ava: I know. I used the wrong one on purpose to piss you off. Try to keep up.

Cody: How about you go haunt some other hallway, freak?

Ava gives Cody a long, ponderous look… then reaches up to pluck a stray hair from his shoulder.

Ava: You know, I keep meaning to try out this new curse I found on the internet. If you feel a burning sensation in your eyeballs, that’s normal.

Cody: The hell....

Waggling her fingers, Ava stalks away down the hallway.

Ava: Later, guys.

Demon: Later…

Lily: Bye, Ava.

Jocelyn: Ewwwwww, Cody! What’s gonna happen to your eyeballs?!

Britney: Chill, Jocelyn. That weirdo just reads too many vampire novels. With any luck she’ll flunk out and go live in a dirty old shack like Pritch the Witch.

Jocelyn: She is just like Pritch the Witch! We should call uh… ‘Ava the Witch’! Hahahahahaha!

Cody: … Wow. Good one, Joss.

You shake your head, turning to grab a notebook from your locker.

Demon: Well, lovely as this has been, we should probably go--

Jocelyn: Oh. My. God. Is that a hickey?!

Jocelyn reaches up, poking the fresh bruises on the side of your neck.

Demon: Ow! Get off!

Cody: Yeah, right, like anyone would want to chew on this social reject.

Demon: For your information, I got it from your mom.

Jocelyn: Huh? I thought Cody’s mom was in Aspen this week.

Cody: You should watch what you say, Demon. That mouth of yours tends to get you in trouble.

Britney: Whatever. Fascinating as this convo is, I need to go get ready for the pep rally.

Britney jerks her head, and the other follow. Jocelyn shoulder-checks you as she walks by, knocking you hard against a locker.

Demon: Ow!

Lily: Hey!

Jocelyn: See you around, Demon.

Wincing, you rub your shoulder where it slammed against the locker, glaring after the bullies.

Demon: This school year’s already off to a great start, huh?

Lily: Should we report them to the office, or…?

Demon: Sure, millionth time’s the charm, right? Maybe this time they’ll actually get in trouble.

Lily smiles ruefully as the two of you join the crowd of students shuffling toward the gym… Music blares over the gym speakers, and a rush of panic hits as you’re jostled by the crowd, your mind flashing back to the night before…

Lily: Demon? Are you okay?

Demon: Y-yeah. Just, uh, kinda crowded in here. You see anywhere to sit?

Lily: Not really… looks like there are a couple seats up there next to… Oh… never mind. That’s Ava’s spot.

In the top row of the bleachers, Ava sits scribbling in a worn sketchbook. As you watch, a couple of freshman move to sit beside her…

Ava: HISSSSSSSSSS…

The freshmen trip over themselves, scrambling to get away from Ava. She glares after them… then notices you watching her. Ava nods to the empty bench.

Demon: Is… she inviting me to sit by her?

Lily: I think she is!

Demon: (Maybe I could talk with Ava about what happened last night. She knows about all kinds of supernatural stuff… It’d be nice to tell someone who’d actually believe me…)

Lily: You go ahead… Ava kinda… um… scares me a little.

Demon: You sure?

Lily: Yeah, I think I see a spot next to Mr. Cooper. Oh… and thanks for your help earlier, Demon.

Demon: Anytime. See you later, Lily.

You climb to the top row of the bleachers and sidle over to Ava’s corner. You point to the empty spot right next to her.

Demon: Hey, Anyone sitting here?

Ava: Just my ghost friend, but he’s incorporeal so it doesn’t really count.

You laugh, until you realise that Ava’s not laughing too.

Ava: What.

Demon: Uh… sorry, I just can’t tell if you’re messing with me.

Ava: It’s all part of my mystique.

You look at the bench, then back at Ava’s expressionless face. Ava smirks as you sit down, leaving a person-sized space between you and her.

Ava: Cool. Good to know I can make you do stuff by saying random spooky nonsense.

The two of you sit together for a few minutes in silence. Ava scribbles in her sketchbook.

Ava: So, you gonna tell me what you’re so freaked out about? Or are you having fun dismembering that poor bench?

Demon: Huh?

You look down, realising that you’ve been picking splinters off the edge of the bleachers.

Demon: I do want to talk about it. It’s just… it’s kind of a weird story.

Ava: Demon. Look at me. Weird is my middle name.

Demon: Really?

Ava: Well, no, it’s Dolores. But if you tell that to anyone I will go to your house and hide eyeballs in your food.

Demon: Where would you even get--

Ava: Next time you go to pour a bowl of cereal? Bloop, eyeballs.

Demon: … Noted. So… what would you say if I told you that last night I saw some kind of… monster?

Ava: Depends. What’d this monster look like?

Demon: Well… he looked like Dan, at least at first.

Ava: Whoa, plot twist. Keep going.

Demon: Once I figured out it wasn’t actually Dan, it attacked me. Then its face kind of melted off, and underneath the skin was just… dirt. Like a… I don’t know.

Ava: A golem.

Demon: A golem? What’s that?

Ava: A humanoid form usually crafted from dirt or clay, animated by a supernatural force. Sounds like it fits the bill.

Demon: I guess. The weirdest thing is that I woke up the next morning and it was gone. Why would it just attack me and leave?

Ava: Full disclosure, my knowledge of golems is, like, sixty percent Wikipedia and forty percent this dude named ‘MagicStan75’ who I met on a warlock forum. Maybe whatever power that animated the golem is temporary. Or maybe it was all a dream.

You shudder, reaching up to feel your neck.

Demon: Definitely not a dream. Dreams don’t leave bruises.

Ava: They can, actually. There are beings who can enter or even affect your dreams. One of those could probably use your dreams to hurt you. You could also be under a curse or something. I’ve read a lot about cursed dreams.

Demon: What, just for fun?

Ava: Sure, let’s go with that.

Demon: Ava, how do you know all this stuff?

Ava: Well, there’s this thing called the internet…

Demon: You know what I mean. It seems like you’ve been studying this for a while.

Ava: The world’s a freaky place, Demon. We learned that the hard way. I just wanna be ready the next time something happens.

Demon: Thanks, Ava. I really needed to talk to someone, but I didn’t think anyone would believe me.

Ava: Hmm. Jury’s still out on me believing you. You could be making all this up to screw with me.

Demon: Do… people do that to you?

Ava: They try, but my kung fu is strong.

Demon: Well… then thanks for listening to me without immediately dismissing me. It helps a lot.

Ava: Cool. Glad to help. Okay, I think I’m done now.

Demon: Uh, done with…

Ava: Being nice. See, I’ve got this whole bitter misanthrope thing going on. If people see us being all friendly, they might think it’s okay to talk to me.

Demon: Can’t have that.

Ava: I would literally die.

You pick up your stuff and start edging towards the stairs.

Ava: Hey, Demon.

Demon: Yeah?

Ava: You’re not as big a tool as most people.

Demon: Coming from you, that means a lot.

Ava: Yes it does.

You make your way down the bleachers as they continue to fill, looking for any place you can squeeze in… Finally, you spot one empty seat… right next to a familiar figure slouching in the second row…

Demon: Oh, crap…

Cody: Hey, Demon! Sit your stupid ass down, unless you wanna watch from the garbage can!

Demon: I….

Jocelyn: Hello? You’re blocking our view, and there’s a spot right there.

Wincing, you turn back around to see Noah looking right at you.

Demon: Hey, Noah. Do you mind if…?

Noah: Knock yourself out.

Noah scoots over, and you squeeze in beside him.

Demon: So… what’s been up with you? We haven’t really talked since…

Demon: Yeah… I know.l

You sit, neither of you saying another word. Down on the floor of the gym, a tall, handsome guy with glasses walks up to a podium.

Lucas: How you doing, Westchester High?

The students roar in response! The bleachers rumble and shake as the crowd pounds their feet on the wood.

Demon: Whoa… When did Lucas get so hot?

Noah: Yeah, yeah. Everyone loves the tall guy with cool hair.

Lucas waves to the cheering crowd, flashing a smile.

Lucas: Welcome back, everyone! For anyone who doesn’t know me already, I’m Lucas Thomas, your student body president. I know everyone’s a little salty that summer is over, but trust me… this is going to be one school year you’ll never forget. And on that note, let’s kick this pep rally off, Westchester Wolf style!

At Lucas’ signal, several cheerleaders jump from the bleachers, bouncing and waving their pom poms in the air!

Stacy: You can do better than that! Let’s hear it!

Demon: Looks like Stacy’s doing pretty well too…

One by one, the cheerleaders tumble across the gym. Stacy draws thunderous cheers as she pulls off an effortless roundoff into a backflip!

Demon: Whoa! That’s incredible!

Noah: Yay. Go team.

Beaming, Stacy looks back at the rest of the cheer squad, her smile suddenly fading as she locks eyes with Britney… Stacy turns… and suddenly trips over her own feet, sprawling on her face!

Stacy: Aaahhh!

Demon: Stacy!

You jump to your feet, hurrying to help Stacy up.

Demon: Are you okay? What happened?

Stacy: Nothing… I’m just a klutz, I guess.

Demon: You think you’re a klutz? You did a freaking backflip! Seriously, if that’s what a klutz looks like, then sign me up for klutz lessons.

Stacy: Thanks, Demon, you’re a sweetheart.

Demon: I try.

Jocelyn: Hahahahahahaha! Did you see that? She was all like, WHAM, ‘Aaaaaaaaaahhh!’

Cody: Please tell me the school news nerds got that on camera.

Blushing, Stacy rejoins the rest of the squad. You sit back down as, at the other end of the gym, Britney steps forward with a smug smile.

Britney: Check this out…

Britney takes three running steps, then flies into a no-handed cartwheel! The crowd roars as she sticks the landing!

Demon: Ugh. Why do people like her so much? They’ve got to know how horrible she is.

Noah: And? She’s hot and she can do flips. We can’t compete with that.

Lucas grins from the podium as the cheerleaders return to their seats.

Lucas: Well, now that the cheer squad is done totally blowing our minds… let’s give it up for the Westchester Wolves basketball team!

More applause sounds as the group of guys in basketball jerseys forms up in front of the podium.

Ben: Awwooooooo!

Andy: Yeah! Go Wolves!

Noah: Huh, Andy actually made the team this year.

Demon: Good for him! Looks like he’s been working hard! I can’t wait to see him play!

You flinch as Cody’s voice breaks through the general applause.

Cody: Watch out, it’s the TRIPLE THREEEAAAAAT!

Andy’s head snaps in the direction of Cody’s voice, his face suddenly twisting with anger.

Andy: Hey! Why don’t you come down here and--

He takes one step toward the bleachers, but stops himself as Lucas calls the team captain up to the podium.

Ben: Thanks, Lucas. What up, Westchester High?

The crowd whoops and stomps in response!

Ben pauses as the gym lights suddenly flicker!

Ben: Huh?

Demon: Oh no…

Lucas’ voice calls out over the speakers, drowning out the nervous chatter of the students.

Lucas: Everyone, stay seated! We don’t want anyone to fall from the--kssssshhhhkkk!

A burst of static cuts him off, and the music stutters, fading in and out. With a loud BANG, the gym doors are blown open by a frigid gust of wind… The lights flicker back on, and your nearly jump out of your seat as Noah suddenly grabs your arm.

Demon: Gah! What are you--

Noah: Shut up! Do you hear that?!

Demon: Hear what?

Noah: Ssssshhhh!

And you do hear it… Just barely on the edge of your perception, you hear a sound that snatches all the breath from your body and leaves you cold.

Demon: No… Not here…

You look around, picking out the faces of your former friends…

Andy: What the…

Lucas: This can’t be!

Lily: N-no way…

Stacy: Oh my god…

Ava: Oh f--

The music splutters and dies as the lights shut off completely, leaving only the voice. A voice that is at once completely alien… and horribly familiar.

Voice: Everyone… plays… together...

Thoughts on the episode…

I know that ILITW is an incredibly popular series with Choices’ fans which is why it pains me to admit that… it’s not really my thing. Maybe I just haven’t given it enough of a chance, but I played it before up to episode 5 and it wasn’t gripping me the way it seemed to be gripping everyone else. Horror as a genre doesn’t excite me and another story in a high school setting when I haven’t been to school in a few years… well, I’m getting old and I find it hard to relate.

That being said, I’m going to give it another chance. I do like the characters, they have some of the most depth in Pixelberry’s wide array of creations and the premise of the story is actually interesting. And I enjoyed playing this chapter more than I remembered from last time.

I will say that if they haven’t spoken in years, how does Dan have Demon and Lily’s numbers? It’s that classic thing from American shows where they can all call each other despite having never spoken before.

Fave Character of the Chapter: Hilda

Least Fave Character of the Chapter: Cody

#it lives in the woods #ilitw #choices ilitw #choices #playchoices

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