#honestly it's weird. with each awful spike of pain it's followed by like. days of very little pain.

[orcelito]

Pt was a lot less awful today lmao. Like wowza. It was mostly just assessment, which meant I was doing a 'course' cycling thru different work activities

Doing physical therapy on worker's comp is certainly interesting lol

[afterthelastreset]

Rules Of One’s Soul Ch6 Realizing Feelings P2

What followed was Rouxls just stepping away. He just had to get away from that situation. His soul thumped hard in his chest as he shook lightly from that. What was he supposed to say? I love you? Yes, I'm scared of you? No? Each answer could have good or bad results. It always was that way with the king. .....But Jevil wasn't the king, a part of him countered. Well, what about those heart attacks? He could've killed you! And he did! Remember your shoulder?!..But he said that was a part of this 'love game' and don't you find it strange they were all just heart attacks? Oh, yeah! How about showing up in your BED with you in it?! He made you a cake you idiot. It could've been poisoned! Or spiked with something! And he's a prisoner! He was done there for a reason!! Lancer pardoned all the prisoners except ONE you moron. And NOONE knows more about the King's wrath than you.

He faltered his walking before shaking his head and starting his pace back up.

And how di I know I can trust him? He was still down there for a reason! He hasn't tried ANYTHING to harm anyone! Yet! He's kissed you 3 times by now......How many people have you shown romantic affection for since her-

"Shut thineself up!"

A few servants stopped and looked at the Duke who had stopped in the middle of the hallway and shouted out of nowhere. He stood there and stared before giving a smile and chuckle before briskly walking away, trying not to attract anymore attention. Holy f*ck he was a wreck this morning. He really didn't want to be thinking of any old memories right now, and he REALLY just wanted to focus on finding Lancer right now. So taking a deep breath, he calmed down the rapid beating of his soul and managed to relax somewhat. Now. Lancer. He checked the throne room first sense that was the closest. Rounding a corner, he shoved his head into the large room. It was practically empty other than the King Club arguing amongst his five heads and something King Diamond was spouting. Something about decorations and cake?? He couldn't tell from the amount of talking and shouting the two were having. Rolling his eyes, he pulled his head back out, sighed, and made his way up towards the left half of the castle, where the royal chambers were. Lancer was probably playing with his toys again, or riding his bike....He glanced outside at the still pouring rain..Yeah. Toys.

He chuckled at the thought of the small boy playing with the limited toys he had. Or drawing himself as the next 'Bad Guy King' in his many drawings, with his 'Lesser Dad' as the sidekick. Honestly he's glad Lancer didn't turn out like his father. It would've been more horrible then for the outcome of the Kingdom then. That doesn't mean everything was perfect though, Lancer had much to learn as king. He lost count The amount of times he had to fix something Lancer did when he wasn't looking, but maybe that was for the best. After all he was still a chil-

"LESSER DAD!"

He barely had time to turn around before a blur of blue and white zoomed into him. Making him give off a loud 'Oof!' before the two came crashing down to the floor with a loud thud. the blue man groaned, his head swimming, before slowly lifting his head to peer at the weight in his chest. A very round child sat upon his chest and a tail thumped behind him. The blepping boy looked overly happy to see him.

"Dad! Guess what, guess what, guess what!!"

"...*sigh* Lancer tis very rude to tackle thou's subjects-"

"Lesser Daaaaad!" He pawed at his cape. "Guess what!"

He sighed. "What?"

He sat up and Lancer reached up to wrap his arms around the Duke's neck. He sighed and wrapped his arms around the boy, grunting up onto his feet with the boys in his arms.

"I get to help with the giant party this year and get to stay up late! No bedtime for me!"

He chuckled and began stepping towards the throne room. "Oh, really? And what party wouldst thou be referring to? Thou's birthday has already passed."

The child bounced again and he had to tightened his grip to keep from dropping him. "Not my birthday. Mr. Heart King Guy is planning this big party called a ball and he says we're all aloud to stay up late!...Although there's not gonna be balls or any other toys. So it doesn't sound too fun."

Rouxls chuckled. "Young Sire. A ball is another name for a giant get together or 'party' as thou calleths it. Tis more of a fancy get together of older darkners likest mineself and thou mutual kings."

"So no toys?"

"I...guess thou could bringest some to entertain thouself if you oh so wish. But as a King you should pay some respect to it."

"Oh...Ok!"

''That's my worm." He chuckled. "What exactly tis this uh- 'party' for anyhow?"

Lancer hummed. "I don't really know....Mr. Heart King Guy said it's a holiday Ex-King Dad tried to get rid of. He said it would be really fun. I think it's called.....Heart seeking??"

Rouxls gave the boy a look. "Doth thou mean Soul Matching Day?"

"Yeah! That! What is it?"

Rouxls stopped from the long walk by a door and grunted as he shifted to hold Lancer in one arm as he reached out for the door. "Well...It's basically a romantic holiday for couples, or more commonly a way for thoust subjects to meet thou's future spouse." Lancer made a yuck face, to which Rouxls chuckled at. "But thou won't findest yours until thou's much older. Perhaps in a hundred or so year. Don'tst worry non."

"Thank goodness....Aw, man. Does this mean I have to watch a bunch boring grown up mushy kissing?"

Rouxls chuckled as he opened the door. "No. You could always eat the food and-"

"And be entertained, entertained.~"

A head popped from above the doorway, startling the poor Duke into giving a high pitched scream and slamming the door out of reflex. There was a loud 'OW!' on the other side as well as a loud bang from the door making contact with the person. He was clutching Lancer for dear life to his chest and giving a few quick breaths-

"Uncle Jevil!" The boy's voice was a mixture of concern, surprise, and happiness and he wriggled in Rouxls grip until the Duke dropped the boy to his feet. He bounced towards the door and swung it open much to the protests of the duke behind him. The door was opened and the floating imp was on the other side, rubbing his face. "Are you ok?"

The imp smiled and brought his hand away from his face to look at the little prince. "Do not worry, worry little king. Hehehe. I've dealt much worse, worse before."

Rouxls stood frozen behind the boy, hands figiting and ready to grab Lancer at a moments notice. The spiked up feeling he felt whenever the king presented danger crept up his spine and pooled out as some droplets of sweat and a nervous smile on his face. But a voice in his head whisperedhe wasn't the king...It didn't matter. Lancer's safety was more important. The feeling increased when the jester looked up at him and his own smile faltered for a bit...The two men stared at each other for a moment, before jevil smiled back down at the little boy.

"You know, I'm pretty hungry, hungry. Would the little king mind, mind getting me some food? You know what I like. It would ease the pain, pain."

Lancer perked up. "Yeah! I can do that! I'll be right back!" Rouxls opened his moth but Lancer bolted down the hallway before taking a sharp turn and just jumping through a door. the door swung for a bit before Lancer poked his head back out and shouted back "Don't go anywhere!" and slipped back into the room.

Leaving him. Alone. With Jevil. His stomach sunk, but at the same time his soul gave off a throb that sent a happy feeling waving through the nervous emotions. Great. Thanks soul- Something wizzed by his head and lodged itself right next to him in the wall and he froze. Jevil ever oblivios summoned a few more small hearts in his hands and held them out to him.

"What does the Duke, Duke think of my heart's desire?~ It surely do-"

"ART THOU TRYING TO ENDEST MINE LIFE!?" He shouted in a high pitched squeaky tone making Jevil freeze. Rouxls side glanced the pink heart attack- wait. Since when were those pink??- and took one giant step sideways before looking back to the shocked imp. "What doth thou nay understand of attacks?!"

Jevil rapidly blinked before his eyes widened and he thrusted his hands once again forward. "NO, NO! Not attacks! I only wish to shower, shower you with....What did Seam, Seam say it was?...Love, love and affection! Don't be scared, scared! Don't be scared please, please!"

Rouxls stood there frozen, and with a complete loss for words for the moments. Jevil thrusted his outstretched hands towards him, with the mini heart attacks still humbly floating above them. They sparkled and were a....really weird rose pink color. Weren't those white? The worm shook that thought aside when one of those clawed hands grabbed his cape in a desperate but gently way, his elf ears pinning to his head.

"Please don't run away,..away.." His voice pleaded out.

A sudden throb of his soul sent a calling through his being and instantly he felt guilt thrown into the mix of the emotions. Great! Rouxls gulped. Hard.

"W-Wha...Is thou making a...love confession towards...me?" He froze after saying that. The last confession of feelings involved him running for the hills and Jevil screaming like his soul broke in half. But right now....the joker almost looked like he would cry with how desperate he acted. "...Is this a joke?

"No! No jokes, jokes...P-Please.."

"What part of thou's game are you playing?"

"Isn't it obvious, obvious? The two of hearts of course....I don't want to go back, back to a lonely freedom." His hand holding the hearts lightly shook a bit now. "Please..."

Rouxls just stared at the smaller twitching man. What was he supposed to say to his? Yes? No? His was starting to feel dizzy with all the emotions swimming through his head at once, the sound of his pounding soul filling up his ears. Anything could lead to a worse outcome. He felt almost like fainting-

"You really, really don't....feel anything...Don't you, you?"

His soul throbbed again and he couldn't stop himself before he said his next words-

"Of course, I do."

Both males froze at what he just said....Before Jevil's smile returned full and a new hope shined in his eyes. Oh, fuck...

He let out a happy squeal and series of giggles, the hearts he was holding disbanded and his tail wagged like a little puppy. "I knew it! Knew it! Bwahahahahaha."

Rouxls flinched. "N-Now holdeth on! What happened to s-s-slow!...And what art thou doing within the castle?"

Jevil giggled again before giving a smirk. "Lancer, Lancer has been kind enough to rehire, hire my games.~ And the ruler of Hearts, Hearts has asked for my little spectacles, spectacles for the show within ten, ten days....And I'm happily, happily capable of going slow.~ I can do anything!"

Rouxls opened his mouth-

"UNCLE JEVIL!!" A flurry of feet sounded out before a familiar child bounded up to them, a sad look on his face. "I couldn't find any candy...I'm sorry. I looked everywhere."

"That's ok." He reached down and patted the boy on the head. "I'm not very hungry, hungry anymore...." He made a side glance at Rouxls. His eyes wondered the Duke's face a bit before stopping at the bags under his eyes, making Rouxls raise a brow. Jevil hummed before looking back down at Lancer. "But uh-..Did you ever happen to notice, notice something?"

Lancer looked confused and tilted his head sideways. "Notice...something?"

"Oh yes, yes. Very important."

Lancer looked to Rouxls who gave the same confused look before looking back at Jevil. "Did I forget something?"

"Oh no. But uh-" He made another glance towards Rouxls before leaning down eye level with Lancer, still floating in mid air. He turned Lancer around and pushed him a few feet away from the Duke. Rouxls froze up at the sight- "Have you noticed the bags under his eyes?"

"Who's eyes?"

"Rouxls, Rouxls."

He looked over his shoulder real quick. "....Oh! Lesser Dad's always had those." He turned back to the smiling face. "He says it's something all Dads have."

"Oh! That's bad, bad!" He held a hand to his face and gave a worried look. Alerting the child.

"It is?"

"Yes, Yes. You see. Rouxls is suffering, suffering from No-sleepitis. It makes him very sleepy, sleepy and feel grumpy."

"Really?" He nodded. "Oh...He is cranky a lot. And he's been acting very weird-"

"A side, sideeffect I'm afraid. He needs a nap, nap..Soooo.How about a little break, break?"

Rouxls watched and tried to step towards them, but every step he took Jevil move away. This was starting to become worrisome and he was seriously thinking about teleporting in front of them when Jevil finally moved away and Lancer was smiling at him.

"I swear if thou tries something-"

"Lesser Dad." He little boy pointed at him. "Take a nap."

He paused. ".....What?"

"You need to take a nap. Like a lot of naps. Because you're always cranky. So I'm ordering you on...." He stopped and looked back up to Jevil. "What was it called?"

"Paid, paid leave."

"OH! Right!" Striking a pose, he pointed at Rouxls and said in a cute bossy tone. "Lesser Dad, as the new King Dad, I'm ordering a vacation for you.....And what he said. For ten days!"

"WHAT?!" He turned to Jevil with anger in his eyes. "WHAT GAME ART THOU PLAYING WITH MINE SON!?"

Jevil gave an offended look. "I like number games, games....But harm a child, child such as Lancer I would not. That is a cruel, cruel assumption for me. Did you not, not admit to feeking for me?"

"I- N-no?....I meaneth yes! B-B-But I-"

"And one must trust, trust the one they feel for yes?"

"I-I meaneth...Y-Yes! B-But we-"

"Are taking it slow, slow." He grinned. "You said it yourself, yourself. You are the one making assumptions quick, quick without knowing me first, first. You are the one to jump, jump head first as they say and consider my motives cruel, cruel.....Now. Are you sure YOU are not breaking your, your rules? Hmmm."

"Y-Y-You were the one whomst jumped on mineself a-and ....m-made contact" His face lit up a bright blue at this point.

"All within a span of hours, hours or days. You made assumptions within a matter, matter of minutes. Therefore I am moving, moving slower with things."

"Y-You- I didst not meaneth THAT-!"

"You never specified what 'things' were not under, under that rule."

Rouxls sputtered a bit more, thinking of a loophole to be found...But he found none. He gave off a growl and quickly turned to Lancer,

"You cannot be serious! I-I-....What willst thou doeth within mine help for a week let alone ten days!"

"There it is, is."

he turned back to the imp and demanded angrily, "Where WHAT is, Worm!?"

By this point the imp was laying on his back with his hands behind his head.But reached a claw out to point at him. "You pander after the boy, boy like a rabbick would her young. Yet you give, give him no trust to handle anything his own." Rouxls shut up. "How does one expect him to become king, king let alone independent if you do not, not trust him to make his own mistakes?"

Rouxls gave a silent look to the ground. "I-....I don't want him t-to....to..."

"He's not alone....There's, There's other royals and their kin. You're state of being worries, worries me-"

"I-I-It's not just Lancer!" He shouted and started counted on his fingers to list off. "Whomst is going to tend to the guards?! O-Or handle all that god forsaken paperwork?! O-Or over see thine puzzles!?"

"The Kings, Kings, secretary, and jigsawries," he stated deadpan. He went to argue again. "A game where you wear and tear, tear your body to exhaustion makes you the loser if you wear, wear it before you can intervene the bad ending. You must stay prepared for such things."

His own way of saying his mental state was unhealthy...... and implying it needed to change before things went wrong. The three were silent for a moment, before Rouxls looked down at Lancer. The boy shuffled on his feet and looked down.

"Sorry, Lesser Dad....No-sleepitis is bad for you."

Despite what was happening, he gave a dry chuckle at the term. ''C-Can you-"

"I'll be fine. I defeated Ex-King Dad with friendship power!" He struck another cute pose. "I can be a great King-With-No-Lesser Dad for a bit-"

"And he'll be back before the party, party."

Rouxls gave an eye roll. There was no getting out of this, was there? He sighed and dropped eye level with Lancer. "I'll only agree to this if thou stays away from thine dungeon until mine return. Doth thou promise?"

"Yeah! I'll be too busy making the mushy party more fun anyways!"

He didn't know whether to be relieved or not, that still begged the other question though. What the hell was he supposed to do for ten days?

[crusherthedoctor]

Christmas Time, Christmas Island

"Still awake, eh?"

"Well, that's insomnia for you, isn't it?"

Sonic the Hedgehog had been enjoying his time in the island of Viridonia, despite uncovering yet another plot by the deranged madman known as Dr. Eggman. Tonight however, he was having a little rest. The winter season was approaching, and him and his friends had went to a particular foresty area by the Gleaming Meadows, where it was said to be the first place in the meadow that you could see the drop of snow.

Alas, there had not yet been a single drop. They had waited for a fair while, but still nothing. By this point, Tails, Amy and Cream had fallen asleep comfortably after having waited for so long, but Sonic was still keeping a watchful eye, grateful that his surroundings were at least pleasant to look at under the night sky. Luckily for him, he wasn't alone on that, for the newest friend he had made, Lutrudis, was doing the same thing.

"Not tired yourself either?" the horse inquired.

"Nah," the hedgehog replied, as he remained comfortable resting by the biggest tree in the meadow. Having finished carefully pulling a blanket over their other three friends (evidently, she predicted not all of them would be staying awake through this event), Lutrudis sat down beside Sonic and followed suit, though she did so very carefully so as not to flare up her fragile body.

"How often do you get snow in winter?" Sonic asked.

"Goes either way, really," Lutrudis shrugged, as she very mildly crossed her legs. She chuckled. "Either there's too much, or there's barely much. And half the time it comes a month later. I could quite possibly count all the White Christmases I've experienced with my two hands... Everyone tends to just hang out in Sapphire Tundra for the festivities, since there's always plenty of snow there regardless."

Sonic smirked at her. "And how do you feel about snow personally?"

"It can be a bit inconvenient at times, but it's pleasant to look at." She brushed a gloved hand through her silky smooth ponytail, which was interrupted by a light cough. "Makes the asthma a right pain, though."

"Aww, if I had known about that, we could have stayed in your castle."

"It's fine," Lutrudis smiled as she continued looking up at the starry clouds. "You guys wanted to see this, so that's the top priority. Just hope it actually happens at some point..."

"Heh."

They both took in the environment for a moment. The swift breeze was the only prominent sound throughout the meadow, outside of their friends' light snoring. Amazingly, Cheese the Chao snored the heaviest. Eventually, Lutrudis broke the silence.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"Talking of Christmas... you used to live on Christmas Island, right?"

"Yeah."

"If it's not too nosy of me to ask... what was it like there?"

Sonic blinked. It had been so long since the last time the memory of Christmas Island had even occurred to him. He honestly couldn't recall the last time he had discussed the subject. But he saw no reason to be secretive. Tails knew about his past history, as did Amy. What harm would revealing it to Lutrudis do?

"Well, it was pretty boring to be honest," he laughed. "I mean, it was nice and all, and the coconuts there were delicious. But I was thirsty for journey even when I was a little guy, and it was never going to appease me. You can only run around the same place so many times before you lose interest, know what I mean?"

"I suppose..." In reality, Lutrudis didn't necessarily agree, since she had always loved her frequent walks through the same forest surrounding her castle. But she understood her friend's needs and desires, and she wasn't going to shoot them down.

"I remember my mom and dad were always lecturing me," Sonic reminisced wistfully. "Always telling me to stay nearby, look both ways, do this, don't do that, be home at six, don't break the sound barrier again..." He chuckled once more. "They were good parents though. I respected them. Just kinda overprotective of me, that's all."

Lutrudis fiddled with her ponytail again. "I guess they got an awful fright when you started risking your life on a routine basis, huh?"

"Heh, you could say that," Sonic grinned sheepishly. "Especially with how young I was."

"You were fighting nasty fiends that early on?"

"Sure was! It wasn't just my need for adventure that kicked in early." He broke out a confident smile. "So did my need to stick it to 'em. Ain't letting jerks messing with my friends, or my planet."

Lutrudis' own smile grew more intimate, as she glanced to her side at the heroic hedgehog, with one hand on her chest, and the other resting her head. His altruistic heart was one of his greatest qualities in her eyes, and it contributed heavily to her admiration for him, even before she had met him in person.

"So then, what manner of dastardly rapscallions did you kick up the rear back in the day?" she asked in a playful tone.

"Oh, nothing extraordinary for the most part, just a bunch of petty crooks. They never prepared themselves for the good ol' Sonic Spin." He mimiced his signature attack by spinning his index finger. "Although there was one exception... There was this one time where I was menaced by a goblin."

A brief silence ensued before Lutrudis fully realised what Sonic had just said. She looked at him in mild bafflement.

"A goblin?"

"Yep. A goblin." Even years later, Sonic himself couldn't quite believe it either. "He was a big lug too, about the size of a building. Clawed hands, bald head, fangs, pointy nose..." He shivered for a bit. "He was kinda freaky. His name was Baron Giga."

"Baron Giga..." The lady horse had to stifle her laughter upon hearing such a ridiculous name. "Talk about naming yourself after your most obvious attribute."

The hero laughed nervously, clearly aware about the irony of her joking with a quick-footed hedgehog named Sonic. He quickly changed course.

"Well anyway, this guy was all big and mighty, and he was all..." He puffed his chest in preparation for his subsequent impression. "Foolish mortals! I'm the great goblin king! And your precious island is now mine! Muhahahahaha!"

He turned his head in Lutrudis' direction. "He had a really stupid voice by the way. Like it wasn't actually his voice, if you know what I mean."

"I see," Lutrudis commented, still lightly amused by his impression. Her hand was brushing gently against the petals of a daisy. "Did he have any ghastly minions?"

"You bet he did! He had walking cannons, and walking hands!"

"Ooooooh...!"

"And there were freakish hands with wings, and big googly eyes!"

"Spooky..."

"And there was this one that looked..." Sonic paused, as he attempted to find a suitable comparison for a creature with a long blunt object on its head. He was visibly embarrassed by what came to mind. "...Well, I don't know how to describe it. It was a weird looking one."

"So what happened?"

"Hm?"

"How did you stop him? Did you do it on your own?"

Sonic was ready to answer, but as a certain realisation kicked in, a gradual look of reluctance began to shape itself onto the hedgehog's face. Whatever the next part of the tale was, he clearly did not want to remember it. He hesitated briefly, before finally continuing.

"Well, not exactly..."

------

"Are you the local hero, Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"Yeah! That's me!"

"Thank goodness! Pleased to meet you. I'm afraid I'm in need of a bit of help..."

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, you'll see in just a second."

The young Sonic was taken aside by an older man. He couldn't guess how old the man was, but he appeared to be somewhere in his later years at the very least. The man did not seem at all bothered by the heat the scorching sun was passing down onto his hairless cranium. Not that Sonic focused too hard on that part, for he was more hypnotised by the man's extremely bushy moustache, as well as his deep pink nose. What on earth could cause a nose to turn so pink...?

"So like, are you a scientist or somethin'?" The little hog took notice of the humble little laboratory he was escorted into. Machine parts were scattered all across a bunch of tables and desks, some of them vaguely resembling insect appendages for some strange reason. There was also the occasional beaker on the desks, each of them filled with brightly colored liquids. Who knows what they could be for...?

"That's right, kid," the man stroked his brown 'stache as he examined his own private domain. "They don't call me Doctor Ivo Robotnik for nothing. I earned my PhDs, I'll have you know!"

"P h what...?"

"Well, anyway," Robotnik started, seemingly trying not to notice his acquaintance's lack of awareness regarding his profession. "I don't come from here, but I'm aware of this island's plight with Baron Giga, and I wanted to do what I could to help. Just as well then that I've been researching entities like the baron for the last few years now, as I find them deeply fascinating... Which means I know how to confront this menace efficiently."

The scientist went up to a suspicious curtain in the corner of his lab, and removed it as dramatically as he could. To the kid's amazement, behind the curtain was a huge machine of some sort. It looked very much incomplete, and it didn't even boast a single coat of paint, but the basic foundation was very much present. Its appearance was highly reminiscent of a humanoid, and upon squinting, Sonic could make out a similar moustached shape near the head.

"That looks cool!" Sonic exclaimed in literal childlike ecstasy. His spines had spiked out as an impulsive extension of his excitement. "You gonna use this junk to beat up the goblin guy?"

"That is the purpose of this machine, yes," Robotnik confirmed matter of factly. He followed it up with a depressed sigh. "Or at least, if I had more rings..."

"Rings...?"

Robotnik promptly took out a map of blueprints and shared it with Sonic. The hedgehog could make out from the highly detailed schematics that the machine was making use of the rings he had seen throughout the island, or to be more specific, the mysterious energy that they often came with.

"My mech requires a particularly powerful source of fuel in order to function to its best ability," Robotnik explained, all the while trying to make sure the little hedgehog's focus actually remained on the blueprints and not elsewhere. "Therefore, I've been collecting rings for that purpose. But the amount I have as of now is hardly enough..."

He sprinted to the giant computer in his lab, surprisingly so for someone his age, and using his impressively fast typing prowess, he got the computer to confirm exactly how charged up his mech was. As of current, it reached up to a pitiable 20%. The doctor's moustache drooped as he sighed once again, as if on purpose.

"That baron has been stealing all the rings for himself," he muttered while gesticulating with one hand. "Probably for some silly witchcraft nonsense, you know these types." He chuckled sadly, like a warm-hearted grandfather. "But that's why I need your help."

"Me?" Sonic didn't even know this person. How was this scientist so sure about him?

"Only you can collect enough rings before it's too late." Robotnik then proceeded to cough and splutter as though he were ill, though if it hadn't been for Sonic's idealistic youthfulness, he may have sensed it wasn't a genuine cough. "I'm just an old man, after all. My best days are long behind me, and I only want to help make the world a better place while I still can..."

"Well, don't worry!" the kid grinned and waved a finger out of cockiness. "I'll help you get those rings, Eggman!"

"...Eggman...?"

"Yeah, that's my name for ya." Sonic gave the doctor a wink. "Cause you're kinda shaped like an egg and all... so I'm gonna call you Eggman!"

"...I see." Robotnik didn't show much reaction to the new nickname he was suddenly given, though his body language subtly emphasized that he wasn't too keen on it. "Right, well then, I guess you better get started on your little adventure."

"Alright! But uh, where should I go?"

"Anywhere, really. No doubt the baron's demons will be scattered all around the island. If you find THEM, you'll find their rings." The doctor walked back to his mech, having brought out a wrench and several additional tools to continue working on his homemade creation. "You collect the rings, I complete the mech. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. A team effort, if you will!"

Sonic began revving up already. "No worries, I'll have them all in a flash!" He flashed another grin to Robotnik, along with a good-natured thumbs up. "Catch ya later, Eggman!"

And with that, he was gone in an flash. Unfortunately, the scale of his speed had caused all sorts of blueprints to be knocked over all around the lab, much to the doctor's grumbling exasperation.

------

"So you were working with Eggman?" Lutrudis asked, with a hint of surprise.

"Essentially, yeah." Sonic scratched his ear before continuing. "We teamed up to beat Giga and his... 'demons'. He seemed pretty cool at the time. A bit eccentric, cause it was still Eggman, but y'know."

"Well, that's certainly fascinating," the horse noted, as she gently stroked one of her legs with her other. "To think he was a decent man at first, that he once had noble intentions, and wasn't always so selfish and cruel... Goodness, I can't even imagine living in a reality where he wasn't a ripe stinker. Must have been something alright."

As soon as she said that however, she was quick to notice the growing look of hurt on Sonic's face. As she examined his uncharacteristically quiet discomfort, she gradually figured out that she had spoke too soon. Her own ears mildly drooped in disappontment at what her friend's body language spelled out to her.

"Oh... he was... he was a stinker the whole time, wasn't he..."

Sonic simply looked aside dejectedly, as he recalled that one moment...

------

"I got the last rings, Eggman! The hand monster gave me a hard time, but I snatched them off from hi-"

Sonic cut himself off in shock at what he witnessed upon arriving back at the lab. Robotnik was there as expected, as was his big mech... but so were rows upon rows of smaller droids, each of them based on a variety of members of the animal kingdom. He had also just interrupted the process of Robotnik working on something... something that looked an awful lot like Baron Giga. The doctor was visibly flushed upon Sonic's arrival.

"Ah... Sonic... you finished up earlier than expected..."

"What's... what's all this, doc?"

Robotnik stumbled for a little bit. "I was just, uh... just finishing a side project of mine! Wanted to do even more to fight the good fight, you know?"

"Doc... what is this?" Sonic asked again, this time more firmly. "Why is Giga here? Why are you doing stuff on him? And is this... an army...? You never mentioned anything about making an army..."

Robotnik stroked his moustache to bide some brief time as he thought out his response. "It's all to fight Baron Giga with, see? There's a strength in numbers, you understand. As for this... erm..." He motioned towards what appeared to be the very Giga himself. "...A lifelike replication. For locating weaknesses and whatnot. Yes, that's right..." 

He quickly rubbed his hands. "Now then, the final rings, please..."

He extended a hand, but was instead greeted with Sonic hesitating, even hiding them away from the doctor's view. The young hedgehog looked troubled, and alert. He didn't like the feel of any of this.

"What's going on, Eggman...?" He looked up at the other, desperately wanting an answer.

Robotnik looked down at Sonic for a few seconds, unable to say anything at first. But then, he slowly kneeled down to match Sonic's point of view, and just as methodically, he took off his glasses for the hedgehog's sake. Sonic was greeted with a pair of regular blue eyes, as the scientist pleaded for forgiveness.

"Sonic... I'm sorry," he started, as he put a hand on the other's shoulder. "Baron Giga doesn't exist. I created him. I should have been more honest with you, but I didn't want you to have even more on your plate than what was necessary."

"But... I don't understand..."

"It was a test, you see. A test to show that you truly were the hero people said you were, and to make us more prepared for when something like Giga happens for real. The world is a dangerous place, and there's a lot of threats out there. We have to do what we can to protect our world from them."

Sonic remained silent. It didn't make sense to him, and he still felt hurt about being lied to.

"I understand why you may not trust me," Robotnik muttered quietly. He briefly looked aside at the floor, as if to accentuate his apparent remorse. "But do you not recognise our potential? This situation may have been staged, but our efforts were not. We can do great things together, Sonic... extraordinary things. We can be heroes together... But I need those rings if that is ever to happen."

Sonic hesitated still. He kept glancing slowly between the old man's face, and the rings he currently held in his own hand. Robotnik ushered him once.

"Do the right thing, Sonic... I know you can..."

Unable to dither for any longer, Sonic closed his eyes tightly as he gave Robotnik his last bundle of rings. Robotnik gently patted him on the head for his assistance.

"Thank you," Robotnik whispered. He quickly put his glasses back on, obscuring his eyes once more. "You've helped me change the world for the better."

After taking some time to accept his decision, Sonic slowly started to relax as the doctor applied the energy of the rings to his towering mech, before climbing inside it himself.

After a few seconds of inactivity, Robotnik's masterpiece slowly came to life, like a robotic Frankenstein's monster. By the doctor's piloted command, it broke free from the tubes that had formerly kept it wired up, and a small number of lumbering steps each caused a slight tremor throughout the lab. Sonic looked up at the doctor's cockpit, gradually regaining his previous excitement and enthusiasm about the project. As the mech walked all the way across the room, just outside the laboratory's exit, it turned towards Sonic's direction, and its mechanical hand gave a proud thumbs up to the kid. Sonic grinned, and gave a thumbs up himself.

"So doc, what's the first threat that needs taken care of?" he asked jovially.

He could only barely see the doctor's face in the cockpit, but he could hear a bit of laughter from him... It didn't sound at all like an ordinary laugh... And the thumb of the mech was rotating slowly, yet surely, until it was upside down, pointed firmly at the floor...

"Ho ho ho... you."

"What...?"

As if by instinct, every last one of the smaller robots had immediately come to life. Some of them revved up their wheels, while others flapped their wings, but all of them focused solely on the blue hedgehog, and before he could realise what was happening, before he could respond with anything other than confusion, before he could seek for an explanation...

"Thanks for everything, kid."

And right on cue, the robots began to attack and overwhelm the poor boy, while Robotnik - Eggman, as christened by the one he was now leaving for dead - left the scene in his mech.

------

"That fiend..." Lutrudis muttered in disbelief with clenched fists. "That dirty, rotten, filthy, stinking fiend... And while you were a child, no less... I'm so sorry..."

"Don't sweat it," Sonic shrugged casually. "It worked out in the end. I wrecked up those robots, and I caught up to him and beat him. It wasn't easy though..."

"If Eggman wanted the rings," Lutrudis mused as she scratched the back of her ear. "Why did he even bother with the whole Giga smoke and mirrors? He was going to get the rings with or without your help, surely?"

"It wasn't about the rings," Sonic explained stoically. His arms were now crossed. "It was about keeping me distracted. He knew I could have been a threat to his operations, so he did all that to get me out of the way without me even suspecting he was up to something. By painting another target."

"Well... you got him in the end," Lutrudis put her hand on Sonic's shoulder, and rubbed it tenderly. "You set things right. Like every time after."

As Sonic recalled his first proper fight with the mad scientist, he was bothered not so much by the fight itself - though being forced to fight who he thought was a friend was certainly hard to swallow - but rather, all the things the doctor called out to him as they traded blows:

"Is it Eggman that you want? Then it's Eggman that you'll get!"

"Who am I to dismiss a name for your king?"

"You could have avoided all this if you were more like me, and just thought!"

"They only care about the hero! The legend! They don't care about YOU!"

"They'll turn against you one day! They always do! Take it from me, kid! No one likes what isn't normal! I was shunned for my genius, and so will you for your speed!"

"Where are your friends now, Sonic? Oh, that's right, they don't exist!"

Sonic looked up at the night sky as he remembered those biting words... before glancing at Tails, Amy and Cream, who still remained asleep even now. He then glanced at Lutrudis, who in turn caught his vision. His smile slowly began to return.

"So.. what did you do after that?" the horse queried.

"Well, I cleaned the place up, made sure everyone was okay, got yelled at by my parents for trusting a stranger... then I left."

"You just... left?"

"Yep. The ol' adventure thirst was calling, and after what happened with Eggman... I felt uncomfortable there. Couldn't shake it off me."

"How did you leave?"

"I..." Sonic hesitated, knowing what he was about to say was going to sound rather inexcusable no matter how he put it. "I erm... I stole my dad's plane."

Lutrudis blinked. She took a few seconds to contemplate, then blinked again.

"Right."

"Yeah, I know..." Sonic scratched his left quill, ashamed at what he just admitted to.

Another brief period of quietness followed. The night remained as beautiful as when they had arrived, and the stars continued to glow radiantly. Upon breaking the silence this time around however, Lutrudis' tone grew more lighthearted.

"You ever gonna give it back to him then?" She let out a joking smirk.

"Ah, heh heh, I think too much time has passed for that..." Sonic's face grew even redder as they continued discussing his rather delinquent theft. "Tails has modified it to infinity by this point anyway... I really should talk to them again though."

Lutrudis looked once more in the direction of the sleeping Tails. Though you couldn't tell at first glance due to the sheet, the bumps in the sheet made it obvious that his titular twin tails were keeping the similarly dozing Amy and Cream warm. Lutrudis' heart couldn't help but melt ever so slightly.

"You've got good friends," she commented, as she looked in Sonic's direction. "Who cares about Eggman, when you have them."

"Sounds about right," Sonic agreed with a satisfied nod. He wagged his finger with a wink and a smirk. "But don't leave yourself out, Trudy. You're pretty cool as well."

Lutrudis tried to fight back the bashfulness she felt in response, to blatantly little success. She rubbed her arm and glanced down at the flowers around them, before looking back up at Sonic's famous emerald eyes.

"You too, Sonic," she assured him quietly. She didn't seem to be aware that her tail was swishing to and fro, just a little bit.

"Oh, wait...! Is that... ... ...yeah, it is! The snow's came!"

"It has?"

Sonic and Lutrudis both stood up, and sure enough, the first few drops of snow were gently falling. Sonic quickly, yet carefully, attempted to wake his other friends. Controlling his own glee, he waited for them to reach a reasonable level of semi-consciousness before continuing.

"Guys, wake up! The snow came!"

"Whuzzat...?"

"Oh, yes! At last!"

"Snow? Yay!!!"

"Chao!!!"

Wasting no time, Cream and Cheese used their ears and wings respectively to fly closer to the new snowfall, followed shortly by Tails. The snowflakes glistened marvellously, and the celestial skies complimented their pristine elegance. Amy looked at her flying comrades with a hearty laugh, as she waited for Tails to hover down and pick her up so that she could get a closer look as well.

Sonic simply stood there, with his hands firmly on his hips. He smiled at the sight of his friends enjoying themselves. He turned to Lutrudis, who stood beside him.

"Well, I guess we could be in for a ~White Christmas~ after all."

"Quite so... Wait a minute, don't tell me you're about to-"

"~Iiiii'm... dreeeeamiiiing~" Sonic started, as he shamelessly showed off his impressive vocals. He followed this up with a slow, yet goofy dance. His grin was wide, knowing full well that he was indulging in silliness. "~Of a Whiiiite... Christmaaasss~"

"Oh, jeez," Lutrudis laughed out loud, as she shyly covered her face with one hand. One thing would always remain certain: this was Sonic the Hedgehog alright.

[jess-the-vampire]

Tom Vs The Forces Of Evil (Au), Chapter 1

-----/Next

Hilariously enough i posted an image today with this au for Tomco week!!

Pretend this is my bonus submission for it XD

Also, yay!! New multichapter fic by me!!

Let’s hope it goes well...

Marco still remembered the day he first met Tom. I mean, it's kinda hard to forget the first day you got to meet your new roommate, especially when he's an alien prince. He was called to meet the principle, just some normal boring day, when Principle Skeeves took him outside to introduce him to someone. Marco couldn't help but feel a bit angry, hoping more that it would've been him being seen as more of a "Bad-Boy" or at most being praised for his effort in class. No, he got called up to meet a new kid. He was grumpily dragged to the Principle's office door and was told to wait outside, Marco sighed and leaned against the wall....what was he? A Tour guide? He knew he was considered the Safekid of the school, but that didn't mean he had to drag every new student around these halls to tell them where everything was

As he wondered where this kid would be from the door opened and the Principle walked out with a boy behind him, and the first thing Marco noticed is that he didn't quite seem normal. For one, he had these marks on his cheeks...upside down triangles, and his wardrobe was weird, he was wearing a roundish pale purple hat with horns on it's sides and an eye on it, a red shirt with a star in the center, one single armband on his right arm, a spiked belt, and some plain jeans and boots. Marco wasn't sure to call him edgy, or just plain weird. The new kid looked at him oddly, he had pink hair and red eyes that went along well with his strange color scheme, his eyes were even the same color as the eye on his hat! Marco could feel him judging him, but the boy didn't say anything and continued to examine him. Principle Skeeves spoke up, " This is...Tom..Tom..Butterfly?" Tom nodded. The man continued, " He's from some kingdom called Mewni, and he's our newest student....I hear he's a bit of a trouble maker, so i figured who better to look after him than our very own safe kid!!". The principle smiled proudly, pushing Marco towards Tom. Marco grumbled some more, muttering to himself as to not make a fool of himself in front of the new kid, " I'm a misunderstood badboy.." "Aww come now...you're adorable..." The Principle said, overhearing him, "Just give him a tour of the school and keep him out of trouble..". And with that he walked of leaving Marco with he newest addition to their school, or at least he thought he did, because when Marco turned around Tom was gone. "Tom?" Them he heard some angry noises coming from down another hallway, and it didn't take him long to find the boy angry trying to attack the water fountain, "WHAT THE HECK IS THIS STUPID THING???!!". In his rage he pulled out what looked like a toy wand and pointed it at the fountain. Marco at first thought, just assumed he might be crazy, until he saw the wand light up, a green aura that could only mean trouble. "HEY!!", Marco ran up to the boy and pulled him away, the wand dimmed down immediately, "What do you think you're doing??!" Tom looked at the human curiously, "This device was trying to shoot water at me!!! I was standing my ground..." Marco gave him a look, "That's a water fountain, it's harmless....". Marco looked at the wand Tom was holding, it was purple and red all over, it had bat wings, small horns, and a be-jeweled pentagram star in the center. "Look....I don't know where Mewni is.....but that's not how you handle things here in echo creek..." Marco placed a hand on Tom's back and lead him down the hall, " Just stay with me, and you won't have to worry about a thing..." "Is that why they call you the Safekid?", Tom asked, he seemed to be much calmer now, making Marco wonder if the strange device only turned green when he was angry. Marco grumbled, "I don't understand why they keep calling me that...". Then he reacted quickly, moving Tom out of the way of glass on the floor and some dangerously open lockers. "Look i get it, i wore a helmet once in the shower...but that was one time..", He sighed, "I'm tough, that title doesn't fit me at all.." "So everyone here kinds calls you that then?" Tom asked as a girl winked and made a sign at him that said "Call Me". Earth was super weird so far, and he didn't hesitate to get a bit closer to Marco out of safety. Marco grumbled, "Yeah, I wish they would stop calling me that.....I'm not safe...frankly I'd be happy to have a little danger in my life..." "Really?" Tom asked, he thought for a moment before pointing his wand and shooting some magic out of it, conjuring a rather large bat-wolf creature in front of Marco. Marco, surprised, jumped back behind Tom as the creature scurried off and chased some kids. "WHAT WAS THAT??!!" He screamed, but Tom look confused. "What? You wanted danger, so I did what you asked....Earth is weird man..." Marco stepped away from Tom, "Who...what are you?". Tom looked at him and sighed, holding out his magic wand, backing up, he magically conjured a multiple array of colorful flames and creatures surrounding him. He smirked at the human, enjoying his reaction that was a mix of amazement and slight fear. "I'm Tom, a magical prince.....from another dimension...", he playfully bowed at Marco, the fire dimmed down behind him, " But honestly that title sounds really corny and kinda lame so just know that I've never been to earth before...your magic seems weird.." Marco was still looking at the boy in shock, not even replying to him and denying the existence of magic, he backed up, "You know what?....forget the tour, you show yourself around....I'm going home.". Tom looked at Marco, almost a bit sad. "Did I do something wrong?" Marco pulled the hood of his hoodie over his head, backing up and away from the new boy, "What? No no...I just think..someone like you, doesn't need someone like me....". Marco didn't try to hide the sarcasm and cruelness behind his voice, between the magic, and the water fountain, this kid was far from the person he wanted to spend the rest of his time with. He'd be lucky to make it home alive. Marco turned to leave, not even facing the strange boy who looked almost as if his world blew up. "Oh well....see you around I suppose?" Tom called after him as Marco kept going. Marco didn't turn around and kept on going. If he was lucky, he wouldn't see that kid again.. - Marco arrived home rather late, he tried to wash Tom out of his mind as best he could by visiting a local Mexican restaurant and meeting up with Alfonso and Ferguson. They weren't exactly "Cool", but at least they were normal, and they weren't likely to blow up the entire school. And he could rant about his day and allow himself to let all that stress out, which he was thankful for. He sighed, at least he was finally home so he could relax. That was, until he opened the door to find his parents talking to a very familiar boy with a horned hat. "MARCO!!", His mother excitably called out to him, "Come meet your new roommate Tom!! He's the new foreign exchange student whose going to be living with us!!!". Tom awkwardly waved to him from between the couple on the couch, "Didn't the principle guy tell you? I kinda need a place to stay while I'm here and since I guess you guys take in all kinds of kids...they figured you'd be perfect.". Marco was still in shock, his brows folded and he crossed his arms. Angie pulled Tom up off the couch and practically presented him to Marco, "Won't it be nice having Tom's feisty personality around the house?" Marco grumbled, "We don't need Tom's feisty personality, this house is crazy enough..." Angie crossed her arms, "Marco, stop being rude, why don't you go help bring Tom's things up to his new room? He should start getting settled in, and i'm sure you two are going to going to be great friends once you get used to each other...". Tom smiled gently at Marco, almost as if he was trying to apologize for earlier. Marco gave him a look, he wasn't eager to have this kid as his friend, not at all. Marco found Tom's bags at the end of the stairs and picked them up, Tom followed after him as they went upstairs. This day was only getting better and better. - "I-I'm really excited to be living here with you...Marco." Tom said, as they reached his bedroom door, "I mean, I'm familiar with earth culture and stuff but I've never really been here before, Mewni kinda used to keep me from doing much traveling..." He laughed awkwardly, "But honestly anything is better then home so I hope this'll be cool and stuff..." Marco finished dragging Tom's things to his door, panting, just how much did this kid need? These bags might as well have been filled with rocks they were so heavy. Tom noticed his pain and picked up one of his bags with ease much to Marco's surprise, "Thanks for helping, i'll take them from here....". He opened the door to the plain old guest room and bit his lip, this was far from a room suited for him. He put his bag down. "Eh, this room is too plain and boring..." He pulled out his wand, making Marco slightly worried, "But I think I might be able to work with this.....RADIENT ROOM TRANSFORM!!". Marco watched in awe as the room expanded into a slight tower sticking out of his house, it had weapons on the walls, band posters all over, strange magic devices, videos games, a ping pong table, and even a nice double bed with flamed sheets. Marco could've sworn he also saw a small cage with a bunny in the corner as well. An edgy room, perfect for Tom, it matched him all too well. Tom smiled to himself, "I've been working on that spell for awhile, good thing it worked this time....otherwise you guys might not have had a roof anymore..." .He smiled bashfully at Marco, "Sorry bout weirding you out with my magic stuff earlier...I didn't know it'd freak you out so much...although I'll admit it was kinda funny.." Marco gave him a look, before pushing him aside to enter the boy's new room, he looked at it in awe. He couldn't deny, he was really impressed. "Man, I wish my room could look like this...", He said aloud. "Really?" Tom asked, eyebrows raised. "Yeah?", Marco said, suddenly embarrassed. Tom grinned, maybe this would impress Marco. Marco felt his stomach drop when he saw Tom start running down the hall towards Marco's bedroom, he chased after him, "Hey, wait-! Don't do anything-". He caught up to Tom, who stopped in his tracks before he did anything to Marco's bedroom, it was like he was frozen in place and unable to move. Marco looked at him like he was crazy, until he realized it looked as if Tom was about to cry. "Tom? Is everything ok?" That's when he noticed the wand lighting up, a green aura taking over and before Marco knew what was happening a green hole erupted inside the boy's room and started to suck everything inside of it, Tom snapped out of his stance immediately and started to panic and hold the door frame. "CLOSE THE DOOR!!", Marco shouted, clinging onto Tom for support. Tom used all his strength to get back into the hallway and close the door, which bizarrely kept the portal from sucking anything else in. Then they saw the green light from under the doorway fade, the portal must have vanished. A panicked Tom turned towards a terrified Marco, "Marco i'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me I ju-" "Save it..", He interrupted. He didn't mean to sound so mean, but he didn't want this, he had enough today. "Look, I don't know where you're from, but I can't live like this...I've gone through countless exchange students in my home and I'm tired of this, my room is gone, and i'm not interested in babysitting another troubled kid who could kill me in an instant...look if you're moving in, i'm moving out..." Marco lashed out before angrily turning away and heading down the stairs. But not before a heartbroken Tom's wand turned green and set a rain cloud upon the human on his way out. Tom looked out the window to see him leave down the street. "Great job Tom....you did it again.." - Marco was wet, no he was soaked. Standing outside of a store, at night, scaring away customers with his enragement. He wasn't even allowed back in to even get a refill on his drink because of the cloud. Ugh, he had to get a new foreign exchange student didn't he? A magic one. It was just his luck to get a dangerous magic child in his home. He sighed, maybe he'd been too cruel to Tom, but between how many times he could've gotten him killed today...Marco tried to tell himself his anger was justified. But then again Tom was the new kid and this was all probably strange to him, he needed to make friends and feel welcomed in this new environment and neither happened since he got here. He felt guilt welt up inside him for yelling at Tom, sigh, maybe he took it too far judging him so soon, he tried to deny his guilt but it was hard not picturing Tom's sad face. He muttered to himself until he heard a voice behind him. "Marco?" Marco turned around to find a familiar pink-haired boy shyly staring at him, Marco was originally going to turn around in anger at him, but his face softened at the sight of how sad he was. Man, now he really felt bad about lashing out at him. "I-I'm sorry Marco.." Tom said, sighing, "Earth was supposed to help me, help me control my emotions so my magic didn't hurt anyone.... and I've already hurt you within one day of being here...". He looked miserable, he took out his wand and got rid of Marco's cloud in an instant, " I'm sorry about your room, I already fixed it and got everything back when you wanna go back home..." Marco wanted to reach out to him, but Tom kept on going. "And...If you really don't want me there it's fine, I understand, It's not exactly the first time..." He awkwardly laughed to himself, "But it's ok, I can just...find another family to take me in I suppose...if you really don't want me there." "Tom..I-" Marco started, before his eyes grew wide. "T-Tom?" "Yeah?" Tom said, expecting Marco to be angry with him, but instead feeling a presence behind him and turned around. Monsters, a good few of them too, in many shapes and sizes. All angry. Tom grumbled, "What? You guys think just because i'm off mewni you can just waltz in here and take my stinking wand?". They got into fighting positions, ready to take out the mewni prince. "Marco stay back I-", Tom said before being cut off by a defensive Marco, who through a few kicks and hits took down one of the monsters. Tom was speechless, "Y-You can fight?" "What? You don't have karate back on your home planet?" , Marco said, smirking and continuing to fight against the group. A Smirking Tom held out his wand, "I've never had anyone fight with me before, this should be fun...just watch yourself safekid.." Tom was also pretty good at fighting on his own, with some hits and kicks, but he was strong with his magic. Shouting out spells that sounded rather silly to Marco, but caused a whole lot of damage to the monsters, giant fiery bats, raining bears, venomous wolfs that came in hoards. Marco couldn't hide his amazement, he was pretty good at magic when he could control himself. Marco helped push some more guys down and soon enough they were starting to retreat, fearing the angry prince and his new sidekick, they escaped through a portal, bruised and terrified. Tom panted, smiling at the human. "Marco, that was amazing, you were amazing..." Tom said in glee. "We were amazing.." Marco corrected, "That was a lot of fun...does this happen to you a lot? Being attacked by monsters and stuff?" Tom shrugged, " Sometimes....it's a long story involving my family and junk, but I should get ready to pack up and head out...". Before he could leave, Marco stood in front of him, "No Tom, look I was being stupid, I Judged you too hard and I should've never lashed out at you....you're in a new environment and you're still learning and I really should've considered your own feelings..." "Yeah but I screwed up, I ruined your room and I scared you.." Tom sighed, " You don't have to-" "Yeah, but i'm still here right?" ,Marco said, "And you managed to fix my room...so, it's ok. You didn't mean to....no hard feelings..ok?". He walked up closer to the boy and smiled, " I know I don't have to, but if you're having trouble with your emotions...maybe i can help? I mean, I know what's like to have trouble making friends and handling things...so maybe I can help make things easier for you around here?" "You'd do that for me?" "Yeah, it's the least I can do if you're going to be my new roommate..", Marco sighed, "Just.... be careful using magic around the house ok?" Tom smiled and pulled Marco in for a hug, "Thank you...you won't regret this, I promise...." It took Marco a second to register that Tom was hugging him, then he hugged him back, smiling. Y'know, maybe this wouldn't be so bad, he could go on exciting adventures, fight monsters, and he could even help someone handle their problems like a psychologist. The separated and Tom grinned, "Sorry, back home I really don't get hugs..." But Marco smiled just as wide, "C'mon...it's been a long day for both of us and we better get back home..." Tom agreed happily. The started walked along the sidewalk, Marco making sure Tom didn't step on anything dangerous or heading into the street. Tomorrow was a new day.

[umi-eirumi]

The Break Down - (Rp Log: Po, Syc, Xol & Umi, Eisen, Rinde)

[[ Log from: 1.8.17 - Umi returns to the caverns to check in with the residents and stops by. Characters: Po, Syc, Xol @hiddenquetzalcoatl]]

Time had passed from the last time she had been able to return to Mexico. Her travels had brought her across the Atlantic ocean so often that the days long trek no longer felt so exhausting. Her stopping points allowed her to freshen up so that she could show up at the mansion front, looking bright-eyed and refreshed as she happily rang the doorbell. She was dressed in the beautiful coat Po had made for her, hiding all her feline features from nosy passerbys.

Po dropped down to the foyer, and answered the door. "Hi Umi!" He gave her a quick hug and gentle kiss. He was very happy to see her wearing the coat. "Come on in." He chirped happily.

It was no surprise to her that Po would be the first to see and she embraced him tightly. "Hi Po how have you been?" She returned his kiss with a quick one as her gaze was gentle on him. "Did you get your gift for Christmas that I left?" She hurried inside to shut the door behind her.

"Yes I did! I love it, I have been playing with it like everyday." Po bubbled with happiness. "I am doing very well, how are you doing?" he held her hands once she turned back around. " So, I will go ahead and ask, did you come with a mission this time?"

Umi gave his hands a squeeze and smiled warmly, golden tail swaying freely from her coat now. "I'm so glad you liked it. I am doing well thank you especially hearing that you liked your gift!" She laughed softly at his question. "No, I have no sort of mission this time. I just wanted to stop in and see you and everyone. Of course, I never come empty handed with me." Her hands slipped free to open her coat to reveal a large bag hanging over her shoulder. "May I please use the kitchen to prepare snacks?"

"Of course, just stay clear of the second living room for a bit." Po frowned, " Xol had a break up with his girlfriend."

Umi visibly flinched and gave a curious stare. "Is.. he alright? Was it bad?" While any creature would be able to smell a certain level of fear spike from the woman, it was clear from her tone that she was more worried than scared.

"He is taking it pretty rough, I honestly had never seen him cry before. I got a laugh out of him, asking if shoot stars are sneezes. But not a smile from him since." Po admitted.

The blue haired maiden stopped and thought for a moment. Golden ears swung back as she had to think hard. After a moment, she took in a deep breath and asked slowly, "May I see him Po? I would hate for one of Sycamor's pillars of strength to be in such a state."

"Syc is with him." Po nodded, " I am sure he would be okay with you see him."

The woman gave him a smile and held up her hand asking for a moment. Quickly she knelt down and untied the hidden wrappings around her feet, the only source of shoes she wore these days. She carefully tucked them away into her coat pocket and proudly rose back to smile to Po. "Please lead the way." Not only with her feet free could she gain more assistance from Earth if needed, but if things headed south she was prepared.

Po would lead her to the second living room where, Syc is sitting on the couch with Xol laying down, his head in his lap. Xol is rather curled up and once in a while there is a soft whimper.

Syc is literally petting his brother, and occasionally looking down softly at him.

From the moment she entered the room, she smiled in a gentle way to Sycamor, giving a bow of her head in greeting before looking at the sight of Xol. Eisen ensured her vision of the brother would be forever a 8 week old pup version but that plan backfired. To Umi she saw a hurt puppy and she froze in place. Although the scent of her fear remained, just to see an animal so hurt was enough to undo the works of Eisen for this moment.

She closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could. It would be one of the rarest moments that would be witnessed as she forcibly gathered her entire life force and reigned in control over Eisen, forcing him to release control over her sight. As her eyes opened, it was clear the hurt and pain. She slowly walked over to the two brothers and smiled warmly to Sycamor, "May I share a word with him for a moment please?" It was the first her soul was so strong within her in a long time.

Syc nodded, and gave his brother a slight jostle to get him to sit up.  Xol sat up, his voice came out pathetically, " Hi Umi."

"Thank you Syc."

There was a moment where she had to really study Xol's face before she gave him a smile and sat down on the other side of him. "Hi Xol. I'm sorry we aren't seeing each other at a better time." She pulled her bag from her shoulder and pulled out a small bag of jerky, setting it down on his knee. "Please enjoy this snack I brought for you."

This would be the first time she actually sees him eat a thing she brought, he hungrily ate it. Syc gave her a smile, " This is first thing I have seen him so far. Thank you Umi." Syc genuinely meant it.

She flashed Sycamor a small smile and quietly bowed her head to him. Umi understood how the heart could break and leave a void for days.

Earth energy summoned up through the floor with her unheard prayer. She reached down to the ground where her feet had just been. There were flowers springing forth, each containing her wish that Xol would find comfort and be consoled. As she did so, there was a soft hum that drifted from her pursed lips. If Sycamor listened closely he would note it was the same song she hummed for him when he had buried himself under his pillows.

The flowers that sprung up were oak leaf geraniums (true friendship), white hyacinths (I'll pray for you), Zinnia (thoughts of friends), and white poppies (consolation, peace). She weaved them as she hummed into a flower necklace and rose to carefully put it around Xol's head to let it fall to his chest.

[Relatedly, he smells of dry meat and flowers.] 

 Xol would sound like he was sniffling, but he was sniffing at the flowers that were now around his neck. "Am I allowed to hug you?" Xol asked quietly.

[[Well that must be a unique scent! XD]]

Umi couldn't help but smile to Syc, remembering how he had asked the same, before giving Xol a warm beam and a nod. Carefully, she opened her arms and leaned over, embracing him. Her voice was just as kind as it was to Syc that day. "It will be alright Xol. Everything will be okay."  She was still the slightest bit scared but at this point she didn't care if he did kill her; she had to do what she could to bring a soul some healing.

He gave her a feather light squeeze back int the hug before letting her go, " Thanks Umi."If she saw his face, she would see teary eyes.

She released Xol. In the moment that she could see his face she gave his cheek a pat. "Please take care of yourself. For what its worth: I am sorry." Those words seemed to hold true for so many reasons than she was speaking. She came to Syc's side and offered him a small bag of the treat she had learned of from Inuvean with a smile. "It is nice to see you." She bowed to him slightly and turned to hurry out of the room glancing to Po in hopes he would follow.

"Thank you." Syc smiled and Xol went back into his curled up pose, while still eating and being in his brother's lap.

A gentle nod was given to Syc as she left the second livingroom to give the two brothers time together. The moment she was out of eyesight from the room, she leaned against the side of the wall and hid her eyes. Her soul released its hold and Eisen returned with vengeance, deafening her.

"You okay, Umi?" Po questioned, putting his hand on her shoulder.

The woman couldn't hear at all so she jumped a little when she felt Po's hand. When she saw who it was, she clung tightly to him and whispered, "I was really scared I would do more harm than good."

Po held her, and rubbed her back, " Its okay, Umi."

She could feel the vibrations of Po speaking and sighed as she murmured, "I'm sorry, I can't hear." Eisen was furious and she knew there would be no rest for days. "May we go to the kitchen? I did bring snacks for everyone."

Po frowned but he nodded, and lead her to the kitchen. Po held his phone in his hand it was pretty clear who he was considering calling but he wasn't sure if the hearing thing would be resolved by telling the spirits to rest.

When they reached the kitchen, Umi smiled to Po and immediately went to work. She set out plates and brought out the small bag of grasshopper treat that she had tried her hand at again for Inuvean but she always made sure to put some aside for Po. It still was far from perfect like it was supposed to be but she tried for these souls that she knew enjoyed them.

Po would happily munch on the snack, and would make sure to drink plenty of water as well.

Eisen made awful plans practically seething with anger. If he had won before his battle for making Umi afraid of Xol, just wait until the woman slumbered now. 

Umi set out cookies for the girls and she paused as she looked in her bag she glanced over to Po, "Will the other brothers be here today?"

Po recalled she could hear so he pulled up a picture of Tez to let her know he would be stopping by.

Umi gave a nod, and brought out a weird treat that she found on her travels. It was something called swedish fish. The people she had spoken to seemed to enjoy it but she had never tried it herself. She also brought out some dried squid which she herself enjoyed for Tez as well. 

 Eisen was practically livid, 'WHY DID THAT BAT CALL FOR HIM! I don't want to see him!' Rinde snickered, 'Aw whats wrong? Don't want your dear mangy friend seeing you mad?'

It wouldn't take long for the Cat to show up. He walked into the kitchen like he lived there. " Hey." Po turned to greet him. " Hi Tez." "Hello Murciélago." Looked to Umi who hadn't turned around yet.

"She mad at me already?" Po pointed to his own ears, and then signed no. Tez took a moment...'No ears...no hear?...Oh...' Tez walked over and said sweetly, " How about you be nice and give the poor girl back her hearing?"

Eisen was much more avian looking to Tez by the time the god showed up. A glare was shot at him, 'Get out of here, Deity. This is between me and the Child! You don't know what she's done!'

Umi kept busy by setting out glasses completely unaware until Rinde forcibly twirled her around and she blinked. "Oh, hello." She offered him the plate she had set up for him of treats.

Tez smiled to Umi, and then turned his attention to Eisen, "Then inform me. What has she done, that has your feathers ruffled."

Umi could see Tez talking but had no clue what he was saying. She glanced over to Po and asked, "He's smiling. Should I be concerned?" Rinde snickered. 

Eisen surged, 'The Child DARED to force my release! After all I have done for her, she repays my kindness with defiance! I have claims and I am tired of waiting!' Tez would recognize this temper. It was similar to what she herself demonstrated. The bird like spirit seemed to grow larger and a searing pain ripped over Umi's scalp as she winced. Before their eyes, there grew a blue feline stripe marking from her scalp out toward her right eye over her skin.

The woman trembled a little as she set down the plate and she bowed her head, "Excuse me for a moment please." She moved to try and hurry out of the room to hide from being seen to cry from the pain.

Po would follow after her and try to keep her in the kitchen. His eyes would plead for her to wait.   Tez wants to tell that bird to settle down.

In her state Umi was growing too weak to fight and by the second her headache was growing. She didn't get far enough from the kitchen to exit it by the time she was holding onto a counter to steady herself on her feet, but she kept her back to Tez

Eisen was surging with anger. Rinde however seemed strangely calm and almost amused.

"Eisen calm down!" Tez ordered, " Shall you be reminded that haven't a physical form to you? That you are currently relying on her for a vesselage. One that is also shared at that. Be still and return her hearing at once, if you dare to cause her more pain I will rip you both from her. Would you rather be returned the forest from which you both came? Tired from the energy you have wasted trying keep this girl under your control."  Po looked startled. And he holding to Umi to make sure she didn't go down.

A shaking hand rested on Po's shoulder as she hung her head, letting her hair hide away a tear as another stripe started taking form on the other side.

Eisen glared defiantly at Tez, but he had clearly settled down into a seething temperament. Even with so much defiance, he was unable to break Tez's orders. He didn't stop his assault despite calming down. 'The Child caused her OWN pain; she knows the consequences of defying her fate! Rip us from her and you condemn her to oblivion.'

Rinde chuckled, 'Aw the friends are fighting.'

"I will condemn both of your asses to Mictlan if you don't stop your assault. Rinde, you really want to be put in this much danger that you would allow him to break your comfortable hold?"

In the other room Xol's ears would perk at the mention of the Underworld.

Eisen glared at him with anger, but did release and back off. 'I don't know of the place you speak of.. You can't do that with spirits not of your land!'

Rinde laughed at Eisen, 'Its his people's spirit world, idiot. I don't think you really want to test what he can do though.' He smirked at Tez, 'This small movement can't even touch where I am anymore. Humans, so easy to hold onto when you are in the spine.'

As Eisen backed down, Umi stood up a little more straight while the stripes faded away. She took in a deep breath and wiped at her face to try and hide any visible sign of her previous anguish.

Po tried, " Are you okay, Umi?"

Tez stretched a tad, waiting to see if she was alright as well.

It was clear that Umi couldn't hear still. Eisen was actually crossed arm and pouting like a child glaring at Po. He was not enabling anything like a child who was scolded.

"Eisen, hearing." Tez commanded again.

Eisen groaned and glared at Tez but he had no say as he held little power once again.

Umi's ears flicked as she clearly suddenly heard the world around her once more. She rubbed her face as if she coming out of a bad dream. "May I get you something to drink Tez?" She was clearly trying to act like nothing happened and was unaware of the fighting between the god and the spirit.

"Can you hear? " Tez questioned.

Umi kept her back to Tez but gave a nod. "I take it you and Eisen had a chat about that. I'm sorry if it caused you any trouble."

"No trouble. And to ensure you don't have any." Tez grin and commanded, " Eisen, Rinde, sleep for the week." Po held to Umi still in case her body decided it was not able to stand alone.

When ordered to sleep Po would feel her body shift slightly as Umi had to regain her own control over her sense of balance. She sighed a little with relief before asking, "May I get either of you anything to drink?"

"I am fine. " Tez purred, "Thank you for the offer though. I also got a call from Syc that our sweet brother needs family."

Umi nodded to Tez, "Your brother could use as much support as he can get." She looked to Po with a reassuring gaze that she was fine to move to go sit down on a chair.

Po released his grip to let her find a seat.

As Tez left the room, and made it the second living room they would hear him cooing at Xol and such. Followed by a little bit of their own language mixed in. 

Syc would come into a view a few moments later.

When Tez had left the room, Umi found herself a seat and let her guard down with Po as she spoke softly, "I'm sorry if I caused you any worry or trouble." She reached out and took hold of his hand, giving a squeeze. "I get weakest when I ask for favor." She released his hand and rubbed at her skin where the stripes had been, a lingering sting on the flesh.

When Syc came into view she would give him a smile. "How is your brother?"

"He is alright, Tez is there with him now, I am able to take a small break. It takes a lot to keep a God from falling." Syc admitted. "Oh by the way, thank you for the gift, can I ask about these runes?"

Umi gave a nod but there was a clear conflict in her eyes for a passing minute. She spoke in a softer tone, "You are doing well." She blinked for a moment then smiled. "Well, you know how even the most stubborn human can still feel your power just from being in your presence? If I drew them right, those runes should be able to conceal that from most humans."

"Oh excellent!" Syc smiled, " That will make it much easier to travel."

Umi gave a smile and nod. "I am not sure how well it will work since the language of the runes is back from the days my people first broke free from the stars, but I did give it my best shot. I hope it will let you interact with other humans without as much worry. I don't think it will work with Eiru though since she's already your follower."

"It will my miracle work all the nicer." Syc smiled gently.

Umi just kept her smile but a thousand questions ran through. She picked through a few of them and asked one, "Your miracle work? Do you need to hide yourself from human senses to really make them nice?" It was the most she could do to simplify the massive amounts of questions.

Syc laughed, " I have been known to make dresses for poor families for many occasions. Custom dresses with no charge just a simple little tag with a feathered serpent on it, is all I leave behind. I want to help people feel special and happy during their important occasions.”

There was a bit of surprise at first but then a gentle gaze rested on Syc and she beamed. "That is incredibly kind of you. You are a popular designer and I'm sure those families will be talking about those beautiful creations for generations."

"A lot of them I make with actual gems and metals, I imagine they can also sell parts to make some money. Once this year had a saphire the size of my fist in the center."

Blinking she looked to Syc's hand and shook her head a little, "That was incredibly generous of you. You may have saved a whole family with that single gift." A thought occurred to her. "May I get you something to drink?" She had offered everyone else but not the host of the home!

"Sure you may.”

Umi rose from her chair and to the untrained eye it looked like she was bouncing in her step to the storage of the glasses but really she was recapturing her balance. "What may I get for you?"

"Water please."

Umi gave a nod and let another question slip free as she worked,  "Has Xol been through this pain before?" She set down the glass of water in front of Syc.

"Not like this, not in a long time."

Umi returned to her seat. "How long has he been like this?" She wanted to say she could believe he would be okay since Syc had survived but she refused to bring up old wounds to her friend.

“Its been about two weeks." Syc frowned.

"Two weeks.." She thought quietly to herself. She gave a reassuring smile, "Why don't you take him on vacation for a little while?"

Syc sighed, " He can't take a vacation. His job prevents that really. "

Her smile slipped as she gave a thought. "Is there no one who can help him? Take his place for just a moment to let him heal?"

"I am sure he could get Medulla and Hueso to cover parts of it." Syc mentioned, " But they aren't enough."

"So more than a spirit is needed.." She gave it serious consideration. "I doubt humans can help... And as for Stardust..." Her eyes flashed as she looked up at Sycamor. "What if we could train Koko to do it just for a little bit?"

"Do you think Koko would have the patience to deal with departed souls? "

Umi opened her mouth and shut it again with a sigh, "I was going to say we could teach him but.. I don't know if I can say that confidently. I know Eiru was training under Xol. What if she worked with the spirits?"

"That might help. He might be able to pull another spirit to help and that should be enough to give him at least a proper week off."

Umi smiled, "I am sure Eiru would be more than happy to be of service. She is quite devoted. What other spirit would he pull on?"

"One he hasn't had need to call for a while."

"They go by Sangre." Syc informed, "Similar a vein to Hueso and Medulla. Their names translate, to Blood, Bone, and Marrow. "

He could see that sparkle of curiosity in her eyes, "Were these their names when they were alive or is this what they are called now? Where did San.. Sanger?.. Where did that one come from?"

"Sangre, was orginally a priest of our people. He is generally left to rest. "

Syc nodded, " He knows his work."

Her golden tail swayed with her curiosity peaked, "So does this mean that you can call upon former priests and priestesses for help if you need to? Can any deity do this or just ones of death and afterlife?"

"Its a lifetime achievement type of thing. Success at your role within our system leads to the Gods calling on you for add, occasionally in the after." Syc shrugged, " Sangre hasn't been called up from Mictlan, for about 100 years."

"So to worshippers it is seen as an honor." She seemed to make note of that. "Does this mean he has been called before? Can any of the gods of this land call upon him or just the one he served specifically?"

"Rule of thumb, generally, Xol's thing."

"Is that because that place you spoke of is Xol's reign? So say if you wanted to get this priest's help, would you talk with Xol first?"

"Mictlan." Syc nodded, " Its his job to go between the two."

"Mictlan.." She was trying to remember but there was a lot of keep track of at this point. "So if this priest helps, along with the nice couple and Eiru, Xol will have time to recover?"

"It will be easier yes."

"I will send word to Eiru then of the situation. She may try giving offerings to Xol for healing so don't be surprised if gifts start showing up."

They would be able to hear slight singing, not in any human tongue.

Umi jumped slightly and turned her head in the direction of the sound. "What is that?"

"That would be Tez, singing to Xol. Which is charming, but I envy not knowing what our language is supposed to sound like. Literally cat wailing, to me." Syc frowned.

Her ears flattened back, "Is it possible he's just terrible at singing?" A sigh left her as she looked at the table. "Well as long as Xol enjoys it and it brings him comfort I guess its a good thing." She looked at Syc, "Do you need sleep?"

"Always, funny enough." Syc admitted.

Umi gave a smile, "Why don't you take this time to rest?"

Syc would change shape and literally noodle in on himself and pass out.

Umi blinked and tried to not laugh as she smiled to Po, "Do you think you could get him a blanket and pillow?"

Po smiled, " Wait for it." After a few moments, Syc's wing popped out and covered his form.  " He is own blanket."

Umi had to stifle a laugh by covering her mouth and she smiled to Po giving a nod. She motioned for him to follow her out of the kitchen to allow Syc to slumber in peace. "Do you think he would like a pillow? I mean that a floor he's sleeping on after all."

Po shook his head, " He is noodled up, that means we can't see it but he is using his own body as a pillow too. He is pretty much designed to cuddle himself."

"That is both useful and sounds very sad. Still, I think a blanket could help." She casted a worried look back to the second living room. "They will be okay, right? Tez won't do anything cruel right?"

"No he is not going to do anything bad." Po was confident of that, Po heard more of the strange unhuman singing. To his ears it wasn't terrible but that was likely because he didn't know it himself.

Umi winced at the sound. "May we please go for a walk?" It was the best way to get away from that sound and Xol didn't need anything; Syc was sleeping and didn't need anything. She couldn't go near Tez making that sound and feel comfortable.

Po nodded.