#like i have a very clear image of him holding up the tentacle monster thing and smiling while his name shows up in white letters

[peachdoxie]

Was Ford ever in the Gravity Falls title sequence after his appearance in the show? I swear I remember him in it but none of the title sequences on the DVD had him.

[veliseraptor]

@jill-question-mark replied to your post “December Reading Recap”:

I haven't been reading many "real books" since the before times. Would you be willing to share horror recs? The last horror book I picked up due to a rec was 'The Ruins' and I thought it was extremely bad :(

​so I keep saying I'm not writing recs lists anymore but then somebody asks me for book recs and the part of me that enjoyed exactly one thing about working at a bookstore arises from the depths like a sea monster

okay so. here's a few books from the last few years that I read and enjoyed, by my extremely arbitrary and weirdly hard to pin down standards of horror fiction

Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. I actually think I liked this one slightly more than the other book I read by him (also on this list) and I don't think it was just because I find the towering horror of a thing much bigger and older than you scarier than witches. If you find mountains scary already this is not going to help. If you don't find mountains scary yet this might help you start. The premise kicks off with a mountaineer and travel journalist who wakes up with his climbing buddy missing and presumed dead, badly injured and claiming amnesia. It gets real bad from there.

HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. The first book published in English by this author (who is Dutch), about a small town haunted by a very spooky witch, locked down by heavy surveillance in order to keep the curse from spreading. I think Echo was better, but this one was also good, and good enough for me to remember the author and come back to read the other one years later.

I have over the years come to the conclusion that if I want to find good horror really I should learn how to read more Northern European languages, between this guy and John Ajvide Lindqvist whose Let the Right One In, Handling the Undead, and Harbour I all read too long ago to recommend unreservedly (I don't know how they'd hold up now) but I loved at the time, and now am planning on rereading, so.

Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti. I feel like I've recommended this one as "kinda Lovecraftian but without the racism and not in the, like, tentacles sense, in the 'the world is horrible and incomprehensible kind of way' and that's sort of the best I have. I'm not usually a short stories person (they're so hit and miss for me), and not all the stories in this collection were hits, to be sure, but the ones that did land landed hard.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher. I think I marginally prefer The Twisted Ones (see below) from this author, but The Hollow Places deserves mention for creeping me the fuck out. I personally found the resolution a little less satisfying than the build-up (my perennial problem with horror! and possibly why short stories often work better for me in this genre specifically), but not so much that it ruined the rest of the work for me. This one is about a young woman who moves back into her uncle's house and discovers that she can walk through a wall into a very weird place. It is unfortunately not uninhabited.

T. Kingfisher has a gift for creating seriously spooky atmospheres and I think that was the biggest win for this book, from my perspective. Also ensured that I'll keep reading horror novels this author releases. (Not the novella, though. I've been burned one too many times by novellas at this point.)

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher. There is one specific image from this book that is going to live in my head forever and I'm impressed. I don't usually get that happening with books, because I'm not a very visual reader, and it's hard to actually scare me with a book (movies are different), but it succeeded.

Another book about somebody who moves back to an old family house, but this one features a weird diary that just initially just sounds like a guy losing his mind. Or maybe not.

The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike. This is the one on this list I read longest ago so my memories of it are less clear but I do remember that it kept me awake at night after finishing it, which, again, doesn't usually happen to me! Originally published in Japan in the 80s (seriously, I am pretty sure my problem with horror is just that all the best ones are originally written in other languages that I can't read), about a family that moves into a new apartment building constructed next to a graveyard. Things get weird, people start moving out, and there's something in the basement.

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle. I'm weak to things riffing on Lovecraft (see below) and there's been a few of them in recent years, but this remains I think the one best executed. It's a novella that takes Lovecraft's infamous "The Horror at Red Hook" as its jumping off point, and makes a Black man its protagonist. It was the first book to really make me excited about what people could do with Lovecraft's work (but often aren't; I find most people writing Lovecraft pastiches don't do anything interesting with it). It's good shit, and (at least if you're me) readable in a single sitting. Maybe I should go reread it today, actually.

One I'm putting on here but with a caveat is My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones and the caveat is only because I am not a huge slasher horror person, and that book is very specifically a love letter to slasher horror; I really enjoyed it and I am going to read the sequel, but it's a different flavor from most of the stuff on this list and since you'll see it recommended by many other people I didn't put it down here.

lastly I will say that I am, unfortunately, a Lovecraft fan, and while I am far from recommending that people read Lovecraft, and I am absolutely not saying he wasn't a massive racist (he was), I will say that a lot of the horror I think about when I think about horror that I really enjoyed has been Lovecraft short stories. If you're interested I can share that list, but I tend to refrain from recommending either (a) H.P. Lovecraft's work generally or (b) recommending Lovecraft at all to the general public.

I hope this helps and gives you at least one new thing to read! and if anyone has recs for me I will gladly take them. always on the hunt for more horror and I have altogether too few people I trust to steer me to good stuff.

[kawaii-koneko-chan0912]

The 2nd OC

Looks: (Pre-Villain Arc)

Disclaimer: Any and all imagine used to describe my OC's are not mine and belong to their original posters, creators, and artists

(The three images used to describe his post hero arc features are from a couple picrews that I did just to make things clear)

Looks: (Post Hero Arc)

Clothing & Aesthetic: Dark SuperVillain

His Tattoos & Other: (Post Hero Arc)

https://pin.it/1yjKNwK (Neck)

https://pin.it/1kDxscx (Right arm)

https://pin.it/2esbJGz (Left arm)

https://pin.it/1tW3g6g (Right hand)

https://pin.it/5Dj13Tg (Left hand)

https://pin.it/3zJPawz (Both wrists)

https://pin.it/2bSKQBM (Right hip)

https://pin.it/zlHhAca (Upper mid pelvic area located on the v line)

https://pin.it/2b3bems (Back)

https://pin.it/3kosxOx https://pin.it/2Zg8OjZ (Teeth)

https://pin.it/7xgaUbQ (Nail polish)

Name: Mortem Eranthe Athanasios

Age: 25

Date of birth: 10/31

Hero Name: (Pre Villain Arc) Persephone

Villain Name: (Post Hero Arc) Hades

Ethnicity: Greek

Height: 6,0

Gender: Male

Zodiac: Scorpio

Species: Superhuman

Name Meanings

Mortem means death in Latin

Eranthe means "delicate like spring" or "delicate as a spring flower" and is of Greek origin

The name Athanasios means immortal in Greek

Ability:

His main ability is called Nature & Death basically he can manipulate plants and nature at his will but If he is killed he turns into a death image of his former self hence his Villain form making him a sort of living immortal corpse that is cold to the touch with black blood oh and he has a long black monster like tongue and can protrude black tentacles from his back is his death from but when he died this form is permanent but he can still manipulate plant life.

He can also manipulate shadows, shadow like versions of plant life, blue like magic, and blue flames.

As for his Villain disguise he protrudes a shadow like form that covers his body hiding his features making him look like a shadow humanoid entity therefore allowing him to interact and blend in with society without suspicion from the authorities

https://pin.it/23b6YxS (His Villain Disguise)

The Tentacles

Past/Backstory:

Pre Villain arc he was a hero named Persephone and went by his middle name Eranthe hiding his full name

Through out his Hero career starting at the age of 19 for 4 years he was seen as a progity for rising through the ranks in less than a year and had seen thing he shouldn't have which was the corrupt side of hero society, the assaults, the sexual misconduct scandals, the killing of Villains and associates in the name of so called "justice", how other heroes were only in it for the money and power and because of that he was killed purposely like many others on a mission by the corrupt heroes unnoticed by the good ones and higher ups

He lost hope in the hero system because of injustices he witnessed and planned on exposing them which led to him being killed in retaliation one others got a hold of what he was planning and in his final moments before coming back to life he swears on his life to expose the corrupt side of Hero society and rebuild it by any means necessary and to reveal to his darling aka the reader of this truth and bring them onto his side

After that his supposed "death" he went by the Villain name Hades and became the most powerful Villain in Pantheon City creating a very powerful Villain organization in the span of 2 years and has a Home of his very own unknown to the rest of society

His normal voice: (Pre Villain Arc) https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdS2baxa/

His normal voice: (Post Hero Arc) https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdS2BuLe/

His Villain form voice:

https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdS2uLoA/

(But post hero Arc he can change his voice to what he sounded like pre Villain arc at will)

________

Edit: I just realized I rushed and forget to put in his personally and what type of yandere he is I'll update this later tomorrow.

[clonewarslover55]

OKAY BUT IF YOURE UP FOR IT??

Reader comforting Boba after he escaped and is healing from the Sarlaac pit?? Maybe some sweet soft smut of them assuring him that he's still worthy and loveable and handsome as hell??

I love this request so much!! So I made it a random sequel to Hard to Kill!! 

Body worshipping Boba Fett Random sequel to Hard to Kill 

Part one       Part two

Warnings: Low self-esteem, panic attacks, PTSD, talk of old injuries, Boba needs therapy, Gender neutral reader, body worshipping, slow smut, oral(Male receiving) cum swallowing, fluff, angst, cry and be horny at the same time with this fic!! 

It had been around two years since Boba escaped the Sarlacc buck ass nude. Leaving his armor, trophies, and pride behind. He had been in her gut for two days, narrowly escaping with his life. He had been dizzy and dilousinal when he had gotten free, crawling onto the night chilled sand. The weak acid of the Sarlacc wounded his body terribly. 

His nasty burns were now nastier scars. His left arm has scars from the surgery he had to repair the broken bone. His right leg always bugged him now, because it was a mangled mess of cracked bone, ripped muscles, and ripped tendons from where the Sarlacc tried to rip it off. The many surgeries on his legs helped, but the leg still bothers Boba often.  

As you helped him heal, nursing him back to health, he told you what happened within the beast. How she trapped souls that would talk to him constantly, how tentacles on the walls of her gut held him still, and how she injected neurotoxin into him to keep him still. Clearly Boba had been scarred mentally and physically from the beast.

You were taking a nap in the cockpit when you heard cursing in Mando’a coming from the cargo hold of Slave I. You blinked and quickly rushed down the ladder to the hold. Boba was sitting against the wall, rubbing his hand clearly in pain. 

“What’s the matter?” You walked over slowly, when Boba was pissed off he was not to be messed with. “My nerves in my left hand, they made my hand lock up while I was repairing the first cell door. I broke it even more.” The frustration is very clear in his voice, something else boiling under the service of his facade. 

You looked at the smoking door, tools scattered about. In his anger he clearly threw a few tools around. Boba rarely lost his cool, so something must be really bothering him. You sighed softly, looking at the glaring Mandalorian. 

You sat down beside him, gently taking his scarred hand in yours. You rubbed his hand slowly, Boba glaring at the floor. “It’s alright Boba, you can’t help-” Boba cuts you off, “None of this should’ve happened. I tried to tell jabba not to try to kill that fucking Jedi!! The stupid Hutt being ignorant ruined my life.” Boba raised his voice, standing up.

“Boba-” He cut you off again, “Don’t Boba me. That stupid monster ruined my body! I am scarred and some of my nerves are damaged! I have to shave my head because the acid that somehow touched my hair causes it not to grow anymore! I-” You stood up, pulling Boba into a tight hug. He hardly ever raised his voice, talking too much hurt his throat. Yelling hurt even more. 

You shushed him, rubbing his back slowly. He trembled slightly, clearly going into a PTSD driven panic attack. “It’s okay cyar’ika.” You whispered, pressing a kiss to his temple. Boba buried his face into your neck, hugging you back tightly.

Boba struggled everyday with trauma from the Sarlacc, mainly his self image. He lost his armor and the trophies he wore on it, which took a big part of his soul. The armor was his fathers, who he lost once again. But this time in the bowels of the Sarlacc. 

Boba had always hated mirrors, not recognizing how handsome he was due to a dread and a deep hatred. Now he hardly even looked in the mirror, hating the scars that now covered his body. He limped almost constantly, his right leg hurting more and more every day. 

Boba hated himself more than he ever had before, and it broke your heart. 

“Boba you were never ugly.” You step back cupping his cheek, his dark eyes bright with pain and hate. “You’re just as handsome as you were when I met you.” You stroke his cheekbones, a soft smile on your face. Boba looks at you, a hard look still on his face. 

You continue to stroke his back, whispering sweet nothings and compliments. He eventually relaxes in your arms, sighing loudly. “How about we fix the cell together?” You speak softly like he’s an injured and spooked animal. You stroke his hand gently, smiling when he nods and mumbles out an “ok…”

~A few hours later~ 

You sat on the bed beside Boba, tracing his arm scars softly. It took you both a while to fix the door, but you eventually got it done. “Your scars don’t make you any less of a man Boba.” You spoke suddenly. Boba looked at you, a glare on his face. 

Before your lover could open his mouth to argue you spoke, “It makes you stronger. Your scars tell a story of your survival. You shouldn’t have survived that monster, but yet you did. You nearly died from shock and the nasty wounds. You nearly lost your leg.” You softly cup his cheek, “You survived because you’re Boba Fett, a goddamn Mandalorian. You’re tough and beyond brave, not to mention stubborn.” 

Boba frowned at your words, his dark eyes looking away from yours. “Boba these scars show how fucking tough you are. They prove how incredible you are.” You press a kiss to his scarred wrist. “But I-” You shut him up with a kiss, your lips molding perfectly with his. 

“Boba you’re still hot as hell.” You mumble against his lips, “Actually more so! These scars do things to me.” You kiss him again, Boba kissing you back. “You deserve all the love in the universe Boba, you’re worthy and deserving of happiness.” You whisper. 

Boba looked into your eyes, the sadness in them breaking your heart. “Do you really think I deserve-” You cut him off again, “Boba you deserve the universe and so much more.” He clearly still didn’t believe you, but you knew just how to persuade him. 

You kiss him again, putting all of your love and passion behind the kiss. You helped Boba undress, moving slowly. Once he was naked, you undressed as well. You kissed him again, your hands holding his and giving them a gentle squeeze. 

Boba let you push him onto his back, allowing you to crawl on top of him. You kissed his scarred neck and chest, “Let me show you just how hot you are.” Boba only nodded, still looking unsure. You squeezed his right hand before letting go, using your hands to trace his body instead. 

Boba was relaxed under you, his cock half hard from your teasing kisses. “These scars just make you even sexier to me Boba.” You spoke seductively, your lips tracing a nasty scar on his left pectoral. Boba looked into your eyes, his eyes growing dark with desire. 

You moved slowly, tracing each scar on his sexy body with your lips and tongue. He was covered in scars. So by the time you got to his hard cock he was letting out soft moans, his cock dripping precum. 

Boba let out an irritated sigh when you kissed everywhere but his cock, your lips tracing the scars on his thighs. You smirked to yourself, your grumpy man was coming back. In the Sarlacc Boba kept his genitals covered as long as possible, so luckily his large cock still worked. 

Boba growled out your name, the noise sending lighting bolts of pleasure to your core. You smirked and licked the precum from his head, Boba groaning loudly. “Just look at you. My handsome Boba Fett, all needy for me.” You purred out the words, which made Boba glare at you. 

You held back your laughs as you licked his cock from the base to the head, Boba gripping the bed sheets. He was always the most sensitive when you moved slow like this. You traced your tongue along every bit of his large cock, Boba using all of his willpower to not to buck his hips.  

When you finally put the head into your mouth Boba let out a relieved moan, the noise causing you to get even more excited. You held him at the base, your mouth working over him slowly. Boba bucked his hips, a small whine leaving him at your slow movements. 

You held his hips down, Boba glaring even more at you. You got back to work quickly, taking Boba as far into your mouth as you could. Your hand covered what your throat couldn’t handle. You moaned around him, your tongue swirling around his thick shaft. 

His precum was salty and a little bitter, but it still tasted good enough to you. Boba watched you suck his cock, your throat taking him like a champ. Boba twitched in your mouth, clenching his jaw as he approached his orgasm. 

You pulled back, giving a few teasing kitten licks to his dripping head. He growled out your name, a warning. You smirked and took him back down your throat, your hand and mouth working in a perfect rhythm 

It didn’t take much more for Boba to cum down your throat, the taste of his warm seed making you shiver. You licked his head a few more times after he finished, watching as he relaxed under you. 

You wiped the drool and drops cum from your mouth and kissed your way back up his body. You kissed Boba’s lips deeply, putting all of your love and adoration for him in the kiss. “Do you believe me now?” You questioned, a frown on your lips.

“I suppose….” Your frown turned into a wide grin and you hugged Boba tightly. “Good!!! I love you so much!” Boba smiled, hugging you back. “I love you too, Cyar’ika.” 

Boba Fett still had his moments here and there, but he definitely hated himself a little less thanks to you. 

Tags: @leias-left-hair-bun @iamassbuttkingofhell @catsnkooks @colorfulloverbatturkey @ahsokatano-thetogruta @jedi-mando @peacefulwizardfox @hounding-around @julyzaa @feathersforcloes @chr0nicbackpain @strangebroadwaykinks @jedi-nila-rhyn @valkyrieofthehighfae @my-awakened-ghost @commanderrivercc-3628 @anstarwar

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS I CHAPTER 35

💖first time reader click here💖

Reader and Eddie going on their mission. They're all morons, okay? Some canon-typical violence, bad guys being bad guys. You guys can see that I treat the fighting plot points as total crack, right?

Eddie Brock was pissed, at the Avengers mostly - for not telling him of my accident - but also at me, for the fact that I didn't call him sooner. Venom had taken over at some point, eager to participate in my plan - and it I was being honest, my uncle's space boo was the one I had relied on to participate in the mayhem that was to be caused to finally let my family breathe in peace.

The Avengers wore various expressions of guilt when an angry Eddie stormed the tower, berating them for not getting into contact with him when I was in danger. Venom growled at them, too, just the right amount of teeth and drool for Tony to quickly usher me out to 'take a walk, have some fun, build a snowman' with uncle Eddie and Venom. It was almost too easy, too predictable. The guilt that reared it's ugly head was stomped down by me and two glasses of whiskey in Eddie's rented Airbnb as I went into the fine details of my plan.

Both I and Eddie were equally surprised when Venom dropped their sarcastic, angsty teenager attitude and approached the topic with maturity, giving valuable input. The goth space goo was much, much smarter than their first impressions showed. I belatedly remembered their remark about being an apex predator species... Scary.

The plan was pretty simple.

Eddie was a professional investigative reporter and an unregistered mutant, his files being hidden so deeply due to the alien nature of the symbiote that it was unlikely that underground gangs would have any idea as to who he truly was. His involvement with SHIELD was buried under so much red tape, even Coulson himself had very little idea about Eddie's body-mate.

My uncle would sniff around the mutant underworld, just enough to catch a whiff of the mercenary's whereabouts. It should be enough if he was as famous as Natasha claimed him to be. And if it wasn't enough... I'd be bait. I doubt that the merc knew the box has been retrieved and secured; every now and then, I still caught chatter about the SHIELD agents trailing me catching a person sent to monitor me. They weren't even trying to hide that hard.

I had my suspicions SHIELD was indirectly using me as bait, too, and both Eddie and Venom were inclined to agree with the notion. Over beers and ridiculous amount of chocolate cake, a third side of the operation Baby Thief had been formed. SHIELD played their own game, the Avengers and SI threw a ridiculous amount of resources on their own and then there was me and Eddie, two halves of a whole idiot.

For once, the plan didn't go south immediately off the bat. Eddie and Venom got the information - there was a lot of uproar in the mutant community, rumours about an artifact that would let them assume their rightful place in the world, pushing the pesky humans off their pedestal. I definitely supported mutant rights - but the common notion that violence was necessary to achieve the recognition of said rights didn't sit well with me at all. Eddie agreed with me, his own curiousity pushing him to dig deeper into the situation.

My uncle could be a brilliant investigative reporter with the proper motivation and his significant other at the side. I could never tire of Venom's stories: each and every time they saved Eddie from making a clown out of himself was remembered, documented and brought up at the quickest available opportunity. I haven't laughed so hard in months.

The positives of our plan? We got a hot trail and enough information to know about the mercenary's whereabouts. We possessed the manpower needed to off him in record time, Venom eagerly offering his digestive system for our convenience.

The negatives? We'd need to bring me. Apparently there was a hefty bounty on my pretty little head and the merc himself had given up trying to chase me, hiring a bunch of muscle to do the legwork for him instead. The mercenary, a man who went by the nickname Cadre, was an ex-shield agent, who knew enough to successfully avoid the organisation following hot on his heels.

And neither SHIELD, nor Tony nor Eddie knew who had ordered the retrieval of the artifact. The mysterious person had deep pockets: all of the men were supplied with high grade weaponry and the mutants participating in the missions had equipment specifically tailored to their powers.

Perhaps, I wasn't as clever as I wanted myself to be. There was something big and ugly brewing and the bounty on my head was just the tip of the iceberg. But what was done, was done, and Venom was looking forward to a hefty meal and we set the date of Eddie "kidnapping" me in a few days time.

I hoped I'd make it home for Christmas.

The biggest surprise was that nobody suspected anything. Not even Natasha's watchful eye and inherent knowledge of shit about to be stirred - somehow, Nat always just knew those things - had revealed itself and that's how I knew it was absolutely necessary for me to be successful. There was no room for failure. In the day before my planned trip to Cadre's lair, I forced the team into a movie night and took extra time with everybody, seeing as even the most cheerful people - Thor and Wanda - walked around with sullen faces for most of the time. Perhaps, deep down, I knew that chances of my plan going awry were pretty damn high.

It felt like I was leaving for war. And perhaps, I was. The nervous, anxious energy increased as the hour X drew closer and I couldn't hide it anymore. My insomnia wore Tony's face: I could see his disappointment as clear as day, but I figured he'd forgive me for the betrayal eventually. Every single thing I hid from my newfound family made me feel a traitor. Unfortunately, there was simply no other option.

That afternoon, Eddie picked me up from the tower and drove me to one of the hideouts that belonged to Cabre. He'd tied my hands together and blindfolded me, all for show of course, whilst Venom briefly connected with my body to induce a drowsy state of mind. I didn't actually mind to be drugged and was way more wary of the symbiote's effects on my body but the space pudding extended his tentacles so quickly, I barely had the time to even swear at them.

To my (and their) surprise, it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. In my hazy state, I briefly head Venom growl that I could be a decent short-term host if something would to happen with Eddie; I did not know how that information made me feel but did not disregard it completely. I was out of my depth on this one yet marched on towards the danger with grim determination.

"Here's the girl," Eddie's voice penetrated through the curtain of chemicals that Venom had dosed me with; I was tossed none too gently on what felt like a mattress, the landing haphazard but not painful. Venom must've dulled my pain receptors, too. "Where's our money?"

I was unceremoniously groped, my face examined by a man with ice-cold hands. Whatever he found, he deemed it satisfactory. "I'm impressed," He whistled. "We've been trying to get her for months. Care to share how you achieved this?" The strange man sounded suspicious.

"WE HAVE OUR OWN TRICKS," Venom's deep voice filled out the room like thick smoke and I just knew that the man who had been groping me was twitching in discomfort. "SO?"

"Alright, alright," The man mumbled, voice unsteady. My drowsiness slowly began to recede and I finally could focus my eyes somewhat; Eddie was partially obscured by the writhing, onyx mass of his symbiote and the man was dialing up the phone, speaking in a rapid-fire dialect I did not know. "Cabre will be here in an hour. Care for a beer?" Just like that, the man was obviously attempting to placate Eddie.

"HOT CHOCOLATE," Venom announced flatly and I had to struggle to hold back my laughter at the image of a seven feet tall tentacle monster sipping hot cocoa from a tiny porcelain cup. My nerves had me feeling ten types of way, as usual, and props to Ven making me unable to speak. I would have already killed myself by running my mouth ten times over.

The hour passed by with me floating in my mindsphere, Eddie loudly playing Candy Crush on his phone and Venom consuming ridiculous amounts of hot chocolate. It was absurd and the eerie calm was beginning to make me suspicious; I had expected... More. Threatening thugs with guns, experiments, blood tests and physical violence. Instead, the man who met with Eddie was sitting with a vacant, bored expression as he practiced card tricks in the corner furthest away from Venom.

Finally, a knock on the door forced all of us to pay attention to the newcomer. It was a tall, massively built man in his early forties. His face was covered in scars, narrow red lines that looked like small cuts; one of his eyes was completely black while the other was blue. He looked like the man at the coffee shop but at the same time, nothing like him at all.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," His voice was low and quiet. If not for the heavyweight weapon hanging over his shoulder, I would have considered him to be one of those men who only look threatening but actually are gentle giants. With steps too quiet for a man his size, he approached me, crouching down to look me in the face. "Hello, child. I've been looking for you for a long time. It's a shame we had to meet this way," He removed the strands of hair sticking to my face. For all purposes, his touch could have been considered fatherly. "Richard, bring the money." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the man who was babysitting me and Eddie and he promptly disappeared behind the steel door.

"Hello," Eddie briefly shook his hands with Cabre after the merc left me alone. I noted Venom had disappeared into the reporter's body completely. "We are Venom," Eddie introduced himself (they introduced themselves?).

"Cabre," The Merc watched my honorary uncle with a sharp eye, taking note of Eddie's lack of weapons, his worn clothes and the shaggy hair, the bags under his eyes. "Tell me, Venom, what do you know of this child?"

"Not much," Eddie shrugged, convincingly. "Just that the Avengers picked her up for some reason and locked her up in Stark's tower. We're guessing she didn't like it much 'cuz she kept sneaking out and trying to shake off the tail. Had to go through quite a few SHIELD agents to get to her," Just like we agreed, Eddie spoke with slight disdain towards Tony and SHIELD, making sure to let Cabre believe he was on the mutants' side. "We just need the money, man. Not many people will hire us," To top it up, Eddie spread his arms, showing his skin ripple and move on it's own prominently under his ratty t-shirt. Atta boy!

Cabre appeared to have bought the lie, chuffing sympathetically, before pulling out a tablet and typing on it. "Well, not for long. My superiors have found an artifact that, if unlocked properly, will render most of the technology suppressing mutant powers useless. They won't be able to get rid of us that easily anymore."

Eddie nodded eagerly, for all purposes appearing to be ecstatic about the news. "Yeah, heard some rumors here and there. Well, you and your superiors know where to find me. I could always go with some extra cash," He scratched his head, carefully watching Cabre's fingers dance on the keyboard. "What's the kid got to do with it anyway? Seems like an ordinary spoiled brat to me," Eddie threw me a look, blinking twice. The fatigue and wariness, courtesy of Venom, had begun to recede quite some time ago; with Eddie's signal, I knew the shitshow was about to start very soon.

Eddie was smart, however, finding out the bits of information SHIELD hadn't bothered to disclose to me. The residue that the cursed box had left in me was removed, so I could not understand why SHIELD was still guarding me. There had to have been another reason, a reason that neither of us knew for sure.

Cabre paused his typing. "We've been watching her for years. She's a genius. We were hoping she could help us solve a few problems..." The merc paused to rub the bridge of his nose. "We tried to get her to come willingly but her parents forbade her from it. My superiors suggested to use the artifact but something malfunctioned." For all purposes, Cabre was looking apologetic. "I am not overly fond of kidnapping children but some things just need to be done." With that, the man turned around, landing his eyes on me. "Glad to see you're up and about." Something about his smile was unnatural, forced, malicious.

"Charmed to meet you," I sat up, dazed and confused about the turn of events. The things he was saying, they didn't add up. I hadn't received any requests for my participation in ANY kind of project, illlegal or not. No scholarships, no internship offers. Something was very, very wrong.

As soon as Cabre's back was turned, Venom enveloped Eddie, turning themselves into the seven feet tall outer space monstrosity I had seen on the first day. Their combined form was terrifying - but Cabre's fingers merely twitched at the rapid change of the situation as he took slow steps towards me. "Hmm," His voice still quiet, he once again crouched in front of me. "You fought us off once but we are many. There is nowhere to run, child," Cabre's eyes began to darken, his speech turning flat.

I recognized the speech pattern, recalled the expressionless, vacant face that stared at me. Cabre was infected with the Legion from the cursed box; I hadn't prepared for that, hadn't even regarded that, thinking the little epic speech the demon had given me was a mere intimidation tactic. Fear bloomed within me, opening it's jaws like a hungry Venus flytrap but I refused to succumb to it, clenching my fists against the waves of paralyzing terror.

Venom made a confused growling noise behind me, extending a tentacle to push Cabre away; with a sickeningly wet splat, their whole form collided with the opposite wall, sliding down it like a puddle of misshapen goop. "MORSEL, GET OUT." The symbiote growled, reforming itself back.

"Silence, beast!" Cabre shrieked, unstrapping his weapon and aiming it at Venom. No bullets came out as he pressed the trigger but my ear started ringing, eyes watering as the whole form of the symbiote began to morph and ripple. Pained groans and whines came from them. A sonic gun?

"Screw you, man," I attempted to draw Cabre's attention to myself by kicking out a leg towards the gun, disrupting his arm briefly. Things were going to shit faster than a party full of teenagers and alcohol. "Fuck you, listen, FUCK YOU!" I knew antagonizing people was my best skill and that's what I did, figuring the time needed for Venom to reassemble themself could be acquired if Cabre was pissed off enough at me.

The backhand hurt, not going to lie. I saw stars from that one sloppy hit the possessed merc delivered to my face. The adrenaline rush allowed me to stay somewhat coherent and just like that time when I was trapped in my nightmares, I dove for Cabre, winding myself around him as both of us landed on the floor in a heap of limbs.

Despite my best hopes, Venom remained a puddle of black on the floor. I saw something shiny attach itself to Eddie's chest; apparently that something prevented them from combining into one again. My smaller size proved to be a great advantage; I remembered Venom's words about being a suitable short-term host and with a shriek, I placed my palm into the nearest piece of symbiote I could reach, my vision being obscured by blackness a second later.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie @mikariell95 @gladiosamicitias @warrior1-19 @toomanyrobins @i-cant-hangout-im-drumming

[legionofpotatoes]

we decided to watch all story cutscenes from the new resident evil village videogame on a whim, since it’s not really our cup of tea gameplay-wise but seems to be this massive zeitgeist moment that made us morbidly curious. And I know how much everyone cares about my thoughts on things I know very little about, so. let’s get into it huh gamers. and yeah spoilers?

for context, I’ve only played resident evil 4 and a small portion of 5. I also read the wikipedia entry for 7’s plot recently. all this to say I was only vaguely aware of how tonally wacky the series was going in

I also completely gave up following the plot of the mutagens’ soap opera, so that paid off in spades here as you might imagine

anyway so that baby in the intro. that baby’s head is just massive. humongous toddlerdome. when ethan finds the baby’s head in a jar later on. there is no way that head would fit into that jar. bad game design. no not even game design. basic stuff. one hundred years in prison for jar modeler

if I see a single functional hetero marriage in video games I will cry tears of joy. I understand their misery is kind of The Point irt them badly working through the hillbilly romp trauma but like. sheesh. at least set that up as an emotional story goal the plot will help resolve. but nope they start off miserable and it goes nowhere

I know I know the mia thing has a huge wrinkle in it but like. not really in terms of dramatic function?? set up a happy end to the re7 nightmare (miranda can keep up appearances for all she cares) and then take that all away from angry griffin mcelroy for manpain. it will still absolutely work to set up the dramatic forward momentum. why throw in this cliche Hollywood Tension in their marriage if you’re not going to address it oh maybe because it’s normalized as automatically interesting because nuclear families are a self-propagating pit of a very narrow chance at emotional happiness relying on social stigma to preserve their empty function oops my baggage slipped in yikes abort mission

I called him griffin mcelroy because I saw his face on twitter and. yeah. I will continue to do this occasionally. my house my rules

... fuck the reason I’m hung up on this is specifically because the rest of the game is so tonally dexterous (which is a shining point to me! more on that later!), and yet they felt weirdly compelled to create the aesthetic trapping of a family-at-odds trope without following it through too well. a sign of both the good and the bad stuff to come

but listen the real reason why I wanted to talk about any of this is to nitpick the fascinating backwards-engineered nucleus of the entire thing; in that this game essentially creates a melting pot of just SO many disparate horror tropes and then makes a no-holds-barred unhinged effort at weaving thick lore to piece them all together. it is truly a sight to behold. like straight up you got your backwoods fright night situation, your gothic castle vampires, your rural-industrial werewolves, and don’t forget your bloated swamp monsters over there, with then a hard left turn into robotic body horror, and the entire ass subgenre of Creepy Doll writ large, and the bloodborne tentacle monsters, and a hellboy angel bossfight, which rides on the coattails of a mech-on-mech pacific rim bonanza, and just jesus henry christ slow down

almost all of these are textural hijack jobs that don’t really get into the metaphor plain of any of those settings but the game sort-of makes an argument that the texture IS the point and revels in it. It is kind of admirable almost. The same reason why the intro felt boxed in and unmotivated is also why the rest of the game just blasts off of its hinges to the point of complete and self-indulgent tonal abandon. I kinda loved that about it. lady dimitrescu made sure to hold her hat down as she bent forward in mahogany doorways and then suddenly she’s a giant gore dragon and you settle in your temp role as dark souls man with Gun to take her ass down. Excellent??

this rhino rampage impulse to gobble up every horror aesthetic known to man comes to head when the game wrestles with its FPS trappings in what is the most hilarious solution in creating visceral player damage moments. Since most cinematics and the entire game is in first person, that leaves precious little real estate for the devs to work with if they really want to sell griffin’s physical crucible. To wit. This dude’s forearms. Specifically just the forearms. They are MASSACRED throughout the story. The poor man lives out the silent hill dimension of a hand model. by the end cutscene he looks like a neatly dressed desk clerk who had decided to stick both his grabbers into garbage disposal grinders just a few hours prior. like in addition to everything else it manages to rope in that tinge of slapstick violence into its general grievous genre collection except this time it IS for a lack of trying! truly incredible

but wait his miracle clawbacks from everything his poor paws go through are retroactively explained away, yes, but far too vaguely and far too late to console me as I sat and watched everyone’s favorite baby brother reattach an entirely severed hand to his wrist stump by just. placing it on there. and giving it a lil twist ‘n pop terminator-style. and then willing his fingers back into motion right in front of my bulging eyes. this game just does not care. it does not give a shit. and boy howdy will it work to make that into one of its strongest suits

cause generally speaking resident evil was THE premiere vanilla zombie content destinaysh for like a decade, right? and as the rest of the world and mainstream media started encroaching and bloodying its blue ocean it went and just exploded in every single conceivable horror trope direction like a smilodon on catnip. truly, genuinely fascinating franchise moves

yeah the big vampire milf is hot. other news; grass... green. although I do love the implication that her closet is just identical white dresses on a rack. cartoon network-level queen shit

apropos of nothing I’ve said there’s also this hobo dante-devimaycry-magneto man, and I can’t believe this sentence makes sense. anyway he made that “boulder-punching asshole” joke referring to chris redfield and it was probably the only easter egg that really landed for me and boy did it land hard. I have not seen him punch the boulder in re5, mind. I had only heard about how funny it is from friends. and here this dude was, probably in the same exact mindset as me, trying to grapple with that insane mental image. with you on that ian mckellen, loud and clear

I advocate vehemently against the shallow pursuit of hyper photorealism in art direction but I gotta admit it works really in favor of immersive horror like this. the european village shacks especially gave me super unchill flashbacks to my rural countryside retreat in western georgia. I could smell the linoleum dude. not cool

faces are weird in this game. can’t place it. nice textures, good animation, but the modeling template is... uuh strange? and the hair. it has that clustered-flat-clumpy look that harkens to something very specific and unpleasant but I just don’t know what. sue me

griffin’s mental aptitude to take all this shit in stride and end every seemingly traumatizing bossfight involving some fucking eldritch being yet unseen through mortal eyes by essentially throwing out an MCU quip is just. What the fuck dude? I mean that was funny how you casually yelled the f-word at a god damn werewolf that you considered a fairy tale an hour ago but are you like, all right?? it was swinging a sledgehammer the size of a bus at you, ethan

oh oh the vampires are afraid of cold and your last name is winters. I get it haha

Pro Gamer Nitpick: boss fights seemed a bit unnecessarily long?? idk why the youtuber we picked decided the ENTIRE propeller man fight counted towards the vital story scenes he was stitching together, but man mr big daddy lite there really had some get up and go huh??

why are they saying dimitrescu.. like that. is it really how you say that word or is the english language relapsing into its fetish for ending every single word with a consonant at all costs

I’m not saying it’s a dramatic miss of a twist in context of all that’s going on, but the “you died in the last game actually and have been DC’s clayface ever since” revelation is low-key. it’s. it’s just funny to me, I dont know what to say. century-old god-witch fails her evil plan after she mistakenly removes heart from what was definitely NOT just some white guy with eight fingers after all

chris realizing he’s about to become the player character and immediately swapping out his tsundere trenchcoat for the muscletight sex haver sweater

the little bluetooth speaker-sized pipe bomb he taped to his knife was nuclear?? really??? I must have missed something because that is just too good. I buy it though I totally buy it. chris just got them fun-sized nukes in his car trunk for, you guessed it, Situations

anyway this is all for now just wanted to briefly touch on how unexpectedly funny and tonally irreverent this seemingly serious game turned out to be. did not articulate any cathartic story beats whatsoever but my god it had fun connecting those plot points. he just fucking put his severed hand back on his stump and it Just Worked todd howard get in here

[enigma-im]

The Strokes

Prompt #2

Subject: Oral Monster: Cthulhu

         Oral is a bit strange when your lover’s mouth isn’t normal

-------------------------------------------------

His face is…strange. In more words, his face is a squirming pile of tentacles. At first glance it's weird, strange, unnerving. Around the 300th glance it get less so. Then again, who am I to say anything. I am the one dating the appendage filled face.

I watch as he trails kisses down my torso, sliding his hands down my sides as he goes.

"Don't you dare," I scold. The hand on my hip squeezes tighter in protest.

"Don't I dare what?"

"Don't you dare do what I think you're going to do, we talked about this."

He quirks a brow with the dullest look he can put on. The irritation is clear, that sass is unappreciated. I try to squirm out from under his arms, pulling my legs up to my chest. He sighs with more clear displeasure, resting his cheek on his palm. His eyes stare appreciatively between my legs before I cross my ankles. He grunts.

"I don't see the issue here," he shrugs," if anything this should be better than any of your previous experiences."

"that's not the point," I shout.

"Then what is the point?"

I fiddle with an answer, opening and closing my mouth without a clue. His shoulder sags along with his head as he sighs.

"Would it perhaps be because you don't like my mouth," he accuses. Though his observation is close, it's not dead on.

"No," I quickly shout," it's not that, not at all."

"Babe," he catches my eye," it's fine if you are. I get it."

"No- it's not- I mean… shut up, it's not that I don't like your mouth. You know I adore every bit of you, it's just…," I fidget.

"It's just what," he answers irked.

"It's just… I swear it's not because I'm off put by your handsome face," I smile. He quirks a brow of exasperation. "It's honestly because the… thingies… they tickle," I clench up my face at the childish nature of the issue.

He sits up with a grunt," they tickle?"

"Yea," I fidget some more," like when we kiss it's strange- in a good way- but they trace around my neck. I've gotten use to it but when you go down there it's a hell of a lot different. I'm not sure why it's just a lot of sensations that are really soft, if that makes sense."

I watch him ponder the situation for a moment, growing hot in the face with each passing second. I never in a million years assumed I would be having this conversation with my boyfriend. As trivial as the title sounds for him, it's true.

"I have an idea but you have to give it a try," he grabs at my ankle, pulling me forward. "I think- no, I know- you will love it. So do what you did when I first asked you out and give this strange fellow a try?" my legs rest under his chest and his crossed arms lounge on my stomach. I debate his suggestion, running the attempts through my head multiple times. Ultimately it's his request to give him the benefit of the doubt that wins me over. I gave him a try as a friend, it worked out. He is my best friend. I gave him a try when he took me out for a date. Now he is my lover. Knowing his luck he could go 3 for 3.

"Fine," he sits up excited, "But! You can't hold this against me later if I say I didn't like it."

He huffs," Ok, then you can't use this as an 'I did this for you now do this for me' thing."

"deal."

I watch with trepidation as he rests his beard of tentacles on my stomach, pressing his lips to my skin as he lowers. The slightly damp tendrils trail lazily over me, tracing every curve and blemish with ticklish care. My stomach flutters and clenches at the sensation. My toes curl as I try to settle in and stop being so tense. I catch his eyes, falling into the allure that captured me when we first met. His amber eyes that promise pleasure.

I slowly settle more onto my elbows as I watch. My leg twitches when he presses a kiss to my mound, jumping with anticipated building in my loins. My breath catches as I feel his tentacles scatter around, teasing the cleft of my thigh, trailing over my hip bone. It tickles like I expected, my skin twitches and pulls taunt as I try not to wiggle away. The feeling is too light, too soft.

I get ready to sit up and stop him when he holds me. It's hard to explain but it feels like all his facial appendages are fingers, pressing firmly against me like a hand. Their movement are more defined now, more arousing.

My eyes flutter when he parts my folds, leading himself between to coax at my clit. I choke on a gasp at the attention, dropping my head back as a thrill runs up my spine. Two, or three, of his tentacles open me up. He spreads my lips to make way for his tongue. The rough texture guides a groan from my lips as he glides along me. The broad strokes pulls immediate pleasure from my stomach, pulsing outwards as I lose my breath.

Soon a few of his tendrils tease up my thighs towards my entrance, warning me before they trail inside. The sensation is similar to fingers but the image of him pressing his facial appendages inside me brings another moan to my lips.

I feel him chuckle as I slowly gyrate into him, relishing the feeling of his tongue. His laugh is pleasant though very arrogant. Sitting up to scold him for his cocky behavior was too much effort. I'll give him a pass this time, he earned it.

Three or four tentacles stroke and prod inside me as his lips clasp over my clit, sucking hard. I find myself bucking into his ministrations, reaching down to pet over his head. My legs bend, pulling him in with his all to pleased hum. I can't help it, I need him. I need more of him.

His tendrils glide over and hold my hips and thighs. The feeling of so many fingers worshipping me is becoming too much. The sensations sending my brain into auto pilot. I buck and groan, crying out a few times to his magical tongue. I clench down on his tentacles, grasping his head while my legs drive him against me.

"Please," I groan out absentmindedly. He chuckles again before adding more of himself inside me. I rise to the challenge, crying out as my body falls to the pleasure he built. My legs pull him impossibly close, I dig my nails into his neck, I bolt upwards with a silent cry. I buck wildly into him before falling back into the sheets. His attention trail off, guiding me down from my high with a lover's kiss.

I hardly notice when he climbs over me, pressing his weight on my lower half. He rests his head against my chest, watching me catch my breath.

"Not so bad, not that either one of us should be surprised," he bounces his brows with an arrogant gleam in his eyes. I can't bother to answer him, instead opening my arms for him to come up. He crawls towards my awaiting arms, settling into my hold. I press a few lazy kisses to his face before falling completely lax on the bed.

"Yea, how dare I ever doubt you," I chuckle.

--------------------------------------------------

One more tomorrow

Complete Series

Check out my Archive | Masterlist | Main Blog

[artsyxloner]

Not Just a Monster

Warning: blood, violence

9: Rescue Mission

It's been half a day and I haven't heard Eun-yoo say anything about me. I see her walking with that one man I saw earlier. He had blood on his face I guess he had beaten up that one creep.

He was now in the Quarantine room with Hyun-Su which I didn't know why but it made me feel Anxious for him. I didn't trust that guy well that what my gut kept telling me not to.

So I made sure not to get too close to him. I didn't care to know his name. Passing their room I saw Eun-hyuk standing in front of the door.

I wonder what he was doing there? Then Eun-yoo words replayed in my head. " you know making you guys do dangerous stuff for other people." Eun-hyuk wasn't going to ask Hyun-soo to do something dangerous, was he?

I was going to quickly pass him but he stopped me, I Scrunched my face up letting out the shit word. Turning around I fake smiled. " can I talk to you for a minute Soo-Nico?"

Not having a choice I nodded, " you have been out there right Or was that just a lie?" He questioned me. There was no need to lie so being the goodish person I am I told him I've been out there.

" yes, I'm still having nightmares from what I've seen out there." It was true, very Horrid Images stuck in my head of things I want to take back. But I wonder where he was going with this I had a good guess though.

" where is this leading to?" I had cut to the chase. Eun-Hyuk kept a straight face like always. " it'll be dangerous but like you said you've been out there so you must know how to handle those things right?"

Yep, I was right, " yes, but I almost had a couple of death Experiences facing them." Who's to say I won't get lucky again if I get into the golden hour. " I'm sure that was scary for you but you and Hyun-soo are the best we got to face them."

What did he want me and Hyun-Su to do? " I'll tell you you're Mission once I get him in here." That's when he opened the door and called Hyun-Su out just Hyun-soo. I could hear Suk-Hyun fussing about not getting out. Hyun-Su walked out through the door and his gaze landed on me but I didn't have the happiest on at the moment he must have thought it was directed towards him because his gaze Shifted elsewhere.

But it wasn't, I didn't realize I still had it on after Eun-hyuk and our conversation. He motioned for us to follow him with the wave of his hand. It was true what Eun-yoo said.

" the Front gate must be barricaded at all times. And we also need more wooden planks and chains Blocking the stairs. Monsters could get through at any moment same goes to the room back there." He finished implying the quarantine room.

I felt my chest swell up, so there making him do dangerous stuff but still going to lock him up and barricade the door? That's unfair.

I could tell Hyun-Su had a knowing look on his face like he just been stabbed through the heart. He knew he was going to use him.

I had to bit back my Tongue before I could say anything to get myself thrown out of this place. " Why do you think I took your side earlier? I'll be straightforward with you. You will be taking on all of the dangerous work from now on."

I can't believe this crap?" if you don't want to I can't help you" Eun-hyuk crossed his arms being Serious. Hyun-Su spoke up. " what do you mean?"

" The guy in room 1408,"

Hyun-Su's eyes went wide with Recognition. I guess I knew the guy, " can you bring him here?" Hyun-Su could say anything I nodded, " sure but what's so special about him?" I asked wanting to know before we go and risk our lives.

" he makes Weapons, my electrically charged spear he made it," Hyun-Su explained so that where he got it from.

Eun-hyuk had left for something I don't know of but I went back to go get my machete as Hyun-Su followed. We had to stop by his room so he could get his bag.

As he was in there getting it, something came over me like I needed to protect him. Because I didn't want people to use him for what he was and risk himself for something they should've been doing.

With thinking it through he didn't need to get hurt by Eun-Hyuk's selfish Decision making. I slammed the door shut so he knew what I was doing and locked it.

While I did Hyun-Su quickly turned around and ran towards the window. His eyes were the Widest I've ever seen. " what are you doing?" I could hear him through the glass, panic was Evident in his voice.

" You're staying here while I go get the guy!" I demanded, not like he had a choice because he was stuck in there. He banned on the window with his hands for me to let him out but I couldn't.

Was I going to risk my own life for someone I don't know to keep someone else's safe? It was stupid of me but it seems like the right thing to do.

" Bye," I smiled at him, just in case this was our last meet. But I made sure that I have to survive so even though I've been through hell and back might as well go again.

I ran off hearing Hyun-Su yelling at me to come back because. Going to the stairs that were Barricaded the guy with the burn scar was there and Seung-wan I found out his name was there Guarding it.

And also Eun-Hyuk seeing me his face frowned, knowing Hyun-Su wasn't with me. " Where's is Hyun-Su?" He questioned so I made up a lie telling why he didn't come with me.

" I Figured, I am better than two since there would have been three of us but that would slow us down if there were too many so I said I would just go and he stays," I explained, in one full breath.

He looked like he was regard to making a Decision but then nodded, " fine, guess that makes sense, but if you're not back in the next hour and a half I'm sending Hyun-Su up got it to Retrieve you."

I agreed even though it wasn't going to be necessary. With that, the scarface guy had opened the door already and I knew he wasn't Accompanying me to go get the guy it was for something else I don't know of.

Jumping over the Furniture, box Crates, and lockers I walked up the stairs with my machete in hand gripping it ready to take down anything that got in my way.

As we made our way Climbing each staircase for me to get to room 1408  managed to make small talk well tired would be the right word he seemed like the quiet type.

Passing a door I felt something like it was living in there never remembering I had this I stopped. Knowing what it was, a monster. This is new I thought, the man had stopped staring at me but I didn't know why.

" you going to go in there?" the man spoke up for the first time, I shook my head not going to start something I don't have to.

" no, I'm just going to leave it be let's go." I began to make my way up her he grabbed me by the back of my sweater pulling me to where I was before. " I think it's better if we clear it out just in case we run upon it." he let go, while I fixed my sweater back.

" But why start something when it isn't harming us?" I may have said this too soon because a Tentacle busted through the door grabbing the mad as it wrapped around his body dragging him into the room.

Hearing him let out a scream I raced in there trying to find out where it took him to. The place was on fire, this was all too familiar when I first caught the place was staying on fire.

Covering my mouth and while holding my Machete tight in my other hand I searched throughout the huge room, I began to cough, then I saw something struggling on the floor.

It was the man he was trying to fight the thing off him, just as I was about to run to the guy I was Forcefully knocked off my feet. I went flying through the air hitting something that shattered.

Not knowing what it was, it was glass no duh but I wasn't Concerned about myself I needed to help the man. Getting up I ran over to him, but he was yet dragged away again.

Running down a hallway there was the sound of something falling to the floor. Looks up there were two people an old man and a young girl that was holding a crossbow.

She had shot down the monster that had ahold of the man. He was laying on the ground unconscious, I hope he was still alive.

The girl with the crossbow Knelt and checked his pulse. " he's alive." She confirmed. I didn't know the guy but relief washed over me. " the monster left him alive?"

The older man questioned shocked, looking over we were right next to a closet and there was a whole bunch of dead people inside. Turning away the girl seemed to notice.

"What's going on?"

I didn't say anything it was pretty Obvious. Going over to him I grabbed his arm with the help of her we lifted him. Then kicking the tentacle-like arm out of our way. Walking to their apartment.

As we did the Sprinklers turned on getting rid of the fire and smoke. Their apartment wasn't that far but I was already getting tired of carrying this man.

What was he pure muscle?

Getting there door the man opened it letting us in. Setting him down, the girl left to dress his wounds. I had taken a seat on the floor I didn't realize but my face began to sting.

Bringing my hand to my face it felt wet, already knowing what it was I wiped it with the back of my sleeve I needed a new shirt.

" Why are you up here?" The man asked getting my attention. " oh, I'm getting a guy in room 1408, he makes weapons." I told the man just nodded and went to go read something from a book.

A few seconds later the girl came back, I could hear the unconscious man stir in his sleep. She went over to him. " here let me dress her wounds now." She was about to fix him up.

" I don't need that shit!" The man cursed and smacked her had away. " yes you do, your bleeding had stopped but you are still injured."

He just got up and walked away, I could hear her signing. " is it okay to let him go like that?" She turned to what to be her dad or grandpa.

" there's no need to worry about him, I bet he could take on I live tiger by himself." I laughed at his statement, Turing the girl looked at me.

" Hey, you look pretty hurt yourself." She began as I started to get up remembering my mission. " oh, that's okay, I'm alright but I'll fix myself later." I smiled.

But the man brought the crossbow up to my face. I backed up, " we're you scratched?" He questioned Putting his finger on the trigger.

[yastaghr]

Nightmare’s Gang of Wranglers 2

Sorry for the long wait! I've been dealing with some crippling back pain and only just found a medicine that helps with it without making me loopy. I'm going to get imaging sometime in the next two weeks to see what the hell is wrong with me this time. Then I see my new doctor again! In the meantime, enjoy this long-awaited chapter 2!

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24341953/chapters/63698353

Dream made that final turn into the driveway to the ranch and sighed. It looked absolutely perfect. There were fields of hay blowing in the wind and huge tracts of grass dotted with horses. All of the horses looked happy, not too thin and not too fat. There were old ones, too, who clearly were getting to enjoy their retirement. Dream had to resist the urge to go and pet them. They wouldn’t take kindly to a stranger trying to touch them, even if he did have treats.

A little bit further up the road Dream came to the main house. It was huge, practically a castle, with so many windows and doors that Dream lost count. In front of the house were three giant trailers on the back of three king cab trucks. Dream could see horse noses poking out of the windows, and it brought a smile to his face. He couldn’t wait to cuddle one. He loved the smell of horses more than anything. There was something about that smell that soothed him like nothing else could.

Standing in front of the trailers in a loose line were the wranglers, but Dream had eyes for only one. His brother was standing there, tentacles waving in the wind, with his hands in his pockets and a slight frown on his face. He looked good, even after all these years. Something inside of Dream relaxed when he saw his twin. He was okay.

Dream parked the car and jumped out of the Jeep, tucking the keys into his jean’s pocket. Blue and Ink jumped out after him, Blue in old jeans, Ink in a pair that was brand new. They lined up with Dream as he stared at his brother; Nightmare and his gang of wranglers facing off against Dream and the Star Sanses. It was one of Nightmare’s group, a black-boned skeleton that was somehow even more glitchy than Geno, who broke the silence.

“Well, I don’t know about you lot, but I’d like to get out on the trail before it gets dark. Why don’t you go get your bags and we’ll load them up?”

Dream blinked at him. His brain was lagging a little bit behind. When he got it, he smiled and ran for the back of the car. “Oh! Before we head out, I have a little treat for all of you. I have some for the horses, too, but they can wait until we hit camp.”

All eyes were on him as Dream pulled out the box full of treats. It was huge! He grabbed a container out of it and held it out to the wranglers. “I know you’ll like these, brother, but I hope everyone else does, too!”

Nightmare visibly hesitated in front of Dream. Then, from one second to the next, he went from being empty handed to holding a little homemade candy bar in his hands. He stared at it for nearly a minute before he said, in a voice that had haunted Dream for years, “Is this… one of our Mom’s apple pie candy bars?”

Dream nodded. His voice hardly shook at all when he said, “Yep! I brought enough for everybody to have one every day if they want. She always did say to take care of the people who help you, so I do! Um… is that okay with you?”

Everyone pounced on the package of treats as Nightmare nodded slowly as he stared at the treat in his hand. Then he turned his attention to the treat box. “That’s more than enough for two weeks, Dream. Unless you brought extra?”

Dream waved his hand dismissively. “The rest of the box is full of treats for the horses. I made your salty oat treat for them. I’ve never met a horse that didn’t love them. Or a mule, for that matter. Don’t worry, I wrapped them in wax paper so the horses can’t smell them in the packs.”

Dream was too wrapped up in watching his twin to register the expressions of the rest of his gang, but they all had grins that were growing by the second. And here they’d been worried that this monster had forgotten everything he ever knew about horses. Two minds in particular were thinking something else. Cross and Killer saw the way Nightmare was standing and reacting, saw the way Dream was focusing on him, and came to the obvious conclusion; i.e., that they needed to set the twins up on a date as soon as possible. Dream was definitely worth keeping.

Killer looked around to take in the reactions of the rest of their crew, since it was obvious that Nightmare was too busy to do it. Those reactions had him raising an eyebrow. Not all of them; Dust, Horror, and Sugar all seemed to be confused more than anything else. It was the other two that had him wondering.

Cross seemed more than a little pissed at the stranger with the paint vials. The feeling didn’t seem to be mutual. The other (and what kind of a monster carried around paint vials like bullets?) had interesting eye lights. At first, while he was looking at the horses in the trailer, they were a blue horseshoe and a yellow star. Then he caught sight of Cross. His eye lights changed into a question mark and an orange square. Then, between one blink and the next, they changed into a red exclamation point and a green four-leaf clover. Killer had no idea what those symbols meant. He hoped he could learn soon.

Error’s reaction was even more interesting. He seemed embarrassed when he looked at the short skeleton dressed all in blue. The other just seemed happy to see him. He was waving at him like he’d just seen a long-lost friend. Error quickly looked away and pretended not to see him. Very interesting.

It was Killer this time who broke the silence with his silver tongue. He bowed to the Star Sanses and gestured to their car. “Well, cuties, these treats are perfect to warm our bellies. Why don’t you set your bags into their own piles? We’ll be happy to get this packing business started.”

Dream and Nightmare blinked at him, even as Nightmare absentmindedly stuck his treat in his mouth. His face was never the best for showing his positive emotions, but it radiated pleasure today. Killer could tell that he’d missed those treats. He also knew that he would refuse to admit, even to himself, that he’d missed his brother, but it was obvious that he had. He hadn’t missed the creature he had thought Dream had turned into, but this Dream, the real one, didn’t seem like that at all. Looks could be deceiving, though, as Killer well knew. He’d reserve judgement for later.

The Star Sanses didn’t have much luggage, just five boxes. There was the treat box, one suitcase each for the blue-clad one and Dream, and two suitcases for the paint guy. That’s okay. They’d allowed for two each, given that it was a two week trip and these were city slickers. What they hadn’t allowed for was the contents of the suitcases. Three of the suitcases were filled with clothes. The last suitcase, one of the paint guy’s, was filled with jugs of paint.

Killer could feel the energy radiating off of Nightmare, and it was anything but positive. Most of the rest of the crew was almost laughing out loud. Paint guy couldn’t have picked a worse thing to pack.

“What. Is. This?” Nightmare asked, barely able to keep the fury out of his voice.

Paint guy didn’t seem to notice it. He laughed and waved a hand. “Oh, that’s just my paint. I need it to feel emotions since I don’t have a soul. Weird, right? I’m pretty sure that’ll be enough for two weeks plus a few days extra in case of a big event.”

Everyone was stunned for a moment. At least, everyone from Nightmare’s gang. Dream actually burst out laughing, and his laugh was sweet and clear. Killer wouldn’t mind hearing it again. And again. And again. He definitely wanted to keep Dream around, not only for Nightmare’s sake, but also for his own selfish pleasure. He was already plotting his next move, and at least the next half dozen after that. Killer was a planner. At least, he was when he wasn’t actually fighting someone. Then he just let his instincts carry him through.

Dream recovered from his burst of laughter and wiped his eyes. “Ink, we’ve talked about you just saying that. You’re supposed to be more gentle, remember? Gradual introductions are key.”

Ink’s eyelights changed into a blue question mark and a yellow hourglass. “Um… No? I don’t remember that. Did I write it down on my scarf? Should I have checked my scarf before I said that?”

Dream nodded. “It’s near the first quarter mark, Ink. In the green pen.”

The scarf was removed quickly, then folded and scanned. Killer noticed the hundreds of scribbles in different colors along its length. Were all of those notes? He wasn’t quite sure he believed that there could be a monster who was that forgetful, but the scarf said differently. Killer was pretty sure that a notebook would have been a better choice.

“Oh! Yeah, sorry, my bad. My memory is horrible. Souls do more than give you emotions, they give you a big memory, too,” Ink explained.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but Error cut him off. Error looked ticked off, which didn’t surprise Killer. Error’s default state was angry. It was part of his charm. “How the hell are you alive without a soul? That’s what gives us monsters our lives, not to mention our magic and our personalities. Without a working soul you die! Everybody knows that!”

Ink shrugged in an extremely unhelpful manner. “No one’s really sure. Lots of doctors have tried to figure it out. They haven’t figured out how to give me a soul, either. Right, Blue?”

The third of their guests jumped. He seemed nervous, and Killer instantly picked up on it. He couldn’t figure out why, though. They hadn’t even done anything threatening yet, not that they would. They had money to earn, after all. Killer had even put his trusty knife into its sheath and hidden it under his jacket. No one who didn’t know him would be able to tell that he was wearing it. Dust’s and Cross’s magic knives were both not summoned. Horror’s butcher knife was hidden in his packs. So why was Blue nervous? Did they really look that threatening?

“Y-yeah, Ink. None of them have been able to figure it out, and you won’t let them run any more tests,” Blue accused, “despite the fact that there are several promising new ones that might show them how to help you.”

Cross, unexpectedly, laughed. Killer’s skull whipped around to face him, but his other mate was already waving him away. Killer’s eye sockets narrowed. Oh, did he want to fuck the answers to all this mystery out of him. Well, that could happen later. Right now they really should be getting packed and then out on the trail.

“Okay!” Killer said brightly, “Since it’s pretty clear that you need these paints to show us your wonderful personality, I’ll pack them for you while the rest of our gang gets everything else squared away.”

Everyone turned to blink at him. Then they got to work quietly… except for Ink. He seemed to be unable to stop himself from talking. Killer could see the way that Nightmare’s tentacles were waving, and he decided then and there that he would put the chatterbox towards one end of the line so Nightmare had to deal with him as little as possible.

Time passed. Nightmare surveyed the lineup of their little caravan one last time before they started out on the trail. Everyone was mounted on their horses or mules. Nightmare was on Razz, already ready to ride sweep.

Riding at the head of their troop was Killer on Slim. Nightmare trusted them to lead them safely along any trail in the mountains.

Second in line was Ink. Ink was quickly becoming Nightmare’s worst nightmare (heh). He never stopped talking, he had those stupid paints, he had never even seen a horse before, his jeans were stiff; every little thing about him quickly got on his nerves. At least Rustle seemed to be able to stand him. That horse would put up with anything or anyone.

Error followed after, mounted on Shadow. There was no way Nightmare was putting anyone else next to that chatterbox. Error would just have to suck it.

Dream came next. He’d actually been the last to mount; not because he had forgotten how to ride. No, his mounting was too smooth for that. It was because Nightmare had almost literally had to pry him and Classy apart. Nightmare had forgotten how much Dream loved to just snuggle with the horses. He was addicted to the way they smelled.

Cross was next, on Honey. Killer had insisted that he be in front of Blue. Cross was gentle company, and Killer had told Nightmare in a moment of privacy about Blue’s skittishness. Nightmare hadn’t argued with him. He trusted his mates implicitly.

Next was Blue on Berry. Nightmare had learned that he was once an accomplished horseman, but some kind of an accident had led to Blue getting bucked off. He needed Berry’s steadiness to build his confidence back up. Nightmare could respect that. Besides, he was the shortest out of the entire group.

Ghost carried Dust next. He always rode in front of the pack mules, so that was where he was. If Blue could handle Ink’s nonstop talking he could handle it from Dust.

Crown, Regal, Cherry, and Boss followed one after the other. They were good mules (except for Cherry, who was a good horse). They wouldn’t cause any fuss or problems. They knew better by now than to do that. Besides, they had ridden this route before. Bar something unexpected it was highly unlikely that these solid pieces of horseflesh would so much as bat an eye.

The final two mules were Pumpkin, carrying Blood, and Shanks, carrying Sugar. Those lovebirds always rode tail. Nightmare was never sure how the guests would react if they found out about the two brothers’... arrangement. He hoped it never came up.

That was everyone, and every cinch strap and tie was perfectly in place. Nightmare couldn’t really get away with keeping them here any longer, so he didn’t. “Alright, everyone. Remember what I said - yes, that means you, Ink - and try not to get yourself or anyone else hurt. Understood? Good. Then it’s time to move out.”

Slowly, one horse at a time, they headed out on the path that would lead them into the mountains… and their future.

[purrincess-chat]

Marinette and the Lost Temple CH7

Part two of my thank you for 3.5k followers! So, with the recent airing of Feast, a lot of things in this fic have been disproven, but when have I ever cared about canon? I’m sticking to what I’ve had planned all along, cause fuck ya chicken strips. This chapter was inspired by this image from the Collector.

Read on AO3

Chapter 7

“Why the long face?”

Fu blinked out of his trance, flicking his gaze up to Elder Wei and plastering on a smile.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine,” he said, but Elder Wei knew him better, so he slouched. “My partner had to stay behind, and I kind of wanted to talk to her about something. The elders don’t really trust her, and I’m beginning to wonder if I should either.”

“For what it’s worth, the elders don’t trust you very much either,” Wei shot him a teasing smirk.

“You trust me,” Fu said, glancing back up at him as they descended the mountain.

“I am patient with you,” he corrected pointedly.

“I don’t see how that’s much different,” Fu shot back, and Wei smiled before fixing his gaze ahead.

“You can do great things if you just put your mind to them,” he said. “You have so much to learn.”

“Elder Wei, we’ve reached the edge of the barrier,” Ming announced, and Wei straightened his shoulders.

“Press on. Careful not to get disoriented,” he instructed as the scenery began to shift until they exited the path onto the main road where other people headed for town with various goods to trade and sell.

Fu smiled as he glanced around at all the buildings and people passing as they walked. They only had two hours to free time in town before they were to meet back at the entrance. Wei had the Moth brooch with him, and a Miraculous was the only way to open the barrier to get back, so Fu really didn’t want to get left behind. It was shame Marinette couldn’t come.

His expression fell as he watched his classmates visiting shops together, and a pit formed in his stomach.

Marinette…

There was so much he didn’t know about her, and everything with the elders… He shook his head to clear it. There was no sense in worrying about that now. Maybe he could find her a souvenir and ask her about it when they got back. After all, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. Sometimes he wished he didn’t stick his nose where it didn’t belong.

***

Marinette sat in the garden, legs crossed as she attempted to meditate. Attempted being the key word, and after several unsuccessful minutes, she leaned forward with a sigh.

“The key to successful meditation is to separate the mind from the soul,” Master Feng said as he approached, and Marinette glared over her shoulder at him.

“Are you here to formally kick me out?” She asked sourly as he sat beside her.

“Not yet, no.” He smirked, but Marinette was anything but amused. “I get the feeling that you know more than you let on.”

At that she averted her gaze.

“I’ve told you everything I know,” she said, hugging her knees to her chest.

“I believe you have told us everything you wanted us to know,” he said, folding his hands neatly in his lap. “You know something you’re not sharing because you want to protect the person involved, and I believe I know who it is.”

“I thought I was making it all up,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “So what would it matter if none of it is true?”

“A fair point. We have no way of knowing if you are telling the truth, only time will tell for sure, but just know that I will personally be keeping an eye on Fu when he returns,” he said, casting her a knowing look before she stood up and stalked off to her room.

***

Fu smiled down at the small charm in his hand hoping that Marinette would like it. He wasn’t quite sure how he’d broach the subject with her later, but he hoped that this would soften things a little. It’s not like there was an easy way to tell your partner you’d overheard her discussing the destruction of the Order and that she knew this because she was from the future, a future where he was the last remaining member of the Order of the Guardians. Something had always been off about her, but Fu had always assured that everyone from France was strange. It’s not like he’d ever been there.

He closed his fist around the charm with a sigh, shaking his head. She couldn’t be telling the truth. Him? The last guardian? As if. But even still, he didn’t want to believe Marinette was bad. Something in his gut trusted her.

“Fu!” He jumped at Ming’s voice. “We have to leave now!”

“What? Why?” A loud crash sounded from the docks across town, and several people ran up the street screaming.

“There’s a monster attacking, so Elder Wei has ordered all of us to return to the temple,” she explained before darting off with Fu hot on her heels.

They raced past townspeople fleeing their homes, and Fu surveyed their horrified expressions with a frown. There had to be something they could do.

A little girl screamed as her mother dragged her up the street, pawing after the doll dropped several paces back, and Fu hesitated a moment, glancing between her and the path back to the gate. His heart hammered in his chest, and before he could think better of it, his feet were pounding back down the road.

“Fu!” Ming called as he charged toward the monster’s path.

He eyed the giant creature crushing buildings in its wake as he stooped to retrieve the doll, narrowly dodging a tentacle as it slammed against the ground to his right. The small girl hugged her doll tightly when he ran it back to her, and he pushed the mother and the child on before retreating after Ming.

Elder Wei waited outside the entrance, ushering in other apprentices as they approached, and his face softened with relief when he spotted Fu.

“Hurry back through the gate,” he ordered, but Fu stood still, a tortured frown on his lips as he turned back to survey the destruction.

“Elder Wei, we can’t just runaway, can we? People are getting hurt, and the town will be destroyed,” he pleaded. “Isn’t it the job of Miraculous holders to help with disasters like this?”

“You kids are hardly ready to take on such a task. It is best to get you to safety and let nature take its course,” Wei said, and upon seeing Fu’s disappointment added, “There is nothing we can do. I’m sorry.”

“But you have a Miraculous! Make me your champion, and we can fight it together,” he said, eyes baring into Wei’s desperately.

“No, Fu! Now hurry up and get inside,” he ordered with a finality that made Fu’s eyes sting.

“You said that I could do great things if I just put my mind to them,” Fu shot back, and Wei eyed the brooch in his hands with a contemplative frown before offering it to Fu.

“Young apprentice, this is the Miraculous of the Moth which grants the power of transformation. Use it for the greater good,” he said, and Fu eyed it in his hands for a moment before reaching out to take it.

“Nooroo, transform me!”

“Elder Wei!” Ling ran up as Fu’s transformation finished. “I made sure everyone was alerted- you gave him the Miraculous?”

“There is no time to argue, Ling. Fu, transform Ling into your champion. The two of you must work together if you hope to defeat this monster,” Wei instructed, and the two boys eyed each other in disgust for a moment before Fu reluctantly held out a hand to one of his butterflies.

“I’m only doing this to save the town,” he said as Ling offered up his bracelet.

“Just give me something cool,” Ling rolled his eyes as the butterfly disappeared and purple light washed over him. “Seriously, Fu?”

“I’ve given you the powers of the horse Miraculous. We need to get that monster out of town,” Fu explained as Ling examined his costume. “There’s no time to argue.”

“Ugh, fine,” Ling groaned before they dashed into action.

“We need to lure it into a portal and dump it somewhere away from everyone like the ocean or something,” Fu said, and Ling pursed his lips.

“Alright, but let’s hurry,” he said.

“What? No smart comment or clever insult?” Fu quirked a brow.

“We don’t have time for that, Mr. Butterfly!” Ling flicked his nose, and Fu smiled.

“That’s more like it.” He nodded before drawing his sword and charging in.

Fu lured its attention back toward the river, dodging tentacles and slicing through debris that were hurled his way. All of those times he’d struggled in class, every defeat to his classmates, they made him feel like he wasn’t cut out for this, but in this moment, Fu had one goal: to save the town. Suddenly he understood what all of this meant. What being a guardian meant.

It wasn’t about cool superpowers or ancient magic. It wasn’t about being the best. It was about protecting people who needed it and making a stand when no one else will. He finally understood what it was like to wield a Miraculous.

“Now, Ling!” He called as they approached the docks, and Ling activated his power, summoning a portal large enough to encompass the creature.

Together Fu and Ling drove it back until it fell through the portal to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. They threw their heads back with triumphant whoops as the portal closed, sealing away their threat for good, and Ling turned to Fu with a bow. Fu felt a sense of pride welling in his chest as he too pressed his fist to his palm and returned the gesture.

“Boys, we must hurry and return now,” Elder Wei called as soldiers road in, and Fu and Ling let their transformations drop before following after Wei. “Quickly, Fu, open the gate.”

Fu fumbled with the Moth, holding it up and opening the barrier for Wei and Ling as the shouts of military soldiers called after them. He glanced over his shoulder with wide eyes as they readied their guns before slipping through the barrier and racing up the path after Wei and Ling. As soon as he crossed the archway, he collapsed into Wei’s arms, panting heavily.

“You two boys did well,” Wei said, smoothing his hair. “I’m proud of you.”

Fu pulled back with a smile, reaching into his pocket for the Moth brooch but finding it missing. He patted his robes, searching each pocket but coming up empty handed and feeling his blood run cold.

“No…” His eyes widened with realization.

One the other side of the barrier, the army general stooped to retrieve the small brooch from the ground, wincing against the purple light as a small creature manifest before him. Several men raised their guns, but the moment Nooroo appeared, a sly grin curled on the general’s lips.

“Men, it appears that we are about to gain advantage over our enemies. A miraculous advantage.”

[blackrose-ffxiv]

The Witch of Witchdrop Part 5 05/15

As Luca Black, Idristan Agache and Anselme de Haillenarte approached the next large cavern, the odd discordant clanking sound would only grow louder and louder. As they rounded the corner, the first thing they would see is another knight. Only--there was something very, very wrong. It was taller than one would expect for a man... and there was something off about the shadow it was casting. As it turned slightly, that would become obvious what--in place of a mouth were a mass of tentacles, and where once were eyes was a set of ones that were so pitch black they might have been holes. Clutched in one of the soulflayer's hands, as if it weighed nothing, was the body of yet another knight--with the same odd puncture wound in their head.

Luca froze as they rounded the corner and saw just what. His grip tightened on his sword and the lantern. Voidsent were disgusting creatures, he thought--but this made his stomach churn. Luca had never been a fan of the sea--and now it was like something from its darkest depths had crawled up to the surface and spat on to the body's shoulders. Luca scowled at its weapon of choice.

Anselme froze when the oversized knight turned to ‘look’ at them. That was being generous as the monster had no eyes. It was dressed in the remains of a Temple Knight’s standard issue mail and armor, though it had split through mail and plate in several places to make room for all of the extra monstrosity crammed into what was previously a human host. The warrior recalled with unsettling clarity the corpse in Witchdrop having its heart eaten from its chest and the tentacles rolling out from under the helmet. So this was the result. The Knight shook his head to clear the images from his head, readying his grip on his axe. Rather than wait for the monster to get over the surprise of coming face to face with the trio he charged forwards to close the distance between them more quickly.

The soulflayer lets it meal drop unceremoniously to the ground as it raises it's arms. Voidtainted aether starts to flicker into life around it's hands as Anselme charges towards it--the only warning he would get before a dark purplish blast of fire streaks towards him in an attempt to roast the knight in his armor.

Luca held his advance as Anselme strode forward. Something in his bones told him it would just complicate the man's attack with the broad reach of his axe if another body entered the fray just then. He tossed his sword between his hands, the runes burning bright in their particular spot of darkness in the cavern.

Anselme may have expected the monster to be a little more protective of his meal. Rather than try and get a little more from the corpse it simply dropped it and turned its attention fully on Anselme. The Knight didn’t back down, he drew his axe back and took to the air, throwing his weight into a heavy overhanded swing. The counter struck him square in t he chest, flames so dark they were nearly black blasting him backwards with a cry of pain and surprise. Superheating the metal of his breastplate until he could feel the heat through the padded shirt underneath, he’d probably have marks suspiciously like the ornate patternwork of the plate on his chest for a bit, but it wasn’t bad enough to render him entirely useless.

Luca watched as the fire roared around the creature's hands. His dark brows rose. Would Anselme move in time? Luca charged in after him, waching the glow on the creature's hands, wondering just were his seemingly absent eyes were focused. It seemed, as he drew closer, that they were not focused on him--Luca fought a reflex to look after Anselme as he soared past him. In close enough proximity, Luca planted a boot into the cold damp earth and swung his blade hard in an upwards arc-- The runed blade was a blur, aimed right for the creature's flaming wrist. Luca felt a wet crack as the blade connected with is slippery flesh and bone.

The soulflayer did not appear to notice Luca, for its attention was on Anselme. It starts to take a step towards Anselme--a new knight had come right to it, and it was still hungry after it's earlier meal was so rudely interrupted. Only for it to cry out in pain as Luca swings his blade, the silvery sword almost completely severing the hand! The soulflayer screams and turns towards Luca, lashing out with a blast of dark, voidal magic.

Luca wondered, for a moment, as he energy surged towards him, if his body was going to urge him to stand in its path as it had wih the vodoriga's beam. But as it neared him, instinct told him that wouldn't be the case this time. Luca dipped his shoulder, as if running into a strong wind, he blast of magic sailing over his shoulder. He threw his sword into his left hand and deftly caught it by the handle as he raised his now free hand and summoned a concussive blast of aether. He didn't wait to see if it rolled the soulflayer's brain like it had done the Inquisitor's and instead spun, his sword gripped in reverse, arcing its startling silver blade through the air towards the thing's face.

Anselme pushed himself to his feet, hissing in pain as moving pushed the heated metal against his skin. He was forced to remain still, leaning on the axe’s haft. Luckily, Luca seemed to have the matter well in hand. Delving into some unforeseen swordsmanship talents to quickly limit the soulflayer’s ability to cast by removing one of its hands. The Knight let out a low whistle of appreciation as he recovered, allowing the apprentice to continue unhindered by having to mind another within range.

Luca was faster than the one-handed soulflayer. Before it can start to cast another spell, Luca's spell slams into it. It clutches at it's head with it's one good hand, a deeply disturbing cry coming from it's...mouth? before it is silenced for good by Luca's blade as it sinks through flesh and bone. The soulflayer stands there for a moment, before it drops next to it's former meal. After a few moments, the body would simply dissolve into a mist of foul-smelling aether, leaving just a damaged suit of armor behind.

Luca's shoulders heaved with heavy breaths in response to the effort. He looked down, sneering at the grotesque smell that assaulted his nostrils as the thing vanished--as every other voidsent he'd met had. His fingers ached from how tightly he'd been holding the sword. Then suddenly, as the focus of battle began to ebb, pulling the world around him back into his frame of senses, he gasped. "Anselme!" he turned sharply to look back at the man, eyes widened, searching to see if the man was okay.

Anselme raised a hand, waving lightly to dismiss the concern in Luca’s voice and eyes. “I’ll live, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” He assured him with a grin. “That was some impressive bladework there. Where did you learn that?” He grinned over at Idristan, assuming it hadn’t been the mage only because of the weapon of choice difference, then moved carefully over to the damaged armor and the corpse of the Dzemael soldier. Well, there was plenty of proof now. A suit of armor with a hole punched through the chest and days-old blood dried around it as well as the lingering mess the Soulflayer had left behind. He suspected there weren’t any guards left alive to lend their eyewitness accounts. The howling sound echoed through the tunnels once more, much closer this time than it had been previously. While it had surely heard the last sentinel die, this one had likely been felt instead.

Idristan wrinkles his nose as the voidsent disappears. He keeps his staff in hand, but it's lowered as he goes to join the others. "Luca learns quickly," he remarks, perhaps a touch too fast, to Anselme. "I think we upset something," he adds.

Luca felt a presence with him--as if Anselme's question had summoned it from the aether. For a moment Luca felt...at peace, almost. Reassured. He smiled, then, a hidden expression the other two men wouldn't have been able to see--despite the small ache that followed it in his chest. Idristan had answered for him before he could say the words 'my father'. At the howl, Luca's focus came back to the room, he presence he felt gone. "Do we keep going?" he asked, looking between the two more experienced men.

Anselme continued grinning, either not noticing Idristan’s quick response or not considering it a large enough concern to press the matter at the moment. There would be time to recall the boy’s impressive feats over a few pints and some burn salve once they were out of this. If they got out of this. “We’ve come this far.” He noted, the expression dimming somewhat as he looked to the other two. “I suspect we’re getting closer to the source, if that was her second in command so to speak. She must be near.” He looked back down at the ruined armor and corpse. “Or we retreat and wait for that backup…” He didn’t sound entirely convinced about that.

Idristan nods in agreement with Anselme. "If that backup hasn't gotten here by now the other house is either dragging their feet and Halone only knows when they'll turn up... or they encountered the same creatures we did and weren't prepared." His eyes flick back towards the entrance of the tunnel, towards the darkness that awaited them if they tried to flee. "We can't let this thing loose," he declares. "And I don't think we'll be allowed to stroll out of here anyroad. We keep going," he declares.

Luca nodded once in agreement.

@roses-and-grimoires @luca-the-hunter

[ask-the-chan-family]

It’s Time for Uncle Ancient Wisdom

Uncle: There are a lot of bump on the road to easy street Uncle: there will be a lot of bump on your head, if you don’t do what Uncle tell you Somewhere in a pocket dimension that no one can't reach, where only darkness and chaos rule the land. Floating in mid-air The Guardian of Chaos was doing some meditating, trying to comunicate with someone that was hard to reach. The Guardian of Chaos was close seeing some images, but all it showed him of an old temple that he once use to visit all the time, back when he was once a living pony, before he became a fallen prince of Chaos. The Guardian of Chaos continue on looking at the temple to remember his forgotten past, he walk down for a moment, until reach a-alter that was holding the Orb of Chaos. The Guardian of Chaos look at the Orb and notice it was glowing a bright blood red. He also heard a voice that was coming out from the Orb, telling him certain secrets that he shouldn't know, but part of him want to learn more. The Guardian of Chaos able to hear the voice asking him to set it free from it prison and he would gain great powers that would destroy all his enemies. The Guardian of Chaos held out his hooves and try to touch the Orb, but before he had the chance to touch it, he heard a familiar voice that was calling his name, a name that he gave up a long time ago. The Guardian of Chaos open his eyes to see the being that was calling his true name, but once he look, all it was none other than his demon servant Toriel. The Guardian of Chaos wasn't exactly please to see her, but was relief it was only her, not the one he was inspecting to meet. Underfell Toriel look at Guardian of Chaos for a moment and then bow down to him, making sure that she was still royal. Once she got up, she was about to him her report from her mission, until she was cut off, when The Guardian of Chaos ask her a very important question, which put Underfell Toriel in deep water. The Guardian of Chaos:what are you doing here Toriel? Underfell Toriel: my apologies for interrupting your meditation master, but I'm here to give you my report, at the surface world. The Guardian of Chaos: I see, but you haven't answered my question. What are you doing here? Underfell Toriel: I... I don't understand your question master. The Guardian of Chaos: you don't understand, you say. Well then, allow me to help you to refreshing your memories. *he got up from the ground and then walk towards Underfell Toriel* Do you remember saying that you was going to get Princess Twilight Sparkle, and bring her back to the Prince of Nordwhood. So that he can use her to finish solving the riddle, and open the gates to the Guardian of Equestria. Underfell Toriel: .... Yes, I did say that. The Guardian of Chaos: and now you came back here in front of me, doing your best to cover up your failure, of capturing the Princess for me. Underfell Toriel: I wasn't going to lie to you master, i swear. It true I failed on capturing the princess, but I had a brilliant plan of using the princess, to help me gain that pony trust. That way I could destroy that pony, and take the princess at the same time. The Guardian of Chaos: if that the case, then I'm guessing the broken horn and scar on your face, is the result of your brilliant plan back fire. Underfell Toriel was a little stun from the Guardian of Chaos remark, when he mention about her scars. She held her hand by the scar on her face, remembering what that Valo drawer did to her. Underfell Toriel clear her mind a little and try to explain more of why her plan back fire. Underfell Toriel: master, I know your upset of my failer, but if you just give me a second chance to fix my mistake. Before she could able to finish her sentence, she notice some red tentacle arm started to approach her, trying to tangle her up. Underfell Toriel try to figure out what the Guardian of Chaos was doing, but she use her fire magic, to burn the tentacles away. The Guardian of Chaos got up from the ground and start walking towards Underfell Toriel, continue watching her fight off the tentacles. His eyes started to glow brightly, summoning even more to attack her. Underfell Toriel thought that she was able to stop them, but a few more appear out of nowhere, and grab both her arms, which keeping her from using anymore fire attacks. Underfell Toriel try to break free, but the tentacles were a lot stronger. Several more appear and tangle up her entire body, immobilized her from any movement. The Guardian of Chaos approach her and look at his handy work. Underfell Toriel know what he was up to and beg him to free her. Underfell Toriel: Master please, you don't need to do this. The Guardian of Chaos: it true I don't need to do this Toriel, but someone got to be punish for failing me, and that someone is you. Underfell Toriel: ...... The Guardian of Chaos: do not worry though, this pain will only last for a moment, but I assure you this, it will hurt alot. Before she had the chance to ask him to spare her from the pain, she felt a electrical energy surge from the tentacles, which shock her entire body. Underfell Toriel felt the pain, feeling her magic aura was being drain away. The Guardian of Chaos notice a small orb of energy appear in front of him, which was coming from Underfell Toriel. Once the orb finally took physical form, The Guardian of Chaos use his magic to levitate the orb by his head, and then order his tentacles to cancel it attack, which freeing Underfell Toriel from their grip. The Guardian of Chaos looked at Underfell Toriel, seeing her laying on the floor of defeat. When she got the chance to get up, a dark mist started to gather around her, gulping her up in complete darkness. The Guardian of Chaos stare of what going on and noticed that the darkness was clearing up, leaving what look like a centaur beast. UnderfellToriel was able to see her hand for a moment and notice something went wrong, her paws were cat like, instead of her usual goat monster look. Underfell Toriel look around to see if there was a mirror to look at herself. She was able to find one nearby her, and see herself of something else. Underfell Toriel was shock to see a centaur beast, instead of her other form. She wanted to scream, but instead look at the Guardian of Chaos with anger look in her eyes. Underfell Toriel: give it back! The Guardian of Chaos: give what back exactly? Underfell Toriel: give it back what you took from me or *when she try to summon her fire magic, she notice it wasn't working at all* No, my magic isn't working. The Guardian of Chaos: that because I took most of your magic, inside this little orb. Underfell Toriel: please master, you must let me have my magic back. I can't do my job, without it. The Guardian of Chaos:you barely do your job when you had the magic in the first place. But I have to admit thought, this is the first time I'm actually seeing your true form. A centaur demon beast at that. Underfell Toriel: *she look at herself in disgust and try to cover herself* it true this is the first time you’re seeing me like this, but I don't like being this way. The Guardian of Chaos: and why not Toriel, why hide your true self from everyone and use illusions to desguise yourself as a goat monster. Underfell Toriel: I have my reason alright. It true in this form I'm powerful in physical attack, but when it comes to magic, I'm not skillful enough then the one in my family. That why I use dark magic of illusions to disguise myself as the goat monster, to make sure that everyone fear me. Now without that magic, I'm nothing more but a. The Guardian of Chaos: a centaur demon beast, that still work for me. Underfell Toriel: what! But I still work for you. What about my failure of capturing the princess? The Guardian of Chaos: true your failure of capturing the princess is still bother some, but your one of the few demons I can trust. Underfell Toriel: thank you master, I promise you that I won't fail you again. The Guardian of Chaos: I know you won't, which why I'm calling someone to help on your mission. Underfell Toriel: you are, but who in name is going to help me. I can easily do thing on my own just fine. Mysterious voice: *twisted evil* do things on your own you said. If you be able to do that, master wouldn't need to call me for help. Underfell Toriel was shock to hear that voice echoing the room. She remember hearing that voice before, it was century that she heard it for a long time. Underfell Toriel try to look to see where the voice was coming, but before she can move an inch, she saw a raven like face, by the corner of her eye. In terror of what she saw, Underfell Toriel was plan to move away, but she wasn't able to move a muscle, since she saw a talon claw was on her right shoulder, making sure that she doesn't move at all. The raven face demon stare at Underfell Toriel for moment, looking at her centaur demon beast form. The raven smiled at Underfell Toriel and speak to her in a sisterly way. Lithia: my dear little sister Toriel, it so good to see you again. How long has it been since the last time we seen each other? Underfell Toriel: ...... Not long enough. Lithia: aww what the matter *she had her talon by Underfell Toriel face* aren't you happy to see your big sister. UnderfellToriel: *She slap her older sister hand away* you and I both know I never a fan to see your miserable face. Now would mind telling me what are you doing here, or are you going to continue on being a pain of my side. Lithia: *she laugh* Oh Toriel, your always the serious one in the family, but since you want to know so badly, your master asked me to come here so I can assistant him on some important mission he have. Underfell Toriel: you got to be kidding me Lithia. Why would master want you, when he got me to do the dirty work? The Guardian of Chaos: simple really, when you was busy fooling around, I had some communication with your sister, who is willingly happy to help me with my mission. Underfell Toriel: you can't be serious master. Lithia is someone that only care about herself. The Guardian of Chaos: true, like someone I know, that been doing the same thing. Underfell Toriel: ..... Lithia: *she laugh* he got you there little sis. But seriously Toriel, you should be happy that your older sister is here to help you. Underfell Toriel: I can do things fine by myself Lithia, and beside what sort of help you got, that can do better than me. Lithia: the sort of help that can not only capture the princess, but finish The Guardian of Equestria chosen pony at the same time. Underfell Toriel: what do you mean? The Guardian of Chaos: your sister have a special syndicate that are known as The Huntress. Underfell Toriel: The Huntress, who are they? Lithia: they are a group of ponies and creatures that are special in hunting down targets that have bounty on their heads. They make sure to capture their target alive, but once in a while, they tend to kill them for fun, and I do enjoy seeing them killed their target *she laugh* Underfell Toriel: so let me get this straight, you’re going to us a bunch of creature to do my job. A job I done for many years, without any help what so ever. Lithia: A job that was so easy, which force your master to hire me to help you. Underfell Toriel: I show you helping, you miserable The Guardian of Chaos: That is enough! *he stomp his hooves, which made the whole entire room shake, which stare both Toriel and Lithia* that is quite enough from the both of you. You two listen her and listen good Toriel. I would care less if you try to kill your sister, but right now I need all the extra hand I could get, before we lose the element of surprise Underfell Toriel: but master. The Guardian of Chaos: no buts about it Toriel. I know you have personal issue with your older sister, especially someone like me, that knows those kind of feelings stink. Right now, I need you to cooperate with your sister, so you can capture Princess Twilight Sparkle and end the Guardian of Equestria chosen pony, once and for all. Lithia: do not worry master. My little sister and I will make sure that we get the job done right. In fact, my dear good friend who is the leader of the Huntress, is already in motion with her team. Underfell Toriel: really! But your so called Huntress had no clue where to look for them. Lithia: *she laugh* oh Toriel, you forget these ponies and creatures are professional, they get their information one way or another, especially when dealing with two ponies, which are worth a lot of bits. After traveling back to the real world, inside the main courtroom of the council at the Dragon Skull Castle, Thomas the writer was having a conversation with each other, after coming out from a serious trial with the Queen of all Dragon ponies. Their conversation was simple enough, but Thomas wasn't holding back his father side and hit Valo on the head for the things he said at the trail. Valo Drawer: ouch, you didn't need to hit me on the head like that Thomas. Thomas the writer: trust me Valo, I didn't want to at first, but for some pony that had to say something like that to the Queen of all Dragon ponies, some pony had to hit you in the head for being silly. So you’re lucky it was me, and not my mother. Valo Drawer: you know I’m sorry for that Thomas, but what I said back there is true. I know it was reckless to talk like that to the queen, but your mother and the rest of the dragon ponies were plan to send us packing, and defend ourselves against the Nordwhood Army. With the dragon ponies help by letting us stay here, it would show the ponies that you guys are good, and not the very Monster that ponies make up. Thomas the writer: .... sigh, I understand what you are trying to say Valo. At first I wasn't sure what I was going to do if Queen Aurora was going to say no, but what you did to convince her to change her mind was the luckiest thing you ever done. Valo Drawer: aww thanks Thomas Thomas the writer: No problem, but you better promise me that you won’t do something reckless like that again, unless we had no other choice in the matter. Valo Drawer: of course Thomas, I will try to cautious of what I said next time. Thomas the writer: that more like it. Now then, we best head back to our friends and family, so we can let them know about the situation from the court room. Valo Drawer: sound like a good plan, but what about the other ponies that at the camp. How are going to tell them that everyone is staying, while Princess Celestia still with us. Thomas the writer: don’t you remember what my Queen Aurora said, my mother is heading over there right now, and tell them the good news. She might have some problem talking to the Maine six for at first, but hopefully my mother won’t try to start a fight with them. Valo Drawer: I hope so, I know Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Fluttershy are ok with us, but Rarity, and Applejack still see you as a major threat. I’m afraid those two will start something and make all the ponies be afraid of you. Thomas the writer: I know what you’re trying to say Valo, and I really don’t care. Some of the ponies are already afraid of me because of what I did to their village, but right now that doesn’t concern me that much. All I care about is making sure that everyone is safe from danger, so we can come up a plan to defeat the Prince and the Nordhood Army. Valo Drawer: but what about the demon creature that was talking with Princess Twilight Sparkle. The demon creature was resistance on capturing me, and I think Twilight have some connection with it. Thomas the writer: we will deal with Twilight and try to learn more about her connection with demon. As for the demon the other hand, this city is well protected by ancient dragon pony magic. There is no way for that demon to enter this place, unless it try to find the weak spot. Valo Drawer: well if you say so Thomas. Part of me still afraid that something much bigger is going is happening, and I think it had something to do with your grandfather story. Thomas was about to say something to him, but he was interrupted by three voices that he wish he didn’t need to hear them. Thomas lower his ears already know who the voices belong to. He look and notice the three princess from the Amelian kingdom. Valo and Thomas both wave at the three ladies, while one of the sister walk towards Valo, and gave him a big hug. Amunet: oh look at the cute pony, I wish I could take him home with me. Cleonetra: dear sister, you already have a pet pony at the palace. Dalia: especially when you ask, or should I say beg mother to buy you three very expensive ponies. Amunet: but this pony is much cuter than the other three, and beside this pony was able to back talk against the Queen Aurora, like it was nothing at all. Cleonetra & Dalia: *they both look at Thomas* yes, we notice that! Thomas the writer: ……. Sigh, well it look like you three haven’t change that much, since the last time we all been together. Cleonetra: of course Thomas, we still the same princess that you been friends with for eons. Dalia: you may be friends with him dear sister *she walk by Thomas side* but I always have my eyes on him, since we first met him when his family visit the palace. But it ashamed that you have to disguise yourself as one of those ponies from equestria, then your powerful dragon form. Sigh, just the sight of mescaline dragon form, just bring me temptation to my mind. Thomas the writer: ……. *face hooves* you and your wet dream Dalia. I already told you before that I like to be in my pony form, just to respect my father for being a pony. And the thing we had between us never happened, you know my heart belong to Tia now. Dalia: I know that my dear Thomas, but that never stop me from trying. The Princess of Equestria may have your pony side *She place her hand on Thomas side, and then reach near his flank* I will have my dragon pony yet. Even if it mean I have to play dirty *she laugh in a sinister way* Cleonetra: sister, control please. Dalia: can’t a girl have a little fun with her favorite lover. Cleonetra: your kind of fun, is the reason why we can’t go anywhere nice. My apology for Dalia behavior Thomas. Her heart it still broken, after she heard word that you was getting married by someone else. Thomas the writer: you know that I would never break Dalia hear like that, but Dalia still need to learn that I don’t love her the same way she does with me. Cleonetra: I know that, which is why I want to let you know that we like to continue to be friends with you. Ever since you went living somewhere in equestria, we had no clue if you, or your sister were doing alright. But once we heard that you was at Dragon Skull island, we didn’t hesitate, but to come here as fast as we can. Thomas the writer: but I thought you came here to see Valo Drawer, for being the one that going to defeat the prince of nordwhood. Dalia: that what our mother want us to come here for, but our true attention was mainly to see you. Thomas the writer: of course it is. Cleonetra: Thomas, my sisters and I miss you very much, and we want to continue on our friendship with you. No matter the situation is, you always have our support from the princess of Amelian Kingdom. Thomas the writer: thank you Cleonetra, I make sure to remember that. Valo Drawer: well it all good that you guys are becoming good friends, but would you mind help to get Amunet off me. Amunet: but pony, I like to give you a nice hug. Valo Drawer: I do like hugs, but your hugs is killing me. Everyone laugh of what going on, until they finally help Valo and free him from Amunet hug of doom. Miles away from Dragon Skull, somewhere by the main gate area of Shimano Village, a few dozens of Nordwhood solders were busy cleaning up the remains of the night warriors they defeated. Some of them were annoyed that they were left doing clean up duty, while the rest of them fight inside and attacking the Shimano people. While they continue doing clean up duties, one of the soldiers stop working for a second, and notice something from a distance. At first they though it was a Knight Soldier was coming towards them, but it was actually one of their commander Glader was trotting towards them instead. Once they saw who it was, all the Nordwhood Solders stop from what they were doing and line up in formation, to show great respect to Commander Glader. When Commander Glader finally reach up to them, he sat down on the floor for a second, just to catch his breath. One of the soldiers walk up to him, and show his Nordwhood Kingdom salute. Nordwhood Soldier: Commander Glader, it is an honor to see you out here. We thought for sure that you was inside the Shimano Village helping Lady Red Commander Glader: yes, of course I was, but Lady Red wanted me to something important, which why I was out here facing someone. Nordwhood Soldier: was this someone very important to the Shimano people? Commander Glader: they were, but I was able to take care of it. Now then, what are you and the rest of you fools are doing anyway? Nordwhood Soldiers: we are doing some clean up duty sir. After we took care most of the Knight Warriors here, the rest of the soldiers are inside taking over the village as we speak. Commander Glader: …….. I see, and if you guys are the cleanup crew, you guys carrying any communication with you. Nordwhood Soldier: not really, we were short on communication crystals, so we are mainly on our own. Commander Glader: oh that wonderful to hear that. Nordwhood Soldier: and why is that sir. Before Commander Glader could answer, his body started to change shape, from a simple earth pony, to a massive red dragon pony. After finally finishing up its transformation. The Dragon look at the few Nordwhood Soldiers and open her mouth to say a few words to them. Nova: is because I could have all the Nordwhood soldiers to eat with. Before anyone of the Nordwhood Soldiers could scream, Nova was able to swallow all of them in one gulp. Nova sat down on the ground, feeling satisfied eating those soldiers. She use her claws to clean her teeth, since one of the soldiers armor was stuck in there. While she was enjoying her quick meal, Nova heard some noise from a distance, and see that General Freya and Sweet Disaster, doing their best to pulling Chin Lu Xi, with their homemade wagon. Nova transform into her pony form and walk up to see if they were ok. Nova: what took you guys so long to get here, I had to wait several minutes for you two to finally catch up to me. Sweet Disaster: well we would have got here sooner, if some pony stayed and help us make the wagon for Chin. Nova: well I would have help you, but I’m a lazy dragon pony that do whatever she want, and two, someone had to face the few Nordwhood Soldiers, that were blocking the main gate. General Freya: speaking of Nordwhood Soldiers, where are they anyway, I remember there were quite a few of them guarding the door. Nova: *she rub her belly a little* oh I saw them alright, and let just say they taste better when they were scared of me. Sweet Disaster: ………….. Did you actually eat them, as in eaten every sing one of them. Nova: of course I did, I’m a dragon pony and most of dragon ponies eat meat. Sweet Disaster: oh yeah, I keep on forgetting about that. Nova: but don’t worry much about it. You’re a good friend with Chin, so I won’t eat you …. Unless I need something sweet later General Freya: ok you two, let try to stay focus please. With Nova was able to clear the main gate for us, we can get inside to reach the Knight Warrior base, so that Doctor Letizia be able to heal Chi Lu Xi wounds, before it get any worst. Sweet Disaster: do you think this doctor you know, be able to save Chin? General Freya: of course she can, Letizia is one of the best doctor in the Shimano Village. She was able to heal a lot of ponies from the many past battles. Nova: well let hope your doctor of yours is still around, these Nordwhood Soldiers are the type to take anyone down, without asking question. General Freya: Doctor Letizia is an ancient dragon pony warrior that been through many wars of her life time, a few Nordwhood soldiers won’t be a problem for her. Nova: a dragon pony you say. I’m surprised that you guys let one stay in your village like that. General Freya: unlike the ponies in equestrian, the people in Shimano Village look up to you like gods. If it weren’t for your knowledge in steel making, and the dragon eye crystal, we wouldn’t become one of the toughest nation in the world. Nova: Speaking of the dragon eye crystal, is it still safe from danger? General Freya: I hope so, the dragon eye crystal is somewhere inside a safe, which is located at the main palace of the Shimano Village. Sweet Disaster: do you think all this fighting they doing, could be the main reason why they going after it. General Freya: that would make sense, since Chin and I face Commander Glader by himself. Which mean the commander could be still inside the village, and going after the dragon eye crystal. Nova: then we have to go there, and stop that other commander from taken it. General Freya: we can’t right now, we got to bring my cousin to the base first. We will worry about the crystal later, after we save him first. Sweet Disaster: she right Nova, we got to save him right now, his life is more important, than some silly crystal. When Nova heard what Sweet Disaster said about the crystal, she walk in front of her and growl at her face. Nova: how dare you say something like that to one of our sacred artifact? That Dragon Eye Crystal was made by my ancestor, before the ponies betray us all. Sweet Disaster: ………….. Nova: ……….. Sorry, I didn’t meant to be rude like that. The dragon eye crystal is too important to be taken away like that. General Freya, if you tell me where the safe is, I will try to fly there and stop them from stealing it. General Freya: well in order to reach the safe, you have to go to a secret entrance, which is somewhere at the lower level at the palace. Nova: ok, but is there any traps that is hidden at the safe? General Freya: not really, the safe is heavily guarded with Knight Warriors. If one of the Commanders are going to attack the safe, either my father or Uncle Ti-Zan will be heading down there, and protect the safe with their life. Nova: I see, then I might as well head over there and give the Knight Warriors a helping claw. Sweet Disaster: are you sure you can do this on your own Nova, we still need your help of carrying Chin, and no offense, and you’re not really much of a fighter like your brother. Nova: ………. Sigh, Listen Sweet Disaster. It true that I’m not much a fighter like my big brother, but I’m someone that you should never underestimate with. And Besides *she transform into her dragon form* it about time this dragon pony, try to help out for a change. Nova Spread her wings and fly off in the air, heading for the main castle. General Freya and Sweet close their mouth from the dust Nova made, and see that she was already gone. Sweet Disaster: well that just great, the only pony that can help protect us from danger is gone. Just because she going to protect some dumb crystal General Freya: I know you may not understand why she need to protect the crystal, but that crystal is everything for this Village. Sweet Disaster: any why is that? General Freya: the Dragon Eye Crystal is a special energy source that protect this village. If the Nordwhood Army try to get the crystal, this Village won’t be protected from other danger that lurk in the mountains[bp1] . Sweet Disaster: what sort of danger that lurk in the mountains? General Freya: …. Sigh, trust me Sweet Disaster, you best not want to know what out there. That was Uncle Ancient Wisdom Welp the main storyline is back and things are getting good. The Guradian of Chaos have some allies to hunt down the chosen, Valo and his friends are safe for now to stay at the Dragon pony kingdom. And Thomas sister is crazy enough to face Lady Red on her own? We have to wait next time, for another episode. This story was done for valo-the-pony-drawer Special guest character Sweet Disaster: ask-sweet-disaster

[rurounidrift]

Nov 8 Blurr’s Horror Stream - It Comes At Night

Not even the fact that Drift hasn’t been active in twenty years would stop him from going to Blurr’s (week late) birthday party!

The movie was properly suspenseful, but there’s an unresolved plot hole on which the third act hinges, which kind of deflates it.

Welcome to the 'speedxstealer' room. The chat room has been cleared by the moderator. Tara changed their nickname to Tarantulas. B l u r r: / Here comes the late birthday monster. Skidding in with Dodge and Velocity, both in party hats!!/ B l u r r: / And TA DA. There are so many treats and snacks and a huge CAKE / B l u r r: / Dodge is dressed as a witch and Velocity is a scare crow. They both look great with little party hats/ Drift: *look who's arrived! He's painted himself black from the neck down, added a black skirt, and very carefully glued his tiny collection of human swords on end all over his head.* Drift: Hey! :D B l u r r: / setting his frames up. Telling them to stay put and all that hooplah/ B l u r r: / He's had his entire frame redone for this costume! All dark colors and sharper claws, those might be kept, and a mask that is split apart like a flower with millions of sharp teeth. / B l u r r: / all bloody and eeeverything. That might be energon. It probably is. / B l u r r: Drift! Hi! Drift: Hey! Happy birthday! B l u r r: Ah, thanks. B l u r r: Dodge and Velocity came ! Aren't they great? Picked their own costumes and everything. Drift: Hey, Dodge and I kinda match! *pulls out his black skirt.* B l u r r: Yeah, looks like it. Great minds think alike. K-Kyeheheheh. Drift: Oh, hey, I've got your, uh... Hold on. *he's hiking up his skirt to rummage around underneath it.* B l u r r: / snort. Fixing Velocity's costume in the meantime. / Drift: Got it! *holds up a datapad* Here. Happy birthday. B l u r r: / flickers optic and reaches for it/ What is it? Drift: It's a sequel to first story I wrote you. Drift: Well, sequels, I guess. It's five short stories. They go around the world saving monsters. B l u r r: Oh, is it? How interesting. /looking it over. Uses a claw to move one of the monster mouth pieces to see better / B l u r r: Ahhh...! Sounds like just my type of story. K-Kyeheheheh. /throws an arm around Drift/  Thanks. Drift: *and every story is in a different language, because blurr would probably like that* B l u r r: / yes yes he will love it! / Drift: *hugs Blurr* I thought so. Hope you enjoy it. B l u r r: Mm, I'm sure I will when I get a moment of spare time. Drift: Been busy lately? I feel like I haven't been here in a month. B l u r r: Busier than usual, yeah. Drift: *it's probably been longer than a month drift lmao* What with? B l u r r: ... /shrugs a little and tucks datapad away/ Plenty. B l u r r: I've got a lot on my plate at the moment. B l u r r: I've been gathering supplies, raiding ships, following beacons and maps, collecting relics and other things. Exploring new universes. B l u r r: Not to mention, I've had attempted assassinations happen at least twice now. Drift: What?! From who? B l u r r: I don't know. Someone jealous, I assume. B l u r r: / it's Decepticons lmao / Drift: You /don't know/? How can you not know? Are they getting on your ship or attacking you in public? B l u r r: No one gets on my ship. The last mechs who did ended up dead. B l u r r: It's more when we're out exploring. Which means we're consistently having to deal with it. But, it's nothing I can't handle. Drift: Maybe it's law enforcement? B l u r r: ... Sure. Maybe. Drift: ... What do you know that you're not telling me? B l u r r: I'm just saying  they might be. Drift: Blurr... B l u r r: Anyway, that's not /all/ that I've been up to. Bouncing back and forth from Earth and helping Roadbuster out. B l u r r: /that/ planet is a mess Tarantulas: *don't let tarantulas hear about the assassination attempts or he'll start fussing too. he's coming in now, a lovecraftian mess with his spider limbs dressed as tentacles and his main optic painted* B l u r r: / oh yes perfect!! Three monsters together! / Tarantulas: Which planet, hm? B l u r r: Earth, of course. I was just catching Drift up. Drift: *... he'll get back to the assassination attempt later* B l u r r: / he will try to distract drift from this / Tarantulas: Ah, I see. What IS happening there, anyhow? *he's crossing the room to place a large covered tray over with the snacks* B l u r r: / claps claws / Look at us! We look fantastic! A bunch of monsters! / 8) / B l u r r: Nothing much. Cybertron in the atmoshere, the moon is gone- you know. Chaos. Drift: *... if he didn't know what's happening here, how did he know to show up in costume......... amazing* B l u r r: It keeps the Wreckers busy. Drift: *oh wait. he said THERE. drift heard HERE. he was. so confused. for a second there... he clearly needs fuel. he's gonna go to the snack table.* Tarantulas: Where did the moon go? B l u r r: Oh, that thing got destroyed. Cybertron just... /mimics something exploding / B l u r r: Mowed it down. Tarantulas: Forgive me, the Earth in most of the universes I frequent is in much less turmoil than yours, hyeh. But - goodness. B l u r r: K-Kyeheheheh. Well, it's a pretty disgusting planet, but Roadbuster is there, so. B l u r r: Besides, the moron got his face dented the other day. Drift: ... Doesn't Earth need its moon? Drift: I mean. I realize that's a little less important than Cybertron being in the atmosphere, but. B l u r r: /shrugs at Drift/ I don't know. I guess so. Cybertron is the moon now. Tarantulas: You can't just replace one orbiting object with another, pfft. Tarantulas: What dented his face, might I ask? B l u r r: ... ah. I suppose it can just pretend to be the moon then B l u r r: I don't know. He went on some stupid mission without me. /rolls optic/ B l u r r: Came back with no visor and a bloody faceplate. Drift: Don't they have to be the same size to be a good replacement? B l u r r: ... I don't know. Tarantulas: Sometimes you simply don't question the way the universe works, Drift. Hyeheh. Though I can't believe I of all mecha am saying that. B l u r r: Always question the universe, Drift. It's the best way to learn. Drift: I mean—usually I'm willing to accept the universe in its infinite wonder without questioning what's behind it. But I'm kinda worried about Earth. B l u r r: Well, the mechs aremoving back to Cybertron. If that helps? Tarantulas: There are more Earths around. *waves a tentacle arm dismissively* B l u r r: I mean, we have two orbiting my Cybertron. Tarantulas: You - what? B l u r r: We have two earths in orbit. Drift: ... Wh... How...? Tarantulas: Now THIS, I simply HAVE to research. B l u r r: Well, one is ours. The other is from a tear in the universe made by the Terminus blade. Magnus dragged it in and fled the universe. B l u r r: So, we have some foreign planet and our own. Tarantulas: Is the foreign one habitable? B l u r r: Honestly, I have no idea. When I went back recently, I only  stopped on Cybertron. B l u r r: Things are definitely different. Tarantulas: Pffthyeh, I'd imagine so. B l u r r: Speaking of Cybertron... I ran into someone. Drift: Who? B l u r r: You're not gonna believe it. B l u r r: He was just standing in the doorway! In all that glorious armor and burning chaos. An image of perfection a tier lower than one I've known before. B l u r r: /Siiiigh/ Drift: ... Okay so it's Optimus. B l u r r: Not just  /any/ Optimus, Drift! B l u r r: One like /mine/ . B l u r r: /splays claws across mask/ B l u r r: / and face / B l u r r: I didn't expect him, but he was there. Drift: On YOUR Cybertron? What was he doing there? B l u r r: Caan you believe it? He wanted to conquer it! B l u r r: Said that we were all HIS Autobots now, but there aren't many true Autobots left. B l u r r: Ohhh, but he knew my name. /rattles armor / Tarantulas: And what did you say to that, hm? B l u r r: Pit, I didn't know WHAT to say. B l u r r: / glances at Velocity and frowns/ ... But, Velocity is right. I worked hard to get where I am. B l u r r: / wow a compliment from the assshat / Drift: VELOCITY is right? Velocity is NEVER right. Drift: ... I mean, you did work hard to get where you are. But why's Velocity pointing it out? What's he up to? B l u r r: ... nothing. B l u r r: Oh, that's the other thing. Tarantulas: *squints* B l u r r: /smirks/ Velocity and I worked things out. Drift: ... Really? Drift: Did he apologize? For, like, everything? B l u r r: ... Not really. Sort of. B l u r r: / frowns/ The thing is, he was mean to me because I let him. He said he tore me down because it was easy. I didn't put up a fight. Ravage: *Soundwave and the Shrimp Sea are here. They're heading to their couch - all save Ravage, who is dragging in a neatly severed arm. Don't worry, it's not dripping everywhere.* B l u r r: / waves! / ItsyBitsySpyers: *Ravage rumbles a greeting through his mouthful of arm and drops it at Blurr's feet. There you go. One leftover, er... requisitioned... from the local hospital.* B l u r r: / smirks/ For me? ItsyBitsySpyers: *Nod.* Bevel: *Bevel arrives shortly after Soundwave and the band* B l u r r: / waves again / B l u r r: / reaches out to maybe pat Ravage / Thanks. Drift: The fact that it's easy is no excuse! Drift: The people who can't fight back are the people who least deserve to be attacked. B l u r r: He knows that /now/ . In a round about way. he's given me a bit more support. ItsyBitsySpyers: *Rumble allows the pat and scrunches his optics shut. Two birthday gifts for Blurr, then.* B l u r r: Own up to being the monster I am and start proving these slagging mechs wrong. B l u r r: / YESSSS kitty pets. Scritches behind an audial. / B l u r r: [[ yall ready ?? ]] Drift: ((ye!)) Drift: ... He still owes you an apology. Drift: A lot of apologies. B l u r r: He said he was sorry for calling me a monster for the wrong reason. Drift: ... It's a start. Fireball: ((ready here B l u r r: Mm... A start. B l u r r: We still bicker, but it's better. Bevel: ((cro and i are ready Bevel: Blurr! B l u r r: Yes? Bevel: Same birthday! Happy Birthday! :D Drift: *he is getting A PILE of candy and taking a seat* B l u r r: Oh? Thanks! You, too. B l u r r: / settles in seat and has his own snacks / I picked it mostly for the aesthetic. It suits me. Tarantulas: (( hhh. sorry, i'm about to pass out, i have to go. tarantulas left his gift on the snack table, it's a bunch of literal Lilliputronian limbs candied in different flavors B l u r r: [[ omg im so excited. ]] B l u r r: [[ but get some rest. *snug* ]] Drift: *... but not before stopping in front of Velocity's seat.* You really do owe Blurr an apology. Bevel: *grins and sits back, pleased* Drift: *okay. now he'll take his seat.* B l u r r: / snort/ He says that he will. Maybe. B l u r r: /settles next to drift and chews snacks./ This is great. Drift: (("weird tunnel sounds" is the only sound effect that's been worth displaying so far)) Drift: ((i was wrong, "weird tunnel sounds crescendo" tops it)) Bevel: ((love captions Fireball: ((they're hilarious Fireball: ((like that one B l u r r: yes ]] B l u r r: I love when humans are in these kind of stories. /rubs claws together/ Drift: Stories where they're scared to go outside? B l u r r: No. K-Kyeheheh, though it's funny the way you put it. Drift: What kind of stories? B l u r r: The kind that pit them against each other. For survival. Fireball: ((that guy isn't gonna stop yelling Drift: ... If whatever "it" is comes at night, why do they keep going out at night? Fireball: ((probably until something kills him B l u r r: I don't know, I think he's dreaming that? Drift: Yeah. Okay. But the first time. B l u r r: I dunno. B l u r r: Seems like a liar to me. Bevel: *worries this is gonna end badly the way some of the other movies have at this point* B l u r r: Mmm... I don't know if I could just DO that. Drift: Just do what? B l u r r: Help someone like that. B l u r r: In a situation like that. Fireball: ((whelp Fireball: ((kinda glad Ace isn't here for this ItsyBitsySpyers: ((the captioning in this is driving me nuts. you don't write "sound of an approaching vehicle" or "sound of a body being dragged". we KNOW it's a sound. it's in the sound brackets.-- Drift: ((same)) ItsyBitsySpyers: and we can SEE he's dragging the body. you gotta tell us the sound itself. are the leaves crunching? is the body squelching? is there squeaking on the grass or dirt scraping softly?)) ItsyBitsySpyers: ((okay i just had to yell at whoever did those i'm good now)) B l u r r: ... Ugh. B l u r r: This is why humans never survive. B l u r r: Not that they deserve to. B l u r r: [[ vdid it drop? ]] Drift: ((the video is freezing a little)) Drift: ((it's fine rn)) B l u r r: [[ okay Lemme know if it gets bad. It's windy and a 3 hour storm is coming ]] Drift: ((rude. put a bookmark in first.)) Drift: (("""passionate sighing""")) Drift: ... That doesn't sound suspicious at all. B l u r r: ... Huh. B l u r r: Oberyn never barks at anything like that. B l u r r: He just sort of takes off. Drift: ((noooooo it's black)) B l u r r: [[ Sigh. ]] B l u r r: [[ it's raining. Comcast is panicking. ]] B l u r r: [[ you guys tell me when you see the pause screen ]] Drift: ((there it go)) Fireball: ((pause screen is there B l u r r: [[ everyone good? ]] Drift: ((yep)) Bevel: ((yeah B l u r r: humans are so slow. I'd be on Oberyn so fast. B l u r r: [[ lmao me in the woods ]] B l u r r: [[ I can't tell if this movie is supposed to make the characters so stiff or if that's just the acting ]] Drift: ((it's freezing again)) Drift: ((aaand black)) B l u r r: [[ fuccking A. ] B l u r r: [[ I was trying to beat the storm but it came faster. ]] Drift: ((it's coming in and out now)) B l u r r: [[ lemme know when the screen is on pause. Again. *sigh* ]] Fireball: ((the storm decided it wanted a show too Drift: ((there's the pause screen)) B l u r r: [[ well, no B( [[ B l u r r: [[ ill be right back really quick ]] B l u r r: [[ okay im back. ]] B l u r r: ... Isn't that door usually locked up? Fireball: ((noooo, the doggie Drift: ... how did the dog get in? B l u r r: The door was open. Drift: Why was the door open? It's supposed to be locked, right? Drift: Dogs can't open doors. B l u r r: That's what I said. I don't know. Drift: Huh. Drift: ... Maybe lighting a fire in the middle of the night is a bad idea. B l u r r: Yeah. Maybe. Fireball: ((oh no Bevel: ((Cro and I are both wiped, assume our characters leave at the appropriate time. Night everybody Drift: ((gnight)) Fireball: ((and I am out as well. thanks for the movie and g'night! Drift: ... I still wanna know what "it" is that comes at night. Like, this is a disease movie, isn't it? Diseases don't... come places. Is there something else? B l u r r: ... hmnh. B l u r r: Maybe it's just. His nightmares ? They're always at night. Drift: Then wouldn't it be "they" come at night? B l u r r: I don't know. B l u r r: /scratches helm with claws / Drift: *... takes blurr's hand* B l u r r: / flickers optic/ B l u r r: / wiggles digits/ B l u r r: How interesting humans are... Drift: ... I thought she was gonna shoot him. B l u r r: Same. B l u r r: Why doesn't she just shoot him? Drift: ... Probably because it would have contaminated the house. B l u r r: Well... she shouldn't have a kid in the first place. B l u r r: So. B l u r r: He was also sick. Drift: No, I mean—if she'd shot him inside the house, it would've got his blood everywhere. And then they'd be sick too. B l u r r: Ah, I see. B l u r r: Well they're outside now. Why did it take so long for her to shoot him? Drift: I don't know. Maybe they were trying to think of a way to let them go safely. B l u r r: Well, that's their first mistake B l u r r: Actually their first mistake was taking them in in the first place. B l u r r: Though, I suppose my view on it is a bit skewed. I've never been in that situation. Drift: ... Is he sick? B l u r r: If he's sick, they're all sick. B l u r r: ... That's it? That's the end? Drift: ... I wanna know how those doors got open. There's only one set of keys. B l u r r: That's so unsatisfying... /sulk/ Drift: They never explained that. B l u r r: They said the kid sleep walked but... he's short. B l u r r: How would he reach the locks? Drift: Sure, but he doesn't have the keys. B l u r r: Oh... true. Drift: The—leader human. He and his wife had the keys at all times. B l u r r: So... wait. That's true. B l u r r: If the other son didn't open the door, then who did. B l u r r: Maybe he did. The older kid Drift: He doesn't have access to the keys, either. B l u r r: Their son? B l u r r: Wouldn't he? Or... huh... B l u r r: /scratches helm with other claws / That's a plot hole. Drift: Yeah. B l u r r: I guess it doesn't matter to them, since they're all sick. B l u r r: But, it would be nice to know in general. B l u r r: Seeing as they wouldn't be sick if the door wasn't open. Drift: Yeah. The entire movie hinged on something happening that should've been physically impossible. B l u r r: [[ seriously. No where I google does it tell me what happened with the door. No definite answer. B( ]] B l u r r: Huh... disappointing. B l u r r: Ah, well. Overall, it was very tense. Drift: Yeah. Drift: ... Wasn't really worth the tension, though. If they're just gonna screw over the characters without explanation. B l u r r: / shrugs and stretches/ True... B l u r r: I would have liked some more thorough plot devices. B l u r r: Still, being confined in a space like that... eugh. B l u r r: Ah well... / shifts/ Not a bad birthday movie. Drift: Yeah... Drift: *something about the situation reminds him a little too much of Crystal City* B l u r r: Thanks for coming by. / pat pat shoulder / B l u r r: I know we've missed you. Well, Dodge and I have. Velocity will get there. Drift: Yeah--sorry. I've been... helping the Lost Light shut down. Drift: But I'm not gonna miss my best friend's birthday. B l u r r: Mm. /smirks/ B l u r r: I know you've been busy. Sadly, so have we. B l u r r: I've said it before, but if you ever want a break from whatever you're doing these days, You can call me. Drift: Thanks. Might take you up on that soon. B l u r r: Just call. We can pick you up or you can bridge over. B l u r r: No one's tried to kill me this week, so we're in the clear. Drift: Might be more fun to come when someone IS trying to kill you. B l u r r: /snort/ Maybe. Drift: I haven't got to kill anything in a while. B l u r r: They're all bad at it. B l u r r: Well, if you ever have the itch. Someone's always trying to kill me. Drift: Good to know. B l u r r: /vents/ And, well. It would be nice to see you around more. B l u r r: Between Earth, bounty hunters and Decepticons, I could use a break. B l u r r: I feel like you could, too. Drift: ... Yeah. Maybe I could. B l u r r: /smirks and pushes his helm a little / B l u r r: Maybe? Come on. Drift: *stands* I should head back to the Lost Light. B l u r r: Yeah... /stretches/ I should get back to work B l u r r: we're charting a course. Plus I have to check on my leet. Drift: And I've gotta... Drift: ... I've got stuff to organize. B l u r r: /loops an arm around and hugs/ Drift: *hugs back tightly* B l u r r: Remember I exist, huh? B l u r r: I can help you. Drift: Yeah. Yeah, I know. Thanks. Drift: I'll see you later. B l u r r: Sure. Yeah. B l u r r: I'll see you. And thanks again... can't wait to read it Drift: Lemme know what you think. Drift: *right. better actually leave. heads for the door, waving with his scar hand*

[iamwhelmed]

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Chapter 12

After last night’s update, I was SO INCREDIBLY PUMPED TO EDIT THIS CHAPTER. Seriously, this is all I’ve wanted the entirety of Chapter 5!!! And it looks like we’re finally getting it!

Anyway, this is also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net!

Summary: When monsters start to invade Mayview, the morality of the connection between a medium and their spirit comes into question. Is killing a spirit any different from taking the life of another human? Relationships between club members become strained, and if Max thought the club was coming apart before, it certainly is now.

"So.. son. Light of my life. My cherished child. My namesake. My-"

"Yeah, could we… cut on that?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Cough cough. "What did you want to talk about?"

Max hummed and chewed on his bottom lip, twiddling his thumbs and looking anywhere but right in front of him. "I wanted to talk about…"

"Yes?"

"I wanted… to talk about…" He sighed. "I wanted to talk about… mom? And you dating again?"

"Yes, mine loinfruit?"

"Stop that. Look, I just wanted to talk about mom."

"Swell woman she was, love of my life. Bearer of my children! My sweet, sensual temptress-!"

"Yeah. Uh, I just wanted to say that, um, maybe…" Max tugged at the collar of his shirt, clearing his throat. "Maybe it's too… early? Yeah, maybe it's too early to be dating other women, ya know? I just think-?" He grunted and ran a hand over his face. "All right, Pj, this isn't working."

Pj sat across from him, blinking behind Lefty, who was posing as his mustache- even if his dad didn't have a mustache. "It's not?"

"No. You're really, really bad at being a father figure," Max paused and blinked into the hand at his forehead. "Which is ironic because my dad is also really, really bad at being a father figure." He squinted at Pj. "Where did you learn the word 'sensual'?"

Pj shrugged. "When your dad fell asleep with the movie station on, another movie came on called-"

"You know what? I just decided I don't wanna know."

There were three quiet knocks at the door, and they both turned their attention as it slid open. Zoe stood on the other side, raising an eyebrow at Max as she took her first steps into the room. "Are you talking to yourself?"

Max snuck a look in Pj's direction, then leaned forward, one elbow resting on his crossed legs. "No. What's up?"

She scrunched her nose and blew air into one of her cheeks, gaze falling to the side as she slipped entirely into his bedroom and shut the door behind her. "I just wanted to ask, since you seem so cool with this and everything." Zoe raised a finger to twist a strand of hair, playing with it, watching it go round and round and round until she couldn't anymore- it'd become too tangled. "How are you okay with Dad moving on? I mean, I really want to be but…" She paused, then tugged at the strand instead. "Every time I think about it, I just get so mad!" He could have sworn she was going to tear a lock of hair straight off her head. Zoe bit down on the inside of her cheek. "So… what's your secret?"

Max frowned and looked at the floor, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "The truth is," he sighed and turned his eyes in the other direction, looking to his bedroom window instead of Pj, who sat patiently still, watching the conversation that could potentially strengthen his sibling bond with Zoe or, well, not. He sighed. "I'm not okay with it, Zoe. It bothers me- a lot, but if it makes Dad happy, especially after all he's done for us, then I'll just keep my mouth shut about it."

"But," She tilted her head, brows furrowing in uncharacteristic concern. "Won't you hate Dad?"

He blinked and turned to face her. "Huh?"

"If you let your feelings bottle up, and you never tell him, aren't you gonna start to hate Dad for not considering how you're feeling?"

He took a moment to think that over. Logically? That wouldn't have made any sense- he'd told Dad he was fine with it, so it wouldn't really be Dad's fault, right? But Max knew as well as the next guy that emotions didn't always make sense, didn't follow logic the way everything else did- he'd feel what he'd feel, regardless of how he should have been feeling. If he kept lying and brushing it all off, would it really blow up? Would he do something stupid and lose his cool? Keeping his feelings to himself, waiting to see if Dad noticed them on his own- that wouldn't really work, and he knew that. He wanted to spare Dad the grief, but...

The thought of causing more harm than good left a sour taste on his mouth. There was something familiar about the situation he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Max hummed. "You're annoyingly right."

Zoe stuck her tongue out, but he could see the beginnings of a smile, for the first time in two weeks, inching across her pursed lips. He grinned back at her and stood up, subtly waving to Pj, who nodded and faded through the floor. "Let's go play a game together or something. Up for Super Smash Sis?"

Thursday

"Guys, seriously. I'm fine."

"You have a chunk out the side of your head, dude! You are not fine!"

"See?" Isabel hoisted Ed's arm further into hers, intertwining them so that he couldn't pull away again. "Max is worried, too."

Ed groaned and threw back his head, momentarily making his body slack in their clutches so that they'd have a harder time dragging him to school. They both yelped and tugged at either arm with more force. "I'm fiiine~! I am perfectly capable of walking on my own!"

"You say as" Max grunted and wrenched him further up the hill "you play the limp noodle game. C'mon man, you're gonna hurt yourself. Straighten up."

He sighed and did as asked, adjusting to walk like a normal human being again- well, as normal as he could get with a slight (very slight) limp. Zarei had done a masterful job on him; he'd have to thank her later. He hardly felt a single bite mark, aside from the slight indents where the teeth had sunken in. Isabel told him it was normal, that it'd be regular skin again in another week. He didn't much mind it, of course, he got to walk away with all his limbs and all of his brain, not to mention the sweet satisfactory of winning a fight with what had to have been the most ferocious, terrifying thing he'd ever seen in his life. He would have taken Master Guerra over that monster in a heartbeat had he been given the choice.

"So, what was that thing like?" Max mumbled the question, like he was pondering asking even as the words left his mouth. Ed felt a familiar shiver running down his spine. "I didn't really get a chance to see the other one Mister Spender took down."

"Uh, it was pretty creepy." Creepy was an understatement. He wouldn't get the image of that thing out of his head for at least five years. "Scary, actually. Horrifying. I'm still not sure how I managed to land a hit." He frowned and leaned further into Isabel, who read his shift in weight and squeezed his arm with a small smile. "I guess I just kept my mind on something else… it had, like, twenty pairs of teeth, and the biggest mouth, the one that actually looked like a human's? Its teeth were chattering, all the time, never stopped, except to, uh, scream." The screaming was another thing, even through the fight he'd heard the man's voice echoing in his ears, begging with him, pleading for help he couldn't give, not from the mercy of three different tentacles holding him in the air as they chomped at his body. His eye twitched. "Yeah it uh, it screamed. It screamed a lot. It sounded like a man. He kept" Max readjusted so that his ear was closer to Ed's face. He must have gotten quieter on accident. "He kept asking me to help him, but I couldn't. It, um, it wasn't… it wasn't great."

Isabel's thumb traced one of the indents in his skin, running soothing circles into the marred flesh. "Ed," her voice was softer than usual. "You know they're not human anymore, right? There was nothing you could've done-?"

"Yeah, Izzy, I know." But still…

They arrived at school, then, treading as smoothly up the hill as they could with Ed's (he swore it was slight) limp. "How exactly are you going to make it through a day of school like this?"

Ed turned to look at Max, face destitute of emotion.

"I'm going to crawl around the hallways and hope somebody has mercy on my poor mangled body."

"Guys!"

The three turned to the top of the hill where Dimitri, of all people, stood. From the distance, he almost looked… frantic? Ed quirked an eyebrow. He came rushing down the hill toward them, moving so fast his heels hardly even met the ground with each step. His eyes were wide and panicked, hands moving so spastically it was hard to follow either one- Ed tried. "Turn back! Turn back now!"

"What? Why?"

"Don't ask, just go!" He slowed to stand in front of them, bending over and heaving for air, wincing back at them as they stood glancing at each other. "Go before-!"

"Dimitri Danger?" He swallowed hard and turned around to look at the trail he'd just taken.

Two men in dark suits stood at the top of the hill, looking laughably like the ones from the Men in Black movies. One stood with his hands behind his back, gray hair combed back neatly so that it didn't fall in his eyes. The other one held a clipboard and a pen, marking off something, Ed couldn't tell. Dimitri seemed to take a moment to collect himself, slowly straightening his posture, clenched hands slipping almost casually into his pockets. He turned around with a tightened gaze, voice low and cool with a dangerous undertone Ed was positive only they could hear. "Yeah?"

"You'll be coming with us." The other man, the one holding the clipboard, turned his shade-covered eyes on the three of them, voice oddly similar to Will Smith's. Where the other man had a head full of grey hair, he was bald. "You three are…?"

"Um," Max went to shrug, then remembered Ed around his arm and huffed. "I'm Maxwell Puckett."

"Ed Burger?"

"Isabel Guerra?"

"Right." The gray-haired man, who actually didn't look remotely old enough to have gray hair, once Ed looked a little closer, nodded. "You'll be coming with us, as well."

There were caution tapes bordering the front entrance to the school, mobs of students lined up on the other side, watching and chattering. They'd almost thought it was because of the obvious unusual men escorting them to a large black van, but on second glance, each student held what appeared to be a school newspaper, more than any of them had ever seen Suzy sell. The other kids fell into a hushed silence as they looked up, the crowd's eyes falling on the four of them as they came up the hill. Some whispered when they saw them, and some backed away slowly. Caution and fear swept the student body in varying forms, and every student that fell victim to it as they passed left the foursome with a twisted suspicion forming in their heavy stomachs. It took the men a few moments, directing curious student after unsettled student to stand behind the tape- or else, but eventually they lead them over to the van. Spender and Isaac were already there, Spender looking pensive, Isaac looking anxious. Upon arrival, they were all stripped of their bags, more importantly their tools, each discarded somewhere into the front of the vehicle.

Isabel had only just began to ask what was going on when a pair of cold handcuffs slipped around her wrists. She jumped and turned around, but not fast enough to escape the shackles cutting into her skin. The other man in black went to working handcuffs onto Spender, as well, while the other one slapped some onto Ed. "What is the meaning of this!" Spender moved so that he stood between one man and the rest of his students. "Uncuff us! We've done nothing wrong!"

"Nothing aside from harbor mutant powers." The man with the clean-shaven head frowned and brushed by Spender, locking cuffs on Max just as his partner locked a set on Dimitri.

Spender's voice dropped, anger fading to timid disbelief. "What?" They all looked to each other, eyes wide, hearts stopping, faces collapsing as the world around them followed suit. Spender growled and dug his heels into the ground, not that it would help them now. "Who has been spreading such lies about us!"

Dimitri's eyes fell to the side, sharp and murderous. His nails dug into his own palms with such sheer resentment that he broke skin. In a voice thick with death-dealing intent, he hissed: "Look at the mess you've made."

The rest of the club followed his line of vision, breaths hitched, until their eyes finally fell upon one of their own.

They fell upon Isaac.

He'd been glancing away,hands shoved in his pockets, lips thin and eyes distant. He looked up when Dimitri spoke, met their gazes with uncertainty. He seemed contemplative before settling on one emotion. His face turned dark, flushed of all color, leaving only skin as cold as his freezing eyes, so pale and blue he might as well have been dead. The circles under his eyes were darker than his lashes, and his body shivered at their gaze, but he stood taller than before, a scowl on his lips. His voice was hoarse, and slick with indifference, each word as icy as the frozen blue sleet in his eyes.

"You wanted a traitor? You got one."

One by one, reality hit each of them. Max and Ed and Spender fell slack with grief, shoulders falling as far as their faces. Isabel's face grew vicious, bloodthirsty, lips curled in a snarl. "You-!"

The two men began roughly escorting them into the truck, one turning to look at Isaac as he shoved the last person, Max, behind the shutting doors. "I wouldn't be too happy if I were you, mutant. The only reason you're allowed to walk is because your little friend pulled some strings." As he said this, the other man shivered.

"How could a little girl be so… scary?"

Isaac nodded and turned away, intent on shoving the unfathomable guilt fighting for control of his body into the deepest pits of himself.

They won. They got to watch from the third floor of the school as the van rolled away, presumably never to be seen again. She should have been jumping for joy, but all Suzy could manage was a hand against the window, other tucked at her heart. Collin stood beside her, as always. Him. Her one comfort. He'd been good to her- too good, and she knew it. He didn't deserve the share the weight on her shoulders this time, and still, he did. She swallowed hard and rested her head against the glass near her palm, letting the tips of her nails slide as her worst enemies drove down the hill of Mayview, out of sight, but not out of mind.

"Collin?"

He took a moment to respond. "Yeah?"

"Did we…" she licked her lips. She'd never thought she'd question anything she'd do in the name of the truth, in the name of her dream, but there she was, wondering if she was even cut out to be a journalist if she was so heavy with guilt. "Did we do the right thing?"

He didn't respond right away. Instead he fell silent, shoulder brushing against hers as he shifted his weight. Collin sighed, and from the side, she could see him shake his head.

"I don't know, Suzy. I really, honestly don't know."

"How could you be so careless?" Doorman's voice had risen higher than Isaac had ever imagined it might go. He took a step back, but forced himself to stay put. Doorman was his friend. "Not only have you committed several acts of needless violence, no matter how provoked, but you've betrayed your friends-!"

Isaac bit back. "They're not my friends!"

"Teammates, then! Isaac," he bent lower so that their faces were inches apart. Isaac saw his face reflected back at him, and for the first time, he could see how utterly lifeless he looked, how pale his eyes were, how white his skin was, and how his dull hair sat lifeless atop his head. He glanced away. "Do you not see what you have done? You have hurt Richard Spender and your peers once again, the very opposite of the redemption you seek!"

"Well maybe I don't care about redemption anymore!"

"You do."

Isaac flinched.

Doorman continued, folding his hands politely, as if trying to make up for the way he'd lost his temper, though he truly had nothing to be sorry for. "I know you. You are a remoresful, caring person with a heart larger than most people could dream of. You tend to love with every inch of it, Young Master Isaac." Doorman kept his attention locked on him, but he'd long since decided he wouldn't be looking back. "So it is painful for you when others do not reflect that love." He paused, and once again bent down to Isaac's level, hands setting gently, kindly, upon his shoulders. "That is why the club pains you so."

Isaac winced, fists tightening enough to draw blood.

"It is not too late to fix things, Isaac."

"Well I don't want to!" With a light, pleading push to Doorman's chest, Isaac turned on his heel and sped for the door, slamming it open so harshly that it came apart from the moldy wall. As soon as the first foot hit the ground, he was off running. He pushed past twigs and branches and ignored the cuts each passing tree left on him, as though pleading with him to turn around- go back; but he couldn't.

They deserved it! They deserved what they got! He wouldn't raise a finger to help them, not when they'd left him high and dry, left him to figure things out and nearly die trying every single day. They'd leave me there, wouldn't they? So they can stay there! They can stay there and die for all I care!

He just needed to get home.

[dracula-in-purple-story]

From Enemies To Friends

CHAPTER ONE

Both of them have nothing in common. She terrorise opponents and teammates alike; he cover turfs and run away from opponents at first sight. She thought it's going to be the solution; he thought it's life or death situation. What makes them become the legendary duo in Turf War History?

Author’s Note : All of this is ENTIRELY NON-CANON. I’m still working on my writing skills. Thank You and Enjoy, hopefully.

“Wow, this is Inkopolis Plaza? It’s so much more cooler than you let on, Nick!” a blue inkling boy, wearing the classic Starting Gears, exclaimed as he looked around the place he’s going to grow up independently. The buzzing crowd, the fresh air, the outstanding Booyah Base and the sleepy cat just outside from the Deca Tower, he love it.

A man, wearing a red yukata with a unique symbol on the back and a matching bucket hat, chuckled as he put downs the last luggage into the pile onto the cart. “I can’t said the same thing though, Erek. After all, I still have that traumatic memory at here. Barely surviving before I met Mistress.” He arranged the luggage to make sure it won’t fall. “Talking about Mistress, she is sure spoil you to the core, kiddo! Making sure you did your best with these sick gears!”

Erek looked at the mountain-like luggage before sighing, “Geez, Grandmama shouldn’t pack this much! What am I suppose to do with all of this, Nick?”

“Well, all of it is to make sure you have a fun time playing.”

“Fun? Do you see this shirt? It’s stacked full with Damage Up!”

“That is the definition of fun for Mistress, kid. Do you want me to take this luggage of food from the pile? You always want to cook for yourself, kiddo.”

“Oh yeah, thanks! Wait... I’m being mean... I really need to apologize to Blan. They put effort to this...”

“Erek, they won’t mind if you take a portion of it for dinner.”

The boy brighten up quickly. Before Nick could push the cart, Erek push him away so he could handle the cart himself. “Sorry, Nick but I want to do this myself. I’m a grown inkling now!”

Nick tear up a bit before drying his eyes on his yukata. He couldn’t believe that the boy that he helped to raise suddenly become independent now. He was so glad to got chosen to help his young master to move out, even though it’s by cheating. “Want me to accompany you? It’s gonna be our last time hanging out with each other, kid.”

“Sure, Nick! Beside, who say I’m going to stay here forever? I would still go back home to visit you guys! After all, we are still family!” Erek exclaimed before pushing the cart. The man almost cried. “Thank you for accepting me, young master...” he whispered before following behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~

In all of Piranha Pit maps, battles are still going on or in the middle of calculating the results. Out of all of them, one of the map catches the eyes of all the people in the Spectators Only Area. The map are almost covered in purple ink and the Yellow team is still inside their base, refusing to go out with that one Inkling girl, wearing the Starting gear and equipped with Splattershot Jr, waiting outside while playing around with her Splat Bomb. She look bored as she glanced through the Yellow team again and again, waiting for at least one of them to come out from their base.

“What in the Zapfish are we gonna do, Skul?! There are only two of them and four of us! We can’t keep this up! We are the cod damn Team B-Rush! Our reputation...” one of the members, wearing SQUID GIRL Tunic, cried in frustration as he plopped down to the floor. Another member, who seems to be cosplaying as one of the Barbershop Quartet, sighed dramatically as he patted his friend on the head, “I know, Fishy. This is a very unfair battle at first, ironically. To think they balance their ‘two disconnected teammates’ situation out with that Monster Rookie... that Stealth boy got lucky.”

The timer struck down to one minute and ten seconds when the girl’s only teammate finally appears. The Stealth Goggles boy seems to be cocky as he squid-taunt towards the team. He stopped before got glared down by the Monster Rookie, whimpering while apologising to her. “Ugh, I want to splat that guy. Can I splat that guy?” another inkling, wearing Squid Nordic, tried to step out before got hold up by the cosplayer. “GG, wha-”

“Choco, that dangerous woomy is still out there. Three seconds out of the base, KERSPLAT, and you are a goner.” GG interrupted as he re-analyse their situation. As much as he didn’t want to admit, Team B-Rush had no hope in winning unless that girl got splatted miraculously. Each time they leave the Respawn Point separately, they ended up getting splatted out of nowhere. Whenever they leave as a group to split her attention, she somehow managed to splatted them all before they could even inked up to their specials. Try to splat her as a group, managed to dodged each hits before splatting them into an oblivion.

“Guys, stop installing fear yourself! Get your act together! Monster Rookie or what not, she’s still a beginner!” the leader of Team B-Rush, Skul with his untied long tentacles, shouted as he nervously looked at the timer. 50 seconds left and that girl is still not moving an inch since she stand there. Team B-Rush have reputation as a team formed with Splatubers and Splartist, and now he fear that this kind of gameplay would make their fans disappointed or even worse, quitting their fan club. Fishy stopped his gibberish tantrums as he glared at Skul.

“Beginner?! Skul, you know better than this! How could she still a beginner?! She debuted two months ago and almost everyone is terrified of her! Remember last week? That devil squid splatted Crystal fifteen times in one match! Fifteen! Splats! Our combined splats against Crystal can’t even best that rookie’s score! And you said she’s still a beginner? When she splatted our ace multiple times?” Fishy stated angrily as he start to pulled his tentacle. What he said is true. That insquid girl really splatted their ace player so much that Crystal is still locked in her own room, drawing disturbing image that portrayed that Monster Rookie a devil under the sea.

Each of them was starting to getting restless as the girl in front of them starting to resemble the drawings in Crystal’s sketchbook. It’s not helping that the timer struck down to forty seconds and half of the spectators are their fans. The Squid Nordic boy suddenly shouted, “Guys, I think I have a plan to overturn this match!”

“It better is, Choco, it better is.”

~~~~~~~~~~

As they walked on, the workers inside the their shops stopped what they are doing and stared at them in disbelief. Few of the shop owners started to shout orders at their employee. Nick knew this is going to happen if he wears clothes with that specific symbol, but he still wears it in order to make his young master to get more respect. After all, Erek have a... unique play style. Despite the fact that the symbol indeed make some difference, he still worries that Erek is going to make friends that have ill intentions. Though it’s so funny to listen the commotion from the outside.

“Waiting for, what are you? Dirty tables, clean you must!”

“Be more representable, sleepyhead! Your messy behaviour might change the fate of this Zekko shop that its company managed to settle!”

“Replace those outdated magazines into new ones, my little darlings! Must not disappoint those unannounced visitors!”

“You three! Better not mess up this time! The Shogun Family gave this place one last chance and I don’t want to see this restaurant get closed down because of you meddling troublemakers! Do I make that clear?!”

“Nick? World to Nicholas!” Erek raised his voice a bit, finally catching the man’s attention. “Whew, got your attention. You zoned out a lot! We reached my place already! Don’t you wanna come inside?” Erek asked before unloading his stuff from the cart. “Man, Suzuki pack a lot of books in this luggage! Do I have time for all of this? I haven’t finished that book for a long time.”

“ ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince’... do you know what will happen to Dumbledore?” Nick smirked as he sort out between gears and daily outfits. It is terrible on knowing how much some of those ugly clothes cost. What were those idiotic designers thinking when they make this? Why does Kevin think this is the peak of fashion? He glanced at his distracted master before slipping all the ugly clothes into a disposal bag. 

“I don’t know, Nick... Is it good?” he finalised his thought before turning to his friend, startling him as Nick quickly closed the bag tightly. Luckily, the boy isn’t aware what’s going on. Nick took a relief breath before answering, “It depends, kid. I need to get out and take out the trash, if you may excuse me.”

“Okay, Nick. Can you throw this as well, please? It’s a piece of receipt that I forgot to throw it and I kinda use this as a bookmark.”

“Sure thing, kid. You have a proper bookmark, right?”

“I think so... I just don’t know where I put it...”

“Okay, Mr I-have-more-than-ten-bookmarks-but-I-don’t-know-”

“Nick...”

“Geez, make it twenty then.”

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!”

Nick laughed after he quickly ran out of the door, leaving a shouting boy behind as he locked the door. He adjusted his yukata before rushing to the elevator. The door is almost closing but Nick is faster to reach it. When he enter, he met someone he thought he never going to meet again.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, Tres! Over here! See if you can catch me!” Skul yelled as he inked up a path down the conveyor belt on his left side of his base. The girl seems to took the bait and chase him, not realising that his teammates were on the other side of the map covering turf after they splatted her teammate. It’s like a game of catch between the two of them. Skul is lucky that he have Swim Speed Up stacked fully in his gears, with Ninja Squid to caught her off guard. He was mentally celebrating for his survival when he suddenly got splatted by the Stealth boy, who seem to have respawn. Before the girl realised what’s going on, she heard cans opening.

“SPECIAL WEAPONS! INKZOOKA/KILLER WAIL/INKSTRIKE!” Three members of Team B-Rush shouted in unison as they targeted at both members of the purple team and blast off their special weapons. This is Choco’s plan, and it seems that there’s no way those two would get away from the chaotic special deliveries. 

“Did you all get them, especially her?” the leader spoke through the Speaker Screen. He always have high hopes for his team but not much hope for their plan execution. The plans in his teams are always easier said than done. So, he couldn’t believe how much effort his team is putting for a beginner rather than highly profreshional players.

“Yep, I think so! There’s no way they could make it out alive, Skul. I have that Stealth boy in my Splat ScreeAAAAAH!” Choco screamed suddenly. Another shout and bomb could be seen exploding at the enemies’ base. Before Skul could even react further, Fishy swore bad censored words before shouting, “YOU HAVE THAT BUBBLER READY FROM THE START?! OH COME O-GAH!”

Sound of splatting have been heard from the speaker and Skul was too shocked to speak. And then, realisation hit him. Did he saw her activate her special weapon, even once, in the match? Tres has never been splatted in this entire match, which means that she already inked up her special gauge and find the right timing to use the Bubbler. “That inkling is no beginner... She must been planned everything out from the start... What kind of squid is that girl?!” He plopped down to the floor as the match ends.

Tres looked at them disappointedly before retreating in front to Judd Result Stage.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh my...” a light grey inkling, which had her tentacles tied in a large bow on the right side of her head and wears a black corset dress with three lime green stripes in the front, chuckled lightly in her living room as she watch Team B-Rush stared at Judd in disbelief through her SquidPad. 86.3% to 11.8%, that must be the highest record for some team with two disconnections. “What a powerhouse girl...” she curiously thought, “... no wonder she was named Monster Rookie.”

Another inkling, which had her black tentacles tied in a large bow on the back of her head while leaving the ends to dangle and wears a similar corset dress with pink stripes, came rushing through the main door with plastic bags, shouting, “Marie, you have no idea what happen! Do you know those popular Splatube sensations play against that overpower solo player? Team B-Rush? Monster Rookie? I run back home as fast as I can to tell you that-”

“They lose, Callie? I know, that’s the SquidPad for you,” Marie looked up to her pouting cousin as she turned off her devices calmly, “Tres Perdere won with 30 splats. And she got away from the special chaos with a Bubbler.” Callie quickly settled down her bags and plopped down to the sofa with Marie. “Oh my zapfish! She’s so cool! To think she just debut that start with a BANG like that!”

“I know, Cal. I wonder if we could battle against her... or even recruit her as Agent 3 for Squidbeak Splatoon.” the light grey inkling wondered, “On the second thought, maybe those squiddos are exaggerating when they post things like ‘She’s worse than the devil squid itself!’ or ‘Can’t get out unless you want to suffer’.”

“But, Marie~! She’s like a Holy Zapfish level type of squid! Tres beat up Crystal who was like, the undefeated champion of the Hill of Rollers! I co-host that League for two seasons and Crystal was like ZAM and KERSPLAT to all those opponents! And there’s Tres splatted her like she was nothing!”

“Please, Cal, remember a Dynamo Roller users can’t put their roller fast enough to dodge a Shooter type weapon.”

“Marie, Crystal use her Damage Up gear for that match which make her Dynamo Roller weights like, nothing at all!”

“Well, I prefer not to get that immersed in League players as much as you, Cal. Don’t look at me like that. In the meantime, why don’t we rehearsed for our host debuts for Inkopolis News? Jems sent their regards and congrats gift for being chosen as their successor.”

“Really?! How sweet of them! Is it candies? Or chocolates?”

Callie squealed in delight as she go through the gifts. Her cousin just shook her head lightly before joining her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Team B-Rush was embarrassed as they walked out the lobby to wait for the next announcement. Fans are already started to crowding to comfort them, especially Choco who was starting to tear up, “We had one job, guys! One job! And we screw it up! Badly!”

“I know, Choco, I know! Carp, that was the most horrible match we ever play against unstable connection team!” Skul cried as he threw his .52 Gal Deco to the floor and apologised whoever he accidentally hit. GG was frustrated like Skul is but he kept in his emotions as to not ruin his team’s already damaged reputation. He simply shrugged it off, “Well, we will get her next time, mon ami! C’est la vie!”

“Is this your human language again, GG? It better not be a swear word like that last recording we had or Skul is gonna kill you for tainting his audience,” Fishy warned before accepting donations from his fans through his Patreon Screen. The team were lucky that their fans are still so supportive. Maybe they should film something to honour their supports.

Just then, the crowd literally saw a flying squid, screaming in terror, from the Deca Tower. As the squid slowly turned to humanoid form, they all recognised him as the Stealth boy from the Monster Rookie’s team. Speaking of the orange devil squid, she appears after him with imaginary dark flames surrounding her, wielding plain expression with the eyes of a merlion. The boy tried to crawl away but he got kicked by her, multiple times on the ‘junior’. Skul quickly pulled her off before the orange could do even more holy damage.

“What in the name of The Holy Zapfish did that boy do to deserve this, Perdere?!” he questioned angrily while glances at the poor boy. The aggressive inkling seems to calm down for a while, before glaring at her previous teammate, “He-”

“I’M SORRY THAT I HOGGED ALL THE VICTORY CASH, TRES! I’M SORRY! I WON’T DO IT AGAIN!” the Stealth boy scrambled to his knees as he clumsily scanned the victory cash out of his Cash Screen into hers. “LOOK, TAKE ALL OF THIS. DON’T COME FOR ME!” he run away before the Rookie could stop him. She sighed with a hint of stress, “That’s what happen. Stop grabbing me, wannabe.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The apartment ended up looking great, as Erek said so himself. He managed to do this without Nick too! Speaking of the devil fish, Nick came back with a dreamy gaze. Even though his face is ripe red like he got slapped on the face. The man then composed himself and chimed, “What ever it looks like, don’t question it. Okay?”

The inkling boy nodded as he quickly ran to his bedroom. He is going to assume that Nick have a crush. He never thought his friend is capable on doing that expression. The all-so-in-love expression. But that doesn’t explain about that face that looks like he got slapped.

“Kid?” the man opened the door and peeked his head out, “Dinner or shower?”

“Dinner, please! Can I prepare dinner myself?” Erek grinned as he walked out of the door and headed to the kitchen. He opened up the last suitcase that contains packaged food that Blan prepared. There are lots of varieties that Erek had hard time in choosing. Should he pick that fried sea chicken rice? Or that tasty looking Kimchi? The roasted sea beef looks delicious too. 

“You know, kid? You could just pick a few that you don’t know how to cook, right? Blan probably taught you most of their recipes.” Nick glided over to his young master and looked at the food. The boy immediately grabbed some of the food boxes and set them out to the table. The man chuckled before grabbing some utensils to the table.

After they ate their dinner, it’s time for Nick to go back home. Erek can’t believe how the day end so quickly, and he’s going to have his first Turf War debut tomorrow too! He can’t wait to make new friends! It’s finally his chance to live independently!

“Erek,” Nick took some empty luggages as he went to the front door, “Be safe. Make us all proud on how much you have grown.” He smiled before shutting the door. Erek smiled widely before locking the door. “It’s gonna be fine, what else could go wrong?”