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echo-three-one · 4 years ago

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Whatever It Takes

Alex relives the old days as he single-handedly embarks on a mission to help local German Militia regain their village from the hands of Augustus. But he seemed a little distracted. I wonder why.

Previous Chapter : Roach - A Walk to Remember

Chapter 7 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

"Just Like Old Times"

"Alex"

Task Force 141

1 km East of A Local Militia Settlement, Germany

"Guten Morgen. Hallo." Alex muttered as the plane slowly descended toward his drop off area. He was readying his accent for the negotiation. A few more walks and he'll be on potential enemy territory or ally territory, depending how well he seals the deal. For the whole duration of the flight, he cleared his head on Samantha, how she has no clue about him, and focused on his new task. He was confident he'd get this one right, as this was his playing field. The CIA days were almost nostalgic as he plopped his metal foot on the ground and signaled the chopper goodbye.

Leading small armies to help create forces to counter terrorism. That was his role in the Special Activities Division of the CIA. He was Kate Laswell's favorite when it comes to these kinds of activities and he's confident enough that he could convince them to fight.

The walk was long and quiet, no one was around, most of Alex's trails were just forest upon forest upon forest. He started heading to the sound of the water, and immediately spotted four men, armed and possibly his ticket inside the settlement. Taking a deep breath he emerged from the forest and greeted the gentlemen.

"Hello. Does anyone here know anyone named Blitz?" Alex asked in fluent german. The four of them pointed their guns directly at him and he quickly dropped his bag and raised his hands showing surrender.

"No no. I'm here to help." He kicked the bag as it started to pour out heavy grenadier weapons and bullets. One of them grabbed a radio and called the base.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Call me Alex." he replied with a grin. The next thing he knew is that he was being tied and escorted to the village. He didn't mind, it's always normal for them to be cautious, especially when facing an unknown person.

They trod the dense forestry until they got to a small settlement buzzing with activity.

Alex found himself seated on a small wooden table, his bag of weapons in front of him while Blitz slowly stepped out of the shadows. Blitz was the leader of the said settlement. He has a pale white skin and almost bald hair, his brethren surrounded him, guns pointed at Alex.

"What brings you to this little town, Alex?" he asked.

"Augustus." he replied confidently, all the other brothers whispered with each other.

"Shhh!" he silenced the group. "What about him?"

"I want answers from him and I need your help."

Alex took a sip of their popular soup recipe, they were all gathered by the campfire outside but Blitz wanted to talk to him in private.

"Augustus, has done a lot of bad things in our village. He has slaughtered our animals, stolen some of our men and worst of all, he took away our village." he frowned.

"My wife and kids, they are still there… He's using them as shields so your heavy weapons have no use to win them back." he pushed the bag back to him.

"I still have friends who can help. If you're willing to lend us your strength." Blitz looked concerned at Alex's eagerness.

"Tell me, why do you want this Augustus man so bad?" he asked, his eyes reflected the little burn they had on their campfire.

"He's our only hope to save a lot of people," he replied.

"Good. Join us later for our plans. If we are able to evacuate my people, we can have time to play with your toys." he smiled and Alex nodded. Tomorrow, the 141 is going to have Augustus for interrogation.

"Don't get your hopes too high, Alex. I don't want to live waiting for uncertainty. I'm done with that." Samantha's words hit him like a brick. Alex peeked at the scope and took a general sweep of the view looking for possible hostiles. It's been months since they last met and if she's true to her word and lives a normal life, she must have someone else looking for her right now, someone else she currently loves and he just had to suck it up when his suspicions were to be true.

He had his chance to tell her everything back at the infirmary but seeing her smile like that made him hesitate. Bringing back memories of him would just cause him pain, like what Maxine felt when she heard her name. And he didn't want her hurt, he just wanted her back.

He started to crumple her letter as he fished it from his pocket. It was inside the ziploc he had to protect from the rain, but now he just wanted to forget. He had been hurt many times in the past days that he couldn't handle facing her anymore. The feeling that he isn't reciprocated the way he expected was pushing him down.

'Don't you dare forget about me.' he sighed.

He wished it would be the same as last time. She rejected him at first but convinced herself to give him a chance the next day, but even with Maxine badgering her about him, it didn't seem to work.

"There they go Alex. The 6 am supply drop." Blitz whispered over comms. The plan was easy: Augustus supplies a lot of boxes to the base. They contain food and weapons stolen from farms or delivered to them from their higher leaders. This is the opening where most of their forces carry boxes, Anja, Blitz's wife, would lead all their members to a small tunnel they built in cases of invasion. Once everyone is out and accounted for, we will barge in and surround them, taking back what's rightfully theirs.

It's also important that most forces will focus on the northern ridge as that was the place where they came from before they invaded, and Blitz believes that a bigger base is situated there. Alex quickly relays this intel to the Task Force and reconnaissance has since begun.

"Ready, Alex?" Blitz asked one last time, holding their guns.

"Let's go." he said as they slowly creeped towards the entrance.

Alex's fingers gently felt the trigger through his gloves, he was alone with new found friends and he's not going to let Augustus slide past his hands. This has to end now. For Samantha.

For Samantha, who doesn't recognize him anymore, those days in Brazil were Alex's best days as a normal person. He got to experience living full of love for a while and he got into it. He liked the idea.

One huge explosion on an open area inside the settlement. They were smart, they're reclaiming the base so they didn't destroy anything in there. They just set out a warning.

"Alex! These weapons are top-notch!" One of the soldiers he's with roared, dashing across the field and started firing rounds.

Alex quickly covered himself by an empty barrel, peeking with his sights and firing at the tangos who were defending, slowly pressing themselves inward onto the base.

"Brothers! Let's take back what's rightfully ours!" Blitz yelled in their language, followed by a collective "Ja!" from the men.

Enemies scattered, those with weapons slung on their shoulders immediately retaliated while some of them retreated far back into the village. Alex took note of this and shot runners when he could.

"Brothers, they're going to reinforce themselves with weapons!" Blitz yelled, commanding the rest of the forces to flank, putting pressure on the back exit where most of them could retreat.

"Alex, come with me. Let's get Augustus." The leader commanded and Alex nodded, fighting their way inside the central tent. It was heavily guarded and the duo cautiously made their way in shooting hostiles one barrage of bullets at a time. By the time they made it in a huge chunk of metal caught their attention, it had some sort of satellite components and it hummed dangerously.

Alex and Blitz successfully entered the base but it was Augustus-less, more bad news were reported as their weapons cache was already empty.

"Scheisse!!" Blitz cursed loudly as the village fell quiet. They had won their fight back, but at what cost? Alex consoled the leader and turned to the machine which hummed louder.

"We gotta get out of here!" he yelled, escorting Blitz to the door. But it was too late, the machine whirred and released some sort of small scale EMP blast, forcing their comms to ring in static followed by a loud side effect of ear ringing and minor dizziness.

Alex felt himself drop on the floor, trying his hardest to remove his earpiece. The feeling was mind bending, the ringing didn't stop and it felt piercing straight to the brain, unlike standard military EMP grenades, these lasted longer and rang louder. Whatever this contraption was, he needed it to be destroyed.

With the last of his strength, Alex covered his already bleeding ears and dragged Blitz outside the tent, threw a grenade and hid to safety. It was a slow and steady action but as soon as the machine blasted into pieces, the ringing stopped and everyone started to recover.

The group slowly recovered and got up. Some of Blitz's men began puking as their minds were assaulted by the big machine. If this is one of Nero's big plans, then the team must prepare. Alex still pondered how these blasts weren't familiar on his previous mission and how they could potentially tie to the missing person cases that continued to spread across America.

Alex was afraid of what this thing is capable of and he must report this immediately to the rest of the squad, who he thinks is making their way inside Augustus' base just beyond the mountains behind them.

Next Chapter : Experiment 001

@enderio

@samatedeansbroccoli

@whimsywispsblog

@smokeywhalee

@beemybee

@ricinbach

NOTIFICATION SQUAD, MY BELOVED

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booksandwords · 3 years ago

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Illusion by Sherrilyn McQueen

Series: Chronicles of Nick, #5 Read time: 1 Day Rating: 5/5

The quote: Nick’s my friend and I don’t have many of those. No offense, I don’t want to lose him. And I definitely don’t want to tell his mom we let him get lost. — Caleb Malphas

Illusion starts basically with an extended version of Inferno's epilogue. Nick in a body not his own at a prom surrounded by not quite right versions of his friends and allies. My initial reaction is the same one Kody has what did Zavid do? Prompted by the “Is that all you wanted?” “Honestly? I would give any and everything to have a normal, average life.” exchange between Zavid and Nick at the end of Inferno. It's not Zavid's doing and it's only in the endgame we find out who did it. While Nick is stuck in a different dimension Kody, Caleb and latest ally Zavid are dealing with the latest drama, the ušumgallu, think the apocalypse. A giant f*** you failsafe from the first Malachai. The only person who can end it is Nick at full power. They need to find a way to switch Nick back and fast. What follows is an exploration of what might have been but wasn't because of the old mantra, free will. We see the changes and learn some history, mostly about Kody.

It was fun to see what Sherri did to change the world. Seeing some characters gone because they were no longer needed for Nick, others have changed sides. But it was nice to see some old friends like the wonderful Madam Selena, it's great to see the Devereaux ladies kicking ass. Even if they may have tipped the scales somewhat. Seeing Cherise treated as the prized queen we all know her to be. Some of the little changes, some of the bigger ones, all the familiar characters who are the same but not. It is a smart world, it doesn't feel wrong just not right.

A bit of a spoiler but not a lot is the reason why Ambrose didn't remember Kody. She wasn't there is his life. Kody is younger than him, Ambrose killed Kody. She is now travelling through time in an attempt to end the Malachai line. Kody finally gives us confirmation of Mennie's true identity, there has been plenty of illusion to it but no outwrite confirmation. There are quite a lot of moments in here that make me want to read some of the DH books. Seth is an impressive creature his is a Dream-Hunter and Hellchaser book and is a long way up on my tbr anyway but after reading how he ended up in the position he did? Yeah, now I really want to read it. I know Cadegan has a book, I want to find it. Anyone willing to turn from Thorn is worth knowing.

Another random dump of things I noticed

"What are you?” “Mostly confused and, honestly? A lot scared.” Karma laughed. “At least he’s not stupid.” — That is a fair thought when you are around the Devereaux clan.

“With every god a Chthonian kills, it weakens them… ” Savitar nodded. “A few centuries ago, I had a really bad day.” When he didn’t elaborate, Nick prompted him. “And what did you do?” “I. Had. A. Bad. Day.” — Damn.... Savitar what did you do?

“In case you were injured, I didn’t want you to wake up alone. I know from experience that they can be really rough when they bring you in.” “The slobbering hell-monkeys?” Ash let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah. Good term for them.” — Teenage Ash is adorable. And no one can let any harm come to him.

The Magnus Stone is a helluva thing. Also the Mashuani tablet is the source of the Malachai prophecy.

Savitar reminds me of another Sherri character. Nero from The League. I can't way why exactly. It's just a thought that came to me during one of his conversations with Nick. I could hear Nero, it might be the sage thing. And Savitar is a moral character.

“The Ambrose Malachai will never be forgotten. But it’s up to you as to how he’ll always be remembered.” — Christ Adrian. I guess death gave you some perspective on legacy. I mean he's not wrong but that's a lot to throw at Nick.

"“Your parents want their baby home, son. And this —” Caleb touched his mark. “Is their Tactical Trunk Monkey.” Scowling at the term, Nick dreaded the answer in the worst sort of way. “What’s a Tactical Trunk Monkey?” Caleb made another grimace. “In a couple of years, you’ll know exactly what I mean. For now, think of it like a homing beacon from hell.”" — Reminds me of another less than flattering League reference TAM, Tactical Assualt Monkey (Hauk didn't hate it, Sumi and I have questions). Though this is definitely a reference to something Noir and Azura related.

Good lord Xev is an attractive being. Aren't they all though. Still can't beat Zavid, it's the tortured soul and purple eyes.

I've seen in at least one review that this is the best CoN book. I can't disagree with this. It is at least the most mind-blowing to this point. Finding out Kody's parentage blew my mind and then made me want to cry. There was some catharsis in Nick and Adrian's conversation. And we get to meet the ever-important Xev. Zavid is a hel hound after my own heart, lock the screaming useless human in a wardrobe. I've discovered I find it quite had to write reviews for CoN and I'm not entirely sure why. I really do love this series and I guess if you've got this far you'll likely keep reading.

There is a spoiler discussion in my goodreaders review about Caleb and his parentge.

#chronicles of nick #sherrilyn mcqueen #book review #illusion #sherrilyn kenyon #spoilers on goodreads #read 2021 #ktreviews #younglings

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oingos-bitch · 4 years ago

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Another JoJo Mall Fanfic™ -- Hooters (Part 1)

Beware of spoilers! Specifically Part 5/Vento Aureo spoilers!

Risotto drove up to the Hooters side of the mall and parked his car in the handicapped spot.

'It's early in the morning, and we're only gonna take about 30 minutes to do the interview..'

Melone stepped out of the car as his Capo pondered the morality of the situation. He fluffed his hair, straightened his white blouse, made a few faces in the car's window, and with that decided he was ready. He asked Risotto if he was also ready to go, but the Capo seemed to be lost in a long chain of possible scenarios. What if his teammates found out? Would they belittle him? Would they feel guilty because of it? He would hate it to see the guilt on their faces. Or worse yet, what if the Boss had found out? What if his snitch of an underling Doppio found out and ratted on him? He'd have his head on the Boss's wall for sure, another example of what not to do and a symbol of endless shame to La Squadra di Esecuzione. God, that was an even worse thought than the first one.

He breathed in, 'Fuck it,' and jumped out of the car on his exhale, startling Melone.

"Jesus fuck! Oh, sorry, Capo."

"It's fine."

And with that, they strode gallantly across the parking lot to their (hopefully) new place of business. Who cared if the Boss wanted their heads on a platter, anyway?

'Remember, be confident.'

Risotto misjudged his strength and ended up slamming the door into the side of the wall. He also misjudged the volume of his voice, accidentally shouting.

"HELLO! I AM RISOTTO NERO, I CALLED ABOUT THE JOB A FEW DAYS AGO. THANK YOU FOR INVITING ME TODAY."

At first, the two Joestars jumped in terror, but after hearing the occasional voicecracks in his speech, they giggled politely and invited him to sit down. Risotto's eyes widened in embarrassment and he quietly sat down. Melone followed suit.

"So, Mr. Nero and Mister...?" Jonathan quizzically looked at Melone, who smiled.

'Just Melone is fine, sir."

"Okay, Mr. Melone! Um, shall we get started with the interview?"

He looked over to his brother, who was unabashedly staring up at the giant in front of him. Even when sitting, he still towered over the Joestars. Even though he was thinking the same as Dio, Jonathan was much more discreet in his musings, meaning that he decided to ignore the elephant in the room.

'I didn't think anyone could get any bigger than the Joestars.'

"SO," JoJo declared rather loudly, snapping Dio out of his trance, "Why would you like to work for our mall, gentlemen?"

"Well, our Boss decided to cut some of our pay during these last few months, and since we cannot really afford much of our necessities we decided to get a second job to compensate for our lack of pay." Risotto admitted. Melone nodded in agreement.

That seemed good enough for Jonathan.

"Okay! Next question-"

"Wait." Hissed Dio, "Why do you want to work for US specifically?" His brother sighed.

'Can't Dio go through one day without flattery?'

Melone quickly stepped in, "Because you two gentlemen sounded quite respectful and professional over the phone, and from my experience, that's one of the signs of a great boss, and an extraordinary businessman! And how could we not take the opportunity to work with such amazing managers?"

Risotto smirked. 'Thank God he's so good at kissing ass.'

Dio seemed satisfied with that answer, though he wasn't letting him off of the hook just yet. Jonathan anxiously continued, "Oh, why thank you! Now, shall we move on-"

"Tell me, Mr. Melone, is kissing arse one of your listed skills?" He sneered.

"DIO!"

"Because it should be. You're smart, unlike this twit here," he pointed to his brother. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

Melone sheepishly smiled at him, regaining his composure. At least the worst was over.

"May I speak now?" Jonathan looked over at Dio.

"You may."

"Right...So, I just have one more question for you two!"

"JoJo, don't make it that easy-"

"Quiet! They seem like wonderful young men, I'm sure they'll be great! Now, last question...What are your schedules? So that we may plan accordingly!"

Dio groaned loudly, his brother was making this way too easy for them. But whatever, they needed employees, and if they stepped out of line they could always fire them without remorse. Well, he could. Jonathan, he wasn't so sure he was capable of that.

"Great! We'll meet you here on March thirteenth! That's the grand opening of the mall, so we might need you here a bit earlier. Is that okay?"

"Yes, that works perfectly. Thank you so much for this opportunity, sirs," said Risotto.

"Thank you so much for your time! Enjoy the rest of your day, sirs!" Melone added.

"Likewise, Mr. Melone! Oh, and one more thing."

"Yes?"

"May I ask of you two to not park in the handicapped spots? I know they may seem unimportant, but they are there in case someone needs them," Jonathan shyly requested.

"Ah, yes, of course. I'm very sorry," Risotto apologized, face flushing slightly.

"Thank you. Alright, have a good day now, gentlemen!"

Jonathan waved as they walked out the door. Dio sat silently, his eyes never leaving Risotto.

"Dio, why were you staring at Mr. Nero?" Jonathan asked once they were out of earshot.

He leaned towards the brunette, almost as if telling him a secret.

"Don't you think it's rather uncomfortable for him to be carrying that monster around in his pants all day?" Dio licked his lips.

".....DIO-"

Meanwhile, in the parking lot, Risotto sneezed. He could swear that there was someone talking about him.

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Diavolo grimaced as yet another bill was presented to him. He was a powerful stand user, yes, and an equally powerful mafioso, yet not even he was safe from the inevitability of paying bills. It further depressed him knowing that his goons out there weren't bringing in enough money as they used to, and what made it worse was the prediction that most of the population would soon stop buying altogether, courtesy of those damned school seminars.

'Goddamnit..'

He punched a hole in the wall, allowing him to cool off before thinking of a Plan B. He could always take up a second job, but as what? He certainly couldn't join a workforce that required background checks, he couldn't start a puppet company because the officials would eventually find out during inspections, so needless to say, his options were slim to none.

"Goddamnit.." He growled. Swiveling around in his chair, he peered outside the window out at the street. Nothing seemed to be unusual, just the same boring street lights and payphones.

'Yes, that's it. Just focus on something else for a bit.'

He then noticed that there was a building painted differently than the others, 'Red's a nice colour.' And the streetlight to his right had a chunk taken out of it, 'I wonder how that happened.' And just below that missing chunk was a pale yellow paper advertising a new mall -- wait, a new mall? He pressed his face against the window to get a closer look.

"Joestar Bros. Mall. Help wanted. Call 927..."

He couldn't make out the rest of the paper, the characters were too low for him to see. There was no other choice, he had to get out of the house. Reluctantly, he trudged out of the door and into the street, hastily snatching the paper and stuffing it into his pocket. Once inside the confines of his office again, he scanned the advertisement.

"Call 927-867-5309..."

He punched the wall again, there's no other option right now! He HAS to do this, who knows when he'll get another chance? And besides, he can always just get rid of the owners if they start getting too nosy. But what if they're notable people?

"FUCK!" He screamed, kicking his chair across the room. He heaved heavily, trying in vain to calm down.

'Don't worry, no one's gonna know who you are, you'll be fine...'

That seemed to work, for the time being. After staring vacantly at the ceiling for approximately half an hour, he worked up the nerve to dial the aforementioned number. He hoped he didn't sound too nervous.

"Hello, I'd like a job.."

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March thirteenth, he didn't want to be late! Diavolo pulled his pink hair through his hair tie, walking briskly to the mall, Thank god, he got there at 7:51 A.M., 'I have a few minutes to spare.'

All of his anxiety seemed to dissipate once he stepped into the air-conditioned restaurant. Everything seemed to be great so far, he just had to lay low for a bit and serve some food to some people, pose for a few pictures, and occasionally clean up the place. How much easier could it get?

Melone heard the telltale ring of the doorbell and went to greet the newcomer. 'I hope they're cute.~' He rounded the corner and theatrically gasped at the sight.

Diavolo turned to his right, his face soon contorted in terror.

".....Boss?"

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buns-with-a-book · 5 years ago

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Flowers of White 1 - White Cyclamen

Inspired by Sync’s idea here, I just took the idea and added more angst because...why not, tbh. The first of three chapters in this miniseries.

Fandom: Devil May Cry Characters: OC, Dante, Vergil, Nero (mentioned in this chapter) Tags: @nimnox @furyeclipse @synchronmurmurs @harlot-of-oblivion @queenmuzz

Summary: The cyclamen often represents resignation and goodbye, a flower that brings with it ill news.

Grey clouds hung high in the sky above Red Grave City, casting the buildings in a dull hue. Cassandra was settled in Dante’s chair, behind the desk, and curled up in a blanket. On days like today, with the cool weather making it less than pleasant to be out and about, she often curled up in Dante’s chair with a blanket and waited for the brothers to return. The dour weather often reminded her of home, of cloud-covered days. As she awaited the brothers return, her mind wandered to recent events.

One such event that plagued her mind was the disappearance of Nero. Just a few days prior, Nico had called her to tell her that Nero was nowhere to be found. A mission must’ve gone bad, as Red Queen and Blue Rose were recovered but no devil hunter. The news hadn’t reached Kyrie yet (as far as she knew) but she could only imagine that Kyrie was just as worried about Nero as she was. Hell, Kyrie was a smart gal, she probably already had an idea that something was wrong. Cassandra ran a hand through her hair, wondering who or what could’ve taken Nero. Demons were a probable answer, to bait the legendary devil hunter Dante and his brother Vergil to a trap. There was also the possibility of an extremist sect of the Order of the Sword, seeking vengeance upon Nero. She threw that out of her head. If that were the case, then Kyrie would’ve been targeted as well and Nico would’ve said something about such a sect.

‘Demons don’t leave voicemails...and neither do crazy extremist sects...so who else…’ The phone rang, causing her to jump. She looked to it before sighing, pulling the blanket off her. She waited for three rings, then a fourth before promptly picking up.

“Devil May Cry.” She feigned cheerfulness, despite her worries churning within her.

“Cassandra, my...runaway bride.” She could feel her blood freeze. That voice was too familiar, a voice she had thought she buried in the annals of the past. “It’s quite lovely to hear your voice again.”

“Cut the crap, Draco.” She hissed. “What do you want. How did you even get this number.”

“The phone book, like all things. As for what I want, I want you back in my loving arms. I was so hurt when you disappeared that night.”

“Cut the crap.” Cassandra growled. “What do you want.”

“A renewal of the vows, of course! And we even have the ring bearer here.” There was the sound of shuffling before a familiar snarl. It didn’t even matter what Nero said, she could barely hear him over the panicked heartbeat ramming in her own ears.

‘No...He’s got Nero.’ The thought was terrifying. Who knew what they had done to him? What could they do to him? Even without Red Queen and Blue Rose, Nero could still pack a punch. Despite this knowledge, the fact that Draco and the guard of Eternis Brillia had him just made her worry on end. He was more human than the rest of the crew, with the exception of herself and Lady. While he was resilient like Dante and Vergil, he couldn’t recover as quickly as the brothers.

“You’re lucky we only found this...brat.” Draco’s voice ripped her from her thoughts. “That summoner friend of yours seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth.” Cassandra restrained a sigh of relief, knowing that they were merely talking about V.

“He’s dead. He died in the demon tree.” A half-truth but not that Draco would know nor would she tell him. There was a soft swear on the other end.

“Look, you either come back to Eternis Brillia and be the bride you were supposed to be or we hurt him.” She tightened her hand on the phone, letting out a soft exhale.

“Gimme a moment…” She set the phone down on the desk, rubbing her face with her hands. On one hand, she still hated Draco with every fiber of her being. His ring had been sold during the time that Dante and Vergil were in the Underworld. She had long moved on, even finding new love in Dante’s older brother Vergil. A part of her wanted to fight against Draco, to go rip Nero out of danger herself.

But she couldn’t. This was the one time Draco had the upper hand. She had no idea where exactly Nero was nor what they could do to him. Nero was a son to her, despite their lack of blood relation. She wouldn’t forgive herself if they lost Nero and she was certain Vergil wouldn’t either, not after he found out Nero existed after all this time.

With a defeated sigh, she took the phone back up.

“Alright Draco, let’s talk some terms.”

“Oh? You’re not in a position to negotigate.”

“It’s stuff for the wedding.” She pointed out. “Nero must be there. He’s my son.”

“Slut.” She ignored his snide remark.

“And I don’t have the ring you gave me. A demon ate it.” Another half-truth. The fate of the ring, once it was out of her hands and replaced with money, didn’t matter to her and Draco was unlikely to go off to hunt for it. “So you’ll need to find a new ring before we get hitched.”

“Alright alright.” Draco said lazily. “Anything else?”

“...can we have it in Rothes? It’s a nice sleepy little town and the cyclamen in the little flower shop...they’re in bloom this time of year, as I recall.”

“Oh, perfect for riding back into Eternis Brillia in victory!” He said. She winced at his gloating. “Who knew you were actually smart sometimes? Well, I’ll take care of everything else. You come to Rothes in two weeks.”

“Two weeks?”

“I mean, they have a courthouse. We can have a courthouse wedding to make it all official before riding back to Eternis Brillia. Oh, and don’t tell anyone about this. It’ll be just you and me and that whore’s son.”

“Don’t you dare call Nero that!” She snapped. He scoffed.

“Whatever. Bye.” He hung up. She set the phone back into the receiver and buried her face into the desk. Her hands entangled themselves into her hair, nearly pulling it out from frustration before falling lax in defeat. Her body began to heave as she began to cry, frustration turning into defeated sorrow.

The fate she had long tried to run from came back to haunt her, and it dragged Nero into the mess too. Out of anyone that had to be dragged into what she had long tried to ignore and not think about, why Nero? He didn’t deserve it, hell none of them did. She thought she was safe from them, miles and miles away from the isolated city. For twenty-odd years, that had been the case. But her luck had run out at last.

“Cass!” Dante’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She snapped her head up, watching as the brothers rushed to her side.

“Shit, I didn’t…” She sniffed, wiping her eyes with her hand. “I’ll go leave-”

“Did someone come and assault you?” Vergil asked. Cassandra made a face.

“He might as well have...he’s got Nero.”

“Wait, who?” Dante knelt down to look at her right in the eyes. Vergil bristled.

“And why does he have Nero?” Vergil asked, a deathly chill in his voice.

“I...it’s a guy from my past. He forced me to marry him but w-we never said I do so it didn’t count.” She finally said, voice choked from trying not to cry again. “He somehow managed to get Nero and h-has him hostage.”

“Cass, come on, give us a name.” Dante murmured, his hand gently squeezing her shoulder.

“...It’s Draco. Draco Kinnaird. He wants me to go up to Rothes to marry him in their courthouse before riding back to Eternis Brillia like he conquered a kingdom or something.” She finally rasped out, all of her tears spent. “And I’m going. If Nero died because I said no...I would never forgive myself.” A quiet fell between the trio before Cassandra stood from the chair, taking the blanket with her.

“Cassandra-”

“I’m going to pack. In two weeks time...you’ll have Nero back.” She looked to the two of them, guilt and sorrow evident in her features. “I love you, both of you.” With that, she stepped upstairs to pack. Vergil watched her go, hands squeezed into fists. Dante stood up with a soft groan, walking to the side of his brother.

“We’re not letting her walk somewhere that makes her miserable, right Verge?” The red-clad devil hunter said softly. He glanced to Vergil and smirked, just a little, at his gaze at the door that led to Cassandra’s room.

“Never.” He whispered. “But first, we need the appropriate attire.”

“Oh, you’re going to crash a wedding? I think I’m rubbing off on you.”

“Only for this occasion, Dante.”

#devil may cry #devil may cry oc #devil may cry dante #devil may cry vergil #vergil/oc #angst #angst with a happy ending

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skvaderarts · 4 years ago

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Apocrypha Chapter Twenty Five: Labyrinth

Masterlist can be found Here! Thanks!

Chapter Twenty Five: Labrinth

Note: The response I got for the last chapter was amazing! Thank you all so much for the awesome feedback! And now, back to our regularly scheduled angsty program! On today's episode of "look how they massacred my boy"...

(-~-)

As the cave snaked further and further into the bowels of the earth, what little natural light that remained disappeared from view. Gone were any traces of the sky that had been vaguely visible above them and now all that was left were the dregs of extinguished lanterns that hung from the ceiling above. Any illusion that the place they currently occupied wasn’t tied to some part of the underworld shattered like glass, taking any semblance of comfort with it.

In a way, the caves seemed to almost be alive. While an average person wouldn’t probably be able to detect anything in such an extreme environment, that wasn’t the story at all for Sparda’s descendants. As much as he didn’t want to acknowledge it, Nero could almost swear that the place they were in was breathing. It was as if they were inside of some sort of massage artery. Air flowed in and out of the tunnel in opposing directions, coming from behind and then from in front of them in a slow but constant cadence. Perhaps not an artery then, but maybe a throat of some sort? Regardless of what it resembled, it was deeply uncomfortable. One could only hope that they would not come to regret taking the route that they had. There was no time to lose.

“Why is it so fucking dark in here?” Nero asked as he followed closely behind Vergil. Dante was somewhere close behind him, but he couldn’t see anything past his hands in the inky blackness.” That overgrown houseplant wasn’t like this on the inside. How are we supposed to do anything if we can’t see?”

The older demon slayer in blue mentally registered his youngest son’s inquiry, but his mind was elsewhere. Yes, Nero did make a valid point. But his mind was on the task at hand at the moment. For every moment that this expedition dragged on and on, Vergil mentally chastised himself for being insane enough to go along with V’s plan. They had basically handed him to the very people who had tried to kill them less than a month ago, and they had no way of knowing how capable they were or what they wanted with him.

And that was to say nothing of the conversation that the Darkslayer had just had with the young cultist. Who was this “Master” they served, and who was his patron? Vergil needed to get to the route of the problem and extinguish it as quickly as possible before the inferno had a chance to grow and consume them all. But as far as he knew, none of his detractors knew anything about either of his sons, and that was primarily because they were all dead. Vergil had personally seen to that during his time in the underworld. Vergil possessed practically no tolerance for interruptions to his plans, and during his ascension to the throne, having no one alive to contest his plans was undeniably beneficial.

While the devil in blue was more than certain that his existing enemies were deceased and hopefully rotting in the bowels of hell, he couldn’t discount the possibility of having unknown enemies. That was practically a guarantee. As far as he was concerned, you couldn’t spend the amount of time that he’d spent in the underworld without at least half of the sentient population developing a profound and deep seeded hatred of you. That was just one of the perks that came with the trip. But if that was the case, then things had just gone from bleak to pernicious.

“What, you still need to see things to kill em’? Come on, that’s day one stuff!” Dante said casually as he closed the distance between himself and Nero. He didn’t need to see his nephew’s face to tell that he was shooting him a dirty look. If there was one thing that the young devil hunter had inherited from his father, it was his inability to let go of slights issued against him, regardless of the severity. Dante could say something silly to him about something entirely insignificant, and Nero would probably still bring it up when his kids were old enough to move out. While Dante had to admit that that facet of his nephew’s personality could be problematic at times, he honestly found it hilarious most of the time and didn’t mind it. As long as Nero was safe, Dante was fine with it.

Nero shook his head and pressed forward with the rest of the group. He didn’t have time to care about that. For the life of him, he couldn’t shake the persistent feeling of dread that had gripped him since they had interred the caverns. He trusted V’s judgement. After all, he was capable and smart. But not knowing what had happened to him admittedly put him a bit on edge, especially since that cultist had mentioned something about their “master” wanting him.

Yea, he was going to find this “master” and introduce him to the flaming edge of his blade.

“Do you think we went the wrong way back there? I can’t tell if we're getting any closer to the end of this cave.” Nero asked as they hurried along, thankful that the part of the cave they were in didn’t have branching paths. “I wonder how they get around in here when it’s this dark all the time.”

Vergil considered answering the question since he was somewhat certain that he had an idea how they did so, but the second that he took another step forward, he came to a sudden stop. Dante and Nero followed shortly after, utterly perplexed as to how they had arrived in the stop that they had. The inky blackness parted and gave way to a level of light more conducive to the environment they currently found themselves in.

Before them spanned a gargantuan chasm, it’s pitch black interior only parted by the rays of moonlight that pierced the roof of the cave in cascading rays. Where the light came from was anyone’s guess since the sound of thunder booming answered any questions that they could have possessed as to whether or not the storm was still raging outside. As the white starlight parted the darkness before them, they identified a staircase composed of several long stone slabs. It descended towards the open chasm below them, no form of railing between them and what had to be at least a five story drop. In the distance, they could make out a faint source of artificial light, seemingly produced by a litany of candles or lanterns. It seemed that nothing in this place was exactly rigged up to a power source, at least from what they could tell.

At least not a conventional one. In the very center of a large pond that sat towards the center of the cavity surrounded by tall but sparse foliage stood a monolith of sorts, easily over twenty feet in height. It was a rough structure composed of a strange luminescent blue and black stone that seemed to resemble skulls from where they currently stood. A thick black substance overflowed from the top of the structure, possessing the properties of both smoke and water simultaneously. The water surrounding it was pitch black and seemed to resemble ink or tar, the only indication of any motion from it being the occasional large bubble rising up from the depths and bursting at the surface, releasing more of the back substance. While Dante and Nero had no reason to recognize the substance, Vergil couldn’t help but feel his blood run cold as he took in the reality of what the presence of such a chemical meant.

They needed to find V and end this cult. Now.

Nero rubbed his strained eyes before taking a long, baffled look at their surroundings. The cave was vast. There could be any number of cultists in the place. One could only hope that they had just established their new stomping grounds recently and that they didn’t actually possess numbers great enough to merit a base like this.

The young devil hunter considered saying something for a moment before deciding otherwise. Nero was willing to bet that a place like this produced one hell of an echo, and he had no intention of being the one to sound the alarm. He stole a glance at the makeshift staircase and took a step towards it, ushering towards his two companions. Dante nodded in recognition and followed along behind him, the pair noticing immediately that Vergil seemed to still be taking in his surroundings. They both looked at one another before staring at the Darkslayer’s back, unsure of what to say or do. After a moment, Vergil turned to them, trying to hide the fact that things had just taken a dive headfirst into unmistakable peril.

“... As soon as we find him, you both need to take him and leave.” Vergil said in a hushed tone as he hurried past them, still maintaining the same level of calm that he had the moment before,” There is something I must do. Something that must be stopped now or our efforts will be in vain.”

Dante seemed slightly alarmed but kept his voice down, following closely after his older twin as they descended the stairs two or three at a time. Nero hurried after them, the trio making sure to keep things as quiet as possible. “I get the feeling something isn’t right about this place. Want to fill us in on the details?”

Vergil shot his twin brother a quick glance as he continued along. Explaining what this place was to his younger sibling would take entirely too long and probably attract unwanted attention. Not to mention that it would waste valuable time that they no longer possessed. The cult had access to something far beyond anything that he could have guessed, and he had an idea how that had come to pass. In that moment Vergil could only hope that he had simply lost his touch and was out of his mind.

Unfortunately, he was right.

(-~-)

For a moment, the concept of dark and light faded from his memory, his head nothing but a hazy mess of fragmented memories. As he attempted to blink away the heavy dose of lethargy that gripped him like an iron vice, the young summoner attempted to take in his surroundings for a second time. Or was it the third time? How long had he been in this place, drifting between a state of disorientation and dissonance? There were flashes of recognition, brief glimpses he’d managed to grasp onto as he’d been dragged there by the procession of cultists that had abducted him. These ones wore red robes and masks that lacked expressions, their voices difficult to discern as they swirled around him in a flurry of movement. They were planning something. From what he could tell, they were talking about him, at least in regards to something he was involved in. And from what he could tell, they understood more about who he was than they should.

“Master Agreus seems displeased…”

“Did it work? It doesn’t seem to be working as we intended.”

“What will we do now that it has started? What is our next task?”

“Quiet, all of you! He has returned. I trust he will seek an audience with…”

“Surely not. The last time it came to that we-”

“ENOUGH. Be silent. I will not tolerate interference.”

As the cacophony of voices that surrounded him began to separate into individual sources, V’s senses slowly flooded back to him. And the very moment that he regained some semblance of sensation in his body, he immediately regretted it down to the very core of his being. It was difficult to quantify the level of discomfort he felt in practically every segment of his body, every nerve ending burning like a fire that threatened to consume him from the inside out. It was a sort of dull throb akin to that of a toothache, but it covered his entire body all at once, and came in waves that seemed to grow in intensity each time they passed through him.

From what he could tell, they thought he was dead. Or at least close to it. And that would be their greatest mistake. Because the very moment that he succeeded in breaking free from the restraints that they had him in, he was going to make them pay for whatever dubious insanity they had subjected him to.

It took V a moment to equate his still bleeding head wound to his inability to see out of his left eye. While the wound he’d received from the scythe wielding grim reaper like demon hadn’t been worryingly deep, it had continued to bleed and his inability to put any kind of pressure on it to keep it from doing so meant that he was at quite an impasse.

Every time he tried to break free from the binds that kept him locked to the ground underneath him, the sensation of discomfort and throbbing heat returned in earnest. From what he could gather, the metal loop that held both of his wrists together behind his back served two functions. To keep him firmly against the floor with the assistance of the crane system that retracted the chain and tightened it’s hold against him, and to cause him intense discomfort if he made any effort to resist. Where they had procured such an arcane artifact from was beyond him, but he was sure to the very core of his being that he wanted them off of him as quickly as possible. Because the reason for his bondage was less than optimistic. To say that he hadn’t been treated as gently as he would have liked would’ve been a vast understatement.

The last time that he’d blacked out for a moment as a result of trying to break free from his confinement, he’d felt a surge of energy shoot through him that he was entirely unfamiliar with. A foreign power that he couldn’t place, but he somehow knew that it originated from within him. While it made sense that he might possess abilities beyond those that he currently understood, the amount of power only seemed to grow as he inched closer to blacking out fully as a result of his injuries at the hands of the cultists. V had lost a considerable amount of blood from the puncture wound on the back of his leg, and the ceaseless bleeding that he had since fallen victim to had rendered him practically delirious. He was practically helpless against his aggressors. They had inflicted the wound to help facilitate whatever dubious activities they were involved with, and there was no way that he was going to be able to just stand up and walk this one off. He’d lose far too much blood. Pain was an old acquaintance, especially when it came to his right leg. And from what he could tell, causing him to bleed onto the stone platform that he was currently chained to was their goal. It seemed to be some sort of altar from what he could tell.

That unsettled him.

V was positive that he could muster the strength to summon Shadow and unleash her upon his enemies, but he was hesitant to do so unless no other choice was available to him. Malphas had taught him that it was indeed possible to separate him from his familiars. He didn’t intend to let that happen ever again, and this most certainly wasn’t going to be the place or time. But his reserve of alternative options was running dry, along with his blood supply, so he was going to have to come up with something quickly.

A moment later, a familiar tall cultist in a white robe approached him. The black mask that they wore gave away nothing, but he could just feel the disdain that radiated off of the man. It seemed that whatever he’d planned for wasn’t coming to pass, and that was something that clearly pissed him off. The man’s own underlings seemed to allude to that with their ceaseless bickering, going back and forth over what to do next until he’d returned. Then the space fell silent at his command, be that a privilege procured from respect or fear he didn’t know. What he did know was that the last time the hooded man had approached him, he’d found a ceremonial blade of some sort embedded in his leg. And it had been extremely painful, to say the least. Unreasonably painful considering the size of the blade. It was as if it had been engineered to inflict that sort of extra damage. In fact, he could swear that for a moment it had started to glow as if reacting to his blood.

He intended to return the favor whenever he got the chance.

“My original plan involved less physical harm. Forgive me for that.” The man said as he kneeled down in front of him. They made something akin to eye contact, but the young summoner still couldn’t see his captor’s face. But he didn’t need to be able to. V could tell that they were making eye contact.“I trust your accommodations are to your liking?”

V had to fight the involuntary urge to smirk and glare at him. The younger man genuinely wasn’t sure if he was being kicked while he was down, or if the cultist was simply deranged enough to ask that question and seriously expect a favorable reply. Regardless, V broke eye contact with him and looked up at the roof of the cave, ignoring the temptation to say something snarky that ran the risk of earning him a second stabbing. That wretched curved blade seriously hurt. Possibly more than anything he’d ever been cut by. And that was a considerable number of things.

Realizing that he wasn’t getting an answer, the cultist gestured towards the round stone slab that V was bound to. The makings that adorned the edges were written in a vaguely familiar language to the white haired summoner, but he had no idea where he’d seen them before. That being said, he wasn’t nearly naive enough to miss the gravity of what was going on and why they had brought him to this place.

This was most definitely some sort of ritual.

But why did they need him?

“It seems that the tablet requires an additional offering.” The man said as he casually gestured between the stone writing and the book that he carried in his hand. It was ancient looking, bound in some sort of animal hide and blackened from age (or perhaps evil). From what V could tell, that was his source of information regarding whatever ritual he was trying to force him to undergo. “I do hope you're as excited to meet my master as I am to introduce you to him. He’s been eager to see you in person for some time now. I’d advise you against disappointing him. But before that, I’m going to need to ask you to make another contribution to our efforts.”

With that, the cultist kneeled down next to him and withdrew the blade again. Oh, so it was that sort of contribution. He figured as much. This wasn’t good.

V shook his head slightly, his damp hair sticking to his face. Any semblance of tolerance that he had once possessed vacated him instantaneously. No. That wasn’t going to be necessary. As far as he was concerned, the rest of his family had been given ample time to arrive and deal with any distraction. It was time to fix this himself, even if he had to do it the hard way. He had to admit that he hadn’t factored this part into his plan, although he hadn’t expected to get out of it totally unscathed. That was an eventuality he was always prepared for, at least mentally. But a second round with that blade. Absolutely not if he had anything to say about it. And he did.

“No. I think not. You’ve been very accommodating...” V said flatly, feeling another surge of the unknown energy well up from deep within himself. “... But I think I have a better idea.”

The cultist chuckled under his breath slightly, clearly amused.” Yes, well I suppose that makes two of us. Enough idle chit chat, hm? Let’s finish this.”

With a casual gesture of his hand, the masked man opened the book he’d been holding and muttered something in another language. As far as V could tell, it sounded vaguely Latin, but he could only make out a few of the words. That could’ve been a direct result of his condition, but he couldn’t be sure. A wave of nausea hit him as the man read his incantation, and he had a feeling that it wasn’t just nerves. The situation just got worse and worse ever passing moment.

As soon as he finished speaking, he placed the book down on the ground next to him and palmed the blade again, glancing slowly between it and V. The young summoner watched him as he did so and made a conscious effort to contain the borderline anxiety inducing level of fear that he felt rising up from the pit of his stomach. He had an idea what came next. And he didn’t want any part of it.

The cultist gripped the collar of V’s shirt tightly, keeping him close. V didn’t see what the point was other than sadistic pleasure. It wasn’t like he could run anyway. He’d probably would have done so already if he could. In his free hand, the cultist raised the blade again, only this a bit higher up than the last time. If it was possible for what little blood V had left in his body to turn ice cold, it did as he realized what the cultist intended to do.

“I’m going to need you to hold still. This part is a little complicated.” He said casually. And then he lowered the knife.

(-~-)

Shit. V is not having a good day, is he? If you thought the last two chapters were anxiety inducing, then you haven’t seen anything yet. These cultists are about to learn the hard way that you don’t mess with and of the members of the Sparda family. The question is, how is V going to get out of this one? I feel like it might not be part of that plan he cooked up lol! See you all next week on Wednesday! I hope you're enjoying everything so far! Take care and stay safe!

#Apocrypha #Devil May Cry #Devil May Cry 5 #Devil May Cry V #V #Vitale #Vergil #Nero #Dante #DMC #DMCV #DMC5 #V Post Devil May Cry 5

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seekeroftruthpromestein · 5 years ago

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Paradox time. Let’s do the Grandgold.

I guess an Anime convention is in town. One with lax vendor regulations and security.... My Ilias have mercy on our soul.

What did I say. Really relaxed security. Though, I really wanted to beat up a human once.

So we’re meeting a spy at a bar, they must really like Bars.

That’s actually facinating to know. (And as an aside. The one downside to how I do these things is that I have no idea which lines will be funny and which ones won’t be. So I often miss the setup for the punchline.)

Anyway. We gotta meet this sp-

Oh. OH. I’m SO getting betrayed.

“You brought my Nephew and Niece for me to wack!?”

“Uncle Lazarus you’re trying to kill us!?”

“What? No Wack as i- I mean. Yes.”

“So Wait.... does this mean you won’t be poisoning their drinks and killing them?”

Yeah that’s gotta be awkward.

Wait...WHAT ARE WE DOING!?

I mean. Lazzy here knew we were in the area. He should have maybe said something about having a foster daughter when Ms. McBackstabby here mentioned a team of heroes.

I love that the entire team became the mafia.

This can only go well.

I support the final outcome. But your reasoning still needs work.

Brimming with confidance.

Lazarus is part of our team. At least we’ll get some rich hot hentai scenes with him later.

BRIMMING with confidence.

You said it Mecha Pope.

OOooooh

“I dare say. Whoever set it up must be very smart. Cunning. And attractive.”

“Wait. Why are you called Black Golem if you’re-

“PROMESTEIN! THERE ARE OTHER QUOTABLE MOMENTS FROM THAT MOVIE!!”

Oh no! You caught us! Luka! Quickly! Act Seductive!

WHAT!?!?! WHAT?! WHAT IS-

...Is this the queen? no no. NOt the Queen. But still horrifying.

Finally. Some Quality Monsters.Wait... WAIT.

GRANBERIA!! Is that you!? No wonder I couldn’t recognize you as yourself! You’ve become a fox now! That’s cool! Be whatever makes you happy Berry!

Actually. I’m bumping into lots of Kitsune... Is..Is Tamamo here?

As suspected. Ant Queen wasn’t pulling the strings. But then who? Could it be.. Prome-

Oh. How predictable and boring.

How did you GET here!? What are you even doing here??

Yeah. This looks about right.

This is bizaringly *new* for this game.

Oh. Welp. Poor Alma.

Oooh? Then spill the beans!

OH! It- WAS Tamamao! WOW! Okay! So... Are you OUR Tamamo? Another Tamamo? Or. Wait. I JUST recruited 3 Kitsune. Could none of them spill the beans??

“OH! Before I forget! Our boss is Tamamo. She’s been the one controlling everything. So. Prepare for that.”

Thank you Granberia.

And that answers that question.

Time for a big fight.

I’m tempted to try that fight and see if there’s an outcome for winning. Buut. We lost and Tamamo is here to save the day.

Tails and Tails!

Hey Kids.

Nero is really growing on me as a male Monster.

Neris is growing on me slowly as well.

Yup. Your kids.

The fact that Nero calls her Master is facinating and telling.

And look at that! The day is saved and all my allies are here! Everyone except... where’s the Medal Queen...? She...She promised she’d come...

Oh PLEASE tell me there is a sex scene with him.

My Ilias File will be the most fun.

I weirdly love how Anti-sacrafice yourself this game is.

As far as i’m concerned you’re the main character.

I hope this game has a marriage option.

And her grand entrance is here.

See. This is one of those things I cock an eyebrow at because I know this isn’t the real Monster Lord. And so should Granberia and Eurebettie. I mean. For god sakes. This is counter productive. Not even enslavement of mankind or anything like that.

Granberia from the first game was a incredibly sympathetic character. Most of the monsters were all sympathetic in that they really thought humans were the bad guys. Which makes sense. In some cases they really were. And in others they were not. The game was clever to suggest that the conflict was confusing enough, mixed with old resentment that when a war happened there was reason behind both sides joining.

Here? I can’t see anyone nodding and going “yeah that totes mcgoats makes sense. Lets kill our only food source for the queen who FUCKING DIED. Tottally legit.”

Well. With this done. Lets go explore the towns.

MORE THEN ANYTHING

She won’t talk to me though. I guess I should talk to the king. He’ll probably tell me to go to Succubus Village. “But there are no Succubi!”

Wow! Thank you Alice! Useful!

Welp! We have our sidequest! Next time! we go to Succubus Village~

#Prommey Plays Paradox #Paradox 2

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michaelfallcon · 6 years ago

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Best Reusable Coffee Cups in the UK

With the looming “latte levy” and with many coffee shops now offering a discount for the use of reusable coffee cups, travel cups/mugs are becoming increasingly popular, which I think is a great thing, as the disposable cup problem definitely needs sorting.

There’s an increasing number of choices, and it can get a bit confusing, so which are the best reusable coffee cups in the UK?

By the way, in case you’re wondering which coffee shops are currently offering a discount for taking a reusable coffee cup, at the time of writing Pret are offering 50p off, Costa & Starbucks 25p, Caffe Nero: double loyalty stamps, Greggs are offering 20p, and there are many independent coffee shops all over the country offering discounts.

Some are even stopping offering disposable cups, Grindsmith in Manchester, for example, has gone completely disposable cup free, at their Greengate pod coffee shop, and are offering a 25p discount for anyone who brings in their own reusable cup, and if you don’t – the only option is to drink in.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen with this levy thing, but this discount acts as a levy anyway, if more cafe’s are doing the same, whether it’s a discount for people using reusable cups, or a levy for people who aren’t, the same is true in that if you want a take away coffee (or tea, or hot chocolate, whatever floats your boat) in many cafe’s it’ll cost you more than if you’d have gone in with your own reusable cup.

So, anyway, I’m digressing – back to the point of this post, which are the best reusable coffee cups in the UK?

The first question to ask, is are you looking for a reusable coffee cup as a direct replacement to takeaway cups, or are you looking for more – such as increased thermal performance, to keep your coffee hot for longer, and increased spill resistance. Do you want to be able to sling your full brew in your bag and drink it in half an hour when you’re on the train or in the office, for example?

Knowing what you’re looking for will make it much easier to find it, obviously ;-), and when it comes to reusable cups/travel cups/travel mugs, I think a lot of people tend to use these terms interchangeably which can lead to ending up with the wrong product – as I can see when I look at the reviews for some of these products by users who clearly misunderstood what kind of a cup they were buying.

Reusable coffee cups — Travel Cups — Travel Mugs

Imagine a sliding scale starting at a reusable cup at one end (a reusable replacement to a disposable takeaway coffee cup), and increasing from there in terms of heat retention and leak/spill resistance, going all the way to a thermos style 100% leak proof travel mug at the other end which you can hold upside down without leaking, and which will keep your coffee hot for hours.

I think this is quite a handy exercise when it comes to figuring what kind of cup you need.

In fact, no need to imagine, here you go ;-):

Please note – this is just a rough illustration, images are not to scale, and this is not a statement of performance relating to any of the cups/mugs featured in the image.

My 8 oz keepcup brew cork series, great replacement for disposable takeaway coffee cups!

On the reusable cup end of the scale, we’re not looking for much more thermal ability or spill resistance than a paper cup.

So if literally all you’re looking for is for a reusable version of a takeaway cup, so you can get your coffee served in your own cup and get the available discount, then something like the Bamboo Ecoffee cup, or the Keepcup changemakers original, the Keepcup Brew, or a collapsible cup like Pokito, are all popular choices for a straight reusable replacement for disposable coffee cups.

These kinds of cups are really just that, reusable cups, rather than travel cups as such, although, I think with most of these cups you will get at least slightly better performance when it comes to heat resistance and leak resistance, and increased comfort via a thicker holding strip than the card ones that we’re used to with disposable cups.

If you’re wanting a replacement to takeaway coffee cups but at the same time you were hoping for a bit more performance when it comes to spill resistance and heat retention, then you need to be looking closer towards the middle of the scale above.

For example, Keepcup do a glass option called longplay, which has a special plastic coating to boost the heat retention abilities of this cup, and the lids do a pretty good job when it comes to stopping leaks, as long as you’re keeping them upright and you’re not planning on putting them in a bag or something.

The Bodum plastic double walled mugs which I’ve put pretty much slap bang in the middle of this illustration above, do a pretty good job at heat retention too, I have the clear plastic ones from Bodum that were recently a special buy at Aldi for a fiver, and while they don’t have the same heat retention as the heavier and more pricey stainless steel vacuum travel mugs that feature on the right hand side of the image above, they do a much better job than paper, bamboo and single-walled glass and plastic.

I did some testing and freshly boiled water in this particular cup was at 82c after 10 mins, 78c after 15 mins, 76c after 20 mins, 72c after 30 mins. This quite a bit better than disposable coffee cups would do, and the single wall plastic or bamboo travel cups.

These kind of cups are also generally a bit better when it comes to spill/leak resistance than disposable coffee cups, and they’re much more comfortable to hold, as the double wall insulation means that the outer skin of plastic isn’t in direct contact with the hot liquid.

The Bodum stainless steel travel cup, for instance, is almost cold to touch when it’s full of hot coffee, and when I tested it, it was still at 87C after 30 mins, and 78C after one hour, so they’re very good for heat retention. But these kinds of cups/mugs still aren’t quite at the far end of the scale, as they’re not fully leak proof.

See my best travel cups in the UK post for more.

Going towards the other end of that scale, we have the stainless steel travel mugs such as the Bodum stainless steel & Thermos ThermoCafé, these kinds of mugs are better still when it comes to heat retention and holding comfort, and they tend to be better for leak resistance, although many of the travel mugs at this end of the scale are still not 100% leak proof.

Some appear to claim they are when you read their marketing blurb, but you have to apply some context to marketing blurb like this.

Apart from the fact that an alternative word for marketing rhymes with “dull pit”

– to be fair, there’s an argument to say that what is meant by “will not spill” or “will not leak” or “no drips” – relates to the expected use of the product, which for most cups like this would be just holding it upright, walking with it and drinking from it, as they’re not meant to be launched into bags, etc., while mugs at the very other end of the scale are made specifically for slinging in a bag or putting in a bike bottle cage etc.,

On the far right-hand side of the scale, we have fully insulated, fully leak-proof travel mugs such as Contigo Autoseal, Frank Green Smart Cup, Thermos Direct, Stanley Classic, Camelbak Forge, etc., for more like this see my best leak proof travel mugs post.

So there you go, hopefully, if you’ve got to the end of this post, A) you’re still awake ;-), coffee will have helped, and B) you now have a better understanding of which type of reusable coffee cup is best specifically for your current needs, so you’ll end up buying the right one.

Life is like a box of chocolates, so follow me on Twitter, and that’s all I have to say about that.

Best Reusable Coffee Cups in the UK published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee

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