#this was session 11

[mx-lamour]

"CoS is actually a Western."

Hang on. I have something for this. (I was going to reblog this, but things got out of hand fast, so here's an entirely separate post instead. Be warned... it's long.)

I usually like to share just some of the most dramatic/cinematic moments from our game, and Ezra's perspective in particular, but hoo boy. Hopefully this will give you some insight into the utter weirdness that also went on through most of our campaign.

The party was traveling south, toward the ruin of Berez.

We notice a bizarre row of thin wooden walls on either side of the road ahead, propped up from the behind by long angled beams. Only a couple of small one-room structures jut out from the back of them.

The wheels of Ezmerelda's wagon creak lightly, crunching along the dirt road as we approach the anomaly. We can see that the front of the walls are painted to look like buildings. Amongst them are a few figures. A man wipes his brow with a handkerchief. Jaunty piano music wafts through the scene.

In a sudden shattering of glass, something crashes through the window of a building labeled "saloon". Ezra approaches the object now lying in the road. It's a thin wooden cutout, painted on one side to look like a man.

We look around. All the figures in this theatrical setpiece are painted cutouts, animated by a series of ropes and pullies. Dulan spies a zombie or two through the gaps between facades, operating the mechanisms.

This is undoubtedly one of Strahd's works.

For context, we were aware of two separate personifications of Strahd von Zarovich, but were still not entirely sure why the duality existed or what to do about it.

Our first was one we dubbed "Strahd von Strahd", an unhinged caricature with a deep and thoroughly exaggerated Dracula voice, who had encouraged us on other occasions to participate in small theatrical scenes (this wild west town was an escalation of a sort we had not yet encountered).

The other, we labeled "Business Strahd", who we had begun to speculate the existence of only after meeting Ezmerelda, and had only recently confirmed/witnessed at Yesterhill.

Ezra lights one of his shoddy cigarettes.

We peer through the busted saloon window. It's set up with a few tables and chairs, some of which are occupied by more ambient cutout figures. Off to one side, a zombie sits at a harpsichord. There's a man behind the bar, wiping the inside of a glass with a rag.

"Do we want to start placing bets that's Strahd in disguise?" Ezra mutters warily.

After some hesitation, we steel ourselves—Ezra casting a protection on himself—and bust dramatically through the swinging doors.

As we enter, we're startled by a tray lowering jerkily down to us on ropes from the ceiling above. Presented on it are a stack of black cowboy hats, and a pile of metal brooches shaped like stars, the word 'deputy' etched on each of them. A sign suspended between the ropes of the apparatus reads: Choose your role.

Kreig scoops up one of the shiny metal stars. Dulan, who acts like an elder brother around Kreig, joins him, and pins a star to his vest. There's a silly moment where Krieg sees this and goes to mimick Dulan, but then we remember the barbarian isn't wearing a shirt, so he kind of just stabs it into his pec instead.

Ezra dons a black hat. The tray raises back up into the makeshift rafters.

"What can I get you?" The line is flat and stilted. The human bartender is sporting a thousand-yard stare.

Kreig asks for water, since we've been traveling a while.

"Good choice. Three sasparillas."

Ezra sniffs at the substance this the poor man hands us, which was described as essentially a brownish watered-down apple vinegar. Kreig tries to drink some of it and resists the urge to make a sour face, in an effort to be polite.

While Dulan tries to chat with the barkeep, Ezra wanders away with his cup of swill to survey the rest of the setup. There are more zombies, dressed in western outfits, suspended from the ceiling. For now, the corpses hang inert.

The saloon doors swing open again, and Rahadin stands in the doorway. He's decked out in classy outlaw attire: black leather jacket, black boots adorned with shiny silver spurs, and atop his head is a black cowboy hat. But he still wears a sword on his hip.

He catches Ezra's eye and nods to him. "I don't know how you can stand to drink in here, ol' Dynamite McCoy." The background music and other ambient sounds abruptly cease.

Ezra lifts his glass slightly. "Ale's ale," he says blandly.

"I know what you mean, but I wish they would serve a better class of folk in this establishment."

"What do you mean?" Dulan chimes in.

"I mean that you two," says outlaw Rahadin, addressing deputies Dulan and Kreig, "are scum of the earth."

Dulan plays into it, puffing up his stocky dwarven chest. "I'm the long arm of the law in this town!"

"You won't talk so high and mighty when Gravedigger Jim comes into town." We naturally assume that this is in reference to Strahd.

"Them's fightin' words," Dulan declares, trying to figure out what the end goal of this playacting is supposed to be.

"Gravedigger Jim sent me to tell you, you've got one last chance to leave this town. If you want to see another sunrise, you'd best be gone by high noon."

"The junior deputy and I ain't goin' nowhere," Dulan retorts. "Go find yourself a new town to harrass."

The human bartender interjects lamely, "Now now. I don't want any trouble in here. Take it outside or be done with it."

Rahadin fixes the deputies with a look. "You've been warned."

He's about to leave. But Kreig pipes up. "Well, wait. Why don't we put aside our quarrels and you have a drink with us?" He plops a coin down on the bar. "A round for this... gentleman."

The barkeep pours another drink. Rahadin strides up to the bar and levels Kreig with a look. "You're not going to win me over with a drink, so what's your game, junior deputy?"

"No game, just trying to enjoy my day. It's mighty hot out there, so I figured you could use something to quench your thirst," Kreig says. Rahadin reaches for the glass, but then Kreig adds, "Unless you ain't up for it," in some unfathomable challenge.

At that, Rahadin takes the drink, throws its contents on Kreig, and sets the glass back down on the bar with a decisive thunk.

"Thank you," Kreig says. "I needed that." And pours his own drink over Rahadin's head.

Rahadin steps back, pausing to let the liquid drip off of him. "Thanks," he says dryly, and picks up a chair from a nearby table.

Dulan raises a hand. "Now, the barkeep asked us to take it outside," he says loudly. "This is a civilized place."

With incredible mid-swing restraint, Rahadin merely lays the chair down on its back atop the bar. He tells Dulan, "Your junior deputy would have preferred the chair," and walks out.

"As far as I can tell, you've just invited yourself to a duel," Ezra observes from his place far on the sideline.

"Get your kind out of my town!" Dulan grumbles emphatically, gesturing at Ezra's black hat.

With a pointed look, Ezra sets his own glass down on a table, turns, and walks out after Rahadin.

Outside, wagons have been moved into the road at either end of the set. A couple new cutouts, depicting gangs of tough-looking outlaws, have come into play. And Strahd is there, standing in the middle of it all, dressed in his usual Count attire, but with the addition of a black cowboy hat.

Rahadin reaches into a barrel on the side of the road and starts pulling out hand crossbows. He offers one to Ezra.

Strahd also acknowledges him pleasantly. In his most outlandish Dracula voice, he says, "Good evening, Ezra. You have chosen an interesting part to play today. Welcome to the other side."

Ezra plays it cool. He tips his hat in reply.

Back inside the saloon, the piano music resumes. The zombies in the rafters are lowered down and become vaguely animate. They seem to follow Dulan and Kreig, but do not attack. So Dulan continues to play the game. "You were born in this town," he says, rallying the mock townsfolk. "We will defend this town. No low-down cattle rustlers are going to take it from us!" The zombies grumble and groan in raucous agreement. There are ambient cartoon sounds of bullets loading into chambers, and cylinders spinning, despite a distinct lack of weaponry. A table is flipped on its side and hefted up by zombie arms. Dulan, Kreig, and the unlikely crew huddle behind it like a massive shield.

A hawk cries in the distance.

"Come on out of there, you yellow-bellied cowards!" Strahd calls richly from outside the saloon. "Face Gravedigger Jim!"

Dulan, privately reeling at the absurdity of all this, somehow plays that classic Western sound [wa wa waaa... wheeooo-oo...] to inspire Kreig, who rages as they stomp through the doorway with a gaggle of zombies and a table in front of them.

"Howdy pilgr—Oh no, they're rushing it!" Strahd yells. "Next cue! Next cue!"

Strahd throws his cape aside, and draws out not a crossbow, but an actual, literal hand gun. Something none of our characters have ever seen before. He aims, and just obliterates the head of one of Dulan and Kreig's loaner zombies. The other zombies keep moving, treading over the now mostly-headless corpse.

Kreig advances toward Rahadin, slapping the crossbow from his hand with the flat of his blade. "We can still settle this calmly," he says.

"You should have let me keep the crossbow," Radahin replies coolly. He draws his sword. "And, by the way... this is calm." The man makes three melee attacks.

"Gravedigger Jim!" Dulan improvises, "Unlike your name, you'll be hangin' from that tree, like your father before you!"

As an aside to Rahadin, Strahd comments, "He's totally off-script, but I love the energy."

Ezra takes another puff of his dwindling cigarette, playing the cool observer, letting the bosses handle it. He keeps his eyes trained on the barrel of Strahd's gun.

"You keep my papa out of this," Strahd banters, leveling it at Dulan.

Ezra's eyes flash when he sees the spark. The revolver backfires in a gout of flame that billows back at Strahd's face, igniting his clothing.

Strahd blinks. "Son of a bitch," he remarks. "Rahadin, you warned me, but I really wanted to give it a try."

Kreig attacks Rahadin, who vanishes in a puff of smoke. A molotov cocktail hurtles at Kreig from above, smashing to the ground by his feet. Kreig dives out of the way, glancing up at the trajectory to see Rahadin standing on a makeshift balcony.

Dulan pulls a rope from his pack and ties a lasso. He makes himself invisible.

"Why don't you let me give it a whirl," Ezra offers, extending his hand to Strahd and nodding toward the gun. "Those things can be a bit finicky."

In a miracle of dice rolls, Strahd practically shrugs as he relinquishes the revolver. The fire consuming his sleeve licks Ezra's hand in the exchange. Ezra doesn't flinch. With a breath like blowing out a candle, he extinguishes the flames.

Relieved of the gun, Strahd draws his sword instead. He and Rahadin converge against Kreig, Rahadin flinging a terrifyingly dark rusty dagger at the barbarian from aloft. Together, they take him down. Rahadin remarks, "I told you he would have preferred the chair."

Dulan catches Strahd with the lasso. He pulls on the rope, calling the remaining zombies to help him. "Pull!" he yells.

Strahd topples over. He rolls on the ground a bit, palms up in mock despair. "No! You have captured me! How can this be? I, the great Gravedigger Jim, will go out the same way as my pappy."

"This is why one shouldn't get tangled up in the wrong side of the law," Dulan declares.

Ezra makes his way over to Kreig. Goes to remove the nasty-looking dagger from him, but it falls apart in his hands, disintigrating into nothingness and leaving behind an infectious-looking oozing black wound in Kreig's hide. Ezra carefully burns it away, sparing him his descent into death.

Dulan and Ezra spare a glance at each other, trying to figure out where to go from here.

Rahadin watches the conclusion of the little episode with his elbows propped on the balcony railing, chin resting on a closed fist.

"Oh no, you won," Ezra says lamely.

Dulan leans down to Strahd, still wriggling on the ground. "You have to hang me," Strahd insists.

With aid of the zombies, Dulan sets out to hoist the rope up somewhere nearby. He avoids moving the lasso from Strahd's arms, so Strahd does it for him, positioning it around his own neck like he's adjusting a bowtie.

And then he hangs. He makes a dramatic show of gurgling and going limp.

"And, cut!" he announces, slashing easily through the rope and dropping gracefully back to the ground. "Good work everybody. You really studied the material this time. A marked improvement on your last show. Great work. Get some water, stay hydrated, and... we will move onto the next scene." And with that, he simply walks away.

Strahd makes his exit between two of the building facades. Rahadin turns, too, leaving through a doorway behind him on the balcony. The zombies de-animate and crumple to the ground.

Ezra hurries after Strahd, still intent on gleaning some additional insight. Throughout this encounter, the man has been wholly committed to his act, completely devoid of caution or care, never once breaking character. There's been no trace whatsoever of the Strahd von Zarovich from his own journal, nor their encounter at Yesterhill, nor even Vasili von Holtz. He would truly have to be the most talented actor in the world, or this is a completely different entity. So, who is he really? And why is he wearing Strahd's face?

Strahd is standing with Rahadin by his black carriage, giving him notes. "I think we need to do better next time. They seemed to be a tad confused. Maybe a bit more stagecraft. But they seem to be taking hold, starting to dig into their parts. Fantastic." Rahadin opens the carriage door for him and Strahd steps inside.

Ezra approaches them as Rahadin climbs up to the coachman's place. "Good evening, Ezra," Strahd greets him again. "You made an interesting choice today. I think perhaps you need more practice, but I like this new direction you are taking your character."

Ezra takes off his black hat and sets it on the carriage seat next to Strahd. He touches Strahd's arm. "I said I was here to help," Ezra reminds him, and surreptitiously casts Remove Curse, just to see what it will do.

It does nothing. He can't feel any difference, can see no change in Strahd at all.

Strahd pats Ezra's glowing hand amiably. "Oh, but you seem so hot and clammy. Perhaps you should see a doctor." He settles into the carriage, then, closing the door.

Before they depart, Rahadin leans toward Ezra, regarding him over his shoulder. "There are always more black hats available, should you decide it suits you, Ezra." He flicks the reins, and they're off. The ominous black carriage rolls north, back up the road.

In the background, Dulan had the spirit of the wizard Emari [it's a magic item situation] trail after Ezra. When Ezra returns, Dulan regails the group with the information Emari gleaned from the interaction [Dulan is the only one who can see/hear the wizard's spirit].

When Ezra was speaking with Strahd, Emari said, Strahd's mind was a minefield of incessant cacouphanous screams and wails. And Rahadin's thoughts were shielded completely from detection.

A direct reversal of a previous encounter we'd had with both of them.

[ohmrbandy]

"The spray of God's blood fell from the sky like fire and hit the earth in bursts of light that shot out and scattered across the ground."

[0vergrowngraveyard]

everyone wish sonic a happy mother’s day (he is the mom, the dad, and the picket fence)

[gaybravado]

Fake screenshots of the last session. It was a doozy.

Backgrounds are painted/blurred over photos from Pixabay.

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

they’re being vague as shit, so…

tit phrediction time! (wrong answers only)

[agent37]

could be seen as an angstier companion to the one i did for angela's birthday ?♥️

[my-pjo-stuff]

Okay, hot take time :

The reason why Luke never canonically did alcohol or drugs on the Princess Andromeda (despite being a 20-something leading an active revolt against the gods with heavy trauma and 0 healthy coping mechanisms) is NOT that he's in a children's book and it would be inappropriate. It's because he's an emotional cuddly drunk. The very second he gets ANYTHING into his system any self restraint concerning his emotion is GONE.

That carefully curated mask to hide his emotions? VANISHED.

He's crying his little eyes out saying the most out-of-pocket shit ever. One second he's musing about Annabeth's childhood stories from when they were on the run and the next he trauma-dumps about his mother.

He's hanging half slumped over Chris with his head on his shoulder. Babbling about how he didn't want to hurt and betray almost everyone he ever knew and loved but he has to because Kronos would otherwise hurt them and him, and he has to take revenge and get justice.

Crack AU where someone, somehow slipped Luke smth during the time in TTC where Annabeth was held captive on the Princess Andromeda. And as a result she just spend half of her time in captivity being hugged by her drunk big brother figure whinning about wanting cuddles and just spilling everything to her.

PJO proceeds to end that book when Annabeth puts her newly acquired insight to use, defeats Kronos in a storm of fury over what he did to her big brother, and sends the entire Titan Army to the therapy they all so desperately need.

[hayloftdean]

phannies got a little too whimsical and ended up with dan and phil being armed with lethal amounts of lore that they could just toss at us any given day

[personthattoleratesme]

Them pointing out that they touched every single time, they’re really enjoying making fun of us

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Led Zeppelin - Going To California

[allmyandroids]

BARK BARK BARK BARKING MY HEART OUT 💥💥💥

[summerlycoris]

Is It Really A Birthday Party If You Wake Up In A Hospital Bed?

Chapter 1- And I Lay Under The Smoke And The Falling Debris.

Cassie's learning the hard way- nearly dying in an elevator after being betrayed by her bestie doesn't make for a great thirteenth birthday.

So that's a wash- but Cassie's a forward thinker. She wants her fourteenth birthday to be great- with carrot cake, her dad back, and friends who don't try to kill her.

Shouldn't be too hard, right? All she has to do is make some new friends…

… And maybe figure out what happened with that All Staff Meeting her Dad had talked about before he went missing…

This may be harder than she thinks. Can she really pull this off? Or will that monster in the basement finally finish her off?

Join Cassie as she tries to answer these questions, and more! But most importantly…

Is it really a birthday party if you wake up in a hospital bed?

For a moment, she was floating. But only for a moment. Then she slammed into the roof of the elevator as it careened back down.

Time slowed down to a crawl, but her thoughts only sped up. She must've dropped her Faz-Wrench- It couldn't help her now. She couldn't find her Roxy-Talkie either. The monster's arm was just out of reach.

She wanted something to cling to.

Anything.

Everything was so confusing.

She wanted Roxy to be here. Gregory to be here. Someone to hold her hand. Whisk her away. Mom Dad please-

She'd spent all night falling, and she couldn't stand it. Maybe this was just a bad dream that she'd start awake from, safe in her bed.

I hate heights. I hate heights. I hate heigh-

Those were the last thoughts she could remember.

When she came to, she saw the damage done to the floor first, because her face was lying against it. The boards were sticking up slightly at breaks, or bent weirdly through the middle. She could feel some of them poking into her body. Her head hurt. Even worse than when Monty had tackled her into the sewerage pipe.

She breathed in dust, still hanging in the air as she looked up. Her eyes were blurry, but she could still see. The door was partially opened, the bars looked like they'd been wrenched apart.

She could hear something shuffling nearby. There was a faint creaking and groaning of metal from above her. She couldn't see her Faz-Wrench, V.A.N.N.I mask, or Roxy-Talkie anywhere. Or that monster's arm.

There was a grate sitting on the floor that hadn't been there earlier, though.

…

How long had she been out for?

Everything hurt way too much. Her left arm was stuck underneath her. When she tried to pull it out, it just hurt. A sharp, throbbing pain. She couldn't help but groan.

Her back hurt when she tried to get up. It was a duller pain though. Manageable? But she couldn't get up properly. She tried rolling off her belly, so she could push herself into sitting using her right arm. Her head spun just attempting to roll- so she put paid to that idea.

She couldn't feel anything weird in her legs. So they should be okay? But she couldn't move them. Oh, so they're broken. That makes more sense. She thought.

She lay her head back against the floor, taking some time to breath, and hopefully get her head to stop spinning. This was a really bad time for her vertigo to play up.

If she wanted to get out of this, she needed every advantage she could get.

To get out of here…

Could she even get out of here?

She could hear a faint shuffling noise nearby.

This elevator was… broken now. There was another one that she'd taken down from Roxy Racers. But she'd run away from it when the monster chased her, she thought.

…

Yeah. That one had a metal floor. She could remember because she'd spent too much time staring down at her shoes, crying over Roxy. There were two elevators. This broken one. And the one she'd have to get to to leave.

… Get to it how? She couldn't even roll over? Her legs were broken? Her head was still spinning?

She whimpered, the realization crashing into her. She wasn't getting out of this. Gregory may not have killed her with the fall, but she was still going to die.

It'd just take longer.

She could feel tears prickling at her eyes. Nobody could find her here. Nobody would even think to look here. No one knew where she was. She didn't have a phone- didn't even have her Roxy-Talkie anymore.

She had tried so hard, and this was where it would end? She sobbed, and her heart ached.

The shuffling noises got closer, and she could hear servos whirring. She stopped. That thing… it could still be here. What if it had heard her? She shut her eyes, and tried to play dead.

That noise got closer and closer. She was so tempted to look. Maybe dying to it would be better? Would it kill her quickly? Why was she still trying so hard to live?

"Cassie, are you in here?" She heard a small voice whispering. Roxy's voice. She'd never heard Roxy whisper before.

She squinted her right eye open, and looked out the wrecked door.

And there she was. Cassie couldn't even believe it. It really was her. She looked different though. She was missing most of her left arm, from the elbow down, and seemed to be crawling. Her head was hanging loosely from her neck. She saw Roxy's whole body twitch, and some sparks fly at her neck.

The tears she'd been holding back streamed down, and she sobbed out "Roxy- Roxy I'm so sorry-" her voice was creaky from the dust. She started to cough.

"Cassie, it's okay. You're okay. It's gone now, it can't hurt you any more. I'll get you out of here." Roxy's ears flicked around on her head, trying to pinpoint exactly where to go.

Cassie tried to push herself up with her right arm, and scramble towards her. She at least got her head and chest off the floor, and off her left arm. Her back protested from this movement. She couldn't go anywhere. "Roxy, I think I broke my legs- I can't move."

"That's okay. That's okay." Roxy tried to reassure her as she clambered over, gently as to not knock the loose boards up too much.

When Roxy reached her, Cassie tried to tap her with her left arm. It screamed at her to stop. She couldn't stop. I'm here, I'm here. You found me. Her hand ran over what was left of Roxy's hair- the green forelock, dangling loosely from her head. It felt more like plastic than hair. But it also felt like a lifeline. And Roxy could feel where she was now, too.

Roxy got closer, and kneeled up onto her legs, so she could use her arm. Her legs were damaged in places, and Roxy seemed to be off balance. But she braced herself with her busted arm, and used the right one to wrap around Cassie's chest. "We need to get out of here now. Can I move you? It may hurt."

She nodded, before realizing that was useless. "Yes, please." The creaking from up above reached a crescendo, as Roxy pulled Cassie up against her stomach. Cassie whimpered as her back stung. But she needed to be brave. She could be brave for a bit longer, now that Roxy was here.

Roxy held her firmly against her chest with her right arm crossing over Cassie's back. What was left of Roxy's left arm holding Cassie's head against her chest. Cassie could see the broken wires in her neck by looking up, and could see where that monster had further damaged Roxy's casing. Cassie had to be careful of Roxy's damaged head, hanging loosely just beside her own. She couldn't afford to take a wire to the eye. She clung to Roxys left shoulder with her only good arm.

Roxy stood up and quickly walked out of the elevator, leaning against the bars of the door as she crawled back through the hole.

"Did you open the door before, Roxy?"

"... No. But I think it has left now. What did it do to you?"

Roxy turned around to face the elevator, even if her head was dangling. Even though she was blind.

Cassie had seen the roof of the elevator buckling as they'd left it. Had seen some broken cords and cables next to the elevator. The walls at the back and sides of the elevator were buckled and bent in the fall, almost looking like the crinkly part of an accordion. But way less intended. The beams that should have held everything steady were snapped or bent. It looked like it was going to collapse.

And then it did collapse. Cassie gasped at the noise. Roxy took some frantic steps backwards, nearly tripping over.

"Oh my!"

"Roxy-"

Roxy managed to catch herself and stay upright, before turning around and getting away. The dust that had just been hanging in the elevator before was now everywhere. Cassie held her breath until they were clear of the cloud.

Roxy slumped forwards against the doorframe leading back towards the tunnels. She knelt down, and placed Cassie so she was sitting up against some nearby crates.

She breathed heavily, and made the mistake of looking down at her legs.

…

She looked away quickly, back up to Roxy. It just made her queasy.

"... What did it do to you?" Roxy asked again.

"It? Umm, it chased me through the tunnels… I got away though, I got into the elevator and I got away-" Cassie stalled.

She didn't want to think about a lot of things right now. Like heights. Like what the monster would've done to her if it had caught her. Her right ankle twisted strangely inwards. The cuts on her left leg. The fact her left leg just looked wrong. That her legs should be hurting. Her back-

But most of all she didn't want to think about that.

‘...But we can't let it follow you. I'm sorry.’

I was getting away until Gregory-

Her face felt warm and ashamed, and she started crying again. Maybe she'd just cry forever.

"The elevator fell. I fell. Gregory-" she couldn't continue though the sobs. She couldn't see properly through her tears.

And then Roxy was there. Holding her tight. Hugging her, and running her hand through Cassie's hair soothingly. For being pressed against broken metal and plastic, it was… comforting. They stayed like that for a while, until Cassie was calm enough to explain.

"He dropped the elevator. H-he couldn't risk that thing following me. That's what he'd said…"

Roxy's ears twitched. "That kid again, when I find him…" She growled, then shook her head and refocused. "Don't worry about him right now. You said that you thought your legs were broken earlier. Is there anything else?"

"My left arm really hurts. I think it's busted too? And my back hurts. It's not too bad, though. I think I landed badly?"

Roxy was silent for a moment, and Cassie got to thinking- how were they gonna get out of here?

"... Roxy, there's another elevator that leads back to Roxy Racers. That's how I got here. If we can get back to it, we can leave."

Roxy hummed. "I can do that. But I can't keep carrying you. Not safely. My balance is… off. If I fell forward I'd crush you. But I also can't leave you here to get help, anything could happen…" She trailed off, back to thinking. "Cassie, do you see any rope anywhere?"

She looked around. All she saw was the hallway, the door next to them, and the remains of the elevator. Except- wait. There was rope. Rope netting that was skirting the wall of the hallway just besides her.

"Yes! Just over there- err, to your left, along the wall. There's a long net stuck to it. Why?"

Roxy walked around her and the boxes, feeling her way over to the netting. "If I can't carry you in my arms, I could tie you to my back instead. That could work… you could even help tell me where to go."

Hope filled Cassie's chest. She could get out of here- and even get to help her favorite animatronic at the same time?

Maybe this birthday was still salvageable.

She agreed, and they set to work. Or rather, Roxy set to cutting the netting loose from the wall. Luckily, she still had one set of decently sharp claws. She cut a long length of netting, then pulled it back over to where Cassie sat, laying it on the ground.

"We could also use this to help splint your legs. Though, we may have to splint them against each other- I'm not sure if there's anything we can use here."

"There could be something in the crates? There's some behind me, and some against the other wall, closer to the elevator." Cassie was already taking her role seriously. Roxy went to go check, prying the lids off the crates behind her and feeling around inside the boxes. She rummaged through there for a long while, before speaking up again.

"Doesn't seem to be anything useful, just old party supplies? Everything feels like cardboard…"

Cassie looked over at the crates further away. They were half covered by a tarp, but she could see that they were typical kinds of crates. They had diagonal cleating on the sides for added support. She looked over her shoulder at the crates behind her- they were the same!

"The crates are made of wood. And the cleating shouldn't be too hard to remove. Could the cleats work as a splint?"

Roxy put the lid back on to the crate she was at, and started testing the cleating on its side. "This could work. I need three pieces…"

"Three?"

"Two for your legs" She ripped off one of the cleats, and moved onto the other side. "And one for your arm. Im not sure what to do about your back, though." She ripped off more pieces of cleating. "They taught us basic first aid, how to manage cuts and bruises, even apply splints. But not what to do for suspected spinal injuries. Maybe I should send a formal request for more training, when we get out of here."

Cassie didn't want to think about what that implied. So she didn't, instead focusing on what Roxy was doing.

Roxy got all the pieces together, cut some lengths of rope out of the net, then asked Cassie a question- "I'll need help to do this. I'll need your hand to help tie the ropes properly. And I'll need you to look at what I'm doing, to let me know if things go wrong. Can you do that for me?"

Cassie didn't want to do that. Just glimpsing her legs a few minutes ago had made her feel queasy. But what choice did she have?

I just need to be brave for a little bit longer.

She agreed. And Roxy handed her one end of the rope, before lining up the splint against her left forearm. She held Cassie's arm gently, but it still hurt. Cassie bit her lip as she wrapped the rope around her arm and the splint. When both the splint and forearm were stable against each other, Roxy let go, and grabbed the other end of the rope, feeling along the floor for it. They worked together to tie it up.

And then needed to repeat that for her legs. Which, on one hand, were easier. Cassie didn't need to bite her lip to keep from crying out in pain. But it was also harder. She didn't have much in her stomach- lunch was so long ago- but it was threatening to make a reappearance as Roxy helped straighten her ankle. It just looked wrong.

After that one, they moved onto her left leg. But didn't know where exactly that one had broken, only that she had some nasty looking cuts in her calf and thigh. So while her right leg only needed the ankle and shin splinted, she got her whole left leg laid out straight, and splinted. She was sure it'd feel uncomfortable later.

After finishing with her legs, Roxy and Cassie worked to tie what was left of the netting under Cassie's arms and around her upper back. Then, Roxy put her arms one at a time through the squares of the net. It's almost like she is putting on a button up shirt. Except the shirt is made of rope netting, and there are no buttons. Cassie giggled a little at the thought.

"When we get out of here, I'll make you a proper shirt. One that looks super cool." She whispered, clinging to Roxy's shoulder. She was so, so, tired. It was way past her bedtime. Definitely past midnight. Maybe even past two am. Mum never lets me stay up this late- even on new years eve! She'll definitely be home by now.

"Okay?" Roxy tilted her head in confusion. But it didn't look right because her head lolled forwards, as she walked on her hand and feet. Cassie guessed it was for better balance. She couldn't help but laugh at this situation. Everything just seems a little funnier when you're exhausted.

Roxy slowly continued following the tunnel back towards the monster's… Lair? Prison? It seemed to take eternity for them to get to the first fork in the road. And it seemed to take forever for Cassie to decide which way to go. "I… I think we go right here? Wait, no… He said to go right on the way here… Umm, we go left now?"

"We'll try left first. If it leads us to a dead end, we can just try again after."

So they went, continuing their slow trek back. And Cassie nearly dozed off several times. Despite having metal and plastic pressing into her belly. Despite having rope rubbing up into her shoulder blades. Despite the pain in her arm and back. She was only twelve, after all.

Wait, no. Thirteen now. I'll need to get used to saying that.

"Roxy- Roxy, did you know I'm thirteen now?"

Roxy laughed lightly. "Yes, that's why I wished you a happy birthday earlier. Did you forget?"

"Nuh- uh. Didn't forget it. I was just… distracted earlier."

Distracted running away from Chica, and Monty, and Freddy, and little Music Men. Distracted by a liar lying to me. Distracted because I shut you down. Because I let you down. Because I betrayed you, and he betrayed me-

"Roxy, how did you know I was down here anyway? I shut you down…"

"Shut me down? You rebooted me."

"But I saw you go limp-"

"I should clarify" it felt so weird to hear 'clarify' come out of Roxy's mouth- err, voice box. "You shut down security. But then I could reboot without it draining my resources, back into safe mode."

Cassie nodded, pretending like she understood how that worked. She wished she could ask her dad.

"And how did I find you? I could hear you crying. That led me down the elevator shaft, then to you."

Cassie could feel her eyes get watery. How haven't I run out of tears yet?

She sniffled out "Thank you, thank you sooo much." Into Roxy's back.

"Don't worry about it, kid. I'd do anything for my number one-twice." Roxy couldn't exactly grin- being pretty much all endo now. But she sounded like she was grinning.

That's why Roxy's my favorite.

A gust of cold wind rattled down the tunnel, causing Cassie to shiver. It was so noisy, too. She remembered the weird noises from earlier, and how the door had been torn ajar.

The monster had tried (and succeeded?) At getting into the elevator while she was unconscious. That's terrifying… another shiver ran up her back. This time it was not caused by the cold.

Maybe it just wanted its arm back? Maybe it thought I was already dead?

She shook her head, these thoughts were getting her nowhere.

"It's pretty late- four forty-five by my internal clock. When did you last get any sleep?" Roxy kept walking forward on her three limbs, going over a bumpy part, but trying her best to be gentle with it.

"Umm, a long time ago? I woke up at six yesterday…"

Roxy hummed. "Did you want to take a nap for a while? It seems to be a straight path for now. I should be able to handle this bit."

"No, not yet. Roxy, do you think it's gonna come… back for me? I think I really made it mad earlier."

"It- oh, that one." Roxy stopped walking, and craned her ears around. "I think it found a way out already. If it was still here, I'd be able to hear it. And I doubt it'll come back- it'd be scared of having a second round against me!" Roxy joked.

Cassie laughed at that. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to fight you either…"

"How would you have made it mad, though?" Roxy asked, after a bit. She'd resumed walking, following the tunnel.

"It thought it was Gregory. And I told it that it wasn't him. Probably made it embarrassed."

Roxy laughed. "Maybe so, but I don't think it'll come back just because you embarrassed it. It might never want to see this place again, it was trapped down in that room before?"

"Yeah… until I let it out." I'm the biggest, most foolish girl in the world right now. "I really messed up, huh? I knew something was wrong, but I kept going anyway." Her eyes started to water again. "I just wanted to see him again…"

"Cassie… it's not your fault. Things like that, they like to mess with people and trick them. I've been tricked before too- if they can trick me, that means they can trick anyone."

Cassie waited for Roxy to tell her how she was tricked, but Roxy changed the subject instead.

"You know what the best thing to do is? When someone treats you like dirt?"

"No… What?"

"You keep trying, and you never give up! Then, when you win, you can rub it in their face! 'You tried to tear me down- well look where I am now!' "

That made Cassie feel a little better. Roxy didn't really get why she was upset, but it was nice to hear her attempts to comfort her.

"I'm gonna get you out of here. Then, you can show them up- both Gregory and that thing!"

"...Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Cassie grinned, and felt determination flow through her. Because they wanted me dead- getting out alive would be enough.

They kept going for a while, down the cold, drafty tunnel. Cassie yawned loudly, and slumped down further into Roxy's back. Today- well yesterday and today- had been such a rollercoaster for her. She was fighting just to stay awake.

Roxy laughed. "Get some sleep, Cassie. I'll wake you if I get lost."

She couldn't fight her heavy eyelids for any longer. So she did just that, curling up as best she could against Roxy's back. The slight swaying of movement rocking her to sleep.

________

Cassie didn't know how long she'd been asleep, just that Roxy had woken her up near the toppled forklift.

She groaned and tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes. "Whu- what time is it?"

"From my internal clock, it is about seven thirty a.m."

"Wow… Mom's gonna kill me when I get home. Do you think I'll miss the school bus?"

"... Cassie, it's still summer break? Are you okay?"

"Umm, yeah. Just tired." Exhausted was probably a better word. She felt like she had less sleep than she did before that nap. "I'm awake though. You need help?"

Cassie looked around. They were near the lair where that monster had been trapped. She could see the upturned forklift next to them. It still had power- though, luckily, the engine had turned off. There was only the faint smell of gasoline filling the space. Though, it must've still had battery. Because the brake lights were still on, shining a dim light to the ceiling. Even if the headlights hadn't been buried in the rubble when the monster threw it down, they'd probably have broken on impact with the wall. She could vaguely see the room where the monster had been stuck, using the scattered faint red light. But there was a problem- it was up higher than the tunnel. She'd had to jump down into the tunnel earlier that morning from the room. Now they'd need to climb back up into that room.

And it was at least six feet off the ground.

"I just… I don't know where to go now. I don't have an internal map of this place. Is this a dead end? I swear I went the right way…" Roxy asked, feeling against the wall underneath the hole with her hand.

"No, there's a hole up in the wall, but it's pretty high up. It's just above you. If you stand up, you should be able to reach it."

Roxy stood up, and felt along with her hand until she felt the wall give way into a hole. The hole was tall- but Roxy was nearly as tall as it. If she'd had eyes, and a head that wasn't lolled forward, she would've been able to see inside the room. But she didn't have eyes. And while she would've been tall enough to see into the room, she was not tall enough to climb back through. At least, not without injuring Cassie further. They both realized this around the same time.

"There has to be another way. We're so close!"

"You can leave me here, if you want. I'll be okay."

Roxy shook her head. "No, there's no way I'm leaving you behind. Not like this."

Cassie sighed. Am I gonna drag Roxy down with me? She can't have endless power… The chill swept through her again. She shivered, and looked around. Maybe Roxy was right, and there was something that could help them.

There was rubble, from when the forklift had broken through the brick wall. But most of it was just… Well, bricks. Some pieces were bigger, but none were both big enough, and stable enough to stand on. The only really solid thing in this tunnel was the forklift.

Hey, wait…

"Maybe the forklift can help? It's to your left, and it's kinda stuck in the rubble. It landed on its bonnet earlier. If it was laying on its side, in front of the wall, could it become a stepping stone?"

"... That could work. Hang on."

Cassie gripped onto Roxy's shoulder pad tighter, as Roxy turned towards the fork lift. She went over, grabbing onto the chassis and testing it for any give. It wriggled a bit when pressure was applied.

Roxy braced herself, and secured her hand a bit higher on the frame, before trying to pull it towards herself. Cassie whimpered, worried it would fall too quickly and crush them. Roxy had already gotten stuck under a forklift earlier that morning- what if it happened again?

These worries turned out to be baseless- it never moved enough to become a crush hazard. And it was clear to Cassie that this was really pissing off Roxy. She started grunting with exertion, and putting her whole body weight into trying to move it. She tried pushing it backwards, then pulling it towards herself, trying to lever its tynes out of the ground. But it just wasn't working. It was stuck too fast. The sudden movements running pain through Cassie's arm and back, with the way Roxy was jolting back and forth. Cassie didn't worry about that though- she could hear Roxy's servos straining, and see the way the loose wires near her neck sparked.

"Roxy- Roxy! Just stop, please- You're going to hurt yourself!" She begged.

And she did stop. Roxy leant against the chassis, still gripping it with her hand. She panted as she stood there, the effects of that effort catching up to her.

Cassie changed her grip, from shoulder pad, to shoulder itself, and laid her head down against Roxy's back. It was the closest she could get to giving her a hug.

"I'm gonna… waste all my battery trying to move this… stupid, useless hunk of metal!" Roxy yelled in frustration, slamming her fist into the paneling of the forklift. Cassie flinched at the sound of metal meeting metal.

A few seconds passed. But it felt like eternity. Roxy eventually stopped panting, and backed away from the stuck fork lift.

"I'm sorry that I scared you just then. I just… I can't lose again. I have to protect you, but I can't even get you to safety like this." The disappointment in her voice was palpable.

"It's okay, it's okay…" Cassie tried to sooth her. "You tried, I'm just glad you didn't get crushed again."

They stayed there in silence for a minute, brain and CPUs wracking for a solution.

"If you went without me, you could get Eclipse for help. They're back in the daycare, but they're in pretty good shape, and they can fly."

"Wait- Eclipse is back? I haven't seen them in years… if I could get closer to the raceway, I could probably send a distress signal to them."

"I'll be fine down here- you said it yourself earlier- it probably never wants to see this place again. It won't be back."

"... But it's my job to protect you. You're a kid, and you need help. I already failed you once- I can't do it twice."

"Wait, you didn't fail me- You saved my life? I don't understand…"

Roxy tensed up. "I lost. To that thing. And it chased you, and he hurt you. I couldn't even do anything. Not anything that mattered."

"But that wasn't your fault! If anyone failed me- it's Gregory! You tried to save me. You still are saving me."

Roxy didn't give any indication that she'd even heard her. Cassie didn't know what to say. But she needed to say something.

"...When we get out of here, I'll fix you. I'll get Andy to help- I'll get Dad to help, too…" if I ever find him. "then you won't have to worry about losing again."

She felt Roxy relax a bit under her- maybe that was the right thing to say?

"...Are you sure? About being okay here, I mean."

"I've gone through a lot worse things than waiting tonight- err, today."

Roxy sighed. She got down, as low as she could get to the ground, trying to smooth out a spot with her hand. Then she started taking off the netting. "Make sure to hold on. I'll be able to grab you- you won't fall- but not until my arms are free."

Cassie agreed.

Slowly, and as gently as she could, Roxy put her down on the ground. It wasn't great- she was laying on rubble, and the netting from before. It was uncomfortable. But she'd be okay.

Roxy hovered over her, and ran her fingers through Cassie's hair. "... I'll be back soon, okay? I'll get Eclipse, and we'll get you home again. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay." She lied. Cassie wanted to be greedy. She wanted to hold Roxy's hand, and never let go. She wanted Roxy to keep running her hand through her hair. She didn't want to be left here alone.

But I have to be brave, for just a little longer. "I'll see you soon."

Roxy drew back, and her hand left Cassie's hair. "I'll see you soon, Cassie." She went back to the wall, looking like she was measuring with her hand how high up the hole was. Cassie wondered how she'd get up there. She was answered quickly- Roxy took a few paces backwards, crouched, then took a flying leap. Straight at the hole.

She nearly nailed the landing- despite not being able to see it. She got most of the way through, and only needed to scramble her legs against the wall to completely get through, knocking a few bricks loose.

Then she was gone. And Cassie was alone again. In a cold, dark tunnel, just laying down. At least this time I'm not stuck on my belly, I guess.

Nothing much happened from there. All Cassie could do was think. Wonder what Eclipse would say when they saw her again. Or what Mom would do when she saw just how many bones Cassie had broken in one sitting.

She'd need to go back to school- would they send her back in a wheelchair? She wasn't sure how to feel about that. Her classmates would probably pick on her for it. But she could probably do some cool tricks in it, as well. And if she was lucky, she could even get a red one, or a purple one. That'd match her outfits well. Even a green one would be okay- as long as it isn't dark green. I don't want to look like I'm dressed for Christmas!

She wished she hadn't gone through the water earlier. Well, she wished she hadn't bothered coming down here at all… but she really regretted going through that water. Her clothes had gotten soaked when Monty pushed her into the sewers, then from when she missed a step while trying to avoid Monty near the log ride. Then soaked again when wading through the weird, underground lake. Despite being hours later, her clothes were still damp and sticking to her.

It hadn't been as annoying earlier, because she'd had better things to worry about. But now, stuck in a drafty tunnel, it was really difficult to deal with. No matter what, she just couldn't get warm. She couldn't stop shivering.

She had no idea what time it was now. Or how long Roxy had been gone for. Cassie just wanted to go home already. Go to bed with her plushie collection, and forget that this had ever happened to her.

But what if Roxy couldn't find Eclipse? Wasn't there a broken set of stairs Cassie had to jump down earlier? If Roxy had problems finding the hole in the wall, would she really be able to get back to the raceway without help? What if she powered down halfway?

Cassie tried not to think about it. She really tried. But there was nothing happening here, and thoughts of home could only go so far in distracting her. She could hear her breaths speed up, and she felt faint. I need to stop panicking. I'm okay, I'm okay…

But even after grounding herself (literally, by grabbing at the loose ground beneath her.) She still felt breathless.

She was so tired.

Just so tired.

After a while, she fell into an uneasy sleep.

~~~~~~~~

Authors note- God I love Ruin, for all the same reasons I love Sister Locations story- concise, clear storytelling. But the elevator ending cliffhanger… that stuck with me. So, using the powers of autism and frantic obsession for… well, not good, but for something at least, I'm writing a story of how Cassie gets out of this mess.

I needed to start with the usual sort of after-elevator-ending chapter though, to set up things for the future. I hope it was interesting, even though it was long.

For anyone worried Gregory cut the cord in this- he didn't. But Cassie doesn't know that. And there will be drama, trust me.

Also- no I'm not including anything from help wanted 2 onwards (unless it already vibes with what I'm doing.) Because. I started writing this monstrosity on *checks date* the 22rd of august. To change it to include anything major from hw2 would be to. Gut 100k words and practically start over I reckon.

[angels444yuri]

being a uni student is really great i have never gossiped so much in one night

[fireheartedpup]

Forgot what post this is from, but if it were a bingo card I'd get at least one.

[mylittleredgirl]

every IT solution thread on reddit includes:

detailed solution that saves my life

grateful responses

multiple one-word comments that just say “linux”

a textbook example of how the curse of knowledge can turn you into a real dick

[deleted]

“your comment has been removed by the moderators for violating our community rules about death threats”

[saltavenegar]

My party was informed of some confusing news