Ah, the Orbital Precision Strike. The first Orbital you get, and likely the first you put down once you get more intriguing options. It's basic: a single high-damage, low-AoE shot with a quick coolown--nothing special, nothing flashy. Other stratagems are much more bombastic, but this one keeps it simple. However, just because it's simple doesn't mean that it's bad; it's anything but. Over the past few weeks, I've been using it in Helldive missions, and I've gotta say: it does impress.
Now, to preface: this is coming from a Bot diver. On the Bug front, the 500-kilo is miles better, without question. When fighting clankers, though, it's actually quite good. Like our favorite bomb, it's more of a utility pick and less of a damage pick--sure, you can use it to take out the bigger baddies, but the low AoE and wealth of other options for taking out heavy armor makes it unideal for the job. It's best used for one purpose: taking out structures.
Jammer? Gone.
Eye of Sauron Detector Tower? Hardly knew her!
Rogue Science Stations? Piece of cake.
Fabs? Do you even have to ask?
When used like this, it's amazing at it's job. Swipe in the extremely basic input, toss the ball, and run away. Despite its "precision" nature, I've found it to be rather forgiving when it comes to structures, seemingly more so than the 500kg, as I can (for some reason) stick it to those annoyingly bouncy Detector Towers more reliably.
But... yeah, the 500kg exists. Compared to the Precision, the 500-kilo has two uses, a faster call-in time, and a faster potential cooldown relative to each use. However, there's one key factor in favor of the Precision: the 500kg has a higher potential cooldown. It's bound to Eagle-1, and you're most likely not going to be running just 500s, as Airstrikes are extremely versatile. This means that, usually, you'll throw your two bombs and then either need to manually rearm to get them back quicker or spend your other munitions elsewhere. I.e., in most cases, the Orbital Precision is actually faster. As it's independent from Eagle, there's no need to do a song and dance to have one ready the next time you need it, it's just fire and forget.
Thanks to that reason alone, it's pretty much taken up the slot that the 500 otherwise would in my loadouts. No need for a Hellbomb when you've got a massive slug raining from orbit in your back pocket (except, of course, for those damned Gunship Facilities).
So what do you think? Precision, 500, or something else entirely? Both have their merits, and there's always the occasional wild card.

Hey,
I (M,currently 27) was in a relationship back from 2017 to 2020. I know it is quite some time ago but I think the situation messed me up more than I thought. I hope writing on here helps me. I honestly don’t know where to begin so I’ll just write and see what comes out
Some background: I worked at a youth camp where we were in ‘charge’ of leading groups of kids daily around attractions and activities where I met (let’s call her K) that time we were both a group leader of different groups. Me at that time being 20 and her being 19. This is where we met.
K already had 2 relationships before me which were quite abusive, she didn’t tell me straight from the start but as our relationship grew she slowly gave more details. Abuse and rape were not uncommon in those relationships and she worked up quite some traumatic experiences while she was 14-17.
During the camp, K had a kid in her group who was misbehaving quite badly, even one who threatened to bring knives next time he would come visit and when one of the kids attacked her I stepped in to hold the kid down. (This was during the moment the kids had to gather to go back home.)
Every day in the morning the kids would be picked up at a certain spot in our city and at the end of the day the busses would bring them back to those spots. Every day I would go to the camp by car, together with another coworker. He would bring us to the spot of the youth camp and we would drive back home afterwards. The final day of the week, he wanted to go grab a drink at the beach, and because her bus was missing one more bus leader, we arranged to drive with her bus.
From that moment on we talked a lot, there was a party on the last day of the camp (it’s only there for 3 weeks a year during summer holiday) and she asked if she could go with us by car. After the party I drove everyone back home and took her home last. She was prepared for having a ONS, even though my intentions were more than that, we talked till late at night/early in the morning and the next day she would leave towards her parents vacation home in France.
During her holiday in France we talked daily and grew quite close. She had some things she didn’t want to tell me about, like her exes, but after a couple of weeks she came back and we planned to go for a walk, she lived close to the beach. After a couple months and dates, we started to become official bf/gf.
Things started off great even though K was quite insecure. I tried my best to be there for her at every moment she needed it, and quite soon after becoming official she was getting some health issues. After some blood tests, she was very scared of and I always went with her to the hospital. She was diagnosed with a couple of viruses.
Long story short, she was tired a lot, had pain in her entire body without any cause, stuff like that.
I was feeling really bad for her, so much so that I quit my studies and was there to support her at any step of the way. Even though the illnesses she had were untreatable. (I never told her she was the reason, I told her it was because I didn’t like the study.)
Our relationship had ups and downs, because of her traumatic experiences she wasn’t always feeling alright without our relationship.
She always said she had to get used to being treated well because she never had that. By the way, whenever we had sex I made sure to prioritise her over myself so she wouldn’t feel like it was forced and I really had to teach her to please herself (she also never masturbated before me, as that was difficult for her due to her past)
Our relationship grew and we go to know each others families but she still had problem commiting, she was broken before and I tried to give her space and tell her that I was ‘the real deal’ and was there because I loved her. There were times where she was having commitment issues. (At the start of the relationship I also told her I didn’t want to force her but I really started to have feelings and didn’t know what to do with that because I knew about her commitment issues.)
Her past of being SA and forced to do things she didn’t want to continued to play some part in our relationship at times of her insecurities and doubts.
Things went wrong at the same youth camp some time later, in the summer of 2019. (In 2018 she got a promotion to leader of the camp so technically she was my boss during the camp.)
During the end-party with only the staff, she got somewhat drunk. (Camp leaders sleep on the premises of the camp in tents, they welcome all the kids and the group leaders every morning and wave them goodbye the end of the day.)
As the BF of one of the camp leaders I was allowed to sleep with her in the tent that day and help the organisation clean up the day after.
As a guy people easily talk to, later during the party one of the other group leaders came up to me and asked to talk, she was very sad and tried with every power to hold back her tears. I agreed and during the party we went to a quiet place so she could vent.
I have to add, I was quite popular as a group leader, I always connected well with coworkers, shared stuff with them and made sure we all would come along nicely. Which also made me an easy person to talk or vent to, it was also widely known I was the BF of K.
The coworker bursted out in tears when we sat down on a bench at the park and she told me what was wrong.
We talked for about half an hour, in which my phone was in my pocket and I wasn’t responding and when we came back to the group friends of mine started telling me K was looking for me. Apparently someone had seen me leave with the other coworker and K, in her insecurity and drunkenness got very upset I was cheating on her.
So I went down to find K and talked to her but it didn’t matter what I told her she didn’t believe me and was convinced I had s*x with that girl on that park bench.
The people slowly left and as we didn’t want to make a whole public argument out of it, she decided to behave normally until we were alone in the tent later.
I told her to talk tomorrow, promised her I didn’t cheat, but at the moment she was too influenced to talk about what happened, she agreed but about 5 minutes later she began to harass me. K tried kicking me out of the bed, continued to be annoying and that made me decide to move from out of the tent into some other place to sleep.
I moved myself and my belongings to a tent that was used for some of the activities to create some space and hoped I would be able to get some sleep and work things out the next day.
After 10/15 minutes, my phone kept buzzing like crazy, she was looking for me. I told her that I wouldn’t go back and we will figure it out tomorrow. I tried to sleep but 10 minutes later she was next to me and had my phone in her hand. Threatening to break it by throwing it on the ground and hitting me if I didn’t come with her back to the tent because “everyone would look at us weirdly if I slept in some other place.”
I tried to calm her down but in the end she threw my phone onto the floor and to make sure things wouldn’t escalate more I agreed and went back with her to the tent.
The next day would be cleaning day, in which I just tidied up and cleaned, we didn’t talk much. At some point she became more violent against me where she would throw things towards me. I told one of the other camp leaders and a good friend of mine I would leave earlier to not escalate the situation because she was attacking me. I grabbed my stuff, went to the bus and left for home. During my trip home she still continued to send messages ranging from come back to hating me.
The next day she would go with her parents to their holiday home in France, I would come 2 weeks later and after a short visit of me there (1 week) we would go to Disney together as our own holiday. (Already booked before the drama started.)
In the 2 weeks that followed I tried to create some space for myself, vented with friends. I was really hurt by the situation but I blamed her past for her behaviour. I was definitely upset by her attacking and slapping me and breaking my stuff. She would contact me more and more while I tried to create space to solve what happened.
We discussed the holiday plans and what we would do, but as I wanted to patch things up, I decided I would go there, we could talk.
After arriving there, there were mixed feelings, she wanted to be more physical than I was used to but I had a hard time because of what happened. (I had trouble to finish or didn’t even want to have physical contact.) We talked it over, I explained my side of the story and it all seemed to be patched up a little.
At some point I ended up with both her parents at a table, 3 against 1, where they would blame me for having the discussion with the coworker in private to help her out because she was having a hard time and how I should never have done that. I never said anything about her violence towards me. I was far from home and I didn’t want to escalate the situation. The upcoming days went better but still not as we used to have. Then came the Disney Trip.
Disney was a freaking nightmare, the first days were fun but at some point the whole situation came back up. (Important; she speaks French and I don’t.) We were walking outside of the hotel (close to Disney) and she was getting more angry, started to scream help in French.
Which meant that I was in a country where I didn’t speak the language, with a girl who screamed for help in a language I didn’t understand. She grabbed her phone and called her mother, told her I was ‘the same as her exes and how I abused her.’ (Turns out, the call was fake, she wanted to know who I would call as she thought I would call the girl from the youth camp I helped out.)
I was scared someone would come and kick the shit out of me or I didn’t have a way to get home (she had the train tickets) so I grabbed my phone and called one of my best mates. I explained the situation and asked if he could pick me up. Without a doubt he jumped in his car and drove towards me. I walked away from K towards the hotel to grab my stuff, she was surprised and followed me, begging me to not leave her there and told me she was ‘testing if I would/expecting me to call the girl.’ She practically begged me to call my best mate off and we patched it up towards the point where I would be okay leaving with the train with her.
I called my best mate and told him things would be okay and he didn’t have to come, he asked if I was sure and I thanked him so much for being prepared to come but things were okay.
After the whole ordeal things were a little more okay but I was on edge. On the day we left we had one more fight about the situation in which I called her some bad words and she just broke down crying and patched it back up before we stepped into the train to our 6 hour ride home.
To be clear, I have never and will never lay my hands on a woman, not even when she attacked me, threw things at me or stuff like that, all I did was grab her wrists so she wouldn’t hit me more but at the end of that holiday of 3 weeks with a lot of very mixed emotions, fights, being cornered (3v1), a lot of physical cravings on her side I was so tired that I called her some heavy swear words in that last fight.
I loved her and wanted to make things alright again, but her mood swings made it very difficult, also her breaking my trust for not believing me made it tough on me. My phone was always accessible. (Apparently she did a lot of checks on my phone at night, also before the fight, where she tried to find messages of infidelity but never found any.)
In the months that followed we never got back to our old selves but we were heading there. At some point she started using a dating app to make friends. (Bumble) She said she was feeling lonely and wanted more friends since she had lost a very good one in those 2 years. (One of the girls she hung around with a lot and her got into a fight about some stupid stuff.) She was very jealous on my social skills and wanted to make new friends.
At some point she asked me if it was okay for her to meet up with some guy for coffee. She met the guy on Bumble. I told her if she would do that I would leave because I would feel betrayed. After her telling the guy she had a BF the guy lost interest. (Figures..) At the time I didn’t know that Bumble BFF function would only show you people from your own gender, so she lied about which part of Bumble she was on. Afterwards she said she wanted guy friends.
March 2020, one day before the National lockdown she broke up with me, I told her I felt betrayed for her leaving me after everything I’ve done for her and that was the start of a serious dark period. Having everything to having nothing. My job had to close down, curfew and no more GF.
Within those last months she started therapy too, which helped her quite a lot. Some memories she pushed away came back and I have to admit that the stories are horrible. I always felt so bad for her. She did try to be open about it all, but at some point she still decided to break things off.
2/3 months later, she contacted me again, lockdown has been a little less strict so I could go back to work and she called me to meet her afterwards. She cried on the phone, a lot happened and she was in a real bad place. I visited her, we talked and she tried to seduce me. I told her that if she wanted us to recover it had to take time. We never made it official again but we became sort of Bf/Gf for a couple more months after which she dropped me again.
She started dating a guy she met on Bumble while in our official relationship within weeks. Got doubts and contacted me again. After we split again she got back with that guy. (As far as I know they’re together still.)
The youth camp still occurred and I was still going, I loved the job and thought of myself as strong enough to just do my job and nothing else there. She always restrained us from being very touchy when working there (hugs and/or a kiss to say hey) but with her new BF she didn’t everything she could to be close to him, I’ve always found that strange.
Now, two years after that last one, I am no longer able to go to the camp, even though I didn’t do anything wrong she pulled some strings and got me blacklisted for some reason. I really hate her for that because I loved working there. When I visited the theme park it occurs in last year I got welcomed by two of her coworkers asking me what I came to visit for.
I didn’t tell anyone about how violent she was towards me, there were a lot more instances but I thought this post would be long enough already. I don’t know why but I feel this whole situation had been tough on me. I have a hard time dating again and feel insecure a lot more.
I don’t want to say she is all to blame, I am not perfect either, but I tried, I fought and now I feel like I can’t do that anymore with others.
Thank you if you’ve made it to the end. I hope this helps me to move on.

This is a problem I assumed was just with Dogmeat, but now that I finally have a human companion in Cross I realize that the wheel doesn't work at all. I can't check inventory, change weapon, etc. Talking to them also does nothing besides gives the "Goodbye." option or, in Dogmeat's case, literally nothing at all, and when dismissed using the console in Megaton Supply (the only way to do so besides using console commands) they become unable to be recruited again. I can't find any info on this and I don't even have many mods installed besides the ones that TTW recommends.
​
DLC: TribalPack
DLC: OldWorldBlues
DLC: MercenaryPack
DLC: LonesomeRoad
DLC: HonestHearts
DLC: GunRunnersArsenal
DLC: DeadMoney
DLC: ClassicPack
DLC: CaravanPack
Fallout 3
Anchorage
ThePitt
BrokenSteel
PointLookout
Zeta
Tale Of Two Wastelands
NVSE
JIP LN NVSE Plugin
FNV Mod Limit Fix
JIP Improved Recipe Menu
JohnnyGuitar NVSE
NVTF - New Vegas Tick Fix
ROOGNVSE Plugin
ShowOff xNVSE Plugin
lStewieAl's Engine Optimizations
UIO - User Interface Organizer
lStewieAl's Tweaks and Engine Fixes
Stewie Tweaks Essentials INI
kNVSE Animation Plugin
OneTweak for FNV
Hazel - Mercenary Sniper Companion - New Vegas Edition
Willow - A Better Companion Experience
Perk Every Level
Sprint Mod
Complete Vault Girl Interface
The Ranger's Cabin
Almost Perfect
Fallout Who Vegas - Complete
FWV Tale of Two Wastelands Add-On
The Mod Configuration Menu
Easy Unlocking - Easy Hacking - Guaranteed Pick Pocket
Configurable essential followers and caravans TTW
JIP Companions Command and Control
​
Any help would be appreciated

I'll preface this by saying I absolutely adore my child, and would die for them.
But it's looking more and more like several diagnoses are in the cards, and I feel so helpless and cheated.
It's my only kid. I wanted at least two, so the siblings could play and support one another. An heir and a spare, some say - I would rather say it's so when I die, they're not alone with all the funeral stuff etc. And siblings are so good for learning social stuff, even if they're annoying.
Instead, I've been left with the nightmare version of my little dream. All I wanted was a happy little family. Loving and giving is my whole personality.
Instead, I got completely hoodwinked by a cruel narcissist who wore the nicest of guys mask. I fell for it, because I had never met a master manipulator like that before. And I got hurt before I could safely get away.
I ended up with PTSD and an ugly divorce, and I'm still looking over my shoulder in case he reappears. I've had to raise our kid alone, struggled so freaking much, had so much therapy for the hell he put me through, and yet...
As much as I tried not to let my kid see the PTSD effects, I know it's happened. I know I overprotected my kid because I was so afraid of ANY hint of "you're a bad mother", and a vengeful legal process sweeping my kid away to end up with the very mentally unwell father, who never showed any interest in being a father for anything but the status. I know I had to keep disappearing for "paperwork" that was the ugly divorce stuff when my kid was very little. I know I should have done more playdates. I was just so tired, and they were so difficult to organise.
But I knew something was weird. My kid was always so shy, always so nervous. Didn't like any other kids, and would never forgive or forget the loud, hitting types. My kid always wanted me with them, like a bodyguard. I've tried to think it's just anxiety, social withdrawal around strangers because of that time with an unlucky start in a really understaffed kindergarten where my kid got hurt and threatened by a gang of bigger boys. That I've got a kid with way too much going on in their head to want to do the boring task being asked. That it's pretty natural not to forget that someone hit and bullied you, and not want anything to do with them ever again.
But you know who also had severe issues with anxiety, that turned into OCD and substance abuse? Anxiety about stuff so strong that it made him violent? The ex. This is not just my upbringing of my kid. This is genetic. Everywhere I look online, that's the answer. There's a genetic component to OCD and anxiety. And my kid is the spitting image of the father.
I feel so utterly defeated, so cheated, and so broken. I'm in early menopause from the stress, and frankly, I've not been inspired to date ever since the breakup. So, no more kids. And frankly, I've got my hands full.
I'm getting all the help I can for my kid. I've done everything I can to keep my kid safe and away from the very unsafe ex, not that he's shown any interest ever since I said I could do without the child support payments. I can't even begin to tell you how messed up that man is, but he hid it so, so well in the beginning. Until I was trapped and way too pregnant. That's how abusers operate.
I guess I just needed somewhere to air my thoughts after I burst into tears just now. It's late at night, and I was tidying up, and I found out my kid's pockets are FULL of stones, again, despite the many, many conversations and pleading to stop collecting them. I don't know what to do with this compulsion my kid has for collecting stones and fun bits of rubbish that breaks the washing machine if I don't check all the pockets. I don't know what to do with any of it: All the hints of autism, the sheer terror from anxiety in their eyes when I ask them to go into a bathroom stall alone when they're aged 10, how to make my kid look me or other people in the eye and remember to say hi back, to go to the toilet... Or to try not to lose my shit at repeating myself gently 30 times to please just put pyjamas on, and often fail and explode and end in another discussion about PLEASE doing the ONE THING that's needed, and what "now" means. Because often nothing else but snapping works and we can't wait another 45 minutes with the million distraction games my kid plays when there's something they don't want to do right now. The kid needs sleep, or the toilet, or whatever. And I just have to be harsh or nothing happens. And then we've got a problem.
That man broke me and gave me a genetically broken kid.
Of course I would love my child and die for them. The love I have for my kid is nearly bursting out of my chest sometimes. They are the cutest little human, so gentle and clever.
But no more kids after that for me, despite my heart aching for more. No happily ever after. Just an endless, endless fight against my PTSD, despite all the therapy, along an endless fight against my ex and all the scars he left on my body, mind and life. I had to leave the country I knew because of him, to get to a safer place, to get a new start. He literally destroyed any chance I had of ever feeling safe there.
I am so angry and so hopeless against what genetics I can see my kid can't run away from, and I'm so exhausted from my feverish dedication to trying so hard to figure out my kid and what they need. And the fear of never being able to give the best chance at a happy life.
I'm so tired, and I can't keep pretending I'm the strong, inspiring survivor that won the war against an abusive partner, when I know so many have it worse. I literally won pain and suffering, but I'll love what I got and make the best out of it, because that's my life and it's all I've got.
It all just really hurts today. Fucking stones in pockets again broke me.

Hi all, looking to sell some more items. Currently only accepting Paypal F&F, offering free shipping on any order $50+. Feel free to send offers and ask for more pics!

System	Item	Condition	Price
3DS	3DS XL Zelda Link Between Worlds edition (charger port is loose, minor crack near port)	Loose	$160.00
3DS	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate	Loose	$18.00
3DS	Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past	Loose	$43.00
3DS	Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl	Loose	$38.00
3DS	Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beggining	Loose	$11.00
3DS	Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX	Loose	$38.00
3DS	Jewel Master: Cradle of Egypt 2 3D	CIB	$8.00
3DS	Kid Icarus: Uprising	Loose	$38.00
3DS	Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance	Loose	$11.00
3DS	Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (label fading / damage)	Loose	$30.00
3DS	Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games	CIB	$17.00
3DS	Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate	Loose	$13.00
3DS	One Piece: Unlimited World Red	Loose	$20.00
3DS	Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity	Loose	$18.00
3DS	Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy	Loose	$94.00
3DS	Samurai Warriors Chronicles	CIB	$14.00
3DS	Scribblenauts Unlimited	CIB	$7.00
3DS	Senran Kagura: Deep Crimson 2	Loose	$42.00
3DS	Shin Megami Tensei IV [Limited Edition] (dismantled box)	CIB	$60.00
3DS	Skylanders Giants	Loose	$7.00
3DS	Yo-Kai Watch	Loose	$12.00
Dreamcast	Sonic Adventure (Sega All-Stars)	CIB	$41.00
DS	Advance Wars: Days of Ruin	Loose	$18.00
DS	Advance Wars: Dual Strike	Loose	$21.00
DS	Age of Empires: The Age of Kings	CIB	$9.00
DS	Beyblade Metal Fusion	Loose	$4.00
DS	Bleach Blade of Fate	Loose	$11.00
DS	Bleach Dark Souls	Loose	$16.00
DS	Bomberman	Loose	$11.00
DS	Children of Mana	Loose	$11.00
DS	Clubhouse Games	CIB	$4.00
DS	Eragon	CIB	$5.00
DS	Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates	CIB	$14.00
DS	Final Fantasy IV	Loose	$15.00
DS	From the Abyss	Loose	$24.00
DS	Guilty Gear Dust Strikers	Loose	$10.00
DS	Kirby Planet Robobot	Loose	$26.00
DS	LBX: Little Battlers Experience	Loose	$12.00
DS	Legend of Legacy	Loose	$14.00
DS	Legendary Starfy	Loose	$14.00
DS	Luminous Arc	Loose	$35.00
DS	Mega Man Star Force Leo	CIB	$60.00
DS	Nostalgia	Loose	$25.00
DS	Princess on Ice	CIB	$7.00
DS	Ragnarok Online DS	Loose	$26.00
DS	Ridge Racer DS	Loose	$7.00
DS	Rockman ZX (JP)	Loose	$8.00
DS	Sims 2	Loose	$17.00
DS	Summon Night Twin Age	Loose	$27.00
DS	True Swing Golf	CIB	$7.00
DS	Urbz: Sims in the City	Loose	$21.00
GB	Gameboy Pocket Black	CIB	$120.00
GB	Q*Bert	Loose	$14.00
GB	Wario Land (cracked bottom right corner)	Loose	$13.00
GBA	GBA SP 101 graphite (damage on front of box where promo sticker was)	CIB	$300.00
GBA	Metroid Fusion (heavy wear, faded cartridge)	CIB	$110.00
GBA	Monster Rancher Advance (rough condition box)	CIB	$51.00
GBA	Pokemon Emerald (no label, back of cart damage)	Loose	$160.00
GBA	Pokemon Firered (plastic damage)	Loose	$90.00
GBA	Pokemon Sapphire	Loose	$80.00
GBA	Rebelstar Tactical Command	CIB	$36.00
GBA	Super Mario Advance (faded label)	Loose	$12.00
GBA	Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3	Box only	$51.00
GBA JP	Super Street Fighter II X Revival	Loose	$23.00
GCN	Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures	Loose	$50.00
GCN	Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest	Game + case	$48.00
GCN	Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess	Loose	$75.00
GCN	Mario Party 4 (for display only cover)	Game + case	$51.00
GCN	Sonic Gems Collection	Loose	$26.00
GCN	Sonic Heroes (PC)	CIB	$25.00
GCN	Sonic Mega Collection	Loose	$10.00
GCN	Sonic Riders	Loose	$23.00
GCN	Wario World	Game + case	$65.00
Genesis	Phantom 2040 (heavy box wear)	Game + box	$40.00
LCD	Game & Watch Super Mario Bros	Loose	$24.00
N64	All-Star Baseball 2001	Loose	$8.00
N64	Lode Runner 3D	Loose	$13.00
N64	Mace: The Dark Age	Loose	$14.00
N64	Milo's Astro Lanes	Loose	$14.00
N64	N64 Expansion Pak	Loose	$40.00
N64	Ogre Battle 64	Game + box	$150.00
N64	Paperboy 64	Loose	$11.00
N64	Quake II	Loose	$14.00
N64	Super Mario 64 (faded label)	Loose	$30.00
N64	War Gods	Loose	$9.00
NES	Adventure Island	Loose	$9.00
NES	Alpha Mission (dirty front label)	Loose	$5.00
NES	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest	Loose	$13.00
NES	Golf	Loose	$3.00
NES	Hook	Loose	$14.00
NES	Ice Climber	Loose	$17.00
NES	Ice Hockey	Loose	$3.00
NES	Ikari Warriors	Loose	$8.00
NES	Jeopardy! Junior Edition	Loose	$4.00
NES	Mega Man	Loose	$72.00
NES	Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular	Loose	$9.00
NES	T&C Surf Designs	Loose	$5.00
NES	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in clamshell case)	Loose	$9.00
NES	Tetris (dark cartridge, label wear)	Loose	$10.00
NES	Top Gun	Loose	$3.00
NES	Ultimate Basketball	Loose	$4.00
NES	Wheel of Fortune	Loose	$3.00
NES	Wrath of the Black Manta	Game + manual	$9.00
PS1	Ape Escape GH	CIB	$23.00
PS1	Brave Fencer Musashi	Loose	$43.00
PS1	Cool Boarders 2	CIB	$5.00
PS1	Crash Bandicoot: Warped GH	CIB	$11.00
PS1	Croc GH	CIB	$10.00
PS1	Driver 1 & 2 Twin Pack GH	CIB	$17.00
PS1	Final Fantasy Tactics	CIB	$37.00
PS1	Final Fantasy Tactics GH	CIB	$26.00
PS1	Final Fantasy VII GH	Game + case	$26.00
PS1	Frogger GH	CIB	$9.00
PS1	Gran Turismo 2 GH	CIB	$10.00
PS1	Mega Man X6	Game + manual	$18.00
PS1	Metal Gear Solid GH	CIB	$29.00
PS1	Namco Museum Volume 1 GH	CIB	$8.00
PS1	Nightmare Creatures	CIB	$27.00
PS1	Parasite Eve (disc 1 only)	Game + case	$34.00
PS1	Resident Evil 2	Game + case	$34.00
PS1	Rocket Power Team Rocket Rescue	CIB	$8.00
PS1	Simpson's Wrestling	CIB	$21.00
PS1	Space Invaders	CIB	$8.00
PS1	Tekken 3 GH	CIB	$18.00
PS1	Tomb Raider II	CIB	$12.00
PS1	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2	CIB	$11.00
PS1	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater GH	CIB	$9.00
PS1	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater GH	CIB	$9.00
PS1	Unjammer Lammy	CIB	$48.00
PS1	WWF War Zone GH	CIB	$9.00
PS1	Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories	Game + case	$26.00
PS2	Art of Figthing Anthology (water damaged art)	CIB	$10.00
PS2	CSI 3 Dimensions of Murder	CIB	$6.00
PS2	Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires	CIB	$13.00
PS2	Final Fantasy XII Collector's Edition	CIB	$12.00
PS2	Frogger: The Great Quest	CIB	$8.00
PS2	Godai Elemental Force	CIB	$5.00
PS2	Grandia II	Game + case	$17.00
PS2	Guitar Hero	CIB	$7.00
PS2	Hard Hitter Tennis	CIB	$4.00
PS2	Headhunter Redemption	Game + case	$9.00
PS2	Kessen	CIB	$7.00
PS2	Kya Dark Lineage	CIB	$14.00
PS2	Mobile Suit Gundam Journey To Jaburo	Game + case	$14.00
PS2	Samurai Warriors	Game + case	$8.00
PS2	Samurai Warriors 2 Empires	CIB	$17.00
PS2	Samurai Warriors 2 Xtreme Legends	CIB	$20.00
PS2	Shadow Hearts From the New World	Game + case	$47.00
PS2	Shadow Man Second Coming	Game + case	$10.00
PS2	Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon	Game + case	$110.00
PS2	Starsky & Hutch	CIB	$5.00
PS2	Tekken 4	CIB	$13.00
PS2	The Great Escape	CIB	$9.00
PS2	Thunderstrike: Operation Phoenix	CIB	$5.00
PS2	Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero	CIB	$14.00
PS2	Tsugunai Atonement	Game + case	$47.00
PS2	Vexx	CIB	$12.00
PS2	Wild Arms 5	Loose	$66.00
PS2	Yu-Gi-Oh GX The Beginning of Destiny (art damage)	CIB	$34.00
PS2 JP	Another Century's Episode	CIB	$10.00
PS3	Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel	CIB	$34.00
PS3	Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist Of Dusk	CIB	$19.00
PS3	Bleach: Soul Resurreccion	CIB	$28.00
PS3	Bound by Flame	CIB	$8.00
PS3	Bulletstorm: Limited Edition	CIB	$7.00
PS3	Dante's Inferno: Divine Edition	CIB	$14.00
PS3	Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Dragon's Crown	CIB	$10.00
PS3	Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion GH	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Fairy Fencer F	CIB	$20.00
PS3	Final Fantasy XIII	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Heavy Rain	CIB	$5.00
PS3	Hitman: Absolution	CIB	$6.00
PS3	inFamous GH	CIB	$8.00
PS3	Just Dance 4	CIB	$5.00
PS3	Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days	CIB	$8.00
PS3	Kingdoms Of Amalur Reckoning	CIB	$4.00
PS3	Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga	CIB	$9.00
PS3	LittleBig Planet	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Madden NFL 15	CIB	$4.00
PS3	Mirror's Edge	CIB	$7.00
PS3	Mugen Souls	CIB	$14.00
PS3	Mugen Souls Z	CIB	$16.00
PS3	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations	CIB	$8.00
PS3	NCAA Football 11	CIB	$7.00
PS3	Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch	CIB	$6.00
PS3	One Piece: Unlimited World Red	CIB	$23.00
PS3	Persona 4 Arena	CIB	$11.00
PS3	Persona 5	Game + case	$13.00
PS3	Portal 2	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Record Of Agarest War 2 [Limited Edition] (Heavy outer box wear)	CIB	$26.00
PS3	Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny	CIB	$16.00
PS3	Sacred 2: Fallen Angel	CIB	$7.00
PS3	Sonic Generations	CIB	$9.00
PS3	Star Ocean: The Last Hope International	CIB	$10.00
PS3	Tekken Tag Tournament 2	CIB	$16.00
PS3	The Darkness	CIB	$13.00
PS3	Twisted Metal	CIB	$18.00
PS3	Uncharted	CIB	$5.00
PS3	Uncharted 2	CIB	$5.00
PS3	Uncharted 3	CIB	$5.00
PS3	Witch and the Hundred Knight	CIB	$17.00
PS3	Yakuza 3	CIB	$15.00
PS3	Yakuza 4	CIB	$12.00
SNES	Captain America and the Avengers	Loose	$17.00
SNES	Star Fox (heavy box wear)	CIB	$34.00
SNES	Super Baseball 2020	Loose	$13.00
Switch	Bendy and the Ink Machine	CIB	$26.00
Switch	Dodgeball Academia	CIB	$19.00
Switch	Galak-Z: The Void & Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-A-Fide	CIB	$13.00
Switch	Gigantosaurus: The Game	CIB	$11.00
Switch	Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle	CIB	$13.00
Switch	Party Arcade	CIB	$9.00
Switch	Pokemon Shining Pearl	CIB	$28.00
Switch	Resident Evil Origins Collection	CIB	$19.00
Switch	The House of the Dead Remake [Limidead Edition]	NIB	$36.00
Wii	Dead Space Extraction	Loose	$17.00
Wii	Dokapon Kingdom	Loose	$38.00
Wii	Gold classic controller pro	Loose	$20.00
Wii	Harvest Moon: Magical Melody	Loose	$10.00
Wii	Michael Jackson: The Experience (with glove)	CIB	$26.00
Wii	SimCity Creator	CIB	$7.00
Wii	Yoshi Wii remote plus	Loose	$36.00
Wii U	Ducktales Remastered	CIB	$22.00
Wii U	Fast & Furious Showdown	Game + case	$14.00
Wii U	Madden NFL 13	CIB	$9.00
Wii U	Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate	CIB	$14.00
Wii U	Resident Evil: Revelations	Game + case	$14.00
Wii U	Tekken Tag Tournament 2	Loose	$21.00
Xbox	Halo 2 Limited Collector's Edition (no slipcover)	CIB	$17.00
Xbox	i-Ninja	Game + case	$11.00
Xbox	Myst IV: Revelation	CIB	$9.00
Xbox 360	Batman: Arkham Origins	CIB	$26.00
Xbox 360	Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway	CIB	$8.00
Xbox 360	Crackdown 2	CIB	$6.00
Xbox 360	Darksiders	CIB	$5.00
Xbox 360	Far Cry 3	CIB	$4.00
Xbox 360	Grid	CIB	$9.00
Xbox One	Red Dead Redemption GOTY	CIB	$16.00

I also have some extra amiibo I am looking to sell!

Item	Condition	Price
8-bit Classic Mario amiibo	NIB	$13.00
Blathers (Animal Crossing) amiibo	Loose	$6.00
Callie / Marie 2-pack amiibo	NIB	$22.00
Cyrus (Animal Crossing) amiibo	Loose	$6.00
Digby (Animal Crossing) amiibo	Loose	$3.00
Fox amiibo	NIB	$14.00
Ganondorf amiibo	Loose	$13.00
Inkling Boy (Splatoon) amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Inkling Boy amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Inkling Boy amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Inkling Girl (Splatoon) amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Inkling Girl amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Inkling Squid - Neon Purple amiibo	Loose	$11.00
Link (Smash) amiibo	Loose	$15.00
Link (Smash) amiibo	Loose	$15.00
Link (Smash) amiibo	Loose	$15.00
Little Mac (Smash) amiibo	NIB	$20.00
Lottie (Animal Crossing) amiibo	Loose	$3.00
Lucario amiibo	NIB	$10.00
Lucas (Smash) amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Lucas amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Mario (Wedding) amiibo	Loose	$14.00
Marth (Smash) amiibo	Loose	$9.00
Mewtwo amiibo (packaging plastic damages)	CIB	$10.00
Pearl / Marina 2-pack amiibo	NIB	$23.00
Reese (Animal Crossing) amiibo	Loose	$4.00
Rider Link amiibo	Loose	$16.00
Villager amiibo	NIB	$9.00

Here's a new chapter for you, beginning a crossover with u/BiasMushroom's A Rose By Any Other Name.
Co-written with u/Objective-Farm-2560.
I hope you enjoy.
------------------------
Memory Transcription Subject: Professor Torran, Founder of the Humanity Initiative
Date [standardized human time]: December 2, 2136
I adjusted my tie as I looked at myself in the mirror. Making a good impression was paramount, and of utmost importance. This was the Prime News station, after all. This would be going everywhere on the planet.
I looked upon my reflection, fluffing up my fur as I noticed that it wasn’t as fluffy looking as it could be. Everyone loves fluffiness. Especially humans. This project was made to help them, after all. If I couldn’t appeal to them, then this project was worthless. I was confident in my persuasive ability, and it’s not like the humans had many other more accepting places on Venlil Prime to go.
Supposedly the Exterminators of Dayside City are hiring humans, but I just think that's a load of shit. Those close-minded morons would never be open to change, especially so soon.
Finally satisfied with my appearance, I looked out my window, noticing the building dust clouds in the distance. Good. No time would be wasted on my part waiting for them to come around.
I walked out of my office and to the entrance. As I walked, Kolak came into view.
“Clean up has been completed, sir.” The Yotul security officer spoke professionally.
“Good. I assume that the Arxur are in the saferoom?” I asked.
“Indeed. No incidents will occur today.”
“And the dissidents?” I continued, wanting to make sure that everything was in it’s best form.
“The written notice of confinement has been sent to them. Restriction to their respective floors, as you requested.” Kolak confirmed.
I flicked an ear as I nodded, a slight smile developing on my face. “Good. All very good. And I expect that you will be on your best behavior?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good,” I said one final time before continuing on my way.
<<>>
I stood at the entry hallway, the doors wide open in preparation of the arrival of our guests. I looked out with a small smile on my face and a slight wag to my tail as the News Trucks came into better view.
The distinctive news truck came to a stop in a painted space, a surprisingly long distance away. Yet even from this distance I could see the young woman that I wished to help. Her fiery red hair whipped in the wind as she stepped out with a rather large camera resting on her shoulders.
I began to walk over there as an older looking Venlil stood with his back to the facility. Before I could make it within earshot, Rose handed him the camera with a smile beaming on her face, “Oh!” She quickly pulled a mask out of her back pockets and fumbled it onto the ground, “I’m so sorry!”
I stopped, not wanting her to be any more nervous. I gave her a shake of my head as I smiled. “There’s no need for that, Rose. This is a place made for humans. You shouldn’t be afraid here.”
She smiled as she picked the mask up and tossed it to the old Venlil, “Right, got used to wearing that thing. It’s nice to be somewhere that isn’t needed.”
“I’d imagine so.” I said with a slight flick of my ear. “I heard from some reports that you were in… rather poor shape. How are you?” I asked.
“Well, I am temporarily patched up for now. Oh! watch this!” She took her hand and slapped the back of her head, CAUSING HER EYE TO POP OUT.
I jumped back, slightly startled.
…
That monster actually drove this poor girl to tear her eyes out. And now she needs inferior mechanical replacements. Just when I think Talen couldn’t be any worse, he manages to do just that.
“I… see,” I said, still furious with just how far that wretched Talen managed to drag her down. “I assume your new family is making sure that you’ll receive proper recovery and repair?”
“Hrm? Oh yeah!” She turned around and chucked the orb at the other Venlil, “Dad! Catch!”
Oh boy! I’m gonna meet Rose’s new family! There’s no possible way this can be ruined-
“BUH! Guh! ROSE! Please! Stop doing that!” The Greying Venlil stomped his feet with a playful flick of his tail. I felt a chill run up my spine as he set the false eye in a case with several others before walking over with it.
…
… What is this witchcraft?
“Rose. If you want to swap these out, please don’t throw them! These were gifts, after all, until the surgery date. And apologize to that man! You’ve scared the fleece off of him!”
How? How the actual FUCK is she tolerating him! I know humans are good natured but-
“You are right.” She pulled her other one out before setting her new ones in and turning to me. With a bow, “I apologize sir. I should have been more considerate.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” I said absentmindedly, distracted by the hideous sight of the worthless creature that stood before me.
She happily bounced on the spot, “It sounds like you know who I am, but this is my Dad, Talen McDermott. It’s been official for a week!
I flicked an ear uncomfortably at the sound of that borderline blasphemous sentence. To think that Rose would allow this creature that had driven her to attempting suicide to become her family…
I was unable to repress a physical shudder at that thought. “How nice. So very nice of you, Talen.” I forced myself to say, feigning joy.
Rose glanced away at the ground as Talen had the audacity to flick his ear at her in annoyance, “It is a plesure to meet you sir. I understand you are Proffesor Torran? The founder of this institution?”
“Yes. You are correct.” I said through slightly gritted teeth. It took a lot of will power to not clench my jaw at the sound of the creature’s noise.
Rose skipped towards the truck before grabbing a strange stick with several joints in it. Talen smiled as she came back, “Alright, she's got the camera ready. Would you mind if we did the tour first before the interview? The tour might help answer some questions as well as pose some that we might not think to ask otherwise?”
I hummed in thought for a moment, wondering the best course of action. A tour wouldn’t be a bad idea. I could give Rose the best possible view of the place. If I was clever enough, I could even get Talen alone…
Oh yeah. It’s all coming together.
“Of course. I would love to give you a tour of the facility.” I finally said. “Shall we get started?”
The pair nodded as Rose stepped slightly in front of Talen, “Yes sir! Camera is rolling and the audio sounds great! Whenever you are ready.”
“Excellent.”
<<>>
“...and this is the cafeteria, where everyone gets their food. We even have meat and plants from Earth for humans to dine on,” I said pushing through the doors to the aforementioned room. There were a couple people dining, and they continued to focus on their food.
“I assume that the funding you get for all the foodstuffs is of the same source as the rest of your supplies?” Talen asked curiously.
“Yes.” I answered with gritted teeth, before relaxing my jaw. “People can be very generous.”
More generous than you, at least, you blasphemous wretch.
“Amazing!” Talen said with enthusiasm, making me shudder the slightest bit.
It was then that I noticed Lakila, Blyatt, and little Lorran. This was the perfect opportunity.
I turned to the duo, facing Rose’s camera. “Would you care if I introduced you to one of the best Mediators in my staff, as well as our Farsul residents?” I asked with a smile.
Talen happily flicked his tail, “That would be wonderful. Of course, only with their consent.”
“Of course,” I said, my eye twitching at the wretched reporter’s hypocrisy. “I’ll ask them right away.”
I walked away towards my favorite residents, more than a little relieved to be away from the creature that was Talen.
As I neared Blyatt and his new partner, he stood up at attention. “Mister Torran sir, is there anything you need?”
“Nothing I need, but the Prime News station is here to see the facility. Would you lot care to be on television?” I asked the group, ending my sentence looking at little Lorran.
“Mum, I wanna be on TV! Pwease, Pwease, Pwease!” The little one said as he tugged on his mother’s fur enthusiastically.
She laughed endearingly at her son’s antics, no doubt finding them highly adorable. “Oh, alright, dear. We can be on the telly for a moment. What do you think, love? Want to join us?”
The last question was directed at Blyatt, who also smiled. “Of course! I’d love to meet the news!”
With that, I led them both back to the news duo.
I barely caught the end of the hushed conversation Talen and Rose were having, “but Daaaaad… look at him! don’t you just want to squish his adowable little face!”
“Of course I do! I’m only a Venlil! But you don’t just ask for permission to pet people!” Talen looked up at our approach and cleared his throat, “Ahem, I am Talen McDermott and this is my daughter Rose. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. We both work for Prime news and would love to get to know you and what it is like here!
“Oh, Hello! My name is Blyatt, and I’m one of the best mediators here!” the Yotul spoke in greeting. “And this here is Lakila and her son Lorran, our two Farsul residents.”
“Very humble description of yourself,” Lakila teased, flicking the Yotul’s snout with a paw. “It's good to meet you, Rose and Talen McDermott.”
“Rose, I trust that you can handle an interview on your own. Would you mind doing that while I privately have an interview with your… father.”
“That’s up to Dad. I’m just the intern at the moment.”
“It should be ok Rose. I have my camera for just these occasions. It’ll let us get more footage for Kotaka.”
I twitched an eye at the sight of the camera. “I don’t think that will be necessary. I’m an old fashioned man. I’m sure you’re fine using words, right?”
“Old fashion? Well, I prefer recordings myself, but We will make do with just a text transcript. Lead the way, sir.”
Oh, text won’t be needed either. Not for what I have to say to you, old man.
<<>>
After we had stepped into my office, I closed the door behind me.
Talen let out a short whistle, “Oh this is a rather lovely-”
“Shut the fuck up.” I said, plain and simple.
“Excuse me? Are you ok, Sir? Did I-”
“This is my place, and I decide what happens here. And here… you aren’t welcome to speak.” I said, staring directly into his eyes, standing firm as I bore my gaze into his soul.
Talen’s ears where pinned back in confusion as his tail nervously flicked. He almost shrank back into himself as he took a step back in shock.
“If you really want to know my deal, you will shut up and listen. I have quite the story for you to hear.” I said firmly.
Talen almost froze as he stared at me, expecting me to continue.
“Twenty eight years ago, a woman was just walking home from grocery shopping. She was happy with her view of the world. That was, until, she was assaulted after rounding a corner. When she woke up, she was trapped, and at the mercy of a ‘fellow prey’. This man did a great many terrible things to her before the exterminators finally came around. They didn’t even bother actually trying to stop him as they torched the room. The woman survived, but the man escaped, and the poor victim would never fully recover from all of it.” I described in vivid detail.
“How do I know this?” I asked rhetorically. “Because seven months later, she gave birth to a child. If it wasn’t painfully obvious by the way I am saying this whole thing… I was that child.”
Talen’s jaw hung open as his head was slightly tilted. He looked equal parts concerned and confused.
“From the moment I was born, I was exposed to the truth of the Galaxy.” I continued. “From my mother’s refusal to connect with me on an emotional level, to seeing how those who were different were mistreated, all the way to seeing how Exterminators burned everything indiscriminately. I knew the truth. The Federation is a loveless society, an empathyless collective that deserves to be destroyed.”
I took a step forward. “I made it my mission to correct civilization as a whole, starting with all of this. But it didn’t start with this. I had… a role model. Someone I looked up to for guidance.”
I stared into Talen’s eyes with my own, giving him the strongest glare I could. “I looked up to you, Talen.”
“Ah…”
“I respected you. You were the exception to the rule that was the loveless Federation. You stopped embezzlement, fought against unfair treatment, and preached a more empathetic society. You even freed the giant Tarlim from his imprisonment and torture. You may as well have been the chosen one!” I explained.
I continued speaking. “I became a supervisor for the exchange program. I hoped to see progress being made. When I saw that you had joined, I hoped that you would make the progress faster. I hoped that you would be accepting and welcoming of humans. I hoped that you would be good friends of the little human girl that you had been paired with.” My voice grew harder with each sentence.
Talen retreated further into himself with every sentence I spoke. The bastard knew what he did, and he was trying to escape the consequences of his actions.
Not on my watch.
I felt my anger boil to the brink as I clenched my fists and teeth. My eyes twitched as my body shook with anger. I could only manage one more sentence before the anger would be too much to repress.
“And then what did you do?”
His ears laid flat against his head, “I- I made a mistake. I pan-”
“SHUT UP, YOU ANIMAL! SELFISH, VIOLENT, NARCISSISTIC, HYPOCRITICAL ANIMAL!” I shouted, cutting him off.
I wasted no time.
I charged forward, wrapping a paw around his throat as I slammed him into a locker. “I’ll tell you what you did! You showed your true colors, FEDERATION SCUM! You showed that you are the embodiment of everything that is wrong with the Federation! You might as well be a Kolshian or Farsul, those brainwashing and gene-modding freaks of civilization!”
I felt my claws dig into skin under the fur, causing Talen to yelp, only to be silenced by me slamming him into the metal lockers again. “You are the worst person I have ever met! A hypocritical selfish bastard! One who refuses to see that they don’t deserve life or love! One who insists that they are the best people around! One who hates all who oppose him without remorse!”
I felt the tips of my claws grow slightly wet, blood racing through Talen’s veins as he struggled and leaking out the wounds I was inflicting.
“You wanna know what I think of you! I say that your wife DESERVED to die for daring to associate with you! To help you propagate your cursed genes! I say that your old daughter, Elva, DESERVES to die for thinking you could be good even after she saw your true colors! The only reason I don’t give Rose the same damnation is because she’s a human, making her naturally innocent. But you do not deserve to be her father! A monster like you doesn’t deserve ANYTHING!”
Talen’s paws wrapped around mine, trying desperately to pull them off of his throat as tears ran down his face. I wouldn’t bother telling him to stop struggling. He wasn’t worth it.
“The only thing I wish for you is that you find a chain that is long and strong enough to rip your head from your shoulders when you hang yourself off a cliff like the criminal you are.” I continued. “Which I would prefer you do as soon as possible.”
I leaned in to his face, boring a glare into his soul through his crying eyes.
“Now get the fuck out of my sight.”
I finally let go, stepping back as Talen ran out the door like the coward he was.
…
I almost lost my mind right there. Almost murdered the man.
I looked down at my paw, the tips of my claws orange with blood. I frowned at myself. I could’ve handled all of that better.
Still, letting myself go like that felt good.
I walked over to my desk, aiming for the liquor drawer. I needed something strong to cool myself off.
First
Previous

I bought my AirPods from Apple about a year and a half ago. They are airpod pro 2 with lightning port. in the past and as of lately I’ve noticed some issues, one AirPod may not connect or react to any of the touch sensitive controls while the other one will, Then sometimes Audio comes out funky as if it’s losing Bluetooth connection from range even though my iPhone is in my pocket . Another one of my issues is sometimes one AirPod will not play music or play the “airpods in ear jingle” but the other one will. Sometimes one will not charge even though they are both in the case (nothing in the way of the charging tabs) 85% of the time they work well, and i love them, i do have apple care plus, but i fear once i go there the issue will not show up since its intermittent. Anyone else have these issues or issues like this?

Tonight I just wrote a little short story out of boredom. It’s loosely inspired off of the 2nd last episode of ‘BoJack Horseman’. If you have any thoughts on it I would be really grateful.
“Hmph, look who showed up”
My mother sighs upon opening the towering oak panelled front door of an ornately designed but almost infinitely tall townhouse.
“I suppose you will be wanting a refill on that.” She sneered, then under her breath, “bloody alcoholic”
I whip my vision down to my hands, the flowerpot of peonies I brought as a gift, now a tall glass that smelt strongly of bourbon. I look back at Mom and she seems to stare through me.
“Um, yeah. Sure Mom”
I uncomfortably stood there, in my dress shoes and pinstriped two piece suit, thinking of how mother always said how rude it was to ‘stomp into someone’s house uninvited’
“Stop standing there like a lemon and greet everyone… in the drawing room… dimwit”
I shuffle through the immense hallway, its ceiling so far above it faded out of view, past a stupidly massive hall table. I felt ant sized. My brown leather dress shoes sunk three inches into the hall runner, which was probably the size of a football pitch. To my right, a strangely normal sized door in this land of hugeness almost blended into the eggshell walls. I waded through the runner and grasped the ornate brass handle, that was freezing cold to the touch. I twisted the knob, and a warm feeling washed over me as I stepped into a normal sized drawing room.
“Ricky… so glad you could make it” Cain called out to me.
I set my somehow filled (all the way to the brim) glass of bourbon on a green flowery coaster resting on the coffee table, and squeeze into a chair that’s just a little too tight. As I lean back into the soft armchair, that is now squeezing me in a bear hug like grasp, I wander my vision across the room. My brother Cain sits across, alongside Henrietta and baby Hugh, on the 70s patterned couch, Mom stands in a doorway across the room, and Dad’s huge brutish leather armchair stands, vacant across from the blazing fire.
“Your father is late… as always… so he can have his pot roast stone cold, burnt and with my spit in it after he’s done… done teaching his secretary how to get on his good side…”.
Her mutters between sentences seem inaudible to everyone else, but they pierce my soul like a bullet from a gun. Each word said with such wrath and abhorrence that I feel them physically punch me in my gut.
“Auntieeeee… is dinner almost readyyyy” Henrietta’s sharp yet drawling English accent floating across the room.
“Yes darling. Would everyone please convene at the dining table” Mother responds ever so sweetly.
My chair, now squeezing the life out of me, relinquishes its chokehold on me, as I force myself to my feet to attend dinner. I stop and stand expectantly, closing my eyes and eeking out my breath.
“Chop, chop now” Cain’s sing-song voice calling out. “Don’t make mother wait…”
“What’s the point, I always wake up here. Mom says dinner, you say chop, chop, then I walk into the dining room, hit my head then wake up”. I respond resignedly.
“Ok then, but your dinners getting cold old chap.”
I let time pass for a few seconds, then relent and walk to the aforementioned doorway. Thunk. I smack my head off of the ceiling, the dining room impossibly small, however I seem to be the only one who is not sized proportionally. I bum-shuffle to my place, my legs pressed against my chest just to fit myself in the room.
“Eat, or let it get cold you ungrateful brat” Mother’s words cutting through me like knives.
“Ding, Dong… Ding, Dong” the doorbells rattling chime shakes the whole house with each crash of a bell. The feeling makes me shudder and I crane my neck, so I view of the door.
“Uncle’s home!” little Hugh, now a child of ten or twelve, jumps out of his seat.
A window swings open and a spinechilling breeze saunters in. As I gaze out the void that sits just outside the window, out of nothing Dad climbs through.
“There’s my beautiful family… sorry the front door was open I had to come in through the window”.
I study his welcomingly wrinkled face, his prickly grey streaked beard, and his soft brown suit. He regards mother with a kiss, and then turns towards me.
“And how’s my number one son doing? Staying off the drink I hope…” His cheerful expression and warm demeanour blunt his offhand but inadvertedly pointed remark, but I feel the coldness of a glass fill my hand as another brimming glass of bourbon materialises in it.
“Ah alright Da, just the usual.” I disregard his comment about my alcoholism as I unintentionally feel this glass rise to my lips and begin to tip its contents down my throat.
Father takes his usual huge seat in this tiny room at the head of the table, and the almost mirrored silver cloches covering our meals disintegrate before us. I stare blankly down at the pristine white china crème brulee dish overflowing with assorted colourful pills. I hurriedly glance about the table, at the other meals. Mother has pot roast, beautifully cooked and presented; father has pot roast that looks about as appetising as freshly laid dog mess; Cain has a piece of concrete he is fruitlessly sawing at with a butter knife; Henrietta has nothing; and a now teenage Hugh has a cheese and tomato sandwich.
“Well, dig in, I didn’t slave away at the stove for hours for nothing” Mother announces.
Everyone else proceeds to dig in, apart from Cain who still saws and Henrietta, who seems to be getting thinner by the second. I look back down at the pills and capsules before me, some blank, some with smiley faces, some rainbow coloured.
“So…” Father says. “What would everyone say was the highlight of their lives.” His attempt to spark conversation puzzled me. Surely, he meant is, not was?
“Your stupid secretary’s husband shootin’ you in your bloody corner office” Mother sneers.
Father chuckles, not taking notice too much mother said as always.
“I’d say it’s the view from the top of the Empire State Building, pretty cool I must say the view over all of New York.”
Henrietta, now a bag of bones couldn’t eek out a word. Hugh, who was maybe nineteen now and dressed in soldiers’ clothes, didn’t utter a word as he comforted Henrietta.
“What about you Ricky”. An omniscient voice echoed from somewhere.
“Err, I normally wake up before now, so I don’t really know. Maybe the time I spent with Frank in Connecticut.”
“Always knew you were a bloody poofter” Cain remarked.
I remembered why I cut Cain off years ago.
“Why haven’t I woken up yet” I say out loud. “I don’t want to stay here”.
Everyone at the table looks at me, then turns their heads slowly towards the now massive window. The dark void dissipates, and a vision forms. It’s a camera feed: CCTV footage.
“H-Hey that’s me!” I shout out.
In the centre of the field of view, of what seems to be an alleyway, I lie… on my back in a pool of alcohol and urine, empty bottles, pills and syringes strewn around me.
“Another of your hedonistic benders it seems” Mother remarks snidely. “Surely you know why you can’t go anywhere…”. She pulls out a lit cigarette from her pocket, taking a drag and blowing the whispy smoke in my face
“No…” I trail off.
As mother exhales another drag from her cigarette, the rest of my family blow away like smoke into wind. I feel my chest lock tight and I gasp for air. Looking in closely at the image of me, and a realisation dawns upon me. I’m choking.
“It seems that in your decadent hedonism, you’ve drank too much and have choked on your own sick, you silly, silly boy.”
The room and Mom dissipate into blackness, as I realise why I haven’t woken from the recurring nightmare of my late family.
Edit: Minor mistakes in sentence format pre advice

I’m sure everyone here is familiar with the cycle of being made responsible for the pwBPDs emotions and basically their entire life. This was the case for me too. My pwBPD was my boyfriend but he saw me and treated me as his mother. Needless to say, the relationship with his real mother was horrendous; she has BPD too and I assume this is what caused him to be as mentally ill as he is.
Since I’ve gotten out, I have gone through a lot of personal growth and I learned to have insight into BPD and the dynamics that go with it. I can now see and understand how and why I was parentified by him. However, his team of therapists did this to me too and I cannot stomach that even after ~1.5 years. He was in therapy for the entire duration of our relationship. The diagnosis he was in therapy for was PTSD because his entire identity is being victimized by everything and everyone.
The horrors I went through in his therapy... This really got me fucked up beyond words. The therapists KNEW he was physically attacking me every fucking day, stabbing me with kitchen knives, strangling me until I was unconscious, punching me, headbutting me, running me over with his car, breaking things, kicking me out of my own house, leaving me stranded in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, etc. He was actively on a mission to ‘’defuse’’ (his words) me, my parents and my pets and he was blaming me extensively for his suicide attempts and suicidal ideation. I’m convinced he is a future family annihilator, I swear. Now that I’m not in the middle of it anymore, I’m inclined to think that it would be clear to anyone that this is NOT good behavior (regardless of whatever reason he claims to have for it), but his therapists fully leaned into it and enabled this dynamic that almost cost me my life. I was firmly invited to come to each and every therapy session and the majority of the sessions consisted of them talking to me about how I could better support (read: fix) him while my ex was staring into space. They would tell me things like how I had to pull through so things could get better, that a relationship meant to support each other in the good times AND the bad, that we would come out stronger, asked me to name and focus on the things that initially made me fall in love with him instead of allowing myself to focus on negativity (being the violent outbursts), that I shouldn’t allow myself to be led by fear for him, compelled me to have compassion for his feelings that led him to have the violent outbursts, etc. When he was discharged from the mental institution after a suicide attempt (after which I found him), a team of therapists gave me a whole presentation about how I could best take care of him and regulate him. We weren’t even living together! I was living with my parents (taking care of my mom who was dying of cancer nonetheless) and he was living with his own parents. And yet it was like I, a 25yo, was picking up my 30yo son from the hospital when they were handing over his care to me, and apparently nobody thought this was at least a little unfair to me. How could they do this to me? It’s clear to me how him and his mother could do these things to me, but the therapists didn’t have BPD, so why did they? There were no religious or cultural reasons that could explain this, everyone in this story is not religious and we are from a western country in Northwestern Europe (The Netherlands). His therapists were also not paid by him directly but by health insurance.
I could write a book about this, but this post has already gotten too long. Does anyone else have these experiences and how do you deal with it? I still have nightmares about it. Thank you all for reading and take care.

Like, can a two-button startup be enabled? A longer push and hold on the power button? Just sliding it into a sleeve often turns it on. And in the hard case, still a problem.

Need to move some of these knives that I needed to have, but never got any pocket time. Hope to send off to a good home.
Total Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/buz54eq

1. EMP EDC Nymble T (Honeycomb, M390 DLC/Blackwash, Mokuti Kit) No Original Clip/Screws - $240 – Holy cow I wish I could get myself to use this beauty. But I can’t. Purchased pre-ordered in the first run of these along with Mokuti Kit. Never cut or carried this one. Only disassembled for the Mokuti Kit install. The knife is gorgeous in all black, with the Mokuti hardware & honeycomb scales. Now please be aware of two things – 1. Note the blemish pointed out in the video, and 2. That everything BUT the original Clip & Hardware is included. This is for a reason. I had a hell of a time with the original Screws & Clip. The hex screws were weak, and easily stripped – this led to a nightmare of a disassembly where the original screws and most unfortunately the original clip were damaged. All else is great, but that was not fun. Video: https://imgur.com/a/5LuwSHM
   
2. Doug Ritter Mini-RSK MK1 (Black G2, Stonewash 20CV) - $130 - LNIB. Carried once and cut once to test sharpness. I kept full size RSK but have to let go of this one due to size. Knife is brand new, I’m original owner, and comes with all box contents. Smooth action – awesome knife. Video: https://imgur.com/a/ONfEXqV
   
3. MKM Isonzo Hawkbill (Lava Fat Carbon, DLC M390 Hawkbill) - $100 - Like above, BNIB. Picked it up in new in 2022. Original owner, never carried, used, or modified. Condition is perfect. Blade is factory edge and centered. Comes with Box and all contents. Video: https://imgur.com/a/WfKSewe
   
4. Kansept Kryo (Ti Blue, S35VN Tanto) - $140 - BNIB. This thing is gorgeous. Picked it up in new in 2022 as it’s only owner. Never carried, used, or modified it. Condition is excellent. The factory edge on the blade is intact and sharp. Centering is good, and action is smooth. Comes with Box and all contents. Video: https://imgur.com/a/ZzrwVG5
   
5. Kizer Begleiter 2 (Red Carbon Fiber, 154CM) - $55 - BNIB. Picked it up in new in 2022 from SMKW. Might be the most frictionless drop-shut button lock I’ve ever owned. Original owner, never carried, used, or modified it. Condition is fantastic. Blade is factory edge and centered. Comes with Box and all contents. Video: https://imgur.com/a/E3FGQn4
   

No trades, PayPal G&S Only, Continental US Only. No exceptions. The item as described and pictured above will be shipped via USPS Priority at my cost.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!
Edit: Typo on RSK price. Fixed to be $130.

Part One.
My jaw clenches. It’s my turn to go pale with shock. Suddenly, the puzzle pieces begin to connect in my mind. They’re building a picture that I’m not sure I want to see, but it’s a picture that’s becoming difficult to deny. “Why?” I press. “What makes you so sure they weren’t just test subjects like the others?”
“These felt different,” Maria says quickly. “Horrible in a way that even the others couldn’t compare to. It’s like when you look at a manikin, or a doll… What’s the phrase?”
“Uncanny valley,” I offer.
“That’s it,” she says. “That’s what I felt looking at these things, the uncanny valley. It was like they didn’t have a soul– like they never had a soul. Some looked human. Nearly. But they were too tall, or their limbs were too long, or they had too many teeth in all the wrong places. But what scared me most of all wasn’t the bodies, it was the thought that something had killed those things. Something had torn literal nightmares to pieces, and there was a good chance it was coming to do the same thing to me and John.
“John,” I say, still trying to parse his significance in her ordeal. “That many bodies couldn’t have appeared overnight. They’d been there for a long time. That means he probably knew about them, didn’t he?”
She nods, gasping. “He knew. He fucking knew. He shoved me onto that pile of corpses, that festering and decaying pit of monsters and told me as much. He started shouting. Call me a monster all over again. Evil, he said. Twisted. He kept pointing at me like all of this was my fault, and he hadn’t both led us to our deaths.”
Her voice becomes a stuttering mess. “A-all the while I heard that thing in the dark. Approaching. I felt terrified, hopeless and numb. I kept asking John why me? Why go through all this trouble just to kill me? And he told me that he didn’t have a choice. He knelt next to me, put a hand on my cheek and whispered that his child needed to feed. It was getting hungry. Desperate. He almost looked fucking r-remorseful if you can believe it, and he told me that he was really sorry, and that he hated to do this but… He stepped away from me. Stood against the wall of the chamber. Watched. Waited.”
For a second, I’m afraid Maria is going to break into fresh sobs, but she pushes through.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she continues, wiping tears from her cheeks. “I didn’t have anywhere to run, anywhere to hide, so I just lay there in that heap of monsters. I gave up. The whole time, those footsteps got closer and closer. The nearer they came, the slower they got. It was like it knew I was trapped. Like it’d done this before, and knew there wasn’t a rush…” She looks up at me. “Do you think… John did that to other people too?”
“It’s certainly possible. Did you get a good look at the creature?”
She shudders. “Yes. I had my headlamp trained on the passage the whole time, and when it appeared around the corner, I almost missed it. I heard it, but I could barely see it. It was a tall, flickering shadow. It pulsed. Vibrated. The way it moved was jerky, haphazard, almost like it had one foot in our reality, like it was glitching with every step it took.”
“Glitching…” I mutter. Why does that sound familiar?
“That’s right,” she says. “And that wasn’t even the strangest thing about it.” She gets small in her chair. “It had these eyes. Amber ones. Bright and gleaming, like twin cinders smoldering in empty space. It felt like they were piercing me, like its eyes were digging through my skin and looking into my mind. Or my soul. It was like that thing was taking bites out of my memories, tasting them before spitting back out…”
“How did it feel? Painful?”
“No, she says. “It felt cold. Like a blizzard in my head, like all my thoughts had frozen to a crawl. Maybe that’s why I calmed down. I don’t know… I remember sitting there, totally numb as the Shadow phased through the metal bars of the gate. It almost looked human. It had two arms, two legs and a head, but its body was made of black static. Like television interference.”
Television interference… Where have I heard that description before? I rack my mind for a match, some kind of urban legend or ancient lore that matches what she’s saying, but nothing jumps out. I flip through the pages of my clipboard, stopping on one labeled ABERRATE EVENTS. It’s The Facility’s own Most Wanted List. My eyes fly through the cases listed, but there isn’t anything close to what she’s describing.
An idea strikes me.
“Did the Shadow hurt you at all?”
She looks down at her arm. There’s a large gash there, framed by clots of dried blood. “No… I don’t think so,” she says hesitantly. “I got these injuries when I was trying to escape.”
No, of course it didn’t. It had other food available already. “And what happened after it pierced you with its eyes?” I ask.
“It walked past me,” she says. “It walked through that mulch of corpses and headed straight for John. It started speaking along the way. At least, I think it did.”
“What do you mean by speaking?”
“Do you remember how I said it was howling before?”
“I do.”
“Well, this time it was hissing– like a livewire, or static electricity. Whatever it was communicating, John looked panicked. He was crying. Pleading with it. He kept saying that he’d done his best, but there was nothing else out there, so the Shadow would have to make due with me. But the Shadow didn’t seem to care. It grabbed John by his long hair, lifted him up to the ceiling and its cinderlight eyes started gleaming an angry orange.”
My heartbeat races. My pen flies across the clipboard, desperately trying to avoid missing a single detail.
Maria keeps talking. She keeps giving me more of what I need. “John kicked and screamed,” she says. “He begged me to help him, told me that if I didn’t I was every bit the monster he’d said I was and I’d be next… But before he could finish, the Shadow’s eyes flashed and leaked fire. John started shrieking, moaning as his face melted into his skull.”
Maria’s face twists with revulsion. Disgust. She looks away, back to the bunker. I wonder if she’s hearing what I am– that dim rumble of something moving underground, that slow march of an approaching nightmare. Our clock is ticking. It’s not something I can tell her though, because as soon as she starts panicking, I lose the chance to connect the dots I need.
“Maria,” I say, pulling her attention back. “Continue. It’s critical I get these details.”
“Sorry… It’s not a memory I like thinking of but… The Shadow held John there, his legs twitching weakly, and then it grabbed his head and tore it off his neck.” She brings a hand to her mouth, starts nervously biting her nails. “Then it lifted John’s skull to its amber eyes. It opened its mouth and screamed fire. The heat I felt was like an open furnace, like Hell itself. Tendrils of darkness emerged from the Shadow, clutching at John’s scorched skull and cracking it open like an egg.
"His brain spilled out. The Shadow caught it in those tendrils, and brought it into itself. His brain. Like it was fucking assimilating it… Or eating it. ” She looks up at me, and there’s the same angry defiance I saw when we met. “Now do you get it?” she asks. “Now do you see what I mean about this thing being the devil? What else could do something like that?”
A good question. I can think of one entity. Only one. If my guess is correct, then Maria and I get to live to see tomorrow’s sunrise. If it’s wrong, then I need to put a bullet in both our heads before that thing finds us.
All of it hinges on my next question.
“It killed John, then what? What did the Shadow do?”
“It turned back to me,” she says. “It glared at me with those blazing eyes, and I thought I was next. I knew I was. But then I felt another blizzard sweep across my mind, and that was it– I blacked out.”
“Hang on…” I mutter. “What do you mean you blacked out? I found you lying outside of the bunker. How did you escape?”
She shakes her head, frantic. “I don’t have a clue. I blacked out, then the next thing I remember was waking up outside the bunker, with you pouring water on my face and telling me we needed to talk. That’s it.”
She shoots up from her chair. “Christ! We need to leave.”
I blink. “Why?”
“The police. I’ve gotta tell them about John and what he was doing. I’ve gotta tell them about this base. Maybe John brought others here. More victims. Maybe some of them are still alive down there and need help. We need search parties and–”
“Don’t bother,” I say.
She looks at me, stunned.
“The police won’t have any record of John. Tell them where you were, what you saw in that bunker, and they’ll probably kill you.” I reach into my pocket, pull out my lighter and run a thumb down the sparkwheel. It flickers to life. “Fact is, John doesn’t exist. Neither does this base.”
I bring the lighter to the edge of my clipboard. The flame catches a page.
“What the hell are you doing?” Maria exclaims.
“Saving your life,” I say, tossing the clipboard to the floor. It pops and cracks as the fire eats the woman’s story, one word at a time.
“What the fuck? You said you believed me!”
“I still do,” I tell her. “That’s the problem. An hour ago, I had no idea what was going on here, but the more you spoke, the more it started making sense. I realized that you and John were more right than wrong. That there really is a conspiracy here. A cover-up.”
“Then the people deserve to know!”
“They do,” I confess. “And they will, eventually– but not from you, and not from my report. Neither is an option.”
She shakes her head, incredulous. “Then how?”
I walk to the window, rest my hands against the edge. I take a breath. It’s humid, heavy with South American heat. “I’ll figure something out. I always do.”
There’s a heartbeat of silence. Then, she asks the obvious question. “It’s your employer, isn’t it? This whole thing has something to do with The Facility.”
“Yes,” I tell her. “I think it does.”
She appears at my side. The two of us stare out across the dark of the base, out at the steel hatch rising from the dirt, where a devil made flesh is inching ever closer. “I thought you said your job was hunting monsters,” she says at length, “not creating them.”
“My job is a lot of things. More than anything else, it’s complicated. The Facility is… Well, it’s not what I’d call a good organization. Or even a moral one.”
“Then what is it?”
I consider the question. “A pragmatic answer to an otherwise ugly question.”
She looks at me expectantly.
“The question of salvation,” I explain. “The question of how do you rescue humanity from a nightmare so twisted that it defies all language? All concept of imagination? There’s something coming for us, Maria, something dark and unfathomable, and these entities– these monsters might be our only chance at fighting back.”
She’s quiet. Her expression is difficult to read.
“Decades ago, The Facility was a very different organization,” I tell her. “In those days, they thought the approaching nightmare was right around the corner, that we had weeks or months until it showed up on our doorstep. They didn’t know. Out of fear, they greenlit any and every possible solution. Or at least, that’s what the rumors say.”
“Rumors?”
I nod, darkly. “There’s no real records of The Facility’s activities during the Cold War. Most documents were destroyed. The few that remain are heavily redacted. I wasn’t around then, obviously, but I picked up bits and pieces from old timers I’ve worked with. They mentioned black projects. Hidden programs. One project was particularly infamous, so much so that even now, half a century later, The Facility hasn’t entirely snuffed out its legend.”
“What project?”
“Project Judas,” I say. “If you believe the rumors, it was headed by a brilliant biochemist named Screech. Jonathan Screech. The aim of the program was to create the ultimate weapon, a monster that could assimilate targets into its being, absorbing their capabilities. Such a function would provide it with a near limitless power ceiling. The problem was–”
Something hits my ears. Maria’s hand finds my arm, squeezing it painfully.
“Do you hear that?” she hisses.
Steel rattles in the distance. There’s a low groan of warping metal, like the rungs of a ladder slumping beneath the weight of something titanic. There’s something beneath us. It’s inside of that bunker, climbing that old ladder, and it’s making its way to the surface.
“We’ve gotta run!” Maria tugs at my arm, but I keep my feet planted where they are. My eyes narrow. I stare at the now trembling steel wheel, lit up beneath the light of the jungle moon.
Maria stumbles backward. A smile finds its way onto my face. In the distance, across the ruins of the base, the bunker’s hatch is thrown open. A dark shape emerges. It buzzes like television static, framed in shafts of moonlight. Its twin eyes glow like cinders. The shadow lurches, looking around, scanning the base and emitting a low electric hum.
“That’s it…” Maria whimpers. “Oh God… that’s it…”
The creature sees us. It sees me. It takes a shambling step forward, and dust and dirt flies into the air beneath its weight. Its eyes smolder, growing and growing until they become a blaze of fire. Maria is on the ground. She’s hiding beneath the window sill, reefing on the fabric of my pants and pleading with me to run, but I hardly notice she’s there.
This shadow– this monster, is why I’ve come here tonight.
Now, we finish things.
A wave of arctic air passes through my mind. It’s just as she described. My heart slams as I feel this Shadow rifle through my thoughts, chewing on my memories. I close my eyes. I breathe deep, inviting it in. Go ahead. Have your fill.
And then with one final shiver, the cold in my skull fades. That Shadow retreats, pulls back from my mind and when I open my eyes, I see it gazing back at me. The fire in its eyes dims to that cinderglow. It tilts its head skyward. Six black wings burst from its back in a shower of static.
“What’s happening?” Maria asks frantically, still on the ground beneath the window. “How are you going to kill it?”
“I’m not,” I tell her.
The Shadow belts out one last distorted howl before launching itself into the air like a streak of night. Three flaps of its wings, and it’s gone. Vanished into the sky, lost amongst the clouds.
Maria rises to her feet. Her eyes are wide. She’s shaking, her entire body is shaking with a tidal wave of horror. “Oh no…” she mutters, gazing at the sky. “It’s gone… So many are going to die…”
“Yes,” I tell her. “I hope so.”
She turns to me then, angry. Stunned. “You told me your job was stopping those things! Hunting them! What’s the deal, asshole? Why’d you just let it fly off?”
“Because I never finished my story.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
“Project Judas had a directive,” I explain. “A very specific one. Its purpose was to assimilate hostile entities, to annihilate monsters and boogeymen, and ensure the survival of our species. Simply put, it was never made to hurt humans. After everything you’ve told me, I’m not convinced it can.”
She crosses her arms, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Were you even listening to what I said? I found a fucking graveyard down there. It burned John’s skull to a crisp, cracked it open, and ate his brains. I don’t care what it was designed for– I watched it kill a human right in front of me.”
“I’m not certain you did.” I lift up my briefcase, paying my now ashen clipboard one final, farewell glance. “From everything you described, I question whether John was a man at all by the time he took you down to that bunker. If he really was Johnathan Screech, and I think the evidence points to yes, then it’s said he conducted more than a few experiments on himself along the way. The glowing eyes? I’ve never met a human with a set of those.”
“But–”
“Fact is, John brought you here to kill you. John told you that he needed to feed you to his child, that he didn’t have a choice…” My thoughts turn to all the strange disappearances that lead me here. The missing entities. The absentee urban legends. “He was feeding Judas a steady supply of horrors, just enough to keep it from entering hibernation– right up until the moment he ran out. That’s why he pulled you down there. He thought you’d be an easy mark, that maybe with a little creative twisting of the narrative, he could convince Judas that you were close enough to food.
"Remember how he kept calling you a monster? Unfortunately for John, he misunderstood his own creation. Project Judas wasn’t designed to harm human beings. It went against its core directive. So in that moment, when John offered you as a sacrifice, a flip switched in Judas that made it realize John had crossed the threshold and become a monster himself.”
She’s quiet as we walk out the door. “You think he really was that Johnathan Screech guy?”
I shrug. “Maybe. I doubt there are dental records to double check, but based on what you’ve said tonight, it wouldn’t surprise me if Screech couldn’t let his project die. A creature like Judas… The Facility probably didn’t have a means of terminating it, so they buried it instead. Sealed it behind blast doors a kilometer beneath the earth. Then they erased all records of this base ever existing.” My SUV is gleaming black, impossible to miss against the ruinous backdrop of ancient humvees. I crack the passenger door. “Need a ride?”
She smiles. It’s the first time I’ve seen her smile all night, and I can’t help but smile back. “Thank you,” she says. “For not killing me.”
“Don’t mention it.”
She clambers into the seat, and just as I’m about to close the door, she stops me. “Wait,” she says quickly. “I forgot earlier, but John mentioned another entrance. One used for freight… That’s probably how he got back into the bunker after they sealed it up. He seemed to know everything about that place.”
“Yeah,” I tell her. “I figure he must have.”
I close the door and circle to the driver's side.
“So what do we do now,” she asks as I hop in. “About that thing, Project Judas?”
"Nothing," I say, plugging the key into the ignition and giving it a twist. The engine rumbles to life. “As far as I’m concerned, that creature isn’t a monster. And that means it’s not my problem.”
The vehicle rattles as we pull out of the base and onto the jungle road. Maria twists in her seat. She looks back through the rear window as her worst memory falls further and further behind us. “If it isn’t a monster, then what it is it?” she asks.
Words drift around my head. Definitions. I’m trying to figure out how to explain what it is that she and I saw, what it is that more people will see in the coming weeks. I’m trying to think of a way to tell Maria that whatever that thing was, she doesn’t need to be afraid of it. None of us do.
I open my mouth to reply, but I’m interrupted by a microphone howl. It’s distant. Far away. I crane my head and look up through the scatter of vines passing above us. And then I see it. A dark speck on the horizon. It’s little more than a dot against the moonstreaked clouds, but I know that if it were closer, I’d see a creature with six wings. I’d see a shadow with cinderlight eyes. A body of black static.
I’d see a guardian angel– one with plenty of work to do.

This post does not revolve around the controversy that is currently being dug deeper and deeper and more so about the lack of respect for EOD
That being said, why would I want to "upgrade" my edition from EOD to Unheard? Before this crisis I would have bought Unheard to support BSG and for the obviously tacked on benefits that make grinding a little less prevalent. The pockets being increased is such a minor change and yet it blows my mind and is what really drew me into the edition, but no P2W effects could influence me to buy a new edition when I take pride in my golden name and golden crown. I have been playing this game for years now. I started out with standard edition and the gradual upgrade to EOD made the game sweeter. I bought EOD before they artificially threatened and later removed it from the store and I hold my crown and golden name as a badge of honor, showing my support for BSG from a better time.
Why would I want to overwrite my honor with a badge that says "I have given BSG $200 and have no shame in supporting a company that begs for money in the scummiest way possible." If buying this new edition completely erases my former pride and show of support just to sell out for the ability to hold magazines in my pockets and receive the easiest weapons case I will ever get, then my money is better spent literally anywhere else.
Also PVE is a DLC and the distress flare will allow cheaters and RMTers another avenue to benefit off of others. But the new special item is a cool idea since it adds nuance to killing any scavs.

Story time!
tldr: on Nevia 3 of us - me (Arwa the hunter; organizer), Serby and Kohaminha completed the most expensive and one of the hardest bosses to complete in the game - Ancient Spawn of Morgathla (60/60), as second team in tibia (first one was Gentebra - some of them finished on 21st of April, 1 week before us). We are the first team in GBE and it took 1.5 years and cost more than 40k tc.
Long story:

1. The Journey

I was having about a year of break from the game between 2021-2022, decided to return around October 2022, and to my surprise, my interests in the game shifted a bit, towards making achievements. One of the achievements which you can get, is from opening a chest after killing Ancient Spawn of Morgathla - boss I haven’t even heard about prior to this date. In order to have a chance of killing Morgathla, one has to gather 3 items, which are very rare drop from wz 4-6 bosses - mallet head, mallet pommel and mallet handle. There was a problem though, there were no pieces for sale on my server. I had 1-2 chars on other servers, and I saw there were no pieces other than a mallet handle available either. I figured that this might be one of the things that takes a bit more effort, therefore I used the closest double XP event to level up on separate account characters on every GBE Optional PVP server there is. I’ve checked all of them, and found pieces for Morgathla, scattered on 2 servers. Organized world transfers for them, collected them on Olima, arranged this to be a public event for everyone from the server who wishes to come, asked for some donations etc (didn’t want to charge people at this point - I had no idea if anyone would be interested to come). Our first kill happened sometime in the beginning of December 2022.
After this kill, i realized there was massive interest, and hardest part is already in place - having characters on every gbe n pvp, so I started scoping markets every few days for those to see if they show up - they did, so while transferring them I arranged few more public, free of charge kills (I was only asking people to donate me some money, some did, but it was way too little to cover expenses). In the meantime someone suggested to me also checking pvp and rhc pvp servers, this turned out to be a jackpot - few more mallets were waiting for me there, ready to collect. In April 2023, we had maybe 12 kills completed and I realized, some of the people that come, are not playing fair with me - e.g. one person that was taking part in every kill dropped mallet head (by far the most scarce piece of strange mallet) and wanted me to pay for it, to give it back to community (he was hiding who he is at first, keeping it as anonymous sell offer on market, but for way more than i was willing to pay). In the end, I did pay him some money for it, but I asked him to not join the Morgathla organized by me ever again, and started talking with moderators of the boss hunter community, to not have this as a public event anymore, but to move it to boss hunters and have it done more privately.
This move however required some rework - first of all, I have already spent over 10k tc from my own pocket for everyone's benefit, so I decided it’s enough, and it’s time to make costs public too. I decided to not waste my time being ticketing police, and instead work with donation goals - anyone that wants to contribute, can send me some money or tc, once combined donation reaches an average cost of 3 strange mallets, I organize the next run during which we kill 3 Morgathlas. However, since I was about to use resources of boss hunters community, rather than arrange things on my own, I had to work out transparency - once again using knowledge I gathered, I created separate account, to which also boss hunting mods received access, where I leveled up character on every server I identified to either be able to provide mallet piece, or already did provide one in the past. On top of that, Boss hunting mods created a shared google spreadsheet, which anyone with direct link can access, that’s only editable by us, to check for information - how much was spent, how much money there is, how much money was donated etc. At some point, boss hunting mods also decided that except for regular way of joining our community (finding and sharing at least one rare nemesis boss), they would also introduce option to pay - if someone wants bosses, but doesn’t want to look for them, they can pay 250 tc per month, out of which 125 tc goes directly to Morgathla fund, and another 125 tc is to be raffled/given away to the most successful boss finders (not gonna go into details - mix of raffle and giveaway).
This was basically it. For the next year, each and every day, I have been checking every market on this account (sometimes twice a day) + once per week every other market, to see if any mallet pieces showed up. Since we were working with donations, some part of it was also spent to keep the account with premium status and keep buy offers up. Once we gathered enough donations and enough mallet pieces, we were setting up another run of 3 kills. Only thing that was very seldomly paid for from Morgathla's banking account, was world transfers - I was simply running a comparison check between two servers, and bought everything that would bring me profit upon bringing to Olima (and later after the merge Nevia). Usually the amount of items I found was enough to cover the cost, sometimes it was also bringing fairly decent profit on top of world transfer.

1. Current set up

What we currently have is money flowing from 50+ active boss hunters, pumping buy offers on selected GBE markets, and used also towards keeping the account in premium status. Once enough money is collected, and mallet pieces are available, another run with 3 kills on standardized time and day of the week is being held. Every market is being checked a few times a day to battle any bid wars that may show up.

1. A little bit of numbers

• over 200 individual donations, ranging from 25 tc to 1k tc donation each + money coming from paid ranks
• 40k tc spent excluding costs of most of world transfer (but including 10k+ tc I paid from my own pocket at the beginning)
• total north of 400 hours spent of my time over the span of 17 months on: market checking and character leveling, world transfers, market prices comparison, building spreadsheet tools that will help with data gathering and math, selling items etc. Killing itself takes 10 minutes per kill, therefore additional 10 hours here
• current average price of strange mallet already went up to 1.3k tc and trend is also up, therefore right now this boss seems like already something that will easily cost north of 100k tc to complete
• between 5 and 10 mallets built from mallet pieces dropped by participants themselves
• between 30 and 40 world transfers done (would be another 30k tc cost, if it wasn’t for market flipping)

FAQ
Q: Would you do it again? A: hell no, no chance
Q: Why only 3 of you completed? A: Everyone else either swapped chars in the meantime, or had to skip a run. There are a few more people that are almost completing though.
Q: What is the loot? Is there a chance for anything fun? A: Sadly, not really, at least not to our knowledge. On average, this boss gives about 150k profit to each participant per kill.
Q: What are the noteworthy rares, and what are the chances to get them? A: ETA (Earthborn Titan Armor) - below 0.1% chance Ravager’s Axe - below 0.1% chance Plan for a Makeshift Armour - 2% chance that’s it, everything else costs below 1kk, even though there are items that we collectively dropped just once per all of the runs.
Q: Do gnome items drop from this boss? A: No.
Q: How many people were coming? How many people do we need to make it? A: I have seen pictures of teams of 5-7 people doing this boss, however due to scarcity of it, usually there’s way bigger interest. In our case it was usually around 50 people showing up
Q: Is there any cooldown between kills? A: none, right after kill, you can do it again
Q: Can this boss be trolled? A: yes - beware who you are inviting to kill, due to its mechanics, one person is capable of ruining it for everyone.
Q: What are your next plans? A: Me - I continue achievement hunting, currently collecting money for Ferumbras Hat (1209 achievements on 660 lvl now). Nevia boss hunting group - continue with getting mallets, as I have handovered entire set up to the next person.
Q: Any recommendations with regards to this boss? A: Yeah, don’t do it, unless you are a really hardcore completionist. Think of this boss as a menacing egg equivalent. Super costly and very hard to come by. What I can absolutely recommend is checking your depo for mallet pieces. Mallet head is an item you are after.
Room for advertisement: I am proud to support the initiative of my friend Kusnier in his official fansite project - Tibiapal.com. Place with toolkits and guides for everyone, focused mainly on mathematical analysis of gameplay and guides for returning players. Come and pay us a visit, join us on our discord, and take a peek at Kusniers youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@Kusnierr) for hunting spots guides.

I'm still not sure why I signed up for my first race in my life, but if I'm doing it, let's do it properly, I guess. The race will be 90 km with a 1300 m elevation gain. Here is my rough plan:
Before the race:

• Try to find a similar track around my location and train similar distances/elevation while monitoring how much fuel/drink I need.
• Eat nutritious oatmeal in the morning, at least 1.5 hours before the race, with plenty of water and vitamins like magnesium, vitamin C, etc.
• Perform proper bike maintenance: clean the drivetrain, check brakes, shifting, and bolts on the bike. Also, check the saddlebag to ensure it has enough spare tubes/tools, etc.
• Prepare clothes for the conditions, including at least one wind jacket in case of unexpected rain or for the downhill sections.
• Pack 6-7 energy gels and 2 cereal bars into my back pocket, and fill my bottles with isotonic drinks.
• Set up my Garmin (Edge 830) with useful data on the screen. Since I only have an HR sensor, I'd put that and a timer on the main screen alongside speed and elevation. Are there any good tricks or tips that could be useful to see?
• Apply chamois cream to bibs.
• Set tire pressure.
• Warm up legs/arms/neck before the race by rolling a few hundred meters.

During the race:

• Clothing: In the morning it's going to be 4 degrees Celsius, and during the day, it should reach a maximum of 12 degrees Celsius, which is not too much, so clothing can be tricky. I'm thinking of wearing shorts+shirt with arm+leg warmers, along with a vest and a wind jacket. Probably wearing long pants would be a bit too much.
• Drink at least one 0.75l bottle of water every hour and eat one energy gel every 30-40 minutes.

Keep an eye on heart rate and stay below a specific range to avoid pushing myself too much.
After the race:

• Drink plenty of water, take some creatine, and consume a lot of carbs/food.
• Stretch.
• Enjoy the achievement I've made!

What do you think?

Everything in my inventory is up for trade. The most valuable items are listed here, the rest you can find in My Inventory

Feel free to Add Me or even better send a Trade Offer. Open for any suggestions: upgrades, downgrades / knives, gloves, skins / stickers, patterns, floats.

All Buyouts are listed in cash value.

KNIVES

★ Butterfly Knife Lore (Factory New), B/O: $7194.77

★ Butterfly Knife Autotronic (Minimal Wear), B/O: $2025.74

⎯

★ M9 Bayonet Ultraviolet (Field-Tested), B/O: $557.87

★ M9 Bayonet Stained (Well-Worn), B/O: $529.41

★ M9 Bayonet Boreal Forest (Field-Tested), B/O: $465.39

⎯

★ Talon Knife Doppler (Factory New), B/O: $1295.27

★ Bayonet Tiger Tooth (Minimal Wear), B/O: $746.28

★ Karambit Bright Water (Field-Tested), B/O: $688.15

⎯

★ Flip Knife Doppler (Factory New), B/O: $547.93

★ Flip Knife Autotronic (Minimal Wear), B/O: $476.69

★ Flip Knife Case Hardened (Battle-Scarred), B/O: $278.18

★ Flip Knife Black Laminate (Well-Worn), B/O: $258.83

★ Flip Knife Urban Masked (Field-Tested), B/O: $181.64

⎯

★ Stiletto Knife Marble Fade (Factory New), B/O: $686.04

★ Stiletto Knife Doppler (Factory New), B/O: $665.41

★ Stiletto Knife, B/O: $601.39

★ Stiletto Knife Crimson Web (Field-Tested), B/O: $418.25

★ Stiletto Knife Night Stripe (Field-Tested), B/O: $227.80

★ Stiletto Knife Boreal Forest (Field-Tested), B/O: $194.96

★ Stiletto Knife Safari Mesh (Field-Tested), B/O: $192.79

⎯

★ Nomad Knife Crimson Web (Field-Tested), B/O: $518.11

★ Nomad Knife Scorched (Field-Tested), B/O: $169.78

★ Nomad Knife Forest DDPAT (Battle-Scarred), B/O: $166.88

★ StatTrak™ Nomad Knife Blue Steel (Field-Tested), B/O: $335.79

⎯

★ Skeleton Knife Stained (Well-Worn), B/O: $442.05

★ Skeleton Knife Urban Masked (Minimal Wear), B/O: $426.24

★ Skeleton Knife Boreal Forest (Field-Tested), B/O: $314.03

★ StatTrak™ Skeleton Knife Fade (Minimal Wear), B/O: $2361.28

★ StatTrak™ Skeleton Knife Urban Masked (Field-Tested), B/O: $376.53

⎯

★ Ursus Knife Doppler (Factory New), B/O: $557.12

★ Ursus Knife, B/O: $471.42

★ Ursus Knife Blue Steel (Minimal Wear), B/O: $212.37

★ Ursus Knife Case Hardened (Battle-Scarred), B/O: $187.66

★ Ursus Knife Damascus Steel (Field-Tested), B/O: $178.18

★ Ursus Knife Ultraviolet (Battle-Scarred), B/O: $155.13

★ Ursus Knife Boreal Forest (Battle-Scarred), B/O: $124.26

⎯

★ Huntsman Knife Black Laminate (Minimal Wear), B/O: $204.83

★ Huntsman Knife Black Laminate (Field-Tested), B/O: $184.50

★ StatTrak™ Huntsman Knife Lore (Battle-Scarred), B/O: $224.11

⎯

★ Bowie Knife Gamma Doppler (Factory New), B/O: $2142.02

★ Bowie Knife, B/O: $230.44

★ Bowie Knife Damascus Steel (Factory New), B/O: $209.20

★ Bowie Knife Ultraviolet (Minimal Wear), B/O: $180.51

★ Bowie Knife Ultraviolet (Field-Tested), B/O: $131.03

⎯

★ Falchion Knife Night (Field-Tested), B/O: $132.54

★ Falchion Knife Urban Masked (Well-Worn), B/O: $112.81

★ Falchion Knife Scorched (Field-Tested), B/O: $108.81

★ Falchion Knife Forest DDPAT (Field-Tested), B/O: $107.82

★ Falchion Knife Safari Mesh (Field-Tested), B/O: $107.46

★ StatTrak™ Falchion Knife Ultraviolet (Field-Tested), B/O: $143.08

⎯

★ Paracord Knife Crimson Web (Minimal Wear), B/O: $486.48

★ Paracord Knife Blue Steel (Battle-Scarred), B/O: $163.12

⎯

★ Survival Knife Blue Steel (Battle-Scarred), B/O: $138.26

★ Survival Knife Night Stripe (Field-Tested), B/O: $131.03

⎯

★ Gut Knife Sapphire (Minimal Wear), B/O: $1127.79

★ Gut Knife Gamma Doppler (Factory New), B/O: $286.17

★ Gut Knife Doppler (Factory New), B/O: $246.55

★ Gut Knife Marble Fade (Factory New), B/O: $240.77

★ Gut Knife, B/O: $210.49

★ Gut Knife Lore (Field-Tested), B/O: $194.22

★ Gut Knife Case Hardened (Battle-Scarred), B/O: $151.51

★ Gut Knife Blue Steel (Minimal Wear), B/O: $124.94

★ Gut Knife Rust Coat (Well-Worn), B/O: $118.99

★ Gut Knife Boreal Forest (Minimal Wear), B/O: $109.80

★ StatTrak™ Gut Knife Doppler (Factory New), B/O: $237.96

⎯

★ Shadow Daggers Gamma Doppler (Factory New), B/O: $264.92

★ Shadow Daggers Marble Fade (Factory New), B/O: $253.03

★ Shadow Daggers Tiger Tooth (Factory New), B/O: $237.22

★ Shadow Daggers Crimson Web (Field-Tested), B/O: $153.40

★ Shadow Daggers Autotronic (Minimal Wear), B/O: $144.42

★ Shadow Daggers Blue Steel (Field-Tested), B/O: $105.20

★ StatTrak™ Shadow Daggers Damascus Steel (Minimal Wear), B/O: $150.46

⎯

★ Navaja Knife Fade (Factory New), B/O: $365.99

★ Navaja Knife Doppler (Factory New), B/O: $228.93

★ Navaja Knife Marble Fade (Factory New), B/O: $227.43

★ Navaja Knife Slaughter (Factory New), B/O: $209.06

★ Navaja Knife, B/O: $203.16

★ Navaja Knife Case Hardened (Well-Worn), B/O: $132.57

★ Navaja Knife Damascus Steel (Factory New), B/O: $121.69

★ Navaja Knife Damascus Steel (Minimal Wear), B/O: $109.95

★ Navaja Knife Damascus Steel (Field-Tested), B/O: $100.41

★ StatTrak™ Navaja Knife Fade (Factory New), B/O: $369.01

★ StatTrak™ Navaja Knife Damascus Steel (Field-Tested), B/O: $109.95

GLOVES

★ Sport Gloves Amphibious (Minimal Wear), B/O: $2394.67

★ Sport Gloves Omega (Well-Worn), B/O: $572.33

★ Sport Gloves Bronze Morph (Minimal Wear), B/O: $338.88

★ Sport Gloves Big Game (Field-Tested), B/O: $323.66

⎯

★ Specialist Gloves Marble Fade (Minimal Wear), B/O: $1652.07

★ Specialist Gloves Tiger Strike (Field-Tested), B/O: $599.14

★ Specialist Gloves Crimson Web (Well-Worn), B/O: $231.57

★ Specialist Gloves Buckshot (Minimal Wear), B/O: $126.21

⎯

★ Moto Gloves POW! (Minimal Wear), B/O: $996.99

★ Moto Gloves POW! (Field-Tested), B/O: $383.31

★ Moto Gloves POW! (Well-Worn), B/O: $276.00

★ Moto Gloves Turtle (Field-Tested), B/O: $180.28

⎯

★ Hand Wraps CAUTION! (Minimal Wear), B/O: $502.29

★ Hand Wraps Giraffe (Minimal Wear), B/O: $180.73

★ Hand Wraps CAUTION! (Battle-Scarred), B/O: $178.32

⎯

★ Driver Gloves Queen Jaguar (Minimal Wear), B/O: $181.01

★ Driver Gloves Rezan the Red (Field-Tested), B/O: $101.66

⎯

★ Broken Fang Gloves Jade (Field-Tested), B/O: $127.88

★ Broken Fang Gloves Needle Point (Minimal Wear), B/O: $124.55

⎯

★ Bloodhound Gloves Guerrilla (Minimal Wear), B/O: $127.94

★ Hydra Gloves Case Hardened (Field-Tested), B/O: $102.55

WEAPONS

AK-47 X-Ray (Well-Worn), B/O: $478.95

AUG Hot Rod (Factory New), B/O: $425.83

StatTrak™ M4A1-S Hyper Beast (Factory New), B/O: $413.95

M4A4 Daybreak (Factory New), B/O: $309.51

StatTrak™ AK-47 Aquamarine Revenge (Factory New), B/O: $305.43

AK-47 Case Hardened (Well-Worn), B/O: $196.38

StatTrak™ M4A4 Temukau (Minimal Wear), B/O: $174.64

P90 Run and Hide (Field-Tested), B/O: $167.03

AWP Asiimov (Field-Tested), B/O: $153.33

Souvenir SSG 08 Death Strike (Minimal Wear), B/O: $140.00

M4A1-S Printstream (Battle-Scarred), B/O: $124.70

StatTrak™ M4A1-S Golden Coil (Field-Tested), B/O: $117.48

AWP Asiimov (Well-Worn), B/O: $115.97

StatTrak™ Desert Eagle Printstream (Minimal Wear), B/O: $112.96

StatTrak™ AK-47 Asiimov (Minimal Wear), B/O: $110.85

Souvenir M4A1-S Master Piece (Well-Worn), B/O: $102.42

AK-47 Bloodsport (Minimal Wear), B/O: $100.53

Trade Offer Link - Steam Profile Link - My Inventory

Knives - Bowie Knife, Butterfly Knife, Falchion Knife, Flip Knife, Gut Knife, Huntsman Knife, M9 Bayonet, Bayonet, Karambit, Shadow Daggers, Stiletto Knife, Ursus Knife, Navaja Knife, Talon Knife, Classic Knife, Paracord Knife, Survival Knife, Nomad Knife, Skeleton Knife, Patterns - Gamma Doppler, Doppler (Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, Phase 4, Black Pearl, Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald), Crimson Web, Lore, Fade, Ultraviolet, Night, Marble Fade (Fire & Ice, Fake FI), Case Hardened (Blue Gem), Autotronic, Slaughter, Black Laminate, Tiger Tooth, Boreal Forest, Scorched, Blue Steel, Vanilla, Damascus Steel, Forest DDPAT, Urban Masked, Freehand, Stained, Bright Water, Safari Mesh, Rust Coat, Gloves - Bloodhound Gloves (Charred, Snakebite, Guerrilla, Bronzed), Driver Gloves (Snow Leopard, King Snake, Crimson Weave, Imperial Plaid, Black Tie, Lunar Weave, Diamondback, Rezan the Red, Overtake, Queen Jaguar, Convoy, Racing Green), Hand Wraps (Cobalt Skulls, CAUTION!, Overprint, Slaughter, Leather, Giraffe, Badlands, Spruce DDPAT, Arboreal, Constrictor, Desert Shamagh, Duct Tape), Moto Gloves (Spearmint, POW!, Cool Mint, Smoke Out, Finish Line, Polygon, Blood Pressure, Turtle, Boom!, Eclipse, 3rd Commando Company, Transport), Specialist Gloves (Crimson Kimono, Tiger Strike, Emerald Web, Field Agent, Marble Fade, Fade, Foundation, Lt. Commander, Crimson Web, Mogul, Forest DDPAT, Buckshot), Sport Gloves (Pandora's Box, Superconductor, Hedge Maze, Vice, Amphibious, Slingshot, Omega, Arid, Big Game, Nocts, Scarlet Shamagh, Bronze Morph), Hydra Gloves (Case Hardened, Emerald, Rattler, Mangrove), Broken Fang Gloves (Jade, Yellow-banded, Unhinged, Needle Point), Pistols - P2000 (Wicked Sick, Ocean Foam, Fire Element, Amber Fade, Corticera, Chainmail, Imperial Dragon, Obsidian, Scorpion, Handgun, Acid Etched), USP-S (Printstream, Kill Confirmed, Whiteout, Road Rash, Owergrowth, The Traitor, Neo-Noir, Dark Water, Orion, Blueprint, Stainless, Caiman, Serum, Monster Mashup, Royal Blue, Ancient Visions, Cortex, Orange Anolis, Ticket To Hell, Black Lotus, Cyrex, Check Engine, Guardian, Purple DDPAT, Torque, Blood Tiger, Flashback, Business Class, Pathfinder, Para Green), Lead Conduit, Glock-18 (Ramese's Reach, Umbral Rabbit, Fade, Candy Apple, Bullet Queen, Synth Leaf, Neo-Noir, Nuclear Garden, Dragon Tatto, Reactor, Pink DDPAT, Twilight Galaxy, Sand Dune, Groundwater, Blue Fissure, Snack Attack, Water Elemental, Brass, Wasteland Rebel, Vogue, Franklin, Royal Legion, Gamma Doppler, Weasel, Steel Disruption, Ironwork, Grinder, High Beam, Moonrise, Oxide Blaze, Bunsen Burner, Clear Polymer, Bunsen Burner, Night), P250 (Apep's Curse, Re.built, Nuclear Threat, Modern Hunter, Splash, Whiteout, Vino Primo, Mehndi, Asiimov, Visions, Undertow, Cartel, See Ya Later, Gunsmoke, Splash, Digital Architect, Muertos, Red Rock, Bengal Tiger, Crimson Kimono, Wingshot, Metallic DDPAT, Hive, Dark Filigree, Mint Kimono), Five-Seven (Neon Kimono, Berries And Cherries, Fall Hazard, Crimson Blossom, Hyper Beast, Nitro, Fairy Tale, Case Hardened, Copper Galaxy, Angry Mob, Monkey Business, Fowl Play, Anodized Gunmetal, Hot Shot, Retrobution, Boost Protocol), CZ75-Auto (Chalice, Crimson Web, Emerald Quartz, The Fuschia is Now, Nitro, Xiangliu, Yellow Jacket, Victoria, Poison Dart, Syndicate, Eco, Hexane, Pole, Tigris), Tec-9 (Mummy's Rot, Rebel, Terrace, Nuclear Threat, Hades, Rust Leaf, Decimator, Blast From, Orange Murano, Toxic, Fuel Injector, Remote Control, Bamboo Forest, Isaac, Avalanche, Brother, Re-Entry, Blue Titanium, Bamboozle), R8 Revolver (Banana Cannon, Fade, Blaze, Crimson Web, Liama Cannon, Crazy 8, Reboot, Canal Spray, Night, Amber Fade), Desert Eagle (Blaze, Hand Cannon, Fennec Fox, Sunset Storm, Emerald Jörmungandr, Pilot, Hypnotic, Golden Koi, Printstream, Cobalt Disruption, Code Red, Ocean Drive, Midnight Storm, Kumicho Dragon, Crimson Web, Heirloom, Night Heist, Mecha Industries, Night, Conspiracy, Trigger Discipline, Naga, Directive, Light Rail), Dual Berettas (Flora Carnivora, Duelist, Cobra Strike, Black Limba, Emerald, Hemoglobin, Twin Turbo, Marina, Melondrama, Pyre, Retribution, Briar, Dezastre, Royal Consorts, Urban Shock, Dualing Dragons, Panther, Balance), Rifles - Galil (Aqua Terrace, Winter Forest, Chatterbox, Sugar Rush, Pheonix Blacklight, CAUTION!, Orange DDPAT, Cerberus, Dusk Ruins, Eco, Chromatic Aberration, Stone Cold, Tuxedo, Sandstorm, Shattered, Urban Rubble, Rocket Pop, Kami, Crimson Tsunami, Connexion), SCAR-20 (Fragments, Brass, Cyrex, Palm, Splash Jam, Cardiac, Emerald, Crimson Web, Magna Carta, Stone Mosaico, Bloodsport, Enforcer), AWP (Black Nile, Duality, Gungnir, Dragon Lore, Prince, Medusa, Desert Hydra, Fade, Lightning Strike, Oni Taiji, Silk Tiger, Graphite, Chromatic Aberration, Asiimov, Snake Camo, Boom, Containment Breach, Wildfire, Redline, Electric Hive, Hyper Beast, Neo-Noir, Man-o'-war, Pink DDPAT, Corticera, Sun in Leo, Elite Build, Fever Dream, Atheris, Mortis, PAW, Exoskeleton, Worm God, POP AWP, Phobos, Acheron, Pit Viper, Capillary, Safari Mesh), AK-47 (Steel Delta, Head Shot, Wild Lotus, Gold Arabesque, X-Ray, Fire Serpent, Hydroponic, Panthera Onca, Case Hardened, Vulcan, Jet Set, Fuel Injector, Bloodsport, Nightwish, First Class, Neon Rider, Asiimov, Red Laminate, Aquamarine Revenge, The Empress, Wasteland Rebel, Jaguar, Black Laminate, Leet Museo, Neon Revolution, Redline, Frontside Misty, Predator, Legion of Anubis, Point Disarray, Orbit Mk01, Blue Laminate, Green Laminate, Emerald Pinstripe, Cartel, Phantom Disruptor, Jungle Spray, Safety Net, Rat Rod, Baroque Purple, Slate, Elite Build, Uncharted, Safari Mesh), FAMAS (Waters of Nephthys, Sundown, Prime Conspiracy, Afterimage, Commemoration, Dark Water, Spitfire, Pulse, Eye of Athena, Meltdown, Rapid Eye Move, Roll Cage, Styx, Mecha Industrie, Djinn, ZX Spectron, Valence, Neural Net, Night Borre, Hexne), M4A4 (Eye of Horus, Temukau, Howl, Poseidon, Asiimov, Daybreak, Hellfire, Zirka, Red DDPAT, Radiation Hazard, Modern Hunter, The Emperor, The Coalition, Bullet Rain, Cyber Security, X-Ray, Dark Blossom, Buzz Kill, In Living Color, Neo-Noir, Desolate Space, 龍王 (Dragon King), Royal Paladin, The Battlestar, Global Offensive, Tooth Fairy, Desert-Strike, Griffin, Evil Daimyo, Spider Lily, Converter), M4A1-S (Emphorosaur-S, Welcome to the Jungle, Imminent Danger, Knight, Hot Rod, Icarus Fell, Blue Phosphor, Printstream, Master Piece, Dark Water, Golden Coil, Bright Water, Player Two, Atomic Alloy, Guardian, Chantico's Fire, Hyper Beast, Mecha Industries, Cyrex, Control Panel, Moss Quartz, Nightmare, Decimator, Leaded Glass, Basilisk, Blood Tiger, Briefing, Night Terror, Nitro, VariCamo, Flashback), SG 553 (Cyberforce, Hazard Pay, Bulldozer, Integrale, Dragon Tech, Ultraviolet, Colony IV, Hypnotic, Cyrex, Candy Apple, Barricade, Pulse), SSG 08 (Death Strike, Sea Calico, Blood in the Water, Orange Filigree, Dragonfire, Big Iron, Bloodshot, Detour, Turbo Peek, Red Stone), AUG (Akihabara Accept, Flame Jörmungandr, Hot Rod, Midnight Lily, Sand Storm, Carved Jade, Wings, Anodized Navy, Death by Puppy, Torque, Bengal Tiger, Chameleon, Fleet Flock, Random Access, Momentum, Syd Mead, Stymphalian, Arctic Wolf, Aristocrat, Navy Murano), G3SG1 (Chronos, Violet Murano, Flux, Demeter, Orange Kimono, The Executioner, Green Apple, Arctic Polar Camo, Contractor), SMGs - P90 (ScaraB Rush, Neoqueen, Astral Jörmungandr, Run and Hide, Emerald Dragon, Cold Blooded, Death by Kitty, Baroque Red, Vent Rush, Blind Spot, Asiimov, Trigon, Sunset Lily, Death Grip, Leather, Nostalgia, Fallout Warning, Tiger Pit, Schermatic, Virus, Shapewood, Glacier Mesh, Shallow Grave, Chopper, Desert Warfare), MAC-10 (Sakkaku, Hot Snakes, Copper Borre, Red Filigree, Gold Brick, Graven, Case Hardened, Stalker, Amber Fade, Neon Rider, Tatter, Curse, Propaganda, Nuclear Garden, Disco Tech, Toybox, Heat, Indigo), UMP-45 (Wild Child, Fade, Blaze, Day Lily, Minotaur's Labyrinth, Crime Scene, Caramel, Bone Pile, Momentum, Primal Saber), MP7 (Teal Blossom, Fade, Nemesis, Whiteout, Asterion, Bloosport, Abyssal Apparition, Full Stop, Special Delivery, Neon Ply, Asterion, Ocean Foam, Powercore, Scorched, Impire), PP-Bizon (Modern Hunter, Rust Coat, Forest Leaves, Antique, High Roller, Blue Streak, Seabird, Judgement of Anubis, Bamboo Print, Embargo, Chemical Green, Coblat Halftone, Fuel Rod, Photic Zone, Irradiated Alert, Carbon Fiber), MP9 (Featherweight, Wild Lily, Pandora's Box, Stained Glass, Bulldozer, Dark Age, Hot Rod, Hypnotic, Hydra, Rose Iron, Music Box, Setting Sun, Food Chain, Airlock, Mount Fuji, Starlight Protector, Ruby Poison Dart, Deadly Poison), MP5-SD (Liquidation, Oxide Oasis, Phosphor, Nitro, Agent, Autumn Twilly), Shotguns, Machineguns - Sawed-Off (Kiss♥Love, First Class, Orange DDPAT, Rust Coat, The Kraken, Devourer, Mosaico, Wasteland Princess, Bamboo Shadow, Copper, Serenity, Limelight, Apocalypto), XM1014 (Frost Borre, Ancient Lore, Red Leather, Elegant Vines, Banana Leaf, Jungle, Urban Perforated, Grassland, Blaze Orange, Heaven Guard, VariCamo Blue, Entombed, XOXO, Seasons, Tranquility, Bone Machine, Incinegator, Teclu Burner, Black Tie, Zombie Offensive, Watchdog), Nova (Sobek's Bite, Baroque Orange, Hyper Beast, Green Apple, Antique, Modern Hunter, Walnut, Forest Leaves, Graphite, Blaze Orange, Rising Skull, Tempest, Bloomstick, Interlock, Quick Sand, Moon in Libra, Clean Polymer, Red Quartz, Toy Soldier), MAG-7 (Copper Coated, Insomnia, Cinqueda, Counter Terrace, Prism Terrace, Memento, Chainmail, Hazard, Justice, Bulldozer, Silver, Core Breach, Firestarter, Praetorian, Heat, Hard Water, Monster Call, BI83 Spectrum, SWAG-7), M249 (Humidor, Shipping Forecast, Blizzard Marbleized, Downtown, Jungle DDPAT, Nebula Crusader, Impact Drill, Emerald Poison Dart), Negev (Mjölnir, Anodized Navy, Palm, Power Loader, Bratatat, CaliCamo, Phoenix Stencil, Infrastructure, Boroque Sand), Wear - Factory New (FN), Minimal Wear (MW), Field-Tested (FT), Well-Worn (WW), Battle-Scarred (BS), Stickers Holo/Foil/Gold - Katowice 2014, Krakow 2017, Howling Dawn, Katowice 2015, Crown, London 2018, Cologne 2014, Boston 2018, Atlanta 2017, Cluj-Napoca 2015, DreamHack 2014, King on the Field, Harp of War, Winged Difuser, Cologne 2016, Cologne 2015, MLG Columbus 2016, Katowice 2019, Berlin 2019, RMR 2020, Stockholm 2021, Antwerp 2022, Paris 2023, Swag Foil, Flammable foil, Others - Souvenirs, Agents, Pins, Passes, Gifts, Music Kits, Cases, Keys, Capsules, Packages, Patches

Some items on the list may no longer be available or are still locked, visit My Inventory for more details.

Send a Trade Offer for fastest response. I consider all offers.

Add me for discuss if there is a serious offer that needs to be discussed.

Part 1
I’m sorry it took so long for me to get this update posted.
Everything that happened has been… well… a lot... to process. At first, I didn’t want to even write it down – I didn’t want to relive that night, but I guess I can’t avoid it forever. Especially knowing what I know now – that I may never have another chance to.
Almost two years to the day from my first post, my best friend Liz disappeared from room 347 in the middle of the final night of our stay at a swanky hotel. I woke up alone the next morning to the door still bolted from the inside, she had left everything behind. The only place she could’ve gone was through the dark, narrow space behind the small door and false wall – leading from our room into a space that never should’ve existed. Even after crawling through it myself, I never found her.
The manager of the hotel and the police were not just insistent that she left of her own volition – their tones and expressions became almost threatening when I pushed further.
Her fiancé, Jarrod, and I had been searching for her ever since.
When I received the invitation to stay at that same hotel, in that same room, of course I knew the risks. But, in the hopes that it could give us even a slim chance of finding Liz, I accepted it.
So, I bought a little canister of triple action pepper spray, and packed my bag.
Something in the back of my mind told me that to bring Jarrod with me would mean I’d never find out what happened to her that night. I scheduled an email to go out to him the morning after the final night of my stay, explaining where I’d gone.
You know – just in case I never came back.
I’ve been home for a while now and I’m still struggling to put some of the pieces together – I’m starting to accept that there are some things I may never fully understand. I’m afraid of what may be coming next.
During my recent stay, I didn’t spend much time in the room, with its overpowering smell of bleach – mingled with something else that I couldn’t quite place. Mostly, I tried to search the surrounding city for anything I may have missed before, and of course, explored every inch of that hotel that I could.
Details that I either didn’t catch during our first stay, or pay enough attention to, are now haunting me – details such as how a ritzy looking hotel in the middle of a popular tourist destination never seemed to have anyone else in it.
Or, how there was no way to get to the 7th floor. The buttons so casually skipped from 6 to 8 on the lone elevator that I hadn’t caught it during our first stay. From the main stairs, where there should’ve been an entrance to the hallway, the landing just led to a solid wall.
Once I felt that I’d seen as much of the 3rd floor as I could, I decided to venture deeper into the 4th floor on the second day. On first glance, when the elevator doors opened, it seemed as modern and welcoming as my own floor – albeit with that same feeling of wrongness lurking just below the surface. Once I made it down the hallway and rounded a blind corner, though, the new carpet and cheery paint all stopped abruptly.
I found myself surrounded by the original, fading wallpaper, stains marring the swirling patterns of the torn carpets. Even the light fixtures along the walls looked dated – most struggled to stay on at all. I finally turned back and ran, when they appeared to give out and plunged the windowless hallway into total darkness without warning.
When I calmed down, I checked the other floors. Other than the 3rd, each one I could access all had that same feature – once you reached the portion out of sight from the elevator, the façade abruptly fell away.
Whenever I crossed over to the old, unrenovated side, I always felt a wave of discomfort – that prey instinct of when there’s no one else around you, but you can tell that you are most certainly not alone.
Traveling down those halls felt like stepping back in time, but to a time that was clearly best left forgotten.
Initially, I told myself maybe that was their way of saving money – neglecting the portions that most guests would never see – trying to find some source of courage in willful ignorance.
But when I looked closely, I’d see hints that I was not the first person to walk those halls: a cracked worn and plastic hotel key – still far too modern for those ancient looking doors in the – the glint of a single lost earring. Coming across items left behind from those that came before me made me wonder if their owners ever made it out – the words from the officer two years before were still fresh in my mind.
‘It’s not uncommon for people to visit a city like this and never leave.’
I wondered how many other grieving friends and family members he’d spoken them to.
The night I found it, I’d been wandering around one of those eerily quiet floors. I’d gone further into the winding hallways than I’d ever felt brave enough to before, when I was drawn to a bit of brick peeking out from under cracked plaster and peeling wallpaper in the distance. It was almost entirely bathed in shadows – just beyond where the struggling hall lights had long since given up, and seemed even older than everything else around it. There was a thin gap in the mortar and while it was so dark that I couldn’t see anything, I could feel a faint, stale breeze that carried with it an overpowering smell of rotting meat.
Gagging, I turned around abruptly to see the hotel manager just a couple of feet behind me. I wouldn’t have been able to see him in the shadowy corner at all, save for his eyes glinting at me, unnatural looking in the low light.
I pushed past him without incident, but I couldn’t help but wonder if that hadn’t been the first time he’d silently followed me down the dimly lit hallways.
After that, I made more of an effort to avoid him and his predatory smile, which was easier said than done, since he always seemed to be working – almost as if he never left the hotel.
Every floor I could access had a similar makeshift wall in the same place. I eventually realized it was once a second elevator shaft, since bricked in and plastered over. Once, in the near silence, I thought I heard the sound of something moving behind it.
It was probably easier to seal it off than to fix it, I’d told myself at the time.
I preferred that explanation, rather than to acknowledge my distinct feeling that there was something – not someone, some thing – back there that I had no desire to meet.
Eventually I reached the final night of my stay, no closer to finding out what happened to her.
The only thing left that I could think to do was to try and recreate what I believed may have happened to her that night.
As I prepared for bed, I shoved my phone in my pajama pocket, and grabbed my little can of pepper spray.
My grand plan at that point was to pretend to be asleep, and see if anyone came for me that night. If they did, I’d use the pepper spray and try and get a photo of them, some sort of proof that Liz hadn’t left of her own volition – something that could help us find her.
It may not have been the best idea. Looking back, it was a pretty shitty one.
One that had seemed so much better when I’d been packing my bag in my well-lit bedroom at home the week before. But, I knew it would be the last chance I’d ever get to find out what happened to Liz. After glancing nervously at my small can of pepper spray, I grabbed the swiss army knife off my keychain and shoved it in the other pocket for good measure.
I began to wonder, as I stared up at the dark ceiling that night, in the exact room she’d disappeared from two years earlier, if they invited me there specifically with the intent of nothing happening. I’d been telling anyone that would listen for years all about Liz’s disappearance, about the narrow, dark space in our room, that I’d crawled through. Jarrod had been doing the same – like I said in my last post, he’d been trying to book that same room for years with no luck.
What better way to further discount our concerns than for me to have a perfectly normal stay?
Of course nothing would happen, I realized, disappointed – although I couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit of guilt-tinged relief.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the old hinges of the small door protesting, as it was pulled open from the inside.
I was about to learn what happened to Liz all those years ago.
And after what I found – what I'll share here soon – well, I almost wish I hadn’t.
JFR

Part 1
I’m sorry it took so long for me to get this update posted.
Everything that happened has been… well… a lot... to process. At first, I didn’t want to even write it down – I didn’t want to relive that night, but I guess I can’t avoid it forever. Especially knowing what I know now – that I may never have another chance to.
Almost two years to the day from my first post, my best friend Liz disappeared from room 347 in the middle of the final night of our stay at a swanky hotel. I woke up alone the next morning to the door still bolted from the inside, she had left everything behind. The only place she could’ve gone was through the dark, narrow space behind the small door and false wall – leading from our room into a space that never should’ve existed. Even after crawling through it myself, I never found her.
The manager of the hotel and the police were not just insistent that she left of her own volition – their tones and expressions became almost threatening when I pushed further.
Her fiancé, Jarrod, and I had been searching for her ever since.
When I received the invitation to stay at that same hotel, in that same room, of course I knew the risks. But, in the hopes that it could give us even a slim chance of finding Liz, I accepted it.
So, I bought a little canister of triple action pepper spray, and packed my bag.
Something in the back of my mind told me that to bring Jarrod with me would mean I’d never find out what happened to her that night. I scheduled an email to go out to him the morning after the final night of my stay, explaining where I’d gone.
You know – just in case I never came back.
I’ve been home for a while now and I’m still struggling to put some of the pieces together – I’m starting to accept that there are some things I may never fully understand. I’m afraid of what may be coming next.
During my recent stay, I didn’t spend much time in the room, with its overpowering smell of bleach – mingled with something else that I couldn’t quite place. Mostly, I tried to search the surrounding city for anything I may have missed before, and of course, explored every inch of that hotel that I could.
Details that I either didn’t catch during our first stay, or pay enough attention to, are now haunting me – details such as how a ritzy looking hotel in the middle of a popular tourist destination never seemed to have anyone else in it.
Or, how there was no way to get to the 7th floor. The buttons so casually skipped from 6 to 8 on the lone elevator that I hadn’t caught it during our first stay. From the main stairs, where there should’ve been an entrance to the hallway, the landing just led to a solid wall.
Once I felt that I’d seen as much of the 3rd floor as I could, I decided to venture deeper into the 4th floor on the second day. On first glance, when the elevator doors opened, it seemed as modern and welcoming as my own floor – albeit with that same feeling of wrongness lurking just below the surface. Once I made it down the hallway and rounded a blind corner, though, the new carpet and cheery paint all stopped abruptly.
I found myself surrounded by the original, fading wallpaper, stains marring the swirling patterns of the torn carpets. Even the light fixtures along the walls looked dated – most struggled to stay on at all. I finally turned back and ran, when they appeared to give out and plunged the windowless hallway into total darkness without warning.
When I calmed down, I checked the other floors. Other than the 3rd, each one I could access all had that same feature – once you reached the portion out of sight from the elevator, the façade abruptly fell away.
Whenever I crossed over to the old, unrenovated side, I always felt a wave of discomfort – that prey instinct of when there’s no one else around you, but you can tell that you are most certainly not alone.
Traveling down those halls felt like stepping back in time, but to a time that was clearly best left forgotten.
Initially, I told myself maybe that was their way of saving money – neglecting the portions that most guests would never see – trying to find some source of courage in willful ignorance.
But when I looked closely, I’d see hints that I was not the first person to walk those halls: a cracked worn and plastic hotel key – still far too modern for those ancient looking doors in the – the glint of a single lost earring. Coming across items left behind from those that came before me made me wonder if their owners ever made it out – the words from the officer two years before were still fresh in my mind.
‘It’s not uncommon for people to visit a city like this and never leave.’
I wondered how many other grieving friends and family members he’d spoken them to.
The night I found it, I’d been wandering around one of those eerily quiet floors. I’d gone further into the winding hallways than I’d ever felt brave enough to before, when I was drawn to a bit of brick peeking out from under cracked plaster and peeling wallpaper in the distance. It was almost entirely bathed in shadows – just beyond where the struggling hall lights had long since given up, and seemed even older than everything else around it. There was a thin gap in the mortar and while it was so dark that I couldn’t see anything, I could feel a faint, stale breeze that carried with it an overpowering smell of rotting meat.
Gagging, I turned around abruptly to see the hotel manager just a couple of feet behind me. I wouldn’t have been able to see him in the shadowy corner at all, save for his eyes glinting at me, unnatural looking in the low light.
I pushed past him without incident, but I couldn’t help but wonder if that hadn’t been the first time he’d silently followed me down the dimly lit hallways.
After that, I made more of an effort to avoid him and his predatory smile, which was easier said than done, since he always seemed to be working – almost as if he never left the hotel.
Every floor I could access had a similar makeshift wall in the same place. I eventually realized it was once a second elevator shaft, since bricked in and plastered over. Once, in the near silence, I thought I heard the sound of something moving behind it.
It was probably easier to seal it off than to fix it, I’d told myself at the time.
I preferred that explanation, rather than to acknowledge my distinct feeling that there was something – not someone, some thing – back there that I had no desire to meet.
Eventually I reached the final night of my stay, no closer to finding out what happened to her.
The only thing left that I could think to do was to try and recreate what I believed may have happened to her that night.
As I prepared for bed, I shoved my phone in my pajama pocket, and grabbed my little can of pepper spray.
My grand plan at that point was to pretend to be asleep, and see if anyone came for me that night. If they did, I’d use the pepper spray and try and get a photo of them, some sort of proof that Liz hadn’t left of her own volition – something that could help us find her.
It may not have been the best idea. Looking back, it was a pretty shitty one.
One that had seemed so much better when I’d been packing my bag in my well-lit bedroom at home the week before. But, I knew it would be the last chance I’d ever get to find out what happened to Liz. After glancing nervously at my small can of pepper spray, I grabbed the swiss army knife off my keychain and shoved it in the other pocket for good measure.
I began to wonder, as I stared up at the dark ceiling that night, in the exact room she’d disappeared from two years earlier, if they invited me there specifically with the intent of nothing happening. I’d been telling anyone that would listen for years all about Liz’s disappearance, about the narrow, dark space in our room, that I’d crawled through. Jarrod had been doing the same – like I said in my last post, he’d been trying to book that same room for years with no luck.
What better way to further discount our concerns than for me to have a perfectly normal stay?
Of course nothing would happen, I realized, disappointed – although I couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit of guilt-tinged relief.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the old hinges of the small door protesting, as it was pulled open from the inside.
I was about to learn what happened to Liz all those years ago.
And after what I found, well, I almost wish I hadn’t.

File Sequence: <Beginning> -First Contact[10]- -Conclusion- <Legends>
_______________________________
Secret Files: <CoS[1]> -Cos[2]-
Note: Figured it would be "lore-flexible'' to divide the "Tree" into 3 branches; Legends(WP/Side stories that might not be canon), Archives(Main safe route), and Secret Files(Major Spoilers). Also, no intro quotes this time, sorry, i decided to make them only for "serious" chapters.(Besides, i wrote like 20 already.) Also, Lazarus is not around due to internet issues, so, *tsk* im doing it all alone, again...
Oh yeah, I also must congratulate myself with my last chapter. Forget about not receiving any help requests, we managed to remain on 0 comments and -1(if i remove mine) upvotes. And more than 6k people saw the post. Unbelievable... Thats the record! Of lowest score ever possible. You can't repeat it on HFY subreddit, or probably ANY subreddit with at least 2000 followers for that matter. Even if you tried to do so on purpose... Should i drop the writing for real this time? I think im cursed...
...
...
...

Return Of Vanquished

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
/Connected.
/Mellator Matrix Mind.
/SubUnit: AVA-9252002
/Memory Transmission Subject: Woorrrl, emperor of Bloboid empire. Former Grand Admiral of First Blockade of Intergalactic Alliance. Current Chancellor of Intergalactic Senate.
/Time-space: 9 rotations from Black Battle.
/Location: On the way to Gh'urrl.
/Sequence Code: .- .-- ..- -- .- -- -.- --.. -- -... .-
/Transmission in 3...2...1...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We were quiet.
All of us.
Yes, just like that monsters, "Shaders"...
Entire fleet crew was traveling back home, without dropping a word to one another. Of course, as there was really nothing to talk about to begin with. We just blankly looked at our screens and panels, or even freezing our minds at times, looking into one spot.
Around 80 percent of our "first strike" and observation fleet was destroyed. Their remains, or "corpses", as our warrior race likes to name them, was drifting back there, way on the edge of the dead space quadrants. And we probably won't be able to retrieve any of them at all, like we tend to do with broken down or dismantled equipment...
Our remaining ships wasn't in their "blooming" stage either. Some had broken wings, not fully functioning FTL drives and gears, unstable shields that consumed more energy while trying to stabilize themselves and ultimately failing by simply popping due to unbalanced particle voltage, missing few components here and there, and also had empty pockets of hatches, where our "life-probe's" supposed to be stored. Well, thats due to the fact that some of them were deactivated in that skirmish or used to rescue our crew.
Now we were flying across the expanse of space, back to square one(both literally and figuratively), where it all started. Most of our dining and rest rooms were now overcrowded. Since the most of our Escorting Fleets were obliterated, their helmsmen and crew now was aboard the Mothership, cleaning the deck from all this mess or fixing and repairing systems. And oh holy pores, there was things to repair...
The "Scout Fist" alone had 90 percent of it's weapons broken down and melted. It's main turrets were burnt and smoked with fifty or so shades of gray, showing the complete combat incapacity. Mothership's main shield generator occasionally short-wired, making it look like a giant broken lightbulb, or billboard with electricity problems. Only thing that kept us alive is the hull itself, that, thankfully, was only scratched and "drawn" over with that constant laser beams. I really wonder how big of a repairment fees the Alliance will have to pay for all of this...
As for me? I just stood, (well, not really as these black snipers somehow managed to disable most of our gravitational panels as well so we been half walking-half hovering from now on) on the main deck, surrounded with my fellow generals as well as unused engineers on standby. We have to admit, going straight to the enemy was not the wisest idea, and it will cost us. A lot. I doubted that there could be a possible way to confront them. In fact, after seeing how these "Dark Warriors" fought, any direct assault would end up in their favor, leaving us at their mercy. I didn't know what are we going to do now. Just didn't...
The signal light on the panel blinked, indicating the incoming call. I tiredly waved my manipulator and one of the Ewwlian workers, that was not even supposed to be on this ship, nodded and patched it through.
After a longer than usual static, the main screen finally lit up, revealing the all known war hero, Mikik (despite his firm stance, it was a little awkward to loot at as two Tamlite spiders, one Crickzuk praying mantis, and one Shuulma octopus in their suits with "Q" symbol on their uniform tried to fix one of the gravity panels, blowtorching the floor behind his back).
"Greetings, Your Highness..." He tiredly hissed.
"Likewise, Fleetmaster." I replied.
"I'm rather glad to notify that most of our FTL drives have been stabilised and we can increase our speeds at 40 percent."
"Good" i sighed, rubbing my cuirasses below my metal suit "Reroute energy in main engines and increase the collider particles acceleration."
"Yes, Your Highness..." He nodded then turned to his(and not) crew " Activate FTL drives!" With echoes of "Aye aye sir!" and feet (or appendages for some) stamping, the crew trotted to the engines to activate them to their max. With buzzing of hundreds remaining engines, ships are now flew with their "normal" sub-light speeds, cutting the fabric of space even more than before.
We all just took our seats (or fixated the exoskeleton to the floor in my case). Mikik took a sip from his favorite drink and exhaled:
"Finally... I wonder, what we do now?"
"So do i..." i answered. "What i can say for sure however, is that R'ikitiks lost their status of "Strongest warriors in the galaxy", no offence [gentlemen]..."
"None taken." General lizards waved back and gritted their teeth, realizing the full weight of shame in that statement.
"True, true..." Fleetmaster Mikik sighed. "I can't even imagine that walk of shame when we will tell the senate that our 'Scout Fist' failed. Oh, and the panic of society, it's going to be a nightmare..."
"Yeah, but we can't help but tell them." I growled "Everyone must know how much of a danger these "Shaders" possess. We must unite like never before, if we want our people to be safe." I raised my manipulators in determination.
**********
Attention to all personnel. We will arrive in Lura Twins system in half a suuta. Get ready.
**********
Suddenly was announced from main intercom by the tech team.
"Oh well, here we go..." I replied.
When we finally entered the system, i entered the observatory room and opened the main telescope to see one of these twins. What i saw however shocked me to my cores. There wasn't two tropical worlds with all their sands and beach water that most of xenos so liked to swim in. What there was instead is two black spheres with red outlines. The oceans was not even visible. Entire landscape was complete darkness. The center of the planet looked like a red eye, rings of glowing lights surrounded the sides. It looked like that rings you see on the stump of the tree, or cırcles of streets in the center of megapolis. It looked like some eldrich abomination consumed and terraformed it...
Once i shakingly shifted my visors from it, i saw even more horrifying picture; Hundreds, no, thousands of darker than black ellipsoids with different sizes were rotating around it, constructing the rings with their bodies.
Suddenly, few dozen of them flew directly to "Scout Fist". They ignored any fire from the support fleets, their ability to dodge every shot made them look twice as menacing. When they reached the Mothership, they have formed the the ring on semi-perpendicular diagonal from its axes around it, spinning in that slow and scary manner. It did not took long enough as all of our systems roared with alarms from incoming laser rain. We were doomed. For sure this time.
Now the atmosphere depressure alarms joined the party as the giant hole was blown straight in the middle of the main deck, sucking in all of ship's crew members. I felt that my exoskeleton too, was losing its posture and slowly started to slide to that breach.
Oh no...
I quickly grabbed one of the panel slabs and tried my best to hold on it. Unfrotunately, the grounding plates that it was installed on, slowly started to come off of its pocket. Just a few more [seconds] and it will be all gone. One last loud metal gritting and i flew base forward in that breach along with that slab i was holding on, spinning like a propeller in the void of open space.
This. Cannot. BE!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
/[Dream] class memory sequence ended.
/Returning to original sequence.
/Transmission in 3...2...1...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I woke up cold like the side of a freezer. With nearly a roar i jumped from my socket, making a flip, and ended up upside down on the ceiling, clinging to the dim spotlight like a [tick].
"Are you okay?" I heard one of the General R'ikitiks asked as the rest of them looked at me from their rest bunks, woken from all the noise i made.
"I'm fine. It was just a nightmare, sorry..." i guiltily exhaled, looking at the dents on the metal i made with my manipulators. Then i jolted from abrupt and yet so familiar intercom announcment:
************
Attention to all personnel. We will arrive in Lura Twins system in half a suuta. Get ready.
************
"Okay, maybe not!" I exclaimed and quickly hovered(Yes, gravity panels was still an issue) from the cabin.
While i could not believe that this is possible, i still wanted to make sure it was just a stupid dream and not some sort of "forecast". I tried my best to move in this zero gravity and swimmed in the corridors like a [jellyfish] retracting my appendages on the walls and propulsing forward. When i managed to get to the main observation compartment, i rushed to the main telescope, pushing aside the navigation specialist before he even could say "Your Highness?!". When i looked trough it, for real this time, i saw that familiar sand-planet, with all it's glory of that cloud clusters, some craters and that famous river on the equator.
What a relief.
"S-sir?"
I looked at the source of meowling, and saw one of the most recognizable Ewwlians in my fleet, Captain Moor. He stood(as much as one could with gravi-panels working only with 20% output) among the navigation team members, with ears slightly folded on the back of his head. One would think that he supposed to be on one of that drone-carrier frigates, but guess what? Yes, it was abandoned and blew up in the dead space as well. In fact two thirds of Mothership itself was disconnected and left behind as it was broken down and became a dead weight on our engines and energy routes. We were only hanging on the remaining disc of one third of it's former glory, crowding it from the toilets to rest rooms.
"Im fine." i camly replied "Well, not completely but everything is better than it could be..."
The concerns slowly faded away from his muzzle and ears flip back up. Then he asked me once again, flicking his tail:
" E-excuse me sir, shouldn't we start to prepare for the landing?"
"Oh, oh right!" i snapped, remebering all of the duties i have to perform on this now one-wreck-of-a-ship. "Tell everyone to gather on main deck, we need to contact the Lyra-1."
He saluted me with firm tail swing and trotted back in the corridors.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
/Time-skip: {20 human minutes}
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
It was actually painfully long to properly enter the orbit of this planet. Thats due to the fact that our non-FTL thrusters was kinda in "shambles" as well. So here were are, nearly drifting to this choke-point. And, as all strategically important things, it was well defended. Why it's been pointed out? Thats because entire armada came to meet the remains of our expedition.
When these ships swarmed us, we got an immediate signal, hailing us. With my manipulator wave, it was patched through. On the screen was an wery familiar member of molluscoid species:
"What is the meaning of this?! The 'Scout Fist' wasn't supposed to return! Why more than the half of it is GONE?!" the octopus on the other side of the screen exclaimed. " Also my radars only scans like twenty destroyers, where are the remaining, like, five hundred of them?!"
"Calm down Bluufo..." i tiredly responded. " It's gonna be a wery, WERY, long story..."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
/Memory transmission ended.
/Sequence Code: .. --.. -- ..- .-- --.. -- .--. --.- .-.. .-.. -- ...-
/Disconnection...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++

In my last story, a space mermaid warned against the dangers of smoking. The Darlings did not heed that warning, so now Space Whale Aesops shall ensue.
____________________________________________________
“The Darling Twins? Honestly, haven’t we all had enough of them by now?” Seneca ruminated as he tried to placate what was now the de facto triumvirate of the Ophion Occult Order.
Once again, he had been summoned to Adderwood Manor to account for his lapses in judgement, but rather than being on full public display in the Grand Hall, he instead found himself in a relatively small parlour. Across from the coffee table in front of him sat Ivy Noir, with her sister Envy to her right and her husband Erich to her left. Standing just to the side of them was the trenchcoat and fedora-wearing automaton who called himself The Mandrake. The one-eyed dream-catcher carved into his iridescent face rendered his emotions unreadable, but the spellwork pistols holstered in his belt made it clear that he was prepared to defend his employers against anything.
“I mean, this feud between them and Emrys is laughable,” Seneca went on. “They’re no threat to him now that he’s free of his chains, surely? Before there may have been a tactical element to his obsession with them, but now it’s just plain petty. Petra’s just out for revenge, and don’t get me started on the absurdity of that eldritch realtor wanting to flip their playroom. Does he think he can just relabel their torture chambers as BDSM dungeons and pass the Black Bile infestation off as some mould?”
“Seneca, I promised Emrys the Darlings, and the Covenant that we all signed binds us to fulfill that promise,” Ivy reminded him patiently, dropping a cube of sugar into her ouroboros-themed antique teacup. “You knew the Darlings better than any of us. You inducted them into the Order, you used them as assassins and bodyguards, and you let them withdraw every penny they had in your bank when they were fugitives!”
“Well, first of all, Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain is a financial institution, not a bank,” Seneca said flippantly. “Secondly, they had a numbered account and they didn’t show up in person, so the teller didn’t have the slightest idea of who they were dealing with.”
“You still could have frozen the account before they had that opportunity,” Erich stated.
Seneca made a display of languidly stirring some cream into his tea and taking a slow sip before responding.
“I’m very busy,” he claimed without an ounce of sincerity.
“You just didn’t want to get on the Darlings’ bad side,” Ivy said.
“I wasn’t aware they had a good side,” Seneca shrugged.
“There must be a paper trail we can follow,” Envy insisted. “Did the Darlings keep their assets anywhere else besides your bank?”
“Financial institution, and yes, I’m sure they have a proverbial Swiss bank account, but I haven’t the slightest notion of where to find it,” Seneca claimed. “It has come up in conversation that James invested about twenty percent of his income with me, twenty percent elsewhere, and shoved another twenty percent under their mattress. Mary enjoys being shagged on top of money, apparently. Their services commanded quite a high price on the underworld market, and sixty-plus years of compound interest have made them incredibly wealthy. They can afford to lie low for a long while.”
“Even if they can go without a paycheck indefinitely, they can’t go without killing,” Erich countered. “They need to hunt, and their egos mean they aren’t just going to cower from Emrys inside their playroom. They’re going to be out looking for victims and plotting against us, and you know what spots they’re likely to hit.”
“You’re wasting your time. James has had decades to scout out hunting grounds, and I’m sure he prepared for the possibility – no, inevitability – that he and his sister would become our enemies. He’s not going to risk showing up within a hundred miles of any of our Chapterhouses if he doesn’t need to,” Seneca said dismissively.
Ivy opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when The Mandrake took a step forward for the first time since the meeting began. He reached into his pocket and tossed a red and white pack of cigarettes with a shiny silhouette of a stag onto the coffee table.
“What is this?” Erich asked.
“Satin Stag cigarettes,” The Mandrake said flatly before shifting his gaze to Seneca. “That’s the Darlings’ brand, isn’t it, Mr. Chamberlain?”
“Um, yes. I believe I’ve seen them smoke those once or twice. What of it?” Seneca asked, failing to hide the nervousness creeping into his voice.
“These are artisanal cigarettes, and Harrowick County’s the only place you can buy them,” The Mandrake said. “That means that the Darlings, either directly or indirectly, are going to have to make the occasional sojourn back home, and the limited supply of these hand-rolled coffin nails means they can’t stock up too far in advance either. You know Harrowick County better than any of us. You know who makes these, you know who sells them. That’s how we track down the Darlings.”
“That’s preposterous. Do you really think they’d risk coming to Harrowick County rather than just switch brands?” Seneca scoffed.
“The Very Important Person at Pascal’s told me that Mary said they’ve been smoking these since they were kids, so they’re clearly pretty attached to them,” The Mandrake replied. “And somehow, I don’t think they’re the type to ever give up a bad habit.”
***
“Smoke & Mirrors ~ Fine Tobacco Products. Silvano Santoro, Proprietor. Est. 1949,” Envy read aloud as she, Seneca and The Mandrake stood outside the small, heavily fortified brick building.
Cast iron bars crisscrossed the windows and front door, which looked like it stood a decent chance of withstanding a police swat team. Security was obviously the shop’s proprietor’s key concern, as the ugly brown and yellow awning was tattered and faded, and the paint on the sign was so chipped it was barely even legible.
“How exactly does an unnoticeable and unattractive hole in the wall like this stay in business?” Envy asked.
“Repeat customers,” Seneca replied as he took a confident step towards the door. “Silvano knows me, and he doesn’t normally have a problem with me bringing guests along, but I expect both of you to be on your best behaviour!”
Envy gave him a reassuring nod, but The Mandrake continued to stoically stare at nothing with his hands in his pockets. Rolling his eyes, Seneca pressed a bulky plastic button on the antiquated door buzzer.
“Yeah, who is it?” a harsh and smoke-damaged voice demanded.
“It’s Seneca, Silvano. A pleasure to make your acquaintance again as well!” Seneca answered. “Just looking to pick up a few cases of cigars for a party, if you’ve got anything decent in stock, of course.”
“Who’s that you got with you?” Silvano asked suspiciously.
“Envy Noir, sir. I’m here on behalf of my sister Ivy, investigating a matter of considerable importance to the Ophion Occult Order,” Envy promptly introduced herself, much to Seneca’s chagrin. “The gentleman beside me is my bodyguard. Would you be so kind as to let us in?”
“Ah… of course. Just a moment, please,” Silvano replied.
“What’s he need a moment to buzz open a door for?” The Mandrake demanded, his stance immediately switching to full readiness.
“Making the place presentable for customers, I assume,” Seneca explained in exasperation.
“You mean he’s hiding evidence, or he’s running!” The Mandrake shouted.
“He’s a nonagenarian heavy smoker. He couldn’t run if his life depended on it,” Seneca insisted.
“I’ll see about that,” The Mandrake muttered.
Shoving Seneca out of the way, he kicked the door in with barely any effort. Storming into the shop, he saw a slender older man with thick white hair and rimmed glasses seated behind the front counter. His saggy, spotted skin was a living PSA against the products he peddled, and in his tobacco-stained hand, he held the receiver of an ornate rotary phone.
Staring at The Mandrake in cold fury, he calmly set the receiver back down in its cradle.
“Who were you talking to?” The Mandrake demanded.
“A client,” Silvano barked back with a shake of his head, picking up a burning cigarette from a nearby ashtray.
“Silvano, I am profusely sorry for this abject and uncouth behaviour! This being is no friend of mine, I can assure you,” Seneca asserted as he and Envy made their way inside.
“The feeling’s mutual, Chamberlain,” The Mandrake remarked. “Mr. Santoro, I apologize for the damage to the premises, but as Miss Noir has said, we’re here on urgent business.”
“Yes, that’s correct. We’ve been given to understand the Darling Twins are regular customers of yours,” Envy explained, before the smoke-saturated room sent her into a coughing spell. She fumbled around in her purse and pulled out a black N95 mask she had left over from the Pandemic.
“I’ve got plenty of regular customers,” Silvan replied defensively. “Customers who pay good money for that smoke you’re so offended by, young lady.”
“These ones have been coming here for over half a century and never aged a day,” The Mandrake said.
“That honestly doesn’t narrow it down that much,” Silvano chuckled, tapping his cigarette on his ashtray. “But yeah, I know the Darlings. What of it?”
“When was the last time they were here?” The Mandrake demanded.
“What’s it to you?” Silvano asked.
“They’re fugitives of the Order now and we want them brought in,” Envy replied, having donned her mask and mostly recovered from the smoke. “Mary Darling held a knife to my throat once in front of my sister, and later threatened to eat me alive in front of her and feed me to her pigs.”
“They were going to put me in their daughter’s doll collection,” The Mandrake muttered.
“And I have nothing but nice things to say about the Darlings, so I’m honestly not quite sure how I got dragged into this,” Seneca said. “That aside, it really would be of great help to us if you could share any information about them that you might have.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. They come in, they buy their smokes, they leave, just like most of my customers,” Silvano told them.
“But now they’re trying to lay low, so I’m guessing they’ve made some sort of arrangement with you to get their Satin Stag cigarettes without having to risk coming here in person,” The Mandrake said. “Maybe they set you up with one of their spare Retrovisions? Emrys said they had a few of those lying around, and they can use them as direct portals to their playroom.”
“Like they’d waste a fancy piece of technomancy like that on an old geezer like me. I haven’t seen them in months. Last year sometime, I think,” Silvano claimed.
The Mandrake casually strolled up to the front counter, rapping his fingers on the cheap glass display case.
“Real nice place you got here, Mr. Santoro. I mean, not really, but I’m sure you get the implication,” he said softly. “Ironic as it may be, a smoke shop isn’t exempt from municipal bylaws about smoking in public buildings and workspaces. You may not have had much trouble with local law enforcement before, but one phone call from my employers will change that real quick.”
“You think I’ve never been threatened before, punk?” Silvano asked, rising from his chair and staring him down.
“Boys, please, there’s no need for this,” Envy interjected. “Mr. Santoro, our Order has considerably more resources at its disposal than the Darlings, and we can certainly offer you a far greater reward for their capture than whatever they’re paying you for some cigarettes. You could retire; close this place down and get as far away as you like. How does that sound?”
“I’m not looking to retire, Miss. This business is all I’ve got, and it wouldn’t be good business to go around ratting out my best customers, now would it?” Silvano asked.
“It would be worse business to sacrifice everything you have to protect two customers,” The Mandrake threatened, his hands clamping down on the display cases so hard they began to creak. “Talk.”
Acknowledging him only with a furtive glance, Silvano took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled.
But this time, the smoke poured out from his mouth and nostrils without limit.
“What the hell?” The Mandrake cursed as he backed away.
Silvano pushed a button beneath the counter, putting his shop into lockdown with security shutters clamping down over every entrance point. As the smoke exuded from his body, it went limp and collapsed into a dried-out husk as the smoke coalesced into an animate form of its own, circling above them around the shop’s yellowed and textured ceiling.
“Damnit. Another egregore,” Envy muttered. “That explains his loyalties. The Darlings couldn’t eat him, but Emrys could.”
“So you’re saying we can’t negotiate it with it?” The Mandrake asked.
“Or fight it,” Envy clarified.
“In that case, it appears we’ve exhausted all our options. Time for a tactical retreat,” Seneca declared as he dashed for the now barricaded exit.
Whatever he was planning to do to get through it, the cloud of smoke cut him off before he got the chance. Rushing in through his nose and mouth, it immediately began suffocating him, sending him spasming to the ground as he choked for air.
The cloud assaulted Envy as well, but was unable to penetrate her mask.
“Godamnit, get away!” she shouted as she swatted it away from her burning eyes.
“Envy, get behind me now!” The Mandrake ordered as he drew out his pistols. “Sorry, Santoro, but you’re going to have to do a lot worse than that if you want to intimidate us!”
Seneca responded by gasping angrily and bashing his hand against the carpet.
“… A lot worse,” The Mandrake reiterated. “I may not be able to shoot you, but I will blow this health hazard you love so much to hell if you don’t tell me where I can find the Darlings!”
“There’ll be no need for that, Mr. Mandrake,” the voice of James Darling crackled in from some unseen speaker. A door off to the side slowly creaked open, revealing a Retrovision flickering with black and white static. The Mandrake wasted no time in shooting at it, but the bullets passed through the glass without causing any damage at all.
A hologram of James Darling manifested in the center of the room, a burning Satin Stag cigarette clutched neatly in his fingers. He saw Seneca suffocating on the floor, then turned his predatory and calculating gaze towards The Mandrake.
“Put the guns on the floor, and I’ll call Silvano off,” he offered.
The Mandrake didn’t seem to be the least bit tempted by this offer, but Envy tugged at his trenchcoat and gave him a commanding nudge. Reluctantly, The Mandrake tossed the guns to the carpet and placed his hands behind his head.
With only a single commanding wag of his index finger, the smoke cloud withdrew from Seneca’s lungs and collected itself above James like a thundercloud.
“No sense in killing you, Seneca. That would practically be doing Emrys a favour,” James said. “But Envy, what’s a pretty girl like you doing wearing a mask?”
“You’d better not let your sister hear you calling me that,” Envy taunted.
“Kind of you to worry, but it’s always the object of my flirtations who bear the brunt of my sister’s wrath,” James reminded her smugly. “Top-notch detective work tracking me down, Mr. Mandrake. Why don’t you walk in through the Retrovision and arrest me?”
“You knew we’d show up here looking for you. You were waiting for us,” The Mandrake growled.
“Again, brilliant detective work. You’ve truly earned that fedora,” James mocked him. “Yes, I knew you’d come here looking for us, so I’ve arranged for Mr. Santoro to set up shop inside our playroom. He was only hanging around here to set a trap for you. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. None of you, not even you, Mr. Mandrake, are going to be able to break out of this building. You can sit there and starve for all I care, or Miss Noir and The Mandrake could take their chances with us on the other side of the Retrovision. Sara Darling really would like to put you in her doll collection, Mr. Mandrake, and I can’t wait to tell Mary Darling exactly how pretty I think you are, Envy. If the two of you come across, I’ll let Seneca go and he can inform Erich and Ivy of your predicament. If they’d like to negotiate for your release, I… may be willing to consider it.”
“You’re a coward! If you’re going to threaten me, step across that screen and do it to my face!” the Mandrake ordered.
He took his hands off his head and took a step towards him, only for the acrid form of Silvano to interject itself between them. James took a casual drag from his cigarette, refusing even to flinch.
Envy took advantage of the distraction and grabbed the pair of spellwork pistols off of the floor, firing two rounds of consecrated lead into the limp body of Silvano. While the body didn’t react at all, the smoke cloud shook and screeched like a wounded animal, losing some of its integrity and dissipating across the room.
“That body’s not just a husk! Silvano’s bound to it!” Envy declared. “James, if you don’t let us go in the next thirty seconds I’ll have The Mandrake tear that body limb from limb and you’ll have to find some other cursed thoughtform to roll your cigarettes for you.”
The Mandrake looked back towards James who now, much to his satisfaction, had flinched.
“Thirty. Twenty-Nine. Twenty-Eight,” he began to count down as he theatrically cracked his knuckles.
Before James could come to a decision, a few wisps of smoke snaked their way back into Silvano’s body. They were enough to animate it like a marionette, its limbs moving jerkily as it input the code to retract the security shutters over the doors and windows.
“There, happy?” James asked facetiously. “You’re free to leave. Put those guns down.”
With a smug smile, Envy shook her head.
“Mandrake, grab that body. We’re taking him with us,” she announced.
When Silvano tried to slam the lockdown button again, Envy shot him, knocking him back into his seat. Before he was able to try a second time, The Mandrake had closed the distance between them. He grabbed him by the waist and slung him over his shoulder, impotently kicking and flailing like a toddler having a tantrum all the while.
“No!” James growled, his hologram disappearing and being replaced by countless others scattered throughout the room.
“What the hell?” Envy demanded as she fell back beside The Mandrake for protection.
“It’s a distraction! Shoot at the Retrovision! He’s coming through to get Silvano!” The Mandrake shouted.
Envy complied, firing multiple rounds at every image of James between them and the Retrovision, but all of them sailed clear through their targets. The smoke cloud suddenly condensed tightly around them, and The Mandrake made a break for the front door while he had the chance.
He was tackled from the side by someone moving at over fifty kilometers an hour, knocking him down and halfway across the room. When he looked up, he was completely surrounded by silhouettes of James bending down in the smoke to pick up Silvano. Jumping to his feet, he made his way back towards the Retrovision in the hopes of cutting James off.
Or at least, he thought that’s where he was going. The tumble to the floor and the encircling smoke had disoriented him, and he ended up tripping over Seneca, who was once again unable to stand from the sickening smoke.
James brushed by them in a blur, and Envy fired every last bullet trying to put him down. Each one either missed or succeeded only in striking Silvano, who was slung over James’ back.
The smoke retreated with them, and The Mandrake dashed after them in one final bid to keep them from escaping. They were just feet away from him before they leapt through the Retrovision, vanishing into the basement universe of the Darlings’ playroom. The Mandrake dared to reach in after them and pull them back, but his hand hit nothing but solid glass.
“Damnit!” he cursed, striking the top of the box set with his fist.
“Don’t break it!” Envy shouted. “If that Retrovision came from the Darlings’ playroom and was modified by James, it could be useful in tracking them down again!”
“It also gives them a two-way ticket to wherever we keep it!” The Mandrake shouted back.
“Oh yes, it would be a gamble taking this old girl with you. No doubt about that,” the black and white visage of James mocked them from the other side of the screen, taking a victory drag from his cigarette. “But on the other hand, it is one of my finer works. It would be a crime, an atrocity even, to destroy it.”
The Mandrake struck the box set again, but deliberately held back on damaging it.
“Mandrake, enough!” Envy commanded. “I know it’s risky, but we need it. Turn it off and pick it up. We’re getting out of this hellhole.”
“Don’t feel bad, Mr. Mandrake. I’m sure you’ll have another chance to end up in Sara Darling’s doll collection very soon,” James taunted just before The Mandrake managed to turn the Retrovision off.
“What an absolute waste of time,” he muttered as he lifted the vintage box set off the floor.
“Not entirely!” Seneca claimed, who had not only recovered from his spectral smoke inhalation but was now holding an unlit cigar. “Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain has a lien on this shop, and since Silvano just ran out on us and has thrown his lot in with the Darlings, this place and everything left in it is ours!”
He was just about to light it before Envy snatched it out of his hands.
“The Mandrake wasn’t bluffing about the municipal health bylaws,” she informed him. “From now on, this is a smoke-free building.”