Shaggy bob.

Hi Charlotte.
So this happened around 10 years ago. My friend, then early 30s F, was getting married in a different state than pretty much any of us lived. I was MOH. The wedding was partially DIY but she did splurge on venue (gorgeous French vineyard in the mountains) and makeup/hair. We flew a bit earlier to help her set up a lot of things. We made bouquets, center pieces, etc. She rented a couple of large houses so it was kinda like a bachelorette party: champagne, rumors and DIY party. We were doing so well and had so much fun that she jokingly said smth along the lines of "watch this wedding become a lot more DIY). Well... be careful with your jokes, ladies and gentlemen...
The morning of the wedding (she had her ceremony at 11am and then a nice brunch type of a meal at that vineyard) we all went to the venue. Makeup/hair artist was supposed to arrive at 8. We're waiting... and waiting... we're calling the artist - no reply. I'm pretty sure we maxed out her voice mail.
Finally a little before 10 we get a text from an unknown number "hi. this is so-and-so, I'm your MUA's assistant. she has a stomach flu, has been throwing up all night, so she won't come"
uhm...1. if she's been throwing up ALL NIGHT why do we only find out about her not showing up a little over an hour before the ceremony??? 2. if there is an assistant... couldn't they have come out and done a very simple makeup/hair? (my friend didn't really care about elaborate result, she wanted to treat herself to this kind of service)...
ok. crunch time. I have done make up on her numerous times for fun and for some smaller events. I didn't take much makeup with me cause I flew with carry-on only, but... MOH to the rescue! I mean she is beautiful as it is so not much help is needed. She had her own foundation, cause even though we're similarly pale, she's a lot warmer toned. Eyes though... She can take SO MUCH BROWN on her lids and look natural, that I wasn't worried. Everyone agreed I did a good job. She looked fresh, and her eyes were shining.
But... I have no experience with hair. I've mostly had short hair all my life, longest being some kind of shaggy bob a little past my chin... and we have no tools or pins. Her future SIL volunteered to attempt a simple French bun: classy and clean. So now we are running around the venue asking women working there for whatever they can donate to the cause lol We ended up with a handful of ties, pins, clamps, all different colors. But we made it work. The bride looked awesome and nobody would have guessed we had to rush and pretty much pushed her out to the isle at the last moment putting finishing touches on her hair while she walked up to her dad.
After we all survived this ordeal we went online and found that MUA. So what do the good friends do? Let her have it of course! we left 1* reviews on her page, describing the situation. We plummeted her rating to the basement in a matter of an hour. She then had the AUDACITY to reach out to my friend telling her that she is a small business owner and what we are doing is wrong and unethical, that she is a woman business owner and women should stick together and support each other... blah blah blah
My friend ignored her. Later we noticed that she took down her page. We assumed she re-opened it under as different name or whatever. Not sorry. You mess with my friend on her day? you better believe I'll be coming after you.

I've been looking for this game for a while but can't seem to find it.It was a clip from a old YouTube video that I randomly remembered and it was I think either Fred or Scooby and shaggy feeding a bunch of furbie type things think of red yellow blue green circles with feet and you had to feed them on time or you lose Kind of like SpongeBob Diner dash, I'm not sure if it was a mini game within the game or it was the whole premise but yeah that's about it.( Sorry if it looks like it was written by a 7 year old English isn't my first language):

Welcome to The Oblivion Cycle universe, a vast setting spanning all of time and space and so much more. While many stories may shed perspective on this grand cosmic vista, there are also tales of adventure and sacrifice, romance and terror, grimdark corruption and scientific progress. To become immersed in the setting is to let the chaos of creativity flow through you, to let go of what is probable to discover what’s possible. I have created TOC for one reason, to inspire and entertain any who will listen. So please feel free to join me on this great adventure as I push the boundaries of what is possible and expand the limits of our creativity together. For more information on the setting and its lore there is a subreddit for TOC at TheOblivionCycle and a Discord server dedicated to it here [https://discord.gg/uGsYHfdjYf\] called ‘The Oblivion Cycle Community Server’. I hope you find the following story entertaining and once more, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

• E1:P1 + Previous Part + Next Part+

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Continued From Episode 2
Balinski sat in his blue Atoya Trooper with an arm resting on the sill of the driver-side door’s open window. He rested his head back against the faux cow leather seat and tried to close his eyes briefly against the glare of the neon lights outside. His impromptu attempt to nap was once more interrupted by the creature occupying the passenger seat next to him in the extended cabin of the armoured truck.
He grunted as something furry butted into his side, the barely healed bruising tingling as he put out a hand to stop further assault. “What do you want, Caesar?” He asked the large cyberhound next to him.
Caesar just snuffled and then shook her head before giving him a small whine and a pointed look. He smirked, she couldn't possibly still be hungry. She had just polished off an entire zebberloaf sandwich and had even managed to eat the other half of his. With his limited biological mass he didn't need to eat very much anymore to maintain himself. His cybernetics operated off of internalized promethium powercells and required only limited maintenance as long as he was careful not to get shot too much.
He chuckled at that, the other week had been a brutal array of close fighting. His legs and arms had taken a beating requiring him to actually visit his military contact to get them repaired. Dr. Magoy had been happy to see him it had seemed, if not necessarily happy about the state he had allowed himself to fall into. But after a tense few limbless hours he had been put back together, ‘better than new’ he had been assured.
Caesar butted him again and he looked over toward her, “What?!” he demanded before realising that she was desperate. “Oh, I told you not to drink so much water before we left this morning. Okay, but don't be too conspicuous. I’m pretty sure you aren't supposed to just piss wherever you like.”
He opened the door and grunted as she rushed over his lap and out onto the sidewalk, luckily it was rather early in the morning so there were few passers-by to gawk at the thirty-six kilogram cybernetically enhanced husky as she bolted for the nearest convenient shadow. With her neural implants she at least had the good conscience to be embarrassed about relieving herself in front of others. Something that he constantly found amusing.
He checked his wrist assistant, the small electronic device beeping angrily at him as the fifteen minute timer rang incessantly. He turned it off and looked around again, he didn’t see Daryon anywhere. The large vinarfelien police woman was supposed to meet him here at seven-thirty sharp. So where in the name of Lady Luck was the large insectoid female?
He heard a series of happy barks coming from around the nearby building and smiled. Caesar was wary of strangers and wouldn't bark like that at somebody unless she knew them. He rolled up the armoured glazmite window and stepped out of the vehicle, closing it behind him with a thud.
As he walked towards the corner he saw Caesar bound around it, prancing before a two-meter tall alien that looked as if somebody had taken a child's nightmare about a centipede and scaled them up into a six-meter long three-hundred kilogram version with ten arms and a multitude of short stabbing legs that ran along the sides of her chiton armoured body.
He smiled as she gave him a two armed wave. Waving back politely he walked towards her and called out, “What are you doing, don’t you know that Caesar is an on duty officer of the law? I can’t have her getting pets and distractions from every random passerby.”
Daryon’s antenna rose in a customary greeting as she put out two hands palms up which he promptly slapped. She folded five of her lower arms while still giving the happily grumbling pup a good head scrub with the sixth. Two of her upper arms she used to gesticulate while she answered him, “Well of coursse. But an officer ass good asss thiss deservess to be praissed by her comradesss whenever the opportunity arisess, wouldn't you agree?”
He didn't have a counterpoint and so he just shrugged before leaning against the faded facade of the building next to him. “Well, thanks for coming to help. I don’t know these streets as well as I would like. I grew up on the edge of the flyway and so didn't get to see the old city much.” He looked around, the old city was indeed old.
Cheenha had been founded as one of the original cities on Jureillo a little over three hundred years ago. Most of the old city was at least one hundred and fifty years old with some of the structures being far older. The materials and techniques haven't changed much over the centuries though and so it could sometimes be difficult to tell a historical building from a new novelty one that was simply made to mimic the age of those around it.
Such mimicry was pretty commonplace amongst the buildings in both the old and the new city. It was seen as bad practice to try and modernise the old style buildings. While there were indeed kilometer tall shining steel skyscrapers in the new city, the old city consisted mostly of blocky high-rises and triple stacked city-plates. Large sections of the city that were layered on top of each other in such a way that the underlying levels were completely blocked off from the sky.
In fact, if it were not for the profusion of flashing neon advertisements in the windows of the shops nearby and the flickering overhead lighting it would have been pitch black where they were. He took a few steps towards his truck and then stopped as he heard a noose from behind him.
Turning curiously he saw Daryon with two of her arms raised, she lowered them as he looked. The insectoid woman’s antennae rose slightly as she gestured towards his blue Atoya, “What? Are we taking that?”
Balinski nodded. “Well, yeah. Unless you would rather walk everywhere.”
She seemed to hesitate. “I don’t. Will I even fit in there?”
Balinski had to laugh at her candid nervousness. “Yes, you will fit just fine. I am sure of it, now come on. We have a lot of ground to cover as you said over the E-Link last night.” He tapped his wrist assistant, the small personal computing device that nearly every sapient member of the Union used on a daily basis. It could do a multitude of simple tasks and had the ability to download and use special applications to improve its performance and usefulness.
She looked at the device attached to her own wrist and then back at him. Her lightning patterned carapace seemed to sway slightly as she finally gave a stiff nod of her head, well more of a bob really.
“Okay, but don’t ssay I didn’t have any doubtss if it doessn't work.” the vinarfelien chittered in her slightly hissing accent.
He walked over to the heavy truck, the empty bed and heavy industrial looking profile intimately familiar to him. He had always wanted a Trooper as a child, but his mother had told him that he would likely never get to afford one as they were generally only sold under either government or police contracts. They were armoured and had reinforced secondaries, as well as being able to run off both conventional powercells and raw hydrocarbons like gasoline or diesel.
He opened the door and Caesar immediately launched herself into the passenger seat, right as Daryon opened the other door. Caesar gave a small whine and looked at him. “Well, you can sit in the back or in the middle. Pick one.”
He frowned as the stubborn pup crouched low in her favorite spot, a low growl emanating from her declaring her opposition to this seeming atrocity. Balinski just put up his hands and looked towards the distant plasteel reinforced duracrete ceiling and mimed saying a prayer for luck.
He smiled a little as Daryon chuckled, the breathy hissing sound was only a tiny bit unsettling. But his previous experience with vinarfel made it a familiar one. He watched as she seemed to hesitate again.
Finally he blurted, “Oh for the sake of pete, move your fuzzy ass out of the way Caesar!”
Not the most diplomatic approach, but it had the desired effect. Caesar hopped up in alarm at his shout and slunk over to the middle of the bench seat. Balinsky shook his head as the pouting drama queen settled herself down as if the entire world had been taken from her.
Daryon nodded in thanks once more before trying several times to crawl into the seat without tangling herself. He pointed to a small pull-string near the bottom middle of the bench and stated, “If you pull on that the back drops out of the lower portion. For people with tails, or extra long bodies.” He chuckled as the woman’s antennae shrank against her back and she placed two of her hands over her unblinking compound eyes in an obviously embarrassed gesture.
She shook her head jerkilly before pulling it as he had instructed. With a soft thump the lower portion of her seat dropped backwards making an arched hole just big enough for her. She shook her head as she looked at it though, “I don’t think thiss was made with vinarfeliensss in mind. If I try and contort myself in there, how am I going to ssit in the ssseat?”
His smile dropped and he cocked his head as he looked from her to the conspicuous opening and back again. He scratched the side of his head as he removed his hat. “Huh, how ‘bout that. I suppose you could just.. er.. put yourself down in the footing area and then use what part of the seat feels most comfortable?”
It was a damn strange sight to see the six-meter long woman crawl into the truck, her many short chitinous legs allowed her supreme control of her lower two thirds as she coiled most of herself in the footing area of the passenger compartment. Her upper third, or the part of her body that would be considered her torso, was sitting at an angle on the bench seat. Her flexibly, almost snake-like body was pressed back into the seat that she gripped with two of her more sturdy lower arms.
As she settled herself more comfortably in the position she cocked her head towards him slightly and her faceplates opened slightly, revealing the fleshy pink slit of her jawless mouth. “Well, thiss isss a bit lesss awkward than I wass afraid it would be. Almosst like sssitting on my ressting couch back home, if it wass a bit too wide and ssshort at the ssame time.” Her hissing laughter filled the cabin again and she gave Caesar a hearty scrub on the top of her furry head, the action buying her back some of the goodwill she had lost for taking the haughty pup’s favorite seat by the window.
Balinski raised his remaining eyebrow. “Yeah, I guess so. I think that you might want to try and put on the seat belts though. If we were to get into an accident you would get tossed around pretty bad without them.” She reached over and clicked the restraints over her body without too much trouble. They were designed to work across different species and she had simply selected the largest available option, the atraxses configuration.
While she wasn't as bulky as one of the large shaggy white furred aliens, her body was still large enough to warrant the extra reach. Balinski himself used the setting as well as he was a large man, even before his cybernetics were taken into account.
He settled in and buckled in, pressing his thumb to the ignition scanner. The machine read his biometrics and bellowed to life. Daryon twitched and then looked at him curiously, “What? Are you ussing a hydrocarbon thermocycler?”
Balinski gave her a wide smile and a nod that caused her antennae to flutter slightly. “Yep, don’t worry. I pay my emission taxes for it. Something about the feel of the pistons firing, that base rumble of the machinery working tirelessly. Well, it inspires me. Sure the promethium power cell is much more efficient, but it lacks that certain feel. Do you know what I mean?” He looked over at her, her slightly reflective blue compound eyes seemed locked with his own.
Due to the pseudo-pupils that her eyes had it gave the impression that she was always staring directly at the viewer. But he knew she could be looking almost anywhere in her two-hundred-and-seventy degree field of view. Despite the fact, he did really get the impression that she was looking straight at him.
She shrugged several of her arms after another moment of silence. “I feel sssome vibrationss. I am not ssure how thiss adds anything to the experience except for that additional ssensssation.” She didn’t seem to get it. He sighed internally. Not to worry, he would show her what he meant eventually.
She seemed to turn his way slightly more, her face plates opening slightly as she hesitated. “It’s good to see you again, I have not seen you since the memorial.”
Balinski just nodded. It was good to see the large insectoid woman, she was one of the only officers that he had occasion to interact with directly. The city had so many districts that most of the officers in precinct two rotated in and out before he ever got to meet them.
He gave her a sideways glance and a neutral smile. He always seemed to get the feeling that she was prodding at him a little. “Yeah, a long day that was indeed. Alright, well then to business. What is our first stop, some alley behind a casino if I remember right?”
Daryon shook a hand and gestured towards her assistant as she tapped away on the small touch screen for a few seconds. She soon had a readout pulled up on it that he glanced over as she extended her arm. “No, we are not heading to an alley, there iss a dive bar behind Yowul’s Palace of Golden Delight called the Sslimehut by the localsss. I have an informant that ssaid they would meet uss there for a few drinksss.” She seemed a little annoyed by his lack of intimate knowledge on the subject.
To be fair, he had read over the entire proposal. Right before he fell asleep last night. He would have admitted as much except he was afraid he might hurt the poor young woman’s feelings or something, she did seem rather sensitive when it came to data collection and information gathering.
He checked behind him and pulled out into the street, traffic was light due to the time of day. He navigated the heavy vehicle with practiced ease, the sensation of rolling along the roadway in it calming him. He placed his arm on the sill of the door’s open window as he had before. The cool air flowing through and ruffling his short cropped hair in a pleasant way.
He felt eyes on him and glanced over at Daryon, she seemed to be looking at him. Her antennae lowered instantly when he glanced her way and he chuckled, “What is it? You have ridden in those APCs dozens if not hundreds of times right?”
Daryon gave Caesar a nervous pat and spoke quickly, as if afraid she would lose her courage to speak if she didn't get the words out right away. “It’ss just, I have never ridden in one of thesse.. personal vehiclesss before.” He was a bit taken aback by that.
She still seemed nervous, she was sitting there in her simple grey overcoat and blue pocket covered jacket twiddling the fingers on her uppermost arms. He gestured to the window and she looked at it. “You can roll the window down if you want.” She hesitated and he reassured her, “Go for it, c’mon. Roll it down, put a few arms out the window like this, you might like it.”
Balinski smiled as he stuck his arm straight out the window. An oncoming car honked at him as he did so, he couldn't tell if they were angry or maybe they thought he was waving hello. It didn’t matter, he looked over at Daryon and the large insectoid woman tensed again.
“But, what if ssomething happenss and the window needss to be up?” She seemed to be fishing for any reason not to try it.
He just gave her his most tired sounding sigh, purposefully over exaggerating it as if he was thoroughly done. Her faceplates parted slightly, almost like a man pursing his lips in thought. Finally she relented and rolled down the window before emulating him with two of her upper arms. Almost immediately he saw her antennae perk up in what he assumed was mild delight.
She stuck another of her arms straight out and then slowly started to move it up and down, surfing the airflow with her palm. He took the opportunity to ask her, “You haven't ever ridden in a car before. Not one that wasn't police owned, that is. How in the heck do you get around town. Don't tell me you walk everywhere, there is no way you would be able to make that work. No matter how fast you can run.”
Daryon remained silent for a few moments, her antennae twitching as she rubbed a few of her hands together. “I usssually just take a buss or a cabbie when I need to get ssomewhere.”
The admission seemed to make sense. Balinski shook his head slightly. “I just understand why, the sense of freedom you gain from being able to go where you want, when you want. You don’t get that with public transport. Trust me, this is much better.”
Caesar gave a small encouraging woof as if to accentuate his point. Daryon continued to hold an arm out the window as her mouthplates worked silently. After a short time they got stopped at a traffic light and she finally relented. “I don’t know, it just sseemsss like an awful lot of additional effort. You need to buy the vehicle, then you have to pay for inssurance and taxes and maintenance.” She threw up a few arms in an exasperated manner. “It all jusst feelsss sso extra. I guesss I just appreciate the simpler thingss.” She added a but sullenly.
Balinski felt a bit bad now, he hadn’t been trying to tell her she was wrong. He had simply been curious as to the reason she hadn’t considered it. He tapped his hands idly on the wheel as they sat there in the growing silence.
After what felt far longer than the thirty seconds it actually was, he reached out and turned on the radio. The truck was tuned into several wide-band civilian radio frequencies. Many of them offered music and talk shows to pass the time, it was one of the former hats he turned into now.
As the cool sounds of synthwave reverberated around the cabin he could feel the tension that had grown slowly ebb. He glanced at her and smiled, “What about now? You can't tell me this isn't better than some cruddy ‘ol transport bus or musty cabbie?”
She bobbed her head slightly as she leaned her torso back into the padded seat more. “I will admit that it hass a certain appeal to it. I jusst ssstill don’t understand all the extra stepss, maybe it isss a human thing.” She added with what he thought sounded like a bit of a shiteating grin.
Her smug tone wasn’t lost on him as they turned another few corners. He shrugged and gave her a pointed look briefly, “Yeah maybe. Or maybe it is just the fact that I grew up with a sense of urgency.”
Her opportunity to respond was cut short as he slowed and gestured out the front of the cab. “Is that the place?”
Daryon seemed to peer out the window intently, though with her compound eyes it was pretty much impossible to tell where the insectoid female was actually looking. In front of them was the turnoff to a larger boulevard, one that was lined with tall and opulent looking structures. One in particular stood out from the rest for its over-the-top grandeur and gilded buttresses.
The huge gold and chrome structure was covered in flowing holographic displays and enough neon lighting to be seen from orbit, that is if they had not been under a particularly large city plate that blocked them off from the sky entirely. The effect was to generate an almost otherworldly atmosphere of scintillating colors. The phantasmagoria of the display heightening his perception at the same time it confused his already addled senses.
He had to shake his head and adjust his cybernetic eye’s spectrum in order to focus on what he was doing. He couldn't imagine the profusion of swirling and terrible marriage of images that Daryon must be being subjected to, what with her unblinking compound eyes and two-hundred-and-seventy degrees of vision.
Before he even had the chance to ask her, she responded to his previously muttered inquiry. “Yess, that'sss Yowul’ss Palace of Golden Delight alright. It's kind of imposssible to missss.” She chuckled hissingly. “We need to go around the block to the oppossite sside. The Ssslimehut will be on the far side of the next alley, but it doessn't connect to thiss ssside.”
He gave her a nod and glanced at Caesar, she seemed transfixed by the wildly gleaming lights. Not to worry, she would snap out of her trance when they got out of the damnable lights. He started to take the next turn when Daryon suddenly reached out and gripped his shoulder with two of her lower arms.
He twitched in surprise before looking her way, the way her antennae were raised suggested an alarmed state. “What!? What is it?!” He looked around frantically, trying to see what had set the large woman on edge.
Her faceplates clacked as she vocalised quickly, “We need to get out and approach on foot!”
He cocked his head. “Why?” Her comment seemed at once born of some manner of twisted logic and yet totally incomprehensible.
She quivered slightly. “Think about it. We roll up in an armoured Atoya truck and then sstart assking questionsss? That would sscream bluecoat to thesse people faster than waving a badge. We need to take thiss a little more dissscreetly.” Her words took a moment to penetrate the fuge his mind was still floundering in after the migraine inducing display from the garish casino.
It made sense given the context. She was right of course, if he were to simply roll up and try knocking heads together he was going to get them both killed. Or worse. No, he needed to take things a little slower.
He slowed and looked around. There are a number of parking garages around due to the nearby casinos and so he chose one at random. They pulled up the small automated toll booth and he paid with a single 25c osmir. That oughta cover them for at least two hours. The gate thanked them with a robotic sounding greeting and he proceeded to the third floor. Not for any particular reason, but he had always liked the number and considered it good fortune.
He watched as Daryon uncoiled her long body from the truck, her slightly textured underbelly looked much softer than her back. Devoid of the thick carapace of chiton plates that covered the top of her long body. It might have been impolite to take a peek, but a part of him was curious. As she moved his eyes were drawn to a series of dull bumps or ridges along her lower third that terminated near the last quarter of her long tail-like body. He knew enough about vinarfelien biology to know they were her broodspines, they were evolved to allow for females of her race to carry their newborn larvae upon their bellies.
He saw the flash of something else a little lower down from the termination of her broodspines and averted his eyes quickly, a touch embarrassed. The vinarfel did not wear clothing on their lower bodies as they were generally kept so close to the ground as to be hidden. And so one could say that Daryon was indeed half naked. If she noticed his ungentlemanly curiosity she didn’t seem to care overmuch and so he cleared his throat and motioned for Caesar to stay in the truck.
Daryon cocked her blue-eyed head as he did so, “You don’t want her to come with uss?”
Caesar whined loudly followed by a small bark. She seemed to be in agreement with the colorful alien woman. He kept his window rolled down as he knew she would follow his instructions. “It’s not that, it isn’t Caesar!” He protested as the cyberhound growled at him, her canine features showing her to be unimpressed. “Think about it, if we take you into the establishment it is going to bring a lot of unwanted attention. Cybernetically enhanced animals are not legal for the average person to own and so it would immediately mark me out as either a criminal or a lawman.” He watched as Caesar tried to understand the complex logical jumps he was making.
She shook her triangular head after a moment. She tilted her head as an indication to him that she was not getting it and so he sighed. He put out his hands and spoke as concisely as he could, “If we take you inside the bad guys will know we are good guys. You need to wait for us here, I will of course call you for backup if anything happens. I promise.” She seemed to accept this new slightly simpler explanation.
While her neural implants made her vastly more intelligent than a dumb animal, they didn't quite make her on the same level as a full adult human. She had the conscious understanding roughly on par with that of a young child. Capable of understanding speech, but not really able to pick up on complex or multi-leveled reasoning.
He nodded towards Daryon, “Alright. Caesar will stay back, I can call her in remotely if we need her, and she is pretty damn fast too, so it wouldn't take long for her to get there.” Daryon patted her overcoat and then swore.
“Oh crap, I think I dropped my traumawand ssomewhere.” She moved back towards the truck and partially climbed through the passenger side window. She rummaged around before exiting and holding aloft something triumphantly.
The item was a short telescoping baton-like instrument with a wide, heavy handle with several dials and readouts visible on its gunmetal grey exterior. He grunted, “What, no gun?”
She shrugged her upper three pairs of arms as she pocketed the non-lethal weapon and readjusted her overcoat. “Sseeing asss how I am technically off-duty at the moment I have no legal causse to carry a lethal weapon.”
He gave her a flat stare. “Bullshit.”
She maintained her stare, only the twitch of her antennae gave away the fact she was anything more than a statue. After a minute of this she finally threw up an arm and opened her overcoat all the way to him. “Fine, I relent. Of coursse I’m armed to the neck joint, you really thought even for a millisssecond that I was going to sstep downtown without enough firepower to level a pack of grinskalss?” She chuckled again and he found himself smiling.
He pulled back his overcoat revealing his own trusty sidearm, the bulky form of his ThunderEagle revolver stuck out slightly from the shoulder holster he was wearing over his body armour. Luckily he was bulky enough to hide both the armour and the weapon at a glance when he had his dark trench coat closed.
He gave her a bright smile, the look pulling at the scars that marred his face as he replied, “Oh not at all. But I was a little surprised to see you holding a non-lethal weapon at all. As I recall, every single bad guy that has crossed your path has wound up cooling in the precinct meatlocker.” She ducked her head, the long almost delicate looking antenna that sprouted from her head went flat against her back.
She seemed to stutter slightly, her hissing accent becoming markedly more pronounced in her flustered state. “s-It’ss-s not as-ss if i s-wass wanting to kill ss-them all!”
He waved a hand. “No, but you have to admit that every single one of the bastards deserved it. You made the right call in my opinion, Daryon. I am not trying to convince you otherwise.” He took a step towards the mildly upset insectoid and placed a supporting hand on her jacketed shoulder.
She cocked her head in order to see the contact before he pulled away and gestured towards the distant staircase that would eventually lead them down to the ground floor and hopefully one step closer to a lead for what was happening. There were gangs working with gangs that had always been bitter enemies, lines of drug filled trucks shipping their toxic cargos all across this world. It was a foul, he shouldn't have been so shocked by the complexity of the situation. But he was.
Continued In E3:P2
==End of Transmission==

Was the other day re-watching A Gaggle Of Galloping Ghosts, (my favorite of the original series), and had fun cooking up a fan theory, hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
In the episode, The Mystery Inc. gang visits Franken Castle, a local landmark supposed to have been brought stone by stone from Transylvania. There they are warned away by a fortune teller who claims the caretaker got scared away, when they continue anyway they’re accosted and stalked by a werewolf, a Karloff Frankenstein-style bulky green-skinned monster, and a Bela Lugosi-style vampire, as they gradually uncover the mystery. The solution? Big Bob Oakley, a con-artist and wanted criminal in seven states, has been hunting for treasure in the castle: the Franken family jewels, supposedly hidden in the castle by the eponymous Franken in the 17th century. To prevent interlopers in his search, he disguises himself as three different monsters and quickly switches between the guises to harass the gang, as well as being the fortune-teller. The villain’s eventually unmasked, the jewels are found sewn into a tapestry, the sheriff very conveniently shows up to arrest Oakley and confiscate the tapestry, a fake vampire bat on a wire eats part of Shaggy’s massive sandwich, everybody laughs, the end.
I have questions. Question A: The castle is multi-story, with at huge hallways, numerous rooms, and secret passageways. How is Oakley, on his own, tracking three separate groups (Velma when split up, Daphne and Fred, Shaggy and Scooby), switching between outfits, then returning to where he left the other outfits, suiting up, then chasing the other groups? Even with the presence of secret passages, sprinting around for hours, I think it’s extremely unlikely that would be feasible. Question B: why does Franken Castle even exist? The supposition that a landed nobleman from Romania travels to the North American colonies with ships full of stone blocks, framing material, gargoyles, tapestries, torture equipment (dungeon, which we’ll get back to), numerous pieces of furniture, a labor force sufficient to build the castle in a remote location, AND a fortune in the form of jewels in the mid-17th century is a super-cool idea, but it strains the heck out of my credulity. Question C: Why a dungeon with an iron maiden (disproved as a medieval torture device), various torture equipment, and a chained up skeleton? Why a mad scientist lab with various chemicals, Frankenstein lab equipment, and what seems to be a computer from a 50’s sci-fi film? Why a kitchen with ingredients like “fried moonbeams”, “pickled vampire wings” and “werewolf snacks”? Who’s…who’s that even for? Question D: Why monsters? The castle’s deserted anyway, why would a career criminal who’s supposedly a master of disguise choose a green clearly Karloff-inspired Frankenstein, a purple Peter Lorre-looking werewolf and a Lugosi-inspired Dracula. These are movie monsters. What career criminal, wanted for crimes across state lines, treasure hunts dressed as 3 separate movie monsters in an already deserted castle? Finally, Question E relates to the treasure hunt. When Daphne’s chased into the dungeon by what she describes as a “weird man”, she ends up in an oubliette (sub-dungeon with trapdoor ceiling), wherein she finds inscribed a strange message: “I have fooled them all, I may perish but I’ll be as rich as King Tut”, seemingly dated 1668. The King Tut reference leads the gang to the crypt, where they find a correspondingly dated sarcophagus, hanging on the wall adjacent to which is the tapestry which has the jewels sewn into it. Tutankhamun was little known until the 1920’s when his treasure-laden tomb was uncovered, and certainly wouldn’t have been known of in 1668. What gives?
I’ll tell you what gives. Here are the conclusions I come to, in the sequence of the questions they answer: Answer A: Oakley isn’t the only one chasing the three. The individual costumed as Frankenstein’s monster is taller than Oakley in either his Dracula or fortuneteller guise, while the Werewolf is shorter and scrawnier. That could be explained as Oakley being a talented thespian, but coupled with the fact that the timing between encounters with each monster is far too short for Oakley to slip away where he’d assumedly have multiple costumes stached, change and run back, it just seems less likely than two accomplices. Who are his accomplices? Two who show up as the villains in a later episode, I believe. Mr. Greenway (aka the Yeti’s Ghost) and Mr. Leach, a pair who run an international gem-smuggling ring in That’s Snow Ghost (S1E17). Greenway’s Yeti Ghost and the Franken Castle Frankenstein are the same height as compared to Shaggy, while Leach and the Werewolf are similar height as compared to Scooby on his hindlegs. In addition, a con artist working with a couple of gem fences to scare interlopers away from a fortune in gems doesn’t seem unlikely.
Answer B and C: Franken Castle is not what it seems. It’s a castle whose claim to fame is having been transported stone by stone from Transylvania. This part I believe. What I find unlikely is that it occurred in the 16th century. The presence of a dumbwaiter that’s actually a slide from the kitchen (with monster themed props) to the dungeon, a secret passage behind the fireplace that leads to the same dungeon, a dungeon with extremely stylized torture devices and a manacled skeleton, an iron-maiden secret passageway to an extremely stylized mad scientist’s lab with props that would be at home in a 50’s B movie, and a family crypt with an empty sarcophagus that itself is an entrance to a secret passageway?
This doesn’t seem like any actual residence, much less one that’s an actual historic landmark. Which leads me to a conclusion that recontextualizes the entire mystery: this is not an actual historic landmark. Franken Castle is a dilapidated modern roadside attraction. Extremely stylized monster-movie themed roadside attraction, complete with props, faux skeletons, the works, playground-ish secret passages. Some of the castle itself, the gargoyles and the features? Maybe authentic. The dungeon, science lab, secret doors, treasure itself? Phony. So what the heck’s actually going on?
Answer D: These monsters, the props, the faux bat on the trip wire, it’s all part of an old roadside attraction. The costumes worn by Oakley, Greenway, and Leach are part of the attraction, as the whole thing is a post-Universal Monster Movie gimmick. The selling point of Franken Castle is that it was Transylvania. So, we can assume it was once a thriving roadside attraction with costumed actors roaming, chasing tourists between the rooms (this is why the kitchen has the monster-themed faux foods for instance), using secret passageways to get around, etc. Of course, by ‘69, this isolated attraction had fallen into disrepair. But if there was no 16th century Franken Castle, no Franken family ever actually lived in the house, why are the jewels there? And why the message in the oubliette?
Notice, if you watch the episode, the tapestry the jewels are sewn into is newer-looking than you’d expect for something hanging on a wall undisturbed for 300 years. And the rubies, diamonds, and pearls, of which there are dozens of each, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth at the very least, are all uniform in size, especially extremely unlikely for the era. This isn’t a centuries old fortune at all, but a contemporary one. What is a contemporary fortune doing hidden in a rundown old roadside attraction?
The answer lies in this statement not in this episode but in Snow Ghost, when the villains are caugh, Sheriff Convenient states: “I’ve got to hand it to you kids, you’ve uncovered one of the biggest rings of jewel thieves in the whole country”. In Snow Ghost, Leach brings Greenway stolen jewels. Greenway, in turn, dresses as the Yeti’s Ghost and transports the jewels in hollow logs across a river out of the country, presumably into Canada, where they can be fenced. If my fan theory were to be correct and the gang happened upon these two after they’d fled the job at the castle, with Oakley getting arrested, and the treasure was a modern one, then it changes what they were really doing at the castle in the first place. I propose they weren’t there hunting for the treasure at all, but guarding it until it could be transported out of the country to be fenced, that Franken Castle was a hiding place to keep stolen merchandise. The gems are all uniform, small size and perfect shape, not just unlikely for 17th century but unlikely in such a volume in general, unless they’re all cut a particular way from larger, stolen stones.
So what’s the weird message on the dungeon wall? Well, Daphne assumed the scratching to be from 1668. But what if it was contemporary, identifying the hidden escape sarcophagus, as well as what room the gems were in? When they opened it, and found Oakley in his Dracula guise, then they tried to trap him with the tapestry, he fled back into the coffin and disappeared, leaving two gems and a gold earring behind. This led them to the fortuneteller’s wagon, where Oakley was unmasked. That’s because the tomb was the escape hatch, so to speak, in and out of the castle, right in the same room as the tapestry. Who wrote the message? Well, imagine if you will, that there was at some point a fourth confederate in this scheme, who secretly planned on absconding with the jewels. They were caught, and tossed in the oubliette until they could be dealt with. This person knew they’d likely be killed (“I may perish-“), but had figured out that if they managed to escape they could grab the tapestry and flee through the tomb marked 1668. Who would this be? The missing caretaker conspicuously mentioned by the fortune teller at the beginning as having been scared away.
So we have two villains escaping and fleeing to an isolated snowy mountainous region to continue their work, while Oakley goes down for the entire thing.
Hope you enjoyed!

as a note - I checked the rules, and they didn't prohibit fan-stories. I'm sorry if I've misunderstood something. Story takes place on the boat to Sharlyan at the start of EW.
**********
"A game, you say?" asked the ever curious Y'Shtola Rhul, her feline ears tucking back to indicate curiosity. "I know many games, though care not for childishness - yet you claim this one is set apart?" Her black dress, seeming rags to some, was gathered about her in her chair, and she sat forward just far enough that she wasn't sitting on her tail. She'd been in the midst of refreshing herself with a glass of chill water, so she wasn't particularly bothered by the interruption.
WOL nodded back at her, presenting the extensive list of rules and gameplay parameters they'd squirreled way in their massive magical inventory. Their friends had known they kept a rather eclectic assortment of items, from gold nuggets and spare weapons to bathing suits and even wood for some reason. Books seemed banal by comparison, and yet these books were themselves indicative of a whole new side that none of their allies had ever known of them.
"I never much played games in my youth." commented Estinien Varlineau, his dark armor doffed as he relaxed in the linen shirt he wore underneath; the elezen man was muscular for his people, and his every movement seemed steeped in purpose, even as he relaxed. "So I could not speak to 'childish' games or not, but surely they'd not invite us to simple cards? Though..." he chuckled at some sort of joke he'd thought of. "A card game necessitating THAT much explanation would be quite something."
"Surely so, Eistinian." Agreed Alphinaud Leveillure, the youth quick to join in on anything his personal idol and friend WOL suggested. The boy was perhaps wound too tight, but he meant well and his insight rarely failed him or his allies. Having grown out of his bratty insistence on being right had mellowed him somewhat, and he had lately grown into the role of a bright eyed youth rather neatly. "I know many card games myself; you'd be surprised how much you can learn about a culture by their means of relaxation. And yet, even in Sharlyan, there were no games with quite so much prep as that."
His twin sister snorted in good natured derision. "If there had been, surely you'd have mastered it first." she grinned; unlike her brother whom she so resembled physically, Alisae Leveillure was a tomboy through and through. There seemed to be little she was phased by, but her closest friends knew that to merely be a result of her desire to never lose control of herself, and as a result lose something precious.
"So?" asked Thancreed, his dark voice bellying his boyishly handsome features. Like Eistinian, he'd doffed much of his gear, though the gleam of his gunblade could be spied in the corner of the room, and he was never more than a few steps from it. "Are you going to explain this game? Or is the goal that we agree to play, and you sucker us into some mad scramble adventure?"
WOL laughed gently as they always seemed to, rarely flappable as they were. "The game is a Role Playing Tabletop - picture a storybook in which you the players decide the events."
"Oh?" asked Y'shtola. "An exercise in imagination, is it? I confess, I'd expected a bit more."
WOL just shrugged. "The game emphasizes player freedom; it can be as much or as little as you like, Y'shtola." She'd actually granted them permission to use her given name without the normal addendate, which really showed how much she cared for them. To show how much they respected that care, WOL chose to not do so casually, which the Miquo'te archon seemed to appreciate. "The important thing to remember is that you have to put yourselves in the shoes of the character you create - you CAN play yourself, but this game gives you the chance to explore a perspective you'd never otherwise be able to."
"Hoh?" a much deeper, more refined voice chimed in from the entrance to the room. Urianier Augurelt entered, a tome in his hand that seemed suspiciously similar to those offered by WOL. The man was difficult to get a read on, even for those who knew him well, and he had the oddest ability to move fluidly between a bespoke scholar of ancient wisdom and a very silly elezen. "Hast thou found resistance?" he asked WOL. "Or, perchance, didst thou not yet explain the minutia of this fascinating game thoust proposed - I thought surely Alphinaud wouldst take to it well." Behind him was G'raha Tia, his shaggy red hair bobbing in his excitement - he'd been the first to find out about this game that WOL was supposedly rather good at and insisted on having the others invited to play it all together. Tataru Taru was behind him, her naturally bouncy step seeming pepped at the chance to finally do something WITH everyone else, and Krile Baldesion in her yellow cat-eared cloak right along with her. These four had been the initial invitees, and it was WOL who'd decided to make it a scion wide game.
"I was just getting around to that." WOL confirmed. Everyone shuffled in and soon, all the scions of the seventh dawn were waiting expectantly. The game had been proposed due to the sailing ahead of them - headed to Sharliyan at a swift clip, the fact remained that there was a month of sea-travel to go and nobody was looking forward to it. Many of them played the part of the gentle librarian, but every single one of these people were little more than excitement seeking problem children, and so WOL decided to head disaster off at the pass, as it were. "Now, the premise is that I as the Dungeon Master will present you with a setting - nothing more. A goal will be presented as time passes, but it will be up to you - or more accurately your characters - to seek that goal and its resolution in what ever manner appropriate to them. I've a rather short story in mind, but they can be years long among dedicated circles." WOL left out that they'd been a member of such circles before making their way to the city states for one reason or another - it was hard to remember why after all that had happened. "Your jobs as players will simply to create a character for this story, and play them to the hilt. The important thing to remember is that you can play ANYTHING - including something in which you have no background." WOL looked at G'raha, who blushed - he was the only one at the table who'd seemingly done nearly every job under the sun at some point.
Y'Shtola didn't seem convinced. "I don't know - how would one play along as something with which they have no familiarity? I hardly know much about dragoons for example, and would hesitate to make any mistakes in my actions with Estinien so near at hand."
"Oh, don't worry about me." he said simply. "I know the difference between a game and an initiate - I'd hesitate more to play a mage of any sort with those present." Woe to the day someone called the extolled Flair spell a very big fireball near Y'shtola.
"Here here." said Thancreed jovially.
She smirked at their cheeky attitudes, but continued all the same. "The point remains - I know nothing about swords and spears, so how could I effectively play-act a master swordsman?"
Uranger came to WOL's rescue then, holding up the book he'd been perusing. "Tis all here, in the rule-book and character creation guide - thou needs't not know swordsmanship for thyself, merely the skills of thy associated class. The game seemst more 'bout the application of critical thinking when not in thy element - a novel idea." Eyes lit up, Y'shtola offered her hand in demand, which Urianger happily obliged. It still wasn't clear how a blind woman could read, but supposedly her aether-sight was minute enough to pick up the ink on the paper.
Alphinaud was not so easily satisfied as that though; he insatiably sought a perfect answer in even the most inconsequential of events. "Combat class is one thing, but how would we not play ourselves as that class? I fail to understand how I could be anything other than myself."
"While I dream of the day you learn to." said Alisae wistfully.
He glared at her half-heartedly. "I ask again - would the game not simply be a matter of play-acting ourselves in a different role?"
Krile tutted at him. "You're missing the point, young master Leveillure, and I'm astonished you have. I intend to play the game myself, and I'd rather like the idea of being a male Au-ra fellow, one fluent in the bards college." The surprised looks she got only egged her on it seemed. "As I am neither Au-ra, nor male, I imagine the exercise of trying to maintain the perspective of one would be both novel and enlightening. I've certainly never seen the world from that high up, I'll admit." she chuckled at her own joke, recalling in her mind how irritating it could be to constantly have to look up at folks.
"I'm playing a Rhogedyne gunman myself." said Tataru. "I rather like the idea of pretending I was Admiral Merlwyb."
"Right." Krile nodded. "Our perspectives are invariably a direct result of our experiences - attempting to put oneself in the shoes of a wholly different set of experiences may well elucidate the struggles and decisions of those around you. You once thought poorly of our dear Estinien after all, but shared experience and a new perspective has found you fast friends."
"Hoh?" Estinien raised an eyebrow challengingly. "I'd not known your opinion of me was anything but sparkling - perhaps mine of you was too high in that case." He waited a devastating few moments, in which Alphinaud fought for the words to assuage him, before revealing the joke for what it was with a smile.
After realizing the ruse, Alphinaud simply sighed, knowing he'd been duped. Perhaps earlier in his life, he'd have been much more upset, but as Krile had said, he and Estinien were quite close now. "Ha ha, thank you very much for that input, SER Estinien." It was easy to imagine him sticking his tongue out, were he not so exacting about his appearance. He returned his attention to WOL, a contemplative look on his face, until he ultimately seemed to come to a conclusion. "I see your points I suppose - it certainly has merit, I can't deny. I'll play."
"As will I." offered Estinien. One by one, all the scions agreed, and soon, they were each pouring over the proffered materials, discussing characters and compatibility.
All the while, the WOL did their best to hide their tears of joy; a first time group, not only taking the game seriously and taking the time to familiarize themselves with their classes, but actually cooperating and playing at seemingly the same wave-length. Sure, they were overthinking it, but they did that with everything and honestly - it was beautiful.
Urianger was the first to approach with a question. "I knowest well what class I intend, but find it difficult to decide his personality." he commented, showing the character sheet the WOL had given him to fill out. "I'd hoped to play someone of ill intelligence, but admit that I may be unable to perform poorly on purpose as the character would require; of note, I doubt I couldst change much of my preferred parlance." oh, so he knew he was doing it.
WOL had a perfect idea in mind though, one they'd secretly been nursing from the moment he'd agreed to play. "Then don't change the way you talk." they said, earning a tilted head of confusion. "I can't ask you to suddenly be less educated or inciteful, but surely you've met those who only appear educated, yes? Or perhaps they ARE educated, but ultimately not that intelligent regardless."
His eyes lit up, and the WOL gestured him closer so they could collude on the character. "Picture it - a well spoken, highly pedigreed moron. Someone who knows all the right words, but not what they mean - you must have met plenty of those who simply rattle off the thoughts of books and their authors without once adding a thought of their own?" Urianger clearly loved the idea, and soon the two were sharing ideas on how to characterize the individual, a 'gentleman warrior' of sorts, and how they would keep it a secret from the rest of the group.
"What are you two doing over there?" questioned a suspicious Y'stola, her blind eyes narrowed.
"Oh, nothing much." Said WOL innocently. "Urianger simply wanted his character to feel more appropriate to the setting of the game, so we were discussing ways to make his background fit without affecting the story. Did you have a question?" they attempted to deflect away, though Y'stola was highly perceptive and not a little suspicious by nature, so her narrowed eyes didn't let up for a second.
Still, perhaps the thought that all of this was a game was enough to sway her and she ultimately decided to move on. "Yes... I'd like you to look over my character please, and tell me if I've done it correctly."
WOL doubted strongly that Y'stola had gotten anything wrong, but obliged either way. She'd gone with her idea of a dragoon, Hyur, even going so far as to ask Estinien for tips to make them accurate. What was surprising however what that the character was Chaotic Evil, and was stated to be an advocate of Odin. "I see you really dug into the roleplay angle - though, with your time in the black shroud, why..?"
"Odin is admittedly one of the more dangerous Primals." She explained. "He doesn't follow many of the established rules, and worse seems ultimately immortal - an ill informed and nefarious warrior would be well drawn to the dark cavelier, methinks." She even explained that Estinian had helped her characterize the individual, well remembering his time as an ill-informed zelot both against and for Nidhogg. WOL, knowing the man to be more insightful than some gave him credit for, suspected he was trying to find out what others may have thought of him during that time, and Y'stola - who'd been absent - would be a fine neutral party. Well, it seemed harmless, so WOL decided to leave it be. Y'stola continued. "We have yet to hear the setting of this game of yours though, so I am unclear if the character or even Odin himself would be appropriate."
"Don't worry about that - it's my job to make it work, and yours is just to play." She offered her understanding, then returned to the planning session with the others.
It took no few hours, enough that they hadn't had enough time to actually begin play, but soon everyone had a character. Tataru went with her Merlwyb character, though was advised to just make it an homage rather than the admiral herself due to the ears of the ships crew being everywhere. Uranger had his gentleman warrior, and Y'stola her hyuran madman - Krile's Au-ra had undergone a revision it seemed, and she decided to make him a dancer instead. Estinien was playing a Lalafell thaumaturge, chaotic good alignment with a goal of regaining black magic. G'raha was playing a Viera woman, an honorable and good samurai, which was one of the few jobs he had no familiarity with. Thancreed was a Rhogedyn paladin, with all that entailed, while Alisae fought her instincts to make a fighter and went with an elezen conjurer from amdipoor, emphasizing that she'd be something of a dramaqueen for her characters behavior since she'd never understood people who made mountains out of molehills. Alphinaud was the last to decide, but went with a lawful-evil Hrothgar ninja. Wanting to avoid any references to recent events, the setting was in the black shroud, a group of adventurers investigating an Allagan ruin of some sort.
With players like these, it was clear the game would be one to remember; WOL was alight with excitement, planning out what they would do to surprise their friends and challenge their decision-making capabilities. With such thoughts, it was easy to forget the impeding disasters that seemed to have followed them all this time... just for a little bit.
​
Pt 1?

# Today In Phishstory - April 22nd Brought to you by tiph-bot. Beep.
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Phish

Phish, Saturday 04/22/2023 (1 year ago) Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 2023 Spring Tour
Set 1 : Ghost > David Bowie , Esther > Harry Hood > Meat > Split Open and Melt , Leaves > The Squirming Coil
Set 2 : Chalk Dust Torture ¹ -> Twist > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley > Back on the Train , A Life Beyond The Dream , First Tube
Encore : Run Like an Antelope
1 Unfinished.
Jamchart Notes:
Split Open and Melt - Beginning with the now familiar seam splitting descent, what erupts from the glowing core is a white hot fountain of liquid play from Trey. Fed from a shimmering reservoir of Page's piano and synths and driven to a boil by Mike and Fish, Trey's trills sustain jets of phosphorescent sound that cascade and decay before returning to "Melt" once again.
Chalk Dust Torture - Propulsive play out of the gate settles into a spirited melodic space. The space expands as the band moves into dreamier territory, albeit with an unrelenting foundation courtesy of Fishman. A brief switch to minor key occurs with an infectious riff from Trey, before moving back towards major key. A high-powered touch-the-sky crescendo follows before settling into a brief funky groove that executes a nifty -> "Twist."
Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley - > from "2001". Eschewing the vocal jam, Sally gets the extended treatment for the first time in years. Mike's play shines through from the beginning as he leads the groove-based jam. The tempo gradually picks up, before > "Back on the Train".
Show Notes:
Chalk Dust Torture was unfinished. Trey teased Johnny B. Goode in Back on the Train.
Listen now at Phish.in!
Phish, Friday 04/22/2022 (2 years ago) MSG, New York, NY, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 2022 Madison Square Garden Spring Run
Set 1 : Everything's Right > Tube , 555 > Back on the Train , Army of One , Axilla (Part II) > Bathtub Gin > Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.
Set 2 : Set Your Soul Free > Light > Fuego > What's the Use? > Backwards Down the Number Line
Set 3 : Free , A Wave of Hope , Waves > Sand , Split Open and Melt
Encore : It's Ice
Jamchart Notes:
Axilla (Part II) - An extended take on the usual outro drifts into a hypnotic haze which Trey cuts through with melodic leads, buoyed by ample synthesizer and "Quadrophonic Toppling" quotes.
Set Your Soul Free - Effortless. Path of least resistance. Call it what you will, but few songs of late (and "SYSF" is a cool song, as is) offer more by way of "invitation" to pure, effortless jamming. Tune in around 9:15 for some sonic shimmer so lovely that "Happy Birthday" feels like a natural extension, a before and an after. From here Trey and Fish sync up, the improvisation seemingly calculated, or locked in - a sound, in times, reminiscent of the last big "Taste" explored in the Garden. An organism. Content to let it grow, Trey and Fish (listen to him splash away) team to work through incredibly introspective scattershot play that builds and builds, Page hammering on his piano, Mike in tow, before releasing sound arriving in a cool, whitewashed glow - an outro which, artfully tended, becomes the wonderful groundwork for a > into a magic "Light."
Light - Drifts into some sweet major-key jamming before Fish goes calypso mode and the band hits on a really danceable groove. Trey then switches his playing to "anthemic" mode, and the band hits on a powerful "Roll With The Changes"-esque jam. Very powerful music. > into an equally fantastic "Fuego".
Fuego - Charming in-song moment as Trey snickers over the "world's greatest dad" line (it was his daughter Bella's birthday). The song itself is shaky, but after some regularly strong "Fuego" jamming Trey starts laying on some very thick riffs as Mike maneuvers the jam into choppier waters, then the bottom drops out and an ambient, almost industrial jam emerges, with effects flying everywhere and Fishman thundering away 12/30/12 "Carini" style. > into "WTU?".
Sand - An extremely efficient jam that concisely hits on a lot of sweet mini-movements beginning with a bubbly major groove at 4:20. Later returns to minor tonality with an edge and Trey finds a nice descending theme.
Split Open and Melt - Writer @waxbanks one said "Tweezer" is Phish's "Dark Star." Agree or disagree, he had a way with words. Agree or disagree, it's tough to argue that "Melt," of late, has assumed a musical form, like Dead jamming, tricky to articulate. Perhaps a moment more significant thematically than musically - kelp descended from above the band during the song, and fell to the stage after the song, and set, was over. Or: Another spacey foray absent tension and release, music interested in sonic exploration and waves of possibility.
Show Notes:
This was the rescheduled date for the show that had been postponed due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 surge in New York City in December of 2021. Mike quoted Quadrophonic Toppling in Axilla (Part II). Trey teased Happy Birthday in Set Your Soul Free and wished his daughter Bella a happy birthday in Backwards Down the Number Line. For the third set and encore, the stage was raised with a screen showing moving images in front of and below the band. During Waves, dolphins and a whale flew throughout the venue. Kelp descended from above the band during Split Open and Melt and fell to the stage after the song was over. Prior to It's Ice, there was a prerecorded freezing sound as the image on the screen "froze."
Listen now at Phish.in!
Phish, Friday 04/22/1994 (30 years ago) Township Auditorium, Columbia, SC, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1994 Spring Tour
Set 1 : Llama , Horn , Uncle Pen , Punch You in the Eye > Sample in a Jar > All Things Reconsidered , Nellie Kane > Divided Sky , The Horse > Silent in the Morning , David Bowie
Set 2 : Suzy Greenberg , Julius , Reba , Tweezer > Lifeboy > Runaway Jim , Hold Your Head Up > I Wan'na Be Like You > Hold Your Head Up , The Squirming Coil
Encore : Piano Duet ¹ -> Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home? ²
1 Dr. Jack McConnell on piano. 2 Dr. Jack McConnell on piano and lead vocals.
Jamchart Notes:
David Bowie - Incredibly exploratory version. Perhaps not beautiful music, per se, but this is fearless improvisation on display.
Reba - Trey seems to pick up the notes that he "dropped" during the composed section, sprinkling them throughout an experimental jam that feels jazzy, in large part because of Trey's tone, and band-wide shifts in tempo and intensity. Page's play is particularly pretty, and improvisational flashes abound, including protracted "DEG"-like teasing as the band builds to a strong conclusion.
Show Notes:
Tweezer contained a Baby Elephant Walk tease and a Long Tall Glasses tease and quote. The encore featured Page's father, Dr. Jack McConnell, on piano (and lead vocals for Bill Bailey).
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Phish, Thursday 04/22/1993 (31 years ago) The Agora Theatre, Cleveland, OH, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1993 WinteSpring Tour
Set 1 : Suzy Greenberg , Sparkle , It's Ice > Reba , Chalk Dust Torture , Esther ¹ > Stash , Fee , Rift , Golgi Apparatus
Set 2 : Llama , Bouncing Around the Room , All Things Reconsidered , Tweezer > The Lizards , Big Ball Jam , You Enjoy Myself -> The Vibration of Life -> You Enjoy Myself , Uncle Pen , Hold Your Head Up > Love You > Hold Your Head Up , Tweezer Reprise
Encore : AC/DC Bag , Amazing Grace
1 Random Note signal in intro.
Jamchart Notes:
Stash - Some versions of "Stash" peak and seem like they're concluding, then head out on another exploratory jam. This gripping and probing version is an excellent example.
Show Notes:
The Esther intro contained a Random Note signal. Page teased the theme to Speed Racer in The Lizards.
Listen now at Phish.in!
Phish, Wednesday 04/22/1992 (32 years ago) Hilton Ballroom, Eugene, OR, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1992 Spring Tour
Set 1 : Llama , Foam , Reba , Sparkle , Guelah Papyrus , Divided Sky , Mound , Stash , All Things Reconsidered , Suzy Greenberg
Set 2 : Glide > Run Like an Antelope , The Horse > Silent in the Morning > Rift , Wilson ¹ > Secret Language Instructions ² > Wilson > Secret Language Instructions ³ > Wilson , You Enjoy Myself ⁴ , Poor Heart > Cold as Ice > Cracklin' Rosie > Cold as Ice , Harpua > Runaway Jim
Encore : Take the 'A' Train , Rocky Top
1 Fish on trombone. 2 Simpsons, All Fall Down, and Turn Turn Turn signals introduced. Fish on trombone. 3 Random Note signal introduced. 4 Simpsons signal.
Jamchart Notes:
Runaway Jim - > "Harpua", a unique version loaded with tension and a particularly beautiful segment when Trey syncs with Mike (around 5:36) before spinning off into orbit.
Show Notes:
This gig was part of the University of Oregon's annual Earth Week celebration; to celebrate, inflatable globes were thrown around the audience. Page teased Dixie in Divided Sky. Antelope included Stash teases from Trey. Fish played trombone on Wilson prior to and during the Secret Language Instructions. The Simpsons, All Fall Down, Turn Turn Turn, and Random Note signals were introduced and Page teased Call to the Post during the Instructions, with the Random Note signal separately explained before the end of Wilson. YEM included a Simpsons signal and the vocal jam included a Sneakin' Sally through the Alley quote.
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Phish, Monday 04/22/1991 (33 years ago) Billings Lounge, UVM, Burlington, VT, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1991 WinteSpring Tour
Set 1 : The Curtain > Runaway Jim , The Sloth , Reba , Poor Heart , Llama , Guelah Papyrus , The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg , Tweezer , Tweezer Reprise
Set 2 : Chalk Dust Torture , Bathtub Gin , Uncle Pen , The Landlady > Destiny Unbound , The Squirming Coil , Stash , My Sweet One > The Lizards , Highway to Hell
Encore : Lawn Boy > Rocky Top
Show Notes:
Tweezer contained Heartbreaker teases from both Trey and Mike. After Tweezer, the band introduced and thanked the tour crew, presenting them with a cake and customized bowling balls. Trey teased DEG in Stash and Buried Alive in Highway to Hell.
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Phish, Sunday 04/22/1990 (34 years ago) Cutler Quad, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1990 Tour
Set 1 : Divided Sky , Uncle Pen , The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg , Possum , I Didn't Know ¹ , Cavern , My Sweet One , Slave to the Traffic Light > Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove
Set 2 : Dinner and a Movie , Bouncing Around the Room > You Enjoy Myself > Fluffhead , How High the Moon , Esther > Big Black Furry Creature from Mars , Harry Hood , Fire
Encore : Lawn Boy , Golgi Apparatus
1 Fish on trombone and vacuum.
Jamchart Notes:
You Enjoy Myself - "Another One Bites The Dust" and "Gumbo" teases, very good B&D; section.
Esther - A fun and playful intro yields to strong and spirited playing. Trey's solo is particularly melodic, and great full-band syncopation (highlighted by some notable percussion) rounds out this excellent version.
Show Notes:
This was a free outdoor show, performed on Earth Day. The short break after Suzy was necessary to correct audio problems. Possum contained a Rhapsody in Blue tease from Page. I Didn't Know featured Fish on trombone and vacuum. Cavern contained a tease of Another One Bites the Dust from Mike. YEM also contained teases of Another One Bites the Dust and the vocal jam included a quote of the Sabre Dance. Mike used How High the Moon to change his broken bass string. The second set opened with Bouncing teases and a request for Caleb Snyder to retrieve his license, which was awaiting its retrieval on Page's keyboard. Hood contained an O-o-h Child tease from Trey.
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Phish, 1989-04-22 The Front, Burlington, VT, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/phish-april-22-1989-the-front-burlington-vt-usa.html
Tour: 1989 Tour
Show Notes: This performance was part of The Rock Rumble band competition. Phish won the competition and used the proceeds to record studio versions of Split Open and Melt and Bathtub Gin.
Phish, Friday 04/22/1988 (36 years ago) University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1988 Tour
Set 1 : I Didn't Know , Golgi Apparatus , The Lizards , Fee , Shaggy Dog , Big Black Furry Creature from Mars , You Enjoy Myself , Suzy Greenberg , Ya Mar , AC/DC Bag -> Possum , The Ballad of Curtis Loew , David Bowie
Set 2 : Colonel Forbin's Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird , Fire , Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues > Run Like an Antelope
Show Notes:
This show was part of UVM's Earth Day Festival. If you are a stage banter fan, seek out this show for Trey's announcements after Fire as someone requested "Page's new love song." Trey announced that this requested song is actually called Tela, and announced the future debut of several songs, including "The Tires" (a.k.a. Contact), "The Four-Track Song" (a.k.a. Poor Heart) and "Marijuana Hot Chocolate" (a.k.a. Foam), for which Mike gave a preview of the bass line. The Fluffhead, Dinner and a Movie, Harry Hood, and Harpua that circulated at the end of this show are believed to have been played on March 11, 1988.
Listen now at Phish.in!

Trey Anastasio

Oysterhead, 2020-04-22 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/oysterhead-april-22-2020-aragon-ballroom-chicago-il-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: This performance was cancelled as a result of the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.
Trey Anastasio, 2017-04-22 Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, Live Oak, FL, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-april-22-2017-spirit-of-the-suwannee-music-park-live-oak-fl-usa-2.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: This performance was part of the Wanee Festival.
Bob Weir, 2017-04-22 Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, Live Oak, FL, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-april-22-2017-spirit-of-the-suwannee-music-park-live-oak-fl-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: This performance was part of the Wanee Festival and featured Bob Weir and Trey performing together on acoustic guitars prior to Bob's set with his own band.

John Fishman

Pork Tornado, 1996-04-22 Club Toast, Burlington, VT, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/jon-fishman-april-22-1996-club-toast-burlington-vt-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes:

Other

Dude Of Life, 2023-04-22 The Roxy Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/dude-of-life-april-22-2023-the-roxy-theatre-los-angeles-ca-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: Fish sat in on drums from Downtown through the end of the show. Downtown consisted of only Ella, Fish, and Parker. Ella sang vocals on Lesser Charge. This show benefited The Waterwheel Foundation.
Col. Bruce Hampton & The Aquarium Rescue Unit, 1994-04-22 Rockafellas, Columbia, SC, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/guest-appearance-april-22-1994-rockafellas-columbia-sc-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: Fixin' to Die featured both Fish and Trey. Phish had performed earlier in the evening at Columbia's Township Auditorium.

I'm wanting to get a short, shaggy layered bob type haircut, but am not sure which salon in Asheville to go to that is good and also won't cost me too much for just that cut (no dying, washing, etc).  
I tend to get anxious choosing a new salon/hair dresser out of fear they'll mess up the haircut, and wanted to come here for recommendations.  
If anyone has any salon suggestions that would be able to do that type of haircut, please comment them below! I appreciate any help :)  
SN: I'll add a reference pic in the comments of the cut I'm describing!

I'm not going to listen to anybody saying Saitama can solo fiction because he is a gag character or Saitama can one shot with a punch because that is the point of the title.
Having "The title" and "gag character" won't matter when you're fighting against overpowered characters who non gag characters with better feats in the actual battle. You can say Shaggy or SpongeBob can beat everyone because of the toon force thing but if it comes to a real battle, they would trashed in less than a second.
I had argued with someone from YouTube who believes Saitama can beat Sun Wukong or Lucifer for a simple reason.

Salem:
Standing in my homeland, my uncle was set to meet me to brush me up on my emotional control. Shuddering at the image of a bleeding Nyx with broken hands, the very image had me running back into the shadowy wasteland called Shadow Lane. Trees consisting of black smoke danced around me, a ring of light emphasized the shadow moon. A fine white mist danced across the gray sky, my worn jacket floating up as Uncle Tombstone made his appearance. Looking like an older version of me, his Gothic Victorian suit and thick ivory mustache was the only difference between us. Tracing his embroidered midnight black suit, his left hand lingered his fine ruby tie. Straightening it, his shaggy hair bounced with every throat clear.
“What did you do this time?” He huffed irritably, his brow cocking at my nervous laugh. “Who lost control of their dark side time? Must have been you. How bad did you hurt her this t-” Ombre smashed into me, her lean slender build holding more power than the last time we met. Clinging to my arm like a child, her ruby summer dress danced in the breeze. Bare feet caught my eyes, her childish refusal to wear shoes annoying me. An irritated snarl twitched on my lips, Tombstone’s expression softening. Her ivory ponytail swayed with every squeeze, her inky lips curling into a Cheshire Cat grin. Her ashy gray eyes met mine, taunts flowing from her tongue at record speeds. Someone was a bit playful, her giggle twinkling in the air at me peeling her off.
“I lost it after she disappeared for two weeks. I need a spell to bind my guardian to me.” I admonished begrudgingly, hating the words coming out of my mouth. “I hurt her horribly and that cannot happen again.” Both of them gasped in horror at my request, a strange quietness coming over the land.
“That could kill you.” Tombstone protested wildly, his head shaking. “Most people never survive and even if they did, they are never the same.” Flashing my palm, his fingers traced the infinity symbol. Summoning the door to the recollection chamber, he tossed me a single glossy apple. What was the point of the damn apple?
“I don't know whether to be impressed or stunned by your stupidity. Good luck.” He chastised me in a stern tone, my fingers rolling the apple. “Your biggest fear awaits you. Eat that if you get hungry.” Shoving me in, I stumbled into a frozen wasteland. Thick layers of ice coated the trees, inky spots stained the pure white snow, a ragged looking Nyx laid at the feet of my evil version of myself. Judging by his long hair and the bruises, our miscarriage had occurred and she had been missing for a while. Her blood coated his leather jacket, his cold eyes meeting mine. Cursing to myself, this had to be my lowest point. Neither of us handled the miscarriage well, that version of me being the result.
“Such a shame she can’t behave. The bloody miscarriage is all her fault.” He sneers cruelly in my direction, her fingers reaching for his ankle. “She should have stayed home like a good girl.” Stumbling back, every breath grew shorter. Clutching my chest, never had I ever believed what he was saying. Shaking my head, he raised his blade. A clammy sweat drenched my skin, the apple hitting the snow.
“I am your biggest fear and unless you prove your worth to me I will keep coming out at your emotional lows.” He threatened with a cocky grin, his haughty eyes glittering with malice. “Raise your weapon, boy. I said to raise your weapon!” Charging at me, my fingers curled around the hilt of my weapon. Ripping it from its case, sparks danced in the air with every violent clash. Skidding back, respect had to be earned by your guardian. Frustration brewed in his eyes, my words throwing him off a bit.
“I never believed that. You believed that. You were one that was pissed about the death of our first child!” I retorted with a bite, a wicked fit of laughter bursting from his lips. “Your desire to be the best probably took that as a loss and you never grieved it properly. That is your main issue!” Sprinting towards each other, we narrowly missed each other. Slipping on a patch of ice, my head smashed into a tree. Hitting it hard enough for my forehead to bleed, a steady stream of curse words flooded from my lips at him appearing over my head. Slamming his elbow into my chest, several ribs broke in response. A shard hit my left lung, breathing growing ever harder by the minute. Picking me up by my throat, he pinned me to the tree. Sliding my blade into my stomach with ease, the image of Nyx in my position flashed in my mind. Blood pooled in my mouth, a coughing fit painting his face. Guilt built up in me, desperation had me clawing at his blade. Was this what she had felt? Why did I get to this point?
“How does it feel?” He teased maniacally, twisting it in further. “I bet you want to die. Too bad you can’t. Come on! Rip it out like the big boy you are!” Each word got meaner and louder, a migraine throbbing to life. Kicking it in further, a tortured fuck exploded from my mouth. Tugging at it, no luck for the first twenty times. Seconds from giving up, the pain was becoming too much! Her natural smile flashed in my head, my kids’ laughter gave me the strength to defy his punishment. A cry had our head snapping towards the exit, Nyx’s pleas allowing me to rip out his blade. Hitting the snow, my muscles refused to move. Ditching me with his blade, he marched towards the exit with raw fury in his eyes.
“You can’t leave me, bitch!” He spat viciously, the snow crunching as I struggled to my feet. Picking up his blade, a battle cry burst from my lips. Crashing towards him clumsily, ice shattered as I pinned him to a tree with his own blade. Kicking the hilt until he had no chance of getting out of my trap, true fear showing in his eyes with every footfall towards him. Picking up his hands, it was his turn to feel some pain. Picking up his hands, a flick had his wrists shattering. Crying out in pain, I raised my fist into the air. Smashing it into his face until I couldn’t, inky blood cascaded onto my boots. Unsure of whose blood was whose, his head bobbed left and right.
“How does that feel! Don’t make me repeat myself!” I barked hotly, his glazed eyes not meeting mine. “I had to watch you hurt her and did nothing about it. If I didn’t need you, you would be dead! Fuck you!” Pacing back and forth clumsily, emotional strife mixed with the agony. Staring coldly into my eyes, he raised his arm up. Wheezing with a crooked grin, his eyes watched me feel around for my healing potions. Sinking to my knees, the vials blurred.
“The navy and the emerald should heal you.” He choked out, blood pouring from the corner of his lips. “How about we become one? I listen to you and give you my power without controlling you. You have my respect.” Was an ass kicking session all we needed? How annoying? Combining the navy and emerald potion together, the thick liquid coated my throat with every gulp. Laying on my back, his bones clicked back into place. Plucking his blade out like nothing happened, any proof of my attack on him had faded away. Groaning to myself, my guardian did happen to be the god of shadows himself. Sitting down next to me, his form didn’t change. Cutting his palm, his steady hand picked up mine. Cutting it with his blade, a wet clap echoing in my ear. Our hands were cupped together, his other hand cupping the blood soaked hands.
“I vow to become one with Salem. My powers are yours and the darkness will no longer swallow you whole.” He promised with my natural smile, my fraying nerves relaxing a bit. “No longer will I try to hurt his mate or anyone who he deems family. I bind myself with a leash to my master.” Bowing his head, his body flowed into my palm. Watching with wonder, an inky tattoo of a shadow appeared on my chest. Something was warm about his darkness, the exit door swinging open. Jumping to my feet as everything clicked back into place, my shaking fingers scooped up my blade. Stepping out the room was gone as if it never existed, something seeming off about Tombstone’s land. Nyx leaned against a tree, her real smile was tainted by a steady stream of tears. Holding her side, severe scratches had her ribs exposed. Coughing up blood, a shadow bat hovered behind her. Passing out from her wound, Ombre flitted from behind a tree. Her arms scooped her up, an apologetic smile meeting my dejected smile. Knocking echoed in my head, my own voice bouncing around my head in the worst way.
“Time to defend your wife and family. Prove your uncle wrong.” My dark side commanded boldly, my head nodding. “I didn’t become one with you for you to become a little bitch.” I guess the attitude didn’t go away, I mumbled under my breath. Another knock irritated my migraine, his powers combining with mine without hurting mine. Unfortunately, that was going to hit me later. Spinning my blade in my palms, an army of shadows stood ready to battle behind me. Thousands of shadow bats dotted the gray skies, my mind falling back on Nyx for a minute. Her voice calling out my name snapped me back to reality, Ombre using all of her strength to hold her back.
“My faith lies with you, Salem!” She shouted over the chaos, her real smile giving me courage to take down these bats. “You have this!” Blowing her a kiss, her palm caught it. Smiling softly to myself, shadowy energy built around the tip of my blade. Jamming it into the ground, the bats wouldn’t know what was about to hit them. Shadowy spikes rained down from the sky, each one lighting up the sky with thousands of explosions. Flaming blood and guts rained down around me, the mother bat coming over the hill. Calling back my army, a gust of wind had my leather jacket hitting my ankles. Charging at the giant jet black bat, my strategy taking a page out of Nyx’s book. Allowing my dark energy to build around my boot, one kick off the ground had me flipping me through the air. Freedom glittered in my eyes as milky eyes met mine. Landing behind her, swing after swing cut the ancient beast into chunks of meat. Any rage and anxiety left as I landed gracefully in the center of the storm, Nyx limping up to me. Ombre begged for her to slow down, her speed picking up. Leaping into my arms, her lips kissed mine feverishly. Sucking in my scent, her lips brushed against the nape of my neck. Her warm blood began to drip down my jacket, Ombre spinning around to go back home. Tombstone blocked her path, his hand spinning her around.
“You are going with them.” He uttered simply, dropping her worn boots into her palms. “You aren’t going to grow here. Get her to where she can be healed. I don’t have the right medicine.” Her lips parted in protest, her feet sliding into her Victorian style boots as his stern gaze shut her down. Flipping her palm over, both of them gasped as infinity marks appeared on their palms. Nyx spat out a glob of blood, her voice struggling to come out.
“I made you members of my team.” She wheezed between coughing fits, her bloody hand reaching for Ombre. “I don’t bite. Please join us.” Accepting her hand, an inky snowflake appeared on Ombre’s neck. A puddle of shadows bubbled underneath me, Tombstone sprinting up to me. Grabbing my free hand, a firm handshake had tears welling up in my eyes.
“Before you go, I have nothing but pride for you. Keep up the good work.” He commented stiffly, scarlet painting my cheeks. “Cut it out. I have always been proud of you. Bring the kiddos next time.” Sinking into my shadows, we appeared in her winter wonderland castle. Ives rushed up to me, his arms ripping her away from me. Drac rushed up to me, his head bowing with shame. Apologizing nonstop, my hand on his head slowed it to a shaky stop.
“Knowing Nyx, she escaped when you weren’t looking.” I assured him with my genuine smile, his head nodding wildly. “This is Ombre, my cousin. Do you mind making a pot of tea?” Scurrying off, his ivory blouse bounced with each step towards the kitchen. Turning towards Ombre, her hands began to shake. Sure, she was comfortable back home. Anxiety had her shivering next to me, the corner of her lip twitched nervously. Trusting that Nyx was being taken care of, I buried my cousin into a bear hug. Sobbing into my shoulder, betrayal tainted her aura.
“Did I fuck up?” She wept angrily, her fists pounding my back. Letting her punch her anger out, she pushed me off of her. “Why does he hate me?” Sinking to her knees, panicked cries came from the other room. Nyx leapt over the couch. An sage dress shirt covered what was going to be new scars, her body smashing into Ombre. Burying her face into her chest, Nyx took the hits. Gritting her teeth through it all, Nyx would be the one to understand her the most. Her golden heart was brighter than all of ours, the basis of it all stemming from her personal losses.
“I know it may seem that way but he means well.” She comforted her while tightening her grip on her. “He put you in my charge. I refuse to let any harm come to you.” Lowering her fists, surprise rounded my eyes at Ombre smiling sadly up at her. Mixed emotions flashed on her face, the wear of her tortured past showing on her face.
“My mother murdered my father and tried to kill me. My shadow killed her in seconds. I still remember the bl-” She stuttered with uncontrollable sobs, Nyx cupping her face giving her a momentary pause. “You are just like my father. Quick to help others and powerful beyond belief. Help me prove to my uncle that he can be proud of me.” Smiling softly to herself, my breath hitched at her natural beauty in the moment. People spoke of angels being draped in ivory and gold but Nyx was a true angel. Never before had Ombre been disarmed so fast, true bliss lightened her aura.
“Glad to be like him.” Nyx chirped cheerfully, her thumbs wiping away her tears. “Keep your chin up.” Swallowing the lump in her throat, a question rested on the tip of her tongue. Fabric ripped as she unfolded her wings. Ashy gray feathers drifted like snow, Ombre’s real smile shone bright. The left side of her lip was ever so slightly higher than the right, her butt hitting the floor. Catching a couple of feathers, Ombre couldn’t help but examine them with a childlike wonder.
“I always wanted to meet a fallen angel. People don’t get them but they fight on the front lines for us small guys.” She exclaimed excitedly, her palms pressing together. “My parents spoke of you. My old man bragged about how he met the angel of ice. My mother was carrying me in her womb and you stopped bandits from hurting her. Point is, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. No wonder my uncle trusted you with me.” Nyx’s eyebrow twitched with her nervous grin, the random mood change confusing her as much as it did me.
“I suppose I did.” She stammered in return, Ombre resting her hands on her knees. Spewing out the legends about Nyx, she smiled and nodded at the half-truths. Listening with a big smile, Nyx's deeds after my death began to impress me. Embarrassment burned her cheeks, Ombre showing no signs of slowing down. Happy to see her bubblier than I had ever seen, a shadow raven dropped a black envelope into my palm. Excusing myself to read it, it was from my uncle. Stepping outside of the castle, Powder flew over my head with Ombre hanging onto Nyx’s waist. Waving down at me, Nyx would be great for her in the long haul. Opening the envelope with a hearty chuckle, neat cursive met my eyes. A picture of Ombre's family dropped into my palm, her father grinning with pride at the cute baby Ombre. Nyx’s feathers caught my eyes, hope twinkling in their eyes. Baby Ombre with her fluffy hair had those feathers clutched tight in her adorable fingers. Shaking the envelope, something else was in there. Plucking out a few of Nyx’s feathers, the aging process led me to believe that they were the same one in the pictures. Tucking everything back into the envelope, Ombre would appreciate this gift. Powder came back around, Ombre standing on her feet. Howling freely into the sky, Nyx joined her. A flurry of snow hit my face upon their graceful landing, Nyx and Ombre flipping off at the same time. Nyx let herself in, her natural smile causing my heart to flutter wildly. Grabbing Ombre’s shoulder, a strained what left her face. The light drained from her face at the black envelope, her fingers ripping it from my hands. Seconds from tearing it to pieces, my hands pressed her palms together.
“I understand your anger but don’t rip that up. Open it when you are ready.” I pleaded with a concerned look, a snarl twitching on her lips. “He wants you to grow and you can't do that hiding in the shadows.” Ripping her hands away, a sigh of relief poured from our lips at her tucking the envelope into her boots.
“You don’t think I know that! Good legends about Nyx weren't all that was tossed around. The tales of how she killed her parents raced like wildfire. I hated hearing them, especially after my parents died.” She spat furiously, clenching her fists. “She is a gentle hero whose name was smeared! I didn’t always hide away but I tried to follow her. Every now and then, I would see her in action. In hindsight, I should have approached her but I couldn’t. My trauma held me back. I did collect these over the years.” Fishing around her dress pocket, hundreds of Nyx’s feathers glittered in her palms. The door opened, her shaking hand shoving them back into her pocket. Nyx poked her head out, her hand waving us in. Pressing her finger to her lips, her secret was as good as sealed. Bouncing in after her, Nyx didn’t seem to mind her hopping onto her back. Grinning back up at her, a knowing wink met my bewildered expression. Nyx knew about her shadow and chose to let her approach when she wanted. When did we become so blessed to have her as our leader?

The car's tires screeched to a halt across the street from the hospital. Kal jumped out of the driver's seat and carefully carried her into the building. I watched as few of the hospital staff rushed over to him. I worried for a moment that they'd want to ask a few questions, but once the staff turned to focus on Kaya Kal booked it back to the car, and we continued down the road.
I glanced down at my hands. "Do you think she'll be ok?"
Kal was silent for a few seconds, and I almost thought that he wouldn't respond when he shook his head. "Honestly, I don't know."
Kal told me that the man we were supposed to find was a vampire. Apparently the reason this vampire can walk among humans during the day without the concern of combusting was all because of Ilium's blood. In payment, the vampire would deliver packages, food, and other various things for them.
I remember the first time I'd seen a vampire, the same day I met Layla and Oliver. "Vampires may look human," Oliver had said. "But their true forms resembled that of giant, monstrous bats out of Hell." Or something like that. Of course, he told me that a few vampires work within the BSID. They only hunt down and capture rogue vampires and other rogue cryptids. I wondered what category the vampire we were looking for fell under.
We decided to stay a night at a small motel just down the street from our destination, and the next day we arrived at the small restaurant down by the water around six in the morning. The place was cool, contrast to the hot-as-balls weather we had outside. My eyes swept around the room and I made a sigh of relief when I noticed that the very few patrons inside were all human.
A waiter guided us over to a small booth by the large window that overlooked the water. I ordered a coffee and a side of fries and Kal ordered a coke and a plate of animal-shaped nuggets. I eyed his choice before I took a sip of my coffee. "Hm."
Kal glanced up from his food. "What?"
"Nothing," I answered. When Kal didn't drop his gaze I sighed. "It's just a bit interesting - you know - out of all the options, you decided to order something off of the kid's menu."
"So?" Kal shrugged between bites. "Don't criticize my food choices." He picked up a lion-shapped nugget and held it up. "Look how adorable he is! Anyway, what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Well, all you ordered was a coffee and fries - now that's interesting. At least I can have fun with my food," He released a "raaaah help me!" as he slowly brought the lion-shapped nugget up to his mouth, before biting its head off. He grabbed the bottle of ketchup, paused mid squeeze, and placed it back on the table. He shifted slightly in his seat as he stared over at a table somewhere behind me.
"I'm just saying. I'm also surprised you have the strength to eat after-" I leaned forward in my seat and dropped my voice to a whisper. "You were shot in the stomach."
Kal rolled his eyes. When he spoke, his eyes never deviated from the spot behind me. "I already told you the wound itself is healed. I just won't be able to shift. For how long, I don't know, that's why I need - hey, don't turn around you idiot!" Kal hissed. "I think we're being watched."
I shook my head. Don't worry. You're the only - we're the only demons here. I already checked."
Kal cursed and leaned in. "They're still watching us, and might I remind you that some demons have been known to use humans for their nefarious deeds."
"You never told me that,"
"Whatever, it's common sense."
"Common sense? Seriously? Oh, c'mon. They're probably watching us because you keep staring at them." I scoffed.
Kal was about to say something when we heard the door to the restaurant open. I watched as a tall, lean man wearing a long-sleeved grey turtle neck under a faded black blazer holding a black case in one hand walk in. His features were elegant and sharp like steel beneath a swoop of red hair.
The young man grabbed a large paper bag from over the counter, bowed his head slightly and turned. He was about to leave when his emerald green eyes landed on us. His thin lips pulled into a smile and quickly made his way over to our table. Kal slid over to make room for him to sit.
"What a surprise to see you here, Kalos," He said. His voice thick with an English accent. "It's been, what...about, uh, two years since we crossed paths?"
"Something like that," Kal nodded.
Peter turned toward me. "And who is this young man?"
Kal jerked his chin at me. "Peter, this is Gavin, Gavin this is Peter."
Peter turned his attention to me, and I stiffened slightly in my seat when I noticed his very sharp fangs. He extended his hand, and as he shook my hand, he gave me an appraising look; the intensity of it made me feel uncomfortable. His grip was firm, and his touch cold and clamy.
"It's nice to meet you, Gavin." He smiled.
"Nice to me you too," I said.
After a few seconds he withdrew his hand from mine and shifted his eyes to Kal. "I'm surprised to see you out and about in the open, pretty unwise. Your "pals" are still out there looking for you."
"Yeah, I know, but I wouldn't be risking myself like this if I wasn't desperate. I need Ilium's help."
Peter raised his hand in the air and snapped his fingers. "There we go," Peter said. "Now, let me take a look at the damage, eh?"
Kal nodded and lifted his shirt up, revealing the wound on his stomach.
"Those bastards shot ya with that?" Peter hissed. "Damn, mate. Look like it hurt like a son-of-a-bitch."
"Yeah, it sure felt like it," Kal winced when Peter touched it. "Your hands are cold, man!"
I made a cursory glance at the waiter coming back our way. "The waiter is coming back." I hissed.
Peter looked over his shoulder. "Oh, Don't worry about him, Gavin. Mind manipulation comes in handy for situations like this. These humans only see and hear what I want them to."
"Neat," I said.
"Do you know where I can find Ilium?" Kal interjected.
"Of course. You're probably not going to like it, but Ilium is residing in The Shadow Market currently."
"The Shadow Market?" I asked him.
"It's a Market where supernatural beings go to purchase magical artifacts and such," Kal interjected, and slouched back in his seat. "Damnit. That might make things complicated, but we're short out of options...we'll just have to-"
Peter's eyes brightened. "If you need a disguise, I may have just the thing you need." He said and pulled something out of his case. They were two face masks one would use for spas. "A lovely new product of mine, fresh off the workbench."
Kal and I take the offered masks before eyeing Peter curiously.
"These allow you to change your appearence. Just simply apply the masks to your face. You might feel a slight discomfort, but it works trust me. These masks will work their magic for two hours before the mask dries up and you're back to looking like yourselves again. Oh, and they're free of charge - because Ilium likes you." He said to Kal.
Peter got up from his seat and bids us farewell before he leaves the restaurant. Kal and I left the place a little while later and headed to a deserted public restroom to apply the masks.
I opened the package and slowly lifted up a tan - colored mask. It was thin and wet to the touch. I carefully applied the material to my face, making sure it covered my nose, mouth, and chin. The change was almost instantaneous; I could feel a tingling sensation, and I only felt a slight discomfort.
After the change was complete I blinked into the mirror, and I tentatively raised my hands to my face. The tan mask was gone, blended into my skin. I looked older, maybe around mid thirties, my face was more round and my nose was more pointed. Kal came around the corner and leaned up against the door frame. "Damn, whoever's face you're wearing, age was not kind to him,"
I glared at him. "Have you looked in the mirror?"
The face he wore had angular features. There was a light scar stretched across the bridge of his sharp nose. He shook his head and cursed. "Man, I wish Peter had better options. This face doesn't fit me at all, but it could have been worse."
"How long did he say these masks last?" I asked.
"About two hours. We should get going." Kal said.
I followed closely behind Kal as we headed deeper into the forest just outside of town. I cursed, silently as we made our way down a long stretch of trail, and I had to duck under hanging branches. After a few minutes of silence, Kal spoke. "Tell me something," He said, his eyes kept forward, not looking at me. "What happened back there with Amdusias?"
"I don't really know. One minute I was staring at her - him - and the next I was...somewhere else." I explained to him the best that I could of what occured between Amdusias and I.
Kal suddenly stopped walking. "Wait a minute, so you're telling me that you managed to enter a demon's domain?"
"I guess? But like I said, I don't know how I did it," I said, suddenly. "I was just there." My hands trembled as I remembered the look on Amdusias' face before he was pulled into the weird gate in the wall.
Kal whistled. "Holy shit. You exorcised him-you actually exorcised that bastard! You sure are full of surprises, huh?"
Was that what I did to him? The scene replayed inside my head: the portal in the wall, the grotesque hands dragging him back into the void where they came from. "Hey, is it possible for a demon to excorise another demon?"
Kal shrugged. "I mean, probably? I don't know - and I never asked."
I had so many questions that I probably wouldn't get any answers to, at least not at the moment. Kal didn't seem to have the answers. I decided to change the conversation with a question I knew Kal had an answer for.
"So, who is this Ilium? You stated that they could help you right?" I asked.
Kal simply nodded. "Ah, right. Ilium is a collector of sorts. They collect many different things; clothing, artifacts, and most importantly, medicine."
"What are they?" I asked. "Demon?"
"No. Ilium is Fae."
"Fae," I repeated. From what I've read about Fae is that they were some kind of mythical creature from European folklore. Does Ilium resemble ones from folklore or do they have a gorgeous physique, pointed ears, and a supposedly, leg-spreading voice like in one of the romance books Roland's mother loves to read. Now I'm just imaging what a Fae Werwolf hybrid would look like and I laughed to myself.
"What's funny?" Kal asked.
"What? Oh, it's nothing." I replied.
We made our way down a ribbon path that twisted a hundred yards or more through the forest. Looking ahead of us I could see only trees of innumerable shapes and sizes, and most of them covered with moss and shaggy growths. We turned right and came up to a stone arch surrounded by large rocks and leafless trees. On each side of the arch, two stone wolves sat staring at each other.
The stones looked as if they were built by someone who had no intention of making it perfect. "Ok, well that's random." I said. Suddenly, the large wolves on each side of the archway shook to life and circled us. I stumbled back. Oh shit..
Kal whispered. "Just relax."
I glared at him and I swear one of them sniffed around my ass. After they both seemed pleased with themselves, they went back on either side of the arch and sat back in their respected positions. The archway shimmered to life and the two of us went on through.
My eyes widened as I glanced up at the towering buildings in front of us; some were melded with a variety of little shops built so close to each other that they became and unending stretch of glass, wood, and rock.
I spotted a rugged, middle-aged man with milky white eyes with grey skin speaking rather aggressively to one of the shopkeepers that vaguely resembled a humanoid lizard. The short, chubby merchant behind the booth shook their head. Their thick green neck jiggled as they moved, replying to the man in the same aggressive tone. The man growled something unintelligible under his breath and stomped away.
As the two of us made our way up the cobble stoned street my skin began to crawl; some of the beings looked like normal humans while others looked vaguely so. They would yammer away about prices. Others stood around and discussed about minor trivialities or the weather.
Steam carts rumbled down the street, spitting hot clouds of vapor. I had to avert my gaze as Kal and I passed by a large, wide-opened meat shop; a stench of something foul permeated the air. A tall, burly beast of a man walked out of the shop carrying slabs of meat that hung from long metal poles.
I stood beside one of the booths across from the shop while he made his way across the street to speak with the guy. Suddenly I felt a harsh tug on my arm, and I almost yelped. I whirled around to face whoever it was. A plump, elderly woman with a mouth full of sharp obsidian teeth smiled up at me.
Her greasy black hair was pulled up into a messy bun that bobbed as she craned her head up to get a better look at me. "Hello, sir." She said, her voice was soft. "I have a wonderful selection of jewelry. This one is gorgeous," She said, happily picking up a blue sapphire bracelet. It looked expensive.
"Um," I made a quick glance over my shoulder and was relieved to see Kal leaving the store. I turned back to the old woman who still looked at me saccharine sweet. "I'm sorry, but I'm just waiting on someone. Let go of my hand, please."
The woman's demeaner changed suddenly. Instead of letting go of my wrist, she tightened her grip, and I winced as I was forced to bow to her eye level. The stench of her breath reeked of something putrid. "You're not leaving, boy," She hissed. "You were staring longingly at my booth-"
Before she could finish her sentence I grabbed her wrist and dug my fingers into her flesh, my claws lengthened and she cried out as they broke skin. "Let. Me. Go."
The woman released my wrist as if burned and shrank back behind her booth and rubbed at her wrist. I heard footsteps behind me and glanced up. "Is there a problem?" Kal asked as he came up to stand beside me.
"No problem." I said, simply. "Let's just go." I brushed passed him and we continued up the street.
We came up to a small brick building with green hedges. The inside was small. There were a couple of vacant offices down the hall to my right, and to my left. There was a single large oval desk in front of a door leading down stairs. We suddenly heard movement from somewhere downstairs and a voice muttering something before shouting, "Have a seat, and I'll be right with you!"
I was about to go and sit down when I spotted a large opened wooden chest to my left adjacent to the stairs. Curiosity got the better of me and I peeked inside. My fingers brushed against the assortment of toys. I gingerly picked up a small porcelain doll. Its blue, checkered dress was ripped in places and its Auburn hair was matted onto one side. My fingers touched something dry and crusty near the back of the doll's neck.
I felt a sudden hand on my shoulder, and I nearly panicked, almost elbowing the person behind me.
I turned around and came face to face with a tanned-skinned androgynous person with shoulder-length brown hair tucked behind pointed ears that were decked in piercings, and a nicely trimmed beard. They wore a skin tight, white tank top under a black, transparent buttoned shirt and black, high-waist suit trousers. Their icy blue eyes were wide, and their full lips were pressed into a frown.
"My apologies!" They said, quickly. "I didn't mean to frighten you." Then they said, "How may I help you two?"
"Hey, Ilium it's me, Kalos." Kal interjected, as he got up from his chair and walked over to stand beside me.
Ilium narrowed their eyes for a moment before they said, "Kalos? Peter told me you were coming, but..." Ilium leaned in and tilted their head. "Ah, he must have given you one of his masks because this is not a face you would have chosen yourself. It doesn't suit you at all, hun."
"Yeah, I'm thankful that it's very temporary. I'll have my handsome face back soon." Kal said.
"Of course you will," Then Ilium's smile faded, and sniffed. "It's been a while since I saw you last. Too long...that perhaps you might have forgotten me."
Kal smiled. "You? I would never."
Ilium chuckled at that. "What can I help you two with?"
"I need your help removing a substance from my body. I won't be able to shift until it's gone." Kal said, as he slowly lifted the front of his shirt.
Ilium bent down to inspect the bullet wound. "You were shot with a binding inhibitor. Not to worry, I have just the thing. Come!"
We both followed Ilium into one of the examination rooms. "I'll go grab the supplies. It will only take a minute." Ilium was halfway out of the room when they whipped around and pointed to the bowl of candy on the counter. "Help yourself. They're absolutely delicious."
I eyed the bowl to reach in to grab a peice when I remembered what Ilium was and jerked my hand away from the sugary goodness.
"What's the matter with you?" Kal asked. "It's just candy. It's not going to bite you,"
"Yeah, but isn't it a rule not to accept any type of foods from fae folk?"
Kal just rolled his eyes and walked over and grabbed one that closely resembled a tootsie roll before he popped it into his mouth. "First of all," He said in between chewing. "This is store bought candy, and second of all that rule only applies to humans. You'll be fine."
I turned from him and glanced over at the bowl before I moved away from it and sat down in a chair beside the exam chair. Kal laughed. "Oh, come on. You're just being paranoid. Are you really sure you don't want one?"
I glared at him, and crossed my arms over my chest. "Yeah, I'm really sure."
Kal shrugged, and grabbed a small handful for later. "Fine, suit yourself. More for me then."
A few minutes later Ilium came back with a wooden box tucked under their arm. They placed it on the counter and opened it. They grabbed a syringe and a vial filled with clear liquid. Kal hopped onto the examination table and lifted his shirt up. Kal inhaled sharply as Ilium disinfected the wound. "This will sting just a little," Ilium said right before they injected the needle into the scabbed over flesh.
I watched with no small amount of disgust as Kal was forced to grit his teeth to try and suppress his discomfort. After a few moments, Kal leaned his head back with a groan. He raised his right arm in front of him, and I watched as his flesh shifted into his demonic appendage. Kal released a sigh and laughed. "Ah, now that's more like it!"
He then turned to Ilium. "Thank you, Ilium,"
Ilium smiled. "Of course. Now-"
The conversation was suddenly interupted by the front door of the building opened and closed - did I just hear it lock? Ilium's head jerked toward the door, and then said quickly, but quietly. "You two stay right here. I'll be right back,"
I could hear Ilium speaking to whomever just walked through the door, and by the sound of their voice, they weren't happy. Ignoring Kal's whispering protests I slowly peeked around the corner.
Standing in the small lobby were two men. The taller man was attractive, and dressed impeccably. He wore a black business suit with a crimson tie. He was probably in his late 30s with short, black hair, and sharp features. The other was a short, chubby older man around his 50s with a balding head of brown hair wearing casual clothing.
I wondered if it would be too suspicious for Kal and I to walk out when I saw the man in the suit point in our direction. I pulled my head in and quickly walked over to Kal who told me to calm down. Yeah, easier said than done.
Kal and I kept our cool when the man entered our room alone. He gripped the knob and closed the door with a click. We were locked inside with him.
A cold sweat immediately broke out across my entire body. I could not stop staring at the man. The man's smile was sharp and his pale blue eyes devoid of any warmth. He wasn't a demon, otherwise I would have seen his true face, but he wasn't human either. Everything about this man screamed danger.
I knew that I was fidgeting - which probably, undoubtedly drew even more attention to us, but damnit I was already hyper aware of the area where my mask started to peel from my skin.
The man eyed me for a moment before his eyes slid over to Kal. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "I'm looking for this man," He said, holding up a black and white photo of Kal. "Have you two seen him here by any chance?"
I was about to speak when Kal said, "No, we have not."
"Are you sure?" The man pressed. "Someone gave us a tip back in the human world that he and another young man were heading here. Kalos should have known that a vampire's compulsion doesn't work on a demon's familiar. In my honest opinion, Kalos isn't the brightest demon we hired. I mean, him coming here would be a very stupid decision. Wouldn't you agree?"
Well, shit.
"We haven't seen them," Kal said, tightly. "Is there anything else or are we done here?"
The man frowned before a smirk slowly crept upon his lips and he jerked his chin at Kal. "You got a little something on your face. Right there." The man raised his hand to Kal's face, and that was when all hell broke loose.
"Don't fucking touch me." Kal snarled. Just as he said this I could hear commotion in the lobby. Kal's nails lengthened and he immediately swiped at the man, who jerked back, and Kal followed.
The two of them struggled against each other before the man backhanded Kal in the face, sending Kal sprawling across the floor. The man was on Kal, and I could tell Kal's movements were a little sluggish as he fought the aftereffects of the shot.
I quickly grabbed the back of the man's suit and pulled him away from Kal. The man twisted around and shoved me up against the wall and drew a knife from his belt. But then he hesitated. His strike wasn't for my throat or chest - it was for my leg. His momentary pause gave me just enough of a window to slip from his grip just enough that the tip of his blade nicked me, and I hissed.
Then the realization hit me - my greatest advantage. These guys Kal had worked with had no intention on killing me. I remembered what Kal had said when he was impersonating as Aerian. They needed to take me in alive, so they couldn't kill me, not yet at least. I loosened my own blade and went straight for his heart.
I guess Kal was right. Me being a demon meant I was capable of more than what I had first thought because I didn't have to push in all that hard. The blade slid right in between his ribs with ease. The man locked eyes with me for a moment and I there was something there that I couldn't decipher.
Suddenly, he threw back his head and released a howl so loud that shudders my body as it echoes through the building.
I heard movement right behind me and I quickly pushed him off my blade and spun around, adrenaline coursed through me like an electric current. The man fell to his knees and stared at me for a moment before he collapsed to the floor.
"Ah, right. It's the same blade you used on me," Kal smiled as he came to stand in front of the man crumpled on the floor. Kal lifted his foot and nudged the man's shoulder. Then he turned around to face me. "You good?"
"Y-yeah," I replied. "Now what-"
My words died in my throat as I spotted the man got to his knees, his head lowered. Kal glanced behind me and yelped, "Fucking hell!" as he quickly moved to where I was standing.
"How dare you put your foot on me you flthy, half demon." The man growled out.
Half demon? I glanced over at Kal who's eyes seemed almost black and his expression close to downright murderous.
The man lifted his face up. Blood started to spill out of his mouth, nose, ears, and corners of his eyes. They weren't blue anymore, they were crimson. The man tilted his head, his lips stretched into a rictus grin. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" He spoke the words clearly with that disturbing smile on his face.
Suddenly I heard an audible snap and the man reeled back and hissed, "I knew you would be a failure," He growled. "We should have killed you long ago!" There was another snap and the man jerked sideways. Something was moving inside of him, and it was trying to force its way out. I turned for the door and tried to open it, but it stayed locked. I slowly turned around as realization settled in me like a cold stone.
We were trapped inside a small room with whoever or whatever this man was.
"Oh well, it's a small mistake, really." He gritted out through the pain. "There are more...important matters,"
Then he slid his eyes over to me for a moment before looking back over at Kal. "Something bigger has plans," The man groaned again, but he just kept smiling. He kept smiling even when I heard the sound of his bones splinter. "It doesn't matter how many humans you "save"" He choked out a laugh when he saw the look on my face. "Oh yes...we know what you did to Amdusias. Of course, possessing the bodies of humans is just the tip of the iceberg."
He choked on a guttural sob when his body arched forward as his back cracked and popped from some unseen pressure. "And the sweetest part of it all?" He said through gritted teeth. "The sweetest - ah - part is that the world won't see it coming until it's too late - fu-u-ck! - and let me tell you...the end result will be glorious!"
I tried for the door again, but it wouldn't open. I cursed.
"We are so fucked," Kal muttered.
There was an awful, wet, ripping noise as something large pulled itself free from its human suit and rose onto its four legs. The human body fell to the floor like a empty sack of flesh.
The monster was canine in appearance. Obsidian fur sprouted all over its body. Its four, long tails flexed back and forth. Something started to push its way out from different parts of its body. The hardened, red bone formed an armor like layer over its spine, the top of its head, ribs, and groin. Red and black, blade-like appendages sprouted out from just above its elbows.
Its crimson eyes glared down at us. It was huge, slightly larger than a Great Dane - and those dogs are massive. The scent of sulfur permeated the air around us. The temperature in the room became stifling.
For a moment there I was sure that Kal and I were going to be screwed until the door to the room was blasted off its hinges. Kal and I dodged out of the way just as the door blew inward, the force of it knocked the beast against the wall.
Kal muttered a "Run" I didn't need to be told twice. Kal and I bolted for the hallway. Just as we left the room, a bright yellow barrier appeared between is and the monster in the room. I looked over my shoulder and saw Ilium with their hands raised.
The beast snarled and brought its claws down against the barrier, which shuddered from the impact. Smoke poured from its mouth, the center of its chest glowed an orange color; it rose up its throat before releasing a ball of flame at the barrier.
Kal raised both his arms and flipped it the bird. The beast snarled at that and snapped its jaws. Ilium turned and motioned for us to follow them. We ran through the lobby and noticed the older man on the floor, black blood seeped from his mouth.
"What the hell is that thing?" I asked.
"A Hell Hound," Kal grimaced.
"Let's hurry! That barrier won't hold him for long!" Ilium said. We quickly side stepped the man's corpse and took off down a narrow set of stairs and through a long hallway carved out of rock. The lights along the wall cast an eerie glow. We turned a slight left and came up to a mahogany door.
The wood seemed to shimmer; swirls of intricate designs etched along its frame. Ilium stepped up to the door where a keypad materialized on the right side and swiftly punched a code into its panel. After a few seconds the door opened and we went inside. "We're safe in here - just don't touch anything,"
Kal and I peeled of our masks and threw them into a bin beside the door. The room was fairly large, and it had no windows. It was designed with expensive looking furniture. The room would have looked even bigger if not for all the clutter; we had to worm our way around various objects. I almost bumped into a wide shelf crammed with multicolored glass vials in different shapes and sizes filled with God only knew what.
Some of them wobbled slightly, and I froze, waiting to ensure that none of them toppled over and broke. I released a sigh of relief when they didn't and continued on, and slowly edged my way past a table piled with old scrolls and sweet smelling herbs. I turned to Ilium who was muttering, I know they're here someplace-here? Nope. Alright - hold on a sec-"
As I passed another table something moved from the corner of my eye to my left.
There was a large glass case, its frame covered in what looked like runes of some kind. In the center of the case was a black ball of shadow. I tentatively raised my hand and lightly tapped on the glass. Suddenly the ball grew, and then funneled and coalesced before it formed into a human - like shape no bigger than a small child. It didn't have eyes or even facial features, but I could hear faint, spidery whispers. It was all incoherent, but I knew that I heard it. "I know what you are," it said.
I cursed as I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Don't sneak up on me, dude!" I snapped. My concentration lapsed, the whispers went completely silent.
"What are you doing?" Kal asked.
"Did you not hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Aha!" Ilium crowed. They lept off of a stool and strode up to us with a box under their arm. "I found it." Ilium looked up and frowned at me. "Be careful with that," they 'tisked' "I told not to touch anything."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Oh, that is a shade - or what some people call a shadow person. Don't worry, as long as it's inside that case it won't become a problem."
"Uh, good to know." I muttered.
Ilium placed the box on one of the tables and opened it. Nestled in the box were key cards. Ilium picked one out and held it up in front of us. "This room can be moved to different places around the world using these cards."
Ilium slid the key card into the panel and pressed in a couple of numbers. They turned the knob and the door opened up into a side street. I recognized the street we were on immediately. It was just a couple blocks down from the bar where Kal had found me at. 'What in the Howl's moving castle-'
"Thank you for your help, Ilium." Kal said, interupting my thoughts.
Ilium smiled. "My pleasure, Kalos. Of course I won't be able to go back to the Shadow Market any time soon, but honestly a change in scenery might be good for me." They said. "Both of you need to watch your backs. They're going to be out there searching for you so try not to get shot again or worse."
"You know me," Kal chuckled. "It will take more than that to keep this demon down."
"What about you?" I asked.
"Who, me? Ah, you don't need to worry about me, Gavin. It isn't my first time on the run."
After we said our goodbyes, I followed Kal out into the street of the city. "So, what's next?" I asked.
"You told me you were able to transform into your demon form, correct?"
"Yeah," I said, slowly. "But that was completely unintentional! I don't really know how I did it. Like I said, it just happened."
"Well, I guess that settles it then,"
"Settles what?"
"Our next training session will focus on your transformation into your demon form," Kal smirked, then. "This is going to be fun."

Chapter 2
I dozed off for a while as the drive went on and on. Eventually, I awoke to a very bumpy gravel road. The truck bounced us all over the place even slamming my head against the window a few times. After about twenty minutes we drove up to a clearing in the woods with a large, almost Victorian mixed with a log cabin, looking home. Not the creepy haunted kind, like the kind out of a fairy tale. Lex killed the engine and my ears nearly sighed with relief.
I hopped out of the truck, stretching out my sore muscles, stiff from the long trip. The front door opened, and two older people stepped onto the front porch. The man was slender and tall with black and silver hair. The woman was short and small. She wore a lot of layers and had stick straight light brown hair down to her shoulders. The man wrapped his arm around the woman and squeezed affectionately as they both beamed in my direction. Lex came around the front and waving at the couple. She put a gentle hand on the middle of my back and guided me to them. The woman nearly leaped off the porch to get to us.
“Elliana? I am Esther, and this is my mate, Josiah, welcome home!” She exclaimed excitedly. The man walked slowly behind her, shaking his head in amusement. Esther slammed into me with a full forced hug.
“Oomph... It’s just Ellie. Nice to meet you.” I managed to breathe out. She let me go, tears teasing her eyes. Josiah reached for my hand wrapping his other arm around Esther once more. His slender fingers were warm and spread a calming sensation through me.
“I am so happy we were able to get you here.” He smiled sweetly and shook my hand gently. I smiled awkwardly back. “We understand this will be quite the change from the big city, but we hope you can find some comfort.”
I shook my head slowly looking around at the surrounding trees and thick forest surrounding the home. The fall hadn’t yet taken the green color from the trees and the forest smelled of wet dirt and grass which was wonderful. I looked back to my new fosters who were smiling at me like proud parents. Josiah motioned for us to follow them to the house. Lex and I followed them swiftly, but I continued to be distracted by the greenery all around. The three of them made it to the porch while I lagged behind, spellbound by it all. When I noticed they were all waiting on me, my face flushed, and I picked up the pace making it just as the front door opened. A boy about my age nearly ran into me blocking my path to the house. He stopped just inches from me. He had shaggy but short black hair with a spot of white in the front and grey eyes like storm clouds. I didn’t say a word, just met his intense gaze head on. Eventually he looked back to Esther.
“We’re going to Tony’s after practice. Be home at seven.” Without looking at me again he stepped to the side and ran off the porch.
“Please bring dinner. I placed the order for dinner tonight.” She called after him. In the distance I saw him wave in confirmation. I looked back to Esther. She shrugged slightly.
“That’s our son Nikita. He plays football.” She offered as an explanation, then motioned for us to enter her home.
The inside of the house was just as strange and beautiful as the outside. The entrance was made of dark hard wood that looked as if it could still be a living tree. To the left was a library with a grand fireplace, to the right a living room with cozy looking couches and chairs. In one of those chairs lay a young girl with fiery red hair, and eyes that appeared purple. She wore all black and was reading a book that looked older than everyone in the room put together. She looked up and beamed brightly at me. Closing her book, she jumped up to meet us.
“Finally! I’ve been needing a sister to bond with!” She exclaimed loudly, “I’m Skylar, your new BFF.”
Josiah and Esther giggled behind us. “Sky,” Esther said calmly, “We need to square things away with Lex. Why don’t you show Elliana around and pick her room.” She suggested. Skylar beamed grabbing my arm and dragging me up the staircase.
At the top of the staircase was an impossibly long hallway filled with doors. Some were plain dark wood matching the rest of the house. Some had carvings on them. Skylar stopped in front of a door with carving of the moon phases.
“This leads to the tower.” She pointed up, “That’s Nikita’s room. He’s got a HUGE skylight I would die for! If only I was adopted first.” She sighed dramatically. She grabbed my arm again dragging me down the hall, stopping at a set of double doors. “This is the parentals suite. They are available all the time to talk or whatever. They always know when you need them.” She tapped two fingers to her temple. We continued down the hall to a door carved with different symbols I don’t recognize. “This is me.” She opened the door to reveal a large room decorated in black and deep purples. There was a large black poster bed with filigree carved into the posts, and French doors opening to a balcony overlooking a pond or lake in the back of the house and a giant willow tree draping over the side.
“You can have any room that doesn’t have a carving on it. If it’s carved, it’s taken. But the parents wanted me to show you the greenhouse first.” She said, “Its downstairs by the kitchen.” Once again, we were off. She showed me a few closets and bathrooms along the way making our way back downstairs. She led me through a hall across the way from the font door. We went through a grand dining area which Skylar explained was used mostly for homework and holidays. Then through a small hall with a door on the right that led to the basement. Skylar said there were a few extra bedrooms down there if I wanted. I didn’t. We made it to the kitchen which was huge and homey. Through a screen door and down a couple steps was the green house.
“We never used it but it stays warm and there is a private bathroom. When we heard you were coming Josiah thought you’d like it, so he made it into a bedroom.” There were green tinted windows instead of walls. Each one looked out into the back of the house where there was the lake and forest forever. Inside the room was a desk, a soft queen-sized bed, a short dresser and a bookshelf. The cobble stone floor was slightly covered by a dark green rug and in the corner was a wood burning oven that heated the room perfectly. Next to the door we came through was another door leading to a small private bathroom. I walked across the small room towards the back yard and opened the double doors. The chilled fall air wafted in causing a chill but the excitement in the pit of my stomach grew at the sight of the lake and trees.
“This is amazing.” I nearly whispered. Skylar pouted a bit but covered quickly.
“I was hoping you’d want a room next to mine, but this is cool too. It’s just nice to have someone my age in the house again.” She plopped herself on the bed.
“What about Nikita?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. She scowled at his name.
“Please. He is such a gloomy bore! Besides I’ve always wanted a sister.” She waved as Josiah came through the door with my bags. I jumped to help him, but he shooed me off, assuring me he’s got them.
“Lex is about to be off if you want to say goodbye.” He offered. I didn’t know her well enough to feel obligated but something about the way he offered made me feel like I should. “Hope the room is okay.” He mentioned as we walked through the house.
“It’s perfect.” I smiled at him.
“I thought you might like to be close to the trees.” He stated. I gave him a puzzled look. I’ve never mentioned that I liked the trees. Until today I didn’t know that I even liked the trees. Skylar butted in.
“He’s got a sixth sense about these things. That’s one annoying thing about these parents. They are NEVER wrong.” She rolled her eyes but smiled at Josiah lovingly.
I giggled and we continued through to the library. I gawked silently at the books lining the dark wood shelves, each about twelve feet high. Each book looked older than the one before. Lex and Esther were chatting pleasantly when we walked in. Lex stood up walking straight to me.
“I will be back before the end of the weekend to check on you. Should you have any issues before then feel free to contact me.” She handed me a card with her name and phone number on it, but that’s it. No title, no agency. Just her first name and a number with an area code I didn’t recognize. I took it and slid it into my back pocket nodding slightly to let her know I understood.
She left swiftly. Out the front door. I was surprised I didn’t hear the roar of the truck outside. I looked through the window out front to find it right where we parked it and no sign of my social worker. Tried not to question it too hard. I mean Uber exists in Montana too, right? I turn back around to find my new family going about their normal day. Esther was watering some plants; Skylar was resuming her book and Josiah had disappeared somewhere in the house.
It was dark outside already. Started to get dark so early. But the trees outside took on a whole new beauty in the darkness. Through the window a black and silver head bobbed passed. A few seconds passed before the front door opened and Nikita walked in carrying four pizza boxes. He walked past without a word.
“That’s a lot of pizza for five people.” I commented to Skylar as we followed the food.
“There is a few more people staying here. They – uh – are shy, but you’ll meet them eventually.” She tried to explain.
I tried not to dwell on the odd tone in her voice, or the fact that I’ll be living with people I have yet to meet, or why I have yet to meet them. We walked into the kitchen, and I saw as each person took a different seat around the kitchen. Josiah sat at the table, but Esther sat at the window. Nikita stood leaning against the counter still sweating from practice. Skylar and I took a seat at the kitchen island where the pizza was sitting as well. They all talked about their day casually and without great detail. Skylar read her book and finished some kind of science project for school. Josiah explained some renovations he was doing in the basement and Esther was working on making the home inviting for me. I told them about the trip and the plane ride. I told them how much I loved the greenhouse and all the trees. Nikita said nothing. Esther asked about football, and he shrugged, content on brooding in the corner. Eventually, he left mumbling about not feeling well. I track him as he leaves the room my gaze lingering in the empty doorway.
“It’s not you dear.” Esther assures, my gaze meets hers. “He’s just going through a lot of stress right now. He will warm up to you in no time. I have no doubt.” She smiles warmly, placing a cool hand on my arm. I smile slightly and ask to be excused.
I walked into my greenhouse room and instantly felt at home. All my things were still in my suitcase, but I didn’t feel like unpacking tonight. I opened the doors to the outside and was met with the frigid Montana fall air. Cold, but not bothersome. I sat at the threshold still in my room but close enough to smell the grass and trees. I sit and listen to the rushing water nearby. I sit and soak in all the new sounds and smells and slowly drift off.
I was startled awake by a loud howl. I didn’t see where it was coming from, but it was close by. All the hair on my body stood up at once. Not out of fear I realized but I knew that was foolish. I picked myself up off the ground now aware of how cold I was. I closed the doors and figured out how to light the stove to warm the room. I curled up on my bed and turned toward the transparent wall. Pure grey eyes met mine and I shot up. As my heart tried to break out of my chest I watched as the black and grey wolf stride away.
Eventually I got to sleep once more. The imprint of the wolfs eyes burning into my brain and leaving me with dreams of tall trees and grey eyes.
I awoke once more to light. The room smelled of wet earth. I took in a deep breath and caught a whiff of coffee. I lifted myself out of bed feeling oddly energized. I used my restroom and brushed out my blue mess. Walking into the warm kitchen the smell of coffee and pastries envelopes me like a warm blanket of comfort.
“Good morning sweet girl.” Esther exclaimed handing me a cup of coffee with half and half. I looked at her curiously but took a sip and sighed with contentment at the warm beverage.
“Thank you. Six months with the Mormon family meant no coffee. I don’t know how I made it.” She smiled and handed me a plate to fill with breakfast.
I sat at the island like last night and grabbed a bagel and a bowl filled with cream cheese. I shocked myself at how comfortable I was here. It took weeks before I was comfortable enough to serve myself food at the Mormon’s. I took a bite of my breakfast and smiled at Josiah as he walked in and hugged his wife. It was nice to see a couple who showed affection.
Skylar glided in wearing a long silk black robe with the phases of the moon flowing down the side. Her long red hair tied up into a messy bun. She took a seat next to me and grabbed a mug and some loose-leaf tea.
“Oh, dear. Did you sleep in your clothes?” She asked looking me up and down. I shrugged sipping my coffee.
Nikita walked in looking like he hadn’t slept at all. Esther cupped his face with her hands. Josiah had a knowing look when he spotted his son but gave nothing away.
“Feeling any better?” Esther asked.
“Just tired. I didn’t sleep well.” He answered wiggling out of her grasp to grab a Danish and some coffee. He sat at the island across from Skylar and me.
“Another practice today, brother?” Skylar asked with a mocking tone. Nikita just shakes his head and takes a long gulp of coffee.
“I need to go to town and find a book for my English report.” He finally said taking a huge bite from his pastry.
“You guys have a huge Library full of books.” I say, not meaning it to be mean. Nikita looked at me with something like surprise on his face.
“They aren’t exactly the kind of books I’m looking for.” He replied.
“I brought some books with me. What are you looking for?” I suggested. He shrugged finishing off his cup.
“I’ll know when I see it in the bookstore.” He said and walked out the back door. I glared after him, wondering what his problem was.
I finished off my breakfast and went back to my room. I sighed at the still packed suitcase and laid it on my bed. Opening it up I grabbed the first clean shirt and jeans I could find. Shortly after changing Skylar barged in looking runway ready. Hair perfectly curled, makeup beautiful and precise, clothes like a witchy glam queen. She once again looked me up and down with a disappointed frown on her face.
“I gave you a pass for travel clothes, but this can not be your everyday look.” I looked down at my loose-fitting light grey shirt and worn in blue jeans. Skylar flopped on my bed and began to unpack my suitcase analyzing each piece of clothing individually. She just couldn’t seem to shake the disgusted look on her face.
“Oh sweetie. This just won’t do. Aren’t you from New York? The fashion capital of the country? Why do you dress like a bum?” I rolled my eyes at the comment.
“I’m a foster kid. It’s not like I could afford to shop on fifth avenue. Besides, I dress for comfort.” I explained.
“This,” She holds up and old hard rock café shirt, “It like three times too big for you. That is not dressing for comfort. That’s dressing to hide.”
I looked down and shrugged. She picked up the box that Mary gave me. She pulled out the flowy blue shirt and held it up.
“Now this is what I’m talking about!” She threw the shirt at me. “Put it on.” She demanded. I caught the shirt and just looked at it in my hands. She looked at me pointedly. “You cannot have this big aversion to fashion.”
“No, it’s not that.” I said quietly. “I have these tumors on my back. I just don’t like them to show.” She tilted her head to look.
“In my experience, the more you try to hide something the more noticeable it is. Besides, with that hair, no one will notice a couple tumors. Try it on.” She encouraged. I sighed and went to the bathroom. I quickly changed making sure not to look at myself in the mirror. I emerged from the bathroom with the flowing cool fabric hugging me in the right spots and flowing perfectly with each movement. Skylar gasped and began clapping.
“Stop it, please.” I begged.
“No! This is gorgeous on you! You have to wear it to school tomorrow!” She spun me around looking at the blouse.
“I don’t know Sky. I don’t like my back so exposed.” I stated covering my shoulders with my hands.
“Oh, come on. You look so beautiful I didn’t even notice. And no one at school will either. Trust me. At least let me take you shopping today. There is no way any sister of mine is going to school in these rags.” She said gesturing to my suitcase.
“I don’t know. I have a small savings, but I was going to try and get a car.” I really couldn’t think of anything worse than shopping for clothes all day.
“Don’t worry about that. Just come. Believe me this is very much needed. I’ll see if we can catch a ride with Nikita.” Before I could object again, she hopped off my bed and ran out the door. I groaned and dug in my suitcase for a jacket.
I walked from room to room looking for Skylar and finally found her in the living room talking to Esther and Nikita. She was explaining my predicament as she called it. Esther looked as concerned as Skylar, but Nikita just looked annoyed to hear we would be coming along on his trip to town.
“I didn’t realize you didn’t have any suitable clothes for school. Of course, we must get you some.” Esther said in a concerned motherly way.
“You don’t have to do that. I can make do with what I have. I know the states doesn’t give you much for my care.” Every foster I ever had, had told me as much whenever I asked for shoes, clothes or new toothbrush. It’s one of the reasons I started working at the bookstore.
“Oh, pish posh, I have more than enough to ensure you have what you need. Don’t you worry about silly things like money here. You just tell me what you need.” Esther assured grabbing her purse. “Now lets all load up in the truck. Nikita if you wouldn’t mind, could you drive us? I still haven’t gotten used to that machine.” Nikita grumbled but grabbed the keys gently from his mother as we all made our way out of the house.
It took us an hour and a half to get to the nearest town. The whole time Skylar was talking about all the stores that had the cutest clothes. Nikita barely spoke, except to Esther. I just sat trying to think of a way to confront Nikita. I needed to know what his problem was. If I was going to stay a while, and I hoped I would, I needed to figure out why he despised me so much and fix it.
We pulled into a small mall complex. Its not like the malls in New York but it had a few stores and a food court. Nikita whispered something to Esther and then immediately left for the bookstore.
Skylar pulled my arm dragging me to the first of many clothes store. I tried on everything she handed me. Some were okay others were down right ridiculous, and I told her as such. Eventually, I ended up with a selection of things I could live with. In the end I noticed that she was right, trying to hide my back lumps were drawing more attention to them. They weren’t going away so embracing them seems to be the right way to go.
After we were through with the clothes shopping, Skylar and I split up. She went to the food court to find Esther and I volunteered to go to the bookstore to find Nikita. I told Skylar I wanted to find a book anyways. Which wasn’t a complete lie.
I found the Montana Book Co. on the mall map, and it took me about 30 seconds to walk to it. I looked through the fantasy section for a few minutes before I grabbed a book that has been on my list for a while. In the next aisle I found Nikita.
“Done already? I thought Sky would have you here at least until closing.” He said not looking up from the cover he was studying.
“I’m sure she would have if I’d let her. I’m not really into clothes.” I explained, he looked up at me, then quickly looked away again. “I’m going to check out. Esther wants us to meet her in the food court soon.” I tried to walk past him unsure of what else to say. He grabbed the book out of my hands as I went by. “Hey – “
“Fantasy adventure?” He scoffed, “I pegged you for a Jane Austen type.”
“Nah. Romance bores me. I don’t mind a little, but I don’t like it to be the whole point of the story. There are more important things going on, ya know?” I tried not to be offended that he judged me so harshly.
“This is a good one for you then.” He added
“You’ve read it?” I asked surprised.
“Yeah. There are eight books in the series, each better than the last. But I borrowed them from the library at school. I’ve always thought about buying them, but I always end up getting something new instead.” He slid the book on top of the pile and carried them to the check out counter.
“You don’t have to –“ I started, but he handed the cashier the credit card before I could finish. “Thank you.” I said looking down.
“It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to about the books I like.” He stated, then we walked out of the store together.
We found Skylar and Esther at the food court with a spread from just about every restaurant there.
“Wow, Mom. You hungry?” Nikita joked, nabbing a fry from one of several trays.
“Well, I didn’t know what everyone was hungry for, and I didn’t know what Ellie liked so I just got some of everything.” She looked slightly embarrassed.
“Oh, I like just about anything. Except fish.” I made a face, “Never liked the stuff.”
“Good to know.” She smiled, “Well kids, dig in.”
We all ate and talked about the stuff we got. Nikita and I discussed books we’ve read or would like to read. Skylar imagined what my first day of Big Sky High was going to be like, and I groaned at her over excitement for high school. Esther chuckled and shook her head at us.
We finished off what we could and packed up the rest to go, or at least what we thought would travel well. It was a long drive back home and the sky turned dark too soon here, but we snacked and talked pleasantly the whole way home. It was easy to feel comfortable around them. Skylar and I drifted off in the back seat while Nikita drove, and Esther hummed little tunes looking out the window.

I don't know if everyone is familiar with this thing but it is pretty self explanatory. Others have tried to do most likely while I just do what I think would be neat or unique. I posted my version a while ago and it ended with James vs John on season 9. So here is the rest along with season 10.
Black Adam vs Yami Marik/Marik Ishtar (Yu-Gi-Oh)
Apocalypse vs Hordak (Masters of the Universe)
Xeno Trunks vs Ritsuka Fujimaru (Fate Grand Order)
Archie Silver vs Grovyle (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon)
SpongeBob vs Chowder (...)
SF Aquaman vs Ariel (Disney)
Jason Voorhees vs Slenderman (...)
Michael Myers vs Jeff the Killer (Creepypasta)
Sauron vs Molag Bal (Elder Scrolls)
Lich King vs Gwyn Lord of cinder (Dark Souls)
Deku vs Lucas (Mother)
Asta vs Black Star (Soul Eater)
Gogeta vs Yuma Tsukumo (Yu-Gi-Oh)
Vegito vs Kyurem (Pokemon)
Ant-Man vs Shinji Ikari (Neon Genesis: Evangelion)
Atom vs Lily Enstomach (One Piece)
Chosen Undead vs Chosen Guardian (Destiny)
Dragonborn vs Ashen One (Dark Souls)
Killua vs Luck Voltia (Black Clover)
Misaka vs Rin Tohsaka (Fate)
Stitch vs Sylvally/Type Null (Pokemon)
Rocket vs Wrecking Ball (Overwatch)
Obito vs Gin Ichimaru (Bleach)
Jean Grey vs Viktor Hargrave (Umbrella Academy)
Dimitri vs Seigfried (Soul Calibur)
Martian Manhunter vs Vision (Marvel)
Silver Surfer (SHS) vs Ramjet (Transformers: Unicron Trilogy)
Bill Cipher vs Dimentio (Super Mario Bros)
Discord vs The Collector (The Owl House)
Cole McGrath/Kessler vs Emmett/Rex Dangervest (The Lego Movie)
Alex Mercer vs Rex Salazar (Generator Rex)
Frieza vs King Ghidorah (Godzilla)
Megatron (Aligned/Prime) vs Zarkon (Voltron: Legendary Defender)
Gojo vs Accelerator (Certain magical index/Railgun)
Makima vs King of Despair (Blood Blockade Battlefront)
Courage vs Eek the cat (...)
Scooby Doo and Shaggy vs Dukey and Johnny Test (Johnny Test)
Rick Sanchez vs Stewie Griffin (Family Guy)
The Doctor vs Dr Bright (SCP)
Galactus vs Oryx, The Taken King (Destiny)
Unicron vs Anti-Spiral (Gurren Lagan)