Same face of the ring
War of the Ring - The Board Game
2019.03.11 14:05 awesem90 War of the Ring - The Board Game
War of the Ring is a board game created by Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello, to re-enact the battles and heroic deeds in the famous literature work of JRR Tolkien yourself.
2019.05.27 07:50 jack0641 r/EldenRing
This is the subreddit for the Elden Ring gaming community. Elden Ring is an action RPG which takes place in the Lands Between, sometime after the Shattering of the titular Elden Ring. Players must explore and fight their way through the vast open-world to unite all the shards, restore the Elden Ring, and become Elden Lord. Elden Ring was directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki and made in collaboration with George R. R. Martin. It was developed by FromSoft and published by Bandai Namco.
2022.06.16 03:15 StevvySucks RingOfTheYear
The place for those crazy fucking videos that get caught on a doorbell camera
2024.05.29 04:26 InteractionProud7297 need honest criticism
i'm working on a novel and would like to know if anyone could tell me any improvements i could make to the first chapter and prologue
Prologue
The day had started the same way it had for the past two years. The only difference was that I was going home. The hallway was crowded with people walking to and from their classes. Everyone was crowded next to each other so the halls were making the area feel claustrophobic. All the people talking mixed with the summer heat made me feel like I was locked in a sauna. I walked with Preston to the last class we would ever have together and as usual he was smiling. I never got why he always smiled even in situations where people should be sad he still smiled. He knew what today meant for me and he tried to keep light of the situation. I kept my head down away from what was ahead of me. My mind was too clouded about returning to see my family to notice anything in front of me. I walked into another student. It felt like I had walked into a wall. I knew immediately I had walked into tree. I stumble onto the ground and the commotion around me slows down to make room for us. He turned his bulky body around and apologized profusely without saying a word even though I had walked into him. He helped me off of the ground before hurrying down the hall.
“Alexandria, are you doing okay?” Preston said he had tilted his body downward so I had to look down to look him in his eyes. The way he was standing made him look like an idiot but he didn't seem to care. The way he acted made me laugh, which caused his smile to widen.
“I'm doing fine, just got lost in my head.”
“Thinking about how you’ll leave soon,” he said
“Was it that obvious?” He was the only person I told about me being an exchange student. I came to spend high school in Newkinawa and he was the only person I ever hung out with.
“I see what you mean,” he said “Newkinawa is a beautiful place with beautiful people to live in it…myself included”
“You wish,” I say with a smile we continue walking through the hallway “I'm just not excited to go back yet”
After I say that his smile grows wider “So you will miss me after all”
“I wouldn't say that much” I responded whilst smiling.
We had made it to our last class only to see it closed with a sign labeled “Uma incident” Uma was a student known for messing with the chemistry lab and destroying school property in the process. I've never actually met her but Preston says “She's a little weird but still nice”
“Guess class is canceled for today,” Preston remarked with a smile “Wanna go out to the court till the bell rings.”
“Sure let's go” I respond
The place we ate every day was outside. It used to be a tennis court before I moved in. Now they put trees and flowers all over the place. Preston really liked the blue color of the flowers but it just never clicked for me. I look over at Preston and he's staring up at the sky. There are a number of clouds in almost enough to block the sun but it still pokes its rays through and lands on Preston's face. The clouds swim in front of the sun till they block out the sun's light. Preston faces towards me.
“I'm gonna miss you Alexandria” he says
“You know you can just call me Alex,” I replied. I start to smile again. “I'll miss you too!" He smiles toward me again as we get up to leave as the clouds start to clump together and rain slowly falls. As we're walking back to the school there's a loud tearing sound followed by screams as the ground shakes.
The ground tears itself apart as the dirt and stone erupt from the ground. The sky blackens and a pale blue light escapes the earth. Then creatures erupt from the ground in a violent ejection from the earth creating a white pillar diffusing as they reach higher in the air. Some are clawing their way out of the cracks like maggots out of a corpse. People are swept into the updraft screaming for their lives.
The creatures descend like a tidal wave and tear apart any people caught in their path. They storm out of the crack in hundreds as more cracks in the earth form. Me and Preston started running away as people were screaming behind us. A girl running next to us has her legs slashed by a creature. The monster begins to tear open her chest as she chokes on her own blood. The monster shovels her lungs and innards into its decrepit mouth. Me and Preston keep running until we're met at the entrance of the school and we catch the attention of a monster as it begins to savagely rush toward us. The monster resembles ghosts my father told me about. But this one looks monstrously horrific. It floats in the air and opens its mouth so wide it nearly replaces its entire torso; its jaws hold savage teeth each the same old gray color of its body. Its eyes glow a rotten yellow color through the dark. It stretches out its arms showing its giant hands and claws like fingers. It swipes at us leaving a giant claw mark on the door behind us but Preston ducks my body down to avoid the attack. We run around it as the monster swaps its focus to another bystander. Screaming past us. Me and Preston run into the parking lot as people scream around us. We hide next to a car.
“What the hell is happening!?” I yell to Preston. More of the creatures fly over us and swoop down to people like vultures on roadkill devouring the fleeing people.
Preston starts to breathe heavily ”we need to get out of here and someplace safer”. As we were talking one of the monster phases through the car we were hiding next to forcing us to run into the street.
“Lets go to your house till things cool down” i say to Preston through panted breaths
“Wait couldn't we head to your house instead” Preston says.
“Why would that matter your house is closer anyways” i respond
“But-” Preston is interrupted by two creatures swooping above us to grab another person. The two monsters begin to pull the person apart while he writhes in pain before having his flesh be torn in half and having his organs be devoured.
“Come on lets go!!” I say as I grab his hand and run even faster.
By the time we reach Preston's house any living person is gone. On the street are just corpses laying torn and mutilated on the roads and sidewalk. The air in the neighborhood feels cold despite the season being summer. When I walk down the street I can still hear the occasional horrific wail the monsters give off. We move closer to Preston's house and I can see him sweating. He looked more worried than before when the creatures were chasing us and he kept darting his eyes away from his home.
“Preston, are you feeling okay?” he doesn't respond to my question and keeps darting his eyes. He walks slowly behind me and as I reach for the door handle and when I touch it it feels nearly freezing. I wrap my hoodie around my hand and slowly open the door. The house is quiet so me and Preston creep further into his house. The inside is cold and damp as if we were locked in a freezer. The further we move into the house the louder a subtle chewing sound is heard.
“It sounds like rats are eating a dead cow over there” I whisper. Preston continues to stay silent behind me. We slowly walk closer towards the kitchen and the sound gets louder and louder and louder until we reach the room.
We're met with a rancid smell of vomit and blood. My blood starts to run cold and every instinct in my body is telling me to run. I can feel Preston breathing get heavier as we get closer. We turn the corner and see Preston's mom lying on the ground dead with one of the creatures hunched over slurping her intestines. The sight causes me to vomit alerting the monster to our presence. The creature turns around and its mouth turns into a mortifying grin as it flies into Preston's moms body. The corpse begins to rise and spur splashing blood over the kitchen. When the corpse stops spasming it picks itself up from the ground and with glazed over eyes it holds its intestines in its hand and gives us the same grin it did when it was outside her body. The possessed corpse lunges at me and starts to chase me around the kitchen. The body is running into the walls and cabinets spraying its blood and other loose organs around the area as I'm avoiding its assault. The corpse leans over and ejects one of its loose intestines towards me, wrapping me in it. It pulls me towards it so fast I'm flung towards the ground. The corpse limbers over to me and raises its free hand aiming for my head. The creature's deranged smile causes the corpse’s cheeks to tear apart. It places both of its bloodied and demented hands on my face and starts to press my skull into the ground. I struggle to breathe. The room starts to get dark and blood escapes my head.
Until Preston jumps on top of his mothers corpse with a kitchen knife and repeatedly stabs it in the head. The possessed body tries to shake him off but he keeps stabbing, blood gets in on his face and tears start to escape his eyes. The creature violently ejects from the corpse's mouth causing her head to nearly explode and Preston stops stabbing the body. The body falls over in a splash of blood and organs. The monster leaves phasing through the roof leaving Preston crying over his mother's body. As the blood mixes with the tears he collapses to his knees crying. I walk over and hug him as the air around us turns bitter and the chill of death leaves the room and us with it.
Chapter 1 Eclipse
It's been 2 months since the apocalypse started. We've kept ourselves alive by looting grocery stores and houses, we hide from the creatures as we have no way to fight back against them. Preston came up with the idea to call them glanter’s. He’s looking better since we left his family home but I can tell something is wrong with him that he's not telling me. Everytime I ask him about it he tells me it's no big deal. I asked him earlier today and he just told me
“don't worry about it, I'm over it” without even looking at me. Now we're walking through the street and I'm walking behind Preston, I can barely see his head past the giant bag we're both carrying on our backs we use to carry supplies. I look up at the sky and it's still pitch black except for the moon giving us any amount of light. Preston turns around to face me.
“Let's check out that house, it might have some cool stuff in it” he points to a white house to our right. The house is a two story building with steps leading to the front door. There's a generator poking out from the backyard. The driveway is empty save for a couple of dried blood stains and tire marks. It's similar to the other houses in the neighborhood except for a couple broken windows.
“Sure why not” We head over to the house and I see something shining on the side of the house in the corner of my eye. I turn my head to look at it closer but it quickly disappears before I can see it clearly.
“Probably squirrel or something” I mumble to myself. Preston walks up the stairs to the house and I walk up the steps behind him as a breeze blows past my face. Preston tries to turn the door knob but the door is locked. I start to pull out a lockpick I grabbed at the store earlier. I motion towards Preston to move out of the way as I kneel down to pick the lock. It takes me a couple of minutes to unlock the door so I walk inside the house and Preston follows behind me while closing and locking the door. The doorway of the house leads to a dark room so I take a flashlight out of my bag to illuminate the area. Were put into the living room and bookshelves are on the walls and a large TV sat in front of a large black couch with smaller chairs surrounding it. Dust is covering every surface of the room and spiderwebs litter the corners of the walls. The area smells like moth balls and there's a lack of blood anywhere nearby.
“Guess the owners got out before the Glanter’s got in, '' I say to Preston. When he doesn't respond I turn around and he's already looking further into the house. When I find him he's managed to find a flight of stairs that lead to a lower portion of the house.
“I'll check on him later,” I think to myself as I headed towards the kitchen to see if we could restock on food. I walk past a bedroom and remark on how childish it looked. The walls were painted with blue and green stripes and a bunk bed sat on the right wall. There's a chest at the foot of the bed so I walk over and lift the top off of it. The box is layered with children's toys, a multitude of dolls, bears, and figures all jut out of the box. I notice a small robot toy and inspect it in my hands.
The cold metal makes my hand shiver and the sharp body shape makes the robot bigger than my hand. There's red lining around the robot's buttons surrounded by the cold gray of the robot's “skin”. It reminds me of a toy my little brother had. My heart feels heavy as I worry about what happened to my family. If they're alive, dead, or worse…possessed. The thoughts send a chill down my spine but I push them aside for now. I put the toy in my bag and exit the bedroom.
I can see the kitchen is down the hallway so I walk down the hall and enter. The kitchen is pretty clean except for a couple of dishes in the sink and the dust. There's a table seated for 3 people in the center of the room. I start opening the cabinets in search for any food or water. There's boxes of cereal leftover on top of shelves and a mix of chip bags and cookies in neat boxes stationed in the cabinets.
“Score,” I say to myself as I begin to put the snacks into my bag. When the cabinets are empty I look inside the fridge. The inside of the fridge ran out of power so most of the food inside is rotted. There are a couple of bottles of water in the front so I shove those in my bag. There's also a bag of oranges that still seem to be healthy in the back. I grab them and toss them on the table. There's rotten sandwich meat hidden in the drawer of the fridge.it smells like a dumpster outside of a butcher shop. I wrinkle my nose at the smell. I look around the kitchen for any bread with no luck.
I continue to look through the fridge until I hear Preston scream from another room. Immediately I bolt out of the kitchen leaving my bag behind and run towards the lower part of the house. I run down the stairs and nearly trip on the steps. The stairs lead to a big room. There are posters to tv shows and movies I don't recognize. The walls are painted black and there's a bear skin rug on the floor. I notice Preston standing next to a really big TV hyperventilating. I walk over to him and ask him.
“Are you ok? What happened?”
He talks through deep breaths “I… saw a… spider.”
“What?!” I respond in confusion.
“It was really big and I had jumped at my face”
“Sure it was.” I say while laughing “Let's go upstairs there's some food in the fridge we can eat”
“Wait, I think you should check this out.” He says while pointing towards one of the walls. I grab Preston's flashlight off the floor and face it towards the wall. Hanging halfway off the wall is a large map labeled Newkiwana scavenger hunt of 76.
“I think we should take it,” Preston says “You can read a map right?”
“A little but I'm not the best at it,” I say to him “can you read a map?”
“it shouldn’t be too hard it’s mainly pictures any way I'm sure I can figure it out”
I walk over to the wall where the map is hung there are trophies covering tables and shelved in their own personal cases one of them reads “1st place 100-meter swimming competition for 1986 Zack Hemmingway” and another one reads “2nd place 100-meter swimming competition for 1989 Zack Hemmingway”
“Guess this guy really liked swimming,” Preston remarks while staring at a wall of newspaper clippings. All of them are about the same person in swimming competitions. All labeled different things like “a new record for Zack “the dolphin” Hemmingway”,
‘Zach Hemmingway our star plans for the future” all the newspapers are about this kind he has paler skin and a bulky enough build to swim pretty well. Most of the pictures have him coming out of the water in a pool, his long black hair soaked and sitting at his shoulders. Another one has him sitting at a desk over a pile of books and his hair in a knot , “vicious wipeout ends the Dolphins career”, and “ex-swim champ Zack Hemmingway found in a drunken stupor outside strip club.
“Everyone has their own hobbies I guess,” I say as I take the map off of the wall and fold it up. “Sucks what happened to Zack though” I walked over to Preston’s bag and put the rolled map in one of the pockets. I walk back up the stairs and Preston grabs his bag and follows behind me.
We make our way towards the kitchen and Preston starts looking through the fridge for anything to eat. I grab an orange from the table and throw it at his head. The fruit bounces off his head and rolls on the floor. He turns around and grabs the fruit from the floor
“Why did you throw an orange at me?”
“It's the only food we have unless you plan on eating spoiled a sandwich“ He starts to peel it while walking towards the table. We both take a seat and start to eat the oranges from the bag. He plants his feet on top of the table and bites into the fully peeled orange. I grab a water bottle from a bag and start to drink from it as Preston says.
“I saw a dvd player in that man cave downstairs we could watch a movie if it still has power”
“Sure it could be fun.” Me and Preston spend the rest of our time eating until the bag of oranges is emptied and we head back downstairs. Preston grabs the DVD player from under the table and blows the dust off the top of it; he plugs it into the wall as I plop myself onto the couch. He plugs the DVD player into the TV and sits on the recliner next to me. He presses a few buttons on the remote and the TV lights up. I squint my eyes at how bright it is. It's the most amount of light I've seen that didn't come from a flashlight. I notice there's a box filled with DVDs. I pull the box over towards me. I ruffle through the box and see movies like Silence of the Lambs, Terminator 2, and Home alone.
“Dude some of these came out just before the world turned inside out” I say to him.
“Really? Let's play one.” He responds. I toss him Terminator 2 and he puts it into the DVD player.
We spend the next couple hours watching movies and laughing together. It's some of our only moments of peace we’ve had since the end of the world and to me it's the most fun I've had yet. We're putting in the next DVD when there's a loud crash outside and the TV shuts off. Preston goes behind it to see if it's still plugged in.
“I think the generator outside is busted” i say
“It seems that way” Preston replies while backing away from the tv” i'm gonna go check it out”
“Don't worry I got it” I say as I hop out of my chair. Preston waves goodbye as I head up the stairs. I make my way back through the hallway leading to the living room and front door. I reach the door and start to turn the knob. I open the door wide as a car speeds down the street. I step out of the door to see what had happened when I hear the screech of a glanter. It cuts through the sky like an unholy opera singer. A group of them fly by and chase the car as I rush back inside the house. I slam the door shut and look through the window as I see a couple of smaller glanters grab and shake the car violently looking for the driver. They tear at it, ripping off doors and breaking the windows. The driver screams as the seats cover with blood and he's ripped out of the car as multiple smaller glanters tear and bite off parts of his body like piranha's until his body is completely devoured. I run back to the man cave to warn Preston about what had happened. I spot him laying in his chair spinning a DVD disc on his finger.
“It's not safe outside right now”
“Why not?
“There's glanter's outside, they just ate a dude in his car”
“Did they see you come inside?”
“I don't think so , they flew off before I went inside.”
“well we're not dead so I'm gonna say they didn't see you. But let's stay here for a couple more hours just to be safe”
“Sounds good i'm gonna go find the master bedroom.” I start to walk back up the stairs to the house
“ Hold on why do you get the master bedroom” Preston says while walking after me.
“Because I'm gonna find it first” I say as I start to run to find the bedroom. He chases after me in pursuit of the bedroom. Me and Preston run around the house looking for the master bedroom. We look through room after room finding closets, the garage, a bathroom and a door leading to a balcony in the back of the house. I manage to run into the bedroom and yell out to Preston.``Found it!!”
He comes walking into the room breathing heavily from the running. We both check out the room. The walls are painted a cream yellow and the bed takes up most of the room's center. The bed has burgundy sheets poking out from its bottom and a quilt with multi-colored floral designs lay sprawled out on top of it. There's a wardrobe built into the wall and a black leather couch sits comfortably on the left wall.
“Dibs on the bed” I say as I jump on top of it. I stretch out on top of the quilt and search for a comfortable part to sleep in.
“Where am I supposed to sleep then?” Preston complains
“You can sleep on the couch it looks soft enough” I respond while pointing towards the couch “I saw some spare blankets in one of the closets”
“Alright i’ll be right back” he mumbles to himself “why do i always get the couch”
“ I'll be right here if you need me,” i call after him. I sit up on the bed and start to look around the room more. I notice the entrance to the wardrobe is cracked open slightly. I hop out of the bed and grab a flashlight from my bag as I walk into the wardrobe. I turn on my flashlight and stare in awe at how many clothes are in there. The room is only half as big as the bedroom but it's still bigger than any closet I've ever had. The wardrobe is full of shirts, dresses, pants, and shoes for men and women. I immediately start to look through the shoes to see if any fit my size. I throw a pair of black high heels behind me as Preston finds me in the wardrobe. He looks around before asking me.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding a new pair of clothes to wear cause I've been wearing the same pair of jeans for waaaaay too long”
“Fair enough. Is there any guy stuff in there?”
“Yeah right there” I hook my thumb behind me to point to the other end of the closet.
“I'm sure they won't mind if we take a couple of things…they're probably dead by now anyways,” Preston says with a slight grin on his face. The way he said made me spin my head to look at him but he was already on the opposite end of the wardrobe looking at suits.
I shake away the thought and continue looking for any pair of sneakers in my size. 40 minutes pass before I walk out of the wardrobe holding a new pair of jeans and a black guns-N-roses t-shirt. I toss the clothes on top of the bed and check to see if the shower in the bathroom still works. I turn the dial and wait for a moment. The shower head chokes a little before water comes pouring out. I reach my hand under the showerhead to feel the water. The water is cold, it causes my hand to shiver when I take it out. I shake the water off and say to myself.
“Good enough” as I start to take off my old clothes and get in the shower. The cold water bounces off my skin, it sends shivers down my spine but I still get the old dirt from the last few months off of me. I step out and see a couple of dry towels hanging off of the door. I grab one and dry my body off and grab another to wrap around my head and dry my hair. I step out of the bathroom and Preston is still inside the wardrobe. I put on my new clothes while his back is turned and walk over towards him when I'm finished.
“Still haven't found anything,” I ask him
He turns around “Nothing yet, the only thing interesting was this coat.” He holds a leather coat up to me. The coat is made of black leather and has a skull covered with blue flames on the back. There's a black shirt inside the coat with a skeleton hand making a thumbs-up embroidered on the front.
“ That's pretty cool, it's better than what you're wearing right now at least” he's outfitted in a blue hoodie with holes on the chest and tears at the sleeves. He also has a shirt with a faded picture of a blue flower printed on it.
“I guess you're right” he gets up from the floor and exits the wardrobe. He lays the clothes on the couch along next to the blanket and pillow he brought into the room.
“The shower works so you can get yourself clean In there,” I say to him
“You know, a shower sounds really good right now.” He gets up from the floor and grabs a pair of pajama pants that were laying next to him. He leaves the wardrobe and enters the bathroom, closing the door behind him. After a moment the water turns on and I hop on the bed to get ready to sleep. I squirm myself into the quilt and rest my head against one of the pillows. I shut my eyes and fall asleep listening to the passive sound of the shower like rain on a car.
I'm in a void. It feels like I'm standing in a puddle of water that reaches to my knees. I wade my way forward looking around for anything in the darkness. In the distance I can see 3 figures l. I moved closer to them and their silhouettes get clearer. I realize they are my dad and brothers. I start to run towards them kicking up water behind me until something grabs my leg. It pulls down violently forcing me under the water without a breath of air. I kick at the thing grabbing me until something grabs my other leg. I look down and see two glanter's each with a monstrous smile on their faces. They stare back at me and one of them tugs my leg harder than before and tears it off of my body. The water around me turns red as the glanter laugh's. The other smiles wider as it starts to fling me around the water forcing any air left in my lungs to be forced out as I scream in pain. The glanter throws me away and I can see my family slowly fade into the distance as I'm flown away.
I struggle to swim back to where I was, one of my legs is missing and the other is broken. The glanter's find me again and I try to get to the surface to escape them. I'm flapping my arms in any attempt to escape as one of the glanter's flies in front of me and grabs my arm. I look at the monster with tears in my eyes as it bites my arm and tears my body away from it. It flings my body away and with my remaining arm I clutch the wound as the water floods into my body leaving me in the void I started in. I look around and the glanter's seem to have left. I turn behind me and see my family again, this time I'm closer than before.
I grit my teeth and drag my body towards them slowly as I leave a trail of blood and tears behind me. I finally reach my family and grab one of my father's shoes. I stare up and he looks at me. His stare causes me to feel cold as a grotesque smile grows on his face. I stare in shock as my brothers each have the same look as my father.
I shoot up from my sleep panting heavily in a cold sweat.
“It was just a dream..just a dream…just a dream” I look at my hands as tears fall into them. I look around the room and see Preston sleeping peacefully on the couch. The room feels frozen in place as a chill runs down my spine. I get out of the bed and walk out of the bedroom. I make my way through the dark hallway and find the entrance to the balcony I saw earlier. I creak open the screen door and head outside. The Balcony is pretty large, about the size of the kitchen in the house. There are some chairs knocked over next to a table and I pick one up to sit on it. I look out into the expanse of the neighborhood, houses lined up next to each other, dozens broken apart by roads, and dead bodies scattered across the roads.
I look up in the sky and sit back in the chair. The sky looks empty except for the moon giving this world its only source of light. Without the moon, we’d be left in darkness. It hangs in the sky alone, no stars, no clouds, nothing but itself, and the void of the sky. I think back about the dream I had. My dad and my brother's all dead and possessed and then they kill me. I start to tear up thinking about it. I try to wipe away the tears but it’s no use. I'm too scared for my family. I don't know where they are if they're alive if they're worried about me I don't know anything! I start to quietly cry into my hands. I don't know how long I'm sitting there until I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn my head to face it and I see Preston. He was smiling and looking at me. I turn away to wipe my tears and he walks next to me.
“I heard you sneaking out of the bedroom so I followed you to see where you were going.” he says “but that's not my question.” he pauses and looks at me “my question is what’s got you feeling so down?” he leans over the railing of the balcony
“It's nothing, I just came out here to clear my head.” I say as more tears escape from my eyes in big slow drops that ride down the sides of my face.
“if you don't feel like telling me you don't have to but i'll be here if you ever change your mind”. He looks up at the moon before turning to face me and his smile widens “I'll always be here with you…trust me I'm not going anywhere”
I stare up at him and wipe away my tears as a smile grows on my face to match his. I get up and stare over the balcony with him. “So where are we heading next?” I say to him, Preston pulls the map we got from the man cave downstairs out from his pocket.
“After I got out of the shower I decided to take a look at the map for anything interesting we could see.”
“Ok did you find anything?” i ask
“I did,” he points at a spot on the right of the map. “We should head to the museum”
“I didn't want to go to a museum before the apocalypse why would i want to go now?'' I ask him.
“Well the best part of museums is the cool stuff right”
“Yeah what about it”
“The only problem is that you could only look at the fossils and armor but you could never take them.”
“So you want to rob a museum?” Prestons eyes light up at the question
“Exactly they might have a really cool sword I could use, or I could sharpen a dinosaur tooth and use that as a weapon, there might be a cursed shield that can summon the dead to fight for you. This opportunity is too good to pass up. We need to go!”
“That does seem pretty cool but wouldn't carrying that stuff weigh us down. What if a glanter is chasing us and we can't run fast enough because of the stuff we took from the museum.”
“We’ll only take things that are light. Even then I could just block the glanter with my newly acquired 2000 year old shield.”
“Fair enough we can go in a couple hours” I yawn and stretch out my arms. “Cause I'm feeling way too tired to walk all the way over there right now.”
“Alright i'm heading back to my couch and THEN we’ll head out to the museum” he leaves the balcony and heads back to the master bedroom leaving me alone on the balcony.
“Thanks Preston I'm not leaving either” I say into the sky. I turn around and walk back inside the house, closing the balcony door behind me. I walk back into the bedroom and Preston is hunched over and holding a flashlight looking at the map. He’s drawing lines through roads and marking X’s in different areas.
“What are the X’s for?” i ask him
“They’re places that glanter’s usually stay around. I'm marking them off so we remember not to go through them, or at least be more cautious.”
“Cool. Did you find where we are right now?” He points to an area where the lines all converge out of.
“Right around here is where the neighborhood ends. So if we follow this path we can make it to the museum in one piece” I pat him on the back and take the map from his hands.
“Get some sleep Preston, we have a full day tomorrow” he grins to himself before laying down on the couch. I put the map back into my bag and hop on the bed to get to sleep. I cover my body in the quilt and roll over facing away from Preston as he falls asleep. I nestle myself into the bed and slowly fall asleep to get ready for the next day.
I'm awoken by Preston shaking the bed I'm sleeping on. My eyes open and the room is foggy, I wipe away the sleep from my eyes and focus my attention towards Preston. He's practically jumping out of his skin with excitement, he's already fully dressed for the trip and shaking the bed with a wide smile on his face.
“Ok ok i'm up the air feels heavy as a groggy feeling fills my body. I wipe my eyes and the room starts to clear up. I turn to face Preston. He's still shaking my bed to wake me up, he’s already fully dressed and nearly jumping out of his skin in excitement.
“Ok ok, i'm up you can stop shaking the bed” i say
“Then get up we’ve got a long walk ahead of us” he says as he stops shaking the mattress. He grabs the map from my bag and points to one of the red lines.
“We're gonna follow this way to the museum. We’ll move past the hotel around the ice skating rink and around the park. We’ll mainly stick to walking through the streets, we might have to go rooftop hopping to avoid any glanter’s if we see them but i'm sure we won’t reach that point.” he explains
“Wait, wait, wait, why are avoiding the skating rink and the park” i ask
“ everytime we go near the park there's weird noises and light coming out of it”
“And why can't we go to the ice skating rink?”
“I didn't think it would be important”
“It couldn't hurt to check it out at least”
“Fine we could make a detour”
“Ok and how do you plan on getting on top of roofs?”
“I'm sure we'll figure it out when we get to it”
“Ok man as long as you’re sure '' I yawn and step out of the bed. Preston starts to put the map in his bag. I walk into the bathroom with my clothes and change out of my pajamas. Minutes later I walk out and see Preston sitting on the couch twiddling his thumbs.
“Finally you're out” he smiles at me before handing me my bag and slinging it over his shoulder. We took a last look inside the kitchen to see if we missed anything. Afterwards we leave for the outside. The cold air bites at my face but Preston walks down the stairs, his face buried in the map. I jog to catch up to him as we both head into the street.
“Hey Preston, could I see the map?”
“Sure” he hands over the map and continues walking. I look at the map and the numerous lines drawn on roads. I look at the corner of the map and notice a small map key with numerous symbols for different areas like a library, school, hospital, and more. There's even a way to tell how far away each location is. The text reads “1 inch=5 miles” I quickly count how far we are from the museum.
“Dude this museum is like 100 miles away.”
“Yep it'll be a long walk, it'll take us a while to get there”
“Did you plan on us walking there the whole time?”
“We might find bikes or something.” he pauses “well i did think we would walk the whole way”
“This is gonna take us weeks to get there!”
“Did you have anything else planned?”
“Well…i guess not but we should still try to find some bikes or something”
“Ok if we see any way to travel faster we’ll take it”
“Alright cool” I hand him the map back and he folds it back up and puts it in his bag. We walk further until we leave the gated neighborhood we started in. Preston takes the map back out and looks at it before he turns right and continues walking. I follow him staring forward at the expanse of the road. The outside of the neighborhood is surrounded by roads all leading to different parts of Newkinawa. We walk past a sign that reads “Coretown 20 miles ahead” I nudge Preston towards the sign and he checks the map again.
“Yep, the museum’s in Coretown. Would you believe the residents were pretty proud of it. Should be a fun place to explore” he says
“Yeah but it’ll take us a million years to get there.” i complain
“Lighten up, I'm sure it will be worth it”. We continue walking down the road slowly making our way to Coretown.
submitted by InteractionProud7297 to writers [link] [comments]
Prologue
The day had started the same way it had for the past two years. The only difference was that I was going home. The hallway was crowded with people walking to and from their classes. Everyone was crowded next to each other so the halls were making the area feel claustrophobic. All the people talking mixed with the summer heat made me feel like I was locked in a sauna. I walked with Preston to the last class we would ever have together and as usual he was smiling. I never got why he always smiled even in situations where people should be sad he still smiled. He knew what today meant for me and he tried to keep light of the situation. I kept my head down away from what was ahead of me. My mind was too clouded about returning to see my family to notice anything in front of me. I walked into another student. It felt like I had walked into a wall. I knew immediately I had walked into tree. I stumble onto the ground and the commotion around me slows down to make room for us. He turned his bulky body around and apologized profusely without saying a word even though I had walked into him. He helped me off of the ground before hurrying down the hall.
“Alexandria, are you doing okay?” Preston said he had tilted his body downward so I had to look down to look him in his eyes. The way he was standing made him look like an idiot but he didn't seem to care. The way he acted made me laugh, which caused his smile to widen.
“I'm doing fine, just got lost in my head.”
“Thinking about how you’ll leave soon,” he said
“Was it that obvious?” He was the only person I told about me being an exchange student. I came to spend high school in Newkinawa and he was the only person I ever hung out with.
“I see what you mean,” he said “Newkinawa is a beautiful place with beautiful people to live in it…myself included”
“You wish,” I say with a smile we continue walking through the hallway “I'm just not excited to go back yet”
After I say that his smile grows wider “So you will miss me after all”
“I wouldn't say that much” I responded whilst smiling.
We had made it to our last class only to see it closed with a sign labeled “Uma incident” Uma was a student known for messing with the chemistry lab and destroying school property in the process. I've never actually met her but Preston says “She's a little weird but still nice”
“Guess class is canceled for today,” Preston remarked with a smile “Wanna go out to the court till the bell rings.”
“Sure let's go” I respond
The place we ate every day was outside. It used to be a tennis court before I moved in. Now they put trees and flowers all over the place. Preston really liked the blue color of the flowers but it just never clicked for me. I look over at Preston and he's staring up at the sky. There are a number of clouds in almost enough to block the sun but it still pokes its rays through and lands on Preston's face. The clouds swim in front of the sun till they block out the sun's light. Preston faces towards me.
“I'm gonna miss you Alexandria” he says
“You know you can just call me Alex,” I replied. I start to smile again. “I'll miss you too!" He smiles toward me again as we get up to leave as the clouds start to clump together and rain slowly falls. As we're walking back to the school there's a loud tearing sound followed by screams as the ground shakes.
The ground tears itself apart as the dirt and stone erupt from the ground. The sky blackens and a pale blue light escapes the earth. Then creatures erupt from the ground in a violent ejection from the earth creating a white pillar diffusing as they reach higher in the air. Some are clawing their way out of the cracks like maggots out of a corpse. People are swept into the updraft screaming for their lives.
The creatures descend like a tidal wave and tear apart any people caught in their path. They storm out of the crack in hundreds as more cracks in the earth form. Me and Preston started running away as people were screaming behind us. A girl running next to us has her legs slashed by a creature. The monster begins to tear open her chest as she chokes on her own blood. The monster shovels her lungs and innards into its decrepit mouth. Me and Preston keep running until we're met at the entrance of the school and we catch the attention of a monster as it begins to savagely rush toward us. The monster resembles ghosts my father told me about. But this one looks monstrously horrific. It floats in the air and opens its mouth so wide it nearly replaces its entire torso; its jaws hold savage teeth each the same old gray color of its body. Its eyes glow a rotten yellow color through the dark. It stretches out its arms showing its giant hands and claws like fingers. It swipes at us leaving a giant claw mark on the door behind us but Preston ducks my body down to avoid the attack. We run around it as the monster swaps its focus to another bystander. Screaming past us. Me and Preston run into the parking lot as people scream around us. We hide next to a car.
“What the hell is happening!?” I yell to Preston. More of the creatures fly over us and swoop down to people like vultures on roadkill devouring the fleeing people.
Preston starts to breathe heavily ”we need to get out of here and someplace safer”. As we were talking one of the monster phases through the car we were hiding next to forcing us to run into the street.
“Lets go to your house till things cool down” i say to Preston through panted breaths
“Wait couldn't we head to your house instead” Preston says.
“Why would that matter your house is closer anyways” i respond
“But-” Preston is interrupted by two creatures swooping above us to grab another person. The two monsters begin to pull the person apart while he writhes in pain before having his flesh be torn in half and having his organs be devoured.
“Come on lets go!!” I say as I grab his hand and run even faster.
By the time we reach Preston's house any living person is gone. On the street are just corpses laying torn and mutilated on the roads and sidewalk. The air in the neighborhood feels cold despite the season being summer. When I walk down the street I can still hear the occasional horrific wail the monsters give off. We move closer to Preston's house and I can see him sweating. He looked more worried than before when the creatures were chasing us and he kept darting his eyes away from his home.
“Preston, are you feeling okay?” he doesn't respond to my question and keeps darting his eyes. He walks slowly behind me and as I reach for the door handle and when I touch it it feels nearly freezing. I wrap my hoodie around my hand and slowly open the door. The house is quiet so me and Preston creep further into his house. The inside is cold and damp as if we were locked in a freezer. The further we move into the house the louder a subtle chewing sound is heard.
“It sounds like rats are eating a dead cow over there” I whisper. Preston continues to stay silent behind me. We slowly walk closer towards the kitchen and the sound gets louder and louder and louder until we reach the room.
We're met with a rancid smell of vomit and blood. My blood starts to run cold and every instinct in my body is telling me to run. I can feel Preston breathing get heavier as we get closer. We turn the corner and see Preston's mom lying on the ground dead with one of the creatures hunched over slurping her intestines. The sight causes me to vomit alerting the monster to our presence. The creature turns around and its mouth turns into a mortifying grin as it flies into Preston's moms body. The corpse begins to rise and spur splashing blood over the kitchen. When the corpse stops spasming it picks itself up from the ground and with glazed over eyes it holds its intestines in its hand and gives us the same grin it did when it was outside her body. The possessed corpse lunges at me and starts to chase me around the kitchen. The body is running into the walls and cabinets spraying its blood and other loose organs around the area as I'm avoiding its assault. The corpse leans over and ejects one of its loose intestines towards me, wrapping me in it. It pulls me towards it so fast I'm flung towards the ground. The corpse limbers over to me and raises its free hand aiming for my head. The creature's deranged smile causes the corpse’s cheeks to tear apart. It places both of its bloodied and demented hands on my face and starts to press my skull into the ground. I struggle to breathe. The room starts to get dark and blood escapes my head.
Until Preston jumps on top of his mothers corpse with a kitchen knife and repeatedly stabs it in the head. The possessed body tries to shake him off but he keeps stabbing, blood gets in on his face and tears start to escape his eyes. The creature violently ejects from the corpse's mouth causing her head to nearly explode and Preston stops stabbing the body. The body falls over in a splash of blood and organs. The monster leaves phasing through the roof leaving Preston crying over his mother's body. As the blood mixes with the tears he collapses to his knees crying. I walk over and hug him as the air around us turns bitter and the chill of death leaves the room and us with it.
Chapter 1 Eclipse
It's been 2 months since the apocalypse started. We've kept ourselves alive by looting grocery stores and houses, we hide from the creatures as we have no way to fight back against them. Preston came up with the idea to call them glanter’s. He’s looking better since we left his family home but I can tell something is wrong with him that he's not telling me. Everytime I ask him about it he tells me it's no big deal. I asked him earlier today and he just told me
“don't worry about it, I'm over it” without even looking at me. Now we're walking through the street and I'm walking behind Preston, I can barely see his head past the giant bag we're both carrying on our backs we use to carry supplies. I look up at the sky and it's still pitch black except for the moon giving us any amount of light. Preston turns around to face me.
“Let's check out that house, it might have some cool stuff in it” he points to a white house to our right. The house is a two story building with steps leading to the front door. There's a generator poking out from the backyard. The driveway is empty save for a couple of dried blood stains and tire marks. It's similar to the other houses in the neighborhood except for a couple broken windows.
“Sure why not” We head over to the house and I see something shining on the side of the house in the corner of my eye. I turn my head to look at it closer but it quickly disappears before I can see it clearly.
“Probably squirrel or something” I mumble to myself. Preston walks up the stairs to the house and I walk up the steps behind him as a breeze blows past my face. Preston tries to turn the door knob but the door is locked. I start to pull out a lockpick I grabbed at the store earlier. I motion towards Preston to move out of the way as I kneel down to pick the lock. It takes me a couple of minutes to unlock the door so I walk inside the house and Preston follows behind me while closing and locking the door. The doorway of the house leads to a dark room so I take a flashlight out of my bag to illuminate the area. Were put into the living room and bookshelves are on the walls and a large TV sat in front of a large black couch with smaller chairs surrounding it. Dust is covering every surface of the room and spiderwebs litter the corners of the walls. The area smells like moth balls and there's a lack of blood anywhere nearby.
“Guess the owners got out before the Glanter’s got in, '' I say to Preston. When he doesn't respond I turn around and he's already looking further into the house. When I find him he's managed to find a flight of stairs that lead to a lower portion of the house.
“I'll check on him later,” I think to myself as I headed towards the kitchen to see if we could restock on food. I walk past a bedroom and remark on how childish it looked. The walls were painted with blue and green stripes and a bunk bed sat on the right wall. There's a chest at the foot of the bed so I walk over and lift the top off of it. The box is layered with children's toys, a multitude of dolls, bears, and figures all jut out of the box. I notice a small robot toy and inspect it in my hands.
The cold metal makes my hand shiver and the sharp body shape makes the robot bigger than my hand. There's red lining around the robot's buttons surrounded by the cold gray of the robot's “skin”. It reminds me of a toy my little brother had. My heart feels heavy as I worry about what happened to my family. If they're alive, dead, or worse…possessed. The thoughts send a chill down my spine but I push them aside for now. I put the toy in my bag and exit the bedroom.
I can see the kitchen is down the hallway so I walk down the hall and enter. The kitchen is pretty clean except for a couple of dishes in the sink and the dust. There's a table seated for 3 people in the center of the room. I start opening the cabinets in search for any food or water. There's boxes of cereal leftover on top of shelves and a mix of chip bags and cookies in neat boxes stationed in the cabinets.
“Score,” I say to myself as I begin to put the snacks into my bag. When the cabinets are empty I look inside the fridge. The inside of the fridge ran out of power so most of the food inside is rotted. There are a couple of bottles of water in the front so I shove those in my bag. There's also a bag of oranges that still seem to be healthy in the back. I grab them and toss them on the table. There's rotten sandwich meat hidden in the drawer of the fridge.it smells like a dumpster outside of a butcher shop. I wrinkle my nose at the smell. I look around the kitchen for any bread with no luck.
I continue to look through the fridge until I hear Preston scream from another room. Immediately I bolt out of the kitchen leaving my bag behind and run towards the lower part of the house. I run down the stairs and nearly trip on the steps. The stairs lead to a big room. There are posters to tv shows and movies I don't recognize. The walls are painted black and there's a bear skin rug on the floor. I notice Preston standing next to a really big TV hyperventilating. I walk over to him and ask him.
“Are you ok? What happened?”
He talks through deep breaths “I… saw a… spider.”
“What?!” I respond in confusion.
“It was really big and I had jumped at my face”
“Sure it was.” I say while laughing “Let's go upstairs there's some food in the fridge we can eat”
“Wait, I think you should check this out.” He says while pointing towards one of the walls. I grab Preston's flashlight off the floor and face it towards the wall. Hanging halfway off the wall is a large map labeled Newkiwana scavenger hunt of 76.
“I think we should take it,” Preston says “You can read a map right?”
“A little but I'm not the best at it,” I say to him “can you read a map?”
“it shouldn’t be too hard it’s mainly pictures any way I'm sure I can figure it out”
I walk over to the wall where the map is hung there are trophies covering tables and shelved in their own personal cases one of them reads “1st place 100-meter swimming competition for 1986 Zack Hemmingway” and another one reads “2nd place 100-meter swimming competition for 1989 Zack Hemmingway”
“Guess this guy really liked swimming,” Preston remarks while staring at a wall of newspaper clippings. All of them are about the same person in swimming competitions. All labeled different things like “a new record for Zack “the dolphin” Hemmingway”,
‘Zach Hemmingway our star plans for the future” all the newspapers are about this kind he has paler skin and a bulky enough build to swim pretty well. Most of the pictures have him coming out of the water in a pool, his long black hair soaked and sitting at his shoulders. Another one has him sitting at a desk over a pile of books and his hair in a knot , “vicious wipeout ends the Dolphins career”, and “ex-swim champ Zack Hemmingway found in a drunken stupor outside strip club.
“Everyone has their own hobbies I guess,” I say as I take the map off of the wall and fold it up. “Sucks what happened to Zack though” I walked over to Preston’s bag and put the rolled map in one of the pockets. I walk back up the stairs and Preston grabs his bag and follows behind me.
We make our way towards the kitchen and Preston starts looking through the fridge for anything to eat. I grab an orange from the table and throw it at his head. The fruit bounces off his head and rolls on the floor. He turns around and grabs the fruit from the floor
“Why did you throw an orange at me?”
“It's the only food we have unless you plan on eating spoiled a sandwich“ He starts to peel it while walking towards the table. We both take a seat and start to eat the oranges from the bag. He plants his feet on top of the table and bites into the fully peeled orange. I grab a water bottle from a bag and start to drink from it as Preston says.
“I saw a dvd player in that man cave downstairs we could watch a movie if it still has power”
“Sure it could be fun.” Me and Preston spend the rest of our time eating until the bag of oranges is emptied and we head back downstairs. Preston grabs the DVD player from under the table and blows the dust off the top of it; he plugs it into the wall as I plop myself onto the couch. He plugs the DVD player into the TV and sits on the recliner next to me. He presses a few buttons on the remote and the TV lights up. I squint my eyes at how bright it is. It's the most amount of light I've seen that didn't come from a flashlight. I notice there's a box filled with DVDs. I pull the box over towards me. I ruffle through the box and see movies like Silence of the Lambs, Terminator 2, and Home alone.
“Dude some of these came out just before the world turned inside out” I say to him.
“Really? Let's play one.” He responds. I toss him Terminator 2 and he puts it into the DVD player.
We spend the next couple hours watching movies and laughing together. It's some of our only moments of peace we’ve had since the end of the world and to me it's the most fun I've had yet. We're putting in the next DVD when there's a loud crash outside and the TV shuts off. Preston goes behind it to see if it's still plugged in.
“I think the generator outside is busted” i say
“It seems that way” Preston replies while backing away from the tv” i'm gonna go check it out”
“Don't worry I got it” I say as I hop out of my chair. Preston waves goodbye as I head up the stairs. I make my way back through the hallway leading to the living room and front door. I reach the door and start to turn the knob. I open the door wide as a car speeds down the street. I step out of the door to see what had happened when I hear the screech of a glanter. It cuts through the sky like an unholy opera singer. A group of them fly by and chase the car as I rush back inside the house. I slam the door shut and look through the window as I see a couple of smaller glanters grab and shake the car violently looking for the driver. They tear at it, ripping off doors and breaking the windows. The driver screams as the seats cover with blood and he's ripped out of the car as multiple smaller glanters tear and bite off parts of his body like piranha's until his body is completely devoured. I run back to the man cave to warn Preston about what had happened. I spot him laying in his chair spinning a DVD disc on his finger.
“It's not safe outside right now”
“Why not?
“There's glanter's outside, they just ate a dude in his car”
“Did they see you come inside?”
“I don't think so , they flew off before I went inside.”
“well we're not dead so I'm gonna say they didn't see you. But let's stay here for a couple more hours just to be safe”
“Sounds good i'm gonna go find the master bedroom.” I start to walk back up the stairs to the house
“ Hold on why do you get the master bedroom” Preston says while walking after me.
“Because I'm gonna find it first” I say as I start to run to find the bedroom. He chases after me in pursuit of the bedroom. Me and Preston run around the house looking for the master bedroom. We look through room after room finding closets, the garage, a bathroom and a door leading to a balcony in the back of the house. I manage to run into the bedroom and yell out to Preston.``Found it!!”
He comes walking into the room breathing heavily from the running. We both check out the room. The walls are painted a cream yellow and the bed takes up most of the room's center. The bed has burgundy sheets poking out from its bottom and a quilt with multi-colored floral designs lay sprawled out on top of it. There's a wardrobe built into the wall and a black leather couch sits comfortably on the left wall.
“Dibs on the bed” I say as I jump on top of it. I stretch out on top of the quilt and search for a comfortable part to sleep in.
“Where am I supposed to sleep then?” Preston complains
“You can sleep on the couch it looks soft enough” I respond while pointing towards the couch “I saw some spare blankets in one of the closets”
“Alright i’ll be right back” he mumbles to himself “why do i always get the couch”
“ I'll be right here if you need me,” i call after him. I sit up on the bed and start to look around the room more. I notice the entrance to the wardrobe is cracked open slightly. I hop out of the bed and grab a flashlight from my bag as I walk into the wardrobe. I turn on my flashlight and stare in awe at how many clothes are in there. The room is only half as big as the bedroom but it's still bigger than any closet I've ever had. The wardrobe is full of shirts, dresses, pants, and shoes for men and women. I immediately start to look through the shoes to see if any fit my size. I throw a pair of black high heels behind me as Preston finds me in the wardrobe. He looks around before asking me.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding a new pair of clothes to wear cause I've been wearing the same pair of jeans for waaaaay too long”
“Fair enough. Is there any guy stuff in there?”
“Yeah right there” I hook my thumb behind me to point to the other end of the closet.
“I'm sure they won't mind if we take a couple of things…they're probably dead by now anyways,” Preston says with a slight grin on his face. The way he said made me spin my head to look at him but he was already on the opposite end of the wardrobe looking at suits.
I shake away the thought and continue looking for any pair of sneakers in my size. 40 minutes pass before I walk out of the wardrobe holding a new pair of jeans and a black guns-N-roses t-shirt. I toss the clothes on top of the bed and check to see if the shower in the bathroom still works. I turn the dial and wait for a moment. The shower head chokes a little before water comes pouring out. I reach my hand under the showerhead to feel the water. The water is cold, it causes my hand to shiver when I take it out. I shake the water off and say to myself.
“Good enough” as I start to take off my old clothes and get in the shower. The cold water bounces off my skin, it sends shivers down my spine but I still get the old dirt from the last few months off of me. I step out and see a couple of dry towels hanging off of the door. I grab one and dry my body off and grab another to wrap around my head and dry my hair. I step out of the bathroom and Preston is still inside the wardrobe. I put on my new clothes while his back is turned and walk over towards him when I'm finished.
“Still haven't found anything,” I ask him
He turns around “Nothing yet, the only thing interesting was this coat.” He holds a leather coat up to me. The coat is made of black leather and has a skull covered with blue flames on the back. There's a black shirt inside the coat with a skeleton hand making a thumbs-up embroidered on the front.
“ That's pretty cool, it's better than what you're wearing right now at least” he's outfitted in a blue hoodie with holes on the chest and tears at the sleeves. He also has a shirt with a faded picture of a blue flower printed on it.
“I guess you're right” he gets up from the floor and exits the wardrobe. He lays the clothes on the couch along next to the blanket and pillow he brought into the room.
“The shower works so you can get yourself clean In there,” I say to him
“You know, a shower sounds really good right now.” He gets up from the floor and grabs a pair of pajama pants that were laying next to him. He leaves the wardrobe and enters the bathroom, closing the door behind him. After a moment the water turns on and I hop on the bed to get ready to sleep. I squirm myself into the quilt and rest my head against one of the pillows. I shut my eyes and fall asleep listening to the passive sound of the shower like rain on a car.
I'm in a void. It feels like I'm standing in a puddle of water that reaches to my knees. I wade my way forward looking around for anything in the darkness. In the distance I can see 3 figures l. I moved closer to them and their silhouettes get clearer. I realize they are my dad and brothers. I start to run towards them kicking up water behind me until something grabs my leg. It pulls down violently forcing me under the water without a breath of air. I kick at the thing grabbing me until something grabs my other leg. I look down and see two glanter's each with a monstrous smile on their faces. They stare back at me and one of them tugs my leg harder than before and tears it off of my body. The water around me turns red as the glanter laugh's. The other smiles wider as it starts to fling me around the water forcing any air left in my lungs to be forced out as I scream in pain. The glanter throws me away and I can see my family slowly fade into the distance as I'm flown away.
I struggle to swim back to where I was, one of my legs is missing and the other is broken. The glanter's find me again and I try to get to the surface to escape them. I'm flapping my arms in any attempt to escape as one of the glanter's flies in front of me and grabs my arm. I look at the monster with tears in my eyes as it bites my arm and tears my body away from it. It flings my body away and with my remaining arm I clutch the wound as the water floods into my body leaving me in the void I started in. I look around and the glanter's seem to have left. I turn behind me and see my family again, this time I'm closer than before.
I grit my teeth and drag my body towards them slowly as I leave a trail of blood and tears behind me. I finally reach my family and grab one of my father's shoes. I stare up and he looks at me. His stare causes me to feel cold as a grotesque smile grows on his face. I stare in shock as my brothers each have the same look as my father.
I shoot up from my sleep panting heavily in a cold sweat.
“It was just a dream..just a dream…just a dream” I look at my hands as tears fall into them. I look around the room and see Preston sleeping peacefully on the couch. The room feels frozen in place as a chill runs down my spine. I get out of the bed and walk out of the bedroom. I make my way through the dark hallway and find the entrance to the balcony I saw earlier. I creak open the screen door and head outside. The Balcony is pretty large, about the size of the kitchen in the house. There are some chairs knocked over next to a table and I pick one up to sit on it. I look out into the expanse of the neighborhood, houses lined up next to each other, dozens broken apart by roads, and dead bodies scattered across the roads.
I look up in the sky and sit back in the chair. The sky looks empty except for the moon giving this world its only source of light. Without the moon, we’d be left in darkness. It hangs in the sky alone, no stars, no clouds, nothing but itself, and the void of the sky. I think back about the dream I had. My dad and my brother's all dead and possessed and then they kill me. I start to tear up thinking about it. I try to wipe away the tears but it’s no use. I'm too scared for my family. I don't know where they are if they're alive if they're worried about me I don't know anything! I start to quietly cry into my hands. I don't know how long I'm sitting there until I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn my head to face it and I see Preston. He was smiling and looking at me. I turn away to wipe my tears and he walks next to me.
“I heard you sneaking out of the bedroom so I followed you to see where you were going.” he says “but that's not my question.” he pauses and looks at me “my question is what’s got you feeling so down?” he leans over the railing of the balcony
“It's nothing, I just came out here to clear my head.” I say as more tears escape from my eyes in big slow drops that ride down the sides of my face.
“if you don't feel like telling me you don't have to but i'll be here if you ever change your mind”. He looks up at the moon before turning to face me and his smile widens “I'll always be here with you…trust me I'm not going anywhere”
I stare up at him and wipe away my tears as a smile grows on my face to match his. I get up and stare over the balcony with him. “So where are we heading next?” I say to him, Preston pulls the map we got from the man cave downstairs out from his pocket.
“After I got out of the shower I decided to take a look at the map for anything interesting we could see.”
“Ok did you find anything?” i ask
“I did,” he points at a spot on the right of the map. “We should head to the museum”
“I didn't want to go to a museum before the apocalypse why would i want to go now?'' I ask him.
“Well the best part of museums is the cool stuff right”
“Yeah what about it”
“The only problem is that you could only look at the fossils and armor but you could never take them.”
“So you want to rob a museum?” Prestons eyes light up at the question
“Exactly they might have a really cool sword I could use, or I could sharpen a dinosaur tooth and use that as a weapon, there might be a cursed shield that can summon the dead to fight for you. This opportunity is too good to pass up. We need to go!”
“That does seem pretty cool but wouldn't carrying that stuff weigh us down. What if a glanter is chasing us and we can't run fast enough because of the stuff we took from the museum.”
“We’ll only take things that are light. Even then I could just block the glanter with my newly acquired 2000 year old shield.”
“Fair enough we can go in a couple hours” I yawn and stretch out my arms. “Cause I'm feeling way too tired to walk all the way over there right now.”
“Alright i'm heading back to my couch and THEN we’ll head out to the museum” he leaves the balcony and heads back to the master bedroom leaving me alone on the balcony.
“Thanks Preston I'm not leaving either” I say into the sky. I turn around and walk back inside the house, closing the balcony door behind me. I walk back into the bedroom and Preston is hunched over and holding a flashlight looking at the map. He’s drawing lines through roads and marking X’s in different areas.
“What are the X’s for?” i ask him
“They’re places that glanter’s usually stay around. I'm marking them off so we remember not to go through them, or at least be more cautious.”
“Cool. Did you find where we are right now?” He points to an area where the lines all converge out of.
“Right around here is where the neighborhood ends. So if we follow this path we can make it to the museum in one piece” I pat him on the back and take the map from his hands.
“Get some sleep Preston, we have a full day tomorrow” he grins to himself before laying down on the couch. I put the map back into my bag and hop on the bed to get to sleep. I cover my body in the quilt and roll over facing away from Preston as he falls asleep. I nestle myself into the bed and slowly fall asleep to get ready for the next day.
I'm awoken by Preston shaking the bed I'm sleeping on. My eyes open and the room is foggy, I wipe away the sleep from my eyes and focus my attention towards Preston. He's practically jumping out of his skin with excitement, he's already fully dressed for the trip and shaking the bed with a wide smile on his face.
“Ok ok i'm up the air feels heavy as a groggy feeling fills my body. I wipe my eyes and the room starts to clear up. I turn to face Preston. He's still shaking my bed to wake me up, he’s already fully dressed and nearly jumping out of his skin in excitement.
“Ok ok, i'm up you can stop shaking the bed” i say
“Then get up we’ve got a long walk ahead of us” he says as he stops shaking the mattress. He grabs the map from my bag and points to one of the red lines.
“We're gonna follow this way to the museum. We’ll move past the hotel around the ice skating rink and around the park. We’ll mainly stick to walking through the streets, we might have to go rooftop hopping to avoid any glanter’s if we see them but i'm sure we won’t reach that point.” he explains
“Wait, wait, wait, why are avoiding the skating rink and the park” i ask
“ everytime we go near the park there's weird noises and light coming out of it”
“And why can't we go to the ice skating rink?”
“I didn't think it would be important”
“It couldn't hurt to check it out at least”
“Fine we could make a detour”
“Ok and how do you plan on getting on top of roofs?”
“I'm sure we'll figure it out when we get to it”
“Ok man as long as you’re sure '' I yawn and step out of the bed. Preston starts to put the map in his bag. I walk into the bathroom with my clothes and change out of my pajamas. Minutes later I walk out and see Preston sitting on the couch twiddling his thumbs.
“Finally you're out” he smiles at me before handing me my bag and slinging it over his shoulder. We took a last look inside the kitchen to see if we missed anything. Afterwards we leave for the outside. The cold air bites at my face but Preston walks down the stairs, his face buried in the map. I jog to catch up to him as we both head into the street.
“Hey Preston, could I see the map?”
“Sure” he hands over the map and continues walking. I look at the map and the numerous lines drawn on roads. I look at the corner of the map and notice a small map key with numerous symbols for different areas like a library, school, hospital, and more. There's even a way to tell how far away each location is. The text reads “1 inch=5 miles” I quickly count how far we are from the museum.
“Dude this museum is like 100 miles away.”
“Yep it'll be a long walk, it'll take us a while to get there”
“Did you plan on us walking there the whole time?”
“We might find bikes or something.” he pauses “well i did think we would walk the whole way”
“This is gonna take us weeks to get there!”
“Did you have anything else planned?”
“Well…i guess not but we should still try to find some bikes or something”
“Ok if we see any way to travel faster we’ll take it”
“Alright cool” I hand him the map back and he folds it back up and puts it in his bag. We walk further until we leave the gated neighborhood we started in. Preston takes the map back out and looks at it before he turns right and continues walking. I follow him staring forward at the expanse of the road. The outside of the neighborhood is surrounded by roads all leading to different parts of Newkinawa. We walk past a sign that reads “Coretown 20 miles ahead” I nudge Preston towards the sign and he checks the map again.
“Yep, the museum’s in Coretown. Would you believe the residents were pretty proud of it. Should be a fun place to explore” he says
“Yeah but it’ll take us a million years to get there.” i complain
“Lighten up, I'm sure it will be worth it”. We continue walking down the road slowly making our way to Coretown.
2024.05.29 04:09 Storms_Wrath The Human Artificial Hivemind Part 518: A Falling Tower
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Penny gazed at the quartet of Elders. They were all wearing the merchandise she remembered from the last Judgment, which was exceedingly awkward. Mainly because they were wearing shirts with her face on them. But it was also oddly endearing, in a way. Until now, she hadn't seen too many Elders that were on her side.
Elders that weren't just Kashaunta or the familiar faces she already knew, like Spentha or Rho and Sai, actually showing appreciation of her, felt odd. Even if these ones went a little too far in it.
"You're even more beautiful in person, Liberator," one said.
"Uh, thanks. I appreciate that. I'm glad that you all like me. Rho and Sai told me that you all are interested in something I can give you?"
"Yeah. Maybe a short interview? We won't be like that airhead reporter. We'll ask the good questions."
"Yep, we will."
"Right then," Penny said. "Well, I'm glad to meet you."
"Thank you. Now that we're here, we'd like to know how you plan on taking care of the gang leaders."
"Well, presumably by imprisoning them. I don't think they deserve to die, even if others do. I'll leave that decision up to Justicar and his various judges in the criminal system."
Penny didn't like having to lie blatantly. She wanted to kill the slavers quite brutally, but doing that was a bad idea right now. Saying it also was a bad idea, for a similar reason. And Justicar's system was worryingly preferential to Elders, from what she'd looked up after the meeting with Pundacrawla.
"Aren't you worried that the Judges won't give proper justice?"
"I trust Justicar to do everything that is necessary."
Another lie. Justicar would do whatever he could to maintain his image. Hopefully, that wouldn't be at the cost of the Alliance's very existence.
"Got it. By the way, what's it like being human? Walking on only two legs. It seems kind of unstable. Do you fall a lot?"
A genuine curiosity from them was another breath of fresh air. It was the kind of question a quadruped would definitely ask, which put her more at ease about the nature of what they were trying to do. Even more than their evident support of her, with all the merch they were wearing. Penny felt a smile crack at the corners of her lips, unbidden.
"Not really. We can use our arms to steady ourselves pretty well. Obviously it's not as easy to balance on our two legs as it is with your four, but it's still good enough. In fact, the sprinters in the Olympics use all four limbs, since running as fast as possible also requires pumping our arms. As for what it's like to be human, it's hard to describe. For many of us, it will feel colder or warmer than Sprilnav would feel in the same temperatures, due to thinner skin. Our eyesight is more frontal than yours, given our lack of snouts, so our blindspots are a lot bigger. Our feet require shoes for rough ground, and we heal slower than you by around 20%. We can't really clack our jaws to the scale that you can, though we can make them meet."
Penny bared her teeth, showing as she opened and closed her mouth. It was nice to be able to talk about things like this.
"The Olympics?" one of them asked.
"It's a competition about athletics," Penny said. "Running, jumping, throwing, diving, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, and a lot of sports. There's specific divisions, too. Like how there's a 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, and even an 800 meter dash for those with high levels of psychic energy. Though really, psychic energy and genetic editing have been messing with the events for a while now. And there's a Winter, Summer, and Space Olympics, each with different sorts of events. They move from city to city, though the Space Olympics are pretty much always on either Luna, Ceres, or Mercury. There's a lot more information out there on various events, but it's an old cultural practice revered by the entire species. Even more so since Phoebe's increased the prize pools for everyone."
"How does your species handle space in general? I know that you guys did things way differently before First Contact."
"We did. Mining companies kept tight control on all asteroid mining, while nations controlled planets like Earth and Mars and large planetary bodies like Luna. Supposedly, a few people planned for a cloud city on Venus, but we couldn't risk having such a vulnerable population because they'd have to rely on giant balloons to survive. That would probably be the least secure way to live, given the existence of rogue organizations and all that.
As for spaceships, most of them since we really colonized Luna come equipped with spacesuit bays, zero gravity water and food packs, oxygen tanks, emergency seats, specialized anti-micrometeorite hulls, and radiation shielding. A lot of the older military ships also were equipped with big radiators until World War Three, when it all became masses of drone warfare, with the big ships kept mainly for cargo and lanes where mass drone control was impossible.
Once the Vinarii came and we got shields, we started building big again. After all, it provided a huge number of jobs, and in the post-war economies, especially with VIs in place, a lot of people needed work. But we still go and do asteroid and moon mining, star lifting, and energy gathering. We built an orbital ring around Mercury, the closest planet to Sol, to help with all of that. It doubles as a production hub, too. Now, it's all in more systems and with a lot more friends."
"Speaking of aliens, what theory does your people have on why so many creatures resemble one another? Our jaws are adapted for hard shelled creatures, and we're told that many planets have oddly similar variations of those."
"Crabs."
She guessed what they were getting at.
It is odd, isn't it? Nilnacrawla observed.
Perhaps that is another one of the Source's whims, Penny thought.
Maybe.
A few of the Elders made exclamations of shock.
"You even have a word for them that directly translates!"
Penny chuckled. "Yeah, carcinization is a bit of a meme in the science community. But I've heard the most mainstream theories since the First Contact are that the Source itself is uncreative. It has a certain template of creatures which it largely doesn't alter, though it can take in inputs from beings close to it, perhaps even influencing them."
"Influencing them?"
"Yes. Modern depictions of wendigoes, folkloric creatures from North America, a continent on Earth, are shockingly similar to the Knowers in appearance. The internet depictions of them in particular like to emphasize canine qualities, and often show them with skulls visible directly, and with dark brown or black fur. Recent depictions, as in the past 300 years, differ from their original appearances quite significantly, with the canine characteristics in particular being enhanced.
We have sorted through all known images of these creatures and found roughly 80% similarity with the Knowers and tens of thousands of images that are literally exactly the same as Knowers. The ones we searched all came before World War Three, far before even the First Contact with the Vinarii, much less the Knowers who were entirely underground at the time due to the radiation of their home star. We believe that the Source managed to influence this facet of human culture with the actual existence of a real creature.
Other examples exist, like how the Trikkec look very similar to Komodo Dragons, Vinarii look very similar to insects known as a mantis, and the Acuarfar look exactly like insects known as wasps with the single exception of their furry snouts and green instead of yellow markings. The Sprilnav species itself shares high amounts of similarity with a fictional species known as Elites in early 2000s culture, particularly with your jaws, though you all have red skin instead of grey or brown.
The Junyli, Dreedeen, and the wanderers are the main species without high amounts of appearance in our cultures at some point. This correlates with the idea of the Source being the influencer, as their predecessors all were used to fight it. Many species of the galaxy look like parts of our culture or Earth's creatures. The proximity of these examples makes this far more suspicious than if they were across the galaxy.
But since they existed first, the only answer must be that the Source brought the influence to us first and planted the ideas in our heads. As for the ones which look like Earth creatures, all of them are old enough evolutionary branches that copying from them to Earth makes more sense. Though the references centering around the early 2000s is quite odd, it is also roughly when the internet came into wide existence, so it is also possible the Source gave the ideas a push so they would propagate, for an unknown reason. Like if it seeded the ideas that propagated across the early global network Humanity used."
"Hmm. Fascinating. We've seen evidence of the 'seeding' process among some historical nations near the galactic region of Earth before. So the Source re-uses and alters depictions of life and also life itself?"
"Maybe," Penny said. "Unless the Source is more directly tied to life than we think. There's a conceptual Death, but no conceptual Life. Isn't that odd?"
"Conceptual Life died in the Source war."
How did that really work, though? Penny asked Nilnacrawla.
Imagine a conceptual being. A few of the Progenitors, as well as Narvravarana, went up to try to harvest its power. It refused, and Narvravarana used its unique abilities to try and force the deal.
Why was your civilization like this?
Excess and greed, partly. But we couldn't really do much more expansion. Vertical expansion also had its limits if we wanted to remain relevant for the remaining lifespan of the universe. So Narvravarana, along with a few of the greatest rulers and leaders of Sprilnav society, started looking to other dimensional planes. They figured it was best not to let the problem get too much worse. Or at least, that is what they say. I believe it was to harvest more resources to use against our surrounding enemies.
You didn't have any allies? Penny asked.
At that time, all the powers of the universe were enemies. All the allies eventually merged through millions of years of normalization. We happened to get on the universal stage the earliest, so other civilizations we encountered had little choice but to surrender their independence. Some fought, others didn't, but the outcome was the same.
That seems terrible.
It was, though the other universal civilizations were no better. Some of them just exterminated all alien life they found that couldn't fight back. In that sense, the pre-war Sprilnav civilization was one of the greatest, and that's why I fought for them. Obviously, I'm biased in that regard, though.
Thanks for telling me, father.
No problem, Penny.
She refocused back on the conversation at hand.
"But a thing cannot be alive if it dies. The concept of life doesn't work that way. So maybe the Source just... took in the concept of life? Or absorbed it into whatever psychic energy really is, considering that it's responsible for all of our existence?"
"That's so crazy it might actually be true," one of the Elders said. "You're incredible, Penny."
"Uh, thanks. You're all pretty great too." Her eyes drifted to the images of herself on their clothing. She couldn't really help it.
"I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what I'm fighting for?"
"I assume since you're asking it here, you don't just want a one word answer," an Elder said. "I would say yes, and for the liberation of the Sprilnav from the stain of slavery. Though going deeper into your history, you have also fought for other species, either in wars or just generally moving around. It does look aimless, mostly, since the galaxy's so big. But I'm sure you've got a way through that."
"In some way. Part of why I'm here isn't just about my people. It was at first, I admit that. But as I have lived here, on Justicar, for days and weeks, I've seen you less as alien. It makes it easier for sympathy and easier to break out of simple mindsets. So far, there are many problems, but there are distinct pieces. The first is that many people want to uphold slavery. I'm not sure why, but they do. It isn't profitable, and it isn't moral. Robots are cheaper in every way, and don't need food or water.
That means it's illogical or emotional. So I could try and solve the problem with violence alone, but it won't be addressing the cause, only the symptoms. I need to get to the heart of the matter. And I think it has to do with Elders' memories and the gradual woes they have accumulated going through life. I don't want to tear that away or drug them into believing they're fine. I want to find a way to outlet that productively. The second part I have identified is scale. The galaxy is enormous, and your species is incredibly numerous. I could fight planet by planet for the rest of my life, and liberation would still be difficult.
That also means I'd need a better way of doing things. Maybe an economic or political incentive. Emotional reasons will not work permanently, nor will logic, since we are in this situation. I have found several ways to address this. Sadly, since the gangs are likely monitoring this feed, I can't just outright say my strategy. All I can ask you all to do is to believe. Believe that I have a solution, and that I and those who stand with me are working on it. Believe in me because I believe in you."
None of the Elders questioned or ridiculed her words. Most of it was because they were fans of her. But one of them, an Elder named Rahautiti, had a distinct glint in his eye. Their gazes met only momentarily, but Penny could tell he knew.
And so she appeared in the mindscape, even as they concluded the interview, which would be the first of many. It was a ploy to just talk about human culture and ideals a bit more, to get it out there. Because the hivemind's theory was correct.
In the universe, ideas had power. That power could be weaponized against those who previously stood to gain. The first part of it was the image: Nova as an unbeatable bastion. Lecalicus as the Beast, a monster capable of star-crushing rage. Twilight as... whatever she did. Penny wasn't really familiar with the Progenitor's image too much, and the various names, like the Silent Night or the Smiling Darkness, were just so unbelievably edgy she cringed every time she recalled them.
But Rahautiti understood so she moved her mindscape avatar to see him.
"Hello again, Penny. I am no threat."
"I know. I'm glad that your group is led by someone as capable as you, as well as the other groups you dabble within."
"Who discovered it?"
"Phoebe. You met with Ezeonwha, and the android wanted to ensure you weren't a way for Yasihaut to kill him."
"Yeah. We did get approached about that, actually. We're supposed to kill Ezeonwha when you walk into the Judgment hall. Of course, we won't do this, and she won't be able to retaliate against us easily while there."
"Thank you for your honesty, Elder," Penny said. "It seems I'm in your debt."
"Nonsense. 2,839. That is the number of children I have had. 2,626. That is the number of children of mine which were enslaved. The remaining 213 died in unrelated incidents, with nearly half of those involving slavers killing them. I remember all of their names, and all of their faces, Penny. I want all the slavers in this universe dead."
"I cannot achieve that."
"You cannot," Rahautiti agreed. "Not with my help or even that of Kashaunta and Lecalicus. And certainly not right now. I have not lived this long to be incapable of compromise or patchwork solutions. You show great promise. I understand your aversion to killing and the circumstantial reason why you are not doing so now. I will not grow upset if you do not resume killing when the Judgment ends. Nor do I harbor a grudge against you for the speeding space entity you left outside the room to avoid uncomfortable publicity. You are incredibly young.
A sliver of a life. But you are strong, and you are mature. That sliver of your lifespan already outshines all I could do with a trillion more years, Penny. You are right in that this isn't something you can punch your way through. Trauma is part of why slavery still exists, despite it being a wholly unjust reason for the Elders to make such a sport of it. I am sure you know the story of the war, with a great hero in your head and Kashaunta at your side. My line of work is what I started to help you. Every thought about you being the Liberator, every eye that glances on you freeing slaves, helps you to gather conceptual energy. My talent happens to be great enough to sense the Pact of Blades you have, as well. If you want, I can teach you how to hide the mark on your soul and your mind."
"I would like that, yes," Penny said. "And thank you for being so reasonable. I will ask Kashaunta to protect you from what consequences come for refusing the offer on Ezeonwha."
"There are going to be attacks on him, you know. Him and your ship."
Penny felt an odd feeling in her soul. Cardi's power flared around him, and she squinted at the sky. She just barely saw a sliver of a tentacle. Most would have mistaken it for a normal speeding space entity. But here? On Justicar, with Exile obviously not being the cause?
Only one being would cause that. Fate.
Given the subject of their conversation, it was obvious what was going on.
Penny tapped Rahautiti's jaw, adding a thin mark of conceptual power so she could easily find him again. She focused on the conceptual mark she'd left on Ezeonwha. A twinge of conceptual energy came from it. It was accompanied by various impressions, like fear, pain, and acceptance.
"I have to go," Penny said. "I will be back later. Displace."
She appeared next to the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office but not next to Ezeonwha. It was carnage everywhere she looked.
"Champion!" an unknown Elder yelled. "I am Elder Na-"
Her rising fury surged, and it took all she had not to dismember him. The distant thought of the Judgment stayed her hands, though only just.
Penny's fist collided with the Elder's jaw at twice the speed of sound. A piece of his jaws flew free. Bone fragments hit the ground behind him. Hundreds of soldiers fired on her, and she slammed them to the ground with pure will. Penny tore their guns away and sent them each to pummel the Elder in front of her with as much brutality as she could. His powerful armor wasn't as capable of defense against physical attacks as it was against her psychic energy, and so he fell.
"You... cannot save him," the Elder spat. Fields of psychic suppression fell upon her, reducing her power.
"Manipulation through Determination," Penny growled. "De-"
No! Nilnacrawla said. Do not kill him! Not yet!
"What goes up will go down."
Air hardened around the Elder and accelerated rapidly.
The Elder smashed into the shield five miles above with a speed just slow enough that he wouldn't die. He fell from it and then hit it again at a more modest speed. He'd bounce on that until the Guides came to get him.
But Penny had another target. One she had to save instead of attack.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
High Judge Tassidonia awoke to the sound of explosions. He grabbed his swords, his main gun, and the personal shield he reserved for only the most dire occasions. The sky was erupting in war all around him, and buildings were already falling nearby. The spires of skyscrapers rained down upon the entrances to the Underground, crushing thousands of fleeing Sprilnav under their wide impacts.
His implant identified members of the gangs nearby, making their way to his home.
"Retribution Cycle!" Tassidonia cried. A hidden door opened, and he boarded a small hovercraft that sported a high amount of defensive and offensive technology, a gift from Justicar for dealing with all that he had related to the Judgment. Only this time, he wouldn't be on the next one. But already, the destruction was spreading.
Micro-missiles rained upon friend and foe alike. Several detonated against the layered shields. The mounted turrets on the side of his hoverbike shot lasers into the enemies his implant identified.
"Elder Tassidonia!" an Elder cried nearby. "For the crime of defying the will of-"
Tassidonia called his fury to bear. He rammed his mind into the enemy Elder, disorienting her. She reeled, about to attack, when a thick laser smashed into her chest. It pushed her against the wall, and Tassidonia kept the pressure up until her body melted. He listened to her screams impassively, occasionally sending blasts from his gun at the gangs when their members started to stray too close.
The thick red beam did its work within twenty pulses. His swords began to float beside him, keeping pace as he sped away from his home. The entire apartment complex shuddered and began to lean, its foundation being destroyed by some effect below. Tassidonia abandoned it with only minor regret. He'd known this moment would come. Everything he needed was already with him.
He linked into the Guide network, directing squadrons to attack the breaches he'd identified. Orbital strikes fell upon them in quick succession. Thick beams of light pierced through the lower planetary shields from orbital platforms, their guns honing in on Justicar's enemies. Tassidonia's implant was linked to the grid as well. So when he eyed buildings occupied with too many gang members, orbital strikes fell on them a few pulses later.
Fire and plasma rained all around him. Explosions and smoke blossomed all around him. More missiles fell from his hovercraft. A fighter ship appeared beside him, its simple stealth revealing itself to his eyes. Tassidonia waited for the pilot chamber to open, and his craft stowed itself behind him when he got in. It was fully equipped, so soon, Tassidonia was in full control of a weapon of war.
His first order of business was detecting the gangs' most fortified areas. He peppered those bases in shield-weakening mines, followed by bunker-buster missiles. Several anti-air turrets hit him, but his shields prevented them from taking him down. He dropped three high-end Butcher Androids into the fray of the largest battles.
One of the adjacent fighter wings in the separate shield sector dropped a nuke. At that moment, Tassidonia made a decision.
Whatever insanity was going on right now wasn't worth staying here on his own. He turned his ship upward, narrowly avoiding nearly fifty missiles shot from another gang fortress, which was really just the lower floors of a supermarket. Thick slabs of concrete were being set up by androids and slaves from the Underground. All he could do was watch from above and attempt to mark those that might be a problem.
Justicar's Grand Fleet was moving in, though only the carriers and their escorts were doing anything of any scale. The armies were mobilizing, and it seemed that war had finally broken out. Justicar, while isolated due to the Judgment, would have to win a war that threatened to topple his rule entirely.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Ezeonwha woke when the walls around him shuddered.
An earthquake?
Groggily, he activated the lights in the room. Phoebe's android was charging in the wall. Her limbs swayed with the motion. The walls shuddered again, and the lights went out. Thin, tiny cracks spread in the walls, increasing his worry factors massively. His implant notified him that this wasn't a dream. Distant screams reached his ears, and he went to the window.
Hordes of Sprilnav were running on the ground, tripping over each other to escape. He heard the thump of footsteps approaching from outside. The android activated, standing up.
"Move away from the doo-"
An explosion tossed him across the room. A Sprilnav carrying some sort of mouth weapon faded into view for a moment, smoke recalibrating the stealth field. And then he was gone. Phoebe smashed into the Sprilnav, her fists pummeling the assassin faster than Ezeonwha could comprehend.
Phoebe's arms turned into swords, and she stabbed the Sprilnav at least fifty times in a single pulse. She turned to grab him, but before she reached him, a second explosion sent him flying out of the now-shattered window.
The massive skyscraper loomed large, and he saw the ground beneath it ripple. Dull thumps sounded from below, and large, circular caverns opened beneath the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office. The whole building started to list forward, and Ezeonwha frantically activated his emergency personal shield as he started falling faster and faster. A bullet hit the shield. And then a second one. Gunshots echoed out in the distance, and he saw other Sprilnav falling from broken windows in the falling skyscraper. Gunfire erupted on the streets as Guides engaged a growing army of attackers bubbling up from basements of shops and businesses.
He saw spurts of blood exit the Sprilnav nearest him, bullets tearing holes through the woman's body. Piercing screams surrounded him, a terrible chorus that reminded him of the worst wars he'd fought in. But here, his training could do nothing. She was already dead, and he knew that he was the target of this whole attack. His eyes watered, and Ezeonwha felt so powerless. So useless.
A Corrector emerged from the side of the tilting skyscraper, eyes fixed on Ezeonwha. Then he looked down. Somehow, Ezeonwha knew when the orders had been sent. He knew that it was Astipra in the distance, a jetpack on his shoulders burning a thick flame beneath him.
Astipra looked back at the building and flew toward it. Ezeonwha felt the wind rushing past the shield as pressure. Astipra, far above, vaporized falling chunks of the skyscraper with blasts from his arm cannons. He pressed back against the skyscraper, the jetpack going into overdrive. The metal bent inward, and the groaning and twisting structure continued its fall. Blasts of light from Astipra again vaporized the set of falling chunks.
"Penny," he said. It was almost a prayer, really. His desperate mind was scrambling for whatever it could get. "Please, save me!"
He didn't know if she could hear him. Logically, it was impossible. And in a battle such as this, unlikely as well. Rippling explosions erupted across the facade of the falling skyscraper as rockets struck it. More explosions bloomed as lasers from distant police vehicles, Guides, and Astipra destroyed more of the fast-flying missiles and rockets. They pounded on the world around him, a horde of madness threatening to break his brain. He could feel the wind and gravity equalize as he reached terminal velocity.
And all he could see was the world descending into war around him. The 102nd Visitor Welcome Office continued to slump and lean against Astipra's best efforts. More bullets hit Ezeonwha's personal shield, and peppered the Guides moving over to save him. Air ambulances were shot from the sky. Even small fighter crafts were shot down by powerful ground lasers. EMPs thumped, disabling all the higher functions of his implant before he could think to use it.
A much larger explosion bloomed out, and Ezeonwha followed the rocket's trail to an Elder on the ground, standing in the wreckage surrounding a sudden tunnel opening. The Elder stared at him in glee, and he lined up another shot. Two Guides fell upon the Elder, who flew up using a jetpack to cut them in half with his sword. A hard light hologram lifted a large gun, pointing at Ezeonwha as he fell.
His eyes widened. Ezeonwha did everything he could. He angled his legs and arms. He pushed at the air. He even hefted the meager psychic energy he had, struggling with all his soul to escape the death he could feel was coming to him.
Guides swarmed beyond the shield appearing, while gang soldiers died by the hundreds to carpet bombing. Personal shields sprang up to block the explosions, and the Elder had survived. A thick red laser cut one of the fighters in half from the smoke. Above him, the collapsing facade of the skyscraper consumed Astipra entirely, though large gouts of plasma and thick explosions emerged from within. He could survive if it fell upon him, but Ezonwha could not.
Penny materialized far below, closer to the field of battle. A sweeping wave of gang members began disappearing. A bullet smashed into her head and her stomach, detonating in bright explosions. A personal shield flared and disappeared. Missiles and lasers slammed into Penny by the thousands as psychic energy gathered. A constant roll of words fell from her tongue, but without his implant, they were not translated.
Missiles crumbled into dust. Lasers impacted raw space in front of Penny before bending down and back to their origins, destroying automated turrets. Bullets still hit Penny and the Guides by the thousands, firing too quickly and densely for her to entirely block. But the large ordnance from the gangs continued to work against them.
Penny looked around, confusion evident on her face. But amidst the thousands of wounded and dead Sprilnav falling from the broken windows, Ezeonwha was hidden too well.
Shattering glass could be constantly heard, and he could feel the distant screams in his soul. A bullet smashed into his personal shield again, disabling it. A pulse later, he lost feeling in his legs.
He tried to reach out to her mind, but the war in the mindscape was equally intense. Too many Elders and Guides battling it out along with various suppression artifacts made it all impossible. He could sense Penny's influence, but couldn't directly reach her.
He let out a breath, knowing it to be the final one.
I'm sorry, Penny, Ezeonwha thought.
I wish you luck in the Judgment, and I am sorry I caused this to happen to you.
Penny finally appeared in front of him, eyes wide-
Blood erupted. A searing pain in his head told him his implant had just shorted out. And in the mindscape, he saw a mental attack heading for him, its brutal power evident. He closed his eyes.
submitted by Storms_Wrath to HFY [link] [comments]
Penny gazed at the quartet of Elders. They were all wearing the merchandise she remembered from the last Judgment, which was exceedingly awkward. Mainly because they were wearing shirts with her face on them. But it was also oddly endearing, in a way. Until now, she hadn't seen too many Elders that were on her side.
Elders that weren't just Kashaunta or the familiar faces she already knew, like Spentha or Rho and Sai, actually showing appreciation of her, felt odd. Even if these ones went a little too far in it.
"You're even more beautiful in person, Liberator," one said.
"Uh, thanks. I appreciate that. I'm glad that you all like me. Rho and Sai told me that you all are interested in something I can give you?"
"Yeah. Maybe a short interview? We won't be like that airhead reporter. We'll ask the good questions."
"Yep, we will."
"Right then," Penny said. "Well, I'm glad to meet you."
"Thank you. Now that we're here, we'd like to know how you plan on taking care of the gang leaders."
"Well, presumably by imprisoning them. I don't think they deserve to die, even if others do. I'll leave that decision up to Justicar and his various judges in the criminal system."
Penny didn't like having to lie blatantly. She wanted to kill the slavers quite brutally, but doing that was a bad idea right now. Saying it also was a bad idea, for a similar reason. And Justicar's system was worryingly preferential to Elders, from what she'd looked up after the meeting with Pundacrawla.
"Aren't you worried that the Judges won't give proper justice?"
"I trust Justicar to do everything that is necessary."
Another lie. Justicar would do whatever he could to maintain his image. Hopefully, that wouldn't be at the cost of the Alliance's very existence.
"Got it. By the way, what's it like being human? Walking on only two legs. It seems kind of unstable. Do you fall a lot?"
A genuine curiosity from them was another breath of fresh air. It was the kind of question a quadruped would definitely ask, which put her more at ease about the nature of what they were trying to do. Even more than their evident support of her, with all the merch they were wearing. Penny felt a smile crack at the corners of her lips, unbidden.
"Not really. We can use our arms to steady ourselves pretty well. Obviously it's not as easy to balance on our two legs as it is with your four, but it's still good enough. In fact, the sprinters in the Olympics use all four limbs, since running as fast as possible also requires pumping our arms. As for what it's like to be human, it's hard to describe. For many of us, it will feel colder or warmer than Sprilnav would feel in the same temperatures, due to thinner skin. Our eyesight is more frontal than yours, given our lack of snouts, so our blindspots are a lot bigger. Our feet require shoes for rough ground, and we heal slower than you by around 20%. We can't really clack our jaws to the scale that you can, though we can make them meet."
Penny bared her teeth, showing as she opened and closed her mouth. It was nice to be able to talk about things like this.
"The Olympics?" one of them asked.
"It's a competition about athletics," Penny said. "Running, jumping, throwing, diving, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, and a lot of sports. There's specific divisions, too. Like how there's a 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, and even an 800 meter dash for those with high levels of psychic energy. Though really, psychic energy and genetic editing have been messing with the events for a while now. And there's a Winter, Summer, and Space Olympics, each with different sorts of events. They move from city to city, though the Space Olympics are pretty much always on either Luna, Ceres, or Mercury. There's a lot more information out there on various events, but it's an old cultural practice revered by the entire species. Even more so since Phoebe's increased the prize pools for everyone."
"How does your species handle space in general? I know that you guys did things way differently before First Contact."
"We did. Mining companies kept tight control on all asteroid mining, while nations controlled planets like Earth and Mars and large planetary bodies like Luna. Supposedly, a few people planned for a cloud city on Venus, but we couldn't risk having such a vulnerable population because they'd have to rely on giant balloons to survive. That would probably be the least secure way to live, given the existence of rogue organizations and all that.
As for spaceships, most of them since we really colonized Luna come equipped with spacesuit bays, zero gravity water and food packs, oxygen tanks, emergency seats, specialized anti-micrometeorite hulls, and radiation shielding. A lot of the older military ships also were equipped with big radiators until World War Three, when it all became masses of drone warfare, with the big ships kept mainly for cargo and lanes where mass drone control was impossible.
Once the Vinarii came and we got shields, we started building big again. After all, it provided a huge number of jobs, and in the post-war economies, especially with VIs in place, a lot of people needed work. But we still go and do asteroid and moon mining, star lifting, and energy gathering. We built an orbital ring around Mercury, the closest planet to Sol, to help with all of that. It doubles as a production hub, too. Now, it's all in more systems and with a lot more friends."
"Speaking of aliens, what theory does your people have on why so many creatures resemble one another? Our jaws are adapted for hard shelled creatures, and we're told that many planets have oddly similar variations of those."
"Crabs."
She guessed what they were getting at.
It is odd, isn't it? Nilnacrawla observed.
Perhaps that is another one of the Source's whims, Penny thought.
Maybe.
A few of the Elders made exclamations of shock.
"You even have a word for them that directly translates!"
Penny chuckled. "Yeah, carcinization is a bit of a meme in the science community. But I've heard the most mainstream theories since the First Contact are that the Source itself is uncreative. It has a certain template of creatures which it largely doesn't alter, though it can take in inputs from beings close to it, perhaps even influencing them."
"Influencing them?"
"Yes. Modern depictions of wendigoes, folkloric creatures from North America, a continent on Earth, are shockingly similar to the Knowers in appearance. The internet depictions of them in particular like to emphasize canine qualities, and often show them with skulls visible directly, and with dark brown or black fur. Recent depictions, as in the past 300 years, differ from their original appearances quite significantly, with the canine characteristics in particular being enhanced.
We have sorted through all known images of these creatures and found roughly 80% similarity with the Knowers and tens of thousands of images that are literally exactly the same as Knowers. The ones we searched all came before World War Three, far before even the First Contact with the Vinarii, much less the Knowers who were entirely underground at the time due to the radiation of their home star. We believe that the Source managed to influence this facet of human culture with the actual existence of a real creature.
Other examples exist, like how the Trikkec look very similar to Komodo Dragons, Vinarii look very similar to insects known as a mantis, and the Acuarfar look exactly like insects known as wasps with the single exception of their furry snouts and green instead of yellow markings. The Sprilnav species itself shares high amounts of similarity with a fictional species known as Elites in early 2000s culture, particularly with your jaws, though you all have red skin instead of grey or brown.
The Junyli, Dreedeen, and the wanderers are the main species without high amounts of appearance in our cultures at some point. This correlates with the idea of the Source being the influencer, as their predecessors all were used to fight it. Many species of the galaxy look like parts of our culture or Earth's creatures. The proximity of these examples makes this far more suspicious than if they were across the galaxy.
But since they existed first, the only answer must be that the Source brought the influence to us first and planted the ideas in our heads. As for the ones which look like Earth creatures, all of them are old enough evolutionary branches that copying from them to Earth makes more sense. Though the references centering around the early 2000s is quite odd, it is also roughly when the internet came into wide existence, so it is also possible the Source gave the ideas a push so they would propagate, for an unknown reason. Like if it seeded the ideas that propagated across the early global network Humanity used."
"Hmm. Fascinating. We've seen evidence of the 'seeding' process among some historical nations near the galactic region of Earth before. So the Source re-uses and alters depictions of life and also life itself?"
"Maybe," Penny said. "Unless the Source is more directly tied to life than we think. There's a conceptual Death, but no conceptual Life. Isn't that odd?"
"Conceptual Life died in the Source war."
How did that really work, though? Penny asked Nilnacrawla.
Imagine a conceptual being. A few of the Progenitors, as well as Narvravarana, went up to try to harvest its power. It refused, and Narvravarana used its unique abilities to try and force the deal.
Why was your civilization like this?
Excess and greed, partly. But we couldn't really do much more expansion. Vertical expansion also had its limits if we wanted to remain relevant for the remaining lifespan of the universe. So Narvravarana, along with a few of the greatest rulers and leaders of Sprilnav society, started looking to other dimensional planes. They figured it was best not to let the problem get too much worse. Or at least, that is what they say. I believe it was to harvest more resources to use against our surrounding enemies.
You didn't have any allies? Penny asked.
At that time, all the powers of the universe were enemies. All the allies eventually merged through millions of years of normalization. We happened to get on the universal stage the earliest, so other civilizations we encountered had little choice but to surrender their independence. Some fought, others didn't, but the outcome was the same.
That seems terrible.
It was, though the other universal civilizations were no better. Some of them just exterminated all alien life they found that couldn't fight back. In that sense, the pre-war Sprilnav civilization was one of the greatest, and that's why I fought for them. Obviously, I'm biased in that regard, though.
Thanks for telling me, father.
No problem, Penny.
She refocused back on the conversation at hand.
"But a thing cannot be alive if it dies. The concept of life doesn't work that way. So maybe the Source just... took in the concept of life? Or absorbed it into whatever psychic energy really is, considering that it's responsible for all of our existence?"
"That's so crazy it might actually be true," one of the Elders said. "You're incredible, Penny."
"Uh, thanks. You're all pretty great too." Her eyes drifted to the images of herself on their clothing. She couldn't really help it.
"I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what I'm fighting for?"
"I assume since you're asking it here, you don't just want a one word answer," an Elder said. "I would say yes, and for the liberation of the Sprilnav from the stain of slavery. Though going deeper into your history, you have also fought for other species, either in wars or just generally moving around. It does look aimless, mostly, since the galaxy's so big. But I'm sure you've got a way through that."
"In some way. Part of why I'm here isn't just about my people. It was at first, I admit that. But as I have lived here, on Justicar, for days and weeks, I've seen you less as alien. It makes it easier for sympathy and easier to break out of simple mindsets. So far, there are many problems, but there are distinct pieces. The first is that many people want to uphold slavery. I'm not sure why, but they do. It isn't profitable, and it isn't moral. Robots are cheaper in every way, and don't need food or water.
That means it's illogical or emotional. So I could try and solve the problem with violence alone, but it won't be addressing the cause, only the symptoms. I need to get to the heart of the matter. And I think it has to do with Elders' memories and the gradual woes they have accumulated going through life. I don't want to tear that away or drug them into believing they're fine. I want to find a way to outlet that productively. The second part I have identified is scale. The galaxy is enormous, and your species is incredibly numerous. I could fight planet by planet for the rest of my life, and liberation would still be difficult.
That also means I'd need a better way of doing things. Maybe an economic or political incentive. Emotional reasons will not work permanently, nor will logic, since we are in this situation. I have found several ways to address this. Sadly, since the gangs are likely monitoring this feed, I can't just outright say my strategy. All I can ask you all to do is to believe. Believe that I have a solution, and that I and those who stand with me are working on it. Believe in me because I believe in you."
None of the Elders questioned or ridiculed her words. Most of it was because they were fans of her. But one of them, an Elder named Rahautiti, had a distinct glint in his eye. Their gazes met only momentarily, but Penny could tell he knew.
And so she appeared in the mindscape, even as they concluded the interview, which would be the first of many. It was a ploy to just talk about human culture and ideals a bit more, to get it out there. Because the hivemind's theory was correct.
In the universe, ideas had power. That power could be weaponized against those who previously stood to gain. The first part of it was the image: Nova as an unbeatable bastion. Lecalicus as the Beast, a monster capable of star-crushing rage. Twilight as... whatever she did. Penny wasn't really familiar with the Progenitor's image too much, and the various names, like the Silent Night or the Smiling Darkness, were just so unbelievably edgy she cringed every time she recalled them.
But Rahautiti understood so she moved her mindscape avatar to see him.
"Hello again, Penny. I am no threat."
"I know. I'm glad that your group is led by someone as capable as you, as well as the other groups you dabble within."
"Who discovered it?"
"Phoebe. You met with Ezeonwha, and the android wanted to ensure you weren't a way for Yasihaut to kill him."
"Yeah. We did get approached about that, actually. We're supposed to kill Ezeonwha when you walk into the Judgment hall. Of course, we won't do this, and she won't be able to retaliate against us easily while there."
"Thank you for your honesty, Elder," Penny said. "It seems I'm in your debt."
"Nonsense. 2,839. That is the number of children I have had. 2,626. That is the number of children of mine which were enslaved. The remaining 213 died in unrelated incidents, with nearly half of those involving slavers killing them. I remember all of their names, and all of their faces, Penny. I want all the slavers in this universe dead."
"I cannot achieve that."
"You cannot," Rahautiti agreed. "Not with my help or even that of Kashaunta and Lecalicus. And certainly not right now. I have not lived this long to be incapable of compromise or patchwork solutions. You show great promise. I understand your aversion to killing and the circumstantial reason why you are not doing so now. I will not grow upset if you do not resume killing when the Judgment ends. Nor do I harbor a grudge against you for the speeding space entity you left outside the room to avoid uncomfortable publicity. You are incredibly young.
A sliver of a life. But you are strong, and you are mature. That sliver of your lifespan already outshines all I could do with a trillion more years, Penny. You are right in that this isn't something you can punch your way through. Trauma is part of why slavery still exists, despite it being a wholly unjust reason for the Elders to make such a sport of it. I am sure you know the story of the war, with a great hero in your head and Kashaunta at your side. My line of work is what I started to help you. Every thought about you being the Liberator, every eye that glances on you freeing slaves, helps you to gather conceptual energy. My talent happens to be great enough to sense the Pact of Blades you have, as well. If you want, I can teach you how to hide the mark on your soul and your mind."
"I would like that, yes," Penny said. "And thank you for being so reasonable. I will ask Kashaunta to protect you from what consequences come for refusing the offer on Ezeonwha."
"There are going to be attacks on him, you know. Him and your ship."
Penny felt an odd feeling in her soul. Cardi's power flared around him, and she squinted at the sky. She just barely saw a sliver of a tentacle. Most would have mistaken it for a normal speeding space entity. But here? On Justicar, with Exile obviously not being the cause?
Only one being would cause that. Fate.
Given the subject of their conversation, it was obvious what was going on.
Penny tapped Rahautiti's jaw, adding a thin mark of conceptual power so she could easily find him again. She focused on the conceptual mark she'd left on Ezeonwha. A twinge of conceptual energy came from it. It was accompanied by various impressions, like fear, pain, and acceptance.
"I have to go," Penny said. "I will be back later. Displace."
She appeared next to the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office but not next to Ezeonwha. It was carnage everywhere she looked.
"Champion!" an unknown Elder yelled. "I am Elder Na-"
Her rising fury surged, and it took all she had not to dismember him. The distant thought of the Judgment stayed her hands, though only just.
Penny's fist collided with the Elder's jaw at twice the speed of sound. A piece of his jaws flew free. Bone fragments hit the ground behind him. Hundreds of soldiers fired on her, and she slammed them to the ground with pure will. Penny tore their guns away and sent them each to pummel the Elder in front of her with as much brutality as she could. His powerful armor wasn't as capable of defense against physical attacks as it was against her psychic energy, and so he fell.
"You... cannot save him," the Elder spat. Fields of psychic suppression fell upon her, reducing her power.
"Manipulation through Determination," Penny growled. "De-"
No! Nilnacrawla said. Do not kill him! Not yet!
"What goes up will go down."
Air hardened around the Elder and accelerated rapidly.
The Elder smashed into the shield five miles above with a speed just slow enough that he wouldn't die. He fell from it and then hit it again at a more modest speed. He'd bounce on that until the Guides came to get him.
But Penny had another target. One she had to save instead of attack.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
High Judge Tassidonia awoke to the sound of explosions. He grabbed his swords, his main gun, and the personal shield he reserved for only the most dire occasions. The sky was erupting in war all around him, and buildings were already falling nearby. The spires of skyscrapers rained down upon the entrances to the Underground, crushing thousands of fleeing Sprilnav under their wide impacts.
His implant identified members of the gangs nearby, making their way to his home.
"Retribution Cycle!" Tassidonia cried. A hidden door opened, and he boarded a small hovercraft that sported a high amount of defensive and offensive technology, a gift from Justicar for dealing with all that he had related to the Judgment. Only this time, he wouldn't be on the next one. But already, the destruction was spreading.
Micro-missiles rained upon friend and foe alike. Several detonated against the layered shields. The mounted turrets on the side of his hoverbike shot lasers into the enemies his implant identified.
"Elder Tassidonia!" an Elder cried nearby. "For the crime of defying the will of-"
Tassidonia called his fury to bear. He rammed his mind into the enemy Elder, disorienting her. She reeled, about to attack, when a thick laser smashed into her chest. It pushed her against the wall, and Tassidonia kept the pressure up until her body melted. He listened to her screams impassively, occasionally sending blasts from his gun at the gangs when their members started to stray too close.
The thick red beam did its work within twenty pulses. His swords began to float beside him, keeping pace as he sped away from his home. The entire apartment complex shuddered and began to lean, its foundation being destroyed by some effect below. Tassidonia abandoned it with only minor regret. He'd known this moment would come. Everything he needed was already with him.
He linked into the Guide network, directing squadrons to attack the breaches he'd identified. Orbital strikes fell upon them in quick succession. Thick beams of light pierced through the lower planetary shields from orbital platforms, their guns honing in on Justicar's enemies. Tassidonia's implant was linked to the grid as well. So when he eyed buildings occupied with too many gang members, orbital strikes fell on them a few pulses later.
Fire and plasma rained all around him. Explosions and smoke blossomed all around him. More missiles fell from his hovercraft. A fighter ship appeared beside him, its simple stealth revealing itself to his eyes. Tassidonia waited for the pilot chamber to open, and his craft stowed itself behind him when he got in. It was fully equipped, so soon, Tassidonia was in full control of a weapon of war.
His first order of business was detecting the gangs' most fortified areas. He peppered those bases in shield-weakening mines, followed by bunker-buster missiles. Several anti-air turrets hit him, but his shields prevented them from taking him down. He dropped three high-end Butcher Androids into the fray of the largest battles.
One of the adjacent fighter wings in the separate shield sector dropped a nuke. At that moment, Tassidonia made a decision.
Whatever insanity was going on right now wasn't worth staying here on his own. He turned his ship upward, narrowly avoiding nearly fifty missiles shot from another gang fortress, which was really just the lower floors of a supermarket. Thick slabs of concrete were being set up by androids and slaves from the Underground. All he could do was watch from above and attempt to mark those that might be a problem.
Justicar's Grand Fleet was moving in, though only the carriers and their escorts were doing anything of any scale. The armies were mobilizing, and it seemed that war had finally broken out. Justicar, while isolated due to the Judgment, would have to win a war that threatened to topple his rule entirely.
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Ezeonwha woke when the walls around him shuddered.
An earthquake?
Groggily, he activated the lights in the room. Phoebe's android was charging in the wall. Her limbs swayed with the motion. The walls shuddered again, and the lights went out. Thin, tiny cracks spread in the walls, increasing his worry factors massively. His implant notified him that this wasn't a dream. Distant screams reached his ears, and he went to the window.
Hordes of Sprilnav were running on the ground, tripping over each other to escape. He heard the thump of footsteps approaching from outside. The android activated, standing up.
"Move away from the doo-"
An explosion tossed him across the room. A Sprilnav carrying some sort of mouth weapon faded into view for a moment, smoke recalibrating the stealth field. And then he was gone. Phoebe smashed into the Sprilnav, her fists pummeling the assassin faster than Ezeonwha could comprehend.
Phoebe's arms turned into swords, and she stabbed the Sprilnav at least fifty times in a single pulse. She turned to grab him, but before she reached him, a second explosion sent him flying out of the now-shattered window.
The massive skyscraper loomed large, and he saw the ground beneath it ripple. Dull thumps sounded from below, and large, circular caverns opened beneath the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office. The whole building started to list forward, and Ezeonwha frantically activated his emergency personal shield as he started falling faster and faster. A bullet hit the shield. And then a second one. Gunshots echoed out in the distance, and he saw other Sprilnav falling from broken windows in the falling skyscraper. Gunfire erupted on the streets as Guides engaged a growing army of attackers bubbling up from basements of shops and businesses.
He saw spurts of blood exit the Sprilnav nearest him, bullets tearing holes through the woman's body. Piercing screams surrounded him, a terrible chorus that reminded him of the worst wars he'd fought in. But here, his training could do nothing. She was already dead, and he knew that he was the target of this whole attack. His eyes watered, and Ezeonwha felt so powerless. So useless.
A Corrector emerged from the side of the tilting skyscraper, eyes fixed on Ezeonwha. Then he looked down. Somehow, Ezeonwha knew when the orders had been sent. He knew that it was Astipra in the distance, a jetpack on his shoulders burning a thick flame beneath him.
Astipra looked back at the building and flew toward it. Ezeonwha felt the wind rushing past the shield as pressure. Astipra, far above, vaporized falling chunks of the skyscraper with blasts from his arm cannons. He pressed back against the skyscraper, the jetpack going into overdrive. The metal bent inward, and the groaning and twisting structure continued its fall. Blasts of light from Astipra again vaporized the set of falling chunks.
"Penny," he said. It was almost a prayer, really. His desperate mind was scrambling for whatever it could get. "Please, save me!"
He didn't know if she could hear him. Logically, it was impossible. And in a battle such as this, unlikely as well. Rippling explosions erupted across the facade of the falling skyscraper as rockets struck it. More explosions bloomed as lasers from distant police vehicles, Guides, and Astipra destroyed more of the fast-flying missiles and rockets. They pounded on the world around him, a horde of madness threatening to break his brain. He could feel the wind and gravity equalize as he reached terminal velocity.
And all he could see was the world descending into war around him. The 102nd Visitor Welcome Office continued to slump and lean against Astipra's best efforts. More bullets hit Ezeonwha's personal shield, and peppered the Guides moving over to save him. Air ambulances were shot from the sky. Even small fighter crafts were shot down by powerful ground lasers. EMPs thumped, disabling all the higher functions of his implant before he could think to use it.
A much larger explosion bloomed out, and Ezeonwha followed the rocket's trail to an Elder on the ground, standing in the wreckage surrounding a sudden tunnel opening. The Elder stared at him in glee, and he lined up another shot. Two Guides fell upon the Elder, who flew up using a jetpack to cut them in half with his sword. A hard light hologram lifted a large gun, pointing at Ezeonwha as he fell.
His eyes widened. Ezeonwha did everything he could. He angled his legs and arms. He pushed at the air. He even hefted the meager psychic energy he had, struggling with all his soul to escape the death he could feel was coming to him.
Guides swarmed beyond the shield appearing, while gang soldiers died by the hundreds to carpet bombing. Personal shields sprang up to block the explosions, and the Elder had survived. A thick red laser cut one of the fighters in half from the smoke. Above him, the collapsing facade of the skyscraper consumed Astipra entirely, though large gouts of plasma and thick explosions emerged from within. He could survive if it fell upon him, but Ezonwha could not.
Penny materialized far below, closer to the field of battle. A sweeping wave of gang members began disappearing. A bullet smashed into her head and her stomach, detonating in bright explosions. A personal shield flared and disappeared. Missiles and lasers slammed into Penny by the thousands as psychic energy gathered. A constant roll of words fell from her tongue, but without his implant, they were not translated.
Missiles crumbled into dust. Lasers impacted raw space in front of Penny before bending down and back to their origins, destroying automated turrets. Bullets still hit Penny and the Guides by the thousands, firing too quickly and densely for her to entirely block. But the large ordnance from the gangs continued to work against them.
Penny looked around, confusion evident on her face. But amidst the thousands of wounded and dead Sprilnav falling from the broken windows, Ezeonwha was hidden too well.
Shattering glass could be constantly heard, and he could feel the distant screams in his soul. A bullet smashed into his personal shield again, disabling it. A pulse later, he lost feeling in his legs.
He tried to reach out to her mind, but the war in the mindscape was equally intense. Too many Elders and Guides battling it out along with various suppression artifacts made it all impossible. He could sense Penny's influence, but couldn't directly reach her.
He let out a breath, knowing it to be the final one.
I'm sorry, Penny, Ezeonwha thought.
I wish you luck in the Judgment, and I am sorry I caused this to happen to you.
Penny finally appeared in front of him, eyes wide-
Blood erupted. A searing pain in his head told him his implant had just shorted out. And in the mindscape, he saw a mental attack heading for him, its brutal power evident. He closed his eyes.
2024.05.29 04:07 apehasreturned Booking the AEW World Title in 2024 - Part Two: The Master
 | Part One Here! submitted by apehasreturned to FantasyBookingElite [link] [comments] We pick up following Blood and Guts, where AEW Champion Swerve Strickland led his team to victory over the Elite. It’s been an insanely brutal and bloody reign for Swerve so far, and with enemies and allies alike climbing the ladder towards a shot at the gold, he’s starting to grow slightly paranoid. With a second trip to Wembley approaching, the talk of the town is who’s going to win the Owen and go for AEW’s top title at Wembley - if Swerve even makes it there, the fans knowing that his wars of attrition are leaving him worse for wear with each passing defence. Road to All In London The lineup for the Owen is being narrowed down coming out of Blood and Guts, with MJF, Jay White, Bryan Danielson, Will Ospreay, Darby Allin, Hangman Page, Konosuke Takeshita and Katsuyori Shibata all in the running. With blockbuster match after blockbuster match being fought to determine the finalists for Calgary, we eventually come down to two: MJF and Will Ospreay, set on a collision course for the ages. Swerve’s troubles don’t end there, though - after leaving the Mogul Embassy, his old allies smell blood in the water, and the EVPs are all too happy to make Strickland’s life more miserable by announcing a title match with Brian Cage for the Dynamite opener in Alberta’s largest city. AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland (c) vs. Brian Cage Cage gets a good showing in here, using his remarkable athleticism to nearly put the champion away early, but once Swerve gets rolling, it’s clear that there are levels to this game. The Machine goes for a Liger Bomb, Swerve reversing into a hurricanrana to leave him prone for a HOUSE CALL, FOLLOWED BY A SWERVE STOMP! ONE! TWO! THREE! Swerve Strickland def. Brian Cage (11:51) to retain the AEW World Title After the bout, Swerve’s handed his title, and he keeps it hugged tight to his chest as he grabs a microphone. He says everyone’s been working their asses off around him to try and take this from him, but the champion promises he’s not afraid. He welcomes the challenge, because there ain’t nobody like Swerve Strickland in SWERVE’S HOUSE. He says he’s looking forward to seeing who comes out on top in the main event, and heads off backstage to watch it with Prince Nana. Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Final: MJF vs. Will Ospreay This gets a lot of time, with no limit on a tournament final. Let them cook. MJF is in worse shape than Ospreay, having been flung straight into a tournament after a series of surgeries left him held together with duct tape, but Ospreay’s in a worse headspace, his typical unending confidence hampered by a few narrow wins en route to the final. However, it’s two spectacular in-ring talents, and they go ham in pursuit of victory, MJF wanting to headline Wembley for the second straight year and Ospreay looking to win the AEW World Title in a stadium in his home country. The back-and-forth gives way to MJF getting control, working the arm extensively to warm Ospreay up for the Salt of the Earth. However, an appearance by Adam Cole gives an unknowing Ospreay the opportunity to turn the tables with a handstand reversal to a Heatseeker, following it with a Hidden Blade for two. Ospreay considers working on the shoulder, MJF crying out in agony with each blow to the surgically repaired joint, and eventually, Will has him in perfect position for the Storm Driver 93. He knows MJF’s neck and shoulder are in such a state that this would be an automatic victory, but he hesitates just long enough for MJF to roll him up… ONE! TWO! THRE-KICKOUT! MJF grabs the arm to go for a Salt of the Earth, Ospreay rolling him back into a pin of his own, followed by another HIDDEN BLADE! STORMBREAKER! ONE! TWO! THREE! OSPREAY’S GOING TO WEMBLEY! Will Ospreay def. MJF (31:02) to win the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Out comes Swerve, standing toe to toe with his challenger as confetti falls around them. Ospreay leans on his trophy, grabbing a microphone as it becomes rapidly apparent his confidence is back. He says that All In is on the horizon, and last time AEW was at Wembley Stadium, he won as an outsider… yet Swerve lost. Now, Ospreay’s in AEW full time, mowing through all the competition, and now it’s time that the Kingpin get a shot at the crown. Swerve chuckles before his smile turns into a sneer, growling under his breath that Ospreay will have to kill him to take the AEW Title away - and he’s seen that despite being called the Assassin, he can’t do that. The next week on Dynamite, Ospreay and Swerve are scheduled for a face to face promo in the ring, the title match official for All In. It’s electric as they stand opposite one another in the squared circle, trading some quick verbal barbs that they both brush off before getting down to brass tacks, Swerve holding the microphone and beginning to speak. “Will, you’re impressive, man. You can be as athletic as the day is long, but it’s not ‘heavy is the body that wears the crown,’ it’s ‘heavy is the head,’ and there ain’t nobody like me. This is a mental game, and you don’t have what it takes there. You blew yourself up and broke your own neck when you went for the IWGP Title. You were betrayed by the Don Callis Family and somehow didn’t see it coming. You were beaten on your home turf by your sworn enemy because you got in your own head. You had the win of a lifetime against Bryan, and then you felt so bad about it that you neutered your arsenal. You don’t have what it takes… in your head or in your guts. There’s only one head fit for this crown, and it’s mine.” Ospreay scoffs, trying to keep his cool, but he doesn’t wait long before grabbing the microphone out of Swerve’s hand to an “oooh,” from the crowd. “Ain’t nobody like you, bruv? How dare you talk down to me. How dare you condescend me, belittle me, you arrogant bastard? I came here to AEW and started taking heads, just like I did in Japan, and there were people there just like you. People who said ‘ah, he’s not got it in him to be the next big gaijin. He’ll never be the champion,’ and now there’s you, saying I don’t have what it takes because I don’t have the mentality. YOU don’t have the mentality to do what I do. To fly from the UK to here twice a week, to raise a family, to spend a whole career an ocean away from home, to wear the crown on your head that says you’re the greatest wrestler on Earth. Nobody’s done that but ME, and when that championship’s fastened around my waist, mate, it’s going to prove what everyone already knows - that Will Ospreay’s on another level, and Swerve Strickland… he’s punching up.” Now it’s Strickland’s turn to try and keep a lid on his anger, stepping toe to toe with his challenger and holding the title inches from his face. He tells Ospreay to listen close, before saying that the years of hard work Ospreay put in everywhere but home aren’t gonna be enough to help. He’s gonna be in front of his family, he’s gonna be in front of his friends, he’s gonna be in front of his people, and he’s going to let them all down, because he’s an impressive athlete, but he’s not the guy. Finally, Ospreay snaps, throwing a SHORT HEADBUTT, AND NOW BOTH MEN ARE THROWING FISTS! IT’S UTTER BEDLAM! The bell starts ringing to try and encourage them to break it up, but neither man is stepping down now, furiously exchanging blows as security rushes to the ring to divide them. Swerve grabs the championship, hoisting it high as he spits venom at Ospreay, the challenger spewing a string of words that probably won’t make air. They keep trying to break free and take another swing, commentary asking what on Earth they’ll do when they’re finally let loose at Wembley Stadium, pride and the promotion’s top prize on the line. Swerve Strickland (c) vs. Will Ospreay All In London Wembley Stadium is packed to the gills as All In goes on the air, and they’re fit to burst as the first theme they hear is that of the Commonwealth Kingpin. Justin Roberts announces that our opening match is for the AEW World Title, and Ospreay receives plenty of fanfare and fireworks as he makes his way to the ring, looking more motivated than ever. He’s clearly jonesing in the ring, eagerly awaiting Swerve’s arrival as his compatriots cheer him on… and then Chaka Khan hits. Strickland may be in enemy territory, but the crowd can't help but sing. Oozing charisma as he enters the squared circle, the AEW Champion seems more than ready to put the Assassin down, the electric crowd letting both men soak in the moment as the bell rings. HERE WE GO! SWERVE VS. OSPREAY, LIVE FROM WEMBLEY, AEW TITLE ON THE LINE! AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland (c) vs. Will Ospreay From the bell, Strickland and Ospreay are exchanging words as they gravitate towards one another, Ospreay calling for a lockup. They settle into a collar and elbow, Ospreay using his size to his advantage to try and muscle Swerve into the ropes, but Strickland reversing the momentum to cinch in a side headlock. Will still drives Swerve into the ropes, eventually breaking free and whipping Strickland across the ring, the champion building up speed as he ducks a clothesline attempt from the challenger and nails a Tijeras to send Ospreay flying. Ospreay’s quickly back up to his feet, Swerve attempting a slip behind for a German Suplex, but Will countering with a headlock takeover, kipping up and throwing a superkick that’s narrowly avoided by Swerve, who drops flat to his back, picking Ospreay’s leg and floating into a handstand to bring Ospreay down with a headscissors. Will kips up once more to break free, Swerve scrambling to stand up before OSPREAY THROWS A HIDDEN BLADE, SWERVE DIVING OUT OF THE WAY AT THE LAST MOMENT BEFORE CATASTROPHE! Strickland quickly pivots as Will looks to get to his feet, attempting a HOUSE CALL, BUT NOW IT’S OSPREAY’S TURN TO DODGE AS BOTH MEN END UP STANDING! Gritting his teeth, Swerve goes for another lockup with Ospreay, this time quickly kicking him in the gut for a snapmare, cinching in a chinlock to talk some smack. The Aerial Assassin lands a few elbows to the body as he strives to get back to his feet, finally breaking free before being grounded again by a Tijeras from Swerve. Strickland grabs hold of his challenger again, Ospreay furiously backpedaling into the corner to avoid a lifting inverted DDT, only for Swerve to send him through the ropes for a HANGING NECKBREAKER! Ospreay rolls out to the apron instinctively, Swerve kicking out one of his legs and stepping through the middle rope to SLINGSHOT INTO A DDT ON THE APRON, BUT OSPREAY HANDSPRINGS STRAIGHT TO HIS FEET ON THE FLOOR! Strickland gets cocky, thinking he landed the shot, and turns around to see Ospreay charging at his legs. Swerve leaps up, still on the apron as Will overshoots, the champion pivoting for an APRON PUMP KICK, OSPREAY DUCKING IT AND LEAPING BACK ONTO THE APRON! SWERVE TURNS AROUND ONCE AGAIN… AND OSPREAY FLIES IN WITH AN APRON OSCUTTER! Tumbling to the floor, Swerve tries to get to his senses and figure out how he came out on the rough end of the sequence on the apron, but Ospreay gives him no time to think with a ROBINSON SPECIAL OFF THE APRON, STRAIGHT THROUGH THE BACK OF HIS HEAD! He props Swerve against the barricade, chopping him across the chest before scrambling to the top rope for a SKY TWISTER PRESS TO THE OUTSIDE - ONLY FOR SWERVE TO AVOID IT, NAILING OSPREAY WITH A GERMAN SUPLEX ONTO THE FLOOR! With Ospreay stunned, Strickland slides back in to break the count, measuring his man before effortlessly delivering a FOSBURY FLOP OUT TO RINGSIDE, WIPING OUT THE CHALLENGER! Turning the tables on Ospreay, now it’s Swerve’s turn to lay in some chops against the barricade, only for Will to dump him over the barrier and into the crowd. He follows it up with a hook kick over the guardrail to stagger the champion, running the length of ringside and LAUNCHING HIMSELF STRAIGHT INTO A PUMP KICK FROM THE CHAMPION! Swerve hops up onto the barricade, grabbing hold of Ospreay in a front facelock before MUSCLING HIM UP AND OVER WITH A BRAINBUSTER, OFF OF THE BARRICADE AND RIGHT DOWN ONTO THE FLOOR AT RINGSIDE! He rushes to roll Will back between the ropes, hooking both legs… ONE! TWO! TH-NOOO! Swerve jumps to the middle rope to deliver a diving European Uppercut to the back of the head before Ospreay can quite get to his feet, following it up with a DISCUS LARIAT! The assault on the head is relentless, Swerve looking for a DDT before being driven into the ropes, Will trying to earn a momentary reprieve. Instead, Strickland pummels him with Muay Thai knees to the body, heaving him up for a LIGER BOMB! ONE! TWO! THRE-KICKOUT ONCE MORE! Swerve lets out a frustrated roar, deadlift Ospreay up to attempt another powerbomb, but Ospreay manages to drop to the apron for a gamengiri, followed by a PIP PIP CHEERIO! ONE! TWO! KICKOUT! Desperate to keep momentum on his side, Ospreay quickly delivers a rolling elbow, following it up with a SNAP DRAGON SUPLEX, BUT SWERVE RIGHT BACK UP TO HIS FEET, NAILING A GERMAN! He swivels around, only to see Ospreay landed on his feet, BOTH MEN THROWING HIGH KICKS BEFORE COLLAPSING TO THE CANVAS! Wembley rallies behind Ospreay as both men struggle to get to their feet, barely stirring before the challenger begins pounding the mat, leaning back onto his hands for a kip-up before Swerve simply spins to punt him in the face and bring him back to the mat. Strickland rises to his feet, looking for the House Call, but OSPREAY HAS NONE OF IT, CATCHING THE LEG FOR A STYLES CLASH! ONE! TWO! THR-NOO! Following through, Ospreay attempts a Hidden Blade, Swerve ducking it before rushing towards his opponent and INTO A SPANISH FLY FOR A NEARFALL! Ospreay grabs the back of Swerve’s head, paying him back for the focused assault with a flurry of Kawada Kicks to the face, followed by an attempt at a delayed vertical suplex, Strickland floating over and landing on his feet. The champion runs the ropes, Ospreay stopping him in his tracks with a dropsault and an enziguri, continuously building momentum with a STUNDOG MILLIONAIRE TO FINALLY DROP SWERVE TO HIS BACK! Unleashing a war cry, Ospreay has a gleam in his eyes as he looks towards the top turnbuckle, dragging himself through the ropes to the apron before clambering up to the high rent district, turning his back to Swerve for another SKY TWISTER PRESS, SWERVE ONCE AGAIN ROLLING IN TOWARDS THE TURNBUCKLES… BUT OSPREAY ROLLS STRAIGHT THROUGH TO HIS FEET! Strickland flashes his grill to the camera in the corner with a smile, Ospreay looming behind him before BLASTING STRAIGHT THROUGH HIM WITH A HIDDEN BLADE! ONE! TWO! THRE-SWERVE POWERS OUT! It’s been just over fifteen minutes of insanity as Ospreay smells blood in the water, knowing if he connects with a Stormbreaker, he can wrap this up. However, that certainty would only be cemented if he were to nail a Storm Driver 93, but he refuses to go to such lengths, hooking the arms… BUT SWERVE COUNTERS WITH A BACK BODY DROP, ONLY FOR OSPREAY TO LAND ON HIS FEET! HE BREAKS INTO A SPRINT, REBOUNDING OFF THE ROPES FOR A SPRINGBOARD OSCUTTER - STRAIGHT INTO A HOUSE CALL! SWERVE INTERCEPTED HIM! ONE! TWO! THRE-NOOOO! Strickland can’t believe it, but he’s got Ospreay dead to rights, spinning him around into position for a Tombstone. Strickland looks to the hard cam, a smug sneer on his face as OSPREAY REVERSES WITH A SEGA MEGA DRIVER, SPIKING HIM DOWN ON HIS HEAD! ONE! TWO! THRE-NOOOO! Ospreay is in disbelief, even a tribute to Mad Kurt not being enough to put Swerve down, but he’s staying on the ball as he hooks Swerve’s arms to go for a STORMBREAKER, ONLY FOR SWERVE TO FLOAT OVER FOR A LIFTING INVERTED DDT! Will’s rally wasn’t enough to get him out of trouble, and STRICKLAND FOLLOWS IT UP WITH A SECOND HOUSE CALL! SWERVE IMMEDIATELY ON THE ATTACK ONCE MORE, POSITIONING OSPREAY FOR A JML DRIVER… BUT WILL CLEARS HIS HEAD, COUNTERING WITH A POISON RANA! SWERVE UP TO HIS KNEES, BUT OSPREAY FOLLOWS IT WITH A SPRINGBOARD OSCUTTER! HIDDEN BLADE TO THE BASE OF THE SKULL, AND NOW… STORMBREAKER! ONE! TWO! THREE! WILL OSPREAY IS THE AEW WORLD CHAMPION! Will Ospreay def. Swerve Strickland (20:10) to win the AEW World Title Later in the night, Kazuchika Okada defeats Kenny Omega to win their fifth encounter, establishing himself firmly as the Number One Contender to the AEW World Title, giving the new champion only two weeks to prepare to face off with one of his greatest foes - a foe he’s only managed to beat cleanly once, while falling to the Rainmaker eight times. Road to All Out Ospreay gets to celebrate on Dynamite, cutting a promo saying he’s geared up to finally put this to bed. He says he’s glad he’s starting his title reign like this, because he’s certain he can beat Okada, and he’ll not have to worry about the spectre looming over him anymore. Every time there was a title on the line, every time the stakes were high, he failed against the Rainmaker - but the stakes were high at Wembley, and he won. He proved Swerve Strickland wrong, and now it’s time to prove Kazuchika Okada wrong. Out steps the Rainmaker, taking the EVP Elevator up onto the stage to say that Ospreay has already proven him wrong; he thought, years ago, that Ospreay was a talent worthy of being in Okada’s stable of CHAOS, and Ospreay proved him wrong when he betrayed his leader, only for Okada to beat the brakes off him at the Tokyo Dome. Okada says that Ospreay should be all too familiar with Okada being the top champion, the Ace, and he plans to finally bring that vision to AEW by restoring the world to its natural order and beating the Aerial Assassin for a ninth time. The Rainmaker’s ego is peaking, having avenged his loss to Kenny Omega just a few days prior, and he says that Omega’s a taller mountain to climb than Ospreay. However, he says he’s sure there’ll be room in the Elite’s ranks for Ospreay, should he come to his senses and want to fall back in line behind the Rainmaker. Ospreay declares that at All Out, he’ll prove to Okada and the world that he’s eclipsed the onetime Ace, while Okada insists that Omega was just the beginning - in just a few days, it’ll be time for the Rainmaker Era to start back up. All Out With All In having just occurred recently, All Out is a package deal with the Wembley show, ensuring a huge audience for what’s certain to be an all-timer main event between the Rainmaker and the Assassin. Both men want to walk out with the gold more than anything in the world, making an already personal rivalry all the more exciting as the coin drops for the last match of the night. Okada appears in a new robe, debuted two weeks prior at Wembley, and as he rises from the Elite Elevator, he’s looking more daunting than ever. There’s only one feud the man had ever lost, and he’d just avenged it against Kenny Omega - this is the most dangerous he’s ever been, and as Will Ospreay makes his way to the ring, Okada doesn’t even turn to face him. The champion is furious, but the challenger sees him as a formality standing between him and another epic World Title reign, refusing to even acknowledge him as they’re both introduced by Justin Roberts. They head to their respective corners, and THE BELL RINGS! IT’S OKADA AND OSPREAY, WORLD TITLE ON THE LINE! AEW World Title: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada Both men are hesitant to open themselves up to a big counter in the early goings, especially given how well they know each other, so they try and psych each other out a different way - by waiting. The crowd greets them with a deafening reception as they slowly circle the centre of the ring, eventually meeting with a lockup that sees Okada immediately put his height to good use, bearing down on Ospreay with an attempt at a test of strength. He pushes Ospreay down to the mat, even getting his shoulders down for a moment, but the champion bridges up off the canvas. Okada jumps up and drives his legs down into Ospreay’s body, but Ospreay maintains the bridge with both men’s weight, Okada getting back up and shooting for a lateral press that gets a one count. Transitioning into a side headlock, Okada talks some smack, the Young Bucks supporting him at ringside while taunting the champion. However, Ospreay’s put on plenty of muscle mass over the years, making it all the easier for him to slowly make his way to his feet, twisting free and securing a side headlock of his own on the Rainmaker. Okada sends him into the ropes, Ospreay clinging to the top as Okada instinctively goes for a flapjack. Momentarily confused, Okada gives Will the opening to run in for a dropsault, attempting to follow it with an enziguri that’s ducked, Ospreay springing up… and into a flapjack, the inevitability of the Rainmaker’s plans coming to fruition putting the champion in a bad spot early. Continuing with his somewhat lackadaisical pace, Okada keeps treating Ospreay like he’s not that big of a deal, shoving him into the corner for a double pat on the chest, followed by a stiff forearm across the jaw as the referee steps in. Ospreay lunges at him, Okada grabbing the arm for an Irish Whip into the opposite corner, rushing the champion with a big boot, but Ospreay SLINGSHOTS RIGHT OVER HIM, LANDING ON HIS FEET BEHIND THE RAINMAKER FOR A KICK TO THE HAMSTRING! Ospreay hones in with a swift roundhouse to Okada’s other leg, trying to take out his base, but Okada shrugs it off by catching the leg on a third kick attempt before driving his shoulder straight into the bridge of Ospreay’s nose, following it with a DDT that makes it look like Ospreay just died. The champion goes full scorpion, folding over himself like PAC as Okada grabs hold of the wrist to attempt an early Rainmaker. He gets Ospreay up to his feet, a smirk on his face as he winds him up, but Ospreay cuts through his grip with a sharp elbow before rolling Okada up with a victory roll reversal, straight into a DOUBLE STOMP TO THE GUT! Okada rolls right out of the ring and into the waiting arms of the Elite, Ospreay lining up to try and take him out with a dive before being halted by the Bucks, who leap into the way with their hands up. Ospreay shouts at them to move before going for it anyway, launching himself with a PESCADO, STRAIGHT INTO A BOOT TO THE STOMACH BY THE RAINMAKER! THE BUCKS GAVE HIM TIME TO RECOVER! Taking advantage immediately, Okada sends Ospreay crashing into the barricade, Ospreay crying out before Okada sends him into the aisle on the crowd side of the barrier. He measures his man as he heads to the opposite end of ringside, the Bucks gassing him up as he takes a running start for a CROSSBODY OVER THE GUARDRAIL, LANDING ON HIS FEET AFTER TAKING OUT THE AERIAL ASSASSIN! Okada dusts himself off, his signature look of superiority clearer than ever as he drags Ospreay back to ringside, laying in a few boots to the body before spitefully laying in another DDT, this time on the floor. He breaks the count before continuing to pummel Ospreay at ringside, the Bucks taunting the champion with each consecutive shot he takes. Okada works over the champion’s neck, digging a knee into the back of it as he postures with his stablemates before securing a waistlock for a GERMAN SUPLEX ON THE FLOOR, BUT OSPREAY FLIPS OUT OF IT! He flings himself at Okada with a Hidden Blade attempt from behind, the seemingly omniscient Okada ducking at just the right moment before throwing a boot - but Ospreay’s just too quick, slipping under it and LAYING IN A HOOK KICK, FOLLOWED BY A BACK SUPLEX ON THE OUTSIDE TO THE RAINMAKER! Ospreay backs the Bucks away, threatening to put their faces through the back of their heads before sliding back into the ring and EFFORTLESSLY SOARING THROUGH THE AIR WITH A SKY TWISTER PRESS TO THE FLOOR! He sends Okada back between the ropes, following him with a PIP PIP CHEERIO, BUT OKADA CUTS HIM OFF AGAIN BY KICKING OUT THE ROPES! Ospreay is left hung up on the top, Okada turning him over for a DRAPING NECKBREAKER OFF THE TOP! ONE! TWO! THR-KICKOUT! It’s been virtually all Okada thus far, and he continues to methodically wear Ospreay down with a targeted offensive on the neck of the AEW World Champion. Whenever Ospreay tries to get some momentum going, Okada’s able to reverse it, the style Ospreay honed in New Japan having paid dividends against plenty of other AEW talents, but not the man who defined the style for over a decade. Soon enough, Okada looks for the Rainmaker again, and Ospreay finds his opening by reversing it into a SPANISH FLY! ONE! TWO! KICKOUT! Ospreay looks like a bullet fired from a gun the second Okada’s constant pressure is taken off his shoulders, the champion bolting out to the apron to connect with a PIP PIP CHEERIO, NAILING IT BEFORE OKADA HAS TIME TO REALIZE WHAT HIT HIM! Okada tries to evacuate out the other side of the ring, but Ospreay’s having none of it, grabbing him by the trunks and pulling him back in for a SNAP DRAGON SUPLEX! ONE! TWO! TH-NOOO! Okada sits back up just in time for Ospreay to strike him with a standing round kick to the ear, filling the Rainmaker’s head with cobwebs before flattening him to the canvas with a superkick, finishing the sequence with a RUNNING SHOOTING STAR PRESS! ONE! TWO! THR-ANOTHER KICKOUT, BUT OSPREAY’S FINALLY GOTTEN CONTROL AWAY FROM THE CHALLENGER! With the Chicago crowd rallying behind him, Ospreay struggles to get to his feet, the twenty straight minutes of punishment taking a heavy toll on the champion. However, he’s certainly up before the stunned Okada, with the challenger still attempting to get his wits about him when Ospreay charges with a ROBINSON SPECIAL, STRAIGHT TO THE BASE OF THE SKULL! Okada gets to his feet on instinct alone, the Assassin positioning himself behind his prey and circling him before running the ropes for an OSCUTTER! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOO! Ospreay unleashes some Kawada Kicks on the challenger, letting out his aggression before lighting him up with a flurry of chops, Okada attempting to stand on business and throw some of his own, only for Ospreay to obliterate him with a superkick. Okada is left leaning on the ropes, Ospreay beckoning him towards the centre of the ring before attempting a SHOTGUN DROPKICK, SENDING HIM STRAIGHT THROUGH TO THE APRON! With Okada prone, Ospreay looks for the OSCUTTER ON THE APRON, BUT OKADA CATCHES HIM IN A STRAITJACKET! He attempts a Straitjacket German Suplex on the apron, Ospreay avoiding catastrophe with a back headbutt to the bridge of the nose, followed by a stiff back elbow to send Okada tumbling to the floor. Ospreay vaults over the ropes to break the count, finding himself in the perfect spot for an old favourite as Okada gets to his feet at the base of the ramp. Measuring his man, Ospreay leaps into motion with a SASUKE SPECIAL, BUT OKADA CATCHES HIM! WHAT STRENGTH FROM THE RAINMAKER, AND NOW… OH MY GOD, A TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER ON THE FLOOR! Okada’s confidence is peaking, the Tombstone on the floor having been a hallmark of so many of his defining victories and none of his defeats. Knowing this, he rolls Ospreay straight back into the ring, the work on the neck having paid dividends as he immediately secures wrist control, hoisting Ospreay up into position for a RAIIIINMAKERRRRRR! HE GOT ALL OF IT! ONE! TWO! THRE-OSPREAY SOMEHOW LIFTS THE SHOULDER UP! Frustrated, Okada hurls Ospreay’s lifeless corpse into the corner and simply starts stomping a mudhole in his face, grinding his boot into the champion’s features before the referee pulls him away. Okada bickers with the ref as the Bucks sneak up on each side of Ospreay, Will instinctively grabbing a hold of Matthew, who scrambles backwards. However, Will stays latched onto him, forming a fist around Matthew’s tie and being pulled through the ropes… ONLY FOR NICHOLAS TO SUPERKICK OSPREAY STRAIGHT INTO THE RING POST, SPARING HIS OLDER BROTHER! Blood begins to spill from the side of Ospreay’s head, dripping onto the ring post and ring skirt as it becomes clear he hit his head damn hard against the steel. Okada pushes past the referee and continues to beat Ospreay down, relishing each moment of offence as he sends the champion packing to the outside with a petulant boot to the side of the head. He rolls out to the floor, the Bucks handing him a bottle of water to cool himself off with after such a brutal match, and now Okada gets to admire the Elite’s handiwork as crimson teardrops start dotting ringside, a bloody mask obscuring Ospreay’s face. Okada keeps beating ass, commentary noting that this is now the longest we’ve seen these two duke it out for, nearly 40 minutes having elapsed. Excalibur notes Ospreay seems harder than ever to put down, but Okada’s showing the same sort of dominance he has in the past, with Schiavone sounding worried that it might just be a matter of time. Looking to finally put an end to things, Okada starts raining closed fists on Ospreay’s head wound, hurling him into the timekeeper’s table. Eventually, he lays Ospreay out on it, clambering up with him before flipping off the camera and calling for another Tombstone. He flips Ospreay around… but Ospreay drops to the floor behind him, sweeping out Okada’s legs before nailing a CHEEKY NANDO’S AGAINST THE GUARDRAIL, LEAVING OKADA SPLAYED OUT ON THE TABLE! Ospreay scrambles towards the ring post, blood pouring down onto his chest as he makes the long climb up the turnbuckles for a FROG SPLASH THROUGH THE TABLE, AND THROUGH OKADA! The count was broken by him hitting the top rope, sparing both men the risk of being counted out as they lie their motionless. Chicago wills them to their feet, Ospreay sending Okada back into the ring before using the surge of energy and momentum to get the challenger up for a STORMBREAKER! HE GOT HIM! OSPREAY’S GONNA DO IT! Ospreay leaps atop Okada, grabbing the leg and leaning back into a deep cover, putting all his weight across the challenger’s shoulders… ONE! TWO! THRE-OKADA’S FOOT IS HOVERING OVER THE BOTTOM ROPE, OSPREAY TOO ENTHUSIASTIC WITH HIS PIN! The Bucks look like they’re about to have panic attacks as an exasperated, mentally battered Ospreay fights back tears, a fraction of an inch away from redemption. However, he knows he’s got control, so all he has to do is take this one home. Both men are in deep waters now, and with both being renowned for their gas tanks, it’s clearly come down to a war of attrition, both men knowing that it’ll all come down to landing the one big move that’ll keep one of them down. They’ve both sustained plenty of damage, but as Ospreay staggers over to the downed Okada, he gets this look in his eyes - the look of a man who has the chance to do the funniest thing ever against a man he resents oh so much. Ospreay grabs Okada’s wrist, the crowd letting out an “oooh” as it becomes clear he’s going for his own parody of the Rainmaker, traditionally a ripcord Spanish Fly. Okada is on dream street as Ospreay positions him, pulling the wrist to whip Okada around… but the Rainmaker is still wise to Ospreay’s moveset, keeping an arm near his side to stop Ospreay from latching on for a Spanish Fly. However, he wasn’t wise enough, Ospreay digging into Kenny Omega’s toolkit with a RAIN TRIGGER, BLINDSIDING OKADA WITH A HUGE HIT HE DIDN’T SEE COMING! Okada falls into the ropes, trying to keep himself upright by keeping a firm grip on the top rope, only to be uprooted by a POISON RANA, OSPREAY SPIKING THE CHALLENGER RIGHT ON HIS HEAD! He stumbles to the corner, Okada looking to find his footing as he gets to his knees… AND EATS A HIDDEN BLADE STRAIGHT TO THE FACE, OSPREAY MOWING STRAIGHT THROUGH HIS CHALLENGER! ONE! TWO! THRE-OKADA GETS THE SHOULDER UP, AND THE GRUELLING BOUT CONTINUES! Justin Roberts is starting to sound pretty nervous as he makes the 50 minute time call, informing both competitors that there’s only ten minutes left in their longest bout against one another to date. Ospreay crawls towards the ropes, driven by pure determination as he peels off his elbow pad, winding up for the Hidden Blade of a lifetime as Okada slowly starts to stir. Both men have taken each other’s biggest shots, but Okada’s in the champion’s sights now, Ospreay waiting until he’s in the perfect position before CHARGING AT FULL TILT INTO A DROPKICK FROM OKADA! Somehow, Okada’s still got pristine form this late into the match, but there’s no time to linger on his magnificence as he rises to his feet, dazed and confused, in desperate need of a dagger against Ospreay. He leans over to hook Ospreay’s wrist, calling for a second Rainmaker, and now he ripcords him in, ONLY FOR OSPREAY TO BLAST HIM WITH A HIDDEN BLADE TO THE FACE ONCE AGAIN ON THE REBOUND! Okada somehow keeps hold of Ospreay’s wrist, tumbling into the ropes and dragging the champion with him, gritting his teeth and letting out a primal roar before CLOBBERING OSPREAY WITH A SHORT ARM LARIAT, BRINGING THEM BOTH DOWN TO THE MAT! Ospreay gets the slightly better landing tactically, turned completely inside out and managing to drape an arm over… ONE! TWO! THRE-NOO! Okada’s kickout flips Ospreay onto his back, the Rainmaker now making an exhausted pinfall attempt… ONE! TWO! THRE-KICKOUT! WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE FOR ONE OF THESE MEN TO STAY DOWN? Puddles of Ospreay’s blood stain the canvas as both men lie there, the unimaginable exhaustion washing over both of them as they fight to be the first man to a vertical base. Commentary discusses the importance of securing the upper hand at this moment, and somehow, it’s Ospreay who’s up first, although only by a matter of seconds. Okada decks him with a forearm, the Rainmaker doubled over trying to catch his breath, but Ospreay clocks him with one of his own, followed by a ROLLING ELBOW TO DROP OKADA TO A KNEE! Ospreay ponders a moment, considering going for a Storm Driver 93, and as Justin Roberts says there’s five minutes remaining, he goes for it. He hooks Okada’s arms in a butterfly, muscling him up off his feet… but Okada drops down to his knees, Ospreay too exhausted to lift 250 pounds into position if that 250 pounds is still fighting back. The champion knees Okada in the face before going for it again, but this time, Okada shifts his weight back and SWINGS OSPREAY OVER HIS OWN SHOULDER FOR AN AIR RAID CRASH NECKBREAKER! Ospreay goes down like a sack of potatoes, clutching the back of his neck in pure agony, unable to function properly as Okada scrapes him off the canvas and positions him for an EMPHATIC COBRA FLOWSION, DRIVING OSPREAY’S NECK INTO THE MAT ONCE AGAIN WITH A RESOUNDING THUD! The challenger rises to his feet behind his foe… AND SPREADS HIS ARMS, THE CAMERA ZOOMING OUT TO ENCOMPASS THE CHICAGO CROWD! OKADA HITS THE RAINMAKER POSE, AND HE’S READY TO STUNT ON OSPREAY ONCE MORE! Ospreay’s in the perfect position for the Rainmaker, only a few minutes left on the clock, but both men’s movements have become lethargic and feeble after all they’ve been through. Matthew and Nicholas pound the mat to encourage Okada as he painstakingly leans over to latch on to Ospreay’s wrist, the champion fighting as best he can with a few back elbows, all of which miss the mark. Okada drives a forearm into the back of Ospreay’s neck, dropping him to his knees again before finally heaving him up for the Rainmaker, winding up… AND WHIZZING RIGHT BY OSPREAY, WHO COLLAPSES FROM EXHAUSTION! Okada falls in a heap behind him, but he’s still in better shape than Ospreay with moments remaining. With the last of his adrenaline, Okada scrambles up and picks Ospreay up once more, positioning him for a Rainmaker… BUT OSPREAY DUCKS, THIS TIME BREAKING INTO A SPRINT TO GET OUT OF THE WRISTLOCK! HE BOUNCES OFF THE ROPES, OKADA TOO TIRED TO SPIN AROUND IN TIME, AND NOW OSPREAY NAILS AN UNPROTECTED HIDDEN BLADE TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD! He’s got to roll him over, the seconds counting down as Ospreay simply digs his shoulder into the Rainmaker’s arm to slowly turn him onto his back, struggling to hook the leg… ONE! TWO! THRE-KICKOUT! OKADA GOT THE SHOULDER UP! Ospreay can’t believe it, fighting to get his feet under him, frantically attempting to hook Okada’s arms to get him into position for a Storm… ding ding ding. Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada fought to a draw (60:00), for Ospreay to retain the AEW World Title Road to WrestleDream With Ospreay having been unable to put away the Rainmaker within an hour, it’s pretty clear that a rematch has to be on the horizon, but the question is where. Both Grand Slam and WrestleDream are coming up, and on Dynamite, Okada lays down the gauntlet for the PPV, saying that he intends to win the AEW Title at a show paying tribute to one of his idols in Antonio Inoki. However, Ospreay’s not off the hook until October just yet - Grand Slam still stands in the way, and a battle between two of his fantastic previous opponents is set to determine his challenger for the event. Those opponents? Swerve Strickland and MJF. In the end, MJF manages to pull out the win, securing a title challenge right next door to his home at Grand Slam. Ospreay walks in insecure, just as he did in the Owen Finals, but this time with good reason - his first title defence was hardly a successful one, and he might not even have the chance to make up for it if he doesn’t manage to put away the longest-reigning AEW World Champion ever, in their home state. The pressure’s on for the Assassin, and with challengers hounding him, all he can do is try and build momentum with wins week over week. He doesn’t bother trying to match MJF on the stick, the next challenger eviscerating the champion with promo after promo until the go-home show, where a fed up Ospreay simply snipes him with a Hidden Blade to cut him off. Grabbing the microphone, Will promises to prove the title belongs around his waist, telling MJF that he wants the same Max who dominated the AEW main event scene for over a year. (Cont'd in Comments) |
2024.05.29 04:06 Darren716 Post WWE NXT 5/28/2024 Show Discussion Thread
MATCH RESULTS
IMPORTANT NOTES
submitted by Darren716 to SquaredCircle [link] [comments]
| Winner | Loser | Match Finish | Stipulation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michin | Tatum Paxley | Soeul Food | Women's North American Championship Qualifier |
| Ridge Holland | Riley Osborne w/ Chase U | Redeemer | |
| The Good Brothers | Edris Enofe and Malik Blade w/ Brinley Reece | Magic Killer | |
| Lola Vice | Arianna Grace | 305 Backfist | |
| Dante Chen | Lexis King | Crucifix Pin | |
| Kelani Jordan | Wren Sinclair | Split-Legged Moonsault | Women's North American Championship Qualifier |
| Trick Williams and Je'von Evans w/ Sexy Red | Gallus | Trick-Shot Knee |
- Kickoff with Ava in the ring welcoming us to the show. She says NXT has the greatest women's division in the world and they're about to prove why in two weeks when 6 women will compete in a ladder match for the new Women's North American Championship. She also says they have a special guest and welcomes out Sexy Red. Sexy thanks Ava for her introduction and says she has a special announcement, she will be hosting Battleground in Vegas. Ava says she also has one more special task and starts a drum roll as Sexy reveals the new Women's North American Championship. Tatum Paxley creeps into the ring and tries to steal the belt away from Red before Michin runs in and starts brawling with Tatum and their match starts.
- Joe Coffey is talking to Mark saying only two of them are allowed at ringside when they are approached by Meta-Four where Oro demands to know why they took out Noam last week. Joe says if they attacked Noam they'd have known it and walk off. Oro and Jackson accuse Trick of being behind the attack while Lash defends him.
- Lola Vice is shadow boxing when Arianna Grace walks in and says as the locker room leader, and leader of women in general, she asks if Lola is seriously going through another barbaric NXT Underground match? Lola says of course she's serious and Arianna says oh sugar. She says Shayna is dangerous and was hoping it was just Lola's temper getting the better of her. Lola calls her princessa and tells Grace she can learn how dangerous she is tonight. Grace says oh shit.
- After their match Ridge Holland extends a hand to Riley but Riley denies it and leaves the ring.
- The Good Brothers are interviewed backstage, Luke says they are done with being dodged by a team that's existed for 6 months while they had title reigns longer than that. He says the beat downs will continue until they get what they want and Karl shouts at Axiom and Frazer if they have their attention now. We cut to another camera where we see Oro Mensa has been assaulted as Lash and Jackson go to check on him along with officials.
- Axiom and Nathan Frazer ambush the Good Brothers after their match, drop kicking them to the outside. Nathan tells the fraudulent clowns that they are never getting near their titles and goes to call them pieces of shit but Axiom cuts him off and says they'll see the Good Brothers at Battleground.
- Dante Chen says he's been waiting two days to get his opportunity and the reaction he got was all worth it. While he'd love to bask in this victory forever, he is ready for another and is ready for whoever is next.
- Backstage Lexis King tells Dante Chen his win meant nothing and it will never happen again. Dante says he'll prove it's not a fluke and challenge to face Lexis again tonight.
- Roxanne Perez makes her way to the ring. She says she is the only woman in WWE who's appreciated this championship from the very beginning, from when she first one it on 2.0, until when she won it back she saw it used by waste after waste who used to to move on to something bigger rather than relishing it. She says at 13 she started training specifically to win this championship. She never cared about Raw or Smackdown, she only cared about the NXT Women's Championship. To everyone else this title represents future greatness but to her it represents current greatness. She says it is incredibly disrespectful that she has to find out her opponent like this and the only thing her and Ava agree on is that she deserves to be treated better. She demands to know who the hell her opponent is going to be when Ava makes her way out. Ava says she never said Rox was a bad champion, but the question will be if she's still champion after Battleground. She announces her opponent for Battleground will be TNA Knockout's Champion Jordynne Grace! Grace says some of them may remember her from the Rumble earlier this year, but if they don't allow her to formally introduce herself. She says she is the TNA Knock-Outs Champion. She tells Roxanne that she built her name NXT the same way she did in TNA, but who has built the stronger foundation? Jordynne wants to find out and she is ready to leave Las Vegas a double champion.
- Eddy Thorpe has a return vignette, he says to his people fire has a deep spiritual connection and it is used as a form of healing. He has looked to the fire a lot these past few months and says his path is illuminated and through the fire he is reborn.
- Backstage Riley says Ridge can't be trusted as Chase U try to figure out what's the matter. Duke admits he sees what Riley is talking about and goes off to talk with him. Thea says she can't deal with all this with her match next week and storms off. Ridge checks with Andre who tells him it was a good match and not to worry,
- After her victory, Lola Vice says Shayna Bazler has one of two options, she taps out or she gets knocked out, her choice bitch. Shayna comes storming out being held back by security. She says she was born in the Underground as she fights trying to get to Lola.
- We get a vignette for Carlee Bright, going over her history as a Division 1 Cheerleader and says once she stepped foot in NXT wrestling became her new love and says the ray of sunshine is coming to NXT.
- Backstage Natalya tells Carlee she crushed it last week as Izzy comes in and tells Nattie her compliments are shallow. Karmen Petrovich tells her to get her negative energy out of here and the two start to brawl.
- Charlie Dempsey says ever since he lost the Heritage Cup he felt he lost a piece of himself. Damon Kemp he knows how he feels but Charlie asks if he really does. He says they need to learn from Tony's family and that they need to learn discipline and chain of command and tells Damon he's facing Tony next week.
- Oro is being checked out in the trainer's room and Jackara tells Lash that she's worried one of them one may next and she has to ask Trick to make sure he has nothing to do with this.
- Lexis King attacks Dante Chen after his victory, dragging him to the outside where he hits him with a running knee to the back of the head. Lexis pulls back the ringside mats and hits Dante with the Coronation on the concrete.
- Josh Briggs says he was signed in 2020 and had big dreams of breaking out on his own but his dreams were a bit big at the time so he found himself a little brother and little sister, they had success but it was time to go off on his own. He says he's bet on himself a few times but questions if it paid off and he is going to find out who Josh Briggs is. Shawn Spears is shown to be watching and says he has been down the same path as Briggs and knows it can be taunting, but he will guide the youth and be their answer.
- Backstage Tony tells the family their current target is the No Quarter Catch Crew and nothing matters until they deal with it since to them the Cup is part of them. Luca says he's looking into the legality of the Catch Clause. Tony says he's preparing for Damon and they're going to beat the Crew at their own game.
- Backstage Stevie Turner asks Ava what Jordynne has done to earn a NXT Women's Championship match and why she wasn't invited to the combine. Ava says her complaints are legitmite as Jordynne comes in and says she couldn't help but overhear so how about next week she proves why she deserves her shot and Stevie can put herself on the map.
- Wes Lee says he's upset he had to share his victory last week, Gallus are three pissed of Scotsmen but tells them they won't be getting all the titles because he will make sure they won't get the North American Championship. Oba Femi comes by and says it doesn't matter how many men he faces, the title remains with him. Wes says he's made a career out of proving people like him wrong.
- After the main event Lash Legend makes her way out to confront Trick as Sexy Red and Je'von leave. She tells Trick he has to be honest with her if he's the one who attacked Oro and Noam. Trick grabs the mic and goes to speak but the lights go out. The lights come back on and Ethan Page is here! He says he attacked Oro and Noam and attacks Trick and then nails him with a knee strike in the corner.
- Live Thread
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2024.05.29 04:02 Gullible-Being-6895 “My Tears Ricochet” as a letter from Taylor to Taylor™️
TL;DR: is “My Tears Ricochet” a letter from Taylor AND the Gaylors to Taylor™️?
I am a baby Gaylor (but all in and full fledged) and this is my first genuine post to this community. Please forgive me if this has been done before!
Throughout the rollout and processing of TTPD, I was inclined to go back through Folkmore. As a pansexual who was in a closet surrounded by fundamentalists on all sides for much of life, I CANNOT believe these albums are just “fictional stories”. There are a lot of songs on both albums that seem to back this theory up (IMO), but the lyrics that I really wanted to focus on are those of “My Tears Ricochet.”
“We gather here, we line up weeping in a sunlit room” - This is, at face value, the obvious imagery of a funeral. I believe this is the funeral of real Taylor being laid to rest by Taylor™️ after the failed coming out of 2019.
“And if I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes too”
“I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace”
“And I can go anywhere I want Anywhere I want, just not home”
Phew…. That was a doozy. Thanks for hanging in there! 🤡
submitted by Gullible-Being-6895 to GaylorSwift [link] [comments]
I am a baby Gaylor (but all in and full fledged) and this is my first genuine post to this community. Please forgive me if this has been done before!
Throughout the rollout and processing of TTPD, I was inclined to go back through Folkmore. As a pansexual who was in a closet surrounded by fundamentalists on all sides for much of life, I CANNOT believe these albums are just “fictional stories”. There are a lot of songs on both albums that seem to back this theory up (IMO), but the lyrics that I really wanted to focus on are those of “My Tears Ricochet.”
“We gather here, we line up weeping in a sunlit room” - This is, at face value, the obvious imagery of a funeral. I believe this is the funeral of real Taylor being laid to rest by Taylor™️ after the failed coming out of 2019.
“And if I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes too”
- Real Taylor is telling Taylor™️ that, even she stays in the closet forever, it will always affect Taylor™️ since they’re always going to be interwoven together by the very nature of humanity.“Even on my worst day, did I deserve babe All the hell you gave me Because I loved you, I swear I loved you Until my dying day”
“I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace”
- To me, this really sounds like real Taylor admitting that she’s allowed herself to be seen minimally and couldn’t be completely silenced because that is her TRUE self. She can’t “gracefully” keep her true, queer self completely quiet.“And you’re the hero flying around saving face”
- I think the ‘hero’ is Taylor™️ (and possibly a layered reference to Tree) and all the PR damage control after all the various scandals (Kissgate, all the bearding/PR relationships that were ultra flimsy, etcetera) to keep the public eye from speculating TOO MUCH (except for Gaylors, of course lol)“And if I’m dead to you why are you at the wake?”
- Real Taylor here is referring to the 2019 failed coming out as her “death” and Taylor™️ still being at the funeral for real Taylor could symbolize all the queer flagging she continues to ramp up for us to see, even after the failed coming out.“Cursing my name, wishing I stayed, look at how my tears ricochet”
- I think this is real Taylor expressing regret and disappointment that she didn’t go through with coming out in 2019 anyway, despite the masters fiasco. The decision to use the word “ricochet” seems very intentional to me, as we know our girlie likes to be meticulous. The actual definition is that of a projectile object striking a surface and bouncing off of it to land on a different surface (paraphrasing). I think she’s referring to the pain of not being able to come out being shared and felt by all the Gaylors/fans that were let down by the failed event of 2019. She’s acknowledging that other people beside her were hurt by it and making sure Taylor™️ and the team know that.“We gather stones, never knowing what they’ll mean; some to throw, some to make a diamond ring”
- I think the stones represent all of her Easter eggs. The “stones to throw” would be all of the red herrings and the stones to “make a diamond ring” would represent all of her flagging for those she knows understand them.“You know I didn’t want to have to haunt you but what a ghostly scene”
- Real Taylor musing that she wouldn’t be still dropping all the clues and eggs from Taylor™️ for her supportive Gaylors if she had been able to come out in 2019.“You wear the same jewels that I gave you as you bury me”
- I think the jewels represent all of the new fans and exposure that Taylor™️ received during her public allyship through the rollout of Lover leading up the failed coming out. Taylor™️ has been able to keep most, if not all, of those things - even after the failed coming out.“I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace because when I’d fight you used to tell me I was brave And if I am dead to you, why are you at the wake? Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet”
“And I can go anywhere I want Anywhere I want, just not home”
- Real Taylor is alive and well in the hearts and minds of the Gaylors and she knows that, but “home” could represent the merging of her true identity with the brand, bringing congruency to her existence. In this case, it’s the one thing that hasn’t been able to happen.“And you can aim for my heart, go for blood But you would still miss me in your bones”
- No matter how much Taylor™️ has tried to shut out real Taylor, real Taylor cannot be completely silenced because it is her true identity.“And I still talk to you, when I’m screaming at the sky And when you can’t sleep at night, you hear my stolen lullabies”
- To me, this seems like a direct reference to the stolen masters. The phrase “stolen lullabies” feels so specific and that event is what is largely speculated to be what derailed her coming out.“I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace So the battleships will sink beneath the waves”
- This is not the only time that Taylor refers to “ships beneath waves”. I can specifically reference the intro to “Gold Rush” where she mentions “hearts are sinking ships”. I would love it if someone else had some references from other lyrics or if there’s any other lore out there already regarding “ships” that I’m missing, but it stood out to me for sure.“You had to kill me, but it killed you just the same”
- Even though Taylor™️ determined it was better for the brand to cancel the coming out, this could still be the pain of loss that Taylor feels for the missed out trajectory that WOULD have been Taylor™️ following Karma and the coming out.“Cursing my name, wishing I’d stayed You turned into your worst fears”
- Taylor regretting that she stayed in the closet, likely realizing she compromised on something so precious to her.“And you’re tossing out blame, drunk on this pain Crossing out the good years”
- This is a pretty good reach here (🤡) but I can’t get out of my head that this could even reference the long-suspected drunken liking-spree she went on after Kissgate, was either forced to undo all of that the next day (or came to her closeted senses 😫) and felt like she was “crossing out the good years” that she could be enjoying the full freedom of being her full self in the open during the prime of her life.“Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet”
Phew…. That was a doozy. Thanks for hanging in there! 🤡
2024.05.29 03:56 Otsutsuki-Mike [FNV] Load order clean up
as the title says I'm curious to see if that I am a dummy, and can disable some plugins that I have no use for. Lets say I have 2 texture mods that modify the same stuff, I'm curious to see if I can disable one of the two to save plugin space, any help would be appreciated
FalloutNV.esm
DeadMoney.esm
HonestHearts.esm
OldWorldBlues.esm
LonesomeRoad.esm
GunRunnersArsenal.esm
ClassicPack.esm
MercenaryPack.esm
TribalPack.esm
CaravanPack.esm
YUP - Base Game + All DLC.esm
NavmeshOverhaul.esm
fixy crap ue.esp
Landscape Texture Improvements.esm
Vanilla Enhancements.esm
Landscape Texture Improvements - YUP Patch.esm
Bad Touch.esm
NovaArizona.esm
Uncut Wasteland.esm
Functional Post Game Ending.esm
NVInteriors_Core.esm
New Vegas Redesigned II.esm
IWR.esm
ArizonaOverhaul.esm
AWorldOfPain(Preview).esm
NVInteriors_ComboEdition.esm
TLD_Travelers.esm
Momod.esm
Factions Reloaded Legion.esp
SUPER Lively New Vegas.esm
enclavebunker.esm
Mojave Wildlife (Vanilla-Style + No Chanced).esp
factions reloaded raiders v2.esm
SUPER Lively Goodsprings.esm
Functional Post Game Ending - AWOP Patch.esm
3DNPCFNVBundle.esm
Better Brotherhood.esm
SomeguySeries.esm
Mojave NPCs.esm
The New Bison Steve Hotel.esm
NewVegasKiller.esm
Mr. House Surrenders to the NCR.esm
VanessaFollowerNV.esm
Cyberware.esm
zl_Armaments_Remastered.esm
Mojave Raiders.esm
MojaveSquads.esm
Badmothafucka.esm
Encounters of the Mojave - Highway 95 South.esp
PHWHPAPVisuals.esm
Functional Post Game Ending - YUP Patch.esm
Walking_Inertia.esm
Friendly Strip Factions.esm
Friendly Misc Factions.esm
House and Fiends Truce.esm
House and Fiends Truce FPGE Patch.esm
House and Fiends Truce TLD Patch.esm
Brotherhood and House Truce.esm
House and Kings Truce.esm
House and Kings Truce FPGE Patch.esm
House and Kings Truce Mojave NPCs Patch.esm
Functional Post Game Ending - Uncut Wasteland Patch (VNV).esp
Wild Wasteland Forever.esm
TheHUDEditor.esm
WMVM.esm
AWMutants.esm
Main And Pause Menus Overhaul.esm
Better Character Creation.esm
Brotherhood and Legion Truce.esm
Legion and Powder Ganger Truce.esm
Legion and Powder Ganger Truce FPGE Patch.esm
Legion and Powder Ganger Truce TLD Patch.esm
NewVegasBounties.esm
Lime's Fort Overhaul.esm
Run the Lucky 38.esm
SD_Fatigue.esp
SD_Capture.esp
CoitoErgoSum.esm
PointThatSomewhereElse!.esm
Unofficial Patch NVSE Plus.esp
WMIMNV.esp
YUP - NPC Fixes (Base Game + All DLC).esp
Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix.esp
NVMIM.esp
Crafting Consistency Fix.esp
GlobalImposterReigon.esp
Nova Arizona - Map Add-on.esp
Vurt's WFO.esp
Uncut Extra Collection.esp
The Mod Configuration Menu.esp
Vanilla UI Plus.esp
JustAssortedMods.esp
Just Sprint Plus - JAM.esp
ImmersiveRecoil.esp
JSawyer Ultimate.esp
DelayDLCRedux.esp
Mojave Raiders.esp
ATMOS Ambient Overhaul.esp
factions reloaded followers.esp
WeaponModsExpanded.esp
NVR2 - YUP Patch.esp
Uncut Wasteland - YUP Patch.esp
Little More Lamplight.esp
WMX-DLCMerged.esp
DLC Enhancements.esp
VE - Vendortron Expanded.esp
Functional Post Game Ending - Uncut Extra Collection Patch.esp
Casino Crowds.esp
Misc Content Restoration.esp
IWR - Rebuilt.esp
FO3WeaponsRestoration.esp
Convenient Fast Travel Markers.esp
BoSKnightExpansion.esp
Better Brotherhood - YUP Patch.esp
HolotapeStories_main.esp
Arizona - JSawyer Patch.esp
More Perks v3.esp
Bouncing Natural Breasts.esp
Street Light Corrections.esp
Classic Fallout Weapons Remastered v1.2.esp
SD_RadiantInfinium.esp
T4-plugin.esp
Better Weapon Restrictions & Fixes.esp
MultiCompanionFrisk.esp
Arizona-YUP.esp
MentalStabilitySystem.esp
Aid Addon.esp
KingOfTheRing.esp
MnRKidfire-thatmodteam.esp
UHNV.esp
Better Brotherhood - FPGE Patch.esp
FNV FaceGen Fix.esp
rockbiter_AnimationSounds.esp
Interior Rain.esp
AWOP-MoMod.esp
B42Descriptions.esp
Karma Perks.esp
MoMod-Aliens.esp
MoMod-MCMMenu.esp
MoMod-NightSpawn.esp
MoMod-Terminators.esp
VM_Recoil.esp
NVR2 - JSUE Patch.esp
NVR2 - Mojave Raiders Patch.esp
AWOP - NVR II.esp
New Bison Steve - YUP Patch.esp
NPCsSprint.esp
IMPACT.esp
Conelrad 640-1240.esp
Bullet Tracers NV Shotgun.esp
B42Dropmag.esp
Explosive Sounds Overhaul.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - WMIM Patch.esp
MNTL-EWSP-GRA.esp
MNTL-EWSP.esp
B42Inspect.esp
Roberts_NewVegas.esp
1nivRobertCockBox.esp
Roberts - NVR2.esp
Vegas Elysium.esp
JIP Companions Command & Control.esp
JSRS.esp
FOVSlider.esp
Cyberware OWB.esp
Realistic Movement.esp
3DGrenadeIndicator.esp
Better Stealth Suit Mk II.esp
DirectionalSneak.esp
EvenBetterPowerArmor.esp
HitDrugs.esp
Limitless Stats.esp
NotSoFatal.esp
Follower Home Marker.esp
InfAmmoAllwaysOn.esp
KC.esp
NoDegrade.esp
NVFeralGhoulChildren.esp
vatsbuff2x.esp
ArizonaFPGEPatch.esp
Cheat Boy Beta.esp
GhoulPistol.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - EDEM Patch.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - SMIM Patch.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - EVEM Patch.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - Mojave Raiders Patch.esp
Dead Money - No Collar Explosion and No Poison Cloud.esp
WeaponModsExpanded_FO3WeaponsRestoration.esp
WMX-POPMerged.esp
UHNV-More Mannequins.esp
UHNV-Brighter Lighting.esp
FuckableCompanions.esp
Less Obnoxious BOS Bunker Repair.esp
NVDLC04 Allegiance w Duster.esp
HitVATS.esp
Player Combat Priority.esp
StandardizedDamageAndHealth.esp
XFO - 9a - Enemies - AI revamp.esp
XFO - 9da - Enemies - NPC Healing - low.esp
XFO - 9db - Enemies - NPC Healing - med.esp
XFO - 9dc - Enemies - NPC Healing - high.esp
zlArms3DNPCsPatch.esp
Food Scraps.esp
ImmersiveFastTravelEncounters.esp
JBTImproved.esp
SimpleDiseases.esp
SD-ImmunoBoostersRecipe.esp
SD-ImmunoBoostersRecipe-AidAddon.esp
Disguise Descript.esp
MojaveSquads_SMIM.esp
Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks.esp
Strip Lights Region Fix.esp
DNWeathers.esp
CC - Rain.esp
CC - 3D Rain.esp
ExRB.esp
ExRB_AWOP.esp
Follower Tweaks.esp
B42Inertia.esp
Diagonal movement.esp
Trap Tweaks.esp
TheInheritance.esp
Simple Explosive Entry.esp
NewVegasBountiesIII.esp
NewVegasBountiesII.esp
Immersive Hit Reactions.esp
The Lucky 38 Empire.esp
One Man, One Quest.esp
LegateDoesntRun.esp
SunnySmilesCompanion.esp
ChildSoldiers.esp
LegionArenaExpanded.esp
Better Tag Skills.esp
IRNPC.esp
CNR_Beta.esp
Better Merchants.esp
rotfacetoriches.esp
Clarity.esp
NoMainStoryUltimatums.esp
NiptonRebuilt.esp
TheBetterAngels.esp
AutumnLeaves.esp
cesRobertsCompatibility.esp
Jhouser - Alcohol Redone.esp
NukaColaOverhaul.esp
I know the "wmx" mod is "incompatible" with some of the other stuff I have here, but I don't know how or what I did, but I got the mod to play nice with the others I have installed
submitted by Otsutsuki-Mike to FalloutMods [link] [comments]
FalloutNV.esm
DeadMoney.esm
HonestHearts.esm
OldWorldBlues.esm
LonesomeRoad.esm
GunRunnersArsenal.esm
ClassicPack.esm
MercenaryPack.esm
TribalPack.esm
CaravanPack.esm
YUP - Base Game + All DLC.esm
NavmeshOverhaul.esm
fixy crap ue.esp
Landscape Texture Improvements.esm
Vanilla Enhancements.esm
Landscape Texture Improvements - YUP Patch.esm
Bad Touch.esm
NovaArizona.esm
Uncut Wasteland.esm
Functional Post Game Ending.esm
NVInteriors_Core.esm
New Vegas Redesigned II.esm
IWR.esm
ArizonaOverhaul.esm
AWorldOfPain(Preview).esm
NVInteriors_ComboEdition.esm
TLD_Travelers.esm
Momod.esm
Factions Reloaded Legion.esp
SUPER Lively New Vegas.esm
enclavebunker.esm
Mojave Wildlife (Vanilla-Style + No Chanced).esp
factions reloaded raiders v2.esm
SUPER Lively Goodsprings.esm
Functional Post Game Ending - AWOP Patch.esm
3DNPCFNVBundle.esm
Better Brotherhood.esm
SomeguySeries.esm
Mojave NPCs.esm
The New Bison Steve Hotel.esm
NewVegasKiller.esm
Mr. House Surrenders to the NCR.esm
VanessaFollowerNV.esm
Cyberware.esm
zl_Armaments_Remastered.esm
Mojave Raiders.esm
MojaveSquads.esm
Badmothafucka.esm
Encounters of the Mojave - Highway 95 South.esp
PHWHPAPVisuals.esm
Functional Post Game Ending - YUP Patch.esm
Walking_Inertia.esm
Friendly Strip Factions.esm
Friendly Misc Factions.esm
House and Fiends Truce.esm
House and Fiends Truce FPGE Patch.esm
House and Fiends Truce TLD Patch.esm
Brotherhood and House Truce.esm
House and Kings Truce.esm
House and Kings Truce FPGE Patch.esm
House and Kings Truce Mojave NPCs Patch.esm
Functional Post Game Ending - Uncut Wasteland Patch (VNV).esp
Wild Wasteland Forever.esm
TheHUDEditor.esm
WMVM.esm
AWMutants.esm
Main And Pause Menus Overhaul.esm
Better Character Creation.esm
Brotherhood and Legion Truce.esm
Legion and Powder Ganger Truce.esm
Legion and Powder Ganger Truce FPGE Patch.esm
Legion and Powder Ganger Truce TLD Patch.esm
NewVegasBounties.esm
Lime's Fort Overhaul.esm
Run the Lucky 38.esm
SD_Fatigue.esp
SD_Capture.esp
CoitoErgoSum.esm
PointThatSomewhereElse!.esm
Unofficial Patch NVSE Plus.esp
WMIMNV.esp
YUP - NPC Fixes (Base Game + All DLC).esp
Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix.esp
NVMIM.esp
Crafting Consistency Fix.esp
GlobalImposterReigon.esp
Nova Arizona - Map Add-on.esp
Vurt's WFO.esp
Uncut Extra Collection.esp
The Mod Configuration Menu.esp
Vanilla UI Plus.esp
JustAssortedMods.esp
Just Sprint Plus - JAM.esp
ImmersiveRecoil.esp
JSawyer Ultimate.esp
DelayDLCRedux.esp
Mojave Raiders.esp
ATMOS Ambient Overhaul.esp
factions reloaded followers.esp
WeaponModsExpanded.esp
NVR2 - YUP Patch.esp
Uncut Wasteland - YUP Patch.esp
Little More Lamplight.esp
WMX-DLCMerged.esp
DLC Enhancements.esp
VE - Vendortron Expanded.esp
Functional Post Game Ending - Uncut Extra Collection Patch.esp
Casino Crowds.esp
Misc Content Restoration.esp
IWR - Rebuilt.esp
FO3WeaponsRestoration.esp
Convenient Fast Travel Markers.esp
BoSKnightExpansion.esp
Better Brotherhood - YUP Patch.esp
HolotapeStories_main.esp
Arizona - JSawyer Patch.esp
More Perks v3.esp
Bouncing Natural Breasts.esp
Street Light Corrections.esp
Classic Fallout Weapons Remastered v1.2.esp
SD_RadiantInfinium.esp
T4-plugin.esp
Better Weapon Restrictions & Fixes.esp
MultiCompanionFrisk.esp
Arizona-YUP.esp
MentalStabilitySystem.esp
Aid Addon.esp
KingOfTheRing.esp
MnRKidfire-thatmodteam.esp
UHNV.esp
Better Brotherhood - FPGE Patch.esp
FNV FaceGen Fix.esp
rockbiter_AnimationSounds.esp
Interior Rain.esp
AWOP-MoMod.esp
B42Descriptions.esp
Karma Perks.esp
MoMod-Aliens.esp
MoMod-MCMMenu.esp
MoMod-NightSpawn.esp
MoMod-Terminators.esp
VM_Recoil.esp
NVR2 - JSUE Patch.esp
NVR2 - Mojave Raiders Patch.esp
AWOP - NVR II.esp
New Bison Steve - YUP Patch.esp
NPCsSprint.esp
IMPACT.esp
Conelrad 640-1240.esp
Bullet Tracers NV Shotgun.esp
B42Dropmag.esp
Explosive Sounds Overhaul.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - WMIM Patch.esp
MNTL-EWSP-GRA.esp
MNTL-EWSP.esp
B42Inspect.esp
Roberts_NewVegas.esp
1nivRobertCockBox.esp
Roberts - NVR2.esp
Vegas Elysium.esp
JIP Companions Command & Control.esp
JSRS.esp
FOVSlider.esp
Cyberware OWB.esp
Realistic Movement.esp
3DGrenadeIndicator.esp
Better Stealth Suit Mk II.esp
DirectionalSneak.esp
EvenBetterPowerArmor.esp
HitDrugs.esp
Limitless Stats.esp
NotSoFatal.esp
Follower Home Marker.esp
InfAmmoAllwaysOn.esp
KC.esp
NoDegrade.esp
NVFeralGhoulChildren.esp
vatsbuff2x.esp
ArizonaFPGEPatch.esp
Cheat Boy Beta.esp
GhoulPistol.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - EDEM Patch.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - SMIM Patch.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - EVEM Patch.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - Mojave Raiders Patch.esp
Dead Money - No Collar Explosion and No Poison Cloud.esp
WeaponModsExpanded_FO3WeaponsRestoration.esp
WMX-POPMerged.esp
UHNV-More Mannequins.esp
UHNV-Brighter Lighting.esp
FuckableCompanions.esp
Less Obnoxious BOS Bunker Repair.esp
NVDLC04 Allegiance w Duster.esp
HitVATS.esp
Player Combat Priority.esp
StandardizedDamageAndHealth.esp
XFO - 9a - Enemies - AI revamp.esp
XFO - 9da - Enemies - NPC Healing - low.esp
XFO - 9db - Enemies - NPC Healing - med.esp
XFO - 9dc - Enemies - NPC Healing - high.esp
zlArms3DNPCsPatch.esp
Food Scraps.esp
ImmersiveFastTravelEncounters.esp
JBTImproved.esp
SimpleDiseases.esp
SD-ImmunoBoostersRecipe.esp
SD-ImmunoBoostersRecipe-AidAddon.esp
Disguise Descript.esp
MojaveSquads_SMIM.esp
Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks.esp
Strip Lights Region Fix.esp
DNWeathers.esp
CC - Rain.esp
CC - 3D Rain.esp
ExRB.esp
ExRB_AWOP.esp
Follower Tweaks.esp
B42Inertia.esp
Diagonal movement.esp
Trap Tweaks.esp
TheInheritance.esp
Simple Explosive Entry.esp
NewVegasBountiesIII.esp
NewVegasBountiesII.esp
Immersive Hit Reactions.esp
The Lucky 38 Empire.esp
One Man, One Quest.esp
LegateDoesntRun.esp
SunnySmilesCompanion.esp
ChildSoldiers.esp
LegionArenaExpanded.esp
Better Tag Skills.esp
IRNPC.esp
CNR_Beta.esp
Better Merchants.esp
rotfacetoriches.esp
Clarity.esp
NoMainStoryUltimatums.esp
NiptonRebuilt.esp
TheBetterAngels.esp
AutumnLeaves.esp
cesRobertsCompatibility.esp
Jhouser - Alcohol Redone.esp
NukaColaOverhaul.esp
I know the "wmx" mod is "incompatible" with some of the other stuff I have here, but I don't know how or what I did, but I got the mod to play nice with the others I have installed
2024.05.29 03:21 angelzuzie a year later - remembrance
the morning of
she sat me down at the coffee table - we didn’t have a couch yet. i was in my favorite chair, worn in with blood and breast milk and a creak when you leaned too far back. your sister helped me make coffee. she knew, i didn’t. she told me about the mouse-tails of espresso so i couldn’t hear mom on the phone. the living room was small: is small. the windows all around did nothing for me when i sat down. it was her and me and her and not you.
they told me they were sorry. she couldn’t get the words out of her mouth without a choke - like she was gasping for air, gasping for you. for a moment there was this delicious tightening in my chest; a new feeling, one that i had never experienced before. i thought i had felt every emotion under the sun. i focused on that tightness until we talked about where your skin and eyes and car would go. i didn’t like the tightness after that.
only one person can cry in a room at a time.
the week after
there is this sickly feeling that passes around an empty half-renovated house. a feeling as though there is something that is not there yet, hasn’t arrived. the couch isn’t coming and you’re not coming either. we took the rug out.
i screamed and screamed and screamed until we had to put a note on our door. i screamed so loudly that my pillow will never know silence again: forever ringing with that need. my bedspread will not forget the touch of your badly developed childhood photos: ones of you with cars, with friends, with planes. i tried to sort them into some sort of order but your face started to blur together into something i didn’t recognize.
we had to buy food. i bought eight cans of campbell’s chicken and stars. i only ate chicken and stars for three days. i used the microwave that you hadn’t gotten to touch yet. i cried and screamed and grabbed at my chest like i wanted to reach in and pull you out of it: give something of myself to get you back. at that point it didn’t matter. i was a child without a father because a father is not ashes in a box.
we changed the entire apartment. we got rid of the chairs that had your dent in their seat, not out of grief but out of simplicity. they didn’t match the color scheme. if i had to sit in that dent and feel the coldness of the leather without your warmth, then i would have truly known there was nothing left of you. instead, i went for a walk along the lakefront while they carried the chairs out. i couldn’t watch you be taken again.
six months after
i lived in a box in a new city. you moved me into that room, carrying bags up the elevator with me like we were pack mules; tied together by some inexplicable rope named genetics. i limped, you limped, but only i fell. when i packed up that same room, men i didn’t know piled things you’d never touched before into those same bags. i moved 20 blocks north into a place where you had never walked. i sat on a bed in an empty studio wishing i could remember the way your laugh echoed in these types of acoustics.
i put a photo of you on my fridge with cheap tape. waking up the next morning and seeing it on the cold tile sent me into another new feeling. your friends wrote letters. not long ones, just perfunctory to-the-point ‘he’s dead now, here’s what i remember’ letters. letters signed with their official titles and all their degrees just so i wouldn’t forget how important they were in the story that they had never once touched.
i put your old bar glasses above the sink and watched them.
a year later
the tightness is gone. it is replaced by the loss of the tightness. there is nothing tangible now. there is no pain that comes in waves, that puts me on the floor, that reminds me that you were real and i was real and i was your daughter and you loved me.
submitted by angelzuzie to ChildrenofDeadParents [link] [comments]
she sat me down at the coffee table - we didn’t have a couch yet. i was in my favorite chair, worn in with blood and breast milk and a creak when you leaned too far back. your sister helped me make coffee. she knew, i didn’t. she told me about the mouse-tails of espresso so i couldn’t hear mom on the phone. the living room was small: is small. the windows all around did nothing for me when i sat down. it was her and me and her and not you.
they told me they were sorry. she couldn’t get the words out of her mouth without a choke - like she was gasping for air, gasping for you. for a moment there was this delicious tightening in my chest; a new feeling, one that i had never experienced before. i thought i had felt every emotion under the sun. i focused on that tightness until we talked about where your skin and eyes and car would go. i didn’t like the tightness after that.
only one person can cry in a room at a time.
the week after
there is this sickly feeling that passes around an empty half-renovated house. a feeling as though there is something that is not there yet, hasn’t arrived. the couch isn’t coming and you’re not coming either. we took the rug out.
i screamed and screamed and screamed until we had to put a note on our door. i screamed so loudly that my pillow will never know silence again: forever ringing with that need. my bedspread will not forget the touch of your badly developed childhood photos: ones of you with cars, with friends, with planes. i tried to sort them into some sort of order but your face started to blur together into something i didn’t recognize.
we had to buy food. i bought eight cans of campbell’s chicken and stars. i only ate chicken and stars for three days. i used the microwave that you hadn’t gotten to touch yet. i cried and screamed and grabbed at my chest like i wanted to reach in and pull you out of it: give something of myself to get you back. at that point it didn’t matter. i was a child without a father because a father is not ashes in a box.
we changed the entire apartment. we got rid of the chairs that had your dent in their seat, not out of grief but out of simplicity. they didn’t match the color scheme. if i had to sit in that dent and feel the coldness of the leather without your warmth, then i would have truly known there was nothing left of you. instead, i went for a walk along the lakefront while they carried the chairs out. i couldn’t watch you be taken again.
six months after
i lived in a box in a new city. you moved me into that room, carrying bags up the elevator with me like we were pack mules; tied together by some inexplicable rope named genetics. i limped, you limped, but only i fell. when i packed up that same room, men i didn’t know piled things you’d never touched before into those same bags. i moved 20 blocks north into a place where you had never walked. i sat on a bed in an empty studio wishing i could remember the way your laugh echoed in these types of acoustics.
i put a photo of you on my fridge with cheap tape. waking up the next morning and seeing it on the cold tile sent me into another new feeling. your friends wrote letters. not long ones, just perfunctory to-the-point ‘he’s dead now, here’s what i remember’ letters. letters signed with their official titles and all their degrees just so i wouldn’t forget how important they were in the story that they had never once touched.
i put your old bar glasses above the sink and watched them.
a year later
the tightness is gone. it is replaced by the loss of the tightness. there is nothing tangible now. there is no pain that comes in waves, that puts me on the floor, that reminds me that you were real and i was real and i was your daughter and you loved me.
2024.05.29 03:16 Soupanon lost my favorite ring… plz help!
 | hi everyone! im in need of some serious advice/direction. submitted by Soupanon to jewelry [link] [comments] i wore the same rings every day. in a mind of complete stupidity, after 6 years, i lost every single one of them. i am so devastated that words cant describe. that being said, theres one that mattered the most to me that i got from an estate sale. it was heavy, marked with the 925 stamp, and thats all i knew about it. i loved how high off my finger the stone was, and how thick the band was. from research, i believe it was a malachite stone. other than that, im stumped on how to find the style of the setting it was in. i hardly have any photos of it for some reason, so the photos arent the best /: but i am really looking for any advice on the style, maybe advice on getting a replica made, or if you know of anyone selling something similar, i will literally jump with joy and maybe kiss you on the face if thats okay😌 im willing to pay maybe too absurd of a price to get the same quality i knew this one was. |
2024.05.29 02:47 8th_Hurdle [EVENT] Second Of April 'In Nineteen-Sixty-Eight
2nd April 1968;
Kenora, SCS;
Enter the room, talk to Vincent Sheridan about the new party developments, and ask whether he would be surprised that one sector of the party wants to exert its independence. Listen to how Vincent talks of the centralised nature of the party, of how they would still get a majority with Aspen even without the two within the investigatory wing. Argue that there should be party unity, but accept that it would be better for the party and the country to let Matias and Jarno go. Ask if Sheridan would mind being the new Member of Warfare if Matias decides to leave the coalition, listen to an enthusiastic reply to the affirmative. Congratulate Vincent on his eagerness and willingness to take on such a senior position.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Step out the office, into one of the conference rooms with good sound-proofing. Listen to the birds outside, and hear the rain falling serenely onto the concrete plaza below. Hear a man coughing, hear your phone ringing, and answer with a greeting. The room is booked out - bugger. Move to the adjacent room, further away from Sheridan so he cannot hear you and cannot see nor hear your emotions. Take all the time you need, you need the courage.
Do not yet have the courage, so call up Barlow, ask him to take a look at charcoal plant for Timmins. Ask if the plans are on time, and whether the power stations are ready for integration with the charcoal plant. Reply received is cheery - typical Barlow - and then interrupted by a tap on the door. Sheridan asks whether to fax the main party office about the potential promotion, the reply shall be to the negative, only one to state it is to be the party leader and the Leading Member. Thank the heavens that you did not have enough courage, send Sheridan off for lunch or something because the phone call is very important. He buggers off.
Resume call with Barlow, his family is doing very well, and he thinks of buying a new motor-car before the Ontario stock runs out, since the factories are in an area claimed only by anarchy. Relay the information, get told the opposite is true and Wisconsin has taken over, the same question is asked again to self, and the answer is not negative, but instead to just do it anyways. Line is off, that’s the end of that conversation.
Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out again.
Decide to pluck up the courage to call Matias again, fail again, try again, somehow succeed. Operator doesn’t want to chat, so all the better. Matias picks up, does not seem very tired, is home phone so office has redirected him, must be enjoying April where it isn’t pouring. Chat away the formalities, realise that he anticipates the real reason for calling as much as you dread saying it, get things straight and say all the right words in a tired yet determined voice.
“Fine. There is nothing against this split, but we need to keep party unity, I’d dread to think if we were tied up with Wisconsin or Minnesota or both, so the IUP isn’t to be joined, got it? I know you and Jarno are a bit tired of myself, and I will retire once my tenure here is done, and yes, you were supposed to be my successor. Please, I like your suggestion to be the ‘Congress of Thought’, but just call it the Congress, alright? It works, it has a ring, and I’d think the country will soon hear of it. We’ll announce it for Easter-time, okay? I hope that works, because the legislation season is about to start, and we need to do as much as possible to get this country firmly under control. I hope you understand, Mati, what we need to do.”
Voice on the other end of the line does understand, and so the farewells are stated, hear a couple of voices in the background and the name of ‘Mark’, must be a personal friend or perhaps a child? Maybe the child’s friend? Is the holidays, is time for the young ones to be at home, will see Mati once the 1968 Easter is finished. Phone goes dead, the sobbing starts, tears of stress and joy and sadness all mix together.
It may be the start of the end. It is only considered, and not acted upon.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in.
Let it all out.
Let it end.
Let the opacity end.
Compose self to meet local business leaders at a conference, prepare for dullness and blank faces.
Never a consistent moment in LM George Ewart Nixon’s life.
Never ever, forever.
[M- Favourite post in a while, makes a nice change in style eh?]
2024.05.29 02:35 Nemo__404 Deathworlders Should Not Be Allowed To Date! [Ch. 36/??]
first
Luna VI query: Set the source to the translation logs of Princess Amara Auralyn.
No problem!
Luna VI query: Narrate Amara's plan to flee from the war.
***
The moment Amara's nose caught the scent of that little puff of smoke ascending from Nathan's damaged equipment, she suspected something terrible had happened. Her lack of understanding of the nature of this particular piece of human tech was unimportant. Just from knowing the fact that this was one of the few items Nathan had rushingly retrieved was more than enough for her to infer its importance.
His extremely negative reaction to its destruction also hadn't escaped her notice.
Amid the ragged bursts of breath and droplets of sweat running down his face, he stared at the smoking piece of equipment on the ground as he cursed. Then he stood up in a huff, pulling his hair as if trying to remove it from his scalp.
With the object source of their distress in between herself and Nathan, she asked a question that she already knew the answer to. "Was that the device you would use to request help?"
Nathan was breathing too fast to speak properly. "What else could. It be."
His confirmation was the last straw for her to close her eyes, allowing all the emotions she'd been suppressing to be manifested, like a multi-colored river flowing among her black spots.
When she opened her eyes again, she and Nathan were already locking gazes, him bending his head forward as he used his knees to support his upper body, while she stood upright with her head at the same vertical level as his.
Amara felt a shared sense of anger at the situation between them, but she was also afraid that Nathan’s anger was more targeted at her than at the situation.
It took some courage for her to speak first.
"Do you have other means for contacting your people?" She knew it was unlikely he had that, but it was still a question worth asking.
"The radio transmitter was being jammed. I didn't think of bringing it with me." He was recovering his breath fast. "What about you? There is that earpiece, and yesterday you had that AR visor on all day."
"The communicator in my ear is short-ranged. As for the AR visor..." She struggled to tell the truth, but she still did it. "I hid it inside a hole in a tree and forgot it."
"A hole? In a tree? Are you kidding me?"
The truth was that Amara hid it before entering Nathan's tent on the previous night. She had certain expectations and didn't want to be interrupted by the notifications.
But of course, she would never admit that.
"See any pockets?" She extended both hands and put her tail beside them, showing she had nowhere to store the items.
"Oh… sorry. Sometimes I forget our differences."
Nathan believed her so easily that she felt a little bad for him, but not bad enough to waste their precious time with unnecessary talking. "Even should I go alone, I fear I cannot retrieve our devices. I would just get killed or captured for nothing. We cannot stay here either because soon they will follow your trail; we need a plan."
She was certain the only reason the enemies hadn't followed them yet was because they had underestimated Nathan's ability to run.
"I wouldn't let you go back there even if you wanted to, Amara. But at least you are thinking now." He touched his chin, his eyes wandering around. "And yeah, we need a plan."
Unknowingly to Nathan, his words had caused Amara to drift away. And it was not because of him saying he wouldn't allow her to return, but because of his mention of the fact that she wasn't thinking before.
And this had affected her deeply because she utterly agreed with him.
By noticing how differently Ryo and Elysira had handled the same situation before they had fleed, Amara had reflected about how poorly she had reacted to the war. She was guilty of thinking about this more than just a little while Nathan was putting in all the effort to take her away from danger.
She traced back her mistake to a single moment—when Nathan had told her his list of reasons why they couldn't be together. This was when she had allowed her heart to be poisoned with rejection, which by morning had spiraled out of control by the dreadful reportings she had received, and finally, it had culminated in her emotional response to the crisis.
Which curiously Nathan had later fixed by his total commitment to staying together.
Amara found all of that pathetic.
This time she set her priorities straight as she suppressed her detrimental feelings in favor of reason. "We could trek parallel to the mountain and find a cave to hide until the elders send help."
"How long would that take?" He asked.
His questions triggered a long chain of assumptions in her mind. She first considered the political situation after the disruptive assassinations in the capital, and then the logistics of the deployment of reinforcements.
But Amara discarded the whole plan when she tried to envision how long it would take for her allies to find them in the darkness of the forest, realizing how flawed her suggestion was.
Displaying red, she said, "Help will be here today, yet the war on the ground will turn into a slow spot-and-kill conflict. My thoughts must still be clouded. To hide in the mountains is a death sentence; the rebels would have a better idea where to search for us than my allies would."
Nathan touched his face and shook his head at her admission. Without fully understanding what he was doing, she watched him approach a young tree and stare at its bark as his right arm tensed.
Before she could ask a single question, he punched the rough bark, dislodging some wood from the brittle surface and making it fall.
He said, "I'm such an idiot. Now our only option is to keep running and I didn't even bring the water."
She was taken aback by his reaction.
It was true among her species that the males could be more aggressive under stressful situations. But to go as far as hunting themselves against a tree? This was something she hadn't seen before nor she could understand.
What would she do now?
Of all her priorities, communicating with him was very high on her list. This went much beyond certain feelings she had, being directly linked to their survival. Remembering how Ryo and Elysira had handled the same situation before they had fled, she couldn't help but feel like she and Nathan were still failing at this.
Following more instinct than reason, Amara decided to approach him as the red on her skin gradually gave way to purple at every step she took.
When he was within tails reach of her, she spoke.
"I cannot read your thoughts much less can I see your feelings, but I presume that similar to me you can also sense that we failed today, am I wrong?" Nathan pursed his lips and didn't reply, leaving her at a loss for a moment. Yet she didn't give up and wrapped her tail around his wrist, raising his scraped knuckles for him to see. "Why have you done this?"
"I..." He averted his eyes from the wound, relaxing his arm. "This ain't me I swear Amara. It's just-"
"The drones are coming." She was forced to shut him up with her tail to confirm what she heard in the background while he was speaking. After adjusting the angle of her ears she added, "At least three."
Seeing Nathan's face contort from one weird expression after the other, she could only feel regret and anger that she was forced to interrupt him. But as long as they were alive they could always talk more later.
"Great!" He took a deep breath and lowered his back for her to climb. "Let's see how far I can go without water."
"No." She could hear the drones advancing slowly, likely searching for places where they might have hidden, underestimating how far Nathan had taken her. "I do not doubt you can run more, but there is no point in running unless we can lose them. Can you do what Ryo did and destroy them?"
He didn't look at her as he replied, "I could try, but I don't have whatever aim improving add-on the military gave him, much less the years of training."
"Can I borrow your loud gun then?" Amara had a seed of a plan in her mind, a risky and reckless plan but still better than doing nothing or engaging in more random running.
"What? Do you have any idea how hard is to shoot those things down?" Nathan took her request so badly that he lifted his body again to explain more. "Your species may have precise movements and all, but this revolver needs more than just aiming, there's the recoil, reloading, and I bet it hurt your ears; besides I doubt you can do better than me without having taken a single shot with one of our guns your whole life."
Nathan was not wrong.
No matter how hard it felt to admit it to herself, the truth was that she was not a frontline fighter. She could bring order. She could weed out traitors. She could give directions. But taking a gun and firing at the enemies? Even a gun crafted by her species was something she lacked experience using.
Still, the way that he expressed his doubt without even hearing what she had in mind made her quite angry. It was nothing close to the feeling of rejection from the night, but it was still enough to encourage her to double down on her idea.
"I do not intend to shoot the drones from far away like you humans do." Amara pointed at the canopy of the young tree beside them and waited for him to look up before she added, "I want to ambush them from a close distance."
His eyes widened, but Nathan still wasn't convinced. "That's dangerous Amara. What if you miss it? You'll just let them know where we are for nothing. And even if you don't miss the shots can’t they just send more drones?"
"You speak reason, but my goal extends beyond destroying them. I know how brother and my species think and I want to mislead them." Amara did her best to let him know her intention. "You will have to be my bait too, and we will need to run as fast as we can towards the valleys once I destroy them. I would explain everything if there was time, but right now you will have to trust me."
"You want to go to the valleys..." He spoke in a low voice as he scratched his head.
Seeing that he didn't straight up reject her idea this time, Amara went on for the last push, showing a forced hint of yellow to try and sound confident. "No sane individual would go to the valleys without equipment and a large group, my brother and his army will never consider searching for us in there."
She regretted her wording as soon as she was done speaking, afraid she might have scared Nathan who was taking his time to reply.
But before she could say anything more, Nathan started loading his gun and when he was done he used his thumb to lower a little lever. "You have to pull this thing down each time before pulling the trigger, but I guess you saw me doing it enough times already." He then undid his action before offering the gun to her as he held it by the muzzle. "Don't forget to hold it with all your might or the recoil will hurt you."
She considered saying some words to let him know how much his trust meant to her, but the drones were approaching and there were more important things to say. Her tail simply coiled around the gun, and she took it as the weight of the task ahead caused the object to feel heavier than it was.
She considered if she should ask for more ammunition, but concluded she wouldn't have time to reload, which she knew was bad despite making things significantly easier.
"Go there and make it convincing that you are absolutely exhausted, can you?" Using her tail, Amara pointed at a bright spot on the ground, where a beam of blue light was making its way from the canopies to the ground. "This is important Nathan. The operators must believe you reached your limit, they must report to my brother that you cannot run much longer."
"This won't be too hard." His lips curled into a hint of a smile. "But are you sure they don't use AI instead of operators to guide the drones?"
"Only you humans are crazy enough to disregard the only law the alliance enforces." She started climbing the tree with each of her clawed hands poking holes into the bark from a different side, but when she was already above Nathan, she looked below. "I am counting on you. We made too many mistakes today, one more and it might not be forgiven."
"I'll do what you asked, okay? Just hit the drones and don't fall from the tree." He said before running towards the spot she had instructed him.
With each of them agreeing on their role, Amara kept climbing the tree, finding little difficulty in her initial task. This was so easy that almost all of her attention was focused on tracking the spinning blades of the drones, which were constantly approaching at a speed that suggested they were doing a minute inspection of the ground.
It was only when she was already high above that she noticed the first problem.
If she wanted the advantage of shooting the drones from the same plane they were approaching, Amara would either have to give up a hand for the aim, or she would have to compromise her camouflage by wrapping her legs around the tree to help her tail to hold her body.
Neither of the options was ideal, but doing nothing was even worse, which led her to choose to sacrifice some of her ability to aim in favor of a tighter grip, ensuring that her legs kept hidden behind the trunk as she pressed each of her clawed fingers of her left hand against the rough bark for a secure hold.
Feeling a burning anxiety like she never felt before, she transferred the gun from her tail to her right hand and surrounded the tree with her now free tail to improve her grip even more.
She then turned her head and took a final glance at Nathan and confirmed he was stooping down and breathing loudly, exactly on the spot she had asked him to go.
Now everything was ready.
Amara hid the gun in between her belly and the tree as her whole body mimicked the brownish color of the bark, even her tail and hair transitioning from their typical blue to a copy of the textured color surrounding her.
Her eyes closed and only a mental representation of her surroundings remained, being especially accurate this time as if her her body knew there was no room for mistakes.
As the seconds passed, her heart rate slowed down and her awareness peaked. Of all her body, only her long ears slightly moved as the positions of the three drones became less foggy in her mind the closer they got to her.
The fact that one of them suddenly stopped moving right in front of the tree was something she expected, that being the exact moment its sensors had found Nathan on the ground.
Instead of attacking, Amara waited.
And almost envisioning the exact conversation the operators were having behind their visors, she gauged the time they took to communicate among themselves by observing how long the other two drones had taken to start moving closer to the one that had spotted Nathan first.
This wasn't a lot of time, which put into perspective how fast she would have to act in order to prevent the other two drones from repositioning after the first one was destroyed.
Her heart was beating slowly and her mind was focused; the chances of the targets getting closer were no different than that of them getting more distant.
Somewhere inside she could feel it—now was the perfect moment for her attack.
Amara's eyes snapped open and her heart rate multiplied by nearly threefold, preparing her for intense exertion. The muscles of her left arm propelled her body sideways, taking her head away from the protection of the tree trunk. That happened at the same time that her clawed finger pulled down the little lever, just like Nathan had taught her.
Her eyes locked first on the most distant target, which was not further away from her than twelve meters, and her right arm moved accordingly, raising the gun as her clawed finger slipped into the trigger.
She knew how painful to her ears the noise would be, yet she still forced her eyes to stay open as she pulled the trigger.
Except, she flinched at the last moment and ended up missing the target because of it.
Now her ears were ringing and the number of targets was the same, fueling her fury for the next shots she fired in a quick sequence.
It took three more attempts to destroy the furthest target, turning her fury into apprehension.
And apprehension quickly transitioned into despair when, after destroying the middle target with two shots, she pulled the trigger aiming at the closed drone, only to hear an empty click.
The drone rotated towards her and she also felt Nathan's gaze in the distance, screaming something that she was too numb to understand.
Would she be the reason for their demise?
Just the thought of how happy her brother would be for seeing her so helpless was more than enough of a reason for her to not accept that.
So at the lack of bullets, she spitefully threw the gun at the spinning blades.
And when the outcome of her desperate action did little more than cause the drone to lose control for a few moments, she still refused to give up and pounced on it as if she were a trained huntress.
If Bhaela could jump from a tree and dig her claws into the veins of an Oczoil from high above and survive to tell the tale, why couldn't she do the same with a little drone?
Her confidence only lasted until no part of her body was touching the tree and her limbs contacted the blades, causing a sharp pain, which she promptly forgot as flesh and machine plummeted together.
Amara tried to use her tail and arms to cushion the fall, but unlike Bhaela graceful performance, all she achieved was her belly smashing the drone against the ground before her arms and head split the kinetic energy from the fall.
Her vision went black after that, but Amara knew she wasn't dead because that annoying ringing sound in her ears persisted, reminding her of her failure.
Time became confused in her state of disorientation, and she had no idea how long had passed when she felt her eyes being opened. As she watched the world around her through a red filter, Amara got to see Nathan's mouth moving, but she was unable to grasp a single word he said.
In a rushed manner, he took off his jacket and pulled out a knife, which he then used to slice a piece of fabric.
He said something again, and she felt his hand pressing against her forehead, the severed portion of his jacket he held being large enough to cover even her eyes below.
Amara felt like sleeping this time, the darkness feeling more welcoming than scary.
But before she could fall asleep, she noticed her body being lifted from the ground. And unlike the last time, she was being held from below as Nathan's hand kept her head locked against his body.
The last memory she retained before her consciousness faded was of hearing the rhythmic sound of his breathing and his loud steps below, feeling as if she might have wrapped her tail around his arm. Yet, she remained unsure whether she had truly done so or if it was just a product of her imagination.
***
This was an account based on Amara's plan to flee from the war. The previous narrative is based on the events of the morning of the twentieth day of the exploratory mission of Irisa. According to your current settings, no queries will be suggested.
next->patreon wiki
submitted by Nemo__404 to HFY [link] [comments]
Luna VI query: Set the source to the translation logs of Princess Amara Auralyn.
No problem!
Luna VI query: Narrate Amara's plan to flee from the war.
***
The moment Amara's nose caught the scent of that little puff of smoke ascending from Nathan's damaged equipment, she suspected something terrible had happened. Her lack of understanding of the nature of this particular piece of human tech was unimportant. Just from knowing the fact that this was one of the few items Nathan had rushingly retrieved was more than enough for her to infer its importance.
His extremely negative reaction to its destruction also hadn't escaped her notice.
Amid the ragged bursts of breath and droplets of sweat running down his face, he stared at the smoking piece of equipment on the ground as he cursed. Then he stood up in a huff, pulling his hair as if trying to remove it from his scalp.
With the object source of their distress in between herself and Nathan, she asked a question that she already knew the answer to. "Was that the device you would use to request help?"
Nathan was breathing too fast to speak properly. "What else could. It be."
His confirmation was the last straw for her to close her eyes, allowing all the emotions she'd been suppressing to be manifested, like a multi-colored river flowing among her black spots.
When she opened her eyes again, she and Nathan were already locking gazes, him bending his head forward as he used his knees to support his upper body, while she stood upright with her head at the same vertical level as his.
Amara felt a shared sense of anger at the situation between them, but she was also afraid that Nathan’s anger was more targeted at her than at the situation.
It took some courage for her to speak first.
"Do you have other means for contacting your people?" She knew it was unlikely he had that, but it was still a question worth asking.
"The radio transmitter was being jammed. I didn't think of bringing it with me." He was recovering his breath fast. "What about you? There is that earpiece, and yesterday you had that AR visor on all day."
"The communicator in my ear is short-ranged. As for the AR visor..." She struggled to tell the truth, but she still did it. "I hid it inside a hole in a tree and forgot it."
"A hole? In a tree? Are you kidding me?"
The truth was that Amara hid it before entering Nathan's tent on the previous night. She had certain expectations and didn't want to be interrupted by the notifications.
But of course, she would never admit that.
"See any pockets?" She extended both hands and put her tail beside them, showing she had nowhere to store the items.
"Oh… sorry. Sometimes I forget our differences."
Nathan believed her so easily that she felt a little bad for him, but not bad enough to waste their precious time with unnecessary talking. "Even should I go alone, I fear I cannot retrieve our devices. I would just get killed or captured for nothing. We cannot stay here either because soon they will follow your trail; we need a plan."
She was certain the only reason the enemies hadn't followed them yet was because they had underestimated Nathan's ability to run.
"I wouldn't let you go back there even if you wanted to, Amara. But at least you are thinking now." He touched his chin, his eyes wandering around. "And yeah, we need a plan."
Unknowingly to Nathan, his words had caused Amara to drift away. And it was not because of him saying he wouldn't allow her to return, but because of his mention of the fact that she wasn't thinking before.
And this had affected her deeply because she utterly agreed with him.
By noticing how differently Ryo and Elysira had handled the same situation before they had fleed, Amara had reflected about how poorly she had reacted to the war. She was guilty of thinking about this more than just a little while Nathan was putting in all the effort to take her away from danger.
She traced back her mistake to a single moment—when Nathan had told her his list of reasons why they couldn't be together. This was when she had allowed her heart to be poisoned with rejection, which by morning had spiraled out of control by the dreadful reportings she had received, and finally, it had culminated in her emotional response to the crisis.
Which curiously Nathan had later fixed by his total commitment to staying together.
Amara found all of that pathetic.
This time she set her priorities straight as she suppressed her detrimental feelings in favor of reason. "We could trek parallel to the mountain and find a cave to hide until the elders send help."
"How long would that take?" He asked.
His questions triggered a long chain of assumptions in her mind. She first considered the political situation after the disruptive assassinations in the capital, and then the logistics of the deployment of reinforcements.
But Amara discarded the whole plan when she tried to envision how long it would take for her allies to find them in the darkness of the forest, realizing how flawed her suggestion was.
Displaying red, she said, "Help will be here today, yet the war on the ground will turn into a slow spot-and-kill conflict. My thoughts must still be clouded. To hide in the mountains is a death sentence; the rebels would have a better idea where to search for us than my allies would."
Nathan touched his face and shook his head at her admission. Without fully understanding what he was doing, she watched him approach a young tree and stare at its bark as his right arm tensed.
Before she could ask a single question, he punched the rough bark, dislodging some wood from the brittle surface and making it fall.
He said, "I'm such an idiot. Now our only option is to keep running and I didn't even bring the water."
She was taken aback by his reaction.
It was true among her species that the males could be more aggressive under stressful situations. But to go as far as hunting themselves against a tree? This was something she hadn't seen before nor she could understand.
What would she do now?
Of all her priorities, communicating with him was very high on her list. This went much beyond certain feelings she had, being directly linked to their survival. Remembering how Ryo and Elysira had handled the same situation before they had fled, she couldn't help but feel like she and Nathan were still failing at this.
Following more instinct than reason, Amara decided to approach him as the red on her skin gradually gave way to purple at every step she took.
When he was within tails reach of her, she spoke.
"I cannot read your thoughts much less can I see your feelings, but I presume that similar to me you can also sense that we failed today, am I wrong?" Nathan pursed his lips and didn't reply, leaving her at a loss for a moment. Yet she didn't give up and wrapped her tail around his wrist, raising his scraped knuckles for him to see. "Why have you done this?"
"I..." He averted his eyes from the wound, relaxing his arm. "This ain't me I swear Amara. It's just-"
"The drones are coming." She was forced to shut him up with her tail to confirm what she heard in the background while he was speaking. After adjusting the angle of her ears she added, "At least three."
Seeing Nathan's face contort from one weird expression after the other, she could only feel regret and anger that she was forced to interrupt him. But as long as they were alive they could always talk more later.
"Great!" He took a deep breath and lowered his back for her to climb. "Let's see how far I can go without water."
"No." She could hear the drones advancing slowly, likely searching for places where they might have hidden, underestimating how far Nathan had taken her. "I do not doubt you can run more, but there is no point in running unless we can lose them. Can you do what Ryo did and destroy them?"
He didn't look at her as he replied, "I could try, but I don't have whatever aim improving add-on the military gave him, much less the years of training."
"Can I borrow your loud gun then?" Amara had a seed of a plan in her mind, a risky and reckless plan but still better than doing nothing or engaging in more random running.
"What? Do you have any idea how hard is to shoot those things down?" Nathan took her request so badly that he lifted his body again to explain more. "Your species may have precise movements and all, but this revolver needs more than just aiming, there's the recoil, reloading, and I bet it hurt your ears; besides I doubt you can do better than me without having taken a single shot with one of our guns your whole life."
Nathan was not wrong.
No matter how hard it felt to admit it to herself, the truth was that she was not a frontline fighter. She could bring order. She could weed out traitors. She could give directions. But taking a gun and firing at the enemies? Even a gun crafted by her species was something she lacked experience using.
Still, the way that he expressed his doubt without even hearing what she had in mind made her quite angry. It was nothing close to the feeling of rejection from the night, but it was still enough to encourage her to double down on her idea.
"I do not intend to shoot the drones from far away like you humans do." Amara pointed at the canopy of the young tree beside them and waited for him to look up before she added, "I want to ambush them from a close distance."
His eyes widened, but Nathan still wasn't convinced. "That's dangerous Amara. What if you miss it? You'll just let them know where we are for nothing. And even if you don't miss the shots can’t they just send more drones?"
"You speak reason, but my goal extends beyond destroying them. I know how brother and my species think and I want to mislead them." Amara did her best to let him know her intention. "You will have to be my bait too, and we will need to run as fast as we can towards the valleys once I destroy them. I would explain everything if there was time, but right now you will have to trust me."
"You want to go to the valleys..." He spoke in a low voice as he scratched his head.
Seeing that he didn't straight up reject her idea this time, Amara went on for the last push, showing a forced hint of yellow to try and sound confident. "No sane individual would go to the valleys without equipment and a large group, my brother and his army will never consider searching for us in there."
She regretted her wording as soon as she was done speaking, afraid she might have scared Nathan who was taking his time to reply.
But before she could say anything more, Nathan started loading his gun and when he was done he used his thumb to lower a little lever. "You have to pull this thing down each time before pulling the trigger, but I guess you saw me doing it enough times already." He then undid his action before offering the gun to her as he held it by the muzzle. "Don't forget to hold it with all your might or the recoil will hurt you."
She considered saying some words to let him know how much his trust meant to her, but the drones were approaching and there were more important things to say. Her tail simply coiled around the gun, and she took it as the weight of the task ahead caused the object to feel heavier than it was.
She considered if she should ask for more ammunition, but concluded she wouldn't have time to reload, which she knew was bad despite making things significantly easier.
"Go there and make it convincing that you are absolutely exhausted, can you?" Using her tail, Amara pointed at a bright spot on the ground, where a beam of blue light was making its way from the canopies to the ground. "This is important Nathan. The operators must believe you reached your limit, they must report to my brother that you cannot run much longer."
"This won't be too hard." His lips curled into a hint of a smile. "But are you sure they don't use AI instead of operators to guide the drones?"
"Only you humans are crazy enough to disregard the only law the alliance enforces." She started climbing the tree with each of her clawed hands poking holes into the bark from a different side, but when she was already above Nathan, she looked below. "I am counting on you. We made too many mistakes today, one more and it might not be forgiven."
"I'll do what you asked, okay? Just hit the drones and don't fall from the tree." He said before running towards the spot she had instructed him.
With each of them agreeing on their role, Amara kept climbing the tree, finding little difficulty in her initial task. This was so easy that almost all of her attention was focused on tracking the spinning blades of the drones, which were constantly approaching at a speed that suggested they were doing a minute inspection of the ground.
It was only when she was already high above that she noticed the first problem.
If she wanted the advantage of shooting the drones from the same plane they were approaching, Amara would either have to give up a hand for the aim, or she would have to compromise her camouflage by wrapping her legs around the tree to help her tail to hold her body.
Neither of the options was ideal, but doing nothing was even worse, which led her to choose to sacrifice some of her ability to aim in favor of a tighter grip, ensuring that her legs kept hidden behind the trunk as she pressed each of her clawed fingers of her left hand against the rough bark for a secure hold.
Feeling a burning anxiety like she never felt before, she transferred the gun from her tail to her right hand and surrounded the tree with her now free tail to improve her grip even more.
She then turned her head and took a final glance at Nathan and confirmed he was stooping down and breathing loudly, exactly on the spot she had asked him to go.
Now everything was ready.
Amara hid the gun in between her belly and the tree as her whole body mimicked the brownish color of the bark, even her tail and hair transitioning from their typical blue to a copy of the textured color surrounding her.
Her eyes closed and only a mental representation of her surroundings remained, being especially accurate this time as if her her body knew there was no room for mistakes.
As the seconds passed, her heart rate slowed down and her awareness peaked. Of all her body, only her long ears slightly moved as the positions of the three drones became less foggy in her mind the closer they got to her.
The fact that one of them suddenly stopped moving right in front of the tree was something she expected, that being the exact moment its sensors had found Nathan on the ground.
Instead of attacking, Amara waited.
And almost envisioning the exact conversation the operators were having behind their visors, she gauged the time they took to communicate among themselves by observing how long the other two drones had taken to start moving closer to the one that had spotted Nathan first.
This wasn't a lot of time, which put into perspective how fast she would have to act in order to prevent the other two drones from repositioning after the first one was destroyed.
Her heart was beating slowly and her mind was focused; the chances of the targets getting closer were no different than that of them getting more distant.
Somewhere inside she could feel it—now was the perfect moment for her attack.
Amara's eyes snapped open and her heart rate multiplied by nearly threefold, preparing her for intense exertion. The muscles of her left arm propelled her body sideways, taking her head away from the protection of the tree trunk. That happened at the same time that her clawed finger pulled down the little lever, just like Nathan had taught her.
Her eyes locked first on the most distant target, which was not further away from her than twelve meters, and her right arm moved accordingly, raising the gun as her clawed finger slipped into the trigger.
She knew how painful to her ears the noise would be, yet she still forced her eyes to stay open as she pulled the trigger.
Except, she flinched at the last moment and ended up missing the target because of it.
Now her ears were ringing and the number of targets was the same, fueling her fury for the next shots she fired in a quick sequence.
It took three more attempts to destroy the furthest target, turning her fury into apprehension.
And apprehension quickly transitioned into despair when, after destroying the middle target with two shots, she pulled the trigger aiming at the closed drone, only to hear an empty click.
The drone rotated towards her and she also felt Nathan's gaze in the distance, screaming something that she was too numb to understand.
Would she be the reason for their demise?
Just the thought of how happy her brother would be for seeing her so helpless was more than enough of a reason for her to not accept that.
So at the lack of bullets, she spitefully threw the gun at the spinning blades.
And when the outcome of her desperate action did little more than cause the drone to lose control for a few moments, she still refused to give up and pounced on it as if she were a trained huntress.
If Bhaela could jump from a tree and dig her claws into the veins of an Oczoil from high above and survive to tell the tale, why couldn't she do the same with a little drone?
Her confidence only lasted until no part of her body was touching the tree and her limbs contacted the blades, causing a sharp pain, which she promptly forgot as flesh and machine plummeted together.
Amara tried to use her tail and arms to cushion the fall, but unlike Bhaela graceful performance, all she achieved was her belly smashing the drone against the ground before her arms and head split the kinetic energy from the fall.
Her vision went black after that, but Amara knew she wasn't dead because that annoying ringing sound in her ears persisted, reminding her of her failure.
Time became confused in her state of disorientation, and she had no idea how long had passed when she felt her eyes being opened. As she watched the world around her through a red filter, Amara got to see Nathan's mouth moving, but she was unable to grasp a single word he said.
In a rushed manner, he took off his jacket and pulled out a knife, which he then used to slice a piece of fabric.
He said something again, and she felt his hand pressing against her forehead, the severed portion of his jacket he held being large enough to cover even her eyes below.
Amara felt like sleeping this time, the darkness feeling more welcoming than scary.
But before she could fall asleep, she noticed her body being lifted from the ground. And unlike the last time, she was being held from below as Nathan's hand kept her head locked against his body.
The last memory she retained before her consciousness faded was of hearing the rhythmic sound of his breathing and his loud steps below, feeling as if she might have wrapped her tail around his arm. Yet, she remained unsure whether she had truly done so or if it was just a product of her imagination.
***
This was an account based on Amara's plan to flee from the war. The previous narrative is based on the events of the morning of the twentieth day of the exploratory mission of Irisa. According to your current settings, no queries will be suggested.
next->patreon wiki
2024.05.29 01:42 vehino The Forge Knight 19.
First Previous
Matthew Sky is a cowboy at heart, seeking a life of fulfillment and adventure beneath the limitless horizon. Now he's been recruited by an ancient order of pan-universal defenders to help protect humanity from the countless horrors waiting in the dark. With his sentient A/I partner by his side and the limitless potential of his incredible forge ring at his command, Matt is THE LAW on a new world that has fallen to chaos...he is THE FORGE KNIGHT.
Previously on the Forge Knight.
I saved a few elves from a fate worse than death, killed an enforcer for a bunch of crazy mages because he was being an asshole, and then I got ATTACKED by the same dang elves I rescued! This sure is turning into a chore, isn't it?
Dying Light Part 6.
-An interlude.
Dressed in silken finery, the elven mage stepped fearlessly into the darkened tavern and approached its sole occupied table, where a man sat drinking alone. His features were difficult to make out in the gloom of the place, but he was tall. Tall enough to come up chest-high to her even while seated.
“Are you the one they call the mad wolf?” she asked him.
“Aya,” he said without interest.
Janthra Nightveil didn’t care for the tepidity of his response. She was the personal apprentice of a great magus and a powerful practitioner of the dark arts herself. She expected more than a drunkard's nod.
She deserved more than that.
“I am Janthra,” she said proudly. “You will refer to me as mistress.”
“I could, perhaps,” the big man spoke with a lifeless rasp as he continued drinking from his mug. “Probably won’t, though.”
“I speak for a lord of the Advocacy,” she said. “In this matter, my words are his words. For reasons that are beyond me, he has decided that he requires your services, dog. You should be honored.”
“I should, should I?” he asked. “Now why’s that?”
“BECAUSE I TOLD YOU SO!” she shouted angrily as her hand swept the pitcher of mead off the table and sent the glass crashing on the floor.
Through the tavern windows, feeble moonlight struggled to provide basic illumination to the room. It cut off just around the man’s neck, leaving his face encased in darkness as he leaned back lazily in his chair. Only his eyes remained visible; gleaming like sharp orbs of reddish hued gold that stared at her with evident amusement.
That was when he struck a match to light a pipe that Janthra hadn’t realized he’d reached for. In the moment of light provided by it, she learned that the tavern wasn’t empty at all.
Bodies had been tossed aside haphazardly, lying dead all around them. Each of them torn apart in a fashion that she found…
…memorable.
Why hadn’t she noticed that?
Why hadn’t she smelled any blood?
“Well, Miss. If you say so, then you say so. Mind putting him on the line for me?” he asked.
“W-What?” Janthra asked nervously.
“Call him up, girl,” he said, emphasizing the last word.
“It isn’t for the likes of me to—”
“He won’t mind. We’re old drinking buddies,” the man assured her. Then he reached to the center of the table and tapped it firmly with a single, bloodstained finger. “Now,” he said.
Janthra made a swift motion with her hands and then held them before the table. From her palms, traces of darkness extended outward and formed an ebony globe that slowly molded itself into the shape of a faceless figure sitting on a throne.
When Janthra was finished the man snapped his fingers and then pointed towards the exit.
“What?” she asked in surprise.
“L’il above your pay, darling. Don’t take it to heart, though. You’re doing a fine job,” he said as he waited for her to leave. Once she was gone, he turned to the image of the shadow and said, “Howdy.”
“Pandemia Lunatica,” the shadow said, speaking the hunter’s name.
“Been a while,” Pandemia said in acknowledgement.
“My servants have failed me,” the shadow said without preamble. “The princess has escaped their reach and successfully contacted a Forge Knight.”
“And Volm?” Pandemia asked curiously. “What happened to him?”
“Disgraced. Defeated. Dead. His soul burns with contrition. Do not speak of him again,” the shadow said tersely.
“Well, Mister, what can really be said?” asked the amused hunter. “You don’t send a virgin to a cathouse unless you want him to be fucked.”
“Quaint,” replied the shadow.
“Don’t be like that,” said Pandemia. “When you don’t invest in quality, what you get is what you get.”
“I did not contact you seeking your smug advice, hunter,” the shadow said with baleful displeasure. “I’ve come to you seeking a solution. Kill the princess. Kill her companions. Kill the hope of their kingdom. Do these things for me and you will enjoy a considerable reward.”
“And what about the Forge Knight?” Lunatica said mildly as he finished with his pipe. “You want him dead, too?”
“He's interfered in matters that do not concern him once too often,” the shadow said. “If the opportunity presents itself, then kill him as well.”
“Well, now, that does sound like extra work to me,” the big man said as he walked to the bar for more mead and a glass to fill it with. “I’ve never met a forge knight yet who ever died easy.”
“Only because you enjoy taking your time killing them,” the shadow said with an audible sneer. “Stop prevaricating, bounty hunter, and name your price.”
“You know what?” Pandemia said after some consideration. “Just get me a few crates of lager and I’ll call us even on the work. I’ll even take my payment in some goddamn Budweiser. Whatever you can find, hoss, I’m just so very fucking tired of drinkin’ mead.”
The harsh laughter of the shadow filled the dead tavern.
“That’s something I’ve always admired about you, Mad Wolf,” it chortled. “Your genuine appreciation of life’s simpler pleasures.”
“Well, ain’t no need to be fancy about things, Sir,” Pandemia said as he donned his duster and hat. “It’s life’s ephemerality that makes it as enjoyable as it is. Wanting too much from it just dilutes the sweetness of its many flavors.”
“Truly the wisdom of the gutter,” the shadow smirked.
“Truly,” Pandemia said with a smirk of his own. “Got a little bit of bad news for you, though,” he added.
“And that is?” asked the shadow.
“That cute little apprentice o’yers mouthed off to me somethin’ fierce,” Pandemia said regretfully. “I’m gonna have to say something to her about it.”
“I don’t bemoan the price of doing business,” the shadow snorted dismissively as it began to fade away. “Do as you wish.”
Pandemia’s lips curled up into a pleased smile. “Always a nice thing to hear them words.”
He then exited the tavern while whistling a cheerful tune. “Hey, girlie,” he said as he approached her, where she waited impatiently. “Got some news from the boss.”
“What are they? What is the will of my master?” Janthra asked him imperiously. “Go on, dog! Speak up!”
In response, Pandemia stepped into her personal space and grinned at her, doing it in such a way that truly showed her in that moment, the depths of his smile and the sharpness of his teeth. Then he leaned towards her ear and whispered. “He said this is going to be a solo job.”
The apprentice’s eyes widened as she took a step backward. She quickly began speaking, trying desperately to say something that would stop what she now knew was coming, but Pandemia silenced her when he raised his hand and cut off her words.
Among other things.
When he was finished, Pandemia Lunatica began his walk east. He was in no hurry.
Wherever he wished to be, he would eventually find himself.
submitted by vehino to HFY [link] [comments]
Matthew Sky is a cowboy at heart, seeking a life of fulfillment and adventure beneath the limitless horizon. Now he's been recruited by an ancient order of pan-universal defenders to help protect humanity from the countless horrors waiting in the dark. With his sentient A/I partner by his side and the limitless potential of his incredible forge ring at his command, Matt is THE LAW on a new world that has fallen to chaos...he is THE FORGE KNIGHT.
Previously on the Forge Knight.
I saved a few elves from a fate worse than death, killed an enforcer for a bunch of crazy mages because he was being an asshole, and then I got ATTACKED by the same dang elves I rescued! This sure is turning into a chore, isn't it?
Dying Light Part 6.
-An interlude.
Dressed in silken finery, the elven mage stepped fearlessly into the darkened tavern and approached its sole occupied table, where a man sat drinking alone. His features were difficult to make out in the gloom of the place, but he was tall. Tall enough to come up chest-high to her even while seated.
“Are you the one they call the mad wolf?” she asked him.
“Aya,” he said without interest.
Janthra Nightveil didn’t care for the tepidity of his response. She was the personal apprentice of a great magus and a powerful practitioner of the dark arts herself. She expected more than a drunkard's nod.
She deserved more than that.
“I am Janthra,” she said proudly. “You will refer to me as mistress.”
“I could, perhaps,” the big man spoke with a lifeless rasp as he continued drinking from his mug. “Probably won’t, though.”
“I speak for a lord of the Advocacy,” she said. “In this matter, my words are his words. For reasons that are beyond me, he has decided that he requires your services, dog. You should be honored.”
“I should, should I?” he asked. “Now why’s that?”
“BECAUSE I TOLD YOU SO!” she shouted angrily as her hand swept the pitcher of mead off the table and sent the glass crashing on the floor.
Through the tavern windows, feeble moonlight struggled to provide basic illumination to the room. It cut off just around the man’s neck, leaving his face encased in darkness as he leaned back lazily in his chair. Only his eyes remained visible; gleaming like sharp orbs of reddish hued gold that stared at her with evident amusement.
That was when he struck a match to light a pipe that Janthra hadn’t realized he’d reached for. In the moment of light provided by it, she learned that the tavern wasn’t empty at all.
Bodies had been tossed aside haphazardly, lying dead all around them. Each of them torn apart in a fashion that she found…
…memorable.
Why hadn’t she noticed that?
Why hadn’t she smelled any blood?
“Well, Miss. If you say so, then you say so. Mind putting him on the line for me?” he asked.
“W-What?” Janthra asked nervously.
“Call him up, girl,” he said, emphasizing the last word.
“It isn’t for the likes of me to—”
“He won’t mind. We’re old drinking buddies,” the man assured her. Then he reached to the center of the table and tapped it firmly with a single, bloodstained finger. “Now,” he said.
Janthra made a swift motion with her hands and then held them before the table. From her palms, traces of darkness extended outward and formed an ebony globe that slowly molded itself into the shape of a faceless figure sitting on a throne.
When Janthra was finished the man snapped his fingers and then pointed towards the exit.
“What?” she asked in surprise.
“L’il above your pay, darling. Don’t take it to heart, though. You’re doing a fine job,” he said as he waited for her to leave. Once she was gone, he turned to the image of the shadow and said, “Howdy.”
“Pandemia Lunatica,” the shadow said, speaking the hunter’s name.
“Been a while,” Pandemia said in acknowledgement.
“My servants have failed me,” the shadow said without preamble. “The princess has escaped their reach and successfully contacted a Forge Knight.”
“And Volm?” Pandemia asked curiously. “What happened to him?”
“Disgraced. Defeated. Dead. His soul burns with contrition. Do not speak of him again,” the shadow said tersely.
“Well, Mister, what can really be said?” asked the amused hunter. “You don’t send a virgin to a cathouse unless you want him to be fucked.”
“Quaint,” replied the shadow.
“Don’t be like that,” said Pandemia. “When you don’t invest in quality, what you get is what you get.”
“I did not contact you seeking your smug advice, hunter,” the shadow said with baleful displeasure. “I’ve come to you seeking a solution. Kill the princess. Kill her companions. Kill the hope of their kingdom. Do these things for me and you will enjoy a considerable reward.”
“And what about the Forge Knight?” Lunatica said mildly as he finished with his pipe. “You want him dead, too?”
“He's interfered in matters that do not concern him once too often,” the shadow said. “If the opportunity presents itself, then kill him as well.”
“Well, now, that does sound like extra work to me,” the big man said as he walked to the bar for more mead and a glass to fill it with. “I’ve never met a forge knight yet who ever died easy.”
“Only because you enjoy taking your time killing them,” the shadow said with an audible sneer. “Stop prevaricating, bounty hunter, and name your price.”
“You know what?” Pandemia said after some consideration. “Just get me a few crates of lager and I’ll call us even on the work. I’ll even take my payment in some goddamn Budweiser. Whatever you can find, hoss, I’m just so very fucking tired of drinkin’ mead.”
The harsh laughter of the shadow filled the dead tavern.
“That’s something I’ve always admired about you, Mad Wolf,” it chortled. “Your genuine appreciation of life’s simpler pleasures.”
“Well, ain’t no need to be fancy about things, Sir,” Pandemia said as he donned his duster and hat. “It’s life’s ephemerality that makes it as enjoyable as it is. Wanting too much from it just dilutes the sweetness of its many flavors.”
“Truly the wisdom of the gutter,” the shadow smirked.
“Truly,” Pandemia said with a smirk of his own. “Got a little bit of bad news for you, though,” he added.
“And that is?” asked the shadow.
“That cute little apprentice o’yers mouthed off to me somethin’ fierce,” Pandemia said regretfully. “I’m gonna have to say something to her about it.”
“I don’t bemoan the price of doing business,” the shadow snorted dismissively as it began to fade away. “Do as you wish.”
Pandemia’s lips curled up into a pleased smile. “Always a nice thing to hear them words.”
He then exited the tavern while whistling a cheerful tune. “Hey, girlie,” he said as he approached her, where she waited impatiently. “Got some news from the boss.”
“What are they? What is the will of my master?” Janthra asked him imperiously. “Go on, dog! Speak up!”
In response, Pandemia stepped into her personal space and grinned at her, doing it in such a way that truly showed her in that moment, the depths of his smile and the sharpness of his teeth. Then he leaned towards her ear and whispered. “He said this is going to be a solo job.”
The apprentice’s eyes widened as she took a step backward. She quickly began speaking, trying desperately to say something that would stop what she now knew was coming, but Pandemia silenced her when he raised his hand and cut off her words.
Among other things.
When he was finished, Pandemia Lunatica began his walk east. He was in no hurry.
Wherever he wished to be, he would eventually find himself.
2024.05.29 01:17 kayenano The Villainess Is An SS+ Rank Adventurer: Chapter 245
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Synopsis:
Juliette Contzen is a lazy, good-for-nothing princess. Overshadowed by her siblings, she's left with little to do but nap, read … and occasionally cut the falling raindrops with her sword. Spotted one day by an astonished adventurer, he insists on grading Juliette's swordsmanship, then promptly has a mental breakdown at the result.
Soon after, Juliette is given the news that her kingdom is on the brink of bankruptcy. At threat of being married off, the lazy princess vows to do whatever it takes to maintain her current lifestyle, and taking matters into her own hands, escapes in the middle of the night in order to restore her kingdom's finances.
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Copious Ohohohohos.
Chapter 245: A Clockwork Wish
The quiet streets of Hartzwiese stood in contrast to the lights of the many inns, bars and taverns.
Despite its modest size, the town boasted as many drinking establishments as there were adventurers somehow drunk enough to be booted from the guild hall. And yet for all the bright lanterns singing from the windows, they paled in comparison to the moonlight as it graced the steps before me. A white carpet ushering me towards a tavern Apple was now using as a stables, and where I could enjoy a complementary room, courtesy of the fact I now owned it.
But before I could put my day’s labours behind me, there was still an important task I had to do.
The most important.
Rewarding my loyal handmaiden, who throughout these arduous days had remained firm and true as much as the sword by my side.
Indeed, no ill deed went unpunished, and no good service went unrewarded.
Why … she even knew the same.
Stopping before a large fountain in the centre of the town square, Coppelia held her palm out towards me as she eyed the faintly glittering surface.
“Gimme change,” she said brightly.
“Change?”
“I want to toss a coin into the fountain~”
My mouth opened wide.
“E-Excuse me! I know very well you possess coins of your own! Furthermore, I’ll not give you money from our hard earned hazelnut croissant fund merely to quite literally toss it away!”
“It’s not throwing it away. It’s making a wish.”
“A wish?”
“Mmh~ drop a coin into a fountain. Get a wish. An absolute bargain. Haven’t you tried it before?”
“Coppelia, I’ve no need to drop coins into fountains. I ring a bell. That’s how my wishes come true.”
“Well, do you have the bell with you?”
I paused.
“... No.”
“There you go, then! Until you get your bell back, you’ll need to toss away coins for your wishes.”
She beamed with childish expectation, palm still outstretched, fully expecting me to humour her request.
Well, sadly for Coppelia, I was not so easily moved!
Our personal finances went into maintaining a minimal standard of living! And that meant every coin we had to spare went into purchasing premium apples and cinnamon rolls! It would be unconscionable of me to allow it to be spent so frivolously!
“Staaaaaaaaaaaare~”
I rolled my eyes.
“... Fine, one copper crown,” I said, rummaging through my bottomless pouch. “Really now, this is hardly a djinn you’re bribing. I’m surprised you wish to add to the fountain and not merely scoop up what’s there.”
“Hey! I have standards! … I don’t like copper, it’s less shiny than silver and gold and gets in the way when I rummage through my ill-gotten gains.”
I offered Coppelia a sigh along with the small coin.
She accepted it with a giggle. As she turned to the fountain, the stars twinkled from her eyes more than the surface of the clear water.
Plop.
It vanished into the depths.
A small proof of our hardship, now given to the fountain to judge and a magpie to steal come the morning.
“And what wish do you hope to acquire through a less shiny copper crown?”
Coppelia merely smiled.
No word left her lips as her turquoise eyes gazed at the fountain’s disturbed surface. She herself was motionless but for the soft wind tugging at the ends of her fluffy golden hair.
And then–she twirled on the spot.
Arms spinning around, she raised them out and stopped like a melodramatic ballerina.
“World domination! I shall subjugate all squishy life under my cute, clockwork heel!”
“Please pick a different wish,” I replied, waving her declaration away as I would a plain chouquette. “World domination has already been chosen by half the world’s rulers. There’s not enough wishes in any fountain to accommodate them all.”
“... Got it! I’ll take an apple strudel!”
“You can wish for something that isn’t already in our possession.”
“In that case, I’ll take an apple strudel from every bakery in the world!”
I nodded. Better. Especially as I was far more dependable than any wishing fountain.
Indeed, as soon as I returned to the Royal Villa, I’d order a squire to go fetch an apple strudel from every bakery in the world as part of some inane quest!
“But what about you?” she asked, never knowing the suffering and hardship her casual request had just caused somebody not me. “Don’t you have any wishes for the totally legitimate wishing fountain?”
I held a hand to my chest, scoffing with a princess’s dignity.
“Ohohoho … for the fountain? No. I’ve no need for a fountain to make my wishes come true, for I have my own strength of purpose. And that is enough to grant all I desire. The prosperity of my kingdom. The health of my family. And the loyalty of my subjects.”
Coppelia leaned towards me, her smile appraising my own.
“Reeaaaally?”
I reacted with the indignation such scepticism deserved … and also a quick glance around me as I eyed for witnesses.
“... W-Well, if I could maybe have one thing, it would be an opportunity to finish reading my current novels. I have been stuck on the same pages for far too long.”
“That really annoys you, huh?”
“I-It’s terrible, Coppelia! At this rate, I’ll need to re-read some of them … and frankly, it’s enough of a strike against my fragile heart to do so once! There is only so much research a princess can take!”
My loyal handmaiden giggled. She wouldn’t if she knew the dangers that overexposure to the world of bestselling adventure romances could cause. I’d seen noblewomen collapsing at court more often with a copy of Scandals Of The Incorrigible Viscount in hand than any knife to the back.
A moment later–
Plop.
A second copper crown was casually tossed into the fountain.
“Done~” said Coppelia with a satisfied clap. “I’ve made your wish for you!”
My mouth widened as I stared between the fresh ripples and her mischievous smile.
“E-Excuse me! Didn’t you say you had no copper crowns?”
“I only said I didn’t like them. I never said I didn’t have just the one lying around. Isn’t that great? Now it means we both get our wishes! Apple strudels and scandalous books galore!”
“C-Coppelia! That is an entirely unnecessary waste of a copper crown … and more besides, I could have wished for a dragon’s hoard!”
“I mean, you could. But if you thought people were a problem before, wait until they know you’re even richer than a normal princess. You’d have burglars breaking into your vault even while you’re still busy swimming around in the pile of gold.”
“Please. That happens regardless of whether or not a dragon’s hoard is involved. And if it ever became a true issue, well … I’d simply solve it by hiring a dragon.”
“You’d hire a dragon to guard a dragon’s hoard?”
“Why not? There’s clearly no better proven warden.”
“Yep, that’s true. They’d even guard it against you. How would you get the treasure back?”
“I wouldn’t. It’d simply exist to slowly erase the population of burglars from my kingdom. That would be its true value.”
Coppelia looked up in thought.
“Huh. That sounds suspiciously like something which could work.”
I smiled with quiet pride. But not too quiet. I had my pride, after all.
“Ohohoh … naturally, I’m not only a princess. I’m a genius … but since I’m mostly a princess, this also means ensuring my retainers are rewarded for their service, and bribed concerning any slovenly faces I may have made.”
“Now that’s the level of subtlety I like. Negative numbers.”
“Well, negative numbers is also how I value most fae trinkets. But perhaps you can find worth in it.”
Coppelia clapped her hands together and beamed.
“Ooooh~! I smell souvenirs! Did you steal toiletries on the way out of the Fae Realm?”
“I did not steal toiletries! … although if I’d seen any, I possibly may have!”
“So you stole something else? Like cutlery?”
“Coppelia! I do not steal things whenever I visit a different plane of existence!”
“Why not? Everyone else does.”
“I am not ‘everyone’. Even when abducted, I’m still required to display the regal bearing of my station, representing always my kingdom and my family … and there was no cutlery, either.”
“Wow. You must have had an awful time.”
I gave a grim nod.
No toiletries. No cutlery. Not even a branded napkin.
The next time I was indiscriminately abducted to the Fae Realm, I’d ensure I would wander lost until a stack of towels accidentally fell into my arms.
“It was dire. But while I didn’t return empty handed, it was with nothing drawn from a dragon’s hoard or edible like a mound of apple strudels. Regardless, here is a gift acquired from the Spring Queen to add to your collection of trinkets and doodads I have no wish to know about.”
Thus, I reached into my bottomless bag, sweated as I fished for a slender object, and then retrieved a small ring of jade.
Unlike the crystal ring gifted to me by the Winter Queen and now embellished by her sister, the jade ring was adorned only with a pattern of crystalline vines upon the band, lacking any jewel set upon it.
Even so, Coppelia’s eyes lit up like a twin pair of moons.
She pointed at herself.
“Wait, is that for me?”
“Indeed, it is. You may have it.”
“Eh … ehhh?! It actually looks expensive, though! I was expecting something like a postcard!”
I raised a brow.
“If you’d prefer a postcard, I’m sure I could ask for one instead.”
Coppelia appeared speechless. Something so impossible not even a fountain could grant it.
Blinking in disbelief, she reached out and accepted the ring. Without putting it on, she held it against the moonlight, studying its finish.
“Ooooh~ it’s so shiny! … Will I blow up if I wear it?”
“No.” I paused. “At least, I don’t think so.”
Coppelia stopped as the ring met her finger.
“There’s no need to fear,” I added as I took a step away. “It’s a ring gifted by the Spring Queen, and so is imbued also by her magic.”
“I’m not hearing anything which says I won’t blow up.”
“You won’t blow up. Probably. After all, this thing is still little more than a child’s trinket. It contains a single favoured plaything from her court of dreams. The very swing she sat upon during our meeting.”
“The swing?”
“The swing. I believe it functions similarly to the bed. Why not try summoning it in the same manner?”
Deciding she’d paid enough tribute to caution, Coppelia popped the ring on.
She studied herself to ensure she hadn’t melted, before raising her hand in curiosity.
“Sooooo … do I just need to say [Summon Swing] and–woooaahh!!”
Poof.
The moment the words left her lips, she was lifted from the ground as a swing of crystalline leaves and vines appeared where she stood, seating her automatically in the process. Against the dour backdrop of Hartzwiese’s decidedly human streets, it shone with as much vividness as the Spring Queen’s mirror-like wings.
Coppelia blinked, her eyes wide as she wrapped her hands around the ropes of crystallised vines.
And then–
She began to swing.
With only the rustling of her clothes and the fluttering of her hair to disturb the quiet scenery, she proceeded to test the Spring Queen’s plaything, wasting little time before she began to swing like a pendulum, backwards and forwards at greater speeds.
She did not say a word, nor voice any thoughts, and although she wore a smile upon her face, it was no different to one she regularly affixed upon herself.
A moment of doubt struck me.
“N-Naturally, it’s rather unorthodox as a gift. It is no great heirloom or weapon, and rather impractical so far as useful function is concerned. But I imagine the ring itself is worth some value. If you do not want it, I’m certain some curio collector would pay for its novelty value. Regardless, please consider it as a bonus.”
Suddenly, Coppelia leapt off the swing in mid-flight. She skipped a few steps owing to the momentum, yet still pirouetted effortlessly on one foot as she twisted around to face me.
Her widening smile was the only warning I received.
“–Hiieeee?!”
Because the next moment …
I experienced the sensation of being hoisted off my feet.
Oh no.
“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”
Wrapping her arms around my waist, she easily lifted me up.
A feeling I’d experienced once before. And one I had not forgotten. Terror mixed with only the tiniest drop of excitement met me as I was promptly swung like an errant pillow.
“C-Coooppeeeliaaaa!! M-My priiiinnceess imaaggee!!”
With a girlish smile, Coppelia paid no heed to my meek and delicate cry as she twirled on the spot.
Around and around, my hair billowed behind me as all the town became a blur which helped to hide the many holes and cracks in the walls and windows, until somehow, the other side of my hair became known to the opposite side of my face.
“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~”
Just as I felt the world beginning to take on entirely new colours, she came to a stop.
She placed me down, continuing to smile as I waved away her supporting hands. I stumbled as I chased equilibrium, all the while blowing the many strands of my dark hair away from my mouth. My fingers instinctively went into emergency combing mode.
“I-It seems … uughh … you enjoy … the gift … uuuh … I’m … I’m pleased …”
Coppelia stepped back, arms behind her back as she gave another twirl, this time mercifully without me attached. Like a maiden in a meadow, she lightly skipped around her new magically summoned fae swing, examining its fine spring motifs and crystalline details, before finally turning to me once again.
I leaned away, not least because there were now several versions of her before me.
“Thankies~” she said brightly. “I like this a lot!”
I held my tummy, making sure nothing terrible was about to happen before I replied.
“You’re … uugh … you’re welcome …”
She gave a giggle of amusement at my expense, then seated herself on her new swing once again.
For my part, I rather desperately eyed the direction of my kingdom’s latest acquisition. A tavern which possessed very helpful walls. Even if I had no intention on using the beds within them.
After all–
It wasn’t only Coppelia who had reason to smile tonight.
Indeed … I also had a new and improved bed to enjoy!
Now that my minor detour to this corner of my countryside was complete, my only remaining task was to thoroughly and objectively test the Spring Queen’s magic for myself.
Yes … it was time to indulge my face in the Winter Queen’s pillow once again! To hug a silken duvet now gifted with the scent of an eternal meadow! A moment to thoroughly reward myself as I purposefully shoved any and all dangerous thoughts of tomorrow to the wayside!
And nothing, I knew, could disturb me from my slumber!
That ominous feeling I’d forgotten something important?
Why … I barely even felt it!
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submitted by kayenano to HFY [link] [comments]
Synopsis:
Juliette Contzen is a lazy, good-for-nothing princess. Overshadowed by her siblings, she's left with little to do but nap, read … and occasionally cut the falling raindrops with her sword. Spotted one day by an astonished adventurer, he insists on grading Juliette's swordsmanship, then promptly has a mental breakdown at the result.
Soon after, Juliette is given the news that her kingdom is on the brink of bankruptcy. At threat of being married off, the lazy princess vows to do whatever it takes to maintain her current lifestyle, and taking matters into her own hands, escapes in the middle of the night in order to restore her kingdom's finances.
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Copious Ohohohohos.
Chapter 245: A Clockwork Wish
The quiet streets of Hartzwiese stood in contrast to the lights of the many inns, bars and taverns.
Despite its modest size, the town boasted as many drinking establishments as there were adventurers somehow drunk enough to be booted from the guild hall. And yet for all the bright lanterns singing from the windows, they paled in comparison to the moonlight as it graced the steps before me. A white carpet ushering me towards a tavern Apple was now using as a stables, and where I could enjoy a complementary room, courtesy of the fact I now owned it.
But before I could put my day’s labours behind me, there was still an important task I had to do.
The most important.
Rewarding my loyal handmaiden, who throughout these arduous days had remained firm and true as much as the sword by my side.
Indeed, no ill deed went unpunished, and no good service went unrewarded.
Why … she even knew the same.
Stopping before a large fountain in the centre of the town square, Coppelia held her palm out towards me as she eyed the faintly glittering surface.
“Gimme change,” she said brightly.
“Change?”
“I want to toss a coin into the fountain~”
My mouth opened wide.
“E-Excuse me! I know very well you possess coins of your own! Furthermore, I’ll not give you money from our hard earned hazelnut croissant fund merely to quite literally toss it away!”
“It’s not throwing it away. It’s making a wish.”
“A wish?”
“Mmh~ drop a coin into a fountain. Get a wish. An absolute bargain. Haven’t you tried it before?”
“Coppelia, I’ve no need to drop coins into fountains. I ring a bell. That’s how my wishes come true.”
“Well, do you have the bell with you?”
I paused.
“... No.”
“There you go, then! Until you get your bell back, you’ll need to toss away coins for your wishes.”
She beamed with childish expectation, palm still outstretched, fully expecting me to humour her request.
Well, sadly for Coppelia, I was not so easily moved!
Our personal finances went into maintaining a minimal standard of living! And that meant every coin we had to spare went into purchasing premium apples and cinnamon rolls! It would be unconscionable of me to allow it to be spent so frivolously!
“Staaaaaaaaaaaare~”
I rolled my eyes.
“... Fine, one copper crown,” I said, rummaging through my bottomless pouch. “Really now, this is hardly a djinn you’re bribing. I’m surprised you wish to add to the fountain and not merely scoop up what’s there.”
“Hey! I have standards! … I don’t like copper, it’s less shiny than silver and gold and gets in the way when I rummage through my ill-gotten gains.”
I offered Coppelia a sigh along with the small coin.
She accepted it with a giggle. As she turned to the fountain, the stars twinkled from her eyes more than the surface of the clear water.
Plop.
It vanished into the depths.
A small proof of our hardship, now given to the fountain to judge and a magpie to steal come the morning.
“And what wish do you hope to acquire through a less shiny copper crown?”
Coppelia merely smiled.
No word left her lips as her turquoise eyes gazed at the fountain’s disturbed surface. She herself was motionless but for the soft wind tugging at the ends of her fluffy golden hair.
And then–she twirled on the spot.
Arms spinning around, she raised them out and stopped like a melodramatic ballerina.
“World domination! I shall subjugate all squishy life under my cute, clockwork heel!”
“Please pick a different wish,” I replied, waving her declaration away as I would a plain chouquette. “World domination has already been chosen by half the world’s rulers. There’s not enough wishes in any fountain to accommodate them all.”
“... Got it! I’ll take an apple strudel!”
“You can wish for something that isn’t already in our possession.”
“In that case, I’ll take an apple strudel from every bakery in the world!”
I nodded. Better. Especially as I was far more dependable than any wishing fountain.
Indeed, as soon as I returned to the Royal Villa, I’d order a squire to go fetch an apple strudel from every bakery in the world as part of some inane quest!
“But what about you?” she asked, never knowing the suffering and hardship her casual request had just caused somebody not me. “Don’t you have any wishes for the totally legitimate wishing fountain?”
I held a hand to my chest, scoffing with a princess’s dignity.
“Ohohoho … for the fountain? No. I’ve no need for a fountain to make my wishes come true, for I have my own strength of purpose. And that is enough to grant all I desire. The prosperity of my kingdom. The health of my family. And the loyalty of my subjects.”
Coppelia leaned towards me, her smile appraising my own.
“Reeaaaally?”
I reacted with the indignation such scepticism deserved … and also a quick glance around me as I eyed for witnesses.
“... W-Well, if I could maybe have one thing, it would be an opportunity to finish reading my current novels. I have been stuck on the same pages for far too long.”
“That really annoys you, huh?”
“I-It’s terrible, Coppelia! At this rate, I’ll need to re-read some of them … and frankly, it’s enough of a strike against my fragile heart to do so once! There is only so much research a princess can take!”
My loyal handmaiden giggled. She wouldn’t if she knew the dangers that overexposure to the world of bestselling adventure romances could cause. I’d seen noblewomen collapsing at court more often with a copy of Scandals Of The Incorrigible Viscount in hand than any knife to the back.
A moment later–
Plop.
A second copper crown was casually tossed into the fountain.
“Done~” said Coppelia with a satisfied clap. “I’ve made your wish for you!”
My mouth widened as I stared between the fresh ripples and her mischievous smile.
“E-Excuse me! Didn’t you say you had no copper crowns?”
“I only said I didn’t like them. I never said I didn’t have just the one lying around. Isn’t that great? Now it means we both get our wishes! Apple strudels and scandalous books galore!”
“C-Coppelia! That is an entirely unnecessary waste of a copper crown … and more besides, I could have wished for a dragon’s hoard!”
“I mean, you could. But if you thought people were a problem before, wait until they know you’re even richer than a normal princess. You’d have burglars breaking into your vault even while you’re still busy swimming around in the pile of gold.”
“Please. That happens regardless of whether or not a dragon’s hoard is involved. And if it ever became a true issue, well … I’d simply solve it by hiring a dragon.”
“You’d hire a dragon to guard a dragon’s hoard?”
“Why not? There’s clearly no better proven warden.”
“Yep, that’s true. They’d even guard it against you. How would you get the treasure back?”
“I wouldn’t. It’d simply exist to slowly erase the population of burglars from my kingdom. That would be its true value.”
Coppelia looked up in thought.
“Huh. That sounds suspiciously like something which could work.”
I smiled with quiet pride. But not too quiet. I had my pride, after all.
“Ohohoh … naturally, I’m not only a princess. I’m a genius … but since I’m mostly a princess, this also means ensuring my retainers are rewarded for their service, and bribed concerning any slovenly faces I may have made.”
“Now that’s the level of subtlety I like. Negative numbers.”
“Well, negative numbers is also how I value most fae trinkets. But perhaps you can find worth in it.”
Coppelia clapped her hands together and beamed.
“Ooooh~! I smell souvenirs! Did you steal toiletries on the way out of the Fae Realm?”
“I did not steal toiletries! … although if I’d seen any, I possibly may have!”
“So you stole something else? Like cutlery?”
“Coppelia! I do not steal things whenever I visit a different plane of existence!”
“Why not? Everyone else does.”
“I am not ‘everyone’. Even when abducted, I’m still required to display the regal bearing of my station, representing always my kingdom and my family … and there was no cutlery, either.”
“Wow. You must have had an awful time.”
I gave a grim nod.
No toiletries. No cutlery. Not even a branded napkin.
The next time I was indiscriminately abducted to the Fae Realm, I’d ensure I would wander lost until a stack of towels accidentally fell into my arms.
“It was dire. But while I didn’t return empty handed, it was with nothing drawn from a dragon’s hoard or edible like a mound of apple strudels. Regardless, here is a gift acquired from the Spring Queen to add to your collection of trinkets and doodads I have no wish to know about.”
Thus, I reached into my bottomless bag, sweated as I fished for a slender object, and then retrieved a small ring of jade.
Unlike the crystal ring gifted to me by the Winter Queen and now embellished by her sister, the jade ring was adorned only with a pattern of crystalline vines upon the band, lacking any jewel set upon it.
Even so, Coppelia’s eyes lit up like a twin pair of moons.
She pointed at herself.
“Wait, is that for me?”
“Indeed, it is. You may have it.”
“Eh … ehhh?! It actually looks expensive, though! I was expecting something like a postcard!”
I raised a brow.
“If you’d prefer a postcard, I’m sure I could ask for one instead.”
Coppelia appeared speechless. Something so impossible not even a fountain could grant it.
Blinking in disbelief, she reached out and accepted the ring. Without putting it on, she held it against the moonlight, studying its finish.
“Ooooh~ it’s so shiny! … Will I blow up if I wear it?”
“No.” I paused. “At least, I don’t think so.”
Coppelia stopped as the ring met her finger.
“There’s no need to fear,” I added as I took a step away. “It’s a ring gifted by the Spring Queen, and so is imbued also by her magic.”
“I’m not hearing anything which says I won’t blow up.”
“You won’t blow up. Probably. After all, this thing is still little more than a child’s trinket. It contains a single favoured plaything from her court of dreams. The very swing she sat upon during our meeting.”
“The swing?”
“The swing. I believe it functions similarly to the bed. Why not try summoning it in the same manner?”
Deciding she’d paid enough tribute to caution, Coppelia popped the ring on.
She studied herself to ensure she hadn’t melted, before raising her hand in curiosity.
“Sooooo … do I just need to say [Summon Swing] and–woooaahh!!”
Poof.
The moment the words left her lips, she was lifted from the ground as a swing of crystalline leaves and vines appeared where she stood, seating her automatically in the process. Against the dour backdrop of Hartzwiese’s decidedly human streets, it shone with as much vividness as the Spring Queen’s mirror-like wings.
Coppelia blinked, her eyes wide as she wrapped her hands around the ropes of crystallised vines.
And then–
She began to swing.
With only the rustling of her clothes and the fluttering of her hair to disturb the quiet scenery, she proceeded to test the Spring Queen’s plaything, wasting little time before she began to swing like a pendulum, backwards and forwards at greater speeds.
She did not say a word, nor voice any thoughts, and although she wore a smile upon her face, it was no different to one she regularly affixed upon herself.
A moment of doubt struck me.
“N-Naturally, it’s rather unorthodox as a gift. It is no great heirloom or weapon, and rather impractical so far as useful function is concerned. But I imagine the ring itself is worth some value. If you do not want it, I’m certain some curio collector would pay for its novelty value. Regardless, please consider it as a bonus.”
Suddenly, Coppelia leapt off the swing in mid-flight. She skipped a few steps owing to the momentum, yet still pirouetted effortlessly on one foot as she twisted around to face me.
Her widening smile was the only warning I received.
“–Hiieeee?!”
Because the next moment …
I experienced the sensation of being hoisted off my feet.
Oh no.
“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”
Wrapping her arms around my waist, she easily lifted me up.
A feeling I’d experienced once before. And one I had not forgotten. Terror mixed with only the tiniest drop of excitement met me as I was promptly swung like an errant pillow.
“C-Coooppeeeliaaaa!! M-My priiiinnceess imaaggee!!”
With a girlish smile, Coppelia paid no heed to my meek and delicate cry as she twirled on the spot.
Around and around, my hair billowed behind me as all the town became a blur which helped to hide the many holes and cracks in the walls and windows, until somehow, the other side of my hair became known to the opposite side of my face.
“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~”
Just as I felt the world beginning to take on entirely new colours, she came to a stop.
She placed me down, continuing to smile as I waved away her supporting hands. I stumbled as I chased equilibrium, all the while blowing the many strands of my dark hair away from my mouth. My fingers instinctively went into emergency combing mode.
“I-It seems … uughh … you enjoy … the gift … uuuh … I’m … I’m pleased …”
Coppelia stepped back, arms behind her back as she gave another twirl, this time mercifully without me attached. Like a maiden in a meadow, she lightly skipped around her new magically summoned fae swing, examining its fine spring motifs and crystalline details, before finally turning to me once again.
I leaned away, not least because there were now several versions of her before me.
“Thankies~” she said brightly. “I like this a lot!”
I held my tummy, making sure nothing terrible was about to happen before I replied.
“You’re … uugh … you’re welcome …”
She gave a giggle of amusement at my expense, then seated herself on her new swing once again.
For my part, I rather desperately eyed the direction of my kingdom’s latest acquisition. A tavern which possessed very helpful walls. Even if I had no intention on using the beds within them.
After all–
It wasn’t only Coppelia who had reason to smile tonight.
Indeed … I also had a new and improved bed to enjoy!
Now that my minor detour to this corner of my countryside was complete, my only remaining task was to thoroughly and objectively test the Spring Queen’s magic for myself.
Yes … it was time to indulge my face in the Winter Queen’s pillow once again! To hug a silken duvet now gifted with the scent of an eternal meadow! A moment to thoroughly reward myself as I purposefully shoved any and all dangerous thoughts of tomorrow to the wayside!
And nothing, I knew, could disturb me from my slumber!
That ominous feeling I’d forgotten something important?
Why … I barely even felt it!
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2024.05.29 00:26 Obsequium_Minaris Ballistic Coefficient - Chapter 15
First / Previous / Royal Road / Patreon (Read 12 Chapters Ahead)
When the sun had finally fully set, Pale put her plan into motion. She took one last glance out at the checkpoint ahead of them, then turned to Kayla.
"Lie down on the ground and cover your ears."
"What?" Kayla asked. "What does that mean? What are you planning to do?"
"You'll see. Just do it."
Kayla pursed her lips, but didn't argue, instead following Pale's directions to the letter. Once she was situated, Pale turned her attention back to the checkpoint. She'd done some thinking about this, and ultimately decided that the most efficient and least destructive way to get through would be to sacrifice a pod. This was a bit of a problem, as she only had a few pods to begin with, but it was better than using heavy ordinance in order to punch a hole clean through.
"You ready?" Pale asked.
"What?" Kayla said, looking to her in confusion with her hands still clamped over her ears. "What'd you just say?"
Pale took that as her cue to act. She snapped her fingers, and a few seconds later, a flaming piece of metal came hurtling down from the sky, embedding itself directly in the center of the berserkers' checkpoint. From inside, she heard panicked shouts escape from the occupants, as well as a few pained moans; clearly, the impact had incapacitated a few of them.
Then the pod exploded.
The log walls to the checkpoint buckled under the shockwave, rolling across the ground before coming to a rest a short ways away. Through the ringing in her ears, Pale heard the men from inside the fort screaming in terror and agony. Several spells were being launched blindly in the night, their casters unable to hit anything thanks to being disoriented from the blast and blinded from the resulting cloud of smoke and dust.
Pale grabbed Kayla and thrust her to her feet, then charged in towards the camp, shotgun in hand. The smoke had begun to clear just as she got there, revealing the full extent of the destruction. Mutilated bodies lay littered across the field, scattered around a large crater dug deeply into the center of the area. From the looks of things, most of the bandits had been killed outright by either the impact of the pod or the explosion, and the few survivors had been completely deafened by it and were riddled with injuries. Many of them looked like they could barely stand, and several were only being kept alive thanks to that same red magical aura from earlier.
Pale didn't waste any time. She shouldered her weapon, then took aim at the nearest bandit and fired, reducing his head to little more than a fine pink mist. Pumping her shotgun, she transitioned to her next target, putting him down just as easily. Next to her, Kayla opened up with some of her lightning, sending streaks of it arcing through the night and towards the nearest survivor.
That seemed to be too much for the few who were still left. Rather than stand and fight, they turned and tried to run away, sprinting off into the night. Kayla immediately stopped engaging; Pale, meanwhile, took aim and continued to fire until her weapon ran dry, riddling each fleeing man with a shell full of buckshot straight to the back.
And just like that, it was over. A heavy silence fell over the camp, the only noise that interrupted it being the nearby waves lapping at the shore. Pale began to thumb loose shells into her weapon, then motioned for Kayla to follow after her.
"Come on," she urged. "I think I see some boats over on the shoreline."
Kayla tore her gaze away from the carnage around them, looking back to her. Pale half-expected her to say something about how she'd just shot fleeing men, but Kayla stayed silent, instead simply nodding, stone-faced. Together, they made their way over to the shore, and sure enough, there were several boats lined up on the sand.
"Do you know how to work one of these things?" Kayla asked. "I've never been on one before…"
"We'll figure it out," Pale said. "Take that small one, it looks like it has room for three people."
Kayla looked at her, surprised. "Only three? What about the others?"
"If there are any others, they'll have to fend for themselves."
"We can't just leave freed slaves there!"
"And we won't," Pale assured her. "Slavery is a taboo even among my creators, and they made sure to pass their hatred of it on to me as well, but our first priority is getting your father back safely. Once we've done that, we can start going back for others. And as much as a large boat would help us with that right now, it's simply not feasible with just the two of us here to operate it. Understand?"
Reluctantly, Kayla nodded. "...I suppose so. Alright, let's go get him."
–
As it turned out, the northern isles weren't too far from their current location – as dawn broke, Pale realized they were actually visible in the distance through the steady morning mist that had descended upon their boat.
Unfortunately, the boat they'd commandeered was little more than a small sailboat with some oars attached in case the wind was unfavorable, which it had been since they'd first stepped into the water. For the past few hours, her and Kayla had been forced to row, even through the night. Only now, as the sun began to rise, did the wind shift and start to blow from behind them, allowing them both to rest for a time.
It was still going despite that, however. Logic dictated that they ought to have taken turns sleeping or otherwise resting up during this time, but somehow, Pale couldn't bring herself to do it, and neither could Kayla.
"Nervous?" Kayla asked.
Pale shrugged. "Eager, more like. This entire quest has taken the better part of a week, by my estimation. In that time, I have killed several people, nearly been killed myself multiple times, and have apparently been inducted into someone's family, whatever that means. Frankly, I am ready for this to be over so I can resume finding a way back to my home system."
Kayla hesitated for a moment. "About that… what made you think I was able to assist in the first place? I-I mean… not that I'm ungrateful for your help or anything, quite the opposite, but… I'm so… normal. I don't know anything about space travel, and hells, I barely know anything about the world outside my small little village. And yet, you seemed to think I was capable of helping you when we first met. Why was that?"
Pale shrugged. "I ascertained that this was uncharted territory for anyone from my system pretty much the moment I arrived here. From that point on, I knew I was going to need someone who could not only lead me around, but that I could learn the language from and trust to watch my back. Serendipity did the rest."
"Ah… what does that-"
"It means you were in the right place at the right time for both of us," Pale specified. "You need help, I needed help, and now we're helping each other."
"And… you don't regret doing this?"
Pale shook her head. "I have no reason to regret anything so far. This quest has only taken about a week, which is nothing for me in the grand scheme of things. Plus, you have been very reliable so far, particularly in combat. You have kept your cool in a way that suggests some kind of training."
"Oh… um, I'm not really trained." Kayla brought a hand up to rub at the back of her head. "I-I mean… I'm my father's apprentice, of course, but I don't have any kind of combat training. All the offensive spells I know, I only know because he insisted that a young woman like me should know how to defend herself if she's going to be heading off on her own."
That got Pale's attention. She sat up a bit straighter in the boat, focusing on Kayla. "You were planning to go your own way?"
"Mhm," Kayla confirmed with a nod. "There's a very prestigious magic academy down south, I was hoping to take their entrance exam sometime soon, before… well, all this happened. I don't really know what I would do after that – being a fire mage restricts me in a lot of ways; I'd basically be forced into a combat role for something, whether that was as a professional soldier or as a bodyguard or something along those lines – but all I know is I really want to study magic more in-depth. My father is an excellent teacher, but he doesn't have the same resources the Luminarium does."
"There's something I've been wondering," Pale admitted. "No offense, but you're… meek, to say the least. You don't like to fight or hurt people, and yet you use fire magic. Why is that? Did something make you pick it in particular?"
"Pick?" Kayla asked, tilting her head. "I didn't pick my affinity. Very few people can. Really, your affinity is determined when you unlock your sjel – and before you ask, generally speaking, that happens when you come of age, which for most people is around fifteen years old, maybe a bit younger or older depending on who they are. To put it briefly, when your sjel is unlocked, an Archmage – basically a very accomplished caster who has dedicated their life to the study of magic – can serve as a witness, and somehow determine the type of magic you will have an affinity with. Generally, it's not something you choose; the vast majority of people just are naturally more tuned to one type of magic. Nobody knows why, but that's just how it's always been. Occasionally, you get someone who has multiple affinities, but that kind of thing is very rare. Come to think of it, it really only ever happens with the royal families…"
Pale scowled at the implications of that, but said nothing. Instead, she watched as Kayla shook her head.
"Anyway, that was my plan for after we rescue my father," she said. "What about you? How were you hoping to get back to your people?"
"Truthfully, I do not know," Pale replied. "The technology of this world is far too primitive to be of any help to me. I was hoping a magical solution existed somehow, but if not, then I will have to take matters into my own hands, and essentially kickstart my own industrial revolution."
Kayla gave her a panicked expression, but Pale held up a hand, calming her.
"It's different than an actual, violent revolution," she assured Kayla. "Ideally, there would be no bloodshed involved."
"Ideally…? What would you be doing?"
"Using the knowledge gifted to me by my creators to rapidly improve the technology of this world to the point where it would actually be useful to me," Pale specified. "I would go more into detail, but that would likely be premature. All you need to know at this point is that, should no other solution present itself, I will begin pushing the technology of this world forward at an incredibly rapid pace."
"How rapid?"
Pale thought for a moment. "By my estimations? Basic space flight within twenty-five years, off-world colonies and terraforming within forty, faster-than-light travel within fifty."
Kayla began to sputter. "Y-you…! Are you serious?!"
"Deathly so, yes. I know exactly what is needed in order to get there, the problem is obtaining and refining the materials for it all. But give me time, and I can have you all looking at colonizing other planets within four decades." Pale suddenly peered behind Kayla, a deep scowl crossing her face. "But this conversation will have to wait, I'm afraid."
Kayla went deathly white. Slowly, she turned to look behind herself, and began to tremble when she saw land fast approaching.
"We're here," was all Pale had to say.
Special thanks to my good friend and co-writer, Ickbard for the help with writing this story.
submitted by Obsequium_Minaris to HFY [link] [comments]
When the sun had finally fully set, Pale put her plan into motion. She took one last glance out at the checkpoint ahead of them, then turned to Kayla.
"Lie down on the ground and cover your ears."
"What?" Kayla asked. "What does that mean? What are you planning to do?"
"You'll see. Just do it."
Kayla pursed her lips, but didn't argue, instead following Pale's directions to the letter. Once she was situated, Pale turned her attention back to the checkpoint. She'd done some thinking about this, and ultimately decided that the most efficient and least destructive way to get through would be to sacrifice a pod. This was a bit of a problem, as she only had a few pods to begin with, but it was better than using heavy ordinance in order to punch a hole clean through.
"You ready?" Pale asked.
"What?" Kayla said, looking to her in confusion with her hands still clamped over her ears. "What'd you just say?"
Pale took that as her cue to act. She snapped her fingers, and a few seconds later, a flaming piece of metal came hurtling down from the sky, embedding itself directly in the center of the berserkers' checkpoint. From inside, she heard panicked shouts escape from the occupants, as well as a few pained moans; clearly, the impact had incapacitated a few of them.
Then the pod exploded.
The log walls to the checkpoint buckled under the shockwave, rolling across the ground before coming to a rest a short ways away. Through the ringing in her ears, Pale heard the men from inside the fort screaming in terror and agony. Several spells were being launched blindly in the night, their casters unable to hit anything thanks to being disoriented from the blast and blinded from the resulting cloud of smoke and dust.
Pale grabbed Kayla and thrust her to her feet, then charged in towards the camp, shotgun in hand. The smoke had begun to clear just as she got there, revealing the full extent of the destruction. Mutilated bodies lay littered across the field, scattered around a large crater dug deeply into the center of the area. From the looks of things, most of the bandits had been killed outright by either the impact of the pod or the explosion, and the few survivors had been completely deafened by it and were riddled with injuries. Many of them looked like they could barely stand, and several were only being kept alive thanks to that same red magical aura from earlier.
Pale didn't waste any time. She shouldered her weapon, then took aim at the nearest bandit and fired, reducing his head to little more than a fine pink mist. Pumping her shotgun, she transitioned to her next target, putting him down just as easily. Next to her, Kayla opened up with some of her lightning, sending streaks of it arcing through the night and towards the nearest survivor.
That seemed to be too much for the few who were still left. Rather than stand and fight, they turned and tried to run away, sprinting off into the night. Kayla immediately stopped engaging; Pale, meanwhile, took aim and continued to fire until her weapon ran dry, riddling each fleeing man with a shell full of buckshot straight to the back.
And just like that, it was over. A heavy silence fell over the camp, the only noise that interrupted it being the nearby waves lapping at the shore. Pale began to thumb loose shells into her weapon, then motioned for Kayla to follow after her.
"Come on," she urged. "I think I see some boats over on the shoreline."
Kayla tore her gaze away from the carnage around them, looking back to her. Pale half-expected her to say something about how she'd just shot fleeing men, but Kayla stayed silent, instead simply nodding, stone-faced. Together, they made their way over to the shore, and sure enough, there were several boats lined up on the sand.
"Do you know how to work one of these things?" Kayla asked. "I've never been on one before…"
"We'll figure it out," Pale said. "Take that small one, it looks like it has room for three people."
Kayla looked at her, surprised. "Only three? What about the others?"
"If there are any others, they'll have to fend for themselves."
"We can't just leave freed slaves there!"
"And we won't," Pale assured her. "Slavery is a taboo even among my creators, and they made sure to pass their hatred of it on to me as well, but our first priority is getting your father back safely. Once we've done that, we can start going back for others. And as much as a large boat would help us with that right now, it's simply not feasible with just the two of us here to operate it. Understand?"
Reluctantly, Kayla nodded. "...I suppose so. Alright, let's go get him."
–
As it turned out, the northern isles weren't too far from their current location – as dawn broke, Pale realized they were actually visible in the distance through the steady morning mist that had descended upon their boat.
Unfortunately, the boat they'd commandeered was little more than a small sailboat with some oars attached in case the wind was unfavorable, which it had been since they'd first stepped into the water. For the past few hours, her and Kayla had been forced to row, even through the night. Only now, as the sun began to rise, did the wind shift and start to blow from behind them, allowing them both to rest for a time.
It was still going despite that, however. Logic dictated that they ought to have taken turns sleeping or otherwise resting up during this time, but somehow, Pale couldn't bring herself to do it, and neither could Kayla.
"Nervous?" Kayla asked.
Pale shrugged. "Eager, more like. This entire quest has taken the better part of a week, by my estimation. In that time, I have killed several people, nearly been killed myself multiple times, and have apparently been inducted into someone's family, whatever that means. Frankly, I am ready for this to be over so I can resume finding a way back to my home system."
Kayla hesitated for a moment. "About that… what made you think I was able to assist in the first place? I-I mean… not that I'm ungrateful for your help or anything, quite the opposite, but… I'm so… normal. I don't know anything about space travel, and hells, I barely know anything about the world outside my small little village. And yet, you seemed to think I was capable of helping you when we first met. Why was that?"
Pale shrugged. "I ascertained that this was uncharted territory for anyone from my system pretty much the moment I arrived here. From that point on, I knew I was going to need someone who could not only lead me around, but that I could learn the language from and trust to watch my back. Serendipity did the rest."
"Ah… what does that-"
"It means you were in the right place at the right time for both of us," Pale specified. "You need help, I needed help, and now we're helping each other."
"And… you don't regret doing this?"
Pale shook her head. "I have no reason to regret anything so far. This quest has only taken about a week, which is nothing for me in the grand scheme of things. Plus, you have been very reliable so far, particularly in combat. You have kept your cool in a way that suggests some kind of training."
"Oh… um, I'm not really trained." Kayla brought a hand up to rub at the back of her head. "I-I mean… I'm my father's apprentice, of course, but I don't have any kind of combat training. All the offensive spells I know, I only know because he insisted that a young woman like me should know how to defend herself if she's going to be heading off on her own."
That got Pale's attention. She sat up a bit straighter in the boat, focusing on Kayla. "You were planning to go your own way?"
"Mhm," Kayla confirmed with a nod. "There's a very prestigious magic academy down south, I was hoping to take their entrance exam sometime soon, before… well, all this happened. I don't really know what I would do after that – being a fire mage restricts me in a lot of ways; I'd basically be forced into a combat role for something, whether that was as a professional soldier or as a bodyguard or something along those lines – but all I know is I really want to study magic more in-depth. My father is an excellent teacher, but he doesn't have the same resources the Luminarium does."
"There's something I've been wondering," Pale admitted. "No offense, but you're… meek, to say the least. You don't like to fight or hurt people, and yet you use fire magic. Why is that? Did something make you pick it in particular?"
"Pick?" Kayla asked, tilting her head. "I didn't pick my affinity. Very few people can. Really, your affinity is determined when you unlock your sjel – and before you ask, generally speaking, that happens when you come of age, which for most people is around fifteen years old, maybe a bit younger or older depending on who they are. To put it briefly, when your sjel is unlocked, an Archmage – basically a very accomplished caster who has dedicated their life to the study of magic – can serve as a witness, and somehow determine the type of magic you will have an affinity with. Generally, it's not something you choose; the vast majority of people just are naturally more tuned to one type of magic. Nobody knows why, but that's just how it's always been. Occasionally, you get someone who has multiple affinities, but that kind of thing is very rare. Come to think of it, it really only ever happens with the royal families…"
Pale scowled at the implications of that, but said nothing. Instead, she watched as Kayla shook her head.
"Anyway, that was my plan for after we rescue my father," she said. "What about you? How were you hoping to get back to your people?"
"Truthfully, I do not know," Pale replied. "The technology of this world is far too primitive to be of any help to me. I was hoping a magical solution existed somehow, but if not, then I will have to take matters into my own hands, and essentially kickstart my own industrial revolution."
Kayla gave her a panicked expression, but Pale held up a hand, calming her.
"It's different than an actual, violent revolution," she assured Kayla. "Ideally, there would be no bloodshed involved."
"Ideally…? What would you be doing?"
"Using the knowledge gifted to me by my creators to rapidly improve the technology of this world to the point where it would actually be useful to me," Pale specified. "I would go more into detail, but that would likely be premature. All you need to know at this point is that, should no other solution present itself, I will begin pushing the technology of this world forward at an incredibly rapid pace."
"How rapid?"
Pale thought for a moment. "By my estimations? Basic space flight within twenty-five years, off-world colonies and terraforming within forty, faster-than-light travel within fifty."
Kayla began to sputter. "Y-you…! Are you serious?!"
"Deathly so, yes. I know exactly what is needed in order to get there, the problem is obtaining and refining the materials for it all. But give me time, and I can have you all looking at colonizing other planets within four decades." Pale suddenly peered behind Kayla, a deep scowl crossing her face. "But this conversation will have to wait, I'm afraid."
Kayla went deathly white. Slowly, she turned to look behind herself, and began to tremble when she saw land fast approaching.
"We're here," was all Pale had to say.
Special thanks to my good friend and co-writer, Ickbard for the help with writing this story.
2024.05.29 00:22 Professional_Prune11 Human Trauma II----Section Thirty Four: Bygone Mento(Book Two End)
Hello Hello my buds, bobs and babes. We are back at it again with the end of Human Trauma book two. In this one Martinez gets grilled by Ivorn of all people. and when the calm caring man decides you messed up enough that he is yelling at you. lord you must have messed up.
Let's get this bread.
------
Snow drifted lazily around Martinez, the first snowfall this year in Draun. Celna had been under snowpack for weeks, but in this massive city, this was untimely late. Each fresh flake glowed like embers in the evening light, burning just like the Human's ragged breath.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” Martinez barked at a group of aliens, ordering them to make a hole or get barreled through.
This group took the warning of the two-meter-tall man to hearty and skittered away like rats, allowing him to pass.
Those were the smart ones; not all had that many survival instincts. Martinez had crashed through a group of Ruqaura, their flabby builds jiggling as they fell to the duracreet and cursed his existence.
Fuck them; they did not matter, nor did the abject panic Martinez was stirring up in his wake. The Human certainly was causing a scene in the otherwise serene city. Whether the aliens thought he was being chased, was a crazy nutter on the loose, or that he was a deranged rapist, he did not care.
They could think he was a serial killer or a terrorist for all he cared. All Martinez cared about was reaching Shiksie and ensuring she had not done the unthinkable.
By the time Martinez had reached Shiksies posh neighborhood, sweat was flooding off his brow; on her front lawn, he nearly collapsed from vomiting, having just run the fastest he had done in years. Fuck even Raliegh could not hold a candle to the show of speed and athletics Martinez had demonstrated, and that man ran ultra marathons.
Through blurry vision, Martinez looked up at Shiksie’s house. It was as spartan as the last time he was here. The house showed off the owner's simple, straightforward personality, a bold defiance of the bright pastels and gaudily decorated homes of her neighbors.
At least the house had not changed.
Pounding on the door with hammer-like fists, Martinez roared into the gloom. “Shiksie, are you there?”
The milliseconds dragged out into hours; each breath dagged into eternity. With each passing eon, Martinez repeated the process with more desperation, beating the door as if it owed him money.
Each repetition drew on more of the same. A silence so deafening it crushed Martinez’s soul like an ant.
“Please, if you are in there, answer the door,” Martinez barked, punching the door hard enough that his knuckles bled. “I need to know you are alive.”
With no answer coming from inside, Martinez changed tactics. Between savage attacks on the door, he sent texts to everyone both he and Shiksie knew, trying to get any sitrep on her.
No one had any answers for him. They did not know if Shiksie was alright, nor had they seen her in well over a week. That only compounded his worry. Did they not care about her?
` Therein—Nothing, he did not even want to talk to anyone.
Sursee—Nothing other than word that she did not know.
Harsnis, of all people, also had no answers, and that man kept tight tabs on his workers.
What in God's name was going on?
The only one who gave Martinez more than sorrowful nothingness was Ivorn.
Ivorn: Come over to my place; we need to talk.
Considering that beating Shiksies' door was getting him nowhere, and Martinez was not about to break in, he hurried out of Shiksies' neighborhood, destined for Ivorn and Sursees' place in old town.
Martinez glanced over his shoulder, hoping to see Shiksie at her door, but no. All he saw were the neighbors peering from behind curtains at him. He ignored them.
—-
“Henry, it’s great to see you,” Sursee purred after opening the door to her and Ivorns' place.
Sursee was a Prinoral, a small feline-like species that was sociable beyond belief. Like many of her species, Sursee stood only as tall as Martinez’s chest and had traits that made her as cute as a button.
Sursee wore a long, draping dress held loosely around her dainty form. Its bright white color made her golden fur and amber hair stand out boldly. Her radar dish-like cat ears and long flicking tail made her the picturesque housecat-like woman.
“Please, come on in,” Sursee said, stepping abreast of the door and bidding his entry.
“Thanks, Sursee,” Martinez replied, entering and taking stock of their home, having never been here before.
Their apartment was quaint and comforting. Most surfaces and furnishings were colors like autumn, oranges, yellows, and browns, giving the space an overwhelmingly comfortable vibe. That matched with what smelled like freshly baked pumpkin pie, making the entire local breathtaking.
A menagerie of plushies was staged on shelves across the astel, adding splashes of vibrant summer to the otherwise warm home.
Martinez had no doubt the plushies were Sursee’s. She was a little ball of sunshine, and they fit her personality and aesthetic to a T.
“So, Henry, can I get a hug?” Sursee asked, her tail swaying happily behind her while she smiled as bright as sunlight.
“Not now. Where is Ivorn,” Martinez replied instantly.
Sursee pouted, her ears folding flat and tail tucking away. Any semblance of joy that overflowed from her died instantly.
Martinez appreciated that Sursee was listening to Ivorn's advice and not latching onto him like a heat leech, asking first. But he had not registered the sorrow in her—-this was the only time she had been told no to a hung from him. She expected it at this point, even if she was being polite.
“Ive is in his office,” Sursee said, pointing down the hallway.
Before Sursee registered that Martinez had moved, she turned around and picked up a plate of steaming cookies off the coffee table, hoping to help Maetinez feel better. While she did not know the man intimately, she was flawless at gauging emotions, and Martinez oozed sorrow.
“Would you want some—” Sursee trailed off, realizing the Human had already left her alone in the living room.
If pouting harder could be done, she did so. His leaving her like that felt like ice to the soul. She baked the cookies for him once Ivorn had told her Martinez was coming over. But the Human did not care about that or Sursee’s feelings.
Opening the indicated door, Martinez found Ivorn lounging behind a desk, reading a book with a massive smile across his face.
“What do we need to talk about?” Martinez asked.
Ivorn jumped at the intrusion and squirreled the book away. Not having expected Martinez for several hours. “Do you not know how to knock?”
“Where is she?” Martinez asked, ignoring everything but Shiksie.
Ivorn sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Not even a hello, huh? I get it.” Ivorn said. “Sit,” he finished by gesturing at a seat across from him.
Martinez was about to argue and tell Ivorn to get to the point, but the alien man could read him like a book and beat him to the punch.
“I get you are likely upset, but can I please explain,” Ivorn insisted.
“Fine,” Martinez grumbled and sat down, knowing this was the only way he would get any answers.
Over the next few minutes, Ivorn calmly explained what had happened with Shiksie after he head left. According to Ivorn, once Martinez had left Shiksie in her house, she drank; drank to the point it was nearly lethal.
By the time Ivorn had arrived, she was three beers deep and was about to have liver failure. If not for Martinez telling Ivorn she would have died. Following that, Shiksie spent several days in the ICU, needing it to not die.
After Shiksie was out of the ICU, she vanished, never showing up to work again. The director also told Ivorn not to mention anything that happened between Martinez and Shiksie to anyone, along with instructions to funnel the human to the Director once he returned.
“So you don’t know where she is?” Martinez said.
“No, I don’t,” Ivorn admitted.
“Then why the fuck am I here? I need to find her,” Martinez replied, standing up and heading toward the door.
“No, you are not,” Ivorn barked, stopping Martinez. “The director made it clear. The only reason you were not fired, and she was not in jail, was because Shiksie left.”
Martinez turned around and glared at Ivorn, knowing damn well what the director had pulled his friend into—a cover-up. Things like that were all to common in the Military and large corporations. It was easier to hush things up than face the reality of what happened. ;
“So for your own sake. Forget about her,” Ivorn sighed.
“Forget her! What the fuck are you on about. She is my friend; I have to help her,” Martinez argued, stepping forward and leaning on the desk with both hands. “She needs help.”
“Oh, does she? I dont think she does. You just want to feel better after having made her nearly kill herself.” Ivorne challenged with a growl—the last two weeks of having to hold his emotions overflowing.
Ivorn might like Martinez as a friend, but Shiksie deserved more than this. She was kind, a bit aloof, but for Kilera’s sake, why did she have to fall in love with a detestable asshole who thought he could solve everything alone.
Martinez paused and was taken aback by the challenge. Of course, he wanted to help her. Shiksie was his friend, mentor, and a woman he lov—er liked dearly. This was not about him but her.
“Are you high? I want to make sure she is OK,” Martinez replied, pointing at Ivorn.
“Oh, shut the fuck up and stop grandstanding,” Ivorn replied, standing to his full height. Usually, Ivorn, due to his gorilla-like build and posture, only stood as tall as Martinez. But at his full grandeur—he nearly touched the ceiling. “If you gave a fuck about her, you would have asked for help with her. You would not have gone into her house, knowing damn well she loved you.”
Ivorn stepped around the desk and jammed a finger into Martinez’s chest. “Now you have the fucking gall to think she needs you? How about you face reality and understand you fucked up and can't fix it.”
“Woah Ivor—” Martinez started backing up, but his friend persisted.
“How about you get that you are not some infallible bastion? What you have done has caused so many issues. My friend and mentor is gone; now we all have to suffer because you just had to not say no!” Ivorn growled, nearly pressing Martinez to the wall.
“We all like you. Sursee, Shiksie, Therein, Harnsis, fuck even me. But dude, you fucked up and have just to let bad enough die,” Ivorn said, backing up and giving Martinez some room. “Just go talk to the director in the morning. He will tell you the same.”
Martinez was going to argue to assure Ivorn he could fix this. But Sursee stepping into the room deflated any tension between the two.
“Can you two not yell at each other?” Sursee asked.
Ivorn turned to Sursee, returning to his usual leisurely posture. “Don’t worry about it, Sursee. Henry was just leaving. Right?” Ivorn said, looking at Martinez, his last shred of patience visible.
“Yeah. I am,” Martinez said, slipping past Sursee, who, for her lovable part, tried to reach out and grab him, but Ivorn stopped her and shook his head.
Martinez stormed out of the house and went toward his own, refusing to believe that he could do nothing to fix this. There was always something he could do. He just did not know the answer yet.
Without a doubt, even if he had to sell his soul to the devil, Martinez knew he would find Shiksie and make this all ok.
It just would cost him, blood, sweat, tears, and all he had to give.
------
So what did you all think of book two? Shiksie is MIA, Lysa is going through mood swings, and Martinez needs to get he cant fix it all on his own. We covered a lot in this book and we will cover even more in the third book where Chloe, Martinez, Lysa, and the rest of our cast will have to deal with a kidnapping ring, doctors, and their own physiology.
Please do not forget to updoot, and comment. I will see you all there.
your baker
-Pirate
-----
Book One Start
Buy My Novels
Book Two Start
previous
Book Three Start
submitted by Professional_Prune11 to humansarespaceorcs [link] [comments]
Let's get this bread.
------
Snow drifted lazily around Martinez, the first snowfall this year in Draun. Celna had been under snowpack for weeks, but in this massive city, this was untimely late. Each fresh flake glowed like embers in the evening light, burning just like the Human's ragged breath.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” Martinez barked at a group of aliens, ordering them to make a hole or get barreled through.
This group took the warning of the two-meter-tall man to hearty and skittered away like rats, allowing him to pass.
Those were the smart ones; not all had that many survival instincts. Martinez had crashed through a group of Ruqaura, their flabby builds jiggling as they fell to the duracreet and cursed his existence.
Fuck them; they did not matter, nor did the abject panic Martinez was stirring up in his wake. The Human certainly was causing a scene in the otherwise serene city. Whether the aliens thought he was being chased, was a crazy nutter on the loose, or that he was a deranged rapist, he did not care.
They could think he was a serial killer or a terrorist for all he cared. All Martinez cared about was reaching Shiksie and ensuring she had not done the unthinkable.
By the time Martinez had reached Shiksies posh neighborhood, sweat was flooding off his brow; on her front lawn, he nearly collapsed from vomiting, having just run the fastest he had done in years. Fuck even Raliegh could not hold a candle to the show of speed and athletics Martinez had demonstrated, and that man ran ultra marathons.
Through blurry vision, Martinez looked up at Shiksie’s house. It was as spartan as the last time he was here. The house showed off the owner's simple, straightforward personality, a bold defiance of the bright pastels and gaudily decorated homes of her neighbors.
At least the house had not changed.
Pounding on the door with hammer-like fists, Martinez roared into the gloom. “Shiksie, are you there?”
The milliseconds dragged out into hours; each breath dagged into eternity. With each passing eon, Martinez repeated the process with more desperation, beating the door as if it owed him money.
Each repetition drew on more of the same. A silence so deafening it crushed Martinez’s soul like an ant.
“Please, if you are in there, answer the door,” Martinez barked, punching the door hard enough that his knuckles bled. “I need to know you are alive.”
With no answer coming from inside, Martinez changed tactics. Between savage attacks on the door, he sent texts to everyone both he and Shiksie knew, trying to get any sitrep on her.
No one had any answers for him. They did not know if Shiksie was alright, nor had they seen her in well over a week. That only compounded his worry. Did they not care about her?
` Therein—Nothing, he did not even want to talk to anyone.
Sursee—Nothing other than word that she did not know.
Harsnis, of all people, also had no answers, and that man kept tight tabs on his workers.
What in God's name was going on?
The only one who gave Martinez more than sorrowful nothingness was Ivorn.
Ivorn: Come over to my place; we need to talk.
Considering that beating Shiksies' door was getting him nowhere, and Martinez was not about to break in, he hurried out of Shiksies' neighborhood, destined for Ivorn and Sursees' place in old town.
Martinez glanced over his shoulder, hoping to see Shiksie at her door, but no. All he saw were the neighbors peering from behind curtains at him. He ignored them.
—-
“Henry, it’s great to see you,” Sursee purred after opening the door to her and Ivorns' place.
Sursee was a Prinoral, a small feline-like species that was sociable beyond belief. Like many of her species, Sursee stood only as tall as Martinez’s chest and had traits that made her as cute as a button.
Sursee wore a long, draping dress held loosely around her dainty form. Its bright white color made her golden fur and amber hair stand out boldly. Her radar dish-like cat ears and long flicking tail made her the picturesque housecat-like woman.
“Please, come on in,” Sursee said, stepping abreast of the door and bidding his entry.
“Thanks, Sursee,” Martinez replied, entering and taking stock of their home, having never been here before.
Their apartment was quaint and comforting. Most surfaces and furnishings were colors like autumn, oranges, yellows, and browns, giving the space an overwhelmingly comfortable vibe. That matched with what smelled like freshly baked pumpkin pie, making the entire local breathtaking.
A menagerie of plushies was staged on shelves across the astel, adding splashes of vibrant summer to the otherwise warm home.
Martinez had no doubt the plushies were Sursee’s. She was a little ball of sunshine, and they fit her personality and aesthetic to a T.
“So, Henry, can I get a hug?” Sursee asked, her tail swaying happily behind her while she smiled as bright as sunlight.
“Not now. Where is Ivorn,” Martinez replied instantly.
Sursee pouted, her ears folding flat and tail tucking away. Any semblance of joy that overflowed from her died instantly.
Martinez appreciated that Sursee was listening to Ivorn's advice and not latching onto him like a heat leech, asking first. But he had not registered the sorrow in her—-this was the only time she had been told no to a hung from him. She expected it at this point, even if she was being polite.
“Ive is in his office,” Sursee said, pointing down the hallway.
Before Sursee registered that Martinez had moved, she turned around and picked up a plate of steaming cookies off the coffee table, hoping to help Maetinez feel better. While she did not know the man intimately, she was flawless at gauging emotions, and Martinez oozed sorrow.
“Would you want some—” Sursee trailed off, realizing the Human had already left her alone in the living room.
If pouting harder could be done, she did so. His leaving her like that felt like ice to the soul. She baked the cookies for him once Ivorn had told her Martinez was coming over. But the Human did not care about that or Sursee’s feelings.
Opening the indicated door, Martinez found Ivorn lounging behind a desk, reading a book with a massive smile across his face.
“What do we need to talk about?” Martinez asked.
Ivorn jumped at the intrusion and squirreled the book away. Not having expected Martinez for several hours. “Do you not know how to knock?”
“Where is she?” Martinez asked, ignoring everything but Shiksie.
Ivorn sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Not even a hello, huh? I get it.” Ivorn said. “Sit,” he finished by gesturing at a seat across from him.
Martinez was about to argue and tell Ivorn to get to the point, but the alien man could read him like a book and beat him to the punch.
“I get you are likely upset, but can I please explain,” Ivorn insisted.
“Fine,” Martinez grumbled and sat down, knowing this was the only way he would get any answers.
Over the next few minutes, Ivorn calmly explained what had happened with Shiksie after he head left. According to Ivorn, once Martinez had left Shiksie in her house, she drank; drank to the point it was nearly lethal.
By the time Ivorn had arrived, she was three beers deep and was about to have liver failure. If not for Martinez telling Ivorn she would have died. Following that, Shiksie spent several days in the ICU, needing it to not die.
After Shiksie was out of the ICU, she vanished, never showing up to work again. The director also told Ivorn not to mention anything that happened between Martinez and Shiksie to anyone, along with instructions to funnel the human to the Director once he returned.
“So you don’t know where she is?” Martinez said.
“No, I don’t,” Ivorn admitted.
“Then why the fuck am I here? I need to find her,” Martinez replied, standing up and heading toward the door.
“No, you are not,” Ivorn barked, stopping Martinez. “The director made it clear. The only reason you were not fired, and she was not in jail, was because Shiksie left.”
Martinez turned around and glared at Ivorn, knowing damn well what the director had pulled his friend into—a cover-up. Things like that were all to common in the Military and large corporations. It was easier to hush things up than face the reality of what happened. ;
“So for your own sake. Forget about her,” Ivorn sighed.
“Forget her! What the fuck are you on about. She is my friend; I have to help her,” Martinez argued, stepping forward and leaning on the desk with both hands. “She needs help.”
“Oh, does she? I dont think she does. You just want to feel better after having made her nearly kill herself.” Ivorne challenged with a growl—the last two weeks of having to hold his emotions overflowing.
Ivorn might like Martinez as a friend, but Shiksie deserved more than this. She was kind, a bit aloof, but for Kilera’s sake, why did she have to fall in love with a detestable asshole who thought he could solve everything alone.
Martinez paused and was taken aback by the challenge. Of course, he wanted to help her. Shiksie was his friend, mentor, and a woman he lov—er liked dearly. This was not about him but her.
“Are you high? I want to make sure she is OK,” Martinez replied, pointing at Ivorn.
“Oh, shut the fuck up and stop grandstanding,” Ivorn replied, standing to his full height. Usually, Ivorn, due to his gorilla-like build and posture, only stood as tall as Martinez. But at his full grandeur—he nearly touched the ceiling. “If you gave a fuck about her, you would have asked for help with her. You would not have gone into her house, knowing damn well she loved you.”
Ivorn stepped around the desk and jammed a finger into Martinez’s chest. “Now you have the fucking gall to think she needs you? How about you face reality and understand you fucked up and can't fix it.”
“Woah Ivor—” Martinez started backing up, but his friend persisted.
“How about you get that you are not some infallible bastion? What you have done has caused so many issues. My friend and mentor is gone; now we all have to suffer because you just had to not say no!” Ivorn growled, nearly pressing Martinez to the wall.
“We all like you. Sursee, Shiksie, Therein, Harnsis, fuck even me. But dude, you fucked up and have just to let bad enough die,” Ivorn said, backing up and giving Martinez some room. “Just go talk to the director in the morning. He will tell you the same.”
Martinez was going to argue to assure Ivorn he could fix this. But Sursee stepping into the room deflated any tension between the two.
“Can you two not yell at each other?” Sursee asked.
Ivorn turned to Sursee, returning to his usual leisurely posture. “Don’t worry about it, Sursee. Henry was just leaving. Right?” Ivorn said, looking at Martinez, his last shred of patience visible.
“Yeah. I am,” Martinez said, slipping past Sursee, who, for her lovable part, tried to reach out and grab him, but Ivorn stopped her and shook his head.
Martinez stormed out of the house and went toward his own, refusing to believe that he could do nothing to fix this. There was always something he could do. He just did not know the answer yet.
Without a doubt, even if he had to sell his soul to the devil, Martinez knew he would find Shiksie and make this all ok.
It just would cost him, blood, sweat, tears, and all he had to give.
------
So what did you all think of book two? Shiksie is MIA, Lysa is going through mood swings, and Martinez needs to get he cant fix it all on his own. We covered a lot in this book and we will cover even more in the third book where Chloe, Martinez, Lysa, and the rest of our cast will have to deal with a kidnapping ring, doctors, and their own physiology.
Please do not forget to updoot, and comment. I will see you all there.
your baker
-Pirate
-----
Book One Start
Buy My Novels
Book Two Start
previous
Book Three Start
2024.05.28 22:44 Silver_liver The Ashtapdan ch.23/43 THE ACTION PICKS UP!
chapters 1&2
chapter 3
chapter 4
chapter 5
chapter 6
chapter 7
chapter 8
chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Link to AO3
Gentry’s sweet cravings were getting out of hand.
The last time she had a proper dessert was almost a week ago, and if she had something to say about it, no amount of saccharine text exchanges with pretty boys was going to replace a good old sugar rush. A couple of days ago Sereen treated her to the sweetest snack she could get with her status and that piece of dried fruit was nowhere near enough to satisfy G’s sweet tooth.
So many vending machines and eateries, but not a single good bakery? Hell, even a crappy one would do at this point! She had to hunt down some glucose tonight.
After Sereen’s initial tour around the city, she went off leaving G to explore the city on her own. It was getting easier and easier. With the auglasses on, finding her way around proved pretty intuitive, not in the least thanks to the distinct chessboard-like layout of Ashtapada. Each district had a letter-number label. By remembering one’s “square code”, one could find their way back on foot or by cab in no time wherever they found themselves.
Gentry spent hours exploring the wide walking streets and little nooks that offered yet another glimpse into Ashtapadan reality. She once stumbled upon a bookshop with nothing on the shelves but blank-page tomes. The shopkeeper asked her what she was looking for and after finding out the she was a Newcomer, explained that it was a book-on-demand type of place. She would place an order for a story and he would write it for her in a matter of days.
What confused her most was the snow-white buildings of the city. Despite being made with rough porous concrete, they were drowning in lush greenery that sometimes looked like it nearly chocked the structure. Each had the same distinct feature, though, that made them all look unfinished: however tall or short was the building, the top floor always looked under construction. Though there always were the omnipresent hounds on each of the working site, there were never any cranes or scaffolding visible. The obliging auglasses offered G the answer: everything from the smallest houses to the few high rises was essentially self-producing! From what little she understood reading about this advancement, the carbon in the atmosphere was captured by special aerial filters and dissolved in some water. It later went through the pipes in the buildings’ skeleton-like armature and got sprayed on. As the water evaporated, the carbon solidified into neat coral-like blocks that formed the walls and other structures.
Well, that explained why the fumes she saw on the outskirts smoked backwards!
It was getting dark and the orderly streets came alive once G engaged her glasses that revealed the digital underside of Ashtapada again. Every business had a modest sign in the physical world that didn’t stand out on the angular facades. But there also was a hidden bright animated augmented-reality one that could compete with Broadway neon in brightness.
Signs like these weren’t just decorating the facades: the 3D ones flashing on the ground filled almost the whole field of view, too. They looked amazingly enticing in the evening dusk. Information stalls with digital assistants, huge arrows pointing at meeting points, temporary signs inviting strangers to join a club gathering — Gentry was going to gawk at every single one tonight. She came up to some of them, waving hands in the air to try and touch the flickering lights, not caring what she looked like from the outside. Ashtapadans seemed a very relaxed bunch, not putting their noses in others’ business, which felt liberating. Noting how other people in the streets interacted with 3D service bots, G came up to one of them, too.
“Hello, Gentry, how can I help you tonight?” it chirped. The hologram looked like a cute animated girl with an elaborate pink hairdo. “You can ask me a question directly or say “What can you do” to access the list of commands.”
“Hi!” G said. “Do you have a name?”
“You can call me Yukio,” it responded with a little curtsy. “I can answer any questions, show you around or chat about anything!”
Any question? It must know where the desserts were sold! On second thought, wasn’t there something more important than that? Something that brought G here in the first place.
“I’m looking for a person named Exxy Mah,” she said to the patiently smiling girl. “Is there a citizen or a newcomer with this name?”
“There is!” Yukio answered, gleefully jumping in the air. “Exxy Mah is a famous Ashtapadan, she is an advocate for healthy living. You might have seen her on posters and screens around the city.”
The woman in the picture the assistant conjured up floating in thin air showed an elderly woman. She was looking very fit for her age but it clearly wasn’t the Exxy Gentry knew.
“Hmm... That’s not her...” G said. “There has to be another.”
The girl suddenly looked on the verge of tears. “I’m sorry! It’s the only one in Ashtapada! No other Citizens or Newcomers are registered by this name!”
Did her friend change her name then?
“A friend of mine should’ve arrived here last year under the same name. Can you check where she is now?”
Yukio’s helpful attitude fell apart in an instant. Her posture became stiff like a 3D model she was and a voice void of any emotion informed, “Personal data on people of Ashtapada, including their whereabouts is protected by the privacy laws of the city. Please rephrase your search.”
A blink later, the same cute Yukio was standing in front of G again.
“Can I help with anything else?” she smiled.
Was there a way to ask this dummy in a way that would give her at least a hint about her friend?
“Ok, Yukio,” G attempted. “When did the famous Exxy Mah you mentioned arrive at Ashtapada?”
The girl flickered into a wooden statue again, “Personal data on people...”
“Ok, ok, I got it,” G waved. “Bring back the friendly assistant, you creep me out.”
“Can I help with anything else?” the model went again.
G sighed.
“Is there a place a newcomer can get something sweet, a chocolate or a cake perhaps?”
Yukio gasped indignantly, “Ashtapada has a very strict policy on stimulants! You can’t legally buy any tobacco, alcohol, products with added sugar and other such substances!”
“Such substances!” G hollered, forgetting for a second that she was talking to a lifeless simulation. “Sugar is completely harmless! It’s good for your brains you know! Can I at least ask a Сitizen to get me a snack?”
The girl crossed her arms in defiance.
“You can’t buy any dessert in Ashtapada, whatever your status, the law is for everyone. No refined sugar!”
G thought for a moment, rewinding their conversation in her memory.
“Did you say I can’t buy sugar legally?”— Gentry perked up — “Is there a black market of sweets I can go to?”
“A black market of sweets!”
Yukio stared. It was clearly the first time she had had to deal with this particular word combination. It took her a second or two to process the request.
“There’s no black market of sweets in Ashtapada,” she stated, confidently, at last.
“Ok, pinkhead,” G said, rolling her eyes. “I guess it took all candy floss in Ashtapada to make that hair.”
Annoyed at the assistant, she stomped through the bright neon figure in front of her and into the pedestrian street now full of people.
If there was a place with some glucose in this stuck-up place, she was going to sniff it out.
***
The hunt wasn’t of much success. After watching a street performance by a group of dancers, listening to an impromptu debate and taking part in a couple of opinion polls, Gentry finally felt that it had been a little too much. Even with the auglasses disengaged, he noise, the people and the boisterous crowds in the streets seemed to pour light and sound directly into her brain in an endless stream. It gave her a headache.
Calling up a map from her wristcomm with an already practised motion, she marked a place nearby that looked much quieter and had a swarm of vending machines, too.
Screw the sugar, she just needed some water now.
The place was indeed quite secluded. The narrow street started on the edge of the bustling zone she just left but didn’t seem to cut into the living district. It wasn’t used by many people, but, to G’s surprise, it seemed to be used by hounds, scurrying back and forth with parcels, trash bags and other loads of lesser identifiability.
Perhaps this little alley was shared by humans and these tireless little helpers over the course of the day? The hounds would make use of it in the night but workers would walk it to leave the residential area when the sun was up? That would explain the line of vending machines along both sides, with their tempting lights that invited to at least take a look.
Sadly, their insides weren’t as tempting as the signs promised.
G walked past the rows of healthy corn-based snacks, rows of dried fruit packets, lines of non-edible stuff like auglasses upgrades and finally ended up in front of a drinks machine. It immediately identified her by scanning the device on her wrist and merrily chimed a hello. G frowned. The few options that were available to a newcomer with an embarrassingly low status like hers immediately got illuminated, hiding more enticing bottles and cans in relative darkness.
No need to rub it in, you soulless beast!
But... there was a can that looked a little sweeter than others. Perhaps it was because of its sickly-pink colour, or a pattern vaguely reminding of chewing gum printed along its rims together with the fact that it was unavailable to pheasants like her, but something told Gentry that it probably was it. A sweet drink she was after.
Or, at least, sweetish.
Against better judgment, she tapped the touchglass to order it.
Nothing. The little screen insisted that she must choose what was available.
She scanned her comm again.
Nothing.
She engaged the little flashlight in her glasses and looked at the can more carefully.
Was it... a little askew?
It definitely was.
Its lower rim was half-hanging in the air, the release mechanism lazily holding it in place.
A good shove...
A good shove would probably drop the can down.
Wouldn’t it?
G looked around and immediately felt a pang of guilt.
She hadn’t done anything, officer!
Yet.
No people, just a couple of smaller hounds rhythmically clip-clopping along the dim alley.
Should she?
The can looked at her from behind the glass like a captive princess, waiting to be rescued from the agonizing imprisonment. Someone to grab its slender body, deflower it with a skilled motion and drain its sweet nectar in a couple of gulps.
Hang in there, my sweet prize, your saviour is coming!
Another hopefully inconspicuous glance around confirmed there were still no people in the alley.
Gentry stepped to the side and leaned on the machine, estimating its weight.
Not too bad.
She leaned in heavier, feet pushing into the ground, legs and back straining against the cool metal.
A little more, and...
One of the little hounds stopped and looked G over, like a dog that saw a little furry animal that could be torn apart.
What, little buddy? Just taking a break. Is it against the law to lean on vending machines?
Gentry urged the walking robot to move along with a little shove of her foot and immediately felt a little bad when it obediently left without making much fuss.
Why the guilt? It wasn’t like she kicked the little guy!
Still, Gentry felt emboldened by the little victory against the mindless machine.
Surely, the frigid castle that held her sugary princess shouldn’t be of much trouble either.
With a renewed wind in her sails, she stepped back a couple of meters and slammed her whole body into the automate that answered with a promising clanking. Another good push and the visual assessment confirmed that the pink princess was nearly saved. Gentry smashed into the box one last time and the can that she longed for finally jangled down and into the pick-up box.
Gentry’s exhilaration lasted only for a second, however. Before she could retrieve the can she lusted after, something much bigger than a modest dog-sized carrier hound filled her field of vision. A larger four-legged robot that also had something fastened on its back and belly. It stood motionless, its front camera glinting in the uneven light like a bird of prey’s, watching G as she stood up after the impact, unsure what to do.
Was it a police hound or something? Unlikely. There were no marks on it that would identify it as such. What was its problem then?
It’s alright, mate, be on your way now.
G slowly moved her hand towards the pick-up box and almost grabbed the cool can when the hound gently shoved her hand aside with its boxy head.
What’s your problem, pal?
Gentry considered if it was worth it being accused of theft so soon after arriving at Ashtapada. Was it really that bad though? She could always claim it just dropped there by itself.
She pushed the hound’s stump of a head back, covering its camera with her palm, reaching for the can again. This time, as if blinded by her hand, the hound didn’t do anything to stop it.
Ah, easy. These machines were too dumb.
Gentry stepped back, completely sure that the matter was settled, and popped the can open. Its sweet scent filled her nostrils with a seductive promise. But the hound had other plans. Once his camera was uncovered, it seemed to focus on the offending drink again and made to awkwardly sway its head to kick it out of G’s hands.
Excuse me? What about the Laws of Robotics, mate? Rings a bell?
It wasn’t hard to dodge the clumsy assault, but the sheer size of the robot made G uneasy. If it seriously wanted to harm her, it could just stomp on her foot and shatter the bones there like fragile glass.
Better get out of here then.
Finally making a sip of the promising nectar, Gentry moved back towards the light opening of the alley, flanking the beast at a respectful distance before scrunching her face in disgust.
Shit! The drink wasn’t sweet in the slightest! It was all a lie! Vile flavourings! She was cheated! Her lovely princess lured her with a siren’s song and stabbed her right in the heart!
Disillusioned, G gripped the can tighter as if in retaliation and picked up the pace.
The hound wasn’t having it though. Surprisingly agile on its metal hooves, it appeared in front of Gentry, blocking her way out. The robots usually looked more like docile cows or donkeys, especially when they were loaded with cargo, but this one, now... looked like a real hound. Its posture suddenly squat, the camera glinting once again, it definitely wasn’t going to let the transgressor go that easily.
Shit, shit! Had it seen her face? Had it scanned her comm? Was she going to prison now?
Panic rose in Gentry’s brain like a suffocating wave.
Run? Return the can back? It wasn’t even good enough to be worth the trouble!
Tentatively, without turning her back on the beast, G made a couple of steps back to escape in the other direction but the robot matched her stride, his dark presence looming in the narrow pathway.
Something like this had happened before. A similar quiet spot in her city. A similar evening that started off great but ended in a disaster. The same impending danger, the same feeling of helplessness, a similar... weapon in her hand?
Right. The brawler that attacked her and Pete at The Clockface was human and was taken down by some boiling hot water, and this hound also had eyes. Only one in fact. And if the can is sturdy enough...
Brace yourself now, my princess, it’s time for sacrifices.
With a well-aimed swing, Gentry launched the can into the thin glass of the hound’s camera eye, turning to run for her life at the same time. A crashing sound proved that she succeeded but there was no time to check what the robot would do next. As usual, the time seemed to stretch into a sickening slime and her legs didn’t feel real, but G knew that outside her reeling head everything was moving properly so she had no time to lose.
Run away, mix into the crowd, save your hide.
Feel worthless later.
submitted by Silver_liver to RoleReversal [link] [comments]
chapter 3
chapter 4
chapter 5
chapter 6
chapter 7
chapter 8
chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Link to AO3
Gentry’s sweet cravings were getting out of hand.
The last time she had a proper dessert was almost a week ago, and if she had something to say about it, no amount of saccharine text exchanges with pretty boys was going to replace a good old sugar rush. A couple of days ago Sereen treated her to the sweetest snack she could get with her status and that piece of dried fruit was nowhere near enough to satisfy G’s sweet tooth.
So many vending machines and eateries, but not a single good bakery? Hell, even a crappy one would do at this point! She had to hunt down some glucose tonight.
After Sereen’s initial tour around the city, she went off leaving G to explore the city on her own. It was getting easier and easier. With the auglasses on, finding her way around proved pretty intuitive, not in the least thanks to the distinct chessboard-like layout of Ashtapada. Each district had a letter-number label. By remembering one’s “square code”, one could find their way back on foot or by cab in no time wherever they found themselves.
Gentry spent hours exploring the wide walking streets and little nooks that offered yet another glimpse into Ashtapadan reality. She once stumbled upon a bookshop with nothing on the shelves but blank-page tomes. The shopkeeper asked her what she was looking for and after finding out the she was a Newcomer, explained that it was a book-on-demand type of place. She would place an order for a story and he would write it for her in a matter of days.
What confused her most was the snow-white buildings of the city. Despite being made with rough porous concrete, they were drowning in lush greenery that sometimes looked like it nearly chocked the structure. Each had the same distinct feature, though, that made them all look unfinished: however tall or short was the building, the top floor always looked under construction. Though there always were the omnipresent hounds on each of the working site, there were never any cranes or scaffolding visible. The obliging auglasses offered G the answer: everything from the smallest houses to the few high rises was essentially self-producing! From what little she understood reading about this advancement, the carbon in the atmosphere was captured by special aerial filters and dissolved in some water. It later went through the pipes in the buildings’ skeleton-like armature and got sprayed on. As the water evaporated, the carbon solidified into neat coral-like blocks that formed the walls and other structures.
Well, that explained why the fumes she saw on the outskirts smoked backwards!
It was getting dark and the orderly streets came alive once G engaged her glasses that revealed the digital underside of Ashtapada again. Every business had a modest sign in the physical world that didn’t stand out on the angular facades. But there also was a hidden bright animated augmented-reality one that could compete with Broadway neon in brightness.
Signs like these weren’t just decorating the facades: the 3D ones flashing on the ground filled almost the whole field of view, too. They looked amazingly enticing in the evening dusk. Information stalls with digital assistants, huge arrows pointing at meeting points, temporary signs inviting strangers to join a club gathering — Gentry was going to gawk at every single one tonight. She came up to some of them, waving hands in the air to try and touch the flickering lights, not caring what she looked like from the outside. Ashtapadans seemed a very relaxed bunch, not putting their noses in others’ business, which felt liberating. Noting how other people in the streets interacted with 3D service bots, G came up to one of them, too.
“Hello, Gentry, how can I help you tonight?” it chirped. The hologram looked like a cute animated girl with an elaborate pink hairdo. “You can ask me a question directly or say “What can you do” to access the list of commands.”
“Hi!” G said. “Do you have a name?”
“You can call me Yukio,” it responded with a little curtsy. “I can answer any questions, show you around or chat about anything!”
Any question? It must know where the desserts were sold! On second thought, wasn’t there something more important than that? Something that brought G here in the first place.
“I’m looking for a person named Exxy Mah,” she said to the patiently smiling girl. “Is there a citizen or a newcomer with this name?”
“There is!” Yukio answered, gleefully jumping in the air. “Exxy Mah is a famous Ashtapadan, she is an advocate for healthy living. You might have seen her on posters and screens around the city.”
The woman in the picture the assistant conjured up floating in thin air showed an elderly woman. She was looking very fit for her age but it clearly wasn’t the Exxy Gentry knew.
“Hmm... That’s not her...” G said. “There has to be another.”
The girl suddenly looked on the verge of tears. “I’m sorry! It’s the only one in Ashtapada! No other Citizens or Newcomers are registered by this name!”
Did her friend change her name then?
“A friend of mine should’ve arrived here last year under the same name. Can you check where she is now?”
Yukio’s helpful attitude fell apart in an instant. Her posture became stiff like a 3D model she was and a voice void of any emotion informed, “Personal data on people of Ashtapada, including their whereabouts is protected by the privacy laws of the city. Please rephrase your search.”
A blink later, the same cute Yukio was standing in front of G again.
“Can I help with anything else?” she smiled.
Was there a way to ask this dummy in a way that would give her at least a hint about her friend?
“Ok, Yukio,” G attempted. “When did the famous Exxy Mah you mentioned arrive at Ashtapada?”
The girl flickered into a wooden statue again, “Personal data on people...”
“Ok, ok, I got it,” G waved. “Bring back the friendly assistant, you creep me out.”
“Can I help with anything else?” the model went again.
G sighed.
“Is there a place a newcomer can get something sweet, a chocolate or a cake perhaps?”
Yukio gasped indignantly, “Ashtapada has a very strict policy on stimulants! You can’t legally buy any tobacco, alcohol, products with added sugar and other such substances!”
“Such substances!” G hollered, forgetting for a second that she was talking to a lifeless simulation. “Sugar is completely harmless! It’s good for your brains you know! Can I at least ask a Сitizen to get me a snack?”
The girl crossed her arms in defiance.
“You can’t buy any dessert in Ashtapada, whatever your status, the law is for everyone. No refined sugar!”
G thought for a moment, rewinding their conversation in her memory.
“Did you say I can’t buy sugar legally?”— Gentry perked up — “Is there a black market of sweets I can go to?”
“A black market of sweets!”
Yukio stared. It was clearly the first time she had had to deal with this particular word combination. It took her a second or two to process the request.
“There’s no black market of sweets in Ashtapada,” she stated, confidently, at last.
“Ok, pinkhead,” G said, rolling her eyes. “I guess it took all candy floss in Ashtapada to make that hair.”
Annoyed at the assistant, she stomped through the bright neon figure in front of her and into the pedestrian street now full of people.
If there was a place with some glucose in this stuck-up place, she was going to sniff it out.
***
The hunt wasn’t of much success. After watching a street performance by a group of dancers, listening to an impromptu debate and taking part in a couple of opinion polls, Gentry finally felt that it had been a little too much. Even with the auglasses disengaged, he noise, the people and the boisterous crowds in the streets seemed to pour light and sound directly into her brain in an endless stream. It gave her a headache.
Calling up a map from her wristcomm with an already practised motion, she marked a place nearby that looked much quieter and had a swarm of vending machines, too.
Screw the sugar, she just needed some water now.
The place was indeed quite secluded. The narrow street started on the edge of the bustling zone she just left but didn’t seem to cut into the living district. It wasn’t used by many people, but, to G’s surprise, it seemed to be used by hounds, scurrying back and forth with parcels, trash bags and other loads of lesser identifiability.
Perhaps this little alley was shared by humans and these tireless little helpers over the course of the day? The hounds would make use of it in the night but workers would walk it to leave the residential area when the sun was up? That would explain the line of vending machines along both sides, with their tempting lights that invited to at least take a look.
Sadly, their insides weren’t as tempting as the signs promised.
G walked past the rows of healthy corn-based snacks, rows of dried fruit packets, lines of non-edible stuff like auglasses upgrades and finally ended up in front of a drinks machine. It immediately identified her by scanning the device on her wrist and merrily chimed a hello. G frowned. The few options that were available to a newcomer with an embarrassingly low status like hers immediately got illuminated, hiding more enticing bottles and cans in relative darkness.
No need to rub it in, you soulless beast!
But... there was a can that looked a little sweeter than others. Perhaps it was because of its sickly-pink colour, or a pattern vaguely reminding of chewing gum printed along its rims together with the fact that it was unavailable to pheasants like her, but something told Gentry that it probably was it. A sweet drink she was after.
Or, at least, sweetish.
Against better judgment, she tapped the touchglass to order it.
Nothing. The little screen insisted that she must choose what was available.
She scanned her comm again.
Nothing.
She engaged the little flashlight in her glasses and looked at the can more carefully.
Was it... a little askew?
It definitely was.
Its lower rim was half-hanging in the air, the release mechanism lazily holding it in place.
A good shove...
A good shove would probably drop the can down.
Wouldn’t it?
G looked around and immediately felt a pang of guilt.
She hadn’t done anything, officer!
Yet.
No people, just a couple of smaller hounds rhythmically clip-clopping along the dim alley.
Should she?
The can looked at her from behind the glass like a captive princess, waiting to be rescued from the agonizing imprisonment. Someone to grab its slender body, deflower it with a skilled motion and drain its sweet nectar in a couple of gulps.
Hang in there, my sweet prize, your saviour is coming!
Another hopefully inconspicuous glance around confirmed there were still no people in the alley.
Gentry stepped to the side and leaned on the machine, estimating its weight.
Not too bad.
She leaned in heavier, feet pushing into the ground, legs and back straining against the cool metal.
A little more, and...
One of the little hounds stopped and looked G over, like a dog that saw a little furry animal that could be torn apart.
What, little buddy? Just taking a break. Is it against the law to lean on vending machines?
Gentry urged the walking robot to move along with a little shove of her foot and immediately felt a little bad when it obediently left without making much fuss.
Why the guilt? It wasn’t like she kicked the little guy!
Still, Gentry felt emboldened by the little victory against the mindless machine.
Surely, the frigid castle that held her sugary princess shouldn’t be of much trouble either.
With a renewed wind in her sails, she stepped back a couple of meters and slammed her whole body into the automate that answered with a promising clanking. Another good push and the visual assessment confirmed that the pink princess was nearly saved. Gentry smashed into the box one last time and the can that she longed for finally jangled down and into the pick-up box.
Gentry’s exhilaration lasted only for a second, however. Before she could retrieve the can she lusted after, something much bigger than a modest dog-sized carrier hound filled her field of vision. A larger four-legged robot that also had something fastened on its back and belly. It stood motionless, its front camera glinting in the uneven light like a bird of prey’s, watching G as she stood up after the impact, unsure what to do.
Was it a police hound or something? Unlikely. There were no marks on it that would identify it as such. What was its problem then?
It’s alright, mate, be on your way now.
G slowly moved her hand towards the pick-up box and almost grabbed the cool can when the hound gently shoved her hand aside with its boxy head.
What’s your problem, pal?
Gentry considered if it was worth it being accused of theft so soon after arriving at Ashtapada. Was it really that bad though? She could always claim it just dropped there by itself.
She pushed the hound’s stump of a head back, covering its camera with her palm, reaching for the can again. This time, as if blinded by her hand, the hound didn’t do anything to stop it.
Ah, easy. These machines were too dumb.
Gentry stepped back, completely sure that the matter was settled, and popped the can open. Its sweet scent filled her nostrils with a seductive promise. But the hound had other plans. Once his camera was uncovered, it seemed to focus on the offending drink again and made to awkwardly sway its head to kick it out of G’s hands.
Excuse me? What about the Laws of Robotics, mate? Rings a bell?
It wasn’t hard to dodge the clumsy assault, but the sheer size of the robot made G uneasy. If it seriously wanted to harm her, it could just stomp on her foot and shatter the bones there like fragile glass.
Better get out of here then.
Finally making a sip of the promising nectar, Gentry moved back towards the light opening of the alley, flanking the beast at a respectful distance before scrunching her face in disgust.
Shit! The drink wasn’t sweet in the slightest! It was all a lie! Vile flavourings! She was cheated! Her lovely princess lured her with a siren’s song and stabbed her right in the heart!
Disillusioned, G gripped the can tighter as if in retaliation and picked up the pace.
The hound wasn’t having it though. Surprisingly agile on its metal hooves, it appeared in front of Gentry, blocking her way out. The robots usually looked more like docile cows or donkeys, especially when they were loaded with cargo, but this one, now... looked like a real hound. Its posture suddenly squat, the camera glinting once again, it definitely wasn’t going to let the transgressor go that easily.
Shit, shit! Had it seen her face? Had it scanned her comm? Was she going to prison now?
Panic rose in Gentry’s brain like a suffocating wave.
Run? Return the can back? It wasn’t even good enough to be worth the trouble!
Tentatively, without turning her back on the beast, G made a couple of steps back to escape in the other direction but the robot matched her stride, his dark presence looming in the narrow pathway.
Something like this had happened before. A similar quiet spot in her city. A similar evening that started off great but ended in a disaster. The same impending danger, the same feeling of helplessness, a similar... weapon in her hand?
Right. The brawler that attacked her and Pete at The Clockface was human and was taken down by some boiling hot water, and this hound also had eyes. Only one in fact. And if the can is sturdy enough...
Brace yourself now, my princess, it’s time for sacrifices.
With a well-aimed swing, Gentry launched the can into the thin glass of the hound’s camera eye, turning to run for her life at the same time. A crashing sound proved that she succeeded but there was no time to check what the robot would do next. As usual, the time seemed to stretch into a sickening slime and her legs didn’t feel real, but G knew that outside her reeling head everything was moving properly so she had no time to lose.
Run away, mix into the crowd, save your hide.
Feel worthless later.
2024.05.28 21:51 BunnyUltra2021 Am I wrong for missing my Ex Fiance?
Hi y'all, i'm a 28M in San Francisco to provide a set of background information. I moved to this school in San Jose Sophomore year for HS and met a girl in choir class a grade older than I was. She was short, light skinned, back hair, and had a lovely voice. Of course we placed next to each other in assigned seats. As time went on i realized i have very real feelings for this girl and she definitely knew. I was awkward, i was weird and i was young and dumb. She was dating some other guy from another school. From what i heard at the time he was a troublemaker. I know she cared about him so i left her alone and kept to myself. My Junior year and her senior year she full on kissed me at a festival our school participated in and then ignored me as if she regretted it. It hurt but what could you do. A few months later she graduated and i hadn't seen her again in years.
Few years later i was out of college and was stable at my job and last i heard about her she had conceived a child with the guy and he ditched her. I felt bad for her but again i hadn't spoken to her. One day she reached out to me and just wanted to "catch up". It was weird as I had just gotten out of a relationship. We decided to get some dinner and talk. I finally got to meet her daughter which was a treat. We ate, we talked, I wished her well and walked her to her car. Upon walking to her car and opening the door, getting her little girl situated she looked at me and kissed kissed me. I didn't know how to respond so i kissed her forehead and wished her a good night. A few months later we got closer. I began visiting her at work and just spending time. we would go to the mall, go canyon driving, the beach, movie etc. Eventually we were a thing.
One day I went to visit her at work and she had bruises like she had gotten into a fight and i was concerned so i asked her about it and she explained that she was saving to move out on her own since she was living with her cousin. I guess they got into a fight which resulted in some black and blue. I was again worried, but she assured me it was fine. A few days passed and same thing. Another "scuffle". At this point I was living alone and suggested she move into one of the spare bedrooms that was supposed to be designated for my office. At first she was reluctant so i didn't push but a few days later she was open to the idea so when her cousin was at work i went and removed her stuff and moved it to the apartment i was in. We got her room and the little girls things settled and i went into my room.
The first day i had to go to work and was gone most of the day, but the next day i woke up and she and the baby were watching cartoons in the living room. I went out and long story short she was very thankful and gave me a hug and just started crying because all she ever wanted was "to have a family" so i guess we were now a family. We sat down and talked and I asked her to be my girlfriend. And from there it was like I didn't know what i was missing. I was so happy. I couldn't explain it. I was happy that she finally took a chance on me, and that i was living with this girl i have had a crush on for years. As time went i'd go to sleep and she'd be next to me and i'd wake up she'd be next to me. I looked forward to hearing her sing in the shower. I would pick up the little girl from day care or her grandma's and grand fathers house. It truly was the best time of my life.
After about 2 years - i had saved up enough money to buy a ring to propose to her. As i was getting ready for a morning shift for work, I noticed on her watch a series of messages with hearts light up the display and then following a few seconds later another message saying "I love you baby" I went into the restroom and looked at the messages. It was her cousin (that she lived with) saying he missed her, he loves her, and he's sorry, and all these things. That bothered me but what was shocking was this communication between him and my gf were on going for a while. In the messages she was explicit and also said to him that she loved him among other things. I was confused, I had taken photos of the messages and just called off of work and went for a drive. I drove for hours and finally went to my best friends house and talked to him for a bit discussing what i had saw and how to approach it. He gave me advice so i took it into account. I went home and i guess she had put two and two together. Why I was gone all day not answering her messages and why i was suddenly cold. She was trembling and crying. I then confronted her about it all. I was crying and she was crying and she began gaslighting me saying she asked her cousin to text her those things because she knew i was going through her phone. I had never ever gone through her phone or her watch. It was just this time maybe the universe was showing me these things. She promised that she wouldn't talk to him ever again and that she didn't have feelings for him. Eventually she tried to prevent me from leaving the house. I wanted her to leave the house with her stuff that night which i know was alot but i was just so hurt. It was one of the hardest things i had ever done. By the end of the night i was alone and in wreck. I wanted her back, i wish i hadn't seen the things on the phone but i needed someone true to me. Eventually the following weeks were tough. I was in a mess, she'd show up at my door. i'd hug her but i kept remembering what she'd said on the messages. I wanted her but i also wanted to be good to my heart. Her cousin would show up to my house to threatening me.
We tried to start over again for about two months and two things finally broke my trust completely. One was she was living at the apartment and she got a job right down the street at a trucking docking company thing. Her cousin came one night while she was at work and said that she was still his and he could prove it. So i entertained him for a bit. He called her on his cellphone - she answered and he asked her if he could see her to a hug tonight. she said she was at work but she could make time for him. I was again hurt i told him i appreciate him so i changed the locks on the door. I went to sleep and around 3am i heard knocking, and pounding on the door. I couldn't breathe and tears fell down my face. I heard her crying too but i couldn't any longer. The I put her stuff outside the apartment and i moved within a few days.
A few months later i found out she met someone at the trucking job and got married within a month of knowing the guy. She moved to Utah and was going to school out there. this was about 2 years ago - she's reached out to me and i've be cordial with her but i can't trust her no matter how much i love her still. She has since divorced her husband and is with this new person in Arizona.
I just would like to figure out why do I still love her and why do i long for her. How long does it take to move on - i feel this has been too long and i'm tired of wanting this person. Am i weak for wanting this person? Was I in the wrong? I did say some messed up things and since then i've apologized. I feel stuck and i don't know how to move on.
submitted by BunnyUltra2021 to amiwrong [link] [comments]
Few years later i was out of college and was stable at my job and last i heard about her she had conceived a child with the guy and he ditched her. I felt bad for her but again i hadn't spoken to her. One day she reached out to me and just wanted to "catch up". It was weird as I had just gotten out of a relationship. We decided to get some dinner and talk. I finally got to meet her daughter which was a treat. We ate, we talked, I wished her well and walked her to her car. Upon walking to her car and opening the door, getting her little girl situated she looked at me and kissed kissed me. I didn't know how to respond so i kissed her forehead and wished her a good night. A few months later we got closer. I began visiting her at work and just spending time. we would go to the mall, go canyon driving, the beach, movie etc. Eventually we were a thing.
One day I went to visit her at work and she had bruises like she had gotten into a fight and i was concerned so i asked her about it and she explained that she was saving to move out on her own since she was living with her cousin. I guess they got into a fight which resulted in some black and blue. I was again worried, but she assured me it was fine. A few days passed and same thing. Another "scuffle". At this point I was living alone and suggested she move into one of the spare bedrooms that was supposed to be designated for my office. At first she was reluctant so i didn't push but a few days later she was open to the idea so when her cousin was at work i went and removed her stuff and moved it to the apartment i was in. We got her room and the little girls things settled and i went into my room.
The first day i had to go to work and was gone most of the day, but the next day i woke up and she and the baby were watching cartoons in the living room. I went out and long story short she was very thankful and gave me a hug and just started crying because all she ever wanted was "to have a family" so i guess we were now a family. We sat down and talked and I asked her to be my girlfriend. And from there it was like I didn't know what i was missing. I was so happy. I couldn't explain it. I was happy that she finally took a chance on me, and that i was living with this girl i have had a crush on for years. As time went i'd go to sleep and she'd be next to me and i'd wake up she'd be next to me. I looked forward to hearing her sing in the shower. I would pick up the little girl from day care or her grandma's and grand fathers house. It truly was the best time of my life.
After about 2 years - i had saved up enough money to buy a ring to propose to her. As i was getting ready for a morning shift for work, I noticed on her watch a series of messages with hearts light up the display and then following a few seconds later another message saying "I love you baby" I went into the restroom and looked at the messages. It was her cousin (that she lived with) saying he missed her, he loves her, and he's sorry, and all these things. That bothered me but what was shocking was this communication between him and my gf were on going for a while. In the messages she was explicit and also said to him that she loved him among other things. I was confused, I had taken photos of the messages and just called off of work and went for a drive. I drove for hours and finally went to my best friends house and talked to him for a bit discussing what i had saw and how to approach it. He gave me advice so i took it into account. I went home and i guess she had put two and two together. Why I was gone all day not answering her messages and why i was suddenly cold. She was trembling and crying. I then confronted her about it all. I was crying and she was crying and she began gaslighting me saying she asked her cousin to text her those things because she knew i was going through her phone. I had never ever gone through her phone or her watch. It was just this time maybe the universe was showing me these things. She promised that she wouldn't talk to him ever again and that she didn't have feelings for him. Eventually she tried to prevent me from leaving the house. I wanted her to leave the house with her stuff that night which i know was alot but i was just so hurt. It was one of the hardest things i had ever done. By the end of the night i was alone and in wreck. I wanted her back, i wish i hadn't seen the things on the phone but i needed someone true to me. Eventually the following weeks were tough. I was in a mess, she'd show up at my door. i'd hug her but i kept remembering what she'd said on the messages. I wanted her but i also wanted to be good to my heart. Her cousin would show up to my house to threatening me.
We tried to start over again for about two months and two things finally broke my trust completely. One was she was living at the apartment and she got a job right down the street at a trucking docking company thing. Her cousin came one night while she was at work and said that she was still his and he could prove it. So i entertained him for a bit. He called her on his cellphone - she answered and he asked her if he could see her to a hug tonight. she said she was at work but she could make time for him. I was again hurt i told him i appreciate him so i changed the locks on the door. I went to sleep and around 3am i heard knocking, and pounding on the door. I couldn't breathe and tears fell down my face. I heard her crying too but i couldn't any longer. The I put her stuff outside the apartment and i moved within a few days.
A few months later i found out she met someone at the trucking job and got married within a month of knowing the guy. She moved to Utah and was going to school out there. this was about 2 years ago - she's reached out to me and i've be cordial with her but i can't trust her no matter how much i love her still. She has since divorced her husband and is with this new person in Arizona.
I just would like to figure out why do I still love her and why do i long for her. How long does it take to move on - i feel this has been too long and i'm tired of wanting this person. Am i weak for wanting this person? Was I in the wrong? I did say some messed up things and since then i've apologized. I feel stuck and i don't know how to move on.
2024.05.28 21:47 Rob_Sothoth Impossible Landscapes - Session 1 "The Apartment"
Session 0: https://www.reddit.com/DeltaGreenRPG/comments/1d0l92x/impossible_landscapes_session_0/
(Okay, these will be long. Five players, lmao. Hadn't quite accounted for that)
Operation ALICE, New York, 1995
The Roster (Player/Character)
Lea (she/her): Jules Gradkowska - Agent MIRANDA. Journalist - research and human intelligence.
Iain (he/him): Ralph Bevis - Agent MILHOUSE. Academic - history and occult specialist.
Quinn (he/him): Richard Delapore - Agent MAVERICK. FBI Special Agent - criminal and forensic expert and the official 'face' of the investigation.
Phil (he/him): Jean Duvall - Agent MAIN. US Navy Master Chief Petty Officer - operational security specialist.
Duncan (he/him): Jake Little - Agent MALATESTA. Civilian contractor - computer and electronic specialist with a side line in hacking.
Rob_sothoth (he/him) - Handler. The arbiter of the world: the good, the bad and that which cannot and should not be named.
Background: The Agents of M-Cell are tasked with investigating the apartment of Abigail Wright. Missing since June, Delta Green has reason to suspect para-natural involvement. Their orders are simple: catalogue the apartment and remove anything deemed suspect for destruction.
Despite heavy changes made, full spoiler warning for Impossible Landscapes.
New York: Tuesday, August 8th, 1995
1:45pm - 3:32pm, EST
Entering the lobby of the Macallistar building in Kips Bay, NYC, the Agents first make a sweep of Abigail's mailbox. Agent MARCUS (M-Cell Case Officer) provided them with a complete set of keys, not to be copied. The mailbox is stuffed full with bills, junk mail, catalogues and offers; mail still being delivered by people who have no idea Abigail is missing. MAVERICK gathers it in a bag and they make their way to Abigail's apartment (Ground floor).
The Macallistar echoes an earlier age. Faded purple carpeting and design from the turn of the century. Opposite Abigail's front door is an old-fashioned telephone nook, complete with bench and curtain for comfort and privacy when phone-lines in individual apartment was an expense few could afford.
M-Cell enters the apartment, finding it somewhere between a hoarder's dream and crime-scene technician's nightmare. The small hallway leads to a living-room (the apartment's largest space), an adjoining bedroom and a kitchen and bathroom opposite each other. Aside from the hallway, on first inspection the only other uncluttered space is the kitchen, which doesn't really look as if it's been used much. MAVERICK ear-marks that as something he wants to check himself as the team begin taking stock.
The NYPD has left a box with copies of their files, including a list of tenants they interviewed, many, many evidence collection bags and a box of latex gloves.
The apartment is filled with various items, with almost no floor visible beneath the collection. CDs and CD cases are stuck or glued to the wall, along with mannequin parts, sketches and assorted pieces that might be ceramic or plastic arranged in odd patterns without reason or rhyme. Stacks of phone books, stretches of dyed fabrics stitched together, an antique claw-footed lamp. Bags, bundles of pictures (drawings and photographs) of seeming nonsense. No furniture is immediately visible in the chaotic mess.
MAIN finds the same result in the bedroom as the first Search rolls are called for. Something catches his eye in the anarchy of the bedroom.
MALATESTA begins sorting through the pile of mail. MILHOUSE at first begins helping, but seeing the scale of the cataloguing, volunteers to make a coffee and food run. MIRANDA begins photographing, while MAVERICK gloves up and asks for things to be passed to him such as brushes, anything with a handle really or something more likely to have fingerprints on it. He wants to see if he can grab a set of Abigail's prints, if that's possible.
It doesn't take MALATESTA long to work out Abigail stopped paying her rent and bills in or around March before disappearing in June. Money was coming in up to a certain point, apparently from a showing Abigail had at the Mercury Gallery in Greenwich Village in November the previous year. There's even a letter from the gallery owner asking about another possible showing; from the way it's written, it might not have been the first time he spoke to Abigail before she vanished. Then, the only money coming in appears to be from her father, though she doesn't appear to have used it to cover the rent. He also gets the building management company, Art Life and their address.
As the Agents work, with MAIN carefully picking his way through the bedroom towards whatever caught his eye and MAVERICK uncovers a battery-powered hi-fi under all the trash, MILHOUSE returns from his coffee run and bumps into someone else entering the Macallistar at the same time he is. After an awkward hesitation on the threshold, MILHOUSE spends a little chatting to Lewis Post, one of Abigail's neighbours. MILHOUSE passes a HUMINT roll and I ruled that having spent most of his time in academics and his fellow PhDs, he can spot signs of some kind of social anxiety. I felt that was a fair get for a good success.
Lewis is hesitant but forthcoming as MILHOUSE works that high charisma score, knowing what to say to diffuse any potential tension. As far as Lewis knows, he is FBI of some kind after all.
MILHOUSE: "Did she ever mention a boyfriend? Girlfriend?"
Lewis: "Our relationship wasn't really like that. We had coffee sometimes. Talked about art. The process." He thinks. "She might have mentioned someone, but not a name, only what they did. A salesman, but I couldn't tell you what they sold."
MILHOUSE: "Talk about anything else?"
Lewis begins heading upstairs "She mentioned moving, but not before she was ready."
Back in the apartment, MAIN voices what others were thinking. "Where was she staying?" No bed, no signs of habitation except for the assorted hoard of crap. MAIN finds a hand grenade nestled in some papers and art supplies near the bedroom's walk-in closet.
In the living room, MAVERICK finds a single cassette tape in the uncovered hi-fi and flips it on, finding the batteries still live. Everyone hears MAVERICK's conversation with his significant other, Natalie from the previous evening. MAVERICK realises it's cut up and out of order, rewinds it and then flips it over. He thinks the entire conversation has been split between A & B sides of the tape.
MALATESTA and MAVERICK both consider phone-tapping, but MAIN, grenade temporarily forgotten, asks how it ended up here?
SAN check for MAVERICK. Pocketing the cassette tape, MAVERICK closes down a bit and prepares to go over the kitchen with a fine tooth comb; perhaps this is how he copes?
Before MAIN can mention the grenade he's worried about, MIRANDA, MALATESTA, MILHOUSE & MAVERICK notice something on the wall behind where the hi-fi was previously buried under junk. Fixed to the wall, maybe with some kind of glue is a piece of brown packing-paper with some kind of symbol drawn on it. Everyone focuses on it.
MALATESTA: "That certainly looks like what we're supposed to be worried about."
MIRANDA snaps a polaroid. MILHOUSE tries to examine it, but his Occult check can only give him the vague thought it's connected to demonology, but little else beyond that. MAVERICK is cautious, but more concerned about getting to work on the unusually spotless kitchen.
Carefully, MIRANDA removes it and a blaring sounds like something between a horn blast and explosion almost deafens the Agents. It seems to come from everywhere and nowhere, from right next to them and outside at the same time.
Everyone passes a CONx5 check and the subsequent SAN check. Through the living room's window, MIRANDA, MILHOUSE and MAIN see a yellow-cab in the street outside. The cabbie appears to have leaned on the horn as someone crosses the street. They appear heavily dressed for summer, possibly homeless.
Is that a snake draped across their shoulders?
MIRANDA takes a polaroid while MILHOUSE and MAIN head outside to investigate. The picture reveals in sharp clarity, the cabbie staring down the barrel as she snapped the shot directly at her. MAVERICK gets to work in the kitchen and MALATESTA picks over things in the living room and bedroom respectively.
Search rolls for those in the apartment.
Outside, the cab has turned the corner and the pedestrian has carried on, though MAIN and MILHOUSE are able to work out where they went. MILHOUSE heads to cut off the other side of the alley, while MAIN approaches from behind, getting the pedestrian's attention. It's the height of summer in NYC, the air reeks of gasoline, rotting garbage and baking, soiled concrete and asphalt.
MAIN finds a nondescript, seemingly homeless man by the state of his clothes, but with a python draped over his shoulders. MAIN strikes up conversation, lighting a Gitane cigarette and pointing to the snake. From the other end of the alley, MILHOUSE makes his way towards the pair.
MAIN fails an alertness check.
Is this guy sweating? It's hot and he's bundled up like it's winter. Is he sweating? Why isn't he sweating?
Back in the apartment, MAVERICK tests the kitchen for blood and body fluids, breaking out the spray bottle and UV light. There's no cutlery, glassware or dishware anywhere in the room, but as he's lifting what could be a print, finds a mechanical diagram drawn on a napkin taped above the inside of an otherwise empty drawer. MALATESTA & MIRANDA continue their search of the living and bedroom, with MALATESTA finding a card printed with the following:
"For a good time Call D - 999-202-9989"
On the reverse are a series of what appear to be street corner addresses in Brooklyn. Could be a sex-line, could be a way to see Red Band underground film screenings, could be something online related. MALATESTA drifts between a few circles and he pockets it out of curiosity. When MIRANDA locates the grenade in the bedroom, she is careful to give it a wide berth and locates what MAIN missed: a backpack radio in the bedroom's walk-in closet. She calls MALATESTA over.
Back in the alleyway, MILHOUSE rolls under 10% and passes his disguise check. Dressed casually and a college athlete to boot, he fits the general chad look in his New York Knicks shirt despite his academic leanings. Being loud and obnoxious like he's drunk, he barrels into the homeless guy with the snake who stonewalled MAIN.
Instead he hits MAIN as the man with the snake is there and gone in the space between blinks. One moment MAIN is looking at him and then MILHOUSE knocks him flat on his ass. Like a film edit. Just gone. MAIN crit fails his SAN check and takes 4 SAN loss without projecting. Instead, as he scrambles up begins kicking over trash cans and searching the alley while MILHOUSE tries to calm him down and get a handle on things.
As MILHOUSE is talking MAIN out of tearing the alley apart, MIRANDA and MALATESTA check out the radio. As it comes to life, they listen and hear the following:
"Exeter. India. One. Thirteen. Sierra. Twenty. Twenty. Forty-nine."
MAVERICK meanwhile, finding the kitchen bare oddly finds the refrigerator stocked. There isn't much inside, some milk unopened and a pack of cheese and deli meat. Expiration is months ago, but through the plastic and glass of the bottle it looks fresh. Curious, he opens the milk and finds it smells as fresh as the day it was bought. Months ago.
Passes his SAN check. Given what he heard on the tape, it's not the strangest thing today.
MAIN and MILHOUSE detour to grab some more coffees, more to calm MAIN down and give him a (successful CHAx5 check) to flirt with the coffeeshop waitress. On their return, MAIN heads into the bedroom, pulls the pin on the grenade and activates the firing lever.
Nothing happens. His "hunch" was correct. Despite failing to properly identify it, something about the shape of it didn't match modern ordnance. Like the radio, it's vintage and either deactivated or else rendered inert by time and age.
I gave MAIN a SAN point back, because why not?
As things begin winding down, MILHOUSE and MAVERICK puzzle over the weird fridge, with MILHOUSE sacrificing his green tea and MAVERICK a donut to see how "fresh" they are come morning between the fridge and not.
Between them, M-Cell take the rest of the evening to take care of home-scenes or any unfinished business they can get done with their resources at hand. They also divide the Operational evidence from the Case evidence, with MIRANDA taking the symbol, MALATESTA the backpack radio & phone number, MAVERICK the cassette tape (for obvious reasons) and MAIN the mechanical sketch on the napkin.
MIRANDA and MILHOUSE, using the former's academic credentials both stay on the case, with MIRANDA leaving her photos from the park to develop in her bathroom. While she fails her roll, she does help MILHOUSE identify the demon the symbol refers to and book-related lead. She hits up a criminal contact named Hugo to put out feelers for weird items she may be interested in. He agrees for a fee, which she negotiates in her favour.
Returning to her apartment, MIRANDA finds her photos of the dancing clown and watching crowd have developed. In every photograph, the clown is turned away from her, but the faces in the crowd are looking at her. That's not how she remembers it. Fails a SAN check. Projects on to her editor, knowing she's going to be taking a "personal day" tomorrow, and this after she agreed to go to the grill.
This will have consequences.
MAIN, unnerved by the day's events, not the least of which was being knocked on his ass by a fitter, younger man, heads out. He returns to the coffeeshop he and MILHOUSE visited and takes the waitress he hit on out on a date. After a romantic interlude, MAIN has a new bond. Her name's Marsha, she's 27 and very nice.
Breaking Operational Security, MAVERICK asks MALATESTA to come back to his apartment and check for possible surveillance. Despite suffering comparatively little SAN loss overall, MAVERICK is letting the day's events impact his behaviour.
It's trivially easy for MALATESTA to confirm there are no bugs in place, which really does narrow the options for how the conversation could have been recorded. Thankful, he asks MALATESTA to keep this to himself for now, to which the grunge-kid agrees. MAVERICK drops MALATESTA near his home and leaves, putting the tape in the player of his car as he pulls away.
MALATESTA lives near the Village and diverts to check out the Mercury Gallery. Though closed, it seems legit and he makes a note of it for later. Back at home, he breaks open the backpack radio and examines it. The battery is not connected to the radio itself, the wires having been stripped out, yet he and MIRANDA both heard a voice on the end of its phone-mic. He passes his SAN check and finds in place of one of the transistors a small, black stone which does not feel like stone at all and feels like it's body temperature. MALATESTA leaves it on his desk, covered in a cloth.
Alone in his apartment, MAVERICK watches his phone. The time comes and he does not call Natalie. A moment later, his phone rings.
Alone in the apartment, MAVERICK does not answer.
We ended up playing for a touch longer than I intended, but I knew that would happen by the time the cab sounded its horn. Despite some tiredness and some drinking, we ended up with a really strong session in retrospect, which has set the overall tone of the campaign for me as GM going forward. Between the five players, two have been through one Delta Green campaign, one has experience with Pulp Cthulhu and two have varying levels of exposure. They all roleplayed the f##k out of their characters and while I was worried about just how weird I wanted things to get out the gate, it feels like the balance is correct and I've given enough avenues for further investigation they may want to pursue.
I got a far better sense, as did the players, as to what drives and motivates their characters and how they cope or don't cope with Delta Green work.
MILHOUSE is definitely setting himself up as the curious academic, Iain playing his interest as forever drawn towards what's there "to discover," he said in character. Perhaps a fool and his sanity are easily parted?
MAVERICK is the "all-American", Agent Cooper adjacent FBI Agent who butts up against the para-natural and is seemingly rocked by it, revealing a complicated and perhaps conflicted depth. In his previous operation with MIRANDA, MAVERICK killed one person, but something about this has gotten under his skin. I wonder what Natalie thinks about their missed call?
A hacker by trade, MALATESTA likes a puzzle as much as he does not like the "weird shit." He talks a good talk when it's about something he knows, but is much too shy to chat up his co-worker. He and MAVERICK had some friction in Session 0 when MAVERICK wanted to call him Mal, to which the younger man pushed back against. Yet, he now knows where MAVERICK lives. Maybe he can learn more? What will he do with that? Does he even want to?
As much as MILHOUSE, MIRANDA is likewise driven by curiosity and a need to know, but first and foremost to keep herself safe. She and him are not the same. There's a scar above her hip from a knife, and it still twinges from time to time. She's also the first to directly or indirectly involve a Bond in the investigation. I wonder what Hugo will or won't find? I wonder what those photos mean. MIRANDA wondered aloud whether the crowd or the clown was the "entity." What does that mean?
Despite being built like Jack Reacher (albeit in a sailor suit), MAIN projects a tough air but is clearly a man at the crossroads. He turns 40 before 1995 ends; middle age. When hit with a problem or something he can't otherwise work out, his behaviour swings from one extreme to the other. To date, he's coped with the case by: lashing out at trash cans in an alley. Chatting up a waitress and forming a romantic bond with her. Pulling the pin on a grenade he "thought" could be fake. It's day one. I'm here for it.
Our next session is scheduled for June 7th, 2024.
Until then, be seeing you.
submitted by Rob_Sothoth to DeltaGreenRPG [link] [comments]
(Okay, these will be long. Five players, lmao. Hadn't quite accounted for that)
Operation ALICE, New York, 1995
The Roster (Player/Character)
Lea (she/her): Jules Gradkowska - Agent MIRANDA. Journalist - research and human intelligence.
Iain (he/him): Ralph Bevis - Agent MILHOUSE. Academic - history and occult specialist.
Quinn (he/him): Richard Delapore - Agent MAVERICK. FBI Special Agent - criminal and forensic expert and the official 'face' of the investigation.
Phil (he/him): Jean Duvall - Agent MAIN. US Navy Master Chief Petty Officer - operational security specialist.
Duncan (he/him): Jake Little - Agent MALATESTA. Civilian contractor - computer and electronic specialist with a side line in hacking.
Rob_sothoth (he/him) - Handler. The arbiter of the world: the good, the bad and that which cannot and should not be named.
Background: The Agents of M-Cell are tasked with investigating the apartment of Abigail Wright. Missing since June, Delta Green has reason to suspect para-natural involvement. Their orders are simple: catalogue the apartment and remove anything deemed suspect for destruction.
Despite heavy changes made, full spoiler warning for Impossible Landscapes.
### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ###
Session 1 "The Apartment" (May 24th, 2024)New York: Tuesday, August 8th, 1995
1:45pm - 3:32pm, EST
Entering the lobby of the Macallistar building in Kips Bay, NYC, the Agents first make a sweep of Abigail's mailbox. Agent MARCUS (M-Cell Case Officer) provided them with a complete set of keys, not to be copied. The mailbox is stuffed full with bills, junk mail, catalogues and offers; mail still being delivered by people who have no idea Abigail is missing. MAVERICK gathers it in a bag and they make their way to Abigail's apartment (Ground floor).
The Macallistar echoes an earlier age. Faded purple carpeting and design from the turn of the century. Opposite Abigail's front door is an old-fashioned telephone nook, complete with bench and curtain for comfort and privacy when phone-lines in individual apartment was an expense few could afford.
M-Cell enters the apartment, finding it somewhere between a hoarder's dream and crime-scene technician's nightmare. The small hallway leads to a living-room (the apartment's largest space), an adjoining bedroom and a kitchen and bathroom opposite each other. Aside from the hallway, on first inspection the only other uncluttered space is the kitchen, which doesn't really look as if it's been used much. MAVERICK ear-marks that as something he wants to check himself as the team begin taking stock.
The NYPD has left a box with copies of their files, including a list of tenants they interviewed, many, many evidence collection bags and a box of latex gloves.
The apartment is filled with various items, with almost no floor visible beneath the collection. CDs and CD cases are stuck or glued to the wall, along with mannequin parts, sketches and assorted pieces that might be ceramic or plastic arranged in odd patterns without reason or rhyme. Stacks of phone books, stretches of dyed fabrics stitched together, an antique claw-footed lamp. Bags, bundles of pictures (drawings and photographs) of seeming nonsense. No furniture is immediately visible in the chaotic mess.
MAIN finds the same result in the bedroom as the first Search rolls are called for. Something catches his eye in the anarchy of the bedroom.
MALATESTA begins sorting through the pile of mail. MILHOUSE at first begins helping, but seeing the scale of the cataloguing, volunteers to make a coffee and food run. MIRANDA begins photographing, while MAVERICK gloves up and asks for things to be passed to him such as brushes, anything with a handle really or something more likely to have fingerprints on it. He wants to see if he can grab a set of Abigail's prints, if that's possible.
It doesn't take MALATESTA long to work out Abigail stopped paying her rent and bills in or around March before disappearing in June. Money was coming in up to a certain point, apparently from a showing Abigail had at the Mercury Gallery in Greenwich Village in November the previous year. There's even a letter from the gallery owner asking about another possible showing; from the way it's written, it might not have been the first time he spoke to Abigail before she vanished. Then, the only money coming in appears to be from her father, though she doesn't appear to have used it to cover the rent. He also gets the building management company, Art Life and their address.
As the Agents work, with MAIN carefully picking his way through the bedroom towards whatever caught his eye and MAVERICK uncovers a battery-powered hi-fi under all the trash, MILHOUSE returns from his coffee run and bumps into someone else entering the Macallistar at the same time he is. After an awkward hesitation on the threshold, MILHOUSE spends a little chatting to Lewis Post, one of Abigail's neighbours. MILHOUSE passes a HUMINT roll and I ruled that having spent most of his time in academics and his fellow PhDs, he can spot signs of some kind of social anxiety. I felt that was a fair get for a good success.
Lewis is hesitant but forthcoming as MILHOUSE works that high charisma score, knowing what to say to diffuse any potential tension. As far as Lewis knows, he is FBI of some kind after all.
MILHOUSE: "Did she ever mention a boyfriend? Girlfriend?"
Lewis: "Our relationship wasn't really like that. We had coffee sometimes. Talked about art. The process." He thinks. "She might have mentioned someone, but not a name, only what they did. A salesman, but I couldn't tell you what they sold."
MILHOUSE: "Talk about anything else?"
Lewis begins heading upstairs "She mentioned moving, but not before she was ready."
Back in the apartment, MAIN voices what others were thinking. "Where was she staying?" No bed, no signs of habitation except for the assorted hoard of crap. MAIN finds a hand grenade nestled in some papers and art supplies near the bedroom's walk-in closet.
In the living room, MAVERICK finds a single cassette tape in the uncovered hi-fi and flips it on, finding the batteries still live. Everyone hears MAVERICK's conversation with his significant other, Natalie from the previous evening. MAVERICK realises it's cut up and out of order, rewinds it and then flips it over. He thinks the entire conversation has been split between A & B sides of the tape.
MALATESTA and MAVERICK both consider phone-tapping, but MAIN, grenade temporarily forgotten, asks how it ended up here?
SAN check for MAVERICK. Pocketing the cassette tape, MAVERICK closes down a bit and prepares to go over the kitchen with a fine tooth comb; perhaps this is how he copes?
Before MAIN can mention the grenade he's worried about, MIRANDA, MALATESTA, MILHOUSE & MAVERICK notice something on the wall behind where the hi-fi was previously buried under junk. Fixed to the wall, maybe with some kind of glue is a piece of brown packing-paper with some kind of symbol drawn on it. Everyone focuses on it.
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3:41pm to 5:22pm, ESTMALATESTA: "That certainly looks like what we're supposed to be worried about."
MIRANDA snaps a polaroid. MILHOUSE tries to examine it, but his Occult check can only give him the vague thought it's connected to demonology, but little else beyond that. MAVERICK is cautious, but more concerned about getting to work on the unusually spotless kitchen.
Carefully, MIRANDA removes it and a blaring sounds like something between a horn blast and explosion almost deafens the Agents. It seems to come from everywhere and nowhere, from right next to them and outside at the same time.
Everyone passes a CONx5 check and the subsequent SAN check. Through the living room's window, MIRANDA, MILHOUSE and MAIN see a yellow-cab in the street outside. The cabbie appears to have leaned on the horn as someone crosses the street. They appear heavily dressed for summer, possibly homeless.
Is that a snake draped across their shoulders?
MIRANDA takes a polaroid while MILHOUSE and MAIN head outside to investigate. The picture reveals in sharp clarity, the cabbie staring down the barrel as she snapped the shot directly at her. MAVERICK gets to work in the kitchen and MALATESTA picks over things in the living room and bedroom respectively.
Search rolls for those in the apartment.
Outside, the cab has turned the corner and the pedestrian has carried on, though MAIN and MILHOUSE are able to work out where they went. MILHOUSE heads to cut off the other side of the alley, while MAIN approaches from behind, getting the pedestrian's attention. It's the height of summer in NYC, the air reeks of gasoline, rotting garbage and baking, soiled concrete and asphalt.
MAIN finds a nondescript, seemingly homeless man by the state of his clothes, but with a python draped over his shoulders. MAIN strikes up conversation, lighting a Gitane cigarette and pointing to the snake. From the other end of the alley, MILHOUSE makes his way towards the pair.
MAIN fails an alertness check.
Is this guy sweating? It's hot and he's bundled up like it's winter. Is he sweating? Why isn't he sweating?
Back in the apartment, MAVERICK tests the kitchen for blood and body fluids, breaking out the spray bottle and UV light. There's no cutlery, glassware or dishware anywhere in the room, but as he's lifting what could be a print, finds a mechanical diagram drawn on a napkin taped above the inside of an otherwise empty drawer. MALATESTA & MIRANDA continue their search of the living and bedroom, with MALATESTA finding a card printed with the following:
"For a good time Call D - 999-202-9989"
On the reverse are a series of what appear to be street corner addresses in Brooklyn. Could be a sex-line, could be a way to see Red Band underground film screenings, could be something online related. MALATESTA drifts between a few circles and he pockets it out of curiosity. When MIRANDA locates the grenade in the bedroom, she is careful to give it a wide berth and locates what MAIN missed: a backpack radio in the bedroom's walk-in closet. She calls MALATESTA over.
Back in the alleyway, MILHOUSE rolls under 10% and passes his disguise check. Dressed casually and a college athlete to boot, he fits the general chad look in his New York Knicks shirt despite his academic leanings. Being loud and obnoxious like he's drunk, he barrels into the homeless guy with the snake who stonewalled MAIN.
Instead he hits MAIN as the man with the snake is there and gone in the space between blinks. One moment MAIN is looking at him and then MILHOUSE knocks him flat on his ass. Like a film edit. Just gone. MAIN crit fails his SAN check and takes 4 SAN loss without projecting. Instead, as he scrambles up begins kicking over trash cans and searching the alley while MILHOUSE tries to calm him down and get a handle on things.
As MILHOUSE is talking MAIN out of tearing the alley apart, MIRANDA and MALATESTA check out the radio. As it comes to life, they listen and hear the following:
"Exeter. India. One. Thirteen. Sierra. Twenty. Twenty. Forty-nine."
MAVERICK meanwhile, finding the kitchen bare oddly finds the refrigerator stocked. There isn't much inside, some milk unopened and a pack of cheese and deli meat. Expiration is months ago, but through the plastic and glass of the bottle it looks fresh. Curious, he opens the milk and finds it smells as fresh as the day it was bought. Months ago.
Passes his SAN check. Given what he heard on the tape, it's not the strangest thing today.
MAIN and MILHOUSE detour to grab some more coffees, more to calm MAIN down and give him a (successful CHAx5 check) to flirt with the coffeeshop waitress. On their return, MAIN heads into the bedroom, pulls the pin on the grenade and activates the firing lever.
Nothing happens. His "hunch" was correct. Despite failing to properly identify it, something about the shape of it didn't match modern ordnance. Like the radio, it's vintage and either deactivated or else rendered inert by time and age.
I gave MAIN a SAN point back, because why not?
As things begin winding down, MILHOUSE and MAVERICK puzzle over the weird fridge, with MILHOUSE sacrificing his green tea and MAVERICK a donut to see how "fresh" they are come morning between the fridge and not.
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After 6pm, ESTBetween them, M-Cell take the rest of the evening to take care of home-scenes or any unfinished business they can get done with their resources at hand. They also divide the Operational evidence from the Case evidence, with MIRANDA taking the symbol, MALATESTA the backpack radio & phone number, MAVERICK the cassette tape (for obvious reasons) and MAIN the mechanical sketch on the napkin.
MIRANDA and MILHOUSE, using the former's academic credentials both stay on the case, with MIRANDA leaving her photos from the park to develop in her bathroom. While she fails her roll, she does help MILHOUSE identify the demon the symbol refers to and book-related lead. She hits up a criminal contact named Hugo to put out feelers for weird items she may be interested in. He agrees for a fee, which she negotiates in her favour.
Returning to her apartment, MIRANDA finds her photos of the dancing clown and watching crowd have developed. In every photograph, the clown is turned away from her, but the faces in the crowd are looking at her. That's not how she remembers it. Fails a SAN check. Projects on to her editor, knowing she's going to be taking a "personal day" tomorrow, and this after she agreed to go to the grill.
This will have consequences.
MAIN, unnerved by the day's events, not the least of which was being knocked on his ass by a fitter, younger man, heads out. He returns to the coffeeshop he and MILHOUSE visited and takes the waitress he hit on out on a date. After a romantic interlude, MAIN has a new bond. Her name's Marsha, she's 27 and very nice.
Breaking Operational Security, MAVERICK asks MALATESTA to come back to his apartment and check for possible surveillance. Despite suffering comparatively little SAN loss overall, MAVERICK is letting the day's events impact his behaviour.
It's trivially easy for MALATESTA to confirm there are no bugs in place, which really does narrow the options for how the conversation could have been recorded. Thankful, he asks MALATESTA to keep this to himself for now, to which the grunge-kid agrees. MAVERICK drops MALATESTA near his home and leaves, putting the tape in the player of his car as he pulls away.
MALATESTA lives near the Village and diverts to check out the Mercury Gallery. Though closed, it seems legit and he makes a note of it for later. Back at home, he breaks open the backpack radio and examines it. The battery is not connected to the radio itself, the wires having been stripped out, yet he and MIRANDA both heard a voice on the end of its phone-mic. He passes his SAN check and finds in place of one of the transistors a small, black stone which does not feel like stone at all and feels like it's body temperature. MALATESTA leaves it on his desk, covered in a cloth.
Alone in his apartment, MAVERICK watches his phone. The time comes and he does not call Natalie. A moment later, his phone rings.
Alone in the apartment, MAVERICK does not answer.
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Post-MortemWe ended up playing for a touch longer than I intended, but I knew that would happen by the time the cab sounded its horn. Despite some tiredness and some drinking, we ended up with a really strong session in retrospect, which has set the overall tone of the campaign for me as GM going forward. Between the five players, two have been through one Delta Green campaign, one has experience with Pulp Cthulhu and two have varying levels of exposure. They all roleplayed the f##k out of their characters and while I was worried about just how weird I wanted things to get out the gate, it feels like the balance is correct and I've given enough avenues for further investigation they may want to pursue.
I got a far better sense, as did the players, as to what drives and motivates their characters and how they cope or don't cope with Delta Green work.
MILHOUSE is definitely setting himself up as the curious academic, Iain playing his interest as forever drawn towards what's there "to discover," he said in character. Perhaps a fool and his sanity are easily parted?
MAVERICK is the "all-American", Agent Cooper adjacent FBI Agent who butts up against the para-natural and is seemingly rocked by it, revealing a complicated and perhaps conflicted depth. In his previous operation with MIRANDA, MAVERICK killed one person, but something about this has gotten under his skin. I wonder what Natalie thinks about their missed call?
A hacker by trade, MALATESTA likes a puzzle as much as he does not like the "weird shit." He talks a good talk when it's about something he knows, but is much too shy to chat up his co-worker. He and MAVERICK had some friction in Session 0 when MAVERICK wanted to call him Mal, to which the younger man pushed back against. Yet, he now knows where MAVERICK lives. Maybe he can learn more? What will he do with that? Does he even want to?
As much as MILHOUSE, MIRANDA is likewise driven by curiosity and a need to know, but first and foremost to keep herself safe. She and him are not the same. There's a scar above her hip from a knife, and it still twinges from time to time. She's also the first to directly or indirectly involve a Bond in the investigation. I wonder what Hugo will or won't find? I wonder what those photos mean. MIRANDA wondered aloud whether the crowd or the clown was the "entity." What does that mean?
Despite being built like Jack Reacher (albeit in a sailor suit), MAIN projects a tough air but is clearly a man at the crossroads. He turns 40 before 1995 ends; middle age. When hit with a problem or something he can't otherwise work out, his behaviour swings from one extreme to the other. To date, he's coped with the case by: lashing out at trash cans in an alley. Chatting up a waitress and forming a romantic bond with her. Pulling the pin on a grenade he "thought" could be fake. It's day one. I'm here for it.
Our next session is scheduled for June 7th, 2024.
Until then, be seeing you.
2024.05.28 21:44 Bettyeggwhitess Experience with chronic insomnia & generic vs name brand quetiapine (Seroquel) that saved me
Hey guys, I just wanted to share my story with insomnia and medication to help me sleep.
TL;DR The following is my back story. If not interested school down to "Here is when things started to improve over the last few weeks:"
""Backstory, it's lengthy:** My insomnia started when I was around 23 years old. I used to be able to sleep well with 25mg of quetiapine but I noticed I had to keep going up to even get tired from the meds. I am 28 now so it feels like years of my life has been negatively impacted from my chronic sleep issues. The only times I was able to get relief in between is when I was able to get benzodiazepines and zoplocone temporarily from a psychiatrist several years ago who ended up moving away. I went years without a psychiatrist until I finally got one in May of 2022. From age 23-25 I ended up down a slippery slope with alcohol consumption in the evening as I was able to feel relaxed and sleep. As time went on the alcohol use increased, I ended up binge drinking almost daily after work every day so I could literally get to the point of passing out just to sleep. Over time the alcohol had a negative impact on my sleep too because it does actually cause sleep issues in itself. I have been sober from alcohol after my 26th birthday. Even though the sleep issues were still prevalent it definitely improved my mental health and improved some of my anxiety issues leaving that poison behind.
Even if I wasn't able to sleep for almost 2 days, my insomnia would be so bad that taking upwards of 300mg of quetiapine just wasn't working. I know they recommend lower doses 25-50mg for sleep issues but that dose just stopped taking effect. I would be physically sedated but still unable to sleep on 300 mg and when I was at my lowest I was taking even more. Not even considering how a significant increase of dosage quickly could be dangerous.
On that high dose of quetiapine I was struggling to walk and barely stand up to try and get snacks from the quetiapine induced munching. I would lay in bed shoving shoving potato chips in my face day and night. Couldn't watch tv. Couldn't scroll on my phone. Couldn't think happy thoughts I would lay there crying in so much discomfort. Couldn't go outside for a walk to try and tire myself out. My life was slipping away from me.
It would make me totally dysfunctional onwards to the next day and I felt like I was in hell laying in bed not able to get comfortable, then moving to the couch to see if it would help and back to the bed again. For a while I believe it was even causing symptoms of restless leg syndrome. It was a nightmare and caused me complete mental turmoil where I was feeling hopeless, depressed and even faced suicidal thoughts.
There were times where I was incapable of caring for my dog which broke my heart. I was even unable to care for myself but my dog took precedence. Sometimes I was so unable to function I would only be able to take her out to use the bathroom only once to twice a day at my lowest during my depressive episodes from my sleep deprivation and I had no help or support to care for her so I had to send her home with my parents so she could be properly looked after.
I was starting to struggle academically while trying to get my degree as I couldn't attend class, complete assignments, study for tests and unable to perform well during exams because my brain was drawing blanks memorizing content I had a handle on the day prior. School got so bad that I couldn't even make sense of the content or follow instructions. I would cry in frustration and just break down because I couldn't even read properly, I would re read paragraphs over and over which felt like I was trying to understand a foreign language. My grades took a plunge and I was put on academic probation so if I dropped to an average below 60 I would be required to discontinue from my program.
I had also dumped a significant amount of money in natural and herbal sleep remedies from naturopath stores. Teas, tinctures, capsules, topicals, essential oils, melatonin, I tryptophan, gaba, magnesium, st johns wart, valerian root, 5-htp, Epsom salt baths, bedtime yoga, sleep podcasts, binerial and sleep music, meditation, exercise, reading, no screen time, warm milk, weighted blankets, even the comfort of having my partner next to me in bed when we could spend time together on weekends offered no benefit.
This horror of insomnia impacted me so significantly that I failed 3 classes and am currently on a year leave from school so I can get my mental health back to baseline.
My psychiatrist also tried me on clonidine, respiradone and mirtazapine to which had no impact on my ability to sleep and caused even more negative side effects, heck my friend even gave me her olanzapine to try and one time I even found a trazedone to try out of despiration and to no avail I felt like I exhausted all options.
The clonidine took all my strength I was basically crawling to try and go up the stairs in my apartment and my vision would go almost completely white, ears would ring, my legs and feet would go purple and I felt like I was going to die. They lower your blood pressure and I was taking more of the reccomended dose because I thought the more I took the better it would work because at one point it was helping me sleep on .3 mg. That didn't last.
My psych also increased my lamotrigine to 200mg before bed to see if that would aid in my sleep issues. My citalipram which is taken in the morning is maxed out at 40mg. 200mg of the lamotrigine provided no change and my mood was stable at 100mg so I went back down to my normal dose and discontinued the 200mg.
However, after the unsuccessful trials with those meds he was adement on pushing and pushing with the quetapine and had me taking a combination of quick and extended release.
I asked for Ativan or zoplicone because I had been on it before for insomnia and panic attacks from a my family doctor in the past but my psychiatrist wouldn't budge and did not want me on benzos. I was feeling hopeless. I used those medications only when absolutely necessary in the past and I found if I was able to get a couple nights of good rest with those, I could benefit from having a normal active day which ultimately left me in a better sleep routine because even just a couple days of good rest was able to reset me for a while until the insomnia started up again.
I opted to speak to smother family doctor because I had to take a plane so I asked for Ativan again as I have an extreme fear of flying so he prescribed me 4 .5 mg of sublingual Ativan and wrote on my file to never prescribe them to me again. Like what?? I don't even drink alcohol anymore or use drugs, not even weed and no previous benzo abuse.
I even reached out to another physician to ask for sleeping meds and a second opinion to which he told me he doesn't want to trump a psychiatrists advice, and I should be lucky to even have a psychiatrist. So there was no hope there.
Here is when things started to improve over the last few weeks:
I take dextrogen for ADHD (I've only been on it for about 6 months so it could have been an antagonist to the insomnia but since it has gone on prior to stimulants I don't think it's fully to blame thus far) and one day my pharmacy was out of genetic so they gave me name brand. I noticed that my side affects were almost completely relieved after switching. They were way easier on my guts and I wasn't having profuse diariah all day as I would with the generic, my appetite was stable and I had less feelings of agitation and nervousness and I did notice when it wore off it was a clean transition and I was even feeling sleepy and could nap if I was able to when on them so I asked them to permanently switch me to name brand.
They ended up making ALL my meds name brand (citalipram, lamotrigine, dextrogen and quetiapine). So I tried 150 mg of the name brand quetiapine one night and it worked like a charm! I was able to fall asleep effortlessly and had a solid sound sleep without waking in the night. Also did not experience the lingering sedation and lethargy the morning after as I would with the generic quetapine. Surprisingly the intense urge to snack also improved because I simply slept after taking It, not half dead and mindlessly munching all night.
I'm not sure if it is a placebo or perhaps whatever was causing my prolonged bout of insomnia is temporarily lifted, but I just wanted to share my experience so if anyone is in the same boat with quetapine and the inability to fall asleep even after taking it! It has literally saved my life and I feel like I'm human again. It's only been a few weeks but I feel great.
I'm also curious if anyone has the same experience so maybe it's not a placebo after all!
Maybe generic or name brand both don't work for your insomnia, but I feel like with the right medication there is hope. I'm also curious if anyone has tried other alternatives for their insomnia and which medication is working for them.
submitted by Bettyeggwhitess to insomnia [link] [comments]
TL;DR The following is my back story. If not interested school down to "Here is when things started to improve over the last few weeks:"
""Backstory, it's lengthy:** My insomnia started when I was around 23 years old. I used to be able to sleep well with 25mg of quetiapine but I noticed I had to keep going up to even get tired from the meds. I am 28 now so it feels like years of my life has been negatively impacted from my chronic sleep issues. The only times I was able to get relief in between is when I was able to get benzodiazepines and zoplocone temporarily from a psychiatrist several years ago who ended up moving away. I went years without a psychiatrist until I finally got one in May of 2022. From age 23-25 I ended up down a slippery slope with alcohol consumption in the evening as I was able to feel relaxed and sleep. As time went on the alcohol use increased, I ended up binge drinking almost daily after work every day so I could literally get to the point of passing out just to sleep. Over time the alcohol had a negative impact on my sleep too because it does actually cause sleep issues in itself. I have been sober from alcohol after my 26th birthday. Even though the sleep issues were still prevalent it definitely improved my mental health and improved some of my anxiety issues leaving that poison behind.
Even if I wasn't able to sleep for almost 2 days, my insomnia would be so bad that taking upwards of 300mg of quetiapine just wasn't working. I know they recommend lower doses 25-50mg for sleep issues but that dose just stopped taking effect. I would be physically sedated but still unable to sleep on 300 mg and when I was at my lowest I was taking even more. Not even considering how a significant increase of dosage quickly could be dangerous.
On that high dose of quetiapine I was struggling to walk and barely stand up to try and get snacks from the quetiapine induced munching. I would lay in bed shoving shoving potato chips in my face day and night. Couldn't watch tv. Couldn't scroll on my phone. Couldn't think happy thoughts I would lay there crying in so much discomfort. Couldn't go outside for a walk to try and tire myself out. My life was slipping away from me.
It would make me totally dysfunctional onwards to the next day and I felt like I was in hell laying in bed not able to get comfortable, then moving to the couch to see if it would help and back to the bed again. For a while I believe it was even causing symptoms of restless leg syndrome. It was a nightmare and caused me complete mental turmoil where I was feeling hopeless, depressed and even faced suicidal thoughts.
There were times where I was incapable of caring for my dog which broke my heart. I was even unable to care for myself but my dog took precedence. Sometimes I was so unable to function I would only be able to take her out to use the bathroom only once to twice a day at my lowest during my depressive episodes from my sleep deprivation and I had no help or support to care for her so I had to send her home with my parents so she could be properly looked after.
I was starting to struggle academically while trying to get my degree as I couldn't attend class, complete assignments, study for tests and unable to perform well during exams because my brain was drawing blanks memorizing content I had a handle on the day prior. School got so bad that I couldn't even make sense of the content or follow instructions. I would cry in frustration and just break down because I couldn't even read properly, I would re read paragraphs over and over which felt like I was trying to understand a foreign language. My grades took a plunge and I was put on academic probation so if I dropped to an average below 60 I would be required to discontinue from my program.
I had also dumped a significant amount of money in natural and herbal sleep remedies from naturopath stores. Teas, tinctures, capsules, topicals, essential oils, melatonin, I tryptophan, gaba, magnesium, st johns wart, valerian root, 5-htp, Epsom salt baths, bedtime yoga, sleep podcasts, binerial and sleep music, meditation, exercise, reading, no screen time, warm milk, weighted blankets, even the comfort of having my partner next to me in bed when we could spend time together on weekends offered no benefit.
This horror of insomnia impacted me so significantly that I failed 3 classes and am currently on a year leave from school so I can get my mental health back to baseline.
My psychiatrist also tried me on clonidine, respiradone and mirtazapine to which had no impact on my ability to sleep and caused even more negative side effects, heck my friend even gave me her olanzapine to try and one time I even found a trazedone to try out of despiration and to no avail I felt like I exhausted all options.
The clonidine took all my strength I was basically crawling to try and go up the stairs in my apartment and my vision would go almost completely white, ears would ring, my legs and feet would go purple and I felt like I was going to die. They lower your blood pressure and I was taking more of the reccomended dose because I thought the more I took the better it would work because at one point it was helping me sleep on .3 mg. That didn't last.
My psych also increased my lamotrigine to 200mg before bed to see if that would aid in my sleep issues. My citalipram which is taken in the morning is maxed out at 40mg. 200mg of the lamotrigine provided no change and my mood was stable at 100mg so I went back down to my normal dose and discontinued the 200mg.
However, after the unsuccessful trials with those meds he was adement on pushing and pushing with the quetapine and had me taking a combination of quick and extended release.
I asked for Ativan or zoplicone because I had been on it before for insomnia and panic attacks from a my family doctor in the past but my psychiatrist wouldn't budge and did not want me on benzos. I was feeling hopeless. I used those medications only when absolutely necessary in the past and I found if I was able to get a couple nights of good rest with those, I could benefit from having a normal active day which ultimately left me in a better sleep routine because even just a couple days of good rest was able to reset me for a while until the insomnia started up again.
I opted to speak to smother family doctor because I had to take a plane so I asked for Ativan again as I have an extreme fear of flying so he prescribed me 4 .5 mg of sublingual Ativan and wrote on my file to never prescribe them to me again. Like what?? I don't even drink alcohol anymore or use drugs, not even weed and no previous benzo abuse.
I even reached out to another physician to ask for sleeping meds and a second opinion to which he told me he doesn't want to trump a psychiatrists advice, and I should be lucky to even have a psychiatrist. So there was no hope there.
Here is when things started to improve over the last few weeks:
I take dextrogen for ADHD (I've only been on it for about 6 months so it could have been an antagonist to the insomnia but since it has gone on prior to stimulants I don't think it's fully to blame thus far) and one day my pharmacy was out of genetic so they gave me name brand. I noticed that my side affects were almost completely relieved after switching. They were way easier on my guts and I wasn't having profuse diariah all day as I would with the generic, my appetite was stable and I had less feelings of agitation and nervousness and I did notice when it wore off it was a clean transition and I was even feeling sleepy and could nap if I was able to when on them so I asked them to permanently switch me to name brand.
They ended up making ALL my meds name brand (citalipram, lamotrigine, dextrogen and quetiapine). So I tried 150 mg of the name brand quetiapine one night and it worked like a charm! I was able to fall asleep effortlessly and had a solid sound sleep without waking in the night. Also did not experience the lingering sedation and lethargy the morning after as I would with the generic quetapine. Surprisingly the intense urge to snack also improved because I simply slept after taking It, not half dead and mindlessly munching all night.
I'm not sure if it is a placebo or perhaps whatever was causing my prolonged bout of insomnia is temporarily lifted, but I just wanted to share my experience so if anyone is in the same boat with quetapine and the inability to fall asleep even after taking it! It has literally saved my life and I feel like I'm human again. It's only been a few weeks but I feel great.
I'm also curious if anyone has the same experience so maybe it's not a placebo after all!
Maybe generic or name brand both don't work for your insomnia, but I feel like with the right medication there is hope. I'm also curious if anyone has tried other alternatives for their insomnia and which medication is working for them.
2024.05.28 21:41 SirHeim Party Limits begone run. How to split classes equipment decently
Beginning now my 3rd playthrough I installed my first Mod in "Part limits begone" and plan to play with the whole bunch in general. So I am wondering about how to "Personality-correctish" specc and gear all of the companions joining my Good Durge Tav. This raises 2 questions:
1. Can I recruit Minthara in addition to the rest of the bunch wo loosing any?
2. How should I allocate the cool-gear effects and to what chaClass...
So.. I am trying for a gear-driven setup where the Chars each gets a consistent "gear-set/loot" and corresponing semi-logical build:) Since so many OP build reuse the same items I am looking for a way to share goodies around in a way that most chars actually will function when I hit Rivington'ish
With all the origin-bunch joining as a zerg it will ofc be semi trivial difficulty even on Tact, but thats NP- Not doing this run as a Personal get-good challenge:) but it means no need for absolute min max.
Avoiding classes/tactics (done)
-> Darkness Cheese-Lock (HoH), Gloomstalker Assasin, Wet-Casting/Lightning cheese-combos, Jumper-monk, Sword-bard, Spore Druid, Evo Wiz, Light Cleric, Throwzerker, OH Monk.
First "take" on the party and "general gearing startpoint" for each:
Shadowheart - Orb-lawnmover-Life Cleric (reverb geaheal-amp gear, periapt of wound closure, Crushers Ring?) -front-line support'ish
Gale - Divination wizard (weave gear - Spell-sparkler)
Astarion - Thief /Shadow Monk? Graceful Cloth, unarmed gear? Corellion etc.
Wyll - Lock 3, Fiend/Pact of the blade, 9 sorc? - Cantrip/potent Robes/caster gear EB blast+Rapier sometimes?
Lae'zel - Eldrich Knight ThroweSlasher. Fling/Throw gear with Gith Sword and fighter gear GWM
Karlach - Wild Magic Barb/4E Monk- Lightning charges gear, (never used lightning really)
Halsin - Moon Druid -shapeshifter gear
Jaheira - Land Druid/smth Wizard, Caster Frost focused, gear, Staff and Shield?
Minsc - Beastmaster - unsure of Gear-profile but he joins late anyway.
Minthara Sorcadin? - Arcane Synergy/Planar Aluhve/armored user
Tav - Can be anything but maybe Goo-lock / LoreBard. Party Face - 2 x Xbows, band of Int, Helm of Arcane Acuity, Band of the Mystic Scoundrel. Back-seateCC in combat
If I loose some of the crew when recruiting Minthara probably a Bard-paladin variation instead of bringing M.
Any suggestion of different specs/gear I should build around with such a general direction for my playthrough and a suggestion about placement of the "big ticket item" from Act 3 to complement what char.
submitted by SirHeim to BG3Builds [link] [comments]
1. Can I recruit Minthara in addition to the rest of the bunch wo loosing any?
2. How should I allocate the cool-gear effects and to what chaClass...
So.. I am trying for a gear-driven setup where the Chars each gets a consistent "gear-set/loot" and corresponing semi-logical build:) Since so many OP build reuse the same items I am looking for a way to share goodies around in a way that most chars actually will function when I hit Rivington'ish
With all the origin-bunch joining as a zerg it will ofc be semi trivial difficulty even on Tact, but thats NP- Not doing this run as a Personal get-good challenge:) but it means no need for absolute min max.
Avoiding classes/tactics (done)
-> Darkness Cheese-Lock (HoH), Gloomstalker Assasin, Wet-Casting/Lightning cheese-combos, Jumper-monk, Sword-bard, Spore Druid, Evo Wiz, Light Cleric, Throwzerker, OH Monk.
First "take" on the party and "general gearing startpoint" for each:
Shadowheart - Orb-lawnmover-Life Cleric (reverb geaheal-amp gear, periapt of wound closure, Crushers Ring?) -front-line support'ish
Gale - Divination wizard (weave gear - Spell-sparkler)
Astarion - Thief /Shadow Monk? Graceful Cloth, unarmed gear? Corellion etc.
Wyll - Lock 3, Fiend/Pact of the blade, 9 sorc? - Cantrip/potent Robes/caster gear EB blast+Rapier sometimes?
Lae'zel - Eldrich Knight ThroweSlasher. Fling/Throw gear with Gith Sword and fighter gear GWM
Karlach - Wild Magic Barb/4E Monk- Lightning charges gear, (never used lightning really)
Halsin - Moon Druid -shapeshifter gear
Jaheira - Land Druid/smth Wizard, Caster Frost focused, gear, Staff and Shield?
Minsc - Beastmaster - unsure of Gear-profile but he joins late anyway.
Minthara Sorcadin? - Arcane Synergy/Planar Aluhve/armored user
Tav - Can be anything but maybe Goo-lock / LoreBard. Party Face - 2 x Xbows, band of Int, Helm of Arcane Acuity, Band of the Mystic Scoundrel. Back-seateCC in combat
If I loose some of the crew when recruiting Minthara probably a Bard-paladin variation instead of bringing M.
Any suggestion of different specs/gear I should build around with such a general direction for my playthrough and a suggestion about placement of the "big ticket item" from Act 3 to complement what char.
2024.05.28 21:15 awakenedsoul3 Is my (27f) relationship with my boyfriend (29m) worth saving?
Sooo I’m sorry for the lengthy post but it wouldn’t make sense without the back story. I’m newly diagnosed with lupus, fibromyalgia, long covid, POTS and hypothyroidism (I know, it’s a lot. Ugh). To say I’ve been in pain is an understatement. Head to toe symptoms, extreme swelling that makes movement even harder, fatigue, depression/anxiety, you name it I have it all right now. it’s been trial and error with medications so far. I’m still suffering from my first major flare in January.
Anyways, I (27F) was engaged to my boyfriend (29M) of 3 and a half years who I’ve known since I was 14. We are best friends and the love he gives me is like no other. Almost like something out of a movie..We both had shitty upbringings but not to belittle his situation, I definitely had it worse. I get anxious around big groups of people and I unfortunately care about what other’s think too much and my reputation. No one meeting me would ever know. That being said, there’s been numerous times he’s humiliated me in front of his friends and family. Even his own step mom told me a year and a half in when she saw I was frustrated over how he handled something that he used to manipulate and play both his mom and dad to get what he wants. They’re all unstable honestly but mostly the father. I’ve always felt uncomfortable around the family, they’re just not my kind of people and I feel like I can’t be myself around them. A year before my diagnoses we went to his best friend’s wedding. The wife is super mean to others and has started drama with a lot of the friend group especially the other girlfriend’s and wives and even her own husband’s family. My boyfriend has always said “these girls are just jealous because you’re stunning”. I grew up kind of ugly and didn’t get hot until senior year of high school so I was bullied really badly and it didn’t even stop when I got “hot”. A lot of girls were still mean to me just in different ways. I was already not excited to go to this wedding due to that and my boyfriend being in the wedding party. I made friends with this really nice girl who just started dating one of his friends. We went to the bathroom together and on our walk back to the tables we walked past my boyfriend who was standing in the mix of a big group of people and he was talking to one of his friend’s girlfriends. Really nice, cute girl. I didn’t even see him cause there were so many people by him so I walked right past him. He apparently called my name when he saw me but with the music it was so loud I didn’t hear nor see him. Him assuming the worst of me says to this girl “what the fuck is her problem” then this other girl walks up to me asking if I’m mad at him.. I was so confused and said what?! Why would I be mad at him? I pulled him aside and said what’s going on? I was so upset he involved other people over an issue I had no idea about. He’s obviously drunk but to me that’s even worse cause I believe drunk words are sober thoughts so he gives me the nastiest look and says you’re that insecure I can’t even talk to my friend’s girlfriend? I was so angry and said well you must be telling on yourself because I didn’t even hear or see you so he takes my words and twists them saying I said I was mad he was talking to her. I swear I could’ve given two shits less. I sat in the bathroom the entire wedding crying because I was so humiliated everyone was involved and they had heard his twisted version of what happened. Shame on me for thinking we were at a good place. I have no problem admitting I’m wrong but I literally did NOTHING for him to do this. I have had insecurity issues due to my upbringing and being cheated on and I finally got comfortable in our relationship where I stopped needing constant reassurance so for me to just finally feel safe and happy and then to have it all ripped away was like grieving a death for me because who is this person and why would they turn on me like that? he made me Uber with other people back from the venue cause he told them he didn’t want to be by me. No one really knows me so they clearly believe him and I’m absolutely shocked and embarrassed. It was rocky for months but he’d make it up to me then something else similar would happen and he’d involve other people in our business. His friend group is also so immature for their age and the girlfriends as well, so I always felt out of place and wondered why my boyfriend was friends with them. Obviously then it clicked.
Another wedding halfway across the country, he said he didn’t want to go out with the guys the night before the wedding because he didn’t want to leave me alone. I kept trying to talk him into going, especially with the fear that his friends would be blaming me for him not going. Finally after we all convinced him to go, I wanted to watch the football game so I took a Lyft by myself to a local bar that had the game on. Why should I have to sit in the room by myself all night waiting? I love traveling and was in a new city so I figured I’d make the most of it. He was annoyed and all his friends and one of the girls apparently said I was weird for going out to a bar alone. I’m also a loner and used to live out of my home state alone with just my dog and I so it’s literally what I’m used to. I can take care of myself. I dropped everything and sent him a spicy picture when I got back from the hotel bathroom. Him and his best friend came back not too long after to our room to hang out. I was asking them how it was and was telling them about my night and how a girl approached me and I actually made a friend. He was acting drunk which was totally fine cause that’s what most people do when they’re celebrating so I was like oh, you drunk?! Literally in a fun tone, not judgmental at all cause I had a fun night too.. his entire demeanor changed and he gets nasty with me in front of his friend saying that he’s not drunk and didn’t even drink at all. I was like huh? It’s not a problem, we’re literally hanging out having a conversation. He went to the bathroom and even his friend shrugged his shoulders. They were going to party in one of the other guys’ rooms and I didn’t even want to go. I realized he had the room key when I left at the same time to grab water bottles so I followed him up real quick to get it and he was talking shit about me to his friend. I said “hey I can hear you”. every single time something like this happens he takes AT LEAST a day or usually longer to realize how wrong he is. He throws out the excuses “all my friends and their spouses fight no one even cares and no one even remembers it.”
Well, fast forward to Thanksgiving.. his step mom has always been overly kind where it’s suspect because she literally talks crap about everyone including family so I’m obviously the subject when I leave the room. My boyfriend was on the deck petting the dog and I was packing our bags because we were all visiting his family in another state. His grandma goes “where did A(my boyfriend) go? His dad replies “he’s outside petting the dog. The step mom goes “no B(me) is right here. Literally calling me a dog. I went outside to the car and my boyfriend saw me and asked what’s wrong? I told him and he started yelling at ME saying that I made it up and she never said that. He goes in to ask them. All of a sudden his dad, step mom and him all come running out bombarding me it was so overwhelming. She’s trying to tell me she didn’t mean it that way and she thinks I’m gorgeous and loves me and she even started tearing up.. mind you, I’ve already sat out many gatherings the last year due to some of her comments. This ultimately led to a huge fight cause I was crying and explained how he’s never once defended me and I don’t think I can be with someone who acts like this in these situations. He always misses the point or tries to reverse the blame. I grew up walking on eggshells and have also been diagnosed with complex PTSD which I forgot to mention earlier so I really try my hardest to communicate healthy because I hate yelling. I will admit, I’ve fed into and once he started yelling at me I did start yelling back which I know wasn’t good but I truly couldn’t take being so misunderstood this bad like he was always trying to make me a bad guy for no reason. I had booked a mini vacation after Thanksgiving so we were driving to the hotel even though he had already ruined the excitement for me. We get there and everything escalated again. He left the room and said he was leaving me here. He came back in all angry and I said you need to get out of the room but he wouldn’t stop being nasty and I said if you don’t get out I’m literally going to call the cops, I’m not sitting here listening to this all night. I know that was a little far fetched but I actually ended up calling the cops because he kept daring me to and making threats refusing to leave, laughing in my face and taunting me (he was hammered). I literally went to book him another room first and he refused to give me space so I exhausted all options. Looking back, I wish I didn’t call the cops but I was so sick of this shit I pretty much just wanted a reason for us to be done and not have a reason to get back together.. I told the cops to just take him to another room and I didn’t want any trouble at all. He acted like I was trying to get him arrested when I literally stressed to them that I didn’t want that and just needed space but he wasn’t listening. I had called one of my best friends and her boyfriend to come get me over 4 hours from home.
He financed my car for me knowing my ex has ruined my credit when we split but I had cash saved so I paid him $1,000 a month on top of the down payment just to pay off the car super quick. He took the engagement ring from me and left me stranded without a vehicle not even letting me have a day or two to get a different car. We didn’t talk for a week, I refused his texts and calls which were blowing up my phone until I finally caved. He agreed to therapy. I made him apologize to his friends and family and explain that I wasn’t crazy or out of line like he made me seem the last few years. I wasn’t happy with how he did it and think he still defends his case around them as he knows I have no interest in going around any of them except his mother and step father who were the nicest out of everyone but they still were not my cup of tea..
Come January, we split again for a week. This time peacefully because I told him any little slip up and I’m gone, I have to look out for myself. This is when my first flare happened that progressively got worse to where after a month I could barely get out of bed. My heart rate had gone up to a high of 180 at one point while just standing. There’s too many symptoms to write out here as it’s not completely relevant but I have a very poor quality of life right now and I’m trying my best to be positive because I was super active and loved being outdoors before this. My boyfriend has gotten better for the most part but still doesn’t know how to communicate issues without blowing up most of the time and it has caused my pain to get worse each time this happened. One time I told him to stop because it’s making it worse and he says “I don’t give a fuck about your symptoms”. I kicked him out and he apologized tremendously and hasn’t done anything that bad since but still will argue with me over dumb things after I’ve repeatedly begged him to just stop and think first before reacting, especially now with how sick I am..
I’m only explaining the bad here because just envision Prince Charming aside from these scenarios.. he is literally amazing and has taken care of me through all of this, giving up time where he could be having fun to just sit inside with me and cater to my every need which I’m so grateful for. I haven’t been able to go back to work since this happened so he has helped me with a few bills and takes me to some specialist appointments when my grandmother can’t. He cooks often for me on my really bad days and even for my younger brothers. They all love him because he spends time with them but they don’t really know the side that I do. It’s like I’m with two different people and with my heart issue right now I’m scared to lose him because I already feel like I’m having a heart attack on the daily. Should I suggest he goes to a psychiatrist and tries medication or just find the strength to leave him? I don’t look at him the same and all the good seems fake cause I’m just waiting for his next outburst where he holds it over my head or something.
submitted by awakenedsoul3 to relationship_advice [link] [comments]
Anyways, I (27F) was engaged to my boyfriend (29M) of 3 and a half years who I’ve known since I was 14. We are best friends and the love he gives me is like no other. Almost like something out of a movie..We both had shitty upbringings but not to belittle his situation, I definitely had it worse. I get anxious around big groups of people and I unfortunately care about what other’s think too much and my reputation. No one meeting me would ever know. That being said, there’s been numerous times he’s humiliated me in front of his friends and family. Even his own step mom told me a year and a half in when she saw I was frustrated over how he handled something that he used to manipulate and play both his mom and dad to get what he wants. They’re all unstable honestly but mostly the father. I’ve always felt uncomfortable around the family, they’re just not my kind of people and I feel like I can’t be myself around them. A year before my diagnoses we went to his best friend’s wedding. The wife is super mean to others and has started drama with a lot of the friend group especially the other girlfriend’s and wives and even her own husband’s family. My boyfriend has always said “these girls are just jealous because you’re stunning”. I grew up kind of ugly and didn’t get hot until senior year of high school so I was bullied really badly and it didn’t even stop when I got “hot”. A lot of girls were still mean to me just in different ways. I was already not excited to go to this wedding due to that and my boyfriend being in the wedding party. I made friends with this really nice girl who just started dating one of his friends. We went to the bathroom together and on our walk back to the tables we walked past my boyfriend who was standing in the mix of a big group of people and he was talking to one of his friend’s girlfriends. Really nice, cute girl. I didn’t even see him cause there were so many people by him so I walked right past him. He apparently called my name when he saw me but with the music it was so loud I didn’t hear nor see him. Him assuming the worst of me says to this girl “what the fuck is her problem” then this other girl walks up to me asking if I’m mad at him.. I was so confused and said what?! Why would I be mad at him? I pulled him aside and said what’s going on? I was so upset he involved other people over an issue I had no idea about. He’s obviously drunk but to me that’s even worse cause I believe drunk words are sober thoughts so he gives me the nastiest look and says you’re that insecure I can’t even talk to my friend’s girlfriend? I was so angry and said well you must be telling on yourself because I didn’t even hear or see you so he takes my words and twists them saying I said I was mad he was talking to her. I swear I could’ve given two shits less. I sat in the bathroom the entire wedding crying because I was so humiliated everyone was involved and they had heard his twisted version of what happened. Shame on me for thinking we were at a good place. I have no problem admitting I’m wrong but I literally did NOTHING for him to do this. I have had insecurity issues due to my upbringing and being cheated on and I finally got comfortable in our relationship where I stopped needing constant reassurance so for me to just finally feel safe and happy and then to have it all ripped away was like grieving a death for me because who is this person and why would they turn on me like that? he made me Uber with other people back from the venue cause he told them he didn’t want to be by me. No one really knows me so they clearly believe him and I’m absolutely shocked and embarrassed. It was rocky for months but he’d make it up to me then something else similar would happen and he’d involve other people in our business. His friend group is also so immature for their age and the girlfriends as well, so I always felt out of place and wondered why my boyfriend was friends with them. Obviously then it clicked.
Another wedding halfway across the country, he said he didn’t want to go out with the guys the night before the wedding because he didn’t want to leave me alone. I kept trying to talk him into going, especially with the fear that his friends would be blaming me for him not going. Finally after we all convinced him to go, I wanted to watch the football game so I took a Lyft by myself to a local bar that had the game on. Why should I have to sit in the room by myself all night waiting? I love traveling and was in a new city so I figured I’d make the most of it. He was annoyed and all his friends and one of the girls apparently said I was weird for going out to a bar alone. I’m also a loner and used to live out of my home state alone with just my dog and I so it’s literally what I’m used to. I can take care of myself. I dropped everything and sent him a spicy picture when I got back from the hotel bathroom. Him and his best friend came back not too long after to our room to hang out. I was asking them how it was and was telling them about my night and how a girl approached me and I actually made a friend. He was acting drunk which was totally fine cause that’s what most people do when they’re celebrating so I was like oh, you drunk?! Literally in a fun tone, not judgmental at all cause I had a fun night too.. his entire demeanor changed and he gets nasty with me in front of his friend saying that he’s not drunk and didn’t even drink at all. I was like huh? It’s not a problem, we’re literally hanging out having a conversation. He went to the bathroom and even his friend shrugged his shoulders. They were going to party in one of the other guys’ rooms and I didn’t even want to go. I realized he had the room key when I left at the same time to grab water bottles so I followed him up real quick to get it and he was talking shit about me to his friend. I said “hey I can hear you”. every single time something like this happens he takes AT LEAST a day or usually longer to realize how wrong he is. He throws out the excuses “all my friends and their spouses fight no one even cares and no one even remembers it.”
Well, fast forward to Thanksgiving.. his step mom has always been overly kind where it’s suspect because she literally talks crap about everyone including family so I’m obviously the subject when I leave the room. My boyfriend was on the deck petting the dog and I was packing our bags because we were all visiting his family in another state. His grandma goes “where did A(my boyfriend) go? His dad replies “he’s outside petting the dog. The step mom goes “no B(me) is right here. Literally calling me a dog. I went outside to the car and my boyfriend saw me and asked what’s wrong? I told him and he started yelling at ME saying that I made it up and she never said that. He goes in to ask them. All of a sudden his dad, step mom and him all come running out bombarding me it was so overwhelming. She’s trying to tell me she didn’t mean it that way and she thinks I’m gorgeous and loves me and she even started tearing up.. mind you, I’ve already sat out many gatherings the last year due to some of her comments. This ultimately led to a huge fight cause I was crying and explained how he’s never once defended me and I don’t think I can be with someone who acts like this in these situations. He always misses the point or tries to reverse the blame. I grew up walking on eggshells and have also been diagnosed with complex PTSD which I forgot to mention earlier so I really try my hardest to communicate healthy because I hate yelling. I will admit, I’ve fed into and once he started yelling at me I did start yelling back which I know wasn’t good but I truly couldn’t take being so misunderstood this bad like he was always trying to make me a bad guy for no reason. I had booked a mini vacation after Thanksgiving so we were driving to the hotel even though he had already ruined the excitement for me. We get there and everything escalated again. He left the room and said he was leaving me here. He came back in all angry and I said you need to get out of the room but he wouldn’t stop being nasty and I said if you don’t get out I’m literally going to call the cops, I’m not sitting here listening to this all night. I know that was a little far fetched but I actually ended up calling the cops because he kept daring me to and making threats refusing to leave, laughing in my face and taunting me (he was hammered). I literally went to book him another room first and he refused to give me space so I exhausted all options. Looking back, I wish I didn’t call the cops but I was so sick of this shit I pretty much just wanted a reason for us to be done and not have a reason to get back together.. I told the cops to just take him to another room and I didn’t want any trouble at all. He acted like I was trying to get him arrested when I literally stressed to them that I didn’t want that and just needed space but he wasn’t listening. I had called one of my best friends and her boyfriend to come get me over 4 hours from home.
He financed my car for me knowing my ex has ruined my credit when we split but I had cash saved so I paid him $1,000 a month on top of the down payment just to pay off the car super quick. He took the engagement ring from me and left me stranded without a vehicle not even letting me have a day or two to get a different car. We didn’t talk for a week, I refused his texts and calls which were blowing up my phone until I finally caved. He agreed to therapy. I made him apologize to his friends and family and explain that I wasn’t crazy or out of line like he made me seem the last few years. I wasn’t happy with how he did it and think he still defends his case around them as he knows I have no interest in going around any of them except his mother and step father who were the nicest out of everyone but they still were not my cup of tea..
Come January, we split again for a week. This time peacefully because I told him any little slip up and I’m gone, I have to look out for myself. This is when my first flare happened that progressively got worse to where after a month I could barely get out of bed. My heart rate had gone up to a high of 180 at one point while just standing. There’s too many symptoms to write out here as it’s not completely relevant but I have a very poor quality of life right now and I’m trying my best to be positive because I was super active and loved being outdoors before this. My boyfriend has gotten better for the most part but still doesn’t know how to communicate issues without blowing up most of the time and it has caused my pain to get worse each time this happened. One time I told him to stop because it’s making it worse and he says “I don’t give a fuck about your symptoms”. I kicked him out and he apologized tremendously and hasn’t done anything that bad since but still will argue with me over dumb things after I’ve repeatedly begged him to just stop and think first before reacting, especially now with how sick I am..
I’m only explaining the bad here because just envision Prince Charming aside from these scenarios.. he is literally amazing and has taken care of me through all of this, giving up time where he could be having fun to just sit inside with me and cater to my every need which I’m so grateful for. I haven’t been able to go back to work since this happened so he has helped me with a few bills and takes me to some specialist appointments when my grandmother can’t. He cooks often for me on my really bad days and even for my younger brothers. They all love him because he spends time with them but they don’t really know the side that I do. It’s like I’m with two different people and with my heart issue right now I’m scared to lose him because I already feel like I’m having a heart attack on the daily. Should I suggest he goes to a psychiatrist and tries medication or just find the strength to leave him? I don’t look at him the same and all the good seems fake cause I’m just waiting for his next outburst where he holds it over my head or something.
2024.05.28 20:57 SpiralSour FBNXT, Booking An Attitude/RA Star In The Modern Day - Part 1: With A Broken Freakin' Neck
Kurt Angle, often regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers in history and with good reason. The man who won an Olympic gold medal with a broken neck came onto the scene in WWE between late 1999 and early 2000.
He went on to carve out an incredible career for himself, winning world titles the world over. Whether it was WWE, TNA or even NJPW - Angle made sure to leave an impact everywhere he went.
What if things were different though? What if Kurt Angle never debuted in the attitude era and instead, at the prime age of 32, Kurt Angle debuted in the wrestling world we know today?
Who would he cross paths with? Would he reach the same heights he did in his day? I intend to explore this topic and find out for myself.
Can The Wrestling Machine thrive in the Renaissance Era? Only time will tell...
The year is 2023 and Kurt Angle arrives on the scene, he's well known as is from his historic feat in 2021, when he won a gold medal with a broken neck at the Summer Olympics.
Many would expect Kurt to chase this success into something significant, but many are surprised and intrigued when it's made clear what his future goals are.
To transition into the world of sports entertainment and become a professional wrestler.
He spends his first year working the independent scene, making appearances in GCW specifically. There, he ends up having standout matches with the likes of Brian Cage and Powerhouse Hobbs who make special guest appearances to lock up with the hot commodity. He even has a half-decent match with Jake Hager, in a bout that seems like it could've been something special if Hager was about a decade younger and still The All American American.
By the time June 2024 rolls around, dirt sheets are speculating that most of the major professional wrestling companies are showing great interest in Kurt, but it's likely he will turn up in WWE due to their extensive track record transitioning athletes from various walks of life and countless different sports.
Imagine everyones surprise then, when Hiroshi Tanahashi announces NJPW has signed Kurt Angle, not to a full time contract but for a very exciting purpose indeed.
The G1 Climax.
Along with him in B Block are seven other supremely talented athletes, some of NJPW's finest along with a couple of freelancers from other promotions.
NJPW, G1 Climax 34 - Night 1, July 15, 2024:
Eddie Kingston vs Kurt Angle
[Kurt's first match of the G1 comes in the form of the Mad King, Eddie Kingston. Eddie's striking and submission based aggression pairs well with Kurt's grappling and limb targeting. Angle is able to rattle Eddie throughout the match with throws and suplexes, as well as his ability to outmaneuver Eddie's submission attempts.
The match comes to a close as Eddie comes out of the corner with a Uraken to a wobbly Angle. Kurt ducks and latches on for a German Suplex, maintaining waist control, a second German Suplex, yet again. Kurt pulls Kingston up to complete the trio, but Eddie hooks onto the top turnbuckle. Kurt shows his strength, suplexing Kingston as the padding goes flying.
Kurt tries for an Angle Slam, but Kingston finds his footing behind Kurt, and grips hold of the neck, cinching a bulldog choke. Kurt struggles up before marching towards the corner and diving downwards, thus driving Eddie skull first into the exposed turnbuckle.
An Angle Slam follows, and Kurt secures a win in his NJPW debut.]
Kurt Angle (2) def Eddie Kingston (0)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 3, July 18, 2024:
Jeff Cobb vs Kurt Angle
[Kurt's second match of the G1 proves to be a very interesting one indeed. Jeff Cobb, a former olympian himself, is perhaps one of the only wrestlers on the planet who can match Angle regarding his knowledge of suplexes, throws, power maneuvers and grapples.
The match begins to near the end as Cobb has Angle up top in a deadlift stalling superplex, Angle is able to land on his feet behind Cobb and German Suplex Cobb off the middle turnbuckle.
Angle looks for an Angle Slam, but Cobb lands on his feet and tries for Tour Of The Islands, but Kurt scrambles free and lands a German Suplex, maintains waist control, Cobb breaks free and steps behind Angle, German Suplex, Angle does the same thing, Cobb gets fed up and hits a German Suplex that lands Angle flat on his face as Cobb releases the waist.
Cobb signals for the end and looks for a standing moonsault, Kurt avoids and hits a throwing German Suplex of his own. Angle scales the turnbuckles, moonsault! At the ref's count of two, Cobb sits up with Angle in his arms. Tour Of The Islands connects! Near-fall!
Cobb gets Angle up on his shoulder, Angle escapes and locks on to the ankle, Jeff rolls forward and sends Angle into the corner. Angle steps backwards into the arms of Cobb, Tour Of The Isl- Angle on his feet! Angle Slam!
Kurt begins to scale the ropes and lands another moonsault. With that, Cobb finally stays down and Angle is able to outlast his counterpart.]
Kurt Angle (4) def Jeff Cobb (0)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 5, July 21, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Kushida
[Taking into consideration Kushida's rather successful MMA background, this matchup seems like a no brainer. Both men are grappling gods well regarded as being submission experts. It's on full display when they finally face off in the G1.
Kushida has been vocal about his displeasure competing only in the Junior division and when put in the premier tournament of NJPW's year, he's eager to prove he belongs in the main event scene.
The story told here is Angle's non stop assault on the legs and ankles of Kushida, and in return Kushida relentlessly damaging the arms and wrists of Angle.
Kushida, despite the quickly deteriorating bones in his legs, is leech like with how determined he is to stay attached to the arm of Kurt. Angle Slam? Denied and turned into a Kimura Lock. Ankle Lock? Kushida rolls forward driving Angle shoulder first into the steel post, and then Kimura Lock. German Suplex? That's what you think, it's actually a Kimura Lock.
As Kushida continuously dissects the arm, Angle begins getting increasingly desperate. He dunks Kushida into the turnbuckles harshly. Onto the apron. Into the barricade. Taking more and more drastic measures to free himself and becoming less and less successful.
Eventually Kurt is in agony and nothing seems to shake Kushida, he climbs to the top rope, hoping a drop from that height will force release. Kushida lets go without Kurt even having to drop only to reapply and look for an arm drag variation off the top.
As Kushida goes to drop, Kurt grips to the ropes and Kushida lands in a tree of woe position. Kurt grabs hold of the ears of Kushida, pulling him up slightly, before shoving him down and forcing him to collide with the turnbuckles.
He drags Kushida up to the top rope, clearly looking for something big, but Kushida goes back in with the Kimura, Kurt begins driving Kushida into the top of the steel post before actually picking Kushida up with his bad arm only and slamming Kushida into the metal.
Kurt positions himself for one last gasp effort to thwart the colorfast Kushida. Angle Slam from the top turnbuckle! An exhausted Angle crawls to cover, and is at last able to defeat Kushida.
The question quickly becomes though, as the referee is refused the chance to even raise the arm of Angle, how much damage was done?]
Kurt Angle (6) def Kushida (2)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 7, July 25, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Matt Riddle
[Four nights after having his arm near surgically dissected by Kushida, Angle locks up against another skilled fighter endowed with MMA experience.
Riddle gives the challenge Cobb gave being able to match Angle on power, while also giving the challenge Kushida did with limb targeting and joint manipulation.
Riddle, entering his first G1 has arguably his biggest opportunity since joining NJPW earlier in the year. He spends the duration of the match peppering Angle with strikes to the arm, salting with submissions.
As the match nears it's own climax, Angle goes for a high risk moonsault only for Riddle to avoid. A final flash knee follows from the ever opportunistic Riddle. Kurt is able to kick-out, inspiring Riddle to try for a RainTrigger. Kurt blocks with his arm to avoid getting struck in the face. He winces and Riddle capitalizes with rapid palm strikes to the chest before kicking Kurt into the ropes.
As Angle rebounds, Riddle goes under the arm and tries for a falling pele kick, Kurt catches the leg and gets an Ankle Lock. Riddle is able to get back to his free foot, so Angle hits a leg trapped German Suplex to discourage a comeback.
Kurt tries for an Angle Slam, but Riddle maneuvers into a pinning predicament, Kurt reverses the pressure pinning Riddle's shoulders. They go back and forth until Kurt traps Matt in a sleeper hold. Riddle fires up to his feet and begins snapping Kurt's elbow over his shoulder to escape.
Riddle gets Kurt up for Bro To Sleep, Angle catches the leg and clings with an Ankle Lock. Riddle gets back to his feet and lands a surprise roundhouse with his free foot. A V-Trigger to the shoulder follows, before Riddle gets Angle in Tombstone position. Angle slithers down, and like a snake, latches onto the ankle.
Riddle crumples under the unexpected pressure as Kurt gets a knee baankle lock hybrid applied. He wrenches away on the Achilles tendon, as Riddle writhes in pain.
Matt nearly gets to the ropes, but Angle is able to roll with him back into the center of the ring. Eventually, Riddle has to think of the big picture and consider the matches he still has left in the tournament, and he submits to Kurt Angle.
Kurt is able to conquer another worthy adversary and remains undefeated in the tournament, but his arm is clearly bothering him and that is shown as Kurt takes time to nurse the injury after the bout.]
Kurt Angle (8) def Matt Riddle (4)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 9, July 27, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Minoru Suzuki:
[It's more bad news for Angle, as his next foe is regarded as arguably one of the most sadistic pro wrestlers of all time. Suzuki, known for his methodical approach and willingness to lay in with strikes, has him salivating at the prospect of getting his hands on the already wounded Kurt.
Angle is donning circulation tape as he locks up with the Murder Grandpa. Suzuki wastes little time in tearing at the tape, exposing the flesh beneath. Digging his elbow into the shoulder blade, he continues his attack on Kurt.
Knee drops and stiff chops leave a stinging sensation rippling through the arm of Angle. Kurt wants to execute his power maneuvers, but a lack of grip prevents him as he begins losing strength and ability with every blow to the shoulder.
Suzuki tucks Kurt's fragmented arm behind him, connecting with Russian Leg Sweeps and suplexes, landing Angle's weight harshly onto his own arm.
Kurt begins mounting something of a comeback against the relentless Suzuki. He keeps his arm close to his body, but is able to surprise Minoru with his explosiveness. He knows he can't lift Suzuki, and so turns to the aerial side of his arsenal.
A swan dive off the apron has Suzuki reeling and Angle is able to follow up with a moonsault into the ring. Angle tries to strike with his feet, connecting with dropkicks and enziguris.
Suzuki weathers the storm, however, and positions Angle for a Gotch-Style Piledriver. Angle is able to grasp onto the leg and sink down, refusing to let Suzuki power him up.
Angle goes under, maintaining his leg control, and gets an Ankle Lock applied. He struggles to keep it in for as long as possible, but the strength in his arm isn't present. Suzuki is able to kick Angle off of him, and Kurt goes into desperation mode. A wounded animal faced with an angry Minoru Suzuki.
Angle goes for a risky strategy, considering his lack of practice in this department, but he decides to use a leg oriented submission, given that his arms are unable to grip for long. He is able to reverse a Gotch-Style into a triangle choke, tightening his legs vice grip around the neck and applying pressure to the carotid.
Angle tries his damnedest, withstanding even a deadlift powerbomb and continuing his choke, to maintain his attack on Suzuki. It pays off as slowly, but surely, Suzuki loses the ability to breathe and is forced to tap out to Kurt Angle.]
Kurt Angle (10) def Minoru Suzuki (2)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 11, Aug 1, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Shingo Takagi
[It's out of the frying pan and into the fire as Angle survives Suzuki, but is now faced with arguably more aggressive competition, in the form of Shingo Takagi.
Angle is on the defensive for most of the bout, wanting to keep his perfect record intact, and knowing the danger of letting Shingo get ahold of his arm.
This also means Angle is less assertive, however, and Shingo is more willing to take risks to do damage to Kurt. Takagi gives Angle a taste of his own medicine as he begins repeatedly suplexing Angle, multiple Germans, landing Kurt on his bad shoulder. He mixes in other variations as well, optimizing the damage he can do to the arm.
Takagi also drives Angle, shoulder first into the steel post. When Angle slumps down, Takagi closes in with a running knee strike, popping Angle's shoulder into the turnbuckle.
Shingo dominates the course of the match, letting Angle get in little offense. Angle stirs, sitting up as he tries to catch his bearings on the canvas. Shingo spots Angle in position for a PUMPING BOMBER, Angle ducks, Angle Slam, Shingo on his feet to avoid, Made In Japan! Angle locks to the waist and reverses with a roll-up, Shingo rolls backwards to kick out, Shingo behind Angle, gets him up, Last Of The Dragons!
Angle planted right on his bad shoulder with authority by Takagi. Shingo gets rewarded for his effort with a very close near fall. Shingo pulls Angle up by his hair, forearm, after forearm, after forearm. Angle spits in the face of Takagi, refusing to go quietly for The Dragon. Shingo wipes his face calmly, before running the ropes, PUMPING BOMBER.
With that, Takagi has handed Angle his first singles career loss, and overtaken him in the G1 rankings.]
Shingo Takagi (11) def Kurt Angle (10)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 13, Aug 5, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Zack Sabre Jr.
[Finally, we arrive at Kurt's final test of this grueling tournament. The tournament that has left him clutching his arm in peril every night, the tournament that has left him blistered and bruised in the biggest tests of his young career, but most importantly, the tournament that put him on the map.
Angle, well regarded as a fantastic submission worker and grappler, takes aim at arguably the greatest submission based wrestler of all time, Zack Sabre Jr.
Angle's Olympian background makes for an intriguing contrast against Zack's more strike heavy, frenzied submission approach. Sabre Jr., one of the most shark like opponents you could have, rips at the arm of Angle in various ways.
Bending the arm back as he stands on the fingers before stamping the elbow sideways, penalty kicks to the forearm, palm strikes to the shoulder blade, using every opportunity to hang the arm over the ropes before being forced to release.
Zack has Angle in a pool of pain as he ascends for a diving knee drop to the arm, Angle avoids, catching Zack in mid air with an Ankle Lock. Zack scrambles, and rolls forward, sending Angle out of the ring.
Sabre goes to the apron, and attempts a diving uppercut, Angle catches him and flips him forward before getting him up for a powerbomb. Zack quickly shifts into an arm triangle, tearing at the arm. Angle drops Zack onto the barricade to no avail, but a firm drop onto the apron forces Zack to let Angle go.
Sabre Jr. is positioned against the stairs and Kurt charges in, Zack slips into the ring and Angle collides with the steel stairs. Baseball slide by Zack follows before he guides Angle to the steel barricade. He pops Angle's arm through the bars and uses his feet on the other side to pull Angle further in, trying to pull Angle through the fence.
Zack gets cocky, standing atop the barricade as he keeps his paws on Angle. Angle sweeps the legs and Sabre takes a nasty spill on top of the steel. An impromptu Angle Slam into the barricade follows before Angle sends Sabre Jr. back in.
Angle climbs, looking to put the finishing touches on Sabre Jr. A Moonsault by Angle caught with a triangle! Sabre Jr. wraps his legs around the neck of Angle, strangling The Wrestling Machine. Kurt powers up Sabre with his last bit of strength. He collapses Zack into the turnbuckles, shifting the ring with the force.
Angle recovers and rips Zack out of the corner into an Ankle Lock. He knows he can't maintain good grip with his arm, so he cinches down into a knee bar. Zack struggles for a while before finally finding the bottom rope. Zack gets an arm triangle over the ropes for a few seconds, before connecting with a kick from the apron.
Sabre dives back in, but Angle blocks the slingshot with an Ankle Lock. Zack swiftly rolls forward, and as Angle tries to roll backwards, Zack pins him down. Angle rolls backwards anyway with Zack and gets a German Suplex. Angle sits up and lets out a roar, before Zack stands up and kicks him in the back of the head. Both men collapse as the playing field is evened.
Angle and Sabre Jr. find themselves crawling back up in opposite corners. The crowd breaks into a clap building up to both men meeting in the center of the ring, unloading with strikes. Zack goes cheap with a falling kick to the bad arm. Zack steps on the knee of Angle before maneuvering over him and onto his arm where he then rolls into a cross armbreaker.
Angle fires up, and twists away at the ankle to turn into an Ankle Lock. Sabre rolls forward and turns it back into a cross armbreaker. Angle rolls backwards and pops out, into an Ankle Lock. Sabre rolls Angle into the turnbuckles to break the cycle. Step-up knee strike by Zack, avoided by Angle, Angle hops to the bottom turnbuckle to greet Zack. Angle Slam from the middle turnbuckle!
Kurt desperately covers, but Zack kicks out, locking a Kimura as he does. Angle yelps out in agony, and tries to roll out of it. Zack stops Angle with a cross armbreaker, Angle powers Zack up, Zack clings to Kurt, connecting with a rana before mounting into a triangle choke.
No matter what Kurt does, Zack won't let go of the arm. Angle, the pain unbearable, the breath leaving his body at an alarming rate. As Zack tightens like a snake across the arm and neck of Angle, Kurt begins to fade and eventually, perhaps inevitably, passes out in the jaws of Zack Sabre Jr.
Kurt's G1 proves to be incredibly impressive as he is ranked third in his block, and his undeniable grit was on full display, as The Olympic Hero refused to tap out, opting to lose consciousness instead.]
Zack Sabre Jr. (13) def Kurt Angle (10)
It's not long after this that Kurt surprises by opting not to sign a full time contract with NJPW, drowning out the offers from AEW and WWE, and instead decides to visit a promotion that he feels oddly at home in. Total Nonstop Action.
TNA Victory Road 2024, Sep 21, 2024:
Jonathan Gresham (c) vs Kurt Angle, TNA World Heavyweight Championship
[Kurt, being the genetic freak that he is, catapults to the main event scene, especially given his matches in the G1 Climax boosting his resume. Gresham, having dethroned Moose a few months back, has been confidently seated as face of the company. Angle looks to challenge that throne.
Gresham and Angle have a heated contract signing prior to the event, with Angle, in response to being called a rookie stating "Well, this rookie is going to kick your fucking ass." before busting Gresham's nose into the table, dragging Jonathan across the table and powerbombing him through it.
The bout is a technical masterclass with Gresham challenging Angle on the technical front. Gresham manages to get Angle in an octopus lock, Angle shifts Gresham out of it and cinches an Ankle Lock. Gresham hooks onto Angle's ankle and throws Kurt off balance, collapsing him into a knee bar. Angle manages to kick Gresham away before locking a figure four.
Gresham rolls over to reverse the pressure, before both men make their way onto their heads, slapping and swatting at each other. Angle throws the first closed fist and it dazes Gresham who breaks free of the predicament. Angle begins his repeated germans, Gresham lands on his feet with the third attempt. Octopus Lock by Gresham, Angle reverses into a third and final German Suplex.
Gresham stumbles up, Angle Slam, Gresham on his feet, big knee to the nose of Angle, Octopus Hold, a look of annoyed disbelief crosses the face of Angle due to Jonathan's insistence on this move, powerbomb reversal by Angle. Gresham pulls himself up using the ropes and is caught from behind with a definitive Angle Slam.
The referee counts the pin and Kurt Angle has secured his first pro wrestling title, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, after a barn burner to dethrone Jon Gresham.]
Kurt Angle def Jonathan Gresham (c) to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
TNA Bound For Glory 2024, Oct 13, 2024:
Kurt Angle (c) vs Kushida, TNA World Heavyweight Championship
[A few short months following their classic in the G1, Angle is hungry for revenge on the man he claims cost him the biggest opportunity of his career. After all, Angle suffered his arm injury during his match with Kushida, and there's an argument to be made his losses to Shingo and Sabre Jr. wouldn't have occured if not for the target Kushida put on him.
Kushida wins a fatal four way over Laredo Kid, Mike Bailey and Rich Swann to punch his ticket to Bound For Glory and the rematch is set. Angle/Kushida II
Angle shows more of his aggressive side in this bout, given that this match is probably the most personal of Angle's young career. Kushida attempts to wear away at the arm, but Kurt has him scouted, sharply reversing any arm oriented attacks.
Angle dizzies Kushida with a series of throws and suplex, making Kushida feel like he's trapped in the spin cycle. Following Angle's several minutes of control time, he attempts to finalize his revenge on Kushida with an Angle Slam. Kushida shifts off the shoulders and into a Kimura Lock.
Angle is forced to tough it out for a minute as Kushida relentlessly latches on. Angle finally takes Kushida to the ground, gets a hand around the ankle and rolls out of the Kimura, taking the ankle with him.
Ankle Lock is in, Kushida though, rolls forward to escape. A nasty jab by Kushida connects, before he attempts his handspring back elbow. Angle catches him and lands a German Suplex. Angle rolls over into an Ankle Lock. A, so far, unseen intensity donning his expression.
Kushida is gutsy and resilient, but is eventually forced to submit to Angle. Kurt relishes his victory, getting what he perceives as his vengeance over Kushida.
Angle, ever the good sport, offers Kushida a hand and pulls him up into a handshake, squashing the beef between them.]
Kurt Angle (c) def Kushida to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
TNA Turning Point 2024, Nov 3, 2024:
Josh Alexander vs Kurt Angle (c), TNA World Heavyweight Championship
[Having effectively vanquished Kushida, Angle turns his attention towards his next challenger. Josh Alexander, having been forced to vacate the World Championship after becoming the longest reigning TNA World Champion in company history, is still seeking to gain back the title that he never lost.
He just so happens to have to go through the man who made his debut to rescue Alexander a couple short months ago to do so. Alexander and Angle, both of similar backgrounds, are excited and respectful in their pursuit to do battle.
The match runs fairly similarly to Jeff Cobb's clash with Angle, a game of one upmanship based around suplex variants. Angle gets the better of Josh with one of these exchanges, getting his trio of German Suplexes to connect and throwing Josh across the ring with the third.
Alexander pops up and comes barreling out of the corner with a spear, he then rolls with Angle, maintaining grip on the waist and lifts him into a deadlift gutwrench suplex creating a beautiful fusion move. Angle barely gets the shoulder up and both men lay exhausted.
They find their footing in the center of the ring, and Alexander begins to lay in with uppercuts. Angle gets a read on him, and catches an uppercut attempt into a backslide, Josh kicks out and Kurt gets him up in powerbomb position. Josh escapes onto his feet and gets Kurt up for a fireman's carry landing a cutter from that position.
Kurt kicks out and Alexander adapts, getting a torture rack applied, bending Angle over his traps. Kurt escapes and gets an emphatic German Suplex. Angle scales the turnbuckles, moonsault! Alexander avoids. Josh gets Angle up and lands a spinning tombstone for a near fall.
For the first time since Angle transitioned to professional wrestling, his neck begins to bother him after the nasty spike on the head. The commentators make point of mentioning Angle's background of neck issues. Alexander decides to make a statement at the expense of Angle, trapping him in an Ankle Lock.
Kurt is able to roll free and as Josh rebounds off the ropes, he is caught with an Angle Slam. Kurt, clutching his neck, goes up top. Moonsault connects. The referee begins the count, but Kurt stops him. Ankle Lock by Kurt.
Kurt wants to make Josh submit, but Alexander breaks out. He gets a double underhook, but Kurt lifts Josh with his bad neck and falls backwards to escape. Kurt immediately goes back on attacking the ankle. Josh scrambles to kick Kurt away and succeeds. Kurt charges back, right into the grips of Alexander. Double Underhook, Tiger Driver! Angle bounces off his skull, and Josh quickly covers. Kurt somehow kicks out!
Josh drags Angle up by his singlet straps, a second spinning tombstone! One, Two Three. Alexander, after several months on the shelf, having to give up his record breaking reign, has reclaimed his spot at the top of the TNA food chain and he's done it by defeating Kurt Angle.
After the bout, Alexander is forced to cut his celebrating short as Kurt struggles to move. He's eventually carted off with a stretcher, putting a damper on Alexander's cathartic title victory.]
Josh Alexander def Kurt Angle (c) to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Following his harrowing loss of the TNA World Title, it's reported by PWI that Angle has a bad concussion and will be out of action for the remainder of November and likely all of Winter. This is due to precautionary measures being taken since Angle has a history of neck problems.
Death, Taxes and Dirt Sheets Being Wrong.
AEW Collision, Nov 9, 2024:
Motor City Machine Guns vs Konosuke Takeshita & Powerhouse Hobbs
[Meanwhile, in AEW, MCMG arrived a little under six months ago and in doing so have become one of the premier tag teams in the company. They've recently been embroiled in a mini-feud with The Don Callis Family, and it comes to a head here.
After various points of control for each competitor, MCMG are able to take the hard earned victory, pinning Hobbs with Takeshita failing to break it up.
After the bout, Hobbs takes a microphone and makes it clear that The Don Callis Family has been on a downhill slide lately. He states that he can make The Don Callis Family better, and bring them back to their former relevance. That he can inspire Takeshita and earn tag team gold with him.
"I just don't want to."
He turns to Takeshita and Callis, taking a predatory stance now.
"Why should I stay and save this family." He scoffs. "A family of failures...is no family of mine."
He headbutts Takeshita and stands over the fallen warrior. Blood begins to trickle down the nose, as Hobbs capitalizes with the World's Strongest Slam. He kneels over the broken body of Takeshita when the star spangled banner coats the titantron and just six days after it was reported he would be out of action for months, Kurt Angle debuts in AEW.
He brawls with his GCW rival, taking Hobbs out of the ring. He stands his ground, staring down Hobbszilla. The Olympic Hero is All Elite!]
AEW Dynamite, Nov 13, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Powerhouse Hobbs
[It's announced that on Dynamite, ten short days after Kurt Angle's TNA World Title loss, that he will lock horns with Powerhouse Hobbs on Dynamite in his official debut.
Hobbs is able to do what few have truly been able to, and that is overpower Kurt Angle. Angle is a stout, strong guy but when greeted with the powerlifter Hobbs, he finds himself manhandled.
Hobbs blocks suplex attempts and tosses Angle around with slams and throws. Hobbs begins to work on the back, getting Kurt in a torture rack submission. Kurt slips out the back door and gets a surprise German on Hobbs, he maintains waist control and attempts another, but Hobbs escapes and sends Kurt spiraling off the ropes.
A spinebuster from Hobbs follows for a two count. Hobbs gets frustrated throwing Angle out of the ring and using his environment to his advantage. He throws Kurt across the announce desk, into the steel stairs, smashes him against the barricade. Once he feels enough damage has been done, he sends Kurt back in and gets him up for Town Business, Angle escapes off the shoulders and lands an Angle Slam.
Clutching his back, Kurt is able to get the pinfall victory over the ever-menacing Hobbs. A successful debut for The Olympic Hero in the land of The Elite.]
Kurt Angle def Powerhouse Hobbs
AEW Dynamite, Nov 20, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Powerhouse Hobbs
[One week after their titanic clash, it is announced that Hobbs and Angle will clash once more ahead of Takeshita/Hobbs at Full Gear.
Angle makes his entrance, a new shade of intensity painting his face. Everyone believes Angle is going to express that intensity by giving Hobbs a proper beating.
Instead, as the two men stand across each other and the bell rings, the two come face to face, center of the ring.
Hobbs snatches the ref. World's Strongest Slam.
Angle simply snickers to himself as he backs into the corner.
As the crowd sits in stunned silence, Angle climbs to the top turnbuckle, landing a bone-rattling moonsault on the defenseless Rick Knox, making clear he is in on this sick plan.
Security begins to rush the ring, and Hobbs & Angle begin to get to work. They demolish every guard that enters the ring in quick succession.
After clearing the twenty-some security guards, Angle and Hobbs stand together, proud of the carnage they've inflicted. That is, until, Konosuke Takeshita's theme sounds.
Takeshita storms the ring, fighting both men at once. To everyone's amazement, Takeshita is able to clear the ring, chasing off the two newly united heels. Takeshita stands tall ahead of Full Gear, sending a brief but loud message to Hobbs.]
AEW Full Gear, Nov 23, 2024:
Konosuke Takeshita vs Kurt Angle
[Tony Khan makes the announcement that the behavior shown on Dynamite was unacceptable, and reprimands are in order. Kurt Angle is a newcomer to the company, so Tony will let him off with a one and only warning, but Hobbs has been here for years and he knows better. Powerhouse Hobbs has been suspended for thirty days and will miss Full Gear, in his place, his new running mate Kurt Angle will be forced to sub in against Takeshita.
In one of the biggest tests of both men's young careers, two of the hottest rising stars in AEW collide, with deep personal roots fueling the bout. Takeshita wanted Powerhouse Hobbs, the man who backstabbed him, tonight but settles for directing all of that anger towards Kurt Angle instead.
Angle enters with his signature mouth-piece finally making it's first appearance, he probably could have used that before, but hindsight. It adds a distinct edge to his grizzled 'real' fighter look.
In Kurt's second proper match in the company, he is put through the wringer in one of the most physically intense matches of his career. Takeshita's blistering strikes leave Angle cornered and forced to rely on pockets of offense to try to limit the damage done to him.
Angle finally gets an opening late and attempts an Angle Slam, Takeshita on his feet lands behind Angle and sinks him with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall. Takeshita sizing up Kurt from the corner, closes the distance with a Pegasus Knee Strike, Angle catches the leg, and rolls into a knee bar. He focuses his assault on the ankle, hoping to soften Takeshita up.
Takeshita writhes in pain before finally reaching the bottom rope, forcing separation. Angle uses every bit of the five count to continue torturing the ankle. Takeshita kicks Kurt away as Angle looks to pounce, and Konosuke begins running the ropes, picking up steam. He avoids multiple clothesline attempts, dizzying Angle.
He finally closes the gap with a massive lariat. Takeshita scouts Angle from the corner now, and the Pegasus Knee gets ducked by Angle. Kurt begins his trio of German Suplexes. On the third attempt, Takeshita escapes, Blue Thunder Bo- Angle escapes, a third German Suplex! It lands Konosuke flat on his face and Takeshita seeks refuge on the outside.
Angle scales the turnbuckles, catching Konosuke at ringside with a moonsault! He sends Konosuke back in and climbs once more. A final moonsault, but Takeshita rolls out of the way. Angle eats the canvas. Pegasus Knee Strike connects knocking the mouthpiece out! Takeshita pulling Angle up, Blue Thunder Bomb!
It is sweet victory for Takeshita, as he is able to get a measure of revenge on Kurt Angle, translated via the glare in his eyes and the expression on his face though, it is evident that Takeshita still wants Hobbs.]
Konosuke Takeshita def Kurt Angle
AEW Worlds End, Dec 29, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Kyle O'Reilly, Submission Match
[We arrive at Worlds End and these two grappling gods are chomping at the bit to finally cross paths. Hobbs is busy with Takeshita which gives Angle ample opportunity to put O'Reilly to the test.
Kurt's been getting more braggadocios following his victories, including in two five minute challenges in which he was able to tap both Lee Moriarty and Daniel Garcia in under five minutes.
O'Reilly is able to meet Angle tit for tat, much like Kushida and Sabre Jr. before him. Kurt finally starts to feel some of that pressure he's been applying to his recent opponents.
Late in the contest, O'Reilly begins to pummel Angle with various strikes taking toll on every part of the body. He caps off the sequence with a stomp to the back of the head and a spinning forearm. Angle is left dazed when Kyle leaps on to the back for a sleeper.
Kurt fumbles momentarily with the hands of O'Reilly, but as loss of consciousness rears it's head, Angle dives forward slamming O'Reilly against the turnbuckles, nearly driving both men through them. O'Reilly stumbles up into a trio of Germans, O'Reilly locks onto the waist with his legs on the third attempt, rolling Angle forward and applying a cross armbreaker.
Angle finds his way out with a grasp on the ankle. Ankle Lock is in, O'Reilly kicks and kicks, but Angle refuses to release the grip. O'Reilly shifts himself onto his back and is able to get Angle within reach to apply a Guillotine. Angle gives up the Ankle Lock to focus on the newfound predicament.
He solves it with a northern lights suplex to escape. Angle sets his sights on O'Reilly and closes in for an Angle Slam, Kyle on his feet, Russian Leg Sweep by O'Reilly who then finds the arm and reattaches. Angle shows his strength getting a deadlift powerbomb and forcing O'Reilly to forgo his grip.
Angle climbs to the top for a moonsault, O'Reilly avoids, Kyle comes in hot, stepping up on Angle's leg to then knee him in the face. O'Reilly follows up with a roundhouse, Angle ducks, leg sweep, Angle jumps and then Angle rolls forward and snatches the ankle.
The Ankle Lock is firmly applied, O'Reilly struggles, trying to grab the ropes, kick free, roll out, but Angle has seen it all before and has an answer for everything O'Reilly attempts. After agonizing minutes in the Ankle Lock, O'Reilly finally submits to Kurt Angle.
Yet another feather in the cap of the seemingly unstoppable wrestling machine.]
Kurt Angle def Kyle O'Reilly
AEW Dynamite, Jan 22, 2025:
[On the Dynamite after Angle and Hobbs score a tag team victory over Hook and RVD, Hook is in the ring and calls out Angle. He claims that he is the match Angle has been waiting for and that he knows he can submit Kurt.
Angle comes out and tells Hook that he's a very talented man, and that one day Hook could be a World Champion. Angle's a fan of Hook, he's a hooker.
The only thing Angle can't stand about Hook is his stupid hair. A Champion shouldn't look like they rolled out of a sleeping bag on Skid Row twenty minutes ago, and Angle damn sure ain't tapping to no hobo.
Angle agrees to a match with Hook under the stipulation that when Hook loses he shave his head, Angle is so confident even that he'll put his own hair on the line too.
Once the match is made, Hobbs lambasts Hook from behind, beating on the defenseless up and comer. This leads Taz to rise from the announce table and try to come to the ring, Angle stops him and blocks his way.
As the two face off, Angle gets that feeling again. It's impossible, but...he's been here before, seen this man before. Angle gets a ringing in his ears and abruptly headbutts Taz. Excalibur rises from the table before Taz is ripped up by his suit and Angle carrys him over to the announce desk.
A brutal Angle Slam through the desk connects. Hobbs even backs Angle up and is able to somewhat corral the unhinged Angle. Taz is carted off and suddenly the fight between Hook and Angle just got personal.]
CONT. In Comments
submitted by SpiralSour to FantasyBookingElite [link] [comments]
He went on to carve out an incredible career for himself, winning world titles the world over. Whether it was WWE, TNA or even NJPW - Angle made sure to leave an impact everywhere he went.
What if things were different though? What if Kurt Angle never debuted in the attitude era and instead, at the prime age of 32, Kurt Angle debuted in the wrestling world we know today?
Who would he cross paths with? Would he reach the same heights he did in his day? I intend to explore this topic and find out for myself.
Can The Wrestling Machine thrive in the Renaissance Era? Only time will tell...
The year is 2023 and Kurt Angle arrives on the scene, he's well known as is from his historic feat in 2021, when he won a gold medal with a broken neck at the Summer Olympics.
Many would expect Kurt to chase this success into something significant, but many are surprised and intrigued when it's made clear what his future goals are.
To transition into the world of sports entertainment and become a professional wrestler.
He spends his first year working the independent scene, making appearances in GCW specifically. There, he ends up having standout matches with the likes of Brian Cage and Powerhouse Hobbs who make special guest appearances to lock up with the hot commodity. He even has a half-decent match with Jake Hager, in a bout that seems like it could've been something special if Hager was about a decade younger and still The All American American.
By the time June 2024 rolls around, dirt sheets are speculating that most of the major professional wrestling companies are showing great interest in Kurt, but it's likely he will turn up in WWE due to their extensive track record transitioning athletes from various walks of life and countless different sports.
Imagine everyones surprise then, when Hiroshi Tanahashi announces NJPW has signed Kurt Angle, not to a full time contract but for a very exciting purpose indeed.
The G1 Climax.
Along with him in B Block are seven other supremely talented athletes, some of NJPW's finest along with a couple of freelancers from other promotions.
NJPW, G1 Climax 34 - Night 1, July 15, 2024:
Eddie Kingston vs Kurt Angle
[Kurt's first match of the G1 comes in the form of the Mad King, Eddie Kingston. Eddie's striking and submission based aggression pairs well with Kurt's grappling and limb targeting. Angle is able to rattle Eddie throughout the match with throws and suplexes, as well as his ability to outmaneuver Eddie's submission attempts.
The match comes to a close as Eddie comes out of the corner with a Uraken to a wobbly Angle. Kurt ducks and latches on for a German Suplex, maintaining waist control, a second German Suplex, yet again. Kurt pulls Kingston up to complete the trio, but Eddie hooks onto the top turnbuckle. Kurt shows his strength, suplexing Kingston as the padding goes flying.
Kurt tries for an Angle Slam, but Kingston finds his footing behind Kurt, and grips hold of the neck, cinching a bulldog choke. Kurt struggles up before marching towards the corner and diving downwards, thus driving Eddie skull first into the exposed turnbuckle.
An Angle Slam follows, and Kurt secures a win in his NJPW debut.]
Kurt Angle (2) def Eddie Kingston (0)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 3, July 18, 2024:
Jeff Cobb vs Kurt Angle
[Kurt's second match of the G1 proves to be a very interesting one indeed. Jeff Cobb, a former olympian himself, is perhaps one of the only wrestlers on the planet who can match Angle regarding his knowledge of suplexes, throws, power maneuvers and grapples.
The match begins to near the end as Cobb has Angle up top in a deadlift stalling superplex, Angle is able to land on his feet behind Cobb and German Suplex Cobb off the middle turnbuckle.
Angle looks for an Angle Slam, but Cobb lands on his feet and tries for Tour Of The Islands, but Kurt scrambles free and lands a German Suplex, maintains waist control, Cobb breaks free and steps behind Angle, German Suplex, Angle does the same thing, Cobb gets fed up and hits a German Suplex that lands Angle flat on his face as Cobb releases the waist.
Cobb signals for the end and looks for a standing moonsault, Kurt avoids and hits a throwing German Suplex of his own. Angle scales the turnbuckles, moonsault! At the ref's count of two, Cobb sits up with Angle in his arms. Tour Of The Islands connects! Near-fall!
Cobb gets Angle up on his shoulder, Angle escapes and locks on to the ankle, Jeff rolls forward and sends Angle into the corner. Angle steps backwards into the arms of Cobb, Tour Of The Isl- Angle on his feet! Angle Slam!
Kurt begins to scale the ropes and lands another moonsault. With that, Cobb finally stays down and Angle is able to outlast his counterpart.]
Kurt Angle (4) def Jeff Cobb (0)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 5, July 21, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Kushida
[Taking into consideration Kushida's rather successful MMA background, this matchup seems like a no brainer. Both men are grappling gods well regarded as being submission experts. It's on full display when they finally face off in the G1.
Kushida has been vocal about his displeasure competing only in the Junior division and when put in the premier tournament of NJPW's year, he's eager to prove he belongs in the main event scene.
The story told here is Angle's non stop assault on the legs and ankles of Kushida, and in return Kushida relentlessly damaging the arms and wrists of Angle.
Kushida, despite the quickly deteriorating bones in his legs, is leech like with how determined he is to stay attached to the arm of Kurt. Angle Slam? Denied and turned into a Kimura Lock. Ankle Lock? Kushida rolls forward driving Angle shoulder first into the steel post, and then Kimura Lock. German Suplex? That's what you think, it's actually a Kimura Lock.
As Kushida continuously dissects the arm, Angle begins getting increasingly desperate. He dunks Kushida into the turnbuckles harshly. Onto the apron. Into the barricade. Taking more and more drastic measures to free himself and becoming less and less successful.
Eventually Kurt is in agony and nothing seems to shake Kushida, he climbs to the top rope, hoping a drop from that height will force release. Kushida lets go without Kurt even having to drop only to reapply and look for an arm drag variation off the top.
As Kushida goes to drop, Kurt grips to the ropes and Kushida lands in a tree of woe position. Kurt grabs hold of the ears of Kushida, pulling him up slightly, before shoving him down and forcing him to collide with the turnbuckles.
He drags Kushida up to the top rope, clearly looking for something big, but Kushida goes back in with the Kimura, Kurt begins driving Kushida into the top of the steel post before actually picking Kushida up with his bad arm only and slamming Kushida into the metal.
Kurt positions himself for one last gasp effort to thwart the colorfast Kushida. Angle Slam from the top turnbuckle! An exhausted Angle crawls to cover, and is at last able to defeat Kushida.
The question quickly becomes though, as the referee is refused the chance to even raise the arm of Angle, how much damage was done?]
Kurt Angle (6) def Kushida (2)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 7, July 25, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Matt Riddle
[Four nights after having his arm near surgically dissected by Kushida, Angle locks up against another skilled fighter endowed with MMA experience.
Riddle gives the challenge Cobb gave being able to match Angle on power, while also giving the challenge Kushida did with limb targeting and joint manipulation.
Riddle, entering his first G1 has arguably his biggest opportunity since joining NJPW earlier in the year. He spends the duration of the match peppering Angle with strikes to the arm, salting with submissions.
As the match nears it's own climax, Angle goes for a high risk moonsault only for Riddle to avoid. A final flash knee follows from the ever opportunistic Riddle. Kurt is able to kick-out, inspiring Riddle to try for a RainTrigger. Kurt blocks with his arm to avoid getting struck in the face. He winces and Riddle capitalizes with rapid palm strikes to the chest before kicking Kurt into the ropes.
As Angle rebounds, Riddle goes under the arm and tries for a falling pele kick, Kurt catches the leg and gets an Ankle Lock. Riddle is able to get back to his free foot, so Angle hits a leg trapped German Suplex to discourage a comeback.
Kurt tries for an Angle Slam, but Riddle maneuvers into a pinning predicament, Kurt reverses the pressure pinning Riddle's shoulders. They go back and forth until Kurt traps Matt in a sleeper hold. Riddle fires up to his feet and begins snapping Kurt's elbow over his shoulder to escape.
Riddle gets Kurt up for Bro To Sleep, Angle catches the leg and clings with an Ankle Lock. Riddle gets back to his feet and lands a surprise roundhouse with his free foot. A V-Trigger to the shoulder follows, before Riddle gets Angle in Tombstone position. Angle slithers down, and like a snake, latches onto the ankle.
Riddle crumples under the unexpected pressure as Kurt gets a knee baankle lock hybrid applied. He wrenches away on the Achilles tendon, as Riddle writhes in pain.
Matt nearly gets to the ropes, but Angle is able to roll with him back into the center of the ring. Eventually, Riddle has to think of the big picture and consider the matches he still has left in the tournament, and he submits to Kurt Angle.
Kurt is able to conquer another worthy adversary and remains undefeated in the tournament, but his arm is clearly bothering him and that is shown as Kurt takes time to nurse the injury after the bout.]
Kurt Angle (8) def Matt Riddle (4)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 9, July 27, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Minoru Suzuki:
[It's more bad news for Angle, as his next foe is regarded as arguably one of the most sadistic pro wrestlers of all time. Suzuki, known for his methodical approach and willingness to lay in with strikes, has him salivating at the prospect of getting his hands on the already wounded Kurt.
Angle is donning circulation tape as he locks up with the Murder Grandpa. Suzuki wastes little time in tearing at the tape, exposing the flesh beneath. Digging his elbow into the shoulder blade, he continues his attack on Kurt.
Knee drops and stiff chops leave a stinging sensation rippling through the arm of Angle. Kurt wants to execute his power maneuvers, but a lack of grip prevents him as he begins losing strength and ability with every blow to the shoulder.
Suzuki tucks Kurt's fragmented arm behind him, connecting with Russian Leg Sweeps and suplexes, landing Angle's weight harshly onto his own arm.
Kurt begins mounting something of a comeback against the relentless Suzuki. He keeps his arm close to his body, but is able to surprise Minoru with his explosiveness. He knows he can't lift Suzuki, and so turns to the aerial side of his arsenal.
A swan dive off the apron has Suzuki reeling and Angle is able to follow up with a moonsault into the ring. Angle tries to strike with his feet, connecting with dropkicks and enziguris.
Suzuki weathers the storm, however, and positions Angle for a Gotch-Style Piledriver. Angle is able to grasp onto the leg and sink down, refusing to let Suzuki power him up.
Angle goes under, maintaining his leg control, and gets an Ankle Lock applied. He struggles to keep it in for as long as possible, but the strength in his arm isn't present. Suzuki is able to kick Angle off of him, and Kurt goes into desperation mode. A wounded animal faced with an angry Minoru Suzuki.
Angle goes for a risky strategy, considering his lack of practice in this department, but he decides to use a leg oriented submission, given that his arms are unable to grip for long. He is able to reverse a Gotch-Style into a triangle choke, tightening his legs vice grip around the neck and applying pressure to the carotid.
Angle tries his damnedest, withstanding even a deadlift powerbomb and continuing his choke, to maintain his attack on Suzuki. It pays off as slowly, but surely, Suzuki loses the ability to breathe and is forced to tap out to Kurt Angle.]
Kurt Angle (10) def Minoru Suzuki (2)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 11, Aug 1, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Shingo Takagi
[It's out of the frying pan and into the fire as Angle survives Suzuki, but is now faced with arguably more aggressive competition, in the form of Shingo Takagi.
Angle is on the defensive for most of the bout, wanting to keep his perfect record intact, and knowing the danger of letting Shingo get ahold of his arm.
This also means Angle is less assertive, however, and Shingo is more willing to take risks to do damage to Kurt. Takagi gives Angle a taste of his own medicine as he begins repeatedly suplexing Angle, multiple Germans, landing Kurt on his bad shoulder. He mixes in other variations as well, optimizing the damage he can do to the arm.
Takagi also drives Angle, shoulder first into the steel post. When Angle slumps down, Takagi closes in with a running knee strike, popping Angle's shoulder into the turnbuckle.
Shingo dominates the course of the match, letting Angle get in little offense. Angle stirs, sitting up as he tries to catch his bearings on the canvas. Shingo spots Angle in position for a PUMPING BOMBER, Angle ducks, Angle Slam, Shingo on his feet to avoid, Made In Japan! Angle locks to the waist and reverses with a roll-up, Shingo rolls backwards to kick out, Shingo behind Angle, gets him up, Last Of The Dragons!
Angle planted right on his bad shoulder with authority by Takagi. Shingo gets rewarded for his effort with a very close near fall. Shingo pulls Angle up by his hair, forearm, after forearm, after forearm. Angle spits in the face of Takagi, refusing to go quietly for The Dragon. Shingo wipes his face calmly, before running the ropes, PUMPING BOMBER.
With that, Takagi has handed Angle his first singles career loss, and overtaken him in the G1 rankings.]
Shingo Takagi (11) def Kurt Angle (10)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 13, Aug 5, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Zack Sabre Jr.
[Finally, we arrive at Kurt's final test of this grueling tournament. The tournament that has left him clutching his arm in peril every night, the tournament that has left him blistered and bruised in the biggest tests of his young career, but most importantly, the tournament that put him on the map.
Angle, well regarded as a fantastic submission worker and grappler, takes aim at arguably the greatest submission based wrestler of all time, Zack Sabre Jr.
Angle's Olympian background makes for an intriguing contrast against Zack's more strike heavy, frenzied submission approach. Sabre Jr., one of the most shark like opponents you could have, rips at the arm of Angle in various ways.
Bending the arm back as he stands on the fingers before stamping the elbow sideways, penalty kicks to the forearm, palm strikes to the shoulder blade, using every opportunity to hang the arm over the ropes before being forced to release.
Zack has Angle in a pool of pain as he ascends for a diving knee drop to the arm, Angle avoids, catching Zack in mid air with an Ankle Lock. Zack scrambles, and rolls forward, sending Angle out of the ring.
Sabre goes to the apron, and attempts a diving uppercut, Angle catches him and flips him forward before getting him up for a powerbomb. Zack quickly shifts into an arm triangle, tearing at the arm. Angle drops Zack onto the barricade to no avail, but a firm drop onto the apron forces Zack to let Angle go.
Sabre Jr. is positioned against the stairs and Kurt charges in, Zack slips into the ring and Angle collides with the steel stairs. Baseball slide by Zack follows before he guides Angle to the steel barricade. He pops Angle's arm through the bars and uses his feet on the other side to pull Angle further in, trying to pull Angle through the fence.
Zack gets cocky, standing atop the barricade as he keeps his paws on Angle. Angle sweeps the legs and Sabre takes a nasty spill on top of the steel. An impromptu Angle Slam into the barricade follows before Angle sends Sabre Jr. back in.
Angle climbs, looking to put the finishing touches on Sabre Jr. A Moonsault by Angle caught with a triangle! Sabre Jr. wraps his legs around the neck of Angle, strangling The Wrestling Machine. Kurt powers up Sabre with his last bit of strength. He collapses Zack into the turnbuckles, shifting the ring with the force.
Angle recovers and rips Zack out of the corner into an Ankle Lock. He knows he can't maintain good grip with his arm, so he cinches down into a knee bar. Zack struggles for a while before finally finding the bottom rope. Zack gets an arm triangle over the ropes for a few seconds, before connecting with a kick from the apron.
Sabre dives back in, but Angle blocks the slingshot with an Ankle Lock. Zack swiftly rolls forward, and as Angle tries to roll backwards, Zack pins him down. Angle rolls backwards anyway with Zack and gets a German Suplex. Angle sits up and lets out a roar, before Zack stands up and kicks him in the back of the head. Both men collapse as the playing field is evened.
Angle and Sabre Jr. find themselves crawling back up in opposite corners. The crowd breaks into a clap building up to both men meeting in the center of the ring, unloading with strikes. Zack goes cheap with a falling kick to the bad arm. Zack steps on the knee of Angle before maneuvering over him and onto his arm where he then rolls into a cross armbreaker.
Angle fires up, and twists away at the ankle to turn into an Ankle Lock. Sabre rolls forward and turns it back into a cross armbreaker. Angle rolls backwards and pops out, into an Ankle Lock. Sabre rolls Angle into the turnbuckles to break the cycle. Step-up knee strike by Zack, avoided by Angle, Angle hops to the bottom turnbuckle to greet Zack. Angle Slam from the middle turnbuckle!
Kurt desperately covers, but Zack kicks out, locking a Kimura as he does. Angle yelps out in agony, and tries to roll out of it. Zack stops Angle with a cross armbreaker, Angle powers Zack up, Zack clings to Kurt, connecting with a rana before mounting into a triangle choke.
No matter what Kurt does, Zack won't let go of the arm. Angle, the pain unbearable, the breath leaving his body at an alarming rate. As Zack tightens like a snake across the arm and neck of Angle, Kurt begins to fade and eventually, perhaps inevitably, passes out in the jaws of Zack Sabre Jr.
Kurt's G1 proves to be incredibly impressive as he is ranked third in his block, and his undeniable grit was on full display, as The Olympic Hero refused to tap out, opting to lose consciousness instead.]
Zack Sabre Jr. (13) def Kurt Angle (10)
Jonathan Gresham (c) vs Kurt Angle, TNA World Heavyweight Championship
[Kurt, being the genetic freak that he is, catapults to the main event scene, especially given his matches in the G1 Climax boosting his resume. Gresham, having dethroned Moose a few months back, has been confidently seated as face of the company. Angle looks to challenge that throne.
Gresham and Angle have a heated contract signing prior to the event, with Angle, in response to being called a rookie stating "Well, this rookie is going to kick your fucking ass." before busting Gresham's nose into the table, dragging Jonathan across the table and powerbombing him through it.
The bout is a technical masterclass with Gresham challenging Angle on the technical front. Gresham manages to get Angle in an octopus lock, Angle shifts Gresham out of it and cinches an Ankle Lock. Gresham hooks onto Angle's ankle and throws Kurt off balance, collapsing him into a knee bar. Angle manages to kick Gresham away before locking a figure four.
Gresham rolls over to reverse the pressure, before both men make their way onto their heads, slapping and swatting at each other. Angle throws the first closed fist and it dazes Gresham who breaks free of the predicament. Angle begins his repeated germans, Gresham lands on his feet with the third attempt. Octopus Lock by Gresham, Angle reverses into a third and final German Suplex.
Gresham stumbles up, Angle Slam, Gresham on his feet, big knee to the nose of Angle, Octopus Hold, a look of annoyed disbelief crosses the face of Angle due to Jonathan's insistence on this move, powerbomb reversal by Angle. Gresham pulls himself up using the ropes and is caught from behind with a definitive Angle Slam.
The referee counts the pin and Kurt Angle has secured his first pro wrestling title, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, after a barn burner to dethrone Jon Gresham.]
Kurt Angle def Jonathan Gresham (c) to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
TNA Bound For Glory 2024, Oct 13, 2024:
Kurt Angle (c) vs Kushida, TNA World Heavyweight Championship
[A few short months following their classic in the G1, Angle is hungry for revenge on the man he claims cost him the biggest opportunity of his career. After all, Angle suffered his arm injury during his match with Kushida, and there's an argument to be made his losses to Shingo and Sabre Jr. wouldn't have occured if not for the target Kushida put on him.
Kushida wins a fatal four way over Laredo Kid, Mike Bailey and Rich Swann to punch his ticket to Bound For Glory and the rematch is set. Angle/Kushida II
Angle shows more of his aggressive side in this bout, given that this match is probably the most personal of Angle's young career. Kushida attempts to wear away at the arm, but Kurt has him scouted, sharply reversing any arm oriented attacks.
Angle dizzies Kushida with a series of throws and suplex, making Kushida feel like he's trapped in the spin cycle. Following Angle's several minutes of control time, he attempts to finalize his revenge on Kushida with an Angle Slam. Kushida shifts off the shoulders and into a Kimura Lock.
Angle is forced to tough it out for a minute as Kushida relentlessly latches on. Angle finally takes Kushida to the ground, gets a hand around the ankle and rolls out of the Kimura, taking the ankle with him.
Ankle Lock is in, Kushida though, rolls forward to escape. A nasty jab by Kushida connects, before he attempts his handspring back elbow. Angle catches him and lands a German Suplex. Angle rolls over into an Ankle Lock. A, so far, unseen intensity donning his expression.
Kushida is gutsy and resilient, but is eventually forced to submit to Angle. Kurt relishes his victory, getting what he perceives as his vengeance over Kushida.
Angle, ever the good sport, offers Kushida a hand and pulls him up into a handshake, squashing the beef between them.]
Kurt Angle (c) def Kushida to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
TNA Turning Point 2024, Nov 3, 2024:
Josh Alexander vs Kurt Angle (c), TNA World Heavyweight Championship
[Having effectively vanquished Kushida, Angle turns his attention towards his next challenger. Josh Alexander, having been forced to vacate the World Championship after becoming the longest reigning TNA World Champion in company history, is still seeking to gain back the title that he never lost.
He just so happens to have to go through the man who made his debut to rescue Alexander a couple short months ago to do so. Alexander and Angle, both of similar backgrounds, are excited and respectful in their pursuit to do battle.
The match runs fairly similarly to Jeff Cobb's clash with Angle, a game of one upmanship based around suplex variants. Angle gets the better of Josh with one of these exchanges, getting his trio of German Suplexes to connect and throwing Josh across the ring with the third.
Alexander pops up and comes barreling out of the corner with a spear, he then rolls with Angle, maintaining grip on the waist and lifts him into a deadlift gutwrench suplex creating a beautiful fusion move. Angle barely gets the shoulder up and both men lay exhausted.
They find their footing in the center of the ring, and Alexander begins to lay in with uppercuts. Angle gets a read on him, and catches an uppercut attempt into a backslide, Josh kicks out and Kurt gets him up in powerbomb position. Josh escapes onto his feet and gets Kurt up for a fireman's carry landing a cutter from that position.
Kurt kicks out and Alexander adapts, getting a torture rack applied, bending Angle over his traps. Kurt escapes and gets an emphatic German Suplex. Angle scales the turnbuckles, moonsault! Alexander avoids. Josh gets Angle up and lands a spinning tombstone for a near fall.
For the first time since Angle transitioned to professional wrestling, his neck begins to bother him after the nasty spike on the head. The commentators make point of mentioning Angle's background of neck issues. Alexander decides to make a statement at the expense of Angle, trapping him in an Ankle Lock.
Kurt is able to roll free and as Josh rebounds off the ropes, he is caught with an Angle Slam. Kurt, clutching his neck, goes up top. Moonsault connects. The referee begins the count, but Kurt stops him. Ankle Lock by Kurt.
Kurt wants to make Josh submit, but Alexander breaks out. He gets a double underhook, but Kurt lifts Josh with his bad neck and falls backwards to escape. Kurt immediately goes back on attacking the ankle. Josh scrambles to kick Kurt away and succeeds. Kurt charges back, right into the grips of Alexander. Double Underhook, Tiger Driver! Angle bounces off his skull, and Josh quickly covers. Kurt somehow kicks out!
Josh drags Angle up by his singlet straps, a second spinning tombstone! One, Two Three. Alexander, after several months on the shelf, having to give up his record breaking reign, has reclaimed his spot at the top of the TNA food chain and he's done it by defeating Kurt Angle.
After the bout, Alexander is forced to cut his celebrating short as Kurt struggles to move. He's eventually carted off with a stretcher, putting a damper on Alexander's cathartic title victory.]
Josh Alexander def Kurt Angle (c) to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Death, Taxes and Dirt Sheets Being Wrong.
AEW Collision, Nov 9, 2024:
Motor City Machine Guns vs Konosuke Takeshita & Powerhouse Hobbs
[Meanwhile, in AEW, MCMG arrived a little under six months ago and in doing so have become one of the premier tag teams in the company. They've recently been embroiled in a mini-feud with The Don Callis Family, and it comes to a head here.
After various points of control for each competitor, MCMG are able to take the hard earned victory, pinning Hobbs with Takeshita failing to break it up.
After the bout, Hobbs takes a microphone and makes it clear that The Don Callis Family has been on a downhill slide lately. He states that he can make The Don Callis Family better, and bring them back to their former relevance. That he can inspire Takeshita and earn tag team gold with him.
"I just don't want to."
He turns to Takeshita and Callis, taking a predatory stance now.
"Why should I stay and save this family." He scoffs. "A family of failures...is no family of mine."
He headbutts Takeshita and stands over the fallen warrior. Blood begins to trickle down the nose, as Hobbs capitalizes with the World's Strongest Slam. He kneels over the broken body of Takeshita when the star spangled banner coats the titantron and just six days after it was reported he would be out of action for months, Kurt Angle debuts in AEW.
He brawls with his GCW rival, taking Hobbs out of the ring. He stands his ground, staring down Hobbszilla. The Olympic Hero is All Elite!]
AEW Dynamite, Nov 13, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Powerhouse Hobbs
[It's announced that on Dynamite, ten short days after Kurt Angle's TNA World Title loss, that he will lock horns with Powerhouse Hobbs on Dynamite in his official debut.
Hobbs is able to do what few have truly been able to, and that is overpower Kurt Angle. Angle is a stout, strong guy but when greeted with the powerlifter Hobbs, he finds himself manhandled.
Hobbs blocks suplex attempts and tosses Angle around with slams and throws. Hobbs begins to work on the back, getting Kurt in a torture rack submission. Kurt slips out the back door and gets a surprise German on Hobbs, he maintains waist control and attempts another, but Hobbs escapes and sends Kurt spiraling off the ropes.
A spinebuster from Hobbs follows for a two count. Hobbs gets frustrated throwing Angle out of the ring and using his environment to his advantage. He throws Kurt across the announce desk, into the steel stairs, smashes him against the barricade. Once he feels enough damage has been done, he sends Kurt back in and gets him up for Town Business, Angle escapes off the shoulders and lands an Angle Slam.
Clutching his back, Kurt is able to get the pinfall victory over the ever-menacing Hobbs. A successful debut for The Olympic Hero in the land of The Elite.]
Kurt Angle def Powerhouse Hobbs
AEW Dynamite, Nov 20, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Powerhouse Hobbs
[One week after their titanic clash, it is announced that Hobbs and Angle will clash once more ahead of Takeshita/Hobbs at Full Gear.
Angle makes his entrance, a new shade of intensity painting his face. Everyone believes Angle is going to express that intensity by giving Hobbs a proper beating.
Instead, as the two men stand across each other and the bell rings, the two come face to face, center of the ring.
Hobbs snatches the ref. World's Strongest Slam.
Angle simply snickers to himself as he backs into the corner.
As the crowd sits in stunned silence, Angle climbs to the top turnbuckle, landing a bone-rattling moonsault on the defenseless Rick Knox, making clear he is in on this sick plan.
Security begins to rush the ring, and Hobbs & Angle begin to get to work. They demolish every guard that enters the ring in quick succession.
After clearing the twenty-some security guards, Angle and Hobbs stand together, proud of the carnage they've inflicted. That is, until, Konosuke Takeshita's theme sounds.
Takeshita storms the ring, fighting both men at once. To everyone's amazement, Takeshita is able to clear the ring, chasing off the two newly united heels. Takeshita stands tall ahead of Full Gear, sending a brief but loud message to Hobbs.]
AEW Full Gear, Nov 23, 2024:
Konosuke Takeshita vs Kurt Angle
[Tony Khan makes the announcement that the behavior shown on Dynamite was unacceptable, and reprimands are in order. Kurt Angle is a newcomer to the company, so Tony will let him off with a one and only warning, but Hobbs has been here for years and he knows better. Powerhouse Hobbs has been suspended for thirty days and will miss Full Gear, in his place, his new running mate Kurt Angle will be forced to sub in against Takeshita.
In one of the biggest tests of both men's young careers, two of the hottest rising stars in AEW collide, with deep personal roots fueling the bout. Takeshita wanted Powerhouse Hobbs, the man who backstabbed him, tonight but settles for directing all of that anger towards Kurt Angle instead.
Angle enters with his signature mouth-piece finally making it's first appearance, he probably could have used that before, but hindsight. It adds a distinct edge to his grizzled 'real' fighter look.
In Kurt's second proper match in the company, he is put through the wringer in one of the most physically intense matches of his career. Takeshita's blistering strikes leave Angle cornered and forced to rely on pockets of offense to try to limit the damage done to him.
Angle finally gets an opening late and attempts an Angle Slam, Takeshita on his feet lands behind Angle and sinks him with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall. Takeshita sizing up Kurt from the corner, closes the distance with a Pegasus Knee Strike, Angle catches the leg, and rolls into a knee bar. He focuses his assault on the ankle, hoping to soften Takeshita up.
Takeshita writhes in pain before finally reaching the bottom rope, forcing separation. Angle uses every bit of the five count to continue torturing the ankle. Takeshita kicks Kurt away as Angle looks to pounce, and Konosuke begins running the ropes, picking up steam. He avoids multiple clothesline attempts, dizzying Angle.
He finally closes the gap with a massive lariat. Takeshita scouts Angle from the corner now, and the Pegasus Knee gets ducked by Angle. Kurt begins his trio of German Suplexes. On the third attempt, Takeshita escapes, Blue Thunder Bo- Angle escapes, a third German Suplex! It lands Konosuke flat on his face and Takeshita seeks refuge on the outside.
Angle scales the turnbuckles, catching Konosuke at ringside with a moonsault! He sends Konosuke back in and climbs once more. A final moonsault, but Takeshita rolls out of the way. Angle eats the canvas. Pegasus Knee Strike connects knocking the mouthpiece out! Takeshita pulling Angle up, Blue Thunder Bomb!
It is sweet victory for Takeshita, as he is able to get a measure of revenge on Kurt Angle, translated via the glare in his eyes and the expression on his face though, it is evident that Takeshita still wants Hobbs.]
Konosuke Takeshita def Kurt Angle
AEW Worlds End, Dec 29, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Kyle O'Reilly, Submission Match
[We arrive at Worlds End and these two grappling gods are chomping at the bit to finally cross paths. Hobbs is busy with Takeshita which gives Angle ample opportunity to put O'Reilly to the test.
Kurt's been getting more braggadocios following his victories, including in two five minute challenges in which he was able to tap both Lee Moriarty and Daniel Garcia in under five minutes.
O'Reilly is able to meet Angle tit for tat, much like Kushida and Sabre Jr. before him. Kurt finally starts to feel some of that pressure he's been applying to his recent opponents.
Late in the contest, O'Reilly begins to pummel Angle with various strikes taking toll on every part of the body. He caps off the sequence with a stomp to the back of the head and a spinning forearm. Angle is left dazed when Kyle leaps on to the back for a sleeper.
Kurt fumbles momentarily with the hands of O'Reilly, but as loss of consciousness rears it's head, Angle dives forward slamming O'Reilly against the turnbuckles, nearly driving both men through them. O'Reilly stumbles up into a trio of Germans, O'Reilly locks onto the waist with his legs on the third attempt, rolling Angle forward and applying a cross armbreaker.
Angle finds his way out with a grasp on the ankle. Ankle Lock is in, O'Reilly kicks and kicks, but Angle refuses to release the grip. O'Reilly shifts himself onto his back and is able to get Angle within reach to apply a Guillotine. Angle gives up the Ankle Lock to focus on the newfound predicament.
He solves it with a northern lights suplex to escape. Angle sets his sights on O'Reilly and closes in for an Angle Slam, Kyle on his feet, Russian Leg Sweep by O'Reilly who then finds the arm and reattaches. Angle shows his strength getting a deadlift powerbomb and forcing O'Reilly to forgo his grip.
Angle climbs to the top for a moonsault, O'Reilly avoids, Kyle comes in hot, stepping up on Angle's leg to then knee him in the face. O'Reilly follows up with a roundhouse, Angle ducks, leg sweep, Angle jumps and then Angle rolls forward and snatches the ankle.
The Ankle Lock is firmly applied, O'Reilly struggles, trying to grab the ropes, kick free, roll out, but Angle has seen it all before and has an answer for everything O'Reilly attempts. After agonizing minutes in the Ankle Lock, O'Reilly finally submits to Kurt Angle.
Yet another feather in the cap of the seemingly unstoppable wrestling machine.]
Kurt Angle def Kyle O'Reilly
AEW Dynamite, Jan 22, 2025:
[On the Dynamite after Angle and Hobbs score a tag team victory over Hook and RVD, Hook is in the ring and calls out Angle. He claims that he is the match Angle has been waiting for and that he knows he can submit Kurt.
Angle comes out and tells Hook that he's a very talented man, and that one day Hook could be a World Champion. Angle's a fan of Hook, he's a hooker.
The only thing Angle can't stand about Hook is his stupid hair. A Champion shouldn't look like they rolled out of a sleeping bag on Skid Row twenty minutes ago, and Angle damn sure ain't tapping to no hobo.
Angle agrees to a match with Hook under the stipulation that when Hook loses he shave his head, Angle is so confident even that he'll put his own hair on the line too.
Once the match is made, Hobbs lambasts Hook from behind, beating on the defenseless up and comer. This leads Taz to rise from the announce table and try to come to the ring, Angle stops him and blocks his way.
As the two face off, Angle gets that feeling again. It's impossible, but...he's been here before, seen this man before. Angle gets a ringing in his ears and abruptly headbutts Taz. Excalibur rises from the table before Taz is ripped up by his suit and Angle carrys him over to the announce desk.
A brutal Angle Slam through the desk connects. Hobbs even backs Angle up and is able to somewhat corral the unhinged Angle. Taz is carted off and suddenly the fight between Hook and Angle just got personal.]
CONT. In Comments
2024.05.28 20:49 ExcuseMeWTF50 Game Over: Part 9
Just under a day would follow since Max and 8-Bit's tenacious battle and in that time, SuperCity had become the very antithesis of what it had represented. A city intended to be a symbol of hope and prosperity for all to follow had become diluted into a desolate wasteland, isolated from the rest of the world. Gone were the brightly lit, welcoming streets that were commonplace and so was the hope of the people...
The city had been abandoned by nearly all of it's residents, most had saw the writing on the wall, leaving it to be occupied by heartless machines, controlled by a clairvoyant plague fed to their minds. For the very few that remained, any attempts at resistance would quickly be stomped out for this was a city of evil. With both Max and Surge out of the picture, it appeared things were going to stay that way for a long, long time...
A muscle car would soon pass into the city. It's blue and grey paint job appeared garish in contrast to its dull surroundings and the driver knew it. He didn't pay much mind to all the omens that passed him by. The abandoned bridge he had rode on, the lack of a city skyline, the fact that he was yet to see a single soul around, and chief among them was what he considered his best friend...
He had heard of at least some of the news; corrupted robots taking over what appeared to be an impenetrable city thanks to those who kept it safe. As usual, he tried his best to stay optimistic about the situation, hoping that everything had been blown way out of proportion. There was no way all this could possibly happen, or at least that's what he kept telling himself...
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon...!" muttered the driver as he stepped out of his vehicle, splashing a shoe onto a rain-filled pothole, revealing none other than Brock. He took a few steps forward and once he had given himself the time to observe his surroundings, Brock was completely beside himself when his darting eyes caught just a glimpse of the devastation far off in the distance. It was something he had never seen before. Something straight out of a videogame, yet something beyond the work of fiction. Brock took a step back, nearly tripping over the pothole but for now at least... he maintained his composure.
Brock found himself standing in a city he once knew, something he could now consider uncharted territory. By now, the pouring rain had washed away all sense of direction for him. He looked into the distance once again, frantically rubbing his eyes, not willing to accept what his eyes were relaying back to him. Skyscrapers with massive gaping holes under a tainted moonlight. Not a single other light to illuminate the harrowing darkness was to be found aside from a massive purple beam that pierced the sky itself. It was something Brock couldn't make any sense of.
Uncertainty and unease now perfumed the air Brock had stood so perfectly still in for quite some time, completely stunned, and woeful, while more cold droplets continued to fall. Brock whipped out his phone and put it up to his ear, pacing in place, awaiting a response that never came. After some time had passed, Brock gave in, slinging the phone down with a sharp sigh, and then... pure silence. The rain had ended and it felt like time had stood still. That was when, suddenly, a red dot had crept up to his chest. By the time he had noticed and looked up, Brock was staring deep into the barrel of a distant revolver.
Brock's heart skipped a beat and for a mere moment, his entire body was frozen. That was until a rush of adrenaline had possessed him. Brock immediately sprang, dropping his phone in the process and inadvertently dodging a bullet sent toward him. Brock then clumsily slid over the hood of his car, seeking safety behind the vehicle as a plethora of bullets were fired all around while he curled away from shattering glass.
"Ey, ey, ey, w-we can talk this out!--We could can talk it out! Just--Just chill!" Brock continued to cower while two robots began to converge on his position. His pleas as a voice of reason had fallen on deaf ears. He pressed a button placed on his watch, one that displayed a blinking lightning bolt, eventually displaying no signal, only proving to dishearten Brock more. Dread was looming. Fear was at an all-time high. Time was running out fast and hope was scarce at best. Brock tried his very best to catch his breath, preparing for the very worst to come.
Brock's attackers maintained their fire right up until a single, thunderous boom roared, putting a swift end to the commotion. Nonetheless, Brock remained tense, far too afraid to take as little as a peak behind himself or speak for that matter. In the distance, he heard a voice break the unsettling silence. "Ooh, gotta say that one hurt to watch. Thanks for the target practice, guys."
Brock kept his head downward in his lap as he shivered non-stop. He could hear clanking spurs that would grow louder right up until it felt like something was looming over him.
"Heh. Someone's late to the party..." That voice, it was familiar to Brock. All of a sudden, most of that tension had plummeted and a feeling of comfort slowly filled his body. Brock rested his shoulders, opened his eyes, and began to slowly raise his head.
"...I understand, my invitation got lost in the mail too... Here. Think this belongs to you." Said Brock's protector as his newly cracked smartphone fell onto his lap. He picked his head up completely to see one dashing sheriff with a strikingly confident smirk on his face.
Brock: "...C-Colt?"
The smirk written on Colt's face only brightened. "The one and only. Unless there's someone 'round here's been slinging guns as sexily as I do of course."
Brock: "Well--"
Colt: "Yeah, I thought so. You look like someone who could use a hand, Brock."
Colt offered his hand to Brock, who was more than willing to accept. He stood up to see both of his attackers absolutely floored, each with a gaping bullet hole in their head, their exit wounds still sizzling. Soon after, beeping could be heard from behind. One of their heads would begin twitching, flashing between purple and green, signaling that this wasn't over. An annoyed groan broke from Colt's mouth. "Okay, looks like the show's not over... you back for seconds?"
The bot got back to it's feet as if it were possessed by yet another outside force. Colt readied a revolver, "...I can help with that." then fired at it once more effortlessly and turned back to Brock, anticipating a thud that never sounded off. In addition to the frantic twitching, the head sparked and a black liquid with a greenish hue began leaking from it while Colt fired another ineffective bullet. The head only spins around from the impact, leaving Colt to furrow his brows. "What the...?" The sparking only intensified until the head had popped like a balloon and out burst green, squirming, slimy parasitic ringlets soaked in that same liquid.
"Just when I thought I'd seen it all. Brock, you might wanna--*WOOAHH--" said Colt as those tendrils wrapped around his wrists and tossed him aside directly into Brock's windshield, cracking it and leaving one of his revolvers behind that landed beside Brock. It was now just him and the corrupted, mutated robot. Even with the opportunity to defend himself, Brock's entire body tensed up, his eyes racing between the metal monster and the revolver.
Brock took some steps back, tripping over himself, and was then held up by the neck. The parasite continued to squeeze as his life began slipping away. All Brock wanted to do was plead with his words but even at that, what he could muster were merely restrained gasps for air.
"Hey, wormy...!" Shouted Colt as a handful of stones hit Brock's attacker from behind, who dropped him, asserting all of it's attention back to Colt, writhing with pain yet still able to continue. "...Gonna take just a little more to keep me down." The steel monster's tendrils formed an axe head and swung it down toward Colt, who split his legs, narrowly managing to evade the attack.
Colt gulped and rolled off the hood of Brock's muscle car, reloading his single revolver with haste as the bot recovered. "Aaaaand gotcha." Colt slams at the hammer, releasing a flurry of bullets that would hit their target all over. Once again, the metal monster was hardly bothered by Colt's attack. The confident look on Colt's face quickly turned to one of mild panic. He looked down at his belt, only to be interrupted with his signature weapon of choice easily batted out his hand.
Colt flushed with a small amount of fear. "Any chance for a timeout--?" Colt ducks another attack and boots the bot in the chest, creating some distance between each other as Colt heads back for his revolver. Right when Colt retrieves the weapon, his ankle becomes entangled by his foe, causing him to once again drop the weapon, dragging him backward. By now both Colt and Brock were eye-to-eye with each other. Brock was still grounded, mesmerized, his knees weak with fear, seemingly unable to function.
"Brock, what're you doing...?" Asked Colt as he struggled, inching closer toward what appears to be certain doom. "I know I'm too pretty for this world but now's really not the time for admiration!"
"I-I--I can't just--What about you?"
"I can handle myself. Believe me..." Said Colt as he loosened his boot. "...So either zip it and get to running or uhh... okay, I guess we could all use some help every once in a while..."
Ever so timid, Brock looked down to Colt's other revolver and paused.
"Don't tell me you don't know how to use that..." Colt could already tell Brock's next words by the incompetence etched on his face. "--You're kidding." Colt manages to slip out of the parasite's grasp, losing a boot in the process. Brock held Colt's revolver, trembling, still unsure of himself. Colt picked up his boot and threw it at the tendrils, briefly stunning the creature and giving Colt the time to remove one of many abnormally large, silver bullets from his belt. "Y'know what, I'll take it from here."
Brock silently nodded and tosses Colt his revolver who then takes aim right at the core of the mutation. "Still hungry? Maybe try some of this!" The silver bullet blasts right through the parasite which lets out a high-pitched shriek as more of that viscous black fluid flows. The body of the bot fell to the ground, the creature still squirming around, still alive. Colt frantically stomps at it until it stops moving, getting some of that liquid on himself and finally putting an end to the conflict.
After calming himself, an exasperated Colt kept his eyes locked on what he had defeated, put off at the sight. "...Sheesh. I was almost a shiskabob, and my clothes...!" Colt kneeled, rubbing his finger on the black ink and putting it up to his nose. "gags No way that's oil. Guess Pam was right..." Colt said to himself before turning to Brock. "...Think I should lick it?"
Brock was still visibly struggling to catch his breath and Colt seemed to take no mind to that. "I'm just messing around, Brock, thought you'd know that by now. But anyway, on to more pressing matters... how's the hair?--Any out of place?--any more of whatever this stuff is on the face?--I gotta know."
Brock had finally caught his breath. "I think... I think you're good... What even was that?"
Colt shrugged. "Beats me. All that matters is whatever that thing was is done for and we're still standing. Ain't that right?"
"...Right."
"Right, right... never do that again by the way."
"...Do what--?"
Colt blew out the simmering smoke coming from his revolver. "Don't want to alarm ya but Christmas ain't gonna be here for another five months. What exactly were you waiting for--? Maybe I'm giving you just a bit too much credit here but you've given me so many kickings in Shotgun Shootout that I thought maybe all that time staring at a screen would translate well into the real world... still want another rematch by the way."
Brock solemnly smiled. "You just don't know when to give up, do you? You really wanna get your ass handed to ya for... jeez, I lost count too."
Colt: "--Shush, sh--sh, sh, sh... sh! ...Okay? Those were all flukes and you know it. Besides, I hate shotguns. Got one too many reasons to hate 'em back home and now there's this. Where's the skill in using them anyway? No wonder why you struggled to use one of these..." Colt eyed his revolver and yawned. "...Anyway, long time, no see, huh? How's the day been treating ya? Bet it's been goin' great so far."
Brock: "I'm uh... you know, doing fine. As fine as I can be after... that."
Colt: "Heh, y'know a "Thank you, Colt, you sexy gunslinger, you." would be nice for a change..."
Brock sighed. "...Thanks, Colt."
Colt tilted his head and smiled obnoxiously. "Come on. You can say the rest. I mean, you still kinda owe me one for fending off those punks from Retropolis and that's the least you can do..." An awkward silence had been cast over the two. "...Okay fine, just a "thank you" will do."
"So, um..." Brock scratched his head. "You got any clue what's going on here?"
Colt: "Psh, no time to explain. From what I've heard so far it's a loooooong story anyway. So, ya done with the questions 'cause I got a whole lotta of my own so if you'll excuse me... I'm here to save the day and look good doing it. Now why are you here?"
Brock would keep quiet, a little uneasy about himself as usual. Feeling a little slighted, Colt crossed his arms, looking back at Brock's ruined ride. "Eh, it's only a scratch but hey, if ya really want me to, I can just help you right on out the city."
Brock: "No, no--I... I ain't leaving, not yet."
Colt raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's certainly a choice--a stupid one but still definitely a choice. Here to help with the load, huh? That's not to say I need it of course."
Brock looked off into the distance."I guess that's one way to put it..."
Colt scoffed. "Don't mean to judge but judging by how you handled your little situation back there... I take it you didn't bring anything for self-defense or uh, any defending for that matter..."
Brock scratched his head nervously. "Yeah..."
"Heh. Nice going, Brock. So... what, you can't afford a good ol' fashioned six shooter? Didn't realize your arcade was going out of business, what happened to you lighting up the dancefloor as a DJ?" Colt asked with a load of sarcasm in his tongue.
Brock: "I'm hoping you know not every problem can be solved with a gun, Colt."
Colt rolled his eyes. "What're you, my mother? Of course, I know that..."
Brock: "Oh. Great. Nice to know we're on the same pa--"
Colt: "Which is why I use two. Now I want you to consider this: would you rather get put six feet under by some no-name junk buckets or dish out some butt-kickings yourself with one of these bad boys?" [Spins revolver] "Answer's pretty obvious, ain't it?"
Brock once again wouldn't answer Colt.
Colt: "...Right? Look, I'm not saying to bust out a whole friggin' rocket launcher or something but, come on now."
"Okay, okay... maybe you got a point..." Brock chuckled his nervousness off, plunging both of his hands into his pockets. "But, umm, I guess I also have something to let off my chest. I'm here for a reason and it's probably not one you're thinking of..."
Colt: "Yeah, no kidding. Must be one helluva of a reason to bring you to this place too... ah screw it, I'll bite. What really is it that brings you here? There are easier ways to kill yourself, y'know."
Brock chuckled nervously then rolled his eyes with a level of snark that matched Colt. "Just looking for a friend--maybe friend(s) would be the better word."
"Good thing you got me." Intrigued, Colt tilted his head forward with an enthralled eyebrow raise. "This friend got a name?"
Brock: "Oh yeah... It's... it's..."
Colt: "Come on, spit it out."
Brock: "...it's 8-Bit."
Colt: "...Oh. I'm sure he's doing just mighty fine right about now. After all, he's totally a bounty hunter sent from space. He might've told you that maybe one or a billion times."
Brock: "Err, that's Rico and yeah, you're right. You telling me you don't remember 8-Bit? You kinda spilled some soda on him that time you got just a little too heated on Project Laser..."
Colt: "Really?--Oh. Yeah. Think you're starting to ring a bell..." A smile cracked from Colt's mouth. "I'll admit it was a little funny watching 'em squirm around like there were bees in his circuits..."
Colt began snickering as his eyes drifted away from Brock, who wasn't exactly approving of Colt's tone. "...But, sorry."
Brock: "All good. Need to keep jogging that memory of yours? He's about this tall, on the stumpier side of things... wears these blue Converses, pretty adorable too, definitely no vest-- trust me, I couldn't get him to wear one if I tried. His tracker's led me to the city, the thing is--"
Brock stopped himself after he noticed that Colt had grown awfully silent. He just stood there, looking like he was possibly hiding something. Brock himself had grown curious.
Brock: "...It's kinda jammed. Did... did I say something--?"
Colt: "Yeah, actually. Good thing Rico didn't tag along with ya... okay--look, I'll just break the news to ya right away. I don't think you're gonna be finding your little buddy anytime soon. At least in the way you remember him..."
Brock: "For real? Wha--Why?"
Colt: "Huh. I guess there is time to explain. You're barking up the wrong tree here but, apparently, so don't shoot the messenger, the little guy's the one behind all of..." Colt paused, looking back over to the robots he put out of commission. "...this."
Brock batted his eyes in disbelief. "I know you like to mess around and stuff but I don't think now's the time to be joking."
Colt: "Wish I was. Really do. Didn't realize you and a certain starfish had much more in common because clearly, you've been living under a rock. Haven't you heard of the news?"
Brock: "Yeah--kinda--but I ain't hearing that noise. He wouldn't do this. He wouldn't do any of this."
Colt: "Well you better get those ears checked. Felt like his vibe was always off whenever I was around him. You sure he wasn't planning to go all goblin mode or something when you first found him?"
Brock: "N-No?! Sure he's been a little more quiet than usual for the past week or so but--"
Colt: "What're you even gonna do when you see him, huh? sideyes revolver smugly I know what I will... when the time's right I'll definitely be giving that thing what it deserves."
Brock: "Thing? That's my friend--!"
Colt: "Was. He was your friend..."
Brock kept his silence, giving himself much-needed time to gather his thoughts. "...If, and that's a big if, what you say is true... I'm gonna get him back. Something's gotta be controlling him."
Colt burst out laughing. "--Hahahahahaha--you're, breaths in you're... continues laughing ...you're serious?" Colt continued with his amused laughter as Brock only appeared more and more annoyed.
Brock crossed his arms as the laughter went on. "You done?" Colt's laughter died down a bit. "Hold on... just--just gimme a moment... laughs ...man, sorry, I had to get that outta my system. Hit me with that again, you wanna do what now?"
Brock: "I'm bringing him home. Don't matter how, I just want my friend back."
Colt: "Whew, you're lucky I pity you. So how exactly do you plan on doing that? Still losing that oh-so-good circulation to your brain?--Have you had a little too much to drink? I know that's rich coming from a guy who proposed to a mannequin but if both Surge and what's-her-face couldn't take 'em out, what chance do you have?
Brock froze up. "...What?"
"Just go home kid, this is one game you'll never win."
Brock: "I--"
Colt: "You heard me, Brock. Go home, kid."
Brock: "...You're just four ye--"
"Yeah, yeah." Ragged Colt, who turned and began strutting away, retrieving his other revolver, sticking out two fingers and waving them as a goodbye. "We'll do that rematch sometime later. Now if you'll excuse me, I got a city to save on my--"
"Wait...!" Colt had stopped in his tracks, still turned away from Brock.
"...What about Max and Surge?"
Colt turned his head slightly toward Brock. "So that's her name... you tellin' me you don't know?"
"Know what...?!"
Colt's face turned from confidently smug to somewhat remorseful. "...They're gone."
Sorrow had touched Brock's heart. Once again, he took a step back, completely stunned, unable to cobble together any words.
Colt folded his arms. "Something wrong?--Need a pinch or two? Maybe some water over the face?"
"...S...S-So they're--?"
Colt: "Yeah. Probably. If you wanna go down that rabbit hole then be my guest. Just know you'll never climb out of it. They haven't been seen in over a day now. I dunno what else to tell ya but what do you expect out of a glorified tin can and an impulsive rookie during the apocalypse?"
A cold shiver ran down Brock's spine as Colt continued. "...If I was in their place things would be peachy right about now, believe me. Now we've all been left high and dry and guess who's fault that is. Hope ya know 8-Bit's not gonna stop until this is far, far worse..."
Wrenched by guilt and despair, Brock couldn't help but turn away from Colt. He couldn't bear looking him in the eye.
"...Which is why we're gonna stop him, right?"
Brock looked up to see Colt with a hopeful, earnest smile on his face. His breathing had steadied and Brock nodded his head a handful of times. "...Right. Right. I just wanna talk with him."
"Sorry. Not in the job description. You said something about a tracker, yes?"
"...Yeah."
"Perfect. You won't have to worry about it. I'm sure we can get it fixed."
"We?"
"Yeah. We. You'll see what I'm talking about later. In fact, I got a whole lotta stuff to show you, especially with what 8-Bit's done..."
"I'll... I'll see it when I believe it, Colt." Said Brock, not much confidence coming from his mouth.
Colt scoffed hard. "Oh, you will when you're staring right into the stuff of your nightmares. Can't say I didn't say "I told ya so" when that happens. But hey--if it makes you feel any better I'm almost as confused as you are. Some fun-sized arcade machine? He's responsible for the mess I gotta clean up...?" Colt scoffed again. "Give me a break..."
All of a sudden, that silence had returned yet again. Colt sat on some nearby pavement, his hands clasped together, his face etched with a subtle amount of remorse while Brock was left to observe.
The rest of Colt's bitterness subsided. "...Sorry I sort of blew a gasket back there. I... exhales things have been so rough lately. This... all of this, it happened so fast... I couldn't help as much as I could've. I Don't want you or anyone else that hasn't already to get hurt. I know you wanna help your friend and I get that, but I seriously can't hammer this home enough. Trust me. I've been in this game long enough to know there's next to no hope of getting the little guy the help he needs. That's to say he even can be lended help, aside from a few bullet holes to the screen, of course..."
Brock: "It's... it's cool. Apology accepted. Maybe you're right, I am a little outta my depth but I gotta do what I can. If 8-Bit really is outta control here, I gotta do something about it. Gotta right some wrongs."
Colt: "That's the spirit but... yeah--you know what?" Colt got back up. "...As much as I'd love to blast more and more of these things to pieces 'til the sun comes back up, we should probably just pick up the slack before more of them come out to play--for your sake I mean, not mine."
With a mystery ignited, Brock nodded while Colt brushed passed him. Brock fails to follow, his mind still occupied by 8-Bit, by Max and Surge, by all the unanswered questions surrounding them, prompting Colt to turn back and raise an eyebrow.
Colt: "So, you comin' with, or are you just gonna enjoy the view? Or maybe, just maybe, the second thoughts are finally kicking in, hmm? To be honest, I wouldn't blame ya." Colt extended his hand into the air, signaling that the rain had returned. "Aw, my hair!--Have you made up your mind? I don't--okay well I sorta do have all day but think of my hair!"
"...Oh--uh--y-yeah, I'm comin' with, it's just..." Brock looked back over to his muscle car and sighed heavily. "...Oh man...! I guess it is still usable. Are we not taking my ride?"
Colt: "Yeah, no. You're pretty much begging for trouble riding around in that thing going forward. Best to keep things slow and steady for now so come on, let's get this show on the road already. We've got things to do."
Brock sighed lightly. "Okay..."
Colt: "Don't think you'll have to worry about a parking ticket--so hey, there's that. Now remember, this face? He's your guardian angel if you couldn't tell, and this place? Probably gonna eat ya alive if you're not careful so make sure you stick to me like glue... d-don't actually do that, I'm as uncomfortable as is already ."
Brock: "I think I got it..."
Colt: "Alright then, 'bout time we got going..."
submitted by ExcuseMeWTF50 to brawlstarswriters [link] [comments]
The city had been abandoned by nearly all of it's residents, most had saw the writing on the wall, leaving it to be occupied by heartless machines, controlled by a clairvoyant plague fed to their minds. For the very few that remained, any attempts at resistance would quickly be stomped out for this was a city of evil. With both Max and Surge out of the picture, it appeared things were going to stay that way for a long, long time...
A muscle car would soon pass into the city. It's blue and grey paint job appeared garish in contrast to its dull surroundings and the driver knew it. He didn't pay much mind to all the omens that passed him by. The abandoned bridge he had rode on, the lack of a city skyline, the fact that he was yet to see a single soul around, and chief among them was what he considered his best friend...
He had heard of at least some of the news; corrupted robots taking over what appeared to be an impenetrable city thanks to those who kept it safe. As usual, he tried his best to stay optimistic about the situation, hoping that everything had been blown way out of proportion. There was no way all this could possibly happen, or at least that's what he kept telling himself...
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon...!" muttered the driver as he stepped out of his vehicle, splashing a shoe onto a rain-filled pothole, revealing none other than Brock. He took a few steps forward and once he had given himself the time to observe his surroundings, Brock was completely beside himself when his darting eyes caught just a glimpse of the devastation far off in the distance. It was something he had never seen before. Something straight out of a videogame, yet something beyond the work of fiction. Brock took a step back, nearly tripping over the pothole but for now at least... he maintained his composure.
Brock found himself standing in a city he once knew, something he could now consider uncharted territory. By now, the pouring rain had washed away all sense of direction for him. He looked into the distance once again, frantically rubbing his eyes, not willing to accept what his eyes were relaying back to him. Skyscrapers with massive gaping holes under a tainted moonlight. Not a single other light to illuminate the harrowing darkness was to be found aside from a massive purple beam that pierced the sky itself. It was something Brock couldn't make any sense of.
Uncertainty and unease now perfumed the air Brock had stood so perfectly still in for quite some time, completely stunned, and woeful, while more cold droplets continued to fall. Brock whipped out his phone and put it up to his ear, pacing in place, awaiting a response that never came. After some time had passed, Brock gave in, slinging the phone down with a sharp sigh, and then... pure silence. The rain had ended and it felt like time had stood still. That was when, suddenly, a red dot had crept up to his chest. By the time he had noticed and looked up, Brock was staring deep into the barrel of a distant revolver.
Brock's heart skipped a beat and for a mere moment, his entire body was frozen. That was until a rush of adrenaline had possessed him. Brock immediately sprang, dropping his phone in the process and inadvertently dodging a bullet sent toward him. Brock then clumsily slid over the hood of his car, seeking safety behind the vehicle as a plethora of bullets were fired all around while he curled away from shattering glass.
"Ey, ey, ey, w-we can talk this out!--We could can talk it out! Just--Just chill!" Brock continued to cower while two robots began to converge on his position. His pleas as a voice of reason had fallen on deaf ears. He pressed a button placed on his watch, one that displayed a blinking lightning bolt, eventually displaying no signal, only proving to dishearten Brock more. Dread was looming. Fear was at an all-time high. Time was running out fast and hope was scarce at best. Brock tried his very best to catch his breath, preparing for the very worst to come.
Brock's attackers maintained their fire right up until a single, thunderous boom roared, putting a swift end to the commotion. Nonetheless, Brock remained tense, far too afraid to take as little as a peak behind himself or speak for that matter. In the distance, he heard a voice break the unsettling silence. "Ooh, gotta say that one hurt to watch. Thanks for the target practice, guys."
Brock kept his head downward in his lap as he shivered non-stop. He could hear clanking spurs that would grow louder right up until it felt like something was looming over him.
"Heh. Someone's late to the party..." That voice, it was familiar to Brock. All of a sudden, most of that tension had plummeted and a feeling of comfort slowly filled his body. Brock rested his shoulders, opened his eyes, and began to slowly raise his head.
"...I understand, my invitation got lost in the mail too... Here. Think this belongs to you." Said Brock's protector as his newly cracked smartphone fell onto his lap. He picked his head up completely to see one dashing sheriff with a strikingly confident smirk on his face.
Brock: "...C-Colt?"
The smirk written on Colt's face only brightened. "The one and only. Unless there's someone 'round here's been slinging guns as sexily as I do of course."
Brock: "Well--"
Colt: "Yeah, I thought so. You look like someone who could use a hand, Brock."
Colt offered his hand to Brock, who was more than willing to accept. He stood up to see both of his attackers absolutely floored, each with a gaping bullet hole in their head, their exit wounds still sizzling. Soon after, beeping could be heard from behind. One of their heads would begin twitching, flashing between purple and green, signaling that this wasn't over. An annoyed groan broke from Colt's mouth. "Okay, looks like the show's not over... you back for seconds?"
The bot got back to it's feet as if it were possessed by yet another outside force. Colt readied a revolver, "...I can help with that." then fired at it once more effortlessly and turned back to Brock, anticipating a thud that never sounded off. In addition to the frantic twitching, the head sparked and a black liquid with a greenish hue began leaking from it while Colt fired another ineffective bullet. The head only spins around from the impact, leaving Colt to furrow his brows. "What the...?" The sparking only intensified until the head had popped like a balloon and out burst green, squirming, slimy parasitic ringlets soaked in that same liquid.
"Just when I thought I'd seen it all. Brock, you might wanna--*WOOAHH--" said Colt as those tendrils wrapped around his wrists and tossed him aside directly into Brock's windshield, cracking it and leaving one of his revolvers behind that landed beside Brock. It was now just him and the corrupted, mutated robot. Even with the opportunity to defend himself, Brock's entire body tensed up, his eyes racing between the metal monster and the revolver.
Brock took some steps back, tripping over himself, and was then held up by the neck. The parasite continued to squeeze as his life began slipping away. All Brock wanted to do was plead with his words but even at that, what he could muster were merely restrained gasps for air.
"Hey, wormy...!" Shouted Colt as a handful of stones hit Brock's attacker from behind, who dropped him, asserting all of it's attention back to Colt, writhing with pain yet still able to continue. "...Gonna take just a little more to keep me down." The steel monster's tendrils formed an axe head and swung it down toward Colt, who split his legs, narrowly managing to evade the attack.
Colt gulped and rolled off the hood of Brock's muscle car, reloading his single revolver with haste as the bot recovered. "Aaaaand gotcha." Colt slams at the hammer, releasing a flurry of bullets that would hit their target all over. Once again, the metal monster was hardly bothered by Colt's attack. The confident look on Colt's face quickly turned to one of mild panic. He looked down at his belt, only to be interrupted with his signature weapon of choice easily batted out his hand.
Colt flushed with a small amount of fear. "Any chance for a timeout--?" Colt ducks another attack and boots the bot in the chest, creating some distance between each other as Colt heads back for his revolver. Right when Colt retrieves the weapon, his ankle becomes entangled by his foe, causing him to once again drop the weapon, dragging him backward. By now both Colt and Brock were eye-to-eye with each other. Brock was still grounded, mesmerized, his knees weak with fear, seemingly unable to function.
"Brock, what're you doing...?" Asked Colt as he struggled, inching closer toward what appears to be certain doom. "I know I'm too pretty for this world but now's really not the time for admiration!"
"I-I--I can't just--What about you?"
"I can handle myself. Believe me..." Said Colt as he loosened his boot. "...So either zip it and get to running or uhh... okay, I guess we could all use some help every once in a while..."
Ever so timid, Brock looked down to Colt's other revolver and paused.
"Don't tell me you don't know how to use that..." Colt could already tell Brock's next words by the incompetence etched on his face. "--You're kidding." Colt manages to slip out of the parasite's grasp, losing a boot in the process. Brock held Colt's revolver, trembling, still unsure of himself. Colt picked up his boot and threw it at the tendrils, briefly stunning the creature and giving Colt the time to remove one of many abnormally large, silver bullets from his belt. "Y'know what, I'll take it from here."
Brock silently nodded and tosses Colt his revolver who then takes aim right at the core of the mutation. "Still hungry? Maybe try some of this!" The silver bullet blasts right through the parasite which lets out a high-pitched shriek as more of that viscous black fluid flows. The body of the bot fell to the ground, the creature still squirming around, still alive. Colt frantically stomps at it until it stops moving, getting some of that liquid on himself and finally putting an end to the conflict.
After calming himself, an exasperated Colt kept his eyes locked on what he had defeated, put off at the sight. "...Sheesh. I was almost a shiskabob, and my clothes...!" Colt kneeled, rubbing his finger on the black ink and putting it up to his nose. "gags No way that's oil. Guess Pam was right..." Colt said to himself before turning to Brock. "...Think I should lick it?"
Brock was still visibly struggling to catch his breath and Colt seemed to take no mind to that. "I'm just messing around, Brock, thought you'd know that by now. But anyway, on to more pressing matters... how's the hair?--Any out of place?--any more of whatever this stuff is on the face?--I gotta know."
Brock had finally caught his breath. "I think... I think you're good... What even was that?"
Colt shrugged. "Beats me. All that matters is whatever that thing was is done for and we're still standing. Ain't that right?"
"...Right."
"Right, right... never do that again by the way."
"...Do what--?"
Colt blew out the simmering smoke coming from his revolver. "Don't want to alarm ya but Christmas ain't gonna be here for another five months. What exactly were you waiting for--? Maybe I'm giving you just a bit too much credit here but you've given me so many kickings in Shotgun Shootout that I thought maybe all that time staring at a screen would translate well into the real world... still want another rematch by the way."
Brock solemnly smiled. "You just don't know when to give up, do you? You really wanna get your ass handed to ya for... jeez, I lost count too."
Colt: "--Shush, sh--sh, sh, sh... sh! ...Okay? Those were all flukes and you know it. Besides, I hate shotguns. Got one too many reasons to hate 'em back home and now there's this. Where's the skill in using them anyway? No wonder why you struggled to use one of these..." Colt eyed his revolver and yawned. "...Anyway, long time, no see, huh? How's the day been treating ya? Bet it's been goin' great so far."
Brock: "I'm uh... you know, doing fine. As fine as I can be after... that."
Colt: "Heh, y'know a "Thank you, Colt, you sexy gunslinger, you." would be nice for a change..."
Brock sighed. "...Thanks, Colt."
Colt tilted his head and smiled obnoxiously. "Come on. You can say the rest. I mean, you still kinda owe me one for fending off those punks from Retropolis and that's the least you can do..." An awkward silence had been cast over the two. "...Okay fine, just a "thank you" will do."
"So, um..." Brock scratched his head. "You got any clue what's going on here?"
Colt: "Psh, no time to explain. From what I've heard so far it's a loooooong story anyway. So, ya done with the questions 'cause I got a whole lotta of my own so if you'll excuse me... I'm here to save the day and look good doing it. Now why are you here?"
Brock would keep quiet, a little uneasy about himself as usual. Feeling a little slighted, Colt crossed his arms, looking back at Brock's ruined ride. "Eh, it's only a scratch but hey, if ya really want me to, I can just help you right on out the city."
Brock: "No, no--I... I ain't leaving, not yet."
Colt raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's certainly a choice--a stupid one but still definitely a choice. Here to help with the load, huh? That's not to say I need it of course."
Brock looked off into the distance."I guess that's one way to put it..."
Colt scoffed. "Don't mean to judge but judging by how you handled your little situation back there... I take it you didn't bring anything for self-defense or uh, any defending for that matter..."
Brock scratched his head nervously. "Yeah..."
"Heh. Nice going, Brock. So... what, you can't afford a good ol' fashioned six shooter? Didn't realize your arcade was going out of business, what happened to you lighting up the dancefloor as a DJ?" Colt asked with a load of sarcasm in his tongue.
Brock: "I'm hoping you know not every problem can be solved with a gun, Colt."
Colt rolled his eyes. "What're you, my mother? Of course, I know that..."
Brock: "Oh. Great. Nice to know we're on the same pa--"
Colt: "Which is why I use two. Now I want you to consider this: would you rather get put six feet under by some no-name junk buckets or dish out some butt-kickings yourself with one of these bad boys?" [Spins revolver] "Answer's pretty obvious, ain't it?"
Brock once again wouldn't answer Colt.
Colt: "...Right? Look, I'm not saying to bust out a whole friggin' rocket launcher or something but, come on now."
"Okay, okay... maybe you got a point..." Brock chuckled his nervousness off, plunging both of his hands into his pockets. "But, umm, I guess I also have something to let off my chest. I'm here for a reason and it's probably not one you're thinking of..."
Colt: "Yeah, no kidding. Must be one helluva of a reason to bring you to this place too... ah screw it, I'll bite. What really is it that brings you here? There are easier ways to kill yourself, y'know."
Brock chuckled nervously then rolled his eyes with a level of snark that matched Colt. "Just looking for a friend--maybe friend(s) would be the better word."
"Good thing you got me." Intrigued, Colt tilted his head forward with an enthralled eyebrow raise. "This friend got a name?"
Brock: "Oh yeah... It's... it's..."
Colt: "Come on, spit it out."
Brock: "...it's 8-Bit."
Colt: "...Oh. I'm sure he's doing just mighty fine right about now. After all, he's totally a bounty hunter sent from space. He might've told you that maybe one or a billion times."
Brock: "Err, that's Rico and yeah, you're right. You telling me you don't remember 8-Bit? You kinda spilled some soda on him that time you got just a little too heated on Project Laser..."
Colt: "Really?--Oh. Yeah. Think you're starting to ring a bell..." A smile cracked from Colt's mouth. "I'll admit it was a little funny watching 'em squirm around like there were bees in his circuits..."
Colt began snickering as his eyes drifted away from Brock, who wasn't exactly approving of Colt's tone. "...But, sorry."
Brock: "All good. Need to keep jogging that memory of yours? He's about this tall, on the stumpier side of things... wears these blue Converses, pretty adorable too, definitely no vest-- trust me, I couldn't get him to wear one if I tried. His tracker's led me to the city, the thing is--"
Brock stopped himself after he noticed that Colt had grown awfully silent. He just stood there, looking like he was possibly hiding something. Brock himself had grown curious.
Brock: "...It's kinda jammed. Did... did I say something--?"
Colt: "Yeah, actually. Good thing Rico didn't tag along with ya... okay--look, I'll just break the news to ya right away. I don't think you're gonna be finding your little buddy anytime soon. At least in the way you remember him..."
Brock: "For real? Wha--Why?"
Colt: "Huh. I guess there is time to explain. You're barking up the wrong tree here but, apparently, so don't shoot the messenger, the little guy's the one behind all of..." Colt paused, looking back over to the robots he put out of commission. "...this."
Brock batted his eyes in disbelief. "I know you like to mess around and stuff but I don't think now's the time to be joking."
Colt: "Wish I was. Really do. Didn't realize you and a certain starfish had much more in common because clearly, you've been living under a rock. Haven't you heard of the news?"
Brock: "Yeah--kinda--but I ain't hearing that noise. He wouldn't do this. He wouldn't do any of this."
Colt: "Well you better get those ears checked. Felt like his vibe was always off whenever I was around him. You sure he wasn't planning to go all goblin mode or something when you first found him?"
Brock: "N-No?! Sure he's been a little more quiet than usual for the past week or so but--"
Colt: "What're you even gonna do when you see him, huh? sideyes revolver smugly I know what I will... when the time's right I'll definitely be giving that thing what it deserves."
Brock: "Thing? That's my friend--!"
Colt: "Was. He was your friend..."
Brock kept his silence, giving himself much-needed time to gather his thoughts. "...If, and that's a big if, what you say is true... I'm gonna get him back. Something's gotta be controlling him."
Colt burst out laughing. "--Hahahahahaha--you're, breaths in you're... continues laughing ...you're serious?" Colt continued with his amused laughter as Brock only appeared more and more annoyed.
Brock crossed his arms as the laughter went on. "You done?" Colt's laughter died down a bit. "Hold on... just--just gimme a moment... laughs ...man, sorry, I had to get that outta my system. Hit me with that again, you wanna do what now?"
Brock: "I'm bringing him home. Don't matter how, I just want my friend back."
Colt: "Whew, you're lucky I pity you. So how exactly do you plan on doing that? Still losing that oh-so-good circulation to your brain?--Have you had a little too much to drink? I know that's rich coming from a guy who proposed to a mannequin but if both Surge and what's-her-face couldn't take 'em out, what chance do you have?
Brock froze up. "...What?"
"Just go home kid, this is one game you'll never win."
Brock: "I--"
Colt: "You heard me, Brock. Go home, kid."
Brock: "...You're just four ye--"
"Yeah, yeah." Ragged Colt, who turned and began strutting away, retrieving his other revolver, sticking out two fingers and waving them as a goodbye. "We'll do that rematch sometime later. Now if you'll excuse me, I got a city to save on my--"
"Wait...!" Colt had stopped in his tracks, still turned away from Brock.
"...What about Max and Surge?"
Colt turned his head slightly toward Brock. "So that's her name... you tellin' me you don't know?"
"Know what...?!"
Colt's face turned from confidently smug to somewhat remorseful. "...They're gone."
Sorrow had touched Brock's heart. Once again, he took a step back, completely stunned, unable to cobble together any words.
Colt folded his arms. "Something wrong?--Need a pinch or two? Maybe some water over the face?"
"...S...S-So they're--?"
Colt: "Yeah. Probably. If you wanna go down that rabbit hole then be my guest. Just know you'll never climb out of it. They haven't been seen in over a day now. I dunno what else to tell ya but what do you expect out of a glorified tin can and an impulsive rookie during the apocalypse?"
A cold shiver ran down Brock's spine as Colt continued. "...If I was in their place things would be peachy right about now, believe me. Now we've all been left high and dry and guess who's fault that is. Hope ya know 8-Bit's not gonna stop until this is far, far worse..."
Wrenched by guilt and despair, Brock couldn't help but turn away from Colt. He couldn't bear looking him in the eye.
"...Which is why we're gonna stop him, right?"
Brock looked up to see Colt with a hopeful, earnest smile on his face. His breathing had steadied and Brock nodded his head a handful of times. "...Right. Right. I just wanna talk with him."
"Sorry. Not in the job description. You said something about a tracker, yes?"
"...Yeah."
"Perfect. You won't have to worry about it. I'm sure we can get it fixed."
"We?"
"Yeah. We. You'll see what I'm talking about later. In fact, I got a whole lotta stuff to show you, especially with what 8-Bit's done..."
"I'll... I'll see it when I believe it, Colt." Said Brock, not much confidence coming from his mouth.
Colt scoffed hard. "Oh, you will when you're staring right into the stuff of your nightmares. Can't say I didn't say "I told ya so" when that happens. But hey--if it makes you feel any better I'm almost as confused as you are. Some fun-sized arcade machine? He's responsible for the mess I gotta clean up...?" Colt scoffed again. "Give me a break..."
All of a sudden, that silence had returned yet again. Colt sat on some nearby pavement, his hands clasped together, his face etched with a subtle amount of remorse while Brock was left to observe.
The rest of Colt's bitterness subsided. "...Sorry I sort of blew a gasket back there. I... exhales things have been so rough lately. This... all of this, it happened so fast... I couldn't help as much as I could've. I Don't want you or anyone else that hasn't already to get hurt. I know you wanna help your friend and I get that, but I seriously can't hammer this home enough. Trust me. I've been in this game long enough to know there's next to no hope of getting the little guy the help he needs. That's to say he even can be lended help, aside from a few bullet holes to the screen, of course..."
Brock: "It's... it's cool. Apology accepted. Maybe you're right, I am a little outta my depth but I gotta do what I can. If 8-Bit really is outta control here, I gotta do something about it. Gotta right some wrongs."
Colt: "That's the spirit but... yeah--you know what?" Colt got back up. "...As much as I'd love to blast more and more of these things to pieces 'til the sun comes back up, we should probably just pick up the slack before more of them come out to play--for your sake I mean, not mine."
With a mystery ignited, Brock nodded while Colt brushed passed him. Brock fails to follow, his mind still occupied by 8-Bit, by Max and Surge, by all the unanswered questions surrounding them, prompting Colt to turn back and raise an eyebrow.
Colt: "So, you comin' with, or are you just gonna enjoy the view? Or maybe, just maybe, the second thoughts are finally kicking in, hmm? To be honest, I wouldn't blame ya." Colt extended his hand into the air, signaling that the rain had returned. "Aw, my hair!--Have you made up your mind? I don't--okay well I sorta do have all day but think of my hair!"
"...Oh--uh--y-yeah, I'm comin' with, it's just..." Brock looked back over to his muscle car and sighed heavily. "...Oh man...! I guess it is still usable. Are we not taking my ride?"
Colt: "Yeah, no. You're pretty much begging for trouble riding around in that thing going forward. Best to keep things slow and steady for now so come on, let's get this show on the road already. We've got things to do."
Brock sighed lightly. "Okay..."
Colt: "Don't think you'll have to worry about a parking ticket--so hey, there's that. Now remember, this face? He's your guardian angel if you couldn't tell, and this place? Probably gonna eat ya alive if you're not careful so make sure you stick to me like glue... d-don't actually do that, I'm as uncomfortable as is already ."
Brock: "I think I got it..."
Colt: "Alright then, 'bout time we got going..."