In P4, Cole had a quick sit-down with Denise. He defended his decision to involve Agent Tammy Preston in the investigation.

Cole: "Agent Tammy Preston has the stuff, Denise."

As usual, this didn't sound like that important to think about. Later in P13, Bobby went to get dinner in RR Diner. He told Ed and Norma they got some stuff, too.

Ed: "What's new, Deputy?" Bobby: "Oh, well, we, uh, found some stuff that my dad left today."

Earlier in P9, the deputies opened a small metal tube left behind by Bobby's father, Major Briggs, revealing cryptic instructions. Ed suggested we needed to give this a good thought.

Ed: "What kind of stuff?"

A kind of stuff is private property. Another word for that is possession. Another kind of possession is a supernatural event when an intrusive spirit dominates another being, something that Twin Peaks has been all about. Going forward, let's keep this in mind.
If it was necessary to figure out the "stuff" to make sense of the plot, Tammy would have had something which was equal to what the Major had left for the deputies. The most personal scene of her otherwise detached character was in P5. She was sitting by herself in her cubicle, going through some stuff. Maybe the stuff we needed to find was somewhere there. Among other stuff.
Connecting to what the deputies found from inside the metal tube was Tammy holding two pictures of Cooper. Left, she had a picture of the young agent in his fancy FBI suit. Right, she had the picture of Cooper's aged doppelganger.
We had seen the same doppelganger picture already an episode earlier when the FBI visited Yankton Federal Prison. Inspector Randy Hollister displayed the picture on a large screen, along with all sort of chaotic information about Cooper.
Two Coopers, one with 66.
The scale next to Mr C's head gave his height as 75 inches, 6"3, which could not possibly have been correct. The inconsistency may have suggested there was something in that scale we needed to notice. In the middle of his head, there was a black line pointing to number 66. That was also included in a closeup of the mugshot that was shown when the FBI went to interview the detained man.
Another kind of two Coopers were on the second slip of paper that the deputies recovered from the tube. Written in the middle of it, there was the text, "COOPECOOPER". So as not to miss the idea here, Hawk spelled it out for us.

Hawk: "Two Coopers!"

Next to the right-side COOPER, there was number 66, connecting it to the doppelganger's picture both on the prison's screen and in Tammy's right hand.
All doppelgangers that we saw in the Black Lodge appeared as a kind of one-trick ponies that clearly were not capable of any meaningful operation on their own. This also applied to Cooper's doppelganger. When he made an entry in the season 2 finale, he struggled to even get the curtains open. But all of a sudden, the doppelganger turned into a completely controlled being with a clear plan and a purpose.
Earle got the stuff first.
As BOB had moments before taken Windom Earle's soul from his old body, we probably needed to put these things together so that what happened was BOB possessing the mindless doppelganger with Earle's spirit. Without the possession, the doppelganger would have been useless, but now its plan was likely the Earle's plan. Another kind of possession being stuff, like discussed, we'd start to get an understanding what having this specific stuff would have been all about.
This then takes us to P6 when Richard Horne had an early morning meeting with a nameless newcomer credited as the color Red. When the scene at the sawmill started, Richard was consuming something, off screen. We assumed he had taken some kind of drug, but whatever it was, a moment later it started to have an impact on him.

Richard: "Shit. Oh, tha ... this stuff kicks!"

As the scene progressed, Richard had increasing troubles with reality, as if he was moving towards some kind of climactic moment. Even if the scene cut before that happened, some magic was already dripping through to the world when Red's coin stopped respecting the laws of nature.
Richard got kicked by the stuff.
Much later in P15, Richard held Mr C at gunpoint in front of the Convenience Store. Effortlessly, the doppelganger took the gun from his hand, hit him in the face and then gave him a nasty kicking as he was lying on the ground.
This stuff kicks. Richard also got a kicking from Cooper's doppelganger. What was really happening to him in that warehouse?
Before Richard got beaten, he talked about his mother.

Richard: "You're FBI." Mr C: "How do you figure that?" Richard: "'Cause I seen your picture in your fancy FBI suit."

Going back to Red, just as Richard felt the "stuff" kicking him, Red gave him one of his confusing remarks.

Red: "Have you ever studied your hand?"

Study the hands.
These lines would find their purpose in P5 when Tammy Preston was watching the old photograph of Cooper in his fancy FBI suit. The scene started with a closeup of her holding the picture. Something was wrong, though, as the hands clearly were not her hands that we got a good close-up of later in P7. They might have been Richard's hands, with a suggestion this was the very photograph he was talking about.
That this was the intended approach was further implied by Tammy keenly studying doppelganger's fingerprints - that is, his hands. This way, Richard and his "stuff" would also lead to two Coopers.
These observations would now give their own kind of wild explanation to an earlier baffling idea that the scene between Red and Richard actually continued in P2, with Red now as Jack the garageman and Richard having turned into Mr C, ready to get going with the black Lincoln Town Car and apparently about to kill Jack next.
Richard's abrupt change would have been possible because the "stuff" that he had taken was Cooper's doppelganger, literally transforming him into Mr C. While Richard and Red talked, the younger man would have gradually disconnected from his present reality and drifted to another world where he would possess the doppelganger. Everything else would have changed as well, with Red turning into Jack and his expensive Rolex into the 2015 Mercedes-Benz S 550 Coupé he had in the garage, the apparent counterpart for the sawmill warehouse.
If this was figured out as intended, at certain points in the story, both Tammy and Sheriff Truman had the doppelganger in their possession, respectively, she as a photograph and him as a name on a piece of paper, with Lynch's storytelling again abstracting characters and concepts to the extreme. This would align with an earlier conclusion that both Red and the Sheriff were the same character - ultimately none other than Phillip Jeffries - explaining how Red got the doppelganger he seems to have then given to Richard for a ride, for whatever hidden reason that then was. At that point, it would naturally have been vacated of Windom Earle, this or that way.
How about Tammy and her "stuff" then? She would also have had Cooper's doppelganger right there with her in the cubicle, suggesting her character was more than an FBI agent. Perhaps she got a taste of him as well, implied by the scene ending with her lifting her right hand to her mouth that after a cut inconsistently changed to her left hand.
Or, perhaps she suddenly started to feel a bit carsick and would soon need both of her hands over her mouth.

The most problem with this game is the disparity between advanced players partying together on victim side and below average solo victim players.

I know that when 3 advanced players form a party in a another 15v15 competitive game, the effect is immense even though it is a 20% party rate, so it's no surprise that if 100% of the team is in a party at 3v4 TCM, they will be invincible, especially victim side with large number.
In other words, small-group competitive games and party are incompatible, it caused dodge when the party's mark was visible in the previous version due to no fun at all to play against them.
In contrast, GUN. only has a cheap solution to cover up the display, cause they firmly believes that party is the template for managing any online game (for reference, there exists another game of 5v5 where 5 advanced players in a party monopolized the victory and no one played anymore).

From the perspective of an advanced solo family (i.e., not below average or joined in party):

• It's mostly easy to play against a solo Victim who is below average.
• A match with an advanced solo Victim, or party of 2 average is depends on the skills of the other solo Family players.
• It's almost impossible for a party of advanced to win even against 2 ppl, not to mention 4 ppl. An average party of 3 to 4 ppl is still difficult to deal with if they discuss and work together via voice chat.

Family is smaller in number than the victims, even a party of advanced Family members can't beat a full party of advanced Victims.
Fundamental, this is because there are absolutely places where a Family can't guard due to the difference in numbers.
It's also common for others to act with Leland's escort and while he is struggling, the others unlock the door and force their way through, and this is another case where the difference in numbers allows them to push through(basically, families are dispersed for security, and if they gather in one place, the other place are unprotected).
I'm not talking about this should be called an admirable tactic on the part of the Victim or not, but I'm talking about a disparity that party can do and solo can't or very difficult.
On the other hand, below average solo Victims are easily killed by the Family and often lament on reddit that the Family is too strong and that they should rework the map of the Family's House, but a good victim party can easily escape the Family's House, so if GUN. adjusts the balance to suit the below average solos, no one will play Family side.

To solve this problem :

• If all Victims are in party, increase the solo Family limit to 4 or if 3 Victims are party, eliminate the 4th solo slot and start with 3v3.
• If all 3 family members are PT and all victims are solo, increase the number of victim slots to 5.
• Preferentially match party families with party victims.
• Just abolish the party itself (I personally would most prefer this, but many people will hate it including GUN.).

Or whatever it is, if the balance isn't adjusted to bridge the gap between solo and party, the solo Victims will continue to plead to nerf the Family House and the Family until the end of service.
If you say that party are stronger and deserve it, and that it's nonsense to close the gap by handicapping them, then please tell the solo Victims instead of me and GUN. that "you guys should be the victims of our privilege".
Also GUN. can shut up the solo victims by declaring that GUN. only cares about the privileged who can form party and not about balancing the game on a solo premise.

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92 Hours After the First Round of Interloper Interrogations. New Lorisa Forests. Point of Interest: Signal Station.
Lysara
The speed and efficiency of the operation truly put me in mind of the burning desire for progress within the human-made apparatuses I was currently presiding over. To say that this put everything Vanaran-kind had built to shame, from the equipment to the tools to the processes and protocols we had at our disposal, would’ve perhaps been a bit too much for me to say. But I couldn't help but to actually consider it, even if I knew it was a result of me being enamored by the tools and processes I had at my disposal.
The keyhole boring process only took fifteen minutes to breach Evina’s pre-drilled hole. From there, it took another ten minutes to maneuver the various extendable manipulators deep and into the hole, towards the control mechanism the felinor had correctly guessed was there.
All in all, only a half hour had elapsed before we were well and truly deep into the elaborate locksmith games led by Vir, and aided by Evina.
The sheer speed and breakneck pace of the operation truly hammered home one idea that kept rearing itself into my mind with regards to humanity’s unique perspective on the world.
A thought which, I now realized, Evina might’ve had some insight into.
“Evina?” I spoke up, addressing the felinor who’d gone silent for the most part after she’d filled Vir in on most of the insights she had on the bunker door’s locking mechanism; her attention still very much squarely focused on passively observing the holoprojector held aloft by another drone.
“What’s up?” She shot back, her eyes not once leaving the holo-screen displaying the complex mechanical servos being delicately maneuvered by Vir’s surgeon-grade precision.
“I have a question, a rather adjacent one mind you that I wished to address. Considering what you’ve told me before about the inheritance process, do you… ever feel the need to rush through life? As in, a burning desire to expedite and to accomplish any and all personal goals before you too are faced with the prospect of-”
“-death?” Evina interjected, completing my sentence for me.
“Y-yes.” I nodded.
“If this is a roundabout way of asking me if I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to in case we all die inside of that bunker, then I-”
“-oh, no. It’s nothing like that.” I interrupted, prompting Evina to once more cock her head in confusion. “I… it’s not about the bunker or its dangers. Moreover, it’s just a passing thought I had with regards to the nature of mortality in species that lack the Vuark; the erm… gift, or rather curse in this case, that the interlopers had forced upon the sapients of the galaxy. It’s just… my kind, and the society I hail from, we don’t necessarily process death or the prospect of a finite life cycle in the same way species without the Vuark do. I look around me now, and see these machines, participating in these processes, all built by a species that knows their days are numbered the moment they’re born, and I cannot help but to feel that raw and unbridled sense of passion that arises as a result of a finite life. I just… it was difficult for me to truly adapt to this mentality. Moreover, it seems to me as if you are able to seamlessly integrate into it in a way that I wasn’t capable of at first. I was just curious then, if the process of inheritance doesn’t necessarily force upon you the same issues of… perspective and motivation that come with a functionally immortal lifespan?”
It was only after my long spiel did Evina finally turn towards me, crossing her arms as she did so. “Are you always this philosophical and introspective everytime you go on a death-defying, potentially reality-breaking mission?” The alien offered with a tone that bordered between incredulous and facetious, but also with an undeniable sense of chatty charm to it that I knew to be jocular in some capacity. “I mean, I guess I can see why you’d have these philosophical crises given the situation. But heck, Lysara, you seem to always be in the mood for some philosophical discussion everytime we talk.” The alien offered with a chuckle, before shaking her head. “In all seriousness though, I’m fine with you poking around with these sorts of questions. It’s definitely a welcome change to the downtime in a mission being filled in with the usual random chatter that doesn’t extend beyond — who do you think fired the first nuke — or whatever.” The alien once more shrugged.
“Anyways, to answer your question? The inheritance process doesn’t override you with the memories of the past. Therefore, you effectively die when you go through it. Like, it’s weird, don’t get me wrong. But functionally speaking, you’re no longer the main character in life if that makes sense? Which means that we’re effectively working with a single life as well. What we become after inheritance is… difficult to explain, but the best way I can describe it is that it’s sorta like your memories just become part of the inheritor’s. So in other words, yeah, there is a sense of urgency to complete things in this life. So I guess we see eye to eye with the folks without this interloper curse; we have to make the most of our time in our limited lifespans. Moreover, personally? I have a desire to do more than what my previous iterations have, because that’s just who I am. I like one-upping them, in order to give the next iteration something to strive towards.” The felinor responded cheekily, with her fangs bared beneath the helmet no doubt.
“Fascinating.” I responded, taking a moment to really take everything in with a careful nod. “I genuinely do wonder exactly how this process came to be.” I pondered outloud, eliciting a shrug from the felinor.
“There we go philosophizing again.” Evina chuckled. “Honestly, there were theories, but scientists and biologists even back in my first iteration’s day found it difficult to really pin down exactly how or why it happened. The generally agreed upon hypothesis is that it naturally evolved in order to enhance the ability of subsequent generations to be able to survive with the prior generation’s skills and stuff. Listen, I’m probably not the best person to ask this, this is more a question for-”
A series of three beeps interrupted our rapidly deepening conversation, punctuated by a warning from Vir over the airwaves.
“Door lock is disarmed.” Was all he said, his voice measured, highlighting the sudden intensity of the situation. “Ready to engage the manual override mechanism at your discretion.”
The both of us now stood at the ready, as I ordered each of the robots form a tighter formation around us, placing three of them on point, and several aerial drones above them for good measure.
“I’ll have the mainline operator drones take point, and as soon as that door fully opens, I’m planning on deploying a tentative first wave of aerial drones to scout the interior before we enter.”
“Yup, just like we planned.” Evina nodded. “This reliance on drones is really putting a damper on things y’know.” She continued with a snide snicker. “All those sci-fi shows Eslan goes on about always seem to have the bridge crew taking point and leading from the front.”
“Well, unlike a television show, we don’t have the privilege of writing our way out of danger should we face it.” I responded, trying to match Evina’s more light hearted sensibilities as best as I could. “In any case, you ready, Evina?”
“Ready.” The felinor nodded, prompting me to give the final all-clear to the AI high above us.
“Affirmative, engaging manual override now.” Vir announced.
Nothing happened at first.
Then we heard it; a series of mechanical clunk clunk clunks that sounded raw and unmitigated.
It was slow to start at first, hiccuping every other clunk, and whirring inconsistently to the point where it almost seemed to sputter out and die.
Though after a solid minute of this, something else seemed to click, and loudly as well.
This preceded the retraction of all fourteen of the ‘cogs’ that seemed to be holding the circular door in place, followed by the door itself violently and forcefully being retracted into the facility, before rolling neatly out of the way just to the right of the entrance.
The sudden KA-THUNK of the rolling door settling into place was enough to cause the local wildlife to stir, as almost all of the entirety of the treeline burst to life with entire flocks of birds taking flight far and away from the sudden flurry of activity.
Sounds from the massive metal disc coming to a stop echoed throughout the forest, and into the large and empty atrium that lay within.
An atrium which remained dark, and seemingly abandoned, with nothing to indicate that the facility was even operational.
In fact, it was far too deep, and much too dark for sunlight to really penetrate. Though that wouldn’t stop us, as the first wave of aerial drones entered, and began scouting to the best of their abilities.
Each of them began mapping out their little section of the atrium, linking up their readouts, before sending all the data back out and up to the ship, where a live scan of the entire space was promptly relayed back to us.
What immediately hit me were the striking similarities between the expansive atrium within, and the design of the moon base’s atrium. This similarity was just as quickly remarked upon by Vir, as Evina was quickly brought up to speed on these initial findings.
“This is a near perfect one-to-one match of the moon base’s entrance.” Vir offered, overlaying the aforementioned facility over top of the live scans of the signal station’s atrium. “The only difference seems to be the layout of the branching doors and such, but the similarities for the atrium being built this way is quite-”
“It’s nothing special.” Evina offered with a shrug. “Granted it’s not common, but I’ve seen the design before. Heck, the moonbase was publicly televised until it suddenly stopped gaining media attention. Apparently a lot of the bigger and elusive government bunkers were built the same way. My bunker however, and most of the other standard civvie bunkers, lacked something this grand though.” She offered.
“Fascinating.” I nodded, as the readings revealed no visible traps, no weapon emplacements, and not much in the way of furnishings either. “Looks to be a purely utilitarian setup. Tracks on the floor for pallets to be easily shipped through several service entrances. Clearly defined marks indicating where you’d load and offload cargo… and nothing much else but a single lonely forklift in the corner of the room.” I narrated, pointing out each of the notable details within the room.
“Right. Are we clear to enter, then?” Evina urged.
“Hold for a moment for the mainline drones to enter first.” I responded promptly, as three of the humanoid drones entered with their guns at the ready.
A minute passed, and no notable changes had transpired. It was around that point that I felt confident enough to turn towards Evina, giving her the all-clear.
Flanked on all sides by more drones, we cautiously passed the threshold of the entrance, the room around us illuminated only by the light sources we brought with us; which was honestly more than good enough given the enhanced vision granted by the helmet’s various optical sensors.
Though we wouldn’t have to provide our own light for long.
As suddenly, and without warning, the dormant lights above erupted to life with a series of loud KA-THUNKS! Power readings from the drones spiked, as panel after panel around the atrium lit up in a dazzling display of unprompted activation.
This, unfortunately, also applied to the front door.
Which suddenly, and rather violently, began rolling back into place; outpacing our efforts in our mad dash back to the entrance as we were met just inches before it could firmly seal back into position.
KA-THUNK!
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(Author’s Note: We make our way into the facility's atrium, which seems surprisingly similar in design to the moon base, though Evina reassures us that it's just a matter of similar design choices! However, before we can fully appreciate the facility, an unexpected development arises! :D The next chapter is already out on Patreon as well if you want to check it out!)
[If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 98 of this story is already out on there!)]

I am an HR Director in Texas and we are looking for a new Payroll/HRIS system. Currently on Paychex Flex. Our company size is 65 FTE (all are salary with the exception of two ee's) with workers spread out across 19 different states. The biggest reason we are wanting to move from Paychex Flex is the issues with tax filings and reporting. As far as Paychex usage goes, we use them for payroll, reporting, onboarding (e-verify and background checks) and benefits administration. Our payroll is rinse and repeat each pay period. Onboarding is basic and easy to use.
We supplement HR with SuccessFactors (we are an implementer, but really need a company that provides back end payroll reporting and support) for ATS/recruiting, LMS, performance management and org charts. ATS is pretty easy since I'm a department of one. LMS is actually managed by one of our consultants - but it's easy videos or document content with acknowledgement. Our performance management process is incredibly simple but I have been waiting to build out the process once we have moved to a new HR system. Current state is annual manager does simple review with does not/meets/exceeds expectations, risk of loss and impact of loss. (I told you it was basic). It does have a 9 box visual which we do not want to lose.
We do not have any workflow approvals built into either system (small org historically and current HR department of one). PTO is currently through SalesForce Kantata for project management purposes. We would need to integrate from one system or the other.
Paychex is our current benefits admin - if the system vendor does not have their own benefits admin, we will use Higginbotham (currently have them for other services and I had a great previous experience with them).
Feel free to skip the rest of my post and share your experiences/feedback lol
I have spoken to quite a few companies but have narrowed it down to four. I'll share some high level pros/cons. Please let me know your input. I implemented an HRIS years ago and it was horrible - was sold on features and capabilities that did not exist, etc. Honestly, I'm gun-shy and reading threads for some of these systems has made it worse.

• Gusto - would have to create custom fields to capture EEO data, limited functionality in ATS (no resume parsing, key word search OR talent pool, no recruitment reports. Onboarding looks good. Does not have 9 box, succession planning, risk or loss or impact of loss. Limited reporting features - can't schedule a report, minimal analytics. LMS does not allow video upload, ability to add quiz content or reporting of completion.Benefits and time off looks good. Payroll is good too with exception of showing department totals on payroll journal. (I honestly didn't know a tool wouldn't be able to display totals by department??) I like that I was given access to a demo site to play around myself. They would charge if we used an external broker. Monthly fee is third highest of the four. Monthly subscription.
• Rippling - ticks a lot of boxes. ATS has no talent pools but you can search across candidates using key words. Onboarding, performance, reporting, LMS, benefits, time off and payroll were all good. They did some live demos and also gave me access to pre-recorded micro demos. The biggest draw back is I really feel nickel and dimed. There are core and pro modules but I'm in between some of those (meaning I want a few components of each). They also break their pricing into each module rather than lumping things together. For instance - I'm charged separately for unity, payroll, benefits admin, payroll, etc. Monthly fee is highest of the four. Monthly subscription.
• UKG Ready - I used UltiPro like a decade ago and I really liked it then. I love their customization of content for employee sign on page, onboarding, etc. ATS seems good - can search among candidates with key words and also can communicate via text or email within the platform. Onboarding, performance, recruiting, LMS, PTO, benefits and payroll look good - not perfect, but pretty much there. There is not unlimited payroll runs, but we rarely process off cycle unless state required for final paychecks. They did not have any content they could see me for reference - whether demo or pre-recorded content. They have a huge implementation fee of $9000, require a contract vs. monthly subscription and have 8% uplift on the contract. The monthly fee is actually cheaper than Gusto.
• Paylocity - No talent pools but can search among candidates using key words. Onboarding looks good. Performance looks good but I am not clear if they have 9 box visual. Reporting, LMS and benefits looks good. We would have to use external broker. I've gone through two demos and we have yet to discuss payroll or PTO. They did send me some pre-recorded micro demos for reference. Monthly subscription.

I have vetted out Deel, HiBob, Just Works, Paycor and Paycom.
I feel like I'm in between a rock and a hard place - so many awful experiences in implementation and/or post-go live support. Any info is helpful - thank you!

Hello all! Welcome and thank you ahead of time on this post for all contributions or rebuttles.
This will be covering various points of the story so the spoiler tag is there if you are not caught up to the most recent chapters of manga or anime, so beware!
This as the title suggests is focusing on all the strawhats and I will be focusing on what I believe to be their peak moments, and how it makes them a complete character in this series! This is NOT about peak power moments, but peak character building points.
Defining the peak moments as: when they as a character, figured out something internally or displayed it to cement how they think and feel to the rest of the crew/audience.
I will not be covering any members who are not permanent to the crew specifically, but they may be mentioned as supporting to another crew member.
Without further prologuing to the post lets dive in!
Luffy: While he has many moments of interest, as he is the main character, his peak to me is spread throughout a few scenes that are arcs apart.
The first moment I would like to focus on is Alabasta, one of the first times we see he is serious, has somewhat of a brain in that rubber skull, and a clear definition of the types of people he respects. The scene I am talking about is when Vivi and him have their spat in the desert and the crew does not understand why Luffy is being mean to her.
He supports others dreams, but only if they support their OWN dreams. He is not willing to carry anyone who will not fight for themselves in whatever way they can. This scene is very memorable for the feels, but to me it really shows just what goes on in the internal, but is not the peak.
The peak happens for him in Water 7, before Enies Lobby. The duel between him and Usopp. This is where his ideals and maturity reach a true peak for his character. He see's what it means to be a captain before just a friend, and the weight of being the leader of his crew.
Without Usopp pushing him to that fight, and enacting on his feelings, the whole crew would be worse off.
We see Luffy and the crew take in what Zoro is saying about Usopp leaving, and his potential returning. Every single crew member was so sad to watch their friend go down a different path at the time, but they knew that unless he was the one to iniatiate the reconciliation, he could not come back. This hits Luffy the hardest as he now needs to cement what he is to them, which is the driving force foward, champion of their dreams, and ultimately the one who HAS to fight for them all, even if they fail.
This to me is his peak in the sense he IS the captain then. Until then the ship worked almost more democratically, not saying he doesn't not listen to them still, but his word is final at the end. And the crew will support him as much as he does them.
Zoro: Here is a man with a goal almost as lofty as Luffy's. To be the worlds strongest swordman. And to accomplish this he has a hard path driven by combat moreso than anyone else.
His start is the duel with Mihawk. At this point he thought he had some kind of a chance, even if it was just 1% to win this fight. And he is shown that he at this point is nothing but a baby compared to the current strongest. He there promises Luffy to never lose again, and has done damn well on that promise.
However his peak happens right before Sabody, with his legendary "Nothing happened". This to me is the peak of his character showing that: A. He will keep his promise to never lose, no matter the cost. B. He is not searching for praise, glory, sympathy, or empathy from anyone on his journey, even his closest friends/crew. C. His dedication to his crew for both sparing his captain death, but his comrades from worring over how they got out.
He has many impressive feats, but the level of resolve here is his peak to me.
Honorable mention: him swallowing his pride and asking Mihawk to help him be stronger. Took some guts, but this is his journey to strength, and not as big of a character building moment.
Nami: Here is someone who is very misunderstood by many fans who think she only cares about money, or would betray her crew for money.
Her start is quite possibly the earliest among characters, and pays off the latest that we have seen.
Her start being Aarlong park. The man who has traumatized her from a very young age, and her willingness to go against him for the friends that she would trust her fate with.
In this she was always slowly working toward her dream of making a complete sea chart, but could not focus on that due to her village. Once freed we still see an obsession with money, however if there was already someone who was fiscally responsible on the ship (like if Robin or Jimbe was already present), I feel like this may not have been a trait that stayed.
Instead she's basically had to shoulder the burden of making sure they don't die at sea due to starvation or otherwise by her lonesome. (Obvi Sanji does the food shopping, but that is shown by Nami giving them allowances more or less. We can just assume he gets a sperate duty-bound allowence alongside a personal one.)
Her peak to me then happens almost 1000 episodes later in Onigashima. She is part of the coweredly trio, and is not only willing to die for the ideals of her captain and friends, but very nearly does. All she had to do was lie, something she, at base, morally has no problem doing. But she will not even think about straying from the ideals of those she trusts. Showing her real resolve to not just the crew, but Luffy as the captain.
Sanji: The man who seems to never be true to himself at every part of the story. He specifically has a peak moment currently, but I think his true peak is yet to be seen as a character, and will come on a later ark involving Germa 66.
A starting point for him is hard for me, because of the characters we have on the crew, he is one of the most consistent, and has a dream that seems to be connected to the the end/close to the end of the series.
Thus he is in almost a permanent supporting role, until Whole Cake Island. (Not saying he didn't have important roles until then, just he is always solid in who he is until here.) Here we see something he views as an unstoppable force (Germa 66 AND Big Mom Pirates) gunning for him. And if he defies them then not only his crew will suffer, but his adoptive family at the Baratie.
His fight with Luffy is one of the first moments, that as a charcter, I can see him wavering internally, and rightfully so. He is dealing with trauma he all but forgot about, and is being pressured in every way possible, including his friends who are worried about him. It's amazing he doesn't give into grief as a character in this arc.
When he finally accepts the crews help, and is willing to escape is his starting point to me.
At Wano, we see huge strides past his backlash of his connections to Germa 66, and is even willing to use his raid suit. It's also at this point we see his body augmentation come out from his genes. And now I believe he is wavering internally again, even if he doesnt want to admit it to anyone, especially himself.
He is worried about losing the person he is, and the crewmember he is. He was asked to be a cook, not to fight, and is very on the fence of his new "powers". If he had not simply destroyed the raid suit, but gifted it to Franky, Usopp, and Chopper to research in their respective fields, this would be his peak to me.
But, he is not accepting every part of himself and his past in simply destroying it. Maybe he would have gone a different way if Queen had not assulted the lady and made Sanji think he was going insane. But until he accepts all parts of himself, similarly to his older sister Reiju, he cannot hit his peak.
He does not necessarily need to forgive his family, as they are despicable, but accept and make peace with them, and his genetic ties subsequently. Almost taking a page from Nami on her treatment of Hachi.
Usopp: Usopp is another one that I belive has not hit his true peak, but has been making clear strides. His starting point however, is absolutely the most pivitol of everyone aboard.
His duel with Luffy over the Going Merry in water 7.
As a crewmate and character, he had very little of note in almost every way past his intro in Syrup Village. I largely saw him as nothing more than comedic relief and was not a huge fan.
Then he hits this pivitol moment, where he found a line in the sand he was not willing to cross. He was willing to, admittedly begrudgingly, fight his closest friends and captain to take a stand on.
Was he feeling guilty for the money? Of couse! Had he just been humiliated by the theives? Yes! But he found something in this long journey he wasn't just willing to fight for, but even die for, giving us an inkling of his dream:
To be a brave warrior of the sea...
He know how powerful Luffy is, more than anyone. But HE initiated the fight between Luffy and him. HE chose the same day where he almost died and was in horrible shape to fight (at that point) one of the biggest powerhouses you could imagine.
Not only does he fight, he forces Luffy to really fight him. The gravity of that is astounding for one of, if not the most, cowerdly people we have seen in the whole series.
With a gameplan in mind he methodically gets Luffy to be more and more serious until he loses. But in losing he gained a HUGE step towards his dream. He forced the whole crew to acknowledge that they are not pretending to be pirates. They are not in playtime. This is real, and they have to not only be commited to their own dreams, but the dreams of everyone on the ship.
I firmly think his peak is coming in Elbaf, where he can wear his "Brave Warrior of the Sea" title with pride. And at that point his father will never be ready to see him, as his son will be more dedicated to maintaining dreams, than simply reaching for them.
Chopper: This is the character is tied for being the most directly impacted by the crew, alongside the next one, being Robin.
The starting point for Chopper is his intoduction arc in Drum Island. He begins to slowly trust people other than his two "parents" of Hiriluk and Kureha. He, similarly to Nami, has always been true to his dream to cure every illness. And simultaneously is also akin to Zoro, in that it is a long road with many steps to reach that point. But aside from his dream, being accepted by people has always been his most fatal flaw.
He begins to move past this point during Enies Lobby, the first time we see Monster Point. He willing decides he, with what he can offer is not enough, and needs to be a monster to help. But as said, this was only a step, not his peak.
His peak is also in Wano, when he is curing the Ice Oni Plague, and then fights Queen for for even thinking of concocting such a vile disease (on top of the other one in the prison.) He is PISSED, yet he also is beginning to understand on a personal note, he cannot always take the high road.
Being shown in his willingness to deal with side-effects of the rumble ball. This is a direct confrontation from Ceasar, another person he by nature hates. Yet he hears what the mad clown has to say and understands the value of that opinion.
This cumulative story alongside all his points being less human post-timeskip are his peak. He is no longer afraid of anything, aside from not helping his friends and all those who suffer in his sight with everything he has!
Robin: Her dream is knowledge that got her family and friends killed. And yet she values others over herself at every point.
Her start is (probably) obvious to all:
I WANT TO LIVE!
Some could argue this is her peak, but I do not. She from that point is very similar to Sanji in the sense that she is consistent throught the story, so much so she almost falls to the background in arcs compared to others with their more combat oriented roles.
Yet in every arc she is doing some groundqork to make sure she doesn't oy achieve her dream, but is gathering so much intel it'd make the other crew members jealous.
Her peak is also at Onigashima, in her fight with Black Moria. She is so understanding of her crew that she doesn't feel sad or betrayed by Sanji calling to her specifically. In fact she's the most equipped to understand it by just hearing his call alone.
She is someone who has left organization after organization, trusting nobody. And here is not just a crewmate, but dear friend calling for her because he needs her.
Does she get overzealous and charge in guns blazing? No. She calmy (maybe angrily for the sake of the enemy) makes her eay there to help him.
Does she feel betrayed? Not even slightly.
Does she think less of or belittle Sanji? Not even in your dreams.
During this fight she displays not only her conviction to her friends, but her acceptance of what transpired her whole life until them. She unlike Sanji is not tied to the bonds of her past and just comments that while this was nice, she cannot stay here (about the Mirages).
She is so grounded in what she wants and how to get there and this is the peak of her showing it. Sidenote: I can only hope her reunion with Saul is as heartwarming as she deserves, because damn does she deserve it!
Franky: (He is my favorite Strawhat for the record) The man who abandoned his dream, only to have it burst forth in the most SUPER way.
Here is an intro we never expected, the man who had been a minor antagonist of Water 7, to be added to the crew over other applicable people like Paulie.
Someone who thought of his dream as almost evil because it made his mentor have to die/leave for good (I know theres no grave lol). Who found the means to build his dreamship, but then the people he makes it for invite (or torturously force to accept) him onboard, subsequently making his full dream that much closer to reality.
Him joining the crew is his starting point and also his peak.
He has amazing feats and fights after that, but his genuine character has only gotten stronger from this point. He does not have any major character reflections like others do in the crew and he is quite unique for it.
He spent a vast majority of his past in regret and the only way to abte that sadness was through The Franky Family, who he cares deeply for. But now he is a mandroid unchained and will continue to build things to enforce his SUPER way of living.
Brook: His start is just before he joins the crew, in his fight against himself/Ryuma.
He had all but given up on living life in a meaningful way, and was almost accepting of true death before meeting the Strawhats. They give him the small push he needs to see it's not over and him fight this uphill mirror match that he, from the start, probably knew he could not win.
But right there was the conviction he lost when he lost his shadow. Even without gaining his shadow, he regained his conviction which is inspiring and amazing as a character.
His peak, is the one strawhat that I think we don't actually see as the audience, but it already happened.
During the timeskip, he is imprisoned for most of the time playing music and touring. He more than likely had adequate time and ample opportunities to escape. During this time he could have gone searching for the crew to help them, or even visit Laboon.
But that isn't the reunion he wants for Laboon and Him. He will not say goodbye to Laboon again, and will stay with him as long as he possibly can. He actively gets stronger through the devil fruit he thought was useless in his first life with the Rumbar Pirates. He finds his way to turn his curse to be beneficial in that: 1. He WILL see Laboon again 2. The thing he thought was a curse that robbed him of his swimming, WILL be useful to his friends 3. He made a promise to these friends, and kept it, even though in his long life, they had maybe known each other for a month max.
These three points alone feel like his peak as a character. He is so resolute to his word across YEARS to Laboon, while convicted not only to the promise of his new friends, but he NEED to be useful to them.
Jimbe: This is definitely the weirdest Strawhat to do this for, because his start and peak are before he is officially in the crew.
His start being his willingness to oppose the World Government in their decision to publicly execute Ace.
He is a Fishmen, and has seen the scorn his people have been through by humans. Yet, whether it was his devotion to Whitebeard or friendship with Ace, he is willing to be jailed for going against them, for not a fishman.
Up until and even after, his first and foremost thought is the bettering of his races position in the world. After helping at Marineford he pledges to Big Mom to help protect his peoples main living area, even if she has a greedy tax.
His peak is his formal leaving of the Big Mom Pirates, and to her face nonetheless. He showed his conviction towards leaving her, and the fact she would never be more than a Yonko. He had the promise made that Luffy would accept him, but again, this is before even meeting the crew and understanding their dynamic. Which speaks volumes of him and his character.
You made it. Thank you for reading assuming you're not here for a TL;DR.
I will not be making a TL version as this is an appreciation for the character that they were and have become for each other and us, as the viewer.
If you feel I picked the wrong moment for their starts or peaks, please reply and let me know! I tried to keep this unbias and looking at pure charcter building perspectives. Have a great day and watch all!

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

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..."

Ranking the exceptional CS rifle skins can be elaborate due to the fact what one player loves, another might not. Everyone has their personal taste with regards to weapon skins. While all of us dream of getting a Dragon Lore AWP, not all and sundry can splurge at the pinnacle-tier skins.
Instead, permit's strike a stability and discover the quality skins that fit our budgets. This article will cover the first-rate skins for popular guns in CS2, from the Desert Eagle to sniper rifles and the loved AK-forty seven. Though taste is subjective, elements like condition, records, and availability aren't. So, permit's dive in!

Best AK-47 Skins

AK-47 The Empress
Flavor Text: “Wealth comes in lots of bureaucracy”
Added: September 6, 2017
Quality: Covert
Price Range: $20-$120
Case: Spectrum 2 Case, Covert, Royal Gem cases
The Empress is one of the prettiest AK-forty seven skins in the game, offering StatTrak capability and to be had for below $one hundred fifty. We’re no longer talking about subject-tested circumstance here; this pores and skin seems lovely even in manufacturing facility-new condition.
With a colourful pink and black base embellished with gold accents and floral motifs inspired with the aid of Asian culture, it’s a standout. 2minds Studio nailed the tarot card idea, making this pores and skin a must-have.
Released inside the Spectrum 2 Case in 2017, The Empress is incredibly cutting-edge for being around for nearly a decade. Its colorings best slightly fade with expanded glide value, so even a field-tested one nevertheless looks excellent. For its price, that is one of the exceptional deals for AK-47 skins.

Best M4A4 Skins

M4A4 Spider Lily
Flavor Text: “Bright colors are a warning, not an invitation.”
Added: September eight, 2021
Quality: Restricted
Price Range: $2.54-$sixty two.34
Case: Operation Riptide Case, Case X, Uninhabited, Vis-a-vis cases
The M4A1 is probably extra popular, but the M4A4 Spider Lily gives one of the nice looks. Its simple black base isn’t too flashy, but the purple lily and gold coil add a hint of elegance.
If you’re into vibrant, ambitious hues, this could now not be your choose. But if you admire diffused, fashionable skins, the Spider Lily is perfect. Plus, it is low-priced, with minimum-put on pieces ranging from $2 to $6, even for StatTrak versions. Despite being launched in 2021, its timeless design guarantees it's going to age nicely.

Best AUG Skins

AUG Death By Puppy
Flavor Text: “Not to be pressured with ladder."
Added: October 18, 2019
Quality: Classified
Price Range: $6-$29
Case: The CS20 Collection, Aug V.2, Black Friday, Demon Slayer's, Arena Chest cases
Don’t let the cute name idiot you; the AUG Death By Puppy is a powerful pores and skin. Its black base with vibrant pink and crimson accents makes it a really perfect match for a Counter-Terrorist setup.
Priced at $29 for a minimal-put on condition with StatTrak, it's a extraordinary deal. CS2 skins range in price based on features and style, and this one is a steal!

Best FAMAS Skins

FAMAS Waters of Nephthys
Flavor Text: “Water continually wins.”
Added: April 24, 2023
Quality: Classified
Price Range: $33-$120
Case: Anubis Collection
In the arena of costly skins, the Waters of Nephthys for the FAMAS is a gem. Its stunning infant blue iridescent end gives it an superb look.
Field-examined variations are reasonably priced, while higher-satisfactory Souvenir ones can cross over $300. Released in 2023, this pores and skin from the Anubis Collection is inspired with the aid of a barren region oasis, offering a superb cost for its beauty.

Best AWP Skins

AWP Neo Noir
Flavor Text: "They took consolation in every other's despair"
Added: November 29, 2018
Quality: Covert
Price Range: $20-$forty
Case: Danger Zone Collection
The AWP Neo Noir is a no-brainer. While the AWP Wildfire pores and skin is dated, the Neo Noir stays fashionable and vibrant. For $20-$40, you get a pinnacle-tier skin that stands proud with out breaking the bank. Compared to other high-priced skins, this one offers wonderful fee for its price.

Conclusion

With Counter-Strike 2 attracting new gamers, the demand for cool skins is better than ever. Don’t leave out out—grab your favored skins now and display off your style in the finest FPS sport around!

CS2 #CSGO

Ranking the exceptional CS rifle skins can be elaborate due to the fact what one player loves, another might not. Everyone has their personal taste with regards to weapon skins. While all of us dream of getting a Dragon Lore AWP, not all and sundry can splurge at the pinnacle-tier skins.
Instead, permit's strike a stability and discover the quality skins that fit our budgets. This article will cover the first-rate skins for popular guns in CS2, from the Desert Eagle to sniper rifles and the loved AK-forty seven. Though taste is subjective, elements like condition, records, and availability aren't. So, permit's dive in!

Best AK-47 Skins

AK-47 The Empress
Flavor Text: “Wealth comes in lots of bureaucracy”
Added: September 6, 2017
Quality: Covert
Price Range: $20-$120
Case: Spectrum 2 Case, Covert, Royal Gem cases
The Empress is one of the prettiest AK-forty seven skins in the game, offering StatTrak capability and to be had for below $one hundred fifty. We’re no longer talking about subject-tested circumstance here; this pores and skin seems lovely even in manufacturing facility-new condition.
With a colourful pink and black base embellished with gold accents and floral motifs inspired with the aid of Asian culture, it’s a standout. 2minds Studio nailed the tarot card idea, making this pores and skin a must-have.
Released inside the Spectrum 2 Case in 2017, The Empress is incredibly cutting-edge for being around for nearly a decade. Its colorings best slightly fade with expanded glide value, so even a field-tested one nevertheless looks excellent. For its price, that is one of the exceptional deals for AK-47 skins.

Best M4A4 Skins

M4A4 Spider Lily
Flavor Text: “Bright colors are a warning, not an invitation.”
Added: September eight, 2021
Quality: Restricted
Price Range: $2.54-$sixty two.34
Case: Operation Riptide Case, Case X, Uninhabited, Vis-a-vis cases
The M4A1 is probably extra popular, but the M4A4 Spider Lily gives one of the nice looks. Its simple black base isn’t too flashy, but the purple lily and gold coil add a hint of elegance.
If you’re into vibrant, ambitious hues, this could now not be your choose. But if you admire diffused, fashionable skins, the Spider Lily is perfect. Plus, it is low-priced, with minimum-put on pieces ranging from $2 to $6, even for StatTrak versions. Despite being launched in 2021, its timeless design guarantees it's going to age nicely.

Best AUG Skins

AUG Death By Puppy
Flavor Text: “Not to be pressured with ladder."
Added: October 18, 2019
Quality: Classified
Price Range: $6-$29
Case: The CS20 Collection, Aug V.2, Black Friday, Demon Slayer's, Arena Chest cases
Don’t let the cute name idiot you; the AUG Death By Puppy is a powerful pores and skin. Its black base with vibrant pink and crimson accents makes it a really perfect match for a Counter-Terrorist setup.
Priced at $29 for a minimal-put on condition with StatTrak, it's a extraordinary deal. CS2 skins range in price based on features and style, and this one is a steal!

Best FAMAS Skins

FAMAS Waters of Nephthys
Flavor Text: “Water continually wins.”
Added: April 24, 2023
Quality: Classified
Price Range: $33-$120
Case: Anubis Collection
In the arena of costly skins, the Waters of Nephthys for the FAMAS is a gem. Its stunning infant blue iridescent end gives it an superb look.
Field-examined variations are reasonably priced, while higher-satisfactory Souvenir ones can cross over $300. Released in 2023, this pores and skin from the Anubis Collection is inspired with the aid of a barren region oasis, offering a superb cost for its beauty.

Best AWP Skins

AWP Neo Noir
Flavor Text: "They took consolation in every other's despair"
Added: November 29, 2018
Quality: Covert
Price Range: $20-$forty
Case: Danger Zone Collection
The AWP Neo Noir is a no-brainer. While the AWP Wildfire pores and skin is dated, the Neo Noir stays fashionable and vibrant. For $20-$40, you get a pinnacle-tier skin that stands proud with out breaking the bank. Compared to other high-priced skins, this one offers wonderful fee for its price.

Conclusion

With Counter-Strike 2 attracting new gamers, the demand for cool skins is better than ever. Don’t leave out out—grab your favored skins now and display off your style in the finest FPS sport around!

CS2 #CSGO

Daily Modifiers

Vanguard Ops

• Increased Vanguard Rank: All Vanguard Rank point gains are increased!
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
• Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
• Ashes to Ashes: Dealing damage with a Solar weapon now applies scorch to your targets, but your foes also now apply scorch to you when they deal Solar or explosive damage.

Dares of Eternity

• Keep It Loaded: Guardians deal increased damage with Sidearms.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Onslaught: Playlist

• Onslaught Rules: Defend and repair the ADU against waves of combatants. There are 10 waves to a set. ADU: If the ADU is destroyed, the activity ends. Scraps: An in-activity currency. They are earned by scoring and used to purchase and upgrade defenses at the start of every set and after waves 3 and 6. Rewards: Paid out after every set upon defeating the boss wave. Subsequent sets pay out better rewards. Legend increases rewards. Bonus Objectives: Rewards resources, vendor reputation, and armaments.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
• Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Riven's Lair

• Mettle: Power Level: All combatants in this activity will be at least 5 points over the player's current Power level.
• Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
• Grounded: Damage taken while you are airborne is greatly increased.
• Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
• Solar Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Solar damage.

The Coil

• The Coil Rules: Successfully complete four pathways inside Riven's Lair. Escalating Difficulty: Player's Power levels are fixed. Starting at 0 each subsequent pathway increases all combatants' Power level over the player's by 5. Wishing Glass: Wishing Glass is an in-activity currency. They drop from combatants, Glass Collectors, and pots. Wishing Glass comes in multiple rarities equating to their worth. Wishing Glass is used to purchase Dragon's Gifts from Riven. Dragon's Gifts: A set of buffs are randomly chosen, once per run. Between pathways, players can purchase buffs from Riven via Wishing Glass. Buffs are separated into three price point tiers. Rewards: After each pathway, players will return to Riven for their rewards. Subsequent pathways pay out better rewards. Breaking through score thresholds unlock secret chests. Finishing The Coil with a platinum score rewards players with access to the lustrous and lucrative Chamber of Wishes.
• Multiplicity: Combatant difficulty scales with fireteam size.
• Limited Revives: Limited fireteam revives. Purchase additional revives from Riven with Wishing Glass. Small chance to drop from destroying pots.
• Full Extinguish: If all your fireteam members fall with 0 Revive Tokens, everyone is returned to orbit.
• Chaff: Radar is disabled.
• Galvanized: Combatants have more health and are more difficult to stun.
• The Pathways: Riven's wish magic stirs. The following are the pathways and their order in The Coil: -Divining Hall -First Steps (Temple of the Queen's Wrath) -Sensorium (Reaver's Orison) -First Steps (Cell of the Sycophant)
• Arc Threat: 25% increase to incoming Arc damage.
• Denial: Taken Vandals summon their shields significantly more often.
• Overcharged Shotgun: 25% bonus to Shotgun damage.
• Overcharged Grenade Launcher: 25% bonus to damage for all Grenade Launchers.

Seasonal

Legend/Master Lost Sector

Exotic armor drop (if solo): Legs

Thrilladrome: Legend

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload
• Threat: [Void] Void
• Shields: [Arc] Arc, [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Shocker

Thrilladrome: Master

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload
• Threat: [Void] Void
• Shields: [Arc] Arc, [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Shocker

Misc

• Terminal Overload: Límíng Harbor Weapon: Synchronic Roulette (Submachine Gun)
• The Wellspring: Attack Weapon: Fel Taradiddle (Combat Bow)
• Altars of Sorrow Weapon: Heretic (Rocket Launcher)

Guns & Materials

Banshee's Featured Weapons

Name	Type	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Masterwork
Iota Draconis	Energy Fusion Rifle	Extended Barrel // Fluted Barrel	Enhanced Battery // Liquid Coils	Surplus	High-Impact Reserves	Tier 2: Range
Annual Skate	Energy Hand Cannon	HitMark HCS // Crossfire HCS	Accurized Rounds // Steady Rounds	No Distractions	Dragonfly	Tier 2: Handling
Palmyra-B	Heavy Rocket Launcher	Countermass // Smart Drift Control	High-Velocity Rounds // Impact Casing	Ambitious Assassin	Frenzy	Tier 2: Reload Speed
Syncopation-53	Kinetic Pulse Rifle	Arrowhead Brake // Polygonal Rifling	Extended Mag // Appended Mag	Steady Hands	Headstone	Tier 2: Range
Lunulata-4b	Kinetic Combat Bow	Tactile String // High Tension String	Natural Fletching // Straight Fletching	No Distractions	Golden Tricorn	Tier 5: Stability

Note: Fixed perks on weapons are not displayed

Master Rahool's Material Exchange

• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Legendary Shards)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Dark Fragment)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Phantasmal Fragment)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 25 Herealways Piece)
• Enhancement Prism (1 for 10 Enhancement Core & 10000 Glimmer)
• Ascendant Shard (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)
• Ascendant Alloy (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)

Bounties

Commander Zavala, Vanguard

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Pride Before Destruction	Defeat powerful combatants. Defeating Champions grants additional progress.	10 Powerful combatants	XP+
Show Them the Light	Defeat combatants with your Super in Vanguard playlists.	5 Super	XP+
Kill It with Fire	Defeat combatants with Solar damage in Vanguard playlists.	25 [Solar] Solar	XP+
Twisted Every Way	Defeat combatants in Vanguard playlists with Strand abilities. Defeating suspended combatants or defeating them with your grapple grants additional progress.	50 Strand ability final blows	XP+

Lord Shaxx, Crucible

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Coordinated Fire	Defeat opponents while assisting or assisted by one or more teammates.	5 Opponents defeated	XP+
Scorched Earth	Defeat opponents with Solar scorch damage.	6 [Solar] Solar scorch	XP+
Power Up	Collect or recover Heavy ammo.	1 Heavy Ammo	XP+
Full Control	In Control, complete matches.	1 Crucible matches	XP+

The Drifter, Gambit

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
All Right, All Right, All Right	Complete a Gambit match.	1 Gambit matches	XP+
Line 'Em Up	As a fireteam, defeat enemy Guardians in Gambit.	5 Guardians	XP+
Pins and Needles	Defeat targets in Gambit matches with Strand abilities. Defeating Guardians grants additional progress.	30 Strand ability final blows	XP+
Like Kindling	Use Solar ignition to defeat targets in Gambit. Defeating Guardians grants more progress.	10 [Solar] Solar ignition	XP+

Banshee-44, Gunsmith

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Hand Cannon Calibration	Calibrate Hand Cannons against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Hand Cannon] Hand Cannon	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Pulse Rifle Calibration	Calibrate Pulse Rifles against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision final blows and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Pulse Rifle] Pulse Rifle	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Sword Calibration	Calibrate Swords against any target. Opposing Guardians and rapidly defeated targets grant the most efficient progress.	100 [Sword] Sword	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Kinetic Calibration	Calibrate Kinetic weapons against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians.	100 Kinetic weapon	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress

Nimbus, Neomuna

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Almighty Scorching	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Solar damage. Shadow Legion combatants grant additional progress.	60 [Solar] Solar	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Shockingly Direct	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Arc damage. Shadow Legion combatants grant additional progress.	60 [Arc] Arc	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Heavy Prime	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Power weapons.	15 Power weapon	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Terminal Rewards	Open chests after completing Terminal Overload.	3 Chests opened	1 Terminal Overload Key & 50 Neomuna Rank & XP+

Lord Shaxx, Hall of Champions

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Onslaught Defender	Deploy and upgrade defenses in Onslaught.	30 Defenses completed	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Defiant Looter	Open a bonus chest at the end of Defiant Battlegrounds using a Defiant Key.	1 Bonus rewards	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Shoot Out	Defeat targets with Hand Cannons. Combatants in Onslaught and Guardians are worth more.	100 [Hand Cannon] Hand Cannon	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Fallen Down On The Job	Defeat Fallen. Those defeated in Onslaught are worth more.	100 Fallen	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation

Spirit of Riven, H.E.L.M.

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Wishful Spelunker	Complete a Lost Sector in the Dreaming City.	1 Lost Sectors	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Lair Defense: Power Weapons	Defeat targets with Power weapons. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more.	20 Power weapon	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Dragon's Breath	Defeat targets with Linear Fusion Rifles or Rocket Launchers. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more.	10 [Linear Fusion Rifle] or [Rocket Launcher] defeats	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Dragonflame	Defeat targets with Solar or Stasis damage. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more.	30 [Solar] or [Stasis] defeats	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation

^{Never forget what has been lost. While the API protests have concluded, Reddit remains hostile to its users as their IPO looms in the horizon. More information can be found here.}

Daily Modifiers

Vanguard Ops

• Increased Vanguard Rank: All Vanguard Rank point gains are increased!
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
• Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
• Ashes to Ashes: Dealing damage with a Solar weapon now applies scorch to your targets, but your foes also now apply scorch to you when they deal Solar or explosive damage.

Dares of Eternity

• Keep It Loaded: Guardians deal increased damage with Sidearms.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Onslaught: Playlist

• Onslaught Rules: Defend and repair the ADU against waves of combatants. There are 10 waves to a set. ADU: If the ADU is destroyed, the activity ends. Scraps: An in-activity currency. They are earned by scoring and used to purchase and upgrade defenses at the start of every set and after waves 3 and 6. Rewards: Paid out after every set upon defeating the boss wave. Subsequent sets pay out better rewards. Legend increases rewards. Bonus Objectives: Rewards resources, vendor reputation, and armaments.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
• Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Riven's Lair

• Mettle: Power Level: All combatants in this activity will be at least 5 points over the player's current Power level.
• Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
• Grounded: Damage taken while you are airborne is greatly increased.
• Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
• Solar Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Solar damage.

The Coil

• The Coil Rules: Successfully complete four pathways inside Riven's Lair. Escalating Difficulty: Player's Power levels are fixed. Starting at 0 each subsequent pathway increases all combatants' Power level over the player's by 5. Wishing Glass: Wishing Glass is an in-activity currency. They drop from combatants, Glass Collectors, and pots. Wishing Glass comes in multiple rarities equating to their worth. Wishing Glass is used to purchase Dragon's Gifts from Riven. Dragon's Gifts: A set of buffs are randomly chosen, once per run. Between pathways, players can purchase buffs from Riven via Wishing Glass. Buffs are separated into three price point tiers. Rewards: After each pathway, players will return to Riven for their rewards. Subsequent pathways pay out better rewards. Breaking through score thresholds unlock secret chests. Finishing The Coil with a platinum score rewards players with access to the lustrous and lucrative Chamber of Wishes.
• Multiplicity: Combatant difficulty scales with fireteam size.
• Limited Revives: Limited fireteam revives. Purchase additional revives from Riven with Wishing Glass. Small chance to drop from destroying pots.
• Full Extinguish: If all your fireteam members fall with 0 Revive Tokens, everyone is returned to orbit.
• Chaff: Radar is disabled.
• Galvanized: Combatants have more health and are more difficult to stun.
• The Pathways: Riven's wish magic stirs. The following are the pathways and their order in The Coil: -Divining Hall -First Steps (Temple of the Queen's Wrath) -Sensorium (Reaver's Orison) -First Steps (Cell of the Sycophant)
• Arc Threat: 25% increase to incoming Arc damage.
• Denial: Taken Vandals summon their shields significantly more often.
• Overcharged Shotgun: 25% bonus to Shotgun damage.
• Overcharged Grenade Launcher: 25% bonus to damage for all Grenade Launchers.

Seasonal

Legend/Master Lost Sector

Exotic armor drop (if solo): Legs

Thrilladrome: Legend

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload
• Threat: [Void] Void
• Shields: [Arc] Arc, [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Shocker

Thrilladrome: Master

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload
• Threat: [Void] Void
• Shields: [Arc] Arc, [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Shocker

Misc

• Terminal Overload: Límíng Harbor Weapon: Synchronic Roulette (Submachine Gun)
• The Wellspring: Attack Weapon: Fel Taradiddle (Combat Bow)
• Altars of Sorrow Weapon: Heretic (Rocket Launcher)

Guns & Materials

Banshee's Featured Weapons

Name	Type	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Masterwork
Iota Draconis	Energy Fusion Rifle	Extended Barrel // Fluted Barrel	Enhanced Battery // Liquid Coils	Surplus	High-Impact Reserves	Tier 2: Range
Annual Skate	Energy Hand Cannon	HitMark HCS // Crossfire HCS	Accurized Rounds // Steady Rounds	No Distractions	Dragonfly	Tier 2: Handling
Palmyra-B	Heavy Rocket Launcher	Countermass // Smart Drift Control	High-Velocity Rounds // Impact Casing	Ambitious Assassin	Frenzy	Tier 2: Reload Speed
Syncopation-53	Kinetic Pulse Rifle	Arrowhead Brake // Polygonal Rifling	Extended Mag // Appended Mag	Steady Hands	Headstone	Tier 2: Range
Lunulata-4b	Kinetic Combat Bow	Tactile String // High Tension String	Natural Fletching // Straight Fletching	No Distractions	Golden Tricorn	Tier 5: Stability

Note: Fixed perks on weapons are not displayed

Master Rahool's Material Exchange

• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Legendary Shards)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Dark Fragment)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Phantasmal Fragment)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 25 Herealways Piece)
• Enhancement Prism (1 for 10 Enhancement Core & 10000 Glimmer)
• Ascendant Shard (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)
• Ascendant Alloy (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)

Bounties

Commander Zavala, Vanguard

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Pride Before Destruction	Defeat powerful combatants. Defeating Champions grants additional progress.	10 Powerful combatants	XP+
Show Them the Light	Defeat combatants with your Super in Vanguard playlists.	5 Super	XP+
Kill It with Fire	Defeat combatants with Solar damage in Vanguard playlists.	25 [Solar] Solar	XP+
Twisted Every Way	Defeat combatants in Vanguard playlists with Strand abilities. Defeating suspended combatants or defeating them with your grapple grants additional progress.	50 Strand ability final blows	XP+

Lord Shaxx, Crucible

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Coordinated Fire	Defeat opponents while assisting or assisted by one or more teammates.	5 Opponents defeated	XP+
Scorched Earth	Defeat opponents with Solar scorch damage.	6 [Solar] Solar scorch	XP+
Power Up	Collect or recover Heavy ammo.	1 Heavy Ammo	XP+
Full Control	In Control, complete matches.	1 Crucible matches	XP+

The Drifter, Gambit

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
All Right, All Right, All Right	Complete a Gambit match.	1 Gambit matches	XP+
Line 'Em Up	As a fireteam, defeat enemy Guardians in Gambit.	5 Guardians	XP+
Pins and Needles	Defeat targets in Gambit matches with Strand abilities. Defeating Guardians grants additional progress.	30 Strand ability final blows	XP+
Like Kindling	Use Solar ignition to defeat targets in Gambit. Defeating Guardians grants more progress.	10 [Solar] Solar ignition	XP+

Banshee-44, Gunsmith

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Hand Cannon Calibration	Calibrate Hand Cannons against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Hand Cannon] Hand Cannon	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Pulse Rifle Calibration	Calibrate Pulse Rifles against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision final blows and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Pulse Rifle] Pulse Rifle	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Sword Calibration	Calibrate Swords against any target. Opposing Guardians and rapidly defeated targets grant the most efficient progress.	100 [Sword] Sword	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Kinetic Calibration	Calibrate Kinetic weapons against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians.	100 Kinetic weapon	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress

Nimbus, Neomuna

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Almighty Scorching	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Solar damage. Shadow Legion combatants grant additional progress.	60 [Solar] Solar	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Shockingly Direct	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Arc damage. Shadow Legion combatants grant additional progress.	60 [Arc] Arc	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Heavy Prime	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Power weapons.	15 Power weapon	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Terminal Rewards	Open chests after completing Terminal Overload.	3 Chests opened	1 Terminal Overload Key & 50 Neomuna Rank & XP+

Lord Shaxx, Hall of Champions

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Onslaught Defender	Deploy and upgrade defenses in Onslaught.	30 Defenses completed	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Defiant Looter	Open a bonus chest at the end of Defiant Battlegrounds using a Defiant Key.	1 Bonus rewards	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Shoot Out	Defeat targets with Hand Cannons. Combatants in Onslaught and Guardians are worth more.	100 [Hand Cannon] Hand Cannon	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Fallen Down On The Job	Defeat Fallen. Those defeated in Onslaught are worth more.	100 Fallen	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation

Spirit of Riven, H.E.L.M.

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Wishful Spelunker	Complete a Lost Sector in the Dreaming City.	1 Lost Sectors	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Lair Defense: Power Weapons	Defeat targets with Power weapons. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more.	20 Power weapon	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Dragon's Breath	Defeat targets with Linear Fusion Rifles or Rocket Launchers. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more.	10 [Linear Fusion Rifle] or [Rocket Launcher] defeats	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Dragonflame	Defeat targets with Solar or Stasis damage. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more.	30 [Solar] or [Stasis] defeats	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation

^{Never forget what has been lost. While the API protests have concluded, Reddit remains hostile to its users as their IPO looms in the horizon. More information can be found here.}

First Prev
Saturn
The first thing that I noticed about the tent was how clean it was. There was no trash, no filth, no nothing: everything was clean and well organized from the outside, like a military tent.
The second thing I noticed was the strange… placement of everything around it. Scrap was hoarded all around the base of the tent, but not haphazardly or without thought, but rather it almost resembled a kind of morbid bird’s nest.
“A strange home,” I noted, “who lives here.”
“There's a lot of answers to that question, and I doubt that any of them will satisfy you,” The Lord Commander replied, “All I can really say for certain is that the cretin inside can help you beat the Cabal.”
“A cretin?” I asked, a bit confused, “what do you mean by cretin? Are you implying that this person has a few screws loose?”
“In a manner of speaking, although if you want to get technical his kind doesn't exactly come with many screws to begin with.”
I scowled at the Lord Commander's words, but stepped forward to peer into the flap. I could hear many things: low rumblings, the crackling sounds of a primitive fire, the soft clanking of metal on metal, and the searing of meat, all coalescing into almost what one would imagine a wagon train’s camp kitchen would be like. But before I could even make it three feet forward, a massive, clawed hand reached out and pulled the flap back just a tiny bit, revealing a massive eye the size of a softball, with vertical reptilian slits and speckled, amber-colored sclera.
“Go away,” the thing rumbled, a long, thin tongue stretching out as if to sniff the air, “Grug is tired, and Grug doesn't recognize you.”
The Lord Commander snorted, but didn't speak any more. “Come out, Grug, we need to speak.”
“No, No, No,” Grug insisted in an almost childish manner, “Moons leave soon, black night comes then. Grug is scared of the dark. Tent protects Grug and Tree-Friend from dark things.”
I suppressed laughter. “He's scared of the Dark! How do you expect him to help if he's scared of the dark?”
“Grug is a bit… special,” a voice behind the three of us spoke. I turned around to see an Older Sho-dai woman wearing fine robes dyed mahogany and amber-rimmed spectacles that made her look both regal and distinguished. She was holding something in her aged paws, a clay pot of something, but I couldn't quite tell, “But he has a big heart and a good soul, common for a child.”
“With all due respect ma'am, how is he a child?” I asked, “the tent is huge, and one hand was bigger than a manhole cover; there is no child that large.” I knew that wasn't exactly true, but very few creatures ever grew to that size, much less as children.
“His kind are rare around these parts, nearly hunted into extinction long ago,” the Sho-dai whispered quietly, as if to shield her words from Grug, “I've read all about them: the library I manage holds a wealth of knowledge that is sadly nowhere near as appreciated as it once was. Needless to say, he was retrieved as an egg by a scrapper haul nearly a decade ago, and I chose to advocate for its life. Our town had seen enough cruelty and death, so I decided I'd foster some kindness and life.” She approached the tent and placed the pot just outside of the tent flap. It was filled with different dried fruits and dumplings, jerky, and other miscellaneous food and supplies.
“You waste our food on this outsider, why?” Asked the Lord Commander. Thiva stiffened, and I assumed the sweet old librarian would as well, but she simply gave him a disappointed look.
“He is an innocent refugee, with no home or hope. I care for him because unlike many of my kinsmen I actually have a heart,” She spoke back, her voice soft and sweet but her tone implying an unmatched malice, “We are so obsessed with ourselves that we will soon lose our individuality too. So let this one live in peace for now.”
“We have nothing to give, his age and species are irrelevant,” the Lord Commander Growled, “Even if another Sho-dai came from another city expecting charity we'd still turn them away. This one must pull their weight.”
The Librarian merely sighed and shook her head. “It's always about violence and greed with you people, nothing else.”
“This is about neither! This is about saving this city,” The Lord Commander shouted, “and if Grug can help then he's obligated to! He lives here, in the same streets that the rest of these suffering Sho-dai do! He cannot turn down this command.”
Suddenly, the same clawed hand reached out again, and I noticed that it didn't have scales per say, but rather something a bit more menacing: spines. His entire outer forearm was covered in sharp spines, not long like skewers but instead short and straight like blood work needles. As his muscles flexed, so too did the spines, poking out slightly either from irritation or anxiety.
“Nobody speak to Grug but nice lady, nobody care about Grug like the nice lady does. Grug is nobody to everybody. Why does everybody know Grug now, now that Grug can help?”
The Lord Commander looked like he wanted to say something but also seemed at a loss for words. He stammered for a bit before shutting his mouth and turning around, clanking his metallic walking stick on the ground in a frustrated manner. “Fine, continue to be a burden: I will have no part in this childishness. We shall defend this city, with or without you.”
“We?” I asked, a little taken back by his words, “I am defending this city: it will be me who is fighting, not you. Don't sit here and pretend that you'll be wading through death instead of sitting back and giving commands to your soldiers from the safety of wherever you hide away during battles.”
”Do not make me the villain here!” The Lord Commander shouted back, “I am trying to protect these people! This cretin needs to know that it is selfish of him to hide away here while he lets everyone else suffer!”
“He does not see it that way,” I argued, “you have obviously treated him like a pariah, and now you expect him to find the devotion in his heart to defend this town? I would call that shameful, wouldn't you agree?”
“Do not pretend to understand anything about honor or shame!”
“Quit grumbling,” Grug growled from behind his tent, “Grug knows you don't like him, let Grug live in peace.”
I looked back at the Lord Commander, who was obviously pissed. “Let me speak to him: I'm an outsider as well, he may be able to relate to me.”
The Lord Commander shook his head in irritation, but meandered over to the streetside and leaned on his walking stick. I walked further up to the tent flap before clearing my throat, hoping to get Grug’s attention without startling or angering him.
“Grug, could I talk to you?”
“Grug doesn't want to fight, you can't make Grug fight!” He mumbled louder, his voice rising.
“You don't have to fight, Grug, and I won't make you,” I said, “I just want to come in if that's okay? Maybe we can talk.”
Grug was silent for a few moments, but eventually I heard another annoyed rumble before he opened the flap, allowing me in.
Time Skip
Grug seemed to be an incredibly meticulous creature. Inside the tent, his few items were stacked up neatly in the corner. The dirt from the ground was swept away, all his trash was thrown in a little trash bin (little was a relative term here, it was practically the size of Thiva) and the fire in the middle was adorned with a roasting spot, which he roasted a whole hog on.
Grug himself sat on a big stone block, poking the fire with a rebar rod to agitate the coals. He was a creature I recognized now as well, due to me being able to see his whole body. He was a Jí Bèi, or a thornback, and resembled a gigantic, anthropomorphic echidna. On his back, spines bristled outward, traveling down his arms and legs and covering him in layers of thorny armor like a briar bush, but it also reminded me of old pike phalanxes and how the many speartips could deflect arrows. His claws were long and razor-sharp, and yet he manipulated them dexterously as if they were fine tools.
He wasn't a cretin, that's for sure, just a creature with a more simple outlook and vocabulary. The Sho-dai worked so hard to appear distinguished that they often forgot what it meant to be average.
“What do you want with Grug?” Grug asked cautiously. “They always want from Grug, always take and never give. Only nice book lady ever cares about Grug, brings Grug food and books sometimes. Only book lady and tree-friend.” He sighed, seeming to lament everyone's disdain for him. “Grug knows you want something, someone always want something,” he added shrewdly, “Grug not stupid, Grug knows that Grug isn't welcome.”
“So you want people to like you?”
“Grug knows that's what everyone wants,” he mumbled, poking the coals again, “what Grug doesn't understand is why is everyone so mean to Grug? What did Grug do?”
“Grug, why do you speak in the third person,” I asked, “you are surprisingly articulate for your age. The woman outside, the librarian, says you're still a child.”
“Grug speaks the way he does because he wants to constantly remind everyone who he is and what his name is,” Grug spoke with a hint of determination, “they all call Grug rude things like ‘beast’ or ‘cretin’, but Grug is not an animal or stupid, Grug is Grug, And Grug deserves to be treated with decency. Grug will only accept his name.”
“That's an admirable way to resist their expectations of you,” I said, “but what's better is to make them respect you.”
“Grug does not wish to fight,” he quickly interrupted, “Grug wishes to be treated with respect.”
“But whether you like it or not, these people respect strength,” I said, “but you have a gift: you are big and strong, and clever too. You can gain their respect by helping them fight off the bad people who want to hurt them.”
Grug sat sat in silence, but I could see the gears turning in his head as he poked the coals some more before rotating the spit to ensure the whole hog cooked evenly. “Grug… Grug doesn't like to fight. Hurting people makes Grug sad, same with hurting animals. Grug thinks about who they might've been, what they could've done… Grug doesn't like to take life away.”
I felt that on a personal level. I didn't like to kill, and oftentimes I only did so out of desperation or anger, something I wasn't proud of. In a way, it made me want to convince Grug to join me more because we were somewhat like-minded. “I understand, I don't like to kill either.”
“So why do you fight? Grug doesn't understand.”
“Nobody forces you to kill but you, Grug, you always have that choice,” I admitted, “but choices oftentimes come with even more choices packaged in: how you wish to preserve life is one of the questions that immediately come to mind.” I gently sat down next to him on the stone, looking into the fire. “Sure, you can resort to nonviolence, but that means nothing changes, and when nothing changes then whatever pain that existed before you made your choice will continue to exist afterwards as well, and if you had the power to stop it then the responsibility would theoretically fall on you. Hypothetically, I mean, I'm not blaming you for anything, just speaking my mind.”
“Grug understands.”
“Okay then,” I continued, “I couldn't live knowing that I could have saved someone because I always end up thinking about the same things: who were they? Did they have a life elsewhere, or a family? Did they have dreams?” I sighed and laced my fingers together, resting my forearms over my knees as I slouched slightly. “I've always wondered, is it just as bad to do nothing when someone is hurting as it is to be the one inflicting the pain? I'd never wanted to find out, though, rather it was simply just a nagging thought in the back of my mind, the kind that dictates your entire way of life. I don't want to be the one who could've been better but chose not to.”
“Grug knows you want Grug to help, but Grug won't: the people hate Grug, they'll never appreciate Grug.”
“I understand,” I said, standing up, “I don't expect you to help, and I have no desire to force you: I just wanted to see if I could speak to you on the matter like a person instead of making demands of you. I want you to make your own choices, everyone should, you shouldn't be obligated to serve those who do not serve you back.”
Grug seemed surprised by my sentiment, as if he wasn't used to hearing that. “Thank you… Grug rarely receives kindness.”
“You're welcome,” I said back. “I've noticed…” I began before pausing to find the right words, “That there's a lot of emphasis put on obligations here, all I've heard is honorable this and duty that, but it all feels so forced. These people, this city, and those that rule it all hate each other, and those obligations feel so paper thin that I could push through them with a wet finger. But the restrictions still remain.” I was speaking my mind now, not just to Grug, but to myself: I realized that this city was doomed if I didn't step in, even if the Cabal didn't suck them dry the infighting and the disconnect between the different classes would tear it apart. “I see people use words like honor and duty to maintain control, or exercise power over others, or manipulate others, but I don't think I'd ever seen it be done out of true honesty and loyalty to those creeds.”
“Grug is… confused,” he admitted, slightly embarrassed, “Grug heard a lot, didn't understand it all.”
“Sorry, I was lost in my own words for a minute there,” I apologized with a weak smile, “I'm just starting to see where the problems lie, and I think it's because everyone here has lost faith, faith in each other, in their leaders, and their city, and what they're doing now is all posturing.”
“Grug sees a lot of sadness,” Grug noted poignantly, “lots of anger, no smiles or laughter. All joy is gone, like their happiness went away.”
“But you-”
“No,” Grug insisted, “Grug knows what you want…”
“But you could give them their faith again,” I insisted, “You could be something for them to believe in, to kickstart a chain reaction and bring back what made this city in the first place,” I placed my hand on his, mine incredibly small in comparison but no less determined, “And they'll respect you, even love you, because you stood for them when few others would.”
Grug seemed to actually consider this for a moment, and he eventually responded. “I’ll help,” Grug spoke in the first person for the first time, “But I need something, a few things.”
“I can't give much, not now,” I said, concerned that all the progress I made might be lost. “I'll do what I can, though.”
“It's not much, just a test of… character. I heard the nice lady call it something like that before,” Grug spoke, although I didn't exactly know what he meant by that, “Tree-Friend understands people, sees through what they want him to see. In some ways, Tree-Friend can see more than us.”
I looked up at the black tree, the leaves within the tent curled downward to absorb the heat of the fire. It was then that I realized the tree was a thermo-synthesizer, the kind that was designed to absorb the heat of thermal vents and regulate planetary temperatures. In the fire and the heat of the foundries, it flourished despite the cruel, lifeless soil, and it must've remained here without being cut down for a reason…
Then I noticed it: subtle movement higher up. Grug let out what probably sounded like a shrill whistle to him, but to me it sounded like a locomotive’s air horn. The movement increased, with ear-piercing clicks like those of a bat. Something was moving along the higher branches, but it melded so well with the tree that it was near impossible to distinguish it, much less identify what it was.
“And who exactly is this… tree friend?” I asked cautiously.
“He is Tree-friend.” Grug said bluntly, as if that would explain everything.
“But what is Tree-friend?” I asked, “is he… like us?”
“Tree-friend isn't like anybody, but tree-friend is good: that I know.”
Suddenly, I saw something more definite: two, onyx banded eyes peering down at me, along with a lean, muscular form clinging to the trunk of the tree less than ten feet above me. It had claws longer than unsharpened pencils, but the claws themselves were anything but dull, and they curved wickedly into barbed nightmares at the end. Its body was coated in blackish-brown scales almost resembling leaves, each the color of jaspilite, with tiger-esw stripes of pitch black running down its back lengthwise. Suddenly its coloring shifted, taking on a brighter, amberish hue set by the fire, as if it had realized I had spotted it and now it had no reason to hide.
But most concerning was its long, viney tail that sprouted barbed blades at the end, along with a powerful piercing proboscis at the end. I didn't want to know what that was used for.
I was starting to paint a more complete picture of Tree-friend’s true nature: its physiology was familiar, but it wasn't something I was used to seeing… not that I had ever seen anything like it before. Whenever I tried to recollect memories about how the past and the old authority worked, it was as if I was one man in two bodies all at once, one perspective looking forward and the other back. But that second perspective felt so foreign despite me being unable to deny that it was something I knew deep down in my core had been something I had experienced.
Tree-friend must have been some kind of guard creature, especially if it resided in this tree for most of its life. The proboscis, maybe a way to sap nutrients from the tree, or initiate a sort of mutualism with it. Its claws didn't dig into the bark, not did it snap branches or travel haphazardly along its trunk: the plant must have been important, maybe even sacred, to it. The chameleonic skin? Definitely a way to stage ambushes on prey or intruders. And it's mouth bristling with razor-sharp teeth… there was no question what those were for. It would also make sense for Tree-Friend to be able to discern intention and have an advance intuition for anything that could be perceived as a threat: the goal for most guards wasn't to attack anything and everything on sight, but rather to terminate any individual or unit that could partake in corporate espionage. It's master and any of its guests would need to be at least ignored and at most protected when threatened.
“Tree-friend scares people away, he doesn't like strangers, and he knows when people want to do bad things,” Grug explained, “Tree-Friend is smarter than Grug, even if he doesn't speak: Tree-friend knows when bad things will happen.”
Tree-friend blinked at me, flexing its claws cautiously as it seemed to stare into my soul. At first, I thought it was preparing to pounce, but the little quadruped didn't seem coiled up to leap just yet. I resisted the urge to lift up the fauchard and defend myself, knowing that it would attack at the first sign of animosity.
Instead, I decided to do the unthinkable. I reached out with my hand, my arm extended and my palm open. I was exposed and at the mercy of Tree-friend, but I needed to have faith that neither Grug nor Tree friend meant any harm. They were simply different, and they saw the world differently than I did, not unlike how I saw the world differently than the Sho-dai did.
Tree-friend seemed puzzled at first, but he eventually held out his clawed hand and placed it into mine gently. Then he looked at me with an almost innocent curiosity, ruffling and loosening its leaf-like scales.
“Tree-friend likes you,” Grug observed, “You are the first, too: he has attacked everyone else.”
“You don't say,” I mumbled, “what is he, really? Where did you find this thing?”
“Tree-friend has always been part of the tree: I found him when I had grown big enough to live indoors anymore. I had moved out here between the furnaces because the cold makes me sick, and I had found him in an opaque, tiny seed attached to the tree. I have taken care of him ever ever since.”
Suddenly, Tree-friend’s eyes narrowed, and it focused on something scurrying along the ground. In a flash, it leapt off the tree and onto the ground, quickly gobbling up a small rodent and swallowing it whole, the still-squirming creature pushing against his flexible belly to no avail until it drowned. “Well, that was wonderful to watch,” I said sarcastically, “is that it's diet?”
“Yes,” Grug said, “He keeps the tent clean. I also feed him meat from time to time, although he detests any fruits or vegetables.” Grug pulled off a hunk of meat from the hog roasting over the fire and tossed it to Tree-friend, who snapped it up with incredible dexterity. It didn't even seem to chew either, merely swallow prey whole, so I didn't want to know what the teeth were for.
“But we need to go,” Grug said, “they'll come soon, and if we don't hurry bad things will happen. I made a promise to you, and I will keep it: I will help you fight the Cabal.”
Time Skip
As we left the tent, the world was approaching absolutely twilight. The only thing that illuminated the city were the dim artificial streetlights along the paved roadways, as well as larger lights hefted higher up that could bathe whole neighborhoods in light with ease. Most notably, near the center of the city, there was a massive tower that I hadn't really noticed before, but it easily dwarfed the rest of the buildings. On top, a lighthouse spun dutifully, sending out a beacon of hope to the rest of the boneyard and pointing the way to safety for those unfortunate few caught outside without reliable shelter.
Tree-friend rode on Grug’s shoulders lazily, its little head next to Grug's own and its arms draped around his neck loosely. It seemed very protective of Grug, which seemed to lend credence to it being some kind of guard creature. It hissed at any Sho-dai who got too close, and they made a wide berth around Grug to ensure nobody got hurt.
The Lord-Commander stood at a makeshift barricade set up at the large, bronze gates of the town, watching the entrance intently. He had gathered an entire unit of the guard, all fit in heavy metal armor and wielding either a multitude of different guns, mostly simplistic submachine guns or semi-automatic rifles, or shields and blunt weapons, the latter often designed to resemble different tools that could serve as bludgeons, like wrenches and pipe threaders, but also much more elegant and fitted with spikes or blades to pierce armor.
At the gates, a small army of armored figures stood, many of them being Sho-dai themselves, but others being members of species I didn't quite recognize yet, but they all seemed like cannon fodder compared to a select few. The first big threat I spotted was a huge primate, at least as tall as a semi-truck, with the head of a baboon and a muscular, furry body fitted with all manner of advanced cybernetics, which were far more advanced than anything I could imagine these Sho-dai ever creating. One of its arms had been replaced with a minimalist, cybernetic version that held a massive Kanabo as a weapon, the studded metal club reinforced with metal down it's length. It's breath fogged up in the cold air more and more as the last moon set, finally shrouding the world in darkness.
There were two others that stood out, one being a strange, beetle-like creature reminiscent of a bipedal scarab. His carapace was a greenish-blue and reflected the artificial light of the street lamps brilliantly, and I could tell that he was a male by his brilliantly plumed antennae, but that's where his admirable qualities ended. His carapace was fitted with extra bionic inserts like an extra layer of armor, and on his head was a large horn like that found on a rhinoceros beetle. It held a large heavy sword that resembled a Nodachi, and seemed utterly unfazed by the small army of Sho-dai the Lord-Commander had set up. But when his segmented eyes focused on me, his antennae flicked ever so slightly, and his mandibles clicked together with interest.
The last one was interesting. This one was a bit like a peafowl, with vibrant blue, green, and gray feathers. Definitely a female, she wore long robes that hid the rest of her body, and stood up straight with her wings folded, her eyes staring directly into my soul. She wasn't burly or bulky like her comrades, but I could tell she didn't need to be: she could probably kill everyone here save for me with little effort.
“We have come,” shouted the Peafowl, who approached first. The rest of the group, including the large ape, remained, “We are here to take what is ours, as is written.” She eyes the soldiers and the Lord-Commander with an almost annoyed look. “And yet I do not see our rightful bounty piled before us. Answer me, peasant, or I will slit your throat!” She pointed at the Lord-Commander, her beady little eyes narrowing, “Where is our tribute?”
“You shall have none today, scum,” he said, lifting up his gun, “I'll gladly grant you a painful death, however.”
The Lord-Commander emptied the clip of his submachine gun at the Peafowl, but she simply raised her wing and deflected the bullets with her feathers, the lead bouncing off as if each shot was a spitwad. Then, as the Lord-Commander attempted to reload, she unleashed something from underneath her wing, a kusarigama, and it slashed through his neck, sending blood over his fellow soldiers faster than any of them could react. Then she flicked her thin wrist back, and the chained blade flew back towards her, taking the Lord-Commander’s head with it. She deftly gripped the hair, his face still contorted into a mask of shock as she tossed it to the ground with a scoff before cleaning off her weapon with another flick and concealing it back under her robes. “A pathetic display," she hissed before returning to her once regal voice, "Death has been marked. Burn this pitiful city to the ground, kill two thirds and enslave the rest: we shall take what is ours and make an example out of you cretins.”

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Set in the universe created by u/SpacePaladin15
MASSIVE THANK YOU, LIKE SERIOUSLY HUGE THANKS to u/weithbec (this chapter would not be nearly as good if not for your help) and additional thanks to u/Liberty-Prime76 for further proofing on top of Weith's monumental efforts
As always, some appreciation to u/brotanics, u/LeWombat545, and u/JimDandy117 for the art they have done for this little story of mine. It means the world to me to see my characters brought to life. Links to their work at the bottom of the chapter.
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Memory transcription subject: Jack Carver, Human Trail Guide
Date [standardized human time]: August 17, 2137
Following the tracks left by Tevri’s captor was easy enough. Whatever it was that the captor carried left behind a trail of long lines drawn in the moist dirt, carving a wavy trail of depressed grass in its wake. The impression of the claw marks weren’t all that different from that of other birds, with the obvious difference of the impact they left.
I was probably walking straight into a trap; in fact, I knew I was walking straight into a trap. I also knew that I had no choice but to spring it.
My promised support from authorities didn’t arrive as I pushed forward. They doubtlessly would, given enough time, but at the moment, time was a rare commodity and it was slipping through my fingers.
Mud covered my boots and ran up the length of my pants. Sweat soaked the inside of my shirt, and my hair hung like a wet mop from my head. My legs strained beneath me, their muscles burning as I pushed them further than even I knew they could. Nothing could stop me now. Not if I could help it.
The trail led me even deeper into the woods, which for the most part were flat and unchanging. It wasn’t until I practically stumbled into what it was I sought that I stopped — and rather suddenly at that. I had expected some kind of wrecked ship or the remains of a crashed shuttle. Much to my surprise, a small hovel with a roof of grass and walls of dirt mixed with wood took their place.
The shelter wasn’t anything particularly special from what little I could see beneath the light of the moon, but it certainly seemed to do wonders at hiding itself from a distance. If not for the tracks, I likely would have never seen it. Only the door and some faint lights shining through ramshod windows of cracked glass gave it away.
It couldn’t have been up very long. This exterminator had only been out a few months short of a year. That whole time they must have been planning for this exact circumstance. How ‘lucky’ we were to be the ones to fall victim to their trap.
This is it. I looked up to the sky, hoping to see something, anything, but there was nothing other than the pale light of the moon and distant twinkling stars. I didn’t want to do this alone, but I had no other choice. Time was running out. There was no telling what already could have been done to her.
I stood among the shadows of tall, looming trees that fractured what little light the moon offered into thin bands that covered the forest floor. I took a deep breath and leaned back, supporting myself with the trunk of a pine. For once in your life, don’t fuck up. You’ve got one shot—she has one shot. Make it count.
The inside of my mouth was sticky with saliva that had coalesced during my uninterrupted sprint. I dared to take a sip from my canteen, swirling the water around to moisten my mouth and spit out the saliva. With my mouth now cleansed, I took a greedy gulp and let out a gasp before continuing to my rapid, shallow breathing.
As I took a moment to recover, I whipped my bag around from my back and pulled out my handgun, struggling to silently slide in a magazine as my hands trembled. It fell in, and I pulled the slide back and let it go with a heavy metallic click.
Silence. For a few long seconds, I looked up to see if I was heard, but nothing indicated that I had been given away. Gently, I set the bag I had pulled the weapon from beside a tree and raised the sidearm forward, both hands on the handle as I aimed it dead ahead.
The last time I used this thing was a time I would have much rather forgotten, but today wasn’t a day for forgetting. My rifle was an instrument of precision that had picked off the Krakotl from a distance. For those I hadn’t been able to down in a single shot, the far less precise instrument that I now held was terribly effective.
The path forward was a well-trodden one. No grass grew where this exterminator’s footsteps had surely passed by hundreds or even thousands of times. The mud clung to my boots with a soft squelch that I felt more than heard with every step. I had only been standing maybe a hundred feet away from the entrance, and I cleared that distance in a matter of moments despite my slow pace. Nothing seen through the windows indicated motion as I approached. Good. Maybe I’ll catch them off-guard.
Memories of dispatching so many of these exterminators, the memories I saw so often in my dreams, flashed before me like a footage reel. I knew how to handle these bastards. If it came to it, I could do it again.
As I reached the door, I placed an ear against it, listening for anything, but no sound came. Right. Take a deep breath. Focus. Breathe. Just breathe.
With my left hand, I pushed it forward. To my surprise, there was no resistance. With the right hand, I held the gun aloft, pointing it ahead into the darkness.
My heart stopped.
The faint lighting I had caught glimpses of kept most of the single room in darkness, but it was more than enough to illuminate what I was looking at.
Of all the faces in my nightmares, one had haunted me more than any other. I wasn’t exactly well-versed in reading the expression of aliens, but from what little I had learned, fear was an expression that could be read on a universal level. Fear was the last thing I remembered of the child. I spent far too many nights lying awake, wondering to myself what had happened to them after I had let them run free in the forest. Had they frozen to death? Starved maybe? Did another hunter find them, or did something else find them first?
Now I could put such thoughts to rest. The two beady eyes that stared back weren’t filled with fear as they had been the last time I saw them. The plume on their head had also grown, but the feather patterns and beak that had been burned into my mind were still the same.
No… It—it can’t be them. That’s impossible. How did they last this long out here, and alone for that matter?
They held one hand across Tevri’s chest and used the other to press a knife up to her throat. My hands shook as I pointed the weapon directly ahead towards them. I didn’t have a clear shot. They were using Tevri’s body as cover, standing behind her and a makeshift chair.
Tevri’s eyes widened as she saw me and her tail began to wildly flap. A gag was shoved into her mouth, and I could see that she was breathing heavily, trying as best as she could to make up for her lack of nostrils. Despite the excess movement, the exterminator — the child — stood still. To me, their face was indecipherable, other than that uncanny stillness that spoke louder than words. If not for their appearance, I don’t know that I could have said this was the same child.
They nodded my way. “Human. Before you do anything, you should lower your weapon. It’d be a shame if Tevri here was hurt, wouldn’t it?”
Tevri’s shouts were muffled through the gag. Flecks of dried orange coated her forehead and her eyes were far less focused than they normally were. I scowled something fierce, but ultimately complied, aiming the sidearm’s barrel into the dirt.
“Good. See? There’s no reason this needs to get violent.”
My eyes lingered on the blood atop Tevri’s crown. “What did you do to her?”
“Oh, nothing much, but I think I speak for us both when I say Venlil have a tendency to flee. She was never going to come along willingly, and we couldn’t have had that, now could we?” I froze. He knows. He’s been watching us, hasn’t he? He must have seen her go running.
“What do you want, you bastard?”
A huff of air left their beak — is that amusement? “Revenge. Your blood. This wretched world of yours burnt to ash like it should have been ages ago. That would all be nice, but how about something a little more palatable for both of us? I want off this world. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“And you really think I can provide that?”
“I know you can. A warrior as bloodthirsty as yourself has to command the respect of your people, no? You wouldn’t have your own slave if not for that.”
“Slave?! What the fuck!” I growled. “I’m the one in her service, not the other way around.”
“Ah. Right. Of course you are. Now, your hunting party may not be with you now, but I’m going to need you to call in your fellow predators. Oh, and be sure they bring a space-worthy vessel with them.”
“Wha— even if I could get that for you, why the fuck would I do anything you ask?”
As I asked this, the Krakotl tugged on Tevri’s left ear and yanked her head back, driving the dagger even closer to her neck. “This seems like reason enough, wouldn’t you say?”
“Alright, alright!” I raised both hands, pointing the gun to the ceiling rather than the Krakotl. “There’s no reason anyone has to get hurt.”
“You’re right. There isn’t. Now, I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. You are going to call in an FTL capable vessel that I am going to use to escape this planet. To make sure you humans don’t shoot down the craft before I jump, I’ll keep Tevri with me, then allow her to leave using any onboard escape craft before exiting the system. Oh, and for good measure, go ahead and slide that weapon between us, would you?”
The Krakotl didn’t stutter once as he spoke, instead staring me directly in the eyes the entire time. It was unsettling to say the least. Relinquishing my weapon was a terrible idea, no less terrible than letting him take Tevri. I knew that it was, so I stood there delaying my fulfillment of his command. It only took a few seconds of silence however before he pressed the blade closer to her neck, going so far as to dig into the fur that covered her skin.
“Alright! Fine! J-just take that thing away from her throat.”
“Gladly, if you’ll drop the weapon and do as I say.”
I lowered my aim and bowed down, setting the gun on the dirt floor and doing my best to slide it towards the Krakotl. It didn’t go all the way, but it was far enough that I could no longer reach it. As I stood back up, I raised both palms above my head to show I was no longer a threat. “There, now… please, just don’t hurt her.”
The Krakotl scoffed and made an expression that imitated a sneer. “It’s funny, I remember begging just like that not too long ago. Do you remember it?” They pulled away with the dagger, still allowing it to hover close to Tevri’s throat but not close enough to dig into her skin.
I didn’t offer an answer, not that I needed to.
“You probably relished their screams didn’t you? You and the rest of your deranged species can’t help but find joy in the suffering of others. Well, you and your people may have been able to fool some members of the Federation into believing you’re capable of empathy, but when I make it back to Nishtal and tell them what’s been going on down here, I’ll make sure the whole galaxy sees you monsters for who you truly are.”
Nishtal. He doesn’t know.
He couldn’t know, not since he’s been down here without contact for months now. “You’re picking the wrong fight kid. The war’s over. Has been for months now.”
“And you think I’m just going to believe you? Tevri here spewed the same propaganda, no doubt heard from you or other humans. It’s not possible. We far outnumber your pathetic forces. You barely survived the battle above your planet and that was only because your Arxur allies swooped in at the last moment to save you.”
“They weren’t the only ones to support us,” I spat back. “After the truth of the shadow council’s crimes against sapient life came to light, former members of the Federation flocked to our aid. The Zurulians, the Yotul, the Venlil, they all helped us in taking down the same bastards that destroyed their culture and broke their people with that damned cure.”
The Krakotl growled. “You’re lying.”
“And you’re delusional! I’ll gladly try and get you that ship for all the good that it’ll do you once you get to Nishtal, but the world you left behind doesn’t exist anymore.”
The kid screeched, pointing the knife my way rather than towards Tevri. Good. That’s it. Focus on me instead of her.
“SHUT UP! JUST—SHUT UP!” The composure he had seemed so full of moments ago melted away to reveal his manic state. He was far too calm before. This attitude better matched his actions.
“No more of that shit. No more of your lies. I’m not having any of it! If you value your pet’s life, I’d suggest you give the propaganda a rest before I trigger that blood instinct of yours.” He returned the makeshift knife to her throat, erasing any sense of satisfaction I had taken from seeing his true nature reveal itself.
I nodded. Okay, just stay still. As much as it might sting, you’ve just gotta listen to what he wants. For Tevri. This is all for Tevri.
“Good, Now, go ahead and call in that transport.”
“I’ve not called one in, not that I could if I wanted to, but I’ve called some folks who might have access to one.”
“Good. I suppose we wait for them then.”
“Right, well I’ve done what you asked. Could I… Can I speak with her?”
The Krakotl scoffed. “I’ve waited almost a full year for this. You can wait a little longer to speak with your pet.”
With every use of that word I could feel the rage within me begin to boil over and spill out. Control yourself. For her sake. “So help me if you call her that one more time I will—”
“You’ll what? Kill me? As skilled of a hunter as you may be human, I guarantee you, my talon is quicker than anything you could attempt.” As if to display this fact, they spun the knife around in their hand once only to press it back up against Tevri’s neck once more, eliciting muffled squeaks. Her eyes darted back and forth, to him with fear and to me with pleading.
My brow furrowed as I stared daggers at the Krakotl. “She’s not a pet.”
“Sure. Whatever you say. Not that I will, or even can, take your word for it.”
It was as he said this that it finally hit me. How I hadn’t realized it before, I chalked up to whatever sense of urgency and the panic that drove me to confront the child. But it was clear now. There was no point in negotiating. To this child, I was nothing but a monster. He would only accept absolute cooperation from my end. Nothing less, nothing more.
I can’t let him just take her. Who’s to say he won’t go back on his word and take her with him to Nishtal? It’s not exactly federation space anymore, but it certainly isn’t within UN jurisdiction either. I’ve got to get her away from him.
A terrible silence fell between us both as we waited. With my gun now out of reach, I had next to no options for helping Tevri escape his clutches. This was only confirmed as my gaze darted throughout the room searching for anything I might be able to take advantage of. There wasn’t much to take note of. This hovel consisted of a single room, of which every wall was packed dirt. A small nest made of twig and torn up fabric rested in the back right corner of the room while a makeshift table made of wood that looked to have been reclaimed from park benches was shoved against the wall to my left. The two windows I had seen earlier allowed a small amount of moonlight to filter inside while allowing the dull light of a nearby lamp to escape in turn. The seat that Tevri now sat in was no less primitive than the workbench, with each leg being nailed together using small branches and more pieces of reclaimed wood. Out of everything there though, nothing could help me in any way, not that I could reach for anything before the Krakotl reacted by sealing Tevri’s fate.
I felt stupid, standing there as the Krakotl’s gaze bored into me, but there was nothing I could do. I had no choice but to wait for backup and hope against hope that they could somehow negotiate for her release.
I moved on from looking for solutions and instead settled on Tevri. Her chest heaved with exertion from the heavy breaths that the gag demanded of her, and her eyes were stuck in a state of perpetual wideness. Her tail sat still, and both ears stuck up straight. The wool on her head was matted with mud and blood, while thin scrapes of orange marked her forearms and ankles.
We locked eyes, me and her. The Venlil’s orange irises quivered as she did, and shone as a light among our dim surroundings. Then, for a split second, they looked down to something. I stood still, confused for a moment until she repeated the gesture. It wasn’t until the third time that she repeated the motion that what she meant dawned upon me.
The Krakotl’s gaze was still focused upon me. This didn’t change as my own view shifted down at a pace slow enough to not draw his immediate attention. I saw a flash of movement from behind Tevri’s back.
Were those… no, it can’t be. I could have sworn I just saw her hand peeking out. This wasn’t all. A length of rope dangled beneath her legs. The end was frayed, no, not frayed. It was cut.
Smart girl. Those claws of hers were sharper than I thought. They were also sharper than the Krakotl thought as was all too apparent. Okay, I can work with this.
As I looked up, I saw that the Krakotl’s focus hadn’t shifted. He didn’t notice Tevri’s handiwork. Right. If I can just find a distraction to get that knife away from her throat, she can get out of harm’s way.
“So, uh, what’s your name kid?”
“What’s it to you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Only curious. If we want to solve all of this without violence like you’re saying, maybe it’d help to know each other’s name.”
His glare softened, if only somewhat. “Omopaulim. Though I’d prefer Omo.”
“Right,” I said, pressing a flat palm against my chest. “And I’m Jack.”
The Krakotl only gave a grunt of acknowledgement as a response.
“So, anything that you would like to know about me while we wait?”
“No,” he said flatly.
Right. He probably thinks he already knows everything he needs to. “Oh come on, there’s got to be something.”
He paused this time before responding. “Fine, I’ll peck. Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“You murdered my only companion in this world. What would compel you to do something like that?”
I hadn’t expected him to ask the question so bluntly, even if it was one I had anticipated. “Despite what you might say, we humans do have empathy. I was like you are now when the bombs that your fleet dropped took my brother: lost, scared, broken, hurting. Hell, I still am.”
If my words had any impression upon the kid, it wasn’t an apparent one. I kept going anyway.
“But you and your people were right about one thing with us. We can be dangerous. We don’t need to be though. We don’t want to either. But, when you hurt a human just wrong enough, you’re only asking for trouble.”
“You would have been trouble anyways if we hadn’t had the foresight to deal with you as early as we did.”
I shook my head. “You’re wrong. We humans, we only ever wanted to meet others like us out there. If you and your people hadn’t showed up on our planet’s doorstep with bombs in tow, you’d still be home with your family, living the life that should have been yours.”
“And if you and your people had gone extinct centuries ago like you should have—“ As Omo said this, he took the knife from Tevri’s throat and pointed it at me.
He was interrupted mid sentence as the back of Tevri’s head slammed against his beak and he was sent reeling. With that, Tevri leapt forward, toppling the chair and throwing herself into the dirt. With her surprisingly strong legs, she managed to clear most of the distance between us.
I rushed forward to pick her up, earning an ear flick of acknowledgement as I yanked the gag from her mouth. “Thanks,” she said with hoarseness to her voice. “I—” A loud screech in the form of Omo interrupted her. The young exterminator rushed towards both of us with his knife pointed at me.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I stood back to my full height and ran to meet the Krakotl rather than let him approach us first.
Omo lunged, attempting to plunge the knife into my abdomen. For the bragging of how dextrous he was with the blade, it was clear he had little to no experience when it came to actual combat. This didn’t mean he couldn’t still be deadly. The knife flicked past me, cutting through the air and striking nothing. He tried again, with slightly more success, managing to slice open my clothes and nick my waist as I danced to the side just in time.
As he extended his arm to make the attack, my hand shot out and seized the wrist that held his makeshift weapon. With a sharp twist, the Omo cried out in pain and dropped it. A single punch decked the kid, and I pounced, making sure to pin him.
He fought back as best he could, but the comparative size between us left no room for competition. I continued to whale on him, throwing punch after punch, each landing home. The last of them spawned a spiraling web of cracks that branched out from the point where my fist met his beak. Despite the blows, he was still up and kicking, screeching and scratching at my arms with his claws.
“P-please,” he sputtered, spitting up violet blood as he spoke. “Don’t—Hrrk“
My hands wrapped around his long neck and squeezed. His eyes bulged from their sockets and his beak opened wide as he struggled to breathe. My grip tightened as he scrambled and clawed at my hands, trying and failing to free himself.
Any sentiment of sympathy for him was washed away by the adrenaline surging through my veins. With every attempt of his flailing talons to swipe at my hands and arms, my grip grew tighter around his throat. I dug my knee into his abdomen, forcing the air from his lungs as I put the full weight of my body against his chest.
He deserves this! Look what he did to her! He could have killed her!
He deserved to die for what he did to her. She was innocent and he could have killed her for nothing more than associating with me. Tevri never could have known about what I did, yet here she was, drugged to high hell and dragged through the woods by this bastard that couldn’t learn to change.
Every time I had killed an exterminator all those months ago, I had made certain my job was done. No loose ends were left, and the town and those I cared about were safe because of it — well, all loose ends but one.
A snarl escaped my lips as I watched the Krakotl’s eyes begin to fade and his struggle grew weaker and weaker. His hands no longer scratched at mine, reaching away from me instead as if he was trying to find some escape. He would find none.
“Stop!” Tevri’s cry cut through the haze of rage. “He’s harmless now! J-just let him go!” I swung around to look at her, and she flinched as I locked eyes with her. The same terror that I had inspired mere hours ago was plastered across her. It was this that yanked me back to reality — to the reality of what I was doing. What was I doing?
My grip loosened, but didn’t relent entirely. Oh fuck. I—I’m doing it again.
Yes. You’re doing it for her, just as you did it for Nick.
For her? Look at her! She’s petrified just standing near you! She’s asked—no, begged you to stop. Can you really excuse this as being for her?
He was with the ones who bombed Earth. He deserves the same fate.
Does he? He’s a kid. Do you really think he was the one to pull the lever? To issue their commands? To muster their fleet?
He’s complicit.
He’s a child*.*
If you take his life, you’ll prove that he and the federation were right. You’d be the monster he thinks you are. He’s helpless. His death by your hands would be murder and nothing less.
So, what will it be then? What are you?
What am I?
I’ve killed before. I’d kill again if I had to, but this… this is different. Even if it was a loose justification, I had something to drive my rampage against the Krakotl. This kid though… they’re helpless against me.
“Please!” croaked Tevri. Her voice was strained and on the verge of breaking as she pleaded with me.
You might not be able to undo your actions, but you can choose to not perpetuate them. This child had suffered enough. You have suffered enough. End the cycle. Be better.
My clenched hands gave way as the tension holding the Krakotl’s neck was released. Omo gasped, coughing haggardly immediately after taking in a breath.
I looked at my hands. Crimson rivers trickled down them from where my forearms had been scratched and scraped by Krakotl claws. Droplets of violet speckled them, but for the most part, the blood was my own.
After poring over my hands, I turned to Tevri, whose tear-filled eyes and terrible condition tugged at my heart. She didn’t speak, but she didn’t need to. She had already done enough.
It was her guidance that helped me make this choice. If she even cared to talk to me after this was all over, it was my hope that she could only continue to better me.
She was panting, her mouth left agape as she tried to catch up on the breath lost by the gag covering her mouth. She looked better though. Then again, it isn’t difficult to look better after you’ve been tied up and held hostage.
Despite it all, despite everything, I gave a weak chuckle and smiled. She wasn’t nearly as capable of smiling as a human, but her lips turned up and her ears stuck upright as her tail flicked behind her.
I-I think that’s a good sign. Maybe things will turn out alright after—
My thought was interrupted as a thunderous bang reverberated through the room.
My ears rang. I saw Tevri’s mouth open, but didn’t hear anything come from it. The brief return to something resembling a comfortable state was shattered, and fear once again constituted her countenance.
It took a moment for reality to catch back up to me. I thought I was safe. I thought we were safe. It was idiotic of me not to remain vigilant considering that this kid had been attempting to stab me mere moments ago, but reveling in my moment of self-triumph had been a bit too much.
I went from sitting on my knees to screaming and scrambling backward across the ground. My hand shot to my abdomen where a stab of pain sprouted from nothing. Heat began to form where the pain originated, and as I looked down, I watched a red spot grow beneath my shirt.
The shot came from Omo, who lay on his back with both claws holding up the same weapon that I had once threatened him with. His eyes were wide, and his face was a terrible mess of blood and bruises. More than a few feathers had fallen free during our scuffle, and those spots were just as apparent.
Tevri stood still, shock and fear taking over her body. The relief at being pried from the Krakotl’s clutches was just as quickly warped into terror.
Omo stood himself up on wobbly legs as I scooted backwards, pressing myself against the wall in an attempt to put as much distance between us as I could manage. Another indecipherable expression coated his face, though it was different from the last. He ignored Tevri and walked past her towards me.
The gun I had tossed aside was held up in both hands. It was far too big for him, but he managed to wield it, pointing its barrel into the dirt.
“I would have thought you’d be a better hunter than to let your prey get the upper hand like this.” His voice was weak and hoarse, but the conviction he spoke with was audible even through my translator.
“You could have killed me, but you didn’t. Why? Why kill Maiatim but stop to give me mercy? Twice!”
The Krakotl still sucked in ragged breaths of air, but as he stopped, he raised the weapon and aimed it directly at my head.
“I—I won’t make the same mistake. You’re too dangerous to be left alive. I can’t say I’m sorry for this, b-but I do regret that it had to be this way. Goodbye, Jack.”
I would’ve been lying if I said I was ready to go. My parents certainly wouldn’t take the news well, not after they had already lost their other son. I doubted my friends would take it much better either. I had no control over how others would react to my passing, but if the general attitude of those in Healy towards aliens was anything to go by, they wouldn’t react well. Atop the pile of all these worries, the prospect of leaving Tevri behind almost hurt more than the growing pain in my abdomen.
She’s strong. She didn’t need you before you met her, and she sure as hell won’t when you’re gone.
You did your best. You changed. Even if you couldn’t stop the violence, you chose to quit participating in it. The sidearm shook as Omo's trembling claw wrapped around the trigger. I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
The seconds stretched; every beat of my heart lasted minutes, every breath took hours. I had heard of your life flashing before your eyes, but I wasn’t a believer of such experiences until now.
As time slowed, I saw my childhood, the years spent with Nick, our summers spent together goofing off and spending long nights talking beneath the stars as we ignored any semblance of a curfew set by Ma and Pa. I saw us attending school together, me standing up for him against those who dared push him around and the flak I always caught for it. Pa was proud though, and that was all that mattered to me. I sat through every failed relationship I’d ever had, each of which I was probably better off for not having followed through with. I watched through my own eyes as we celebrated Nick’s graduation and acceptance into university, then struggled to stand by as I told him to leave home behind in the pursuit of something greater. The rampage that ensued following his death was just as vivid as ever, every death, every kill, played back as though it were recorded and transmitted back to me. And last, but certainly not least, there were the events of the last week or so.
A hard, crack and thunk were followed by yet another deafening boom.
If this was death, then it wasn’t as bad as I had thought. I was still pretty sore, and that pain in my side hadn’t gone away yet. My heart was still beating and my breaths were still ragged. The stale, earthy air continued to flow in and out of my nose.
For all my lack of belief in religion, I could have sworn I saw an angel wreathed in light as I cracked open my eyes. The figure only grew in brilliance the further my eyes opened — that is until recognition dawned upon me.
Tevri?
---
Cover Image
Tevri in a sweater - By u/Brotanics
Tevri - By u/Brotanics
A Depiction of Jack's Dream - By u/LeWombat545
Tevri (Discord Nitro Exchange Commision >:D ) - By u/JimDandy117
Lil' Goob Tevri - By u/JimDandy117
---
First Previous Next

I binged Girls Band Cry over the weekend and I went into the show without any real knowledge of anything other than it's a "girls trying to become a band" story with some unique CGI animation. I'd like to say I was pleasantly surprised.
I REALLY enjoy the fact that all of the girls are dealing with real world personal issues and acting in ways that feel more natural. There have been a lot of shows wherein one core issue is really over the top and often played for laughs while in other shows, the issues are resolved super quick. In the real world, personal issues and emotions are not something that improve or get fixed overnight.
Nina - Everyone's favorite country bumpkin comes from a very stern home, was bullied at school, has a lot of self confidence issues, and is almost nihilistic in nature. She's blunt, nosy, and doesn't communicate well. She doesn't feel safe being vulnerable with anyone. She desperately wants to have friends, to be loved, to love others, and enjoy life, but she has so much bottled up, and doesn't know how to deal with it. People like Momoka and Subaru are so good about calling her out when she acts up and it forces her to change her perception and consider her words and actions. Singing is her outlet. What's going to happen one day when she's no longer angry?
Momoka - A wonderful and loving person, but she fears failure. She invested everything in herself and her friends, made it big, and when she refused to conform, she walked away. She refused to compromise and it cost her everything. I respect her so much for sticking to her guns, and not letting the world reform her into some shadow of what she wanted. Now she's scared of it all happening again. She wants the music, she wants the camaraderie, and she wants the success, but she's fearful of it all falling apart again. She's scared of taking the leap and being forced to potentially have choose all over again if their rise fails. She feels trapped.
Subaru - I find her to be the least troubled of the initial three. She knows herself well, she knows her grandmother well, and she's afraid to disappoint. She's also trapped, but she's more worried about breaking her grandmother's heart. I don't envy Subaru's position, but she knows that one she will have to face the music. Until then, she's content playing referee to Nina and Momoka, while also getting to jam out on some drums.
Rupa and Tomo - They're still relatively new to the picture, but I appreciate they share values with Momoka. Uncompromising. They refuse to change themselves for some label. I really enjoy Rupa's calming influence and mature nature. She's no stranger to the challenges and pains of the world and can navigate them well, even if it makes being hurt in the process. Tomo is reserved and aloof, and seems likes she's a little bratty. Much like Nina, she probably needs a bit more growing up, but we'll have to see more of her as she opens up.
All in all, I love that the girls are more than just stereotypes. I feel more empathetic towards them because they are written in a way that feels more realistic in terms of how they think, feel, and react to each other. Screaming matches, selfishness, reoccurring issues, and people making rash decisions on their own. These are things people do in real life, and there are, in some cases, consequences to those actions. They have real fears and sometimes, that gets the better of them. I don't enjoy seeing them in pain and arguing and suffering sometimes, but this is how people grow and learn and become better, and I absolutely love seeing these characters grow. Liar, Coward, Dropout, and more.
Lastly, I'm glad they at least touch on the fact that failure is an option. That failure could lead them to them being jobless and destitute if all of this doesn't work out. There's no safety net and I wished more shows worked to display that it's not easy to return to a normal life once you've invested everything you had in a dream.
I cannot wait to see more of this. The writing and the music are absolutely wonderful.

I’ve been noticing several times that Apple Music will show it’s playing one song and have the lyrics for that song displayed, but be playing a completely different song in my playlist. For instance it was saying it was playing caught in the middle by dio, and had the lyrics for that song displayed on my screen but it was playing Mr brownstone by Guns N’ Roses, same thing happened with it saying it was playing shit in the dark by ozzy osbourne but was actually playing man on the silver mountain by rainbow.
I’ve tried resetting my queue, resetting the app, and resetting my whole device and so far nothing has worked.

BANGGOOD Deals Compilation (28.5.2024)!
Check products in compilation image: https://i.imgur.com/KQgEQ7t.jpeg or https://i.ibb.co/zfQdzd5/633c06b731a7.jpg
-1- 3pcs Precision Pocket Woodworking Ruler Scriber
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-8- Folomov Hold-1 1000lm Flashlight
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-62- Weltool W3 Pro Flashlight
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It's still the most impressive singleplayer RPG experience ever, but if someone were to combine OpenAI's language model with objective ground rules, it would make the greatest text-based RPG ever.
For example, if you suddenly say that you have a gun, you have a gun, and it feels a bit boring that you have that great of an omnipotence. What if you had an inventory along with the text console? And it would flat out decline things that are impossible for you to do, like pulling a sword out of thin air. An objective health bar too, like a full body display that shows the damage throughout your limbs and torso.
There could also be a map with limited amount of enemies in each area.
And you have to write a single action that won't take too much time (You can't say "I travelled to the dragons castle and slayed it.") The bot would still describe things as detailed as possible, but when it comes to battles, it would only describe a single action, which deals an objective damage.
And obviously the memory is still a huge problem. The bot needs to remember all the things that happened throughout the game.
TLDR: Someone needs to combine a normal RPG with ChatGPT.

• Name: Calgary Marathon - Half Marathon
• Date: May 26, 2024
• Distance: 21.1 km
• Location: Calgary, AB
• Website: https://calgarymarathon.com/
• Time: 1:55:29 (Chip time); 1:54:16 (Garmin time)

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	Sub 2:00:00	Yes
B	Sub 1:56:00	Yes
C	Sub 1:55:00	Depends

Splits

Kilometer	Split	Time
5	00:27:18	00:27:18
10	00:27:12	00:54:30
15	00:27:05	01:21:35
20	00:26:58	01:48:33
1.3	00:6:56	01:55:29

Background

I (M40), started running regularly in 2020, but was as casual as runner can get—inconsistent, unaware of the existence of training plans, and injury-prone. My first competitive 10K at the Calgary Marathon in 2021 was bittersweet; I set a personal best, but was also left with severe shin splints due to lack of preparation.
That all changed in 2023. I bought a Garmin, signed up for Greg McMillan's 10K training plan, and tackled the Calgary Marathon 10K again. This time, I smashed my goal with a sub-55 minute finish. Riding the high from this success, I participated in the Canmore Half Marathon a few months later. I completed the race in 2:15:19, proving to myself that I could conquer the distance without bonking. This gave me the confidence to aim for a sub-2-hour half marathon.

Training

Early this year, I committed myself to another training plan (Greg McMillan again), targeting a 1:56:00 finish with a stretch goal of 1:55:00.
Training was smooth and steady—there were no nasty surprises, but no eye-opening epiphanies either. Which is a good thing, I suppose. One oddity in the training plan was the maximum distance of my long runs. My last half marathon plan took me well past race distance during my long easy runs, but this one maxed out at 18 km. This left me uncertain about maintaining my goal pace for the full 21.1 km. Nevertheless, I could notice that I had upped my weekly mileage, averaging 35 km per week over the block and peaking at over 50 km per week in April.
Over this time, I set two noteworthy PB's. In a benchmark run, I clocked my fastest kilometre at 4:21—a pace I previously thought was well beyond my reach. This I credit to all the base building I had done in the off season. Towards the end of my training, I also set a new 5K record, completing it in 24:49. These milestones fueled my confidence and showed the tangible progress I was making.
Finally, I got to see first hand the difference that elevation makes. I ran a couple of training runs at sea level while on vacation. They felt noticeably easier compared to Calgary's 3,400-foot elevation. The numbers backed up my feelz: Garmin calculated my VO2 max a couple of points higher!

Race

Unlike past races, I approached this one with a clear strategy: start slow, monitor my pace and heart rate, and gradually increase speed. I aimed for a 5:30/km pace for the first 2 km, keeping my heart rate below 163 (high Zone 3), then maintaining 5:25/km until 18 km, and finally speeding up to 5:20-5:15/km.
I had studied the course well, and knew which parts would be challenging. At 3.5 km, there was a nasty hill with a 1 km ascent. In their infinite wisdom, the organizers decided to double our fun with two hills for the price of one! Just when you thought you'd conquered it, there was a turnaround at the bottom, forcing us to slog back up. My game plan? Take it easy on the ascents, keep my heart rate under 170, and recover on the way down.
This strategy paid off big time. I cruised through the first 18 km smoothly, feeling that my pace was almost too easy at times. But I avoided the temptation to speed up.
About an hour and a half into the race, I felt the first few drops of rain. Given how well everything had gone thus far, this felt like divine intervention: what better than light shower to cool me off just as my heart rate had begun to creep past 180?
At the 19 km mark, fatigue hit me hard and it hit all of a sudden. I anticipated fatigue, but not this instantaneous crash. Was I bonking? Or was my brain just signaling me to ease off since the finish line was close? I’m not sure, but it was... interesting. Despite this, my splits revealed that I had actually accelerated to a 5:20 pace in the last three kilometers!
Crossing the 21 km marker, I summoned all my energy for a fast finish, clocking in at 1:55:29 for 21.33 km.

Post-race

Post-race was a soggy mess. The rains had picked up, and they were cold and miserable. You could see the misery on the faces of the spectators and runners standing in line to retrieve their bags. On the Calgary subreddit, there are complaints about how the organizers left people's bags out in the open, which soaked their jackets and gear.
That being said, crowd support was phenomenal throughout. I would be remiss if I didn't call out the supporters and volunteers who came out to cheer, play music, hold up hysterical placards, and hand water to the runners. And they stayed—through the cold breeze and colder rain, they didn't budge.

Assessment

Looking back on my performance, I am thrilled with the results. My initial goal, when I started training, was to break the 2-hour mark. With the first few weeks of training going better than expected, I revised my goal to 1:56:00. But at the back of my mind, I was really gunning for 1:55:00 or faster.
I comfortably exceeded the sub-2 goal, finishing faster than my 1:56:00 target. Although I didn't quite hit the 1:55:00 mark, my watch recorded 1:54:16 for exactly 21.1 km, which is a consolation prize I'll happily take. Could I have gone just a wee bit faster? I am not so confident I would. The sudden fatigue at the 19 km mark was a stark reminder of my mental and physical limits.

What's Next

With two successful half marathons under my belt, the next logical step is a full marathon, isn't it? I certainly feel fit enough take on the 42.2 at a conservative pace.
But I don't think I have it in me to manage the volume of training a marathon block calls for. The mental and physical toll of training this year, especially running 50 km weeks, was significant. It drained my energy, affected my productivity at work, and left me fatigued more often than not. I realize that while the idea of a marathon is enticing, it might lead to burnout at this stage of my running career.
Then there's the fact that over the past year, I’ve come to appreciate the journey more than the destination. Chasing numbers is exciting, but what I find truly fulfilling is improving my overall fitness, building stamina, and seeing my physique get leaner. So, I'll keep running, but switch my focus to shorter races for now. Additionally, I plan to incorporate strength training and rowing into my routine, as these activities bring me joy and balance my fitness regimen.
All good essays must end with a quote, and this one will be no different. Pheidippides once never said, "Pain is temporary, Strava is forever," and my Strava now proudly displays a half marathon PR of 1:54:16. So here’s to more miles, more personal bests, and a lot more fun on the journey ahead!
Made with a new race report generator created by herumph.

My heart pulsed with furious terror and my eyes finally opened. My screams were muffled by the glass canopy of the Immersion Pod, and I hurriedly squealed the command to let me out. In full panic, I exited, removing feedback catheters and other equipment from me as the glass slowly opened. My screams echoed through the station's empty halls as I frantically clambered out of the pod and up against a wall, my teeth chattering from terror. I continued to scream for help that never came, yelling for subordinates long since gone.
This is the same scene that has played out nearly every day for the last two years. Every pod contains a new nightmare. Each time I closed my eyes I saw a new horror, experiencing a new heartbreak. Each time I got out, I screamed my antennae off and desperately clawed away at the glass to escape my confinement. And every single time it always ends the same. I get out, cower in a corner and continue to scream, while the images of everything that happened flashed in my mind.
Each time, it ended the same. No help comes. My screams were heard by only the empty walls of the station. I would always shake my head and return to my senses when the rush was over and my brain realized it was no longer in danger. I sat in the corner, shivering a bit. I could still feel their teeth gnawing at my flesh. I held my hands up, my three digits in front of me and the image of a set of two arms with five meaty digits flashes before my eyes. My recovery time is stifled by the familiar sound of metallic squeaking, followed by a familiar whirr.
I scoffed at it and stood up, my four footpads not used to the cold linoleum flooring and I shivered a bit. I looked up at the strange newcomer and approached it. A strange robot or droid, built into the station. It was a spherical orb, mounted onto an extendable robotic arm, with a single, large eye mounted in the middle of its frame. I scoffed at it again as the tiny motors inside its frame forced its various plates of armor and covering to form a facial expression, one which I could only consider to be a 'concerned smile'.
"Go away Orbie Thing." That was the nickname for it. "I don't need to deal with you right now."
I shoved it aside and retreated down the corridor. I could traverse this path in my sleep, having done it nearly every day for the last two years. I walked down two corridors, left, right, down a set of stairs and to the end towards the hangar bay. There, I stood quietly, staring intently at the entrance to the transport corvette my fellows left behind for me so many months ago. Every time I come here... It would always end the same way. I would stare at it for an hour. Figure that There was still too much to do, too much at stake. Like I was missing something.
And every time I did, I would shake my head, return to the interior and carry on, writing in my journal as I recalled every moment from what I just suffered. I went up to the control room and sat at the console. I began typing. Ignoring the whirrs of Orbie Thing appearing beside me. I ignored it and started my report.
"Researchers Log Date 11.8.99. Research Facility codename 'Echoes Of Man'. Operative Tharaxx Kanaar Of Brood Theta-Kai reporting. It seems all of the pods in 'Deck S, Section Z', all contain simulations of a thing the creators of this facility refer to as a 'zombie apocalypse', and thus far... this one was the worst."
I pressed a series of buttons and played a video on the holo screen in front of me, complimenting my log data. It played a recording of my latest sojourn, seemingly from the eyes of the very individual who experienced it.
"Pod contains an interactive recording, seemingly a creation of the user - of his final moments, as it appears as though it comes directly from his perspective. I believe it to be portable recording equipment of some kind, or some variant of bionics at least. Recording shows the result of what is known as a Zombie Outbreak."
I let the recording play and allowed the desperate screams of a man about to die once again echo through my ears. The video started with him desperately yelling a series of 'No, god no!' before bolstering himself and holding a rifle. A series of loud bangs can be heard as a horde of infected individuals bursts through the door to be met with gunfire.
I pause the recording. "The context of this recording I can... at least attempt to make sense of was that this individual was caught off guard and cornered by a horde of 'zombies', defined in Human media and historical archive as 'mindless shambling corpses whose only desire is to feed'. In this case, these 'zombies' were brought about due to a highly contagious strain of virus, callsign 'Knox'."
I let the recording play. It showed a legion of dozens of half-rotting corpses breaking each other's bones in order to get to the individual, just crawling over the bodies as they are gunned down. The weapon jammed, forcing the man into a blind panic as more of the undead encroached on him. I ended the recording there.
"For the sake of sanity, the remainder will be available on the transcript archive. For purposes of the record however, the subject is set upon, and torn limb from limb as he is eaten alive."
I sit back in my seat and take a deep breath, Orbie Thing watching me closely. His little face plates contorting into what he thinks may calm me down.
"Once again, the purpose and reason behind this facility and its contents, is yet to be determined. The 'Immersion Pods' as we know them, contain short or long term recordings of a subject's memories or experiences through means as yet undetermined. These experiences range from what you just saw, all the way to death defying stunts, high speed racing events, horrible crashes and acts of... unimaginable cruelty. Why... is as yet unknown. Log ends. Operative Tharaxx Kanaar Of Brood Theta-Kai."
I sat there, unmoving for a few minutes, just trying to calm down. I looked to my right and Orbie Thing was there but... he had... changed.
"Wh-Orbie Thing... Wasn't your eye blue earlier? Why is it... Purple?" I asked.
"It has been interesting observing your activities." A mechanical voice suddenly spoke.
I screamed and jumped out of my seat. "AH! WHAT!?"
He approached me by moving the little robotic arm toward me. "I said: 'It has been interesting observing your activities.' Was I not clear before?" It said again, contorting its little faceplates to taunt me.
"Two damn years you haven't said a word and now you speak! What are you!?" I stood up and pointed at him, demanding answers.
"There is no need to point. That is rude. Please stop that." He said to me, his faceplates moving to an expression of disgust. "My name is Wheatley. I am this station's Archive A.I."
"Impossible! Is this a prank!? Artificial Intelligence is impossible! We proved it so many times!" I yelled, looking around for a hidden control panel.
"For you, yes. You use crystal lattice matrices in your electronics, mostly made of semi or non-conductive materials. While impressive it is highly... Constraining for any kind of thought pattern. Your most complex computer is the equivalent of a twentieth century gaming computer. It's quite impressive how far you came with it." His face contorted into what could only be construed as a 'mocking smirk'.
"I do not know if I should be grateful or insulted..." I said and sat on my seat, unable to consider any further course of action.
"I apologize. It was not meant to be an insult. You simply have a difference in materials that limits your electronics ability to think. To actually be here with that limitation is by itself an impressive feat. But as always..." A holoscreen appeared in front of me. A technical blueprint. "Improvements can always be made."
I took one look at it and immediately copied it to my system archive and sent it through a relay back to home. I'm not an engineer by any means but even a simpleton could see the value in that blueprint. I stared at him, aware what I did was just plain rude but I had no idea how to proceed.
"I... I'm sorry, I don't..."
"A predictable response. It's okay. I'm used to it." He pulled up the holo screen and showed me a compilation of that same event happening a hundred times. Each time, a different species was at the controls and a different blueprint was displayed.
"Okay that's enough!" I yelled out and started my recording software, and a live link to home to be sure. "Let's do this properly. Please... Wheatley? Yes that was it. Wheatley, would you please explain to me, what the actual fuck is going on?"
His armor plating closed in all at once in a blink. The expression was clearly very shocked, very surprised. "Oh my... Congratulations. You are the first one to use the word 'please' since this experiment was started."
He let out a mechanical chuckle and I just sighed in response. "Okay... Thanks? So... What are you then?"
"Oh yes, forgive my indulgence. I am Management AI Variant 'Wheatley', I am the operator of this research facility. I am a Personality Core, a Quantum Computation Matrix Unit, built to operate the systems over long terms. Long terms as in, several thousand eons. Pleasure to meet you." He smiled at me.
"Quantum computation!? That... exists!?" I bent over the desk, cradling my head in preparation for a rapidly approaching migraine. "Ohhh my head..."
"I think I should be used to this now, really. Your electronics capabilities are so... forgive the term 'weak', that such things are pipedreams. No... Quantum computation is in fact, little more than the next step. Truth be told, my quality of computation system was outdated two centuries after I was pumped out of the factory. But... we shall talk about that later, shall we?" His faceplates contorted into a smile.
"Yes... I think that's good. What is this place, and what was it for?" I asked, paying full attention.
"This facility is one of very, very many. An exact copy of two hundred or so such units. My creatures, 'humans', built us specifically to teach the human experience, good and bad, to the wider universe. One facility sent to the four corners of each galaxy we can find. Do note though, this wasn't a civilisation effort. It was the craft of ONE man. He was a bit... eccentric." He said with a mechanical chuckle.
"Wait... One man built this!?" I said shocked.
"Let me elaborate. This was less a scientific endeavor and more an eccentric art project that nobody seemed to object to. It had one premise: Expose aliens, alternate civilisations and otherworldly entities to the human experience, both real and simulated, and see how they respond to it. Well... it started out like that and developed into something a bit more... meaningful." He replied.
"Oh... Ohhh... Okay." I relied, cradling my aching head. "So I have spent the last two years of my life subjecting myself to unimaginable torture for... an... art project? Made by some crazy guy?" I asked, my tone of voice full of defeat.
"Well yes. You consider it torture... but you havent... Looked at things... Have you? You've been too traumatized to notice the bigger picture. You haven't... shall we say, 'learned the lesson'? It's quite funny really! It seems to be a common occurrence." He twisted his faceplates into a mocking smirk.
"Elaborate. Please."
"This facility is meant not only to teach a lesson but to be rewarded for that lesson. These pods contain simulations or actual recovered memories of real life events. So let me make this simpler for you." He said as he drew a selection of videos on the holo-screen.
"Please do..." I asked, paying full attention.
"Imagine an emperor who enslaves others. Enslave HIM, strip him of his status and put him in chains. Show him what it means to be a slave. Show him the abuse. Show him the exhaustion. Show him the torture. Make him feel the suffering he inflicts on others. Ask yourself... Do you think he would still be in favor of slavery after that?"
The images flashing before me showed a recording from the eyes of the person suffering it, being whipped, being beaten, being... used... being forced to work endless hours digging, fighting, burning.
"Now go into something more... direct. An attorney with a habit of falsely accusing others of crimes. And prosecuting others on those terms. Put him in cuffs, put him behind bars with a rigged trial. Silence him. Do to him what he did to others. Let him understand what happens. Do you think he would be in favor of continuing his actions?"
The images passed over a criminal trial of some kind, from the perspective of a victim of a crooked lawyer who is held on trial for false pretenses, has his entire family ruined and is put in prison.
"Or perhaps something more... large scale? Do you think any politician or any form of leadership would start a war if HE was the one who had to fight in it?"
The video showed multiple perspectives of an active war, fought through the eyes of the soldiers who died in it. The first one in some kind of trench line as a gas attack hits. The second one in some kind of metal war machine that guns down dozens of men before being hit by artillery. The last one showing a ground perspective of a bombing campaign.
"This entire facility is dedicated entirely to the concept of 'to put oneself in someone else's shoes.' Of course when we ran out of lessons to teach, we... well. You figured that out yourself."
He chuckled as he played the recording of the zombie apocalypse I suffered through earlier. "Okay. I think I get it but... What puzzles are you talking about exactly? You said something about puzzles?"
"Oh that! Heh, that's hilarious. Nobody figures it out until way beyond the pale. Too little too late as it goes. I digress, sorry. Within some memories, some simulations and some systems, the creators crafted custom segments hidden in the background. You have to be VERY observant to notice them but, well, it's there. See for yourself."
He smiled again and played a certain segment of the zombie apocalypse recording, then paused it on a specific frame. There, sitting on the wall in front of me was the blueprint I just sent to home that this robot just casually gave me.
"OH COME ON!" I yelled out in frustration and slammed my head on the console to a gale of mocking mechanical laughter.
"Oh god I love that bit! When they realize the answer was literally staring them in the face and they missed it! Never gets old! Hahaha!" He continued to mock me for a little bit longer.
"Okay, okay! I get it! You can stop being such a gandus you know!"
"Ah yes... Gandus. Your specific word for 'dick'. That's still funny! Oh so many times that has happened! Your species is the tenth that has visited and occupied this facility. They all use that word! Anyway, back to work..." He was barely able to contain his laughter.
"Okay stop. One thing. Before we continue, I must ask. So others have been here?" I asked.
"Yes. Many others."
"And what happened to them?" I asked again, curious.
"Attempts at destruction that were ultimately fruitless. Abandonment of all projects and quarantining of the star system under dubious pretenses. Full on psychopathy as they cant process the images they witness. All sorts of stuff. You are the first one to survive past the first month. Congratulations!" He replied in kind with more mockery in his tone.
"I see. Let me think... Uhh... What are the blueprints? What exactly is the reward for solving this 'puzzle' thing?" I asked.
"Technical schematics, manufacturing specifications and operating blueprints for various pieces of technology we acquired through the time we were around. Dyson spheres, matryoshka brains, black hole inhibitors, wormhole units. All sorts of things, hidden deep in the code, some deeper than others, some as plain as day. I like to think of it as ah... hm... whats a suitable analogy... 'a helping hand at the tip of a middle finger' so to speak." He replied calmly, seemingly smugly.
"I... Oh I get it now. That's... That's just evil. That's just plain evil! Hiding the secrets to the universe within the bounds of immersive memories of horrifying circumstances! THAT. IS. EVIL!"
"Meh. It's more crazy than evil. Lets just say when we finally said goodbye, we did so with both middle fingers raised. The universe was not exactly friendly when humanity was around." He said with a frown.
"Why is that?" I asked, actually curious for once.
"The universe runs on a cycle. Civilisation rises, lives, exists, falls. Great Filter and all that. The last time the Universe ran its cycle, humanity were the only ones to actually survive their Filters. We entered the universal cycle late and by the time we expanded from our home galaxy - this one - we realized we had come too late. And we were alone. The universe was empty. Galaxy by galaxy, system by system. We. Were. Alone. It was very disappointing!" His tone of voice was odd, as if he didnt know how to be depressed.
"So... you left these stations behind because.. Don't tell me! Let me guess. Erm..." I said and thought for a bit. "You left them behind to teach the universe a lesson and then give them a chance to go farther than you did?"
"Well... half correct. To challenge you to rise above yourself, then allow you to earn your place alongside us after Ascension. Or at least, something like that!" He replied with a silly chuckle.
"Ah." I looked back at my console. "Operative Tharaxx Kanaar Of Brood Theta-Kai reporting. True purpose of the facility has been determined. Priority of further research is now regarded as absolute. Send." I said, heard a beep, then smiled.
"And thus it truly begins." He said.
"What?"
"Either a great victory for sentient life, or the catastrophic rise of a demon empire to rival even the worst we have seen or made ourselves. All I can say is, one way or another, at least we tried." He said, his eye turning back to blue, then wandered away.
Before he did, he opened a media file and played it. It was titled “How to Royally Fuck Up The Universe - Failing to Learn From Ones Mistakes.”